Current Affairs - January 22, 2018 Current Affairs

The Raipur Municipal Corporation in Chhattisgarh organized the three-day 'Kachra Mahotsav 2018'. It is India's first Garbage Festival. The festival aimed to increase awareness, use the waste generated in the city creatively, and to showcase multiple techniques for reusing things that are labeled as garbage.

India will overtake China to be the fastest growing large economy in 2018 and the ' equity market will become the fifth largest in the world. According to a Sanctum Wealth Management report other countries offers low growth and insufficient structural change, but India is seeing a reforming economy with the prospects of strong long-term growth.

The top banks of the country including State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and YES Bank have suspended some accounts of major Bitcoin exchanges in India on suspicious transactions. The legal action has been initiated against top ten cryptocurrency exchanges in the country, including - Zebpay, Unocoin, CoinSecure and BtcxIndia. The total estimated revenue of these exchanges in India stands at Rs 400 billion.

President Ram Nath Kovind launched a book on heartfulness techniques and principles titled 'The Heartfulness Way'. The author of the book is Kamlesh Patel, widely known as Daaji, the fourth Global Guide of Heartfulness, and Joshua Pollock, a heartfulness trainer and practitioner. This book guaranteed to be a treat for those who are curious about what is heartfulness and how it can change our day-to-day lives. It was launched by Commerce and Industries Minister Suresh Prabhu.

Recognising the contribution of Andhra Pradesh in the field of Panchayat Raj & Rural Development, Young cabinet Minister Nara Lokesh was conferred with the Dr. Kalam Innovation in Governance Award 2018. The award was given away by Rajya Sabha Secretary-General Desh Deepak Verma during the second edition of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Summit on innovation in governance in New Delhi.

Digital payments platform Paytm has unveiled an application called 'Paytm for Business' to enable small and medium businesses to accept digital payments.The application, available on Android Play Store, would enable merchants to sign up quickly and get a Paytm QR code to start accepting digital payments, the company said.The application, available in 10 regional languages, would allow merchants to track payments, navigate past collections and trace settlements made to their bank accounts.

China launched two high-resolution optical remote sensing satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, located in northwest China. The satellites that were launched were commercial satellites named 'Jilin-1 Video 07 and 08', independently developed by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. Ltd. Jilin-1 Video 07 and 08 were launched onboard Long March-11 rocket along with four other small commercial satellites, including one satellite of Canada. Jilin-1 Video 07 and 08 will provide remote sensing data. Its services will not only be used by government but also by industry users along with eight previously launched Jilin-1 satellites.

According to Census on Foreign Liabilities and Assets of Indian Direct Investment Companies 2016-17, released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on January 19, 2018, Mauritius was the largest source of foreign investment (FDI) in India during 2016-17. This census provides comprehensive information on the market value of foreign liabilities (on account of FDI) and assets (on account of overseas direct investment, ODI and other investments) of Indian companies. Indian companies' investment in a foreign entity by way of contribution to the capital or subscription to the Memorandum of Association is referred to as ODI.

India was ranked at the 62nd place among emerging economies on an Inclusive Development Index of World Economic Forum (WEF). In the report, China is on 26th position and Pakistan is on 47th. Norway remains the world's most inclusive advanced economy, while Lithuania again tops the list of emerging economies, according to the report. India was ranked 60th among 79 developing economies in 2017. Among advanced economies, Norway is followed by Ireland, Luxembourg, and Switzerland in top three.

Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat was appointed as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India. Mr. Rawat is the 22nd CEC of India. He succeeded Achal Kumar Joti. The government also appointed former finance secretary Ashok Lawasa as an Election Commissioner. Mr Rawat will take over the office from 23rd January 2018 onwards. Sunil Arora is the other Election Commissioner.

The Odisha government has signed an agreement to setting up an incubator for promoting research with Software Technology Park of India (STPI), philanthropist Sushmita Bagchi, and IIT Bhubaneswar in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. As per the above agreement, The Centre of Excellence for Virtual & Augmented Reality" (VARCoE) will be set up at the campus of IIT, Bhubaneswar and it will become a landmark initiative for promoting research, technology incubation and product development in the country. Odisha state government has contributed the cheque of Rs 2.5 crore to Director, IIT, Bhubaneswar for this initiative. Susmita Bagchi, a philanthropist, also contributed Rs 2.5 crore to Director of IIT.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah launched "Yuva Udghosh programme" in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Shah launched this programme in presence of Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and UP BJP President Mahendra Nath Pandey. 'Yuva Udghosh programme' focuses on enrolling youths, above 17 of age, who will eligible for voting in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

The DefExpo India 2018 will be hosted by Chennai for the first time from April 11 to 14 at a temporary expo centre on East Coast Road near Mahabalipuram. DefExpo India is the largest event of India's defence sector. It is held once in 2 years. It is a Land, Naval & Internal Homeland Security Systems Exhibition. It displays latest technologies and products manufactured by both Indian and foreign companies. Nearly 80 countries will showcase their defence potential in the DefExpo India 2018. Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made this announcement at the Defence Industry Development Meet in Chennai.

Senior IPS officer Sudeep Lakhtakia has been appointed the new Director General (DG) of the 'black cats' commando force National Security Guard (NSG). He replacesSudhir Pratap Singh. Lakhtakia is a 1984-batch IPS officer of Telangana cadre.The officer was serving as a Special DG in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) headquarters. The National Security Guard (NSG) is an Indian special forces under the authority of Ministry of Home Affairs. NSG, commonly known as black cat commandos, is a special forces unit which was raised in 1984.

Bollywood came together to celebrate the industry's talent at 63rd Jio Filmfare Awards 2018, held in Mumbai. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan and filmmaker Karan Johar hosted the show. 'Hindi Medium' bagged honors in the categories of Best Film and Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) for Irrfan Khan's impeccable performance.