Daily Current Affairs Updates–9th 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.

DAYS TO REMEMBER:

14th PravasiBhartiya Divas to conclude today

i) Today is the 3rd and the final day of 14th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas at Bengaluru in Karnataka.

ii) President Pranab Mukherjee will attend the valedictory ceremony this evening and will confer Pravasi Bhartiya Samman and awards. Apart from this, six plenary sessions are also scheduled for today.

iii) Culture Minister of Mauritius Prithvirajsing Roopun and Malaysia Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Infrastructure Dato Seri Utama Samy Vellu will participate in different sessions.

iv) Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his Portuguese Counterpart Dr Antonio Costa inaugurated the main convention.

Kerala Ranks 8 in '12 Destinations to Watch' in 2017 by ABTA

i) Kerala figures at number eight in the "12 destinations to watch in 2017" by Britain's largest and prominent travel and tours operators association.

ii) The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has ranked Kerala higher than premier destinations like the US, Sardinia (island of Italy), South Africa and Vietnam

iii) The rankings consist of locations that are expected to capture traveller's imaginations over the next year.

Vijayawada to host 1st DigiDhanMela in Andhra Pradesh today

i) In Andhra Pradesh Vijayawada will be host to the first DigiDhanMela in the State this afternoon. DigiDhanMelas are being organised across the country to promote cashless transactions.

ii) Union Minister for Urban Development and Information Broadcasting M. Venkaiah Naidu along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will launch the Mela at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium, Vijayawada this evening.

iii) People will be taught to make payments through various digital modes like Internet, e-Wallet, Credit and Debit Cards and other modes to undertake cashless transactions that are available currently.

iv) They will be informed of the advantages in less cash economy and the methods to switch to the digital mode of transactions.

3-day National Conference for e-Governance to begin in Visakhapatnam today

i) The 20th Edition of the National Conference for e-Governance 2016-17 is being organised by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) and the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India in partnership with Information Technology, Electronics and Communication (ITE&C) Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

ii) Built on the premise of “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance”, the conference is an opportunity for the public and private sector to discuss best practices and explore new areas of partnership in areas related to e-Governance by leveraging various technology initiatives.

iii) The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Internet of Things and e-Governance’ and will be covering newly evolving areas of e-Governance across five plenary sessions.

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways organises 28th Road Safety Week

i) With the objective to sensitise people about road safety, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is organizing 28th edition of Road Safety Week from today to 15th of this month.

ii) Road Transport and Highway Minister NitinGadkari this morning flagged off the Road Safety Walk at India Gate in New Delhi. On the occasion, MrGadkari asked people to report about accident prone areas and appealed to remain vigilant. He advised people to be responsible and stay safe.

Maharashtra govt comes up with amendment in Land Revenue Code

i) Maharashtra government has come up with an amendment in Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, following which non-agriculture certification will no longer be required for a land for which development plan is finalized.

ii) Unless an agricultural land is converted into non-agricultural, development work can not be started.

iii) With the new amendment in the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code 1966, things would move more swiftly.

iv) Earlier, the requirement of non-agriculture certification used to cause delay in projects, including all types of infrastructure development works.

Prime Minister to inaugurate country's 1st International Exchange being set up by Bombay Stock Exchange in Gandhinagar

i) Prime Minister NarendraModi is on a two-day visit to Gujarat from today. He will inaugurate the 8th edition of 'Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit 2017' along with series of other programs during this two days visit.

ii) Prime Minister will inaugurate the four-day 'Vibrant Summit 2017 at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar tomorrow. Ahead of this Summit, Prime Minister will inaugurate four different projects today after his arrival.

iii) Prime Minister Modi will lay foundation stone for the redevelopment of Gandhinagar Railway Station. The project includes a face-lift of Gandhinagar railway station at a cost of 250 crore rupees. Prime Minister will also inaugurate 'Vibrant Gujarat Global Trade Show' today.

INTERNATIONAL:

Qantas named world's safest airline 4th year running

i) Australia's flag carrier Qantas Airways Ltd's fatality free record in the jet age means it is the world's safest airline, for the fourth year running.

ii) Ratings website AirlineRatings.com announced the carrier atop its Top 20 list, ahead of Cathy Pacific, Middle-eastern giant Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines and local rival Virgin Australia.

iii) Qantas was the leader in the Future Air Navigation System, the Flight Data Recorder, which was developed by Australia's chief scientific body the CSIRO, to monitor plane and crew performance, as well as advances in automatic landings and precision approaches in mountainous regions.

