Current
Affairs Daily Updates: 09 and 10 January 2018
1. Haryana
Becomes First State to Launch High Risk Pregnancy Portal
- Haryana becomes the first state
in the country to launch High-Risk Pregnancy (HRP) Portal.
- This portal not only helps in
early identification of high-risk pregnant cases up to the grass-roots
level but also ensures their timely referral to the civil hospitals for
further management and delivery by specialists.
- This innovative web application
has been designed to track every high-risk pregnant woman till 42 days
after delivery so that she receives adequate treatment during the
ante-natal period for the healthy outcome of pregnancy.
2. Bilateral Annual Haj 2018 Agreement between
India and Saudi Arabia Signed
- According to the Union Minister
for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Saudi Arabia given the
green signal for India’s decision to revive the option of sending Haj
pilgrims through sea route also.
- The practice of ferrying Haj
pilgrims between Mumbai and Jeddah by waterways was stopped in 1995.
- For the first time, Muslim women
from India will go to Haj without “Mehram” (male companion).
- Separate accommodation and
transport have been arranged for these women Haj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
and women “Haj Assistant” will be deployed for their assistance.
3. Philippe Coutinho Joins Barcelona Becomes 2nd
Most Expensive Transfer in World Soccer History
- Team Liverpool sold Brazilian
football player Philippe Coutinho to Team Barcelona for 160 million Euros
($192 million).
- With this, transfer of Philippe
Coutinho has become the 2nd Most Expensive transfer in World Soccer
History.
- World’s most expensive transfer
is Brazilian football player Neymar’s transfer from Barcelona to Paris
Saint Germain team in 200 million pounds in 2017.
4. Iran bans teaching of English language in
primary schools to fight against western cultural invasion
- Iran banned the teaching of
English in primary schools after Islamic leaders warned that learning the
language opened the way to a Western 'cultural invasion'.
- Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei teachers that it does not mean opposition to learning a
foreign language, but a promotion of a foreign culture in the country and
among children, young adults, and youths.
- The teaching of English in Iran
usually starts between the ages of 12 to 14 but some primary schools below
that age also hold language classes.
5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Inaugurates 1st
PIO Parliamentary Conference in Delhi
- PM Narendra Modi inaugurates the
first Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) Parliamentary Conference in Delhi on
the occasion of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.
- The day is celebrated every year
to mark the contribution of the overseas Indian community in the
development of India.
- It also commemorates the return
of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to Mumbai on 9 January 1915. In the
Conference, the biggest delegation was from Guyana with 20 members of
parliament and three mayors.
- Established in 2003, and
sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India,
the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is held from 7-9 January every year.
6. Indias 1st Multi-Petaflop Supercomputer
Pratyush Dedicated to Nation
- Union Minister of Earth Sciences
Dr. Harsh Vardhan dedicated India’s fastest and first multi-petaflops
supercomputer named ‘Pratyush’ to the nation in Pune.
- It is established at the Indian
Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune.
- It will be a national facility
for improving weather and climate forecasts and services under the
umbrella of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
7. Delhi Government Launches Common Card for Bus
& Metro Rides
- Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal
launched a common card for rides on public buses and the metro.
- Delhi is the first city in the
country to have a common mobility card, which can at present be used on
200 DTC and 50 cluster buses plying on different routes, apart from metro
trains.
- The card, which will function
like a debit card, will be operational in all DTC and cluster buses from
April 2018.
8. Worlds Largest Ice Festival Held in China
- World’s largest Ice Festival
'International Ice and Snow Festival' was held in Harbin, China.
- This is one of China’s coldest
cities in the winter. It is the 34th annual Ice Festival in Harbin,
north-east China.
- It features sculptures of
Moscow’s Red Square and Bangkok’s Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
9. Germany denies achieving climate change goal
till 2020
- The goal to cut the carbon
emission by 2020 may be missed by Germany as the chancellor Angela Merkel
and her party has denied achieving the goal in next two years.
- To achieve the target of
lowering the emissions by 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels by about
five percentage points is on low chances.
- Despite a booming renewable
sector, Germany still gets 39% of its power from coal.
- A cross-party commission has
been established to create a phase-out plan for the dirty fuel, but it
remains a politically charged subject, with utilities and mining unions
playing for more time to transition.
- Germany likes to champion itself
as a climate leader.
10. Gujarat Tops Logistics Performance Index
Chart: Report
- Gujarat topped the logistics
index chart, according to a Report released by Union Minister for Commerce
& Industry Suresh Prabhu in New Delhi.
- The chart is an indicator of the
efficiency of logistical services necessary for promoting exports in
particular and economic growth in general.
- Among 22 states, Gujarat is
followed by Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra on the
index.
- The ranking is based on the
analysis of perception with regard to eight parameters, including
infrastructure, services, regulatory process and safety of cargo.
11. Direct Tax Collections for FY 2017-18 Show
Growth of 18.2% up to December, 2017
- The provisional figures of
Direct Tax collections up to December 2017 show that net collections are
at Rs. 6.56 lakh crore which is 18.2% higher than the net collections for
the corresponding period of last year.
- The net Direct Tax collections
represent 67% of the total Budget Estimates of Direct Taxes for Financial
Year 2017-18 (Rs. 9.8 lakh crore).
- Gross collections (before
adjusting for refunds) have increased by 12.6% to Rs. 7.68 lakh crore from
April to December 2017.
12. Union Government to launch new scheme for free
treatment of Hepatitis C
- The Union Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare is going to roll out National Programme for Control of
Viral Hepatitis, is going to roll out National Programme for Control of
Viral Hepatitis, a new scheme free treatment of Hepatitis C from the
2018-19 financial year.
- Under the new scheme, the focus
will be on anti-viral treatment of Hepatitis C which will be provided free
at all government health set-ups.
13. Indian Railways Launches Transparent and
Efficient New Online Vendor Registration System
- Research Designs & Standards
Organisation (RDSO), the research arm of Ministry of Railways, launched
“New Online Vendor Registration System”.
- This new system provides major
improvements and big changes in the registration system over the earlier
system.
- Public access to the
information, expeditious process completion with defined timelines,
simplification of procedures, round-the-year services, availability of all
related information on RDSO Website, constant monitoring at all levels,
reduction in cycle timelines, regular updating of online data,
user-friendly interface etc. are the hallmarks of the new system.
14. A R Rahman Becomes Sikkims Brand Ambassador
- Music composer A R Rahman became
the brand ambassador of Sikkim.
- The declaration was made by
Sikkim CM Pawan Kumar Chamling.
- Mr Chamling felicitated the
legendary music composer during an inauguration of the 11-day Sikkim Red
Panda Winter Carnival at Palzor Stadium in Gangtok.
15. Anchal Thakur Bags Bronze India's 1st
International Medal in Skiing
- Aanchal Thakur made history as
she won India's first ever international medal in skiing.
- The 21-year-old Manali resident
clinched bronze in the coveted Alpine Ejder 3200 Cup.
- The Championship was organized
by the Federation Internationale de Ski (skiing's international governing
body) in Erzurum, Turkey. She won the medal in the slalom race category.
16. World Bank Projects Indias Growth Rate at 7.3%
in 2018
- World Bank projected India’s
growth rate at 7.3 percent in 2018 and 7.5 for the next two years.
- According to the 2018 Global
Economics Prospect release, despite initial setbacks from demonetization
and Goods and Services Tax (GST), India’s economy is estimated to have
grown at 6.7 percent in 2017.
- India’s growth potential will be
around 7 percent for the next 10 years. In comparison with China, which is
slowing, the World Bank is expecting India to gradually accelerate.
