Daily Current Affairs for 1st April 2017 ( English)
1. The second unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant (KNPP) in
Tamil Nadu has started commercial generation of power. It had attained
its full power generation capacity of 1000 Megawatt in January 2017. It had
attained criticality in July 2016 and was synchronized with southern grid in
August 2016. From the first unit of KNPP, Tamil Nadu is getting 562 MW,
Telangana 50 MW, Karnataka 221 MW and Kerala 133 MW Puduchery 33 MW. Tamil Nadu
is expected to get 562MW from second unit also. The nuclear power generation
has gone up to 6,780MW in the country with power generation in the second unit.
The 1000MW KNPP is built with Russian expertise.
2. India’s first International research centre for Foot and Mouth
disease of cattle and buffalos was
inaugurated at Argul (Bhubaneswar), Odisha. The research centre has been
constructed in joint collaboration of UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAT). It will conduct
research on viral disease of cattle and buffaloes. It has the facility for safe
handling and storage of live Foot and Mouth disease virus that essentially is
required for control of the disease. It will collect samples from all over the
country to find a cure of the disease. Notably, India is suffering a loss of Rs.
23,000 annually due to Foot and Mouth disease of cattle and buffalos.
3. Japan has committed an official
development assistance (ODA) of 371 billion yen (about Rs 21,590 crore) for
various infrastructure projects, including the dedicated freight corridor, in
India for the FY 2016-2017. The total commitment of Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) ODA during two financial years 2015-16 and 2016-17 is
761.40 billion yen, which is 43.50% of the total target for five years. In the
last few years, the economic partnership between India and Japan has steadily
progressed. It has further consolidated and strengthened the Strategic and
Global Partnership between India and Japan.
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4. The Union Defence Ministry has allowed Arunachal
Pradesh government to use the functional Advance Landing Grounds (ALGs)
in the state for civilian purpose. The Ziro, Mechuka, Walong, Aalo, Pasighat
and Tuting ALGs across the state have been developed by the Defence Ministry
and are under the direct control of the Indian Air Force (IAF). State
government can approach the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation for construction
of civil terminal at these ALGs and for scheduled civil operations.
5. State-run NTPC (National
Thermal Power Corporation Limited) has crossed the milestone of 50 Gigawatts
power generation capacity. It achieved this feat after commissioning of 500
Megawatts unit at Unchahar in Uttar Pradesh, increasing the total installed
capacity of NTPC to 50,498. NTPC limited is CPSU operational under Ministry of
Power. It is India’s largest power generator. It was established in 1975.
Government holds 70% of its equity shares as of May 2015.
6. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to set up a separate enforcement department to
oversee possible breaches of rules and take punitive actions against those who
violate them. The department will develop a broad policy for enforcement and
initiate action against the regulated entities for violation consistent with
such policy. It will serve as a centralised wing to deal with banks only for
enforcement action.
7. Growth of the country’s eight core sectors slipped to an over
one-year low of 1% in February 2017. This was
mainly due to a fall in output of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products,
fertiliser and cement. The eight core sectors had expanded 9.4% in February
2016, and 3.4% in January 2016. In February 2016, crude oil output contracted
3.4%, natural gas output by 1.7%, refinery products output fell 2.3%,
fertiliser output declined 5.3%, and cement output dropped 15.8%. But coal and
steel production recorded positive growth during the month. The eight core
industries comprise close to 37.9% of the weight of items included in the Index
of Industrial Production (IIP). The electricity has the maximum weight (of
10.32%) among the eight sectors followed by Steel (6.68%), Petroleum Refinery
(5.94%), Crude Oil production (5.22 %), Coal production (4.38 %), Cement
(2.41%), Natural Gas production (1.71 %) and Fertilizer production (1.25%).
8. Israel’s Government has approved
the first West Bank settlement in two decades. Decision in this regard
was taken in Security Cabinet meeting presided by Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu. The new settlement will be built near the existing settlement of
Shilo, which is nearby to the Amona site, an illegal settler outpost that was
demolished in February 2017 under the orders of Israel’s Supreme Court. West
Bank and east Jerusalem are disputed territories claimed by the Palestinians
which were captured by Israel in 1967, as parts of a future state.
9. Elon Musk-led space exploration
startup SpaceX has successfully launched its pre-used first stage of
Falcon 9 rocket in its bid to drive down costs and speed up flights. It
marks the first time relaunch of an orbital class rocket. The Falcon 9 took off
from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center hoisting a broadcasting satellite. The
reused first stage was earlier used in March 2016 and had successfully landed
on drone platform.
10. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was
selected for the US India Business Council Award of ‘Transformative Chief
Minister’. He will receive the award at the second annual West Coast Summit
to be held in Menlo Park, California in May 2017. Electronics and IT Secretary
Aruna Sundararajan was also selected Transformative Leadership Award.
11.Tamil
Nadu won
the Deodhar Trophy by defeating Parthiv Patel-led India ‘B’ by 42
runs in the match held at Vizag. With this win, Tamil Nadu became
the first state side to win the three-team one-day tournament. It
makes Tamil Nadu first to win all major domestic crowns such as Ranji Trophy,
Vijay Hazare, Irani and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The Deodhar Trophy is a List A
cricket competition in Indian domestic cricket. It is named after Prof. D. B.
Deodhar (known as the Grand Old Man of Indian cricket). It is a 50-over knockout
competition played on an annual basis among the 5 zonal teams – North Zone,
South Zone, East Zone, West Zone and Central Zone.
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