Current affairs : January 27, 2017 for all competitive exams
India’s
68th Republic Day was celebrated on January 26 with a display of military
strength and cultural diversity in the presence of the Crown Prince of Abu
Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the chief guest.
- The elite Black Cat commandos of the National
Security Guards (NSG) and the indigenously built Tejas Light Combat
Aircraft (LCA) made their debut at the parade.
- A 149-member marching contingent from the United
Arab Emirates (UAE), led by a band of 35 musicians, was unique to this
year’s parade. Last year, a French contingent marched on Rajpath, the
first by a foreign Army.
Group housing
scheme with PF funds
The
Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has mooted a group housing scheme
which will enable members to form cooperative housing societies and use their
entire provident fund savings towards buying land, constructing homes or paying
housing loan instalments.
- According to the proposal, the Employees’ Provident
Fund Organisation has proposed addition of a “new
paragraph 68BD as a group housing scheme so that Employees’
Provident Fund members forming a cooperative society of 10 or more
employees were subscribers to the Employees’ Provident Fund scheme.
Bharat Parv festival organized in
New Delhi
Bharat Parv is a national festival
showcasing the country’s diverse culture, cuisines, handicrafts and catch
glimpses of a progressive India.
- Bharat Parv event is being organized by the
Government of India at the Red Fort, Delhi from 26th to 31st January 2017,
as part of the Republic Day 2017 Celebrations.
- The prime objective of organizing the event is to
generate a patriotic mood, promote the rich cultural diversity of the
country, ensure wider participation of the general public and to
popularise the idea of “Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat”.
Growth in
India’s oil consumption to be fastest by 2035
Having
pipped Japan to become world’s third-largest oil consumer, India’s oil
consumption growth will be the fastest among all major economies by 2035, BP
Statistical Review of World Energy said.
- India, Asia’s second-biggest energy consumer since 2008, had in 2015 overtaken Japan as the world’s third-largest oil consuming country behind US and China.
Hyderabad
Literary Festival 2017
Hyderabad
literary festival has started at Hyderabad in the Telangana state on January
27.
- The LitFest in its seventh edition is a bigger and
more sumptuous affair with 30 literary events spread over three days with
six panel discussions, and eight literary sessions every day.
- There
are a range of interactive art, cultural events and exhibitions from
January 27 to 29.
HAL rolls out
locally upgraded Hawk trainer
The
first indigenously upgraded Hawk Mk132 advanced trainer aircraft, named as
Hawk-i, has been rolled out.
- This aircraft will fly in next month’s air show,
Aero India 2017 at Bengaluru.
- This is the 100th Hawk aircraft produced by HAL
- under licence from its original maker BAE Systems and has a ‘made in India’ mark.
Naugam hero
Hangpan gets Ashoka Chakra
President
Pranab Mukerjee posthumously conferred Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime
gallantry award, on Havaldar Hangpan Dada at the 68th Republic Day parade.
- It was received by his wife Chasan Lowang Dada.
- He was from the Assam Regiment and posted to Rashtriya
Rifles. On May 26, 2016, his unit was pinned down in a gunfight with
fleeing terrorists in the Naugam sector.
Governor of Karnataka given his nod for Lokayukta
Ending a
prolonged uncertainty, decks were cleared for the appointment of Lokayukta with
Governor Vajubhai R. Vala giving his nod to the choice of former High Court
judge P. Vishwanatha Shetty for the post.
- The post of Lokayukta has been vacant since December, 2015, after Y. Bhaskar Rao resigned following the alleged involvement of his son, Ashwin Y., in an extortion racket. The Governor had sent back proposals made twice to appoint Karnataka Law Commission Chairman S.R. Nayak as the Lokayukta.
Eight great powers for the year
2017
American foreign policy magazine has
selected eight countries for the list of eight great powers for the year 2017.
- India is ranked at the sixth spot, behind China and
Japan.
- The list is topped by the USA.
Japan’s Military Launches First
Communications Satellite
Japan has successfully launched its
first military communications satellite that is designed to upgrade its network
in the face of China’s increasingly assertive maritime activity and North
Korea’s missile threat.
- The Kirameki-2 satellite was launched on board H-2A
rocket.
- It is the first of three satellites that will
replace three civilian ones currently used by Japan’s military.
- The new satellites will allow military units to communicate on a high-speed and high-capacity network.
Russian
Ambassador Kadakin dead
Russian
Ambassador to India and Delhi diplomatic corps’ most prominent face for
decades, Alexander Kadakin passed away.
- Mr. Kadakin was known for his strong statements in
support of India, especially on the issue of terrorism, and was a part of
all major agreements between India and Russia, from the days of the Soviet
Union and the India-Soviet treaty of friendship of 1971. Mr. Kadakin came
to India in 1971 as a 22-year-old .
Meghalaya
Governor quits under a cloud
Meghalaya
Governor V. Shanmuganathan quit office after several Raj Bhavan employees wrote
to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee, demanding his
removal as he had ‘compromised the dignity’ of the post.
- The letter was written after complaints of sexual harassment cropped up against Mr. Shanmuganathan.
Premji’s PE firm
names Kurien CIO
Billionaire
Azim Premji’s Premji Invest appointed T.K. Kurien as managing partner and chief
investment officer to lead the family investment firm.
- Mr. Kurien would succeed Prakash Parthasarathy.
Nepal’s first
woman golf star
Pratima
Sherpa is tipped to be the country’s first woman golf professional.
- Golf is a sport usually associated with privilege, while Nepal is a country better known for its jagged Himalayan peaks than smooth golf greens.
