CURRENT AFFAIRS DAILY DIGEST

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1. Sri Lanka Wins ‘Most Popular Tourism Destination Award’

• Sri Lanka won the “Most Popular Tourism Destination Award” at the Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) in China.
• The island nation won the prestigious award for the second consecutive year which is a testament to its growing popularity among Chinese travel enthusiasts.
• China has been Sri Lanka’s second largest source market for tourism since 2014.
• The volume of visitors to this event has been increasing annually and this has enabled Sri Lanka to gain greater exposure and visibility for its unique destination brand.

2. Vice President Hamid Ansari to attend IORA Summit at Indonesia

• Vice-President Mohammed Hamid Ansari is embarking on a two-day visit to Indonesian capital Jakarta to attend the Summit of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).
• Connectivity, open maritime trade and rights of navigation are expected to be priority areas to be discussed during his visit.
• Vice-President Ansari is also expected to stress on the member countries about evolving common strategies to meet the conventional and non-conventional threats to the security of the member countries.
• This is the first Summit level conference hosted by Jakarta, at a time when the regional forum is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

3. Destination North East 2017 to be host by Chandigarh

• Chandigarh will be hosting a three-day long Destination North East 2017 event aimed at showcasing North East as a potential destination for investment.
• The event is being organised by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), government of India and an industry body PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
• The event will see round table discussions and exhibition stalls showcasing various features of the North East Region in order to attract investments in tourism, skill development, food processing, handlooms and handicrafts, rural livelihoods, entrepreneurship and microfinance, horticulture and floriculture, medicinal & aromatic plants, organic farming and bamboo development.

4. India’s largest tricolour flag on tallest flag post inaugurated at Attari Border

• A 360-foot-high (110 metres) flag post, the country’s tallest, was inaugurated at the Indo-Pak Attari Border, just a stone’s throw from Pakistan.
• Punjab Minister Anil Joshi inaugurated the country’s largest tricolour on the tallest flag post – measuring 110 metres in length, 24 metres in width and 55 tons in weight.
• Built at an approximate cost of Rs 3.50 crore, the post was a project of the Amritsar Improvement Trust Authority of the Punjab Government.

5. First smart tribal village inaugurated in Jammu and Kashmir

• Jammu and Kashmir Minister for food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Ch ZulfkarAli has inaugurated the first tribal model village in Kotranka in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri District.
• Developed under the rural development department, it is the first smart tribal village in Jammu and Kashmir.
• The village has been introduced with smart classes in the schools, better roads, electricity and water facility.

6. To support women founded startups, Facebook launches ‘SheLeadsTech’

• Social networking site Facebook launched a new initiative ‘SheLeadsTech’, to support women-founded or co-founded startups.
• Facebook also aimed at expanding its ‘SheMeansBusiness‘ program that supports women-led small businesses. SheLeadsTech will give women-founded or co-founded start-ups access to a year-long program that provides tools, mentorship and resources.
• The announcement which came ahead of Women’s Day aim to bring women on board India’s digital revolution in a bigger way.

7. India to supply additional 60 MW power to Bangladesh

• North Eastern state Tripura has agreed to supply an additional 60 MW to Bangladesh over the 100 MW of power the north-eastern state is supplying to the neighbouring country.
• This development comes after Bangladesh sought 100 MW electricity from India to solve its power crisis in the eastern part of the nation.
• The Country has been receiving 100 MW since March 23, 2016, besides it has also been provided 500 MW by the West Bengal government.

8. Haryana announces Tirtha Darshan scheme

• A ‘Tirtha Darshan’ scheme, under which senior citizens of the state will be able to go on pilgrimage within the country on government expenses, was announced in the Haryana Assembly today.
• Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar informed the house about the scheme prepared state government, during ongoing budget session of Haryana Vidhan Sabha.
• The scheme is reserved for domiciles of Haryana.
• The senior citizens would be selected for the pilgrimage on the basis of draw of lots. There are more than 400 destinations which can be visited under the scheme.

9. West Bengal Gives Official Status to Tribal Language ‘Kurukh’

• Kurukh, an endangered tribal language of the Dravidian family, is set to get a new lease of life in West Bengal. It is spoken by the Oraon tribal community.
• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata has given official status for the language.
• Most of the tribal languages in the State have their origins in the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Barman families, Kurukh is an exception.
• Jharkhand has recognised Kurukh as a language, and students can write their school final examination in its script.

10. West Bengal Clinical Establishment Bill passed in state assembly

• The West Bengal Clinical Establishments (registration regulations transparency) Bill, 2017 was passed in the state assembly with full support.
• The bill will have provisions to not only monitor private healthcare institutes but also to impose penalty in case of violations.
• There are also provisions in the bill which says that private healthcare institutes cannot refuse admission and treatment in emergency cases such as acid attack, rape and accident victims.
• The hospital will have to admit these patients and begin treatment even if the patient could not afford the treatment immediately.
• The bill comes in the wake of the deaths of a few patients in alleged cases of medical negligence against private hospitals in the state.

