16-17 April 2017 - Current Affairs

B Sai Praneeth clinches 2017 Singapore Open Super Series


  • Indian badminton player ‘B Sai Praneeth’(24-year) has won men’s single title, beating ‘Kidambi Srikanth’ (the world No 29) 17-21, 21-17, 21-12 in the 2017 Singapore Open Badminton tournament.
  • Praneeth thrashed three-time Korea Masters Grand Prix Gold winner Lee 21-6 21-8 in a lop-sided semifinal match.
  • Earlier, Srikanth notched up a 21-13 21-14 win over Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting to reach the third Super Series final.
  • T Y Tai has won the Women’s Singles title beating Carolina Marin in straight sets 21-15, 21-15 in the Singapore Open Badminton tournament.

Note:
  • Sai Praneeth Bhamidipati is an Indian badminton player hailing from Hyderabad, Telangana.
  • He is the winner of the 2016 Canada Open Grand Prix Men’s Singles title.

Pullela Gopichand's daughter Gayatri wins twin crowns in Jakarta


  • National Badminton coach Pullela Gopichand's daughter Gayatri Pullela has bagged both the singles and doubles crown at the Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior Grand Prix in Jakarta.
  • Gayatri defeated (21-11, 18-21, 21-16) her doubles partner Samiya Farooqui to win the girls U-15 singles title.
  • Gayatri teamed up with Samiya to clinch the ‘U-15 doubles title’ with a straight game 21-17, 21-15 win over Indonesian pair of Kelly Larissa and Shelandry Vyola.

Note: Gayatri and Samiya train together at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.

Sebastian Vettel wins 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix


  • Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has won the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix, beating his Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton.
  • Hamilton came in second after picking up a time penalty for driving slowly on pit entry and holding up Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.
  • Valtteri Bottas finished third in the race.

Note: The 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race that took place at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain.

Bahrain GP results:

  1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari: 1:33:53.373
  2. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes: +00:06.600
  3. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Mercedes: 00:20.397

Nepal President to arrive in Delhi on five-day visit


  • Today, Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari has arrived in New Delhi on a five-day visit to India.
  • This will be Bhandari's first foreign trip after assuming the office in October 2015.
  • President of Nepal will meet with President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  • She will also visit Gujarat & Odisha and pay obeisance at temples of Dwarka, Somnath, and Puri.


1st Nepal-China joint army exercise begin at Kathmandu


  • The first Nepal-China joint army 10-day exercise has begun at Kathmandu.
  • The 'Sagarmatha Friendship-2017’ drill is aimed to exchange experience, skills and professional knowledge between the armies of Nepal and China.
  • The exercise is focused on counter-terrorism and disaster management. 


Suresh Prabhu launches the first-ever train with glass roof coaches


  • Railway Minister ‘Suresh Prabhu’ has flagged-off first-ever train with glass roof coaches on ‘Visakhapatnam-Araku’ route (128-km) through video conferencing from Bhubaneswar (Odisha).
  • Vistadome coach launched with an aim to provide a delightful traveling experience of the picturesque Araku valley.
  • Currently, only one coach is attached to the train on a trial basis while one more will be attached later.


Prakash Javadekar to launch RUSA Portal, Mobile App


  • Today, the union Human Resource and Development Minister ‘Prakash Javadekar’ has launched its own portal Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), and mobile app in New Delhi.
  • The portal will act as a one-stop for States’ Higher Education Plans, the decision of the States’ Higher Education Councils and details of the resources under this scheme.
  • The mobile application will ensure that all projects under RUSA are tracked 24x7.


PM Modi inaugurates new units in Koradi thermal power station


  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated various units of the thermal power plants (total capacity 3230 Mega Watts) at Koradi, Chandrapur, and Parli of Maharashtra.
  • These include three super-critical units 660 MW each at Koradi, two of 500 MW each at Chandrapur and one of 250 MW at Parli.

Note: Koradi Thermal Power Station (KTPS) is located at Koradi near Nagpur, Maharashtra. It is one of the four major power plants in Vidarbha.

Philippine President wins Time Magazine's Most Influential Person poll


  • Philippine President ‘Rodrigo Duterte’ has won Time magazine's readers' poll of the 100 most influential people in the world.
  • Duterte received 5% of “yes” votes in the online poll that started in the last week of March and closed on Monday (Manila time).
  • US Sen. Bernie Sanders and Russian President Vladimir Putin won the reader poll in 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Note:
  • Rodrigo Duterte: 5%
  • Justin Trudeau: 3%
  • Pope Francis: 3%
  • Bill Gates: 3%

The World's oldest person Emma Morano passes away


  • The world’s oldest woman 'Emma Morano' (117-year) passed away at her home in Verbania, northern Italy.
  • She held the Guinness World Record titles for the oldest living person and oldest living woman.
  • Morano (born on 29th November 1899) was the last known person born in the 19th century who was still alive.


Internet Pioneer 'Robert Taylor' Passes Away


  • Pioneer of Modern Computing and the Internet'Robert Taylor' (85-year) has passed away at his home in Woodside, California, USA.
  • Rob Taylor was instrumental in creating the internet and the modern personal computer. 
  • Taylor's team also developed the networking technology Ethernet and a what-you-see-is-what-you-get word processing program called Bravo that would become the basis for Microsoft Word.
  • Taylor worked with Pentagon’sAdvanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in 1966 and was instrumental in creating a single computer network to link ARPA-sponsored researchers at companies and institutions. 

Note:
  • Taylor was awarded theNational Medal of Technology and Innovation in 1999. 
  • He was also awarded theDraper prize from the National Academy of Engineering for the development of “the first practical networked personal computers” in 2004.

Wholesale inflation slips to 5.70% even as food prices heat up


  • Inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) slipped to 5.7% in March 2017.
  • Earlier, WPI had stood at 6.55% in February this year, and at minus 0.45% in March last year.
  • Wholesale Inflation fell as inflation in manufactured goods eased, although food prices hardened.
  • According to official data, food inflation rose to 3.12% in March, from 2.69% in February due to wholesale inflation in vegetables climbing to 5.7%.
  • Fuel inflation declined to 18.16% in March, from 21.02% in February.
  • Wholesale inflation in manufactured items dropped to 2.99% in March, from 3.66% in February.

Note:
  • The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is the price of a representative basket of wholesale goods.
  • The purpose of the WPI is to monitor price movements that reflect supply and demand in industry, manufacturing, and construction.

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