Daily Current Affairs, 02nd May 2018

1)  Cabinet Approves Accession To Protocol Under WHO Framework Convention

•The Union Cabinet has given the approval to accede to the Protocol under World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on tobacco control to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products.

•It will be applicable to both smoking and chewing or smokeless tobacco (SLT) forms as negotiated and adopted under Article 15 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).  India is a party to WHO FCTC.

2)  Pravasi Bharatiya Divas To Be Held In Varanasi

•The 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will be held in the holy city of Varanasi in January 2019 with the Indian diaspora having an option to participate in Kumbha Snan and attend the Republic Day parade in New Delhi.

•This year’s event would be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi and his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth. Organised by the Ministry of External Affairs in association with the Uttar Pradesh government, the theme of this Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is “Role of Indian Diaspora in building a New India”.

3)  India- South Africa Business Summit Concludes In Johannesburg

•Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, attended India- South Africa business summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. The visit began with a series of bilateral meetings. The Minister highlighted the historical relations between India and Swaziland, Botswana and Lesotho and pledged to take the economic partnership forward.

•The Minister also met members of India-South Africa CEOs forum who expressed confidence in the Government of India’s efforts to strengthen India-Africa relations. Mr Prabhu inaugurated a multi-sectoral exhibition at Johannesburg.

4)  Government Releases Draft New Telecom Policy

•The government has released the draft of the new Telecom policy named National Digital Communications Policy, 2018. The policy aims at creating 40 lakh new jobs by 2022, attracting 100 billion US dollars investment in the sector and ensuring broadband coverage at 50 mbps for every citizen. 

•The draft proposes one Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022. It also proposes to address woes of the Telecom sector by reviewing licence fees, spectrum usage charges, universal service obligation fund levy for enhancing ease of doing business in the sector.

5)  14 Indian Cities Figure In World’s 20 Most Polluted Cities List: WHO

•As per the data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO), 14 Indian cities figure in a list of world's 20 most polluted cities in terms of particulate matter PM2.5 levels in 2016. The particulate matter PM2.5 includes pollutants like sulfate, nitrate and black carbon, which pose the greatest risk to human health.

•The WHO Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database ranked Kanpur as the most polluted city among 4300 world cities which were monitored for their air pollution levels in the year 2016. The other Indian cities that registered very high levels of PM2.5 pollutants were Faridabad, Varanasi, Gaya, Patna, Delhi, Lucknow, Agra, Muzaffarpur, Srinagar, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Patiala and Jodhpur.

6)  Dominican Republic Establishes Ties With China, Breaks With Taiwan

•In a new start, the Dominican Republic and China had established diplomatic relations as the Caribbean country becomes the latest nation to dump Taiwan in the face of Beijing's growing influence.

•With this, Dominican Republic has broken a 77-year alliance with Taiwan.

7)  Legendary Singer Asha Bhosle Honored With PC Chandra Puraskaar

•Legendary singer Asha Bhosle was honoured with 26th PC Chandra Puraskaar for her contribution in the field of Indian music. Sharmila Tagore was the Chief Guest at the event who also presented the prestigious award to Asha Bhosle.

•Asha Bhosle made her singing debut in 1943 and she has sung in a great variety of musical genres. Her career spans over almost seven decades.

8)  Lewis Hamilton Wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2018

•Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes has won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2018 in Baku during which both Red Bulls sensationally collided with each other.

•Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari finished second and Sergio Perez of Force India ended third in the Race.