Current Affairs – February 13, 2018 World News Pak lists 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed's JuD a terror outfit Pakistan's President Mamnoon Hussain has signed an ordinance amending the country's Anti-Terrorism Act to list groups sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council as terrorist organisations. The move designates 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led groups Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) and Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) as terror outfits which were earlier not banned by Pakistan. Tanzania withdraws from UN refugee programme Tanzania announced its withdrawal of United Nation’s “Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework” citing security reasons and lack of funds. Tanzania considered a safe haven for refugees, particularly from conflict-hit Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi. World’s first autonomous pods unveiled in Dubai Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority launched the first tests of the world’s first autonomous pods at the World Government Summit. The pods are launched in cooperation with Next Future Transportation and are designed to travel short and medium distances in dedicated lanes. They can be coupled together in as little 15 seconds or detached depending on the riders’ destination in five seconds. World’s first robot ski competition held in South Korea World’s first robot ski competition was held in South Korea in which self-operational humanoid skiers with two legs participated wearing skis. The robots were reportedly equipped with sensors, batteries and deep learning algorithms that allowed them to move on their own. World’s Tallest Hotel ‘Gevora’ Opens In Dubai The world’s tallest hotel, Gevora has opened in Dubai, adding another skyscraper to the already towering skyline. The Gevora Hotel stands at 356 metres and has 528 rooms. It is one metre taller than the previous record holder, the JW Mariott Marquis, which is also in Dubai. It is situated next to the Rose Rayhaan by Rotana, which at 333 metres was the tallest hotel before JW Marriot Marquis opened. The 75-floor all-gold hotel is 50 metres taller than the Shard in London and 56 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower. Dubai is also home to the world’s tallest building, which stands at 828 metres. The city-state, which is one of seven to make up the United Arab Emirates, is hoping to attract 20 million tourists every year by 2020. National News All villages to be linked by roads by 2019 as part of ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna’ The Centre is making efforts to connect all villages through a road network by next year as part of the ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna’. Earlier, the target to compete these works was 2022 but it has been advanced to 2019. The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was launched by the Central government to provide connectivity to unconnected habitations as part of a poverty reduction strategy. Indian Army contributes 2,300 personnel for UN peace keeping mission The Indian Army has contributed approximately 2300 personnel to support United Nations Peacekeeping Missions to South Sudan (UNMISS) in order to bring peace and normalcy in the war-torn country. It includes deployment of seven Garhwal Rifles Infantry battalion group of the Indian Army. This is for the first time troops hailing from Garhwal region have been nominated to deploy in United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). The unit will be in operational control of sensitive Jonglei state of South Sudan with detachment at Juba, its headquarters in Bor County and air maintained company group at Pibor County where armed conflicts and ethnic violence is on the rise. India posts marginal increase in forest cover India posted a marginal 0.21% rise in the area under forest between 2015 and 2017, according to the biennial India State of Forest Report 2017. The document says that India has about 7,08,273 square km of forest, which is 21.53% of the geographic area of the country. Getting India to have at least 33% of its area under forest has been a long standing goal of the government since 1988. Radio Umang: India’s first online radio station launched Radio Umang, India’s first online radio station that allows the listener to just download and tune in, has been launched. Listeners can tune in to this online radio station through web streaming or download the app. With 24 hours programming, it has found listeners in Hindi speaking regions of India and in over 60 countries worldwide. State News Jharkhand to set up ‘Dada-Dadi’ park in every city Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das announced that a “Dada-Dadi Park” for senior citizens would be established in every city of the state soon. The parks in every city of the state will be set up to provide relief to people from hot summer. Maharashtra records highest growth in mangrove cover in India Maharashtra has reported the highest growth in mangrove cover, of 82 square kilometers, in the last two years in the country. ‘The State of Forest Report 2017’ said that the state’s mangrove cover increased from 222 sq km to 304 sq km, registering an increase of 37% over the previous assessment in 2015. According to the report, the mangrove covers in the country increased by 181 sq km during this period. Of this, 45 per cent was contributed by Maharashtra. This is the highest recorded in the country. Andhra Pradesh comes a distant second with an increase of 37 sq km. Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu is richest CM in India Andhra Pradesh’s Chandrababu Naidu is the richest Chief Minister in India with assets worth over Rs.177 crore, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) stated. Naidu is followed by Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu with assets worth over Rs.129 crore and Punjab’s Amarinder Singh with Rs.48 crore. Tripura’s Manik Sarkar with Rs.27 lakh is the CM with lowest declared assets. Banking & Economy Bank of Baroda (BoB) to shut down its operations in South Africa Bank of Baroda will reportedly exit the South African market amid allegations that politically connected Gupta family used its network for illicit transactions. Authorities alleged that the Gupta family used the bank to transfer large sums of illegal money and influence President Jacob Zuma. Bank of Baroda was the last lender in South Africa that offered services to Guptas’ companies. RBI uncovers ₹23,000 crore bad loans in SBI's books for FY17 The Reserve Bank of India has unearthed hidden bad loans worth over ₹23,000 crore in the books of SBI for the last fiscal. The central bank's audit also showed the biggest private lender HDFC Bank had a bad loan divergence of over ₹2,000 crore in FY17. Divergence is the difference between the bank's reported bad loans and RBI's audit findings. Zoho ties up with ICICI Bank for integrated platform Software Company Zoho has tied up with private lender ICICI Bank to provide accounting and banking on an integrated platform. The partnership will deliver a streamlined digital banking experience to customers using Zoho’s cloud accounting software, ‘Zoho Books’. This will also help businesses eliminate data entry, automate reconciliation, provide multiple payment options to their customers, request working capital loans, and pay suppliers directly from their accounting platform. Sports Kishan Gangolli wins 13th edition of National ‘A’ Chess Championship for Blind Defending champion Karnataka’s Kishan Gangolli won the 13th edition of the National ‘A’ Chess Championship for the blind in Mumbai. The championship was organised by All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB). At the end of the 13th round, Asian Championship winner, Gangolli became the champion for the fifth consecutive time with 10.5 points. Awards & Honours Indonesian Finance Minister wins world’s Best Minister Award Indonesia’s Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati won the ‘Best Minister in the World’ award at the World Government Summit in Dubai. She was awarded for her efforts in implementing successful reforms to tackle corruption and increase transparency in her country. Indrawati has previously served as the Managing Director of the World Bank Group from 2010 to 2016. Ramesh Sippy Wins Raj Kapoor Award Veteran filmmaker Ramesh Sippy will be conferred the first Raj Kapoor Award for Excellence in Cinema. Instituted by the Asian Centre for Entertainment Education (ACEE), along with various international organisations like World Bank, UNICEF, USC Annenberg Normal Lear Centre, Hollywood Health and Society, Cinepolis Foundation and CMS, the Raj Kapoor Trophy will be unveiled in Mumbai. Rs.25 lakh award for Indian pacer Kamlesh Nagarkoti The Rajasthan government has announced an Rs.25 lakh award for Indian pacer Kamlesh Nagarkoti, who reached a bowling speed of 149 kmph at the recently concluded U-19 World Cup. Nagarkoti, who took nine wickets in the World Cup, was India’s joint second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. Appointmentds & Resignations Chandrashekhar Kambar elected as President of Sahitya Akademi Jnanpith recipient and Kannada litetrateur, Chandrashekhar Kambar has been elected as the President of the Sahitya Akademi. He will serve as president of the Akademi for a period of five years. Hindi poet, Madhav Kaushik elected as vice president of the Sahitya Akademi. Pakistan to get first woman Hindu MP The Pakistan Peoples Party’s Krishna Kumari is poised to become the country’s first woman Hindu lawmaker next month, after the party nominated her for the upcoming Senate elections. Ms. Kumari said she faced a “slave-like situation” during her childhood in the remote village of Nagarparkar in Sindh Province. She worked on the farm of a feudal landlord who was abusive to his workers.