♠The Hindu♠

Daily current affairs and English for all Bank, SSC, Railway, UPSC, UPSSSC, CDS, UPTET, KVS, DSSSB and other Government exams.. Check daily Current Affair Updates from The Hindu.

♦ RBI approves Brahm Dutt as Yes Bank chairman

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Brahm Dutt as part-time, non-executive chairman of Yes Bank. Mr. Dutt has been on the Board of the bank since July 2013.
• He has been appointed till July 4, 2020, that is, when he attains the age of 70.
• Yes Bank board approved Mr. Dutt’s appointment as chairman on 13 December.
• The chairman’s post in Yes Bank fell vacant after Ashok Chawla – a former bureaucrat resigned. Mr. Chawla was named in the chargesheet filed by CBI in the Aircel-Maxis case. During his career in the IAS for 37 years, Mr. Dutt held several posts in the State Government of Karnataka as well as in the Central Government and rose to the level of Secretary to Government of India.

♦ Odisha asks telcos to cover 8,000 villages lacking mobile connectivity

• The Odisha government has asked telecom companies to submit expansion plans for covering the 8,000 villages untouched by mobile connectivity.
• Across the country, there are 35,000 villages that are deprived of mobile connectivity. Odisha, with 8,000 such villages, tops the list for uncovered habitations. Districts such as Rayagada, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Koraput and Gajapati in the state’s southern region have over 50 per cent villages where mobile services are yet to foray.
• “The state government has sought expansion plans from individual telecom companies (telcos) for 2019-20 for covering the 8,000 villages which do not have mobile coverage. Industry associations — Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) — have been urged to consolidate various plans of telcos and share the plan with E&IT (Electronics and Information Technology) department,” said Rudra Narayan Palai, special secretary, E&IT, Odisha government.

♦ PM Modi releases commemorative coin on Guru Gobind Singh Ji in New Delhi

• Addressing a select gathering on the occasion, Mr Modi recalled Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s fight for the weaker sections.
• The Prime Minister also took to Twitter to pay tributes to the Sikh Guru. In an audio message, Modi said, Guru Gobind Singh Ji was a divine figure full of heroism, valor, courage, sacrifice and devotion. He said, whenever, an attempt was made to suppress the voice of the poor and the weak, Guru Gobind Singh Ji raised his voice and stood firmly with the poor.
• Paying homage, President Ram Nath Kovind said, Guru Gobind Singh Ji devoted his life to serving the people and upholding truth, justice and compassion. He said, the example and teachings of the Sikh Guru continue to inspire people.
• The birth anniversary of the Sikh Guru is being celebrated as Prakash utsav at Patna Sahib. The main function is organised at Takhat Sri Harmandir Sahib Gurdwara, Patna Sahib, the birth place of Guruji, where thousands of pilgrims across the globe are offering prayers. Special langars are also being organised and people of different sections are participating in it.

♦ Maharashtra tops medal tally with 37 golds at Khelo India

• It has 111 medals in its kitty with 37 gold, 31 silver and 43 bronze. Delhi continues to follow second with 35 gold and Haryana too maintains its third position with 29 gold.
• Delhi and Haryana are close on the heels of Maharashtra in medals race. Delhi’s judokas and swimmers and Haryana’s wrestlers helped them close the gap.
• For the third successive day, the pool was dominated by swimmers from Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka who shared 21 of the 33 medals at stake between them. Tamil Nadu long jumper Sherin Gafoor finally breached the six-metre mark in long jump to clinch gold.
• Uttar Pradesh won three gold in track and field competitions yesterday. West Bengal gymnasts excelled in their respective categories while Tripura got its first gold in artistic gymnastics.

♦ Rajasthan to provide free education to girls in all state-run institutions

• The Rajasthan government will introduce free education for girls in all state-run institutions from the next academic session, Higher Education Minister Bhanwar Singh Bhati said Saturday.
• Launching free coaching classes in 40 government colleges at Shiksha Sankul here, Bhati said that free education for girls will be implemented at all levels from the next session.
• The Congress in its election manifesto had promised to provide free education to girls in all government institutions.
• He also informed that internal complaint committees will be set up in colleges to ensure a fearless environment.
• Bhati said that the party had also promised free coaching to college students for the preparations of competitive exams and this has been started in 40 colleges. He said the facility will be rolled out in all the 252 government colleges by the next month.

♦ Ashok Chawla resigns as TERI Chairman

• Former finance secretary, Ashok Chawla, has resigned as Chairman of The Energy Resources Institute (Teri).
• Teri Director General, Ajay Mathur, told The Hindu that Mr. Chawla had resigned on Friday night. “Yes he’s resigned. We are now internally consulting with other council members on the steps ahead, ” he said in a phone conversation.
• Mr. Chawla had replaced B.V. Sreekantan Nair as the Chairman in February 2016. Mr. Nair resigned following a change in the council’s leadership  in the aftermath of the resignation of  R.K. Pachauri, who was asked to stepdown  after charges of sexual harrassment.

