Current Affairs: Daily GK Update 01st March, 2017

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We bring you the Latest  Gk, Daily Current Affairs news, Events, General awareness Today  01st March 2017 Section in FREE PDF (English & Hindi), a section which outlines the latest important news, Events headlines which are hardly covered elsewhere.

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INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Pakistan to host ECO Summit

Pakistan will host a multi-nation regional economic summit on March 1 aimed at increasing cooperation in areas such as trade, energy, tourism and economic growth.
●    Pakistan is hosting the 13th Economic Cooperation Organisation Summit in Islamabad on March 1. 
●    The Summit will be preceded by the Senior Official’s Meeting on 26—27 February and Council of Foreign Minister’s Meeting on 28 February,” PM’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz told reporters.
●    Most member states have confirmed their participation in the Summit whose theme is ‘Connectivity for Regional Prosperity’.
●    The leaders would deliberate and decide on ways and means to augment cooperation in the areas of connectivity, trade, energy, tourism, investment, industry, economic growth, productivity, social welfare and environment.
●    Initiatives for furtherance of education and scientific linkages, cultural and people-to-people contacts within the ECO would also be deliberated upon during the Summit.

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NATIONAL NEWS

Pepsi and Coke banned in Tamil Nadu

Traders in Tamil Nadu have decided that they will not sell soft drinks manufactured by Multinational Companies (MNCs) from 1 March, and promote only Indian brands, The Hindu reported today. 
●    The decision comes in the aftermath of the massive Jallikattu protests which recently rocked the state.
●    Many people who made the Jallikattu protests about preserving the local culture had also lashed out at PETA, headquartered in the United States, and American brands such as Pepsi and Coke.
●    Peramaippu, with 6,000 affiliated member associations and 15.87 lakh members, will spend February educating traders and consumers about the alleged ills of the foreign brands. 
●    It will also ask restaurants and hotels too to not sell these brands.

NATIONAL NEWS

India Healthier in Last 10 years : Survey

India's health indicators show significant improvement over the last decade with a decline in infant mortality complimented by a better sex ratio, more institutional deliveries and wider vaccine coverage.
●    The population rate is also a showing positive change, according to the new set of government data gathered during the fourth phase of National Family Health Survey.
●    Haryana projected a commendable change in its sex ratio at birth. While 762 females were born per 1,000 males in Haryana during NFHS 3 (2005-06), the ratio improved to 836 females per 1,000 males in the survey in 2014-15. 
●    But the sex ratio at birth improved marginally nationally with 919 females born against 1,000 males during the fourth phase of the survey. 
●    During 2005-06, 914 females were born per 1,000 males.
●    India's total fertility rate also declined to 2.2 from 2.7 over last decade, inching closer to the replacement level of 2.1. 
●    Overall, the level declined by 1.2 children per woman from NFHS 1 to NFHS 4. 
●    The data shows Uttar Pradesh showcased maximum decline in TFR, which dropped from 2.7 to 1.1 in last eight years.

OBITUARY

Noted Gujarati Writer Tarak Mehta died

Popular Gujarati writer and noted play writer Tarak Mehta passed away on 1 March 2017 at his Ahmedabad residence. Mehta passed away at 87.
●    Tarak Mehta suffered from age related illness for a long time.
●    Tarak Mehta was an Indian columnist, humorist, writer and playwright.
●    He wrote around 80 books on various pressing issues.
●    Three books are based on the columns he wrote in Gujarati newspaper Divya Bhaskar. The remaining books were compiled from the stories in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah.
●    The popular comic television serial ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah' is a television adaptation of Taarak Mehta's column 'Duniya Ne Undha Chasma'.
●    He had translated and adapted several comedies into Gujarati. Tarak Mehta had also served in Films Division-Mumbai as a script writer.
●    Gujarat Sahitya Akademi awarded him Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar in 2011 and Ramanlal Nilkanth Hasya Paritoshik in 2017.
●    For his contribution to the literature, he was honoured with the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2015. Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian honour of the Union Government.

