Current Affairs - December 29, 2017 Current Affairs

The Environment Ministry approved the regional project on 'Climate Resilience Building among Farmers through Crop Residue Management' under National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC). The project was approved at meeting of National Steering Committee on Climate Change (NSCCC) held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Secretary, Environment Ministry. The project aims to mitigate climate change impacts and enhance adaptive capacity and counter adverse environmental impacts arising from stubble burning.

Amardeep Singh Bhatia, a 1993 batch IAS officer of Nagaland cadre, will be the new director of Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO). The SFIO is a fraud investigating agency in India, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Bhatia is at present joint secretary in the ministry. The SFIO is involved in major fraud probes and is the co-ordinating agency with the Income Tax Department and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Yamaha Motor India group announced Motofumi Shitara as group chairman with effect from 1st January 2018. Motofumi Shitara will also serve as the Managing Director of Yamaha Motor India Pvt. Ltd. and Managing Director of Yamaha Motor India Sales Pvt. Ltd.

The Cryptocurrency dealer Pluto Exchange announced the launch of India's first mobile application for transacting in virtual currencies. The country's first app-based wallet will enable bitcoin transactions using a mobile number. By using a four-digit personal identification number (PIN), users can now buy, sell, store and spend bitcoins via a mobile number. The app would also permit a range of transactions, including payments, remittances, business-to-business commerce, supply chain finance, asset management and trading.

The International Sweet Festival will be hosted by Hyderabad from January 13 to 15, 2018 at the parade ground, Hyderabad. The International Sweet Festival will coincide with the International Kite festival at Hyderabad. Telangana Tourism Secretary Burra Venkatesham made this announcement. The International Sweet Festival will exhibit more than 1,000 sweets. Only homemade sweets will be displayed in the festivals.

India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed Advanced Air Defence (AAD) supersonic interceptor missile, capable of destroying any incoming ballistic missile at low altitude, from a test range in Odisha. This was the third supersonic interceptor test carried out this year in which an incoming ballistic missile target was successfully intercepted, within a 30km altitude of the earth's atmosphere by an interceptor. The interceptor is a 7.5-meter long single stage solid rocket propelled guided missile equipped with a navigation system.

Prince Harry has been made the president of African Parks, a conservation group which manages wildlife areas in Africa. As per the environmentalist organization, Prince Harry will contribute to its effort to protect Africa's natural heritage and support both wildlife and communities, who live in and around conservation areas.

2018 edition of Indian Science Congress will be held at Manipur University in Imphal, Manipur in March 2018. This will be the 105th edition of Indian Science Congress. Initially, Indian Science Congress 2018 was scheduled to be held at the Osmania University in Hyderabad, in the first week of January 2018. However, it had to be moved on account of security problems. 'Reaching the Unreached Through Science and Technology' will be the focal theme of this event.

As per a report by CARE Ratings, India has ranked 5th on list of countries with highest non-performing assets (NPA) levels. The report classified countries into four categories viz. countries having very low levels of NPAs, countries having low levels of NPAs, countries having medium levels of NPAs and countries having high levels of NPAs. The report classified countries into four categories viz. countries having very low levels of NPAs, countries having low levels of NPAs, countries having medium levels of NPAs and countries having high levels of NPAs. With an NPA ratio of 9.85 percent, India has been placed in fourth category i.e. of 'high levels of NPAs'. Only countries where NPAs scenario is worse than India are Greece (36.67%), Italy (16.35%), Portugal (15.52%), and Ireland (11.85%).

The Association of Indian Football Coaches (AIFC)to provide a platform for the coaches in Mumbai. It has been launched with the recognition of the All India Football Association (AIFA) and the objective of the AIFC is to make it 65,000 coaches in the next five years.

Indian chess ace Viswanathan Anand has won the World Rapid Chess Championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.The 48-year-old Anand has thus claimed his first rapid world title since 2003. In the final, Anand beat Russia's Vladimir Fedoseev to reclaim the title.

Rajasthan state government sets up Automatic service ATMs 'E-Mitra Plus' at nearly 9900 Atal Seva Kendras and 2500 urban locations situated across the state. It will work for 24*7 for 365 days. E-plus is a more advanced system with completely human-less interface, which has linked with AADHAR and has provision for payment by cash and card. Through E-Mitra Plus 380 banking services can be accessed.

Sumita Misra, a 1990 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, has been appointed joint secretary in the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) for five years. The PMEAC is mandated to analyse all critical issues, economic or otherwise, referred to it by the prime minister and advising him thereon.

According to the country's largest lender, SBI, its board approved raising Rs 8,000 crore through various sources, including masala bonds, to meet Basel III capital norms. Masala bonds are rupee denominated specialized debt instruments that can be floated in overseas markets only to raise capital. Banks in India have to comply with the global capital norms under Basel III by March 2019, three months later than the internationally agreed time frame by January 2019.

India provided medical assistance worth about $1 million to Yemen as part of its commitment to provide humanitarian assistance. This assistance was provided in response to a request from the Yemeni government. In the past, India has helped Yemen by providing food and medical assistance.

Bank of Baroda entered into MoU with POORTI Agri Services Pvt. Ltd to enable the farmers to purchase agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, seeds etc. provided by POORTI. This is a Platform for Online Ordering & Rural Transformation of India known as "POORTI". Poorti is a well-established company providing multi-party mobile commerce platform for easy ordering of fertilizers, pesticides, seeds by farmers with loans given by banks.