Current Affairs 18th January 2018: Daily GK Update

National News

1. Israel PM Addresses India-Israel Business Summit in Mumbai

i. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Mumbai during the final leg of his visit to India. Mr Netanyahu addressed the India-Israel Business Summit at the iconic Taj Mahal hotel in south Mumbai.

ii. Later in the day, Mr Netanyahu attended the ‘Shalom Bollywood’ event at the Taj hotel. A monthly magazine titled ‘Namaste Shalom’ will also be launched to mark Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Mumbai visit. 

Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam-

• The capital of Israel- Jerusalem, Currency- Israeli new shekel.

2. PM Modi, Netanyahu Inaugurates 'iCreate Centre' in Ahmedabad

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and PM Benjamin Netanyahu inaugurated the 'iCreate Centre' at Deo Dholera in Ahmedabad. iCreate paves way for the two nations to jointly script new stories of success through innovation.

ii. The two leaders also visited the startup exhibition at the venue and interacted with entrepreneurs and innovators.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for Canara Bank PO 2018 Exam-

• The capital of Israel- Jerusalem, Currency- Israeli new shekel.

3. Election Dates in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland Declared

i. The Election Commission of India, Achal Kumar Joti announced dates for elections to the Assemblies of Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland. The CEC announced the polling for legislative assembly elections in Tripura on 18 February, while Meghalaya and Nagaland will go to vote on 27 February.

ii. All the three states have 60 seats each in their assembly. The tenure of the Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland Assemblies expire on March 6, March 13 and March 14, 2018, respectively.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam-

• 1st Chief Election Commissioner of Independent India- Sukumar Sen.
• 21st Chief Election Commissioner of India- Achal Kumar Joti.
• 20th Chief Election Commissioner of India- Nasim Zaidi.

4. India Test-Fires Nuclear-Capable ICBM Agni-V

i. India test-fired its nuclear-capable Agni-V inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), which has a strike range of over 5,000km.
ii. It was test fired successfully from Abdul Kalam island off the coast of the eastern state of Odisha. The ICBM can reach the northern-most parts of China. 

Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam-

• General Bipin Rawat is the present Chief of Army Staff.

5. Odisha CM Launches 'Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Yojana'

i. Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Kalakar Sahayata Jojana’ (MMKSJ) – an assistance scheme for Artists in the state. Around 50,000 artists will be benefited from this. The government has decided to give Rs 1,200 per month as artist assistance.

ii. The CM confirmed that the government has also changed the eligibility criteria for availing MMKSJ. Under the new scheme, a male artist can avail assistance after attaining the age of 50 years instead of the existing 60 years. The age criteria for female artists have been reduced to 40 years from 50 years.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam-

• SC Jamir is the present Governor of Odisha.

International News

6. India Attends its 1st SCO Military Cooperation Meeting in Beijing

i. India, for the first time, took part in a two-day meeting of the international military cooperation departments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Beijing, China. An Indian delegation was led by Major General Ajay Seth.

ii. This is the first meeting attended by India in the field of defence cooperation under the SCO framework.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam-

• The SCO comprises of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.
• India and Pakistan were admitted in 2017 into the grouping in which China plays an influential role. 

7. MoS RK Singh Attends ISA Forum in Abu Dhabi

i. Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Raj Kumar Singh delivered the keynote address at the ministerial plenary session of the International Solar Alliance at Abu Dhabi, UAE.

ii. A key development area for ISA Member Countries is solar capacity building. The International Solar Alliance is a treaty-based international inter-governmental alliance of 121 solar resource-rich countries or the sunshine countries lying fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam-

• Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the UAE.
• Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the President of the UAE.

8. North and South Korea Agree to Jointly March Under Unification Flag in Winter Olympics

i. North and South Korea have agreed to march together under a single unified Korea flag at Winter Olympics in the South.

ii. These are the first high-level talks between the two Koreas in more than two years. The Games will take place in February 2018 in Pyeongchang in South Korea.  

Static/Current Takeaways Important for Syndicate Bank PO 2018 Exam-

• South Korea President- Moon Jae-in, North Korea Supreme Leader- Kim Jong-un.

