Daily Current affairs - April 25th, 2017 for all competitive exams
World Malaria
Day is observed globally on 25th of April every year.
- It is organized by World
Health Organization (WHO).
The
Paths We Walk
A Documentary
Photo exhibition called “The Paths We Walk” was recently inaugurated in
New Delhi.
- The
exhibition has been organized by the National Trust under Ministry of
Social Justice and Empowerment in collaboration with Society for Child
Development.
- The
Documentary photo exhibition is intended to tackle negative myths of
disability and employment of persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy,
Intellectual Disability and Multiple Disabilities.
Government
e-Marketplace (GeM)
In the light
of alleged irregularities, the government has reiterated that GeM is the most transparent,
accountable and efficient public procurement portal and has already resulted in
savings of crores of Rupees to the Government.
- The
government noted that the processes on GeM are completely transparent and
GeM is the first Government portal that places all the procurements- big
or small- by Government organizations in public domain, with details about
the buyer, seller, item, quantity and price.
- The
government has also assured that there are adequate checks and balances in
place on GeM which do not allow suppliers to get away with supplying at a
higher price to the Government, than the prevailing market or Last
Procurement Price (LPP).
Panel
moots UID numbers for cows
The Centre has
proposed issuing “Unique Identification Number Sequences” for cows and their progeny to protect them from cattle
smuggling. A government committee has also iterated the same.
- The
plan is the brainchild of the Union Agriculture Ministry for “tamper-proof
identification of cattle using polyurethene tags with a Unique
Identification Number Sequence.”
- Each
animal be tagged with proper records of identification details, including
age, breed, sex, lactation, height, body, colour, horn type, tail switch
and special marks.
Solve
a problem, win Rs.1 crore
The Centre is
set to launch a scheme for students from higher educational institutions to
volunteer to offer innovative, original and practical solutions to problems
facing the country and get rewarded for their efforts.
- The scheme will be called IDEAS, or Innovations
for Development of Efficient and Affordable Systems. It
is an initiative to challenge young minds with problems of society in
general, to come up with innovative, original, practical and economical
solutions.
- The scheme will invite students to find solutions to
problems in these fields — and offer a prize of Rs.1 crore to the best solution in each field.
‘Child
artistes can work only for 5 hours a day’
The Labour
Ministry has proposed the draft Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation)
Amendment Rules, 2017 to fix the working conditions
for child artistes and for employing children in family enterprises.
- While a child artiste will not be allowed to work for
more than five hours a day, a child “assisting” in a family business can
only work for three hours a day.
- Children will be allowed to assist their family in
running family enterprises “without affecting” their school education.
Hindi
being ‘promoted’ as per Act: Rijiju
Faced with
criticism that the Central government is unfairly imposing Hindi on
non-Hindi-speaking States, the government has iterated that it was only
promoting the language as per an Act of Parliament.
- In May 2015, the government had issued an order that as
per the Official Languages Act, 1963, all government files would have to
be issued bilingually, in Hindi and English.
- In March, the Department of Official Language of the
Home Ministry pulled out a 2011 report of a Committee of Parliament on
Official Language and sent it to the President for approval.
India replaces Japan as no. 2 LPG importer
India has replaced Japan as world's number
two importer of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). The result is an
outcome of the rigorous effort of Nation's call for a 'safer kitchen'.
- According to data from Oil Ministry's Petroleum
Planning and Analysis Cell, the country imported 23 percent more
LPG in the financial year 2016-17, a figure that stands at 11
million tonnes.
- China continues to occupy the top position as
world's largest LPG importer.
India’s first sea ropeway to link Mumbai and
Elephanta island
India’s first and longest ropeway to connect
Mumbai with the famous Elephanta Island in the Arabian Sea is planned to be
constructed by the Mumbai Port Trust, according to the official report.
- The 8-km ropeway will begin from Sewri in
Mumbai’s east coast and end at Raigad district’s Elephanta Island,
globally renowned for Elephanta Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
India, France carry out joint naval exercise
'Varuna'
The Indian Navy has begun a joint
maritime exercise with the French Navy at the Mediterranean
Sea to further deepen combat coordination between the two navies.
- Guided missile destroyer INS Mumbai, stealth frigate
INS Trishul and fleet tanker INS Aditya are taking part in
the 'Varuna' exercise which will continue till April 30.
Ghana,
Kenya and Malawi to pilot GSK malaria vaccine from 2018:
Ghana, Kenya
and Malawi will pilot the world’s first malaria vaccine from 2018, offering it
for babies and children in high-risk areas as part of real-life trials.
Combined with existing malaria interventions, such a vaccine would have the
potential to save tens of thousands of lives in Africa.
- The injectable vaccine, called RTS,S or Mosquirix, was
developed by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline to protect children from
the most deadly form of malaria in Africa.
SBI, CREDAI ink MoU for concessional loan for
housing projects
State Bank of India and real estate
developers’ body CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers'
Associations of India) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to
jointly conduct various initiatives towards development of the realty sector.
- The MoU will be in force for a period of 3 years. Each of them will leverage their individual strengths and collaborate in areas to promote 'housing for all'.
Appointments
Committee of the Cabinet approves extension of PK Sinha:
The
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved extension in service to Shri
Pradeep Kumar Sinha, IAS as Cabinet Secretary for a further period of one year
beyond his tenure.
Veteran
actor K. Viswanath wins Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2016:
Renowned
filmmaker and actor Kasinadhuni Viswanath, best known for his award-winning
movies in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi, has won the Dadasaheb Phalke award for the
year 2016 for his outstanding contribution to the film industry.
- He won the Padma Shri in 1992 and the Andhra Pradesh
goverment has honoured him with 20 Nandi awards.
Astronaut
Peggy Whitson Sets NASA Record For Most Days In Space:
NASA astronaut
Peggy Whitson has officially set the U.S. record for most cumulative days in
space, surpassing astronaut Jeff Williams’ record of 534 days.
- Whitson also is the first woman to command the space
station; she has commanded it twice. Her first stint as commander was in
April 2008 and she’s commanding the current crew.
- She also holds the record for most spacewalks by a
female astronaut. Whitson took her eighth spacewalk in March.
Niyamgiri’s
hero gets Goldman Prize
Activist
Prafulla Samantara is one of the six winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize for 2017. He is being honoured for his historic 12-year legal
battle that affirmed the indigenous Dongria Kondhs’ land rights and protected
the Niyamgiri Hills from a massive, open-pit aluminum ore mine.
- The annual prize awarded by the Goldman
Environmental Foundation honours grassroots environmentalists, who risk
their lives to protect the environment and empower those who have the most
to lose from industrial projects that threaten their traditional
livelihoods.
RDPR
bags awards:
Karnataka
Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Department has bagged e-Puraskar
Award for the best performance in empowering panchayats by using Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) tools, for 2016-17. The State bagged the
award for its Ganshi Sakshi Kayak GPS-enabled ICT tool.
- Kerala bagged the second prize, while West Bengal
secured third prize in the category of ICT tools.
Indian shot putter Manpreet Kaur bags Gold at Asian
Grand Prix Meet in China
Indian shot putter Manpreet Kaur has clinched
a gold in the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix Athletics Meet in Jinhua,
China.
- Manpreet came up with the best throw of 18.86 meter, which was nearly one meter more than her earlier national record of 17.96 meters that she had set in 2015. India ended the one-day event with seven medals - 1 Gold, 4 Silver, 2 Bronze.
