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Accomplishment - JitendraJagota appointed Chairman of IDSA-12

- Justice (retd) Permod Kohli took over as Chairman of Central Administrative Tribunal - 15

- Mehbooba Mufti took oath as first woman Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir-13

- Hashim Thaci sworn-in as Kosovo‘s President -16

- Lamborghini appointed Sharad Agarwal as Head of India Operations-17

- Vietnam Police Chief Tran Dai Quang sworn in as President-12

- NASA astronomers discovered Supermassive Black Hole weighing 17 billion Suns--15

- Myanmar Parliament approved Bill to grant PM-like role to Aung San Suu Kyi-14

- Hemant Kumar Ruia appointed CFO of Indus Towers-18

- Union Government reconstituted IGNCA Trust;-19

- MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga appointed as member of US cybersecurity body -20

- Inzamam-ul-Haq appointed Pakistan chief selector-21

- BCCI appointed Rahul Johri as its CEO-23

- Centre appoints A Ajith Kumar as Rubber Board chief-24

- Mother Teresa conferred with Founders Award posthumously in UK -17

-India‘s Durga Thakur promoted as International-22

- Meeran Borwankar appointed Director General-18

- SusmitaPande appointed as chairperson of National Monument Authority-20

- Deepak Mishra appointed as ADG of CRPF-21

- Goa Govt appoints Justice PK Mishra as Lokayukta-24

- Kallol Roy appointed CMD of Bhartiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam -13

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- Laos appoints new president, prime minister-25

- BhupendraKainthola appointed FTII Director-27

- India -born Reuben brothers top UK rich list-27

- Former Finance Minister Clement Mouamba-28

- PM Modi conferred highest civilian award of Saudi Arabia-30

- President Pranab Mukherjee presented National Geoscience Awards 2014 -30

- President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Padma Awards 2016 -32

- Ex-Army Chief General JJ Singh conferred highest French civilian honour-33

- Khadija Ismayilova to receive UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2016 -33

- T N Ninan gets Mumbai Press Club‘s lifetime achievement award -34

- Pulitzer Prize 2016 winners announced - 35

- President presented Hindi Sevi Samman Awards-36

- Manoj Bajpayee to receive Dadasaheb Phalke award for ‘Aligarh’ -38

- Two Indians scholars got Highest Mongolian honour-39

- France honours Mikkelesen with top civilian Award-39

- Sudarsan Pattnaik bags gold medal at sand art contest in Moscow-40

- President nominated 6 eminent personalities to Rajya Sabha-26

- Tubman will become the first African-American and the first woman in more-26

- Radhika Apte won best actress award for ‚Madly‘ at Tribeca Film Fest 2016 -37

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- Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won Global Indian of the Year 2016 award -31

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- Priyadarshini Chatterjee crowned FBB Miss India World 2016 -31

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- Union Government Launches Start-up India portal and mobile app-41

- Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurates Manesar-Palwal section-45

- World‘s first White Tiger Safari inaugurated in-43

- Bihar imposed complete ban on alcohol sales-43

- Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepre-neurship launched-44

- Union Cabinet allowed Oil PSUs to have independent crude import policy-46

- Union Government notified Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 -47

- Union Cabinet gave ex-facto approval for implementation of One Rank One Pension-49

- Indian scientists developed eco-friendly nanotechnology for water purification-50

- National Sagarmala Apex Committee approves National Perspective Plan on Sagarmala-51

- Piyush Goyal Lays Foundation Stone for Underground Cabling Work-51

- India‘s rank unchanged at 19th among top 30 exporters-52

- B BTandon Committee constituted to monitor government-53

- Jharkhand Government announced to reserve 2 percent-54

- Haryana government decided to rename Gurgaon-55

- Maharashtra Legislative Assembly passed Dance Bar Bill 2016 - 55

- Delhi government launched PoochhO-56

- Kachabali village became first liquor-free village in Rajasthan-41

- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched Phase-42

- Shan-e-Punjab becomes first train to have CCTV cameras-53

nAtionAl news

- Foundation stone laid for first Horticulture University in Haryana-45

- Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh-42

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- Google, RailTel launched free WiFi service at Bhubaneswar-57

- Union Government released report of Technical Committee-57

- Central government fiscal 2015-16 statistics on foreign trade released-59

- Union Government released Commemorative Coin and Circulation -60

- Maharashtra to use hologram-61

- Google Launches The New Chromecast And-63

- India Cleared Trade Facilitation Agreement of WTO -63

- Union Railway Ministry to set up Rs 1 lakh-64

- Laser walls activated along India-Pakistan-65

- Gujarat announces 10% quota for economically-66

- Parliament passes Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015 -67

- Boxer Shiva Thapa qualifies for Rio Olympics-68

- Wheelchair Motocross World Cup 2016 to begins From April 23 -68

- Germany’s Nico Rosberg won 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix-69

- West Indies defeated England to win ICC World T20 Men’s title-70

- Indian men won Asian Nations Cup Chess tournament-71

- Goa government classified its country liquor,-64

- West Indies won Women‘s title of ICC World T20 2016 -70

- Maneka Sanjay Gandhi inaugurates Regional-61

- Parliament passes Constitution Scheduled-65

sports

- Lee Chong Wei defeated Chen Long to win Malaysian Open 2016 -71

- Dwayne Bravo first bowler to claim 300 wickets in T20s-72

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- Mary Kom named as AIBA ambassador for Women’s World Boxing Championship-72

- Dipa Karmakar became first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics-73

- Australia won 2016 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup-74

- Rafael Nadal defeated Gael Monfils to win-74

- Nico Rosberg won 2016 Formula 1 Pirelli Chinese Grand Prix-75

- Laureus Sports Awards 2016: Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams win top honours-76

- BCCI to host first day-night Test against New Zealand this year-77

- Wrestler Sandeep Tomar on 24 April 2016 secured an Olympic-77

- Mairaj Ahmed Khan wins silver medal at ISSF-78

- Mohun Bagan and JejeLalpekhlua named FPAI Player of the Year-79

- Riyad Mahrez became first African footballer to win PFA Player of the Year-79

- Garima Won gold at Commonwealth judo Championship-80

- Shreya 1st woman racer in national Rally Championship-81

- Allan Donal appointed Australia‘s bowling coach-81

- Google Fiber announced home phone service with unlimited local calls.-82

- Bharti Airtel buys spectrum from Aircel for Rs. 3,500 crore-82

- Tata Steel to sell part of UK business to Greybull Capital-83

- RBI gave in-principle approval to Airtel payments bank-84

- Suzlon buys five firms for solar operations-85

- RBL Bank became first private sector bank to open dedicated-86

- Pepsi-Cola sign got historic landmark designation in New York-85

- Anthony Joshua won International Boxing Federation title-73

- India to host 2018 Commonwealth Judo Championships-78

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- DBS Bank to soft launch mobile banking in India-88

- Indian Air Force to participate in Red Flag exercise-89

- Panagarh airbase renamed after former IAF chief Arjan Singh-89

- Russia test-fires nuclear-capable missile-90

- Naval Detachment Inaugurated at Androth Island-91

- Indian Naval Ships Veer and Nipat decommissioned-92

- Russia launches first rocket from new Vostochny-92

- Renowned Iraqi-British Architect ZahaHadid died-93

- Former Mumbai cricketer Ranjan Baindoor dies aged 61 -94

- Hollywood actress and screenwriter Barbara Turner died-95

- Malian photographer Malick Sidibé dies aged 80 -95

- Salsa music pioneer Ismael Quintana died-96

- Five time Emmy winning actress Doris Roberts died-96

- Thailand former Prime Minister BanharnSilpa-archa died-97

- Videocon d2h, Vodafone m-pesa tie-up-87

- Music legend Prince Rogers Nelson died-97

- Uber partners with FICCI, Gujarat Tourism for soft skill-86

- British comedian Ronnie Corbett passed away-93

- Former AC Milan player Cesare Maldini died-94

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obituAries

- Indo-Mongolia Joint Military Exercise, Nomadic Elephant – 2016, commenced - 91

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- SpaceX successfully landed its rocket on a floating drone ship for the first time-99

- Scott Kelly to write memoir titled Endurance:-100

- Scientists discovered way to forecast earthquakes-101

- Europe becomes world’s first region to end malaria: WHO-102

- 1st fossilized heart in prehistoric animal found in Brazil--102

- Japan successfully tested its first stealth fighter X-2 jet-104

- India Signs Loan Agreement with the World Bank for USD 250 Million -105

- India signed agreement with Germany’s KfW for 500 million Euro loan to Nagpur Metro-105

- India, Maldives signed six agreements to deepen bilateral cooperation-107

- India, US agreed on Logistics Exchange Agreement-108

- India and Sweden inked MoU on technical cooperation in rail sector-109

- Memorandum of Understanding between India and United Arab Emirates-110

- Union Cabinet approved MoU on Technical Cooperation between India and Bhutan-112

- Asia’s largest optical telescope Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational-99

- India, Saudi Arabia signed five agreements to boost bilateral co-operationt-106

- India, France launch $1 Trillion Potential Solar Programme under ISA112

- International Day of Sport for Development and Peace 2016 observed-114

- International Day of Human Space Flight observed-144

- World Hemophilia Day was observed on 17 April 2016 -115

science

- India and Mauritius signed MoU to cooperate in Traditional-111

- ISRO Scientists made world’s lightest material ‘Silica Aerogel’ to keep soldiers warm in Siachen-103

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- World Malaria Day-116

- National Panchayati Raj Diwas-116

- World Intellectual Property Day 2016 observed globally-117

- PM Modi launched Gram Uday Se Bharat UdayAbhiyan on Dr. Ambedkar‘s birth anniversary-118

- The Union Government in the third week of April 2016 -119

- Nuclear Security Summit 2016 concluded in Washington DC -121

- Heart of Asia conference begins in New Delhi-122

- Global Tiger population grew by 22% in a Century: WWF and GTF-125

- Union Govern-ment released Indian Intellectual Property Panorama-127

- France announced to end Operation Sangaris across Central African Republic in 2016 -128

- Union Gover-nment released India Rankings 2016 under National Institutional Ranking-129

- Iceland PM Gunnlaugsson resigned after Panama papers leak revelations-130

- World Book and Copyright Day observed-115

- International Conference on Zero held in Paris-122

- Madhukar Gupta committee constituted to suggest ways to strengthen security -130

- BlackBerry Launches BBM Money Transfer Service in India-126

- Jharkhand Government launched Bhimrao Ambedkar Awas Yojana for widows-119

- 13th India EU summit-123

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- Russia approves OVL’s deal to acquire 15% stake in Vankor oilfield-128

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- UNESCO adopted two new recomme-ndations on Education and Training-131

- Saudi Arabia, Egypt to build bridge across Red Sea-132

- Fire accident at Puttingal temple in Kerala: At least 110 people died-133

- U.N. to observe Ambedkar’s birth anniversary-134

- A State in Denial authored by BG Verghese-134

- Royal Mail of British issued set of stamps to mark 400th death-135

- On Boundary Issue 19th Round of Talks held between India and China in Beijing-136

- Time Magazine released list of 100 most influential people in the world-138

- Street in Switzerland named after Roger Federer-138

- Forbes released Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen 2016 list-132

- Pakistan and China signed agreement for launching a satellite to monitor China-Pakistan-137

- Union Cabinet approved to adopt South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network-136

- 400-year-old Shakespeare’s ‘First Folio’ found in Scotland-133

- South Korea Unveils Zika-Proof Olympic Uniforms-139

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ACCOMPLISHMENTJitendraJagota appointed Chairman of IDSA Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) on 29 March 2016 named

JitendraJagota, Director Legal & Government Affairs at Avon Beauty Products, as its Chairman.

• Jagota succeeds RajatBanerji, who servesas National Head, Corporate Affairs at AmwayIndia.

• JagotawasappointedtheChairmanduringtheAssociation’snewExecutiveCommitteewasannouncedattheGeneralBodyMeetingheldinNewDelhi.

• ThenewExecutiveCommitteecomprisedofVivekKatochasViceChairman,RajatBanerjiasTreasurer,andRiniSanyalasSecretary.

• TheelectedmembersoftheIDSAwilleachserveone-yeartermforfinancialyear2016-17.

• IDSA-TheIndianDirectSellingAssociationisanautonomous,self-regulatorybodyforthe direct selling industry in India.

• TheAssociationactsasaninterfacebetweenthe industry and policy-making bodies ofthe Government facilitating the cause of direct selling industry in India.

Vietnam Police Chief Tran Dai Quang sworn in as President Vietnam‘s National Assembly on 2April2016sworein Tran DaiQuang, Minister

ofPublicSecurity,asthe9thPresidentofthe nation.

• Amongthe481validvotes,452outofthetotal494membersoftheunicameralhouse,elected Quang, as the president.

• AresolutionapprovingQuang‘spresidencywasalsobacked93.12percentof theNAdeputies at the plenary session.

• TruongTanSangwasthe8thPresidentofVietnam.

• Before being elected as the President ofVietnam, Quang served as Minister of PublicSecurityfrom2011to2016.

• Heisamemberofthe12thPolitburooftheCommunistPartyofVietnam,inwhichheis ranked second, after General Secretary Nguy?nPhúTr?ng.

• He attended the People‘s Police School in1972.From1972to1975,hestudiedattheSchool of Foreign Languages Department of CulturalAffairs(nowtheMinistryofPublicSecurity).

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Mehbooba Mufti took oath as first woman Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir MehboobaMuftion4April2016sworn in as theChief Minister

(CM) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) at Raj Bhawan in Jammu. The swearing-in ceremony was presided over by J&KGovernor NN Vohra.

• With this, the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti becamethefirstwomanCMofJ&K.

• Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) legislatorNirmal Singh took oath as Deputy Chief Minister.

• Mufti, the daughter of PDP founderMuftiMohammad Sayeed is the second Muslim woman to become theChiefMinister of astateinIndia.SyedaAnwaraTaimurwasthefirstMuslimwomanCMinAssamin1980andcontinuedtoholdthechairtill30June1981.

• The other legislatorswho took oath to bethe ministers of J&K Government

• PriyaSethi(BJP)• SunilKumarSharma• AsiaNaqash(PDP)• AbdulGhaniKohli(BJP)• SyedNaeemAkhtarAndrabi(PDP)• ChheringDorje• SajjadLone(People‘sConference)• HaseebDrabu

• SyedBasharatAhmedBukhari(PDP)• ChaudharyLalSingh(BJP)• BaliBhagat(BJP)• GhulamNabiLone(PDP)• ShamLalChoudhary(BJP)• AjayNanda(BJP)• The state government of J&K was lapsed

on 7 January 2016 as the then CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed died due to ill health. Since, then the state is under President’s rule.

• ThePDP-BJPcoalitionalongwithSajadGaniLoneledPeoples‘Conferencehave56MLAsinthe87-memberAssembly.ThePDPhave27members while BJP have 25. Peoples‘ConferencehastwoMLAswhile twootherindependents are supporting the coalition.

• The revival of the PDP-BJP coalitiongovernment in the state became possibleafter three months of stalemate after several roundsofhecticnegotiationsbetween thetwo parties and apparent intervention byPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kallol Roy appointed CMD of Bhartiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Kallol Roy on31 March 2016was appointedthe Chairman and Managing

Director(CMD)ofBhartiyaNabhikiyaVidyutNigam Ltd (BHAVINI).

Roy assumed the position following the

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superannuation of PerumalChellapandi.• Kallol Roy had served as theHead of the

Research Reactor Maintenance Division,ReactorGroup,BARC.Hewasresponsiblefor total maintenance management of all plantsystemsandequipment,carryingoutmodifications and upgrading mechanicaland electrical systems and computerising various plant systems.

• HeholdsaPhDinfaultdiagnostics-systemsandcontrolfromIIT-Bandapostdoctoratedegree in computer process control from theUniversityofAlberta,Canada.

• BHAVINIisagovernment-ownedcorporationof India.

• Itwasestablishedin2004inChennai.• ItiswhollyownedbytheUnionGovernment

and is responsible for the construction,commissioning and operation of all Stage II fast breeder reactors envisaged as partofthecountry’sthreestagenuclearpowerprogramme.

• It is administered by the Department ofAtomicEnergy(DAE).

• Once the first fast breeder reactor, calledPrototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR)goes into commercial power production,BHAVINI will be the second power utilityinIndiaafterNuclearPowerCorporationofIndia (NPCIL), to use nuclear fuel sources togeneratepower.

Myanmar Parliament approved Bill to grant PM-like role to Aung San Suu Kyi Myanmar‘s (Burmese) Parliament in

Naypyidawon5April2016passedabillthatgives Aung San Suu Kyi a role similar to that of Prime Minister. The Lower House passedthebill tocreatethepostofstatecounsellor,whichnowrequiresonlypresidentialapprovaltobecomelaw.

• Earlier,thebillhasgonethroughtheUpperHouseandnowwillbesenttothePresidentHtinKyawfortheapproval.

• Unelectedmilitary representatives holdingaquarterofParliamentaryseatsboycottedthe vote, calling the bill unconstitutional.SuuKyi‘spartywonelectionsbutsheisnotallowedtobepresident.Clause59(F)oftheBurmeseConstitutionbarscandidateswithforeign spouses or childrenbutSuuKyi‘stwosonsholdBritishpassports.

• The new democratically elected NationalLeague for Democracy (NLD) government of Myanmar thinks that the clause waswritten specifically to prevent 70-year-oldNobellaureateSuuKyifromtakingoffice.

• At present, Aung SanSuuKyi is to headfourcabinetpostsincludingforeignaffairs,president’s office, education, and energyministries.

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Justice (retd) Permod Kohli took over as Chairman of Central Administrative Tribunal.

Justice (retd.)PermodKohli in thefirstweekof April 2016 took over as the Chairman of CentralAdministrativeTribunal(CAT).

KohlisucceededJusticeSyedRafatAlamandwillbe intheofficeforaperiodof5yearsortillattainingtheageof68years,whicheverisearlier.

• Bornin1951inthetownofRajouri,Jammuand Kasmir, he joined Bar at Jammu in1972.

• HebecameAdvocateGeneralofJammu&KashmirinDecember1990.

• HeisanexpertinConstitutional,CivilandTaxationcases

• He remained Legal Advisor to Sri MataVaishno Devi Shrine Board and Sri Mata Vaishno Devi University till elevation.

• He as Judge has provided services tothe High Courts of Jammu & Kashmir, JharkhandandPunjab&Haryana.

• In 2011, he was elevated as the ChiefJustice of the Sikkim High Court.

• Article 323A of Part 14A of the IndianConstitution provides for establishmentof CAT and was inserted by the 42ndAmendment Act, 1976.

• ItwasconstitutedinNovember1985underSection29oftheAdministrativeTribunalsAct,1985.ItwassetupatDelhi,Mumbai,CalcuttaandAllahabad.

• TheCATisheadedbyaChairmanwho isa sitting or retired Judge of a High Court.

Besides the Chairman, the authorized strength consists of 16 Vice-Chairmen and 49Members.

• The Tribunal follows the principles ofnatural justice in deciding cases and theprocedure, prescribed by Evidence Act orCriminal Procedure Code (CPC) does not apply.

• Now,thereare17BenchesoftheTribunallocated throughout the country wherevertheseatofaHighCourtislocated,with33Division Benches.

NASA astronomers discovered Supermassive Black Hole weighing 17 billion Suns

TheastronomersatNationalAeronauticsandSpace Administration (NASA) discovered a supermassiveBlackHolewhichweighsabout17billiontimesthemassofSun.

• Itwasdiscoveredinthecenterofagalaxyin a sparsely populated area of the universe and it may indicate that these monster objects may be more common than oncethought.

• The discovery was published on 6 April2016inthejournalNature.

• The lead discoverer is Chung-Pei Ma,a University of California-Berkeley astronomer and head of the MASSIVESurvey, a study of the most massive galaxies and supermassive black holes inthelocaluniverse,whereastheleadauthorisJensThomasoftheMaxPlanck-Institutefor Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching,Germany.

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• Mainfindingofthediscovery• Thenewlydiscoveredsupersizedblackhole

resides in the center of a massive elliptical galaxy, NGC 1600, located in a cosmicbackwater, a small grouping of 20 or sogalaxies.

• It is located about 200 million lightyears from Earth in the direction of theconstellationEridanus.

• The amount of stars pushed away bythis black hole equals 40 billion suns,comparable to ejecting the entire disk ofourMilkyWaygalaxy.

• Unlike other galaxies, wherein the galaxybulge is proportional to the mass of theblackhole,galaxyNGC1600hasarelativelysparse bulge in relation to the discoveredblackhole’smass.

• Thepresenceofthemassiveblackholewasmade through measuring the velocities of starsnearit,whicharestronglyinfluencedbythegravityoftheblackhole.Thevelocitymeasurements give us an estimate of the blackhole’smass.

• The velocity measurements were madeby the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph(GMOS) on the Gemini North 8-metertelescopeonMaunaKeainHawaii.GMOSspectroscopically dissected the light from the galaxy’s center, revealing starswithin3000light-yearsofthecore.

• However, these stars were found to bemovinginastraighterpathawayfromthecore suggesting that they had ventured closer to the center and had been slungaway,mostlikelybythetwinblackholes.

• This observation was supported by theimagestakenbytheNearInfraredCamera

and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS)of Hubble telescope. The NICMOS imagesrevealed that the galaxy’s core wasunusually faint, indicating a lack of stars close to the galactic center.

• Astar-depletedcoredistinguishesmassivegalaxies from standard elliptical galaxies,whicharemuchbrighterintheircenters.

Hashim Thaci sworn-in as Kosovo‘s President

Hashim Thaci, the leader of the DemocraticPartyofKosovo,wason7April2016sworn-inas President of Kosovo.

• The sworn-in ceremony at the KosovoAssembly was boycotted by Oppositionparties.

• Thaci,whosucceededAtifeteJahjaga,waselected for the post on 26 February 2016in the absence of nearly all oppositionlawmakerswhohadearliertriedtodisruptthevotingwithteargas.

• Aftertakingtheoath,Thacisaid,hisgoalswere Kosovo‘s integration into NATO andEuropeanUnion, and the continuation ofthe process of normalizing relations withSerbia.

• Inthe1990s,hewasaleaderoftheKosovoLiberation Army (KLA), which fought aguerrillawaragainstSerbiafrom1998-99.

• Hewas thefirstPrimeMinisterofKosovoand the Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime MinisterinthecabinetledbyIsaMustafa,whichassumedofficeon12December2014.In2008,hedeclaredKosovo’sindependencefromSerbia.

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Mother Teresa conferred with Founders Award posthumously in UK Mother Teresa wasposthumously conferred with

the UK‘s prestigious Founders Award 2016.The award is given to recognise and rewardexemplary achievements of peoplewithin theglobalAsiancommunity. Teresa’s only living relative, her 72-year oldniece, Agi Bojazhiu received the award on 8April 2016.

Teresa, who will be made a saint on 4September 2016, founded the MissionariesofCharity and spent 45 years serving needypeople. Shepassed away at the age of 87 inKolkata in 1997. The Founders Awards recognise and rewardexemplary achievement across 14 categoriesthat include business, philanthropy,entertainment, culture and sport. It waslaunchedin2010byPaulSagoo,entrepreneurand founder of the Lemon group.

• CommunityServiceaward:RamiRanger,aleadingNRIentrepreneurandphilanthropistwho contributed 100000 pounds for theMahatma Gandhi statue.

• Business Leader of the Year award:

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Prakash Lohia, Chairman and co-founder of Indorama Corporation.

• Outstanding achievement in Television’award: Kunal Nayyar, actor from the hitAmerican comedy series The Big BangTheory.

• Outstanding Achievement in Cinemaaward:AsifKapadia,heisOscarandBAFT-winningdocumentary-maker

• OutstandingachievementinSportsaward:Tottenham Hotspurs football star SonHeung-Min of South Korea

• Entrepreneur of the Year award: AnilAgrawal,founderandExecutiveChairmanof the metal and mining company, Vedanta ResourcesCorporation.

• Outstanding achievement in Science andTechnology: Shuji Nakamura, inventor oftheblueLED.

• Social Entrepreneur of the year award:Vikram Patel, the leading mental health researcher of India.

Lamborghini appointed Sharad Agarwal as Head of India Operations Italian luxurysports car maker Lamborghinion 6 April 2016 announced the

appointment of former Audi India executiveSharadAgarwalasHeadofIndiaoperations. As the head of Lamborghini India,

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Agarwalwillberesponsibletodrivetheentireactivitiesforthecompanyinthesubcontinent,overseeing sales, marketing, after sales and networkdevelopment.

• Prior to his appointment at Lamborghini,Agarwal has been associated with AudiIndia since May 2012 as Head of Corporate Sales, Fleet and Leasing and Financial Services. He moved as Head of Field Forces in2013.

• He has also been associated with ZuariIndustries, TVS Motor Company andMahindra First Choice.

• Lamborghini is an Italian brand andmanufacturerofluxurysportscars.

• Ferruccio Lamborghini, an Italianmanufacturing magnate, founded AutomobiliFerruccioLamborghiniS.p.A.in1963tocompetewithestablishedmarques,including Ferrari.

• Itsproductionfacilityandheadquartersarelocated in Sant‘Agata Bolognese, Italy.

Hemant Kumar Ruia appointed CFO of Indus Towers Indus Towers, thecountry‘s largest telecom towerfirm, on 11 April2016 appointed

Hemant Kumar Ruia as its Chief FinancialOfficer(CFO).

• BeforejoiningIndusTowers,RuiaworkedasCFOattheRelianceRetailLtd.AtReliance,he played the role of business partneracrossvariousbrandswithRelianceRetail-RelianceFresh,Digital,Jewellery,Trends,FootwearandRelianceMarkets.

• Ruia started his career with Larsen &ToubroandhassinceworkedwithICIIndiaLtd and Reckitt Benkiser India. He alsoservedastheCFOofAgroTechFoodLtd,asubsidiaryofConAgraFoodsInc,foroverseven years.

• IndusTowersisanindependentlymanagedcompany offering passive infrastructure services to all telecom operators and other wirelessservicesproviders.

• ItwasincorporatedinNovember2007.• The company has 118687 towers in 15

circlesacrossthecountry.Ithasthewidestcoverage in India and has already achieved 265606 tenancies, a first in the telecomtowerindustryglobally.

