SUPER 6 CURRENT AFFAIRS- 30th APRIL 2017

1) Ganga Cleanliness Pledge Day to be observed on May 2

•The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) will observe 'Ganga Cleanliness Pledge Day' on 02nd May 2017 at various places in the river's basin states to spread awareness and ensure public participation in the programme. The events will be organized in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Hardoi, Bithoor and Vidhur Kuti; Uttarakhand's Srinagar and Devprayag; Patna and Bhagalpur in Bihar; Sahibganj (Jharkhand) and Kolkata (West Bengal).

•Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti will attend the events lined up in Vidhur Kuti, Srinagar and Devprayag that day, The pledge day will be organized at 30 other locations later through Ganga Vichaar Manch, local NGOs and volunteers in association with the state governments. The government will spread the message also through rallies, shramdaan (labour donation), tree plantation, etc.

2) Former minister Ashwani Kumar to get Japan Imperial Decoration

•Former Union minister Ashwani Kumar has been selected by Japan for this year's Spring Imperial Decorations, for his contribution to the strengthening of bilateral ties and promotion of friendship between the two countries. The Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, the highest category of decorations among the Orders of the Rising Sun, is conferred in recognition of distinguished accomplishments of individuals.

•The Presentation Ceremony for the Investiture of the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun will be held at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on May 9, when the foreign recipients will be given an audience with His Majesty the Emperor of Japan.

3) India to give Rs 35 cr to Bangladesh under 'Muktijodha scholarship' scheme

•India will give Rs 35 crore to children of freedom fighters in Bangladesh in the next five years under the new 'Muktijodha scholarship' scheme. India initiated the Muktijodha Scholarship Scheme in 2006 for descendants of the 1971 Freedom Fighters. Until now, more than 10,000 scholarships worth Tk150 million have been disbursed.

•This year, scholarships have been awarded to 600 undergraduate students. Of them, 48 were from Chittagong.

4) Turkish President on two-day visit to India

•Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is arriving in New Delhi this evening on a two-day visit to India. He will hold delegation level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow. 

•External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will also call on the visiting dignitary. Sources in the External Affairs Ministry said, Mr Erdogan will also attend a business event and interact with the Captains of Indian Industry.

5) Air India opens booking for Shimla-New Delhi flight under UDAN

•Air India said today it has opened booking for its first flight under the Regional Connectivity Scheme to be operated on the Shimla-New Delhi route by its subsidiary Alliance Air. 

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the maiden flight under the government's ambitious plan to provide connectivity to far and remote areas of the country.

•Over 45 unserved and under-served airports would be connected under the scheme- UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik)- that seeks to make flying more affordable. 

•Last year, Air India had received a rap from the Supreme Court for the lack of air connectivity to Shimla.

6) eander Paes wins Tallahassee Challenger title of men's doubles

•In Tennis, Leander Paes won the Tallahassee Challenger title of the men's doubles but Ramkumar Ramanathan had to be content with a runner-up finish in the singles' event in Florida.

•The top-seeded Indo-American pair Paes and Scott Lipsky came from behind to pip Argentine third seeds Leonardo Mayer and Maximo Gonzalez 4-6, 7-6, 10-7 in the summit clash. This is Paes' 2nd Challenger level title of the season.

•In the singles' event, Ramkumar, playing first Challenger level final of his career, lost the title match 2-6, 7-6, 5-7 to Slovenian qualifier Blaz Rola.