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.