Daily GK Updates - 17th April, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flags-off first-ever train with glass roof coaches on Visakhapatnam-Araku route through video conferencing from Bhubaneswar: The aim is to provide a delightful travelling experience of the picturesque Araku valley.  It is a 40-seat coach with a cost of Rs. 3.38 crore.

2. The Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) will launch its own portal and mobile app in New Delhi: The portal will act as a one-stop for States’ Higher Education Plans, decision of the States’ Higher Education Councils and details of the resources under this scheme.  The gallery of the portal will provide a rich repository of the projects initiated under RUSA.

3. Supreme Court raps Sahara group over failure to deposit money, orders auction of Aamby Valley: The supreme Court Compelled to take strict action following the Sahara group’s non-submission of over Rs 5,000 crore, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the sale of the group’s luxurious AambyValley at Lonavala and appointed Bombay High Court’s official liquidator for selling the property. 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Nepal President to arrive in Delhi on five-day visit: Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari has arrived in New Delhi on a five-day visit to India. This will be Bhandari's first foreign trip after assuming the office in October 2015.

2. China to launch first cargo spacecraft for space lab: China’s first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 is to be launched into space between April 20 and 24 to dock with the orbiting experimental space station. The cargo spacecraft was transferred with a Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket from the testing centre to the launch zone in Wenchang, southern China’s Hainan Province.

3. Philippine President wins Time Magazine's Most Influential Person poll: Philippine President ‘Rodrigo Duterte’ has won Time magazine's readers' poll of the 100 most influential people in the world. US Sen. Bernie Sanders and Russian President Vladimir Putin won the reader poll in 2016 and 2015, respectively.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1. B Sai Praneeth clinches 2017 Singapore Open Super Series: Indian badminton player ‘B Sai Praneeth’(24-year) has won men’s single title, beating ‘Kidambi Srikanth’ (the world No 29) 17-21, 21-17, 21-12 in the 2017 Singapore Open Badminton tournament.

2. Gayatri Pullela wins twin crowns in Jakarta: National Badminton coach Pullela Gopichand's daughter Gayatri Pullela has bagged both the singles and doubles crown at the Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior Grand Prix in Jakarta.

3. Sebastian Vettel wins 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix: Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has won the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix, beating his Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton.

OBITUARIES:

4. Internet Pioneer 'Robert Taylor' Passes Away: Pioneer of Modern Computing and the Internet'Robert Taylor' (85-year) has passed away at his home in Woodside, California, USA. Rob Taylor was instrumental in creating the internet and the modern personal computer.  Taylor's team also developed the networking technology Ethernet and a what-you-see-is-what-you-get word processing program called Bravo that would become the basis for Microsoft Word.

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