DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : JANUARY 18, 2018

NATIONAL

Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojana (MMKSY) in Odisha

  • Odisha govt. has launched Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojana (MMKSY) for artists. Under this yojana artists will receive a financial assistance of Rs. 1200 per month.
  • Under this scheme, male artists with minimum 50 years of age and female artists with minimum 40 years of age can avail the financial assistance under this scheme.
  • This scheme will benefit around 50,000 artists across the state.

Odisha

Capital: Bhubaneswar

Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik

Governor: S.C. Jamir

Israeli PM Netanyahu Inaugurates Geo-Political Conference Raisina Dialogue

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inaugurated the third edition of the geo-political conference, ‘Raisina Dialogue’, in New Delhi.
  • The event, jointly organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
  • The conference is a multilateral conference aimed at addressing challenging issues globally. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will also be a part of the inaugural session.
  • The theme of the dialogue this year is ‘Managing Disruptive Transitions: Ideas, Institutions and Idioms’.

Israel

Capital: Jerusalem

Currency: Israeli new shekel

President: Reuven Rivlin

India Test-Fires Nuclear-Capable ICBM Agni-V

  • India test fired Intercontinental 5000-km range surface to surface nuclear capable ballistic missile Agni-V.
  • It was launched from Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast.
  • It can even reach the northern-most parts of China with its strike range of over 5,000-km.
  • The Strategic Forces Command is responsible for the management and administration of the country’s tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile.

Punjab Inks MoU with Indian Oil Corporation

  • The Punjab government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Oil Corporation to set up bio-gas and bio-CNG plants in the state.
  • The pact is to find sustainable solutions to paddy straw burning, which has emerged as a major environmental concern.The plant will be set up at a total investment of Rs 5,000 crore.
  • The MoU with IOC was signed by Punjab Bureau of Industrial Promotion (PBIP) and Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) in the presence of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
  • The plant will be set up at a total investment of Rs 5,000 crore.
  • The project will be initiated with 42 plants becoming operational in 2018. It will be scaled up to 400 plants over the next 3-4 years, making it the one of the biggest such projects in the country.

IOC Chief General Manager: Subodh Kumar

Punjab

Capital: Chandigarh

Chief Minister: Amarinder Singh

Governor: V P Singh Badnore

65th Meeting of CABE Held in New Delhi

  • The second day of the 65th Meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) was held in New Delhi.
  • It was held under the Chairmanship of Union Human Resource Development Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar.
  • The meeting was attended by the Union Minister for Culture and MoS(Independent Charge) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr. Mahesh Sharma and Dr. Satya Pal Singh, Minister of State for HRD.
  • The Central Advisory Board of Education, the oldest and the most important advisory body of the Government of India in education was first established in 1920.

BBIN pact: India, Bangladesh, Nepal gives nod for vehicle movement procedure

  • Bangladesh, India and Nepal have given nod to operating procedures for movement of passenger vehicles in the sub-region under Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) motor vehicles agreement.
  • It is a sub-regional agreement to allow vehicles to enter each other’s territory for passengers, transportation and cargo.
  • BBIN motor vehicles agreement (MVA) was signed by the transport ministers of the BBIN countries in Thimphu, Bhutan.
  • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing technical and financial assistance to the BBIN MVA initiative.

INTERNATIONAL

India attends its first SCO military cooperation meeting

  • India for the first time took part in a meeting of the international military cooperation departments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in China.
  • An Indian delegation led by Major General Ajay Seth participated in the meeting.
  • They discussed the issues of practical cooperation among SCO nations.
  • The SCO is comprised of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

SCO

Headquarters: Beijing, China

Secretary General: Rashid Alimov

China Launches World’s largest Air Purifier

  • The world’s largest air purifier is built in Xian in Shaanxi province of northern China.
  • It is built at a 100 metre high, nearly 328 feet tall air purifier.
  • The preliminary results have shown that smog levels have come down and there is some improvement in the air quality.
  • According to the Lancet report, air pollution in China killed about 1.8 million people.

China

Capital: Beijing

Currency: Renminbi

President: Xi Jinping

AWARDS AND HONOURS

CU confers D. Litt degree on Pranab Mukherjee

  • The Chittagong University in Bangladesh honored former president Pranab Mukherjee with the Doctor of Literature (D.Litt.) degree.
  • It has been given for his “outstanding contributions to society and for being a genuine friend of Bangladesh”.
  • The university’s Vice-Chancellor Prof. Iftekhar Uddin Chowdhury conferred the degree to Mr. Mukherjee at the university campus.
  • Pranab Mukherjee was the 13th president of India.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Bank of Baroda partners with Invoice mart

  • Invoice Mart has tied up with state-run lender Bank of Baroda to discount invoices for MSMEs.
  • Buyers and sellers registered on the marketplace will now be able to access funding from Bank of Baroda.
  • Bank of Baroda had recently announced that it will provide loans to MSMEs associated with large corporates.
  • The scheme of facilitating the financing of trade receivables of MSMEs from corporate buyers through multiple financiers is known as Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS).

APPOINTMENTS

Vijay Kumar Appointed as MD & CEO of NCDEX

  • Market regulator Sebi has approved appointment of Vijay Kumar as Managing Director and CEO NCDEX.
  • He is a former chief business officer at NCDEX and also an agro-industry veteran, having worked for Cargill and National Bulk Handling Corporation.
  • He replaces Samir Shah as his tenure ends with January, 2018.

OBITUARY

Former Union Minister Raghunath Jha passed away

  • Senior Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Raghunath Jha passed away. He belongs to bettiah, Bihar.
  • He was elected Member of Parliament twice from Gopalgunj and Bettiah Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar and was also the six-time legislator from Sheohar Assembly constituency of the State.
  • He was the Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise in the government led by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

    CHECK YOUR KNOWLEDGE HERE: DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS QUIZ : JANUARY 18, 2018

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