IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JAN 5, 2017

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JAN 5, 2017

• On Jan 4, 2017 World Braille Day was observed.
• World Braille Day celebrates the 208th Birth anniversary of French Innovator Louis Braille (4 January 1809 – 6 January 1852).
• He was a French educator and inventor of a system of reading and writing for use by the visually impaired.
• His system remains known worldwide simply as braille.
• Myanmar celebrated 69th Independence Day On Jan 4, 2017.
• European Union lifts its 3-year ban on import of some vegetables including bittergourd, snakegourd& aubergines from India.
• This ban was imposed by the European Commission in May 2014 on import of mangoes, bitter gourd, egg plant, snake gourd and taro leaves from India on grounds of interceptions of harmful organisms leading to fears on account of bio-security of the region.
• The 350th birth anniversary of the 10th and last Prophet-teacher of the Sikh faith, Guru Gobind Singh is being celebrated across the country with special festivities lined up in Patna Sahib where he was born.
• The Election Commission On Jan 4, 2017 declared the schedule for upcoming Assembly polls in five states. 
• Polling will be held in Goa and Punjab on February 4.
• Voting in Uttarakhand would be on February 15. 
• Voting in Manipur would be held in two phases starting March 4. 
• Elections in Uttar Pradesh would be in seven phases starting from February 11.
• The counting of votes for all the five states will be held on March 11.  
• Chief Election Commissioner : Nasim Zaidi 
• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu has launched a new scheme titled "NTR Arogya Raksha Scheme" to provide the medical treatment to the people below Above Poverty Line (APL) at Rs. 1200 premium per annum. 
• The new health scheme offering medical insurance to those who were not covered under any of the existing health schemes of the state government.
• India's first bus to run on human and animal waste will debut on the Ultadanga to Garia route (17 km) in Kolkata in March, 2017. 
• As many as 12 buses are expected to start plying on 12 routes in the city. 
• The Union Ministry of Urban Development has launched a survey titled Swachh Survekshan 2017.
• The aim of Swachh Survekshan is to rank 500 cities/towns across the country on cleanliness with a population of 1 lakh and above. 
• Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar On Jan 4, 2017 took oath as the 44th Chief Justice of India.
• He is going to replace Justice TS Thakur, whose tenure was recently ended. 
• Important Note : Justice Khehar is India's first Sikh Chief Justice. 
• He will hold the office for 7 months.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Tuesday announced that it has appointed Surekha Marandi as the new Executive Director (ED). 
• She will look after the Financial Inclusion and Development Department, among others.
• Jovenel Moise was officially declared the President of Haiti in a re-run presidential election, after an electoral tribunal ruled out allegations of fraud during the November 2016 polls.
• Republican Paul Ryan was formally re-elected Speaker of US House of Representatives On Jan 4, 2017.
• Software major IBM India On Jan 4, 2017 announced the appointment of Karan Bajwa as Managing Director. 
• He will replace Vanitha Narayanan, who has been elevated as the Chairman of the company.
• The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday gave permission to formally launch the Paytm Payments Bank.
• Paytm's CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma further said that he intends to take a full-time executive role in the bank. 
• Around ₹220 crore had been invested in the payments bank.
• The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs On Jan 4, 2017 recommended the advancing of the Budget Session to January 31. 
• This will reportedly be followed by the presentation of the combined Union and Railway Budget on February 1. 
• Traditionally, the Budget is tabled on the last working day of February. 
• Note : This is the first time there would be no separate Railway Budget.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch record103 satellites in a single flight in February first week. 
• As many as 100 of the satellites to be launched are from foreign nations.
• Note : Earlier, ISRO had said it will launch 83 satellites but the launch got delayed due to the addition of more satellites.
• According to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the country plans to conduct around 30 space launch missions in 2017, a record-breaking number in the country's space history. 
• Most of the space missions would be carried out by Long March-5 and Long March-7 rockets. 
• Note : Long March-7 would be used to send China's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into space.
• Irish professor J Calvin Coffey has identified a new organ called mesentery in the human body, connecting the abdomen to the intestine. 
• Previously thought to be a group of structures, it has now been classified as one continuous organ. 
• Although the function of the organ is still unclear, scientists believe abdominal diseases can be categorised in terms of this organ.
• Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders On Jan 4, 2017 appointed former Indian pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji as the team's bowling coach for the 2017 season. 
• Balaji, who retired from all forms of cricket last year, will be replacing Pakistan's Wasim Akram. 
• Former Australian cricketer Arthur Morris was inducted into the International Cricket Council's Hall of Fame On Jan 4, 2017 by ex-Australian captain Steve Waugh. 
• Morris was given the honour posthumously, and he became the 22nd Australian and 82nd player overall to feature in the list. 
• Note : Morris had played 46 matches scoring 3,533 runs for Australia from 1946 to 1955.