DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: JANUARY 3, 2019

Dear Aspirants,

Daily Current Affairs (January 3, 2019) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness , Static GK and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

NATIONAL

Centre approves renaming of Allahabad as Prayagraj:

• The Union Home Ministry (MHA) approved the Uttar Pradesh government’s proposal to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj.
• MHA had earlier approved the renaming of the British-era railway station Robertsgang as Sonbhadra, Farah Town railway station near Mathura and iconic Mughalsarai junction after Deen Dayal Upadhyay — both in Uttar Pradesh.
• The Centre had also approved the renaming of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai as Chhatrapati Shivaji ‘Maharaj’ International Airport, earlier.

MP Govt bans purchase of new vehicles, ACs:

• Government of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, banned the purchase of new vehicles and air conditioners (ACs) by the government departments due to huge debt of the state.
• Also, the expenditure incurred on office items has been limited on the basis of the difference between the allocated budget for these expenses in the financial year 2018-19 and the expenditure incurred in the financial year 2017-18.

STATIC:Madhya Pradesh

Chief Minister: Shri. Kamal Nath.

Governor: Smt. Anandiben Patel.

Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launches Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA):

• Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik launches Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) Naveen Patnaik launched Rs 10,000 crore Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme.
• This scheme consists of a life insurance of Rs.2 lakh for 57 lakh farmers and would grant them crop loans at zero percent interest.

STATIC:ODISHA

Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik.

Governor: Prof. Ganeshi Lal.

Govt Releases 6-Crore LPG Connections under PMUY:

• The government gave out the 6-crore free cooking gas (LPG) connection as the scheme to make available cleaner fuel in every household kitchens under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).
• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu handed over papers for an LPG connection to Jasmina Khatoon from Shivpark, Khanpur in New Delhi to mark the 6 crore LPG connections under PMUY.
• Beneficiaries will receive direct LPG subsidy through PAHAL (Pratyaksha Hastaantarit Laabh) digital payment scheme.

WB govt announces two initiatives for farmers:

• The West Bengal government announced two welfare initiatives for farmers.Both initiatives, which are part of the ‘Krishi Krishak Bondhu’ scheme came into effect from January 1,2019.
• The first of the two initiatives will provide Rs 2 lakh to the family of a deceased farmer( farmers aged between 18 to 60 years dies a natural or unnatural death, the state government will pay his family Rs 2 lakh).Under the second initiative, farmers would get Rs 2,500 twice a year for growing a single crop on one acre of land.

STATIC:WEST BENGAL

Chief Minister: Mamata Banerjee

Governor: Keshari Nath Tripathi

Capital: Kolkata

Modi to open 106th Indian Science Congress in Jalandhar:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 106th Indian Science Congress at Lovely Professional University in Phagwara near Jalandha,an annual congregation that witnesses deliberations by top scientific minds of the country.
• The theme of this five-day mega event is ‘Future India: Science and Technology’.

INTERNATIONAL

Cabinet apprised of MoU between India and Morocco on Cooperation in the area of Cyber Security:

• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been apprised of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Morocco on cooperation in the area of Cyber Security.
• The MoU intends to promote closer cooperation for exchange of knowledge and experience in detection, resolution and prevention of security-related incidents between India and Morocco.
• Implementation of the MoU will result in significant mutual benefits in the Cyber Security sector, through institutional and capacity building with Morocco in the field of Cyber Security.

President Trump signs ‘Asia Reassurance Initiative Act’ into law:

• US president has signed the ‘Asia Reassurance Initiative Act’. The law aims at countering the encroaching influence and growing threat from China, and to reinvigorate U.S. leadership in Asia.
• The act aims to establish a multifaceted U.S. strategy to increase U.S. security, economic interests, and values in the Indo-Pacific region.

