24 March 2017 - Daily Current Affairs

24 March 2017 - Daily Current Affairs

World Tuberculosis Day being observed today

• The "World Tuberculosis Day" observed every year on 24th March to fight tuberculosis and eradicate this deadly disease that has been claiming millions of lives.
• World TB Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO).
• The theme for World Tuberculosis Day 2018 is "Wanted: Leaders for a TB-free world".
• Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis(MTB).
• Tuberculosis is spread through the air when people who have active TB in their lungs a cough, spit, speak, or sneeze.

Note:

• Tuberculosis was first discovered by the Dr. Robert Koch in the year 1882 and amazingly announced by him to the small group of scientists at “the University of Berlin’s Institute of Hygiene” about the cause of tuberculosis means the TB bacillus.
• It claims more than 1.7 million lives every year all over the world and India contributes to about 25% of these deaths.

Earth Hour being observed today

• Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
• The event is held annually encouraging individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights for one hour (from 8:30 to 9:30 pm) on a specific day towards the end of March, as a symbol of commitment to the planet.
• In 2007, It was started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia,
• Now, it has grown to engage more than 7,000 cities and towns across 187 countries and territories.

Note:

• Occasionally, in years when Holy Saturday falls on the last Saturday of March, Earth Hour is moving a week early rather than its traditional date.

National Affairs

Thaawarchand Gehlot launches first Indian Sign Language (ISL) Dictionary

• The Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister ‘Thaawarchand Gehlot’ has launched the first Indian Sign Language (ISL) Dictionary of three thousand words at a function in New Delhi.
• The basic aim of developing the ISL Dictionary is to remove communications barriers between the deaf and hearing communities as it is focused on providing more information in Indian sign language.
• The dictionary has been developed by Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre under Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.
• ISL dictionary has focused on providing more information in Indian Sign Language and hoped that more and more people use this dictionary and get the benefit.

International Yoga Fest concludes on enthusiastic note

• The three-day International Yoga Fest ended on an enthusiastic note in New Delhi.
• More than 5,700 delegates from across the country and abroad participated in the Fest. 
• According to the AYUSH Minister Shripad Naik, Yoga is useful in combating these disorders and shows that science and spirituality need not always be treated as separate entities. 

7th India-Egypt joint commission meeting held in New Delhi

• The India-Egypt Joint Commission (7th) meeting led by Sushma Swaraj (External Affairs Minister) Sameh Shoukry (and Egyptian Foreign Minister) was held in New Delhi.
• India and Egypt are two world's oldest civilizations reviewed the progress in the areas of political, trade & investment, S&T, cybersecurity, capacity building, security, space, and culture.

Kerala CM launches M-Kerala app

• Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has launched a unified app ‘M-Kerala’ for all government services at Kerala's first global digital summit in Kochi.
• Kerala also becomes the state with the largest public Wi-Fi (1000 public hotspots) deployment in the country. 

Banking & Finance

Allahabad Bank Gets Nod for ABFL Merger

• According to the Allahabad Bank officials, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has allowed the amalgamation of its wholly own subsidiary ‘All Bank Finance Ltd (ABFL)’ with the lender.
• In December 2016, the bank's board had already approved the proposed merger.
• The ABFL offers a basket of fee-based financial services such as trusteeship services, investment advisory & portfolio management services, distribution of Mutual Funds schemes and other corporate services.

Sports

Manu Bhaker wins gold in junior shooting

• India’s teen shooting sensation Manu Bhaker (16-year) has won individual gold after prevailing over Kanyakorn Hirunphoem (Thailand) in final of the women's 10m air pistol event at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Sydney.
• India tasted success in the 10m Air Pistol men's event too with Gaurav Rana winning a silver medal while Anmol Jain bagged the bronze.
• Earlier, Vivaan Kapoor (16-year) bagged the trap bronze medal

PV Sindhu to be India’s flag-bearer of the Commonwealth Games 2018

• Pusarla V Sindhu has been chosen by IOA as the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the opening ceremony of Commonwealth Games 2018.
• The opening ceremony will be held at the Carrara Stadium in Gold Coast on 4th April.

Note:

• The 2018 Commonwealth Games (or Gold Coast 2018), is an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that will be held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia between 4 to 15 April 2018.
• It will be the fifth time Australia has hosted the Commonwealth Games.