(DAILY NEWS INDIA)
1. PM ATTENDS CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS OF SABARMATI ASHRAM AND
LAUNCHES SEVERAL PROJECTS
i. PM Narendra Modi was on a 2-day visit to Gujarat. He attended following
events, during the course of this visit:
ii. Centenary celebrations of Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. Event to mark
the 150th birth anniversary of Shrimad Rajchandraji at Sabarmati Ashram.
iii. PM Narendra Modi released coins and a stamp on Mahatma Gandhi’s
spiritual guide, Shrimad Rajchandraji, at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad,
Gujarat. He also inaugurated the filling of Aji Dam near Rajkot under SAUNI
Yojana.
iv. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated ‘Textiles India’, country’s
1st-ever mega trade event for the textiles sector in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
i. 6th India Myanmar Joint Trade Committee Meeting co-chaired by Smt.
Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Commerce & Industry from India and Union
Commerce Minister from Myanmar Dr. Than Myint, was held in New Delhi.
ii. Ms Nirmala Sithraman sought the cooperation of the Myanmar side in
actively pursuing enhanced road, sea and air connectivity between the two
countries.
iii. Highlighting the progress made by India in various components of the
Kaladan Multimodal Transport Project, she sought the cooperation of the Myanmar
to expedite work on their side.
iv. During the meeting, discussions were held on exploring the
feasibilities of direct shipping lines with Sittwe port and Vizag/ Chennai.
Similarly, the need for direct air connectivity with Chennai/ Guwahati was also
discussed.
v. Both sides also agreed to explore opening of two new Border Trade
Points at Pangkhuwa and Zoninpuri. Both sides also agreed to deepen their
engagements in some of the mutually identified core sectors.
3. ADB PLEDGES USD 10 BN FOR DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN INDIA
i. Asian Development Bank committed USD 10 billion support for
infrastructure building and immediate development needs of less-developed
states in India.
ii. Takehiko Nakao, the President of ADB, was on a 3-day visit to India
during which he met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Commerce and Industry
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
iii. He said the ADB stands ready to meet immediate development needs of
up to USD 5 billion over the 5-year period for less developed states, including
Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, addressing critical
infrastructure and capacity deficits.
iv. In addition, ADB is also prepared to invest up to USD 5 billion during
2018-2022 for infrastructure building to develop the East Coast Economic
Corridor.
v. This combined total of USD 10 billion in major investments would be
part of ADB’s new strategy, which
proposes annual lending over the 5-year period of USD 3-4 billion from
sovereign and non-sovereign operations.
4. HEALTH MINISTRY’S MOBILE APP EVIN WINS GSMA ASIA MOBILE AWARD
i. Indigenously developed mobile application for digitising vaccine
logistics, eVIN, has won the prestigious GSMA Asia Mobile Award 2017. It has
won for outstanding contribution to the UNs sustainable development goals in
Asia.
ii. The Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network is an online real-time
vaccine logistics management system developed and implemented by the Ministry
of Health and the eVIN Project of Health Ministry becomes global best practise
in immunization United Nations Development Programme.
iii. The ceremony, held during the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Shanghai.
It has recognised the contributions of several transformative mobile
innovations making a mark in the Asian region.
5. SHAMMA JAIN APPOINTED AS THE NEXT AMBASSADOR OF INDIA TO
GREECE
i. A senior diplomat Shamma Jain has appointed as India’s ambassador to
Greece. Shamma is a 1983-batch Indian Foreign Service officer; Jain is
currently serving as Indian envoy to Panama.
ii. She succeeds M Manimekalai as Indian envoy in Greece. She had earlier served as ambassador to Cote
d’Ivoire.
iii. She has also served in Indian missions in Italy, the Philippines,
Washington DC, Turkey and Argentina.
6. PRESIDENT OF INDIA INAUGURATES AN EXHIBITION OF ART WORKS AT
ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, KOLKATA AND RECEIVES 1ST COPIES OF TWO COFFEE TABLE BOOKS
i. Pranab Mukherjee will grace the 125th Anniversary celebration of Prof.
P.C. Mahalanobis, doyen of Statistics in India at Amarkunja, Indian Statistical
Institute.
ii. Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate an exhibition of art works at Academy
of Fine Arts, Kolkata.
iii. He also received the 1st copies of two Coffee Table books ‘Images and
Impressions – Profile and Persona of Pranab Mukherjee’ and ‘Pranab Mukherjee
100 Frames’ from the Governor of West Bengal, Shri Keshari NathTripathi who
formally released these books.
OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS
Q1. PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI ATTENDED CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
OF SABARMATI ASHRAM IN:
a) Ahmedabad
b) Surat
c) Vadodara
d) Gujarat
Q2. 6TH INDIA MYANMAR JOINT TRADE COMMITTEE MEETING WAS HELD IN?
a) Sittwe, Maynmar
b) Delhi, India
c) Mumbai, India
d) Naypyidaw, Myanmar
Q3. WHICH INTERNATIONAL FINANCE ORGANISATION HAS COMMITTED USD
10 BILLION SUPPORT FOR INFRASTRUCTURE BUILDING AND IMMEDIATE DEVELOPMENT NEEDS
OF LESS-DEVELOPED STATES IN INDIA?
a) International Monetary fund
b) World Bank
c) Asian Development Bank
d) Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank
Q4. WHICH MOBILE APPLICATION OF UNION HEALTH MINISTRY HAS WON
THE PRESTIGIOUS GSMA ASIA MOBILE AWARD 2017 (AMO) FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION
TO THE UN’S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN ASIA?
a) eTAP
b) eMAP
c) eLKP
d) eVIN
Q5. WHO AMONG THE FOLLOWING WAS APPOINTED AS INDIA’S AMBASSADOR
TO GREECE?
a) Shamma Jain
b) Manisha Bhandari
c) Nancy Fernandes
d) Sujata Kulkarni
ANSWERS:
1 - A 2
- B 3 - C 4 - D 5 - A
