Current Affairs National
India and Vietnam released first ever set of commemorative postage stamps
- India and Vietnam on Thursday released first ever set of commemorative postage stamps to mark the long term friendly bilateral relationships between the two countries.
- “The first ever joint issue of commemorative postage stamps between India and Vietnam on the theme of ancient architecture is a symbol of strong friendship between the two countries,” AN Nanda, Secretary, Department of Posts, said at the stamp release event.
- The two set of stamps released carry picture of Sanchi Stupa and Thien Mu Pagoda.
Rotavac vaccine – First India-designed vaccine which passes WHO test
- For the first time, a vaccine designed and developed in India has been “pre-qualified” by the World Health Organisation.
- The vaccine named Rotovac was designed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech Limited last year.
- Pre-qualified means that the vaccine can be sold internationally to several countries in Africa and South America.
Kolkata becomes The First Metro City To Get A ‘Floating Market’
- Kolkata, West Bengal became the first metro city to have a floating market. Lake Patuli has been transformed into a floating market.
- The market is 400 meters long and 60 meters wide. The sellers will be selling vegetables, fruits, fish and meat etc.
- At present it has 114 Boats And 228 Sellers.
Current Affairs Business and Economy
Usha Ananthasubramanian, Managing Director of Allahabad Bank becomes first women chairman of IBA
- Usha Ananthasubramanian, Managing Director of Allahabad has become the first woman chairman of the Indian Banks’ Association.
- IBA announced that its managing committee on Thursday elected Usha Ananthasubramanian as the chairman till August. She will retire on August 31.
Small Finance, Payments Banks To Offer Atal Pension Yojana To Subscribers
- The Central government on Friday said “Payments Banks and Small Finance Banks” will offer social security scheme Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to their subscribers.
- Currently there are 11 Payments Banks and 10 Small Finance Banks that have received license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start their operations.
Imp Note : Payments banks is a new model of banks conceptualised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). These banks can accept a restricted deposit, which is currently limited to ₹1 lakh per customer and may be increased further. These banks cannot issue loans and credit cards. Both current account and savings accounts can be operated by such banks. Payments banks can issue services like ATM cards, debit cards, net-banking and mobile-banking. Bharti Airtel set up India’s first live payments bank. (source : wikipedia)
Vodafone and Flipkart partner to offer 4G smartphones at Rs 999
- Vodafone on Wednesday tied up with Flipkart to bring a range of entry-level 4G smartphones to India at an effective price of Rs. 999.
- Vodafone prepaid subscribers can avail the new offer. The offer is available under Flipkart’s campaign#MyFirst4GSmartphone.
- Under this campaign Vodafone prepaid users will get cashback of Rs 2000 on the select range of 4G smartphone models.
Current Affairs Sports
Delhi defeats Rajasthan to win Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
- Delhi defeated Rajasthan by 41 runs at Eden Gardens, Kolkata to win Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
- Unmukt Chand of Delhi hit a half century to help Delhi to set a target of 154 runs.
- Man of the Match was Pradeep Sangwan of Delhi.
Australian Open
- Roger Federer, the defending champion enters into Australian Open final after Hyeon Chung retires.
- Roger Federer will face Marin Cilic in the final on Sunday.
Current Affairs World
Southeast Asian nations form pact to counter terrorism and extremism
- Singapore and five other Southeast Asian nations launched an intelligence pact on Thursday (Jan 25) aimed at improving regional counter-terrorism efforts.
- “Singapore is committed to strengthening regional cooperation to combat the rising threat of terrorism”, said
Dr Maliki Osman, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Defence.
NSIC and SME Corp. Malaysia sign MoU of Cooperation in MSME Sector
- MoU for Cooperation in MSME sector was signed between National Small Industries Corporation of India and SME Corp. Malaysia on Thursday.
- The main aim is exchange of information and cooperation in areas such as policies to aid development of small and medium businesses (SMBs) in the two countries.
Imp Note : MSME – Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Current Affairs Miscellaneous
WEF launches Global Centre for Cybersecurity
- To safeguard the world from hackers and growing data breaches the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday launched a new Global Centre for Cybersecurity.
- The Headquaters Global Centre for Cybersecurity will be in Geneva
- The centre will be operational from March.
Also Read : 26 January Current Affairs