DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 26 DEC 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
1. ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY LAUNCHES PILOT PROJECT 'BLUE FLAG' FOR
BEACH CLEAN-UP
i. To enhance standards of cleanliness on beaches, the environment
ministry has launched a pilot project 'Blue Flag' for its clean-up and
development.
ii. With the prime objective of enhancing standards of
cleanliness, upkeep and basic amenities at beaches, the ministry has launched a
pilot project, also striving for the 'Blue Flag' certification for such
identified beaches.
iii. The 'Blue Flag' is a certification by the Foundation for
Environmental Education that a beach, Marina or sustainable boating tourism
operator, meets its stringent standards.
2. STATE-RUN BANKS' NPAS TOUCHED RS 7.34 LAKH CR- RBI DATA
i. Bad loans of Public sector banks stood at Rs 7.34 lakh cr by
the end of second quarter this fiscal, a bulk of which came from corporate
defaulters, private sector banks' NPAs were considerably low. Moreover, for the
recovery of the bad loans, the network of Debt Recovery Tribunals have been
expanded to 39 at present, as compared to 33 in 2016-17, according to data
furnished by the RBI and the government.
ii. The gross non-performing assets of the public sector and
private sector banks as on September 30, 2017, were Rs 7,33,974 cr and Rs
1,02,808 cr, respectively. Among the major government-owned banks, State Bank
of India had the highest level of NPAs at over Rs 1.86 lakh cr, followed by
Punjab National Bank (Rs 57,630 cr) and Bank of India (Rs 49,307 cr).
iii. Up to end-September, among private banks, ICICI Bank had the
most amounts of NPAs at Rs 44,237 cr, followed by Axis Bank (Rs 22,136 cr) and
HDFC Bank (Rs 7,644 cr).
3. UP GOVERNMENT SIGNS MOU WITH SOUTH KOREA
i. The Uttar Pradesh government signed an MoU with South Korea to
enhance cooperation in the field of tourism, skill development, culture and
farming.
ii. An agreement was signed in 2000 to develop Ayodhya and Gimhae
as sister cities, following which a memorial was constructed in Ayodhya which
is visited by a large number of tourists from South Korea every year.