Current Affairs Daily Updates 21st January 2017
APPOINTMENTS
James Mattis appointed as
US Secretary of Defence:
- Retired
General James Mattis was sworn in as US Secretary of Defense, making him
the first cabinet member of President Donald Trump to be cleared to take
office.
- The
Senate's 98-1 vote confirmed his appointment, as Trump signed a waiver
exempting Mattis from a law that blocked senior officers from leading the
Pentagon within seven years of retirement.
Mike Pence becomes the 48th Vice President of USA:
- Mike
Pence was sworn in as the 48th Vice President of the United States at the
Inauguration Day ceremony in Washington DC.
- Pence
took oath with his hand on a pair of Bibles– his personal copy and another
that belonged to his political idol, Ronald Reagan.
- Pence
had earlier served as the Governor of Indiana.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
Himachali film awarded at
US film festival
- For
the first time, a film made in a Himachali dialect "Saanjh" gets
international recognition by grabbing best feature film award at
international Borrego Springs Film Festival held in California, US.
- The
film emerged winner beating 750 other nominated films from across the
globe.
- Film
director and producer Ajay Saklani hails from Mandi district.
ISKCON’s Govardhan eco village bags UN award
- ISKCON’s
Govardhan eco village in Thane district has been conferred with the UNWTO
Award for Innovation in the category of Non-Governmental
Organisations(NGO) at he annual United Nations World Tourism Organisation
(UNWTO) Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism at Madrid in
Spain.
- Govardhan
eco village become the first village in India has recognized by UN in the
NGO sector.ISKCON's Govardhan eco village bags UN award.The village
received this honour for its initiative of eco tourism as a catalyst for
rural development.
BANKING AFFAIRS
Coop. banks cannot accept
deposits under PMGKY
- The
government has announced that cooperative banks will not be authorised to
accept deposits under the Pradhan Mantry Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme.
- Under
the scheme, all those who are declaring previously undisclosed income
under the Scheme have to place 25% of the amount being declared in an
interest-free fixed deposit with a lock-in period of four years.
INS
Vikramaditya: First to be installed with ATM
- INS
Vikramaditya will soon to have an ATM onboard. The cash dispensing machine
will operate via a satellite communication link.
- Vikramaditya
will be the first ever warship to have such facility. Earlier, INS VIRAAT
was equipped with a telephone link based ATM with limited access.
- Around
2000 people Posted on the warship will now enjoy the benefit.
- State
Bank of India will launch the ATM facility onboard premier warship.
Cooperative banks can't accept deposits under PMGKY: Govt
- Government
has clarified that Co-operative Banks are not authorised to accept
deposits under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme (PMGKDS).
- The
scheme allows assessees to disclose previously unaccounted and undeclared
income under its ambit.
- The
PMGKDS permits voluntary declarations of previously undisclosed income
with an effective tax rate of 50% and requires assessees to deposit a
further 25% of such wealth into a four-year interest-free deposit.
- The
scheme was launched on 17th of last month and will remain open for
declarations upto 31st March this year.
Kerala Gramin Bank to propagate financial literacy among
school children
- Aimed
at propagating financial literacy among school children, Kerala Gramin
Bank has conceived a novel programme called FI@School.
- Under
the project, every branch of the bank has to identify and enter into a
virtual tie up with a school in its locality preferably an upper primary
school to organise various programmes such as formation of financial
literacy clubs, account opening camps at schools, junior debit card distribution,
financial literacy related classes, distribution of financial literacy
booklets, competition on financial literacy etc.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Kwality partners Bank of
Baroda for Rs 4000 crore loan to farmers
- Dairy
firm Kwality Ltd said it has signed an agreement with Bank of Baroda for
providing Rs 4,000 crore loans to the former's one lakh farmers from whom
the company procures milk.
- The
company has a network of about 3.25 lakh across about 4,500 villages in
Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan which are amongst the largest milk
producing states of India.
- Kwality
Ltd would cover the remaining farmers in subsequent phases over a period
of time.
- The
scheme is aimed at providing financial assistance to improve
socio-economic lives of farmers and steer them towards digitisation.
- Farmers
would get loans up to Rs 4 lakh at less than 9 per cent interest rates.
RBI imposes Rs 75 lakh penalty on Bombay Mercantile
Cooperative Bank
- India’s
central banking institution, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a
penalty of Rs 75lakhs on Bombay Mercantile Co-operative Bank for
violations of norms related to KYC and anti-money laundering.
- RBI
had issued a notice regarding this to the bank and the bank has submitted
its written reply. The Mercantile Bank of Bombay was an Anglo-Indian bank
with business focus in the Far East.
- The
Mercantile Bank of Bombay was renamed to Mercantile Bank of India, London,
and China in 1857.Founded in 1853 Headquarters in London.
IMPORTANT DAYS REMEMBERED
45th Statehood Day
celebrated in Manipur, Tripura, and Meghalaya:
- Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on 21st January wished joy and
prosperity for the people of Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya on the
occasion of their 45th Statehood Day.
- The
three states attained statehood in 1972 under the North-Eastern Areas
(Re-organisation) Act, 1971.
- While
Meghalaya was a part of Assam before becoming a full-fledged state,
Manipur and Tripura were Union Territories before 1972.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
India beats US, No. 1 in
Google Play app usage
- Mobile
users in India downloaded the most number of apps from Google Play app
store in 2016.
- With
over 6 billion app downloads, India, which was in the third position in
2015, surpassed the US, according to a report by global app analytics firm
App Annie.
- Brazil
took the third spot with a little over 5 billion downloads.
- China
is not part of the Google Play (Android) rankings because the country has
blocked Google. However, it was Number one in iOS (Apple) app store
downloads.
First China-Britain
freight train arrives in London
- The
first China-to-Britain freight train run by Yiwu Timex Industrial
Investment arrived in London after completing a 7,500-mile journey in
18-days.
- This
marks a milestone in China’s push to build commercial links across Europe
and Asia.
- The
train had started its journey from Yiwu, a wholesale market town in the
eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang and passed through Russia,
Kazakhstan, Belarus, Poland, Germany, Belgium, France and the English
Channel to reach Britain.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Government Constitutes
Negotiation Committee on Mahanadi & its Tributaries
- The
Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga
Rejuvenation led by Uma Bharti has formed a Negotiations Committee to
determine the availability and utilization of waters of the river Mahanadi
and its tributaries.
- The
committee has been asked to submit its report within three months. The
committee would be consisting of 11 members under the chairmanship of a
representative from Water Planning and Projects Wing (WP&P) and
Central Water Commission (CWC).
Bihar government launched Nasha Mukt campaign to make state
addiction-free
- With
an aim to make the state addiction-free, the state government of Bihar on
21 January 2017 launched a Nasha Mukt campaign in the state.
- The
Nasha Mukt campaign saw participation of about two crore people. The
participants including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, all teachers and
students of schools and colleges formed human chains across the state.
- The
total length of the chain was 11292 kilometres. It will cover all
panchayats of the state.
India Innovation Index to measure performance of Indian states
- The
World Economic Forum (WEF), NITI Aayog, World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) and Cornell University will work to develop an India
Innovation Index to provide impetus to states to drive innovative spirit.
- Based
on the WEF’s GII (Global Innovation Index), the India Innovation Index
will be tailored to better reflect of India’s ground reality and include
metrics well suited to the Indian context for innovation.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY / DEFENCE AFFAIRS
TeamIndus proposes
nameplate on the Moon for a price
- TeamIndus,
a space start-up based in Bengaluru, has proposed an opportunity to its
donors to leave their name on moon. For this purpose, people will have to
pay Rs 500.
- As
per the plan, names of the donors will be micro-engraved on a small-sized
aluminium object and placed on the lunar surface which will land on moon
on 26 January 2018.
- As
per Sheelika Ravishankar, Jedi Master - Marketing and Outreach of
TeamIndus, the plan is part of a crowd-funding effort.
SPORTS AFFAIRS
St Petersburg unveils logo
for UEFA Euro Cup 2020
- Russia’s
second largest city St Petersburg has launched an official
emblem for the 2020 UEFA Euro Cup during a
solemn ceremony.
- The
city is the last of the 13 UEFA Euro 2020 host cities to
unveil its host city logo.
- Three
group stage matches
and a quarter-final will take place at St Petersburg’s stadium.
- The
logo sees each of the 13 host city logos feature a single bridge from St
Petersburg.
- The picturesque
Palace Bridge is the key element of St Petersburg's host city
logo.