Meeran Borwankar appointed Director General of Bureau of Police Research & Development Maharashtra cadre IPS officer

Meeran C Borwankar on 8 April 2016was appointed the Director General(DG) of Bureau of Police Research andDevelopment (BPR&D). BPR&D is a

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consultancy organisation under the Centre for modernisation of police forces.

TheAppointmentsCommitteeoftheCabinethas appointed Ms. Meeran C.Borwankar,IPS (MH:81) as Director General in theBureauofPoliceResearch&Development(BPR&D)tillthedateofhersuperannuationi.e.30.9.2017,fromthedateofassumptionof the charge or until further orders, whicheverisearlier

The Appointments Committee of Cabinetappointed Borwankar, a 1981 batchIPS officer, as the organisation’s DGtill 30 September 2017, the date of hersuperannuation.

At present, Borwankar is working in hercadre state Maharashtra. In her long career, shehasalsoworkedinMaharashtra‘sAnti-TerrorismSquad(ATS).

• The Bureau of Police Research andDevelopment was set up on 28 August1970infurtheranceoftheobjectiveoftheGovernment of India for the modernisation of police forces. It has evolved as a multifaceted, consultancy organisation.

• Atpresent,theorganisationhas4divisions,whichareResearch,Development,Trainingand Correctional Administration.

Union Government reconstituted IGNCA Trust; Ram Bahadur Rai appointed President

The Government of India on 14 April 2016reconstituted the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) Trust withimmediate effect.

Senior Journalist Ram Bahadur Rai wasselected as President of IGNCA. Veteran dancer SonalMansingh, film makerChandraprakashDwivediandlyricistPrasoonJoshi are included as members of the 20memberreconstitutedbody.

• Ram Bahadur Rai is a renowned HindiJournalist and former news editor ofJansattanewspaper.

• He has also authored books on VPSingh named Manjil se Jyada Safar andRahvarikeSawalonChandrashekhar.

• He was a close associate of JayaprakashNarayan, and was also part of the11-member Steering Committee that ledthe JP Movement.

• He was the organising secretary ofAkhilBharatiyaVidyarthiParishad (ABVP) duringthe1974BiharmovementledbyJPNarayan against the misrule and corruption in the government of Bihar.

• Hewasoneofthefirstjournaliststoreportabout the 1991 Hawala Bribery scandalwhileworkingwithHindidailyJansatta.

• Indira Gandhi National Centre for theArts is a premier government-funded arts organization in India.

• It isanautonomous institutionundertheUnion Ministry of Culture.

• ItwasestablishedinthememoryofIndiraGandhi,thelateIndianPrimeMinister,withKapilaVatsyayan as its Founding Director.

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• TheIGNCAwaslaunchedon19November1985 by former Prime Minister RajivGandhi.

MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga appointed as member of US cybersecurity body US President Barack Obamahas nominated MasterCard’s

Indian-AmericanCEOAjayBangaasamemberof the Commission on Enhancing NationalCybersecurity.• Mr.Bangaisoneofthe10membersofthe

Commission which also includes GeneralKeithAlexanderformerDirectorofthetopUS spying body National Security Agency(NSA).

• ThecommissionwasestablishedinFebruary2016 to make detailed recommendations to strengthencybersecurityinboththepublicandprivatesectorswhileprotectingprivacy,ensuring public safety and economic andnational security.

• BangaisanalumnusoftheIndianInstituteofManagement(IIM),Ahmedabad.HehadstartedhiscareeratNestleIndia,workinginsalesandmanagementrolesfrom1981to1994.

• He was appointed president and CEO ofMasterCardin2010.HejoinedMasterCardin 2009 as President and COO. Prior tojoiningMasterCard,heheldvarioussenior

management roles with Citigroup from1996 to 2009 and most recently serving as CEOofCitigroupAsiaPacific.

• He had served as director for Marketingand Business Development at PepsiCo RestaurantsInternationalIndiafrom1994to 1996.

• He also had served as a member of theAdvisory Committee for Trade Policy andNegotiationssince2015.Healsoamemberof the Board of Directors of the DowChemical Company, the Board of Governors oftheAmericanRedCross,theCouncilofForeignRelations.

• Currently he also serves as Chairman oftheFinancialServicesRoundtableandCo-Chair of the American India Foundation.

SusmitaPande appointed as chairperson of National Monument Authority.

UnionGovernmenton14April2016appointedSusmitaPandeas thenewchairpersonof theNational Monument Authority (NMA). She is professor a professor at Ujjain‘s VikramUniversity.

She would succeed HimanshuPrabha Ray,theprofessoratJawaharlalNehruUniversitywhose term ended in September 2015. Thepositionwaslyingvacantforfivemonthsafterhisdemissionfromoffice.

Atthetimeofappointment,shewastheheadof the School of Studies in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology in Vikram University of Madhya Pradesh.

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• It is organised under Union Ministry ofCultureandTourism,headquateredinNewDelhi.

• It is responsible for the protection andpreservation of monuments and sites.

• It manages the prohibited and regulatedarea around the centrally protected monuments.

• The chairperson of NMA will be selectedforathree-yeartermbytheappointmentscommitteeoftheUnionCabinet.

Inzamam-ul-Haq appointed Pakistan chief selector The PakistanCricket Board (PCB)on18April2016 appointed former Pakistan captain Inzamam-

ul-Haqasthenewchiefselectoroftheteam.

• Inzamam,a veteranof 120 tests and398one-day internationals, replaced Haroon Rasheedaschiefselector.ThePCBhasnotsetafixedtermforInzamam‘stenure.

• The members of the new selectioncommittee are former test off-spinner Tauseef Ahmed, former internationalfast bowler WasimHaider and batsmanWajahatullahWasti.

• Atthetimeofappointment,Inzamamwasthe head coach of Afghanistan cricket team.Hewasappointedastheheadcoachof Afghanistan in October 2015, andwas

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contracted by the Afghanistan CricketBoarduntilDecember2016.

• The PCB, however, requested the ACB torelease Inzamam from his contract early.

• ThiswillbeInzamam‘sfirsttimeasaselector;earlier,hehadworkedasPakistan‘sbattingconsultantbrieflyin2012-13.

• Inzamam, widely regarded as one of thegreatest Pakistani batsmen ever, hadscored8830runsin120testmatchesand11739 runs in378ODIs.He retired frominternational cricket in 2007.

• The previous selection committee wasdissolvedbyPCBafterPakistanfaredbadlyintheAsiaCupandWorldT20.

• Soon after the World Twenty20, CoachWaqarYounisquitandwicketkeeperSarfrazAhmedreplacedShahidAfridiasTwenty20captain.

Deepak Mishra appointed as ADG of CRPF

Senior IPS officer DeepakMishra has been appointedas Additional

Director General in the Central ReservePoliceForce(CRPF).

• HisappointmentwasclearedbytheUnionMinistry of Home Affairs (MHA). He willhavetenuretillNovember2018witheffectfrom the date of assumption of charge of the post.

• Deepak Mishra is IPS officer of the 1984

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batch of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT)cadre.

• AboutCentralReservePoliceForce(CRFP)CRPF is the largest statutory CentralArmed Police Forces in India. It functions and operates under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

• It was established in 1939, underCrown Representative’s Police but afterindependenceitwasmadestatutoryCentralReservePoliceForceaftertheenactmentoftheCRPFAct,1949.

• At present CRPF is the world’s largestparamilitaryforcewith228battalionsandover three lakh personnel.

• Its primary role is to assist States/UnionTerritories (UTs) in police operationsto maintain law and order and containinsurgency.

• DirectorGeneralofBSFisK.K.Sharma• Director Genral of ITBP is Krishna

Chaudhary

India‘s Durga Thakur promoted as International Umpire by International Hockey Federation

India‘s Durga Thakur was

on 19 April 2016 promoted as International OutdoorUmpire by the InternationalHockeyFederation(FIH).Thedecisionwastakenafter

watchingherperformanceattheHawkesBayCupthatwasheldinApril2016inHastings,NewZealand.

Withthis,ThakurbecameanadditiontoacropofyoungIndianumpirescurrentlyofficiatingatthe international level. FIH’s list currently has 14Indiansintheeliteleagueofinternationalumpires(10men,4women).

• Thakur started her career as an umpirefrom the third Hockey India Sub-JuniorMen & Women National Championship(Finals)inBhopalin2013.

• A graduate of NSNIS in 2011, her firstinternational assignment came in 2015at the double six-Nation Cup in Breda,Netherlands.

• ShehasalsorepresentedherstateHimachalPradesh in the National Championships in three sporting disciplines- Handball,BasketballandHockey.

PM Modi inaugurates superspeciality hospital in KatraThe PrimeMinister, ShriNarendra Modi, visited Katra, in Jammu and Kashmir on 19-April-2016.

• HeinauguratedtheShriMataVaishnoDeviNarayana Super Speciality Hospital, and delivered the Convocation Address at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University.

• ThePrimeMinister exhorted the studentstoalwaysrememberthatoneofthesourcesof funding for this University, was thedonation made by poor pilgrims at theshrine of Mata Vaishno Devi. He said that the students should also take a pledge to do something for the poor.

• He said that the nation is scaling new

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heights, and with a youthful population,there is a lot that can be achieved. Hesaid the 21st century is the century of knowledge, and whenever there has beenaneraofknowledge, Indiahasshowntheway.

• The Prime Minister appreciated the girlstudents for performing exceedingly wellacademically. He also recalled the feat of DipaKarmakar,whohasbecomethefirstIndian woman to qualify for an Olympicsgymnastics competition.

• The Prime Minister later inaugurated theShri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex, and addressed a publicmeeting. He appreciated the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ms. MehboobaMufti, for her energetic leadership, and for theenthusiasmwithwhichshespokeofthefuture of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. He also recalled the former Chief Minister of the State, Shri Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

• Referring to the Sports Complex, he saidthat sports is extremely important tobuild sportsman spirit in society.He alsomentioned the FIFAUnder-17World Cupthatwill behostedby India in2017, andsaidthisshouldbeanopportunityforustocelebratesports.

• The Prime Minister recalled Shri AtalBihari’s vision for Jammu and Kashmir – Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat, and Kashmiriyat. HesaidthateveryeffortwouldbemadetoworktowardsthedevelopmentoftheState,keeping in mind this vision.

BCCI appointed Rahul Johri as its CEO Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 20 April 2016 appointed RahulJohri as its Chief Executive Officer

(CEO).

• Rahul Johri, who was last serving asDiscoveryNetworksAsiaPacific’sExecutiveVice-President and General Manager for SouthAsia,willtakeonhisnewrolestarting1June2016onwards.Hewillbereportingto the BCCI Secretary.

• ThecreationofthepostoftheCEOwasachangerecommendedbythethree-memberLodha panel in its report in January 2016.Thepanelhadstressedtheneedforthe BCCI to separate its governance and management duties,with theCEO takingcharge of the management side.

• Rahulwhocarries20-plus-yearexperiencein themedia industrywas lastassociatedwithDiscoveryNetworkfor15yearsandforthepasteightyearswasleadingSouthAsiaoperations.

• The Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) is the national governing body forcricket in India.Theboardwas formed inDecember 1928 as a society, registeredundertheTamilNaduSocietiesRegistrationAct.

• It is a consortium of state cricket

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associations and the state associations select their representatives who in turnelecttheBCCIofficials.

Goa Govt appoints Justice PK Mishra as Lokayukta Justice PK Mishra, former Chief Justice of Patna High Court, was on 20 April2016 appointed

astheLokayuktaofGoa.Thedecisioninthisregardwastakenbythestategovernment.

• Theannouncementwasmadeby theGoaChief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar afterstate government obtained the consensusoftheChiefJusticeofBombayHighCourtand the Leader of Opposition in the GoaAssembly as stipulated in the LokayuktaAct,2013.

• Now thestateCabinetwillbe recommendname of Justice Mishra to Mridula Sinha, Governor of Goa for appointment.

• MishrahadrecentlyretiredastheChairmanofGoaStateHumanRightscommission.Heretired as Chief Justice of Patna High Court beforetakinguphisassignmentinGoa.

• ThepostoftheLokayuktaofGoawaslyingvacant for the last two years. Goa’s firstLokayuktaJustice(Retd)SudarshanReddyhad resigned within seven months of hisappointment in October 2013 and sincethenthepostwasvacantformorethantwo

years.• His resignation left investigations of 21

cases, including the crucial illegal mining scam and the recruitments in government department,pendingbeforetheombudsmanin the State.

• As per the Lokayukta Act, 2013, theGovernor is the final authority to appointthe Lokayukta on the advice tendered bytheChiefMinister,inconsultationwiththeChief Justice of Bombay High Court andtheLeaderoftheOpposition.

• Italsospeaksthatapersontobeappointedas Lokayukta shall be a person who hasheld the office of a judge of the SupremeCourt or a Chief Justice of the High Court.

Centre appoints A Ajith Kumar as Rubber Board chief

Senior IAS officerA Ajith Kumarappointed as Kerala-basedRubber Board‘s

chairman, a post lying vacant for over a year and a half.

• TheappointmentcomeslessthanamonthaheadofAssemblypollsdueinthesouthernstate on May 16.

• The Appointments Committee of Cabinethas approved the appointment of Kumar,a 1994 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre,to the post of chairman, Rubber Board,

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Kottayam,anorder issuedbyDepartmentofpersonnelandTraining.

• He has been appointed for a period uptoMay31,2018,which is thedateofhissuperannuation.

• TheposthasbeenlyingvacantsinceAugust2014. The vacancy has been a politicalissue in the state.

• Ramesh had denounced the Uniongovernments policy for the rubber sector,sayingIndiahasbecomealargeimporterofnaturalrubberduetopoorinvestmentsintheRubberBoard.

• Commercial cultivation of natural rubberwas introduced in India by the British,although the experimental efforts to growrubberonacommercialscaleinIndiawereinitiatedasearlyas1873attheBotanicalGardens, Calcutta.

• Thefirst commercialHeveaplantations inIndia were established at Thattekadu in1902.

Laos appoints new president, prime minister Laos‘s National Assembly on20 April 2016 appointed Communist Party chief Bounnhang

Vorachit as the country‘s new president andnamed foreign minister Thongloun Sisoulithas prime minister.

• Thepicksareseenbymanyanalystsasa

continuationofthestatusquoinsecretiveLaos, where the communists have ruledsincetheendoftheVietnamWar.

• The 149-member assembly completed theprocessofnominationandvotingforbothcandidates in around an hour.

• One of the fastest-growing economies inEast Asia, landlocked Laos has averagedGDP growth of 7 percent over the pastdecade, with increasing use of naturalresources contributing a third of outputgrowth,theWorldBanksays.

• This has boosted incomes and access toelectricity, telecoms and healthcare for its mostly rural population of 6.7 million.

• Laoshasclosepolitical ties tocommunistVietnam and mirrors its political system.

• CommunistneighbourChinahasbeenvyingaggressivelyforinfluenceinLaos,however,providing loans, aid and infrastructure investment.

• Laos is still struggling to rid itself of thepainfullegacyoftheVietnamWar,whenitbecamethemostheavilybombedcountryinhistory after the U.S. and its allies dropped about two million tons of ordnance from1964to1973.

• More than four decades on, the countrygrappleswithmillionsofclustermunitionsand other unexploded ordnance devicesthat kill and maim dozens each year.

Govt.renamesRajivGandhiKhelAbhiyanas ‘Khelo India’

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Tubman will become the first African-American and the first woman in more than a century to appear on U.S. paper currency.

Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson, theseventh President of the United States, to appearastheportraitgracingtheUS$20bill.

• Harriet Tubman was an Americanabolitionist, humanitarian, and an armedscout and spy for the United States Army duringtheAmericanCivilWar.

• She was born as a slave in DorchesterCounty, Maryland.

• She also helped abolitionist John Brownrecruit men for his raid on Harpers Ferry.

• WhentheCivilWarbegan,sheworkedfortheUnionArmy,firstasacookandnurse,and then as an armed scout and spy.

• Thefirstwomantoleadanarmedexpeditioninthewar,sheguidedtheraidatCombaheeFerry, which liberated more than 700slaves.

• Herdeathhappenedon10March1913.

President nominated 6 eminent personalities to Rajya Sabha

President PranabMukherjee on22 April 2016 nominated of six

eminent personalities from different fields toRajya Sabha following a recommendation of

the Union government.

SubramanianSwamy:aBJPleaderfromTamilNadu,Hewaselected toLokSabha in1977,1980 and 1988, and to the Rajya Sabha in1974and1998.

Narendra Jadhav: a renowned economistand formermemberof theerstwhileNationalAdvisory Council (2010-14) and PlanningCommission (2009-14). He was the formervice-chancellor of Pune University.

NavjotSinghSidhu:FormerIndiancricketer-turned-politician and served as MP in Lok Sabhaforthreeterms.

SureshGopi:aMalayalamactorwhoactedinover200films.HewasawinneroftheNationalFilmandFilmfareAwards.

SwapanDasgupta:ajournalist,whoworkedatsenioreditorialpositionsinvariouspublicationswhichincludeTheIndianExpress,IndiaTodayandTheTimesofIndia.Heisaprolificwriterin three languages - Marathi, English andHindi -andcreditedwithwritingandeditingmorethan30books.

Mary Kom: Legendary boxer and Olympicbronze medallist. She belongs to the Sino-Tibetan speakingKom tribe ofManipur. Sheisfive-timeWorldAmateurBoxingchampion,andtheonlywomanboxertohavewonamedalin each one of the sixworld championships.In2014, shebecame thefirst IndianwomanboxertogetagoldmedalintheAsianGamesin Incheon, South Korea. She was picked to

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ensure representation from Northeastern states.

• President has a provision to nominate 12members in the Council of States (RajyaSabha) on the recommendation of UnionCabinetasperArticle80oftheConstitutionof India.

• Thenamesofthenominatedmemberswhoare drawn from fields such as literature,science, sports, art and social service on the advice of the government.

• The rationale behind the principle of thenomination is to facilitate the representation of eminent professionals and expertswhocannot face direct elections.

BhupendraKainthola appointed FTII Director

Indian Information Service (IIS) officerBhupendraKainthola has been appointed asDirector of Film and Television Institute ofIndia(FTII).

• Kainthola will replace Prashant Pathrabeand shall have tenure of three years.

• Heisa1989batchIISofficer.Priortothisappointment he was serving as Director(NewsRoom)withDDNewssinceJanuary2015.

• He was responsible for ‘management ofnewsoperationsandoutput’.

• Previously, he has worked with PIB,Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity(DAVP), Directorate of Film Festival (as Director,NationalFilmAwardsandIndianPanorama) and also with the Lok Sabha

Television.• KaintholaholdsaMastersinInternational

RelationsfromtheUniversityofMumbai’.• FTII is premier institute that provides

training for acting, film making, videoediting, direction and production.

• ItisanautonomousbodyunderMinistryofInformationandBroadcasting.Establishedin 1960 and is situated in Pune on the premises of the erstwhile Prabhat FilmCompany.

• Sinceitsinception,FTIIhasbecomeIndia’spremier film and television institute. Itsalumni have become technicians, actorsand directors in the film and televisionindustry.

India -born Reuben brothers top UK rich list Billionaires David and Simon Reuben haveadded another accolade to their formidablearray of financialachievements

after being identified as Britain’s wealthiestracehorseowners.

• The Reubens, who own Northern Racingand are in the process of adding Arena Leisuretotheirportfolio,normallyshyawayfrompublicity,butrecentlyputtheirheadsover the parapetwhen paying £20,000 tohave a Zamindar colt carry their coloursthis season as part of a charity venture

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organisedbyDrMarwanKoukashonbehalfofRacingWelfare.

• Named Great Ormond, and trained inNewmarketbyDavidSimcock,thebrotherswilldonateanywinningstoGreatOrmondStreet Hospital.

• Father and daughter Peter and DeniseCoates’scontinuingsuccesswiththebet365onlinebettingcompanyhasseenthemputfurther daylight between themselves andFred (Betfred) and Peter Done at the top of theleaguetableofgamblingoperators.

• TheCoatesfamilyarenowvaluedat£800million–a£50mriseonlastyear–whiletheDones,whoboughttheTotefor£265mlastsummer,areup£40m,to£700m,thesumalso apportioned to PartyGaming founders RushParasolandRussDeLeon.

• Derrick Smith, another of Magnier’sbloodstock partners, remains unchangedon£550m.

• Racehorse owner and breeder KirstenRausing, bracketed with brother Jorn,occupies15thpositionwith£3.9bn,whileEarl Cadogan, whose property empireincludes much of Chelsea, has enjoyedanotherprofitable12monthsduringwhichhiscoffersincreasedby£375mto£3.2bn.

Former Finance Minister Clement Mouamba appointed as Prime Minister of Congo

Mouamba Clement, the former CongoleseFinance Minister, was on 24 April 2016appointed as the Prime Minister of Congo. He wasappointedtothepostbyCongo‘sPresidentDenis Sassou Nguesso. Clement will be responsible for forming agovernmentinconsultationwiththepresidentin accordance with the 25 October 2015constitution. Further, the appointment comes a month after Sassou Nguesso was elected to a five-yearterm that extends his long rule over the oilproducing country. Sassou Nguesso led Congo between1979and1992andreturnedtopowerafteracivilwarin1997. ThecentralAfricancountryhasbeengrippedbypoliticalviolencesincetheelection.

• Earlier between 1992 and 1993, Clementhas served as financeminister under thecountry‘s first elected president PascalLissouba,whowas ousted frompower bySassou Nguesso in 1997.

• Hehasalsoservedthecountryasone-timeopposition leader into the government.

• The economist and former officer of theBankofCentralAfricanStates (BEAC) ledseveralfinancialinstitutionsinthecountryinthe1980s.

• HewasaseniormemberoftheoppositionPan-African Union for Social Democracy before being expelled in 2015 for takingpart in the talks thatpavedtheway foraconstitutionalreferendumallowingSassouNguessotoextendhisrule.

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• Thereferendumscrappedatwo-termlimitonpresidentialmandates,allowingSassouNguesso to bid to stay in office inMarchelections,whichhewonwithmorethan60percent of the vote.

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PM Modi conferred highest civilian award of Saudi Arabia Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on 3 April2016 conferred theKingAbdulaziz

Sash honour by Saudi Arabia. It is thehighest civilian honour of the country.

• TheprestigiousawardwasawardedbyKingSalman bin Abdulaziz at the Royal Courtin Riyadh where the two nations headsheldextensivetalksonarangeofbilateral,regional and international issues.

• The award is named after King AbdulazizAlSaud.HewasthefounderofthemodernSaudi state.

• It is awarded to citizens of Saudi Arabiaand foreigners for meritorious service to the Kingdom.

• The other prominent personalities whowere conferred with this award earlierare Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,British Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama, RussianPresident Vladimir Putin and EgyptianPresidentAbdelFattahel-Sisi.

AWARDS1

Saudi Arabia

President Pranab Mukherjee presented National Geoscience Awards 2014 The Presidentof India PranabMukherjee on5 April 2016

presented the National Geoscience Awards -2014atafunctionheldatRashtrapatiBhavaninNewDelhi.

The annual awards are presented to honourindividuals and team of scientists for their outstanding contributions in the field offundamental or applied Geosciences, Mining and Allied areas.

Fortheyear2014,Prof.AshokKumarSinghviwas conferred with the highest honourNationalGeoscienceAward forExcellence forhis outstanding contributions in the field ofsedimentary technologies.

Along with him, 32 other geoscientists werebeing given the awards in 13 disciplinesincluding Mining Technology, BasicGeosciences, Geo-Information System, etc.

• These are the prestigious awards in thefieldofGeosciencesinthecountry.

• Thesewereinstitutedin1966bytheUnion

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Ministry of Mines as National Mineral AwardsandrechristenedasNGAin2009.

• AnycitizenofIndiawhoisaprofessionallyqualified geo-scientist or engineer ortechnologistoracademicianwithsignificantcontributioninanyfieldofearthsciencesiseligible.

• Nominationsare invitedannually forNGAunder three categories viz., NGA, National GeoscienceAwardforExcellenceandYoungResearcher Award which carry 200000,500000 and 50000 rupees award moneyrespectively.

• Theselectionoftheawardeesisathreetierprocess and the final round of selectionis done by the Award Making AuthoritychairedbytheSecretarytoGovernmentofIndia, Ministry of Mines.

Priyadarshini Chatterjee crowned FBB Miss India World 2016 Delhi-basedPriyadarshini Chatterjee on 9April 2016 wasannounced the

winner of the FBB FeminaMiss IndiaWorld2016at the53rdeditionof theFeminaMissIndiabeautypageantheldinMumbai.

• She was crowned the title by Aditi Arya,FeminaMissIndia2015.

• BangaloregirlSushruthiKrishnaemergedas the Femina Miss India Supranational

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2016 and Lucknow girl PankhuriGidwaniwascrownedtheFeminaMissIndiaGrandInternational 2016.

• Chatterjeewillnow represent Indiaat theMiss World 2016 pageant, Krishna willparticipate at Miss International 2016, while Gidwani will take part at the MissGrandInternationalbeautypageants.

• The winners were chosen by a panel ofjudgesthatincludedSanjayDuttandSaniaMirza among others.

• ListofSpecialAwardswonbycontestants• Beautywithapurpose-SushruthiKrishna• Best National Costume -

RoshmithaHarimurthy• Best Talent - DnyandaShringarpure,

GayathriReddyandPankhuriGidwani• MissPhotogenic-SushruthiKrishna• MissBodyBeautiful-RajkanyaBaruah• Miss Fashion Icon - AradhanaBuragohain

andGayathriReddy• MissRampwalk-PriyadarshiniChatterjee• MissCongeniality-NatashaSingh

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won Global Indian of the Year 2016 award BollywoodActressAishwarya RaiBachchan on 12 April 2016 wontheGlobal Indian

oftheYear2016awardatthirdseasonofNRIoftheYearawardfunctionheldinMumbai.• The NRI of the Year Award recognizes

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outstanding achievements of the Indian diaspora globally. From 2016 the awardswillbewoventogetherthematicallyandthedebutthemeisContemporaryCrusoes.

