Current Affairs

GK and Current Affairs Updates

Select Date
Tags:
Hindi

Celebrations for 350th Prakash Parv begin in Patna

India is celebrating the 350th Prakash Parv or birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. In 2017, Patna, the birthplace of the 10th Sikh Guru, is hosting the anniversary celebrations.
The main function of the celebrations was held on 5 January 2017 at the Gandhi Maidan in Patna. The celebrations in the city saw the presence of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and several other Sikh dignitaries from India and abroad.
●    Takht Sri Patna Sahib is a Gurudwara in the neighborhood of Patna Sahib, Bihar.
●    The Gurudwara was built in remembrance of the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh on 22 December 1666.
●    It was built by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.
●    The present shrine of Takht Sri Harmandirji Sahib was built in the 1950s.
●    Guru Gobind Singh was the 10th Guru of Sikh religion.
●    He was born as Gobind Rai on 22 December 1666.
●    In 1699, he founded the Sikh warrior community called as Khalsa.
●    He also introduced the Five Ks, the five articles of faith that Khalsa Sikhs wear all the times.

Read More
Read Less

NASA to send first African-American to space station in 2018

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on 4 January 2017 announced the assignment of veteran astronaut Andrew Feustel and first-flight astronaut Jeanette Epps to missions aboard the International Space Station in 2018.
●    Epps will become the first African-American space station crew member when she launches on her first spaceflight in May 2018.
●    Feustel will launch in March 2018 for his first long-duration mission. 
●    He will serve as a flight engineer on Expedition 55. 
●    Later, he will be assigned as commander on Expedition 56.
●    On the other hand, Epps will join Feustel as a flight engineer on Expedition 56, and remain on board for Expedition 57.
●    Jeanette Epps was selected by NASA in 2009 as an astronaut.
●    She served as a CIA technical intelligence officer for seven years before being selected as a member of the 2009 astronaut class.

Read More
Read Less
View All Comments

Virat Kohli named limited overs Captain

Virat Kohli was named the captain in both limited-overs formats after MS Dhoni stepped down on 4th January.
●    While Dhoni retained his place in both squads, wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was named in the T20I squad. 
●    A right-handed batsman often regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world, Kohli was ranked eighth in ESPN's list of world's most famous athletes in 2016.
●    He plays for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and has been the team's captain since 2013.
●    Born and raised in Delhi, Kohli represented the city's cricket team at various age-group levels before making his first-class debut in 2006. 
●    He captained India Under-19s to victory at the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, and a few months later, made his ODI debut for India against Sri Lanka at the age of 19. 

Read More
Read Less

44th edition of World Book Fair begins in Delhi

The 44th edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair began at Pragati Maidan in national capital. 
The theme for this edition of the event is ‘Manushi– Books Written on and by Women’. 
●    It was inaugurated by Union Minister of State (MoS) for Human Resources Development (Higher Education) Mahendra Nath Pandey. 
●    The nine-day event has been organised by National Book Trust (NBT), under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development. 
●    While, India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) is the Co-organizer. Based on the theme, the fair will exhibit the rich tradition of women's writings from ancient times till the present. 
●    Nearly 800 publishers from across the country and abroad are participating in it. 
●    About 20 countries including China, France, Germany, Egypt, Japan and Iran are taking part in the Foreign Pavilion. 
●    Books on different genres like fiction, poetry, social science, and children’s literature are forming the main ingredients of the exhibition.
 
 

Read More
Read Less

IRCTC launches new app for faster booking of tickets

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Limited will soon launch a new ticketing App which will have several features added on the existing one for faster booking of tickets.
●    Equipped with latest technology, existing IRCTC Connect will now become IRCTC Rail Connect to facilitate booking of train tickets in a faster and easier way.
●    IRCTC, which handles online train ticket bookings, will formally unveil the IRCTC Rail Connect App next week to cater to the growing demand of passengers to make the ticketing App more user-friendly and faster.
●    The new ticketing App will be based on next generation e-ticketing system. 
●    It will be synchronised with the ticketing website also, which is missing in the current system.
●    Travellers will continue to be able to search and book train tickets, check their existing reservations or cancel them, and get upcoming journey alerts in the new application.
●    IRCTC Rail Connect will retain the passenger details for the recently-booked tickets, so that they don’t have to enter their details again and again.
 

Read More
Read Less

Aadhaar mandatory for EPF Pension Scheme

The Centre has made obtaining an Aadhaar number mandatory for 2.5 crore members of the Employees’ Pension Scheme of 1995, one of the benefits available to Employees’ Provident Fund subscribers.
●    The subsidy, equivalent to 1.16 per cent of the employee’s salary upto 6,500, paid by the Centre towards the EPS, will no longer be credited till the Aadhaar number is shared with the authorities.
●    These documents will have to be submitted to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation or EPFO along with either of the following documents: voter ID card, passport, PAN card, driving license or a certificate of identity approved by a gazetted officer.
●    At present, the minimum pension under EPS is 1,000 per month and an employee can receive pension only after a minimum 10 years of service.

Read More
Read Less

Road Ministry to launch 2 new apps for road safety

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is planning to soon launch two mobile apps — m-Parivahan and e-challan — which would not only give a push to road safety but also facilitate citizen interactions.
●    m-Parivahan is a citizen-centric app which would offer the facility of searching and establishing the genuineness of a vehicle and driver.
●    e-challan is an enforcement app which will be utilised by traffic police as well as transport authorities. 
●    It would facilitate Good Samaritans in terms of reporting accidents or traffic violations. 
●    Both the apps are expected to be launched during the Road Safety Week which begins on 9th January.
●    Under Motor Vehicles Act, the police as well as the transport authorities can take action against the traffic violators. 

Read More
Read Less

China launches Telecommunication Technology Test Satellite

China has successfully launched a telecommunication technology test satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
●    The satellite was launched late last night by a Long March-3B carrier rocket, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
●    China plans to conduct a "record" number of 30 space launch missions this year as part of its efforts to expand its ambitious space programme.
●    The record-breaking number space launches will be launched by Long March-5 and Long March-7 rockets, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said earlier.
●    Long March-5 is China's largest carrier rocket. 
●    The successful test launch of the vehicle in November in South China's Hainan Province will pave the way for space station construction.

Read More
Read Less

Eminent Jurist Weeramantry passes away

Eminent jurist C.G. Weeramantry, who was the first Sri Lankan to be appointed to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), passed away on 5th January. He was 90.
●    Justice Weeramantry began his judicial career in the 1950s, and became Sri Lanka’s youngest Supreme Court judge.
●    He later served as a senior judge there before moving to Australia as the Sir Hayden Stark Professor of Law at Monash University.
●    He set up the Colombo-based Weeramantry Centre for International Peace and also served as president of the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms, a non-governmental organisation headquartered in The Hague.
 

Read More
Read Less

Regional Labour Conference of North-Eastern Region held in Guwahati 

The Regional conference of state Labour Ministers and Principal Secretaries of Labour of North Eastern States was held yesterday in the presence of Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour & Employment, It was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Assam, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal in Guwahati. 
●    The Secretary, Labour and Employment, Govt. of India, Smt.  Sathiavathi and officers from all the 7 states of North East were also present.
●    Inaugurating the conference the Chief Minister of Assam urged to upgrade the ESIC Model Hospital at Beltola from 50 bedded to 150 bedded. 
●    Shri Sonowal also highlighted the steps taken by the State Government of Assam to reduce the hardships of people during demonetisation.
●    Speaking on the occasion, Shri Bandaru Dattatreya highlighted various labour reforms taken by the Government measures taken to ensure job security and social security of workers and implementation of National Career Service Project.
●    of 100 model career centres to be established in India, 18 are to be set up in North East States.

Read More
Read Less

All Rights Reserved Top Rankers