Important Current Affairs 9th JANUARY 2018

Important Current Affairs 9th  JANUARY 2018

Current Affairs 9th JANUARY 2018: NATIONAL NEWS

The Central Government notifies the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2017

●    The Central Government notified the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2017.
●    Section 53 of the Companies Act, 2013 prohibited issuance of shares at a discount. 
●    Section 197 of the Companies Act, 2013 required approval of the company in a general meeting for payment of managerial remuneration in excess of 11 percent of the net profits. 

India unveils Pratyush, its fastest supercomputer yet

●    India unveiled Pratyush.
●    It is India’s fastest supercomputer till now. 
●    It was inaugurated by the Union Minister for Earth Sciences Dr.Harsh Vardhan.
●    Pratyush costs over Rs. 450 crores.

Bihar government bans electronic cigarettes in state

●    Bihar has banned e-cigarettes. 
●    E-cigarette is smoked through electronics nicotine delivery system (ENDS).
●    State drug controller (SDC) Ravindra Kumar Sinha issued ordered the new rule.
●    The state has already banned all tobacco products and items containing nicotine not approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).

Snowfall in Sahara Desert's Ain Sefra for 3rd time in 37 yrs

●    Snowfall has been recorded in the Sahara.
●    It happened in Ain Sefra.
●    It has made a layer of 16 inches.
●    Ain Sefra has seen record lows of -10.2C in winter.
●    In 1979, a snowstorm lasting half an hour stopped traffic. 
 

AR Rahman appointed Sikkim's brand ambassador

●    Music composer A R Rahman became the brand ambassador of Sikkim.
●    It was announced by Sikkim chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling.
●    Sikkim witnessed approximately 12 lakh tourist footfalls in 2017.
●    It was 7.5 lakh domestic and 62,000 foreign tourist footfall in 2016.

Current Affairs 9th JANUARY 2018: DAYS AND DATES

Army Technology Seminar: 2018

●    The second edition of Army Technology Seminar was organised at Manekshaw Centre in Delhi.
●    It was organised by Indian Army on 08 January 2018. 
●    The theme of the seminar was ‘Technology as a Key Enabler to Overcome Challenges of Military Operations in High Altitude’. 

January 9 observed as Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

●    Pravasi Bhartiya Divas is annually celebrated on January 9
●    It is celebrated to remember the contribution of NRI community towards India.
●    This began in 2003.
●    On January 9, 1915 Mahatma Gandhi left South Africa and returned to India.

Current Affairs 9th JANUARY 2018: GLOBAL NEWS

China agrees to stop road construction in Arunachal Pradesh

●    China agreed to stop road construction in Arunachal Pradesh.
●    The Chinese labourers have been called off after Indian Army intervention.
●    Both countries had meeting on January 6.
●    Stand-off between both the troops started on 16 June.
●    The stand-off ended on August 28.

Kannur airport to be fully solar-powered

●    Kannur International Airport (KIAL) would be fully solar powered airport.
●    This airport has been commissioned by the govt. recently.
●    Decision was taken in the director board meeting of the airport board.
●    The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

UK's ban on plastic microbeads takes effect

●    UK banned making any product with microbeads.
●    It is a tiny plastic particles which are used in the manufacturing of cosmetics to shampoo and toothpaste.
●    Barack Obama in his presidency signed a bill to outlaw microbeads in rinse-off products in 2015. 

Jeff Bezos now worth more than Bill Gates ever was

●    Jeff Bezos’s net worth has crossed $105.1 billion.
●    Amazon shares have gone up by 6.6 percent this year.
●    It has  captured 89 percent of online spending among all the retailers.
●    Bill Gate has given away almost 700 million Microsoft shares and $2.9 billion of cash and other assets since 1996.

World's oldest known wild bird aged 67 lays egg

●    The world's oldest known wild bird has laid an egg.
●    She has done it at an age of 67 years.
●    The lifespan of Laysan albatrosses around 50 years.
●    Wisdom was first given an identification tag in 1956, by ornithologist Chandler Robbins.

N Korea agrees to participate in Winter Olympics in S Korea
 
●    North Korea will send athletes and cheerleaders Winter Olympics in South Korea.
●    Both countries ended their first official talks.
●    Winter Olympic Games are going to start from 9 February.
 

Current Affairs 9th JANUARY 2018: SPORTS

22-yr-old Rabada becomes world's highest-ranked Test bowler

●    Kagiso Rabada has become the number-one ranked bowler.
●    He scored this rank in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings.
●    He was one in South Africa’s campaign in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup.
●    It was in the UAE in 2014.

Current Affairs 9th JANUARY 2018: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ISRO made ₹289 cr from foreign satellite launches in 2016-17
 
●    ISRO's earned ₹288.75 crore by launching satellites for other countries in 2017.
●    ISRO’s commercial arm, Antrix earned this revenue.
●    ISRO has launched over 200 foreign satellites.
●    It includes 101 Nano satellites in its record launch in February 2017.

Current Affairs 9th JANUARY 2018: AWARDS

HG Khorana is the only India-born Medicine Nobel Laureate
 
●    Biochemist Har Gobind Khorana jointly won the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
●    He was born in Punjab on January 9, 1922.
●    He got Nobel for "interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis".
●    He generated first artificial gene in 1972.
●    He died in 2011.