2nd April 2017, Important Daily Current Affairs

Important Current affairs dated 2nd April 2017 for Competitive Exams in India.
Hello Readers, We bring you another issue of current affairs that covers the important news in Current Affairs Today Section.
Current Affairs help in your preparing yourself for the various Competitive Exams in India. UPSCSuccess.com wishes all the readers best of luck. These Current Affairs coverage will help you to Score Good Marks in Competitive Exams such as UPSC, and other PSCs.

Indian Affairs

Shri Narendra Modi inaugurates India’s longest highways tunnel – the Chenani- Nashri tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir today

• The tunnel will not only reduce the distance between Jammu and Srinagar, but will also promote tourism in the valley, open up employment opportunities for the youth and give a boost to development in the state.
• The 9 km long, twin-tube, all-weather tunnel between Udhampur and Ramban in Jammu & Kashmir is not only India’s longest highways tunnel but also Asia’s longest bi-directional highways tunnel
• Built at an elevation of 1200 metres on one of the most difficult Himalayan terrains, the tunnel will cut the travel time between Jammu and Srinagar by two hours, bypassing about 41 kms of road length.
• The structure consists of a 9 km long, two-lane main tunnel with a parallel escape tunnel of same length. The two tunnels are connected by 29 cross passages at regular intervals along the entire length of the tunnel.
• The tunnel has an efficient, transverse ventilation system. There are inlets bringing fresh air at 8-metre intervals and outlet for exhaust every 100 metres. There is also a fully-integrated control system with ventilation, communication, power supply, incident detection, SOS call box and fire fighting. Fitted with intelligent traffic mechanism, the tunnel has fully automatic smart control and no human intervention will be required for its operations.
• The time saving on the Jammu- Srinagar route will further result in fuel saving of approximately Rs 27 lakhs per day.

PM addresses valedictory ceremony of Sesquicentennial (150th year) Celebrations of Allahabad High Court

• The Prime Minister said that about 1200 obsolete laws have been scrapped by the Union Government since May 2014. He said technology is playing a key role in this century and there is a lot of scope for its use in the judiciary as well. He urged those involved in the startup sector to innovate on aspects where technology can help the judiciary.
• Speaking on the occasion, he said the Allahabad High Court is like a place of pilgrimage for our judiciary. He said those associated with the legal profession also played a vital role in our freedom struggle, and protected our people against colonialism.

Govt Launches PowerTex India scheme for Powerloom sector

The Government has launched PowerTex India, a comprehensive scheme for powerloom sector development, simultaneously at over 45 locations in the country.
Launching the scheme in Bhiwandi, Thane district, Maharashtra, the Union Textiles Minister, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani said that Bhiwandi will be known for resurgence in Powerloom sector. Recalling that the powerloom sector alone employs over 44 lakh people, the Minister said that the scheme will especially benefit small powerloom weavers.
The comprehensive scheme has the following components:

• In-situ Upgradation of Plain Powerlooms
• Group Workshed Scheme (GWS)
• Yarn Bank Scheme
• Common Facility Centre (CFC)
• Pradhan Mantri Credit Scheme for Powerloom Weavers
• Solar Energy Scheme for Powerlooms
• Facilitation, IT, Awareness, Market Development and Publicity for Powerloom Schemes
• Tex Venture Capital Fund
• Grant-in-Aid and Modernisation & Upgradation of Powerloom Service Centres (PSCs)

On the occasion, the Union Textiles Minister and Chief Minister of Maharashtra launched PowerTex India helpline for any assistance in this regard. PowerTex India van was also flagged off for publicity of PowerTex scheme across the country.

Radhamohan Singh inaugurated International Center for Foot and Mouth Disease

• Union Agriculture minister Radhamohan Singh will inaugurate the International Centre for Foot and Mouth Disease (ICFMD) at Argul in Khurda district near the capital city on the occasion of Odisha’s foundation day on April 1.
• This centre will conduct research on how to control foot and mouth disease (FMD) of cattle and buffaloes.
• This centre will serve as a regional resource laboratory for countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). There is no such type of centre in the country. It has a state-of-the-art laboratory which is a unique and first of its kind in Asia continent, claimed its project director Dr Bramhadev Pattnaik.
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), an autonomous body coordinating agricultural education and research in India, has funded for the establishment of this centre. The state government has provided 100 acres of land for the centre. Estimated cost of the project started in April 2014 is Rs 450 crore.
• The centre will conduct research on different viruses of FMD and invent vaccines. It has the facility to keep at least 20 cattle for research purpose.

