January 2018 Current Affairs

January 2018 Latest Current Affairs:

January 2018 Current Affairs

Latest Current Affairs 2018 for competitive exams UPSC, TNPSC, IAS, RRB and Latest Affairs 2018 for banking exams IBPS PO Clerk, SBI, RBI and more. Read daily affairs, this beneficial Affairs 2018 resource yields the facts about the events of International affairs, National, Sports, Business, Banking Current Affairs of 2018 and more which are betterment for the Government & Private Job aspirants.

January 2018 Current Affairs

National Current Affairs

*       Marking the 69th Republic Day celebrations, Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) & New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) have launched the first ever 'Khadi Haat' in the country.

*       On the eve of the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit to celebrate 25 years of India-ASEAN partnership, PM Narendra Modi had separate bilateral meetings with leaders of three ASEAN nations - Myanmar, Vietnam & Philippines in New Delhi. PM first met his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc & held talks with on issues of mutual interest. Next, he met the Philipino President Rodrigo Duterte & covered a wide range of subjects. Myanmar's State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi also met the PM later in the evening.

*       The Country celebrated its 69th Republic Day on 26th January in Rajpath, New Delhi to be resplendently displaying the country's pride & glory. Heads of ten ASEAN countries are chief guests at Republic Day. The family members of Corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala (Posthumous) of the Indian Air Force (IAF), who died fighting militants in Kashmir valley, received India’s highest peacetime gallantry award, Ashok Chakra.

*       Kolkata has become the first Indian Metro to get a Floating Market. The market will be located on a water-body with boats doubling up as shops.

*       India & Vietnam released first ever set of commemorative postage stamps to mark the long-term friendly bilateral relationships between the two countries.

*       PM Modi left for Davos, Switzerland to attend the 48th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. He will lead the largest-ever Indian delegation comprising Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu among others. The theme of the meet is 'Creating a shared future in a fractured world'.

*       The first Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK) of Puducherry was inaugurated by Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Minister for External Affairs at Karaikal. The POPSK at Karaikal is the 60th POPSK to have become functional since the launch of the scheme in January 2017. It is the first POPSK to become operational in the UT of Puducherry.

*       India-ASEAN business & investment conference held in New Delhi ahead of the landmark commemorative summit meeting on the 25th of January.

*       Andhra Pradesh Govt. & the Canton of Zurich signed a letter of intent, to promote mutual prosperity & development.

*       Minister of State (IC), for AYUSH, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik laid the foundation stone for Central Research Institute (CRI) in Jaipur, Rajasthan. This will be the third CRI under the aegis of Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH).

*       India & Israel signed nine documents to further the cooperation. It includes cooperation in; Cybersecurity, Petroleum & natural gas, film co-production, homoeopathy medicines, space science, boosting investment, metal-air batteries & solar thermal technology & document for the amendment to the air transport agreement.

*       Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore during the launch of the official anthem & mascot of Khelo India School Games announced that, “Now when an athlete wins a medal at Commonwealth Games, Asian Games & Olympics, the coach gets incentive.

*       The ‘I4Fund Call for Proposal’ was announced with the joint launch of the website & the unveiling of brochure by the two PMs (Narendra Modi & Benjamin Netanyahu). The "India-Israel Industrial R&D & Technological Innovation Fund (I4F)" was announced in July, 2017. Under this, Department of Science & Technology, India & National Innovation Authority of Israel established a 40 million US dollar Fund.

*       Bangladesh, India & Nepal given nod to operating procedures for movement of passenger vehicles in the sub-region under Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) motor vehicles agreement. For seamless flow of passenger & cargo traffic in the region, BBIN motor vehicles agreement (MVA) was signed by BBIN countries in Thimphu, Bhutan (2015).

*       Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu visited Mumbai during the final leg of his visit to India. He addressed the India-Israel Business Summit & attended the ‘Shalom Bollywood’. A monthly magazine titled ‘Namaste Shalom’ also launched to mark Israeli PM Netanyahu’s Mumbai visit.

*       PM Modi & PM Benjamin Netanyahu inaugurated the 'iCreate Centre' at Deo Dholera in Ahmedabad. iCreate paves way for the two nations to jointly script new stories of success through innovation.

*       Election Commission of India announced dates for elections to the Assemblies of Meghalaya, Tripura & Nagaland. The CEC announced the polling for legislative assembly elections in Tripura on 18 February, while Meghalaya & Nagaland will go to vote on 27 February. All the three states have 60 seats each in their assembly.

*       Maharashtra become the first state in the country that has come out with a public cloud policy, virtually mandating its departments to shift their data storage onto the cloud.

*       As per the Power Minister RK Singh, India will set up a $350-million fund to finance solar projects as the country steps up efforts to achieve its ambitious target of adding 175 gigawatts (GW) in renewable energy by 2022.

*       India has joined the Australia Group export control regime & has become the 43rd Member of that Group. It is an informal forum which seeks to ensure that exports do not contribute to the development of chemical or biological weapons.

