Current affairs : January 30, 2017 for all competitive exams
The nation pays homage to Father of the
Nation Mahatma Gandhi on his 69th death anniversary today (30 January 2017).
- He was
assassinated on this day in 1948. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid
tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion.
Aadhaar number printed on paper perfectly
valid: Centre
A printout of the downloaded Aadhaar card, even in
black and white form, is as valid as the original card and there is no concept
such as smart or plastic card.
- The
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has cautioned people
about sharing their personal information with unauthorised agencies for
printing Aadhaar numbers on a plastic card, while stressing that the
Aadhaar letter, with its cutaway portion or the downloaded version, on an
ordinary paper is “perfectly valid.”
India
to focus on BIMSTEC after hurdles from Pakistan
India has
decided to focus on strengthening the Bay of Bengal Initiative for
Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) amid Pakistan’s
continued intransigence in blocking key anti-terror and connectivity
initiatives under the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or SAARC.
- Nepal,
as the BIMSTEC chair, is scheduled to host the group’s summit this year,
the first since the new government in India assumed office in May 2014.
North
East Investors’ Summit:
The first ever
“Investors Summit” exclusively for North Eastern Region (NER) has begun in
Shillong.
- The
Ministry of Textiles has taken the initiative to organize the first ever
“Investors Summit” exclusively for NER, in association with Ministry of
DONER and the Industry Associations FICCI and CII.
- Focussed
on manufacturing in textiles and allied sectors, the theme of the Summit
is “Exploring Opportunities in North East Region”.
- The summit aims to showcase the NER as a global destination for investment, and to explore the possibility of bringing in convergence of efforts of various central Ministries and North Eastern States to attract investment in NER.
Film
Condition Assessment Project under NFHM:
The
information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry has launched a film condition
assessment project under which almost 1.32 lakh film reels at National Film Archive
of India (NFAI) will be assessed and preserved for future use, as per global
standards.
- The
project marks the beginning of National Film Heritage Mission—an
initiative by the government of India for the preservation, conservation,
digitization and restoration of rich cinematic heritage of the country.
NFAI is the
nodal agency for the implementation of this project.
Centre to give tablet PCs to schools in
Chhattisgarh
The Ministry of Human Resource
Development will soon distribute tablet PCs in schools across Chhattisgarh so
that teachers can record routine details that can be accessed by a central
server.
- This
will enable better and regular assessment of the strengths and weaknesses
of a school, which in turn will help the authorities to devise ways to
improve educational standards.
- Each tablet will cost just under ₹10,000. The scheme is likely to be implemented between July and September, 2017. The model, if successful, could be replicated across the country.
Odisha
rejects panel on Mahanadi
The Odisha
government has rejected the Centre’s negotiation committee on Mahanadi river
water dispute with Chhattisgarh.
- According
to the Odisha government, the committee is not in accordance with the
provisions of Sec 4(1) of the Inter-State Rover Water Dispute Act of 1956
and its composition is arbitrary.
Court
stops deportations under Trump travel ban
The New York
Court has stayed the deportation of people from seven Muslim-majority countries
who arrived in the U.S after President Donald Trump barred their entry into the
country through an executive order.
- The New
York court order extends to all of America and provides relief to people
in similar situations.
- President
Trump recently signed an executive order to keep refugees from entering
the country for 120 days and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim
nations out for three months. The countries affected are Iran, Iraq,
Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia.
Inheritance Court
for Non-Muslims to be Set up in Abu Dhabi
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Presidential Affairs and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, Sheikh
Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has issued a resolution to set up a Personal
Status and Inheritance Court for non Muslims in Abu Dhabi.
- The aim
of setting up the Court is to ensure access to services for all segment of
the society and promote the culture of tolerance and acceptance of other
communities values at the judiciary level.
India’s largest startup
incubator to be built at Hubballi
Indian-American entrepreneur,
philanthropist and venture capitalist Gururaj Deshpande has decided to launch
India’s largest startup incubation centre at Hubballi (earlier Hubli) in
Karnataka.
- The
decision is based on the idea of expansion of the Deshpande Foundation’s
initial incubation center, Sandbox, which was founded by Deshpande and his
wife Jaishree in 2008
INSAT-3DR to map
farm fires in Haryana, Punjab
INSAT-3DR works in tandem with INSAT-3D,
operational since 2014, in sending raw data and high-resolution images, zoomed
up to 1 kilometre near the earth's surface, every 15 minutes.
- Next
generation satellite INSAT-3DR has opened new frontiers in India's weather
forecasting and is set to equip the country with the ability to detect
farm fires, which intensifies air pollution in the northern region
seasonally, leaving Delhi gasping for breath.
2016
Global Go to Think Tank Index Report:
The 2016
Global Go to Think Tank Index Report was recently published by the Think Tank
and Civil Societies Program at the Lauder Institute of the University of
Pennsylvania (TTCSP).
- From
India, the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) has been ranked among the top
100 think tanks globally. The CCS is ranked 80 which is one lower than
last year’s rank.
France's Iris
Mittenaere wins Miss Universe 2016
Miss France Iris Mittenaere was crowned
Miss Universe 2016 at the Mall of Asia Arena . Miss Colombia Andrea Tovar won
second runner-up.
- Miss
Haiti Raquel Pelissier won first runner-up. Flo Rida and Boyz II Men gave
musical performances during the Miss Universe pageant.
Abul Hossain Wins
2017 Kolkata Marathon
Siliguri lad Abul Hossain won the Kolkata
Marathon as amateur runners from north Bengal and Northeast India dominated the
first edition of the meet here.
- Hossain
won the race with a timing of two hours 34 minutes and two seconds to
leave Kolkata lad Biswanath Pal second, five minutes behind.
PV Sindhu wins Syed
Modi International badminton tournament
Indian shuttler PV Sindhu won the Syed
Modi International Grand Prix Gold after beating Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska
in the final.
- The Rio
Olympics silver medalist eased past her opponent in straight sets, 21-13,
21-14.
- India's Sameer Verma also won the tournament in men's singles category after defeating compatriot Sai Praneeth in straight sets, 21-19, 21-16.
India gets its own
multi-sports museum in Kolkata
In a first, India's Fanatic Sports Museum
opened to the public in Kolkata .
- The
museum will display memorabilia from cricket, hockey, football and the
Olympics and Paralympics.
- Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar were among others to inaugurate the museum.
