Important Current Affairs 13th JANUARY 2018

Important Current Affairs 13th  JANUARY 2018

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Current Affairs 13th JANUARY 2018: NATIONAL NEWS

K'taka smart city to have poles to charge electric vehicles

●    Citizens living the Hubballi-Dharwad Smart City project will be able to charge their electric vehicles from smart poles.
●    These poles will also act as wifi spots.
●    Each smart pole is of Rs 10 lakh.
●    It will also be equipped with telecommunications infrastructure that will support 4G and 5G. 

Tamil Nadu Assembly passes bill hiking MLAs' salary by 91%

●    Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has introduced a bill to increase the salary of MLAs in the state Assembly.
●    The Tamil Nadu Payment of Salaries (Amendment) Bill proposes to increase the monthly salary to Rs 1.05 lakh from Rs 55,000 presently.
●    Hike is of 91%.

India Tops Domestic Air Traffic Demand

●    India's domestic air passenger traffic grew by 16.4 percent in November 2017.
●    It was announced by global aviation body, the International Air Transport Association.
●    The IATA, comprising major air carriers, said India continued to witness double-digit growth for the 39th consecutive month.

India should avoid China-like urbanisation: NITI Aayog VC

●    NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar has said that the India should not copy China for urbanization.
●    He also said that the country needs to use less resources per unit of GDP.
●    India still does not have empowered cities.
●    He stressed at the need of resurrecting the old tradition of having strong mayors in cities.

Cabinet approves continuation of MPLADS

●    The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to continuation of Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) till the term of the 14th  Finance Commission. 
●    The Scheme would entail an annual allocation of Rs. 3,950 crore and a total outlay of Rs. 11,850 crores over the next three years.
●    The MPLADS funds are released to the nodal District Authorities on receipt of requisite documents and as per provisions of Guidelines on MPLADS.
 

Current Affairs 13th JANUARY 2018: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ISRO workhorse PSLV-C40 puts 31 satellites in space

●    ISRO workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C40) successfully placed 31 satellites in two different orbits.
●    It was one of the longest mission.
●    With this launch ISRO demonstrated multiple-burn technology.
●    This is 40th successful launch of PSLV.

NASA demonstrates space navigation using X-rays for 1st time

●    a team of NASA engineers has demonstrated fully autonomous X-ray navigation in space.
●    It has been tried for the first time. 
●    The SEXTANT experiment showed pulsars (rotating neutron stars) could be used to track fast-moving objects in space, like GPS satellites. 
●    With this engineers located a satellite orbiting Earth at 17,500 mph within a 10-mile radius.

Rajesh Murthy steps down as Infosys President

●    Rajesh Murthy has resigned from the post of President of Infosys.
●    This happened after Salil Parekh took over as chief executive officer. 
●    Murthy has been with Infosys for over 25 years has left the company for 'personal reasons'.
●    His last day at Infosys will be at the end of the January.

ISRO to perform 'bungee jump' test on Chandrayaan-2

●    Scientists at ISRO will conduct a stunt at Mahendragiri hills in Tamil Nadu. 
●    A bungee jump is being planned for Chandrayaan-2 craft.
●    It is being planned as a part of soft landing tests using a 100-metre tall crane.
●    Chandrayaan-2 is India’s most ambitious project.
●    It will land on the moon.

Current Affairs 13th JANUARY 2018: GLOBAL NEWS

Chinese transgression increased by 53% in 2017: Reports

●    In a fresh event in Ladakh Chinese PLA troops entered almost 6 km deep inside Indian territory.
●    They entered near the scenic Pangong lake area.
●    This led to another stand-off between security personnel of the two countries.
●    Chinese transgression increased by 53% in 2017.

Saudi allows women to attend men's soccer match for 1st time

●    Saudi Arabia has allowed women to spectate at a football match.
●    It has happened for the first time.
●    Saudi Arabia has taken many steps to stop gender separation.
●    Women from this June will be allowed to drive vehicles also.
●    Women special showroom has been opened in Saudi Arabia.

America First' and 'Make in India' are compatible: US

●    United States Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster put emphasis on economic and commercial relations between the two countries.
●    "America First" and "Make in India" are not incompatible. 
●    He said that investing in each other's markets will be mutually beneficial.
●    The US envoy to India further emphasized on the "many" benefits of growing the bilateral economic relationship and making India a regional hub for U.S. business.

Current Affairs 13th JANUARY 2018: ECONOMY

IDFC Bank announces merger with Capital First

●    IDFC Bank and Capital First announced a merger of the two businesses.
●    Capital first is a non-banking finance company.
●    After merger it will form a combined entity of assets under management of Rs 88,000 crore and distribution network of 194 branches. 
●    IDFC Bank will issue 139 shares for every 10 shares of Capital First.

Zuckerberg loses 4th richest person's spot to Zara Founder

●    Facebook CEO has lost the position of world's fourth-richest person.
●    Now Zara Founder Amancio Ortega is the fourth richest person.
●    Zuckerberg's fortune fell by $3.3 billion.
●    This happened after his announcement of shifting users' News Feed towards content from family and friends, instead of content from publishers and businesses. 

Current Affairs 13th JANUARY 2018: SPORTS

S Korea proposes joint women's ice hockey team with N Korea

●    South Korea has proposed fielding a joint women’s ice hockey team with North Korea at next month’s Winter Olympics.
●    It happened after Pyongyang agreed to send a large delegation to the Games.
●    South Korea’s vice-minister for sport is Roh Tae-kang.
●    North Korea has not responded to the joint-team proposal.

Current Affairs 13th JANUARY 2018: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

India, Indonesia hold 1st sec. Dialogue

●    India and Indonesia held their first security dialogue.
●    They agreed on operational cooperation in security and counter-terrorism.
●    The dialogue was led by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs H Wiranto.