CURRENT AFFAIRS 17/12/2017 & 18/12/2017

CURRENT AFFAIRS 17/12/2017 & 18/12/2017

1. Sushil Kumar Clinches Gold at Commonwealth Wrestling Championships

i. Double Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar clinched a gold medal at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in South Africa. Sushil defeated New Zealand's Akash Khullar via a pinfall in the final of the 74kg freestyle category to clinch the medal.

ii. Parveen Rana also won a bronze medal in the same category. Another Olympic medalist, Sakshi Malik also clinched a gold medal in the championships. Sakshi defeated New Zealand’s Tayla Tuahine Ford in the final of the 62kg women’s freestyle category.

2. PV Sindhu Wins Silver at Dubai World Badminton Superseries Finals

i. Top Indian shuttler P V Sindhu won the Silver medal in women’s singles summit clash of the Dubai World Super Series Final in Dubai. She went down fighting against World No. 2 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.

ii. In the prestigious season-ending tournament finale, Sindhu lost in three games, to Yamaguchi in the final.

3. 2002 World Cup Winner Kaka Retires from Football

i. Former AC Milan and Real Madrid midfielder Kaka, who lifted the 2002 World Cup with Brazil, announced his retirement from football.

ii. Kaka, who won the Champions League and the Ballon d'Or award in 2007 while playing for AC Milan, had become the most expensive footballer in history after his then-world record £56 million transfer from Milan to Madrid. He was the last Brazilian to be voted world player of the year in 2007.

4. Mo Farah Wins BBC's Sports Personality of the Year Award

i. World 10,000m champion Sir Mo Farah has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017. The 34-year-old, a four-time Olympic champion, won his third successive world 10,000m gold medal in London in August.

ii. He becomes the first long-distance runner to win the Sports Personality award since Paula Radcliffe in 2002.

5. Real Madrid Presented with the FIFA World Champions Badge

i. Real Madrid has earned the honor of being able to wear the official FIFA World Champions Badge on their competition jerseys for the duration of 2018 by defeating Gremio in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017.

ii. Real Madrid will be able to display the emblem all the way up to the next FIFA Club World Cup, which will take place in the United Arab Emirates in December 2018.

6. Andhra Pradesh Cabinet Approves Pension for State's Transgenders

i. The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet approved a scheme to provide a pension of Rs 1500 to transgenders above 18 years of age in the state.

ii. Under this scheme, the transgenders will be provided ration cards, plots, and scholarships, also skill development for financial stability. After Kerala and Odisha, Andhra Pradesh becomes the next state to sanction pension scheme for the transgender community.

7. Dharmendra Pradhan Inaugurates Eastern India’s First CNG Stations

i. Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated eastern India’s first compressed natural gas (CNG) stations for scooters in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

ii. Pradhan inaugurated two CNG stations for scooters and three-wheelers at Chandrasekharpur and Patia area in Bhubaneswar. The CNG stations were part of GAIL’s Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga and City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

8. WHO Certifies Gabon as Polio Free

i. The World Health Organisation has declared Gabon a "polio-free country", given the lack of new reported or suspected cases in the central African country. According to WHO, the UN health agency nonetheless recommended taking the necessary steps to continue monitoring for possible signs of the disease. 

ii. Cases of polio have decreased by 99 percent since 1988 when polio was endemic in 125 countries and 350,000 cases were recorded worldwide.

9. UIDAI Temporarily Bars Airtel from Conducting Aadhaar Linked e-KYC Certification

i. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has temporarily barred Bharti Airtel and Airtel Payments Bank from conducting Aadhaar-based SIM verification of mobile customers using eKYC process. 

ii. The action follows allegations of Bharti Airtel using the Aadhaar-eKYC based SIM verification process to open payments bank accounts of its subscribers without their informed consent.

10. ED Freezes Assets worth Rs 245 crore in STC Fraud Case

i. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen assets worth Rs 245 crore in connection with its money laundering probe in the alleged fraud of Rs 2,200 crore with the State Trading Corporation (STC). 

ii. The agency had early this year registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Ms Global Steel Holding Limited, its chairman Pramod Kumar Mittal and others based on an FIR by the CBI. 

