NEWS 26-04-2017. 26 APR NEWS 1. China has renamed six places in Aurnachal Pradesh. The Chinese move is believed to be a retaliation against India’s decision to allow Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh early this month in spite of Chinese opposition to it. China considers Arunachal Pradesh to be a part of South Tibet. 2. Pakistan has leased Gawadar port in it’s Baluchistan Province to a state run Chinese firm – COPHC for a period of 40 years. Gawadar port is located at the mouth of Homruz strait in Persian Gulf. It would provide China the shortest route to oil rich West Asia and Africa. Thus China can use the port to transport fuel into north-western China through pipelines to China’s Xinjiang province. Also, Chinese control over Gwadar port would enable China to encircle India (String of Pearls) and gain strategic advantage in the region. 3. The Union cabinet has agreed to the Election Commission’s proposal to buy new Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trial machines. They are likely to be used in 2019 general elections. Bengaluru-based Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) and Hyderabad-based Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL) will manufacture 16 Lakhs VVPAT units. Previously, Supreme Court had observed that VVPAT would ensure free and fair polls and help in sorting out elections related disputes. 4. PV Sindhu, the ace shuttler of India has been ranked No. 3 in the latest BWF ranking. PV Sindhu received international attention after getting listed on the Top 20 list of Badminton World Federation rankings in 2012. In 2013, she became the first Indian to win a medal at the 2013 World Championships. Sindhu had clinched Silver medal in Rio Olympics. 5. Donald Trump,the US president has ordered the country’s federal agencies to tighten the H-1B visa programme. It is widely used to bring high-skilled foreign workers to the US.Trump has asked agencies to propose ideas to direct visas to the most skilled and highly paid applicants without resorting to the lottery system. As per a report published by Bloomberg, companies like Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp and others would likely have fewer visas approved once the changes proposed by Trump are adopted. < < Back