25 April 2018 - Daily Current Affairs


25 April 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

World Malaria Day being observed today

  • The ‘World Malaria Day. being observed every year across the world on 25th April to create awareness among the people about this vector-borne disease.
  • This year’s global theme for World Malaria Day is "Ready to beat malaria".
  • This theme projects the collective energy and commitment of the global malaria community in uniting around the common goal of a world free of malaria.
  • According to World Health Organisation(WHO) around four lakhs, people die of malaria every year in the world.
  • In India, every year close to one million people suffers from this disease.
Note: Malaria caused by the falciparum parasite is the most serious and can lead to breathing problems, liver failure, and eventual death.

Honors & Awards

Egyptian photographer Md. Abu Zeid wins UNESCO press freedom prize

  • A jury of United Nations' cultural agency has awarded the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize to an imprisoned Egyptian photographer Mahmoud Abu Zeid (popularly known as Shawkan).
  • Md. Zeid has been in jail since he was arrested in Cairo in August 2013 for covering a demonstration at Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square.
  • In 2013, Zeid took photographs of protests against General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his work has been published in Time, The Sun, Die Zeit, Bild and on the BBC website.
  • The prize (worth USD 45,000) will be awarded on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day (3rd May).
Note:
  • The UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize honors a person, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world.
  • The award recognizes the promotion of press freedom especially in the face of danger. 
Year Recipient Country
2018 Mahmoud Abu Zeid Egypt
2017 Dawit Isaak Sweden/Eritrea
2016 Khadija Ismayilova Azerbaijan

National Affairs

Foreigners can now travel to Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur without a permit

  • The Union Home Ministry has decided to relax the six-decade-old Protected Area Permit regime from Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur for five years to promote tourism.
  • Now, Foreign tourists (except those from Pakistan, China, and Afghanistan) will be allowed to visit some of the most pristine locations in the country without a special permit.
  • Under the Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order, 1958, all areas falling between the Inner line and the International Border of some states were declared as protected areas.
Note: Currently, the protected areas are whole of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Sikkim, besides parts of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.

M-Awas app for allotment of GPRA through ASA launched

  • The Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs (I/C) Hardeep Puri has launched a Mobile App “m-Awas” for allotment of Government accommodations in General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) in Delhi under the control of the Directorate of Estates.
  • The application has been developed by NIC (National Informatics Centre).
  • A total number of 61,317 residential accommodations of various types are available in Delhi which are allotted to the eligible Central Government employees through Automated System of Allotment (ASA), by using login Id and password.

Sunderban reserve forest to get Ramsar site status

  • The West Bengal government has given its approval to State Forest Department to apply for coveted Ramsar Site recognition under Ramsar Convention to Sunderban Reserve Forest.
  • If the proposal is accepted and Indian Sunderbans declared a Ramsar site, it will be the third prestigious citation for the mangrove delta.
  • Currently, there are 26 sites in India recognized as Ramsar wetland sites of international importance.
  • The world’s largest contiguous mangrove ecosystem stretches over 10,200 sq km across India (4,263 sq km) and Bangladesh (5,937 sq km).
  • The Bangladesh section of the Sunderbans is already listed on the Ramsar site and is a World Heritage site.
What is Ramsar convention?
  • The Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention) is an inter-governmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

India and World Bank signs agreement to improve the rural road network in MP

  • The Government of India, Madhya Pradesh state govt. and the World Bank have signed USD 210 million loan agreement for the Madhya Pradesh Rural Connectivity Project.
  • The Project will cover 10,510 km stretch of rural roads in Madhya Pradesh that fall under the Chief Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana (CMGSY) program.
  • It will improve the durability, resilience, and safety of the gravel surfaced rural roads and enhance the capacity of the state to manage its rural roads network.

Sagar Kavach: Coastal security exercise held in Kerala

  • The Coastal security exercise ‘Sagar Kavach’ held along Kerala to strengthen and assess the loopholes in the coastal security mechanism.
  • The two-day exercise saw the participation of Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Indian Navy, Coastal Police and Marine Enforcement wing and various other security stakeholders.
  • The objective of the exercise was to provide seamless seaward cover along coast by all concerned security agencies from coastal belt area to limit of territorial waters.
  • The exercise assessed effectiveness of coastal fishing community in serving as ‘eye and ears’ for early warnings of a seaward threat.

Sports

Shahzar shoots silver to open India's account at ISSF World Cup

  • Shooter Shahzar Rizvi claimed India's first medal at the ongoing World Cup organized by the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) at Changwon, South Korea.
  • He won the silver medal in the 10 meters air pistol event on the year's second World Cup.
  • Artem Chernousov (Russia) won the gold medal and Samuil Donkov (Bulgaria) Bronze.

CM K Palaniswami presents cash prizes to TN Commonwealth Games medal winners

  • Tamil Nadu Chief Minister ‘K Palaniswami’ presented cash prizes to the sportspersons from the state who won medals in the Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast 2018) in Australia.
  • He gave cheques for one crore rupees each to table-tennis players ‘A Sharath Kamal’ and ‘G Sathiyan’.
  • Kamal and Sathiyan had won gold in the men's team event and silver in the doubles.
  • The state government also rewarded the coaches of the players with a total of 54 lakh rupees.

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