Daily GK Updates - 18th January, 2018

NATIONAL UPDATES

1. ‘Namaste Shalom’ Magazine to be launched:  A monthly magazine titled ‘Namaste Shalom’ will be launched to mark Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Mumbai visit. The magazine, on bilateral relations between the two friendly nations, will be launched at the Magen David Synagogue at Byculla in south Mumbai. The magazine is planned to carry forward the great initiative of Modi & Netanyahu to strengthen India-Israel relations.

2. GPS, panic buttons mandatory on vehicles from April1: The government has made it mandatory to have Global Positioning System (GPS) devices in passenger transport vehicles from April 1. All taxis, buses and public transport vehicles, except three-wheelers and e-rickshaws, will have to install GPS and an alert button. The road transport ministry has reiterated the deadline amid reports that most of the states had not done much to meet the target.

3. Nirmala Sitharaman becomes the first woman defence minister to fly in Sukhoi 30: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman undertook a sortie in IAF s frontline combat jet Sukhoi-30 MKI in the western sector of Rajasthan. She is the first woman defence minister of India to fly a sortie in an IAF Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft.

4. Odisha CM launches ‘Mukhya Mantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojana’: The Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik has launched the Mukhya Mantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojana (MMKSY) for the welfare of the artists in Odisha. Under MMKSY Scheme, artists across the state will get a monthly assistance of Rs. 1200. Around 50,000 artists across Odisha will be benefited from this scheme. In new eligibility criteria, a male artist can avail assistance under the scheme after attaining the age of 50 years (earlier 60 years), the female artist has been reduced to 40 years (earlier 50 years).

5. Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards presented: President Kovind presented the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships & Awards for 2016 to an eminent group of musicians, dancers & theatre artists. 4 eminent artists & scholars were conferred fellowships of Akademi, namely Arvind Parikh, R Vedavalli, Ram Bajaj & Sunil Kothari.

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships & awards are national honours bestowed by the govt in the field of performing arts.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES

1. Britain appoints Minister for Loneliness: United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May has appointed a “minister for loneliness” in a bid to tackle social isolation. This comes after a report revealed that nine million people in the country suffered from loneliness. Tracey Crouch, whose official title is Minister for Sport and Civil Society, will take on the additional role, created in memory of Labour MP Jo Cox.

2. Koreas to march under single united flag: North & South Korea have agreed to march together under a single “unified Korea” flag at next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea. The 2 countries have marched under the flag before, in rare shows of unity, first at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships, and at a number of sporting events since. The nations have also agreed to form a joint North & South Korean women’s ice hockey team.

3. BBIN pact - Vehicle movement finalized: Bangladesh, India, and Nepal agreed upon operating procedures for trans-border movement of passenger vehicles under Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) motor vehicles agreement. The BBIN motor vehicles agreement (MVA) was signed by the transport ministers of the BBIN countries in Thimphu, Bhutan. The objective of the agreement to facilitate seamless flow of passenger and cargo traffic in the sub-region.

OTHER UPDATES

DEFENCE:

1. India test-fires ICBM Agni-V: India has test-fired its Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile in its final operational configuration from Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast. Nuclear-capable Agni-V missile can reach northern-most parts of China with its strike range of over 5,000-km Once Agni-V is inducted, India will join the super-exclusive club of countries with ICBMs alongside US, Russia, China, France & UK.

2. India, Japan hold joint naval exercise: Ships & aircraft of Indian Coast Guard & its Japanese counterpart conducted a joint naval drill in Chennai. As many as 9 ships & 8 aircraft of Indian Coast Guard along with Japanese Coast Guard Ship ‘Tsugaru’ with helo participated in the biennial Search & Rescue Exercise 2018. Observers from 17 countries and members of National Maritime Search & Rescue Board also witnessed the drill.

3. India & US to conduct joint military exercise ‘Vajra Prahar’: The Indo-US joint military exercise ‘Vajra Prahar’ will be held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Seattle, USA. A 45-member Special Forces team from Indian Army’s Southern Command will train alongside US soldiers in the third week of January. ‘Vajra Prahar’ is an Indo-US Special Forces joint training exercise, which is conducted alternately in India and the US. The last edition of the exercise was held in Jodhpur in March 2017.

SCIENCE/ TECHNOLOGY:

1. JAXA launches new observation satellite ASNARO-2: Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has successfully launched a new Earth observation satellite, equipped with X-band radar. ASNARO-2, developed by Japanese tech firm NEC, will perform Earth-observation tasks for five years from its orbit at an altitude of about 500 km. This was the first launch of a JAXA Epsilon rocket ordered by a private company.

SPORTS:

1. Kohli named ICC Cricketer of the Year: Indian Cricket Captain Virat Kohli has been named as International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year 2017. He was also named the ICC ODI Player of the Year & recipient of Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy. Kohli had an outstanding year in the 50-over format where he scored 6 centuries at an astonishing average of 76.84. He has also been named the captain of Men’s ODI & Test Teams of the Year.

BUSINESS/ ECONOMY:

1. HDFC becomes the first Indian bank to cross Rs. 5 trillion m-cap: India’s most-valued bank HDFC Bank has crossed Rs5 trillion market capitalisation for the first time, making it the 1st Indian bank to achieve this milestone. TCS & RIL are the other two companies which have crossed market capitalisation of Rs5 trillion. HDFC Bank’s steady 20% profit growth quarter-after-quarter, as well as its immunity to bad loans crises, has helped it achieve this feat.

2. Government to set up $350 million fund for solar projects: Central govt will set up a $350 million fund to finance solar projects. It is a part of India’s efforts to achieve its ambitious target of adding 175 GW in renewable energy by 2022. India, which receives twice as much sunshine as European nations, expects renewable energy to make up 40% of installed power capacity by 2030. India’s installed renewable power capacity is currently about 60 GW.

3. iCreate centre to support innovation inaugurated: PM Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu inaugurated the iCreate centre in Ahmedabad’s Deo Dholera Village. iCreate paves way for the two nations to jointly script new stories of success through innovation, which the two leaders have been strongly advocating. iCreate centre aims to provide technology & assistance to innovative & imaginative minds in their entrepreneurial journey.

4. Grab acquires payments start-up iKaaz: Grab, Uber’s biggest competitor in Southeast Asian markets has acquired Bengaluru-based software start-up iKaaz.

iKaaz’ technology spans across areas like NFC, QR-code, audio-based payments as well as bill payments, online payments & peer-to-peer.

BANKING/ FINANCE:

1. SBI to raise Rs 20,000 crores: The board of State Bank of India has given nod to raise Rs 20,000 crore for financing affordable housing and infrastructure projects through long-term bonds. Affordable housing segment has gained momentum after the government provided infrastructure status to it in the last year’s budget. Govt. is also providing interest subsidy to buyers on low-cost homes under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

2. Yes Bank to mobilise $1 billion by 2023 for solar projects: YES Bank will mobilise $1 billion till 2023 & $5 billion till 2030 towards financing solar energy projects in India. The announcement was made at International Solar Alliance conference organised at World Future Energy Summit 2018 in Abu Dhabi. This comes on the back of $400-million co-finance agreement by the Bank & EIB for construction of new solar power plants & wind farms across India.