Daily Current Affairs Updates – 29th April 2017 :

Daily Current Affairs Updates – 29th April 2017 : 

 

Daily Current Affairs Updates –  29th April 2017:

Daily Current affairs News Updates about the National and International events were listed here. Candidates those who are preparing for IBPS/SBI/PO/Clerk exam and all other competitive exams can use this.

DAYS TO REMEMBER:

Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare 2017 observed

The Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare 2017 was observed on 29 April 2017 by the United Nations (UN). This commemoration will provide an opportunity to pay tribute to the victims of chemical warfare, as well as to reaffirm the commitment of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to the elimination of the threat of chemical weapons.

World Immunization Week 2017 observed with theme #VaccinesWork

World Immunization Week 2017 is being observed across the globe between 24 April and 30 April 2017. The theme for the 2017 World Immunization Week is ‘VaccinesWork .’ The theme aims to raise awareness about the critical importance of full immunization throughout life, and its role in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

NATIONAL:

8-9 lakh registered companies not filing annual returns are potential source of money laundering: Revenue Secretary

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia has said that as many as 8-9 lakh registered companies not filing annual returns with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, are a potential source of money laundering. Speaking at the Enforcement Day event in New Delhi today, Mr Adhia said, the task force set up by PMO is monitoring these companies every 15 days. He said, some of these companies have been given notices.

Revenue Secretary: Hasmukh Adhia

1.3 lakh post offices in rural areas to be connected through broadband

Over 1 (point)3 lakh post offices in rural areas and 25 thousand sub-post offices are to be connected through broadband for high speed Internet connectivity in rural masses. A Tripartite Memorandum of Understanding have been signed by Bharat broadband network limited, Department of Posts and BSNL in New Delhi for providing BharatNet broadband connectivity to Post Offices in rural areas.

Himachal: 23,700 street lights replaced by LED lights under SLNP

In Himachal Pradesh, under the Government of India’s Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP), Urban Local Bodies have replaced 23,700 conventional street lights by LED lights. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 100 cities National Programme on 5th January 2015 to convert conventional street and domestic lights with energy efficient LED lights. The Union Government aims to replace 1.34 crore conventional street lights with LED lights and over 21 lakh conventional street lights have been replaced so far across the country.

State : Himachal Pradesh

Capital : Shimla

Chief Minister : Virbhadra Singh

Governor : Acharya Dev Vrat

Vision of 2022 to provide house to every household in country is priority: Dattatreya

Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya has said, the vision of 2022 to provide house to every household in the country is a priority. Briefing mediapersons at his residence in New Delhi today, Mr. Dattatreya said that his ministry in collaboration with Ministry of Housing has come up with New Credit Linked Insurance Scheme 2017. Under the scheme, minimum of ten people can form a co-operative society and will be eligible for over two lakh twenty thousand rupees through Pradhan Manthri Awas Yojana. The Labour Minister also said, Employers Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme(EDLI) will be amended to extend the loyalty benefits to members who have rendered minimum of twenty years of contributory service.

Union Labour Minister: Bandaru Dattatreya

IIT Council decides to increase female representation in institutes

The 51st meeting of Council of IITs was held in Mumbai yesterday. Addressing the media after the meeting, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javdekar said the council has decided to increase female representation in IITs from 8 to 20 percent. In an effort to reverse brain drain, Mr. Javdekar announced that an amount of 75,000 rupees will be released per month from Prime Minister’s Scholarship scheme to promote research and innovation in IITs. The minister said Wellness Centres will be created for students which will help them to deal with mental stress and peer pressure.

India's Sudarsan wins World Sand Sculptures Championship

Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik from Odisha has won gold at 10th World Sand Sculptures Championship 2017 held between 22nd and 28th April at Moscow in Russia. The theme for the competition, wherein 25 sculptors from different countries participated, was "The world around us". Pattnaik holds a world record for creating the world's tallest sand castle.

