Current Affairs Updates - 6 and 7 January

Current Affairs Updates - 6 and 7 January

Today we have brought to you all the important current affairs points for 6th and 7th of january 2018. It is a request to the candidates to note down all the important points properly for further revision. At the end of the day all the important note down points will be given to you which is very important for the upcoming bank and SSC exams. It is hoped that these materials will be of use to all of you.

Banking/Economic Affairs

India’s GDP growth seen decelerating to 6.5% in 2017-18 from 7.1% in 2016-17. 

• The Central Statistics Office’s (CSO’s) first advance estimate for India GDP growth rate in 2017-18 at 6.5% is lower than the 7.1% recorded in 2016-17.

RBI Introduces Rs 10 banknote in Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series.

• “The Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue Rs 10 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, bearing signature of Dr Urjit R. Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India,” RBI said. The new denomination has motif of Sun Temple, Konark on the reverse, depicting the country's cultural heritage. The base colour of the note is Chocolate Brown. The note has other designs, geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme, both at the obverse and reverse.

National Affairs

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee unveiled the official emblem of the state government. The logo highlights the Ashoka emblem on the top with the theme of "Biswa Bangla" at the centre. 

• Mamata Banerjee Unveils Official Emblem Of West Bengal Government. Ms Banerjee has also contributed to the design of the emblem. 

Telangana Industrial Health Clinic Ltd (TIHCL), a State government initiative, has got RBI clearance to register and function as a non-banking finance company (NBFC).

• It will be the first State promoted and co-financing NBFC, according to B Yerram Raju, TIHCL’s advisor and director. TIHCL was floated in 2017 with a corpus of ₹100 crore, which included contributions from the State and Central governments, financial institutions, industrial units and high networth individuals.

In order to mitigate the acute water crisis in the Tungabhadra region of Karnataka, Telangana government has agreed to fulfill the requirement of Karnataka with the help of Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme. 

• On Thursday, Karnataka state delegation which includes Water Resources Minister M B Patil called on, Telangana T Harish Rao who looks after the Water Resources department and briefed about the ground situation.

India has excluded Pakistan from the list of Saarc member countries with which it will be connecting its state-of-the art National Knowledge Network (NKN) for sharing scientific databases and remote access to advanced research facilities. 

• The government has kicked off the process of appointing a telecom company that will connect and extend the NKN to research and education networks in six South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation member states — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Pakistan is the only Saarc nation that has been left out of this initiative. 

Health Ministry launches digital online oncology tutorial series.

• The Health Ministry launched the country’s first digital online oncology tutorial series on Thursday designed in collaboration with the Tata Memorial Centre. “The series is aimed at educating doctors in early detection, prevention, palliation, rehabilitation and treatment of various forms of cancers,” an official release stated.

International Affairs

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called for a fresh start in his country’s rocky relationship with Germany, holding out the prospect of closer economic cooperation, particularly in transport and energy, if ties improved.

• He said trade between Germany and Turkey amounted to 174 billion euros (209.91 billion dollar)in the last five years, with major opportunities in the coming decade from big infrastructure projects, in particular in transport and renewable energy.
• He stressed the importance of Turkey’s role in stemming a wave of migrants to Germany under a deal with the European Union in 2016 and said he hoped that the EU would live up to its commitments to make it easier for Turks to get visas in return.

Iceland becomes first country to legalise equal pay between men and women.

• The legislation, which came into force on Monday, the first day of 2018, makes Iceland the first country in the world to legalise equal pay between men and women.

The U.S. State Department has placed Pakistan on a “Special Watch List” for “severe violations of religious freedom,” at the same time it announced cuts to security assistance to that country.

• “The protection of religious freedom is vital to peace, stability, and prosperity. These designations are aimed at improving the respect for religious freedom in these countries,” a State Department statement said Thursday, as the United States redesignated 10 other nations as “countries of particular concern” under the International Religious Freedom Act.

Defence & Railway

Defence Ministry cleared contracts worth 2,420 crore rupees for Navy and Army which includes the procurement of P-8I Training Solution and Low-Intensity Conflict Electronic Warfare System (LICEWS).

• The training solution accurately simulates P-8I aircraft and mission systems.
• It will help Indian Navy train and realistically rehearse for sophisticated missions involving P-8I aircraft.
• The procurement of LICEWS will be done from Bharat Electronics Limited to 470 crore rupees.

The Border Security Force (BSF) has launched "Operation Alert" along the over 200 kilometer long International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir to curb the increasing movement of infiltrating terrorists from across the border.

• The BSF gave a military send off by organising Wreath-laying ceremony at Frontier headquarters in Jammu in the honour of the late Head Constable Radha Pada Hazara, who was killed in sniper firing by Pakistan rangers along the IB in Samba sector yesterday.

Schemes / Programme

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has approved five projects worth Rs. 295.01 crore. 

• Three projects pertain to sewage management in West Bengal at an estimated cost of Rs 278.6 crore, one relates to sewage management in Uttarakhand at an estimated cost of Rs 4.68 crore and one project worth Rs 11.73 crore is related to ghat improvement works in Varanasi.

Summit /Conference / Events / Host

Themed around 'Environment and Climate Change', the 26th New Delhi World Book Fair opened on Saturday with a call for increased awareness and efforts to protect the environment.

• The 9-day annual event was inaugurated by environmentalist Sunita Narain, European Union ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski, National Book Trust chairman Baldev Bhai Sharma and Madhu Ranjan Kumar, Joint Secretary, Minister of Human Resource Development.

The Himalayan Hydro Expo 2018 kicked off at Kathmandu, the capital Nepal. President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari inaugurated the exhibition.

• Delegates from various countries including India, China, Austria, Czech Republic and Norway are participating in the expo. Hydro power developers, manufacturers and suppliers of equipment, investors, banks and construction companies showcasing their products and services through more than 100 stalls.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who is visiting Indonesia as part of her three-nation tour, co-chaired the fifth meeting of the India-Indonesia Joint Commission with her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi.

• The Minister while addressing the joint press conference with her Indonesian counterpart said that both the countries condemn terrorism in all its forms.  Sushma Swaraj also said that Indonesia has a crucial role to play in evolution of new security architecture in Indo-Pacific.
• Sushma Swaraj also met Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla in Jakarta.

Meghalaya signed the “Host City Contract” with the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) for the 39th National Games 2022.

• Following the signing of the contract between the Meghalaya government, Meghalaya State Olympics Association (MSOA) and IOA, the syaye government also handed over a cheque of Rs. 4.5 crore as contract fee for holding the event.
• Meghalaya will be hosting the National Games 2022 coinciding with the 50th year of the creation of the state.

Goa will be hosting the third edition of the Science Film Festival  titled 'SCI-FFI Goa' of India between January 16-19.

• The festival, titled SCI-FFI Goa, is being organised by the state-based Vidnyan Parishad, Goa's Department of Science and Technology, the Entertainment Society of Goa and the Goa College of Art. Organisers said today that a highlight of the festival would be the Science Film Making Competition with two categories where films of a duration of five minutes and those above five minutes will be included.

Awards & Honours

Ravi Menon, managing director of Singapore's central bank Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), was recognised by the leading UK-based magazine 'The Banker' for his contribution in the makeover of Singapore's financial system. 

• Indian-origin banker Ravi Menon named best governor of Asia Pacific.
• The annual recognition is by magazine, a publication under The Financial Times Group, is based on a selection process involving a survey of bankers and economists.