DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: JANUARY 17 & 18, 2019

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: JANUARY 17 & 18, 2019

Dear Aspirants,

Daily Current Affairs (January 17 & 18, 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

Cabinet approves MoU between India and Australia on the safety in Mines, Testing and Research Station:

The Union Cabinet gave its approval for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India and Department of Natural Resource Mines and Energy, Queensland Government, Australia through the Safety in Mines, Testing and Research Station (SIMTARS).

The signing of the MoU will help the DGMS to collaborate with SIMTARS for implementation of risk based safety management system, providing training and modernising R&D laboratory of DGMS.

STATIC : AUSTRALIA

Capital: Canberra

Currency: Australian Dollar

Prime Minister: Scott Morrison

Cabinet approves ex-post facto approval for Agreement on the facilitation of visa arrangements signed between India and Maldives:

• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave its ex-post facto approval to the agreement on the facilitation of visa arrangements signed between India and the Maldives last month to further deepen people to people exchanges between the two countries.
• The Visa Facilitation Agreement which was signed during the visit of Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to India will make it easier for Maldivian and India nationals to travel to each other’s countries for tourism, medical treatment, education as well as business and employment.

STATIC: MALDIVES

Capital: Male

President: Ibrahim Mohamed Solih

Currency: Maldivian Rufiyaa

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2019 officially came into force:

• The President of India, Shri. Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2019.It was passed by the Parliament on 3^rd January, 2019.
• It has also been notified in the Gazette of India on January 16, 2019, which is when it came into force.

DoS Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated ISRO’s UNNATI in Bengaluru :

• Minister of State in Department of Space Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the 1^st batch of UNNATI programme of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• The full form of UNNATI is: Unispace Nanosatellite Assembly and Training programme.
• It has been launched by ISRO as part of initiative by United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE-50).

ISRO

Headquarters: Bengaluru.

Chairman: Dr K Sivan.

Maharashtra Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar panel is formed to study uniform tax rate on lottery:

• The GST council has constituted an eight member Group of Ministers(GoM) headed by Maharashtra State Finance Minister, Sudhir Mungantiwar to suggest whether a uniform tax rate should be imposed on lotteries or the current differential tax rate system be continued.
• The committee will also look whether private persons authorized by the states are misusing the lower rate and getting enriched themselves at the cost of the state or not and suggest measures to curb it.

President of India inaugurated Gandhian Resurgence Summit in Prayagraj,Uttarpradesh

• President of India Shri. Ramnath Nath Kovind inaugurated the three-day Gandhian Resurgence Summit on the occasion of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi’s 150 birth anniversary at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.It concludes on 19th January,2019.
• The summit was organised by the Parmarath Niketan, the Harijan Sevak Sangh and the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance.

STATIC:UTTAR PRADESH

Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath.

Governor: Ram Naik.

Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the 10th edition of the India Rubber Expo – 2019 in Mumbai :

• Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the three-day 10th India Rubber Expo – 2019 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai.It concludes on 19th January,2019.
• He announced that a National Rubber Policy would soon be put to place to improve productivity of the sector enabling India’s efforts to become a 5 trillion-dollar economy.

Indian Panorama Film Festival held in New Delhi :

• The 10-day Indian Panorama Film Festival, that was inaugurated by Secretary, Ministry of I&B, Shri Amit Khare, concluded at Siri Fort Auditorium II, in New Delhi. It commenced on January 4, 2019.
• It was organized by: Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of I&B.
• Additionally, all the films selected under the Indian Panorama section in the 49th International Film Festival of India were screened during the Festival.

2nd World Orange Festival Begins In Nagpur :

• The second World Orange Festival has begun in Nagpur. The festival, while offering its famed oranges to the world, will also showcase and brand the exquisite fruit in order to boost its export.
• Agricultural experts and scientists from various countries will participate in the workshops and guide farmers.

INTERNATIONAL

14th Global Risks Report, the 2019 edition, was released by World Economic Forum :

• The World Economic Forum released its 14th edition of annual Global Risk Report 2019 ahead of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos.
• The report’s findings are based on the annual Global Risks Perception Survey, which asks the Forum’s network of business, government, civil society and thought leaders to gauge the risks facing our world.
• The report also warns of the macroeconomic risks that could be faced ahead in 2019.

