Current Affairs Update – 17th & 18th January, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 17th and 18th January, 2016. These are Important for the upcoming LIC AAO 2016, Syndicate Manipal PO 2016.

• Exim Bank of India and the
  Government of Andhra Pradesh have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding
  (MoU) for promotion of exports from the state.
• The MoU was signed by Yaduvendra
  Mathur, Chairman and Managing Director of the bank, and Shamsher Singh Rawat,
  Secretary and Commissioner for Industrial Promotion, Government of Andhra
  Pradesh.
• Exim Bank seeks to support
  exporters having operations in Andhra Pradesh in achieving higher exports by
  facilitation of market linkages through its market advisory services, which
  will assist in identifying suitable partners.
• Besides, it will help develop
  skills through capacity building workshops, help exporters’ participation in
  select trade fairs and exhibitions, and through research activities.
• Exim Bank would also use its
  strong institutional linkages that it has developed over the years with
  institutions in advanced markets like the US, Singapore, Japan, Australia, EU,
  etc, and facilitate technology transfer to the technology-seeking enterprises
  in Andhra Pradesh.

• The National Institution for
  Transforming India (NITI) Aayog on 17 January 2016 announced that it
  collaborated with the IDFC Bank Ltd to conduct an enterprise survey of
  manufacturing firms.
• The primary objective of this
  Survey is to assess the business regulatory environment in each State and Union
  Territories (UTs) and identify policy and regulatory hurdles faced by
  businesses in the States/UTs.

• It will include start-ups across
  all States and UTs.
• It will bring out a comprehensive
  analysis and report on State-level performance.
• It will complement the
  governments Make in India initiative by taking stock of issues faced and
  providing impetus for State-level reforms that will make it easier to do
  business in India.
• It will suggest measures needed
  to foster competitive and cooperative federalism.

• Mumbai-based Jet Airways on 15
  January 2016 entered into a Frequent Flyer Partnership with Bangkok Airways.
• The partnership came into force
  with the tie-up of award-winning loyalty and rewards management programme of
  Jet Airways named JetPrivilege and FlyerBonus, the loyalty scheme of Bangkok
  Airways.
• JetPrivilege members can now earn
  and redeem reward points JPMiles when travelling across the Bangkok Airways
  network including popular destinations like Samui, Krabi, Phuket and Luang
  Prabang via Bangkok.
• Members of Bangkok Airways’
  FlyerBonus programme can also earn and redeem their miles across Jet Airways’
  extensive network in India and key international destination in North America,
  Europe, Middle East and SAARC.

• Technology giant IBM on Monday
  said it has bagged a 7-year deal worth $40 million (about Rs 270.3 crore) from
  Bank Tech India (BTI) Payments, a white label ATM (WLA) operator to transform
  its IT Infrastructure.
• BTI Payments, which runs over
  3,000 “India1” branded white label ATMs, will leverage IBM’s managed
  services solution to deploy and manage an incremental 4,000 automated teller
  machines across the country, IBM said in a statement.
• IBM will manage, monitor and
  maintain the ATM infrastructure providing BTI better visibility and control of
  its operations and enabling its maximum efficiency, it added.
• It will take up the maintenance
  and service of ATM assets, including feasibility, supply and installation,
  performance monitoring, availability management, reporting and analysis.

• The Somnath Temple Trust is all
  set to become Gujarat’s first temple to deposit its idle gold in the Gold
  Monetisation Scheme as its trustees including Prime Minister Narendra Modi have
  given their nod to invest the yellow metal reserves in the scheme.
• The trust has around 35 kg of
  gold and will deposit the gold which is not in day-to-day use of the temple.
• The decision was taken during the
  recently held meeting of trustees at Modi’s residence in Delhi on January 12,
  said the trust secretary P K Lahiri, who is also one of the trustees of the
  Somnath Temple, situated in the Gir-Somnath district.

• State Bank of Travancore (SBT)
  has teamed up with the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to provide
  customers of the state utility online facility for remittance of electricity
  charges.
• Jeevandas Narayan, Managing
  Director, SBT, and M Shivasankar, Chairman, KSEB, jointly announced the launch
  of the facility at a function here.
• Present on the occasion were E.K.
  Harikumar and S. Adikesavan, Chief General Managers, SBT, and B Nina, Director
  (Transmission), KSEB.
• The online system facilitates
  immediate credit of remittance through the SBT internet banking platform free
  of any additional charges, a spokesman for SBT said.
• This will enable consumers to pay
  their monthly bills without going to the KSEB offices. They will get
  confirmation of the remittance from the bank as well as KSEB.

• BHEL has commissioned the second
  660 MW supercritical unit of Lalitpur Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) in
  Uttar Pradesh.
• Last month, BHEL has successfully
  commissioned the first unit of 3×660 MW Prayagraj Super Thermal Power Project
  (STPP) at Bara in Allahabad district of Uttar Pradesh.
• The unit has been synchronised by
  BHEL four months ahead of the schedule agreed with the developer.
• The commencement of generation
  from the unit will result in a significant improvement of power availability.
• Besides, the balance 660 MW
  super—critical Units, two each at Lalitpur and Bara, BHEL is also executing a
  500 MW units at Anpara ‘D’ TPS of Uttar Pradesh Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (UPRVUNL)
  in Uttar Pradesh, it said.