Veer Savarkar International Airport Declared As Authorized Immigration Check Post:

• Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair has been declared as an authorized Immigration Check post for entry into/exit from India with valid travel documents for all classes of passengers.
• Andaman and Nicobar Police has been appointed as the ‘Civil Authority’ for the purpose of the immigration check post.The announcement was made by Information, Public Relations and Tourism Division of Andaman and Nicobar Administration.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

ISRO launches ‘Samwad’ with students to engage them on space science:

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched a new platform named “Samwad with Students” (SwS) as part of the enhanced outreach programme and to engage youngsters across India to capture their scientific temperament in Bengaluru.
• Under the SwS platform, ISRO will also be organising guided tours thrice in a year, for students of class 11 and class 12 in which they would be taken to ISRO facilities in Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru and the launch centre at Sriharikota.

STATIC:ISRO

Director: Kailasavadivoo Sivan

Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka

APPOINTMENTS

RBL Bank appoints Pankaj Sharma as its chief operations officer:

• Private sector lender RBL Bank appointed Pankaj Sharma as its chief operations officer (COO).
• Prior to this, Sharma was heading retail operations of Axis Bank.
• He had previously worked with GE Countrywide, ICICI Bank and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.

STATIC:RBL Bank:

Headquarters: Mumbai.

MD & CEO: Mr. Vishwavir Ahuja.

Justice AK Sikri nominated as Executive Chairman of NALSA :

• President Ram Nath Kovind nominated Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri as Executive Chairman of National Legal Services Authority (NALSA).
• His appointment is effective from December 31, 2018.

P K Singh Appointed as new Secretary of CCI :

• P K Singh was appointed secretary of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
• Prior to this, he was adviser (law) to the competition watchdog.
• After completing 5 years of experience as the adviser to the CCI, according to the norms of the institution, he was chosen as the candidate.

STATIC:CCI

Headquarters: New Delhi.

Chairperson: Shri. Ashok Kumar Gupta.

Hemant Bhargava appointed as LIC’s Acting Chairman:

• The Department of Financial Services announced appointment of Hemant Bhargava, Managing Director, Life Insurance Corporation of India, as the Acting Chairman.
• This was done after VK Sharma retired from the position at LIC on December 31.

STATIC: LIC

Headquarters: Mumbai.

Saurabh Kumar takes over as chairman of Ordnance Factory Board:

• Saurabh Kumar took over as the Director General of Ordnance Factories (DGOF) and chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) in Kolkata.
• Kumar was on deputation to the Ministry of Defence as the director of planning and coordination from 2002 to 2009.
• Kumar, a 1982-batch Indian Ordnance Factory Service officer, is an M-Tech in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.

STATIC:Ordnance Factory Board

Headquarters: Kolkata.

AWARDS & HONOURS

French World Cup champions awarded Legion of Honour:

• The players in France‘s football team which last year defeated Croatia to win the World Cup were awarded the Legion of Honour, France’s highest award for “exceptional service” to the nation, in the New Year’s honours list.
• The football World Cup 2018 at Russia was France’s second World Cup title, after the 1998 World Cup.

STATIC:FRANCE

President: Emmanuel Macron

Currency: Euro, CFP Franc

Capital: Paris

IIT Professor awarded with the National Geospatial Award for contribution towards development of geo-spatial science:

• IIT Roorkee professor Jayanta Kumar Ghosh was facilitated with the National Geospatial Award for Excellence -2017 (Life Time Achievement Award) by the Indian Society for Remote Sensing for his contribution towards the development of geospatial science and applications.
• The award which carries a citation, a medal and Rs.1,00,000 was conferred to J. K. Ghosh, a professor at the civil engineering department of the IIT Roorkee on 5^th December 2018 at SAC (Space Application Centre) Ahmedabad.

Indian-origin Singapore student wins gold medals at World Memory Championships:

• A 12-year-old Indian-origin student Dhruv Manoj from Singapore has bagged two gold medals at the World Memory Championships held in Hong Kong.
• Dhruv Manoj won in the “names and faces” and “random words” disciplines, beating 56 other contestants in the “kids category”.

OBITUARIES

Veteran Kannada actor C H Loknath passes away:

• Veteran Kannada actor C H Loknath passed away at a private hospital in Bengaluru.He was 91.
• Loknath ,popularly known as ‘Uncle’ in the industry has acted in about 650 movies and performed in over 1,000 plays in his career spanned almost six decades.