Important Current Affairs 21st January 2018

Important Current Affairs 21st January 2018

Current Affairs 21st January 2018: AWARDS

President of India honored 112 Achievers with actress Aishwarya Rai

●    President Ramnath Kovind honored 112 women who broke all the boundaries in their respective areas.
●    112 women were selected by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, who tried to make their identity as the first woman in their respective areas.
●    On this occasion, while addressing these women, they work towards empowering the rural women of the country with their work and contribution.

Central Water Commission got CBIP Special Recognition Award -2018 for outstanding contribution in conservation and protection of large reservoirs.

●    The Central Irrigation and Energy Board (CBIP) gave the Central Water Commission the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Recognition Award -2018 for outstanding contribution in conservation and protection of large reservoirs.
●    Central Water Commission, using modern technology, works on irrigation management and maintenance of drains, water resources management, flood protection, disaster management etc.
●    It works under the World Bank-funded Reservoir Rehabilitation and Development Project (DRIP, drip).
●    Chairman of Central Water Commission, Shri S.M. Hussain received the award yesterday on the occasion of the CBIP Foundation Day celebrations.

Current Affairs 21st January 2018: NATIONAL NEWS

UP's proposal to stop sugar imports

●    Uttar Pradesh is estimated to produce 103 lakh tonnes of sugar this year.
●    The State Government has sent a proposal to stop the import of sugar to the Central Government.
●    Principal Secretary Sugarcane Development and Sugar Industries Sanjay Bhoosreddy said that in this proposal, demand has been made to increase the import duty on sugar from 50 percent to 90 percent.

Indian citizenship to minorities from Pakistan and Afghanistan

●    Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that minorities are discriminated in Pakistan.
●    He said that those who have come to India from Pakistan and Afghanistan due to religious persecution before December 2014, those minorities will be given Indian citizenship.
●    Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said these things in the central government in a program of distribution of nationality certificates to Sindhi citizens in the capital, Lucknow.

Cabinet approval for revised Model Concession Agreement for PPP Projects in Major Ports

●    Under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Union Cabinet has approved the revised Model Concession Agreement (MCA) for PPP projects in major ports.
●    This has been done to make port projects investor-friendly and the investment-environment of the port sector more attractive.
●    Under the amendment to the MCA, the idea of setting up the Society for Fareable Redressal of Disputes-Ports (Sarod-Ports) is considered. 
●    In view of its establishment, a dispute settlement system will be prepared in accordance with the provisions available in the Highway Highway area.

Cabinet approves MoU between India and Belgium for cooperation in Information Technology and Electronic Sector

●    Under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Cabinet has approved the MoU between India and Belgium for cooperation in Information Technology and Electronic Sector.
●    This consent memo was signed on November 7, 2017, when King Philip of Belgium was visiting India.
●    There are close and friendly relations between India and Belgium.
●    Belgium is the second largest trading partner in India in the European Union.

The Cabinet was informed about the MOU between India and Italy for cooperation in renewable energy sector.

●    Under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the Union Cabinet was apprised of the MOU between India and Italy for cooperation in renewable energy sector.
●    This MOU was signed on 30th October, 2017 in New Delhi.
●    This MoU was signed by Shri Anand Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of the Government of India and Hon. Mr. Lorenzo Angeloni, Ambassador of Italy to India.

The Cabinet approved the consent memorandum between India and Canada for cooperation in science and technology.

●    Under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Cabinet has approved the consent memoranda with Canada for cooperation in science and technology.
●    An arrangement will be made from the Memorandum of Understanding and will help in enhancing scientific cooperation between research and development and academic institutions of India and Canada.
●    Under the consent memorandum between the Department of Science and Technology and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), innovative models of research and development cooperation between India and Canada will be implemented.

National Clean Ganga Mission Approves Rs. 295 Crore Namgy Ganges Projects

●    National Clean Ganga Mission has approved five projects worth Rs 295.01 crore related to Namami Ganga project.
●    Of these, three projects costing Rs. 278.6 crores are related to water conservation in West Bengal.
●    A project of 4.68 crores is related to water management in Uttarakhand and another project costing Rs 11.73 crores related to the improvement of the Ghats in Varanasi.
Simultaneously, all the projects for water pollution have been approved for all the polluted cities located on the banks of river Ganga.