• Theawardsareconferredtosalutethespiritof the nimble-footed globetrotting Indianswhohaveresidedinanyofthefourregionsof America, Asia Pacific,Middle East andUK.

• Besides Aishwarya, Indian Tennis playerSaniaMirzawasalsohonoredattheNRIoftheYearAward2016.

• 17individualsweregiventheawardsunderdifferent categories like entrepreneur, professional, academics, arts & culture, philanthropy, special jury award, globalicon of the year and India’s global iconaward.

• The awards of global Indian of the year2014and2015wereconferredonAmitabhBachchanandShahRikhKhanrespectively.

President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Padma Awards 2016

President PranabMukherjeepresented remaining of the PadmaAwardson12 April 2016 at a

CivilInvestitureCeremonyheldatRashtrapatiBhavan.Heconferred5PadmaVibhushan,11PadmaBhushanand40PadmaShriawards.The Union Government announced Padmaawards 2016 for 112 eminent persons on

26 January 2016 among them 56membersreceivedtheawardson28March2016whileremaining 56 members who received theawardsare:

Padma Vibhushan• DrVasudevaKalkunteAatre• DrGirijaDevi• Rajanikanth• RamojiRao• DrVShanta Padma Bhusan• RavindraChandraBhargava• RobertDeanBlackwill• InduJain• UditNarayanJha• HeinamKanhailal• SaniaMirza• YarlagaddaLakshmiPrasad• DayanadaSaraswati(Posthumus)• RamVanjiSutar• NSRamanujaTatacharya• SwamiTejomayananda Padma Shri Some of the prominent personalities among

the other 40 who received Padma ShriAwardsinclude:

• PriyankaChopra• SalmanKhan• SSRajamouli(DirectorofBahubali)• VeenaTandon

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Ex-Army Chief General JJ Singh conferred highest French civilian honour Former Chief of ArmyStaff(COAS)General (retd) JoginderJaswantSingh on 12 April

2016wasconferredthehighestFrenchcivilianhonor,OfficierdelOrdrenationaldelaLegiondHonneur(OfficeroftheLegionofHonor).

• ItisthehighestcivilianawardgivenbytheFrenchRepublicforoutstandingservicetoFrance, regardless of the nationality of the recipients.Singhwasconferredthehonourby French Ambassador to India FrancoisRichier.

• Hewaschosenforthehonorinrecognitionof his stellar role in modernizing the IndianArmy.His initiations led to robustexchangesbetweentheIndianandFrencharmies,whichinturncreatedenduringtiesand promotion of mutual understanding betweenthetwocountries.

• Legion of Honour is the highest Frenchorder for military and civil merits.

• It was established in 1802 by NapoleonBonaparte.

• The order is divided into five degreesof increasing distinction: Chevalier(Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur(Commander), Grand Officier (GrandOfficer)andGrand‘Croix(GrandCross).

• The order‘s motto is Honneur et Patrie

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(Honour and Fatherland) and its seat is the Palaisde laLégiond‘Honneurnext to theMuséed‘Orsay,ontheleftbankoftheRiverSeine in Paris.

Khadija Ismayilova to receive UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2016

Investigative journalist Khadija IsmayilovaofAzerbaijanon8April2016waschosenfortheUNESCOorGuillermoCanoWorldPressFreedom Prize 2016.

• The Prize will be awarded during thecelebrationofWorldPressFreedomDay3May2016hostedbyFinland.

• Anindependentinternationaljuryofmediaprofessionals recommended Ismayilova in recognitionofheroutstandingcontributiontopressfreedomindifficultcircumstances.

• Ismayilova, a freelance journalist andcontributor to the Azerbaijani serviceof Radio Free Europe, was detained inDecember2014,and, inSeptember2015,was sentenced to seven and a half years’imprisonmentonchargesrelatingtoabuseofpowerandtaxevasion.

• The Prize was established by UNESCO’sExecutive Board in 1997 to honour aperson, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the

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defence and, or promotion of press freedom anywhereintheworld,andespeciallywhenthishasbeenachievedinthefaceofdanger.

• It is funded by the Cano Foundation(Colombia) and the HelsinginSanomatFoundation (Finland).

• Theprize includes25000USdollarscashPrize in honour of Guillermo Cano Isaza, a Colombianjournalistwhowasassassinatedinfrontoftheofficesofhisnewspaper,ElEspectador, in Bogotá, on 17 December1986.

T N Ninan gets Mumbai Press Club‘s lifetime achievement award

TheMumbai Press Club on 15th April 2016selected T N Ninan, Chairman and EditorialDirector of Business Standard, for 2016 ‚RedInk Award for Lifetime Achievement inJournalism‘.

• TheawardwillbepresentedtoNinanbytheGovernorofMaharashtraCVidyasagarRaoon April 26 here.

• The Award recognises Ninan‘s extensivecontribution to business journalismthrough good editorial leadership whichhe provided over the years to a host of publications,saysareleaseissuedherebytheMumbaiPressClub.

• The ‚RedInkJournalistof theYear‘Awardwould be given to NDTV India‘s seniorExecutive Editor Ravish Kumar for hisconsistent and good reporting on politics and issues that concern the common man.

• The RedInk Awards for Excellence in

Journalism are given in 10 categories for meritorious work in TV, print and digitalformats.ThecategoriesarePolitics,Crime,Health&Wellness,Business,Environment,Human Rights, Photography, Science &Innovation,Entertainment&LifestyleandSports.

• The selection of winners was made byeminent people from various walks of lifeincluding Justice (retd) B N Srikrishna for Human Rights, Shobha De forEntertainment&Lifestyle,SBIChairpersonArundhati Bhattacharya for Business, Harsha Bhogle for Sports and Sudheendra Kulkarni for Politics.

• Nearly1,500entriesandnominationswerereceived this year,up from800 last year.Thejudgingprocessforthese10categorieswill be completedbyApril 16, the releaseadded.

• Atatimewhenjournalistsareunderseverethreat of violence and pressures from vestedinterestsand„hashtagwriting“,thetheme for the RedInk Awards-2016 is ‚ToRiseAboveAll‘,thereleasesaid.

• TheAwardswillbepresentedatafunctionatJamshedBhabaHall,NCPA,hereonApril26.

• Inthepast,doyensofjournalismincludingVinod Mehta, KuldipNayar, N Ram,MrinalPande and (last year) Dr Prannoy Royhavebeenhonouredwiththe ‚RedInkAwardforLifetimeAchievement‘.

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Pulitzer Prize 2016 winners announced

The2016PulitzerPrizes winnerswere announcedon18April2016.• TheMarshallProject andProPublica won

the Explanatory Reporting Prize for their12000-wordarticle,AnUnbelievableStoryofRape,aboutafailedpoliceinvestigationintoayoungwoman’sallegationsofrape.

• TheAssociatedPresswonthePublicServiceAward for its investigation into theuseofslavelabouracrosstheseafoodindustryinSoutheastAsia.Throughtheinvestigation,the A.P. traced how that very seafoodwas then sold across supermarkets andrestaurants in the United States.

• Listofwinners:• Public Service - Associated Press for an

investigation of severe labour abusestied to the supply of seafood to American supermarkets and restaurants

• Breaking News Reporting - Los AngelesTimes Staff for exceptional reporting,includingbothlocalandglobalperspectives,on the shooting in San Bernardino and the terrorinvestigationthatfollowed

• Investigative Reporting - Leonora LaPeterAnton and Anthony Cormier of the Tampa Bay Times and Michael Braga ofthe Sarasota Herald-Tribune for a stellarexample of collaborative reporting by twonewsorganizationsthatrevealedescalating

violence and neglect in Florida mental hospitalsandlaidtheblameatthedoorofstateofficial

• ExplanatoryReporting-T.ChristianMillerof ProPublica and Ken Armstrong of TheMarshallProjectforastartlingexaminationandexposéof lawenforcement‘senduringfailures to investigate reports of rape properly and to comprehend the traumatic effects on its victims

• Local Reporting - Michael LaForgia, CaraFitzpatrick and Lisa Gartner of TampaBay Times for exposing a local schoolboard‘sculpabilityinturningsomecountyschools into failure factories, with tragicconsequencesforthecommunity

• NationalReporting-TheWashingtonPostStaff for its revelatory initiative in creating andusinganationaldatabasetoillustratehowoftenandwhythepoliceshoottokillandwhothevictimsaremostlikelytobe

• InternationalReporting-AlissaJ.RubinofTheNewYorkTimesforthoroughlyreportedandmovinglywrittenaccountsgivingvoicetoAfghanwomenwhowereforcedtoendureunspeakablecruelties

• FeatureWriting-KathrynSchulzofTheNewYorkerforanelegantscientificnarrativeofthe rupturing of the Cascadia fault line, a masterworkofenvironmentalreportingandwriting

• Commentary - Farah Stockman of TheBoston Globe for extensively reportedcolumns that probe the legacy of busingin Boston and its effect on education in thecitywithacleareyeonongoingracialcontradictions

• Criticism - Emily Nussbaum of The New

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Yorkerfortelevisionreviewswrittenwithanaffectionthatneverbluntstheshrewdnessof her analysis or the easy authority of her writing

• Editorial Writing - John Hackworth andBrianGleasonofSunNewspapers,CharlotteHarbor, FL for fierce, indignant editorialsthat demanded truth and change after the deadlyassaultofaninmatebycorrectionsofficers

• Editorial Cartooning - Jack Ohman ofThe Sacramento Bee for cartoons thatconvey wry, rueful perspectives throughsophisticatedstylethatcombinesboldlineworkwithsubtlecoloursandtextures

• Breaking News Photography - MauricioLima, Sergey Ponomarev, TylerHicks andDaniel Etter of The New York Times forphotographs that captured the resolve of refugees, the perils of their journeys andthe struggle of host countries to take them in

• PhotographyStaffofThomsonReuters forgripping photographs, each with its ownvoice,thatfollowmigrantrefugeeshundredsof miles across uncertain boundaries tounknowndestinations

• Feature Photography - Jessica Rinaldi ofTheBostonGlobefortherawandrevealingphotographic story of a boy who strivestofindhisfootingafterabusebythosehetrusted

•The Pulitzer Prize is an award forachievements in newspaper and onlinejournalism, literature, and musicalcomposition in the United States.

• Itwasestablishedin1917byprovisionsinthewill of JosephPulitzerwhohadmade

hisfortuneasanewspaperpublisher,andisadministeredbyColumbiaUniversityinNewYorkCity.

• Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-onecategories.Intwentyofthecategories,eachwinner receives a certificate and a 10000USdollarscashaward.

• Thewinner in the public service categoryofthejournalismcompetitionisawardedagold medal.

President presented Hindi Sevi Samman Awards The Presidentof India, PranabMukherjee on19 April 2016 presented the Hindi Sevi

SammanAwardsfortheyears2012,2013and2014.TheawardswerepresentedatafunctionatRashtrapatiBhavan.

• The Hindi Sevi Samman Awards wereinstitutedbyCentralHindi Institute,Agrain 1989. Fourteen scholars receive thisaward in seven different categories everyyear for their contribution in the field ofHindi language and literature.

• Theawardeesindifferentcategoriesinclude:• GangaSharanSinghAward-Forwork in

thefieldofpromotionandtrainingofHindi

• Foryear2012-BSatyanarayan,RadhakantMishra,R.Surendran

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• Foryear2013-ShirdaKumarSaikia,T.S.KKannan,RabindranathMishra,D.M.Savitri

• For year 2014 - M. Venkateshwar, V.D.Hegde - Deven Chand Das ‘Sudama’Beena Budki

• Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Award - Forworkinthefieldofjournalismandcreativeliterature

• Foryear2012-MaheshDarpan,VishwanathSachdev

• Foryear2013-RajeevKatara,BVLalitamba• For year 2014 - Devendra Kumar,

Shatrughan Prasad• AtmaramAward -Forwork in thefieldof

Science and Technology literature andMachinerygrowth

• For year 2012- Devendra Kumar,Shatrughan Prasad

• Foryear2013-BalenduSharmaDadhich,Dinesh Mani

• For year 2014 - Suresh Kumar Jindal,SureshTiwari

Radhika Apte won best actress award for ‚Madly‘ at Tribeca Film Fest 2016 BollywoodactressRadhika Apte on22 April 2016 bagged the best

actress in an international narrative feature honouratTribecaFilmFestival2016forherperformanceinanthologyfilmMadly.

• RadhikastarredinCleanShaven,whichis

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a segment of Madly.• List of other Tribeca Film Festival 2016

AwardWinners• U.S. Narrative Feature Competition

Categories:• The Founders Award for Best Narrative

Feature – Dean, written and directed byDemteri Martin.

• BestActorinaU.S.NarrativeFeatureFilm–DominicRainsinTheFixer.

• Best Actress in a U.S. Narrative FeatureFilm–MackenzieDavisinAlwaysShine.

• Best Cinematography in a U.S. NarrativeFeatureFilm–CinematographybyMichaelRagenforKicks.

• BestScreenplayinaU.S.NarrativeFeatureFilm –WomenWhoKill written by IngridJungermann.

• InternationalNarrativeFeatureCompetitionCategories:

• TheBestInternationalNarrativeFeature–Junction 48, written and directed by UdiAloni.

• Best Actor in an International NarrativeFeatureFilm–AlanSabbaghinTheTenthMan.

• Best Cinematography in an InternationalNarrative Feature Film – Cinematography byKjellVassdalforElClasico.

• Best Screenplay in an InternationalNarrative Feature Film – Perfect Strangers writtenbyFilippoBologna,PaoloCostella,Paolo Genovese, Paola Mammini, and RolandoRavello.

• World Documentary CompetitionCategories:

• BestDocumentaryFeature–DoNotResist,directedbyCraigAtkinson(USA).

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• Best Documentary Cinematography –Cinematography by Jarred Alterman forContemporary Color (USA).

• BestDocumentaryEditing–EditingbyBillRossforContemporaryColor(USA).

• DirectingAwards:• Best New Narrative Director Award —

Priscilla Anany, director of Children of the Mountain (USA, Ghana).

• AlbertMayslesNewDocumentaryDirectorAward—DavidFeigeforUntouchable(USA

• ShortFilmCompetitionCategories:• BestNarrativeShort–HoldOn(Houvast),

directed by Charlotte Scott-Wilson(Netherlands).

• Best Documentary Short – ExtremisdirectedbyDanKrauss(USA).

• Student Visionary Award – Ping PongCoach,directedbyYiLiu.(TaiwanR.O.C.,USA).

• StoryscapesAward• NotesonBlindness:IntoDarknesscreated

by Arnaud Colinart, Amaury La Burthe,Peter Middleton, and James Spinney. Winner receives 10000 US dollars,presentedbyAT&T.

• TheawardwasgivenbyJessicaBrillhart,Saschka Unseld, and Olga Serna, SeniorMarketingManager,AT&T.

• TheNoraEphronPrize• RachelTunnard,director,writerandeditor

of Adult Life Skills (UK).

Manoj Bajpayee to receive Dadasaheb Phalke award for ‘Aligarh’ Actor ManojBajpayee will behonouredwiththeDadasahebPhalkeAward in the

Best Actor category (Critics’ Choice) for his performance in Hansal Mehta’s biographicaldrama,“Aligarh”.

• “DadasahebPhalkeAwardintheBestActor(Critics’Choice) toManojBajpayee forhisportrayalofProfessorRamchandraSirasin‘Aligarh’,”MehtatweetedonFridaynight.

• The “Shool” star mentioned that he feelsextremely honoured and also thankedeveryone for their love and appreciation.

• Theawardceremonywilltakeplacehereon1st May 2016.

On the work front, the actor will next beseenasatrafficconstableintheupcomingfilm“Traffic”.

• Manoj Bajpayee is an Indian film actorwhopredominantlyworksinHindicinemaandhasalsodonesomeTeluguandTamillanguage films.He is the recipient of twoNational Film Awards and two FilmfareAwards.

• Born in Belwa, a small village inNarkatiaganj, Bihar, Bajpayee aspired tobecomeanactorsincechildhood.

• HerelocatedtoDelhiattheageofseventeen,and applied for National School of Drama,

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only to be rejected for three times. Hecontinued to do theatrewhile studying inthe college.

• Bajpayeemadehisfeaturefilmdebutwiththeone-minuteroleinDrohkaal(1994),anda minor role of a dacoit in ShekharKapur‘s BanditQueen(1994).

• Afterfewunnoticedroles,heplayedgangsterBhikuMhatreinRamGopalVarma‘s1998crimedramaSatya,whichproved to be abreakthrough.

• BajpayeereceivedtheNationalFilmAwardfor Best Supporting Actor and Filmfare CriticsAwardforBestActorforthefilm.

• HethenactedinfilmslikeKaun(1999),andShool(1999).Forthelatter,hewonanotherFilmfareCriticsAwardforBestActor.

• BajpayeefurtherplayedtheroleofaprincewithtwowivesinZubeidaa(2001),aserialkiller in Aks (2001) and a hitchhiker-turned-psychopathkillerinRoad(2002).

Two Indians scholars got Highest Mongolian honour Mongolia today conferred its highest civilian award „North

Star“ on two noted Indian scholars-LokeshChandra and Mansura Haider-for their contributiontoMongolianstudies.

• Mongolian Foreign Minister LundegPurevsurenconferredtheawardonLokesh

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Chandra, president of the Indian Council forCulturalRelations(ICCR),andMansuraHaider, former academic adviser at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), at ceremony at the Mongolian embassyherewhichwasalsoattendedbyUnionMinisterKirenRijiju.

• MansuraHaider,whowasaprofessorandformer dean of the faculty of arts in Aligarh Muslim Universitys history department, said was the first to give theMongols anidentitywasmisrepresentedinhistory.

• MongoliaisalandlockedsovereignstateinEast Asia. It is bordered by China to thesouthandRussiatothenorth.

• While it does not share a border withKazakhstan, Mongolia is separated from Kazakhstanbyonly36.76kilometres(22.84mi).

• Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city,ishometoabout45%ofthecountry‘spopulation.

France honours Mikkelesen with top civilian Award France on 27th April 2016 honoured Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen witha top civilian

award,payingtributetohimasa„fascinating“actorwhose„facetellsitall“.

• The50-year-oldDanishactor,bestknownfor playing baddie Le Chiffre in the 2006

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Bond film „Casino Royale“ received thehonour at a ceremony in Copenhagen alongside Danish film director ThomasVinterberg.

• France‘sambassadortoDenmarkFrançoisZimeray described Mikkelsen as „an all-round actor, whose face tells it all: thehardshipsandjoysoflife“.

• The former professional dancer won thebestactorprizeatCannesin2012forhisrole in Vinterberg‘s psychological thriller„TheHunt“.

• described him as a film-maker who„exposes the dark sides of humannaturewithaudacity“.

Sudarsan Pattnaik bags gold medal at sand art contest in Moscow Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik baggedthe gold medal at theninthMoscow

Sand Sculpture Championship „The magicalworldofsand“2016.

• He won the championship for bestcomposition ‚Mahatma Gandhi - WorldPeace‘.

• About twenty sand artists from variouscountriesaroundtheworldparticipatedinthe championship.

• ThechampionshipwasheldfromApril21-

27atMoscow.• He has already participated in more

than 50 international sand sculpturechampionshipsacrosstheworld.

• Hehasalsogotthefourthhighestcivilianaward-PadmaShriin2014.

• Hestartedsculptingimagesonsandsincethe age of seven and has designed hundreds of sand art.

• Hewas thebrandambassadorofNALCO,India.

• He established „The Golden Sand ArtInstitute“ which is first of its nature inIndia.

• His sculptures include environmentalcrisis, famous festivals, national integrity and religious tolerance.

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Union Government Launches Start-up India portal and mobile app The UnionGovernment has launched the Start-up India portal and

mobile application. It was launched by theDepartment of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP)RameshAbhishek inNewDelhi asanintegral component of the Action Plan of the Start-up India.

• The portal and mobile app provide up-to- date information issued by variousGovernmentministries/departments.

• Theywillalsoprovideinformationregardingincubatorsandfundingagenciesrecognizedfor the purpose of recommending Start-ups.

• ItwasestablishedwithinInvestIndia,willbe a single point of contact for the entireStart-up ecosystem.

• It would enable exchange of knowledgeandwill work in a hub and spokemodelwith Governments, Angel Funds, VCs,Incubators,Mentors,etc.

• ItwillassistStart-upsonallaspectsthroughtheir lifecycle such as providing mentorship, incubator facilities, IPR support, fundingetc.

• Itprovidessimpleanduserfriendlyprocess

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of recognition for start-ups listed in the Start-up India Action Plan.

• Provide a real time digital version finalrecognitioncertificateisprovidedtoStart-ups on completion of the application process.

• TheportalandmobileappwillhelpinprocessofverificationofcertificatesbyenteringtheStart-upRecognition/CertificateNumber.

• Inter-Ministerial Board set up DIPP willverify the eligibility of Start-ups opting toavailTaxandIPRrelatedbenefits.

• BackgroundThe“Start-upIndia”initiativewas launched by the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on January 16, 2016 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. As part of itStart-upIndiaActionPlanwasreleased.

• It highlights initiatives envisaged by theGovernment to develop a conducive Start-up ecosystem in the country.

Kachabali village became first liquor-free village in Rajasthan Kachhabalivillagein Bhim tehsil of RajsamandDistrict became

thefirstinRajasthantovotetoclosedownitsonlyliquorshop.• The polling was conducted by the excise

department of the state on 29 March 2016

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andaround94%ofthevoterssaidthattheywantacompletebanonthesaleofalcoholin the village.

• The vote was carried out under theRajasthanExciseRules,accordingtowhichanypanchayatcandecidetoclosealiquorshop in the village if 50% of its residentsvote for it.

• Thepollwastheresultofacampaignthatstarted on Republic Day in 2016, led byGeeta,thesarpanch,underwhoseguidanceavotingsessionhadalsobeenorganisedon29February2016.

• This is the first time the provision of theRajasthanExciseAct,1975, thatprovidesfortheclosureofacountryliquorshop,wasinvoked.

• Underthisprovision,51%ofallregisteredvoters, not just those present and voting,shouldopttoclosedowntheshop.

• Beforethepollisheld,atleast20%ofthevoters of the gram panchayat or municipal wardmustseekareferendumontheissue,in a letter to the district collector.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched Phase I of Green Delhi initiative Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on 31

March 2016 launched the Phase I of Green Delhi initiative by planting trees at theTriangularParkattheITOChowk.

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• Thelaunchoftheinitiativeisintunewiththe Detailed Action Plan (DAP) that wassubmittedbytheDelhiGovernmenttotheSupremeCourtinDecember2015.TheDAPdealswiththestepsbeingtakentoimproveairqualityandreduceairpollution in theNational Capital.

• Vaccum cleaning of all Public WorksDepartment(PWD)roadswillbestartedatregular intervals starting from 1 April 2016.

• Toavoiddustrisingfromunpavedfootpathsand central verges, the central verges of the 1260 kilometres of road maintained bythePWDwillbebeddedwithgrassandgreenery.Thisinitiativewillincludekutchaportionunderflyovers.

• Pollution absorbing shrubs such asThevetianerefolia (Pila Kaner), Neriumoleander (LalKaner), Calliandrabrevipes(Powderpuff)andBougainvilleasandtreessuch a Ficusinfectoria (Pilkhan), Cassia Siameawillbeplanted.

• For the Phase I, fromApril toMay 2016,2 crore rupees were allocated by theGovernment. The Phase II will cover theremainingpartsthatarenotcoveredbythePhaseIandwillbeexecutedbetweenJuly2016andSeptember2016.

Madhya Pradesh CM announces ministry of happiness Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj SinghChouhan on

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31stmarch2016announceda ‚happinessministry‘ to measure the state‘s progress.

• While United Arab Emirates (UAE) is theonly country to create posts of minister of happiness in the government, Chouhan joinedchorustoensurethatawelfarestatecannotonlydealwithpoliticsandeconomy.

• The state will be made responsible forhappiness and tolerance of its citizens and willropeinpsychologiststocounselpeoplehowtobealwayshappy.

• Shivrajrelatedhappinesstodevelopmentsinthecountry,showeringpraiseonPrimeMinister Narendra Modi by putting himon the pedestal of god for the third time in threeweeks.

• MadhyaPradeshisthefirstIndianstatetohave a ‘Ministry of Happiness’ to measure state’sgrowth.

• UAE created the post of ‘Minisitry ofHappiness and Tolerance’ in 2016,Venezuela created a ‘Ministry of Supreme SocialHappiness’in2013.

World‘s first White Tiger Safari inaugurated in Madhya Pradesh

Union Minister for Environment andForests Prakash Javdekar on 3

April 2016 inaugurated a White Tiger Safariat Mukundpur in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh.

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• The Safari is situated adjacent to theMukundpur Zoo which is spread over 75hectares.

• Thefirstofitskindsafarihascost50crorerupees and is spread over an area of 25hectares.

• With its inauguration, the safari housesthree white tigers, including one malenamed Raghu and two females namedVindhyaandRadha.

• ThewhitetigerisapigmentationvariantoftheBengal tiger,which is reported in thewildfromtimetotimeintheIndianstatesofAssam,Bengal,Bihar,SunderbansandespeciallyintheformerStateofRewa.

• ThefirstwhitetigerwasspottedinMadhyaPradesh’sVindhyaregionin1915.However,therarebreedofthebigcatdiedin1920.

• In1951,awhitetigercub,namedMohan,wascapturedbyRewaMaharajaMartandSingh of Rewa City in Madhya Pradesh,India.ThecublaterbecametheprogenitorofallknownwhitetigersintheworldaftertheMaharajaarranged for itsbreeding. Itis believed that all thewhite tigers in theworldatpresenthavelineagetoMohan.

Bihar imposed complete ban on alcohol sales The BiharGovernment on 5 April 2016decided to impose a total ban onalcohol in towns

and cities.

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• Thedecisiontobansaleandconsumptionof India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) inmunicipal and town council areas withimmediate effect was taken at a Cabinetmeeting.

• No licence will be granted for sale andconsumption of alcohol in places such as hotels, club and bars in towns and citieswithimmediateeffect.

• However, theArmycantonmentareaswillbeoutofitastheyregulatedthesaleandconsumptionofalcoholintheirownway.