*       Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) introduced a concept of 'Virtual ID' to further strengthen privacy & security of Aadhaar number holders. The Aadhaar number holder can use 'Virtual ID' in place of an Aadhaar number whenever authentication or KYC services are performed.

*       Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal launched a common card for rides on public buses & the metro. Delhi is the first city in the country to have a common mobility card.

*       Cabinet approved agreement between India & Myanmar on Land Border Crossing. This will facilitate movement of people on the basis of valid passports & visas which will enhance economic & social interaction between the two countries.

*       India excluded Pakistan from the list of SAARC member countries with which it will be connecting its state-of-the-art National Knowledge Network (NKN) for sharing scientific databases & remote access to advanced research facilities. NKN is a multi-gigabit pan-India network which facilitates the development of India's communications infrastructure, stimulates research & creates next-generation applications & services.

*       PM Modi inaugurated the project commencement of Rajasthan Refinery at Pachpadra in Barmer district. This is the first oil refinery in the state. The 43,000 crore rupee project is a joint venture between HPCL & the Rajasthan Govt..

*       West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee unveiled the official emblem which highlights the Ashoka emblem on the top with the theme of "Biswa Bangla" at the centre.

*       Arunachal Pradesh declared open defecation free ahead of the national deadline of October 2, 2019. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, & Haryana were declared open defecation free states in October 2017.

*       As per the Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Saudi Arabia has given the green signal for India’s decision to revive the option of sending Haj pilgrims through sea route also. For the first time, Muslim women from India will go to Haj without “Mehram” (male companion).

*       Minister of State (I/C) of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region Jitendra Singh announced that Arunachal Pradesh would get its first Film & Television Institute, being set up by the Union Govt.. This would be the second one after Pune.

*       The citizen of Assam witnessed the release of the first draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) containing the first batch of 19 million names of genuine Indian citizens in compliance with the Supreme Court 's orders. Registrar General of India Sailesh released the document. Assam is the only state in the state that has an NRC.

International Current Affairs:

*    Romania's left-wing PM Mihai Tudose resigned after losing the backing of his party due to internal power struggles.

*      India & Sri Lanka signed four agreements for collaboration in the Information & communication technology (ICT) sector, setting up of an e-office system & connecting of National Knowledge Network (NKN) for collaboration among universities & academics. With the move, Sri Lanka become the first country to be connected to India’s NKN through a Gigabyte optical fibre network.

*       India, for the first time, took part in a two-day meeting of the international military cooperation departments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Beijing, China.

*       Valletta, the capital of Malta, was officially named European Capital of Culture 2018.

*       India signed an MoU with the United Kingdom to enable the return of illegal Indian migrants within a month of their detection by authorities abroad.

*       China became Nepal’s second internet service provider, breaking India’s monopoly in providing internet access to Nepal.

*       UN Environment & the World Health Organization agreed a new, wide-ranging collaboration to accelerate action to curb environmental health risks that cause an estimated 12.6 million deaths a year.

*       World’s largest Ice Festival 'International Ice & Snow Festival' was held in Harbin, China. It is the 34th annual Ice Festival in Harbin, north-east China.

*       Nepal has banned solo climbers from scaling its mountains, including Mount Everest, in a bid to reduce accidents.

*       Israel filed notice to withdraw from the UNESCO alongside the United States. Israel was the member of UNESCO since 1949. Both Israel & the US have filed its own withdrawal notice in October 2017.

*       Saudi Arabia & the United Arab Emirates (UAE) introduced value-added tax (VAT). These are the first two countries in the Gulf which have introduced the VAT system. The 5% levy is being applied to the majority of goods & services.

*       Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Peru, Poland & the Netherlands formally joined the ranks of the non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to make a difference. The five permanent seats who have the power to veto resolutions - Britain, China, France, Russia & the United States.

*       The unusual & very efficient whistle language commonly called "bird language" used as a means of communication by villagers in remote northern Turkey entered the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

*       Pakistan allowed Chinese currency Yuan for exports & financing transactions.

*       External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj co-chaired the fifth meeting of the India-Indonesia Joint Commission with her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi.

*       Himalayan Hydro Expo 2018 kicked off at Kathmandu, the capital Nepal. President of Nepal Bidya Devi Bhandari inaugurated the exhibition.

*       Iceland become the first country in the world to legalise equal pay between men & women. Under the new rules, companies & Govt. agencies employing at least 25 people will have to obtain Govt. certification of their equal-pay policies.

Defence Current Affairs:

*       Indian Navy launched 'INS Karanj', the third of the six indigenous Scorpene-class submarines. The submarine, equipped with superior stealth features and precision-guided weapons, has been built at Mumbai's Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited. The submarine has an overall length of 67.5 meters and a height of about 12.3 metres.

*       Armies of India & Vietnam have begun a six-day-long military exercise in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. The exercise named ‘VINBAX’ is the first military exercise between the two countries.

