DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS: 12TH APR 2017
(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
1. LOK
SABHA PASSES 123RD CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT BILL 2017
i. Lok Sabha passed 123rd Constitution Amendment
Bill, 2017 with 360 members voting in favour and 2 members voting against it.
This amendment bill seeks to grant constitutional status to National Commission
for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes.
ii. The amendment bill was introduced in Lok
Sabha by Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister.
iii. The amendment bill seeks to insert Article
338B in the Indian Constitution. This article will list out the structure and
functions of the proposed National Commission for Socially and Educationally
Backward Classes.
2.
GOVERNMENT SETS UP INTER-MINISTERIAL PANEL TO MONITOR UDAN
i. The Government has set up an
inter-ministerial committee to monitor the regional air connectivity scheme
UDAN which seeks to make flying affordable by connecting unserved and
under-served airports.
ii. UDAN- Ude DeshKa Aam Nagrik. The
Inter-Ministerial Monitoring-cum-coordination Committee would be responsible
for Regional Connectivity Scheme overall monitoring of the schemes.
iii. The panel would be responsible for
coordination among the stakeholders including state government. The panel
members include Bureau of Civil aviation security, Airport Authority of India
chairman and Representatives from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation,
iv. In the flights operated under RCS around 50%
of the seats would have afire cap Rs2500 per seat/hour. Other benefits include
zero airport charges for the operators and 3 years restricted on the routes.
3.
PARLIAMENT PASSES CONSTITUTION (SC) ORDER (AMENDMENT) BILL 2017
i. The Parliament has passed the Constitution
(Schedule Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill 2017. It was already passed by
LokSabha in March 2017.
ii. The Bill seeks to amends the constitution
(Schedule Castes) order, 1950 and the constitution (Pondicherry) Scheduled
Castes Order, 1964.
iii. The Bill seeks to modify the list of SCs
for the state of Odisha. The castes Sualgiri, Swalgiri will be introduced to
the Sabakhia caste in the list of the SCs for the state of Odisha.
iv. The name of the Union territory of
Pondicherry was modified to Puducherry by the central act in 2006.
4.
GOVERNMENT REDUCES NUMBER OF CENTRALLY SPONSORED SCHEMES TO 28
i. The Government has reduced the number of
Centrally Sponsored Schemes from 66 to 28 and effective from the financial year
2016-2017.
ii. The Govt. of India has rationalized
Centrally Sponsored Schemes based on the recommendation of the sub group of
chief ministers.
ii. The minister has mentioned that 6 Schemes
have been categorized as Core of the Core 20 Schemes as Core Schemes and
remaining 2 as Optional Schemes.
iii. The related Schemes could be merged and
implemented as “Umbrella Schemes” to administer the satisfactory component in
the line with state specific requirements.
5. G-7 FOREIGN
MINISTERS MEETING HELD IN LUCCA, ITALY
i. Foreign Ministers from the G-7 countries
gathered for the annual meeting in Lucca, Italy.
ii. United States and its allies believed that
Syrian Govt. headed by Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons to attack a
rebel-controlled town last week in which 87 civilians were killed.
iii. G-7 countries have insisted that Russia
should stop giving support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Imposing
further sanctions on Russia is also being considered as an option.
6. 100
YEARS OF GANDHI’S SABARMATI ASHRAM CELEBRATED IN LONDON
i. The 100th Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s
Sabarmati Ashram was celebrated in London to retell Gandhi’s story with some
interesting visual elements to the Internet generation.
ii. Sabarmati Ashram: The Home of Gandhi’s
Experiments with Truth was screened at Nehru centre.
iii. It is written and produced by senior NRI
journalist Vijay Rana. The film was about how Gandhi set up this ashram in 1917
on the banks of Sabarmati River.
iv. Many revolutionary ideas were evolved in
this ashram like economic liberation through spinning wheel and the home spun
khadi fight social evils like a boycott of foreign goods, untouchability,
non-cooperation, and Salt law.