• On1April2016,thestategovernmenthadbanned sale and consumption of countryand spiced liquor in rural areas, but hadallowedsaleofforeignliquorintownsandcities.

• After Gujarat, Nagaland and Mizoram,Bihar became the fourth Indian state toimposetotalbanonalcohol.

Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepre-neurship launched Transnational Skill Standards

The Union Minister of State (IndependentCharge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Pratap Rudy on5 April 2016 launched Transnational SkillStandardsinNewDelhi.

On this occasion, 2 Memorandums of

Understanding (MoUs) were signed betweenNational Skill Development Council (NSDC) and Association of Colleges (UK) and NSDC andUKAwardingOrganizationCity&GuildsandPearsonsEducation.

TheseMoUsweresignedtoenablesharingofbestpractice,staffexchangeanddevelopmentofnewmodelstoincreaseemployerengagementand investment in skills in India.

• It was launched with the aim to supportMake in India and Skill India initiatives and toaligndomesticskillstandardswiththatofbestpracticesrecognizedglobally.

•These Transnational Skill Standards arebenchmarkedtoUnitedKingdomacross82identifiedjobroles.

• India chose UK standards to benchmarkIndian Skills standards since all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries recognizeUKskillcertification.

• TheTransnationalStandardswillhighlightthe gaps in Indian Standards against the UK standards. To cover the gaps, thoseintending to migrate, will undergo bridgetraining.

• TheFurtherEducationColleges(FE)oftheUnited Kingdom will partner with IndianTraining Providers to impart training onbridgecourses.

• FE Colleges will set up Skill Academiesof Excellences in the identified sectors inIndia.

• The training will be provided in severaleconomic activities including agriculture, life science, healthcare, capital goods, textiles,hospitality,informationtechnology,

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etc.•Transnational Skill Standards will

support international mobility of Indianworkforce and also prepare them toworkin international companies having their operations in the country.

• Thesestandardsareexpectedtobringmorequality in vocational educationwhichwillopen more avenues for employment across countries for the youth.

Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurates Manesar-Palwal section of Western Peripheral Expressway

The Union Minister of Road Transport &Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkariinaugurated the Manesar-Palwal section ofthe Kundli- Manesar-Palwal Expressway inthe presence of Haryana Chief Minister Shri Manohar Lal Khattar and Minister of State for SocialJusticeandEmpowermentShriKrishnaPalGurjarinPalwalon5thApril2016.

• Thattheprojecthadearlierbeenlanguishingfor several years.

• TheCentre and theHaryanaGovernmentresolved the issues plaguing it and the 52.33 Km long section of the expresswayhas been completed in a record time ofeleven months.

• Eastern and Western PeripheralExpressways are targeted for completionwithin400daysfromthestartoftheproject.

• Once the two peripheral expressways areready, the traffic congestion in Delhi willcomedownby50percent,pollutionlevelswill be reduced and the farmers, tradersandthepeopleoftheregionasawholewillbenefitduetobetterconnectivity.

• The Manesar-Palwal section of theExpresswayhasbeenbuiltatacostofRs457.81Crores.

• Itisanaccesscontrolled,six-lane,dividedroadwith1.5metrewidepavedshoulderoneach side.

• It intersects with Delhi-Jaipur NH8 nearManesar, Palwal-Sohna-Rewari NH 919,Sohna-Nuh-Alwar Road NH 248A andfinallyjoinsNH2nearPalwal.

• The road will provide uninterrupted highspeedlinkfortraffic,especiallycommercialtraffic from Haryana to neighbouringstates. It will also decongest road trafficthroughDelhibyallowingbypassoftrafficnot destined for Delhi.

Foundation stone laid for first Horticulture University in Haryana

UnionAgricultureandFarmersWelfareMinister,RadhaMohanSingh,on6April2016laid the foundation stone of Haryana State University of Horticultural Sciences at Karnal, Haryana.

The establishment of a fully-fledgedhorticulturaluniversitywillcatertheneedsto

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support the gap between teaching, researchandextensionactivitiesinthestate.

• Theuniversitywill be built on 118 acres.Itwillmeet thedemandof skilledhumanresources.

• Theuniversitywillestablishtheconvergenceand synergy to disseminate latest technology and horticulture education to the young generation.

• The university is expected to help inimproving productivity levels and to adopt appropriatecropdiversificationtosuittheagro climatic conditions of the region.

• Itwillalsoactasaskilldevelopmentcentreto cater the larger demand for trained manpower intheproduction,postharvestand processing industries.

Universitywillalsoactasaskilldevelopmentcentre to cater the larger demand for trained manpower intheproduction,postharvestand processing industries.

There is ahuge scope foragro-processingindustries like mango, citrus, aonla, strawberry in fruits and pea, tomato,potato,carrots,garlic,onion invegetablesand mushroom.

Union Cabinet allowed Oil PSUs to have independent crude import policy Inabidtoimproveoperational efficiency, Union

Cabineton6April2016allowedpublicsectoroil companies tohave theirown independentcrudeimportpolicybasedontheircommercialrequirements.

• The approval was given during a cabinetmeet chaired by PrimeMinister NarendraModi.

• Thedecisionwillreplacetheexistingpolicyon crude oil import byOil PSUsand vestthe oil PSUs with the power to evolvetheirownpolicies.Thiswillleadtoamoreefficient, flexible and dynamic policy forcrude procurement, eventually benefitingconsumers.

• State-owned firms like Indian OilCorporation (IOC) have traditionally beenallowedtosourcecrudeonlyfromnationalcompaniesofoilproducingcountries.TheexistingpolicywasapprovedbytheCabinetin the year 1979.

• However, it was long felt that the list ofcompanies fromwhere the PSUs can buycrude oil on term contracts needs to beexpandedtoincludeglobaloilgiants.

• Withthisinview,in2001,theUnionCabinetdelegatedsubstantialpowerstoNavaratnaand Maharatna companies among PSUs. Such companies are given high degree of autonomyinvariousoperational,financialand investment matters.

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Union Government notified Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016

The UnionMinistry of EnvironmentForests and

ClimateChangeon5April2016notifiedSolidManagementRules,2016.

The new set of rules will replace theMunicipal Solid Waste (Management andHandling)Rules,2000.

• The Rules are now applicable beyondMunicipal areas and extend to urbanagglomerations, census towns, notifiedindustrial townships, special economiczones, State and Central government organizations, places of pilgrims, religious and historical importance.

• The source segregationofwastehasbeenmandatedtochannelizethewastetowealthbyrecovery,reuseandrecycle.

• Responsibilities of Generators have beenintroduced to segregate waste in to threestreams–Wet(Biodegradable),Dry(Plastic,Paper, metal, wood, etc.) and Domestichazardous wastes (diapers, containers ofcleaningagents,mosquitorepellents,etc.)

• Integration of waste pickers/ ragpickersand waste dealers/ Kabadiwalas in theformal system should be done by StateGovernments, and Self Help Group, or any othergrouptobeformed.

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Waste Management

• Nopersonshouldthrow,burn,orburythesolid waste generated by him, on streets,openpublicspacesoutsidehispremises,orinthedrain,orwaterbodies.

• Generator will have to pay ‘User Fee’ towaste collector and for ‘Spot Fine’ forLittering and Non-segregation.

• Usedsanitarywaste likediapers,sanitarypadsshouldbewrappedsecurelyinpouchesprovidedbymanufacturersorbrandownersoftheseproductsorinasuitablewrappingmaterialandshallplacethesameinthebinmeantfordrywaste/non-bio-degradablewaste.

• The concept of partnership in SwachhBharat has been introduced. Bulkand institutional generators, market associations, event organizers and hotels and restaurants have been made directlyresponsibleforsegregationandsortingthewasteandmanageinpartnershipwithlocalbodies.

• Allhotelsandrestaurantsshouldsegregatebiodegradablewasteandsetupasystemofcollectionorfollowthesystemofcollectionset up by local body to ensure that suchfood waste is utilized for composting /biomethanation.

• All Resident Welfare and marketAssociations, Gated communities and institution with an area more than 5000square meters should segregate waste atsourceandhandoverrecyclablematerialtoeither theauthorizedwastepickersor theauthorizedrecyclers,ortotheurbanlocalbody.

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compostingorbio-methanationwithin thepremises as far as possible. The residualwasteshallbegiventothewastecollectorsoragencyasdirectedbythelocalauthority.

• NewtownshipsandGroupHousingSocietieshave been made responsible to developin-house waste handling, and processingarrangementsforbio-degradablewaste.

• Every street vendor should keep suitablecontainers for storage of waste generatedduring the course of his activity such as food waste, disposable plates, etc. anddepositsuchwasteatwastestoragedepotor container or vehicle as notified by thelocal authority.

• The developers of SEZs, industrial estate,industrial park to earmark at least 5percent of the total area of the plot or minimum5plots/sheds for recoveryandrecycling facility.

• All manufacturers of disposable productssuch as tin, glass, plastics packaging etc. or brandownerswhointroducesuchproductsin the market shall provide necessary financialassistancetolocalauthoritiesforthe establishment of waste managementsystem.

• Allsuchbrandownerswhosaleormarkettheir products in such packaging material whicharenon-biodegradableshouldputinplaceasystemtocollectbackthepackagingwastegeneratedduetotheirproduction.

• Manufacturers or Brand Owners ormarketing companies of sanitary napkins anddiapersshouldexplore thepossibilityof using all recyclable materials in theirproducts or they shall provide a pouch or wrapper for disposal of each napkin

or diapers along with the packet of theirsanitary products.

• All suchmanufacturers, brand owners ormarketing companies should educate the masses forwrappinganddisposalof theirproducts.

• All industrialunitsusing fueland locatedwithin 100 km from a solid waste basedRDFplantshallmakearrangementswithin6months from the date of notification oftheserulestoreplaceatleast5percentoftheirfuelrequirementbyRDFsoproduced.

• Non-recyclable waste having calorificvalueof1500K/cal/kgormore shallnotbe disposed of on landfills and shall onlybeutilizedforgeneratingenergyeitherorthrough refuse derived fuel or by givingaway as feed stock for preparing refusederived fuel.

• Highcalorificwastesshallbeused forco-processing in cement or thermal powerplants.

• Constructionanddemolitionwasteshouldbe stored, separately disposed off, as perthe Construction and Demolition WasteManagementRules,2016

• Horticulture waste and garden wastegenerated from his premises should bedisposed as per the directions of local authority.

• Anevent,orgatheringorganiserofmorethan100 persons at any licensed/ unlicensedplace, should ensure segregation ofwasteat source and handing over of segregated waste to waste collector or agency, asspecifiedbylocalauthority.

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enclosed locationshallbe setup to collectresidualwastefromtheprocessingfacilityandinertwaste.

• Suitablelandshallbeidentifiedintheplainareas,downthehill,within25kilometersforsettingupsanitarylandfill.Theresidualwaste from the transfer station shall bedisposedoffatthissanitarylandfill.

• In case of non-availability of such land,efforts shall be made to set up regionalsanitary landfill for the inertand residualwaste.

• The Government has also constituted aCentral Monitoring Committee under the chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Changeto monitor the overall implementation of theRules.

• The Committee will meet once a year tomonitortheimplementationoftheseRules.

• With the ever increasing population andurbanization, the waste management hasemerged as a huge challenge in the country.

• Notonlythewastehasincreasedinquantity,but the characteristics ofwastehavealsochanged tremendouslyoveraperiod,withthe introduction of so many new gadgetsandequipment.

• Itisestimatedthatabout62milliontonnesof waste is generated annually in thecountry,outofwhich43milliontonnesperannum (TPA) is collected, 11.9 million istreatedand31millionisdumpedinlandfillsites.

• Onlyabout75-80percentofthemunicipalwastegetscollectedandoutofthisonly22-28 percent is processed and treated andremaining is disposed of indiscriminately at

dump yards.• It is projected that by the year 2031 the

municipal solid waste generation shallincreaseto165milliontonnesandto436milliontonsby2050.

• As per the Report of the Task Force oferstwhile Planning Commission, theuntapped waste has huge potential ofgeneratingpower.

• Asperanestimate,439MWofpowerwillbe generated from 32890 tonnes per dayof combustible wastes including RefusedDerivedFuel(RDF),1.3millioncubicmeterof biogas per day, and 5.4millionmetrictonnes of compost annually to support agriculture.

These rules were in addition to the otherwastemanagementrulesthatwerenotifiedinMarchandApril2016.Theyareasfollows–

• PlasticWasteManagementRules,2016• E-WasteManagementRules,2016• Construction & Demolition Waste

ManagementRules,2016• Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules,

2016• HazardousWasteManagementRules,2016

Union Cabinet gave ex-factoapproval for implementation of OneRankOnePension

TheUnionCabinetchairedbythePrimeMinister Narendra Modi on 6 April 2016 gave its ex-post facto approval for implementationofOneRankOnePension(OROP). Implementation of OROP will enhancethe pension for the pensioner’s/family

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pensioners of Defence Forces.

• Thebenefitwillbegivenwitheffectfrom1July2014.

• Pensionwillbere-fixedforpre1July2014pensioners retiring in the same rank and with the same length of service as theaverageofminimumandmaximumpensiondrawn by the retirees in the year 2013.Thosedrawingpensionsabovetheaveragewillbeprotected.

• The benefit would also be extended tofamily pensioners including war widowsanddisabledpensioners.

• Personnel who opt to get dischargedhenceforthontheirownrequestunderRule16Bof theArmyRule,1954orequivalentNavyorAirForceRuleswillnotbeentitledtothebenefitsofOROP.Itwillbeeffectiveprospectively.

• Arrears will be paid in four half-yearlyinstalments. However, all the familypensioners including those in receipt of Special/Liberalized family pension andGallantry award winners shall be paidarrears in one instalment.

• In future, the pension would be re-fixedevery5year.

• ConstitutionofJudicialCommitteeheadedby Justice L Narasimha Reddy, Retd.Chief Justice of Patna High Court on 14December2015whichwillgiveitsreportinsixmonthsonthereferencesmadebytheGovernment of India.

Judicial Committee headed by JusticeL. Narasimha Reddy will help in theremoval of anomalies that may arise in theimplementationofOROPorderdated7

November2015. As per Government declaration, the

financial implicationsonaccountof grantof OROP including Pre-Matured Retirees(PMR) cases would be 10925.11 crorerupees for payment of arrears and annual financialimplicationwouldbe7488.7crorerupees.

Indian scientists developed eco-friendly nanotechnology for water purification

The Scientists team from the Institute ofAdvance Study in Science and Technology(IASST),GuwahatiinAssamdevelopedaneco-friendly nanotechnology for water-softeningapplications.

• The report was published online on 30March 2016 in the joural Nanoscale andthe authors are Upama Baruah and Achyut KonwarofIASST

• Thegreentechnologyisthefirstofitskindwith potential to act as a biodegradableand green material for water-softeningapplications

• It can be used in civic water treatmentplantsforgeneratingpotablewater.

• The technology is basically a biopolymer,whichusesanaturallyoccurringsubstancecalled Chitosan.

• Chitosan is obtained from the hard outerskeletonofshellfish,includingcrab,lobster,andshrimp.Itwillbeusedasabackboneforthecarbonnanoparticlestositonduringthepurificationprocess.

• Inconventionalwater-softeningtechniques

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the synthetic resinsareusedwhereas inthenewlydevelopedbiopolymer, thenanoparticles are the functional parts.

• They remove calcium and magnesiumcomponentsofwaterthroughionexchangewhichwillpurifythewater.

National Sagarmala Apex Committee approves National Perspective Plan on Sagarmala

TheFinancialYear2015-16hasbeenhistoricforthePortsectorinthecountry,with94MTPAcapacityaddedthrough34capitalinvestmentprojects which is the highest inmajor portshistory.

• Kandlabecamethe1stMajorPorttoreach100MnTonne traffic in a yearhelpedby20% improvement in port efficiency whileJNPTbecame the1stMajorPort to reachRs.1,000Croreofnetprofithelpedby12%ofefficiencyimprovement.

• ParadipPortachievedhighestcoalloadingvolumes of 24 Mn Tonne with 30%efficiency improvement. He informed thatportefficiency improvementhasadded50MTPAofcargohandlingcapacityleadingtohigh returns for ports with comparativelylowinvestments.

• Operating profit margins for Major Portsimproved from 27% in FY 2013-14 to39%inFY2015-16.TheMajorPortshaveincreased their operating profits from Rs.3593Crorein2014-15toRs.4,268Crorein 2015-16, registering increase of aboutRs,.670Crore.

• Efficiency improvement has lowered

logistics cost for the trade, creating a estimatedbenefitofRs.400-500Croreperyear and turnaround time has reduced by over 40% in Paradip, Tuticorin andVizag. Shri Gadkari said projects worthRs. 72,818 Crore have been awarded forportmodernizationandnewport/terminaldevelopment.

• The forthcoming Maritime India Summitwould be a game changer. port leddevelopment has potential for direct employmentgenerationfor40lakhpersonswhileindirectlyfor60lakhpersons.

• The NSAC also approved the NationalPerspectivePlanonSagarmala.ThemeetingwasattendedbyUnionMinistersincludingMinisterofRuralDevelopment,PanchayatiRaj, Drinking Water and Sanitation ShriChaudhary Birender Singh, Minister of CivilAviationSh.P.AshokGajapathiRaju,Minister of Steel and Mines Sh. Narendra Singh Tomar, MoS for Environment,Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge) Sh. Prakash Javadekar, MoS for Tourism, Culture (Independent Charge)and Civil Aviation Dr. Mahesh Sharma, OdishaChiefMinisterSh.NaveenPatnaik,Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog Sh. ArvindPanagariya, and several state ministers.

Piyush Goyal Lays Foundation Stone for Underground Cabling Work Under IPDS At Varanasi

Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of the State (IC) for Power, Coal and New &RenewableEnergylaidthefoundationstoneforunderground cabling work under ‘Integrated

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Power Development Scheme (IPDS)’ at KabirNagar,OldKashiArea,VaranasiOn8thApril2016 late evening.

• Ministry of Power has sanctioned Rs.432 crores for the project . The schemecovers conversion of overhead lines to Underground cables, establishment of 2new33KvSub-stationsandaugmentationof11nos.existingSub-stations.

• Ontheoccasion,ShriGoyalalsolaunched“Kashi-IPDS Mobile App” for projectmonitoringof IPDSactivities inOld-Kashiin a transparent manner.

• The App will provide details of plan,progress of various activities, the proposed timelines, area-wise work plan etc. forbetterinformationdissemination.

• Implementation of the IPDS scheme willhelpinimprovingthequalityandreliabilityofpowersupplyinthecityapartfromgivingit an aesthetic look and ensuring safety.

• IPDSisaflagshipschemeoftheGovernmentof India which aims to strengthening thepower sub-transmission and distributionnetworkinurbanareasacrossthecountryandhelptoensure24×7powerforall.

• Projects worth Rs 24,838 crore, covering3486 towns have been approved so farunder IPDS of which projects worth Rs.4722 crore for 247 circles covering 637townshavebeensanctionedforUP.

India‘s rank unchanged at 19th among top 30 exporters

India’s rank remained unchanged at 19th in 2015inthelistoftop30merchandiseexporters

oftheworld,accordingtoaWTOreport.Chinacontinues to hold the top position in the list.

• However, India’s ranking among topimporters slipped by one notch to 13thin 2015, from 12th in previous year. Inimports, the US topped the list.

• India’sexportsdippedby17.2percenttoUSD 267 billion last year while importsaggregatedatUSD392billion.In2014,thecountry’soutboundandinboundshipmentsaggregatedatUSD317billionandUSD460billion respectively.Slowdown in the gobaldemandhitIndia’sexportsin2015andthisyear too the shipments are in the negative zone.

• Further,India’srankremainedunchangedat 8th last year among the top 30leading exporters of commercial servicesrespectively.ThislistwastoppedbytheUSin both exports and imports. In imports,India positioned 10th.In 2015, India’scommercial servicesexportsaggregatedatUSD 158 billion while imports were USD126billion.

• Indiangovernmenthasannouncedahostofincentiveswithanaimtonearlydoublegoods and services exports to USD 900billion by 2019-2020.The report said thatChina registered the highest merchandise trade by value in 2015 with USD 2,275billionworthofexports.

• Total world merchandise exports wereUSD16,482billionwhereas importswereUSD 16,766 billion.“Exports of developedand developing countries should grow ataround the same rate in 2016, 2.9 per cent intheformerand2.8percentinthelatter.

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Meanwhile,importsofdevelopedeconomiesareexpectedtooutpacethoseofdevelopingcountriesin2016,witha3.3percentrisein the former compared to a 1.8 per centincreaseinthelatter,”itsaid.

• Falling for the 15th month in a row,exports dipped 5.66 per cent in FebruarytoUSD20.73billionduetocontractioninshipments of petroleum and engineering goodsamidtepidglobaldemand.

Shan-e-Punjab becomes first train to have CCTV cameras

Shan-e-Punjab has become the first train inthe country to have surveillance cameras as partoftheRailways’initiativetoensuresafetyof passengers and reduce crime.

• Asmanyas122CCTVcamerashavebeeninstalledin21coachesofthetrain,whichrunsbetweenAmritsarandNewDelhi.

• The facility was inaugurated by RailwayMinister Suresh Prabhu through videoconferencing from New Delhi. In hismessage, he said, “We promised it in theBudget and today we have fulfilled ourpromise,”addingpassenger’ssecuritywastheir prime concern.

• Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi, MayorBakshi Ram Arora and senior officials oftheRailwayswerepresentatthestation.

• Cameras had been installed at a cost ofRs 36.71 lakh. These have been put upin two sleeper class coaches, three chaircar coaches and all 16 non-AC coaches of the train. Four to six cameras have beeninstalledineachbogie.

• Cameras had been strategically placed sothat they did not undermine the privacy of passengers but acted as deterrent formiscreants.

• LCDscreens tokeepaneyeon theentiretrainhavebeenputup inside theguards’compartment.Parkashsaidhigh-definitionimagesofthesurveillancesystemwouldbehelpful in identifying miscreants.

B BTandon Committee constituted to monitor government advertisements in accordance with SC directions

The Information & Broadcastingministry on11 April 2016 constituted a three-membercommittee to check violations of the Supreme Court guidelines with regard to content ingovernment advertising. The committee wasformedincompliancewiththeSupremeCourtdirectionsdated13May2015.

• The committee is headed by former ChiefElectionCommissionerBBTandon. Apartfrom Tandon, the other two members ofthe committee are Rajat Sharma, Editor-in-Chief of India TV, and Piyush Pandey,ExecutiveChairmanSouthAsia,OgilvyandMather.

• Thethreemembercommitteewasselectedby a three member panel constituted by

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ministry after obtaining advice from theLaw ministry. The selection panel forconstitutionofthecommitteewasheadedbyChandramauli Kumar Prasad, Chairman, Press Council of India.

• Underthetermsofreference,thecommitteewill address complaints from the generalpublic of violation on the implementationof the guidelines set out by the SupremeCourt.

• The committee will also take suomotucognizance of any violation/deviation ofthe guidelines of the Supreme Court and recommend corrective action to the ministry department.

• The committee may recommend suitablechanges to the Supreme Court guidelines to dealwithnewcircumstancesandsituationsthatmayarise fromtime to time,withoutmaking major policy changes within thepolicy direction of Supreme Court.

• Thetenureofthememberswillbeinitiallyfor a period of two years, which shallbe extendable by one year at a time, butoverallextensionshouldnotbemorethantwotimes.

• The committee will be operational fromDelhi and the Directorate of Advertising andVisualPublicitywouldfacilitatedaytoday functioning of the committee.

• TheSupremeCourt on13May2015hadlaiddowncriteriaasperwhichgovernmentadvertisements can only carry pictures of certain dignitaries like the President, Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India.

• Subsequently, the apex court modifiedits earlier order. It allowed that UnionMinisters, Chief Ministers, Governors

and State Ministers can now appear ingovernment advertisements.

Jharkhand Government announced to reserve 2 percent employment for meritorious sportspersons

Jharkhand Chief Minister Ragbubar Das on10 April 2016 announced that the government would reserve two percent employmentin various departments for meritorious sportspersons of the state.

• The announcement was made at theinaugural function of the National Archery Championship (Indian round) at Arjunastadium.

• Atpresent,twopercentjobquotaformedal-winningsportspersonsisthereonlyinstatepolice department, it was extended to alldepartments.

• AKamal(lotus)Clubwillbesetupineachpanchayat, block and district level of thestate to promote talented sportspersons.

• A residential football training centre willbe setup inamonth‘s time inKharswanwhile the fourth Archery training centreof thestatewillbesetupatKumardungiHigh School, Chaibasa (West Singhbhum)in 2016.

• The state government has already set

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up archery training centres at Seraikela, Dumka and Silli.

• The state government has been providing3000 rupees stipend to archers whereas,the welfare department provide 3 lakhsrupeesforpurchaseofequipment.

Haryana government decided to rename Gurgaon as Gurugram and Mewat as Nuh Haryana Government on 12 April 2016 decided to rename

GurgaonasGurugramandMewatasNuh.

• Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar hasaccorded approval to the proposal butthisnewdecisionwillbeplacedbeforetheHaryana cabinet before being sent to theUnion Government.

• The decision to change the name ofGurgaon was taken on the basis of therepresentations received at several forums bythepeopleofGurgaon.

• The city’s name change stems from aproposal by the municipal corporation in2012. A committee had been formed toaddress the issue.

• Gurgaonhadbeenacentreoflearningwherethe princes, Pandavas and Kauravas, used to get education from Guru Dronacharya and at that time the city was known asGurugram.

• However,Mewatisnotatown,infactitisa geographical and cultural unit spread beyondHaryanaintheadjoiningStatesofUttarPradeshandRajasthan.

• The Headquarters of Mewat district is atNuhtown.Thedecisionofchangingitsnamewastaken followingthedemandofpeopleof area and the elected representatives. TheyhadbeendemandingthatthenameofMewatbechangedasNuh.

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly passed Dance Bar Bill 2016 TheMaharashtra Legislative Assembly on12 April 2016

unanimouslypassedtheDanceBarRegulationBill2016.Thebillhasprovisionsforstringentactions against the violators.

State Legislative Council cleared the Bill on 11 April2016whichpavedthewayforreopeningofthedancebars.

