Current affairs 27th January 2018

1. The Memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) under the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, and M/S IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd for construction of the 14.150 km long, 2-lane bi-directional Zojila Tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir.
2. Senior scientist Dr V Narayanan assumed charge as Director of ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC). He succeeded S Somanath appointed as Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). 
3. Himachal Pradesh celebrated its 48th Statehood Day. On 25th January 1971, Himachal Pradesh was named the 18th state of India. This day is celebrated every year as Himachal Pradesh Statehood Day.
4. Vodafone India partnered with e-commerce marketplace Flipkart to provide a range of entry-level smartphones at an effective price of Rs999. As part of the tie-up, Vodafone has rolled out cash-back offers on a select range of entry-level 4G smartphone models available under Flipkart's #MyFirst4GSmartphone campaign. For the offer, customers have a recharge least Rs150 per month for 36 months.
5. The Central Government sanctioned the establishment of Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at Raichur, Karnataka. Prakash Javadekar, Union Human Resource Development Minister, said that, the required funds for IIIT-Raichur will be allocated in the 2018 Budget
6. India has been ranked 177th out of 180 countries in the 2018 Environmental Performance Index (EPI). The report was released on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. 
7. Microsoft will use Deep Neural Networks to enable high-quality Indian language translations. It recognizes speech to convert into text, eliminates errors in the data, translates it to the target language, and synthesizes the text-based translation into speech.
8. The 7th Asia Steel International Conference (ASIC-2018) will be held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha from February 6 to 9.The announcement was made by Tata Steel, in association with the Indian Institute of Metals.
9. SARAS PT1N, the new upgraded version of indigenous transport aircraft SARAS developed by National Aeronautics Laboratory (NAL) successfully made its maiden flight in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The aircraft took off from HAL airport, Bengaluru and flew for about 40 minutes at the maximum height of 8500 at the speed of 145 knots. SARAS PT1N is a 14-seater passenger aircraft designed and developed by CSIR-NAL, a frontline aerospace research laboratory.
10. Election Commission of India (ECI) hosted a one-day International Conference on 'Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in the Election Process' in New Delhi. The Conference was organized under the VoICE.NET platform, a common knowledge/resource sharing network for 25 Election Management Bodies and International Organizations. 
11. National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) signed a MoU with SME Corporation Malaysia for the exchange of information and cooperation in areas such as policies to aid the development of small and medium businesses (SMBs) in the two countries.
12. The National Voters' Day (NVD) is observed every year by India on January 25 with an aim to increase the enrolment of voters, especially of the newly eligible ones. The day is also observed to mark the establishment of the Election Commission on this day in 1950, a day before India became a republic.

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