12 April 2017 - Current Affairs

1. PM releases LS Speaker’s book ‘Matoshree’

  • Prime Minister ‘Narendra Modi’ has released a book ‘Matoshree' authored by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in New Delhi.
  • The book 'Matoshree' covers the life and times of legendary ‘Devi Ahilyabai Holker’ who ruled the Holkar Empire spread over the Malwa region from 1767 to 1795.
  • The book release function was followed by a 105-minute play based on the book.
Note:
  • Ahilyabai is remembered and worshiped by people for her exemplary governance, sense of justice and fairness.

2. 12th April: International Day of Human Space Flight

  • The United Nations (UN) celebrates the International Day of Human Space Flight on 12th April every year.
  • The day remembers the first human space flight by ‘Yuri Gagarin’ on 12th April,1961.
  • It was proclaimed at the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 7th April, 2011.
Note:
  • ‘Yuri Gagarin’ carried out ‘Vostok 1’ space flight in 1961, making one orbit around the Earth over 108 minutes in the Vostok 3KA spacecraft launched by Vostok-K launch vehicle.

3. President Pranab to confer National Geoscience Awards 2016

  • Today, President ‘Pranab Mukherjee’ has confirmed the National Geoscience Awards-2016 at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
  • The awards include one Award for Excellence, one Young Scientist Award and 19 individual or team awards in 16 fields of geosciences.
  • This year, twenty-seven geoscientists have received the ‘National Geoscience Awards’.
Note:
  • The National Geoscience Awards, (Earlier known as National Mineral Awards) was instituted by the Ministry of Mines in 1966, to honor individuals and teams of scientists for their extraordinary achievements and outstanding contributions in fundamental, applied geosciences, mining, and allied fields.

4. National Hindi Sevi Samman Awards announced

  • Director of the Central Hindi Institute, N.K. Pandey has announced the names of 26 writers from different categories for the prestigious ‘Hindi Sevi Samman Award 2015’.
  • The awardees will receive a citation, Rs 5 lakh, and a shawl from President Pranab Mukherjee at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in May 2017.
  • The ‘Hindi Sevi Samman Awards’ were instituted by Central Hindi Institute, Agra in 1989.
Note:
  • The Ganesh Shankar Vidhyarthi Award (for Hindi journalism): Rahul Dev and Baldev Bhai Sharma.
  • Non-Hindi speaking states for their contribution to the Hindi language: Professor S. Shesharatnam (Andhra Pradesh), M. Govind Rajan (Tamil Nadu), Harmahendra Singh Bedi (Punjab) and H. Subadani Devi (Manipur).
  • Foreign Hindi writers: Professor Fujii Takeshi (Japan) and Professor Gabriela Nik Ilieva (New York)
  • Non-Resident Indians (NRI) - Pushpita Avasthi (Netherlands) and Padmesh Gupt (London).

5. Former Union Minister ‘Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta’ passes away

  • Former Union Minister and Prominent Educationist ‘Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta’ (56-year) passed away in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), after suffering from a heart attack.
  • He was the son of former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh ‘Late Shri Babu Banarasi Das’.
  • Das was also the member of the Rajya Sabha (RS) for 3 terms (1996 to 2014) and Mayor of Lucknow (May 1993 to Nov. 1996).
  • He was the Union Minister of State for Steel between 2006-2008.

6. India & Australia sign six agreements

  • The PM 'Narendra Modi' and his visiting Australian counterpart ‘Malcolm Turnbull’ have signed six agreements after delegation level talks.
  • The agreements will boost bilateral cooperation in various fields such as terrorism, sports, health, environment, aviation sector.

7. Egypt declares three-month state of emergency

  • President of Egypt 'Abdel Fattah el-Sisi' has announced a three-month state of emergency following attacks on two Coptic churches.
  • The measure needs to be approved by the parliament before it is implemented.
Note:
  • Egypt (the Arab Republic of Egypt) is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula.
  • It is the world's only contiguous Afrasian nation.

8. India & Georgia signed a joint statement on free trade agreement

  • The Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia ‘GiorgiGakharia’ and the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry ‘Nirmala Sitharaman’ have signed a Joint Statement on the launching of the Joint Feasibility Study on the bilateral Free Trade Agreement.
  • The purpose of establishing the Joint Feasibility Study Group is to provide an opportunity for more in-depth and systematic examination of potential Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
  • The Joint Feasibility Study Group shall issue a report with the relevant analysis and recommendations within a period of six months.

9. 100 years of Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram Celebrated in London

  • The centenary of Mahatma Gandhi's ‘Sabarmati Ashram’ has been celebrated in London with the screening of a documentary to re-tell Gandhi's story.
  • The documentary 'Sabarmati Ashram- The Home of Gandhi's Experiments with Truth was screened at the Nehru Centre.
  • The film showed how Gandhi set up the ashram in 1917 on a wasteland on the banks of Sabarmati River and some pro-British newspapers ridiculed his idea of Salt March.

10. Kiren Rijiju inaugurates 2-day NDMP review workshop in Delhi

  • Today, Minister of State for Home ‘Kiren Rijiju’ has inaugurated a two-day workshop on the review of the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) in New Delhi.
  • The workshop has been organized by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
  • Discussions at this workshop will form a part of the deliberations at the upcoming National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR).
Note:
  • India's first-ever national plan for disaster management ‘NDMP’ was launched by Prime Minister ‘Narendra Modi’ in June 2016.

11. India School team beat Malaysia to lift ‘Asian School Hockey Championship’

  • The Indian School team beat Malaysia (defending champion) 5-1 to lift the title at the fifth Asian School Hockey Championship at the Aishbagh Stadium, Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh).
  • Earlier, India has defeated China 11-0 in the semi-final, while Malaysia defeated Singapore by 12-1.
  • China, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, UAE, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and India has played in two pools.
  • Eight teams (China, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, UAE, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and India) had played in two pools. 

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