MaharastraStateHomeMinisterRamShindetabled the Bill in the Assembly and it waspassedunanimouslywithoutdebate.

TheBillwillbesentforStateGovernor’sassenttomakeitasalaw.

• The new Bill fixes accountability on

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the owner in case of violation of rules,exploitation of women employees, or incasesofobscenity.

• Therewillbeprisonuptofiveyearsandfinesofupto25000rupeesifthebarownersoroperators violate the rules.

• According to the new conditions, dancebarsmustbeatleastakilometrefromanyeducation or religious institution, their timingsrestrictedbetween6PMand11:30PM, and liquor not to be served in theperformance area.

• It bans running bars in the residentialbuildings and permits them in semi-residential ones only if the three-fourths residents consent.

• ItalsohasaprovisiontorepealamendmentstoSection33(A)oftheMaharashtraPoliceActthatwerestruckdownbytheSupremeCourt.

The Supreme Court struck downtwo amendments through which theMaharashtra government banned dancebars during its hearings betweenOctober2015andMarch2016.

However,thecourtclarifiedtheMaharashtragovernmenthaspowertocontainobscenityand safeguard women who work at thebars.

Withthis,theMaharashtraCabinetdecidedtobringinanewlawtoregulatedancebars.

Delhi government launched PoochhO Carpool app to help people during odd-even scheme

Delhi government on 12 April 2016

launchedPoochhOCarpoolapptohelppeopleexplorecarpoolingoptionsduring the15-dayexercise during the odd-even car-rationingscheme.Thesecondphaseof theschemesettobeginfrom15April2015.

• Upon downloading, the users will haveto register themselves to find carpoolingoptionswithinaradiusof1to5kilometers.

• Those having cars would be required togive their vehicle number. For instance,someone,whohas an even-numbered carandwantstocarpoolonanodddate,cansearch for odd-numbered cars. He willimmediatelygetalistofodd-numberedcarsin the vicinity.

• To ensure safety, especially of women,users are not required to mention theirmobilenumberandalsocancommunicatewiththecardriverthroughachatfeaturein the app.

• The app is also targeted at fathers whowouldpicktheirwardsfromschoolsintheafternoon, as women with children agedup to 12 years and in school uniform have beenexemptedfromthescheme.

• Sub-DivisionalMagistrates (SDMs)will be

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askedtoapproachrepresentativesofRWAsandorangisationstodownloadtheapp.

PoochhO Carpool app was developed byDelhi Integrated Multi-Modal TransitSystem(DIMTS). ItcanbedownloadedonGoogle Play store for Android users.

Google, RailTel launched free WiFi service at Bhubaneswar Railway station Google in collaborationwith RailTel, thetelecom arm of the Indian Railways,

rolled out freeWi-Fi service atBhubaneswarrailwaystationon17April2016.

• With this, Bhubaneswar railway stationbecame the second station to be coveredundertheGoogle-RailTelWi-Fiproject.FreeWi-FibyGoogle-RailTeltookoffatMumbaiCentral in January 2016.

• Thisfacilitywillenablepassengerstostreamhighdefinitionvideoswhilewaitingfortheirrespectivetrainsattherailwaystation.

• BesidesBhubaneswar, trials are going onat about 10 more stations which includeJaipur, Patna, Ranchi, Ernakulum,Allahabad, LucknowandGuwahati.Wi-Fiserviceswillbeavailableonthesestationsin a short time.

• Under the Digital India initiative, GoogleandRailTelhavecollaboratedtomakeWi-Finetworkavailableacross100stationsto

deliver high-speed Internet to 10 million Indiansadaybytheend2016.

• Digital India is a campaign launched bythe Government of India to ensure that Government services are made availableto citizens electronically by improvingonline infrastructure and by increasingInternet connectivity or by making thecountrydigitallyempoweredinthefieldoftechnology.

• Itwas launchedon1July2015byPrimeMinister Narendra Damodardas Modi.[1] Theinitiativeincludesplanstoconnectruralareas with high-speed internet networks.Digital India has three core components. Theseinclude:

• Thecreationofdigitalinfrastructure• Deliveringservicesdigitally• Digitalliteracy

Union Government released report of Technical Committee on Large Scale Integration of Renewable Energy

UnionPower,CoalandNewandRenewable

EnergyMinister of State(IC) PiyushGoyalon 18 April 2016 released Report of theTechnical Committee on Large ScaleIntegration of Renewable Energy, Needfor Balancing, Deviation Settlement Mechanism (DSM) and associated issues in NewDelhi.

He also launched Ancillary Services OperationsinIndia.

• India has set an ambitious target ofachieving175GWofrenewablegenerationcapacity.

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• Inordertointegratesuchhighpenetrationof renewable energy and address theconcernsofthestakeholders inrenewableenergy, a high level Technical Committeewas constituted with members fromMinistry of Power, Central ElectricityRegulatory Commission (CERC), CentralElectricityAuthority(CEA),renewablerichstateslikeGujarat,Rajasthan,TamilNadu,West Bengal, Power Utilities like PGCIL,Power System operation CorporationLtd. (POSOCO), NTPC, State Generatingcompanies and Private generating companies and Institutions like India Meteorological department (IMD), National Institute ofWindEnergy (NIWE),NationalInstituteofSolarEnergy(NISE),GIZ,Ernst&Young(E&Y),etc.

• Thecommitteehadextensivedeliberationsand has recommended several actions, such as bringing flexibility in the conventionalgeneration, frequency control, generationreserves, ancillary services, forecasting, scheduling, deviation settlement mechanism, balancing requirement, datatelemetry and communication, RenewableEnergy Management Centres (REMCs),Transmission system augmentation andstrengtheningaswellascertaincomplianceactionsatrenewablegenerationfront.

• The Committee recommended a 15 pointAction Plan for facilitating large scale integrationofrenewablesinthecountry,inasecureandreliablemanner.

• Some of the actions have been completedwithactivesupportofCERC,StateEnergyRegulatoryCommission(SERC),NIWEandother stake holders.

• Regulatory Framework for Intra-StateSettlement and Imbalance Handling hasalreadybeenimplementedin5states.

• For Model Regulations for RegulatoryFramework for Forecasting, Schedulingand Imbalance Settlement for RenewableEnergy(RE)generatorshavebeenpublishedin November 2015 and Draft regulationshavealreadybeenfloatedby6States.

• Other States are in the process offormulation. Regulatory Framework forReserves at inter-state level have beenissuedinOctober2015.

• Ministry of Power (MOP), MNRE, GIZ,POSOCOandStates areworking togetherto prepare theDPR for implementation ofRenewable Energy Management Centres(REMCs). DPR for Southern States andSouthern Regional Load Despatch Centre(SRLDC)isunderfinalisationandcombinedNITwouldbefloatedsoon.

• CEA as Planners would specify TechnicalStandardsandProtectionRequirementsforRenewables.FocushasalsobeengivenonCapacity Building of State Load Despatch Centres (SLDCs) particularly in RE RichStates.

• Report also talks about the NewerTechnologies say Micro-Grids, DemandResponse, Prosumers, Electricity Storage,Plug-inHybridElectricVehiclesetc.

• Thus all the recommendations aim atmaking the grid secure and reliable evenwithlargescaleintegrationofrenewables.

• Inanelectricitygrid,thebasicservicesarepowergeneration,energysupplyandpowerdelivery from the producer to the consumer.

• Some system support services such as

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frequencyandvoltagecontrolarerequiredforsecureandreliablegridoperation.

• These support services are known asAncillary Services and are basicallyprocured and pressed into service by theSystemOperator.

• AmendmenttotheTariffpolicyhasalsobeennotified, which mandates implementationof Ancillary Services.

• The Regulatory framework forimplementation of Ancillary Services Operations has been notified by CERC.National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) operatedbyPOSOCOhasbeendesignatedas Nodal agency for implementation of Ancillary Services.

• It is being implemented for the first timein the country and would help in bettergrid management even with large scalerenewablegenerationadditioninthegrid.

• Theinitiativeundertakenbythecommitteewouldnotonlyleadtosmoothandsecuregridoperationwithlargescaleintegrationofrenewablebutisalsoenvironmentfriendlyandwouldhelpinfulfillingourcommitmentto green and clean environment.

• Itwouldreduce thecarbon footprintandhelp inmeeting our commitment towardsreductionincarbonemission.

Central government fiscal 2015-16 statistics on foreign trade released

On 18th April 2016 Centre released foreigntrade figures relating to the financial year2015-16.Thecentralgovernment‘sMinistryofCommerceandIndustryreleasedthe2015-16

fiscalstatisticsonforeigntrade.

• ExportsduringMarch,2016werevaluedatUS$22718.69million(Rs.152264.96crore)which was 5.47 per cent lower in Dollarterms(1.45percenthigherinRupeeterms)than the level of US$ 24032.55 million(Rs.150082.80crore)duringMarch,2015.

• CumulativevalueofexportsfortheperiodApril-March2015-16wasUS$261136.80million (Rs.1708841.43 crore) as againstUS$ 310338.47 million (Rs.1896348.40crore)registeringanegativegrowthof15.85percentinDollartermsand9.89percentinRupee termsover the sameperiod lastyear.

• Non-petroleumexportsinMarch2016arevalued at US$ 20639.78 million againstUS$ 21386.48 million in March 2015, areductionof3.49percent.

• Non-petroleum exports during April toMarch2016arevaluedatUS$231952.95million as compared to US$ 253544.33million for the corresponding period in 2015,areductionof8.52percent.

• The trend of falling exports is in tandemwithothermajorworldeconomies.

• ThegrowthinexportshavefallenforUSA(10.81percent),EuropeanUnion(7.40percent), China (11.37 per cent) and Japan(12.85percent)forJanuary2016overthecorresponding period previous year as per WTOstatistics.

• ImportsduringMarch,2016werevaluedatUS$27789.56million(Rs.186250.88crore)whichwas21.56per cent lower inDollarterms and 15.82 per cent lower inRupeeterms over the level of imports valued at

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US$35428.72million(Rs.221251.65crore)inMarch,2015.

• CumulativevalueofimportsfortheperiodApril-March2015-16wasUS$379596.17million (Rs.2481367.22 crore) as againstUS$ 448033.42 million (Rs.2737086.58crore)registeringanegativegrowthof15.28percentinDollartermsand9.34percentinRupee termsover the sameperiod lastyear.

• OilimportsduringMarch,2016werevaluedat US$ 4799.96million which was 35.30per cent lower than oil imports valued atUS$7418.51million inthecorrespondingperiod last year.

• Oil imports during April-March, 2015-16 were valued at US$ 82662.26 millionwhichwas 40.24 per cent lower than theoilimportsofUS$138325.50millioninthecorresponding period last year.

• Non-oil imports duringMarch, 2016wereestimated atUS$22989.60millionwhichwas 17.92 per cent lower than non-oilimportsofUS$28010.21millioninMarch,2015.

• Non-oilimportsduringApril-March,2015-16werevaluedatUS$296933.91millionwhichwas4.12percentlowerthanthelevelofsuchimportsvaluedatUS$309707.92millioninApril-March,2014-15.

• II. TRADE IN SERVICES (for February,2016, asper theRBIPressReleasedated18thApril,2016)

• ExportsduringFebruary,2016werevaluedat US$ 12329.00 Million (Rs. 84130.26crore).

• During February, 2016, on month-on-month basis, growth in services export

remained negative (with a growth of 1.94per cent) as compared to negative growth(10.44per cent) during January 2016 (asper RBI’s Press Release for the respectivemonths).

Union Government released Commemorative Coin and Circulation Coin on Tatya Tope

UnionMinister forCulture andTourismandCivil Aviation Mahesh Sharma on 18 April2016 released a Commemorative Coin of 200 rupees and a Circulation Coin of 10 rupees to marktheMartyrdomDayofTatyaTope.

The Union Ministry of Culture has beencelebrating the 200th Birth Anniversary ofTatyaTopeduring2015-16inassociationwithState Government of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh respectively.

Maharashtra Government organised a three day Mahotsav named ShauryaMahotsav from 26February2016.

• Originally known as RamachandraPandurang Tope, hewas one of themostoutstandingleadersofIndia’sFirstWarofIndependencein1857.

• HewasaMarathaBrahmanintheserviceoftheformerPeshwaruleroftheMarathaconfederacy,BajiRaoandhisadoptedsonNanaSahib.

• In 1851, when Lord Dalhousie deprivedNanaSahebofhis father‘spension,TatyaTope along with Nana Saheb became aswornenemyoftheBritish.

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• In 1857, he led a revolt against BritishforcesalongwithJhansikiRaniandNanaSahibandgavehisimportantcontributionintheFirstWarofIndependence(1857-58).

• However, he was captured by the BritishForcesinApril1859.

• AfterahurriedtrialforwagingwaragainsttheEastIndiaCompany,hewashangedtodeathon18April1859atShivpuri,MadhyaPradeshbyBritishForces.

Maharashtra to use hologram technique to check spurious liquor The MaharashtraGovernment on 18 April 2016decided to make it

mandatory to have a hologram on every alcohol bottlemanufacturedandsoldinthestate.Thestepwastakentochecksaleofspuriousliquor.

• TheGovernmentdecidedtopastepolyesterbase track and trace hologram, to besupportedbyamobileapp,whichwillhelpconsumers find out whether the liquor isfake or genuine.

• ThetechniquewillalsohelppreventlossofrevenueduetocheapliquorbeingimportedintoMaharashtrafromneighbouringstates.

• The Government is currently developinga free of cost mobile app, which whenbroughtincontactwiththehologram,willimmediately generate a green or red mark indicatingtothebuyerwhethertheliquor,

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wine, country made liquor, Indian MadeForeignLiquor(IMFL)isfakeorgenuine.

• If one holds the liquor bottle against themobileapponewillgetagreentickmarkindicating it is a genuine product. A red tick markwillindicatetheproductisfake.

• The decision will be implemented eitherfrom 1 July 2016 or 1 August 2016. Thedecision was taken keeping in mind thelastyear’stragedyatMalwaniwhereabout100 people died after consuming spurious liquor.

• Holography is a photographic technologywhichrecordsthelightscatteredfromanyobject,andthenprojectsitinawaythatitappearstobethree-dimensional.

There are Various types of holograms,including transmission holograms, whichallows light to be shined through themandtheimagetobeviewedfromtheside&another one is rainbow holograms, whichare used for security purposes exampletheoneweseeoncredit cardsordriver‘slicenses

Maneka Sanjay Gandhi inaugurates Regional Conference of North Eastern States on Child Adoption

• The Union Minister for Women & ChildDevelopment, SmtManeka Sanjay Gandhiinaugurated the Regional Conference of

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NorthEasternStatesonChildAdoptioninShillong,Meghalayaon18thApril2016.TheConference was organized by the CentralAdoptionResourceAuthority(CARA)of theWCDMinistry.

• Ministers In-charge of Social Welfare andWomen&ChildDevelopmentintheNorthEastern States of Arunachal Pradesh,Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,SikkimandTripuraparticipatedin the conference.

• Addressing the Conference, Smt ManekaSanjay Gandhi said that children are themostvulnerableofhumanbeingsandtheirissuesneedtobelookedintowithempathy.It is due to this reason that the adoption reformwasthefirst initiativetakenupbytheWCDMinistryafterthenewGovernmenttookcharge,theMinisterexplained.

• SmtManeka Gandhi said that this reformprocess has culminated in the enactment of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children)Act,2015.ThenewActlaysdowntimelinesfortheChildWelfareCommitteesand Adoption Agencies for various stages of adoption. TheAct provides formandatoryregistration of Childcare Institutions and linkage with CARA, so that each childbecomes ‘adoptable’. TheMinisterwarnedthatastringentpenaltyisprovidedinLawin case of non-compliance.

• SmtManeka Gandhi advised the adoptionagenciestobringchildrenwiththeagencytoadoptablestageimmediately.Secondlyitmustbeensured that themedical reportsand home study reports are complete and comprehensive.

• Shealsosuggestedthemtousethefacility

offostercareforchildrenwhohavecrossedthe maximum age limit for adoption andalso asked them to remain alert regarding traffickingofchildren.

• The WCD Minister highlighted the stepsbeing taken to prevent crimes againstwomenandtheirempowermentlikespecialMahila Police Volunteer schemes and panic buttoninCellphones.

• SmtManekaGandhiurgedthatthewomenand other women Self Help Groups oftheNorthEast tomakeuseof theDigitalMarketing Portal, Mahil E-Haat of WCDMinistrytomarkettheirbeautifulproductsandhavedirectlinkagewiththeprospectivebuyers.

• About 400 delegates attended theConference, including the stakeholders fromtheStateAdoptionResourceAgencies(SARAs), District Child Protection Units(DCPUs),ChildWelfareCommittees(CWCs),Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAAs) and Child Care Institutions (CCIs) in the North EasternStates,besides theseniorofficersfrom the Ministry of Women & ChildDevelopment, Central Adoption ResourceAuthority (CARA) and the concernedDepartment of the State Governments in the region.

• Theconferencewasorganisedwithaviewtofamiliarize the stakeholders involved in the adoption process in North Eastern Statesabout the provisions relating to adoptionunder the Juvenile Justice (Care and ProtectionofChildren)Act,2015andorientthem about the provisions of AdoptionGuidelines - 2015 as well as the onlineadoption process through Child Adoption

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ResourceInformationandGuidanceSystem(CARINGS).

Google Launches The New Chromecast And Chromecast Audio In India Technology giantGoogle today launched the new versionof its Internet streaming device

ChromecastinIndiaforRs3,399.

• The company has also introducedChromecast Audio in India at the same price,whichwas launched in theUS lastyear.

• „Withasleekdesign,freshcontentandanupdatedapp,thenewChromecastwillmakestreaming faster and easier,“ ChromecastPartnershipsHeadAsiaPacificMickeyKimtold reporters here.

• Chromecast Audio is a new device thatplugs into speakers to stream and control radio,podcastsandmusicoverWiFi.

• UsingChromecast,userscanaddsmartTVfunctionality to their television to stream content from video services like YouTubeandNetflix.

• Chromecastisavailablein31countriesandabout20millionusersglobally.

• However,thecompanydidnotdiscloseanycountry-specificdata.

• The devices will be available throughmarketplaces like Flipkart, Snapdeal and

PaytmaswellasretailerslikeRelianceandCroma.

• The previous version of Chromecast wasunveiled in India early last year.

• Kim said the company has partners likeHooq,Saavn,YuppTV,DittoandHungamain India.

• OtherInternetstreamingdevicessellinginIndia includeTeeweand those fromfirmslike Amkette.

• Sales of Internet streaming devices areexpected to pick up as on-demand videoserviceslikeNetflixbecomemorepopular.

• The devices will come bundled with sixmonths of free subscription forHooq andSaavn.

• These also let users play games likeAngry Birds on their television using their smartphones as a controller.

India Cleared Trade Facilitation Agreement of WTO

Indiaon22April2016ratifiedthenewTradeFacilitation Agreement (TFA) of World tradeOrganisation (WTO). WTO ambassador ofIndia,AnjaliPrasad,handedoverthecountry’sinstrument of acceptance toWTO’sDirector-GeneralRobertoAzevêdo.

The ratification of the TFA will help Indiafurther boost economic growth by reducingtrade costs and supporting its integration into theglobaleconomy.

• The agreement contains provisions forexpediting the movement, release andclearance of goods, including goods in

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transitwhichwasconcludedattheWTO’s2013BaliMinisterialConference.

• It also sets out measures for effectivecooperation between customs and otherappropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues.

• Itfurthercontainsprovisionsfortechnicalassistance and capacity building in thisarea.

• Itwillenterintoforceoncetwo-thirdsoftheWTO membership has formally acceptedthe agreement.

• IndiasubmitteditsCategoryAnotificationto the WTO on 18 March 2016, with anindicationofwhichprovisionsoftheTFAitintends to implement upon entry into force of the Agreement.

Union Railway Ministry to set up Rs 1 lakh crore Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh The UnionRailway Ministryhas decided to create a 1 lakh

crorerupeessafetyfundnamedRashtriyaRail Sanraksha Kosh to strengthen safety measures ontherailnetworktopreventaccidents.

• ItwasannouncedbyUnionRailwayMinisterSuresh Prabhu in the Lok Sabha whilereplyingtoadebateonDemandsforGrantsfor Railways for 2016-17. In this regard

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Union Railway Ministry has forwarded aproposal to the Union Finance Ministry for approval.

• TheRashtriyaRailSanrakshaKoshwillbeanon-lapsable fundwhichwillbeutilisedfor safety measures.

• The fund will help Indian Railways toaccomplish its zero-accident mission bystrengthening the safety measures on the railnetworkinacomprehensiveway.

• Under this fund, envisaged works liketrack renewal and upgradation, bridgerehabilitation,eliminationoflevel-crossings,construction of road over bridges/roadunderbridgeswillbeundertaken.

• It will be also used for replacementand improvement of signalling system, improvement and upgradation of rolling stock, replacement of electrical assets and human resource development.

Goa government classified its country liquor, Feni as Heritage Spirit of Goa On17March2016Goaclassifiedthecountry liquor,Feni as Heritage

Spirit of Goa. Feni is the form of spirit producedexclusivelyinthecoastalstate.

• Feni is thefirst liquorproduct in India toreceive such status.

• Feniisclassifiedasa„countryliquor“,andisthereforenotallowedtobesoldoutsidethe state of Goa

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• ThewordfeniisderivedfromtheSanskritwordphena.Thisisbecauseofthebubblesthat form a light frothwhen the liquor isshakeninabottleorpouredintoaglass.

• The feni selling market is largelyunorganised.Localstendtobuyfenidirectlyfrom the thousands of traditional distillers whorunseasonalmini-distilleriesorstallsin the villages of Goa.

• Cashew feni was awarded GeographicalIndication registration in 2009 as a speciality alcoholic beverage from Goa,describedasacolourless,clearliquidthatwhenmaturedinwoodenbarrelsdevelopsgoldenbrowntint.

• Alargevolumeoffenithatisdistilledissolddirectly by distillers to taverns who havebusiness relationships that extend overgenerations.

• Feni, is a brew made from coconut orcashew, is synonymous with the Goanethos and identity.

• TheGoaCashewFeniDistillersandBottlersAssociation has hailed the move.

Laser walls activated along India-Pakistan border to plug gaps in vigil

A dozen „laser walls“ have beenmade operational along the India-Pakistan

international border in Punjab to plug the

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porous reverie and treacherous terrain and keep an effective vigil against intruders and terroristsexploitingthefrontierareastocrossover.

• Atotalof45suchlaserwallswillbeinstalledin these areas along the international borderinPunjabandJammu,ablueprintprepared in this regard and accessed

• InSeptemberlastyear,PakistancomplainedUNSecurityCouncil (UNSC)about India’splanstoconstructawallalongtheLineofControl.

• BSF isalsoconsideringdeployingat leastfourmorebattalionsinPunjabandJammuborderareas.

• Pakistan has considered this work as athreat to its national security and has planned to move to UN yet once again.

• Thisstephasbeentakenquicklyaftertheincident of pathankot happened becausethiswasbeingplanned since last2 yearsbut location marking was being done atinitial stage so that this technology can e used very effectively

Parliament passes Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016 Parliament has passed

Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order(Amendment) Bill, 2016 so as to include

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certain communities in the list of Scheduled Castes (SC) from four states.

• Thebillwas introduced in theParliamentby Union Social Justice Minister ThawarChand Gehlot.

• Thesearethevariousstatesandcaststobeadded:

• Chhattisgarh: Sais, Sahis, Sarathi, Soot-Sarathi,Thanwarcommunities.

• Haryana: Aheria, Aheri, Hari, Heri, Thori,TuriandRaiSikhcommunities.

• Kerala:Peruvannancommunity in the listand specification of Malayan communityareahasbeenmodified.

• West Bengal: area restriction of Chaincommunity removed.

• Odisha:ExclusionofBarikiandKummaricommunities.

• Article341empowersParliamenttoincludeorexcludecastesfromthelistofScheduledCastesinthenotification.

• TheScheduledCastes(SCs)andScheduledTribes(STs)areofficialdesignationsgiventovarious groups of historically disadvantaged indigenous people in India.

• ThetermsarerecognizedintheConstitutionof India and the various groups are designated in one or other of the categories.

• During the period of British rule in theIndian subcontinent, theywere known asthe Depressed Classes.

Gujarat announces 10% quota for economically backward in gen category Due to the Patel quotaagitation, the BJP government in

Gujarat on29thApril 2016announceda10percent reservation.

• This reservation is for the economicallybackward among upper castes, whichincludePatidars,withafamilyincomecapofRs6lakhayeartoavailthebenefit.

• Reservation is a form of quota-basedaffirmativeaction.

• Reservation is governed by constitutionallaws, statutory laws, and local rules andregulations.

• Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes(ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC),and in some states Backward Classesamong Muslims under a category called BC(M),aretheprimarybeneficiariesofthereservation policies under the Constitution.

• Starting of July 2015, the people ofIndia‘s Patidar community, seeking OtherBackwardClass (OBC)status,heldpublicdemonstrations across the Indian state of Gujarat.

• The largest demonstration was held inAhmedabadon25Augustandwasattendedbythousands.

• Later,therewereincidentsofviolenceand

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arsonacross thestate resulting incurfewinseveralcitiesandtowns.

Parliament passes Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015 On 28 April2016 The RajyaSabha passedthe Industries

(Development and Regulation) AmendmentBill,2015.t• LokSabhapassedthebillon10December

2015.• It was introduced by Minister of State

for Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman.

• Now,itisgoingtobesenttothePresidentfor his assent.

• The Union Government conformed to theSupreme Court order in the Bihar Distillery versus Union of India case.

• TheSupremeCourtofIndiainitsjudgmenton January 20, 1997, demarcated the regulationofproductionofalcoholbetweencentre and states (Bihar Distillery and another vs. Union of India and others).

• The1951Actprovidesfordevelopmentandregulation of certain industries including metallurgical, telecommunications, transportation, fermentation (whichincludes production of alcohol) among others.

• Thecourtruledthatcentreshouldregulatethe production of alcohol for industrial use and states should regulate the production of alcohol for potable purpose (domesticconsumption). The Bill conforms to theSupreme Court’s decision.

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Boxer Shiva Thapa qualifies for Rio Olympics WorldChampionships bronze-medallistShiva Thapa(56kg) becamethe first Indianboxertomakethe

cut for this year‘s Olympics by entering theAsian Qualifying Tournament‘s final but thecelebratedMCMaryKom(51kg)failedtobookherRioGames ticketafter losing in the last-four stage.

• Shiva,given the topseeding inhisweightcategory,liveduptothebillingashesailedpast 2013 World Championship bronze-medallist Kairat Yeraliyev of Kazakhstaninthesemi-final.HewillfacesecondseedChatchai Butdee of Thailand in the finaltomorrow.

• Withtoday‘svictory,the22-year-oldIndianisset forhissecondOlympicappearance,four years after he became the youngestboxer to qualify for the multi-sportingextravaganza.

• However,itwasheartbreakforanothertopseed,MaryKom,whowentdowntooldfoeRen Cancan of China in the semifinals,which will only translate into a bronzemedal for her.

• Inthewomen‘scategory,onlythegoldand

SPORTSsilvermedalwinnersfromthistournamentwillqualifyforRioOlympics.

• Thefive-timeworldchampionandLondonOlympics bronze-medallist, however, hasanother chance of qualifying for the RioGamesduringtheWorldChampionshipsinMay.

• Another Indian in fray in themen‘s drawwasCommonwealthGamessilver-medallistand fourth seed LDevendro Singh (49kg)but he lost to top seed Rogen Ladon ofMongoliainthesemi-finals.

• Assuredof abronzemedal,DevendrowillnowfightitoutforanOlympicquotaplacebytakingonMongolia‘sthird-seededGan-ErdeneGankhuyagtomorrow.

• NationalcoachGurbaxSinghSandhuwaseffusive inhispraise forShiva,whilealsolaudingtheeffortofotherboxers.

Wheelchair Motocross World Cup 2016 to begins From April 23 The world’spremier wheelchairmotocross

athletes will converge in North Texas onThursday,April23,andSunday,April24,at Alliance Skate Park in Grand Prairie.

• This two-day event features WCMXCompetitors from around the World

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competingforcash,prizes,andtheWCMXWorldChampionship2016Title.

• The2016WCMXWorldChampionshipwillhave something for everyone. This familyentertainment eventwill provide themostamazing wheelchair manoeuvres everperformed by WCMX riders from aroundtheglobe.

• Theeventalso featuresanAdaptiveSkateCompetition Division.

• BeginnersClinic is free foranyonewithaphysicaldisabilitythatparticipatesintheirownwheelchair.

• Participantsoftheclinicwillbeinstructedby the bestWMCX Professional Riders intheworldandwilltesttheirskillsontheProrampcourseandbeassigned1-2volunteerswhowillassist,spotandencourageridersand skaters.

• If riders are unable to push their ownwheelchairs,volunteerswillnavigatethemthrough the course. All safety pads and helmetswillbeprovidedbyRISEAdaptiveSports.

• RISE is an Irving, Texas based non-profitorganization with a mission “to assistpersonswithphysicalchallengestoRecover,Inspire,Succeed,andEmpowerthemselvesandothersbyprovidinginclusiveadaptiverecreationalsportsprograms”.

Germany’s Nico Rosberg won 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg ofGermany on 3April 2016 wonthe 2016 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain

Grand Prix. The final race was held at theBahrain International Circuit in Sakhir near the capital Manama.

Rosberg‘s16thFormulaOnevictorywasalsohisfifthinsuccessionafterhewonthefinal4racesof2015seasonandthe2016AustralianGrandPrix.

WhileKimiRaikkonenofFinlandstoodatthesecond position, Britain’s Lewis Hamilton,winner of the 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix,secured the third place in the race.

ForceIndia’sNicoHulkenberg(Germany)andSergio Perez (Mexico) were at the 15th and16th positions respectively.

Raikkonen‘schancestookamajorhitshortlyafterwardsashedroppedtofifthafterapoorstartofhisown.

Raikkonen fought past Red Bull‘s DanielRicciardoandthetwoWilliamscarsofFelipeMassaandBottastobesecondbylapseven-butbythatstagehewasalready12secondsadriftofRosberg,agapthatprovedtoobigto

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bridge.

By the time the leaders‘ three pit stops were finished, Raikkonen was only 4.6secsbehindRosbergbut theMercedesdriverwascomfortablyabletoholdhimoffandfinished10 seconds clear.

West Indies defeated England to win ICC World T20 Men’s title West Indies on 3April 2016 wonthe ICC Cricket WorldT-20Men’sCup 2016. In the

final clash at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, WestIndiesdefeatedEnglandby4wickets.

Englandbattingfirstwasbowledoutatascoreof155for9wicketsandinreplytothetargetWestIndiesscored161atthelossof4wicketsin19.4over.

• Playerofthematch–MarlonSamuels(WestIndies)

• Playeroftheseries–ViratKohli(India) Captainsofthetwoteams• WestIndies–DarrenSammy• England–EoinMorgan Withthiswin,WestIndiesbecametheonly

teamsofartowintheICCWorldTwenty20titletwice,havingsecureditlastin2012.

Earlier, West Indies won their maidenWomen‘s World T-20 title by defeating

reigningchampionsAustraliaby8wicketsattheEdenGardensinKolkata.

West Indies won Women‘s title of ICC World T20 2016 West IndiesWomen’s on 3April 2016 wontheir maiden Women‘s CricketWorld T-20 title.

In the final clash atEdenGardens,Kolkata,West Indies defeated reigning championsAustraliaby8wickets.

• BattingfirstAustraliawasbowledoutatascoreof148for5wicketsandinreplyWestIndiesscored149atthelossof2wicketsin19.3over.

• Player of the match - Hayley Matthews(WestIndiesWomen

• Playeroftheseries-StafanieTaylor(WestIndiesWomen)

• Captainsofthetwoteams• WestIndies-StafanieTaylor• Australia-MegLanning• Australia, seeking a fourth successive

World T20 title, chose to bat and posted148-5,withElyseVillanimaking the firsthalfcenturyinafinal.

• But 18-year-old Windies opener HayleyMatthews hit a stunning 66 off 45 ballswiththreesixes,inastandof120.

• TheWindieswonwiththreeballstospareandtheirmen‘steamlatercompletedaT20

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double.

Indian men won Asian Nations Cup Chess tournament Indian men won the 2016Asian Nations Cup Chess tournament witha3-1victoryover

VietnaminthefinalroundplayedinAbuDhabion 6 April 2016.

• InthefinalroundmatchagainstVietnam,Grandmasters S P Sethuraman and K Sasikiran won on the second and fourthboardswhileBAdhibanandViditSantoshGujrathidrewtheirrespectivematchesontopandthirdboards.

• To clinch the title, India collected 17points,twomorethanWorldandOlympiadchampions China. India drew Mongoliaandbeattherestoftheteamsina22-teamtournament.

• Top seed China who stood at secondpositionintherankingchartdefeatedUAE4-0intheirfinalroundmatch.Kazakhstanand Iran took the third and fourth places respectively.

• This was the third time that Indian menwontheevent.TheywonatEsfahan,Iranin2005andKolkata2009whenChinadidnotparticipateonbothoccasions.

• Inthewomen‘ssection,topseedChinawonthe title with 15 points. Uzbekistan was

secondwith14andKazakhstanthirdwith13 points. Indian women finished fourthwith12points.

Lee Chong Wei defeated Chen Long to win Malaysian Open 2016 Lee Chong Weion 10 April 2016 won the men‘ssingles title at the Malaysia Open

2016 held at theMalawati Stadium in ShahAlam, Malaysia.

TheworldNo.4grabbedthetitlebydefeatingChina’sworldNo.1ChenLonga21-13,21-8injust42minutes.

The title isChongWei‘s 11thMalaysiaOpencrownafterhavingwon in2004,2005,2006andconsecutivelyfrom2008-2014.

• Lee Chong Wei is a Malaysian Chineseprofessionalbadmintonplayer.

• As a singles player, he was ranked firstworldwidefor199consecutiveweeksfrom21August2008to14June2012.

• He is the third Malaysian player afterRashidSidekandRoslinHashimtoachievesuch a ranking, and is the only Malaysian shuttlertoholdthenumberonerankingformore than a year.

• He is a silver medallist in both the 2008and2012OlympicGames,makinghimthe

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sixthMalaysiantowinanOlympicmedal.

Dwayne Bravo first bowler to claim 300 wickets in T20s Dwayne Bravo,put up an impressive performance in the clash against Kings XI Punjab

at Mohali on Monday.

• Bravobowledunplayable yorkers to rattlethe stumps of Glenn Maxwell and DavidMiller to help Lions restrict Punjab to amanageable total.TheLionschaseddownthe target with more than two overs tospare.

• With his four wickets for 22 runs in thematch, Bravo became the first bowler inT20storeachthemilestoneof300wickets.HewentpastLasithMalinga’s299wicketsinT20sastheSriLankanbowlerhasbeenlying low due to injuries in the past fewmonths.

• RAshwinisplaced15thinthelistwith189wickets.

• Hereisthelistoftopfivewicket-takersinT20s.

• In reaching 300 wickets, the 32-year-oldBravo surpassed Sri Lankan speedster LasithMalinga,whositson299wickets.

Mary Kom named as AIBA ambassador for Women’s World Boxing Championship Iconic Indian womanboxer Mary Komhas been named

astheInternationalBoxingAssociation(AIBA)ambassadorforWomen’sWorldChampionship.

• Sheisoneoftheeightambassadorsfortheupcoming World Championship of AIBAscheduled from May 19 to 27, 2016 in Astana, Kazakhstan.

• The AIBA-appointed ambassadors for theWorld Championship also include NicolaAdams (Great Britain), Marlen Esparza(US), Adriana Arauja (Kazakhstan),StanimiraPetrova (Bulgaria) and KhadijaMardi (Morocco).

• Thefemaleofficialschosenasambassadorsare KheiraSikiYakoub (Algerian) andJennifer Huggins (Canada).

• About MC Mary Kom Her full name isMangteChungneijang Mary Kom andbelongs to Kom tribal community of thenorth-eastern state of Manipur. She is nicknamedMagnificentMary.

• She is Five-timeWorld Boxing champion,and the only woman boxer to have wongold medal in each one of the six worldchampionships.

• She had won a bronze medal in 2012London Olympics in the flyweight (51 kg)

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categoryandwasonlyIndianwomanboxertoqualifyforthiscategory.

• SheisalsofirstIndianwomanboxertogetaGoldMedalinthe2014AsianGamesheldat Incheon, South Korea.

• HerAutobiographyisnamedUnbreakable• Forherpreciouscontributionto thesport

ofboxing (sports),shehasbeenconferredwithPadmaBhushan(2013),PadmaShree(2010)andArjunaAwardforBoxing(2003).

Anthony Joshua won International Boxing Federation title Anthony Joshua on 9 April 2016 won theInternational

Boxing Federation heavyweight title. Heknocked out Charles Martin in the second roundattheO2ArenainLondon.

Joshua, the 2012 Olympic gold medallist,capturedhisfirstworldtitle inonlyhis16thprofessionalfight.

• Anthony Joshua is a British professionalboxer.

• He holds the British and Commonwealthheavyweighttitles.

• Asanamateur,hewonagoldmedalinthesuper heavyweight division at the 2012Olympics, and silver at the 2011 WorldChampionships.

• AsofMarch2016,heisrankedtheworld‘seighthbestheavyweightboxerbyTheRingmagazine, and currently holds a 100%knockout ratio.

• Heisalsoonlythesecondboxerinhistory,afterJoeFrazier,towinaprofessionalworldheavyweighttitlewhilestillreigningastheOlympicchampionatthetopweight.

Dipa Karmakar became first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics Indian artistic gymnast Dipa Karmakar on 17

April 2016 created history by becoming thefirst Indian woman gymnast to qualify forOlympics. Karmakarbookedaberth for theRioGamesafterastrongperformanceatthefinalqualifyingand test event. She earned a total score of 52.698pointsintheOlympicsqualifyingeventtobookaberthforartisticgymnasticsinRioGamestobeheldinAugust2016.

Karmakarhasbeenlistedasthe79thgymnastamong individual qualifiers in the list ofwomen’s artistic gymnastwhohave qualifiedfortheRioOlympics.

• Bornon9August1993 inAgartala,DipaKarmakarcametorecognitionwhenshewon

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abronzemedalatthe2014CommonwealthGames, held at Glasgow becoming thefirstIndianfemalegymnasttodosointhehistory of the games.

• She is also one of the five women thathavesuccessfully landed theverydifficultProdunova vault in competition, also holding the highest score amongst all in her attempt. She scored 15.100, whichis 7.000 for difficulty, and an 8.100 forexecution,witha0.1penalty.Onlytwoofher contemporaries have attempted the Produnova: Yamilet Pena of DominicanRepublicandFadwaMahmoudofEgypt.

• She also won a bronze at the AsianGymnastics Championships and finishedfifthatthe2015WorldArtisticGymnasticsChampionships, both a first for India.These achievements have established heras the most successful gymnast from India despite her young age.

Australia won 2016 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Australia on 16 April 2016 defeatedIndia4-0inthefinaltowinthe25theditionofthe Sultan Azlan Shah Cup held in

Ipoh, Malaysia. Thiswasthe9thtitlefortheAussiesatthistournamenthavinglastwonitin2014. Indialastwonthetournamentin2010,

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theirfifthtitle,whentheywerejointlydeclaredwinnerswithSouthKorea. Thomas Craig and Matt Gohdes scored twogoalseachinopenfieldplayforAustralia.TheAussies tookoff thoughCraig‘sfield goals inthe 25th and35thminutes.Gohdesmade it3-0inthe43rdminuteandscoredthefourthinthe57thminute.

NewZealand,thewinnerof2015SultanAzlanShahCup,acquiredthethirdplaceinthe25thedition of the tournament.

• TheSultanAzlanShahCup isanannualinternationalmen‘sfieldhockeytournamentheld in Malaysia.

• Itbeganin1983asabiennialcontest.• The tournament became an annual event

after 1998, following its growth andpopularity.

• The tournament is named after the ninthYangdi-PertuanAgong (King)ofMalaysia,SultanAzlanShah,whowasanavidfanoffieldhockey.

Rafael Nadal defeated Gael Monfils to win Monte Carlo Masters title Rafael Nadalon 17 April 2016 defeated Frenchman Gael Monfils to grab

the 2016 Monte Carlo Masters title.

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Nadal, appearing in his 100th Association of TennisProfessionals (ATP)Tourfinal,won7-55-76-0in2hours46minutestoclaimhisninthtitle,buthisfirstsince2012.

• Nadal is a Spanish professional tennisplayercurrentlyrankedworldNo.5.

• Hehaswon14GrandSlamsingles titles,the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles,recordequalling28titlesinATPWorldTourMasters 1000 events, and 16 ATP WorldTour500tournaments.

• In2010,hebecame theseventhplayer inhistory and youngest of four in theOpenEra to achieve the CareerGrand Slam atage24.

• He is thesecondmaleplayer,afterAndreAgassi, to complete the singles Career Golden Slam.

• By winning the 2014 French Open, hebecametheonlymaleplayertowinasingleGrand Slam tournament nine times and the first to win at least one Grand Slamtournament for ten consecutive years.

• HeistheonlymaleplayerintennishistorytowinoneGrandSlamandMasters1000titlefortenconsecutiveyearsfrom2005to2014.

• The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annualtennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin,France, a commune that borders onMonaco.

• The event is part of the ATP World TourMasters1000onATPTour.

• The tournament is played on clay courtsand is held every year in the April–May period.

• TheMonteCarlotennischampionshipwas

firstheldin1897.ItbecameanOpeneventin 1969.

• In1990, itbecameanATPChampionshipSeriesSingleWeektennisevent.

• Beginning in 2009, Monte Carlo becamethe only ATP World Tour Masters 1000tournament not to have a mandatory player commitment.

• RafaelNadalwonthetitleeightconsecutivetimesbetween2005and2012,makinghimtheonlyplayerintheopeneratowineightconsecutive titles at the same tournament.

Nico Rosberg won 2016 Formula 1 Pirelli Chinese Grand Prix German Formula 1 Mercedes Driver Nico Rosberg on17April2016won2016 Formula

1 Pirelli Chinese Grand Prix in ShanghaiInternational Circuit. Withthis,hemadeahat-trickbywinningallthreeGrandPrixthatwereheldin2016.TheotherGrandPrixinclude2016Formula1RolexAustralian Grand Prix and 2016 Formula 1GulfAirBahrainGrandPrix. Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germanystood second and Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyatsecured 3rd place where as Lewis Hamiltonfinishedatseven.

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Top10finishersin2016ChineseGrandPrix1. NicoRosberg,Mercedes2.SebastianVettel,Ferrari3.DaniilKvyat,RedBull4.DanielRicciardo,RedBull5.KimiRaikkonen,Ferrari6.FelipeMassa,Williams7.LewisHamilton,Mercedes8.MaxVerstappen,ToroRosso9.CarlosSainz,ToroRosso10. ValtteriBottas,Williams• Itwasdesignedastheracecircuit for the

new millennium and the modern track,with itsstunningarchitecture. ItachieveditsgoalofbecomingChina‘sgatewaytotheworldofFormulaOneracingsinceitsdebutin2004.

• The 5.4 kilometre racing track is shapedlike the Chinese character shang, whichstands for high or above. Hermann TilkeandPeterWahlwere thearchitectsof theCircuit.

• Other symbols represented in thearchitecture originate from Chinese history, such as the team buildings arranged likepavilionsinalaketoresembletheancientYuyan-GardeninShanghai.

Laureus Sports Awards 2016: Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams win top honours

Tennisreignedsupremeatthe2016LaureusWorld Sports Awards in Berlin, with NovakDjokovicwinningtheWorldSportsmanoftheYear Award while Serena Williams won theFemaleSportspersonoftheYearAward.

• This is the third timeDjokovic iswinningtheaward,havingpickeditupin2012and2015. This is the second successive yearthatheiswinningtheawardafterclinchingthree grand slams - the AustralianOpen,WimbledonandtheUSOpenlastyear.

• The28-year-old,whopippedathleteUsainBoltandfootballsuperstarLionelMessitothe award, dedicated his win to FormulaOnelegendNickiLaudaandlatefootballerJohan Cryuff.

• Williams won her third Sportswoman ofthe Year Award after getting nominated arecord10times.LikeDjokovic,the34-year-oldtoowonthreeGrandSlamslastyear.

• Three-timeFormulaOneWorldChampionLauda was presented with the LaureusLifetimeAchievementAwardwhilethelateDutch football legend Cryuff who passedaway last month due to cancer, washonouredwiththeLaureusSpiritofSportAwardwhichwascollectedbyhissonJordiCryuff.

• The list of winners at the 2016 LaureusWorldSportsAwards:

• Laureus World Sportsman of the YearAward:NovakDjokovic(Tennis)

• Laureus World Sportswoman of the YearAward:SerenaWilliams(Tennis)

• LaureusWorldTeamoftheYearAward:AllBlacks,NewZealand(Rugby)

• Laureus World Breakthrough of the YearAward:JordanSpieth(Golf)

• Laureus World Comeback of the YearAward:DanCarter(Rugby)

• Laureus World Sportsperson of the YearwithaDisability:DanielDias(Swimming)

• LaureusWorldActionSportspersonof the

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Year:JanFrodeno(IronmanTriathlon)• BoxerTysonFuryclaimsWladimirKlitschko

lost his World Heavyweight title clash onpurpose

• DavidBeckhamandRoryMcIlroynamedinSundayTimestop10listofmostgenerouscelebrities

• BorisBeckerslamsAndyMurrayoverhisremarks on doping in tennis

BCCI to host first day-night Test against New Zealand this year The India cricketteam will makeitsday-nightTestdebutagainsttheKiwis later thisyear.

• BCCIhasdecided that Indiawillplayoneday-nightTestmatchwithpinkballagainstNewZealandlaterthisyear.

• BeforethatDuleepTrophywillactasadressrehearsalfortheday-nightTestmatch.

• The BCCI has taken the decision to hostNew Zealand for the maiden D/N TestkeepinginmindthefallinginterestinTestcricketand thenumberof emptyseats instadiums during the matches.

• Thakuralsosaidthatthebehaviourofthepinkkookaburra in Indian conditionswillbe tested during the Duleep Trophy thisyear.

• DuringthatDuleepTrophygame,thepinkkookaburra will be preferred over the SG

Testballsthataregenerallyused inIndiaandalltheleadingIndiancricketerswillbeaskedtoplaytogiveafeedbackonhowtheballbehaves.

• Pakistan are also expected to make theirD/N Test debut against Australia atBrisbane in December this year. India‘sTestcaptainViratKohlihadearlier laudedthe D/N Test for bringing in a necessaryinnovation to the game.

Wrestler Sandeep Tomar on 24 April 2016 secured an Olympic quota place for India in the

men‘s 57kg freestyle category with a bronze medal finish on the final day of the 1st World Olympic qualifying tournament at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

• He secured his berth for Rio Olympicsby winning the playoff bout after havingclinchedthebronzemedal.

• OnlythetopthreefinishersineachweightcategoryareeligibleforanOlympicberthinthis tournament.

• With this, the 25-year-old Sandeepbecame the fourth Indian wrestler afterYogeshwarDutt (men‘s 65kg freestyle),NarsinghYadav(men‘s74kgfreestyle),andHardeepSingh(Greco-Roman98kg)tobookaberthfortheRioGames.

• Onlythetopthreefinishersineachweightcategory here are eligible for an Olympicberthinthistournament.

• SecuringabronzemedalwasnotenoughtoensureatickettoRioandSandeephadtofightwiththeotherbronzemedallistinhiscategoryforalonethird-placefinish.

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India to host 2018 Commonwealth Judo Championships The JudoFederation of India (JFI) on 25 April 2016announced that

India has been allotted the CommonwealthJudoChampionships2018. The Commonwealth Judo Championshipswas allotted to India, by the CommonwealthJudoCongressheldon23April2016atPortElizabeth,SouthAfrica. ThiswillbethefirsttimethatCommonwealthJudo Championships will be held in India.The Championships will be held in Jaipur.However,thedatesareyettobefinalized. Besides, Indiawillalsoplayhost to the10thAsian Cadet Judo Championships & 17th Asian Juniors Judo Championships from 6 Septemberto12September2016attheRajivGandhi Indoor Stadium, Kadvanthaa, Kerala.

• The Commonwealth Judo Championshipsare an international judo competition,opentocountriesoftheCommonwealthofNations.

• ItistheofficialeventoftheCommonwealthJudo Associations and is organised every 2 years for Cadets, Junior, Seniors, Masters and visually impaired Judo Players.

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• The Commonwealth Judo Championships2016willbeheldinSouthAfrica.

A widely played sport in India, the firstwritten record about Judo in India wasfound in Kodokan. Kodokan is aboutdemonstrations and coaching of Judo byShinzo Tagaki arranged at Shantiniketanin1929byRabindranathTagore.

Togovernthesport,theJudoFederationofIndiawasformedin1965.

Mairaj Ahmed Khan wins silver medal at ISSF World Cup of shooting

India’s MairajAhmed Khan has won the silvermedal in the men’s skeet event

atISSFWorldCupheldinRiodeJaneiro,Brazil.

• In the final, Mairaj lost gold medal toSweden’sMarcusSvenssonandthebronzemedal was won by TamarroCasandro ofItaly.

• With this victory, he becomes first Indianshooter towin skeetmedal for India at aWorldCup.

• EarlierinSeptember2016hehadqualifiedforhismaidenOlympicsafterfinishing insixthplaceattheISSFShotgunWorldCup.

• HeisthefirstIndiantoqualifyintheskeeteventattheOlympics.

• In the 2010, Commonwealth ShootingChampionship he had won a team gold

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medal which was his best internationalperformance earlier.

• Mairaj‘s best international performanceprevious to this was a team gold in theCommonwealthShootingChampionshipin2010.

• Outof26WorldCupappearancesthiswashis best ever finish in his first-ever finalround.

Mohun Bagan and JejeLalpekhlua named FPAI Player of the Year Professional football clubMohun Bagan and India striker JejeLalpekhlua

on 25 April 2016 won the Football Players’Association of India (FPAI) Indian Player of the YearawardatitsannualawardsfunctionheldinMumbai.

Lalpekhlua received the highest number ofvotes from fellow professional footballers tofinish on top in the shortlistwhich includedIndia captain Sunil Chhetri, BikashJairu, David Lalrinmuana and Dhanachandra Singh. NigerianstrikerRantiMartins,whoplayedforEastBengal in the I-League,wasnamed theForeignPlayeroftheYear. TheManipur-bornUdanta Singh of I-Leaguechampion Bengaluru FC bagged the Young

Player of the Year award. Bengaluru FC’scoachAshleyWestwoodwontheCoachoftheYearaward. DebjitMajumderwasnamed theFans’ PlayeroftheYear.

• Born on 7 January 1991 in Mizoram,JejeLalpekhluaisanIndianfootballerwhoplays for Chennaiyin in the Indian Super League.

• He scored the only goal in a win againstAfghanistan in the SAFF Cup group stage match in Bangladesh.

• He led the IndianU19 team to theSouthAsian games in Sri Lanka.

• MohunBaganAthleticClubisaprofessionalfootballclubbasedinKolkata,WestBengal,India.

• The club was established in 1889 byBhupendraNath Bose and is the oldest existingfootballclubinIndia.

• The club was awarded the distinction ofbeingtheNationalClubofIndiabyformerIndianPrimeMinister,RajivGandhiaswellas by the All India Football Federation in1989.

Riyad Mahrez became first African footballer to win PFA Player of the Year Riyad Mahrezon 24 April 2016became the first

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African footballer to win the ProfessionalFootballers Association’s (PFA) Player of theYear award for the 2015–16 season. ThefootballerreceivedtheawardattheProfessionalFootballers’ Association awards ceremonyorganised in London.

With the award, Mahrez also became thesecondnon-European,afterUruguayanstrikerLuisSuarez,tograbtheaward.

On the other hand, Tottenham HotspurmidfielderDeleAlliwasnamedYoungPlayeroftheYear.

• Riyad Mahrez is a professional footballerwho plays for English club Leicester CityandtheAlgeriannationalteamasawinger.

