Latest Current Affairs January 25

1. Usha Ananthasubramanian elected as first woman Chairman of IBA

Usha Ananthasubramanian, MD & CEO, Allahabad Bank, has been elected as the first woman Chairman of Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). Ms Usha was elected IBA Chairman for the year 2017-18 by its Managing Committee.

Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, State Bank of India was elected as Deputy Chairman of IBA for the year 2017-18.

2. Assam to introduce digital budget on March 12

The Assam Assembly will introduce digital budget in its next session, doing away with the traditional printed booklet form practice.

Apart from digital budget, the Assembly session will also see exclusive ‘Members Hour’, a year-long calendar, ‘Best Legislator Award’, setting up of a Pay Commission for MLAs’ salary and fellowships for research work on history of the Assembly.

3. Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat launched in Jharkhand

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das was launched ‘Pradhan Mantri LPG Panchayat’ in the state from Balijore village in Dumka district.

Jharkhand is the first state where beneficiaries are also getting stoves along with gas connections.

4. Tripura is getting infra-ready to serve as gateway to Chittagong port

Border district Sabroom is getting a new bridge, road and rail links, but needed most is an Integrated Check Post.

A 150 sq ft patch of land, just ahead of the border fencing at Nabin Para, in Sabroom, Tripura, is levelled and marked as P1.

It indicates the location of the first pillar of a proposed ₹130-crore road bridge across the River Feni, which divides India and Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh have agreed to extend the rail link to Chittagong port as well, but that will take time.

5. International spice conference in Jaipur from Feb 4-7

The third edition of international spice conference will be held at Jaipur from February 4 to 7. Arancha Gonzalvez, Executive Director, International Trade Centre, Geneva, will inaugurate the conference which will be jointly hosted by the All India Spices Exporters’ Forum and Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The central theme of the 2018 conference would be ‘Managing Disruptions through Transformation and Collaboration‘.

6. 25 January 2018: National Voter’s Day

National Voters’ Day or Rashtriya Matdata Diwas is celebrated on January 25 every year. The significance of National Voters’ Day is to encourage more young voters to take part in the political process.

It is a day to celebrate the right to vote and vibrant democracy of India. The day was first celebrated in 2011 to mark Election Commission’s Foundation Day.

This will be eighth National Voters’ Day (NVD) and will be used to spread awareness among voters regarding effective participation in the electoral process.

7. 25 January 2018: National Tourism day

January 25 is celebrated as National Tourism Day in India. It is a day that has been marked by the Indian government in order to promote tourism within the country.

It’s a day dedicated to educating people about the importance of tourism and the role it plays in the Indian economy.

Travel and tourism is playing a major role in contributing to the overall economical growth of India. Indians are more likely to spend their money on foreign travel than travelling in India. That’s why the idea behind to celebrate this tourism day to promote Indian’s rich history,

8. Ministry of Road Transport & Highways Signs MoU with IL&FS for Construction of Zojila Tunnel

NHIDCL and IL&FS transportation signed an MoU for construction of Zojila tunnel at an estimated cost of Rs 6,808.69 crore. The tunnel will provide all weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh.

Zojila pass is situated at an altitude of 11,578 feet on Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway which remains closed during winters (December to April) due to heavy snowfall and avalanches cutting off Leh-Ladakh region from Kashmir.

9. India Ranks 177th in Environmental Performance Index

A new green index has ranked India the fourth worst country worldwide in curbing environmental pollution.

According to the latest global Environmental Performance Index (EPI) rankings released on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meet in Davos, India is at 177th spot — down from 141^st position two years ago — in the list of 180 countries.

Switzerland leads the world in sustainability, followed by France, Denmark, Malta and Sweden.

10. Government to Infuse over Rs88 Thousand Crore in 20 PSB

The government today announced Rs. 88,139 crore capital infusion in 20 public sector banks (PSBs) during the current fiscal, with IDBI Bank getting the most — Rs. 10,610 crore.

The unprecedented Rs. 2.1 lakh crore bank recapitalization plan announced in October last year was to be spread over two financial years — 2017-18 and 2018-19. During the current fiscal, ending March 31, State Bank of India will get Rs. 8,800 crore capital and Bank of India, Rs. 9,232 crore.

11. India, Vietnam release first ever commemorative stamps

India and Vietnam have released first ever set of commemorative postage stamps to mark the long term friendly bilateral relationships between the two countries.

The first ever joint issue of commemorative postage stamps between India and Vietnam on the theme of ancient architecture is a symbol of strong friendship between the two countries.

The two set of stamps released carry picture of Sanchi Stupa and Thien Mu Pagoda.

12. Alphabet unveils new cyber security business called “Chronicle”

Alphabet Inc launched a new business unit on Wednesday that will sell cyber security software to Fortune 500 companies, the latest move by the parent of Google to become a big player in corporate computing.

The new unit, dubbed Chronicle, is betting on the premise that machine learning software, a type of artificial intelligence, can sift and analyze massive stores of data to detect cyber threats more quickly and precisely than is possible with traditional methods.

13. Ursula K. Le Guin, Best-Selling Science Fiction Author Passes Away

Ursula K. Le Guin, the award-winning science fiction and fantasy writer who explored feminist themes and was best known for her Earthsea books, has died at 88.

Le Guin won an honorary National Book Award in 2014 and warned in her acceptance speech against letting profit define what is considered good literature.