Current Affairs Updates - 18th January 2018

Current Affairs Updates - 18th January 2018

We, the Achieversrule Team, brings to you the Current Affairs Updates for 18th January 2018. We always bring to you the Daily Note down points as bullet points which are sorted and can help you excel in today's competitive market. We request our readers to write down all the important points that are very important for the Bank, Rail and SSC exams.

First in India

Karang, a small lake island in Manipur, has become the country’s first cashless island.

• The campaign was held from January 9 to 12. Karang Island Boat Association and Panthoibi Khoyol Standard Association extended help in holding campaigns on cashless transactions.

New Appointments: National

Delhi Police commissioner Alok Kumar Verma appointed the new CBI director

• Delhi Police commissioner Alok Kumar Verma, a 1979 batch Indian Police Service officer of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, was on Thursday appointed the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

New Appointments: International

Italian conservative Antonio Tajani has been elected the new president of the European Parliament.

• Mr Tajani, 63, is a former spokesman for Italy's Silvio Berlusconi and an ex-European commissioner.

Banking/Economic Affairs

Digital invoice discounting marketplace - Invoice Mart has tied up with state-run lender Bank of Baroda to discount invoices for MSMEs. 

• Bank of Baroda had recently announced that it was stepping up its focus on supply chain financing, to provide loans to MSMEs associated with large corporates. TReDS is an online mechanism that helps MSMEs unlock working capital without the hassle of applying for loans. 

Yes Bank today claimed to have launched the industry’s first customisable savings account which will protect customers from “unwanted charges” levied in current offerings.

• Customers can choose from options like debit cards, alternatives to minimum balance requirements, and banking benefits such as ATM usage, digital banking products, branch banking and family grouping, it said.

Rankings

India ranked at 78th position on the recently released global Passport Index 2017 with a visa-free score of 46 

• Germany ranked first in 2017 Passport Index with a visa-free score of 157 followed by Singapore with a visa-free score of 156. Afghanistan’s is least powerful passport with rank of 95th and visa-free score of just 23. China and Pakistan were ranked 58th and 94th on the list respectively.

National Affairs

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) announced mobile TV service ‘Ditto TV’ and limited fixed mobile telephony, an app that virtually turns mobiles into cordless phone working in sync with landlines within home premises.

• BSNL claimed the latest limited fixed mobile telephony (FMT) service is “different” from the contentious fixed mobile telephony service it announced last year but was forced to put on hold following a vehement opposition from cellular operators.

International Affairs

North and South Korea have agreed to form a joint women's hockey team and march under the same flag for a parade at next month's Winter Olympics.

• Officials from both sides hope the games, which will be held just 50 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) will help ease tensions between the north's isolated dictator and the south's US-allied president. 

A French start-up Pragma Industries has become the first company to start factory production of hydrogen-powered bicycles for use in corporate or municipal fleets.

• Pragma Industries, which is based in Biarritz, France and makes fuel cells for military use, has sold some 60 hydrogen-powered bikes to French municipalities including Saint Lo, Cherbourg, Chambery and Bayonne.

Science & Technologies

India successfully test-fired nuclear capable surface-to-surface Agni-5 Ballistic Missile boosting indigenous missile capabilities and deterrence strength of the country. 

• Agni-5 is the most advanced missile in the Agni series with a strike range of over 5,000 kilometres. Agni-5 was test-fired at about 9:54 am from launch pad number 4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Abdul Kalam Island, earlier known as Wheeler Island, off Odisha coast.

Agreements (MoU)

India, Sri Lanka sign four agreements for collaboration in ICT sector

• The MoU for cooperation was signed by Union minister for Information Technology Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad with his Sri Lankan counterpart in Colombo.
• National Informatics centre (NIC) has set up a model E-office system for Sri Lanka and both projects were formally inaugurated on the occasion.

Summit /Conference / Events / Host

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Raj Kumar Singh delivered the keynote address at the ministerial plenary session of the International Solar Alliance at Abu Dhabi.

• ISA envisages to develop the global solar market via demand aggregation, developing common financing pools and mechanisms, bankable projects, standardizing contracts, alignment of supply chains and trade facilitation through partnership programmes in Member Countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu are at an event to inaugurate an iCreate centre, a start-up hub in Gujarat’s Bavla town.

• The visit assumes significance given Israel's reputation as being the global hub for start-ups. 
• The two leaders, accompanied by Netanyahu’s wife Sara, will return to Mumbai in the evening. 

Ministry of Petroleum launches Saksham 2018 campaign.

• Saksham (Sanrakshan Kshamta Mahotsav) is an annual flagship event of Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Govt. of India. The event focuses on the active involvement of the Oil & Gas PSUs along with other stakeholders like State Governments, for creating focused attention on fuel conservation through people-centric activities.

The 58th edition of India International Garment Fair ( IIGF) is beginning in New Delhi

• Organized by Apparel Export Promotion Council India, the event is one of the largest and most popular platforms in Asia, from which overseas garment buyers can source products and forge business relationships with India’s finest players in the apparel and fashion accessories domain.

Awards & Honours: Miscellaneous

President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Awards for 2016 to an eminent group of musicians, dancers, and theatre artists namely Arvind Parikh, R Vedavalli, Ram Gopal Bajaj and Sunil Kothari.

• The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships (Akademi Ratna) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) are national honours bestowed by the government on performing artists as well as teachers and scholars in the field of performing arts.

Actor Sudhir Dalvi gets Janakavi P Sawlaram award

• City mayor Meenakshi Shinde presented Dalvi a citation.
• The award is jointly given by the Thane Municipal Corporation and the Janakavi P Savlaram Kala Samiti.

Awards & Honours: Sports

Cricket icon Kapil Dev was  inducted into Legends Club 'Hall of Fame' in presence of former India captains Ajit Wadekar, Sunil Gavaskar and Nari Contractor at the Cricket Club of India.

• Dev, who led India to the emphatic World Cup victory in 1983, is considered as the country's greatest all-rounder. He was presented with a citation by former India player and Legends Club President Madhav Apte.