• Hebeganhiscareerasayouthplayer forFrenchclubAASSarcelles.

• Heturnedprofessionalin2009.• HemadehisinternationaldebutforAlgeria

in2014andrepresentedthematthe2014FIFAWorldCupandthe2015AfricaCupofNations.

• The Professional Footballers‘ AssociationPlayers‘ Player of the Year is an annualawardgiventotheplayerwhoisadjudgedtohavebeenthebestoftheyearinEnglishfootball.

• The award has been presented since the1973–74seasonandthewinnerischosenbyavoteamongstthemembersoftheplayers‘trade union, the Professional Footballers‘Association.

• The first winner of the award was LeedsUnited defender Norman Hunter.

• Chelsea’sEdenHazardwasthePFAPlayer

oftheYearforthe2014-2015season.

Garima Won gold at Commonwealth judo Championship Garima Chaudhary added gold in the63kgsenior category to take Indian medal

tally to 12 in the 12th Commonwealth JudoChampionship in Mauritius.

• Chaudhary, had won gold in the 63 kgjuniorcategoryon28thApril2016,clinchedanotheryellowmetalontheseconddayofthe competitionwhichalso sawfive otherIndianswinningbronze.

• Bitu, Anil Kumar, Pawan Kumar andVirender Singhwon a bronze each in thesix-daycompetition.

• Indiahasnowfivegold,onesilverandsixbronzeintheirkitty.

• GarimaChaudharyisanIndianjudokaandhas represented India as the country‘s sole judokaintheWomen‘s(63kg)categoryatthe2012LondonOlympics

• Garima was the only representative fromIndiatocontestforOlympicgloryinLondon2012atJudo,whereYoshiUenofromJapansent her packing in the first eliminationround.

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Shreya 1st woman racer in national Rally Championship TVS Racing onTuesday signedtheir first womanrider, Shreya Sunder Iyer, for the Indian

NationalRallychampionship.

• ShehascompletedtheKTMAdventureTouracross thesanddunes inDubai, crossingthe Kalasa River in Chikkamagalur, andcovering around 2,000km in six daysas a part of the Southern India Biking Expedition.

• In 2016 season, Shreya will compete forTVS Racing in the Indian National RallyChampionshiponarally-specTVSApacheRTR.

• Arvind Pangaonkar is the head of TVSracing, which has conducted this megaevent .

• He said the association with Shreya willencouragewomen to consider racing as acareer.

• Shehasalreadytriedherluckinmodelingaswell as in reality showsbut gettingnobigbreakmovedherintothissportswhereshehasbeendoinggoodsincestart

Allan Donal appointed Australia‘s bowling coach Allan Donald is going to be

appointed as Australia‘s bowling coach fortheir tour of Sri Lankawhichbegins in Julythis year.

• Donaldwillhaveapowerfulmotivation tomake the most of his imminent appointment, winningachancetoprovewrongtheSouthAfrican set-up that denied him a contract extension.

• CurrentlyworkingwithRoyalChallengersBangalore in the IPL, Donald recently withdrewfromtherunningforafranchiserolewithKnights,aSouthAfricadomesticfranchise.

• Allan Anthony Donald is a former SouthAfrican cricketer and one of their most successfulpacebowlers.

• In 1997 he came under intense scrutinyfrom the international cricket media afterhewas alleged tohaveused raciallyabusive language against India‘s RahulDravid in the finals of a one-day series.Allan Donald mentioned this incident in his autobiography,WhiteLightning.

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Google Fiber announced home phone service with unlimited local calls. Google has announced FiberPhone, that the company wouldbeaddingahome

telephone service to its existing Fiber high-speedinternetandcableTVofferings.

• Landlines can be familiar, reliable andprovide high-quality service, but thetechnologyhasn’talwayskeptup.

• It‘s amodernized,use-it-anywhere servicethatborrowsalotfromGoogleVoice.

• FiberPhonecosts$10permonth,andgivesunlimitedlocalandnationwidecalling.

• When you need to place an internationalcall, the rates are identical to Google Voice.

• Fiber Phone borrows other features fromVoice, too. „Fiber number lives in thecloud,“accordingtoGoogle.Youcanuseitonalmostanyphone,tabletorlaptop.

• FiberPhoneisn‘tlaunchinginallofFiber‘scurrentcities;instead,it‘llberollingoutinphases.

• The introduction of phone service (andthus a potential triple play package) makes Google look a bit more like typical cableprovider.

ECONOMICSBharti Airtel buys spectrum from Aircel for Rs. 3,500 crore Bharti Airtel on 7th April 2016 will pay Rs.3,500crore to acquire4G spectrum in

eight telecom circles from Aircel.

• Withthisacquisition,whichcomescloseonthe heels of its Rs. 4,428 crore spectrumdeal with Videocon, Bharti Airtel willbecomeapan-India4Goperator.

• Airtelwillacquiretherightstouse20Mhzin 2,300 band spectrum in Tamil Nadu(including Chennai), Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir,WestBengal,Assam, theNorth-East, Andhra Pradesh andOdishatelecomcircles.

• The move comes ahead of the big ticketlaunch of 4G services expected fromRelianceJio,whichisexpectedtointensifycompetition in the space.

• Bharti Airtel and its subsidiary BhartiHexacom have entered into definitiveagreements with Aircel Ltd and itssubsidiaries Dishnet Wireless Ltd andAircelCellularLtdtoacquirerightstouse20MHzof2,300Mhzband4Gspectrumforeight circles for an aggregate consideration ofRs.3500crore.

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• Aircel’s4Gairwavesinthe2,300MhzbandarevalidtillSeptember20,2030.

• The transfer of the right to use for thecircles of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa issubject to the revision of spectrum capswiththeupcomingauctiontobeconductedbydepartmentoftelecommunication.

Tata Steel to sell part of UK business to Greybull Capital The Tata grouphas started disentangling itself from Corus Group Plc., agreeing on 11th

April2016toselloneofitsmainsteelworkstoinvestmentfirmGreybullCapitalLlp.

• Under the agreement, which will saveabout4,800jobs,GreybullCapitalwillpayanominal£1 for the entire long-productsbusiness and take over its assets andliabilities.

• Thedealincludesa£400millioninvestmentand financing package for the business,aswell as agreementswith suppliers andunions on cutting costs.

• The transaction came at the start of theformalsaleprocessofTataSteelLtd’sUKassets,whichitacquiredin2007throughthe$12.9billion(around£9.2billiontoday)purchase of Corus Group.

• Tata Steel signaled its intention to divestthe business at the end ofMarch, saying

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itcouldn’tsustainthelossesitwastakingany longer. The company said that itwillconsider various restructuring options, including a partial or full sale of its UK assets, putting in jeopardy nearly 15,000jobs.

• The deal with Greybull will save abouta third of those jobs—4,400 in theUK inadditionto400inFrance.

• The sale covers several UK-based assetsincludingScunthorpesteelworks,twomillsin Teeside, an engineering workshop inWorkington and a design consultancy inYorkalongwithamillinHayange,France.

• In a separate statement, Greybull addedthatitwouldtakeovertheassociatedsalesanddistributionnetworkaswell.ProductsfromthisdivisionwouldnowsellunderthebrandBritishSteel,Greybullsaid.

• The deal is subject to the resolution ofconditions including transfer of contracts, government approvals and the completion of financing arrangements, Tata SteelEurope said in a statement. Deal closuremaytakeeightweeks.

• Greybull is arranging the £400 millioninvestment and financing package for thebusinessfromacombinationofbanksandshareholders to fundworking capital andfuture investments, it said.

• The existing management team will stayand run the business, implementing theplanthattheyhavedrawnuptoreturnthecompany to profitability. The search for apermanentchiefexecutiveofficer(CEO)hasstartedandanappointmentwillbemadeinduecourse,Greybullsaid.

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• HansFischer,CEOofTataSteel’sEuropeanoperations,saidthecompanywaspleasedwiththedeal.

• TataSteelEuropehasappointedKPMGLlpas advisers for the sale of its UK assets.

• KPMGandSlaughterandMayalsoadvisedTataSteelUKonthesuccessfuldivestmentof the long products division.

• GreybullisnottakingonpensionliabilitiesunderthedealwithTataSteel.

• Tata Steel has been struggling withits European business since the 2007acquisition, the biggest by an Indiancompany, amid declining demand for steel and a sharp drop in the price of the alloy aswellascompetitionfromcheapChineseimports.

• Asof30September,theconsolidateddebtofTataSteelwasRs.71,798.36crore.Thetotallong-termdebtofitsEuropebusinessisabout€3billion.

• The debt related to the long productsdivision of Tata Steel Europe may bebetween Rs.12,000 crore and Rs.15,000crore, said Rahul Dholam, an analyst atAngel Broking Pvt. Ltd.

RBI gave in-principle approval to Airtel payments bank Airtel M Commerce Services (AMSL), a subsidiary ofBharti Airtel,

on 11 April 2016 was granted the firstpaymentsbanklicensefromReserveBankofIndia(RBI).

AMSLisawhollyownedsubsidiaryofAirtel,whichoffersmobilemoneyservicesunderthebrandnameAirtelMoney. Itproposesto convert the existing pre-paid paymentinstrument license into a Payments Bank licenseaspertheguidelinesprescribedbytheReserveBankofIndia.

• The Payments Bank will be set up as adifferentiated bank and shall confine itsactivities to acceptance of demand deposits, remittance services, internet bankingand other specified services, as per RBInotification.

• PaymentsBankswillinitiallyberestrictedto holding amaximum balance of 1 lakhrupees per individual customer.

• They will be allowed to issue ATM/debitcards as also other prepaid payment instruments,butnotthecreditcards.

• These banks can also distribute non-risksharing simple financial products likemutual funds and insurance products.

• They will not be allowed to undertakelending services and non resident Indians willnotbeallowedtoopenaccounts.

On 19 August 2015, RBI had issued in-principle approval to 11 applicants to set up payments banks. The companieswho were issued payment bank licenseunder the Guidelines for Licensing of Payments Banks issued on 27 November2014 included Aditya Birla Nuvo, AirtelM Commerce Services, Cholamandalam DistributionServices,DepartmentofPosts(DoP), Fino PayTech, National Securities

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Depository, Reliance Industries, DilipShantilalShanghvi,VijayShekharSharma,TechMahindraandVodafonem-pesa.

Allcompanies,whichreceived in-principleapproval from RBI in August 2015, willhave to make their banks operational byMarch 2017.

Pepsi-Cola sign got historic landmark designation in New York Iconic Pepsi-Cola signonthebanksof East River ofNew York on 13April 2016 was

declaredasahistoriclandmarkafter25yearsof discussion.

• Thesignof60feethighand120feetlongwas built in 1936 and installed atop aPepsi bottling plant in an industrial areabordering the East River in Long IslandCity.

• Its steel and porcelain letters and giantPepsibottlehavelongbeenpartoftheviewfromtheEastSideofManhattan.

• Thesignwasrestored in1993afterbeingdamagedinawinterstorm.

• NewYorkCity‘slandmarkcommissionwitha unanimous vote declared it as historic land mark after having discussions for around25yearswhichbeganin1988andconcludedon13April2016.

• In1999,thebottlingplantwasclosedand

then sold and demolished in 2001. But the signwaspreservedandreinstalledashortdistance away in a park that opened in1998,GantryPlazaStatePark.

• Ithasappearedinseveralfilms,includingMunichandTheInterpreterin2005.

Suzlon buys five firms for solar operations Wind turbinemaker Suzlon Energy Ltd hasacquired fivecompanies for an undisclosed sum to help implement

itsdiversificationintothesolarenergyindustry,includingtheexecutionofitsrecentlywon70megawatt (MW)solarproject inMaharashtra,thecompanyinformedtheBSEon19thApril2016.

• However,Suzlonwillkeepitsforayintothesolar power business independent of itswind energy operations through separatecompanies.

• Keepingsolarpoweroperationsseparatewillhelp investorsparticipate in thisbusinessselectively.

• TheacquiredcompaniesareGaleSolarfarmsPvt.Ltd,TornadoSolarfarmsPvt.Ltd,AbhaSolarfarms Pvt. Ltd, Aalok Solarfarms Pvt. Ltd and Shreyas Solarfarms Pvt. Ltd.

• Suzlon,whichhashelpeditspowersectorcustomers install 15GW of wind energycapacity, manufactures turbines in

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India and has research and development facilities in Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark, apart from India. About 9GWof the Pune-based firm’s installation is inIndia,accountingfor37%ofthecountry’swindinstallations.

RBL Bank became first private sector bank to open dedicated branch for Start-ups in India The RBL Bankon 19 April 2016 became

the first private sector bank in India toopen dedicated branch for start-ups.The dedicated branch was inauguratedat Koramangala, Bengaluru by NandanNilekani, noted entrepreneur and former chairmanofUniqueIdentificationAuthorityof India (UIDAI).

ThemovecamefollowingthelaunchoffirstbranchdedicatedoftheStateBankofIndiain January 2016 to serve the needs of start-ups in Bengaluru.

• The first exclusive bank branch for start-upswillofferabouquetofbankingproductsto service the end-to-end needs of the emerging entrepreneurial eco-system.

• The branch will assist entrepreneurs insettingupnewenterprisesorcompanies.

• Itwillofferthemhostofbankingproductsincluding, foreign exchange services,remittances and cash management.

• Itwillalsoprovidearangeofvalueaddedservicesincludinglegalandtaxformalities,registration etc. through its affiliates andpartners.

• TheRBLBank isascheduledcommercialbank headquartered in the Kolhapur,Maharashtra. Founded in August 1943,RBLisoneoftheoldestprivatesectorbanksin India.

• TheBankcurrentlyservicesapproximately1millioncustomersandhasatotalbusinesssize of over 20000 Crore rupees.

• StartupIndiacampaignisaflagshipprogramof indian prime minister shri narendra modi. It isbasedonanactionplanaimedat promoting bank financing for start-upventures so as to boost entrepreneurshipandencourageyoungIndianstowardsstartupswithaboominjobs.

Campaign was previously announcedby Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15AugustatRedFort.Thiswholecampaignis focused on getting rid of „license raj“and other obstacles like land acquisition,foreign investment proposal, environmental clearances etc.

Uber partners with FICCI, Gujarat Tourism for soft skill Uber hasentered into a partnership withGujarat Tourismand FICCI in

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Ahmedabad city to facilitate training forUberdriver-partners.

• ThetrainingisdesignedandconductedbyAceDriving&RoadSafetyEducationPvtLtdon areas of Safe Driving and Interpersonal Skills of the drivers, in order to improve the overallriderexperienceinGujarat.

• Alldriverswhoattendthe trainingwillbecertified by FICCI and Gujarat Tourismunder their program, it added.

• ThefirstsuchtrainingtookplaceonMarch302016withover40Uberdriver-partnersattendingthesession,whichcoveredsomeof the topics like Safety and Regulations,Interpersonal Skills With Co-Passengers,Drivers etiquette,Correct seatingposture,Proper attitude towards riders andcustomers, do’s and don’ts while dealingwithriders,takingpropercareofthevehicleand himself (hygiene), precautions for lady passengers and management of emergency situations among others.

Videocon d2h, Vodafone m-pesa tie-up Videocon d2h ties upwithVodafonem-pesa wherethe former’s customers can recharge their d2h service

using Vodafone m-pesa. In addition, the 1,20,000+ Vodafone m-pesa CashIn points willalsoacceptrechargeforVideocond2h,thus, providing additional convenience to

customers. • NASDAQ-listedIndiandirect-to-home(DTH)

player Videocon d2h has partnered withVodafone,amovethatwill itssubscribersrecharge their d2h service using Vodafone m-pesa. The 120,000+ Vodafone m-pesacashinpointswillalsoacceptrechargeforVideocon d2h.

• Saurabh Dhoot, executive chairman ofVideocon d2h said, „Our strategic tie upwith Vodafone to enable recharge usingm-pesadigitalWalletandattheVodafoneoutletswillgiveourcustomersaneasyandpowerfulwaytorechargetheird2haccountattheirconvenience.“

• AnilKhera,CEO,Videocond2hadded,„Thistieupaffirmsourcommitmenttoinnovateineveryaspectofourcustomerexperience.Iamconfidentourcustomerswillfindthisnewchannelofrechargeseasytouseandwilladoptitquickly.“

• Videocon d2h, which claims to be India‘sfastestgrowingDTHserviceprovider,offersover550channelsandservices.

• ItissoongoingtolaunchHDSmartConnectSettopBox(connectedSTB),whichconvertsexisting normal TV into a Smart TV. TheConnectedsettopboxallowsonetobrowsecontent from Facebook, Twitter, DailyMotion,videoondemandsites,newssites,weather sites, etc through applicationsresidingonSTB.

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DBS Bank to soft launch mobile banking in India Singapore‘s DBS bank which hasbranchesinmajorcitiesofIndiawillsoft launch its digital/mobile

onlinebankinginthecountrythisweek,atopofficialofthebanksaidtoday.

• The phase by phase soft launch will bespread across DBS‘s locations in 12 Indian cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata,Chennai, Bangalore and Pune, from end of nextmonth.

• The offline launch will be done in a fewmonths of time.

• DBSnetwork expansion in Indiawill alsoinclude 60-70 new branches on gettingapproval for setting up wholly-ownedsubsidiariesfromtheReserveBankofIndia.

• DBS‘sstrategyistospendthenextcoupleof years focusing on digital space, especially pointing to the surge in e-commerce among other electronic systems in India.

• Indian executives presented industry andbusiness prospects at the roundtable,organizedbytheSingapore-basedstrategyconsultant services companyApexAvalonConsulting.

• ThelogisticsbusinessinIndiaisprosperingat 13-15 per cent a year as the countryindustrializes

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Indian Air Force to participate in Red Flag exercise Indian Air Force (IAF) willparticipateinRedFlag air exercisealong with US,NATO and allied

forcesthatarescheduledtobeconductedfrom28Aprilto13May2016inAlaska.

• Theexercisewillseeparticipationof12IAFaircraftincludingtheRussianoriginSu30MKI, deep penetration Jaguars, two C17transportplansandtwomid-airrefuellersIL 78. Before reaching Alaska, the AIFaircraftswilltravelthroughBahrain,Egypt,France, Portugal and Canada.

• Itwill also see over 150 IAF personnel inaction, who will undergo some trainingbefore being sent to Alaska. According toanestimate,itwillcostIndiaover100crorerupees.

• This is the second time that India isparticipating in such an exercise after2008.Duetohighcostofparticipation,IAFdecidedtotakepartintheexerciseonceinevery five year. Earlier, the participationintheexercisewasscheduledin2013buttheplanwascancelledbytheUSfollowingbudgetcuts.

• The Red Flag exercises, held periodically

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attheNellisAirForceBasesince1975,isadvanced aerial combat training exercise.Red Flag – Alaska is a successor to theprevious COPE THUNDER exercise seriesintheWesternPacificandAlaska.

• Since 1975, air crews from the UnitedStates Air Force (USAF), United States Navy (USN), United States Marine Corps (USMC), United States Army (USA) and numerous NATOorotheralliednations‘airforcestakepart in one of several Red Flag exercisesheldduringtheyear,eachofwhichistwoweeksinduration.

• The exercise provides an opportunity topractice and refine their skills for realcombatsituationstothepilotsfromtheUS,NATOandotherallied.Thisincludestheuseof enemy hardware and live ammunitionfor bombing exercises within the Nelliscomplex.

Panagarh airbase renamed after former IAF chief Arjan Singh Panagarh Air Force Base of West Bengal wasrenamed as Air Force Station Arjan Singh on

16April 2016.This canbe termedasa rarehonour to the nation’s oldest soldier Marshal ofAirForceArjanSingh.

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Air Officer Commander-in-Chief of theEastern Air Command, Air Marshal CHarikumar unveiled the rechristening plaqueataceremonyheldatthePanagarhAir Base. He announced that the crucial Air ForceBaseintheeasterntheatrewillnowbecalledAirForceStationArjanSingh.

Marshalof theAirForceArjanSingh,97,had led the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the 1965India-Pakistanwar.

ThedecisionofrechristeningtheAirForceStation was announced by the Chief ofAirStaffArupRahaon15April2016atafunctioninNewDelhitomark97thbirthdayof the Marshal Arjan Singh. Militaryinstallations are not usually named after individuals,especiallywhentheyarealive,a defence spokesperson informed.

• Panagarh, approximately 150 kilometersfromKolkata,islocatedinBurdwandistrict.

• ItwasdevelopedduringtheSecondWorldWar as part of the US Army‘s ‚over thehump‘ operations against the Japanese.

• Post the Second World War, Air ForceStation, Panagarh, played a significantroleduringtheIndo-PakWarsof1965and1971.

• As Squadron Leader, he led the Tigersquadron in saving Imphal Valley againstthe marauding Japanese forces. At that time, he was the commanding officer ofNo.1Squadron.

• His leadership and daring exploitsearned him a DistinguishedFlyingCross (DFC), which was pinned on him byLord Mountbatten in Imphal during theoperations.

• HewastheIAFchieffromAugust1964-69.

• He was the first Indian Air Chief to beelevated to the rank of Air Chief Marshal on 16 January 1966.

• In recognition of his lifelong services, theunion government conferred the rank of the Marshal of the Indian Air Force on ArjanSinghon28January2002makinghimthefirstandtheonlyFiveStarrankofficerwiththe Indian Air Force.

Russia test-fires nuclear-capable missile The Russianmilitary test-firedanuclear-capableshort-range Iskander M cruise missile as part of its drills in the

country’s southern Astrakhan region.

• The cruise missile was lanched fromKapustinYarmissile test rangeonFriday(April 15) and a video of the launch wasreleased by Russia’s Defense Ministry onMonday(April18).

• The video shows themissile’s launchandthe strike of its target, a site the ministry said was some 200 kilometers from thelaunch position.

• The ministry said the site simulated anunderground enemy command point.

• Iskander-M is a variant of the Russiantactical missile system designated SS-26 StonebyNATO.

• Itcanfiretwotypesofmissiles,thequasi-

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ballistic9M723andthecruise9M728.Bothtypescanmaneuverquicklyontheirflightpath tomake interceptionbyenemyanti-missileweaponsmorechallenging.

• Earlier India on 14th march 2016successfullytest-fireditsindigenouslybuiltnuclear-capable intermediate range Agni-Iballisticmissile,capableofhittingatarget700kmsaway,fromatestrangeoffOdishacoastaspartofausertrialbytheArmy.

Indo-Mongolia Joint Military Exercise, Nomadic Elephant – 2016, commenced The 11th Indo-Mongolia jointtraining Exercise,titled ‘Nomadic

Elephant-2016’commencedon25April2016inMongolia. The exercise aims at promotingmilitary associations between India andMongoliawillculminateon8May2016. Theaimofthisexerciseistodevelopsynergyand interoperabilitybetween the twoarmiesto fight in Counter Insurgency and CounterTerrorism environment under the UnitedNation mandate.

• Aplatoonof theKumaonRegimentof theIndian Army along with a team of twoobserverswillbetakingpartintheevent.

• FromtheMongolianArmedForces,atotalof60personnelwilltakepartintheexercise.

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• The event will culminate in a 48 hoursjoint outdoor exercise covering specializedoperations in Counter Insurgency and CounterTerrorismenvironment.

• The Indian contingent will share theirpracticalexperiencesofCounterInsurgencyandCounterTerrorismoperationsthrougha series of classroom lectures and outdoor demonstrations.

• Besides, during the military trainingboth the contingentswill also share theirtechniquesofunarmedcombat,specializedrappelling and participate in various sports eventsduringthetwoweeksexchange.

Naval Detachment Inaugurated at Androth Island of Lakshadweep A Naval Detac-hment (NAVDET)was on 26 April2016 inaugu-rated at the

Androth IslandofLakshadweepViceAdmiralGirish Luthra, AVSM, VSM, Flag OfficerCommanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command. The Officer-In-Charge of theDetachmentisLtCdrAngomBSinghwhowillfunction under the Naval Officer-in-Charge(LakshadweepandMinicoyIsland).

• Thesettingupofthisnavaldetachmentwillextend Indian naval presence at AndrothIsland.

• It will provide communication network

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connectivitywithmainland.• ItwillenableSeaLanesofCommunication

(SLOC)monitoring• It will function as an Observance and

reporting organisation, besides radarsurveillance.

Indian Naval Ships Veer and Nipat decommissioned Indian Naval Ships Veer and Nipat got decommissioned in Mumbai,Maharashtra.

• The decommissioning ceremony of theseshipswasheldinthepresenceofViceAdmiralSunilLanba,FlagOfficerCommanding-in-ChiefWesternNavalCommand.

• Both the ships belonged to the 1241 REclass missile vessels.

• They have completed 29 and 28 years ofcommissioned service respectively.

• In their service, they have participated innumerous operations and successfully completed many deployments.

• TheywereusedduringtheOperationsVijay(1961) & Parakram (2001–2002) .

• TheIndianNavyisthenavalbranchoftheIndian Armed Forces.

• ThePresident of India serves asSupremeCommander of the Indian Navy.

• The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), usuallya four-star officer in the rank of Admiral,commands the navy.

• The IndianNavy is thefifth largest in theworld.

Russia launches first rocket from new Vostochny Cosmodrome Russia haslaunched the first rocketfrom its newlybuilt VostochnyCosmodrome in the Amur Oblast,

inRussianFarEastregionborderingChina.

• TherocketiscarryingthreesatelliteswithitnamelyMikhailoLomonosov,SamSat-218and Aist-2D.

• Vostochny Cosmodrome is a Russianspaceportforcivilianlauncheswhichisstillunder construction.

• Presently, Russia has the large militarylaunch facilities.

• But for launch but it has to depend onthe Baikonur Cosmodrome for the civilian launches.

• The new cosmodrome is going to enableRussia to launch most missions from itsownland.

• Currently,Baikonuristheonlylaunchsiteoperated by Russia with the capability tolaunchcrewedmissionstoISSorelsewhere.

• Sevenlaunchpadsareplannedtobebuiltat Vostochny, over a period of years.

• Constructionof thecosmodromebegan inJanuary2011and,asof2011,wasexpectedtobecompletedin2018.

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British comedian Ronnie Corbett passed away British entertainer Ronnie Corbett,best known forBBC comedy sketch show TheTwo Ronnies,diedon31March

2016.Hewas85.

