Daily Current Affairs, 10th February 2018

1)  PM Modi 3 Nation Visit- Modi Conferred 'Grand Collar Of The State Of Palestine'

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred the 'Grand Collar of the State of Palestine' by President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas, recognising his key contribution to promote relations between India and Palestine.

•President Abbas conferred the honour after the conclusion of the bilateral meeting between the two leaders. Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to make an official visit to Palestine. The Grand Collar is Highest order given to foreign dignitaries - Kings, Heads of State/Government and persons of similar rank.

2)  National Meet On Grassroot Informatics- VIVID 2018

•National Informatics Centre (NIC) has organized a three-day National Meet on Grassroot Informatics- VIVID 2018 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The Theme for VIVID 2018 is “Cyber Security and Innovation”.

•The three-day event was inaugurated by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice.

3)  NITI Aayog Releases Nation-Wide Healthy State Report

•NITI Aayog has released the ‘Healthy States, Progressive India Report’. Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Naduhave ranked top among the larger states in terms of overall performance. The report was released by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

•Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh are at the top in the terms of annual incremental performance. States and Union territories have been ranked in three categories namely larger states, smaller states and Union territories.

•Among smaller states, Mizoram ranked first followed by Manipur and Goa in terms of annual incremental performance. Among Union territories, Lakshadweep showed best, overall performance as well as highest annual incremental performance.

4)  South Central Railway Becomes 1st Rail Zone With 100% LED Lighting At Stations

•The South Central Railway (SCR) has become the first railway zone in the country to complete 100% LED lighting at all the stations under its jurisdiction. The SCR has been on the forefront of adopting energy conservation measures.

•It has attained the status of becoming the first zone in the Indian Railways to complete 100% LED lighting in all the 733 stations under its jurisdiction.

5)  RK Singh Launches ASH TRACK Mobile App For Better Management Of Fly Ash

•Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shri R.K Singh, launched a Web-based monitoring System and a Fly Ash mobile application named ASH TRACK.

•These platforms will enable better management of the ash produced by thermal power plants by providing an interface between fly ash producers (Thermal Power Plants) and potential ash users such as – road contractors, cement plants etc.

6)  CCI Slaps Rs 136 Crore Fine On Google For Unfair Business Practices

•The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a fine of around Rs. 136 crores on search engine major Google for unfair business practices in the Indian market for online search. 

•The penalty is being imposed on Google for infringing anti-trust conduct.  It was alleged that Google is indulging in abuse of dominant position in the market for online search through practices leading to search bias and search manipulation, among others.

7)  PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi Becomes ICC's 1st Independent Female Director

•PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi has been appointed as the International Cricket Council's (ICC) first-ever independent female director. Nooyi will join the cricket body in June 2018 for a 2-year term.

•The introduction of an Independent Director, who must be female, was approved by the ICC in June 2017, aimed at improving the global governance of the sport.

8)  Winter Olympic Games Starts In Pyeongchang, South Korea

•The 23rd Olympic Winter Games officially kicked off with a colorful ceremony at Pyeongchang in South Korea. Ninety-two countries are participating in the event. There will be 102 medals up for grabs in Pyeongchang, covering seven sports and 15 disciplines.

•The ceremony was directed by Song Seung-whan, a South Korean actor. Hosts South Korea also produced a show of unity with neighbours North Korea during the ceremony.