National Affairs
  • National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued notices to chief secretaries of all states seeking status on prevention of air pollution on roads.
    • NGT Chairperson : Justice Swatanter Kumar
  • The Gujarat government today formed a Task Force comprising several ministers to device a new strategy to eliminate poverty in the state and provide suggestions to the government to achieve this objective.
    • Gujarat’s Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramanlal Vora has been appointed chairman of this task force.
    • Members of this Task Force :
      1. Finance Minister : Saurabh Patel
      2. Tribal Development Minister : Mangubhai Patel
      3. Transport Minister : Vijay Rupani

International Affairs

  • Today (17th April) is World Hemophilia Day
    • This day is an awareness day for hemophilia and other bleeding disorders.
    • This day is observed by World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) in honor of Frank Schnabel’s (founder of WFH) birthday. 
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi today wrapped up his 9 day Three-nation Visit of France, Germany and Canada
    • This 3 Nation Visit is very crucial because during this visit a number of important agreements were signed, which included the agreement for the supply of 36 Rafale fighter jets by France and uranium from Canada.
    • Highlights of this visit
      • France was the first destination of his nine-day tour.
        • During his stay in Paris, Modi held talks with French President Francois Hollande and met business leaders.
        • An agreement was signed under which India will buy 36 Rafale fighter jets in flyaway condition from France and a decision was made to move ahead with the stalled Jaitapur nuclear project in Maharashtra.
      • He then headed to Germany where he held talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and announced that a mechanism will be established to facilitate investment and business from Germany as the two countries agreed to broaden bilateral economic cooperation.
        • During his Germany visit, Modi inaugurated the Hannover Fairof which India was a partner country with a theme of ‘Make in India’.
      • His final destination was Canada where besides meeting business leaders and making stops at Toronto and Vancouver he held talks with his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper in Ottawa after whichCanada agreed to supply 3,000 metric tonnes of uranium to India from this year under a $254 million five-year deal to power Indian atomic reactors.
  • Pakistan and Russia have agreed to hold first-ever joint military exercisesas part of their enhanced defence cooperation, in a sign of increasing bonhomie between the Cold War-era adversaries.
    • Pakistan Defence Minister : Khawaja Asif
    • Russian Defence Minister : Sergei Shoigu
People in News
  • 30 year-old V Saritha becomes the first women driver of the Delhi Transport Corporation.
  • Hurriyat leader Masarat Alam was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir Police today in Srinagar.
    • Mr. Alam, along with fellow Hurriyat leaders was booked under the UAPAfor allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans and waving the country’s flag at a rally on Wednesday.
    • UAPA – Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act / Sua Act
Science & Technology
  • Japanese researchers have developed a self-elevating barrier with the ability to bear the impact of powerful tsunamis.
    • Developed by the team of Nagoya University, in collaboration with Hitachi Zosen Corporation.
New Appointments
  • The Supreme Court today appointed CBI SP Vivek Priyadarshi to head a new investigating team to further probe the IPL-6 spot-fixing.
Sports
  • International Paralympic Committee suspends the Paralympic Committee of India for an indefinite period.
    • This is because of the infighting within the national body and shoddy treatment meted out to athletes during the National Para-Athletics Championships at Ghaziabad last month.

Even More:

1. India is ranked below Bhutan and Sri Lanka in terms of broadband penetration, as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). India is also ranked at 125th in the world for fixed broadband penetration.

2. Reliance Industries regained its status as the most profitable Indian company after posting net profit Rs 6,381 crore in the fourth quarter ending March this year. Earlier it lost the tag as India’s most profitable firm to India’s largest IT Services company TCS in the previous quarter.