Appointments

9. Vice Admiral A B Singh Takes Over as Chief of Staff Western Naval Command

i. Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, took over as Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command from Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh.

ii. He was Promoted to Flag Rank in 2012. The Flag Officer was awarded Vishisht Seva Medal in 2011 and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2016 for his exemplary service to the nation.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam-

• Admiral Sunil Lanba is the present Chief of Naval Staff.

Banking News

10. Bank of Baroda Partners with Invoicemart as a TReDS Partner

i. Digital invoice discounting marketplace - Invoicemart has tied up with state-run lender Bank of Baroda to discount invoices for MSMEs. Buyers and sellers registered in the marketplace will now be able to access funding from Bank of Baroda.

ii. Invoicemart is a joint venture between Axis Bank Ltd and junction services ltd. Bank of Baroda had recently announced that it was stepping up its focus on supply chain financing.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam-

• Invoicemart  CEO & MD- Kalyan Basu.
• Bank of Baroda Chairman- Ravi Venkatesan, Managing Director & CEO- P.S.Jayakumar.
• TReDS stands for Trade Receivables Discounting System.

11. HDFC Bank Becomes 1st Indian Bank to Cross Rs5 trillion Market Capitalisation

i. India’s most-valued lender HDFC Bank Ltd crossed Rs5 trillion market capitalisation for the first time, making it only the third Indian company to achieve this milestone.

ii. In intraday trade, the stock touched a fresh record high of Rs1,53.75 on the BSE, up 3.31% from its previous close. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) are the other two companies which crossed market capitalisation of Rs5 trillion.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam-

• HDFC Bank- India’s largest private bank by market capitalization
• HDFC Bank Chairman- Aditya Puri.
• Reserve Bank of India labelled HDFC Bank as ‘domestic systematically important bank’—in other words, 'too big to fail'.

Awards

12. ICC Award 2017- Complete List of Winners

i. Australia captain Steve Smith has been crowned the International Cricket Council's Test Player of the Year for a second time, while Indian captain Virat Kohli has been honoured twice in the ICC's annual awards.
ii.  It's the first time since 2011 that the winner of the Test Player of the Year Award was not also crowned the Cricketer of the Year. Kohli was the fourth-highest run-scorer's in Tests in 2017.

Here is the Complete list of Winners of ICC Award 2017-

1. Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year - Virat Kohli (India)

2. ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year - Steve Smith (Australia)

3. ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year - Virat Kohli (India)

4. ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year - Hasan Ali (Pakistan)

5. ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year - Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)

6. ICC Men’s T20I Performance of the Year - Yuzvendra Chahal (6-25 v England) (India)

7. David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year – Marais Erasmus

8. ICC Spirit of Cricket - Anya Shrubsole (England)

9. ICC Fans Moment of the Year - Pakistan stuns India to win the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.


13. President Presents Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards 2016

i. President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Fellowships (Akademi Ratna) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) for the year 2016 at a function held in New Delhi.

ii. The Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Fellowships and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards are recognised as among the most coveted national honours bestowed on performing artists as well as teachers and scholars of performing arts.

Find The Complete List of Winners Here

Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam-

• Sangeet Natak Akademi was created by a resolution of the (then) Ministry of Education, Government of India, dated 31 May 1952 notified in the Gazette of India of June 1952.
• Sangeet Natak Akademi first Chairman- Dr P.V. Rajamannar.
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Present Chairman- Shekhar Sen.

Sports

14. Virat Kohli Named Captain of ICC’s Test and ODI Teams of the Year

i. Virat Kohli was named the captain of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test and One-Day International (ODI) teams of the year that included four other Indians as well.

ii. He surprisingly pipped Australian skipper Steve Smith for the ICC’s Test team captaincy. The Test team also comprises Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin. Kohli was chosen to lead the ICC ODI team, which includes Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah as the other two Indians.

Obituaries

15. Hall of Famer Jo Jo White Passes Away

i. Basketball Hall of Famer Jo Jo White, a two-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics and an Olympic gold medalist, has passed away.

ii. He was 71. White played 10 seasons for Boston, which drafted him ninth overall from Kansas in 1969.