December 26, 2017 - Current Affairs Quiz - Current Affairs MCQ

Union Home Ministry has released Rs 167 crore to nine states – Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Sikkim – under the Border Area Development Programme (BADP). BADP is fully funded by Central Government. Under this programme, development work is carried out in all villages which are located within the 0-10 km of the international border. 17 states of India have an international border. Priority (for speedy development of infrastructure) is given to those villages which are identified by border guarding forces. Development work permitted under BAPD include construction of helipads in areas which are not accessible by road, skill development training to local farmers, work related to swatchhta aabhiyan, promotion of sports, rural tourism and border tourism.

Central Government has drawn up tailor-made action plan for improving the socio-economic condition of 115 “most-backward” districts across India. Under this action plan, Government will setup basic services like healthcare, education, sanitation as well as basic physical infrastructure like roads and drinking water supply. These development activities will be carried out in a time-bound manner. The 115 districts that have been identified include 35 affected by left-wing extremism. These districts were selected on parameters like deprivation (extent of landless households), education (elementary dropout rate and adverse pupil-teacher ratio), health & nutrition (institutional delivery, stunting and wasting in children) and infrastructure (un-electrified homes, lack of toilets, road connectivity and lack of drinking water). Government’s goal is to bring a transformative change in these backward districts by 2022, the 75th year of India’s independence. This will be done through expediting government-anchored programmes and resorting to necessary interventions.

In order to provide relief for disqualified directors of companies, Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs will roll out ‘Condonation of Delay Scheme’, which will be operational from January 1 to March 31, 2018. Earlier, in a bid to clamp down on illicit fund flows, Union Corporate Affairs Ministry had disqualified more than 3.09 lakh directors of companies, who failed to submit annual filings for a long time. Following this, concerns were raised that many directors of genuine companies have also been disqualified. Some of the disqualified individuals also resorted to litigation. In order to address these concerns, Ministry of Corporate Affairs decided to come up with this scheme, under which, post submission of filings, the company concerned would have to file a separate form seeking condonation of the delay along with a fee of Rs. 30000.

Uttar Pradesh government introduced ‘Prakash hai to vikas hai’, a free household power connection scheme for the poor people, to mark former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary. Uttar Pradesh government plans to provide 16 million power connections by the end of 2018 through the ‘Prakash Hai to Vikas Hai’ (the barometer of development is light) scheme. Uttar Pradesh Power Minister, Srikant Sharma, denied increase in power tariff for the benefit private power suppliers. BPL (Below Poverty Line) card holders without a roof or having less than Rs 35,000 income per year are eligible for the scheme. They can avail connection by paying Rs 550. Initial payment for the scheme is only Rs 50. The rest can be paid in 10 instalments of Rs 50.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) launched ‘Atal Jan Aahar Yojana’ for poor people to provide them meal at Rs 10, marking the Good Governance Day. The Atal Jan Aahar Yojana was launched by South Delhi Mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Chairman of the civic body’s Standing Committee Bhupender Gupta and Leader of Opposition Ramesh Matiala at Matiala Chowk. The Atal Jan Aahar Yojana scheme has been started at 5 outlets in different locations of south Delhi. Its aim is to provide nutritious meal to the poor and needy. The menu includes puri, chapattis, rice, rajma, vegetables, chhole, and halwa. The meal is provided for Rs 10 from 11 am to 2 pm every day.

The Odisha government decided to split the tourism and culture department and initiated setting up of Odia Language Commission. At the Odisha state cabinet meeting, the tourism and culture department was split. The cultural wing was also renamed as Odia Language, Literature and Culture Department. It was also decided to set up a ‘Heritage Cabinet’ to protect the monuments and ancient temples. It was also planned to take steps to preserve Odisha’s culture, language and literature. Among the measures to promote Odia language, is doubling of funds given to ‘Bhagabat Tungis’ to Rs 2,000. ‘Bhagabat Tungis’ are small huts in every village where people narrate the religious text to the locals.

Construction of Bangladesh’s first eco-friendly thermal power plant with ultra-modern clean coal technology has been started by a Chinese consortium in central Bangladesh. The thermal power plant is constructed near a sea port in Payra town in Patuakhali district of Bangladesh. It consists of two units. Both the units would be commissioned in April and October 2019 respectively. Estimated cost of the project is USD 1.56 billion. Bangladesh had signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with the consortium of two Chinese firms in March 2016.