• The abbreviation BIOFIN was in
  news in the third week of January 2016 as the Union Ministry of Environment,
  Forest and Climate Change held the first national stakeholder consultation
  meeting on the BIOFIN (Biodiversity Finance Initiative).
• The meeting was organized to
  understand the BIOFIN project and to seek professional inputs from experts of
  various fields in strengthening the biodiversity conservation efforts in the
  country.
• BIOFIN is a global partnership
  seeking to address the biodiversity finance challenge in a comprehensive
  manner. Its purpose is to mobilise resources for biodiversity and sustainable
  development across the world.
• It helps countries to scale up
  their efforts and achieve the 20 Aichi Targets defined in the Convention on
  Biological Diversity (CBD) Strategic Plan for 2011-2020.

• India’s Dinesh Sharma on 17
  January 2016 was elected to the 12-member board of directors of the
  China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). A secret ballot
  for the post was held on 16 January 2016.
• It is the first Board of
  Directors of AIIB in which 57 nations are founding members including India.
• The inaugural meeting of the
  board of the governors of the AIIB was held in Beijing after its formal launch.
  The meeting approved by-laws, rules and codes of conduct for the bank. Union
  Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley is the designated governor of the AIIB
  from the country. However, he was represented by Sharma at the meeting. Sharma
  is currently serving as the Additional Secretary of Ministry of Finance.
• AIIB holds authorised capital of
  100 billion US dollars and subscribed capital of 50 billion US dollars. It will
  invest in sectors including energy, transportation, urban construction and logistics
  as well as education and healthcare.
• China is the largest shareholder
  with 26.06 percent voting shares. India is the second largest shareholder with
  7.5 percent followed by Russia with 5.93 percent and Germany with 4.5 percent.

• Tata Motors has appointed former
  top official of Airbus Guenter Butschek (55) as its Chief Executive Officer
  & Managing Director. Mr. Butschek will lead all operations of Tata Motors
  in India and in international markets including South Korea, Thailand,
  Indonesia and South Africa.
• He brings broad functional and
  general management skills, and wide international experience to his new role at
  Tata Motors. Mr. Butschek is expected to join the company by February 15.
• Mr. Butschek joins Tata Motors
  after his last assignment at Airbus Group where he served as Chief Operating
  Officer at Airbus and Member of the Group Executive Committee. Prior to Airbus,
  he worked at German auto giant Daimler AG for more than 25 years in international
  automotive management.
• The last role he held was
  president and Chief Executive Officer of Beijing Benz Automotive Co. Ltd., a
  joint venture between Daimler AG and Beijing Automotive Industrial Holding in
  Beijing, China.

• Ola, India’s leading mobile app
  for personal transportation, has announced the appointment of Raghuvesh Sarup as
  its Chief Marketing Officer.
• Raghuvesh brings over 20 years of
  experience in marketing, sales and brand management across some of the world’s
  most respected brands like Microsoft, Nokia, Yum! Brands (Pizza Hut) and
  Procter & Gamble.
• He joins the company in February
  and will be part of Ola’s core leadership team, focusing on building Ola as
  every Indian’s most preferred mobility brand.
• Raghuvesh joins Ola from
  Microsoft, where he was most recently Marketing Director after relocating to
  India from global stints in Finland in the headquarters of Nokia. His
  experience across brand management, marketing and managing P&L for large
  brands makes him a distinguished marketing leader.

• Analjit Singh on 15 January 2016
  resigned as the Chairman of Max Financial Services Ltd following the demerger
  of Max India Ltd. However, Singh will continue to serve as Chairman of Max
  Ventures and Industries Ltd.
• Singh will also be the Chairman
  Emeritus and a permanent invitee to the boards and committees of all Max Group
  companies.

• The Goa Legislative Assembly on
  15 January 2016 approved reclassification of coconut tree as palm. The
  reclassification was approved by the legislature through the passage of the Goa
  Preservation of Trees (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
• The bill seeks to omit the
  Section 1-A of the Goa, Daman and Diu Preservation of Trees Act, 1984. The
  section, which was inserted through an amendment in 2008, included coconut
  under the definition of tree.
• Further, to facilitate the
  reclassification, the bill also amended the Section 12-A of the Act
  incorporating changes into the definition of tree.
• As per the new definition, tree
  means any woody plant whose branches spring from and are supported upon the
  trunk or the body and whose trunk or body is not less than ten centimeters in
  diameter at a height of one meter from the ground level.

• The Union Minister of Health and
  Family Welfare J P Nadda on 15 January 2016 launched four mobile health
  (m-Health) services to provide citizen-centric health services.
• These m-Health services are
  Kilkari, Mobile Academy, M-Cessation and TB Missed Call initiative.
  

