Current
Affairs Daily Updates: 03 January 2017
1. India to
purchase 240 bombs,131 Barak Missiles to strengthen its Defence
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi led
central government right from the day one of its rules taken various
initiatives, decisions that have anonymously strengthened our country’s
defense sector.
- Notably, Defence Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman cleared two procurement proposals in a bid to strengthen
armed forces.
- The first proposal was related
to procurement of 240 bombs, at a cost of Rs. 1254 cr. from M/s JSC
Rosonboron Exports, Russia.
- These bombs fall under the
category of Precision Guided Munitions, are used by Indian Air Force
(IAF).
- This procurement will address
the deficiency of Precision Guided Munitions in the IAF arsenal, besides
enhancing the offensive capabilities of the IAF.
2. Eastern Railway arranges special trains for
Ganga Sagar Mela
- The Hindus from all over the
world reach the confluence of the Ganges at Sagar Sangam situated in
southern part of West Bengal in India during Gangasagar Mela.
- It is often said that one visit
to Gangasagar is worth lifetime.
- To control the rush of
pilgrimages to Gangasagar, Eastern Railway announced 13 special trains.
- The island of Gangasagar is
among the most popular Hindu pilgrimage places in the country.
- Each year on Makar Sankranti
(mid-January), the large number of devotees from all over the nation,
congregate at Gangasagar for a sacred dip at the convergence of the river
Ganga and the Bay of Bengal.
- After the sacred dip, the
pilgrims offer 'Puja' at the Kapil Muni Temple or Ashram.
3. India exempts biometric enrolment for cruise
tourists arriving with e-visa aims to boost tourism
- India an attractive cruise
tourist destination the central government has exempted cruise tourists
arriving with e-visa from the requirement of biometric enrolment for a
period of three years i.e. till 31.12.2020.
- The decision was taken by
Ministry of Home Affairs on request of the Ministry of Shipping.
- This will make immigration
clearance of such passengers faster, leaving them with more time to spend
on shore.
- This is also an important factor
that helps cruise lines decide whether or not to include a destination in
their itinerary.
4. Former
RAW chief Rajinder Khanna appointed deputy NSA
- Former chief of the country's
external intelligence agency RAW, Rajinder Khanna (1978- batch Research and Analysis Wing
Service (RAS) officer) has been appointed as the Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA).
- Mr. Khanna is at present Officer
on Special Duty (Neighbourhood Studies) in the National Security Council
Secretariat.
- Rajinder Khanna has supervised
several counter-terrorism operations and is considered an expert on
Pakistan and Islamic terrorism.
5. Pakistan State Bank Allows use of Chinese
Currency Yuan for Bilateral Trade & Investment Activities
- Pakistan allowed Chinese
currency Yuan for exports and financing transactions.
- According to Pakistan, external
affairs ministry, both public and private sector enterprises of Pakistan
and China are free to choose Yuan for bilateral trade and investment
activities.
- As per current foreign exchange
regulations, Chinese Yuan is an approved foreign currency for denominating
foreign currency transactions in Pakistan.
6. JNPT wins “Samudra Manthan - Caring
Organisation of the Year” award
- India’s Premier Container Port,
the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) has won the “Samudra Manthan -
Caring Organisation of the Year” award.
- The port is fully committed to
the welfare of its employees and their families.
- JNPT provides excellent facilities
to their staff like medical insurance, a residential township with school,
transport service, canteens, restrooms, recreation, sports activities and
regular training programs on various key topics.
- The award instituted by
Bhandarkar Shipping aims to fuel healthy competition in the maritime
sector.
7. G Sathiyan Becomes Indias Highest-Ranked Player
in Latest ITTF Rankings
- G Sathiyan becomes India’s
highest-ranked player in the latest International Table Tennis Federation
(ITTF) rankings.
- He surpasses his compatriot the
legendary Sharath Kamal.
- The current ranking of Sathiyan
is 49, pushing Kamal to the second spot at 51.
- As for the women, Manika Batra
is topping the world chart among Indians at 62th.
8. Parliament passes NABARD (Amendment) Bill, 2017
- Parliament has passed the
(NABARD)National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Amendment)
Bill, 2017 with the Rajya Sabha approving it.
- The Bill seeks to amend the
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Act, 1981.
- The Bill allows the union govt.
to increase the authorized capital of the Bank from Rs. 5,000 crores to Rs. 30,000 crores.
- The capital can be increased
further by the government in consultation with the RBI.
9. Finance Ministry to close subscription of 8%
Govt Savings (Taxable) Bonds, 2003
- The finance ministry has closed
subscription of 8% Government
Savings (Taxable) Bonds, 2003.
- In 2003, the government came out
with bonds for a fixed tenure of 6 years offering 8% interest to encourage
retail investors to invest.
- The decision to discontinue the
bond comes in the backdrop of declining interest rate in other saving
instruments, especially the Post Office small saving schemes.
- Earlier, the finance ministry
had reduced interest rate on various small saving schemes by 0.2%.
10. One Hundred Seventy First Araadhanai Music
Festival Begins in Tamil Nadu
- The 171st Aradhana Music
Festival of one of the Trinities of Carnatic music Saint Thyagaraja begins
in Thiruvaiyaru, Tamil Nadu.
- The festival was inaugurated by
Governor Banwarilal Purohit.
- The main function of the
festival is the choral singing of Thyagaraja’s five kritis in Ghana ragas.
- Over 1,000 musicians from all
over the world are expected to pay homage to Saint Thyagaraja during the
course of the five-day festival.
11. Reserve Bank of India Bonds Scheme Being
Replaced by 7.75% Savings Bonds Scheme
- According to the Finance
Ministry, RBI Bonds Scheme closed but the interest rate on such papers
lowered to 7.75 percent.
- The 8 percent Savings Bonds
Scheme, also known as RBI Bonds Scheme, is not being closed but is being
replaced by 7.75 percent Savings Bonds Scheme.
- These taxable bonds are meant
for individual other than Non-Resident Indians with no maximum limit for
investment.
12. Karnataka to Hold Largest B2B Travel Event in
the Country
- The Karnataka government
announced that 'Karnataka International Travel Expo' (KITE) will be held
from February 28, billing it as the "largest" B2B travel event
in the country.
- The three-day event will see
close to 400 delegates from 25 countries take part.
- The main aim is to project
Karnataka globally and attract tourist footfall with emphasis on promoting
the state's wildlife, luxury and adventure destinations, historical
monuments and UNESCO world heritage sites.
13. Health
Secretary launches the Allied Health Professionals Database Portal
- Ms. Preeti Sudan, Secretary,
Health and Family Welfare launched the Allied and Healthcare
Professionals’ database portal. The ministry aims to ensure better systems
and frameworks for the healthcare workforce of the country
- The link to the website portal
is a2hp.mohfw.gov.in. More than 3000 professionals have already registered
on the portal during the testing phase.
- The portal will help the
Government in tracking down the number of professionals and streams of
allied and healthcare professions in the country.
14. India’s
GDP growth at 6.5% in FY18: HSBC
- India’s growth rate is expected
to accelerate in 2018 and it will improve further to 7.6 per cent by
2019-20 as key sectors would regain from disruptions related to the
implementation of GST and demonetisation.
- HSBC expects India’s’ growth at
around 6.5 percent in 2017-18, 7.0 per cent in 2018-19 and 7.6 in 2019-20,
respectively.
- HSBC Holdings plc is a British
multinational banking and financial services holding company.
15. Centre
Unveiled Contours of ‘Electoral Bonds’ Scheme
- The Centre unveiled the contours
of the ‘Electoral Bonds’ scheme, which seeks to ensure the flow of clean
money to political parties, without revealing the donors’ names.
- As per the Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley, the electoral bonds will be a bearer instrument in the nature of
a Promissory Note and an interest-free banking instrument. A citizen of
India or a body incorporated in India will be eligible to purchase the
bond from specified branches of the State Bank of India.
- The bonds can be purchased for
any value in multiples of Rs1,000; Rs10,000; Rs1 lakh; Rs10 lakh; and Rs1
crore.
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