On 22nd December 2017, President Donald Trump signed the $1.5 trillion tax overhaul into law. This law is expected to benefit big corporations and wealthy Americans more. Where as medium earning people will be less benefited. According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, families earning between $50,000 and $75,000 will get average tax cuts of $890. Families earning between $100,000 and $200,000 would get average tax cuts of $2,260. Families earning more than $1 million would get average tax cuts of $70,000.

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has announced plans to move country’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Guatemala is the first country to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem following United States of America (USA’s) recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on December 6, 2017. On December 21, 2017, Guatemala was one of the nine nations to vote against United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution rejecting the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. 128 UN member countries (including India) had voted in favour of this resolution.

As per 2018 World Economic League Table released by Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), Indian economy will surpass Britain and France in 2018 and will thus become the fifth largest economy. Cebr Deputy Chairman, Douglas McWilliams has stated that despite temporary setbacks in past one year (on account of demonetisation and roll out of Goods and Services Tax regime), India’s economy has managed to catch up with that of France and the United Kingdom (UK). As per the Cebr report, impact of Donald Trump’s Presidency on trade/businesses in USA has been less severe than expected. Thus USA economy will be able to retain its No. 1 position for a year longer than what was anticipated in the last report. In 2032, China is likely to overtake the United States as world’s No. 1 economy.

Samsung in partnership with Axis Bank launched its ‘Bill Payments’ on Samsung Pay. The ‘Bill Payments’ feature lets users to pay their utility bills through Samsung Pay’s platform in a convenient way. Users can pay their mobile, landline phone, electricity, gas, water and DTH bills using this feature. Users can view the due amount, details of their previous bills and location-based suggested billers on Samsung Pay. They can also create ‘reminders’ for bill payments.

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has allowed Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) – manufactured Dornier 228 for civilian flights. Dornier 228 is a 19-seater aircraft which was only used by defence forces till now. It will now become the first ‘Made in India’ plane to be used for commercial flights. On account of DGCA’s certification, HAL can even sell this plane to other airlines in India, which can be used for regional flights under central government’s UDAN scheme.

On December 25, 2017, Union Minister of State for PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions launched electronic-Human Resource Management System (e-HRMS).
Modules of e-HRMS:
Dr. Singh launched the website, ehrms.gov.in and following five modules covering 25 applications.
• Personnel Information System: For self-updating information by employees.
• Leave: For claiming and attaining sanction of
• LTC: For checking eligibility for LTC, attaining sanction, advance claim and final reimbursements.
• Loan/Advances: For availing loan and advances.
• Tour: For submitting tour applications and claiming travel allowances.

China successfully launched remote sensing satellites for conducting electromagnetic environmental probes from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest Sichuan Province. The remote sensing satellites were launched on a Long March-2C carrier rocket. The satellites successfully entered their preset orbit. The satellites will conduct electromagnetic environmental probes and other experiments. This is the third batch of the Yaogan-30 project.

Typhoon Tembin has devastated southern Philippines and has killed more than 120 people with 160 missing. Typhoon Tembin caused a series of flash flooding and landslides in southern Philippines. Island Mindanao is the most affected part. Around 70,000 people were evacuated to safer places. Emergency state was declared in many parts on Mindanao. It is said that many villagers had ignored warning announcements. They failed to leave coastal areas and riverbanks. This caused great damage as people were swept away by flash floods and landslides.

Indian boxers won 3 gold, 1 silver, and 1 bronze medal at the Galym Zharylgapov Boxing Tournament in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Gold medal winners: K Shyam Kumar (49kg), Naman Tanwar (91kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg). Silver medal was won by Manish Kaushik (60kg). Bronze medal was won by Mandeep Jangra in the middleweight (75kg) category. Naman Tanwar was named the best boxer of the tournament. The tournament saw participation from five international and 15 local teams, with a total of 154 boxers.

Saudi Arabia hosted a world chess tournament for the first time at the APEX Convention Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The tournament is called the King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships. It is conducted till 30th December 2017. Prizes worth $2 million would be awarded. It has around 400 international players. 16 players are participating from Saudi Arabia. Also, a women’s chess tournament is held along with the open championship. Earlier in 2016, Saudi Arabi’s top cleric, Grand Mufti Shaikh Abdul Aziz Al Shaikh, said chess is “forbidden” in Islam as it wastes time and leads to rivalry among players.

Legendary South African musician Robbie Malinga passed away. Robbie Malinga was 49 years old. It is said that he was suffering from anemia. The cause of his death has not yet been revealed. He retired as a solo artist in 2016. His career spun over 20 years.