Download : 21st January, 2017 – Current Affairs PDF
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National Current Affairs
Tamil Nadu Gov launched mobile app ‘pinakin’ for Tourism
- The app will provide information on world heritage tourist spots like Mammalapuram, the Big Temple in, Thanjavur and Gangai Konda Cholapuram and soon it will include other places in the state.
Annual Two day Camel Festival Held in Bikaner
- The festival saw many fun activities including camel safaris, camel dance, milking and fur cutting design competitions and camel races.
- The two-day festival was organised by the Rajasthan Tourism Department and the Bikaner district administration.
First Edition of ABU International Television Dance Festival Held in Hyderabad
- First edition of the ABU International Television Dance Festival (AIDF)organized by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) was held in Hyderabad
- Objective: To create a bridge between young people from different parts of the world through dance.
- Dancers between the age group of 18-25 years from various countries like Maldives, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Philippines, Fiji, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, India and Indonesia performed in the event.
- Asia- Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) was established in 1964 as a non-profit, non-government, professional association to assist the development of broadcasting in the region.
Business & Economy
Central & SBI Card launch premium co-branded card
- Future Group’s fashion and lifestyle departmental store Central joined with SBI Card launched a second co-branded credit card to offer benefits to consumers in the premium lifestyle and fashion space
- SBI has recently launched a Digital Platform, Mobile App powered by Manipal Global Education Services’ (MaGE) EduNxt Platform. This app will acts as a digital mentor to Probationary Officers and Trainee Officers right.
ICICI Pru acquires 8.41% stake in Fino Paytech for Rs 100 crore
- ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has acquired 41 per cent stake in Fino Paytech Ltd (FPL) for a total consideration of Rs 100 crore
- FPL provides technology-based solutions and services related to financial inclusion. Earlier this month, FPL was granted payment bank license by the RBI.
People in News
Birender Singh Yadav concurrently accredited as the High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Sierra Leone
- Former IFS officer Shri Birender Singh Yadav was appointed as the High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Sierra Leone.
- Currently Yadav is working as the High Commissioner of India to Republic of Ghana.
Famous Linguist known as Father of Pinyin Dies at 111
- Zhou Youguang, Chinese linguist known as the “father of Pinyin” died. He was 111.
- In 1955, the Chinese government appointed Zhou to reform the traditional Chinese language to simply Chinese language.
- He created the writing system Pinyin that turns Chinese characters into words using letters from the Roman alphabet.
UNC Nobel Laureate Oliver Smithies dies at age 91
- Oliver Smithies, faculty member of the University of North Carolina passed away at the age of 91.
- Oliver was a renowned giant in the field of gene targeting and “knockout mice,” which are used to study how specific genes worked.
- He created the first animal model of cystic fibrosis in 1992, and his technique of creating designer mice advanced the understanding of many diseases, including cancer, obesity and heart disease.
- He received the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 2007 for his development of a technique called homologous recombination that introduced targeted genetic modifications to cells.
National award-winning filmmaker Deepak Roy dead at 67
- He started his career as a film critic in 1974 and ventured into direction in 1982. Roy directed more than 90 documentary films.
- He won a National award in 1996 for “Limit to Freedom” under the category of best investigative film and in 1997 for “Dhanna” under social issues’ category.
C.V. Vishveshwara, Pioneer of Black Hole Discovery Dies at 78
- Veteran Indian Scientist CV Vishveshwara and pioneer in the discovery of black hole in India has died.
- Known as the Black Hole Man of India, CV Vishveshwara contributed in the physics of black hole even before the word black hole was coined.
- He had published three ground-breaking single-author papers in the late 1960s for better understanding of black holes.
Renowned Author and Director of “The Exorcist” William Peter Blatty dies
- American author and filmmaker William Peter Blatty best known for writing The Exorcist, died.
- Blatty won Oscar for best adapted screenplay for Exorcist and thereafter he wrote and directed the second sequel The Exorcist III.
- Some of his other notable works are the novels: Elsewhere (2009), Dimiter (2010) and Crazy (2010).
Awards
Priyanka Chopra wins her 2nd People’s Choice Award for TV Series Quantico
- Bollywood Actress Priyanka Chopra won her second People’s Choice Award for Favourite Dramatic TV Actress.
- Priyanka won for her role as CIA agent Alex Parrish in the ABC thriller TV series Quantico.
Kiran Doshi Conferred ‘The Hindu Prize 2016’
- Kiran Doshi won the award for his third major work of fiction, Jinnah Often Came to Our House. He was conferred with a citation and a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh.
- Jinnah Often Came to Our House is a book that features the political turmoil of the subcontinent from the early part of the 20th century, ending with the Partition and Independence.
Science & Technology
Robot Journalist Xiao Nan Writes Its First News Article
- A first of its kind robot journalist named Xiao Nan made debut in the world of journalism by writing a 300-character-long article in just a second.
- According to the team that developed the robot, it is able to write both short stories and longer reports.
Environment and Ecology
Mers, Lassa, Nipah Virus May Cause Next Global Health Emergency
- Scientists have discovered three new lesser known diseases namely Mers, Lassa fever and Nipah virus that could cause the next global health emergency.
- To overcome this to happen, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)has contributed a sum of $460 million for the development of the vaccine against these would-be deadly disease.
- CEPI has also asked help of $500 million from World Economic Forum Davos.
- CEPI aims to have two new experimental vaccines readyfor each disease within five years. New vaccines usually take about a decade to develop and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
- Earlier Ebola outbreak in West Africa and Zika epidemic in Latin America lead to global health emergency.
New Species of Moth Named after Donald Trump
- The moth, Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, has been named in honor of Donald J. Trump who is to be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States
- The researcher believes that naming the species after the 45th US President would create public awareness about its conservation. It is an endangered species and some of still contains some undiscovered species.
2016 hottest year on record : WMD
- According to World Meteorological Organization’s ,recent report 2016 was the hottest year with an average temperature 1 degrees Centigrade higher than pre-industrial times.
- The World temperature was analyzed from the data collected from NASA, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the British Meteorological Office and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts are combined to analyze the world temperatures.
- The long-term indicators of human-influenced climate change also reached their highest levels in 2016.
- The high temperatures have also resulted in the lowest registered amounts of ice in the Arctic andAntarctic and the destruction of large areas of coral.
Sports Current Affairs
Kapil Dev inducted into Legends Club Hall of Fame
- Cricket icon Kapil Dev was inducted into Legends Club ‘Hall of Fame’ at the Cricket Club of India
- He was already inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame.
- Kapil Dev is considered as the country’s greatest all-rounder. He led India to the emphatic World Cup victory in 1983.
- He was the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket.