10th February 2018 Current Affairs-Daily Update (General Awareness, Static Awareness)

For video of this Article > 10th February 2018 Current Affairs-Daily Update (General Awareness, Static Awareness)

1. NITI Aayog Releases Nation-Wide Healthy State Report

•‘Healthy States, Progressive India Report’.

>>Overall performance.

Larger states-Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu

Smaller states-

UT- Lakshadweep

>>Annual incremental performance.

Larger States- Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh

Smaller states- Mizoram, Manipur and Goa.

UT- Lakshadweep 

•The report was released by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

•Dr Rajiv Kumar is the present Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog.

Chairman- Narender Modi

2.  Integrated Automatic Aviation Meteorological Systems inaugurated at INS Garuda

•naval air station located in Kochi, Kerala

3.  National Meet on Grassroot Informatics- VIVID 2018

•three-day National Meet on Grassroot Informatics- VIVID 2018 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. 

•Theme for VIVID 2018 is “Cyber Security and Innovation”.

• inaugurated by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice.

•Neeta Verma is the Director General of NIC.

4.  India, Palestine ink six agreements in different areas.

•including health and education.

•The MoUs were signed after bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at Ramallah

5.  Modi Conferred 'Grand Collar of the State of Palestine‘recognising his key contribution to promote relations between India and Palestine.

•by President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas,

•Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to make an official visit to Palestine.

•Palestine Capital- East Jerusalem, Currency- Israeli new shekel 

6. India Retains Top Spot as Source Market for Dubai in 2017

•Dubai witnessed 15% growth in tourist arrivals from India in 2017, hosting 2.1 million visitors, retaining top spot as the source market.

•became the first country to cross the 2 million mark in a single year, 

•UAE Capital- Abu Dhabi, Currency- United Arab Emirates dirham.

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism).

7.  NPCI Appoints Biswamohan Mahapatra as Non-Executive Chairman

•two years term

•He succeeds B Sambamurthy who was the interim chairman.

•NPCI's Registered Office is in Mumbai.

•NPCI had recently appointed Dilip Asbe as its Managing Director and CEO.

8. 23rd Winter Olympic Games Starts in Pyeongchang, South Korea

•Ninety-two countries are participating

•102 medals up for grabs

•covering seven sports and 15 disciplines.

•South Korea President- Moon Jae-in, Capital- Seoul.

9.  Noted Litterateur Chandrasekhar Rath Passes Away

•died of old age ailments.

•recently nominated for Padma Shri by the Union government this year for his contribution towards Odia literature.

10.  Government launches National Deworming initiative

•Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) launched National Deworming Initiative on the occasion of National Deworming Day (observed on 10 Feb)

•Aims to reach more than 32.2 crore children aged between 1 to 19 years to combat parasitic worm infections.

11.  Abhilasha Kumari sworn in as first women Chief Justice of Manipur HC.

•administered oath of office by Governor Najma Heptulla at the Raj Bhavan.

•Manipur CM- N. Biren singh

•Capital-Imphal

9th February 2018-Current Update DailyUpdate (General Awareness, Static Awareness)

For Video of this Article >9th February 2018-Current Affairs-Daily Update (General Awareness, Static Awareness)


1. PM Modi 3 Nation Visit- Leaves for Palestine

•First ever visit to palestine.

•2nd to UAE

•1st to oman

•Sixth World Government Summit being held in Dubai, UAE at which India has been extended 'Guest of Honour' status

•Palestine Capital- East Jerusalem, Currency- Israeli new shekel (one of its 3).

•The United Arab Emirates Capital- Abu Dhabi, Currency- United Arab Emirates dirham.

•Oman Capital- Muscat, Currency- Omani rial.

2. Government approves construction of over 1.86 lakh more houses under PMAY-Urban.

•Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).

3. India Ranks 44th in Global Intellectual Property Index, US Tops

•International Intellectual Property (IP) Index

•ranking 44th among 50 nations, according to the US Chambers of Commerce report

•top 3 countries on the list are- The USA, The United Kingdom and Sweden.

•Global Innovation Policy Centre (GIPC) of the US Chambers of Commerce.

4.  Janadriyah: Sushma Swaraj inaugurates Saudi Arabia’s National Heritage Festival.

•King Salman bin Abdulaziz in presence of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj inaugurated 32nd edition of Saudi Arabia’s National Heritage Festival.

•This year India is guest of honor country.

5.  NHAI to Start 'pay as you use' Pilot Project on Delhi-Mumbai National Highways

•to study and implement the ability of the system in the country. 

• The project to be run for one year involves implementing a satellite-based electronic toll collection system running on GPS/GSM technology for around 500 commercial vehicles on the Delhi-Mumbai National Highway. 

•Nitin Jairam Gadkari is the present Minister for Road Transport & Highways.

6.  President inaugurates 88th Mahamastakabhisheka at Shravanabelagola.

•President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated 88th Mahamastakabhisheka of Lord Gomateshwara by unveiling an idol of Bahubali at Shravanabelagola in Hassan district of karnataka

•KARNATAK Capital-Bengluru

•CM Sidharmiah

7. •South Central Railway Becomes 1st Rail Zone with 100% LED Lighting at Stations

•all the 733 stations under its jurisdiction

•Piyush Goyal is the present Railways Minister of India.

8. RK Singh Launches ASH TRACK Mobile App for Better Management of FlyAash

•Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri R.K Singh,

•a Web-based monitoring System

• a Fly Ash mobile application named ASH TRACK.

