Daily Current Affairs - 17th January 2017

Dear Readers, we are presenting Daily Current Affairs for All Exams- 17th January 2017. Daily Current Affairs and General Knowledge is very helpful for IBPS Bank Exams, SBI , RBI Assistant,NIACL, SSC and Railway Exams.

1. India ranks 92nd in 2017 Global Talent Index

1. India was ranked 92nd among 118 countries in the 2017 Global index of talent competitiveness (GTI) list. The index measures ability of countries to compete for talent i.e. how countries grow, attract and retain talent. 

2. The index is produced by global business school INSEAD in partnership with Adecco Group and Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI) of Singapore.

3. Switzerland (1st), Singapore (2nd), United Kingdom (3rd), United States (4th), Sweden (5th), Australia (6th), Luxembourg (7th), Denmark (8th), Finland (9th) and Norway (10th).

2. India ranks 60th in Inclusive Development Index

1. India ranked 60th among the 79 developing countries in 2017 Inclusive Development Index (IDI) released in World Economic Forum’s (WEF) ‘Inclusive Growth and Development Report’. The index is based on 12 performance indicators and countries are ranked on IDI scores based on a scale of 1-7.

2. It has three pillars Growth and Development, Inclusion and Intergenerational Equity, and Sustainability in order to provide a more complete measure of economic development than GDP growth alone.

3. Lithuania (1st), Azerbaijan (2nd), Hungary (3rd), Poland (4th), Romania (5th), Uruguay (6th), Latvia (7th), Panama (8th), Costa Rica (9th) and Chile (10th).

3. IMF cuts India’s FY17 growth rate to 6.6% from 7.6% 

1. The World Economic Outlook (WEO) update released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut India’s growth rate for the fiscal year 2016–17 to 6.6% from its previous estimate of 7.6%. India’s growth rate was cut due to the temporary negative consumption shock of demonetisation. 

2. It has dampen India’s growth by 1% point in the FY2017 and 0.4% point in FY2017, compared with IMF’s earlier projections.

4. Timothy Gonsalves committee recommends reservation for girl students in IITs

1. The sub-committee under chairmanship of professor Timothy Gonsalves has recommended reservation for girl students in IITs to address the issue of slump in number of female students entering the prestigious institutes. 

2. The recommendation of the committee will be taken up in the meeting of the Joint Admission Board (JAB) for a final decision, which will decide whether the reservation will come in effect from 2017 or from 2018.

5. Government inks Financing Agreement with World Bank for Nagaland Health Project 

1. The Union Government has formally inked a financing agreement for IDA credit of US$ 48 million for the ‘Nagaland Health Project’ along with a Project Agreement. 

2. The objective of the project is to improve health services and also their utilization by communities in targeted locations in Nagaland. 

6. World’s lightest watch created using graphene 

1. Scientists have developed the world’s lightest high-performance mechanical watch RM 50-03 made using the ‘wonder material’ graphene. 

2. The RM 50-03 watch weighs just 40 gms. The ultralight watch was made using a unique grapheme composite known as Graph TPT incorporating graphene to manufacture a strong but lightweight new case to house the delicate watch mechanism.

7. BHEL commissions 500 MW thermal unit in West Bengal 

1. State-run power equipment maker BHEL has commissioned second unit of capacity 500 MW of Sagardighi Thermal Power Station Phase II in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. 

2. The first unit of 500 MW of capacity of the total 1,000-MW project was commissioned in December 2015. 

8. Eugene Cernan, last man to walk on Moon passes away 

1. American astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, the last man to walk on Moon, passed away at the age of 82. He had landed on Moon in December 1972 during NASA’s Apollo 17 mission, the last mission to the moon. 

2. He was the eleventh person to land on Moon. He is also best remembered as commander of Apollo 17. He was the second American to walk in space and one of three men to have flown twice to the moon. 

9. Veteran film actress Geeta Sen passes away 

1. Veteran film and stage actor Gita Sen passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal due to old age-related ailments. She was 86. She was wife of film maker Mrinal Sen. 

2. She was known for her excellent portrayal of character roles. She had acted in a number of films including “Chorus”, “Calcutta 71”, “Kharij”, “Akaler Sandhane”, “Ekdin Pratidin” and “Khandahar”. She also was part of the theatre movement.