Russia removes LinkedIn from local App stores

i) Russia has directed Google and Apple to remove LinkedIn from the local Android and iOS App stores.

ii) The directive comes weeks after a Russian court blocked the networking platform for disregarding a rule which requires companies to store Russian citizens' data within the country's borders.

iii) Google and Android have complied with the order and the app is no longer available.

BANKING NEWS:

Bank of India to reduce its interest rates

i) The bank earlier reduced its minimum lending rates or marginal cost of funds based lending rates (MCLR) by up to 90 basis points, effective January 7.

ii) The rate on home loans has been lowered to 8.65 per cent for women borrowers, while for others the rate has been set at 8.70 per cent. The bank has reduced the interest rates for vehicle loans to 9.35 per cent.

iii) For loan against property, the new rates are set in the range of 10.50-11 per cent. The rates for women borrowers will be 0.5 per cent lower than the others.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY NEWS:

EPFO makes Aadhaar mandatory for pensioners, members

i) Retirement fund body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has made it mandatory for its about pensioners and subscribers to provide either Aadhaar or a proof that they have applied for it till month-end to remain a beneficiary of its social security schemes.

ii) Since the government provides subsidy to an EPFO member, it has invoked Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act.

iii) Section 7 of the Act provides that where government provides subsidy, benefit or service from Consolidated Fund of India, an individual can be asked to undergo authentication, or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number.

iv) It also provides that where an individual to whom no Aadhaar number has been assigned, such individual can apply for enrollment.

General Anti-Avoidance Tax Rule to kick in from April 2017

i) The General Anti-Avoidance Rule,GAAR, will kick in from April 1, 2017 said the Central Board for Direct Taxes today. GAAR was part of the 2012-13 Budget speech of the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to check tax evasion and avoidance.

ii) During the 2015 Budget presentation, Finance Minister ArunJaitley announced that its implementation will be delayed by 2 years.

iii) Its implementation was repeatedly postponed because of the apprehensions expressed by foreign investors as GAAR contains provision allowing the government to retrospectively tax overseas deals involving local assets.

Odisha government plans to issue 11.40 lakh RuPay cards to farmers

i) The Odisha government plans to issue 11 lakh 40 thousand RuPay cards to farmers of the state by March this year. Cooperation minister Damodar Rout said, the Odisha government is bound to implement the RuPay card scheme as the Prime Minister NarendraModi had asked to convert Kisan Credit Card to RuPay cards.

ii) Odisha State Cooperative Bank Managing Director TusharKanta Panda said, necessary steps have been initiated to provide Point of Sale (POS) machines in all 708 Samitis of the State through which the farmers can withdraw money by using their RuPay card.

APPOINTMENTS:

Olympic champion David Rudisha to be Mumbai Marathon Ambassador

i) Reigning Olympic and world 800m champion and world record holder, David Rudisha is the International Event Ambassador for the 14th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon to be held on January 15

ii) He retained his Olympic 800m title with an imperious display at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August with a run of 1:42.15, the fastest time in the world.

iii) He took the gold in London four years before in a world record 1:40.91.

AWARDS AND HONORS:

Barai, Shivangi received PravasiBharatiyaSamaan Award

i) Indian-Americans Dr Bharat Barai and DrSampatShivangi have been selected for the prestigious PravasiBharatiyaSamman Award, the highest civilian award given to overseas Indians and people of Indian origin.

ii) They received the award from President Pranab Mukherjee in Bengaluru on January 9, the last day of the PravasiBharatiya Divas conclave.

iii) The award was established in 2003 by Ministry of External Affairs.  So far, 28 overseas Indians from the US have received the award.

Indian teenagers win prestigious Travel Photographer Of The Year award 2016

i) DarpanBasak, 14 years of age, won the Young Travel Photographer Of The Year, and Ankit Kumar, 13, won the Young Travel Photographer (14 years old and under) in the Places and Experiences category.

ii) Travel Photographer Of The Year award was founded by photographers Chris and Karen Coe in 2003.

iii) It's an annual award that receives entries from over 100 countries. It's also an award that has some of the most beautiful picture you'll ever see as its entries.