NATIONAL NEWS

IMD Predicts 'Over Normal' Temperature this year due to Global Warming

According to NOAA and NASA scientists, 2016 set a global heat record for the third year in a row, but seems that's not enough as more hot weather is expected in the coming days, especially in India.
●    The IMD said that several states are likely to witness heatwave conditions and that the northwest region of the country would be the worst affected with temperatures of more than one degree Celsius above normal.
●    In the rest of the country, temperatures are likely to be a degree Celsius above normal.
●    This includes Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana.
●    While 2016 has been termed as the hottest year since 1901, Phalodi in Rajasthan recorded 51 degrees Celsius - the highest ever recorded in the country.
●    Last year, more than 1,600 people died due to extreme climate conditions. 
●    Of them, 700 died due to heatwave conditions. This included over 400 deaths in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. 

NATIONAL NEWS

Air Costa Stops Operation

Air Costa on Tuesday temporarily suspended its operations, becoming the second regional airline in less than eight months to abruptly stop services after Air Pegasus.
●    Air Pegasus is unlikely to resume services from tomorrow as announced in January when new investors were roped in.
●    Facing financial issues with the lessors, Air Costa has decided to ground its two leased aircraft, Embraer E190, which can seat over 100 passengers. 
●    The airline has only these two planes in its fleet.
●    Rival Air Pegasus too had to shut operations for similar reason in July 2016.
●    Air Pegasus, which has been grounded since July last year, is unlikely to restart services again from tomorrow as the new investors are still carrying out their “due diligence“.
●    Last month, Bengaluru-based airline group Flyeasy had announced acquiring up to 74 per cent stake in Air Pegasus in a deal worth Rs 86 crore.

NATIONAL NEWS

Projects worth Rs 1050 Crore Awarded to arrest sewage pollution in Ganga from Patna

In a major step taken to develop adequate sewage treatment infrastructure in Patna to keep Ganga clean, projects worth  Rs 1,050 crore have been awarded under  Namami Gange programme. 
●    The amount will be spent for setting up two two Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs),renovation of one existing STP , construction of two pumping stations and laying of new underground sewage network of about 400 kilometers.
●    Contracts to build STP of 60 MLD capacity and laying of new underground sewage network of  227 kilometers  in Saidpur zone of the city have been awarded to UEM India Pvt. Ltd and Jyoti Build Tech Pvt. Ltd at a total cost of  Rs 600 crore. 
●    Three other firms – Larsen & Turbo Ltd, Voltas Ltd and GAA Germany JV have been awarded separate projects in Beur zone of the city worth over Rs 450 crore to build one STP of 23 MLD, renovate existing STP of 20 MLD and lay down new underground sewage network of about 180 kilometers. 
●    The scope of work also includes creation of main pumping stations of 83 MLD and 50 MLD capacity in Saidpur and Beur zones respectively. The contracts also include the cost of operation and maintenance of STPs and sewage networks for a period of 10 years.

NATIONAL NEWS

Swachh Bharat Milestone- 100 districts in India declared ODF

Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation today launched Swachh Shakti Saptah, a week-long programme of activities across the country to highlight the role of women in Swachh Bharat Mission and to recognize their leadership.
●    Union Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, made the national launch of Swachh Shakti Saptaah in Gurugram, Haryana, at a joint event with the Government of Haryana. 
●    Over 1000 women swachhta champions from grassroots in Haryana attended the event. Deputy Commissioners of 11 ODF districts of Haryana were honoured on the occasion. 
●    The week will culminate with a mega-event in Gujarat named Swachh Shakti 2017 where the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, will address 6000 women sarpanches and honour them for their contribution to Swachh Bharat.
●    The Minister also announced that the number of ODF (Open Defecation Free) districts in the country has now crossed 100. 
●    Over 1.7 lakh villages have become ODF. He said that the achievement of this milestone today has made it an occasion of double celebration for the Mission. 
●    He lauded everyone involved in the Swachh Bharat Mission, especially the administrations of these 100 districts, for their exceptional efforts towards making the Prime Minister’s vision of a Swachh and Open Defecation Free India a reality.