02 January 2018 Current Affairs
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Venezuela raises minimum wage 40%
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced a 40 percent increase to the minimum wage. New wage level would protect workers against, Washington’s economic war to sabotage socialism. The government is in fact fomenting a vicious cycle in a country already wrestling with the world’s fastest inflation. To counter those price increases, Maduro has been raising the minimum wage, but quickening inflation coupled with a depreciating bolivar currency has plunged millions into poverty. Venezuelans will now earn some 797, 510 bolivars a month, factoring in food tickets, or just over 7 Dollars on the widely used black market index.
Vidarbha defeats Delhi to win Ranji Trophy for the First Time
Vidarbha have created history by winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time in history with a thumping nine-wicket win over Delhi at the Holkar stadium in Indore. Rajneesh Gurbani’s 6/59, including a hat-trick and a century from Akshay Wadkar were the key moments in Vidarbha scripting a fairytale run. For Delhi, Dhruv Shorey was the star with a century and a fifty but Rishabh Pant’s side came up short on the given day.
India and Pakistan exchange list of nuclear sites for 27th consecutive year
India and Pakistan have exchanged list of their nuclear installations and facilities with each other under the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear installations. This is the 27th consecutive exchange of such list between two countries after first list was exchanged on 1 January 1992. This is an annual exchange of conducted in 1st January between them to prevent them from attacking each other’s nuclear facilities. The exchange is part of an agreement between the two nuclear-armed neighbours meant to prevent attacks on nuclear facilities by each other.
Vijay Keshav Gokhale appointed as Foreign Secretary of India
The government announced the appointment of Vijay Keshav Gokhale, former ambassador in Beijing, as the new Foreign Secretary to replace S. Jaishankar who retires on January 28. He will take over from Jaishankar who was appointed Foreign Secretary on January 29, 2015, for two years and given a one-year extension in January last year.
Kolkata bans public display of weapons
The Kolkata Police has come out with a notification banning public display of weapons in the city for the whole of 2018. The order is effective from January 2. The notification specifies certain exemptions, but religious processions are curiously not among them. The order will not extend to persons like the President of India, governors of state and lt-governors or commissioners.
Bhavantar Bharpai scheme in Haryana
To counter farm distress, Haryana government has launched Bhavantar Bharpai scheme (or the price deficit compensation scheme for vegetables). It is set on the lines of Minimum Support Price-type (MSP) formula for four vegetable crops, namely, potato, onion, cauliflower and tomato. The launch of the scheme is aimed at ensuring income of up to Rs 48,000 to 56,000 per acre to farmers.
No more aid to Pakistan: Trump
Showing zero tolerance towards terrorism, the US President issued a tough warning to Pakistan and said that United States will no longer give any fund to Pakistan. The statement comes soon after the recent talks that the Trump administration was considering cutting off aid to Pakistan. In this changing scenario the US President Donald Trump slammed the Pakistan, saying that this South asian country has given nothing but the lies and deceit to US. It has provided safe heaven to terrorists.
China shuts down its legal Ivory Trade
Two years after a joint pledge with the United States to ban the domestic trade in ivory, all of China’s government-licensed carving factories and ivory retailers are about to close. China is one of the world’s biggest consumers of ivory products. By the end of 2017, it has imposed a near-complete ban on buying and selling ivory.
WCD launches online portal ‘NARI’ for women empowerment
Union Minister of Women & Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi has inaugurated the online portal ‘NARI’ for women empowerment. NARI stands for ‘National Repository of Information for Women’. The portal contains information about schemes being run by both Central as well as the State Governments.
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 2017, has now won three times in last eight months. This latest win marks Kapur’s fourth Asian Tour win and sixth international title as he won twice on European Challenge Tour also.
Assamese and Manipuri versions of PM Narendra Modi Official Website launched
The Assamese and Manipuri language versions of Prime Minister’s Official website- www.pmindia.gov.in were launched. Now the PM INDIA website is available in 11 regional languages namely Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu in addition to English and Hindi.