Dear Readers, Here we have given the list of Important Weekly Current Affairs 1st week of January 2019. Candidates those who are preparing for Upcoming IBPS Clerk / LVB PO 2018-2019 and other competitive exams can make use of it.
Current Affairs: Important Days
| Date |
Important days |
Theme |
| January 1 |
Global Family Day |
– |
| January 4 |
World Braille Day |
– |
Current Affairs: National
- The Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) for Middle Income Group (MIG) Scheme has been extended by another 12 months till 31.03.2020.
- ISRO Launched Samwad with Students Programme, through this Programme Space agency will engage youngsters across the country in activities concerning space science.
- All Houses in 25 States Electrified under SaubhagyaYojana
- Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair has been declared as an authorized Immigration Check post
| USEFUL INFO |
| Andaman And Nicobar Capital |
Port Blair |
| Governor |
Admiral D K Joshi |
- The Indian Parliament passed the National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018,
- Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation’s biggest oil firm stated that, it will commission its first Rs. 5,151 crore worth liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Ennore in Tamil Nadu.
- Parliament has passed the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018
- The National Green Tribunal has imposed a fine of 100 crore rupees on Meghalaya government for its failure to curb illegal coal mining in the state.
- A 10-day long Indian Panorama Film Festival began at Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi. Indian Panorama Film Festival, being organized by Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of I&B
- The 27th New Delhi World Book Fair inaugurated at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar inaugurated the 9-day annual event. All India Radio is the radio partner for the fair.
- Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, launched the ‘SwachhSurvekshan 2019’, the fourth edition of the annual nationwide cleanliness survey of urban India in New Delhi.
- The Government of India launched a Global Environment Facility (GEF) assisted project, namely Green–Ag, in partnership with FAO.
- The Ministry of Culture announced that ArchaeologicalSurveyofIndia(ASI) declared 6 monuments as ‘protected and of national importance’under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
- The Union Government has allocated 10,900 crore rupees for the development of 40 satellite launch vehicles in the next four years.
- The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the restructuring of existing National Health Agency as “National Health Authority” for better implementation of PradhanMantri Jan ArogyaYojana (PM-JAY).
- Government had notified the High Level Committee (HLC) for implementation of Clause 6 of Assam Accord. Retired IAS officer M.P. Bezbaruah is chairman of the 9 member Committee.
- Farm cooperative major NAFED announced setting up 100 bio-CNG manufacturing facilities using agri waste such as stubble through public private partnership (PPP) with an estimated investment of Rs 5,000 crore.
- Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberghas arrivedinNewDelhi on a three-day state visit to India. She was accompanied by senior officials from her government and a large business delegation. She will participate in the Indo-Norwegian Business Conference.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Norway Capital |
Oslo |
| Currency |
Norwegian krone |
| Prime Minister |
Erna Solberg |
- The Union Cabinet approved a 10 per cent reservation for ‘economically backward’ upper castes in government jobs. The government has announced reservation in jobs for those belonging to the upper castes and earning less than Rs 8 lakh per year.
Current Affairs: International
- The United States and Israel officially quit the U.N.’s educational, scientific and cultural agency, UNESCO
| UNESCO Headquarters |
Paris, France |
| Director-General |
Audrey Azoulay |
- China is building the first of four ‘most advanced’ naval frigates for Pakistan as part of a major bilateral arms deal to ensure ‘balance of power’ in the Indian Ocean.
- Storm Usman hit the Bicol region in Manila. The tropical depression, locally named Usman, brought heavy rains, causing catastrophic flooding and triggering deadly landslides.
