2 February 2018 Current Affairs

1. AP CM laid foundation stone for Universal Peace Retreat Center in Amravati.

• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for the Universal Peace Retreat Center of 'Prajapita Brahmakumari Eswariya University' in Amaravati.
• The state government has allotted 10 acres of land for this center at Nekkollu village within the Amaravati Capital Region.
• The Universal Peace Retreat Center will be built with a capacity to provide shelter to 1500 people and an auditorium with 2000 seating arrangements. A meditation hall, a seminar hall with high-end facilities, a museum, laser show and a housing complex.
• 'Brahmakumaris' has 8500 centers across the world that is being given special recognition by United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

Andhra Pradesh

Capital : Amravati

CM : Chandrababu Naidu

Governor : E.S.L. Narsimham

National Park & Sanctuary : Nagarjuna Sagar-Srisailam Sanctuary.

2. Shesh Anand Madhukar awarded with Sahitya 

Akademi's Bhashan Samman 2018.

• Madhukar has been working extensively for the development of the Magahi language. Madhukar started his career as a lecturer in Hindi at the BSK College, Methan in 1966 and eventually became a reader and professor at the Saint Columba College, Hazaribagh.
• Magahi language also known as Magadhi is language spoken in Bihar-Jharkhand region of eastern India.
• The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government.

Sahitya Akademi Awards

President : Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari

Head Quarter : New Delhi

3. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) carried out the first flight of Light Combat Helicopter-Technology Demonstrator 2 (LCH-TD2) Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS).

• State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for first time has successfully flown home-made 5.8-tonne Light Combat Helicopter(LCH) with its own automatic flight control system. The 20 minute maiden flight of the multirole copter was flawless with the engagement of the flight control system.
• The AFCS(Automatic Flight Control System) is a digital four-axis flight control system capable of performing control & stability augmentation function and auto-pilot modes of helicopters.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)

CMD : T Suvarna Raju

Head Quarter : Bangalore, Karnataka.

4. A hill on Mars is named after Kalpana Chawla.

• NASA named seven hills on planet Mars after theseven crew members, including India-born astronaut Kalpana Chawla, of the Space Shuttle Columbia who lost their lives while returning from their mission.
• The crew died when the space shuttle disintegrated on re-entering Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003.

National Aeronautics & Space Administration(NASA)

Head Quarter : Maryland, USA

5. Indian Railways To Set Up Coach Factory in 

Latur District, Maharashtra.

• The Railways will set up a coach factory in Maharashtra's Latur district, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal  with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai.
• The decision was taken at a high-level meeting with Mr Goyal and Mr Fadnavis to discuss the setting up of the massive rail coach factory by the Indian Railways.
• The plant would manufacture electric multiple units (EMUs) for suburban trains and coaches for metro trains.

Union Railway Minister : Piyush Goyal(Mahrashtra Rajya Sabha)

Maharashtra

Capital : Mumbai

CM : Devendra Fadnavis

Governor : C Vidyasagar Rao

National Park & Sanctuary : Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Airport : Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport

Integral Coach Factory

Established : 1952

Head Quarter : Chennai, Tamil Nadu

6. 7th India Energy Congress begins in New Delhi.

• Over 400 experts are expected to brainstorm on energy transition across the globe in view of technology and digital disruptions at 7th India Energy Congress in New Delhi.
• The India Energy Congress is the flagship event of World Energy Council India (WEC India) and joint event of ministries of power, coal, new & renewable energy, petroleum & natural gas, external affairs and Department of Atomic Energy.
• The theme of the 7th edition of India Energy Congress is Energy 4.0: Energy Transition Towards 2030. 
• The India Energy Congress is the flagship event of World Energy Council India (WEC India) and joint event of ministries of power, coal, new & renewable energy, petroleum & natural gas, external affairs and Department of Atomic Energy.

Union Power Minister : R K Singh (Arrah Lok Sabha Bihar)

World Energy Council(WEC)

Established : 11 July 1924

Secretary General : Christoph Frei

Head Quarter : London, UK

7. 

