CURRENT AFFAIRS JANUARY 3, 2018

NATIONAL

Insolvency and Bankruptcy code Bill passed in Rajya Sabha

The Rajya Sabha passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill which aims to reduce the crisis of looming bad loans in the banking sector. It bars persons from misusing the provisions of the Code.

According to the government data, top 50 defaulters of public sector banks had exposure in excess of Rs 1.21 lakh crore as on December 2015. Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha announced that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was transformational and will help the country to improve its rankings in the World Bank survey on ease of doing business.

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.

Uttarayan festival: Gujarat govt bans bird care NGOs

The Animal Husbandry department of the state government has banned all voluntary animal care and non-government organisations working under the ‘Karuna Abhiyan’ to operate in residential areas during the Uttarayan festival.

The practice of using abrasive thread for kite flying during the festival poses a threat to the birds. To curb these injuries, more than 40 organisations have been working for the treatment of birds, especially during Uttarayan.

Gujarat

Capital: Gandhinagar

Chief Minister: Vijay Rupani

Governor: Om Prakash Kohli

Telangana launches 24-hours free power supply for farmers

The Telangana government launched 24×7 power supply to the state’s 2.3 million farmers free of cost.

The free power supply scheme was launched at Pothaipalli village in Medchal Malkajgiri district of Telangana. Transmission Corporation of Telangana Ltd’s chairperson and managing director D Prabhakar Rao and Southern Discom MD Raghuma Reddy formally launched the scheme.

Telangana

Capital: Hyderabad

Chief Minister: K. Chandrasekhar Rao

Governor: E. S. L. Narasimhan

INTERNATIONAL

Pakistan Allows Yuan for Bilateral Trade

Pakistan’s central bank has allowed the Chinese yuan or Renminbi to be used for bilateral trade and investment activities. It would replace the US dollar for transactions in the strategic CPEC projects. 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.

Now, yuan is an approved currency for denominating foreign currency transactions and the central bank has allowed banks to accept deposits and give trade loans in yuan.

Pakistan

Capital: Islamabad

Currency: Pakistani rupee

President:  Mamnoon Hussain

China

Capital: Beijing

Currency: Renminbi/Yuan

President: Xi Jinping

India and Pakistan exchange the list of Nuclear Installations

India and Pakistan exchanged the list of nuclear installations and facilities  through diplomatic channels simultaneously at New Delhi and Islamabad under a three-decade old bilateral pact.

As per the press release of External Affairs Ministry, the lists were exchanged under the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations between India and Pakistan.        

This is the twenty seventh consecutive exchange of such a list between the two countries, the first one took place on January 1, 1992.

 BUSINESS AND ECONOMY               

SBI, Nabard ties up to promote JLG in West Bengal

State Bank of India and Nabard have signed an agreement with five NGOs in Bengal for the promotion of 2,500 joint liability groups (JLGs).

JLGs are informal groups of 4-10 members engaged in similar economic activities and willing to jointly undertake the responsibility to repay loans taken by the group from a bank.

Nabard has fixed a target of credit linking 80,000 JLGs in West Bengal in 2017-18. It has sanctioned assistance for the promotion of 60,000 JLGs by various NGOs in the State through 339 projects in different districts.

SBI

Headquarters: Mumbai

Chairman: Rajnish Kumar

NABARD

Headquarters: Mumbai

Chairman: Harsh Kumar Bhanwala

No Charges on Debit Card Transactions upto Rs 2,000

The Customers will not have to pay any transaction charges for payments through debit card, BHIM app and other payment made for up to Rs 2,000.

To promote digital transactions, union cabinet approved a proposal that government will bear the merchant discount rate (MDR) charges on transactions up to Rs 2,000 made through debit cards, BHIM UPI or Aadhaar-enabled payment systems.The merchant discount rate (MDR) will be borne by the government for two years with effect from January 1, 2018 by reimbursing the same to banks.

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.

HSBC

Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

CEO: Stuart Gulliver

APPOINTMENTS

Maiga appointed as the new PM of Mali

Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has appointed Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga as new Prime Minister. He is a former defense and foreign minister and intelligence chief as the new Prime Minister.

He replaces Abdoulaye Idrissa Maiga after his resignation. Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga is the fifth Prime Minister appointed by President Keita.

Mali

Capital: Bamako

Currency: West African franc

President: Ibrahim Boubacar Keita

AWARDS AND HONOURS               

JNPT wins Samudra Manthan Award 2017

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust has won the “Samudra Manthan – Caring Organisation of the Year” award. The award was organised by Bhandarkar Shipping, which is a leading publication of the maritime industry.

From the total 14 categories of Samudra Manthan award, JNPT was the winner in the “Caring Organization of the Year” category.The Samudra Manthan Award is a significant initiative instituted with an objective to fuel healthy competition in the maritime sector.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port, also known as Nhava Sheva, is the largest container port in India. Located east of Mumbai in Maharashtra, the port on the Arabian Sea.

SPORTS

Sathiyan: India’s highest-ranked player in ITTF rankings

G Sathiyan has become India’s highest- ranked player in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings. He surpasses Sharath Kamal. Sathiyan is at the 49th rank, pushing Kamal to the second spot at 51.

They are followed by Soumyajit Ghosh ranked 58th, Harmeet Desai ranked 60th, Sanil Shetty ranked 68th and Anthony Amalraj ranked 87th.

As for the women, Manika Batra is topping the world chart among Indians at 62, while Mouma Das is ranked 74th and Madhurika Patkar is ranked 81th.

Arab player of the year 2017: Mohamed Salah

Liverpool and Egypt striker Mohamed Salah was named Arab Player of the Year for 2017.Syrian winner Omar Khribin is second and another Syrian player, Omar Al- Soma is at third spot.

Salah also wins African Player of the Year title which will be announced in the Ghanaian capital Accra.

Liverpool is a professional football club in Liverpool, England.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS JANUARY 2, 2018