India's 1st book village to come up in Maharashtra

A hamlet in Satara district of Maharashtra is all set to embrace the tag of India's first 'village of books'. The concept is inspired by Britain's Hay-on-Wye, a Welsh town known for its book stores and literature festivals. Bhilar village located near picturesque hill station Panchagani is popular for its strawberries. This project involves 25 artistically decorated locations around the village, which will be turned into reader hot spots with display of books on wide-ranging subjects. Around 15,000 books in Marathi would be made available in the village premises.

State : Maharashtra

Capital : Mumbai   

Chief Minister : Devendra Fadnavis

Governor : C Vidyasagar Rao

Uma Bharti has launched Water Conservation Programme for Bundelkhand

Uma Bharti, the Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation launched 'Jal Sanrakshan Karyakram- Bundelkhand’, an extensive water conservation programme at Bandri, Sagar in Madhya Pradesh. The program aims to focus on the drought-prone areas of Bundelkhand, Kalahandi, Bolangir, Marathwada and Koraput in Odisha.

The Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation: Uma Bharti

Shah Rukh Khan becomes first Indian actor to deliver Ted Talk

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan became the first Indian actor to deliver TED speech in Vancouver, Canada. He spoke out on various issues beginning from his stardom to the changes world has experienced with the introduction of the internet. He left the audience in splits with his witty one-liners. A successful actor, businessman and a philanthropist, Khan is also a brilliant speaker. Shah Rukh has also delivered some motivational and inspirational speeches earlier when he was conferred with honorary doctorate from the University of Edinburg and Hyderabad's Maulana Azad National Urdu University

ISRO to improve India’s communication system by launching 5 satellites

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is going to launch five communication satellites by the end of 2017. The same was confirmed by the organisation’s chairman, A S Kiran Kumar. Kumar stated that the main aim behind the launch is to improve the communication system within the country. The specific use of the satellites would be to improve the number of available transponders for communications. The move is expected to significantly enhance India’s communication capability.

Organisation : Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

Headquarters: Bengaluru

Director: A. S. Kiran Kumar

INTERNATIONAL

Two Indian-Americans selected for ACE fellowship

Two Indian-Americans are among 46 emerging college and university leaders selected by American Council on Education, ACE in Houston for its prestigious fellowship. Ritu Raju of Houston Community college in Houston Texas and Sundeep R Muppidi of the University of Hartford in Hartford (HCC) Connecticut were named Fellows as part of the ACE Fellows Programme 2017-18 class. Ritu is the division chair of speech, communication and sign language at the community college. She has been at HCC since 2006. Sundeep is a professor of communications and an associate dean for academic planning and curriculum at the university's College of Arts and Sciences. Since its inception in 1965, the ACE Fellows Programme has strengthened institutions in American higher education by identifying and preparing nearly 1,900 faculty, staff and administrators for senior positions in college and university leadership through its distinctive and intensive nominator-driven, cohort-based mentorship model.

Trump signs executive order aimed at reducing restrictions on oil drilling in Arctic, Atlantic

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at reducing restrictions on oil drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic in order to unleash American energy. The US President said it would create thousands and thousands of jobs, despite a downturn in the oil market. It could undo a ban put in place by Barack Obama in order to protect swathes of the ocean from development. But Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the decision was better than being held hostage by foreign entities. Getting rid of Mr Obama's environmental protections was one of Mr Trump's promises to voters while on the campaign trail.

Country: US.

Capital: Washington, D.C.

President: Donald Trump

Currency: United States Dollar

EU leaders will endorse stiff set of Brexit at summit in Brussels

European Union leaders will endorse a stiff set of divorce terms for Britain at a summit today in Brussels, rejoicing in a rare show of unity in adversity. Meeting for the first time since British Prime Minister Theresa May formally triggered a two-year countdown to Brexit in late March, the 27 other EU leaders will lose little time over a lunch in Brussels in approving an 8-page set of negotiating guidelines hammered out by their diplomats over the past month. Those will bind Michel Barnier, their chief negotiator, to seek a deal that secures the rights of 3 million EU expats living in Britain, ensure London pays tens of billions of euros Brussels thinks it will be owed and avoids destabilising peace by creating a hard EU-UK border across the island of Ireland. They also rule out discussing the free trade deal May wants until they see progress on agreeing those key withdrawal terms.

