International News Affairs
- Today is World Red Crossand Red Crescent Day.
- This day is an annual celebration of International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s principles.
- This year marks the 67th year of the celebration, which was first officially celebrated in 1948.
- Theme World Red Cross Day 2017 : “Less Known Red Cross Stories”.
- Important Note : The day is also the birth anniversary of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)’s founder Henry Dunant.
- He wonfirst Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.
- To mark the 156th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, India is going to organise Tagore cultural Festival in Egypt from 8th to 12th
- This Festival will be organised by the Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC), which is the cultural wing of the Indian Embassy in Cairo.
National News Affairs
- The Maharashtra government has declared its Bhilar village in the Satara district as India’s first ‘Pustakanche Gaav’(village of books).
- As many as 25 locations around the village have been turned into reader hot-spots with display of books.
- Inspired by Britain’s Hay-on-Wye town, the aim of the project is to promote the “culture of reading” and boost tourism.
- The Centre has allowed emergency vehicles, including those of police, defence and paramilitary forces, to use multicoloured beacons having red, blue and white colours.
- Further, duties relating to disaster management have also been permitted to use such lights.
- The strategic anti-Naxal operations command headquarters of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been shifted back from Kolkata to Raipur.
- Note : In 2010, the central zone command headquarters was shifted from Raipur to Kolkata owing to logistics and connectivity issues.
Awards & Honors
- Hollywood Actress Emma Watson today won the 1st ever genderless Best Actor award for her role in Beauty and the Beast at the MTV Movie & TV Awards.
Banking, Business & Economic Affairs
- India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has cut its interest rate for home loans up to ₹30 lakh by 0.25% to 8.35%, while those above ₹30 lakh saw a cut of 0.10%.
- Note : Last week, SBI cut its term deposit rates by up to 50 basis points for amounts below ₹1 crore.
- 3 India-born citizens are among top 5 richest people in Britain, according to the Times Rich List 2017.
- Hinduja Brothers Srichand and Gopichand have topped the list to become the top of 134 billionaires in the country.
- David and Simon Reuben, of Iraqi Jewish origin but Mumbai-born, have been ranked the third-richest with an $18 billion fortune.
- Steel magnate Lakshmi N Mittal is UK’s fourth-richest with $17 billion.
- Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated India’s First Integrated Bio‐refinery for Renewable Fuels & Chemicals for producing ethanol from a variety of biomass.
- The plant is situated at Rahu in Pune district of Maharashtra.
New Appointments
- Former French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron has been projected as the 25th President of France based on exit polls after the final round of voting in the presidential elections today.
- The 39-year-old centrist will be the youngest ever leader of the country.
- Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona has been appointed the Coach of Fujairah FC, a second-tier football club in the UAE.
Current Sports Affairs
India ended the Grand Prix of Liberation Plzen 2017 Shooting championships with 7 medals after Indian shooter Heena Sidhu claimed a bronze medal in the women’s 10-metre Air Pistol event today.