Current Affairs (07 Jan 2018)

Current Affairs (07 Jan 2018)

 International Current Affairs

o The 1st US presidential election was held on this day (7th January) in the year 1789.

o George Washington won the election and was sworn in as the first President of the United States on April 30, 1789.  

✅ National Current Affairs

o Union Minister (Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation) Nitin Gadkari is on a visit to Singapore to inaugurate ASEAN India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

o Hyderabad became 2nd large city (above 1 crore population) to be declared open defecation free (ODF), after Mumbai.

✅ Awards & Honors

o The R.S Puram Police Station of Coimbatore declared as the Best Police Station in the country in category of SMART Police Stations, an initiative by Ministry of Home Affairs.

o The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, India’s Premier Container Port has won “Samudra Manthan-Caring Organisation of the Year” award.

✅ Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

o India's fifth largest private sector bank, Yes Bank and location-based social networking service Nearby tied up to provide Aadhaar- enabled cardless and pinless ATM service through which, customers can deposit or withdraw money at retailers’ place.

o Using the PayNEARBY mobile application on a smart phone, a retailer can become an Aadhaar ATM/Aadhaar Bank branch for cash withdrawals and deposits by a customer, Yes Bank said in a release.

✅ Recent Committees in News

o  The government tidat formed a 4 Member Ministerial committee to decide what to do with old, pre-existing projects in ports, which have become unviable.

o  Head of this Committee : Arun Jaitley (finance minister)

✅ New Appointments

o  Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has appointed Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, a former defense and foreign minister and intelligence chief as the new Prime Minister.  

o  Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) appointed former captain Hasan Sardar as the new chief head coach of the national team ahead of three major tournaments this year.

o  Kia Motors India (KMI) has announced the appointment of Kookhyun Shim as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO).

✅ Deaths

o  Novelist and intellectual giant of Sri Lankan origin, Ambalavaner Sivanandan (94) has passed away.  

o  For his novel, 'When Memory Dies', Sivanandan won the 1998 Commonwealth Writers' Prize in the 'Best First Book category for Europe and South Asia'.

✅ Sports Current Affairs

o  French professional tennis player Gilles Simon won the Maharashtra Open by defeating his Kevin Anderson (South Africa).

o  This is Simon's first major ATP Tour title since 2015.