Current Affairs - January 2, 2018 Current Affairs

Israel filed notice to withdraw from the UNESCO alongside the United States. Israel has blasted UNESCO in recent years over the organization's criticism of Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem and its decision to grant full membership to Palestine in 2011. Israel was the member of UNESCO since 1949. Both Israel and the US have filed its own withdrawal notice in October 2017.

Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale has been appointed a foreign secretary of India. He has succeeded S Jaishankar. Mr. Gokhale served as Indian Ambassador to China, Germany and as Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia in the past. He is at present secretary (economic relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

The mini-ministerial meeting of WTO members from both rich and developing nations is proposed to be hosted by India in February 2018 to revitalize the multi-lateral trade body. The objective of the meeting is to discuss ways to revitalise the WTO, which is the best available multilateral institution to ensure predictable and transparent system of rule-making in the area of international trade. About 40 WTO member countries are expected to participate in the meeting, which is taking place after collapse of the ministerial talks held in Buenos Aires in December 2017. The meeting would be in the backdrop of rich nations forming groupings to prepare ground for pushing new issues such as investment facilitation, preparing rules for e-commerce, promoting gender equality and reducing subsidy on fisheries.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) introduced value-added tax (VAT). These are the first two countries in the Gulf which have introduced the VAT system. The 5% levy is being applied to the majority of goods and services. The UAE estimates that in the first year, VAT income will be around 12 billion dirhams. Petrol and diesel, food, clothes, utility bills and hotel rooms all now have VAT applied. But some outgoings have been made exempt from the tax, or given a zero-tax rating, including medical treatment, financial services and public transport.

National vice-president of the BJP, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who is also a member of Rajya Sabha has been appointed the President of Indian Council of Cultural Relations. He will replace Lokesh Chandra who had been appointed by the NDA government in October 2014 and has completed his three-year term.

Arunachal Pradesh has been officially declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) and has become the second state in the North East after Sikkim to achieve the status. On 1st January 2018, Upper Subansiri, Siang and Changlang were officially declared ODF. The project undertaken under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) SBM (G) saw the light of day only after the state government extended an incentive of Rs 8,000 per toilet. This is in addition to the Centres support of Rs 12,000, raising the grant for constructing a toilet to Rs 20,000. The state government also launched Swachh Arunachal Mission on October 2, 2017 at Tawang which envisaged the Swachh Protocol (Cleanliness Protocol) aimed at ensuring sustainability of assets created under SBM (Gramin). The state has achieved the ODF status before the national target, which is October 2019.

Nepal banned solo climbers from scaling its mountains, including Mount Everest, in a bid to reduce accidents. The new safety regulations also prohibit double amputee and blind climbers from attempting to reach the summit of the world's highest peak without a valid medical certificate. The law had been revised to make mountaineering safer and to decrease deaths.

Indian golfer Shiv Kapur has won the Royal Cup at Pattaya on December 31, 2017, which is his third Asian Tour title of 2017. Kapur, who had just one win in almost 11 years till April this year, has now won three times in last 8 months. This latest win marks Kapur's fourth Asian Tour win and sixth international title as he won twice on European Challenge Tour also.

Pankaj Jain has taken charge as Managing Director of India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL). Pankaj Jain is currently Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial Services (DFS). He will hold additional responsibility as Managing Director of India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL).

Vidarbha has won the Ranji Trophy title for the first time by defeating Delhi in the final match. The final match was played at Holkar Stadium in Indore. During Ranji Trophy final match, Vidarbha's Rajneesh Gurbani took a hat-trick against Delhi. Vidarbha lost only one wicket and took only five overs to chase down the target which gave them their first Ranji Trophy title.

Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Defence Minister, has launched a new state-of-the-art incubation centre "Centre for Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Learning (CEOL)" at Mallikatta in Mangaluru, Karnataka on December 29, 2017. The aim of CEOL is to nurture talent, foster the spirit of innovation and to support young engineers to realize their ideas. This is part of the project 'Startup Coast' under which it is proposed to establish innovation centres, incubation set-up, tinkering labs and co-working space for startups on the west coast in Karnataka. The CEOL, which will be managed by the Society headed by Deputy Commissioner, will provide perfect ecosystem for youngsters to work on their ideas. Sitharaman has allocated Rs. 1.5 crore from her MPLAD (Member of Parliament's Local Area Development) scheme for the development of CEOL.

Uttar Pradesh will be the theme state for the 32nd Surajkund International Crafts fair, which is scheduled to be held from the first week of February at Faridabad in Haryana. Besides participation of all states, about two dozen countries would also take part in the fair. The aim of fair is to preserve Indian folk traditions and cultural heritage. It also provides a world-class platform for craftsmen from around the world to showcase their skills. The fair would be organised by the Haryana Tourism and Surajkund Fair Authority in collaboration with Union Ministries of Tourism, Textiles, Culture and External Affairs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Republic Day celebration in 2018 would be "remembered through the ages" because the government for the first time in India's history would host leaders of 10 ASEAN countries as chief guests on 26th January 2018. The Republic Day will be celebrated with leaders of all 10 (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) ASEAN countries coming to India as chief guests. This time, not one but 10 chief guests would grace the Republic Day.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi inaugurated an online portal NARI in New Delhi for the empowerment of women. The portal will provide women with easy access to information on government schemes and initiatives for women. The portal summarises over 350 government schemes and other important information. It provides links to the Ministries, Departments and autonomous bodies offering these schemes as well as easy access to online applications and grievance redressal.

Star Sports, India's leading sports broadcaster, has bagged the broadcast and production rights of Union Sports Ministry's flagship 'Khelo India School Games (KISG)' for a period of five years from 2018 to 2022. The first-ever Khelo India School Games 2018 will be held from January 31 for under-17 age group (boys and girls) across 16 sports disciplines. The purpose of KISG is to inculcate a nationwide culture of sports through a grassroots sports revolution. The KISG 2018 is the marquee event under revamped Khelo India porgramme. The event is expected to host around 6000 athletes and officials in its first edition. The best talent selected through the competition will be amongst the 1000 (one thousand) budding athletes eligible for a scholarship worth 5 lakhs each per year for a period of eight years.