Daily Current Affairs 28th December, 2017

Daily Current Affairs 28 December 2017 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Govt. to borrow Rs 50,000 cr for current fiscal year

The Government has decided to make additional market borrowing of only 50,000 crore in the remaining period of the current fiscal year to meet expenditure. Finance Ministry said that there will be no change in the net borrowing as envisaged in the Budget for the current financial year.

5,45,090 Affordable Houses Sanctioned for Urban Poor under PMAY(Urban)

Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has approved the construction of 5,45,090 more affordable houses for the benefit of urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) with an investment of Rs. 31,003 cr with central assistance of Rs. 8,107 cr. 

Agriculture Minister Launches Livestock Disease Forewarning (LDF) Mobile App

Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh has launched Livestock Disease Forewarning –Mobile Application (LDF-Mobile App). The app is developed by ICAR-National Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Disease Informatics (ICAR-NIVEDI), Bengaluru.

• Apart from early warning, the app will also provide information about clinical samples for the diagnosis in case of the epidemic so that immediate action can be taken in case of the epidemic.

Seaplanes to Link Small Towns Before 2019 Lok Sabha Elections

Aiming to start commercial seaplane operations before the 2019 general elections, the government is speeding up the process to frame norms for the mode of transport, and has decided to allow them under the regional connectivity scheme. It is also exploring the possibility of allowing single-engine planes.

25th National Children Science Congress held in Gujarat

The 25th edition of National Children Science Congress (NCSC-2017) was held Gandhinagar, Gujarat from 27 to 31 December, 2017. The theme of the five-day Congress this was ‘Science and Innovation for Sustainable Development’ with the special focus on persons with disabilities.

100th Indian Economic Association conference held in Andhra Pradesh 

President Ramnath Kovind inaugurated the 100th Annual Conference of the Indian Economic Association at Acharya Nagarjuna University in Guntur of Andhra Pradesh. The event will be held for four days.

India successfully test-fires supersonic interceptor missile

India has successfully test-fired its indigenously developed Advanced Air Defence (AAD) supersonic interceptor missile, capable of destroying any incoming ballistic missile in low altitude, from a test range in Odisha. This was the third supersonic interceptor test carried out this year in which an incoming ballistic missile target was successfully intercepted.

BANKING & FINANCE

India Signs Loan Agreement with the World Bank for USD 40 Million

The Government of India and World Bank have signed an agreement for IBRD Credit of USD 40 Million from World Bank for “U.P. Pro-Poor Tourism Development Project”.

• The Project Objective is to increase tourism-related benefits for local communities in targeted destinations in Uttar Pradesh, namely, Agra as well as Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana and Govardhan in the Braj region. 

ECONOMY

S&P puts Indian banks in ‘Group 5’ with Italy, Spain, UAE

The Indian banking sector has been classified under ‘Group 5’ along with countries such as Italy, Spain, Ireland, the UAE and South Africa by rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on the basis of their economy and industry risk criteria.

• The other countries in group ‘5’ are Spain, Ireland, Italy, Panama, Bermuda, Poland, Peru, Qatar, South Africa and the UAE.

Govt cuts small savings interest rates by 20 bps

The government has reduced the interest rates on small saving schemes, including National Savings Certificates (NSCs), Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), by 0.2 percentage point for the fourth quarter of the fiscal (January-March).

The interest rate on the one-year time deposit has been lowered to 6.6 percent as compared to 6.8 percent in the October-December quarter, whereas the 2-year time deposit will now fetch a lower interest rate of 6.7 percent from 6.9 percent in the previous quarter.

For small saving schemes, new interest rates (for January-March) are:

• Public Provident Fund (PPF) – 7.6% 
• National Savings Certificates (NSCs) – 7.6%
• Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) – 7.3%
• Senior Citizen’s Savings Scheme of five-year period – 8.3%
• Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana for the girl child – 8.1%

BUSINESS

Mukesh Ambani’s Jio buys debt-laden RCom’s assets

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJio) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire specified assets of debt-laden Reliance Communications (RCom) and affiliates, controlled by his younger sibling Anil Ambani. The deal is slated to bring relief to RCom which is reeling under debt of around ₹45,000 crore.

APPOINTMENTS

Former Zimbabwe army chief sworn in as vice president

Zimbabwe’s former army commander, Constantino Chiwenga, who led a military takeover that helped end Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule sworn in as one of the country’s two Vice Presidents.

OBITUARY

Noted eye surgeon Dr Daljit Singh passes away at 83

Noted ophthalmologist Dr Daljit Singh has passed away. Dr Daljit Singh was a surgeon, teacher, researcher, activist, poet and later even a politician.

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