Daily Current Affairs, 27th April 2019

1) ICMR Launches Malaria Elimination Research Alliance

•The Indian Council of Medical Research has launched the ‘Malaria Elimination Research Alliance (MERA) India which is a conglomeration of partners working on malaria control in order to eliminate the disease from India by 2030.

•The National Vector Borne Diseases Control Program (NVBDCP) of India has also developed a comprehensive framework to achieve the target of “Malaria free India by 2030”.

2) CPWD Constitutes 8-member Committee To Chart Out Design Policy

•The Central Works Public Department (CPWD) has constituted an expert committee to formulate a design policy for building construction and infrastructure development.  The committee has been set up under the chairmanship of CPWD’s Additional Director General M K Sharma.

•The move is aimed at reviving building construction and infrastructure development at all levels in the CPWD which comes under the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. The committee has been asked to submit its report to Director General Prabhakar Singhwithin 30 days.

3) Indian Army Inks MoU With NHPC To Build Tunnels On China, Pakistan Borders

•Indian Army signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited, to build four underground tunnels along China and Pakistan borders for storage of ammunition and other war-related equipment.

•Three tunnels will be built along the Chinese border and one tunnel will be built along the Pakistan border. The tunnel can store 175-200 metric tonnes of ammunition and the cost of this pilot project is around Rs 15 crore.

4) Rana Dasgupta Wins 2019 Tagore Literary Prize

•The second edition of Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize was awarded to author Rana Dasgupta for his 2010 novel “Solo“, a tale of estrangement and the ultimate failure of material existence.

•The Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize for social achievement was awarded to Yohei Sasakawa, for “his incredible efforts to uproot leprosy and great contribution to world peace”.

5) RBI Introduces ₹ 20 Banknote In Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series

•The Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue ₹ 20 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, bearing the signature of Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor, Reserve Bank of India.

•The new denomination has the motif of Ellora Caves on the reverse, depicting the country’s cultural heritage. The base colour of the note is Greenish Yellow. The dimension of the banknote will be 63 mm x 129 mm.

6) Microsoft Becomes World’s Third Company To Be Worth $1 Trillion

•Microsoft has reached a valuation of one trillion dollars for the first time after posting an increase in profits. It makes the software giant only the third publicly-traded company in history to reach the threshold after Apple and Amazon passed it in 2018. Microsoft’s current valuation also means that it has again taken over Apple as the world’s most valuable company.

7) Pankaj Advani Wins Asian Snooker Tour Title

•Pankaj Advani, the 21-time India’s cueist defeated Ehsan Heydari Nezhad of Iran 6-4 to clinch the Asian Snooker Tour title. He had previously bagged the 2nd leg of the Tour in China and was leading the ranking before the final leg of the Tour in Bengaluru.