Montenegro parliament ratifies country's accession to Nato

In Montenegro, parliament has ratified the country's accession to Nato, despite strong domestic opposition and Russian disapproval. The vote in favour - by 46 out of 81 MPs - paves the way for Montenegro to join Nato late next month. All but two of Nato's 28 members have ratified the accord. Russia long regarded Montenegro and neighbouring Serbia as allies. It has now banned Montenegrin wine and said it might move to defend Russian interests. The Russian foreign ministry said Montenegro's leadership and its Western backers had ignored the voice of reason and conscience. Montenegro's Prime Minister, Dusko Markovic, dismissed Russia's wine import ban as politically motivated. Russia cited sanitary concerns.

BANKING NEWS

RBI says, banks cannot refuse to accept faded or scribbled notes

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said, banks cannot refuse to accept faded notes or those with scribbles. In a Circular to banks, RBI said such banknotes have to be treated as "soiled notes" and dealt with according to the RBI's "clean note policy". The circular was issued after it received complaints that many branches were not accepting banknotes, specifically of 500 and 2,000 denominations, with anything written on them or those either smudged with colour or faded due to washing.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY NEWS:

Apple stops paying iPhone patent royalties to Qualcomm

Technology major Apple has stopped paying royalties to its iPhone manufacturers like Foxconn for patents owned by Qualcomm. This comes amid Apple's $1 billion lawsuit against the chipmaker, claiming that Qualcomm has been charging excessive royalties. In April, Qualcomm countersued Apple for not "utilising the full performance" of its modem chips in iPhone 7 smartphones.

Organisation: Apple

Headquarters: California, United States

CEO: Tim Cook

SPORTS NEWS:

Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: India to take on Great Britain in opener

India will face Great Britain in the opening match of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Men's Hockey tournament in Ipoh - Malaysia today. The start of the match was delayed due to bad weather conditions. In other matches today, New Zealand will take on Australia, while Malaysia will meet Japan. Australia are the defending champions, while India had finished runners up last year.

18-year-old becomes first Indian to take pole in F3 C'ship

India's 18-year-old car racer Jehan Daruvala became the first Indian racer to occupy pole position in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship in the qualifying session for Round 2 in Monza. Jehan grabbed his maiden pole position in the F3 in only his second event, after registering a lap time of 1 minute and 44.105 seconds.

Pankaj Advani loses summit clash of Asian Snooker Championship

India's top cueist Pankaj Advani lost to China's Lv Haotian in the summit clash of Asian Snooker Championship in Doha yesterday. Advani lost 3-6 in the final to his Chinese opponent. It meant that he could not become the first player to win both Asian titles in Billiards and Snooker in same calendar year. The defeat in the final also meant that Advani could not complete a career Grand Slam in cue sport. Having won all the major events - Nationals, Asian and World Championships in both Billiards and Snooker and in both the long and short formats, this is the one title (15-red Asian Snooker) that has eluded Advani. A victory will make Advani only player in history to win all Majors in two sports at all levels and across all formats.

Saurav, Chinappa enters semis of Asian Individual Squash Championship

Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa entered the semifinals of the Asian Individual Squash Championship in their respective singles events in Chennai.  In the Men's section, second seed Ghosal handed an easy 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 defeat on compatriot Vikram Malhotra. In the Women's event, Chinappa, who also has been seeded second, held off Japan's Misaki Kobayashi, 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 12-10 in 35 minutes to advance to the last-four stage.

OBITUARY:

Tamil actor Vinu Chakravarthy passes away

Veteran Tamil actor and scriptwriter Vinu Chakravarthy passed away on 28 April 2017 following a prolonged illness in Chennai. He was 71. He is survived by his wife, son and a daughter. He was well known for his unique villainous roles and trade mark pauses in dialogue delivery. Chakravarthy has acted in over 1000 Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Badaga and Malayalam languages films.