CURRENT AFFAIRS JANUARY 6, 2018
CURRENT AFFAIRS JANUARY 6, 2018
NATIONAL
RBI Introduces New Rs 10 Banknote in Mahatma Gandhi Series
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) presented the new Rs 10 banknote under the Mahatma Gandhi (New) series.
- The central bank has announced that it will launch the new currency note as legal tender soon.
- The new Rs 10 note is chocolate brown in colour, and it will bear the signature of RBI Governor Urjit Patel.
- The back of the note features motif of Sun Temple in Konark, ‘depicting the country’s cultural heritage’. Dimensions of the note are 63mmx123mm, as opposed to the older notes 63mmx137mm.
RBI
Headquarters: Mumbai
Governor: Urjit Patel
West Bengal CM unveils State logo with Biswa Bangla theme
- The West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated its own State symbol.
- The logo highlights the Ashoka emblem on the top with the theme of “Biswa Bangla” at the centre.
- It was designed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself and it was reviewed by a State government committee headed by eminent artist Jogen Chowdhury.
- Many States like Odisha, Bihar and Telangana have their own seals and logos.
West Bengal chief secretary: Malay De
West Bengal
Capital: Kolkata
Chief Minister: Mamata Banerjee
Governor: Keshari Nath Tripathi
World Book Fair begins in New Delhi to focus on environment
- The 26th edition of New Delhi World Book Fair is all set to begin in New Delhi.
- It will be held at Pragati Maidan and it is organised by the National Book Trust (NBT), India, in association with India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO).
- Burning environment issues like climate change, global warming, and water pollution will be the main theme for this year’s New Delhi World Book Fair.
- This year’s book fair will host European Union as the Guest of Honour Country.
- Apart from the EU nations, more than 40 countries including Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Pakistan and United Kingdom will participate in the book fair.
Theme: Environment and Climate Change
International Balloon Festival begins in TN
- The fourth edition of the Tamil Nadu International Balloon Festival will be held in Pollachi near Coimbatore.
- Twelve hot-air balloons from six countries — the US, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Poland and Germany — will be showcased at the festival.It will also feature Tamil Nadu Tourism Department’s ‘2.0’ balloon and those on angry birds.
- It is organised by media company Global Media Box and The Slaves, a Pollachi-based restaurant, with the support of the State Tourism Department and Adhiban Fincorp.
Capital: Chennai
Chief Minister: Edappadi K. Palaniswami
Governor: Banwarilal Purohit
Boeing to set up P-8I anti-sub aircraft training unit in TN
- Boeing will set up a training facility for its P-8I warfare aircraft at the naval air station INS Rajali, near Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu.
- The 60,000-sq ft facility for P-8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance Anti-Submarine Warfare aircraft will be commissioned by March 2021. The India training facility will be the second for Boeing globally, the first one being in Australia.
- The P-8I Training Solution, along with 10-year comprehensive maintenance service, will be brought from Boeing for ₹1,949.32 crore.
- The order was cleared by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Capital: Chennai
Chief Minister: Edappadi K. Palaniswami
Governor: Banwarilal Purohit
Himalayan Hydro Expo 2018 Kicked off at Kathmandu
- The Himalayan Hydro Expo 2018 begins at Kathmandu, Nepal.The President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari inaugurated the exhibition.
- The Delegates from various countries including India, China, Austria, Czech Republic and Norway are participating in the expo.
- The basic objective of Expo is to unleash massive hydro power potential of Nepal and bring all stakeholders under one roof.
Nepal
Capital: Kathmandu
Currency: Nepalese rupee
Prime Minister: Sher Bahadur Deuba
INTERNATIONAL
India excludes Pakistan from a Saarc initiative
- India has excluded Pakistan from the list of Saarc member countries with which it will be connecting its state-of-the art National Knowledge Network (NKN) for sharing scientific databases and remote access to advanced research facilities.
- The government has started the process of appointing a telecom company that will connect and extend the NKN to research and education networks in six South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation member states — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
- Pakistan is the only Saarc nation that has been left out of this initiative.
Pakistan
Capital: Islamabad
Currency: Pakistani rupee
Prime Minister: Shahid Khaqan Abbasi
Iceland Becomes 1st Country to Legalise Equal Pay
- Iceland has stepped up for equality and has become the first country in the world to legalise equal pay.
- The country aims to eradicate gender pay inequality by the year 2022 .
- According to World Economic Forum, Iceland already ranks first in terms of global gender equality index. In 2017, it bagged the first place for the ninth consecutive year.
- According to a law passed by the parliament in June, all companies, both private and public, need to prove that their wage practices don’t discriminate against women. The only difference in wages that may exist, should be on the basis of education, output, and skills.
Iceland
Capital: Reykjavik
Currency: Icelandic krona
Prime Minister: Bjarni Benediktsson
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
India GDP growth will be 6.5% in 2017-18, down from 7.1% last fiscal: CSO
- The Indian economy is expected to decelerate to 6.5% in 2017-18 from 7.1% in the previous year, because of demonetisation and goods and services tax (GST).
- Data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that the agriculture sector is expected to grow at 2.1% in FY18, slower than 4.9% in the previous year, while manufacturing is likely to grow at 4.6%, compared with 7.9% a year ago. Electricity and trade, hotels sectors are the only sectors that will grow at a faster rate of 7.5% and 8.7% in FY18 than in FY17.
- The annual growth rate for the fiscal 2016-17 was 7.1 per cent.
Economic affairs secretary: Subhash Chandra Garg.
TIHCL Gets RBI Nod to Operate as NBFC
- The Telangana Industrial Health Clinic Limited (TIHCL) has secured the RBI approval for becoming a non-banking finance company (NBFC).
- It had won the SKOCH Platinum Award in September 2017 under the smart governance category in the MSME segment.
- A non-bank financial institution is a financial institution which is registered under companies act, 1956 that does not have a full banking license or is not supervised by a national or international banking regulatory agency.
NBFCs lend and make investments and hence their activities are akin to that of banks; however there are a few differences as given below:
- i. NBFC cannot accept demand deposits;
- ii. NBFCs do not form part of the payment and settlement system and cannot issue cheques drawn on itself;
- iii. deposit insurance facility of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not available to depositors of NBFCs, unlike in case of banks.
Paytm Payments Bank ties up with IndusInd for FD facility
- Paytm Payments Bank has partnered with Induslnd Bank to introduce a facility to create a fixed deposit when the customer balance exceeds Rs 1 lakh at the end of day.
- Paytm Payments Bank customers can redeem their deposits instantly, anytime without paying any pre-closure or miscellaneous charges. They can also earn up to 6.85 percent annual interest.
- If a customer becomes a senior citizen before the maturity period, the account will be auto renewed under the senior citizen scheme with high interest rate.
Paytm Payments Bank MD and CEO: Renu Satti
IndusInd CEO: Romesh Sobti
AWARDS AND HONOURS
Ravi Menon named best governor of Asia Pacific
- An Indian-origin banker in Singapore has been named as the best central bank governor in Asia-Pacific for 2018.
- Ravi Menon, managing director of Singapore’s central bank Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
- The award was given by UK-based magazine ‘The Banker‘ for his contribution in the makeover of Singapore’s financial system.
- Singapore’s Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat was also named the best banker in 2011. He was then as MAS’s managing director.
OBITUARY
Carnatic vocalist Radha Viswanathan passes away
- Carnatic singer, Radha Viswanathan passed away in Bengaluru. Radha Viswanathan is the daughter of famous classical singer M S Subbulakshmi.
- She had performed in concerts along with her mother M S Subbulakshmi.
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