*       India test-fired its nuclear-capable Agni-V inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), which has a strike range of over 5,000km. It was test fired successfully from Abdul Kalam island off the coast of the eastern state of Odisha.

*       Indian Naval Ship Vikramaditya, the Indian Navy's largest ship & its sole aircraft carrier was formally affiliated to the Indian Army's highly-decorated & battle-hardened Bihar Regiment & the Indian Air Force's No 6 Squadron.

*       American & Japanese military forces launched joint exercise named Iron Fist. 13th annual Iron Fist exercises kicked off in the U.S. western state of California.

*       Defence Ministry cleared contracts worth 2,420 crore rupees for Navy & Army which includes the procurement of P-8I Training Solution & Low-Intensity Conflict Electronic Warfare System (LICEWS).

*       Indian Navy has inked an MoU with the Cochin Port Trust (CPT), Kerala towards leasing of 228 metres of berths at Mattancherry Wharf for a period of five years. This is the first time such an agreement has been signed between the Navy & CPT. 

Miscellaneous

*       Sanjay Manjrekar launched his autobiography named ‘Imperfect’, in Mumbai. The book ‘Imperfect’ was released by Dilip Vengsarkar, Sanjay Manjrekar’s first international captain.

*       President Ram Nath Kovind unveiled a book on heartfulness techniques & principles titled 'The Heartfulness Way'. Kamlesh D. Patel is the author of this book. It is the fourth Global Guide of Heartfulness. Joshua Pollock is the second author of this book.

*       Oxford Dictionaries has chosen ‘Aadhaar’ as the Hindi word of 2017. The word gained popularity due to Aadhaar card, which was in news in 2017.

*       Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO), the research arm of Ministry of Railways, has launched “New Online Vendor Registration System”.

New Appointments (National & International)

*       Indian-American Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen has been elected as the Vice Chairman of the US-India Strategic & Partnership Forum.

*       ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) director S Somanath has taken charge as the new director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). He has replaced K Sivan who has joined ISRO as Chairman.

*       Usha Ananthasubramanian, MD & CEO, Allahabad Bank, has been elected the first woman chairman of Indian Banks’ Association. IBA Chairman’s position fell vacant following the superannuation of Jatinder Bir Singh. Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, State Bank of India, was elected Deputy Chairman of IBA for the year 2017-18.

*       Industry Chamber Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has appointed Dilip Chenoy as its Director General.

*       Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat was appointed as the next chief election commissioner (CEC) of India. Mr Rawat is the 22nd CEC of India. He succeeded Achal Kumar Joti. Ashok Lawasa was appointed as an Election Commissioner. Sunil Arora is the other Election Commissioner.

*       Former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel has been named as the new governor of Madhya Pradesh. She will replace Gujarat governor Om Prakash Kohli.

*       Senior IPS officer Sudeep Lakhtakia has been appointed as the new Director General (DG) of the 'black cats' commando force NSG. He will take over from incumbent S P Singh.

*       Market regulator SEBI approved the appointment of Vijay Kumar as MD & CEO of country’s largest agri-commodity bourse NCDEX.

*       Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, took over as Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command from Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh.

*       Facebook appointed outgoing American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault to its board, making him the first African-American to be on the board.

*       The Govt. appointed senior IAS officer S Selvakumar as Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL). He has replaced Anurag Agarwal.

*       Senior sports administrator Anil Khanna was named Chairman of the Finance Commission of the Indian Olympic Association.

*       Supreme Court collegium recommended the name of senior advocate Indu Malhotra as the first woman lawyer to be directly appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of India. She will be the seventh woman judge since independence to make it to the SC. At present, Justice R Banumathi is the lone woman judge in the apex court.

*       V J Mathew was appointed Maritime Board Chairman.

*       Indian Olympic Association (IOA) appointed Harjinder Singh as the Chef De Mission for the 23rd Winter Olympic Games to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February 2018. Harjinder Singh is at present the General Secretary in the Ice Hockey Association of India.

*       Singapore-based Indian-origin businessman Sunny Verghese has been appointed as the Chairman of the Geneva-based World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). He succeeded Paul Polman.

*       Noted rocket scientist Sivan K was appointed as the 9th chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He has replaced A.S. Kiran Kumar.

*       National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has appointed Dilip Asbe as Managing Director & CEO of the organisation. He had come in place of AP Hota.

*       Music composer A R Rahman became the brand ambassador of Sikkim. The declaration was made by Sikkim CM Pawan Kumar Chamling.

*       Senior diplomat Vijay Keshav Gokhale has been appointed the foreign secretary of India. He has succeeded S Jaishankar.

*       Pankaj Jain, Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial Services (DFS), has assumed charge as the Managing Director of India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL).

*       Rajinder Khanna was appointed the deputy National Security Adviser (NSA).

*       National vice-president of the BJP, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who is also the member of Rajya Sabha has been appointed the President of Indian Council of Cultural Relations. He will replace Lokesh Chandra.