1) World Health Day: 7 April
•World Health Day is celebrated on 7th of April every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization.
•The theme of 2017 World Health Day is 'Depression: Let's Talk'. More than 300 million people are now living with depression, an increase of more than 18% between 2005 and 2015.
•WHO is leading a one-year global campaign on depression which is the leading cause of ill-health and disability worldwide. The goal of the campaign is that more people with depression, everywhere in the world, both seek and get help.
2) Venkaiah Naidu to inaugurate 3-day National Children’s Film Festival
•Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate a three-day National Children’s Film Festival in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
•It is the largest film festival for children in the country giving the audience quality and wholesome entertainment. The aim of the film festival is to expose children to quality cinema and to introduce novel elements beyond films.
3) India & Israel sign defense deals worth over 2 billion dollars
•India and Israel signed a mega defense deals worth over 2 billion dollars for advanced surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, to further tighten the bilateral strategic partnership ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel in July.
•The SAM systems are designed to destroy hostile aircraft, missiles and drones at a range of 70-km. The major deal was for the joint project between the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for the Barak-8 medium-range SAM systems for the Indian Army.
•These Barak-8 systems, with their MF-STARs (multi-function surveillance and threat alert radars) as well as weapon control systems with data links, can detect and track hostile aerial threats at a range of 100-km and destroy them at 70-km.
4) India, UK to set up 240 mn pound fund for green energy
•India and the UK decided to set up a 240 million pound fund to finance clean energy projects, as per the statement of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
•The Green Growth Equity Fund will be a sub-fund of NIIF. India had in 2015 set up the Rs 40,000 crore National Infrastructure and Investment Fund (NIIF) to finance greenfield as well as brownfield projects. The fund will focus initial investments in India’s rapidly growing energy and renewables market.
5) 64th National Film Awards
•The 64th National Film Awards were announced in which the Directorate of Film Festivals presents its annual National Film Awards to honor the best films of 2016 in the Indian cinema.
•The awards ceremony will be held on 3 May 2017 in India. Here is the list of Winners of all categories.
Cateogry
|
List of Winners
|
Most Film Friendly State
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
Best writing on Films
|
G Dhananjayan
|
Best book on cinema
|
Lata Surgatha- a book that narrates the story of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar
|
Best Music
|
Leeches
|
Best Short fiction
|
Aba
|
Best Animation
|
Hum Chitra Banate Hain
|
Best Educational Film
|
The Waterfalls
|
Best Environment Film
|
The Tiger Who Crossed the Line
|
Best Investigative Film
|
Placebo
|
Best Biographical/Historical reconstruction
|
Zikr Uss Parivash Ka
|
Best Non-Feature Film
|
Fireflies in the Abyss, My Discovery of a Legend
|
Best Tamil Film
|
Joker
|
Best Gujarati Film
|
Wrong Side Raju
|
Best Marathi Film
|
Dashakriya
|
Best Hindi Film
|
Neerja
|
Best Bengali Film
|
Bisarjan
|
Best Kannada Film
|
Reservation
|
Best Malayalam film
|
Maheshinite Pratikaram
|
Best Visual Effects
|
Shivaay
|
Best Female Playback Singer
|
Iman Chakraborty
|
Best Male Playback Singer
|
Sunder Iyer
|
Best Actor
|
Akshay Kumar for Rustom
|
Best Children's Film
|
Dhanak, Hindi
|
Best Supporting Actress
|
Zaira Wasim for Dangal
|
Best Film On Social Issues
|
Pink
|
Best Action Choreography
|
Peter Hein for Pulimurugan
|
Best Feature Film
|
Kasav, Marathi film
|
Best Director
|
Rajesh Mapuskar for Ventilator
|
Best Actress
|
Surabhi
|
Best Sound Recording
|
Kaadu Pookkunna Neram
|
Best Screenplay
|
Maheshinite Pratikaram
|
Best Child Artiste
|
Adish Praveen
|
6) P V Sindhu reaches career-best World No.2 ranking
•Rio Olympics silver medallist P V Sindhu jumped three places to achieve a career-best world number two ranking in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings.
•The 21-year-old shuttler from Hyderabad became only the second Indian woman after Saina Nehwal to break into the top-five of the world rankings by earning 75759 points. Sindhu had recently bagged the India Open title after defeating Carolina Marin. The women's singles chart is led by Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei with 87911 points.
