DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 20 FEB 2018
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN
1.
IMPORTANT CABINET APPROVALS- 20TH FEBRUARY 2018
i. The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Shri
Narendra Modi has given the following set of approvals. The important Cabinet
Approvals are given as follows-
ii. The Cabinet has approved-
(a) Proposal for Mahanadi Water
Disputes – Constitution of a Tribunal under Inter-State River Disputes Act,
1956 – request from State of Odisha.
(b) India-Morocco Cooperation Agreement
in Railway Sector. The Cooperation Agreement will enable technical cooperation
in the following areas:-
Training and staff development, Expert
missions, exchange of experience and personnel; and Mutual technical
assistance, including exchanging of experts.
(c) Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel in
Uttarakhand as part of ‘Chardham Mahamarg Pariyojana’.
(d) New Bill to ban Unregulated Deposit
Schemes and Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
(e) Agreement between India and Israel
on Film Co-production
2.
AGA KHAN’S 11-DAY VISIT TO INDIA BEGINS
i. Spiritual leader Aga Khan is on the
11-day visit to India. Sunder Nursery, a 90-acre park near Humayun’s Tomb in
New Delhi, will be inaugurated by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu in the
presence of the Aga Khan.
ii. During his previous visit in 2015,
the Aga Khan was conferred Padma Vibhushan for his contributions to social
development in India.
3.
PM FLAGS OFF PALACE QUEEN HAMSAFAR EXPRESS IN KARNATAKA
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged
off the Palace Queen Humsafar Express between Mysuru and Udaipur in Mysuru
Railway Station.
ii. The train between Mysuru and
Udaipur will act as a backbone of tourism, an employment generating industry.
He also dedicated to the nation, the electrified Mysuru-Bengaluru Railway Line
and announced two more infrastructure projects for the region.
4.
CABINET APPROVES NEW BILL TO BAN UNREGULATED DEPOSIT SCHEMES AND
CHIT FUNDS (AMENDMENT)
BILL
i. In a major policy initiative to
protect the savings of the investors, the Union Cabinet has given its approval
to introduce the following bills in the Parliament:-
1. Banning of Unregulated Deposit
Schemes Bill, 2018 in parliament &
2. Chit Funds (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
The following amendments to the Chit Funds
Act, 1982 have been proposed:
i. Use of the words "Fraternity
Fund" for chit business under Sections 2(b) and 11(1) of the Chit Funds
Act, 1982, to signify its inherent nature, and distinguish its working from
"Prize Chits" which are banned under a separate legislation;
ii. Increasing the ceiling of foreman's
commission from a maximum of 5% to 7%, as the rate has remained static since
the commencement of the Act while overheads and other costs have increased
manifold;
iii. Allowing the foreman a right to
lien for the dues from subscribers, so that set-off is allowed by the Chit
company for subscribers who have already drawn funds, so as to discourage
default by them; and
iv. Amending Section 85 (b) of the Chit
Funds Act, 1982 to remove the ceiling of one hundred rupees set in 1982 at the
time of framing the Chit Funds Act, which has lost its relevance.
5.
INDIA TO HOST WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2018
i. The government of India and the UN
jointly announced that India will host the global World Environment Day celebrations
on 5 June 2018.
ii. World Environment Day is celebrated
globally on June 5. The theme for World Environment 2018 is “Beat Plastic Pollution”.
6.
INDIA SUCCESSFULLY TEST-FIRES AGNI-II MISSILE
i. India successfully test-fired Agni
II medium-range nuclear-capable missile from APJ Abdul Kalam island off the
Odisha coast. The Strategic Forces Command fired Agni-II from a mobile launcher
at launch complex 4 of the Integrated Test Range.
ii. Agni-II, which has a length of 20
metres, weighs 17 tonnes and can carry a payload of 1000 kgs over a distance of
2000 kms. It is a part of the Agni series of missiles developed by the DRDO.
7.
SINGAPORE TO IMPOSE CARBON TAX FROM 2019
i. Singapore will impose a 'carbon tax'
from 2019 to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and make companies more
competitive as global agreements on climate change take effect.
ii. Finance minister Heng Swee Keat
stated that the tax would be levied on all facilities producing 25,000 tonnes
or more of greenhouse gas emissions a year.
8.
UK, INDIA LAUNCHED JOINT RESEARCH PROJECTS ON CLEAN WATER &
ENERGY
i. The UK- India Joint research
projects on Water Quality Research and Energy Demand Reduction in Built
Environment were launched in New Delhi.
ii. The Water Quality Research
programme has eight projects and Energy Demand Reduction in Built Environment
programme has four projects, with a total joint investment of up to 15 million
British Pound.
9.
UNION CABINET APPROVES CREATION OF NATIONAL URBAN HOUSING FUND
i. The Union Cabinet has given approval
for creation of National Urban Housing Fund for Rs.60,000 crores. This fund
will be situated in Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council, an
autonomous body under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
ii. NUHF will facilitate raising
requisite funds in next four years so that flow of Central Assistance under
different verticals i.e. Beneficiary Linked Construction, Affordable Housing in
Partnership, In-Situ Slum Redevelopment and Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme.
10. FITCH
PLACES PNB ON ‘RATING WATCH NEGATIVE’ WITH DOWNGRADE POSSIBILITY
i. Fitch placed Punjab National Bank on
Rating Watch Negative, reflecting a possibility of downgrade following the USD
1.77 billion fraud. The fraud is the biggest ever in the banking history.
ii. The Viability Rating measures
credit worthiness of a financial institution and reflects the likelihood of the
entity to fail, as per Fitch.
OBJECTIVE
QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1. THE
UNION CABINET HAS RECENTLY APPROVED CHIT FUNDS (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2018. IT HAS
BEEN PROPOSED
TO INCREASE THE CEILING OF FOREMAN'S COMMISSION FROM A MAXIMUM OF 5% TO?
a) 6.5%
b) 6.0%
c) 7.5%
d) 7.0%
Q2. VETERAN PERSONALITY AGA
KHAN IS ON THE 11-DAY VISIT TO INDIA. HE IS A/AN?
a)
Prince of Azerbaijan
b)
Spiritual leader
c) Anti-Racism Leader
d) Peace-Ambassador
Q3. WHICH
OF THE FOLLOWING COUNTRY WILL HOST THE GLOBAL WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
CELEBRATIONS ON 5
JUNE 2018?
a)
Australia
b)
The USA
c)
India
d)
South Africa
Q4. THE UK- INDIA JOINT
RESEARCH PROJECTS ON WATER QUALITY RESEARCH AND ENERGY DEMAND REDUCTION
IN BUILT ENVIRONMENT WERE LAUNCHED RECENTLY IN?
a)
New Delhi
b)
Bengaluru
c)
Mysore
d)
Kolkata
ANSWERS:
1 - D 2 - B 3 - C 4
- A
