23rd April 2017 Important Daily Current Affairs

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Dear Great Ambitionists, here are today's (23rd April 2017) Important Current Affairs updates. Happy Reading :)

Daily Current Affairs of 23rd April 2017

International Current Affairs

• Today (23rd April) is World Book and Copyright Day.
• This day is organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• This day is an opportunity to recognize the power of books to change our lives for the better and to support books and those who produce them.
• Note : Conakry, Guinea chosen as 'World Book Capital 2017' by UN for promoting reading in underprivileged sections.
  
• The 1st round of French presidential election began today with 11 candidates' names on the ballot including far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, conservative François Fillon, centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-left wildcard Jean-Luc Mélenchon. 
• This will determine the top two from the 11 candidates, who will proceed to a final run-off on May 7.
• According to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), Russia, with 7,000 nuclear warheads, and the US, with 6,800 warheads, together hold an estimated 93% of the world's nuclear arsenal.
• Other countries like France, China, and the UK account for 300, 270 and 215 nuclear warheads respectively. 
• While Pakistan has a warhead stockpile of 120-130, India's warheads range between 110-120.
• The Communist Party of China has launched a campaign to train school and college students how to spot and catch foreign spies through easy-to-read books and lists of anti-espionage techniques.
• A freight train connecting Russia with China arrived in Ganzhou an inland city in Jiangxi province, carrying goods from Moscow. 
• The freight train travelled more than 7,000 km, before reaching Ganzhou in eastern China.

National Current Affairs

• A 9-storey Sumi Baptist Church, one of Asia's largest, was dedicated in Nagaland's Zunheboto town today. 
• The construction of the church took almost 10 years, and incurred a cost of ₹36 crore.
• The Ministry of External Affairs has made a provision enabling people to apply online for passports in Hindi. 
• People can download the application form available in Hindi, fill it in and upload it while applying for the passport.
• Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman today announced that she would adopt Kalena Agrahara Lake near Bannerghatta Road in Bengaluru. 
• Sitharaman said that she hopes to rejuvenate the lake with funds from MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) and also with the help of local authorities and Karnataka Lake Development Authority.
• For the first time in Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, the None Of The Above (NOTA) option was made available during polling which took place today. 

Awards & Honors

• Anastasia Boil from Russia was crowned the winner of the Miss USSR UK contest.
• Canada's Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan gifted his coin of honour to actor Diljit Dosanjh on the sets of the reality show 'Rising Star'. 
• Sajjan gifted Diljit the honour that he had received from the Government of Canada.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

• India has become world’s second largest LPG importer, a position that was previously occupied by Japan. 
• China remains as the world’s top importer. 

Science & Technology

• ISRO is planning to increase the frequency of launches to 12 per year from seven at present by building more satellites and lowering the cost of access to space.
• "Now, we are trying to go up to 8-9 PSLV per year, two GSLV-Mk II and one GSLV-Mk III. Total about 12 per year," ISRO Chairman AS Kiran Kumar said.

Sports Current Affairs

• Rohan Bopanna and his Uruguayan partner Pablo Cuevas won the Men's doubles final at the Monte Carlo Masters to register their first ATP World Tour title as a team. 
• This is Bopanna's second title win this season.
• Rafael Nadal became the first player in the Open Era (since 1968) to win a singles tournament on 10 different occasions, winning his 10th Monte-Carlo Masters final. 
• It is also Nadal's 29th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 victory, one shy of record-holder Novak Djokovic.
• Top-ranked T20I all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been appointed Captain of Bangladesh's T20I team.
• He replaces Mashrafe Mortaza, who retired from the format last month. 

Read more Daily Current Affairs updates from here

Note : Current Affairs of 24th will be available soon. 

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