Current Affairs - January 4, 2018 Current Affairs

Madhya Pradesh Tourism Minister Surendra Patwa that the government is likely to introduce a plan worth Rs 100 crore. The plan is aimed at providing better facilities for the people visiting the state and to avoid inconvenience for pilgrims coming from across the country. Religious tourism is increasing in the state and the chief minister has said that we will make a scheme worth almost Rs. 100 crore to ensure better facilities for visitors. In the coming time, we will be providing more and more facility to the pilgrims coming to Madhya Pradesh.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for establishment of new AIIMS in Bilaspur (Himachal Pradesh) under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). The cost of the project is Rs.1351 crore and will be completed in a period of 48 months. The Institution will consist of a hospital with a capacity of 750 beds and trauma center facilities. It will also have a Medical college with an intake of 100 MBBS students per year and Nursing College with an intake of 60 B.Sc. (Nursing) students per year. Under this scheme, AIIMS have been established in Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal, Raipur, Jodhpur, Rishikesh and Patna while work of AIIMS Rae Bareli is in progress. Also, three AIIMS in Nagpur (Maharashtra), Kalyani (West Bengal) and Mangalagiri in Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) have been sanctioned in 2015, two AIIMS have been sanctioned at Bathinda and Gorakhpur in 2016 and an AIIMS in Kamrup (Assam).

The Centre unveiled the contours of the 'Electoral Bonds' scheme, which seeks to ensure the flow of clean money to political parties, without revealing the donors names. As per the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the electoral bonds will be a bearer instrument in the nature of a Promissory Note and an interest-free banking instrument. A citizen of India or a body incorporated in India will be eligible to purchase the bond from specified branches of the State Bank of India. The bonds can be purchased for any value in multiples of Rs1,000; Rs10,000; Rs1 lakh; Rs10 lakh; and Rs1 crore. The bonds will not carry the name of the payee and will be valid only for 15 days during which it can be used to make a donation only to certain political parties.

Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Peru, Poland and the Netherlands formally joined the ranks of the non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to make a difference. The UN Security Council has 15 members, including five with permanent seats who have the power to veto resolutions - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. The six countries who left the UN Security Council recently are Egypt, Italy, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) sanctioned financial assistance of Rs 10,000 Crores to Odisha. Assistance has also been given by the NABARD for the creation of rural infrastructures such as roads and bridges, lift irrigation projects, rural piped drinking water project, warehousing, and irrigation structures. Under Long-Term Refinance scheme of the NABARD, banks in Odisha have availed credit support of Rs 624 Crores which have facilitated the creation of private sector farm assets. For infrastructure creation, the bank extended financial support to the tune of Rs 2118 Crores.

PMINDIA Multilingual Website now available in 13 languages. The Assamese and Manipuri language versions of Prime Minister 's Shri Narendra Modi's Official website, www.pmindia.gov.in were launched recently. The website can now be accessed in Assamese and Manipuri in keeping with the requests from the citizens of the two states. The initiative is part of the on-going efforts of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to reach out to the people and communicate with them in their own language. It is expected to further enhance the interaction between people from all parts of the country and the Prime Minister on various issues concerning their welfare and development.

Tufan Ghosh has taken charge as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) of National Cricket Academy (NCA). Beside him, former India stumper Saba Karim has assumed the office as BCCI's General Manager (GM). Both Karim and Ghosh will report to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and will be based out of Mumbai and Bengaluru respectively. While Karim will assist Johri in meeting the Board's vision and strategy, Ghosh will play a key role in setting up the facility and creating a Centre of Excellence at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

State-owned gas utility GAIL India Limited commissioned the country's second-largest rooftop solar power plant in Uttar Pradesh. The firm has installed a 5.76 MWp (Mega Watt peak) solar plant at its petrochemical complex at Pata in Uttar Pradesh. The plant over the roofs of warehouses covers a total area of 65,000 square meters.

Pakistan Navel successfully tested its indigenously built cruise missile 'Harba'. The missile is capable of hitting its target from surface to surface and ground assault. The missile accurately hit its target signifying the impressive capabilities of Harbah Naval Weapon System.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj left on a 5-day visit to three South East Asian countries - Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. On the first leg of the visit, Ms. Swaraj will reach Thailand and will hold an official meeting with Thai Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai. During the visit to Indonesia, Ms. Swaraj will co-chair the 5th meeting of India-Indonesia Joint Commission. In Singapore, the External Affairs Minister will inaugurate the Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas of ASEAN countries. She will have bilateral meetings with the leaders in Singapore.

The Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank (APGVB) operationalized its first desktop ATM in Telangana. The mini-ATM within the branch premises will facilitate customers to withdraw small amounts. At the same time, regular bank account holders can withdraw money and do other banking activities. With these ATMs, there will be no need for separate ATM rooms, so there is no security issue. This initiative is the biggest under the SBI and among the best regional rural banks (RRBs).

World Braille Day is annually celebrated on January 4, the birthday of Braille inventor, Louis Braille. The day recognizes the contributions of Louis Braille in helping blind and visually impaired people to read and write.

The Union Cabinet approved the signing of MoU between India and Israel on cooperation in the Oil and Gas Sector. The cooperation envisaged under the agreement will facilitate promotion of investments in each other's countries, technology transfer, R&D, conducting joint studies, capacity building of human resources and collaboration in the area of Start-ups.

Former RAW Chief Rajinder Khanna, a 1978-batch Research and Analysis Wing Service (RAS) officer, has been appointed as the new Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) on January 2, 2018 without a fixed tenure and would remain at the post until further orders. He will assist NSA Ajit Doval, who too is a former RAW chief. It is for the first time when both NSA and Deputy NSA are from intelligence agency background. Khanna has led many counter-terrorism operations in the spy agency and is reportedly an expert on Pakistan and Islamic terrorism. The position has been vacant since Arvind Gupta had stepped down after completion of his contractual term in August 2017.

The Union Cabinet approved the Agreement between India and Myanmar on Land Border Crossing. The Agreement will facilitate regulation and harmonization of already existing free movement rights for people of both countries. It will also facilitate movement of people on the basis of valid passports and visas which will enhance economic and social interaction between the two countries. The Agreement is an enabling arrangement for movement of people across India-Myanmar border.