Current Affairs 30th December 2017 (30/12/2017)

National Current Affairs:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said a strong India-China relationship is important not only for the mutual benefit of the people of both countries but also for the region and the world. Mr Modi said this during his meeting with State Councilor of China Yang Jiechi who called on him in New Delhi. During the meeting, Mr Jiechi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval briefed the Prime Minister on the 20th round of talks between Special Representatives of China and India on the Boundary question. The meeting focused on bringing out the full potential of the Closer developmental Partnership between the two countries.
• Prime Minister Narendera Modi visited Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu and Kerala on19th of this month to meet cyclone Ockhi affected people and reviewed relief and rehabilitation work. During his day-long visit, Mr Modi chaired a high level meeting at Kavaratti in Lakshadweep. He also took stock of relief measures at Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and Thiruvanthapuram in Kerala. The cyclone has left a trail of destruction leading to loss of life and damage to property. ln Kerala, around 70 people have lost their lives in the cyclone. About 100 fishermen are still missing. The Prime Minister visited the Cyclone-hit Poonthura region in Thiruvanthapuram. The Prime Minister has announced immediate financial assistance worth 325 crore rupees to cater to the requirements of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep. The financial assistance is over and above the assistance of 280 crore rupees to Tamil Nadu, and 76 crore rupees to Kerala, disbursed earlier this month, after Cyclone Ockhi.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, the consecutive victory of BJP in the recent elections proves that the country is ready for reform and shows peoples’ belief in transformation. Addressing party workers at the BJP Headquarter in New Delhi after poll victories in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, he said, the results indicate a strong support for politics of good governance and development.
• Earlier in a hotly contested election, the BJP has retained power in Gujarat for the 6th time in a row and swept the polls in Himachal Pradesh finishing just short of two third majority.
• The BJP romped home again in Gujarat by winning 99 seats, seven seats more than the mark of absolute majority in the 182 member House. Congress won 77 seats. NCP got one while Bharatiya Tribal Party won 2 seats. Three independent candidates won the people’s mandate.
• In Himachal Pradesh, BJP wrested power from Congress by winning 44 seats, two seats short of two third majority, in the 68 member House. The Congress won 21 while two independents and one CPM candidate won in the election. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has won but former BJP Chief Minister and the Party’s chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal has lost.
• Union Cabinet has approved a new Consumer Protection Bill that seeks to establish an authority to safeguard consumers’ rights, has the provisions for penalty and jail terms in case of adulteration and misleading advertisements by companies. Official sources said, celebrities endorsing misleading advertisements will also be liable for fine and ban up to three years as per the new bill.
• The Union Minister for Textiles and Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani has said that the Ministry of Textiles is implementing a Knowledge Network Management System (KNMS) to facilitate exchange of knowledge amongst academia, farming community and the industry on the productivity of natural fibres and diversification of their bye-products. This is one of the follow-up actions taken by the Government, to carry forward the success of the mega textiles trade event, Textiles India 2017.The Minister said this, at the presentation ceremony of the 22nd AEPC Export Awards 2016-’17, in New Delhi on 18th December, 2017
• Minister of Communications Manoj Sinha launched DARPAN, The Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India in New Delhi. The IT modernisation project aims at realising financial inclusion of un-banked rural population. The project has an outlay of 1400 crore rupees and intends to provide a low power technology solution to each branch postmaster. This will enable each of approximately 1.29 lakhs branch post offices to improve service delivery. DARPAN offers core banking services to the account holders.
• India has said that a non-representative UN Security Council is simply not equipped to handle the current challenges of the world. Addressing a special meeting of the UN Security Council, New Delhi said, the reasons for the lack of success of international structures designed seven decades ago in dealing with the complex challenges of today are self evident. India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin reiterated the need to reform and expand the 15-member UNSC. Various other countries also echoed for the reforms of the Security Council.
• Pakistan has said that alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav was not under any threat of immediate execution and his meeting with his wife and mother had been arranged purely on humanitarian grounds. Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said Jadhav’s mercy petitions are still pending. Islamabad also said it was awaiting New Delhi’s decision on Pakistan permitting media interaction with the wife and mother of Jadhay. The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi has issued visas to the mother and wife of the Indian who has been sentenced to death on charges of espionage and terrorism.

Business & Economy Current Affairs:

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has assured the Lok Sabha that people’s deposit in public sector banks are safe and there should not be any apprehension in this regard. Replying to a debate on second batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2017-18 in the Lok Sabha, Mr Jaitley said, the level of protection to public deposits will be much higher in the proposed Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill than it is now. Mr Jaitley denied the allegations that States are losing revenue following the implementation of GST. He said, under the Constitution, the States are guaranteed 14 per cent increase per annum for next five years on base year 2015-16. He said, 80 per cent of GST goes to States, therefore, they cannot say that they are getting less money.
• The Government is in favour of bringing petroleum products under the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax and is awaiting a consensus among the states over the issue. Replying to supplementaries during the question hour in the Rajya Sabha Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, the Centre has already reduced excise duty on petroleum products. He said it has written to all the states to decrease state duties on these products.

Sports Current Affairs:

• India captain Mithali Raj has been named in the ICC Women’s ODI Cricket Team of the Year while left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht was the lone cricketer to find a place in the both the ODI and T20 Teams of the year announced by the world body. Besides the duo, Harmanpreet Kaur has found out a place in the ICC Women’s T201 Team of the Year. The ICC announced the women’s ODI and T201 teams of t year with England’s Heather Knight named as captain of the 50-over side a Stefanie Taylor of the West Indies appointed skipper of the 20-over side.
• The Indian men’s football ended the year at 105th spot in the FIFA rankings, unchanged from last month, released on Thursday. The team, which did not play any international match in this ranking period, has 320 points to its kitty. India began the year at 129th spot and broke into top 100 by occupying 96th — the second best ever after the 94th — of February 1996 — in July.
• World champions Germany ended on top to be FIFA’s ‘Team of the Year’, followed by Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Spain, Poland, Switzerland, France and Chile.
• In Cricket, India beat Sri Lanka by 88 runs in the second T20 International to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series in Indore . Chasing a victory target of 261 runs, Sri Lanka were all out for 172 runs in 17.2 ovens. Put in to bat, Rohit, the stand-in skipper, scored a record-equaling 35-ball century guiding India to amass a mammoth 260 for 5, their highest score in the format.