Daily GK Updates - 17th February, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Pramod Chandra Mody appointed as New CBDT Chairman : Shri Pramod Chandra Mody (Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax cadre)- 1982-batch) has been appointed as the new chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes. Mr Mody succeeds Sushil Chandra, who was named as Election Commissioner of India. Mody has been working as the Member (Administration) in the CBDT. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the policy-making body of the Income Tax Department.

2.PM Modi hold talks with Argentinian President Mauricio Macri : Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds talks with ArgentinianPresident Mauricio Macri in New Delhi. Earlier, Mr Macri arrived in India on a three-day visit. Mr Macri's visit comes at a time when India and Argentina are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. World Sustainable Development Summit 2019 held in New Delhi

3.Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has inaugurated the World Sustainable : Development Summit (WSDS) 2019 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) is The Energy and Resources Institute's (TERI) annual flagship event. The theme of the 2019 edition of the Summit is 'Attaining the 2030 Agenda: Delivering on Our Promise'.

4.  Pranab Mukherjee releases a book of Venkaiah Naidu's speeches : Former President Pranab Mukherjee has released the book containing selected speeches (92 speeches) of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu at a function in New Delhi. The book titled “Selected Speeches: Volume-1”. The book is categorised into six broad sections - ‘Functioning of Legislatures’, ‘Nation and Nationalism’, ‘Polity and Governance’, ‘Economic Development’, ‘Media’ and ‘India and the World’.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit : The Spanish Govt. will confer upon Sushma Swaraj the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit. The Order of Civil Merit was established by King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1926. The order recognizes “the civic virtue of officers in the service of the Nation, as well as extraordinary service by Spanish and foreign citizens for the benefit of Spain.”

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING/FINANCE:

1.FPIs pour Rs 5,300 cr into equities in Feb so far : According to the latest data available with depositories, Foreign investors have put in over 5300 Crore rupees into the Indian equity market in the first half of this month. The infusion into the equity market comes following a pull-out of 5,264 crore rupees by foreign portfolio investors (FPI) in January. However, FPIs pulled out a net amount of 248 rupees crore from the bond market during the period. This has translated into a net investment of 5,074 crore rupees in the country's capital markets (equity and debt together).

2.  RBI imposes Rs 3.5 cr penalty on 3 PSU banks : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed Rs 3.5 crore penaltieson three public sector banks for violation of various banking norms. Rs 1.5 crore penalty has been imposed on Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and Rs 1 crore each on Punjab National Bank(PNB) and Bank of India. The monetary penalty on the banks has been imposed for non-compliance with various directions issued by the RBI on monitoring of end-use of funds, exchange of information with other banks, and on a restructuring of accounts.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. India raises customs duty to 200% on all goods imported from Pakistan : According to the Finance minister Arun Jaitley, India has raised the basic customs duty to 200% on all goods imported from Pakistan with immediate effect. Earlier, India withdraws the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack. The main items which Pakistan exports to India include fresh fruits, cement, petroleum products, bulk minerals and ores and finished leather.

SPORTS :

1.Sunil Chhetri has given first ever Football Ratna Award : Indian professional footballer Sunil Chhetri has been conferred the first ever Football Ratna honour at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.He is popularly known as ‘Captain Fantastic’.He has scored the 2nd highest number of goals in international matches among active players after Cristiano Ronaldo. Chhetri has also been named AIFF Player of the Year five times in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2017.

2. Saina Nehwal wins women’s 83rd Singles Senior Badminton Title : Saina Nehwal won her fourth title at the Yonex-Sunrise 83rd Senior Nationals. She defended PV Sindhu in the finals in Guwahati by 21-18, 21-15. Sourabh Verma claiming the men’s singles crown after defeating young Lakshya Sen in straight games of 21-18, 21-13. Pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Chirag Shetty defeated Arjun M.R and Shlok Ramachandran in straight games to clinch the Men’s Doubles title.