- S. President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act (ARIA),
| USEFUL INFO |
| US Capital |
Washington DC |
| Currency |
Dollar |
| President |
Donald Trump |
Current Affairs: State
- MadhyaPradesh Government announced that it is going to create an AdhyatmikVibhag (spiritual department) by merging several existing department.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Madhya Pradesh Capital |
Bhopal |
| CM |
Kamal Nath |
| Governor |
Anandibenpatel |
- The West Bengal government announced two welfare initiatives for farmers,Both initiatives, which are part of the ‘KrishiKrishakBondhu’ scheme.
| USEFUL INFO |
| West Bengal Capital |
Kolkata |
| CM |
Mamata Banerjee |
| Governor |
Keshari Nath Tripathi |
- Madhya Pradesh Government bans purchase of new vehicles, ACs by the government departments
| USEFUL INFO |
| Madhya Pradesh Capital |
Bhopal |
| CM |
Kamal Nath |
| Governor |
Anandibenpatel |
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated six irrigation projects, including the Rs. 2,391.36 croreMandal dam that will provide irrigation to 19,604 hectare in Palamau and Garhwa districts in Jharkhand.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Jharkhand Capital |
Ranchi |
| CM |
Raghubar Das |
| Governor |
Draupadi Murmu |
- Nine day long international kite festival was inaugurated at Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, by the Governor OP Kohli.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Gujarat Capital |
Gandhinagar |
| CM |
Vijay Rupani |
| Governor |
Om Prakash Kohli |
- Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced interest free loans of up to 3 lakh for women self help groups (WSHGs) in the state.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Orissa Capital |
Bhubaneswar |
| CM |
Naveen Patnaik |
| Governor |
Ganeshi Lal |
Current Affairs: Banking and Finance
- State-owned Allahabad Bank has tied up with SBI Life Insurance to sell the policies of the insurer from over 3,200 branches.
| SBI Life Headquarters |
Mumbai |
| MD & CEO |
SanjeevNautiyal |
- Reserve Bank of India allowed a one-time restructuring of existing debt up to Rs. 25 crore for the companies which have defaulted on payment but the loans given to them have continued to be classified as standard assets.
- Reserve Bank of India has issued fresh guidelines on limiting the customer liability for unauthorised electronic payments involving Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs).
- The MSME ministry has established an export promotion cell to create a sustainable ecosystem for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs),
| USEFUL INFO |
| Minister of MSME |
Shri Giriraj Singh |
- Paytm Payments Bank has received the green light from the Reserve Bank of India to restart opening accounts for its customers
| Managing Director and CEO |
Satish Kumar Gupta |
| Headquarters |
Noida |
- The number of complaints registered at banking ombudsman offices have seen a 25% increase in the fiscal year 2018.
- Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has allowed custodial services in the commodity derivatives market.
- HDFC Mutual Fund has piped ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund to become the country’s largest asset management company (AMC) after a gap of over two years.
| USEFUL INFO |
| HDFC Bank CEO |
Aditya Puri |
| Headquarters |
Mumbai |
- Private sector insurer Bharti AXA Life Insurance has started delivering policies and renewal premium receipt to customers via instant messaging platform WhatsApp
| Chief Operating Officer (COO) |
Ishita Mukherjee |
| MD & CEO |
Vikas Seth |
- Syndicate Bank and SBI Life Insurance have signed a pact to offer a comprehensive financial planning solution to its customers.
| Syndicate Bank Headquarters |
Manipal, Karnataka, |
| Tagline |
Faithful and Friendly. |
| MD & CEO |
MrutyunjayMahapatra |
| SBI Life Headquarters |
Mumbai |
| MD & CEO |
SanjeevNautiyal |
- Private lender ICICI Bank has joined hands with Small Business FinCredit (SBFC) to jointly offer loans worth Rs 1 crore to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), for tenure of 15 years per customer.
| ICICI Bank Headquarters |
Mumbai |
| Tagline |
Hum Hain Na! |
| MD & CEO |
Sandeep Bakhshi |
- Payment solutions provider AGS Transact Technologies has initiated cardless cash withdrawals, based on quick response (QR) code on its white-label ATMs (WLAs).