Maharashtra govt approves new wildlife sanctuary i.e Ghodazari Wildlife Sanctuary.

• The Maharashtra government has approved Ghodazari in Chandrapur district as a new wildlife sanctuary in the state. 
• The decision was taken at the 13th meeting of the Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife, chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis
• The sanctuary, in the North East of Tadoba, will include 159 sq km of Brahmapuri forest.

Maharashtra

Capital : Mumbai

CM : Devendra Fadnavis

Governor : C Vidyasagar Rao

National Park & Sanctuary : Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Airport : Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport

8. 

Centre sanctions Rs 1500 cr for organic farming in Uttarakhand.

• The Centre has sanctioned Rs 1,500 crore for three years to promote organic farming in Uttarakhand.
• The amount was sanctioned by Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh when Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat met him in New Delhi.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of developing Uttarakhand as an organic state.
• The Union minister also cleared a proposal worth Rs 2,600 crore for the co-operative sector in the state. Of which, Rs 200 crore is meant for the reorganisation of sugar mills.

Uttarakhand

Capital : Dehradun

CM : Trivendra Singh Rawat

Governor : Krishan Kant Paul

National Park & Sanctuary : Jim Corbett National Park

9. General Budget is presented by FM Arun Jaitley on 1 february 2018.

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that India is expected to register a growth rate of 7.2-7.5% in the second half of the current fiscal.
• While unveiling the Budget 2018-19, he said, India has grown on an average of 7.5 percent in the first three years of the current government and has become a $2.5 trillion economy.

Union Minister Of Finance : Arun Jaitley(Gujarat Rajya Sabha)

10. Axis Bank launches 4th edition of "Evolve".

• Private sector Axis Bank  launched the fourth edition of ‘Evolve’, an annual multi-city knowledge series for Bank’s SME customers
• The current edition of evolve, titled “Transform your Family Business into your dream company”, will empower the SMEs understand the winning strategies and best practises that have helped some of the leading family businesses in India grow into reputable enterprise. 

Axis Bank

CEO : Shikha Sharma

Head Quarter : Mumbai, Maharashtra

Tagline : Badhti ka Naam Zindagi

11. 

Indian Railways set to get 1st high-speed electric locomotive in March 2018.

• Indian Railways' all new 12,000 horsepower electric locomotive -- being produced in collaboration with Alstom of France and which can run at speeds of up to 120 kmph would be rolled out in March 2018 when French President Emmanuel Macron visits India.
• The new WAG 12 electric locomotive would be used to haul freight trains. It can haul about 9,000 tonnes of goods. 

Union Railway Minister : Piyush Goyal(Mahrashtra Rajya Sabha)

12. Rwanda becomes first poor country to provide 

eye care for all citizens.

• Rwanda has become the first low-income country to provide universal eye care for its 12 million population.
• The government has partnered with the organisation Vision for a Nation (VFAN) to train more than 3,000 eye care nurses based in 502 local health centres, prescribing glasses and referring those with serious eye problems to national clinics.

Rwanda

Capital : Kigali

Currency : Rwandan Franc

President : Paul Kagame

13. Heath Start up mCURA Introduces India's First Integrated Mobility Platform.

•  Health-tech startup mCURA introduced India's first integrated mobility platform, 'Smart OPD', which ensures minimum counter visits, calculates wait time at each counter and provides e-prescriptions.
• 'Smart OPD' enables patients to bypass long queues at registration and billing counters, labs, pharmacies and doctor chambers, completely eliminating the necessity of spending valuable time waiting at the hospitals.

Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare : J P Nadda (Himachal Pradesh Rajya Sabha)

mCURA

President : Madhubala Radhakrishnan

Head Quarter : Gurugram, Haryana

14. 

Dinesh Srivastava takes over as chief of Nuclear Fuel Complex.

• Dr Dinesh Srivastava, distinguished nuclear scientist, took over as the chief executive of the Nuclear Fuel Complex.
• Dr Srivastava will also be the chairman of the NFC Board. 
• Dr Srivastava had worked for three decades in Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai. He is also a senior professor in Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai.

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