Current Affairs 8th January 2016

Important Points : 

• Who has been conferred Central Banker of the Year Award - Raghuram Rajan
• Who has been appointed as CEO of NITI Aayog - Amitabh Kant
• Which health care project is implemented by Kerala - Sampoorna Arogya Keralam
• With whom did Rajasthan inked deal to provide clean drinking water - Cairn Enterprise Centre Society
• Who has been appointed as Chairman of Competition Commission of India - Devender Kumar Sikri
• Who has won Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of the Month - Miguel Tabuena
• NC-DEFSEC-Indigenously Built ASW Corvette INS Kadmatt commissioned in - Visakhapatnam
• Name the traditional bull-taming sports in Tamil Nadu allowed by Union Government -  Jallikattu 
• Online real estate portal Commonfloor.com acquired by - Quikr 
• Name the Indo-French military exercise started - Shakti-2016

Details : 

Who has been conferred Central Banker of the Year Award - Raghuram Rajan

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 7th January 2015, Raghuram Rajan, the Reserve Bank of India Governor was complimented with the Central Banker of the Year Award (Global and Asia Pacific) by the Financial Times Group's monthly publication The Banker.

About Raghuram Rajan

• From 2003 to 2007, he was the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund.
• Earlier, he has also served as the chief economic adviser to India's Ministry of Finance.
• He is the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
• On 5th September 2013, he took charge of India's central banking institution.

Do You Know : 

• The Financial Times Ltd. owns the Banker, an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication.
• Brendan Bracken, founding Editor of the Financial News first published the magazine in January 1926.

Who has been appointed as CEO of NITI Aayog - Amitabh Kant

Among the important appointments, On 7th January 2015, Amitabh Kant was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). 

About Amitabh Kant

• Kant is a 1980 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.
• Earlier he has also served as the CEO of India’s largest industrial infrastructure project the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation.
• At present he is serving as the Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Which health care project is implemented by Kerala - Sampoorna Arogya Keralam

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 6th January 2015, a health care project, Sampoorna Arogya Keralam (SAK) was implemented by the Kerala Government which will benefit around 42 lakh people of the state. 

The project will cover different health schemes and would cover families with an annual income of less than 3 lakh rupees.

Highlights of the SAK Program

• Smart Health Cards will be provided to the people with the enlisted public or private hospitals where they can get the services.
• Chief Minister of the state will set up a Sampoorna Arogya Keralam Trust.

With whom did Rajasthan inked deal to provide clean drinking water - Cairn Enterprise Centre Society

On 7th January 2015, a MoU was signed by the Rajasthan Government with Cairn Enterprise Centre Society to provide clean drinking water in Barmer district.

Characterstics of MoU

• According to the MoU, to provide clean drinking water to more than 800 villages in Barmer, water plants will be established and maintained.
• Over the period of next three years, 333 small scale reverse osmosis (RO) plants will be set up.

Who has been appointed as Chairman of Competition Commission of India - Devender Kumar Sikri

Among the important appointments, On 7th January 2015, Devender Kumar Sikri was appointed as Chairman of fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) by replacing Ashok Chawla.

About Devender Kumar Sikri

• He is a IAS officer of Gujarat cadre.
• Earlier, he had served as the Collector of Jamnagar and Rajkot.

Who has won Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of the Month - Miguel Tabuena

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 7th January 2015, Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of Month for December 2015 was conferred to the Philippines' Miguel Tabuena.

About Miguel Tabuena

• He won the silver medal in men's individual event at the 2010 Asian Games.
• Since 2008, he became the first Filipino to win his National Open.

NC-DEFSEC-Indigenously Built ASW Corvette INS Kadmatt commissioned in - Visakhapatnam

Among the important Defense Current Affairs, On 7th January 2015, Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral R K Dhowan commissioned the Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette INS Kadmatt in the Indian Navy at naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam.

INS Kadmatt is the latest ship after Kolkata class, INS Kamorta and Shivalik class and is the second ship of Project 28 (P28) class ASW corvettes. 

Commander Mahesh Chandra Moudgil is the first Commanding Officer of the ship along with 13 officers and 180 sailors.

About INS Kadmatt

• It is named after one of the large islands amongst the Lakshadweep group of Islands.
• It has a speed of 25 knots with an endurance of 3450 nautical miles. 
• It is 109 meters in length and 14 meters at the beam with a displacement of 3500 tonnes. 
• High grade steel (DMR 249A) produced in India is used in the construction. 
• M/s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd has constructed the ship while it was indigenously designed 90 % by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND). 

Name the traditional bull-taming sports in Tamil Nadu allowed by Union Government -  Jallikattu 

On 8th January 2015, the traditional bull-taming sports, Jallikattu was allowed by the Union Government in Tamil Nadu.

The festival is celebrated in southern state of Tamil Nadu around pongal.

Online real estate portal Commonfloor.com acquired by - Quikr 

Among the important Bussiness Current Affairs, On 7th January 2015, acquisition of the property search website Commonfloor.com was acquired by Quikr in a adversity sale organized by Tiger Global Management Llc.

The merger will give Commonfloor access to Quikr’s 30 million consumers. 

About CommonFloor.com

Founded in 2007, CommonFloor.com is an Indian real estate portal. On 8th January 2015, CommonFloor received funding from Google Capital.

Name the Indo-French military exercise started - Shakti-2016

Among the important Defense Current Affairs, On 8th January 2015, third edition of the eight-day counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency joint exercise Shakti-2016 started in Rajasthan by India and France. 

The objective of the exercise perform counter terrorism operations in practice of semi-urban terrain under United Nations Mandate. 

French contingent comprise of 56 personnel of 35th Infantry Regiment of 7th Armoured Brigade led by Major Thibaut De Lacoste Lareymondie.

While, Indian contingent  will comprise of 2nd Battalion of Garhwal Rifles, part of the Sapta Shakti Command.