DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 6 JAN 2018

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 6 JAN 2018

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)

SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      DEFENCE MINISTRY APPROVES PROJECTS WORTH RS. 2420 CR

i. Union Defence Ministry approved procurement of simulated training solutions for Indian Navy’s P-8I long range maritime patrol aircraft and electronic warfare systems for the Army. Total cost involved in these deals is Rs. 2420 cr.

ii. Simulated training solution for P-8I will be bought from Boeing for Rs. 1949.32 cr. It will come along with 10 year comprehensive maintenance service.

iii. This training solution accurately simulates P-8I aircraft and mission systems and will thereby help Indian Navy train and realistically rehearse for sophisticated missions in a cost effective manner.

iii. The second proposal is for Low Intensity Conflict Electronic Warfare System for the Army, which will be procured from Bharat Electronics Limited for Rs. 470 cr.

iv. This system will provide upgraded communications infrastructure to Indian Army and will help to effectively deal with the advanced communications systems being used by terrorist groups.

2.      LOK SABHA PASSES BILL TO HIKE SALARIES OF JUDGES

i. Lok Sabha passed a bill to hike the salaries of judges of Supreme Court and 24 high courts. The bill proposes to raise the monthly salary of Chief Justice of India to Rs 2.80 lakh from the present Rs. one lakh per month.

ii. Similarly, salary of judges of the Supreme Court and chief justices of the High Court is to be raised to Rs 2.50 lakh from the current Rs 90000.

iii. The bill also proposes to raise the salary of judges of the high courts, from Rs. 80000 per month now, to Rs 2.25 lakh per month.

iv. The salary hike for judges is in line with the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission for officers of all-India services. Once this bill is passed by both the houses of Parliament, it will become a law and will come into force retrospectively from January 1, 2016.

3.      CENTRE HAS APPROVED WEST BENGAL LOGO DESIGNED BY CM MAMATA BANERJEE

i. The Centre has approved a logo as the state’s symbol which is designed and conceptualized by West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.

ii. The logo highlighting the “Biswa Bangla” theme with Ashoka Pillars. It went to the Centre in last May and now received the approval letter from the Centre to use the logo as the state symbol .

4.      ICELAND BECOMES FIRST COUNTRY TO LEGALISE EQUAL PAY

i. A new law has come to force in Iceland, under which it has become illegal to pay men more than women for the same work. Iceland has thus become 1st country in the world to legalise equal pay.

ii. Under the new law, all companies and government departments/agencies employing at least 25 people will have to obtain government certification of their equal-pay policies.

iii. Companies that fail to prove that their women employees are being paid same as their male counterparts will face fines. Iceland has been ranked as  world’s most gender-equal country by World Economic Forum since past nine years.

5.      GEMALTO LAUNCHES WORLD’S FIRST BIOMETRIC CARD FOR CONTACTLESS PAYMENTS

i. Bank of Cyprus has selected Gemalto, an international digital security company to supply world’s 1st biometric payment card for both chip and contactless payments.

ii. These cards will use fingerprint recognition instead of a personal identification number to authenticate the cardholder. For authentication, the cardholder will have to place his/her fingerprint on the sensor embedded on the card. A comparison will be performed between the scanned fingerprint and the reference biometric data securely stored in the card.

iii. The biometric sensor on the card is powered by the payment terminal and does not require an embedded battery. Customers will be required to enrol for these cards at bank branches, where their fingerprints will be captured using Gemalto’s tablet designed for the solution.

iv. This technology is based on the principle that biometric data should always remain in the hands of end users. This method removes the scope for data being compromised during over the air transmission.

6.      YES BANK, NEARBY TIE UP TO OFFER CARDLESS-PINLESS ATM SERVICE

i. Nearby Technologies Private Limited has tied up with Yes Bank to provide Aadhaar- enabled cardless and pinless ATM service through which, customers can deposit or withdraw money at retailers’ place.

ii. A retailer can now become an Aadhaar ATM/Aadhaar Bank branch for cash withdrawals and deposits by a customer by using PayNEARBY mobile application on a smart phone. Nearby Technologies Private Limited is a FinTech start-up, founded by a team of professionals from Banking and Payments industry.

iii. Yes Bank and Nearby have collaborated with the National Payments Corporation of India to launch PayNEARBY. Around 40000 PayNEARBY’s Aadhaar ATM touch points will be available through Yes Bank and business correspondent agent network. Customer can do cash withdrawal or any other transactions at these touch points just by using the Aadhaar number and finger print.

7.      MAS CHIEF RAVI MENON NAMED BEST CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR IN ASIA-PACIFIC

i. Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore has been honoured the best central bank governor in Asia-Pacific for 2018 by UK-based magazine, The Banker.

ii. This annual award administered by The Banker, a publication under The Financial Times Group, is based on a selection process involving a survey of bankers and economists.

8.      RICKY PONTING BECOMES HEAD COACH OF IPL TEAM DELHI DAREDEVILS

i. Ricky Ponting has joined head coach  of Delhi Daredevils. Ponting was earlier associated with Indian Premier League champions Mumbai Indians. Ricky Ponting will replace Rahul Dravid.

ii. Dravid, who is the coach of the Indian under-19 team, had withdrawn due to conflict of interest.

9.      PAKISTAN HOCKEY FEDERATION APPOINTS HASAN SARDAR AS CHIEF HEAD COACH

i. Pakistan Hockey Federation appointed former captain Hasan Sardar as the new chief head coach of the national team.

ii. Pakistan will appear in three major hockey events this year including the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Cup for the year 2018.

iii. Hasan Sardar had won both the World Cup and Olympic hockey gold in his career would be head coach for a two-match series against an International eleven this month.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. WHO WAS AWARDED THE BEST CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR IN ASIA-PACIFIC FOR 2018 BY UK-BASED MAGAZINE, “The Banker?”

a)  Ravi Menon

b)  Ravi Shankar

c)  Adarva Jaishankar

d)  Bhaskaran

Q2. WHICH IS THE FIRST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD TO LEGALISE EQUAL PAY FOR MEN AND WOMEN FOR THE SAME WORK?

a)  Argentina

b)  Iceland

c)  Netherlands

d)  Finland

Q3. UNION DEFENCE MINISTRY HAD SANCTIONED HOW MUCH MONEY FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF SIMULATED TRAINING SOLUTIONS FOR INDIAN NAVY’S P-8I LONG RANGE MARITIME PATROL AIRCRAFT AND ELECTRONIC WARFARE SYSTEMS FOR THE ARMY?

a)  Rs. 2620 cr

b)  Rs. 2520 cr

c)  Rs. 2420 cr

d)  Rs. 2320 cr

Q4. WHICH STATE HAS MADE ITS LOGO, HIGHLIGHTING THE “BISWA BANGLA” THEME WITH ASHOKA PILLARS?

a)  Maharashtra

b)  Odisha

c)  Punjab

d)  West Bengal

Q5. LOK SABHA PASSED A BILL TO HIKE THE SALARIES OF JUDGES OF SUPREME COURT AND 24 HIGH COURTS. THE BILL PROPOSES TO RAISE THE MONTHLY SALARY OF CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA FROM THE PRESENT RS. 1 LAKH PER MONTH TO _____PER MONTH?

a)  Rs 2.60 lakh

b)  Rs 2.80 lakh

c)  Rs 2.70 lakh

d)  Rs 2.50 lakh

ANSWERS: 

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