7. ESAF
SMALL FINANCE BANK LAUNCHES SOCIAL DEPOSIT SCHEME HRUDAYA DEPOSIT
i. ESAF Small Finance Bank has launched a social
deposit scheme called Hrudaya Deposit.
ii. The deposit scheme is related with social
cause through which ESAF bank provides the customers an opportunity to be a part
in social welfare projects.
iii. Their deposits are used for the welfare and
infrastructure developments of the underdeveloped sections of the society.
iv. An individual or a legal entity can join the
Hrudaya deposit scheme with a minimum deposit amount of Rs 15 lakh and for a
minimum period of 2 years.
v. The customer will also get an opportunity to
gain first-hand experience of how their money is used to improve the lives of
the ordinary people in the country.
8. COLSON
WHITEHEAD WINS PULITZER PRIZE FOR THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
i. The prestigious Pulitzer Prizes for
achievements in journalism, literature and musical composition were announced
on April 10. This is the 101st edition of Pulitzer Prizes.
ii. A speculative history novel “The Underground
Railroad” written by Colson Whitehead has won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in
Fiction.
iii. The Novel was also won the 2016 National
Book Award for Fiction (US) in November 2016.
9.
NATIONAL HINDI SEVI SAMMAN AWARDS ANNOUNCED
i. Professors from Japan and USA to be honoured
for promoting Hindi. 26 writers including 2 Japanese and American Professors
will be honoured with Hindi Sevi Samman by President Pranab Mukherjee for their
efforts to promote the language.
ii. Gabriela Nik IIieva(USA) and Fujii Takeshi
(Japan) will be presented George Grearson award in the foreign Hindi writers
category.
iii. In the NRI category Padmesh Gupta (London)
and Pushpitaavasthi (Netherland) will be presented the award.
iv. Writers from non-Hindi speaking states who
have been chosen for the award are M Govind Rajan (Chennai), S Shesharatnam
(Vishakhapatnam), Harmahendra Singh Bedi (Amristar) and H Subadani Devi
(Imphal).
v. Baldev Bhaisharma and Rahul Dev will be
presented the Ganesh Shankar Vidhyrthi for their contribution to Hindi
journalism.
OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED
ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1. 123RD
CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT BILL 2017, WHICH WAS PASSED BY LOK SABHA ON APRIL 10
SEEKS TO GRANT CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS TO?
a)
National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes
b)
National Commission for Women
c)
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
d)
National Commission for Scheduled Castes
Q2. THE
GOVERNMENT HAS SET UP AN INTER-MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE TO MONITOR THE REGIONAL
AIR CONNECTIVITY SCHEME UDAN WHICH SEEKS TO MAKE FLYING AFFORDABLE BY
CONNECTING UNSERVED AND UNDER-SERVED
AIRPORTS. THIS COMMITTEE WILL BE CHAIRED BY?
a) Prime
Minister of India
b)
Chairperson of Airports Authority of India
c) Union
Minister of Civil Aviation
d) Civil Aviation Secretary
Q3. THE
GOVERNMENT HAS REDUCED THE NUMBER OF CENTRALLY SPONSORED SCHEMES TO ____
UMBRELLA SCHEMES FROM 66?
a) 20
umbrella schemes
b) A.16
umbrella schemes
c) D.28
umbrella schemes
d) C.24
umbrella schemes
Q4.
FOREIGN MINISTERS FROM THE G-7 COUNTRIES GATHERED FOR THE ANNUAL MEETING IN?
a) Rome,
Italy
b) Lucca,
Italy
c) Milan,
Italy
d)
Venice, Italy
Q5. WHICH
AMONG THE FOLLOWING SMALL FINANCE BANKS HAS LAUNCHED A SOCIAL DEPOSIT SCHEME
CALLED HRUDAYA DEPOSIT?
a)
Equitas Small Finance Bank
b)
Capital Small Finance Bank
c)
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
d) ESAF
Small Finance Bank
ANSWERS:
