Current Affairs National
UP government to start metro services
- Uttar Pradesh has decided to start metro services in Agra, Kanpur and Meerut cities by 2024.
- The estimated cost of entire project is 43,800 crore.
- “The Kanpur project will have 31 stations and it will be 30-km-long costing over Rs. 17,000 crore, while Meerut metro project will be of 33 km costing over Rs. 13,800 crore,” said state cabinet minister Siddharth Nath Singh on Wednesday.
Telangana Police will geo-tag criminals and their addresses
- Telangana Police started exercise named “Sakala Nerasthula Samagra Survey” to geo-tag criminals.
- A database will be prepared which will contain photographs, fingerprints and other details of criminals and their associates and will be uploaded to the crime data analytics unit of the TSCOP app.
Government to set up $350 million fund for Solar Projects
- Government to set up $350 million fund for financing Solar Projects to achieve target of adding 175 gigawatts in renewable energy by 2022.
- At present installed renewable power capacity of country is about 60 GW.
Agni 5:India test-fired Nuclear Capable Agni-V ICBM
- India successfully conducted the first pre-induction trial of its over 5,000-km range missile Agni 5 from Abdul Kalam island off the Odisha coast at 9:53 am.
- Agni 5 is an intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) India, it has Asia and China as well parts of Europe and Africa within its nuclear strike envelope.
Election dates of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland announced
- Election Commision of India announced Assembly Election dates of Tripura(16 February), Meghalaya(27 February) and Nagaland(27 February).
- Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines along with EVMs for for the polls.
Imp Note: Chief Election Commissioner : Achal Kumar Jyoti
India reapproves defence deal with Israel
- India reapproves deal to buy 1,600 Israeli anti-tank guided missiles worth $500 million from Israel.
- India earlier cancelled the deal as India was working on creating its own missiles.
Current Affairs Business and Economy
Yes bank profit jumps to 1,077 crore in December
- Net profit of yes bank increased 22% at Rs. 1,077 crore during third quarter of Dec 2017.
Hindustan Unilever will return GST gains to government
- Hindustan Unilever will return 119 crore gains to government.
- Hindustan Unilever said that it could not pass the benefits of the deduction of gst rates to the consumers due to lack of time and pipeline issues.
GST rates on 29 items and 53 services reduced
- Finance minister Arun Jaitley said GST rates has been reduced on 29 goods and 53 services.
- The new rates will be applicable from January 25.
HDFC bank becomes India’s first bank to cross Rs.5 trillion capital
- Private Sector bank HDFC becomes first Indian bank to cross Rs.5 trillion market capitalization.
- HDFC also become third only Indian company after TCS and Reliance Industries to achieve this mark.
Current Affairs Sports
ICC Awards
- ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year – Steve Smith (Australia)
- ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year – Virat Kohli (India)
- ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Hasan Ali (Pakistan)
- ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year – Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)
- ICC Men’s T20I Performance of the Year – Yuzvendra Chahal (6-25 v England for India)
- David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year – Marais Erasmus
- ICC Spirit of Cricket – Anya Shrubsole (England)
- ICC Fans Moment of the Year – Pakistan stun India to win the ICC Champions Trophy 2017
- Ravichandran Ashwin and Virat Kohli in ICC test cricket team of the year Virat Kohli as Captain.
- Rohit Sharma, Virat Kolhi and Jasprit Bumrah in ICC ODI cricket team of the year ,Virat Kohli as Captain.
Current Affairs International
Pakistan can survive without US aid says Pak Foreign Minister
- Pakistan foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said that Pak can live without US aid but it will not gave up on Nation’s Integrity.
- US President Donald Trump suspended Pak security aid earlier this month.
Gates foundation to pay Nigeria debt
- Bill and Melinda Gates charitable foundation will pay Nigeria’s $76 million debt to Japan so the African nation can become polio-free.
Current Affairs Miscellaneous (Science, technology etc.)
India gets second spot in most app downloaded in a year
- India overtakes US in no. of apps downloaded in a year as per the App Annie 2017 Retrospective Report.
- China topped the list.
Paytm Payments Bank launches its physical debit card
- PayTm launched its physical debit card which can be ordered by PayTm app.
- It also launched PayTm BHIM UPI. Users can create UPI for faster payments can send money without any charge.