NATIONAL UPDATES:
1. 64th National Film Awards announced in New Delhi: Akshay
Kumar was awarded as the Best actor for his movie, ‘Rustom’. ‘Neeraja’ was
awarded as the Best Hindi Movie of 2016. ‘Dangal’ fame, Zaira Wasim bagged the
award for Best Supporting Actress. ' ‘Pink’ was named as the ‘Best Movie on
Social Issues’. Director, Priyadarshan was the head of the jury for the 64th
National Awards.
National Film
Awards were constituted in 1954 and are awarded yearly by Directorate of Film
Festivals.
2. ‘Deendayal Rasoi Yojana’ to be
launched by CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan: CM will launch
this scheme in 49 districts of Madhya Pradesh. Under this scheme, people would
be provided wholesome meal through canteens that would offer subsidised prices
(wholesome meal below Rs. 5/-). The arrangement is expected to serve almost
2000 people on a regular basis.
3. Rajya Sabha clears bills for
roll out of GST Bill: Rajya Sabha cleared four supporting
bills to clear way for GST. These are -
(a) Central
Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill
(b) Integrated
GST Bill
(c) Compensation
GST Bill
(d) Union
Territory GST Bill 2017
Lok Sabha has
already passed these bills and they will be enacted after President’s approval.
GST council will hold a meeting in May in Srinagar to decide how to fit various
goods and services in different tax slabs.
4. North Koel Irrigation Project
to be revived by Union Government: Union Government
will revive 45 year old North Koel Irrigation Project in order to facilitate
irrigation for almost 1 lakh hectare farmland in Palamu and Daltonganj regions
of Jharkhand as well as some neighbouring districts of Bihar. The cost to
revive the project is expected to be around Rs. 1622 crores. The announcement
was made by Union Water Resources Minister, Uma Bharti.
5. India takes over operations of
1 unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant: Russian firm
which is based in Moscow and also a subsidiary of ROSATOM State Atomic Energy
Corporation, ASE group of Companies handed over the operations of first unit of
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant to Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL). The
warranty period and commercial operation of the power plant had started in
December 2014. Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is located in Tamil Nadu.
6. India, Bangladesh sign 22 agreements: India
and Bangladesh have signed 22 agreements in various fields such as defence,
nuclear cooperation, judicial sector, earth sciences, navigation, peaceful uses
of outer space, to boost bilateral cooperation. These agreements were signed in
presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina in New Delhi after delegation level talks.
7. India ranks 40 in WEF’s 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index: India was ranked 40th among the 136 economies across the world in 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) released by the World Economic Forum (WEF). In this edition of index, India has jumped 12 places from earlier 52nd position in 2015. But it lagged behind its other Asian peers like Japan (4th) and China (13th).
8. Agriculture
Ministry, ISRO to team up to Geo-Tag Agricultural Assets: The
Union Agriculture Ministry has joined hands with the National Remote Sensing
Centre (NRSC), a wing of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for
geo-tagging agricultural assets. In this regard, Agriculture Ministry
under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) and NRSC have signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU).
9. WTTC names India as the 7th
largest Tourism Economy: As per the report of World Travel
and Tourism Council (WTTC), India stands at 7th place as a tourism economy in
terms of GDP. Travel and tourism sector recorded growth of Rs. 14.1 trillion
(USD 208.9 billion) in 2016, which is 7th largest in the world in terms of
size.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1. Malala Yousafzai set to become youngest UN Messenger of Peace: United
Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will appoint 19 years old Malala as
the Messenger of Peace for UN. It is noteworthy that she is also the youngest
recipient of Nobel Peace Prize.
2. New Constitution signed by
Thailand King: Thailand King, Maha Vajiralongkorn
signed a new constitution in Bangkok. This is Thailand’s 20th constitution
since 1932. The new constitution is expected to pave way for Democracy while
also giving the army a substantial role in politics.
SPORTS:
1. First NBA Basketball School opens in Mumbai: The
National Basketball Association (NBA) has launched the first NBA Basketball
School in Mumbai on Saturday. The school is part of NBA's initiative of a
network of tuition-based basketball development programmes, open to
international male and female players aged between 6 to 18. Additional NBA
Basketball Schools will be launched in India and around the world in the coming
months.
BANKING
& FINANCE:
2. Asian Development Bank expects Indian Economy to
grow to 7.4% in 2017-18: For financial year 2017-18, Asian
Development Bank has projected India’s growth forecast at 7.4%. ADB expects the
growth rate to improve to 7.6% in 2018.
India reflected
a growth rate of 7.1% for 2016-17.
5. India
ranks 9th in corruption in business: EMEIA Fraud Survey: According to EY
Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) Fraud Survey 2017, India ranks
9th among 41 surveyed countries in bribery and corrupt practices in businesses.
India’s ranking has improved marginally from the survey findings in 2015 when
India was at the 6th position. It has improved due to better regulatory
scrutiny and emphasis on transparency and governance.
Well done! Now check yourself by clicking on the link given below:
Well done! Now check yourself by clicking on the link given below:
No comments:
Post a Comment