Mizoram becomes 27^th State to join UDAY scheme

• The Government of India and the State of Mizoram signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under the scheme Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) today for operational improvement of the State’s Power Distribution Department.
• With the signing of MoU by Mizoram, the total States/ Union territories covered under UDAY will be 27. Mizoram would derive an overall net benefit of approximately Rs.198 crores by opting to participate in UDAY, by way of cheaper funds, reduction in AT&C and transmission losses, interventions in energy efficiency, etc. during the period of turnaround.
• The MoU paves way for improving operational efficiency of the Power Distribution department of the State. Through compulsory Distribution Transformer metering, consumer indexing & GIS mapping of losses, upgrade/change transformers, meters etc., smart metering of high-end consumers, feeder audit etc. AT&C losses and transmission losses would be brought down, besides eliminating the gap between cost of supply of power and realisation. The reduction in AT&C losses and transmission losses to 15% and 2.50% respectively is likely to bring additional revenue of around Rs.166 crores during the period of turnaround.
• Demand Side interventions in UDAY such as usage of energy-efficient LED bulbs, agricultural pumps, fans & air-conditioners and efficient industrial equipment through PAT (Perform, Achieve, Trade) would help in reducing peak load, flatten load curve and thus help in reducing energy consumption in the State of Mizoram. The gain is expected to be around Rs.30 crores.
• The scheme would also allow speedy availability of cheaper power to 22,007 households in the State that are still without electricity.

Banking and Finance

SBI merged with all its subsidiaries and entered in the league of top 50 Global Banks

On April 1, 2017, State Bank of India (SBI) successfully merged with its five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank thedublinroofers.ie. By this merger, SBI entered the league of Top 50 Global Banks which ranks 44^thand a balance sheet size of Rs 41 lakh crore along with the new logo.
The associate banks of SBI are
1.State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur,
2.State Bank of Hyderabad,
3.State Bank of Mysore,
4.State Bank of Patiala and
5.State Bank of Travancore.

NDB invests USD 1.5 billion in 7 projects in past 2 years of operation: Kamath

The Bank President K V Kamath said that the BRICS-backed New Development Bank (NDB) has invested in seven projects totalling USD 1.5 billion in about two years of its operation,.
Focus:
To build the foundation of NDB
Focussed on green and environmentally sustainable projects.
Seven projects have been done so far which aggregate around USD 1.5 billion. Six of them are in the renewable energy sector and one in transport financing.
This is the second annual meeting of the NDB.
The bank had signed its first loan agreement for a project in China in December last year.
Kamath said the bank has an approval to raise 10 billion renminbi, out of which it has raised 3 billion renminbi.
The NDB is also planning to raise up to 500 million through ‘masala bonds’ and increase its exposure to infrastructure projects in India to around USD 600-700 million during the year.

Appointments & Resigns

Rajiv Kumar Chander appointed as Permanent Representative to Geneva UN offices from India

• Rajiv Kumar Chander, who is from 1983 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, has been appointed the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the UN offices in Geneva (UNOG) on March 30, 2017.

•  He will succeeds Ajit Kumar, who is from 1979 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) at the Geneva office in May, 2017.

Business

Full Multi-Crore Heavy Duty Satellite to be made by Private sector – ISRO

• For the first time, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on April 2, 2017 assigned a task of making two Full Multi-Crore Heavy Duty Satellites to Alpha Design Technologies, a private sector high-tech defense equipment supplier.
•  A team of 70 engineers is working to make a flight ready satellite in the next six months. A sum of Rs 400 crore is signed up with the company to give India its first large private satellite.

Science and Technology

MP E-Nagarpalika APP launched by Madhya Pradesh to provide Municipal Services Online

• The Madhya Pradesh government has launched mobile application MP e-Nagarpalika to provide various municipal services online. The App was launched by Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
• The mobile app is the part of Rs 225-crore e-nagarpalika project, under which all municipal services would be made available online on a unified web platform.
• A total of 378 services which includes online payment of property tax, seeking building permission, birth, marriage and death certificates are provided through this app.
  In addition, the app will also register complaints related to garbage, water and streetlights.
• Online payment gateway is made available on this app.

Sports

Grant Elliott announces Retirement from International cricket

• New Zealand all-rounder Grant Elliott has confirmed his retirement from international cricket on March 30, 2017. He will retire from cricket after playing his last T20 series against England.

• He registered is retirement officially after receiving a special presentation alongside with Nathan McCullum.

•  After retirement, Grant Elliott will join New Zealand internationals Colin de Grandhomme and Jeetan Patel at the Birmingham Bears after signing a Kolpak deal.

Three world records held by Jepkosgei at Prague Half Marathon

• Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya broke three world records by winning the Prague Half Marathon in Czech Republic on April 1, 2017. Defending champion Violah Jepchumba and Fancy Chemutai, both from Kenya finished 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.

• In men’s race, Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia won the race in 59:37. Kenyan’s Josphat Tanui and Geoffrey Yegon were 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.

• The Kenyan set a new half marathon world record — as well as registering the quickest times for the 10-kilometre and 15-kilometre marks — in just her fifth half marathon.

• Her time of one hour four minutes and fifty two seconds (64:52) was 14 seconds better than the previous half marathon world record which was set at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in UAE earlier this year by compatriot Peres Jepchirchir (65:06).

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