19 January Current Affairs 2018 1. President Kovind confers Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards ● President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Awards for 2016 to an eminent group of musicians, dancers, and theatre artists. ● The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships (Akademi Ratna) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) are national honours bestowed by the government on performing artists as well as teachers and scholars in the field of performing arts.
2. Israel PM to address India-Israel Business Summit in Mumbai ● Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visit Mumbai during the final leg of his visit to India. ● Mr. Netanyahu then proceed to address the India-Israel Business Summit at the iconic Taj Mahal hotel in south Mumbai, where he will also pay his tributes to the 26/11 terror attacks victims. ● Mr. Netanyahu attend the ‘ Shalom Bollywood’ event at the Taj hotel, wherein he will meet leading Bollywood personalities. Important Points: Israel ➢ Capital: Jerusalem ➢ Currency: Israeli new shekel ➢ Prime minister: Benjamin Netanyahu ➢ President: Reuven Rivlin
3. India Ratings projects economic growth at 7.1% next fiscal ● India Ratings and Research has projected the country’s economic growth to improve to 7.1 percent next fiscal from
6.5 percent this year,
buoyed by robust consumption demand and low commodity prices. ●
In its outlook for 2018-19, there will be a gradual pickup in growth momentum owing to structural reforms like GST and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in place.
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India Ratings, a subsidiary of Fitch Ratings, GDP is expected to grow 7.1 percent year-on-year in 2018-19.
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The projection is a tad lower than 7.4 percent growth estimated by Asian Development Bank and International Monetary Fund for next fiscal.
4. Centre, CII ink MoU for development of logistics sector ● A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in the presence of Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu. ● To enhance import and export performance, the Centre has entrusted the task of integrated development of the logistics sector to the Department of Commerce.
5. MoS RK Singh attends ISA Forum in Abu Dhabi ● Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Raj Kumar Singh delivered the keynote address at the ministerial plenary session of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) at Abu Dhabi. ● The International Solar Alliance is a treaty based international inter-governmental alliance of 121 solar resource rich countries or the sunshine countries lying fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn Important Points: United Arab Emirates ➢ Capital: Abu Dhabi ➢ Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham ➢ President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
6. Facebook appoints American Express CEO as first black board member ● Facebook announced that it will bring Kenneth Chenault, the CEO of American Express, onto its board. ● Chenault will become the first African-American board member at the social media giant. ● His hiring follows a contentious meeting between Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Important points: Facebook ➢ Founded: February 2004, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States ➢ Headquarters: Menlo Park, California, United States ➢ Founders: Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Chris Hughes
7. S Selvakumar appointed as CMD of SPMCIL The government appointed as senior IAS officer S Selvakumar as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL). The state-owned SPMCIL produces bank notes, coins, postage stamps, non-judicial stamps and other official documents
8. HDFC Bank becomes first Indian bank to cross Rs5 trillion market cap ● India’s most-valued lender HDFC Bank crossed Rs5 trillion market capitalisation for the first time, making it only the third Indian company to achieve this milestone. ● In intraday trade, the stock touched a fresh record high of Rs1,53.75 on the BSE, up 3.31% from its previous close.
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Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) are the other two companies which crossed market capitalisation of Rs5 trillion.
Important points: HDFC Bank ➢ CEO: Aditya Puri ➢ Headquarters: Mumbai ➢ Founded: August 1994, India