DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 1ST MAY 2017

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 1ST MAY 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
SHARED BY: WWW.DAILYGK.IN

1. SRI LANKA PM RANIL WICKREMESINGHE’S 5-DAY VISIT TO INDIA
i. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the PM of Sri Lanka was on an official visit to India. He is the 3rd leader from South Asian region to visit India during April 2017.
ii. During the visit of Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, India and Sri Lanka signed a memorandum of understanding on economic cooperation in New Delhi.
iii. To strengthen cultural ties with Sri Lanka, Indian PM Narendra Modi will visit Sri Lanka on May 12, 2017.

2. MUMBAI, CHENNAI AMONG TOP 20 TOURIST DESTINATIONS IN ASIA PACIFIC
i. Chennai and Mumbai have ranked among the top 20 tourist destinations in Asia Pacific Region as per the Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2017.
ii. In terms of total expenditure by international tourists, Singapore hosted the highest spending visitors at $254 per day. For the entire APAC region, overall tourism expenditure stood at $244.9 billion
iii. Chennai attracted 2 million international overnight arrivals and ranked 14th.  Mumbai ranked 15th with 4.9 million overnight arrivals.

3. RBI SAYS ARCS MUST HAVE MINIMUM NOF OF RS100 CR BY 2019
i. Reserve Bank of India said that all the existing asset reconstruction companies must have a minimum Net Owned Fund of Rs100 cr by March 2019.
ii. As per amended SARFAESI Act, 2016, “no ARC can commence or carry on the business of securitisation or asset reconstruction without having Net Owned Fund of not less than Rs 2 cr or such other higher amount as the Reserve Bank may, by notification, specify”.
iii. Asset Reconstruction Companies buy out non-performing assets and manages it to make it profitable. In the current scenario, RBI and Central Govt. are envisaging an important role for ARCs in dealing with stressed assets in the system.



4.  GOOGLE INTRODUCES ‘SOLVE FOR INDIA CAMPAIGN’
i. Google has announced the new “Solve for India” initiative for tier-2 cities.
ii. Tier-2 cities include Jaipur, Pune, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Kochi, Nagpur, Nashik, Kanpur, Madurai and Chennai.
iii. Areas include agri-tech, transportation, healthcare, education, sanitation and more. Entrepreneurs will now have the opportunity to learn directly from Google engineers.
iv. It includes how to develop mobile 1st solutions with strong offline and language capabilities and help them to build solutions in many sectors. It aims to support entrepreneurs and developers of the country.
v. The program will provide a platform for developers, entrepreneurs in tier 2 cities. It aims to learn about the latest Google technologies and get access to direct mentoring and support from Google.

5. INDIAN SAND ARTIST SUDARSAN PATTNAIK HAS WON GOLD MEDAL IN MOSCOW COMPETITION
i. Sudarsan Pattnaik is an internationally renowned sand artist won the jury prize gold medal at the 10th Moscow Sand art Championship. 
ii. The competition was held at Kolomenskoye, Moscow in Russia. The theme for the competition was “The world around us”.
iii. Pattnaik has won the competition for his 15 feet high sand sculpture “Mahatma Gandhi–World Peace” for non-violence and peace.

6. ALBANIA MPS ELECT SPEAKER META AS PRESIDENT
i. Albania’s parliament elected speaker Ilir Meta as the new president of Albania
ii. Meta is a former PM and leader of the Socialist Movement for Integration.

7. INDIA TO LAUNCH SOUTH ASIA SATELLITE, A PRICELESS GIFT, ON 5 MAY: PM MODI
i. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced South Asia Satellite will be launched on May 5 and describing it as India’s “priceless gift” to its neighbours as ‘sabka sath, sabka vikas’ (cooperation of all, development for all) concept.
ii. India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan of 7 out of eight SAARC countries are part of this project where 8th SAARC country Pakistan has refused to join this project. The benefits will be in the areas of tele-medicine, education, mapping of natural resources, IT connectivity and people-to-people links.

8. PANKAJ ADVANI WINS SILVER IN ASIAN SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP
i. Indian professional snooker player Pankaj Advani, won silver at the Asian Snooker Championship at Doha, Qatar.
ii. Advani also won gold in the Asian Billiards Championship this year.

9. WORLD IMMUNIZATION WEEK 2017 OBSERVED
i. World Immunization Week 2017 is being observed across the globe between 24 April and 30 April.
ii. The theme for the 2017 World Immunization Week was ‘VaccinesWork.’ Its objective is to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
iii. It aims to raise awareness about the critical importance of full immunization throughout life.
iv. It Promote understanding of the action steps required to achieve the Global Vaccine Action Plan.
v. The year 2017 marks the halfway point in the Global Vaccine Action Plan. The GVAP aims to prevent millions of deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases by 2020 through universal access to immunization.



OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1. WHICH AMONG THE FOLLOWING INDIAN CITIES HAVE RANKED AMONG THE TOP 20 TOURIST DESTINATIONS IN ASIA PACIFIC REGION AS PER THE ‘MASTERCARD ASIA PACIFIC DESTINATIONS INDEX 2017’?
a)  Chennai and Mumbai
b)  Mumbai and New Delhi
c)  Chennai and New Delhi
d)  New Delhi and Bengaluru
Q2. RESERVE BANK OF INDIA SAID THAT ALL THE EXISTING ASSET RECONSTRUCTION COMPANIES MUST HAVE A MINIMUM NET OWNED FUND OF RS______ CR BY MARCH 2019?
a)  Rs.50 Crore
b)  Rs.150 Crore
c)  Rs.125 Crore
d)  Rs.100 Crore
Q3. WHO AMONG THE FOLLOWING HAS WON THE JURY PRIZE GOLD MEDAL AT THE 10TH MOSCOW SAND ART CHAMPIONSHIP?
a)  Rakesh Mohanty
b)  Sudarsan Pattnaik
c)  Narayan Lahoti
d)  Vishwas Rao
Q4. ILIR META HAS BEEN ELECTED AS PRESIDENT OF WHICH COUNTRY?
a)  Austria
b)  Georgia
c)  Albania
d)  Montenegro
Q5. WHAT WAS THE THEME OF ‘WORLD IMMUNIZATION WEEK 2017’ OBSERVED FROM 24-30 APRIL 2017?
a)  ‘WideningVaccineDelivery’
b)  ‘InclusiveImmunisation’
c)  ‘NextGenImmunisation’
d)  ‘VaccinesWork’

ANSWERS: 

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