•better management of the ash produced by thermal power plants by providing an interface between fly ash producers (Thermal Power Plants) and potential ash users such as – road contractors, cement plants etc.

9. CCI Slaps Rs 136 crore Fine on Google for Unfair Business Practices

•in the Indian market for online search.

•CCI Chairperson- Devender Kumar Sikri, Head Office- New Delhi.

10.  IndusInd Bank Launches its New Sonic Identity, A musical Logo

• musical logo called 'MOGO', as part of its branding initiatives.

•Objective-building the Bank's brand imagery with the strategic use of music and sound for brand experiences and audience connection.

•IndusInd Bank commenced operations in 1994

•IndusInd Bank Chairman- R. Seshasayee, Headquarter- Mumbai, Owner- Hinduja Group

11.  PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi Becomes ICC's 1st Independent Female Director

•Nooyi will join the cricket body in June 2018 for a 2-year term.

•ICC Chairman- Shashank Manohar, Headquarters- Dubai, The UAE.

12.  Hardayal Prasad Appointed SBI Card MD & CEO

•He has replaced Vijay Jasuja.

•HDFC Bank is India's largest credit card issuer.

8th February 2018-Daily GK Update (Current affairs, General Awareness, Static Awareness)

For video of this article > 8th February 2018-Daily GK Update (Current affairs, General Awareness, Static Awareness)

1. Nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile successfully test fired. 

•Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near Balasore, Odisha

•Indigenously developed.

•Surface-to-surface.

•Range of 350 km.

•Developed by DRDO under Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).

•DRDO cm- S Christopher

2.5th South Asia Region Public Procurement Conference Held in New Delhi.

•Hosted by Public Procurement Division (PPD) of Ministry of Finance and All India Management Association (AIMA).

•under auspices of South Asia Region Public Procurement Network (SARPPN), which is sponsored and facilitated by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank.

•Theme-“Public Procurement and Service Delivery”.

3. Defence Ministry constitutes Vinay Sheel Oberoi Committee to expedite capital acquisition.

•Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) has constituted 13-member Raksha Mantri Advisory Committee on Ministry of Defence Capital Projects (RMCOMP).
•Headed by former secretary Vinay Sheel Oberoi
•Minister of defence-Nirmala sitharaman

4. Arunachal Pradesh CM Lays Foundation Stone for Rhododendron Park

•Chief Minister-Pema Khandu

•Governor- Brigadier (Rtrd) B D Mishra.

•Capital- Itanagar

•Rhododendron Park in Tawang

•Also carried out plantation drive of different varieties of Rhodos.

5. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved to enhance target base of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) from 5 crore to 8 crore.

•The revised target of PMUY will be achieved by 2020 with an additional allocation of Rs. 4,800 cr.

6. HAL Develops First Hawk-i Flight

•first flight of Hawk-i with indigenous Real Time Operating System (RTOS).

•HAL Chairman- T. Suvarna Raju, 

•Headquarters- Bengaluru.

7. Cabinet has approved implementation of Prime Minister’s Research Fellows (PMRF) Scheme.

•announced in the Budget Speech 2018-19

•implemented for period of seven years beginning 2018-19 at total cost of Rs. 1650 crore.

•Best students who have completed or are in final year of B. Tech/Integrated M.Tech/M.Sc courses in Science and Technology streams from IISc/IITs/IISER. NITs/IIITs will be offered direct admission in PhD programme in IITs/IISc. Maximum of 3000 Fellows would be selected in three year period.

8. First Ever Chat Based Job Search App 'Empzilla' Launched

•Help the employers and job seekers making selection process quick and cost-effective.

9. Union Cabinet has approved signing and ratification of protocol amending Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and China.

•Aims for avoidance of double taxation  and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.

10. Dubai Retains Rank as World’s Busiest International Airport in 2017

•88.2 million passengers in 2017

•Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates.

•UAE Capital- Abu Dhabi, Currency- UAE Dirham.

11.  Bermuda Becomes 1st Country in World to Abolish Same-Sex Marriage

•First country to legalise and then repeal same-sex marriage.

•Bermuda’s governor John Rankin Approved a bill to abolish same sex marriage.

•Last year supreme court or bermuda athorised the same sex marriage.

•Bermuda Capital- Hamilton, 

•Currency- Bermudian dollar

12.  RBI to Set up Ombudsman for Non-Banking Finance Companies

•Rules will be laid out by the end of February 2018.

•RBI will start with deposit-taking NBFCs and widen the scope to cover NBFCs with asset size of Rs 100 crore. There are around 20 banking ombudsmen have been appointed with offices mostly in state capitals.

13.  Rear Admiral Mukul Asthana Takes Over as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air) at New Delhi.

Chief of Naval Staff (Air)- Sunil Lanba

14. RBI to Link Base Rate with MCLR

•From 1st of April 2018 

•to ensure expeditious transmission of its policy rate to borrowers.

•Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rates (MCLR) system with effect from 1st April 2016, 

•Central bank observed that a large proportion of bank loans continue to be linked to Base Rate.

•Dr Urjit Patel is the 24th Governor of RBI.

RBI Headquarters in Mumbai.

15. Forbes Releases its First-Ever Cryptocurrency Rich List

•Comprising 20 wealthiest people in the cryptocurrency space.

•Topped by Ripple Co-founder-Chris Larsen, who is estimated to have a crypto net worth of $7.5-8 billion.

•Forbes- American Business Magazine, Founded in- 1917.

•Headquarters- New York City, USA.

16. Actor John Mahoney Passes Away

•brief illness in Chicago, the USA.

•He was 77 years old.