January 2018
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UNIQUE IAS ACADEMY- JANUARY 2018 01st January 2018 1. Nepal Bans Solo Climbing on Mount Everest i. Nepal has banned solo climbers from scaling its mountains, including Mount Everest, in a bid to reduce accidents. ii. The new safety regulations also prohibit double amputee and blind climbers from attempting to reach the summit of the world's highest peak without a valid medical certificate. Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam- Avtar Singh Cheema was the first Indian to climb Mount Everest successfully. Mount Everest is the tallest Mountain (by Elevation) in the world. 2. Israel Withdraws from UNESCO i. Israel has filed notice to withdraw from the UNESCO alongside the United States. Israel has blasted UNESCO in recent years over the organisation's criticism of Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem and its decision to grant full membership to Palestine in 2011. ii. Israel was the member of UNESCO since 1949. Both Israel and the US have filed its own withdrawal notice in October 2017. Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam- UNESCO- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. France's Audrey Azoulay- 11th DG of UNESCO, Headquarters- Paris, France. 3. Arunachal Pradesh Declared Open Defecation Free i. Arunachal Pradesh has been declared open defecation free ahead of the national deadline of October 2, 2019. The milestone was achieved after the state announced an incentive of Rs 8,000 in addition to the Rs 12,000-grant provided by the Centre for building toilets. ii. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Haryana were declared open defecation free states in October 2017. Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam- Arunachal Pradesh CM- Pema Khandu, Governor- Brigadier BD Mishra. 4. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe Named ICCR Chief i. National vice-president of the BJP, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who is also the member of Rajya Sabha has been appointed the President of Indian Council of Cultural Relations. ii. He will replace Lokesh Chandra, who had been appointed by the NDA government in October 2014 and has completed his three-year-term. Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam- Maulana Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed was the founder of ICCR. 0422 4204182, 9884267599 1st Street Gandhipuram Coimbatore. Page 1 UNIQUE IAS ACADEMY- JANUARY 2018 Riva Ganguly Das is the Director General of ICCR. 5. Vidarbha Defeats Delhi to win Ranji Trophy for the First Time i. Vidarbha have created history by winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time in history with a thumping nine-wicket win over Delhi at the Holkar stadium in Indore. ii. Rajneesh Gurbani‘s 6/59, including a hat-trick and a century from Akshay Wadkarwere the key moments in Vidarbha scripting a fairytale run. For Delhi, Dhruv Shorey was the star with a century. Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam- Rajneesh Gurbani was declared player of the Match. 02nd January 2018 1. SBI Reduces Base Rate and Benchmark Prime Lending Rates Each by 30 bps i. The State Bank of India reduced the base rate and benchmark prime lending rates by 30 basis points each, which will benefit nearly 80 lakh customers on the old pricing regime. ii. SBI revised down the base rate to 8.65 percent for existing customers from 8.95 percent, while the benchmark prime lending rates are down from 13.7 percent, to 13.4 percent. The one-year MCLR of the bank stands unchanged at 7.95 percent. Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam- MCLR stands for Marginal Cost of funds based Lending Rate. SBI Chairman- Rajnish Kumar, Headquarters- Mumbai, Established on- 01st July 1955. 2. 1st Draft of National Register of Citizens in Assam Released i. The citizen of Assam witnessed the release of the first draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) containing the first batch of 19 million names of genuine Indian citizens in compliance with the Supreme Court 's orders. ii. Registrar General of India Sailesh released the document. The first draft has listed 19 million people out of the 32.9 million applicants from within the state as legal Indian citizens. Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam- The NRC was last updated in Assam way back in 1951. Assam is the only state in the state that has an NRC. 3. Women & Child Development Ministry Inaugurated Online Portal NARI i. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi inaugurated an online portal NARI in New Delhi for the empowerment of women. ii. The portal will provide women with easy access to information on government schemes and initiatives for women. The portal summarises over 350 government schemes and other important information. Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam- NARI stands for National Repository of Information for Women. 4. Assamese and Manipuri Versions of PM Modi‘s Official Website Launched 0422 4204182, 9884267599 1st Street Gandhipuram Coimbatore. Page 2 UNIQUE IAS ACADEMY- JANUARY 2018 i. The Assamese and Manipuri language versions of Prime Minister’s Official website- www.pmindia.gov.in were launched. ii. Now the PM INDIA website is available in 11 regional languages namely Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu in addition to English and Hindi. 5. Saudi Arabia, UAE Introduce VAT for First Time i. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) introduced value-added tax (VAT). These are the first two countries in the Gulf which have introduced the VAT system. ii. The 5% levy is being applied to the majority of goods and services. Petrol and diesel, food, clothes, utility bills and hotel rooms all now have VAT applied. But some outgoings have been made exempt from the tax or given a zero-tax rating, including medical treatment, financial services and public transport. Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam- UAE Capital- Abu Dhabi, Currency- Dirham. Saudi Arabia Capital- Riyadh, Currency- Saudi riyal. 6. Vijay Keshav Gokhale Appointed Foreign Secretary i. Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale has been appointed the foreign secretary of India. He has succeeded S Jaishankar. ii. Mr Gokhale served as Indian Ambassador to China, Germany and as Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia in the past. He is at present secretary (economic relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs. 7. Pankaj Jain Assumes Charge as IIFCL Managing Director i. Pankaj Jain, Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial Services (DFS), has assumed charge as the Managing Director of India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL). ii. He will be holding additional charge of IIFCL along with his present position as Joint Secretary at DFS. Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam- IIFCL is a wholly-owned Government of India company set up in 2006. IIFCL has been registered as an NBFC-ND-IFC with RBI since September 2013. 8. Indian Golfer Shiv Kapur Wins Royal Cup at Pattaya i. Indian golfer Shiv Kapur won the Royal Cup at Pattaya, which is his third Asian Tour title of 2017. The 35-year-old, who had just one win in almost 11 years till April 2017, has now won three times in last eight months. ii. This latest win marks Kapur’s fourth Asian Tour win and sixth international title as he won twice on European Challenge Tour also. Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam- Shiv Kapur first won on Asian Tour in his debut season in December 2005. 9. Veteran Poet Anwar Jalalpuri Passes Away i. Noted Urdu poet Anwar Jalalpuri passed away at the age of 71 in Lucknow. He suffered a brain stroke. ii. Anwar Jalalpuri is best known for his translation of shloks of Bhagavad Gita into Urdu verses. 0422 4204182, 9884267599 1st Street Gandhipuram Coimbatore. Page 3 UNIQUE IAS ACADEMY- JANUARY 2018 Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam- Anwar Jalalpuri was a Yash Bharti Award recipient. 03rd January 2018 1. Centre Unveiled Contours of ‗Electoral Bonds‘ Scheme i. The Centre unveiled the contours of the ‗Electoral Bonds‘ scheme, which seeks to ensure the flow of clean money to political parties, without revealing the donors’ names. ii. As per the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the electoral bonds will be a bearer instrument in the nature of a Promissory Note and an interest-free banking instrument. A citizen of India or a body incorporated in India will be eligible to purchase the bond from specified branches of the State Bank of India. iii. The bonds can be purchased for any value in multiples of Rs1,000; Rs10,000; Rs1 lakh; Rs10 lakh; and Rs1 crore. 2. Cabinet Nod to India, UK Pact to Improve Public Transport i. The Cabinet has approved the signing and implementation of the MoU between Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and ‗Transport for London‘ to improve public transport in the country. ii. The MoU is aimed at improving the overall public transport system, improve passenger services and promote the use of high capacity buses in India. Static/Current Takeaways Important for IBPS Clerk Mains 2017 Exam- 'Transport for London’ is a statutory body established under the Greater London Authority Act, 1999 (UK) to improve public transport in India. 3. GAIL Commissions India's Second-Largest Rooftop Solar Plant in UP i. State-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd has commissioned the country's second-largest rooftop solar power plant in Uttar Pradesh. ii. The firm has installed a 5.76 MWp (Mega Watt peak) solar plant at its petrochemical complex at Pata in Uttar Pradesh. The plant over the roofs of warehouses covers a total area of 65,000 square meters.