Current Affairs Headlines - 09 January 2019

Current Affairs Headlines - 09 January 2019 - Fifteen useful headlines - for all examinations

CA - 15 HEADLINES

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News followed by its category

1. The Lok Sabha passed a Bill allowing 10% quota in employment and education for the people not covered by any quota so far - that will include general category candidates who belong to the economically weaker sections, across all religions. The Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill, 2019, introduced by Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment (SJE) Thawar Chand Gehlot, was cleared by majority of the members (323) voting for it, and three against. The Rajya Sabha will take it up on January 9. The Bill is likely to face judicial headwinds. (Constitution and Law / Social Issues)
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2. President Donald Trump used a prime-time address to the nation to insist on $5.7 billion for a steel wall along the Mexican border that he said would stop the shedding of “American blood” by illegal immigrants. The nine-minute speech from the storied Oval Office in the White House contained no concessions to Democrats refusing to fund wall construction. It also offered no hope for a quick end to a government partial shutdown triggered by the row that has left 800,000 federal employees without pay. (Social Issues / World Politics)
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3. A rare cash crunch in its 80-year history, triggered largely by unpaid bills of around Rs.14,000-crore from the Indian Air Force, has led defence aircraft manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to worry if it can sustain a vital function after a month or two: that of servicing the IAF’s aircraft. As a result, in the new year, HAL has proposed cost-cutting measures such as reducing 20% contract workers and curbing non-essential travel. (Defence and Military / Governance and Institutions)
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4. The Reserve of India (RBI) has allowed all card payment networks to offer tokenisation service. However, the central bank has made it clear that no charges should be recovered from the customer for availing this service. Tokenisation involves a process in which a unique token masks sensitive card details. The token is then used to perform card transactions in contact-less mode at Point Of Sale (POS) terminals, Quick Response (QR) code payments, etc. (Governance and Institutions / Indian Economy)
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5. In a bid to calm tempers in Assam in the wake of vociferous protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that a Bill to declare six communities in Assam as Scheduled Tribes (ST) would be introduced in the current session of Parliament. This tribes are Koch Rajbongshi, Tai Ahom, Chutia, Matak, Moran and Tea Tribes. (Constitution and Law / Social Issues)
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6. Tech giant IBM had received 9,100 patents in 2018 across areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and cybersecurity, with India being the second highest contributor to the global record tally. Overall, a few nations (US, Japan etc.) have dominated world patents grants. (Science and Technology)
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7. The Reserve Bank of India has appointed a five-member panel headed by Nandan Nilekani (the father of Aadhar concept in India) to suggest ways to improve digital payments. The committee will submit its report in 90 days from its first meeting. Former Deputy Governor of RBI H.R. Khan, former Vijaya Bank MD and CEO Kishore Sansi, former Secretary of Information and Technology Aruna Sharma and Sanjay Jain, Chief Innovation Officer, Center for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship (CIIE), IIM Ahmedabad, are the other members of the panel. (Governance and Institutions / People and Personalities)
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8. The Supreme Court reinstated Alok Verma as CBI Director, but restrained him from taking policy decisions. The court however said that Verma would not take any major policy decision until the high powered committee responsible for selection and appointment of CBI director met and looked into the allegations of corruption against him. (Constitution and Law / People and Personalities)
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9. The Lok Sabha passed a Bill for giving citizenship to minorities (Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis) who came from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before 2015. Rajya Sabha is set to take up the bill on January 9. There is widespread opposition to it in some north-eastern states, notably Assam, where people fear it will change local demographics. (Constitution and Law / Social Issues)
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10. PM Modi meets Norwegian PM Erna Solberg in New Delhi. They discussed about efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and ways to give a new direction to bilateral ties. Separately, there was a media controversy over whether the Norwegian PM had offered to resolve the Kashmir crisis. (People and Personalities / World Politics)
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11. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim resigns. His resignation will take effect from 1 February. Mr Kim, 59, was not due to leave until 2022, after he was re-elected for a second five-year term in 2017. He will now join a firm and focus on increasing infrastructure investments in developing countries. (People and Personalities / UN)
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12. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is visiting China at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, only days after warning he may take an alternative path if the United States does not ease sanctions and pressure on his isolated country. (People and Personalities / Regional Politics)
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13. Lady Gaga won the second Golden Globe Award of her career on for co-writing “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, and she has a chance to win another honour later in the show for her acting chops. (Entertainment Games and Sports / People and Personalities)
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14. Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi decided to put the over 70 year old politically sensitive Ayodhya land dispute case for hearing before a five-judge constitutional bench, headed by him. Hearing commences 10th of January, 2019 and verdict will be much anticipated. (Constitution and Law / Religion)
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15. Income Tax Department sent Rs. 100 crore tax notice to Rahul and Sonia Gandhi over their income from Associated Journals Ltd. BJP MP Subramaniam Swamy has been leading a personal mission to "have them arrested over fraud and deceit" and has filed cases in this matter. (Indian Politics / People and Personalities)
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