Current Affairs - May 2, 2017 Current Affairs

The Cabinet Appointment Committee has appointed Shri Anthony Lianzuala as the new Controller General of Accounts(CGA) under the Finance Ministry.Shri Anthony Lianzuala is the first person from north-eastern region to be appointed to this position. CGA is the apex accoutning authority under the Central Government and exercises the power of the President under Article 150 of the Constitution.

The National Mission for Clean Ganga will observe 'Ganga Cleanliness Pledge Day'on May 2 at various places in the river's basin states to spread awareness and ensure public participation for the programme.

The South Asia satellite "GSAT-09" will be launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to boost the development and economy of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations in the region.

Ilir Rexhep Metaj is the President-elect of Albania. He take office on 24 July 2017, succeeding Bujar Nishani. He previously served as the 31st Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2002 to 2003 and again from 2009 to 2010.

Indian Railways is expected to launch a new 20 coach premier train called the Tejas Express connecting Mumbai and Goa in June. Tejas means brilliance', and the trains coaches will be painted a golden colour. The train will be fitted with automatic doors, LCD screens onboard wifi, Tea/Coffee vending machines, magazines and snack tables, will also have food curated by celebrity chefs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a commemorative stamp on the 1,000th birth anniversary of Saint Ramanujacharya with the central message of his life was inclusive society and religion. And PM said Ramanujacharya saw manifestation of God in human beings and saw all devotees of God as equal.

The Department of Telecommunications has launched 'Tarang Sanchar' web portal for tracking the radiation emitted from mobile towers and check their compliance with the Electromagnetic field (EMF) emission norms defined by the government.

Mumbai and Chennai have been named among the top 20 tourist destinations in the Asia Pacific region. Overall, Bangkok remains the most visited destination in Asia Pacific in the list of 171 destinations across 22 countries in the Asia Pacific region. The rankings have been based in terms of total number of international overnight arrivals, number of nights spent at each destination and cross-border spending.

India and Turkey agree to the "use of double standards" in Combating terrorism and agreed to strengthen cooperation in effectively dealing with the menace both bilaterally and at multilateral fora. The joint statement was issued after extensive talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New Delhi.

Dubai has become the first city in the world to get its own front. It's simply called "Dubai Font", comes in both Arabic and Latin script and will be available in 23 languages. It was created in partnership with Microsoft.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has been selected for the United States-India Business Council's "Transformative Chief Minister Award" for his efforts to strengthen ties between the countries at the state level.

FATCA stands for Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. It is an agreement signed between India and United States (US). FATCA compliance is basically a 'self-declaration' to provide details about account holder's tax residency to the financial entity.

Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma sets a plan to plant a tree and produce photographic evidence to show its annual growth to avail free admission for the students who get free admission in the first year.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon put into circulation new 10 coins have also been minted to commemorate the 125th year of National Archives of India. On the design of new Rs 10 coin, on the reverse of the coin, there will be an image of National Archives Building in the centre with inscription '125 YEARS' below the image.

Hockey India (HI) recommended veteran Indian hockey player Sardar Singh for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award - India's highest sporting honour. Sardar Singh, the former captain of the national hockey team, is famous for his on-field skill and physical fitness.

The central bank will put into circulation new Rs 5 coins to celebrate 150th anniversary of Allahabad High Court. On the design of new Rs 5 coin, the coin's face will bear an image depicting centre facade of Allahabad High Court Building emerging from the book.

Joshna Chinappa become the first Indian to clinch the Asian Squash title with a thrilling win over compatriot Dipika Pallikal Karthik in the women's final in Chennai. Chinappa held off a fighting Pallikal 13-15, 12-10, 11-13, 11-4, 11-4 in 78 minutes.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley handed over a number of devices developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) to National Security Guard (NSG), Delhi Police and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The device includes 'E-Nasika', a hand-held equipment which is capable of rapid detection of chemical agents well below their toxic limits.

Kerala has become the India's first-ever digitised Panchayat ward. Krishan Pal Gurjar (the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment) has launched the website of the first digitalized panchayat ward No.15 of Aymanam grama panchayat "www.digitalaymanam.com".

Indian professional snooker player Pankaj Advani, won silver at the Asian Snooker Championship at Doha, Qatar.

Indo-American pair Leander Paes and Scott Lipsky has won the 2017 Tallahassee Challenger title of the men's doubles by defeating Argentine third seeds Leonardo Mayer and Maximo Gonzalez by 4-6, 7-6, 10-7 in the summit clash in Florida.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar launched Students for soldiers- a nationwide Vidya - Veerta Abhiyan to encourage Universities to display portraits of Param Veer Chakra-decorated soldiers. The main aim is to instill a sense of patriotism and nationalism among students.

India's second tallest flag pole has been Inaugurated in Kolhapur. It has been constructed in the Police training academy garden under a Kolhapur beautification project. The pole is in 90 metres tall and 60 metres wide with weighs 24 tonne & 5400sq ft of national flag. The country's tallest flag pole is located at the Indo-Pak Attari Border and is 360 feet high.

Dr. Sanjay Pratihar of Department of Chemical Sciences, Tezpur University, has been awarded the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Medal for Young Scientist Award for the year 2017, for his excellent contribution to multi-metal complexes, theoretical understanding, selective sensing of Hq2+ions and important applications in agriculture.

China conducted a maiden glide test of its first amphibious aircraft AG600. It is the world's largest amphibious aircraft, the 37-meter AG600 with a wingspan of 38.8 meters, has a maximum take-off weight of 53.5 tonnes.