Current affairs : April 8th, 2017 for all competitive exams
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
launch a 'special digital exhibition' on the Champaran Satyagraha on
10th April 2017. It is a unique initiative to re-envision the theme of the
movement undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi.
- The
exhibition will be titled as 'Bapu
Ko Karyanjali' and will be launched at the National
Archive in New Delhi.
- This effort will dovetail into the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, and generate greater awareness towards cleanliness, in the run-up to the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in 2019.
First
NIMCARE World Health Day Summit 2017
The first NIMCARE World Health Day Summit 2017
was recently held in New Delhi.
- The
slogan of the first NIMCARE World Health Day Summit is, ‘Unite for a
Healthy Mind’
- The
summit will focus on the importance of talking about depression as a vital
component of recovery.
Centre kicks off programme on Cyber
Physical Systems
The Department of Science and Technology
(DST) has initiated a Cyber-Physical Systems
(CPS) program.
- CPS is an interdisciplinary field that deals with the deployment of computer-based systems that do things in the physical world such as, the self-driven cars produced by Google and Tesla.
North
India to get its first DNA bank for wild animals
In a milestone
for wildlife conservation in the country, Indian
Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) is planning to set up a DNA bank for wild animals, the
first of its kind in North India. Scientists have so far
collected samples of 140 species. A DNA bank exists in Hyderabad at
present.
- Through
the DNA bank, scientists at IVRI’s Centre for Wildlife will be able to tell
the name and schedule of the species if they get only a part of the meat,
hair, blood, skin or bone of any animal.
- The
move will help clamp down on wildlife poaching and smuggling, and also aid in research on wildlife species.
Government launched MIS
for monitoring PMKSY Projects
The government
has launched MIS for monitoring PMKSY Projects.
- Under
the new MIS, Project wise nodal officers have been nominated for
regularly feeding the physical and financial progress of the projects.
- Project
wise/ Priority wise /Statewise physical/financial details in
tabular/graphical format are available in MIS.
- It has the feature of comparing the progress of the project on quarterly basis and also provides details of the constraints affecting the progress of the project.
Ken-Betwa
link hits green hurdle
India’s apex
forest advisory body- the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), has imposed tough conditions on the Ken-Betwa river interlinking
project.
- Given
the ecological and environmental impact posed by the project, the project
had to pass multiple authorities for clearance. A forest advisory
clearance was seen to be the last step before the project was to begin.
- The Ken and Betwa rivers in the states of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Madhya Pradesh (MP) are to be linked under an historic agreement that marks the first such project in India’s ambitious and controversial national river-linking project.
Atmosphere
found around Earth-like planet GJ 1132b
Scientists say
they have detected an atmosphere around an Earth-like planet
for the first time.
- Scientists
studied a world known as GJ 1132b, which is 4-times
the size of our planet and lies 39 light years away.
- Their
observations suggest that the
“super-Earth” is cloaked in a thick layer of gases that are either water
or methane or a mixture of both.
India
jumps 12 spots in WEF’s global travel & tourism ranking
The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report
2017 has been released by the World Economic Forum.
- The
report ranks 136 countries across 14 dimensions, revealing how well
countries could deliver sustainable economic and societal benefits through
their travel and tourism sector.
- India
is ranked 40
- India is one of the countries that improved the most as it gained 12 places in Asia, but lagged behind its other Asian peers like Japan and China which were ranked way ahead at 4th and 13th place, respectively.
Ban on cash transactions of over Rs 2 lakh not
applicable for bank, post office withdrawals
Ban on cash transaction in excess of Rs
2 lakh will not be applicable to withdrawals from banks and post office
savings accounts, the Income-Tax department announced.
- In a clarification on the newly inserted Section 269ST in the I-T Act, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) abort the restriction to withdrawal from banks and post offices. Restriction is also not applicable to any receipt by government, banking company, post office savings bank or co-operative bank respectively.
HDFC Bank UPI on Chillr app
HDFC Bank announced its Unified
Payments Interface (UPI) will also be available on Chillr, a multi-bank
mobile payments app.
- UPI is an instant payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to enable faster money transfer between any two parties’ bank accounts.
Canara Bank partners with BSNL
Canara Bank, a public sector bank, has embarked
upon an ambitious project of upgrading the bandwidth at all its branches to 2
Mbps in partnership with BSNL.
- The
bandwidth upgradation of branches is in line with the bank’s policy of
promoting digital channels and will ensure faster service across the
counters.
South Indian Bank, Flyworld Money in pact for
remittances
South Indian Bank has entered into an agreement
with Flyworld Money Exchange to facilitate remittances by Indian
expatriates in Australia.
- Through this tie-up, NRIs in Australia could enjoy quick and cost-effective remittances to India using the SIB Express facility. With this agreement, SIB marks the first remittance arrangement with an exchange house in Australia.
Malala to become youngest United Nations Messenger
of Peace
Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of
the Nobel Peace Prize has become the youngest United Nations
Messenger of Peace.
- The United Nations stated that the 19-year-old Pakistani education activist will be appointed by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on April 10, 2017, and it will help to promote girl education around the world.
64th National Film awards list:
