Daily Current Affairs Updates – 12th April 2017

Daily Current Affairs Updates – 12th April 2017:

Daily Current affairs News Updates about the National and International events were listed here. Candidates those who are preparing for IBPS/SBI/PO/Clerk exam and all other competitive exams can use this.

DAYS TO REMEMBER:

International Day of Human Space Flight - 12th April

International Day of Human Space Flight was observed on 12 April 2017. The day is an annual celebration of the anniversary of the first human space flight undertaken by Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet citizen. Yuri Gagarin carried out Vostok 1 space flight on 12 April 1961, making one orbit around the Earth over 108 minutes in the Vostok 3KA spacecraft. The spacecraft was launched by Vostok-K launch vehicle. This historic event opened the way for space exploration for the benefit of all humanity.

The day is also observed as the Cosmonautics Day in Russia and some other countries. United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) through its resolution A/RES/65/271 on 7 April 2011 during its 65th session proclaimed that International Day of Human Space Flight will be observed annually on 12 April.

Chhattisgarh imposes liquor ban for villages with population upto 3000 :

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Tuesday announced the ban on liquor sale in villages having a population up to 3,000. Earlier, the state had banned the sale of liquor in villages with population up to 2,000. Singh further said the government has already done away with outsourcing liquor sale to middlemen and liquor is sold only from government outlets.

State : Chhattisgarh

Capital : Raipur

CM : Raman Singh

Governor : Balram Das Tandon

From May 1 Petrol, diesel prices to be revised on daily basis in 5 cities :

The prices of petrol and diesel in India will change every day in sync with international rates from May 1. The government-owned fuel retailers will launch a pilot project for daily price revision in Puducherry, Vishakhapatnam, Udaipur, Jamshedpur and Chandigarh before extending it to all over India. The fuel retailers currently revise rates on 1st and 16th of every month.

Lok Sabha passes HIV AIDS Prevention and Control Bill :

Aiming to strengthen the rights of the people infected with HIV, Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill, 2017. The bill ensures equal rights to people affected by HIV and AIDS in getting treatment, admissions in educational institutions and jobs. Health Minister JP Nadda termed the unanimous passage of the bill as "historic".

EC orders re-polls at 38 polling stations in Srinagar :

The Election Commission on Tuesday announced re-polling at 38 poll stations in the Srinagar parliamentary constituency on April 13. The Lok Sabha constituency, where by-polls were held on Sunday, had witnessed a large-scale violence wherein eight civilians died and only 6.5% voter turnout was recorded. Earlier on Monday, the EC had deferred by-polls in Anantnag constituency to May 25.

Organic vegetables are grown in Kerala Police stations :

Many police stations in Kerala are growing organic vegetables on their plots, as part of the government's 'Haritha Keralam' initiative. Police personnel at the Mulavukavu police station reportedly grew vegetables of 27 different varieties on the land adjacent to the station. The produce from one of the stations was sold and the amount was donated for treatment of underprivileged patients.

State : Kerala

Capital : Thiruvananthapuram

CM : Pinarayi Vijayan

Governor : P.Sathasivam

Polythene bags to be banned from May-1 in Madhya Pradesh :

The Madhya Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday imposed a ban on using polythene carry bags in the state with effect from May 1. "The cows eat polythene/plastic bags, which leads to their death. Banning of polythene use will protect their lives. Besides, the plastic/polythene bags are also harmful for the environment," state's Public Relations Department Minister Narottam Mishra said.

State : Madhya Pradesh

Capital : Bhopal

CM : Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Governor : Om Prakash Kohli (Additional charge)

Villages of UP to get 18-hour power supply : UP govt

The UP Cabinet has decided that villages in the state will get 18-hour power supply, Power Minister Shrikant Sharma said. In the second Cabinet meet, Yogi Adityanath also ordered 24-hour power supply in district headquarters, 20-hour at tehsil level and in Bundelkhand region besides deciding to ink a pact with the Centre to ensure electricity in all villages by 2019.

State : Uttar Pradesh

Capital : Lucknow

CM : Yogi Adityanath

Governor : Shri Ram Naik

'Ammaku Vandanam' a mother worship programme to be introduced in all govt schools of Andhra :

'Ammaku Vandanam', a programme to pay tribute to mothers would be introduced in government schools in Andhra Pradesh from this year, officials have said. Under this programme, students will take the blessings of their mother and also wash their feet. According to the order, mothers would be invited to the schools on a specific day every year for the function.

State : Andhra Pradesh

Capital : Amaravati

CM : N Chandrababu Naidu

Governor : E. S. L. Narasimhan

Teaching Malayalam made mandatory in all Kerala schools :

Kerala government has promulgated an ordinance making it mandatory for all state schools, including both private and government schools, to teach Malayalam. Any school or teacher disobeying the provision would have to face legal consequences, the law states. The Kerala High Court had in 2012 struck down a similar order stating that students from other states also studied in Kerala.

State : Kerala

Capital : Thiruvananthapuram

CM : Pinarayi Vijayan

Governor : P.Sathasivam

2 day NDMP review workshop inaugurates today in Delhi :

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju inaugurated a two-day workshop on the review of the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) in New Delhi today. The workshop has been organised by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Speaking on the occasion, Kiren Rijiju said it is imperative to integrate disaster risk reduction (DRR) into governance. He said the review would majorly guide in managing future disasters.

Himachal Pradesh govt achieves 108% target under MGNREGS :

In Himachal Pradesh, 240 lakh man-days were generated under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act against the target of 218 lakh man-days during 2016-17. This was told by State Rural and Panchayati Raj Minister Anil Sharma at a meeting in Shimla. A sum of 625 Crore Rupees was spent against target of 396 Crore Rupees and the achievement was 108 percent. The state was now able to clear all previous liabilities under the act. Under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act funds amounting to 700 Crore Rupees had been got approved for current financial year.

State : Himachal Pradesh

Capital : Shimla

CM : Virbhadra Singh

Governor : Acharya Dev Vrat

Joint Military Exercise Nomadic Elephant 2017 of Indo-Mongolia kicks-off :

The joint military training exercise of India and Mongolia has begun recently in Mizoram. The 14-day long exercise began on 5 April 2017 and will end on 18 April 2017. It is the twelfth edition of the Indo-Mongolia joint military exercise Nomadic Elephant. It is being conducted at the Indian Army’s elite Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School Vairengte in Mizoram.

Country : Mongolia

Capital : Ulaanbaatar

Currency : Mongolian tögrög

Prime Minister : Jargaltulgyn Erdenebat

INTERNATIONAL:

100 years of Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram Celebrated in London :

The centenary of Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram was celebrated in London with the screening of a documentary to re-tell Gandhi's story. The documentary 'Sabarmati Ashram- The Home of Gandhi's Experiments with Truth was screened at the Nehru Centre on Monday. The film showed how Gandhi set up the ashram in 1917 on a wasteland on the banks of Sabarmati River and some pro-British newspapers ridiculed his idea of Salt March. The film also sheds light on Gandhi's life in the Ashram.

Nepal govt presents new Constitution amendment bill to address concerns of Madhesi parties :

In a bid to take agitating Madhesi parties on board before May 14 local elections Nepal government has presented a new constitution amendment bill. The bill was registered at the parliament secretariat by the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry on Tuesday. The bill aims to address some of the key demands raised by United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF). Madhesi leaders are demanding more representation and re-demarcation of provincial boundaries ahead of local polls.

Country : Nepal

Capital: Kathmandu

Currency: Nepalese rupee

Prime minister: Pushpa Kamal Dahal

President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari

BANKING NEWS:

Nabard to raise ₹7,000 crore to help fund rural housing :

To give a fillip to affordable rural housing, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) is planning to raise ₹7,000 crore, which in turn will be deployed with a Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) special purpose vehicle (SPV) that will undertake projects under the aegis of the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana–Gramin (PMAY-G). In view of the challenges facing affordable rural housing and in keeping with its rural development mandate, Nabard has initiated talks with MoRD for raising resources, said a senior official.

AGREEMENTS:

Indian Railways tie-up with BHEL for Rooftop SPV Systems :

The Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) on 11 April 2017 announced that it has tied up with the Indian Railways for executing Rooftop SPV Systems Project. An agreement in this regard was signed between the BHEL and the Indian Railways on 30 March 2017. The agreement was signed in the presence of Amitabh Mathur, Director (IS&P), BHEL and Ravinder Gupta CAO, Indian Railways Organisation for Alternate Fuels.

Joint Statement on Free Trade Agreement signed between India and Georgia :

India and Georgia on 11 April 2017 signed a Joint Statement on the launching of the Joint Feasibility Study on the bilateral Free Trade Agreement. The agreement was signed after a meeting between the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia GiorgiGakharia and the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi. On this occasion, both the ministers expressed the hope that the Joint Feasibility Study Group shall issue a report with the relevant analysis and recommendations within a period of six months.

Country : Georgia

Capital: Tbilisi

Currency: Georgian lari

Prime Minister : Giorgi Kvirikashvili

AWARDS AND HONOURS:

2017 Pulitzer Prize winners announced :

The most prestigious award in American journalism, Pulitzer Prizes, on Monday honoured reporting on the US presidential election and the attempts by the Russian government to assert its power, among other topics. Out of the 21 prizes, The New York Times won three prizes, the most for any news organisation. Other winners included The Washington Post and ProPublica, among others.

SPORTS NEWS:

Asian School Hockey Championship won by India School team :

The Indian School team beat Malaysia 5-1 to lift the title at the Fifth Asian School Hockey Championship in Bhopal at the Aishbagh Stadium yesterday.

For India Alishan Mohammad scored two goals and Pratap Lakra successfully converted a penalty corner and a penalty stroke in the goal. Maninder Singh scored the fifth goal. Malaysia managed to score its single goal through Akhimullah Anuar Esook.

ICC announces 8 ambassadors for Champions Trophy which features India's Harbhajan :

Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh is among the eight ambassadors for the ICC Champions Trophy, which starts on June 1 in England. The cricketers will make promotional appearances during the ICC Champions Trophy tour, besides analysing the tournament matches. The eight Ambassadors between them have played 1,774 ODIs, scoring 51,906 runs with 48 centuries, and taking 838 wickets.

Akhilesh Das Gupta Former Union Minister passed away :

Former Union Minister and Congress leader Akhilesh Das Gupta passed away on Wednesday following a heart attack. The 56-year-old leader was the son of freedom fighter and former Uttar Pradesh CM Babu Banarasi Das. A Rajya Sabha MP for 18 years from 1996 to 2014, he was the serving chief of the Badminton Association of India.