[CA] Daily News [03-04-2018]

Around INDIA

# India’s fastest train Gatimaan Express has been extended up to Bundelkhand Region w.e.f April 01, 2018.

- Nizammuddin-Agra Cantt Gatimaan Exp. has been extended upto Gwalior/Jhansi for facilitating passengers. The extension of this prestigious premium train will facilitate movement of tourists to various tourist attractions in and around Gwalior and Jhansi of Bundelkhand region. It will boost the tourism in the region.

# 7 persons were killed in (5 - Madhya Pradesh; 1 each in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) as Dalit groups staged violent protests across North India against a Supreme Court judgment they claimed diluted protections available to the SCs and STs

- Government urges the Supreme Court to re – examine its March 20 judgment blaming the SCs and STs for misusing a law to protect Dalits from sate atrocities as a means of “blackmail”

# India is among the countries (the reports also said Brazil, Bangladesh, Oman and Saudi Arabia) which are at the greatest risk of food insecurity due to weather extremes caused by climate change

# President Mr. Ram Nath Kovind presented five Padma Bhushan and thirty-eight Padma Shri Awards at a Civil Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

# President, Mr. Ram Nath Kovind, received a copy of a special issue of the ‘Think India’ journal, devoted to the late philosopher-politician Deendayal Upadhyay, at Rashtrapati Bhavan

# As many as 6 monuments/historical sites in the North Eastern states have been identified tentatively for listing under World Heritage Site. They are:

(01) Apatani Cultural Landscape, Arunachal Pradesh

(02) Iconic Saree Weaving Clusters of India

(03) Moidams – the Mound – Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty, Assam

(04) Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh

(05) River Island of Majuli in midstream of Brahmaputra River in Assam

(06) Thembang Fortified Village, Arunachal Pradesh

# Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture proposes to start 6 new regional centres of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) at Ranchi, Vadodara, Goa, Thrissur, Jammu/Srinagar and Puducherry in addition to its existing three regional centres at Varanasi, Guwahati and Bengaluru.

TAMIL NADU

# Chief justice of India Dipak Misra orally assured Tamil Nadu that it will get its due allocation of Cauvery Water; CJI also orally remarked that the term “scheme” used in the Feb 16 judgment does not mean the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) alone.

- Governor, Mr. Banwarilal Purohit left for New Delhi in a context in which various political parties and groups in the State are intensifying agitations over the Cauvery issue 

# Anti – Sterlite protests gained momentum in Thoothukudi as the students of various colleges nearby and nearby villagers joined the ongoing protest

 # To meet the growing demand for power, the State has urged the Centre to ensure supply of 72, 000 tonnes of coal on a daily basis to TANGEDCO and allotment of adequate railway coaches for transport

STATES SCAN

# Goa: Multi Modal Logisitcs Park was inaugurates at Balli Station on Konkan Railway route near Madgaon in Goa

# West Bengal: Government has rolled out “Rupashree” scheme aimed at providing marriage assistance to girls coming from economically weaker families

BILATERAL ISSUES

# India brought back the mortal remains of 38 men working a t a construction site in Iraq, who were kidnapped by fighters of the Islamic State in 2014

WORLD

# China: Space station (Tiangong-1; in English called as “Heavenly Space”) mostly burned up on re – entry into the atmosphere over the central South Pacific Ocean

# China: imposed tariffs on U.S. goods; 12 8 items mostly agricultural products are targeted

# China: to unveil the world’s longest cross-sea bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China; the bridge is 55 km long and six lanes wide, comprising of four tunnels and dour artificial islands

# Malaysia: Government pushed a law through Parliament that makes “fake news” punishable with a maximum year jail term despite an outcry from critics worried it will be used to stifle dissent before elections

# Nepal: Launched its first accessible trekking trail (for the differently abled and the elderly) in Pokhara city; Nepal hosted the International Conference on Accessible Tourism 2018

ECONOMICS

# 8 Core sectors grows by 5.3% in Feb 2018 (in Jan 2018 it was 6.1%)

- The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). 

SPORTS

 # Rafael Nadal reclaimed top spot in the Men’s ATP rankings

# India’s Saurav Ghosal has touched his personal best world ranking of 13 as per the latest release from the Squash rankings

# Indian contingent of 219 athletes (104 are women) are officially welcomed to the Commonwealth Games 2018 village in Gold coast, Australia

MISC

# Researchers from the University College of Thriuvananthapuram have reported the discovery of a new plant species from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot. Classified as a sedge, the grass – like plant has been named Fimbristylis agasthayamalaensis, after the locality from which it was found

# The ‘Thank You India’ event in Dharamshala is part of the year-long celebrations planned to mark the milestone 60 years and was originally scheduled in a Delhi stadium, but later moved to Tsuglagkhang temple in McLeodganj in Dharamshala — the seat of Tibetan government — to avoid any fresh confrontation with China.