Daily Current Affairs Updates–8th January 2017

Daily Current Affairs Updates–8th January 2017:

Daily Current affairs News Updates about the National and International events were listed here. Candidates those who are preparing for IBPS/SBI/PO/Clerk exam and all other competitive exams can use this.

Budget Session of Parliament to begin from January 31

i) The Budget session of Parliament will start from 31st of this month. In a press release, LokSabha secretariat said President will address a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament in the Central Hall at 11 AM on the first day of the session.

ii) Subject to exigencies of government business, the session is likely to conclude on the 12th of April. RajyaSabha secretariat has also issued a similar notification saying President Pranab Mukherjee has summoned the RajyaSabha to meet on 31st of January.

PM Modi announces PravasiKaushalVikasYojana at PBD Convention

i) Prime Minister NarendraModi says that Government will shortly launch a skill development program - PravasiKaushalVikasYojana - targeted at Indian youth seeking overseas employment.

ii) At PravasiBhartiya Divas convention Prime Minister NarendraModi has urged the overseas Indian community to convert their PIO (Persons of Indian Origin) cards to OCI (Overseas Citizens of India) cards.

iii) Chief Guest of the event Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa stressed the role of the Indian community’s contribution in Portugal. Mr Costa said, he is proud that he is a person of Indian origin. Stressing his country’s geographic advantage, he said, Portugal wants to attract foreign direct investment.

International Kite festival begins at Ahmedabad

i) In Gujarat, a week long international Kite festival is being held at Sabarmati River Front in Ahmedabad. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani inaugurated the festival this morning.

ii) As many as two thousand students from the schools run by the Municipal Corporation performed 'suryanamaskar' this morning during the opening ceremony of the festival.

iii) About 51 kite fliers from 8 different states while more than 100 kite fliers from 31 countries are participating in this event. Kite fliers from Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New-Zealand, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and USA are part of them.

iv) The international kite fliers will also visit Palanpur, Rajkot, Vadodara, Pavagadh, Valsad and Gandhidham as a part of international kite festival.

Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu to launch non-fare revenue policy

i) Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will launch the non-fare revenue policy, a first in Railways, offering various schemes for revenue yielding activities of about 2,000 crore rupees.

ii) Quoting a senior Railway official, news agency PTI said, these schemes include train branding, advertising spaces in trains, level crossings and areas along tracks. It said, Railway ministry is also planning to set up about 2400 ATMs at platforms of major stations across the country.

iii) According to the official, currently railway earns less than 5 per cent of its total revenue through non-tariff sources and its aim is to raise it substantially through concrete offers.

Jaipur International Film Festival begins

i) The ninth edition of Jaipur International Film Festival (JIFF) began in Jaipur tonight in the presence of renowned film makers.

ii) The ceremony opened with tributes to veteran actor Om Puri who died of a massive heart attack yesterday.

iii) This year's Life Time Achievement Award was presented to internationally acclaimed cine-visionary Ramesh Prasad, hailed as creator of specialised post production facilities.                 

India – Portugal sign 7 key agreements

i) India and Portugal sign 7 key agreements in areas including defence, agriculture, renewable energy and information technology; PM Modi thanks Portugal for supporting India's bid for NSG and Missile Technology Control Regime.

ii) The MoUs were signed after bilateral meeting between Prime Minister NarendraModi and his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa in New Delhi.

iii) In the joint statement both exhorted the international community to effectively implement the measures enumerated by the 1267 UN Sanctions Committee which has been dealing with designating MassodAzhar as a terroist.

INTERNATIONAL:

H1-B Visa Programme reform bill introduced in US Congress

i) The Protect and Grow American Jobs Act was introduced in the US Congress in January 2017. The bill roposes key changes in the H1-B Programme in order to stop misuse of the H1-B and L1 visas by the American companies.

ii) The bill also seeks to encourage companies to hire more American workers in order to tackle growing unemployment in the country.

iii) It also disallows companies from hiring H1-B employees if more than 50% of their employees are H1-B and L-1 visa holders.

iv) The proposed legislation prohibits replacement of American workers by H1-B or L-1 visa holders.

Nana Akufo-Addo sworn in as president of Ghana

i) Nana Akufo-Addo has been sworn in as Ghana's new president after beating John Mahama in last month's election.

ii) Heads of state from across Africa and thousands of guests and dignitaries watched him take the oath of office at a ceremony in the capital, Accra.

iii) MrAkufo-Addo, a 72-year-old former human rights lawyer, promised free high school education and more factories.

Donald Trump names Dan Coats as new national intelligence director

i) The Indiana ex-senator formerly served on the Senate Intelligence Committee. US President-elect said, Coats would provide unwavering leadership and spearhead his administration's ceaseless vigilance against those who seek to do them harm.

ii) The appointment comes a day after an intelligence report accused Russia's President of ordering a campaign aimed at helping Trump to victory. Coats will need the Senate to confirm his appointment, replacing James Clapper.

APPOINTMENTS:

Ex-Pak army chiefRaheel Sharif appointed head of Islamic anti-terror alliance

i) Former Pakistan Army chief Raheel Sharif has been made the head of a 39-nation military coalition formed by Saudi Arabia to fight terrorism, defence minister KhawajaAsif said on Friday.

ii) The Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT), created by Saudi Arabia in December 2015 to combat the Islamic State and other groups, currently has 39 members, including Turkey and Malaysia. It is based at a command centre in Riyadh.

SPORTS NEWS:

Djokovic wins Qatar Open tennis title

i) Novak Djokovic has won the Qatar Open tennis title. In an epic final in Doha today, the Serbian defeated Andy Murray 6-3 5-7 6-4.

ii) Djokovic missed out on three match points and had to repel a roaring Murray comeback before ending the Briton's 28-match, five-tournament winning streak.

iii) With the win, Djokovic made an immense statement in his bid to rule men's tennis again as it was Murray, who deposed him as world number one.

iv) The world number two said it was "the dream start" to 2017 in his build-up to the defence of the Australian Open title later this month.

v) It was the 36th contest between the two, and Murray lost for the 25th time against his old rival.

Sania wins Brisbane women's doubles title but loses No.1 rank

i) Indian tennis ace SaniaMirza picked up her first title of the season, combining with American BethanieMattek-Sands to lift the Brisbane International women's doubles title.

ii) The top-seeded Indo-American duo triumphed 6-2 6-3 against the second-seeded Russian team of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the final.

iii)The trophy, however, ended Sania's 91-week reign as the world No.1 doubles player in the WTA rankings. That position was taken over by her partner Bethanie.

iv) Sania will go back to pairing with Czech Republic's BarboraStrycova in Sydney next week and the Australian Open, which starts on January 16

OBITUARY:  

Former West Bengal Minister Saral Deb passes away

i) Veteran All India Forward Bloc leader and former West Bengal minister Saral Deb passed away following a prolonged illness. He was 82.

ii) He was a six-time state legislator, winning from Barasat constituency of North 24 Parganas district. He was the state Library Minister from 1977 to 1982 and also had held the Cooperative portfolio from 1982 to 1987.

iii) He was the front runner to organise cooperative movement in the state. Bornin Khulna district (now in Bangladesh) of undivided India.

Portugal former president Mario Soares dies at 92

i) Portugal's former president Mario Soares died today in Lisbon. He was 92. The spokesman of the hospital where he passed away said this.

ii) The founder of Portugal's Socialist party, Soares spent decades in politics. He was admitted to hospital on December 13, where he later fell into a deep coma, and never recovered.

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