Current Affairs - January 13, 2018 Current Affairs

Hubballi-Dharwad Smart City in Karnataka will have 250 smart poles to charge electric vehicles. The poles, which are expected to cost Rs. 10 lakh each, will act as WiFi hotspots and will feature remote-controlled LED lights.

Ecuador has granted citizenship to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in an attempt to resolve the political impasse over his continued presence in the United Kingdom (UK). Ecuador Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa informed that Assange, who is an Australian, became an Ecuadoran citizen on December 12, 2017. This news announced on January 12, 2018. Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012, when he was faced with extradition to Sweden for allegedly sexually assaulting two women. Ecuador has also sought to give Assange diplomatic status, but Britain has rejected the request. The diplomatic immunity would allow him to leave the embassy without the possibility of being arrested for jumping bail in 2012.

The annual survey of Gallup International has placed Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 3rd rank among world leaders.

French President Emmanuel Macron has been ranked first in the latest Gallup international annual survey "Opinion of Global Leaders", followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and PM Narendra Modi. The survey was conducted across 50 nations and interviewed 53,769 people. In each country a representative sample of around 1,000 men and women was interviewed either face-to-face, or via phone, or through online mediums. The field work was conducted during October-December 2017. The survey shows that PM Modi is a popular leader in the Indian subcontinent with 69% of respondents in Afghanistan and 51% in Bangladesh holding a favourable view towards him.

As per a survey by travel app 'ixigo', Kozhikode railway station in Kerala was ranked the best railway station in India by travellers in terms of cleanliness. ixigo, which has 7 million users, works closely with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to facilitate train ticket bookings on its app. The findings are based on aggregated data of ixigo users. The survey outlined that out of all the cleanest station, 40% are located in south India followed by 20 per cent in central India and 20% in the west. Among trains, Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani has been rated as the cleanest train while Karnataka Express was given lowest ratings.

India has granted a financial assistance worth over Rs.288 crore ($45.27 million) to develop Sri Lanka's Kankesanthurai (KKS) Harbour into a commercial port. Sri Lanka's ministry of finance and Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) signed an agreement in this regard. The KKS Harbour was destroyed by the LTTE during Sri Lanka's civil war.

The Kerala government gave permission to prisoners in Kerala jails to donate organs to their close relatives. This decision was taken at the cabinet meeting chaired by Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala Chief Minister. Permission must be taken from the concerned court and medical board for the convicted prisoner to make organ donation. The period of admission in hospital will be taken as parole period for the prisoner. The hospital expenses will be taken care by the jail authorities.

Kajol has become an advocacy ambassador for Swachh Aadat Swachh Bharat initiative. Kajol has been an active supporter of eradicating preventable deaths from hygiene-related issues. She has insisted people to become "swachhta doot" and contribute to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

Sri Lanka has removed a 38-year long ban on selling alcohol to women and employing them in places where alcohol is produced and sold. Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera signed the notification removing the ban on selling alcohol to women and employing them in such places, in order to ensure gender equality and promote tourism. This ban had been in act from 1979. The Sri Lankan government has also allowed alcohol selling units to stay open till 10 p.m., one hour late than the earlier allowed time.

The Hong Kong and Beijing based China Telecom Global (CTG) - a company formed in 2012 - has teamed up with Nepal Telecom to provide alternate cyber-connectivity to Nepal. So far, Nepal had been linked to the global internet network through Indian telecom operators, using optical fiber connections in Biratnagar, Bhairahawa and Birgunj, among others. But a new terrestrial fiber cable launched in 2016 by CTG will now connect Nepal and China through the Jilong (Rasuwagadhi) border gateway.

South African pacer Kagiso Rabada, who recently became the top-ranked bowler in Test cricket, is the youngest bowler ever to top the ICC Test rankings for bowlers. Rabada achieved the feat at the age of 8,261 days, surpassing the record of former England bowler George Lohmann, who became the highest-ranked Test bowler aged 8,288 days in February 1888.

Jet Airways has prohibited passengers from carrying smart luggage, which includes devices with non-removable batteries, on its aircraft from January 15. This comes after the International Air Transport Association (IATA) banned such baggage on a passenger aircraft worldwide. Smart luggage also includes devices with integrated lithium batteries, motors, power banks, Bluetooth, GPS or Wi-Fi technology.

ISRO has successfully launched weather observation satellite Cartosat 2 Series and 29 other spacecraft into the space from its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-40 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The Cartosat-2 series satellite will provide high-resolution scene specific spot imageries. The images will be used for cartographic applications, urban and rural applications, coastal land use and regulation, road network monitoring, water distribution, creation of land use maps among other things. The co-passengers on the PSLV-C40 comprised one micro and nano satellite each from India and three micro and 25 nanosatellites from six countries - Canada, Finland, France, Korea, UK and US.

Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Bhutan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Lyonpo Damcho Dorji jointly unveiled the 'Special logo' for the Golden Jubilee celebrations in New Delhi and Thimphu through video-conference.India Bhutan i. Golden Jubilee of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between Bhutan and India is being celebrated in the year 2018.

As per data released by global aviation body, International Air Transport Association (IATA), India topped the worldwide growth chart of domestic air passenger traffic for the month of November 2017. On a month-on-month basis, India has witnessed double-digit growth for the 39th consecutive month. As per IATA data, total revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) in November 2017 marked 8 per cent growth as compared to November 2016.