• It is an audio-based mobile
  service that delivers weekly audio messages to families about pregnancy, child
  birth and child care.

• It’s a mobile-based application
  aimed at providing training services to 9 million ASHAs.

• It will be an IT-enabled tool to
  help tobacco users to quit tobacco.

• Under TB Missed Call initiative,
  a dedicated toll free number 1800-11–6666 which will provide round the clock
  counselling and treatment support services for TB patients.

• Indian author Anuradha Roy on 16
  January 2016 won the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for her
  novel Sleeping on Jupiter at the Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka.
• Roy was awarded the prize and a
  unique trophy by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

• UK-based Indian-origin author
  Akhil Sharma for Family Life
• KR Meera’s Hangwoman (Translated
  by J Devika)
• Mirza Waheed’s The Book of Gold
  Leaves
• Neel Mukherjee’s The Lives of
  Others 
• Raj Kamal Jha for She Will Build
  Him A City

• The 61st Filmfare Awards were
  presented on 15 January 2016 at the Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai. The ceremony
  was hosted by Shah Rukh Khan and comedian Kapil Sharma.
• Bajirao Mastani won the most
  awards including the Best Film award. Other winners included Piku that was
  awarded with six awards, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Roy, Talvar, Tanu Weds Manu
  Returns, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Bombay Velvet, Dil Dhadakne Do, Hero, Masaan and
  Tamasha.

• Best Actor: Ranveer Singh for
  Bajirao Mastani
• Best Actress: Deepika Padukone
  for Piku
• Best Film: Bajirao Mastani
• Best Director: Sanjay Leela
  Bhansali for Bajirao Mastani
• Lifetime Achievement: Moushumi
  Chatterjee

• The 21st Critics’ Choice Awards
  were conferred on 17 January 2016 at the Santa Monica Airport’s Barker Hangar
  in California. TJ Miller hosted the presentation program.
• These awards honour the finest
  achievements in drama and television filmmaking which were aired between 1 June
  2015 and 31 December 2015.
• BEST PICTURE: Spotlight
• BEST ACTOR: Leonardo DiCaprio –
  The Revenant
• BEST ACTRESS: Brie Larson – Room

• A mosquito-borne virus called
  Zika was in news in the third week of January 2016. It was found that the virus
  is spreading rapidly through the American continent.
• The first case was confirmed in
  Texas, USA in January 2016 when a traveler returning from Latin America.
• The disease caused by this virus
  is not fatal and lasts up to a week, but it was identified that there is a
  possible link between the virus and a birth defect called microcephaly that
  causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and potential
  developmental problems.

• The National Aeronautics and
  Space Administration (NASA) on 17 January 2016 launched the SpaceX Falcon 9
  rocket from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base in the USA.
• The rocket carried the ocean
  monitoring satellite Jason-3 on board and successfully inserted it in the
  desired orbit. However, the rocket failed a return landing on a drone platform
  in the Pacific Ocean.
• The Jason-3 satellite will
  examine the topography of the ocean floor to help study effects of climate
  change or human-induced changes on the ocean.

• Delhi Acers on 17 January 2016
  emerged victorious over Mumbai Rockets by 4-3 in the summit clash to clinch the
  Premier Badminton League (PBL) title. The match was held at the Siri Fort
  Sports Complex in New Delhi.
• Tommy Sugiarto, men’s doubles
  pair of Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong, and Rajiv Ouseph won their respective
  matches as Delhi grabbed the trophy and a winner’s cheque of 3 crores rupees.

• Haryana off-spinner Ajit Chandila
  was slapped with a life ban for his involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing
  scandal, while Mumbai batsman Hiken Shah was handed a five-year suspension for
  making a corrupt approach to a fellow player as the BCCI disciplinary committee
  sealed their fate after a meeting here today.
• However, the committee, headed by
  BCCI President Shashan Manohar and comprising Jyotiraditya Scindia and Niranjan
  Shah,deferred a decision on Chandila’s co-accused Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf
  till February 12, giving him a final deadline of February 9 to file his reply.
• The 32-year-old Chandila, an
  off-spinner who was found guilty of spot-fixing during his stint with Rajasthan
  Royals, was handed a tougher punshiment for violating the codes pertaining to
  accepting bribes, fixing, underperfoming, trying to induce a fellow player and
  betting.

• Renowned Kannada lyricist and
  film-maker Geethapriya died of cardiac arrest on 17 January 2016 in Bengaluru.
  He was 84 and survived by wife, son and two daughters.
• He was also received the Dr. B.
  Saroja Devi National Award and Sandesha Awards in 2012.

• Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party
  (BJP) leader and former Sikkim Governor Ventrapragada Rama Rao passed away on
  17 January 2016 in Hyderabad after prolonged illness. He was 80.
• Rao, who was suffering from
  severe lung infection, is survived by his wife, son and daughter-in-law.

Regards

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