11. Man Sails Around the World in 42 Days, Breaks World Record

i. Frenchman Francois Gabart smashed the world record for the fastest non-stop solo navigation of the globe, completing the mammoth feat in 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds.

ii. The 34-year-old sailor crossed a virtual finish line drawn between the island of Ushant off France's northwest tip and Lizard Point in southwest England at 0145 GMT, comfortably beating the previous record set by compatriot Thomas Coville last year by six days and 10 hours.

12. GST Council Clears e-way Bill Mechanism

i. The GST Council has decided to implement the e-way bill mechanism throughout the country by June 1st after reviewing the readiness of the IT network. Under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, the waybill is replaced by an e-way bill.

ii. It aims at mitigating the problems caused by waybill compliance. E-way bill is an electronic way bill for movement of goods which can be generated on the GSTN portal. The decision was taken in the 24th meeting of the GST Council via Video-Conferencing.

13. Government Approves Dish TV Merger with Videocond2h

i. Dish TV India Limited (Dishtv), Asia Pacific’s largest direct-to-home (DTH) company and part of the Essel Group has received the final approval for closing of the merger of Videocon d2h with DishTV.

ii. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) had approved the requests made by the company for completion of the transaction for the creation of the largest listed media company in India. Following the amalgamation, the combined entity will be renamed as DishTV Videocon Limited.

14. Samsung, UNESCO Partner for Videos on Indian Heritage Sites

i. Samsung India has entered into a partnership with UNESCO to launch virtual reality content and 360-degree videos on Indian heritage sites.

ii. Indian heritage sites include the Sun Temple in Konark, Odisha and Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. The project will provide experiential educational content to students across the country. There are 36 UNESCO heritage sites in India at present.

15. Satheesh Reddy Conferred with National Design Award

i. G. Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri and Director General, Missiles and Strategic Systems, has been conferred with the prestigious National Design Award.

ii. He has bagged this award for his significant national contribution towards indigenous design and development of diversified missile systems, guided weapons, avionics technologies.

16. Sebastian Pinera Wins Chile’s Presidential Election

i. A conservative billionaire and former president, Sebastian Pinera, has won Chile's presidential election run-off.

ii. With nearly all votes counted, Mr Pinera has polled more than 54%. Left-winger Alejandro Guillier was his closest opponent. Sebastian Pinera has replaced Michelle Bachelet.

17. RBI Imposes Rs 5 crore Penalty on Syndicate Bank

i. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 crore on Syndicate Bank for non-compliance with its directions on "Cheque Purchase or Discounting, Bill Discounting, and Know Your Customer (KYC)" norms.

ii. According to the RBI, the penalty was imposed after "considering the bank's reply and oral submissions made in the personal hearing".

18. Government to Bear MDR Charges on Digital Transactions up to Rs 2,000

i. As per the IT Ministry, the government will bear the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges on transactions up to Rs 2,000 made through debit cards, BHIM UPI or Aadhaar-enabled payment systems to promote digital transactions.

ii. MDR is charged on payments made to merchants through BHIM UPI platform and AePS (Aadhaar enabled Payment System). The merchant discount rate (MDR) will be borne by the government for two years with effect from January 1, 2018 by reimbursing the same to the banks.

What is Merchant Discount Rate?

It is a charge to a merchant by a bank for accepting payment from their customers in credit and debit cards every time a card is used for payments (like swiping) in their stores. The MDR is expressed in percentage of the transaction amount.

19. Government Ropes in ICICI Bank to Enable Cashless Payments on e-NAM

i. The government has engaged private lender ICICI Bank to enable online payments at 470 mandis integrated with the national portal of electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM).

ii. At present, e-NAM participants are doing payments through traditional ways via bank branches, debit cards, and net banking. ICICI Bank will enable BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on the e-NAM portal for making cashless payments.