♠Vocabulary (The Hindu)♠

1. NEFARIOUS (ADJECTIVE): (कुटिल):bad

Synonyms: horrible, odious

Antonyms: delightful, gentle

Example:  One man employed his nefarious scheme to hack into people’s computers and steal bank account’s information.

2. JITTERY (ADJECTIVE): (परेशान):nervous

Synonyms: restless, anxious

Antonyms: calm, composed

Example: She felt jittery before her stage performance.

3. ORDAIN (VERB): (स्थापित करना): establish

Synonyms: anoint, enact

Antonyms: ignore, refuse

Example: John knows the ministry will never ordain him as a priest because of his checkered past.

4. SLING (VERB): (टांगना):throw

Synonyms: hoist, hurl 

Antonyms: receive, keep

Example: When I tried to do it with the sling on, I lost my balance.

5. VILIFY (VERB): (बदनाम करना):criticize

Synonyms: damn, malign 

Antonyms: praise, laud

Example: She was vilifying Aman.

6. ORCHESTRATE (VERB): (क्रमबद्ध करना):organize

Synonyms: arrange, set up

Antonyms: disperse, divide

Example:  They will orchestrate the meeting for you.

7. BRUTISHLY (ADVERB): (बेरहमी से): ferociously

Synonyms: fiercely, savagely

Antonyms: kindly, gently

Example:  Param brutishly killed his daughter.

8. HOCUS-POCUS (NOUN): (आकर्षण):spell

Synonyms: charm, magic

Antonyms: reality, actuality

Example: The hocus-pocus was just for the show. 

♣Close Test Based on The Hindu editorial♣

Korean consensus? : on Kim Jong-un’s visit to China

The visit to China of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, is significant for two distinct reasons. It is evidence of the continuing calm in the Korean peninsula for nearly a year since the thaw (1) Pyongyang and Washington that culminated in the Singapore summit in June 2018. The meeting also coincides with the resumption of trade negotiations this week between U.S. and Chinese delegations in Beijing. Expectations are that the dialogue between the regional neighbours could impact the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies. (2)Mr. Xi is keen on securing sanctions relief for Mr. Kim, U.S. President Donald Trump will be equally eager that his peace deal continues to resonate in the region and beyond, notwithstanding the practical hurdles it has encountered. The Xi-Kim meeting cannot have overlooked the stalled progress on the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula that Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump agreed on in Singapore. The American and North Korean leaders have in recent days reiterated their willingness to schedule another bilateral summit, a hope they have held out for months. But (3) the ambiguous promises issued in the Singapore declaration, Mr. Kim now wants to talk specifics. This could raise the stakes beyond diplomatic niceties and sound bites. In his New Year address, he emphasised the easing of economic sanctions as a priority, on which Beijing’s diplomatic clout could prove critical despite the lack of movement on the nuclear question. In that speech, Mr. Kim also insisted on a (4) end to the annual joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea. Another demand was for multilateral negotiations to declare a formal end to the Korean war in place of the truce that has (5) since 1953. The latter issues have acquired greater weight in view of the ongoing rapprochement between Seoul and Pyongyang. This is exemplified by their decision to convert the Demilitarised Zone that separates the two countries into a peace park, and to disarm the joint security area.

Formal negotiations between North Korea and the U.S. have made little headway since the Singapore summit. Access to North Korea’s nuclear installations has proved elusive to U.S. officials. The sudden cancellation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Pyongyang last August was an indication of the stalemate. A North Korean test of a new tactical weapon in November was seen as a way to pressure Washington for concessions, if not a return to the hostile (6) of previous years. The uneasy calm that has been sustained on the peninsula for over a year now is no doubt a respite from Pyongyang’s successive nuclear tests to rattle the U.S. mainland. But Washington is impatient for information on the North Korean weapons stockpile. Pyongyang is anxious about sanctions relief. Something has to give.

Question 1:

A)Among

B)Atleast

C) Between

D) On

E) None of these

Question 2:

A) Whereas

B)Then

C)Our

D)There

E) None of these

Question 3:

A)Unlike

B)See

C)Look

D)Bright

E) None of these

Question 4:

A)Suddenly

B) Permanent

C) Never

D) Continue

E) None of these

Question 5:

A)Waste

B) Surrender

C) Obtained

D) Claim

E) None of these

Question 6:

A)Soft

B) Posturing

C) Hard

D) Smile

E) None of these

Question 7: Select the word which is most nearly the OPPOSITE MEANING as the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

Emphasized

A)Charge

B) Enlarge

C) Dramatize

D) Forget

E) None of these

Answer

1-C

2-A

3-A

4-B

5-C

6-B

7-D

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