Current
Affairs Daily Updates: 14th Dec 2017
1. India Becomes 1st Ever Team to Register Hundred
300+ ODI Totals
- India become the first-ever team
to register 300+ totals 100 times in ODIs, after posting 392/4 against Sri
Lanka in Mohali.
- This was also the 25th instance
of India scoring 350+ in an ODI innings, second-most by a team after South
Africa (26). India was driven by captain Rohit Sharma's 208*, his third
ODI double hundred which is also a record in ODIs.
2. Union Government inks $250 million Loan
Agreement with World Bank for SANKALP Project
- The Union Government signed US
$250 million loan agreement with World Bank for “Skills Acquisition and
Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion.
- The World Bank’s financing arm
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) will provide
this loan.
- The main objective is to enhance
institutional mechanisms for skills development and increase access to
quality and market-relevant training for the workforce.
3. South Korea bans its banks from dealing in
Bitcoin
- South Korea banned its financial
institutions from dealing in virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, as the
cryptocurrency soars in a bubble fuelled by retail speculators, many of
them from the country.
- There are many of them
small-time investors, are estimated to own Bitcoins and demand is so high
that prices for the unit are around 20 percent higher than in the US, its
biggest market.
- The hyper-wired country has
emerged as a hotbed for cryptocurrency trading, accounting for some 20
percent of global Bitcoin transactions about 10 times its share of the
world economy.
- About one million South Koreans,
many of them small-time investors, are estimated to own Bitcoins, and
demand is so high that prices for the unit are around 20 percent higher
than in the US, its biggest market.
4. Shri Narendra Modi Inducts Scorpene-Class
Submarine Kalvari into Indian Navy
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi
commissioned India's first modern conventional submarine, INS Kalvari,
into Navy's fleet in Mumbai, a first in almost two decades.
- Kalvari is the first of the six
Scorpene-class submarines handed over by shipbuilder Mazagon Dock Limited
(MDL).
- The Navy last inducted a
conventional diesel-electric submarine, INS Sindhushastra, procured from
Russia in July 2000.
5. Indian Railways introduces Online Bill tracking
system for Vendors & Contractors
- Indian Railways have introduced
a bill tracking system for contractors/vendors of Indian Railways to track
the status of their bills.
- This is in line with the
emphasis given by Minister of Railways & Coal, Piyush Goyal on
increased use of information technology to go digital and online with a
view to promoting transparency and efficiency in the system.
- The vendor/contractor need to
register with the online IT platform developed in-house by CRIS, New Delhi
called Indian Railways E-Procurement System (IREPS).
- The registration enables the
vendor/agencies to see their bill status with dates through various stages
of processing of bills, the stage at which it is lying, the amount for
which it is passed and other details.
6. Jammu and Kashmir Government to regularize as
many as 60,000 daily wagers and casual labourers soon
- Jammu and Kashmir government’s
one decision has brought a smile on the faces of thousand workers.
- Notably, Jammu and Kashmir
government will soon regularize as many as 60,000 daily wagers and casual
labourers.
- Chief Minister of Jammu and
Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti announced to regularize 60,000 daily wagers and
casual labourers, the string of happiness was spread in the houses of
those labourers.
7. India Ranks 100 in Global Prosperity Index
- India upgraded its ranks in ‘The
Legatum Prosperity Index 2017’ and is now in 100th position.
- At present, the rising trend in
India’s prosperity is significant in view of the fact that India
registered lower economic growth following demonetisation and
implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) reform in 2017.
- The index, which offers an insight
into how prosperity is forming and changing across the world, ranks India
100th on the list of prosperous countries among 149 countries.
8. BCCI Lifts Ban On Rajasthan Cricket Association
- The Board of Control for Cricket
in India decided to lift the ban on the Rajasthan Cricket Association
(RCA) provided former IPL chief Lalit Modi stays away from its
functioning, the Board decided in its Special General Meeting (SGM).
- The RCA was suspended by the
Indian cricket board in May 2014 when ex-Indian Premier League (IPL)
Commissioner Modi was re-elected its president.
9. OBOPAY Gets Pre-Paid Instrument Licence from
Reserve Bank of India
- OBOPAY announced that the
company has secured a licence for Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) from
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate a semi-closed loop wallet in
the country.
- The company would also be using
the licence to increase business in its B2B (business-to-business)
operations by co-branding the prepaid instrument with a partner brand.
10. Twenty Seventh National Energy Conservation
Day is observed as 14 December
- The National Energy Conservation
Day is celebrated annually on 14th December.
- The 14th President of India Mr.
Ram Nath Kovind was the Chief Guest on the occasion.
- The ECD is organized on 14th
December each year by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), under Ministry of
Power.
- The Day is celebrated with an
aim to demonstrate India’s achievements in energy efficiency and
conservation.
11. Telangana Government set to bear financial
burden of 24X7 power supply scheme
- Telangana government earlier
rolled out the 24X7 power supply especially for farmers, now set to bear
all the financial burden of the scheme by incurring it into the fiscal
budget.
- Such meters have the potential
of running round-the-clock with 24x7 power supply, thereby depleting water
in the lower depth borewells.
- The Chief Minister called for an
elaborate campaign to inform the agriculture consumers about the 24x7
power supply and how best they could make use of the supply.
- He directed some precautionary
measures be taken to address these issues, including faster depletion of
the precious resource.
- The power utilities in the State
have strengthened the infrastructure with an investment of over 12,000
crores on improving the transmission and distribution systems in the
State.
12. Maharashtra to achieve PM Narendra Modi dream
of giving everyone home Set to legalize slums built till 2017
- Maharashtra government set to
legalize all slums built till 2017. The state government plans to extend
the cut-off year to regularize 3.5 lakh unauthorized slums in the city to
2017 from 2011.
- Maharashtra government steps on
the way to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of giving everyone
a home by 2022.
- This move will also help boost
redevelopment projects such as like Dharavi.
- It's a step in the right
direction to realise the PM's goal of giving everyone a home by 2022 under
the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
- The Slum Rehabilitation
Authority (SRA) has given a Letter of Intent (LOI) to 1531 SRA projects in
the city, which will yield about 4.41 lakh new houses.
13. Union Government to set up 12 Special Courts
to deal with cases against tainted lawmakers
- The Union Government framed a
scheme to set up 12 Special Courts for a year to fast-track the trial of
criminal cases against 1,581 MPs and MLAs.
- The Initially, 12 courts would
be constituted.
- Two special courts will handle
cases against 228 MPs and remain 10 courts will be set up in 10 states.
14. India and Morocco Sign MoU for Enhanced
Cooperation in Healthcare
- India and Morocco signed a MoU
for enhanced cooperation in the health sector in New Delhi.
- Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister of
Health & Family Welfare and Dr Abdelkader Amara, Ministry of Health,
Kingdom of Morocco signed the MoU.
- The main areas of cooperation
include the following:
- Non-communicable diseases,
including child cardiovascular diseases and cancer;
- Drug Regulation and
Pharmaceutical quality control;
- Maternal, child and neonatal
health;
- Hospital twinning for the
exchange of good practices.
