Current
Affairs Daily Updates: 01 and 02 January 2018
1. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe named as ICCR Chief
- National vice-president of the
BJP, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who is also a member of Rajya Sabha has been
appointed the President of Indian Council of Cultural Relations.
- He will replace Lokesh Chandra
who had been appointed by the NDA government in October 2014 and has
completed his three-year term.
2. Women
& Child Development Ministry Inaugurated Online Portal NARI
- Women and Child Development
Minister Maneka Gandhi inaugurated an online portal NARI in New Delhi for
the empowerment of women.
- The portal will provide women
with easy access to information on government schemes and initiatives for
women. The portal summarises over 350 government schemes and other
important information.
3. Israel Withdraws from UNESCO
- Israel filed notice to withdraw
from the UNESCO alongside the United States.
- Israel has blasted UNESCO in
recent years over the organization's criticism of Israel's occupation of
East Jerusalem and its decision to grant full membership to Palestine in
2011.
- Israel was the member of UNESCO
since 1949. Both Israel and the US have filed its own withdrawal notice in
October 2017.
4. Arunachal Pradesh Declared Open Defecation Free
- Arunachal Pradesh declared open
defecation free ahead of the national deadline of October 2, 2019.
- The milestone was achieved after
the state announced an incentive of Rs 8,000 in addition to the Rs
12,000-grant provided by the Centre for building toilets.
- Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Haryana were declared open defecation free
states in October 2017.
5. Pankaj Jain Assumes Charge as IIFCL Managing
Director
- Pankaj Jain, Joint Secretary in
the Department of Financial Services (DFS), has assumed charge as the
Managing Director of India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL).
- He will be holding additional
charge of IIFCL along with his present position as Joint Secretary at DFS.
6. India Hosting 10 ASEAN Leaders on Republic Day
2018
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi
announced the Republic Day celebration in 2018 would be "remembered
through the ages" because the government for the first time in
India's history would host leaders of 10 ASEAN countries as chief guests
on 26th January 2018.
- "The Republic Day will be
celebrated with leaders of all 10 (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
ASEAN countries coming to India as chief guests.
- This time, not one but 10 chief
guests would grace the Republic Day.
7. Vijay Keshav Gokhale appointed as Foreign
Secretary
- Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav
Gokhale has been appointed a foreign secretary of India.
- He has succeeded S Jaishankar.
- Mr. Gokhale served as Indian
Ambassador to China, Germany and as Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia
in the past.
- He is at present secretary
(economic relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
8. Indian Golfer Shiv Kapur Wins Royal Cup at
Pattaya
- Indian golfer Shiv Kapur won the
Royal Cup at Pattaya, which is his third Asian Tour title of 2017.
- The 35-year-old, who had just
one win in almost 11 years till April 2017 now won three times in last
eight months.
- This latest win marks Kapur’s
fourth Asian Tour win and sixth international title as he won twice on
European Challenge Tour.
9. State Bank of India Reduces Base Rate and
Benchmark Prime Lending Rates Each by 30 bps
- The State Bank of India reduced
the base rate and benchmark prime lending rates by 30 basis points each,
which will benefit nearly 80 lakh customers on the old pricing regime.
- SBI revised down the base rate
to 8.65 percent for existing customers from 8.95 percent, while the
benchmark prime lending rates are down from 13.7 percent, to 13.4 percent.
- The one-year MCLR of the bank
stands unchanged at 7.95 percent.
10. Women & Child Development Ministry
Inaugurated Online Portal NARI
- Women and Child Development
Minister Maneka Gandhi inaugurated an online portal NARI in New Delhi for
the empowerment of women.
- The portal will provide women
with easy access to information on government schemes and initiatives for
women.
- The portal summarises over 350
government schemes and other important information. It provides links to
the Ministries, Departments and autonomous bodies offering these schemes
as well as easy access to online applications and grievance redressal.
11. Assamese and Manipuri Versions of PM Narendra
Modi Official Website Launched
- The Assamese and Manipuri
language versions of Prime Minister’s Official website- www.pmindia.gov.in were launched.
- Now the PM INDIA website is
available in 11 regional languages namely Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati,
Kannada, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu in
addition to English and Hindi.
12. Saudi Arabia and UAE Introduce VAT for First
Time
- Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) introduced value-added tax (VAT).
- These are the first two
countries in the Gulf which have introduced the VAT system.
- The 5% levy is being applied to
the majority of goods and services.
- The UAE estimates that in the first
year, VAT income will be around 12 billion dirhams. Petrol and diesel,
food, clothes, utility bills and hotel rooms all now have VAT applied.
- But some outgoings have been
made exempt from the tax, or given a zero-tax rating, including medical
treatment, financial services and public transport.
13. Veteran Poet Anwar Jalalpuri Passes Away
- Noted Urdu poet Anwar Jalalpuri
passed away at the age of 71 in Lucknow. He suffered a brain stroke.
- Anwar Jalalpuri is best known
for his translation of shloks of Bhagavad Gita into Urdu verses.
14. S-400 Missile loan deal between Turkey and
Russia
- Turkey and Russia have signed a
loan agreement worth $2.5 billion in which Russia will provide four
batteries of S-400 surface to air missile system and Turkey in turn will
pay 45% of the cost up front with Moscow.
