DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 31 DEC 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 31 DEC 2017

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      NIRMALA SITHARAMAN LAUNCHES START-UP INCUBATION CENTRE IN MANGALORE

i. Nirmala Sitharaman has launched a start-up incubation centre called the Centre for Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Learning in Mangaluru, Karnataka.

ii. She has allocated Rs. 1.5 cr from her Member of Parliament's Local Area Development scheme for the development of CEOL. She represents Karnataka as an MP in the Rajya Sabha.

2.      BILATERAL MEETING BETWEEN EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER OF INDIA AND JORDAN HELD IN NEW DELHI

i. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Jordanian counterpart Ayman Al Safadi held a bilateral meeting in New Delhi and discussed deepening bilateral ties across multiple sectors.

ii. Mr Safadi discussed steps to set up a robust agenda for deepening and diversifying areas of cooperation in the fields of trade and investment, defence and security and people-to-people contact.

3.      BANK OF INDIA GETS RS. 2,257 CR FROM GOVT

i. State-run Bank of India has received capital infusion of Rs. 2,257 cr from the government. “The bank has received infusion of Rs. 2,257 cr from the Government of India, in the form of Common Equity Tier-1 Capital, which is being kept as Share Application money and would be alloted after due procedure/ conditions for allotment".

ii. The government had unveiled a Rs. 2.11 lakh cr 2-year roadmap for strengthening NPA-hit public sector banks, which includes re-capitalisation bonds, budgetary support and equity dilution.

4.      78TH SESSION OF INDIAN HISTORY CONGRESS HELD IN KOLKATA

i. The 3-day long 78th session of the Indian History Congress begun in Kolkata, West Bengal. The Indian History Congress had six sections this time - Ancient India, Medieval India, Modern India, Countries Other than India, Archaeology and Contemporary India.

ii. The aim of conducting Indian History Congress is for promotion and encouragement of the scientific study of Indian History.

5.      GEORGE WEAH ELECTED LIBERIAN PRESIDENT

i. Former football star George Weah has been elected as Liberia's president. The closest rival of Mr Weah was his opponent Joseph Boakai. Mr Weah won the elections with more than 60% of the vote.

ii. He succeeded Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female president, in Liberia's first democratic handover in decades.

6.      KKR GETS RBI NOD TO START INDIA’S 1ST FOREIGN-OWNED ARC

i. US buyout giant KKR & Co has become the first foreign investor to fully own an asset reconstruction company in India as it received approval from the Reserve Bank of India.

ii. KKR, one of the most aggressive investors in financial services, plans to deploy a major chunk from its record Asia fund for buying troubled assets in the country, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

7.      IDBI BANK GETS RS 2,729 CR FROM GOVERNMENT

i. Public sector IDBI Bank has received the capital infusion of Rs 2,729 cr from the government of India. The help includes re-capitalisation bonds, budgetary support, and equity dilution.

ii. The other banks that have received the capital infusion are Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, UCO Bank, Dena Bank and Central Bank of India. The total capital received by these stressed banks form the government is Rs 7,500 cr.

8.      INDIA HOSTING 10 ASEAN LEADERS ON REPUBLIC DAY 2018

 i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that Republic Day celebration in 2018 would be "remembered through the ages" because the government for the first time in India's history would host leaders of 10 Asean countries as chief guests on 26th January 2018.

ii. "The Republic Day will be celebrated with leaders of all 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries coming to India as chief guests. This time, not one but 10 chief guests would grace the Republic Day.

9.      CHINA LAUNCHES WORLD'S LARGEST HUMAN GENOME RESEARCH PROJECT

i. The world's largest human genome research project of 100,000 people was launched by China to document their genetic makeup for a study that aims to help generate the precision medicines of the future.

ii. It is the country's first large project detecting the genetic links between health and sickness and will involve people from different ethnic backgrounds and regions.

10.  GAIL AWARDS MAJOR CONTRACTS FOR PRADHAN MANTRI URJA GANGA

i. GAIL India has placed orders for another 400-km of pipeline of the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga natural gas pipeline project that will take the fuel to eastern India.

ii. State-run gas utility company stated that the orders for pipeline from Dobhi, Bihar to Durgapur, West Bengal has been placed. With these awards, pipe supply orders for 2,100 km of the Jagdishpur-Haldia & Bokaro-Dhamra Natural Gas Pipeline project have been placed.

11.  VIKAS SAMIKSHA YATRA: NITISH KUMAR LAYS FOUNDATION FOR RS 700 CR PROJECTS

i. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has laid foundation stones for more than 100 projects worth Rs 700 cr in Nalanda district as part of his state-wide "Vikas Samiksha Yatra".

ii. At Chamera village in Ekangarsarai block, Mr. Kumar dedicated to the public 132 projects worth Rs 97.63 cr in addition to the 114, worth Rs 698.65 cr, for which foundation stones were laid.

12.  ALLAHABAD BANK TIES UP WITH NESL

i. Allahabad Bank has entered into an agreement with state-run National e-Governance Services Limited for utilizing the latter’s Information Utility Services envisaged under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

ii. NeSL, owned by the government, is the first Information Utility entity registered by Insolvency and bankruptcy Board of India under IBBI Regulations, 2017.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. IN WHICH CITY THE THREE-DAY LONG 78TH SESSION OF THE INDIAN HISTORY CONGRESS WAS HELD, RECENTLY?

a)  Kochi

b)  Kolkata

c)  Chennai

d)  Pune

Q2. IN WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING CITY, NIRMALA SITHARAMAN HAS LAUNCHED A START-UP INCUBATION CENTRE CALLED THE CENTRE FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AND LEARNING?

a)  Mysore

b)  Mumbai

c)  Chennai

d)  Mangaluru

Q3. EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER SUSHMA SWARAJ AND HER JORDANIAN COUNTERPART AYMAN AL SAFADI HELD A BILATERAL MEETING IN NEW DELHI. WHAT IS THE CAPITAL OF JORDAN?

a)  Amman

b)  Damascus

c)  Riyadh

d)  Baku

Q4.  WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS HAD RECENTLY RECEIVED CAPITAL INFUSION OF RS 2,729 CR FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA?

a)  United Bank of India

b)  Dena Bank

c)  IDBI Bank

d)  Indian Overseas Bank

Q5. WHO IS THE MD AND CEO OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT BANK OF INDIA?

a)  Jai Kumar Garg

b)  Rakesh Sharma

c)  Jatinder Bir Singh

d)  Mahesh Kumar Jain

ANSWERS: 

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