Current Affairs Daily Updates: 2nd May 2017

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Current Affairs Daily Updates: 2nd May 2017
APPOINTMENTS
Shobana Kamineni is the new CII President
  • The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has announced Ms. Shobana Kamineni (Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd.) as the new President of CII for the year 2017-18.
  • She takes over from Dr. Naushad Forbes (Co-Chairman, Forbes Marshall Limited).
  • Shobana is an active member of CII and has been a recipient of prestigious national awards for Entrepreneurship and Leadership.
  • Ms. Kamineni holds a B.A. in Economics from Stella Maris College, Chennai and an accelerated Diploma in Hospital Administration from Columbia University, New York.
Anthony Lianzuala takes over as Controller General of Accounts
  • Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) Officer (1982-batch) Anthony Lianzuala took over as the new Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Department of Expenditure, Union Ministry of Finance, in New Delhi.
  • He is the First person from the North-Eastern Region to hold this position.
  • Shri Lianzuala's earlier roles include positions in Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Ministries of Information & Broadcasting, Consumer Afairs, Food & Public Distribution, Commerce, and Rural Development.
Bharti Enterprises appointed Soumen Ghosh as MD - Financial Services
  • Bharti Enterprises, one of India’s leading business groups, has appointed Soumen (Sam) Ghosh as Managing Director of Financial Services.
  • Prior to joining Bharti, Ghosh was heading the Financial Services business at Reliance Capital as Executive Director and Group Chief Executive Officer.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
Andhra Pradesh CM ‘Chandrababu Naidu’ bags USIBC award
  • Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister ‘Chandrababu Naidu’ has been selected for the 'Transformative Chief Minister Award' in recognition for his role in advancing the US-India partnership at the state level.
  • The award would be presented at the USIBC West Coast Summit in the Silicon Valley on 8th May 2017.
  • Last year’s recipient of this award was CEO of Niti Aayog Amitabh Kant.
Hockey India recommends Sardar Singh for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
  • Hockey India has recommended senior player and former captain Sardar Singh for India's highest sporting honor, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.
  • SV Sunil, Dharamvir Singh, and Deepika have been recommended for the Arjuna Award while RP Singh and Sumrai Tete have been recommended for the Dhyan Chand Award.
  • Coaches Sandeep Sangwan and Romesh Pathania have been recommended for the Dronacharya Award.
  • A committee of Sports Ministry will decide on the recommendations made by the respective sports federation
DEATHS
Sufi legend Begum Yaman passes away
  • Famous Sufi singer ‘Begum Yaman K. Khan’ (52-year) passed away after multiple organ failures.
  • She was the daughter of legendary Sitar Maestro (late) ‘Ustad Vilayat Ali Khan’.
  • Begum Yaman used to sing all forms of Indian semi-classical music and was probably the only female singer in India of Sufi style of music in its purest form.
  • She was the recipient of ‘Hasrat Amir Khusrao Award’ by Urdu Press Club International and an award for her excellence and contribution to semi-classical and Sufiana kalam by Balkan-Ji-Bari International.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
India & Turkey sign three agreements
  • India and Turkey have sign three agreements on diplomacy, cultural exchange and on telecommunication during delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Erdogan.
  • It is the first official trip at the presidential level from Turkey to India in seven years.
  • The visiting dignitary held wide-ranging talks with President Pranab Mukherjee on key bilateral and regional issues.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro calls for new constituent body
  • Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro will form a new constituent National Assembly with powers to rewrite the constitution.
  • The new body will be made up of pro-government worker's groups along with civic society groups.
  • Only half of the 500-member assembly, or less, would be elected and political parties would not participate.
Dubai becomes First City in World to gets its Own Microsoft Font
  • Dubai has become the first city in the world to have its own Microsoft-designed font.
  • The font will have typeface both in Latin and Arabic script. It will be made available in 23 languages– Afrikaans, Arabic, Basque, Britannic, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Farsi, Portuguese, Sami, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish and Urdu.
  • The font was launched by the Crown Prince of Dubai Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The font will be used by UAE’s government bodies and also by 100 million Office 365 users around the world.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar to launch Vidya, Veerta Abhiyan
  • The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar has launched a nationwide ‘Vidya - Veerta Abhiyan’ to encourage Universities to display portraits of Param Veer Chakra-decorated soldiers at a function in New Delhi.
  • The aim of this Abhiyan is to inspire a sense of patriotism and nationalism among students.
  • The Vidya, Veerta Abhiyan to create walls of heroes - displaying the portraits of the heroes in institutions of higher learning.
  • The Vice Chancellors (VC) from Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU), Delhi University(DU), Jamia Milia Islamia, Jammu and IIT Delhi, among others, will receive the portraits from the Minister to put it in their educational institutions.
Jaitley hands over DRDO developed devices to forces
  •  The union Defence Minister Arun Jaitley handed over a number of devices like NDRF included 'E-Nasika', a hand-held equipment which is capable of rapid detection of chemical agents well below their toxic limits to National Security Guard (NSG), Delhi Police (DP) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
  • The devices developed by the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation).
DoT launches portal for info on mobile tower radiation
  • The Telecom Minister 'Manoj Sinha' has launched a 'Tarang Sanchar' portal that will allow people to track radiation emitted from mobile towers within a locality and check their compliance with the stipulated norms.
  • The site will help in clearing "myths and misconceptions" about mobile towers and emissions from them.
  • The portal will empower consumers to know the towers working in a particular area, and whether they are compliant to the Electromagnetic field (EMF) emission norms defined by the government.
Tejas Express: New Premier Train between Mumbai and Goa
  • Indian Railways is expected to launch a new 20 coach premier train called the Tejas Express connecting Mumbai and Goa in June.
  • The Tejas service aims to provide comfort to passengers in the inter-city journeys. Once the Mumbai-Goa run becomes operational, the Railways is likely to extend the Tejas service in Delhi-Chandigarh route. The Tejas service was promised in the Union Railway Budget 2016-17.
  • Salient features:
  • The Tejas Express will be the first train of Indian Railways to have automatic doors and secured gangways for all coaches. At present automatic doors are only operational in metro trains in the country.
  • The coaches of Tejas Express would have integrated braille displays, digital destination boards, and electronic passenger reservation charts.
  • The fare of the Tejas Express would be fixed similar to that of Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains.
  • The Tejas Express will have fire and smoke detection and suppression systems as well as improved aesthetics. The other facilities include tea and coffee vending machines, magazines and snack tables. In addition, passengers can enjoy the taste of choicest cuisine curated by celebrity chefs.
  • All the coaches will have water level indicators in the bio-vacuum toilets. Individual LCD screens have been made available for all the passengers for entertainment purpose and for disseminating passenger related information and safety instructions.
Centre launches 'One IP- Two Dispensaries' and 'Aadhaar Based Online Claim Submission' Schemes
  • Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment, Shri Bandaru Dattatreya launched two schemes “One IP- Two Dispensaries” and “Aadhaar based Online Claim Submission” on the occasion of International Labour Day (1st May).
  • Under One IP- Two Dispensaries scheme has given an option to an Insured Person (IP) to choose two dispensaries, one for self and another for the family through an employer.
  • Under Aadhaar based Online Claim Submission scheme all EPF Members who have activated their Universal Account Number (UAN) and seeded their KYC (Aadhaar) with EPFO will be able to apply for PF final settlement, Pension withdrawal benefit and PF part withdrawal from their UAN Interface directly.