BANKING & ECONOMY

Banks led by SBI agreed to finance Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Corridor

• The Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Office in Mumbai announced that SBI along with others banks agreed to provide finance for Nagpur-Mumbai ‘Samruddhi Corridor’ expressway project.
• Among the consortium of banks, SBI will be providing the highest amount which is Rs. 8,500 crore.
• Other parties include: Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of Maharashtra as well as the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India.

RBI injected 10,000 crore rupees into the system through the purchase of government securities

• The Reserve Bank of India announced that it will inject 10,000 crore rupees into the system to increase liquidity through open market operations (OMOs).
• The offers have been instructed to be submitted in electronic format on the RBI Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) system.
• It also plans to inject liquidity under OMOs for 50,000 crore rupees in January 2019.
• The central bank has so far injected Rs 20,000 through OMOs in January 2019.

RBI fined Bank of Maharastra with 1 Crore

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI),imposed a Rs 1-crore penalty on state-owned Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) for non-compliance of Know Your Customer (KYC)guidelines and fraud-classification norms.
• The is penalty has been imposed on failure of the bank to follow the rules and regulation issued by the RBI.
• In the year 2018, the RBI had imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on BoM on account of delay on the part of the bank to detect and report fraud in accounts.

GDP growth likely to be tad higher at 7.5% in FY20: India Ratings and Research :

• A Fitch group company India ratings and research estimated that India’s GDP growth to be a “tad higher” at 7.5% in financial year 2019-20. Earlier it was 7.2% during fiscal year 2018-19.
• The economy seen a growth rate of 7.2% in the current financial year against 6.7% in the previous year estimated by Central Statistics Office (CSO).
• According to India Ratings investments are slow but steady gaining traction with gross fixed capital formation growing 12.2% in FY19 and projected to grow at 10.3% in FY20.

AWARDS & HONOURS

WHO Goodwill ambassador Yohei Sasakawa received Gandhi Peace Prize for 2018

• Yohei Sasakawa was named to receive Gandhi Peace Prize for 2018,who is the Goodwill Ambassador of the World Health Organization for Leprosy Elimination.
• The award will be given to Yohei Sasakawa in recognition of his work towards the eradication of the disease in India and across the world.
• The award was instituted by the Government of India in 1995 during the commemoration of 125th Birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.The title winners would receive a cash prize of Rs.1 crore .

Dr. Rattan Lal honoured with 2019 Japan Prize for his contributions in “Biological Production, Ecology”:

• The Japan Prize Foundation announced India born professor Dr. Rattan Lal as the recipient of the 2019 Japan Prize in the field of “Biological Production, Ecology”.
• Dr. Yoshio Okamoto was announced to be the recipient of the 2019 Japan Prize on of “Materials and Production” field.
• Each laureate will receive a certificate of recognition and a commemorative gold medal.
• A cash award of 50 million Japanese yen (approximately $450,000 USD) will also be given to each prize field.

APPOINTMENTS

President Kovind approved elevation of Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari to Supreme Court :

• President Ram Nath Kovind approved the elevation of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dinesh Maheshwari to the Supreme Court.
• Justice Khanna is presently a judge of the Delhi High Court.Justice Maheshwari is the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

IOHR launched world’s first television channel dedicated to human rights has been launched in London

• world’s first television channel dedicated to human rights was launched in London by the International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR).
• It would be a web-based channel would bring human rights issues to audiences in over 20 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

SPORTS

Stephen Constantine steps down as coach of Indian football team

• Stephen Constantine steps down as the head coach of the Indian Football team following the team’s exit from 2019 AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Asian Cup. India faced failure against Bahrain at the Sharjah Stadium.
• This was Constantine’s second regime as India’s Head Coach after 2005. He returned to the hot seat in 2015, succeeding Dutch Wim Koevermans.

OBITUARY

Vanguard Group Founder John C. Bogle passed away:

• John C. Bogle, who founded the Vanguard Group of Investment Companies in 1974 and built it into a giant kingdom, with $4.9 trillion in assets under management, died at the age of 89.