04 October 2017 Current Affairs
Indian Railways announced No service charge on train e-tickets till March 2018
The Union Government waived service charges in November last year after demonetization to encourage digital modes of booking. The facility had been extended from June 30 and then to September 30. The Railway Board directed Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) that the benefits be extended till March next year. The Service charges on booking train tickets online through IRCTC ranges from Rs 20 to 40 per ticket.
Union Government launches SECURE Himalaya Project
The Union Government launched SECURE Himalaya, a six-year project to ensure conservation of locally and globally significant biodiversity and land. The Himalayan ecosystem spread over four states namely Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Sikkim. The system was launched by Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Turtle Sanctuary to be set up in Allahabad
The Union Ministry of Water Resources has approved project to set up Turtle sanctuary in Allahabad along with River Biodiversity Park at Sangam in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh under Namami Gange programme. The purpose of the Turtle sanctuary is to protect the rich aquatic biodiversity of river Ganga from escalating anthropogenic pressures.
NHAI launches new website and PMIS Mobile App
The Chairman of National Highways Authority of India Shri Deepak Kumar launched a world-class, new multilingual website of the organization. He also launched a Project Monitoring Information System (PMIS) Moblie App that will facilitate close, in-house monitoring of NHAI projects on a mobile phone. The system is now digitally monitoring them through a state-of-the-art Project Monitoring Information System (PMIS) which has been developed in-house along with The Boston Consulting Group.
Foundation stone for National waterway on Krishna River laid
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu laid foundation stone to develop Muktyal to Vijayawada waterway stretch on River Krishna as part of National Waterway 4 at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh. The 82-km inland waterway stretch is Phase-1 of National Waterway-4 developed under Sagar Mala project. It will be used mainly for transportation of cement and construction material for new capital city Amaravati.
Soumya Swaminathan appointed as New Deputy Director General at WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) appointed Soumya Swaminathan one of two Deputy Directors General. This is the first time such a post has been ever created within the organization. The position is also the highest post held by an Indian in the WHO. She is currently the Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Country’s First ITI for Divyangans in Assam
Foundation stone for the first ever Industrial Training Institute for the Divyangans exclusively was laid at Dibrugarh ITI Complex at Borboruah, Dibrugarh by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. As per the guidelines of National Council for Vocational Training, the ITI will have sixty seats for three different trades with 20 seats per trade. The three different trades included in the curriculum are Computer Operator and Programming Assistant, Cutting and Sewing Technology and Hair & Skin Care.
First US Crude Oil shipment arrives in Paradip
The first United States crude oil cargo of 1.6 million barrels bought by Indian Oil Corporation from the US reached Paradip Port, Odisha. Indian Oil became the first Indian public sector refiner to source US crude has placed a cumulative order 3.9 million barrel from the US. They will process the crude at its East-Coast base refineries, located at Paradip, Haldia, Barauni and Bongaigaon.
Fourth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement released by RBI
On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation at its meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.0 per cent. Consequently, the Reverse Repo Rate (RRR) under the LAF remains at 5.75 per cent, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.25 per cent. The projection of real Gross Value Added (GVA) growth for 2017-18 has been revised down to 6.7 per cent from the August 2017 projection of 7.3 per cent, with risks evenly balanced.
Rangana Herath, 1st left-arm spinner to pick 400 wickets
Rangana Herath has became the 14th bowler overall to take 400 wickets in Test cricket. Herath also became the first left-arm spinner to bag 400 wickets in Tests. Daniel Vettori of New Zealand, with 362 wickets, is second in the list of left-arm spinners with most wickets. He also became the second Sri Lankan after the great Muttiah Muralitharan to pick 400 wickets.
2018 Commonwealth Games Baton arrives in New Delhi
The Queen’s Baton for the 2018 Commonwealth Games arrived in New Delhi, India. The 2018 Commonwealth Games will be held in Australia. The Baton was received by Indian Olympic Association (IOA) joint secretary Rakesh Gupta and it will travel to Agra. It will then be taken to Nainital in Uttarakhand on October 5. The main CWG Baton Relay event will be held on October 8 at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.
Government Names Rajnish Kumar as SBI’s Next Chairman
The Government named Rajnish Kumar as the new chairman of State Bank of India, for a three-year term. Kumar will succeed Arundhati Bhattacharya. At present, Rajnish Kumar is one of the managing directors of SBI. The Banks Board Bureau (BBB) had interviewed four managing directors for the post at the end of June and had recommended a name to the government. The government had extended Bhattacharya’s tenure for a year, with effect from October 7, 2016.
Param Shah appointed as FICCI UK Director
The apex industry body, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) announced the appointment of Param Shah as the new Director for the United Kingdom (UK) operations. Shah will succeed Pratik Dattani whose tenure with FICCI ended recently.
Suu Kyi stripped of Oxford honour over Rohingya criticism
An honour bestowed on Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi by the city of Oxford has been withdrawn as a rection to her perceived inadequate response to the plight of Rohingya muslims in the country. The “Freedom of Oxford” has been granted to the de facto leader of Myanmar in 1997 for her “long struggle for democracy” by the Oxford City Council. While the exact reasons for the portraits removal were attributed to a new replacement, there is a wider view that the allegations of ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslims fleeing their homes to Bangladesh is likey to be behind the move.
Pooja Kadian hands India its first gold in Wushu World C’ships
Pooja Kadian created history as she bagged India’s first ever gold medal at Wushu World Championships in Russia. Pooja, an ace Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) Wushu champion, finished on top of the podium in the 75 kg women’s Sanda Category after defeating Evgeniya Stepanova of Russia in the final.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded for method to visualise biomolecules
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to confer the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017 to three scientists for developing a technique to produce detailed images of life’s complex molecular machinery. Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson have thereby received a £825,000 prize for developing an effective method for generating 3D images of life-building structures. The technique they developed, called cryo-electron microscopy, has allowed the structure of biomolecules to be studied in high-resolution for the first time, an advance that revolutionised the field of biochemistry.