Current Affairs Updates - 4 January 2018

Current Affairs Updates - 4 January 2018

Today we have updated all the important news of banking, national, international affairs and obituary. The important part of the headlines have been marked in bold. Candidates are requested to go through each of the headlines in details for any additional information. These are very important for the upcoming examinations of Bank and SSC. We are also providing one liner updates regularly along with daily current affairs based quiz.

Banking/Economic Affairs

The Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank (APGVB) has operationalised it’s first desktop ATM at Kasibugga in Mandi Bazar of Warangal in Telangana.

• The mini-ATM within the branch premises will facilitate customers to withdraw small amounts. At the same time regular bank account holders can withdraw money and do other banking activities. The model will be scaled up to 100 in the near future, said Narasi Reddy, Chairman. With these ATMs, there will be no need for separate ATM rooms, so there is no security issue.

The Finance Ministry said RBI Bonds Scheme has not been closed but the interest rate on such papers lowered to 7.75 per cent.

• The government notified that the 8 per cent GoI Savings (Taxable) Bonds, 2003 “shall cease for subscription with effect from the close of business on Tuesday, January 2, 2018.”

Rankings

G Sathiyan becomes India’s highest-ranked player in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings.

• The current ranking of Sathiyan is 49, pushing Kamal to the second spot at 51.
• Whereas among the women, Manika Batra is topping the world chart among Indians at 62th.

According to HSBC, India's growth rate is expected to accelerate over the coming year and is likely to improve further to 7.6 per cent by 2019-20

• "India's growth story has a two-part narrative. The first is a slowdown and gradual recovery in the short run, likely over FY18 and FY19, as key sectors revive from disruptions related to the implementation of GST," HSBC said in a research note.

National Affairs

To promote cruise tourism in India, cruise tourists with e-visas will now be exempted from the requirement of biometric enrolment till December 31, 2020

• This will make immigration clearance of such passengers faster, leaving them with more time to spend on shore, it said, adding that this is also an important factor that helps cruise lines decide whether or not to include a destination in their itinerary.

The first draft of the much-awaited National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam has listed 19 million people as legal citizens

• People flocked to seva kendras across Assam in large numbers since morning on Monday to check whether they figured in the list containing the names of those who were recognised as citizens of India in the Supreme Court-monitored exercise, hours after the document was released at midnight.

State-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd said it has commissioned the country's second largest rooftop solar power plant at its petrochemical complex at Pata in Uttar Pradesh

• Tata Power Solar had in December 2015 commissioned a 12 MW solar rooftop project in Amritsar, which produces more than 150 lakh units of power annually and offset over 19,000 tonne of carbon emissions every year. 

In a tourist-friendly measure, the Puducherry government has launched a special police force, with distinct blue-coloured head gears, to ensure the safety of visitors.

• The personnel of the newly-launched 'Tourist Police' wing would also don blue badges bearing the police emblem, marking a departure from the conventional red colour caps, the hall mark of territorial police since the French rule.

Karnataka government said it would be obtaining electric vehicles under the Centre's FAME-India scheme.

• As per the approval received in response to the Expression of Interest by Department of Heavy  Industries of the Union government under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-India) India scheme Karnataka is set to procure and ply 40 electric buses,  100 four wheelers and 500 three wheelers along with setting up of charging infrastructure across the city of Bengaluru.

Cryptocurrencies are not considered legal tender in India

• Bitcoins or such cryptocurrencies are not legal tender and those indulging in such transactions are doing it at their own risk, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday as several members expressed concerns over trading on these platforms.

International Affairs

UNESCO added Turkey's endangered 'bird language' in Intangible Cultural Heritage list 

• The unusual and very efficient whistle language used as a means of communication by villagers in remote northern Turkey entered the Unesco list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. 
• This form of communication which dates to some 500 years ago, during the Ottoman Empire, was widespread across the Black Sea regions, but 50 years ago it suffered the impact of the progression of technology and nowadays the ever rapid growing of cellular mobile systems has put this cultural heritage under serious threat. 

Pakistan's central bank has allowed the Chinese yuan to be used for bilateral trade and investment activities 

• The adoption of yuan means that Pakistan and China would be able to replace the US dollar for transactions in the USD 50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. 

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced a 40 percent increase to the minimum wage as of January.

• Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced a 40 percent increase to the minimum wage as of January, a move that will foment what many economists already consider hyperinflation in the oil-rich but crisis-stricken nation.

Science & Technologies

World to become drier with global warming of 2 degrees Celsius.

• More than a quarter of Earth's land surface will become "significantly" drier even if humanity manages to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius, the goal espoused in the Paris Agreement, scientists said on Monday.

Rating agency Crisil launched an index to measure the performance of investments of foreign portfolio investors (FPI) in the fixed-income market. 

• The Crisil FPI index would serve as benchmark for performance of FPI investments in government securities, and 'AAA' as well as 'AA' rated corporate bonds with residual maturity greater than three years. 

The entire Nagaland has been declared as “disturbed area” for six more months, till June- end, under the controversial AFSPA, which empowers security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without any prior notice.

• A home ministry official said the decision to continue the declaration of Nagaland as “disturbed area” has been taken as killings, loot and extortion have been going in various parts of the state which necessitated the action for the convenience of the security forces operating there.

Application / Portal 

'The Allied and Healthcare Professionals’ database portal a2hp.mohfw.gov.in. has been launched as part of Ministry’s commitment to ensure better systems and frameworks for the healthcare workforce in the country. 

• The Allied and Healthcare Professionals’ can visit the portal on the link mentioned above and provide basic personal, qualification and professional information, the portal will then send an auto-generated email to the registered email of the candidate for verification and will provide an enrolment reference number for further usage. The candidates can subsequently login to the portal using the credentials received in the email and edit the information, upload qualification degree etc.

Agreements (MoU)

HDFC Bank has announced a partnership with Rajasthan Government to promote and nurture startups in the state. 

• The MoU was signed between Akhil Arora, principal Secretary – IT and Communication, Government of Rajasthan and Smita Bhagat, Head – Branch Banking, Government Business and Ecommerce at HDFC Bank, in presence of Satyen Modi, Zonal Head of HDFC Bank.

Summit /Conference / Events / Host

The Karnataka government announced that 'Karnataka International Travel Expo' (KITE) will be held here from February 28, billing it as the "largest" B2B travel event in the country.

• The aim is to project Karnataka globally and attract tourist footfall, with emphasis on promoting the state's wild life, luxury and adventure destinations, historical monuments and UNESCO world heritage sites, he said.

The 171st Araadhanai Music Festival (AMF) has started in Thiruvaiyaru, Tamil Nadu on January 2, 2018. 

• The fest is one of the Trinities of Carnatic music Saint Thyagaraja, which was inaugurated by Governor Banwarilal Purohit. The main function of the festival – the choral singing of Thyagaraja’s five kritis in Ghana ragas – will be held on his Samadhi day which falls on next Saturday. 

Obituary 

Legendary Urdu Poet Anwar Jalalpuri Dies After Suffering From Brain Stroke

• Legendary Urdu poet Anwar Jalalupri, who translated Bhagwad Gita into Urdu couplets, breathed his last at the King George Medical University in Lucknow on Tuesday.
• The 71-year-old was admitted to the hospital on Thursday after he suffered a brain stroke.