Current Affairs Headlines - 17 January 2019

Current Affairs Headlines - 17 January 2019 - Fifteen useful headlines - for all examinations

CA - 15 HEADLINES

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News followed by its category

1. The British government led by PM Theresa May has survived a vote of no-confidence by a narrow margin of 19. The vote came at the end of a five hour debate on a motion tabled by Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, who accused the “zombie” government of failing the country and turning a deal that had been touted as “the easiest in history” into a “national embarrassment”. Recently, May had lost a vote on the kind of Brexit deal she had brought. Brexit has turned into a national crisis for Britain, with a no-deal crashing-out possible. (People and Personalities / Regional Politics)
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2. PM N. Modi-led selection panel to appoint a new CBI director is likely to meet on January 24. Prior to this, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, wrote to the PM calling the appointment of interim CBI Director M. Nageshwar Rao illegal. Kharge is a member of the 3-member High Powered Selection Committee (HPC) that appoints the CBI chief. (Governance and Institutions / Indian Politics / People and Personalities)
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3. Malaysia has imposed a blanket ban on all Israelis participating in events hosted by the nation. The  government banned Israeli athletes from taking part in the World Para Swimming Championships in July, a move criticised by the International Paralympic Committee. The PM Mahathir Mohamad has always been a stringent critic of Israel, on humanitarian grounds, and Malaysia never established diplomatic relations with Israel. (Entertainment Games and Sports / People and Personalities / World Politics)
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4. After exhausting 99% of its annual allocation three months ahead of time, the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREGA) scheme has been given an additional allocation of Rs.6,084 crore to tide over the next three months. This lifts the total allocation to MGNREGA for 2018-19 to Rs.61,084 crore, which is the highest ever allocation, according to a statement from the Ministry of Rural Development. PM Modi earlier called this scheme a monumental failure of the UPA government. (Agriculture / Indian Politics / Social Issues)
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5. A third of United Nations employees have reported experiencing sexual harassment at the world body over the past two years, according to the findings of the first-ever survey on such misconduct released on January 15. In context of the #MeToo movement worldwide, this assumes significance. (Social Issues / United Nations)
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6. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed allowing commodity exchanges to create indices on which futures contracts can be introduced. Such indices can be based on the most liquid contracts traded on the bourses and have to be diversified with the weightage of a single constituent capped at 20%.  (Governance and Institutions / Indian Economy)
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7. The Congress alleged a ‘scam’ in the allocation of microwave access spectrum under the current government. This follows the CAG report tabled in Parliament stating that microwave access (MWA) spectrum was allocated to a telecom operator in 2015 on first-come-first-served basis, while 101 applications were pending with the government. Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha strongly refuted it as “baseless and unsubstantial”. (Governance and Institutions / Indian Economy)
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8. The International Gandhi Peace Prize is a tribute to the ideals espoused by Gandhi, and was established in 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi. It is given to individuals and institutions for their contribution towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods. (People and Personalities / Social Issues / Trivia and Miscellaneous)
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9. The Gandhi Peace Prize for the years 2015 to 2018 have been announced by the government, after the last award was given to ISRO (the Indian Space Research Organisation) in 2014. For 2015 - Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari for rural development and education; For 2016 - Jointly given to Akshaya Patra Foundation for providing mid-day meals to children across the country and Sulabh International for its work towards emancipation of manual scavengers; For 2017 - Ekai Abhiyan Trust for their contribution to education for rural and tribal children; For 2018 - To Yohei Sasakawa, Goodwill Ambassador of the World Health Organisation for Leprosy Elimination, for his role in leprosy eradication. (People and Personalities / Social Issues / Trivia and Miscellaneous)
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10. Former president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Vishnu Hari Dalmia passed away at his Delhi residence. He was an exponent of Hindu culture and was instrumental in giving a befitting renovation to Sri Krishna Janmasthan temples along with his father Jai Dayal Dalmia. VHP is an associate organisation of the RSS. (People and Personalities / Religion / Social Issues)
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11. Jet Airways (India) Ltd., which is currently battling a severe financial crisis, has admitted for the first time that the lenders, led by the State Bank of India (SBI), are working on a comprehensive resolution plan for a turnaround of the airline. It also said that changes in the composition of its the board were also being discussed. The promoter Naresh Goyal has also offered to pump in Rs.700 crores into the operations. (Indian Economy / People and Personalities / Trivia and Miscellaneous)
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12. State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to sell Rs.15,431.44 crore exposure of debt-laden Essar Steel to financial institutions, including asset reconstruction companies. According to the auction notice, the reserve price fixed for the asset sale is Rs.9,587.64 crore, which is at 38% discount. (Indian Economy / Trivia and Miscellaneous)
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13. Around 890 people were killed in ethnic violence in north-western Democratic Republic of Congo in mid-December. The violence happened in four villages in Yumbi territory, Mai-Ndombe province in the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in what appear to have been clashes between the Banunu and Batende communities. The country recently saw a democratic election after a long period of time. (Social Issues / World Politics)
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14. India-born Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of global beverage giant PepsiCo, is being considered by the White House for the new World Bank president, according to a leading American daily. Ms. Nooyi, 63, stepped down as PepsiCo’s chief last August after leading the company for 12 years. While at PepsiCo, she face criticism for pushing junk food rich in salt and sugar, and then vowed to change the composition of PepsiCo's product basket. (People and Personalities / Trivia and Miscellaneous / United Nations)
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15. The founder of China’s Huawei, the world’s biggest supplier of network gear to phone and internet companies, says his company would not share secrets about its customers and their communication networks. Huawei said that it is not a spying agent for Chinese state. This comes in the middle of allegations by US and others. (Science and Technology / World Politics)
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