23 March 2017 - Daily Current Affairs

Nation Paying tributes to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru & Sukhdev on their 87th Martyrdom Day

Today, Nation is paying tributes to freedom fighters (Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev) on their 87th martyrdom day.
On this day in 1931, British rulers had executed them in Lahore for their revolutionary activities against the British rule.
They were hanged a day before the scheduled date of execution.

Canadian mathematician ‘Robert Langlands’(81-year) has won the Abel Prize-2018 "for his visionary programme connecting representation theory to number theory”.
The programme has enlisted hundreds of the world’s best mathematicians over the last 50 years.
Langlands has received the financial award of USD 776,000 from Norway's King Harald V at an award ceremony in Oslo.
The Abel prize has been awarded annually since 2003 to one or more outstanding mathematicians in memory of the Norwegian mathematics genius Niels Henrik Abel.

Note:

Langlands was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.
He graduated from the University of British Columbia with an undergraduate degree (in 1957) and an M.Sc. (in 1958) and from the Yale University of the US with a Ph.D. (in 1960).

Year	Laureate(s)	Citizenship	Citation
2017	Yves Meyer	France	For his pivotal role in the development of the mathematical theory of wavelets.
2018	Robert Langlands	Canada /United States	For his visionary program connecting representation theory to number theory

The United Nations' (UN) World Meteorological Day is annually held on or around 23rd March to remember the World Meteorological Organization's establishment on that date in 1950.
The theme of WMD 2018 is ‘Weather-ready, climate-smart’.

Journalist nearly four decades with Newsday ‘Les Payne’ (76-year) passed away at his home in Harlem, USA.
He was part of the Long Island newspaper's reporting team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1974 for a series titled "The Heroin Trail”.
The Pulitzer Prize (established in 1917) is a yearly award (21-categories) for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States.
The winner in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded a gold medal.
In twenty of the categories, each winner receives a certificate and a USD 15,000 cash award.

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) John R Bolton will be the new National Security Adviser to President Donald Trump.
He will replace Lt Gen H R McMaster.

Note:

The National Security Advisor (NSA) is a senior aide in the Executive Office of the President, who serves as the chief in-house advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues.
The National Security Advisor is appointed by the President and does not require confirmation by the Senate.

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has launched ‘Naipunya Rathams’ (or World on Wheels), a multi-utility vehicle, aims to bring technology to the remote corners.
The project will be initially implemented in identified 28 Smart Villages in 13 districts and will be expanded to other Smart Villages in a phased manner.
The ‘Naipunya Rathaams’ will facilitate and look to improve digital literacy, digital skills and create an awareness of various government schemes that are underway in the new state of Andhra Pradesh.

Note:

World on Wheels Lab is a 20-seater high tech Bus with enabled digital inclusion and learning lab equipped with smart technology gadgets on computing and printing equipment, as well as software suites and e-learning tools.

According to the union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh, the union govt has declared 2018 as 'National Year of Millets to boost the cultivation of millets like ‘ragi and jowar’ on a mission mode to achieve nutritional security.
Millet cultivation has declined due to change in dietary habits and unavailability of millets.
This has led to a special focus on millets, which are being promoted under the National Food Security Mission (NFSM).
Under NFSM, maize and jau are also promoted separately.

An indigenously built frigate of the Indian Navy ‘INS Ganga’ has been decommissioned in Mumbai after over three decades of service.
The ship represented a big step forward in the nation's warship building capability.

Note:

INS Ganga (F22) is a Godavari-class guided-missile frigate of the Indian Navy, built by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai.
She was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 30^th Dec 1985.

Indian shooter ‘Elavenil Valarivan’ (18-year) shattered the qualification world record in 10-meter women’s air rifle event of the season’s first junior ISSF World Cup in Sydney, Australia.
Elavenil also combined with Shreya Agrawal and Zeena Khitta to claim the team gold medal.
Arjun Babuta bagged his second junior world cup medal, claiming a bronze in men’s 10-meter air rifle event.

The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) cleared India speedster Mohammed Shami's central contract after its Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) exonerated him of corruption charges leveled by his wife 'Hasin Jahan'.
Shami has been given a Grade 'B' annual retainership contract (3 crore rupees).
He will also be free to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for his franchise Delhi Daredevils.

The New Zealand captain ‘Kane Williamson’ (27-years) has become New Zealand's most prolific test century maker, scoring his 18th hundred in cricket test against England at Eden Park in Auckland.
Now, Williamson has gone to the top of the list for most test centuries.
Williamson, Ross Taylor, and the late Martin Crowe shared the record previously with 17 centuries.