Current Affairs December 19, 2017

NATIONAL

Tata Power Renewable Energy establishes 100 MW project in Karnataka

Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd India(TPREL) has commissioned its 100 MW solar plant project at Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka.

TPREL, the Tata Power wholly-owned subsidiary, has built the two 50 MW solar plants on over 533 acres. The company’s total installed operating capacity now stands at 1,614MW. Through this plant, the company has entered into a 25 years power purchase agreement with NTPC at a tariff of Rs. 4.79 per unit.

Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited

Headquarters: Mumbai

CEO: Rahul Shah

Losar Festival celebrated in Ladakh, Jammu&Kashmir

The ten-day long festival of Losar festival has begun in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. The festival is celebrated to mark the new year. Losar is Tibetan word for ‘new year’.

Losar Festival is an important festival in winter months. It includes several ritual performances and traditional events during the celebrations, which turned into one of major events for visitors in winter.

Jammu&Kashmir

Capital: Srinagar (Summer) and Jammu (Winter)

Chief Minister: Mehbooba Mufti

Governor: Narinder Nath Vohra

Eastern India’s First CNG Stations inaugurated by Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan

The Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has inaugurated eastern India’s first compressed natural gas (CNG) stations for scooters in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. He also launched CNG-run scooters and auto-rickshaws.

The environment-friendly fuel will help in reducing air pollution.The CNG stations are launched under GAIL’s Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga and City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

Odisha

Capital: Bhubaneswar

Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik

Governor: S. C. Jamir.

Andhra Pradesh government signs agreements with Alphabet X for Fibergrid project

The Andhra Pradesh government has signed an agreement with Alphabet InC.’s X to bring the Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) technology in the state.

They will supply and deploy two thousand cutting-edge Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) links for Andhra Pradesh (AP) fiber-grid.

Through this network, the state government promises to give 10-20 Mbps connectivity for all households and 1-10 Gbps for institutions and multi-dwelling units.The agreement was signed by Nara Lokesh, minister of IT, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

Andhra Pradesh

Capital: Hyderabad

Chief Minister: N. Chandrababu Naidu

Governor: E.S.L Narasimhan

Andhra Approves Pension, house plot for trans Genders

The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet approved a scheme to provide a pension of Rs 1500 to transgenders above 18 years of age in the state. Under this scheme the transgenders will be provided ration cards, plots and scholarships, also skill development for financial stability.

It has been identified that there are 26,000 eligible transgenders in the state and Cabinet nodded to pay pensions to them.After Kerala and Odisha, Andhra Pradesh becomes the next state to sanction pension scheme for the transgender community.

A Chandranna pelli kanuka (marriage gift) scheme will also be launched in February 2018, under which the Backward Classes will receive Rs 30,000/-, the Scheduled Castes and The Scheduled Tribes Rs 50,000/- as gift at the time of marriage.

Skill Development Ministry and Maruti Suzuki inks pact to impart skill training

The Skill Development Ministry and Maruti Suzuki have signed an agreement to impart training to youth and enhance their employment potential.

The MoU was signed by Vijay Kumar Dev, Director General, DGT, MSDE, and Mukesh Kumar Gupta, Vice President, Maruti Suzuki India Limited in New Delhi in the presence of Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Anantkumar Hegde.

Maruti Suzuki in consultation with DGT will develop specific training modules as per need of the automobile industry. The automobile manufacturer will ensure the eligible trainees take up apprenticeship / higher education in suitable streams and shall also guide the students to become entrepreneurs.

INTERNATIONAL

India has largest diaspora population In Word: UN Report

Indian diaspora is world’s largest  with more than 15.6 million people from India living overseas. After India, Mexico has the second largest diaspora followed by China.

The report was released by International Organisation for Migration.

The International Organization for Migration is an intergovernmental organization that provides services and advice concerning migration to governments and migrants, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrant workers.

IOM

Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

Director General: William Lacy Swing

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Government ties up with ICICI Bank to Enable Cashless Payments on e-NAM

The government has engaged private lender ICICI Bank to enable online payments at 470 mandis. It has been integrated with the national portal of electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM).

At present, e-NAM participants are doing payments through traditional ways via bank branches, debit cards, and net banking.

ICICI Bank will enable BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on the e-NAM portal for making cashless payments.

ICICI BANK

Headquarters: Mumbai

ICICI CEO: Chanda Kochhar

Tagline: Hum Hai na, Khayal Apka

Airtel to acquire Millicom’s operations in Rwanda

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has signed an agreement with Millicom International Cellular S.A. to acquire entire (100%) stake in its Rwanda operation which operates under the brand name of Tigo Rwanda.

Under this deal, Tigo’s 370 million customers will join the network of Airtel Rwanda. The acquisition will make Airtel Rwanda the second largest operator in the country.

Rwanda

Capital: Kigali

Currency: Rwandan franc

President: Paul Kagame

RBI Imposes Rs 5 crore Penalty on Syndicate Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 crore on Syndicate Bank. It has been paid for their non-compliance with directions on “Cheque Purchase or Discounting, Bill Discounting, and Know Your Customer (KYC)” norms.

According to the RBI, the penalty was imposed after “considering the bank’s reply and oral submissions made in the personal hearing”.

Syndicate Bank

Headquarters: Manipal, Karnataka

MD & CEO: Melwyn Rego

Tagline: A Faithful & Friendly Financial Partner

AWARDS AND HONOURS

Mo Farah Wins BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year Award

World 10,000m champion Sir Mo Farah has been honoured with BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017. He becomes the first long-distance runner to win the Sports Personality award since Paula Radcliffe in 2002.

The 34-year-old, a four-time Olympic champion, won his third successive world 10,000m gold medal in London. The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award is the main award of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony, which takes place each December.

Satheesh Reddy Conferred with National Design Award

Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri and Director General, Missiles and Strategic Systems, has been conferred with the prestigious National Design Award.

He has played a major role in indigenous design and development of weapon systems, formulation of national policies, harnessing the research and innovation in industry, academia and R&D institutes.

He will be receiving the Award during the Indian Engineering Congress in chennai.

He is also a recipient of the National Aeronautical Prize, National Systems Gold Medal, Dr Biren Roy Space Science Design Award, Rocket Related technologies Award, Science Congress Lifetime Achievement Award.

SPORTS

India win 10 medals in Wushu Sanda Asian Cup

India has won 10 medals that includes 5-Silver and 5-Bronze medals in the first Wushu Sanda Asian Cup in Guangzhou, China. Rajvir Singh was the coach of the Indian contingent.

The Silver medal winners were: Praveen in 48kg, Mukesh Chaoudhary (70kg), Rajender Singh (90kg), Arunpama Devi (60kg) and Vishakhaptnam Malik (70kg).

The bronze medals were won by Uchit Sharma (52kg), L Budhdhachandra Singh(56kg), Rajani Deori (75kg), Y Sanathoi Devi (52kg), and Pooja Kadian(65kg).

India beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets; win series 2-1

India have clinched the One-Day International series 2-1 against Sri Lanka. India also recorded their eighth successive win in a bilateral contest.

India and Sri Lanka will play their first T20 at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack next week.

OBITUARY

Iconic Vocalist Keely Smith Passes Away

American Keely Smith, the iconic jazz and pop vocalist who achieved success as both a solo artist and with her musical partnership with first husband Louis Prima passes away.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Migrants Day – December 18

The United Nations (UN) International Migrants Day is observed every year on December 18.  The 2017 Theme:“Safe Migration in a World on the Move”.

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