Agra and Sikkim have bagged positions in New York Times' top travel destinations list

i) Agra and Sikkim featured in New York Times' list of '52 Places to go to in 2017'.

ii) While Agra has ranked third in the list, Sikkim has bagged the 17th position among the top travel destinations for this year.

iii) Canada, on the other hand, has been declared the top travel destination of the year.

Veteran Hollywood actress Meryl Streep slams Trump at Golden Globe Awards

i) Veteran Hollywood actress Meryl Streep slammed US President-elect Donald Trump, without naming him, in a politically- charged speech at the Golden Globe Awards function.

ii) Meryl, who won the Cecil B DeMille Award winner at the Golden Globes, in her acceptance speech, cautioned against powerful people using their position to bully others.

iii) The 67-year-old actress highlighted the rich diversity of Hollywood citing examples of Natalie Portman who was born in Jerusalem and Dev Patel who was born in Kenya. She said, Hollywood is full of outsiders and foreigners, and if he kicks them all out, there will be nothing to watch except for football and mixed martial arts.

La La Land sweeps Golden Globes with seven wins

i) "La La Land", a romantic musical comedy-drama film swept the Golden Globes awards by winning in all the seven categories including the top award of best musical or comedy at the ceremony in Los Angeles.

ii) The film director Damien Chazelle took home the trophies for best director and screenplay. The film's leading stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone won the trophies for best actor and actress. "La La Land" also took the best original score award.

iii) The other big award of the night went to "Moonlight", for best motion picture. The film pippedDev Patel-starrer "Lion" and "Manchester By The Sea", "Hacksaw Rridge" and "Hell or High Water".

iv) Isabelle Huppert won the best actress in a motion picture - drama for "Elle" which was named the best foreign film. Actor Casey Affleck won the best actor in a motion picture for his moving performance in "Manchester By the Sea".

v) In the best supporting actor and actress categories the trophies went to Aaron Taylor-Johnson of "Nocturnal Animals". Viola Davis won th best supporting actress category for "Fences".

vi) The Golden Globe Awards is a major part of the film industry's awards season, which culminates each year with the Academy Awards or Oscars.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

China to set up world's highest altitude Gravitational Wave telescopes in Tibet

i) China is setting up the world's highest altitude gravitational wave telescopes in a Tibet prefecture close to Line of Actual Control with India with a budget of $18.8 million to detect faintest echoes resonating from universe which may reveal more about the Big Bang theory.

ii) Construction has started for the first telescope, code-named Ngari No 1, 30 km south of Shiquanhe Town in Nagri Prefecture, said Yao Yongqiang chief researcher with the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

iii) Parts of Nagriis last Tibetan prefecture at China's border with India.

SPORTS NEWS:

VelavanSenthilkumar wins British Junior Open Under-19 Squash title

i) VelavanSenthilkumar created history by winning the first-ever all-Indian Boys’ Under-19 final at the British Junior Open in Sheffield.

ii) India also secured the bronze medal in this category after 9/16th seeded AdhityaRaghavan finished third.

iii) In the 91-year history of this event, considered the world’s second most prestigious junior tournament after the World Championships, this was the first time two Indians faced off in a summit clash.

Chennai Open: Bopanna&Nedunchezhiyan bag men's doubles title

i) In Chennai Open tennis, RohanBopanna and JeevanNedunchezhiyan were crowned the champions in the doubles category. They defeated compatriots Purav Raja and DivijSharan 6-3, 6-4 in the summit clash last night.

ii) A doubles history was created even before the first ball was hit, as it was the first time in the ATP event’s 22-year existence that four Indians featured in the finals. In singles, Spain's No. 2 seed Roberto Bautista Agut won the trophy effortlessly by demolishing Russia’s Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 in just over one hour 13 minutes.

OBITUARY:  

Iran’s ex-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani dead

i) Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a pugnacious political survivor despite his support for moderates, died after suffering a heart attack.

ii) Mr. Rafsanjani, who was 82, was a pivotal figure in the foundation of the Islamic Republic in 1979, and served as President from 1989 to 1997.

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