11. Assam Cabinet Declares Sanskrit as Compulsory Subject upto Class 8

• The Assam government has decided to make Sanskrit a compulsory language for students up to class 8th in the state.
• The decision to make Sanskrit mandatory was highly appreciated by the Assam Sanskrit Sahitya Sabha and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as it would prevent western impact on state’s culture.
• Besides, the government decided to promote computer education in the state. The government would appoint teachers for the two subject.

12. World’s oldest fossils discovered in Quebec, Canada

• Microfossils up to almost 4.3 billion years old found in Canada of microbes are similar to the bacteria that thrive around sea floor hydrothermal vents and may represent the oldest-known evidence of life on Earth.
• The fossils from the Hudson Bay shoreline in northern Quebec near the Nastapoka Islands lend credence to the hypothesis that hydrothermal vents spewing hot water may have been the cradle of life on Earth relatively soon after the planet formed

13. China overtakes Eurozone as world’s largest banking system

• China’s banking system has surpassed that of the eurozone to become the world’s largest by assets, a sign both of the country’s increased influence in world finance and its reliance on debt to drive growth since the global financial crisis.
• While China’s gross domestic product surpassed the EU’s economic bloc in 2011 at market exchange rates, its banking system did not take over the top spot until the end of 2016

14. Airtel, Millicom ink pact to merge in Ghana

• Bharti Airtel and Millicom International Cellular have entered into an agreement to merge their respective units in Ghana to create the second-largest mobile carrier in the African country.
• Under the terms of the agreement, “Airtel and Millicom will have equal ownership and governance rights in the combined entity.
• Ghana, with a population of around 30 million, is a relatively big market in Africa and among Airtel’s top markets after Nigeria.

15. NASA proposes magnetic shield to protect Mars’ atmosphere

• Scientists at NASA have proposed that launching a giant magnetic shield into space to protect Mars from solar winds could give the Red Planet its atmosphere back and make it habitable for humans.
• Mars now appears to be a cold desert world and it has no global magnetic field.
• The cold temperatures and thin atmosphere on the red Planet do not allow liquid water to exist at the surface for long.

16. Sickle-cell anaemia cured for 1st time by gene modification

• A new gene therapy technique has been used to successfully reverse sickle cell disease for the first time.
• The early signs are encouraging, and the therapy could eventually lead to an effective treatment for the millions of people with this crippling disease worldwide.
• Sickle-cell disease occurs when one of the proteins making up a type of haemoglobin we use to carry oxygen through our body takes a slightly different form.
• This small change is enough to make the red blood cells they occupy lose elasticity, deforming them into a curved ‘sickle’ shape and risking clumps of cells piling up as they struggle to slip through blood vessels.

17. India’s Indigenously-made INSAS rifles to ‘retire’ from army

• After nearly 20 years, the indigenously-manufactured INSAS rifles will be finally ‘retiring’ from the army and replaced by an imported assault rifle to be manufactured in the country later.
• The Indian Small Arms System (INSAS), which was inducted in the army in 1988, is likely to be replaced with deadlier assault rifles of higher caliber.
• The reason for phasing out of INSAS, as cited by experts, was that it was not effective at long range and at best, could only maim the enemy.

18. Dubai Tennis Championship: Bopanna, Matkowski lose men’s doubles final

• India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Polish partner Marcin Matkowski produced a stiff fight before going down in the men’s doubles final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
• This was the second final for Bopanna this season. He had started the season by winning the Chennai Open with compatriot Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan.
• He had won the Dubai Open three times in the past — in 2012, 2014 and 2015.

19. Real Madrid have won the most European club championships

• Spanish side Real Madrid have won a record total of 19 titles in UEFA competitions, two more than Milan (Italy) and five more than Barcelona (Spain).
• The only team to have won every UEFA club competition is Juventus (Italy).
• The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is the governing body for association football in Europe. It organizes three club competitions: the UEFA Champions League (formerly European Cup), the UEFA Europa League (formerly UEFA Cup) and the UEFA Super Cup.
• Spanish clubs have won the most titles (55), ahead of clubs from Italy (48) and England (39).

20. ATP Mexico Open 2017 won by Sam Querrey

• Unseeded American Sam Querrey has won the ATP Mexico Open hard court tennis tournament.
• In the final at Acapulco in Mexico, Querrey stunned second-seeded Rafael Nadal in straight sets 6-3, 7-6. In the process, the American ended the Spaniard’s run of perfection in the tournament.
• Nadal, the 2005 and 2013 champion, had never even lost a set in Acapulco.
• Querrey, ranked 40th in the world, fired 19 aces, backed up by powerful, precise groundstrokes, en route to his first career victory over Nadal in five meetings. For Querrey, it is his ninth ATP title.

21. Andy Murray wins Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for first title of 2017

• Andy Murray bagged the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships over Fernando Verdasco.
• Murray extended his ruthless run in ATP World Tour 500 events with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in just one hour and 13 minutes. The World No. 1, who claimed his first title of the season, has now lifted trophies in four straight 500-level events entered, posting a 19-0 record.

22. ISSF 2017: India finishes fifth with five medals at shooting World Cup

• India ended their campaign in the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) with five medals, including one Gold, two Silver and two Bronze medals at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, New Delhi.

 

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