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.