Daily Current Affairs - 18th January 2017

Dear Readers, we are presenting Daily Current Affairs for All Exams- 18th January 2017. Daily Current Affairs and General Knowledge is very helpful for IBPS Bank Exams, SBI , RBI Assistant,NIACL, SSC and Railway Exams.

1. Cabinet clears proposals for listing 5 PSU general insurers

1. The Cabinet has given its "in-principle" nod for listing of all the five general insurance companies.

2. The five general insurance companies are the New India Assurance Company Ltd; United India Insurance Company Ltd; Oriental Insurance Company Ltd ; National Insurance Company Ltd and General Insurance Company Ltd

3. The Centre's shareholding would be divested from 100 per cent to 75 per cent in one or more tranches over a period of time, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.

2. Antonio Tajani elected president of European Parliament

1. Antonio Tajani of the EPP Christian Democrat group has been elected president of the European Parliament in a day-long polling series during which he defeated his socialist opponent.

2. Before the first round of voting, the EPP, the largest group in the European Union’s legislature, and the ALDE liberals, the fourth-largest, announced a coalition that gave Tajani a big early lead over S&D socialist Gianni Pittella.

3. He maintained the lead through four rounds of voting at the legislature in Strasbourg, France.

3. NASA approves mission to explore iron-rich asteroid 16 Psyche

1. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has approved a mission to explore 16 Psyche, an iron-rich asteroid. As part of the mission, NASA craft will be launched in 2023, and will arrive at Psyche in 2030. 

2. The mineral contents on the asteroids are worth over 100-thousand times the value of the entire world economy.

4. Railway Ministry unveils Mission 41K to save energy worth Rs 41,000 crore

1. Union Railway Ministry has unveiled ‘Mission 41K’ to save Rs. 41,000 crore on the Indian Railways’ expenditure on energy consumption over the next 10 years. 

2. The launch of this programme was announced at a Roundtable Discussion on Energy Initiatives of Indian Railways with external stakeholders headed by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.

5. India becomes associate member of CERN

1. India formally became an associate member of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) with the government completing the internal approval procedures for the agreement it signed in November 2016. 

2. Prior to it, in September 2016, CERN Council had adopted a resolution upgrading India’s position as associate member from earlier ‘observer’ status (since 2004).