Current Affairs 3rd May 2017

Current Affairs 3rd May 2017 - Important Points

• Railway Bridge taller than Eiffel Tower to be built over - Chenab River
• 64th National Film Awards presented by - President Pranab Mukherjee
• Patanjali Research Institute in Haridwar inaugerted by - PM Narendra Modi
• Vidya Veerta Abhiyan launched by - Prakash Javadekar
•  Shabana Azmi starrer 'The Black Prince' awarded at - film fest in Houston
• Who has been appointed as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee ? - Mallikarjun Kharge

Current Affairs 3rd May 2017 - Details

Railway Bridge taller than Eiffel Tower to be built over - Chenab River

Railways Ministry announced to build the world's highest railway bridge over the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir in around two years from now on 3rd may 2017. This railway bridge is going to be 35 metre taller than the Eiffel Tower of Paris. The massive arch-shaped structure of bridge is already under construction at a cost of around Rs 1100 crore in hostile terrain.

Interesting Highlights

• Designed to withstand wind speeds of up to 260 km per hour, the bridge will connect Bakkal (Katra) and Kauri (Srinagar).
• The bridge forms a crucial link in the 111-km stretch between Katra and Banihal, which is part of the Udhampur- Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project.
• The construction of this 1315 m long bridge will require over 24000 tonnes of steel and will rise 359 m above the river bed.
• The bridge will be made of 63mm thick special blast-proof steel as the Jammu and Kashmir region is prone to frequent terror attacks.
• There will be a ropeway in the bridge for inspection purpose.
• Railways will also install sensors on the bridge to check the velocity of the wind so that signal on the track turn red to prevent train movement as soon as the wind speed exceeds 90 kmph.
• The concrete pillars of the bridge will be designed to withstand explosions and will be painted with a special corrosion- resistant paint lasting for 15 years.
• An online monitoring and warning system will be installed on the bridge to protect the passengers and train under critical conditions. 
• Footpaths and cycle trails will be built next to it.

 64th National Film Awards presented by - President Pranab Mukherjee

President Pranab Mukherjee presented the 64th National Film Awards on 3rd May 2017 in New Delhi. Best actor award bagged by Akshay Kumar for Rustam and bbest Actress is to Surabhi C.M for Minnaminungu - the Firefly.

Things to know

• Best feature Film - Kasaav (Marathi)
• Best Film on social issue -Pink
• Best Children's Film - Dhanak
• Best Special Effect -Shivaay (Hindi)

Patanjali Research Institute in Haridwar inaugerted by - PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Patanjali Research Institute at Haridwar, Uttarakhand on 3rd May 2017. Patanjali Research Institute was established with an aim to establish  globally the Vedic knowledge of Ayurveda of ancient India's saints and sages.

Important Highlights

• The Patanjali Research Foundation was founded in August 2010. 
• The institute is named after the great Indian sage Patanjali who first compiled the numerous writings on yoga.
• This Research Foundation evaluates indigenous systems of medicine, particularly yoga and ayurveda.
• The institute focuses to conduct research work on Drug Screening, pharmacognosy, drug discovery, pharmacology, chronic disease study and more.
• Yoga Guru Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. has managed to secure a place for itself in India and abroad.
•  Patanjali is a fast growing Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) whose net sales for the financial year 2015-16 stood for Rs 5000 crore. 
• The company now aiming to win over multinational firms manufacturing consumer products in the near future.

Vidya Veerta Abhiyan launched by - Prakash Javadekar

Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Human Resource Development launched the Vidya Veerta Abhiyan in New Delhi on 2nd May 2017. In addition, the minister also released a collage of photo portraits and book of Paramveer Chakra recipients.

 About Wall of Valour

• A Wall of Valour will be built in universities and colleges across India.
• It will be built with contribution funding by students and teachers on voluntary basis.
• The Wall will be 15X20 feet of size.
• It will show the portraits of all the 21 Paramveer Chakra recipients.
• It aims at reviving and re-energizing the patriotic fervour in the minds of Indian youths.

 Shabana Azmi starrer 'The Black Prince' awarded at - film fest in Houston

Hollywood film 'The Black Prince', starring Indian actress Shabana Azmi and singer-poet Satinder Sartaaj, awarded the Special Jury Remi Award on 3rd May 2017 at the 50th annual WorldFest - Houston International Film Festival. 'The Black Prince' is a historic biopic on the emotional life story of the last king of Punjab - Maharajah Duleep Singh and his fragile relationship with Queen Victoria, who was Godmother to his children. Maharajah was also named as the Black Prince of Perthshire.

Satinder Sartaaj, who marks his acting debut with the film, essays the role of Maharajah Duleep Singh while Shabana Azmi portrays Rani Jindan,King's mother. The Black Prince' is filmed widely across the India and Britain. The WorldFest - Houston International Film Festival is the World’s largest independent film festival.

Important Highlights

• WorldFest founded over 50 years ago as Cinema Arts in August 1961. 
• It was founded by award-winning director and producer Hunter Todd to present a quality film festival for the Independent filmmakers.
• The fest has received more than 4500 category entries from 37 countries since 2006 to till date

Who has been appointed as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee ? - Mallikarjun Kharge

Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of Congress in Lok Sabha was appointed as the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament on 2nd May 2017. Apart from Kharge, the PAC has 14 members from Lok Sabha and seven members from Rajya Sabha. The PAC members from the Lok Sabha are Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Subhash Chandra Baheria, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar,Prem Singh Chandumajra, Nishikant Dubey, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Riti Pathak, Neiphiu Rio, Abhishek Singh, Ram Shanker, Kirit Somaiya, Anurag Singh Thakur, Shivkumar C Udasi and P. Venugopal. The members of the PAC from the Upper House in the panel are Naresh Agrawal, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Ajay Sancheti, Satyavrat Chaturvedi, Bhubaneswar Kalita, Shantaram Naik,and Bhupender Yadav.

More about Public Accounts Committee

• It is a committee of selected members of Parliament for the auditing of the revenue and the expenditure of the Government of India.
• The term of office of the members is one year.
• The Chairman of the PAC is appointed by the Speaker of Lok Sabha.
• The chairman of the committee has been selected from the opposition since 1967.
• The PAC’s main function is to examine the audit report of Controller and Auditor General (CAG) after it is laid in the Parliament.