20 January 2017 - Daily Current Affairs

20 January 2017 - Daily Current Affairs

Former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel to be Next Governor of Madhya Pradesh

• Indian politician and the former Chief Minister of Gujarat Anandiben Patel will be the next Governor of Madhya Pradesh.
• She replaces Om Prakash Kohli who has an additional charge of the office of MP Governor along with the office of Gujarat Governor.

Note:

• Anandiben Patel is born in Kharod village of Vijapur taluka of Mehsana district, Gujarat.
• Article 153 of Constitution says that there shall be Governor for each state. The 7th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1956 has facilitated the appointment of the same person as a governor for two or more states.

HM Rajnath Singh launches Bharat Ke Veer anthem

• The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has launched ‘Bharat Ke Veer’ anthem and a short film on India’s brave hearts in New Delhi.
• Bharat Ke Veer is a fund to support the families of those courageous and brave Indian soldier belongings to the eight Central Armed Police Forces, who lost their lives protecting the nation from terrorists and other anti-social elements.
• The fund is directly administered by the Home Ministry and is given as an annuity or one-time grant to the family of the martyred soldier.

Five days Ramayana festival with ASEAN nations begins in Delhi

• The five-day Ramayana festival with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) nations has begun in Delhi.
• Troupes from ASEAN countries will display the shared heritage also at Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Ayodhya and Kolkata.
• The festival seeks to underline the common cultural heritage and India's friendship with ASEAN nations.
• The Festival is a fitting prelude to the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit on 25th January.

Britain announces public register against money laundering

• Britain has announced the world's first public register that requires overseas companies that own or buy property in the country to provide details of their ultimate owners.
• The government is set to publish relevant draft laws and the register will go live by early 2021.
• This register will build on their reputation for corporate transparency as well as help create a hostile environment for economic crimes like money laundering.
• Properties in Britain worth 250 million dollars has been under criminal investigation for being linked to corruption since 2004.
• Over 75% of the properties currently under investigation have been suspected of being used off-shore corporate secrecy, a tactic regularly seen by investigators pursuing high-level money laundering.

Govt announces name of nine more smart cities

• The Urban Development Minister ‘Hardeep Singh Puri’ has announced the name of nine more smart cities (total to 99).
• Silvassa in Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli has topped the list of winning cities in this round of competition.
• The other cities include Erode (Tamil Nadu), Diu (Union Territory of Daman and Diu), Biharsharif (Bihar), Bareilly (UP), Saharanpur(UP) and Moradabad (UP), Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) and Kavaratti (Lakshadweep).
• The total proposed investment in 99 Smart Cities will be two lakhs three thousand 979 crore rupees.

IRDA to publish final reinsurance regulations by Feb end

• According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Chairman, TS Vijayan IRDAI will publish the final reinsurance regulations by end of February.
• The regulations will define the reinsurance business in India and the order of preference.
• Four or five foreign companies have applied for licenses and have evinced keen interest on the non-life and health front.

Note:

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is an autonomous, statutory agency tasked with regulating and promoting the insurance and reinsurance industries in India.
• IRDAI is a 10-member body including the chairman, five full-time and four part-time members appointed by the government of India.

IMF and World Bank commend RBI for strengthening banking supervision system

• The IMF and World Bank have commended the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the remarkable progress in strengthening banking supervision system.
• The multilateral agencies have released two Detailed Assessment Reports relating to the 2017 India Financial Sector Assessment Programme.
• The Report providing ‘Detailed Assessment of Observance-Basel Core Principles noted that the supervision and regulation by the Reserve Bank remain strong and have improved in recent years.
• Most of the Basel III framework has been implemented and cooperation arrangements are now firmly in place.

India becomes 43rd member of Australia Group

• India has formally become the 43rd member of the Australia Group, a group of countries instituted to counter the spread of materials, equipment and technologies.
• The inclusion will raise India’s stature in the field of non-proliferation and help in acquiring critical technologies.

Note:

• The Australia Group is a multilateral export control regime (MECR) and an informal group of established in 1985 to help member countries to identify those exports which need to be controlled so as not to contribute to the spread of chemical and biological weapons.

Iconic Cartoonist Chandi Lahiri passes Away

• Iconic Cartoonist Chandi Lahiri (86-years) passed away due to illness.
• Lahiri left generations of Bengalis enthralled with his brand of humour that was non-acerbic for the past five decades.
• He created a number of animal characters like Giraffe, Nengti (a rat), Michke (a cat) and their relationship with children.

India to face Pakistan in Blind Cricket World Cup Final

• Team India (defending champion) will face arch-rival Pakistan in the 5th edition of the 2018 Blind Cricket World Cup Final at Sharjah.
• India defeated Bangladesh by 7 wickets in the semis to enter the Finals of the 2018 Blind Cricket World Cup.
• Pakistan qualified for the final of the Blind Cricket World Cup after defeating Sri Lanka.

Note: The 5th edition of the Blind Cricket World Cup tournament is currently held from 8 Jan -21^st Jan 2018 in Pakistan and in the United Arab Emirates(UAE).