DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 20TH APR 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 20TH APR 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1. UP GOVERNMENT RENAMES GORAKHPUR AND AGRA AIRPORTS
i. The UP government led by yogi adityanath has renamed the Gorakhpur and Agra airports.
ii. The Gorakhpur Airforce Station has been renamed as Mahayogi Goraknath Airport.
iii. The Agra Airport will be renamed after RSS ideologue Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay airport.
iv. The Department of Disabled Welfare will now be known as ‘Divyang Jan Vikas Empowerment’.

2. RECENT APPROVALS BY CENTRAL GOVERNMENT: APRIL 19, 2017
i. Union Cabinet has given its approval for procurement of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail Units for use in the General Elections, 2019.
ii. Cabinet has given its approval for Ex-post facto approval for Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill 2017 and National Commission for Backward Classes (Repeal) Bill, 2017
iii. In order to ensure prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of a Protocol amending the Convention between India and Portugal for avoidance of double taxation.
iv. Union Cabinet has approved a proposal of extending stock limits on sugar traders by another six months till October 2017.


3. INDIA JUMPS TO 8TH PLACE ON GLOBAL FDI CONFIDENCE INDEX
i. India ranked at 8th position in the 2017 A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index.
ii. US has topped A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index for the 5th year in a row.
iii. Germany is at 2nd place followed by China and United Kingdom at 4th and 5th.

4. IMF TRIMS INDIA’S GROWTH FORECAST TO 7.2% FOR 2017
i. In the latest World Economic Outlook, International Monetary Fund has cut down India’s growth forecast for year 2017 by 0.4% points to 7.2%.
ii. However, as per the report, India’s growth prospects in medium term are favourable. If reforms are carried out as per the plans and supply-side concerns are addressed, India’s growth rate is expected to be 8% in the medium term.

5. ICICI BANK DATA CENTRE BECOMES COUNTRY’S FIRST CII-IGBC PLATINUM RATED PROJECT
i. ICICI Bank Data Centre has become country’s 1st Platinum rated project under IGBC Green Data Centre Rating System.
ii. Main objective of becoming partner with IGBC is to bring the Green Building movement in the country.

6. RBI CAPS BANK’S EXPOSURE TO REITS, INVITS AT 10%
i. The RBI has allowed banks to invest up to 10% of the unit capital of a Real Estate Investment Trust or Infrastructure Investment Trusts.
ii. In its 1st bimonthly monetary policy of 2017-18, the RBI had permitted banks to invest in REITs and InvITs.
iii. It main objective is to help strenghten the cash-starved infrastructure sector.
iv. Banks are permitted for direct investments in shares, convertible bonds/ debentures, units of equity-oriented mutual funds and Venture Capital Funds.

7. SAHITYA ACADEMY AWARD FOR TRANSLATION OF MURUGAN’S MAADHORUBAAGAN
i. Aniruddhan Vasudevans has been chosen for Sahitya Academy award.
ii. He is chosen for his novel “One Part Woman”, a translation of Perumal Murugans controversial Tamil novel “Maadhorubaagan“.

8. DEVENDRA KUMAR SHARMA APPOINTED AS NEW BBMB CHAIRMAN
i. Bhakra Beas Management Board has appointed Devendra Kumar Sharma as a Chairman for a period of 3 years.
ii. Devendra Sharma is serving as the Managing Director of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited.
iii. BBMB has managed the release of water in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan and it controls Bhakra, Pong and other dams.

9. VISUALLY IMPAIRED INDIAN RUNNER SAGAR BAHETI COMPLETES HISTORIC BOSTON MARATHON
i. India’s Sagar Baheti became the 1st visually impaired Indian runner to complete the historic Boston Marathon.
ii. It was supported by the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. UTTAR PRADESH STATE GOVT. HAS DECIDED TO RENAME AGRA AIRPORT AS?
a)  Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Airport
b)  Subhash Chandra Bose Airport
c)  Bhagat Singh Airport
d)  Chandra Shekhar Azad Airport
Q2. IN THE LATEST WORLD ECONOMIC OUTLOOK, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND HAS CUT DOWN INDIA’S GROWTH FORECAST FOR YEAR 2017BY 0.4 PERCENTAGE POINTS TO ______ %?
a)  6.8%
b)  7.2%
c)  7.6%
d)  7.4%
Q3. WHICH PRIVATE SECTOR BANK’S DATA CENTRE IN HYDERABAD HAS ACHIEVED THE DISTINCTION OF BECOMING THE COUNTRY’S 1ST PLATINUM RATED PROJECT UNDER IGBC GREEN DATA CENTRE RATING SYSTEM?
a)  Axis Bank
b)  HDFC Bank
c)  Yes Bank
d)  ICICI Bank
Q4. WHICH NOVEL BY ANIRUDDHAN VASUDEVAN HAS BEEN CHOSEN FOR THE TRANSLATION PRIZE IN ENGLISH 2016 BY SAHITYA AKADEMI?
a)  ’One Part Woman’
b)  ’Women In India’
c)  ’Journey of a Woman’
d)  ’Plight of Women’
Q5. WHO AMONG THE FOLLOWING HAS BEEN APPOINTED AS THE NEW CHAIRMAN OF THE BHAKRA BEAS MANAGEMENT BOARD?
a)  Naresh Jain
b)  Vikas Bhatt
c)  Devendra Kumar Sharma
d)  Harshvardhan Malhotra

ANSWERS: 

1 - A    2 – B   3 - D    4 - A    5 - C