4th May 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

sponsored links

International Affairs

• Today (4th May 2016) is International Firefighters' Day.
• Saudi Arabia's Justice Ministry has announced that brides in the country will now get a copy of their marriage contracts, a privilege that was reserved only to men. 
• The Ministry said this decision aims to “protect the rights of the woman and facilitate procedures for her”. 
• Note : Saudi women need permission from their male guardians to get married.
• World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released a report titled ‘Protecting people through nature’ with the subtitle ‘Natural world heritage sites as Drivers of sustainable development.’
• The report mentions nearly half of the iconic 229 natural and mixed World Heritage sites in 96 countries around the world, including Western Ghats, face significant threats.
• Further, the iconic symbols of conservation are facing threats to their unique values, putting the livelihoods and well-being of people who depend on them at risk.

National Affairs

• As many as 2,508 cities across 26 states have been selected under the 'Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana' for providing affordable houses to the urban poor, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said today. 
  
• The scheme aims at constructing over two crore houses within seven years, and targets the Economically Weaker Section and Lower Income Group categories in urban establishments.
• The Maharashtra government has moved 255 families, who were earlier living in a slum, to a building ready under the Dharavi redevelopment plan. 
• Note : Each house cost about ₹22 lakh to build. 
• Under the redevelopment project, Dharavi was divided into five sectors, of which one was to be developed by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority.
• The Telangana government today announced that it is going to set up a Memorial in Hyderabad for those who sacrificed their lives for the cause of a separate state. 
• The memorial would come up at Hussain Sagar Lake, and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is expected to lay its foundation stone on June 2 (Telangana Formation Day).
• Important Note : The Telangana government has also announced unfurling of the tricolour on the tallest mast in Hyderabad on the occasion of the state’s Formation Day on June 2. 
• The flag will be unfurled at the Bathukamma Ghat of the Hussain Sagar Lake and "it will be at a height of 301 feet,".
• The Madhya Pradesh government will launch Nagaroday Abhiyan on the lines of Gramoday Se Bharat Uday Abhiyan in the state in July-August.
• The campaign will focus on welfare of the people and development of urban localities.
• The Lok Sabha passed the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015 for the establishment of funds under the public accounts of Centre and each State towards compensatory afforestation. 
• It also provides for additional afforestation and penal compensatory afforestation to regulate collected funds.

New Appointments

• UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has selected Mexican diplomat Patricia Espinosa as the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). 
• She is giong to replace the incumbent Christiana Figueres when her term ends in July 2016. 
• The Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court KM Joseph was transferred to the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Hyderabad. 
• Important Points to Note : 
• Recently, a bench headed by Joseph had quashed the President’s rule in Uttarakhand. 
• Meanwhile, Acting Chief Justice Dilip B Bhosale of the Hyderabad High Court was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
• Future Group's Chief Executive Kishore Biyani was appointed Managing Director (MD) of Bharti Retail.
• Indian Information Service (IIS) officer Bhupendra Kainthola took charge as Director of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). 
• Kainthola replaced Prashant Pathrabe, who had served as interim Director and shall have tenure of three years.

Books & Authors

• Indian tennis player Sania Mirza's upcoming autobiography​ ‘Ace Against Odds’ is set to be released in July this year, publisher HarperCollins announced today. 
• The book, penned by Sania and her father Imran Mirza, documents her rise in Tennis to become World number one in women's doubles, along with anecdotes about the difficulties, hardships and joys she encountered in her career.

Awards & Honors

• Actors Amitabh Bachchan and Kangana Ranaut received National Awards for their roles in 'Piku' and 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns' respectively at the 63rd National Film Awards ceremony held in Delhi yesterdat. 
• Meanwhile, veteran actor Manoj Kumar was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award at the ceremony. 
• The awards were presented to the actors by President Pranab Mukherjee.
• Check Complete List of 63rd National Film Awards from here

Deaths

• Nihal Bitla, who was suffering from the rare genetic condition progeria, died today in a hospital in Telangana at the age of 15 years. 
• The disease aged him eight times faster than normal children thus shortening his life span. 
• Important Note : Nihal was the face of the Progeria Research Foundation’s campaign, which was working to detect undiagnosed children living in India.

Business & Economy

• China's central bank has fixed the Yuan 0.6% weaker at 6.4943 against the US Dollar, the biggest downward movement since August 2015. 
• This comes after China raised the Yuan-Dollar exchange rate on Friday by 0.56%, the biggest increase in nearly 11 years. 
• Note : China allows the Yuan to rise or fall 2% on either side of the daily fix.
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the telecom sector stood at $4.09 billion (around ₹27,000 crore) between April 2014-February 2016. 
• In comparison, the investment was $1.61 billion between April 2012-March 2014. 
• Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power has received in-principle approval from the Bangladesh government for the first phase of a 3,000 MW Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)-based power plant in the country. 
• The project is scheduled to be commissioned by 2018-19.
• Minister of State (I/C) for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman launched EXIM Analytics Dashboard to provide an easy access to detailed trade data of the country.
• This web-based dashboard will provide an accurate perspective to the general public on the facts around the trade performance in India.
• The portal developed by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, at the instance of the Ministry would provide data graphically exposing patterns, trends and correlations that might go undetected in text based data.
• Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from Japan, China, South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed on the need to address downside risks to global economic development.
• In a joint statement issued at a meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, they said the countries are expected to maintain relatively high level of economic growth and be a driving force in the global economy.

Sports

• India slips to 4th place in ICC ODI rankings and 2nd place in T20 rankings.
• England's world number one Mark Selby won World Championship title of Snooker. 

Read more Daily Current Affairs updates from here

sponsored links