04 January 2017 - Current Affairs

Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar sworn-in as the Chief Justice of India


  • Today, Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar was sworn-in as the 44th Chief Justice of India at a function in Rashtrapati Bhawan.
  • He replaced Justice TS Thakur whose retired yesterday.
  • Justice Khehar's tenure will be till 27th of August 2017.
Note:The Chief Justice of India (CJI) is the head of the judiciary of India and the Supreme Court of India. The CJI also heads their administrative functions.

RBI appoints Surekha Marandi as executive director


  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed Surekha Marandi as its Executive Director (ED).
  • She has replaced U S Paliwal who retired on 31st December,2016.
  • Now, she will look after Consumer Education and Protection Department, Financial Inclusion and Development Department, and Secretary’s Department of the RBI.
  • Earlier, she had served as Principal Chief General Manager and Chief Vigilance Officer in the Reserve Bank over a span of three decades.
  • Marandi holds a Master’s Degree from Jadavpur University.

Piyush Goyal launched web portal & Mobile App for UDAY

  • The Power Minister Piyush Goyal has launched the web portal and a Mobile App for the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY).
  • Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) is the financial turnaround and revival package for electricity distribution companies of India (DISCOMs) initiated by the Government of India with the intent to find a permanent solution to the financial mess that the power distribution.
  • Now, India has become a power surplus nation and also become an enabler, supplier of power to the neighboring countries.
  • India had supplied an additional 80 megawatts of power to Nepal this year.

M K Stalin elected as Working President of DMK


  • Today, DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) has elected party treasurer M K Stalin as its Working President.
  • He has been elevated to the position of 'Acting President,' as his nonagenarian father and President of the party M Karunanidhi is suffering from geriatric health issues.
  • Note:
  • Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in India.
  • It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai in 1949 as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar.

Haiti: Jovenel Moise declared winner of Presidential elections


  • The Businessman Jovenel Moise ( 48-year)has officially been declared the winner of  Presidential elections in Haiti.
  • He was elected with 55.6 % of the votes, ahead of his closest rival Jude Celestin, who won 19.5 % votes.
  • Haiti (Poorest country in the Americas) has been led by an interim President since last February.

Election Commission announces dates for assembly polls in 5 states


  • The Election Commission of India has announced the dates for the assembly elections in five states Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur, and Goa.
  • Punjab (117 Seats) and Goa (40 Seats) will go to polls on 4th February 2017 while polling in Uttarakhand (70 seats) will be held on 15 February 2017.
  • Uttar Pradesh (403 seats) will go to polls in seven phases on 11th February, 15th February, 19th February, 23rd February, 27th February, 4th March and 8th March 2017.
  • Manipur (60 seats)  will go to polls in two phases on 4th and 8th March.

Swachh Bharat survey in 500 cities from today


  • The union government will kick start a survey "Swachh Survekshan 2017" to rank 500 cities across the country on cleanliness to encourage competition to improve sanitation standards.
  • The survey will be conducted by Quality Council of India.
  • Areas of evaluations include waste collection, sweeping and transportation, Open defecation free and toilets, Municipal Solid Waste-processing and disposal, Information, education and behavior change, and Capacity building - Swachh Bharat Mission e-learning portal.

Textile Ministtry launches Bunkar Mitra-Handloom Helpline Centre


  • Textile Ministtry launches Bunkar Mitra-Handloom Helpline Centre
  • The Textile Minister Smriti Irani has launched a Bunkar Mitra-Handloom Helpline Centre where professional queries of weavers will be answered by the experts in the field.
  • The toll-free helpline number is 1800-208-9988 and will function from 10.00 AM to 6:00 PM in 7 languages (Hindi, English, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada Bengali and Assamese).

EU lifts 3-year ban on import of some vegetables from India


  • The European Union (EU) has lifted its three-year ban on import of some vegetables (bitter gourd, snake gourd and aubergines) from India.
  • Earlier, a ban was imposed by the European Commission conducting field surveys and audit in its meeting in Brussels on the import of mangoes, bitter gourd, egg plant, snake gourd and taro leaves from India on grounds of interceptions of harmful organisms leading to fears on account of bio-security of the region.

Finland to pay unemployed basic income of USD 587 per month


  • Finland (5.5 million- people) has become the first country in Europe to pay its unemployed citizens a basic monthly income, amounting to 560 euros (USD 587).
  • It is a social experiment hoped to cut government red tape, reduce poverty and boost employment.
  • The two-year trial with the 2,000 randomly picked citizens received unemployment benefits kicked off 1st January.
  • The unemployment rate of Finland stood at 8.1% in November with some 213,000 people without a job unchanged from the previous year.

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