Daily Current Affairs Updates: 05 April 2014

Daily Current Affairs Updates: 05 April 2014

1) Advani filed nomination from Gandhinagar for Lok Sabha polls: Accompanied by Narendra Modi, veteran BJP leader L K Advani on Saturday filed his nomination from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, putting up a show of unity after months of apparent frost in ties between the two. Modi himself handed over the papers to the Returning Officer of Gandhinagar, a seat Advani was virtually forced to accept over Bhopal which was said to be his first choice.

2) Asia's largest Tulip garden thrown open for public: Asia's largest Tulip garden on the banks of Dal Lake in Srinagar was thrown open for visitors on Saturday, even as the inclement weather conditions have delayed blooming of majority of the bulbs. "The garden was thrown open for the public today. The weather this year delayed the blooming of the tulips and delayed its opening," an official of the Floriculture Department said. He said most of the bulbs had not bloomed due to inclement weather and incessant rains in the month of March this year.

3) Afghans defy Taliban threats to vote in large numbers to elect their new President: Afghans voted in large numbers Saturday to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai in the country's first democratic transfer of power as US-led forces end their 13-year war. Despite Taliban threats, voting was largely peaceful with long queues in cities across the country as voters cast their ballots at around 6,000 centres under tight security.

4) First female mayor of Paris takes office: The first female mayor of Paris has taken office, hailing a "great advance for all women" and saying she feels the weight of responsibility in her new job. Anne Hidalgo donned the red, white and blue mayoral sash Saturday after at a City Hall vote enshrining her victory in the capital as part of nationwide municipal elections on March 30.

5) IRNSS-1B orbit raised: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday successfully boosted the apogee and the perigee of its navigation satellite, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS-1B), by firing the propulsion system on board the satellite for seven minutes and a half from 5.35 p.m. IRNSS-1B is India’s second navigation satellite. A total of seven satellites will form the IRNSS constellation.