DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 3RD APR 2017

(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1. GOVT LAUNCHES POWERTEX INDIA SCHEME FOR POWERLOOM SECTOR
i. Ms. Smriti Irani, Union Textiles Minister has launched PowerTex India Scheme at Bhiwandi in Thane district of Maharashtra. It is a gamut of schemes aimed at development of powerloom sector in India with a special focus on small powerloom weavers.
ii. She also launched PowerTex India helpline for scheme related assistance. For nationwide publicity of scheme, a PowerTex van was also flagged off.

2. RADHAMOHAN SINGH INAUGURATED INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE
i. India’s 1st International Centre for Foot and Mouth Disease has been inaugurated by Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh at Argul near Bhubaneswar in Odisha.
ii. This centre will play a key role in protecting livestock from Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus.
iii. Construction of ICFMD started in April 2014. The estimated cost has been Rs. 450 cr. Indian Council of Agricultural Research has funded the establishment cost. 100 acres of land for the centre has been provided by Odisha State Govt.

3. MIZORAM BECOMES 27TH STATE TO JOIN UDAY SCHEME
i. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Government of India and Mizoram under the scheme Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana. The agreement was signed for operational improvement of the State’s Power Distribution Department.
ii. By this agreement Mizoram would get an overall net benefit of approximately Rs.198 cr by participating in UDAY.
iii. This benefit is achieved in the way of cheaper funds, reduction in Aggregate Technical and Commercial and transmission losses and interventions in energy efficiency.

4. INDIRA BANERJEE APPOINTED AS NEW CHIEF JUSTICE OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
i. A sitting judge of the Delhi High Court, Justice Indira Banerjee has been appointed as the new Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.
ii. Banerjee succeeded Sanjay Kishan Kaushal. With this, Justice Banerjee became the 2nd woman to head the Madras High Court. Justice Kumari Bhatnagar was the 1st lady to head the Charted court in 1992.

5. 19TH COMMONWEALTH FORESTRY CONFERENCE TO BEGIN IN UTTARAKHAND TODAY
i. 19th Commonwealth Forestry Conference 2017 will begin today at Forest Research Institute in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
ii. Dr. K.K. Paul, Uttarakhand Governor will inaugurate the 19th Commonwealth Forestry Conference at the FRI in Dehradun.
iii. The 5-day conference is being organized on the theme ‘Forests for Prosperity and Posterity’.

6. RAJIV KUMAR CHANDER APPOINTED AS PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO GENEVA UN OFFICES FROM INDIA
i. Rajiv Kumar Chander, who is from 1983 batch Indian Foreign Service officer  has been appointed the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the UN offices in Geneva.
ii. Rajiv will succeed Ajit Kumar, who is from 1979 batch Indian Foreign Service  at the Geneva office in May, 2017.
iii. Prior to this, Chander served as Deputy Permanent Representative in the Geneva office, Chander also served as India’s Ambassador to Ukraine. At present he is the Consul General in Vancouver, Canada.

7. GRANT ELLIOTT ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM INTERNATIONAL CRICKET
i. Grant Elliott, New Zealand all-rounder has confirmed his retirement from international cricket. He will retire from cricket after playing his last T20 series against England.
ii. After retirement, Grant Elliott will join New Zealand internationals Colin de Grandhomme and Jeetan Patel at the Birmingham Bears after signing a Kolpak deal.

8. NDB INVESTS $1.5 BILLION IN 7 PROJECTS IN 2 YEARS OF OPERATION
i. The BRICS-backed New Development Bank has invested in seven projects totaling $1.5 billion in about 2 years of its operation. NDB began operations in July 2015. 7 projects have been done so far which aggregate around $1.5 billion. 6 of them are in the renewable energy sector and one in transport financing.
ii. The New Development Bank was created with an objective of financing infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries.
iii. The Bank seeks to complement the efforts of other multilateral development institutions. And, it also seeks to establish a network of global, regional and local partnerships with multilateral and national development banks as well as other institutions and market players.

9. WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY: APRIL 2 ,2017
i. World autism Awareness Day is observed on 2nd April every year by United Nations member countries to raise awareness about autism and problems faced by people suffering from it.
ii. World Autism Awareness Day Theme for this year was ‘Toward Autonomy and Self-Determination’
iii. The National Trust, a statutory body functioning under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, has organised a National Conference on Autism on 3rd April 2017 in New Delhi. Mr. Thaawarchand Gehlot ,Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment, will inaugurate the conference.


OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1.  INDIA’S FIRST INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE (ICFMD) HAS SET UP IN WHICH STATE?
a)  Uttar Pradesh
b)  Odisha
c)  Haryana
d)  Assam
Q2. THE 19TH EDITION OF COMMONWEALTH FORESTRY CONFERENCE HAS STARTED IN WHICH STATE?
a)  Kerala
b)  Odisha
c)  Assam
d)  Uttarakhand
Q3.  WHAT IS THE THEME OF THE 2017 WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY (WAAD)?
a)  Towards Autonomy and Self-Determination
b)  Autism and the 2030 Agenda: Inclusion and Neuro diversity
c)  Sustainable Development: The Promise of Technology
d)  Employment: The Autism Advantage
Q4. WHICH UNION MINISTER HAS LAUNCHED POWERTEX INDIA SCHEME TO BOOST POWERLOOM SECTOR?
a)  Arun Jaitley
b)  Rajnath Singh
c)  Smriti Irani
d)  Narendra Modi
Q5. WHO OF THE FOLLOWING HAS BEEN APPOINTED AS NEW CHIEF JUSTICE OF MADRAS HIGH COURT?
a)  Justice Manjula Chellur
b)  Justice Pritinker Diwaker
c)  Justice G. Rohini
d)  Indira Banerjee

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