DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: JANUARY 11, 2019

Dear Aspirants,

Daily Current Affairs (January 11, 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

4^th Edition of Raisina Dialogue held in New Delhi :

• 4^th Edition of Raisina Dialogue was organized by Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.
• The Theme of the Dialogue was “A World Reorder: New Geometries; Fluid Partnerships; Uncertain Outcomes”.
• The Aim of the Discussion was to address the issues arising from ongoing global transitions and changes to the world order triggered by unique leadership, innovative partnerships and new technologies.

1^st ‘National Consultation on Child Protection’ held in New Delhi :

• First 2019 edition of the ‘National Consultation on Child Protection’ was held at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, under the Chairmanship of the Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• The objectives of the meeting are to follow up on the exercise of monitoring of the CCIs by States/UTs, to deliberate upon various aspects of child protection and to take stock of the efforts made by States/UTs regarding improvements in the Child Care Institutions.

India’s longest single lane steel cable suspension bridge opens in Arunachal Pradesh :

• Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu inaugurated India’s longest 300-meter single- lane steel cable suspension bridge over Siang River in Upper Siang district of state bordering China.
• The suspension bridge, also known as Byorung Bridge was built at a cost of Rs 4,843 crore and funded by the ministry of development of North Eastern Region under Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources scheme.

STATIC :Arunachal Pradesh

Capital: Itanagar

Chief Minister: Pema Khandu

Governor: Brigadier B.D. Mishra

Bureau of Energy Efficiency and CPWD signed MoU for 5 years on promoting energy efficiency in buildings:

• The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in building energy efficiency for five years.
• The MOU was signed by Shri Abhay Bakre, Director General, BEE and Shri Prabhakar Singh, Director General, CPWD.
• This MOU was in line with Government of India’s vision for achieving energy security, economic growth and environmental sustainability.

INTERNATIONAL

India Ranks 79th, Japan Tops List Of Most Powerful Passports: Henley Passport Index

• According to Henley Passport Index, which keeps in record and analyses of every country’s travel afford revealed a report of powerful passport holding country, in which Japan has retained its position to the top for the consecutive year and India has leaped two steps forward to 79^th rank.A total of 190 countries are analyzed here.
• The Henley index ranks world’s passports based on how many countries they can get the holder access without a prior visa. An Indian passport holder can visit 61 countries without a pre-travel visa.

BANKING & ECONOMY

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Gets USD 400 Million Swap From RBI :

• The Reserve bank of India has agreed to disburse Sri lanka’s loan amount of USD 400 million to boost the nation’s reserve.
• RBI has agreed to issue the fund under the SARRC SWAP facility system.It is also said that another request of currency swap USD 1 billion is under process .
• RBI’ s assistance is appreciated by the Sri Lanka government and it will help the nation to recover and build itself from the political and constitutional crisis that is prevailing in the nation.

STATIC:SRI LANKA

Capital :Colombo

Prime Minister :Ranil Wickremesinghe

President :Maithripala Sirisena

Currency :Sri Lankan rupee

GST exemption limit doubled to give relief to small businesses :

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the annual turnover for availing composition scheme to Rs 1.5 crore from Rs 1 crore effective from April 1, 2019 to provide relief to small businesses under Goods and Services (GST) regime.
• It is said that “those who come under the composition scheme will pay tax quarterly, but the return will be filed once a year”.
• The Goods and Services (GST) exemption limit has been doubled to Rs. 40 lakh annual turnover and Rs 20 lakh for northeastern states.

AWARDS & HONOURS

DRDO pavilion received ‘Exhibitor of the Year Award’ at 106^th Indian Science Congress in Punjab :

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) pavilion received ‘Exhibitor of the Year Award’ at 106th Indian Science Congress held at Lovely Professional University (LPU), Phagwara, Punjab.
• DRDO’s outdoor exhibits included surface-to-air missile system – Akash, model of BrahMos missile, remotely operated vehicle – Daksh, heavy weight torpedo – Varunastra, Laser Ordnance Disposal System (LORDS) and Vehicle Mounted Dazzler etc.
• DRDO pavilion also had a dedicated stall on Technology Development Fund (TDF) Scheme for promoting public/private industries especially MSMEs.

29th Indian Paint Conference – 2019 to be held in Agra :

• The Indian Paint Association (IPA), the apex body of the country’s paint industry announced that the 29th biennial Indian Paint Conference would be held in Agra, Uttar Pradesh from 11^th to 13^th January 2019.
• This would be the largest trade show of the estimated INR 500 billion (50,000 Crore) Indian Paints & Coatings industry.
• The theme of the Conference is ‘Paints Pe Charcha – Naye Aayaam’ signifying in-depth deliberations (Charcha) to discover new dimensions (Naye Aayaam) in these challenging but exciting times for the Indian Paints and Coatings industry.

APPOINTMENTS

Venezuela President Maduro sworn in for second term :

• Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro started a second term in office on January 10, 2019, amid the economic and humanitarian crisis faced by the Latin American country.
• Maduro was re-elected last year amid allegation of vote buying and electoral fraud. The US, EU and 13 other countries have said that they would not recognise Maduro’s Presidency.

STATIC:Venezuela

Capital- Caracas

Currency- Venezuelan bolívar.

Ajit Mohan officially joined Facebook India as VP and MD :

• Ajit Mohan officially took over as Facebook India’s new Vice President and MD.
• He succeeded Umang Bedi who left the post on October 2017.
• Mohan, a former CEO of Hotstar, was earlier appointed to lead as India’s head for the company in September 2018.

Ram of the Hindu Group is new AFMF President :

• Narasimhan Ram, Chairman, the Publishing Private Limited, has been appointed President of the Alliance for Media Freedom (AFMF), a cross- media advocacy and action group of media organization, promoters and journalists.
• The Alliance for Media Freedom (AFMF) is dedicated to work for the cause of media freedom, media independence and the safety of the journalists.

SPORTS

Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep were named top seeds for Australian Open:

• The Serbian tennis player, Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep, the Romanian tennis player, were named top seeds for next week’s Australian Open. Djokovic heads Rafael Nadal and defending champion Roger Federer.
• Halep takes the top seeding among the women courtesy of her world number one ranking, but she enters the tournament with only one match in four months under her belt after an injury lay-off.

Mary Kom attained number one position in AIBA rankings :

• 36 years old boxer, M C Mary Kom attained the first position in the latest ranking released by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) in the Light Fly 45-48 kilograms category with 1700 points.
• Ukraine’s Hanna Okhoto ranked number 2 in the ranking released by AIBA with 1100 points.
• Mary Kom will have to jump to 51 kg category in order to participate in 2020 Olympics because 48 kg Category is not included in the Olympics yet.