Current Affairs 21st January 2018: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Health Ministry and Tata Memorial Center Launched First Digital Online Oncology Tutorial Series

●    The Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, Smt. Preeti Sudan, today launched the country's first digital online oncology tutorial series designed by the Tata Memorial Center in collaboration with the Health Ministry.
●    The aim of Oncology Tutorial Series is to train and educate doctors across the country about early identification, prevention, reduction of pain, rehabilitation and treatment of various types of cancer.
●    It is part of the national program and will be run by the Tata Memorial Center throughout the country in collaboration with state governments.

Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Human Resource Development and Ministry of Science and Technology signed MoU

●    Under the unique vision of 'Prime Minister's vision for the development of everyone, everyone's development', three ministry of the Central Government has come together to pursue the Indian Railways Technology Mission.
●    On 04 January, the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Human Resource Development and Department of Science and Technology signed a memorandum of understanding for jointly funding TMIR in Rail Bhawan, New Delhi.
●    On behalf of the Ministry of Railways, the Chairman of TMIR, Prof. N.S. Mr. Alok Kumar, Co-Chairman, TMIR, Mr. R. Subrahmanyam, Additional Secretary (TE), and Dr. Neeraj Sharma, Advisor, Department of Science and Technology, from the Ministry of Science and Technology, signed on behalf of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. .

Current Affairs 21st January 2018: APPOINTMENT

Om Prakash Rawat to be the new chief election commissioner

●    The Central Government has announced the name of the new Chief Election Commissioner.
●    Current Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat will be the new Chief Election Commissioner.
●    He will replace Achal Kumar Jyoti, whose tenure ends on 23 January.

Current Affairs 21st January 2018: ECONOMY

RBI will deal with bad loans on the lines of US

●    Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Viral Acharya has suggested to prepare an online trading platform for the sale of bad loans on the lines of the US.
●    He said that this would increase transparency and get more price.
●    Deputy governor Viral Acharya said that this will help in preparing the market for selling bad loans.
●    According to data for September, 2017 quarter, the amount of $ 10 trillion in banking system is stuck in bad loans.

Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Shri Arun Jaitley launches National CSR Data Portal and Corporate Data Portal in Delhi

●    Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Shri Arun Jaitley today launched the National CSR Data Portal and Corporate Data Portal in New Delhi.
●    On this occasion, the Minister of State for Corporate Affairs and Law and Justice, Shri P.P. Chaudhary was also present.
●    Arun Jaitley said that this initiative is an important step towards ensuring greater accountability and transparency in the corporate world of India.
●    He said that by ensuring access to the general public on these portals, the government will pave the way for high-level compliance.

Financial Sector Assessment Program 2017 - Detailed Assessment Report (DAR)

●    Two major reports of the Financial Year Assessment Program of the Indian Financial System - Financial System Stability Assessment and Financial Sector Assessment - was released by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on December 21, 2017, on their websites respectively.
●    IMF and World Bank today released two detailed assessment reports related to the 2017 India FSAP.
●    'Detailed assessment of compliance- Basel major principles for effective banking supervision' has been issued by IMF and World Bank and report giving 'Detailed Assessment of Compliance of Clearing Corporation of India Limited Central Counterparty and Trade Repository' Released by World Bank

Current Affairs 21st January 2018: DAYS AND DATE

NDRF celebrates its 13th Foundation Day

●    National Disaster Redressal Force (NDRF) celebrated its 13th Foundation Day here today. Mr. Rajiv Jain, Director, Intelligence Bureau was the chief guest on this occasion.
●    NDRF Director General, Shri Sanjay Kumar, NDMA Member Mr. R. K. Jain, NDRF's IG Shri Ravi Jyesh Kokku and NSDC Vishal Sharma took part in the program.
●    Last year, the NDRF saved the lives of 4,000 people surrounded by disasters in the country.