DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 22 FEB 2018

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 22 FEB 2018
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1.      TELANGANA, TAIWAN SIGN MOU FOR BETTER TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIP
i. The Telangana Government signed an MOU with Taoyuan City of Taiwan for better technology partnership in the state. The agreement was signed after the World Congress on Information Technology 2018 in Hyderabad.
ii. IT Minister K T Rama Rao and principal secretary Jayesh Ranjan signed the agreement with Robert Huang, Director of the Board of Taiwan company at World IT Congress 2018.

2.      INDIA RANKS 81ST IN GLOBAL CORRUPTION PERCEPTION INDEX
i. India has been ranked 81st in the global corruption perception index for 2017, released by Transparency International. The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. In the 2016 India was in the 79th place among 176 countries.
ii. The index uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. In the latest ranking New Zealand and Denmark were placed the highest, with scores of 89 and 88, respectively. On the other hand, Syria, Sudan and Somalia were ranked lowest with scores of 14, 12 and 9, respectively.


3.      EPFO CUTS INTEREST RATE TO 8.55% FOR 2017-18
i. Retirement fund body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has reduced the interest rate on deposits to 8.55% for 2017-18 from 8.65% for 2016-17 following a general decline in interest rates.
ii. The move will affect around 6 crore subscribers and leave EPFO with a surplus of Rs 586 cr against Rs 695 cr in the previous financial year.

4.      AGRICULTURE MINISTRY ADDS 6 NEW FEATURES IN E-NAM PLATFORM
i. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh launched six new features in the National Agriculture Market platform to make it more user-friendly.
ii. The six new features of e-NAM platform includes-
1. MIS dashboard for better analysis,
2. Mobile payment facility by traders,
3. BHIM payment facility by traders,
4. Enhanced features on mobile app such as gate entry and payment through mobile,
5. e-Learning module.
6. Integration of farmer’s database.
5.      INDIA INTERNATIONAL TEXTILES EXPO BEGINS IN COLOMBO
i. A 3-day India International Textiles Expo of India began in Sri Lankan capital of Colombo. It is being organized by Powerloom Development & Export Promotion Council with the support of Union Ministry of Textiles & Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
ii. The event was inaugurated by Sri Lankan minister of Special Assignments Dr. Sarath Amunugama.

6.      INDIA, INDONESIA JOINT MILITARY DRILL 'GARUDA SHAKTI' BEGINS
i. The Indian and Indonesian armies began the sixth edition of their annual military exercise named 'Garuda Shakti' in Bandung, Indonesia.
ii. The exercises will include experience sharing in counter-terrorism operations, close quarter combat, and other areas of special operations.

7.      UP GOVERNMENT SIGNS PACT WITH AMAZON INDIA FOR KHADI PRODUCTS SALE
i. Uttar Pradesh's Khadi and Village Industries Board has signed a pact with Amazon India to facilitate online selling of Khadi products.
ii. As part of an MoU, Amazon India will educate, train and enable rural khadi artisans to directly sell their products to Amazon.in customers across the country under the brand of UP Khadi.

8.      AVANI CHATURVEDI BECOMES 1ST INDIAN WOMAN TO FLY FIGHTER AIRCRAFT SOLO
i. Flying officer Avani Chaturvedi scripted history by becoming the first  Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo.
ii. She flew a MiG-21 bison in her first solo flight from Jamnagar base of Indian Air Force in Gujarat.

9.      INDIA SUCCESSFULLY CONDUCTS NIGHT TRIAL OF PRITHVI-II MISSILE
i. India successfully conducted a night trial of its indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile with a strike range of 350 km, from a test range in Odisha.
ii. The surface-to-surface missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Odisha.

10.  CAPITAL FIRST GETS NHB NOD FOR MERGER WITH IDFC BANK
i. Capital First announced that the regulator National Housing Bank has approved the merger of the company along with Capital Home Finance and Capital First Securities Limited with IDFC Bank.
ii. The amalgamation is subject to the receipt of approval from the Reserve Bank of India and other statutory and regulatory approvals. The share swap ratio for the merger is fixed at 139:10, meaning IDFC Bank will issue 139 shares for every 10 shares of Capital First.

11.  INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY- 21 FEBRUARY
i. UNESCO has celebrated International Mother Language Day on 21 February. The 2018 theme is- "Linguistic diversity and multilingualism count for sustainable development".
ii. It has been organised for nearly 20 years with the aim of preserving linguistic diversity and promoting mother tongue-based multilingual education.

12.  GOOGLE LAUNCHES GOOGLE PAY TO TAKE ON APPLE PAY
i. Google has combined its two payment services, Google Wallet and Android Pay, into a new app called Google Pay.
ii. The platform includes features like the ability to pay at checkout counters with a smartphone or pay for public transportation.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. EMPLOYEES’ PROVIDENT FUND ORGANISATION HAS REDUCED THE INTEREST RATE ON DEPOSITS TO HOW MUCH % FOR 2017-18 FROM 8.65% FOR 2016-17?
a)  8.55%
b)  8.35%
c)  8.45%
d)  8.25%
Q2. THE 6TH EDITION OF ANNUAL JOINT MILITARY EXERCISE ‘GARUDA SHAKTI-2018’ HAS STARTED BETWEEN INDIA AND WHICH COUNTRY?
a)  Brazil
b)  Myanmar
c)  Sri Lanka
d)  Indonesia
Q3. INDIA WAS RANKED AT WHICH POSITION ON THE GLOBAL CORRUPTION PERCEPTION INDEX 2017?
a)  78
b)  89
c)  81
d)  72
Q4. AVANI CHATURVEDI HAS BECOME THE FIRST INDIAN WOMAN TO FLY FIGHTER AIRCRAFT SOLO. SHE HAILS FROM WHICH STATE?
a)  Rajasthan
b)  Madhya Pradesh
c)  Himachal Pradesh
d)  Gujarat
Q5. WHICH INDIAN STATE SIGNED A MOU WITH TAIWAN FOR BETTER TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIP?
a)  Telangana
b)  Maharashtra
c)  Andhra Pradesh
d)  Uttar Pradesh

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