Current Affairs: 1st January 2018

Dear SH Aspirants,
Study Daily Current Affairs and stay updated as well as prepare for General Awareness section of bank exams. It's time to gear up your preparations for IBPS/RBI/SBI/SSC and with the daily dose of current affairs, you can easily prepare G.A and score well.

1. Pakistan to set up $1.51 billion hydropower project in PoK

Pakistan has decided to set up a new hydropower project of over 700 megawatts in PoK through foreign financing at an estimated cost of USD 1.51 billion by 2022.

• The Azad Pattan Hydropower Project (APHP) is a run of river scheme located on Jhelum River in the Sudhanoti district of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and about 90 kilometres from Islamabad.
• The project would be completed by 2022 for which the authorities have sought an import tariff at Rs 8.05 per kilowatts.

2. India ranked 90th among 163 countries in the positive peace index

Despite the unrest in the last one year, there is an atmosphere of peace in 93rd countries.

• In the ranking released by the Institute of Economics and Peace named Positive Peace Index 2017, India has been ranked 90th among 163 countries.
• Sweden, Switzerland and Finland are the top three countries respectively In the index.

3. Centre releases Rs 24,500 crore to compensate states post GST

The revenue loss to states on account of GST implementation was Rs 24,500 crore between July-October and the Centre has released compensation to make up for it, Parliament was informed.

• As per the details of GST compensation released to states as on November 30, Karnataka got maximum compensation from the Centre at Rs 3,271 crore, followed by Gujarat (Rs 2,282 crore) and Punjab (Rs 2,098 crore).
• The other states that required hefty compensation include Rajasthan (Rs 1,911 crore), Bihar (Rs 1,746 crore), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 1,520 crore), West Bengal (Rs 1,008 crore) and Odisha (Rs 1,020 crore).

4. Arunachal Pradesh declared Open Defecation Free

Arunachal Pradesh has been emerged as the second state in the Northeast, after Sikkim, to be declared Open Defecation Free.

• The three remaining districts - Upper Subansiri, Siang and Changlang -- were declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) officially.
• Arunachal has 21 districts and the state attained the feat much before the national deadline of October 2, 2019.

5. Kolkata cops ban public display of weapons

The Kolkata police has issued a notification banning public display of weapons in the city, to be effective from January 2, 2018, to January 1, 2019.

• The notification issued by the Commissioner of Police, Rajeev Kumar prohibits "carrying of swords, spears, bludgeons, or other offensive weapons in any public place in the 'Town of Calcutta' or in the suburbs of the 'Town of Calcutta'."

6. Centre approves Rs 4,066 cr for internet in all panchayats

The government has approved Rs 4,066 crore for providing internet connectivity to people in all gram panchayats under BharatNet project, Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha informed the Parliament.

• “Rs 4,066 crore has been approved for providing last-mile connectivity, through Wi-Fi or any other suitable broadband technology, at all the Gram Panchayats (approximately 2,50,000) in the country,” Sinha said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
• The government is rolling BharatNet project to provide high-speed broadband connectivity at gram panchayat (GP) levels.
• The government plans to connect all GPs with high-speed broadband by March 2019.

7. Ripple becomes second-largest crypto currency by market cap

Ripple surged nearly 56 percent to an all-time high, surpassing ethereum as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

• Officially called XRP, ripple climbed 55.9 percent to a record high of $2.23, according to Coin Market Cap.
• The digital currency had a market cap of $86.3 billion, surpassing ethereum's $73 billion.

8. Indian golfer Shiv Kapur wins Royal Cup at Pattaya

Indian golfer Shiv Kapur won the Royal Cup at Pattaya, which is his third Asian Tour title of 2017.

• The 35-year-old, who had just one win in almost 11 years till April this year, has now won three times in last eight months
• Kapur first won on Asian Tour in his debut season in December 2005, but it took more than 11 years and four months for the next Asian Tour win, which came in April 2017.