DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 14 JAN 2018

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 14 JAN 2018

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      'IRON FIST'- THE US, JAPAN JOINT MILITARY DRILL BEGINS

i. American and Japanese military forces have launched joint exercise named Iron Fist. The 13^th annual Iron Fist exercises kicked off in the U.S. western state of California.

ii. More than 500 U.S. Marines and sailors are partnering with about 350 members of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force to train in fire support operations and amphibious assaults.

2.      INDIA SIGNS PACT WITH UK ON ILLEGAL MIGRANTS

i. India has signed an MoU with the United Kingdom to enable the return of illegal Indian migrants within a month of their detection by authorities abroad.

ii. Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju confirmed that the pact was signed by him and UK Minister of State for Immigration Caroline Nokes in Britain during his visit along with an Indian delegation.

3.      INDIA GIVES $45.27 MILLION AID TO DEVELOP KKS HARBOUR IN SRI LANKA

i. India has extended financial assistance of USD 45.27 million to Sri Lanka for upgrading Kankesanthurai Harbour (located in northern Sri Lanka) into a commercial port.

ii. Agreement was signed by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance and Export and Import Bank of India. This financial assistance is part of memorandum of understanding between Indian and Sri Lankan Government for rehabilitation of KKS Harbour.

iii. Four out of the 6 phases of the rehabilitation of KKS Harbour have already been completed. The financial assistance of USD 45.27 million will used for executing remaining two phases, which includes works related to installation of port infrastructure.

iv. KKS port holds lot of significance as it connects Jaffna peninsula with the rest of Sri Lanka. The port was destroyed by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelamduring the civil war in Sri Lanka.

4.      GAIL TO SET UP INDIA’S 1ST COAL-TO-GAS CONVERSION PLANT IN ODISHA

i. GAIL India, the largest government-owned natural gas processing and distribution company in India will now be setting up ‘coal to synthesis gas’ conversion plants announced by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan.

ii. GAIL India’s coal to synthesis gas plants will be set up in Odisha. Steel Authority of India Limited will be a technology partner in this project. Synthesis gas is expected to be cheaper than domestic gas.

5.      YES BANK ANNOUNCES RS 7.5-CR GRANT FOR NGOS, SOCIAL ENTERPRISES’

i. YES Foundation (social development arm of YES Bank) launched 5th edition of ‘YES! i am the CHANGE’. YIAC is a programme to inculcate the spirit of responsible youth citizenship and drive social impact through the medium of films.

ii. In this edition, Yes foundation has invited participation in the ‘YIAC Social Filmmaking Challenge’. The challenge is to depict stories of change in a three-minute film.

iii. The deserving NGOs/social enterprises which operate in areas of livelihood generation, climate change, gender equality etc will receive a grant of Rs 7.5 cr, for scaling up and capacity building and will also receive three-year mentoring for creating onground tangible social impact.

6.      KERALA LAUNCHES ‘KERALA ACCELERATOR PROGRAM’ FOR EARLY-STAGE STARTUPS

i. Kerala StartUp Mission has introduced ‘Kerala Accelerator Program’, a virtual accelerator program for 3 months, to promote startups in the early revenue stage. The Kerala Accelerator Program has been launched by Kerala StartUp Mission in collaboration with Zone Startups India. This program will introduce the startups to investors, relevant customers and industry connects.

ii. This program starts on 5th February 2018. It will provide both live and virtual mentoring sessions. Mentors will visit Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi to interact with selected startups. It also provides a one week residential program in Bangalore and Mumbai from 12 to 16 January 2018.

iii. It also provides weekly reviews, customer interactions and an end-of-programme ‘demo day’ with investors.

7.      RETAIL INFLATION RISES TO 5.21% IN DECEMBER

i. Retail inflation crossed the RBI’s comfort level and rose to 5.21 percent in December on rise in prices of food items, egg and vegetables, dashing hopes of interest rate cut in the near future.

ii. The retail inflation, based on Consumer Price Index, was 4.88 percent in November.

8.      INDU MALHOTRA BECOMES 1ST WOMAN LAWYER DIRECTLY APPOINTED FOR SC JUDGESHIP

i. The Supreme Court collegium has recommended the name of senior advocate Indu Malhotra as the first woman lawyer to be directly appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of India.

ii. She will be the seventh woman judge since independence to make it to the Supreme Court. At present, Justice R Banumathi is the lone woman judge in the apex court.

9.      INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ON ART AND ARTIST BEGINS IN ODISHA

i. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurated 12th International Film Festival on Art and Artist in Bhubaneswar. This 3-day festival has been organised by Bhubaneswar-based Jatin Das Centre of Art.

ii. Several short, long, narrative, documentary, animation, and film essays will be showcased during the course of this festival. Besides, panel discussions, lectures and workshops will also be conducted.

iii. 12 Odia films,12 films in other Indian languages and nearly 39 films of 11 countries in 15 foreign languages will be screened during the festival.

iv. Short film stories written by eminent writers Manoj Das and Gourahari Das will also be presented by Jatin Das Centre of Art.

10.  ANIL KHANNA TO HEAD IOA FINANCE COMMISSION

i. Senior sports administrator Anil Khanna was named Chairman of the Finance Commission of the Indian Olympic Association, which also formed a four-member advisory committee. The advisory committee comprises Tarlochan Singh, GS Mander, S Regunathan and BS Landge.

ii. The IOA also formed a Medical Commission and Games Technical Conduct Committee and nominated office bearers of IOA and National Sports Federations to the Committees.

11.  INDIA, TOP BORROWER FROM CHINA-SPONSORED AIIB IN 2017

i. India has emerged as a top borrower from the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank with USD 1.5 billion worth of loans last year and USD three billion more in the pipeline.

ii. India's Ambassador Gautam Bambawale met AIIB President Jin Liqun in Beijing and held in-depth talks on deepening India's engagements with the bank. Next to India, Indonesia has emerged as the second largest borrower with about USD 600 million loans.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING COUNTRY HAS EMERGED AS A TOP BORROWER FROM THE CHINA-SPONSORED ASIAN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT BANK WITH USD 1.5 BILLION WORTH OF LOANS IN 2017?

a)  Oman

b)  India

c)  Indonesia

d)  Singapore

Q2.  WHICH SENIOR SPORTS ADMINISTRATOR WAS NAMED CHAIRMAN OF THE FINANCE COMMISSION OF THE INDIAN OLYMPIC ASSOCIATION?

a)  Pinkan Hooda

b)  Sumit Mahajan

c)  Anil Khanna

d)  Pankaj Kumar

Q3. WHO IS THE PRESENT PRESIDENT OF CHINA-HEADQUARTERED AIIB?

a)  Jin Liqun

b)  Yang Shaolin

c)  Takehiko Nakao

d)  Jim Yong Kim

Q4. INDU MALHOTRA HAS RECENTLY BECOME THE 1ST WOMAN LAWYER TO BE DIRECTLY APPOINTED AS A JUDGE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA. WHO WAS THE FIRST WOMAN TO BE APPOINTED AS A JUDGE OF THE APEX COURT SINCE INDEPENDENCE?

a)  Justice Gyan Sudha Misra

b)  Justice R Banumathi

c)  Justice Ruma Pal

d)  Justice M Fathima Beevi

Q5.  AMERICAN AND JAPANESE MILITARY FORCES HAVE RECENTLY LAUNCHED 13TH EDITION OF THE JOINT EXERCISE NAMED?

a)  Golden Punch

b)  Iron Fist

c)  Extreme Survivals

d)  EKUVERIN-2018

ANSWERS:  

1 - B    2 - C    3 - A    4 - D    5 - B