- United Bank of India and Srei Equipment Finance has entered into an agreement for financing the MSME and agriculture sectors.
| UBI Bank Headquarters |
Kolkata |
| Tagline |
The Bank that begins with “U” |
| MD & CEO |
Ashok Kumar Pradhan |
- The Centre has amalgamated three Regional Rural Banks (RRB) Punjab Gramin Bank, MalwaGramin Bank and Sutlej Gramin Bank into a single RRB with effect from January 1.
- IRDAI slapped a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on United India Insurance Company for violating norms regarding the settlement of motor claims.
Current Affairs: Appointments
| PKSingh |
Competition Commission of India secretary |
| Vinod K. Yadav, |
Railway Board Chairman |
| Justice AK Sikri |
Executive Chairman of National Legal Services Authority |
| JairBolsonaro |
Brazil President |
| Saurabh Kumar took |
Chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board |
| HemantBhargava |
Interim Chairman of LIC |
| Pankaj Sharma |
RBL Bank Chief Operations Officer |
| Justice T B N Radhakrishnan |
First Chief justice of Telangana High Court |
| David Norquist |
US deputy defence secretary |
| Justice AsifSaeed Khan Khosa |
Chief Justice of Pakistan |
Current Affairs: Resignation
| Justice Madan B Lokur |
Supreme Court judge |
| Kevin Sweeney |
US Department of Defence chief of staff |
Current Affairs: Committee
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set up an expert committee under former Sebi chairman U.K. Sinha to suggest long-term solutions for the economic and financial sustainability of the MSME sector.
Current Affairs: Awards and Honours
- The Indian Society for Remote Sensing conferred the National Geospatial Award for Excellence to IIT professor Jayanta Kumar Ghosh for his contribution towards the development of geospatial science and applications.
- Arunima Sinha, the first female amputee to have conquered Mt Everest, created another record as she became world’s first woman amputee to climb highest peak of Antarctica.
- Andhra Pradesh Water Resources Minister DevineniUmamaheswarRao has received the ‘Central Board of Irrigation and Power Award’ for better planning and construction of Polavaram Irrigation Project in the state.
Current Affairs: Summit and Conference
- PM Modi will inaugurate the 106th Indian Science Congress at Lovely Professional University in Phagwara near Jalandhar,Punjab. The theme of this event is ‘Future India: Science and Technology’.
- The International Advertising Association (IAA) will host the IAA World Congress at will be held at the Lulu International Convention Centre in Kochi from February 20 to 22, 2019
| Theme of the summit |
BrandDharma’ |
| IAA world president |
SrinivasanSwamy. |
Current Affairs: Ranking
- Andhra Pradesh has topped the survey of Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI), Singapore’s 2018 Ease of Doing Business (EDB) Index.
| Organisation |
2019 |
| Confederation of Indian Industry |
7.5% |
Current Affairs: Schemes and Programs
- The interest rate on 1 year post office time deposits, a small savings scheme, has been increased by 10 basis points (bps) for the January March, 2019 quarter.
Current Affairs: MOU
- IIT Bombay and public sector oil companies inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for setting up Centre of Excellence in Oil, Gas and Energy.
- Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed MoU with Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER) for joint research programs in the field of Communication Navigation and Surveillance (CNS).
Current Affairs: Defence
- Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary stated that, FDI equity inflow of Rs 12,146,180 has been reported in the sector namely ‘Defence Industries’ during the period 2014-2018.
Current Affairs: Sports
- India pacer JaspritBumrah finished 2018 as the highest wicket-taker across all formats in the calendar year, He has picked up 78 wickets across all formats in 2018.
- The 80th National Table Tennis Championship began at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium in Cuttack, Odisha.
- Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Belinda Bencic secured a 2-1 victory over Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Alexander Zverev to win the Hopman Cup for the second year in a row.
Current Affairs: Obituaries
| Person |
Field |
| Kader Khan |
Afghan born Indian film actor |
| Larry Roberts |
Architects of the internet |
| C H Loknath |
Kannada actor |
| RamakantAchrekar |
Cricket coach |
| DibyenduPalit |
Bengali writer and SahityaAkademi awardee |
