DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 2 JAN 2018

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 2 JAN 2018

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      SBI REDUCES BASE RATE AND BENCHMARK PRIME LENDING RATES EACH BY 30 BPS

i. The State Bank of India reduced the base rate and benchmark prime lending rates by 30 basis points each, which will benefit nearly 80 lakh customers on the old pricing regime.

ii. SBI revised down the base rate to 8.65% for existing customers from 8.95%, while the benchmark prime lending rates are down from 13.7 percent, to 13.4%. The one-year MCLR of the bank stands unchanged at 7.95 percent.

2.      KARNATAKA GOVT TO OBTAIN ELECTRIC VEHICLES UNDER FAME-INDIA SCHEME

i. Karnataka State Government announced that it would be obtaining electric vehicles under the Central Government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India Scheme.

ii. Under FAME-India Scheme, Karnataka State Government will procure 40 electric buses,  100 four wheelers and 500 three wheelers. It will also set up charging infrastructure for these vehicles in Bengaluru.

ii. FAME India scheme was announced in Union Budget 2015-16 with an initial allocation of Rs. 75 cr. It is being administered by Union Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises.

iii. Under this scheme, Govt. encourages buyers to purchase hybrid and electric vehicles by providing monetary subsidy. For purchase of electric buses, the subsidy component is up to 60 per cent of purchase cost. For electric four wheelers and electric three-wheeler subsidy is Rs. 1.24 lakh and Rs 61000 respectively.

3.      WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY INAUGURATED ONLINE PORTAL NARI

i. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi inaugurated an online portal NARI in New Delhi for the empowerment of women.

ii. The portal will provide women with easy access to information on government schemes and initiatives for women. The portal summarises over 350 government schemes and other important information.

4.      171ST ARAADHANAI MUSIC FESTIVAL BEGINS IN TAMIL NADU

i. The 171^st Araadhanai Music Festival started in Thiruvaiyaru, Tamil Nadu. The Araadhanai Music Festival of musician Thyagaraja was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit. Thyagaraja is one of the Trinities of Carnatic music.

ii. The highlight of the festival is choral singing of Thyagaraja’s 5 kritis in Ghana ragas. Around 1000 musicians from various countries are participating in this festival to pay homage to the music saint Thyagaraja.

5.      UNESCO ENTERS TURKEY’S ENDANGERED ‘BIRD LANGUAGE’ IN INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE LIST

i. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has entered the “bird language” of Black Sea villagers (in northern Turkey) in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

ii. The highly developed and high pitch system of whistling to communicate in the rugged terrain in Black Sea Regions dates back to some 500 years ago. This whistle language has been traditionally passed on through generations – from grandparent to parent, from parent to child.

iii. However, this system is now under threat due to advent of technology and increasing usage of cellular mobile systems.

iv.  Practices, expressions, representations, as well as skills and knowledge that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage are defined as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO’s Convention for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

6.      ASSAMESE AND MANIPURI VERSIONS OF PM MODI’S OFFICIAL WEBSITE LAUNCHED

i. The Assamese and Manipuri language versions of Prime Minister’s Official website- ww.pmindia.gov.in were launched.

ii. Now the PM INDIA website is available in 11 regional languages namely Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu in addition to English and Hindi.

7.      FINANCE MINISTRY TO RELAUNCH GOI BONDS WITH 7.75% RATE

i. Subhash Chandra, Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs under Ministry of Finance, has tweeted that new subscription to GoI Savings (Taxable) Bonds, 2003 would now bear 7.75% interest rate as compared to 8% earlier.

ii. Central Government notified that 8% GoI Savings (Taxable) Bonds, 2003 shall be closed for subscription from the close of business on January 2, 2018. Since April 2016, this instrument had become a preferred choice amongst fixed income investors as the interest rates on fixed deposits and small savings instruments dropped below 8% mark.

iii. However, Mr. Garg has clarified that this scheme is not being closed rather it is being replaced by 7.75 per cent Savings Bonds Scheme.

iv. Even at 7.75 per cent interest, these bonds will fetch highest returns as compared to other fixed-income products.

8.      VIJAY KESHAV GOKHALE APPOINTED FOREIGN SECRETARY

i. Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale has been appointed the foreign secretary of India. He has succeeded S Jaishankar.

ii. Mr Gokhale served as Indian Ambassador to China, Germany and as Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia in the past. He is at present secretary (economic relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

9.      PANKAJ JAIN ASSUMES CHARGE AS IIFCL MANAGING DIRECTOR

i. Pankaj Jain, Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial Services, has assumed charge as the Managing Director of India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd.

ii. He will be holding additional charge of IIFCL along with his present position as Joint Secretary at DFS.

10.  INDIAN GOLFER SHIV KAPUR WINS ROYAL CUP AT PATTAYA

i. Indian golfer Shiv Kapur won the Royal Cup at Pattaya, which is his third Asian Tour title of 2017. The 35-year-old, who had just one win in almost 11 years till April 2017, has now won three times in last eight months.

ii. This latest win marks Kapur’s fourth Asian Tour win and sixth international title as he won twice on European Challenge Tour also.

11.  VETERAN POET ANWAR JALALPURI PASSES AWAY

i. Noted Urdu poet Anwar Jalalpuri passed away at the age of 71 in Lucknow. He suffered a brain stroke.

ii. Anwar Jalalpuri is best known for his translation of shloks of Bhagavad Gita into Urdu verses.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. SBI HAS RECENTLY REVISED DOWN THE BENCHMARK PRIME LENDING RATES FROM 13.7 PERCENT TO?

a)  13.3 percent

b)  12.8 percent

c)  13.6 percent

d)  13.4 percent

Q2. WHAT IS/ARE THE NEW LANGUAGE/LANGUAGES THAT HAVE BEEN RECENTLY INCLUDED IN THE PM’S OFFICIAL WEBSITE?

a)  Manipuri

b)  Assamese

c)  both (a) and (b)

d)  Gujarati

Q3. THE STATE BANK OF INDIA HAS RECENTLY REDUCED THE BASE RATE BY ________, WHICH WILL BENEFIT CUSTOMERS ON THE OLD PRICING REGIME?

a)  20 basis points

b)  30 basis points

c)  10 basis points

d)  15 basis points

Q4.  WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT MINISTER MANEKA GANDHI INAUGURATED AN ONLINE PORTAL NAMED _________ IN NEW DELHI FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN?

a)  NARI

b)  Suraksha

c)  Jagriti

d)  Shakti

Q5. WHO OF THE FOLLOWING SENIOR DIPLOMAT HAS BEEN APPOINTED FOREIGN SECRETARY OF INDIA?

a)  Unmukt Roshan

b)  Sameer Bhandari

c)  Vijay Keshav Gokhale

d)  Rupesh Goyal

ANSWERS: 

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