• Corbett achieved prominence in DavidFrost‘s 1960s satirical comedy programme TheFrostReportandsubsequentlystarredin sitcoms such as No – That‘s Me OverHere!,NowLookHereandSorry!.

• Corbett‘s BBC television comedy showwithRonnieBarker,TheTwoRonnies,ranfrom 1971 to 1987. Barker and Corbettperformedsketchesandmusicalnumbers.Corbettpresentedamonologue.

• Corbett‘s best-known role away from TheTwo Ronnies was as the 40-somethingTimothy Lumsden, dominated by hismother, in the sitcom Sorry!

• The entertainer was awarded with aCommander of the Order of the BritishEmpire(CBE)inthe2012NewYearHonoursfor services to entertainment and charity.

• Hehadabrotheraboutsixyearsyounger,andasisterabouttenyearsyoungerthanhim.

• CorbettwaseducatedatJamesGillespie‘s

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HighSchoolandtheRoyalHighSchoolinthecity,butdidnotattenduniversity.

• Afterleavingschool,hedecidedhewantedtobeanactorwhileperforminginamateurtheatricals at a church youth club. Hisfirstjob,however,waswiththeMinistryofAgriculture.

Renowned Iraqi-British Architect ZahaHadid died ZahaHadid, thefirst woman toreceive the RoyalInstitute of British Architects (RIBA)gold medal, died on31March2016

due toheartattack inMiami.The Iraqi-bornBritisharchitectdiedattheageof65.

• In2004,Hadidbecamethefirstwomanandfirst Muslim recipient to win the PritzkerPrize,knownastheNobelforarchitecture.

• BorninBaghdadin31October1950,shefirststudiedmathematicsattheAmericanUniversity in Lebanon, before pursuingarchitecture at the Architectural Association in London in 1972.

• Hadid,whowasknownforherneofuturisticdesign, was recently awarded the 2016RoyalGoldMedalinarchitecturebyRIBA.

• Hadid designed the London Aquatics

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Centre, which was used during the 2012LondonOlympics.

• ShealsodesignedtheAlWakrahStadium,which is under construction for the 2022QatarWorldCup.

• ShereceivedtheStirlingPrizein2010and2011.

• She was appointed Commander of theOrderoftheBritishEmpire(CBE)in2002and Dame Commander of the Order ofthe British Empire (DBE) in the 2012 forservices to architecture.

Former AC Milan player Cesare Maldini died The former A.C.Milan defender and Italy manager Cesare Maldini died on 3 April2016 in Milan,

Italy.Hewas84.

Atclublevel,Maldiniwon4SerieAleaguetitlesand1EuropeanCupwithMilan.Internationally,he played for the Italian national team, earning 14capsandparticipating in the1962WorldCup.

As a coach, he had a successful career in charge of the ItalianUnder-21 side, winningthe European Under-21 Championship arecord three consecutive times.

• Maldini started his playing career withTriestina in 1952. However, in 1954, he

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transferred to A.C. Milan.• Hewon four league titleswithMilan,and

also later became the team‘s captain in1961,arolewhichheheldforseveralyears,untilhelefttheclub.

• After retiring from playing, he became acoach. He started his career as an assistant managerforNereoRoccoatMilanin1970,and later also coached the team between1972and1974.

Former Mumbai cricketer Ranjan Baindoor dies aged 61 Former MumbaiRanji Trophycricketer RanjanBaindoor passed away at hisresidence here

todayfollowingamassiveheartattack.

• Baindoor,anoffspinnerwhocouldalsobatlowerdowntheorder,diedaged61andwasaformersecretaryofTataSportsClub,saidhisformerteammateRaviThakkar.

• Baindoor was also the chairman ofMumbai‘sunder19selectioncommittee.

• In16RanjiTrophymatchesbetween1974-75 and 1984-85, Baindoor captured 20wicketsat37.20pervictim,hisbestinningsfiguresbeing4for32.

• He also scored 316 runs with 96 as hishighestknockaveraging19.75perinnings.

• BaindoorunderwentaprostrateoperationlastJanuary,but still travelled to see the

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Mumbai under-19 team in action againstUttarPradesh in theCoochBeharTrophyfinalattheSachinTendulkarGymkhanaatKandivali.

• BaindoorplayedfourmatchesforRailwaysin1974-75and12matches(267runs&19wkts) for Bombay from 1975-76 to 1983-84.

• He was in the Sunil Gavaskar led RanjiTrophy winning Bombay against Delhi in1983-84.Afterbeinghitonhisrighthandin the second innings, Baindoor, did not bowl and thereafter he retired from firstclass cricket.

Hollywood actress and screenwriter Barbara Turner died

RenownedscreenwriterandHollywoodactressBarbaraTurnerwasdiedon5April2016.Shewas79. She was a screenwriter of Petulia, Georgia,Pollock and may other features for film andtelevision.

• She started her career as an actress inHollywood.ShestarredinTVseriessuchasAlfred Hitchcock Presents and Playhouse 90throughoutthelate1950s.

• She shifted her career towards writing in1966with her first screenplaywhichwasan adaption of author Jean Genet‘s play Deathwatch.

• Shewent on to pen acclaimed scripts for1968dramaPetulia,JacksonPollockbiopicPollackandRobertAltman‘sTheCompany.

• She wrote and produced music drama

„GeorgiaIn1995.ThefilmwashonouredattheMontrealFilmFestival‘sGrandPrixofthe Americas.

• ShealsowroteahandfulofscreenplaysforTVmovieswhichincludesTheWarBetweentheTatesandHemingway&Gellhorn,ForbothofthemshewasnominatedforEmmyaward.

Malian photographer Malick Sidibé dies aged 80 Malick Sidibé,the Malian photographer who chronicledhis country’s burgeoning pop

culture in the years after independence, died attheageof80on15thApril2016.

• Sidibé’s dynamic black-and-white shotscaptured the energy, hope and nightlife of agenerationofyoung Africansacross twodecades of social, cultural and political change.

• Born in what was then French Sudanin 1936 (or 1935; in interviews he couldneverrememberwhich),Sidibéonlystartedschoolat10,whenhecouldbesparedfromshepherdingdutiesbyhisfather.

• He became known among his classmatesand teachers as an accomplished artist, andin1952wonaplaceat theÉcoledesArtisans Soudanais in Bamako.

• He got his photographic break workingin the studio of Bamako’s leading society

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photographer,GérardGuillat.Sidibéspenthis nights cycling between nightclubs,photographing party-goers into the small hours with his Brownie camera. Hisportraits proved so popular that he set up hisownstudioin1962andbecameknownas“theEyeofBamako”.

• Sidibé’s archive from those years totalstens of thousands of negatives, and his photographs are now held in collectionsacross the world, including New York’sMuseum of Modern Art and the Getty Museum in California.

• In2007,hebecamethefirstphotographer–andthefirstAfrican–tobeawardedtheGoldenLionlifetimeachievementawardatthe Venice Biennale.

Salsa music pioneer Ismael Quintana died Puerto Ricancomposer and singer Ismael Quintana wasdied on 16 April 2016 in Colorado, United States of

Americaafterrespiratoryfailure.Hewas78.

• He became a pioneer of salsa music andwasrenownedforhitssuchasPuertoRico,Adoracion, No se compara and Maestro rumbero.

• HewasborninPonceandinearlycareerheplayedinquartetsandsextets.

• He joined forces with the beloved Eddie

Palmieri, also from Puerto Rico, in theOrquestaLaPerfectain1960.

• YetExpertscredithimwithamajorroleingettingsalsa‘sAfro-Caribbeanbeattostick.HealsohititbigwithfanswiththeFaniaAll-Stars in the late 1960s.

• Salsa is a mix of Latin rhythms butmostlyCubanandPuertoRican.ItstartedemerginginNewYorkCityinthelate1960sand 1970s.

Five time Emmy winning actress Doris Roberts died HollywoodactressDoris Robertsdied on 17 April 2016 in Los Angeles in her

sleep.Shewas90.

• She was renowned for playing meddlingmother Marie Barone in US sitcom EverybodyLovesRaymond.

• ShewonfiveEmmyAwardsoverthecourseofhercareer,fourofwhichareforherroleinRaymond,whichranfrom1996-2005.TheotherwasherfirstEmmyin1983,forhersupportingroleontheseriesSt.Elsewhere’

• She acted in several Hollywood filmswhich includeTheRose,Madea‘sWitnessProtection and the original version of TheTakingofPelham123.

• Shewasbornon4November1925 inSt.Louis,andgrewupinNewYork.

• Doris Roberts was an American actress.

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She received five Emmy Awards and aScreen Actors Guild award during heractingcareer,whichbeganin1951.

• ShewasperhapsbestknownforherroleasRaymondBarone‘smother,MarieBarone,on the sitcomEverybody LovesRaymond,whichranfrom1996–2005.

Music legend Prince Rogers Nelson died Pop music superstar Prince Rogers Nelson,popularly knownas Prince, died on 21 April 2016. He was57.

• PrincewasborninMinneapolisandstartedhismusiccareerinthelate1970swiththehitsWannaBeYourLoverandsoaredoverthe following decade with the albums as1999andPurpleRain.

• He also became songwriter, a singer,producer, one-man studio band and aconsummateshowman.

• SomeofhishitswereLittleRedCorvette,WhenDovesCry,Let’sGoCrazy,KissandTheMostBeautifulGirlintheWorld.

• He also pioneered the famous song TheMinneapolis sound.

• Throughhis career, Prince recordedmorethan30albumsandwasinductedintotheRock&RollHallofFamein2004.

• HewonsevenGrammyAwardsandearned30nominations.

• He also won anOscar for the song score

Purple Rain, a film in which he was alsostarred.

Thailand former Prime Minister BanharnSilpa-archa died The formerprime minister of Thailand,BanharnSilpa-archawasdiedon23 April 2016 in

Bangkok.Hewas83. His scandal-ridden tenure a Prime Minister precededtheThailand’seconomiccollapse inthe 1990s.• He was born on 19 August 1932 in

Suphanburi,Siam toaChinesemerchantfamily.HisChinesenamewasMaDexiang.

• Hewaselected11timestoParliamentandgained thenicknameBanharnburi for hishomeprovincewithThaiNationParty.

• Hewasregionalpowerbrokerandamasterof money politics in his home province, Suphanburi.

• His tenure as 21st Prime Minister ofThailandwaslastedfrom13July1995to24 November 1996 for about 16 monthswithThaiNationParty.

• Hisgovernmentwasmarkedbyallegationsofcorruption and economic mismanagement which led to Economic Collapse in thecountry, touching off the Asian financialcrisis.

• He was a familiar presence in national

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politics, serving as a minister in various governments over the years, and becameknown as Mr ATM for his methods ofwinningsupportandsecuringallies.

• Hewasalsoknownastheeelforhisabilitytowrigglehispartyintocoalitions,includingthe tenuous grouping of small parties that brieflykepthiminpowerasprimeminister.

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Asia’s largest optical telescope Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) was unveiled at Devasthal Asia’s largest and first of its kind

optical telescope Aryabhatta ResearchInstituteofObservationalSciences(ARIES)was unveiled at Devasthal in NainitalDistrict, Uttrakahnd.

• ItwasremotelyactivatedbyPrimeMinisterNarendra Modi and his Belgian counterpart Charles Michel from Belgium.

• Aries telescope was joint collaborativetechnological effort between Indian andBelgian scientists.

• It has been located at a height of 2,500metresatDevasthalinNainitaldistrict.Thesitewaschosen forgettingaclearviewofthe sky.

• TheARIESoptical telescopehasmirrorof3.6mdiameter.The telescope facilityhasbeenincorporatedwithhighendtechnologywhich enables it to be operated with thehelpofremotecontrolfromanywhereintheworld.

• It will help in the study and explorationof planets, starts, magnetic field andastronomicaldebris.

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• Itwillalsohelpresearchofstarstructuresandmagneticfieldstructuresofstars.

• The ARIES telescope has been a jointinternationaleffortbetweenIndian,Russianand Belgian scientist.

• InMarch2007ARIESandBelgiancompanyAdvancedMechanicalandOpticalSystems(AMOS)hadenteredacontractfordesign,manufacture, integration, testing, supply and installation of the telescope.

• Belgiumalsohadfunded7percentoftheprojectwhosetotalcostisestimatedtobemore than 120 crore rupees.

SpaceX successfully landed its rocket on a floating drone ship for the first time

American aerospace company SpaceX on9 April 2016 achieved the historic feat of successfully launching and landing Falcon 9 rocket.Therocket landedonadroneshipatseaafterbeinglaunchedintospace.

• This was the first time that the companysucceededinlandingtherocketinOcean.The feat was achieved after the companyfailed to do so in its four previous attempts. This feat also is important because thelanding proved that SpaceX can land itsrocketsbothonsolidgroundandOcean.

• This was the second time SpaceXsuccessfully landed one of its rockets post-launch,thefirsttimewason21December2015,whenthecompany‘sFalcon9rocket

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touched down at a ground-based landingsite in Cape Canaveral, Florida, after putting a satellite into space.

• Falcon9:• Falcon9isatwo-stagerocketdesignedand

manufactured by SpaceX for the reliableand safe transport of satellites and the Dragonspacecraftintoorbit.

• Asthefirstrocketcompletelydevelopedinthe 21st century, Falcon 9 was designedfromthegroundupformaximumreliability.

• Falcon 9’s simple two-stage configurationminimizesthenumberofseparationevents--andwithninefirst-stageengines,itcansafely complete its mission even in the event ofanengineshutdown.

• Falcon 9 made history in 2012 when itdeliveredDragon into thecorrectorbit forrendezvous with the International SpaceStation,makingSpaceXthefirstcommercialcompany ever to visit the station.

• Since 2012, SpaceX has made a total ofthree flights to the space station, bothdelivering and returning cargo for NASA.

• Falcon9,alongwiththeDragonspacecraft,was designed from the outset to deliverhumans into space and under an agreement with NASA; SpaceX is actively workingtowardthatgoal.

Scott Kelly to write memoir titled Endurance: My Year in Space and Our Journey to Mars NASA astronaut Scott Kelly willwrite a memoir

titled Endurance: My Year in Space andOurJourneytoMars,asannouncedon6April2016.ThebookwillbepublishedbyAlfred A. Knopf.

• Scott returned to Earth in March 2016after spending almost a year aboard theInternational Space Station (ISS).

• Thememoirwill offer a glimpse of Scott’sjourney to space and his life aboard theISS. He will also recount the obstacleshe encountered along the way, his earlystruggles in school, his training as a Navy testpilot,andtheworkrequiredtobecomean astronaut and live in space for one year.

• Scott’sargumentsinfavourofmorespacetravel, both government-sponsored andprivate,willalsobeincludedinthebook.

• The book will be published in November2017.

• Scott Joseph Kelly is an engineer, retiredAmerican astronaut and a retired U.S. Navy Captain.

• He commanded the International SpaceStationonExpeditions26,44and45.

• His first spaceflightwas as pilot of SpaceShuttle Discovery during STS-103 inDecember1999.

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• InNovember2012,Scottwasselected,alongwithMikhailKorniyenko,foraspecialyear-long mission to the International Space Station. Their year in space commenced27March2015withthestartofExpedition43, continued through the entirety ofExpeditions44and45,bothofwhichScottcommanded.

• HepassedcommandtoTimothyKopraon29February2016,whentheISSyearlongmission ended.

• He returned toEarth aboardSoyuz TMA-18Mon1March2016.

• InOctober2015,hesettherecordforthetotal accumulated number of days spentin space by an American astronaut. Forthe ISS year long mission, he spent 340consecutive days in space.

• His identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, isaformerastronaut.TheKellybrothersaretheonlysiblingstohavetravelledinspace.

Scientists discovered way to forecast earthquakes Scientists from Nanyang TechnologicalUniversity (NTU)at its EarthObservatory of

Singapore (EOS)havediscoveredawaytoforecast earthquakesbasedon tremorsorearthquakesbelowaRichterscaleof2.

• Thestudy, ledbyIndian-originresearcherDeepa MeleVeedu, was published in

scientificjournalNatureon4April2016.• So far, scientists believed that larger

earthquakesareunlikelytooccurfollowingtremors or earthquakes below a Richterscaleof2thatarecausedbysmallvibrationsorslowfaultmovements.

• However, the NTU team found that notonly do these vibrations potentially pointtoanimpendingearthquake,buttheyalsodiscoveredadiscerniblepatterntothem.

• Theteam’slatestfindingscouldpotentiallybe applied in the seismic monitoringof the area to help better forecast largeearthquakesintheregion.

• The discovery defied the understandingof how faults accumulate and releasestress over time. These vibration patternsare caused by alternating slow and fastruptures occurring on the same patch of a fault.

• If only slow movements are detected, itdoes not mean that a large earthquakecannothappenthere.Onthecontrary,thesame area of the fault can rupture in a catastrophicearthquake.

• SeismichazardsintheSoutheastAsiaregionwillprobablycomefromanimpendinglargeearthquake in the Mentawai seismic gapin Sumatra, Indonesia – a current area of active monitoring and investigation.

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Europe becomes world’s first region to end malaria: WHO TheWorldHealthOrganization(WHO)on20April2016 announced thattheEuropeanRegionbecamethe

firstintheworldtohaveachievedinterruptionof indigenous malaria transmission. Thenumber of indigenous malaria cases in theregion dropped from 90712 in 1995 to zerocasesin2015.

Besides,WHOannounced that theEuropeanRegionhitits2015targettowipeoutmalaria,thus contributing to the global goal to Endmalaria for good.

• The number ofmalaria cases globally fellfrom an estimated 262 million in 2000 to 214millionin2015,adeclineof18%.

• Thenumberofmalariadeathsgloballyfellfromanestimated839000in2000to438000in2015,adeclineof48%.

• Thenumberofmalariadeaths inchildrenaged under 5 years is estimated to havedecreasedfrom723000globallyin2000.

• The proportion of children infected withmalaria parasites has halved in endemic areas of Africa since 2000. Infection prevalence among children aged 2–10 years isestimatedtohavedeclinedfrom33%in2000to16%in2015,withthreequartersofthischangeoccurringafter2005.

• Itisestimatedthatacumulative1.2billionfewermalaria casesand6.2million fewermalaria deaths occurred globally between2001and2015thanwouldhavebeenthecase had incidence and mortality rates remained unchanged since 2000.

• The WHO European Region reportedzero indigenouscases for thefirst time in2015,inlinewiththegoaloftheTashkentDeclaration to eliminate malaria from the regionby2015.

1st fossilized heart in prehistoric animal found in Brazil

A new discovery,announced on 22nd April 2016 in the journaleLife, shows the

perfectly preserved 3D fossilised heart in a113-119 million-year-old fish from BrazilcalledRhacolepis.

Thisisthefirstdefinitefossilisedheartfoundin any prehistoric animal.

• Certainrarefossildeposits,calledkonservatlaggerstätten (meaning „place of storage“),are formed by rapid burial under specialchemical conditions. These deposits canpreserve a range of soft tissues from the organism.

• The first fossilised heart ever found in aprehistoric animal

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• ThefishRhacolepisimagedbysynchrotrontomographyshowingtheheart (left)andacross-section through the heart showingvalves(right,whitearrows).Credit:Maldaniset al. (2016)

• The famous Burgess Shale fossils fromBritish Columbia in Canada show soft-bodied worms and other invertebratecreatures. These were buried by rapidmudslidesaround525millionyearsago.

• The well-preserved fishes from the 113-119 million-year-old Santana Formation of Brazil were among the first vertebratefossils to show evidence of preserved softtissues. These include parts of stomachsandbandsofmuscles.

• The discovery of complete soft tissuespreservedaswholeinternalorgansinafossilwasabitofaHolyGrailforpalaeontologists.Suchfindscouldcontributetounderstandingdeeper evolutionary patterns as internal softorganshavetheirownsetofspecialisedfeatures.

• Finding a complete fossilised heart ina fish almost 120 million years old wasa major breakthrough for José Xavier-Neto of the Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory,LaraMaldanisoftheUniversityof Campinas, Vincent Fernandez of the European Synchotron Radiation Facilityand colleagues from across Brazil and Sweden.

• Back in 2000, a group of US scientistsclaimed to have found a heart preserved in a dinosaur nicknamed Willo, aThescelosaurus. But recent work hasdebunkedthisclaim,showingthecavityofthedinosaurbodywasinfilledbysediment

and then impregnated with iron-richminerals to make the cavity inside look a bitheart-likewhenimagedbyCTscanning.

ISRO Scientists made world’s lightest material ‘Silica Aerogel’ to keep soldiers warm in Siachen Scientists at the Vikram SarabhaiSpace Centre,

Thiruvananthapuram indigenouslymanufactured the world‘s lightest syntheticmaterial called ‘silica aerogel’ or ‘blue air’ or‘frozensmoke’.Itwasinnewsinthethirdweekof April 2016. Silica Aerogel is the lightest synthetic material evermadebyman.

• Thematerialissolightweightthatitcanbedelicatelyplacedonaflowerhead.

• Ithasanexcellentthermalresistanceandifitisusedasfillerinsoldiers‘uniformsitcan save many lives at the Siachen glacier.

• The material can be used both in spaceandonEarth.Scientistsalsohopeitcanbeused to insulate rocket engines.

• Frozen smoke can be also used to makelightweightclothing,ifpaintedonwindowsitcankeepbuildingscoolorwarm.

• Thematrixofaerogelismadeupof99percent air. Thematerial is likely tobeusedon moon rover in Chandryaan-2 mission of

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India. Thematerialisstillveryfragileandbrittle

and scientists at the space centre are still findingwaystomakeittoughandresilient.

Japan successfully tested its first stealth fighter X-2 jet Japan on 22 April 2016 successfully tested the firststealth fighterjet.Withthis,the

country joinsaselectgroupofworldmilitarypowerswieldingtheradar-dodgingtechnology. The domestically developed single-pilotprototypeX-2jettookofffromNagoyaairportin central Japan on itsmaiden test flight. ItsafelylandedatGifuairbase,northofNagoyaairport, after a 25-minute flight with noparticularproblems. Even though theuseofmilitary forcehaveastrict constitutional constraints after WorldWarII,Japanstillhasoneoftheworld‘smostadvanced defence forces and the development of the stealth fighter comes as it faces newsecurity challenges in the form of China‘s expandingforceposture. At present, only theUSA, Russia andChinahavebeeninternationallyrecognisedashavingsuccessfully developed and flown mannedstealthjets.

t•It was developed by Mitsubishi HeavyIndustriesand200otherfirms,measures14.2metres (47 feet) longand9.1metreswide andwasbuilt as a successor to F-2fighterjetsdevelopedjointlywiththeUnitedStates of America (USA).

• Its delivery to the defence ministry isexpected as early as May 2016 and theacquisitionagencywillcontinueanalysingdata and check its stealth technology capability.

• Japanbegan theproject in2009andhasreportedlyspentabout39.4billionyen(332million US dollars) to develop the aircraft.

• The country was barred from developingaircraftforanumberofyearsafteritsdefeatin World War II but eventually producedtheYS-11,apropellerpassengerplanethatbeganflyingintheearly1960s.

• InanotheraviationmilestoneinNovember2015, Japan‘s first domestically producedpassengerjet,alsodevelopedbyMitsubishiHeavy,madeitsmaidentestflight.

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India Signs Loan Agreement with the World Bank for USD 250 Million for „First Programmatic Electricity

DistributionReformDevelopment

Policy Loan

On 31-March-2016 An agreement for IBRDCreditofUSD250MillionfromWorldBankfor„First Programmatic Electricity DistributionReformDevelopmentPolicyLoanforRajasthan“by Shri Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary (MI),Department of Economic Affairs on behalf oftheGovernmentofIndiaandMr.OnnoRuhl,CountryDirector,WorldBank(India)onbehalfoftheWorldBank.

• The Program Implementing EntityAgreement was signed by Mr. SanjayMalhotra, Principal Secretary, Department of Energy, Government of Rajasthan onbehalfofGovernmentofRajasthan,andtheCountry Director (India) on behalf of theWorldBank.

• TheprojectsizeisUSD250million,andthetotalamountwillbefinancedbytheBank.

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• Theobjectiveoftheproposedprogrammaticoperation is to support the Government of Rajasthan (GoR)‘s program for theturnaround of the distribution sector inRajasthan under the 24x7 Power for Allprogram.

• This first operation lays the foundationsfor legislative changes and institutional reforms to improve the sector‘s governance, supportsthefinancialrestructuringofthesector, and back sanctions necessary toimprove operational performance.

• Themain areas of the GoR program thatare supported by the proposed operationare: (a) Strengthening Governance in theRajasthan Electricity Distribution Sector;(b) Financial Restructuring and Recovery;and(e)ImprovingOperationalPerformance‘ofDistributionUtilities.

• Theprojecthasbeendesigned.asaresult,based financing programme, underwhichfundswillbereleasedonlyonachievementofagreedresults/indicators.

India signed agreement with Germany’s KfW for 500 million Euro loan to Nagpur Metro

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India and Germany’s Development Bank KfWon1April2016signedanagreement toprovide loan assistance of 500 million Euro(about3750crorerupees)forthemodernandsustainablemetrosystemforNagpurcity.ThisisthefirstGermanassistancetoMetroprojectin the country.

• The loan period is of 20 years with amoratoriumoffiveyearsanddisbursalwillbebasedontheprogressoftheprojectoverthree years.

• Costing 1240 million Euro (8680 crorerupees), Nagpur Metro is the first metroto be financed under the Indo-Germanpartnership for clean, socially inclusive and climatefriendlymobilityforpeopleincities.Work on NagpurMetro is being executedbyNagpurMetroRailCorporationLimited(NMRCL).

• Sanctioned by the Union Governmentin August 2014, Nagpur Metro Projectenvisagestwocorridorsandtheyare19.70km North-South section from Automotive Square toKhapri and18.60km long linebetween Prajapati Nagar and LokmanyaNagar.

• PhysicalworksofthemetrocommencedinMay 2015 and thewholeMetrowould beoperationalbyMarch2019.

India, Saudi Arabia signed five agreements to boost bilateral co-operation India and Saudi Arabia on3April2016 inked fiveagreements to boostthebilateral

cooperation between the two nations. TheagreementsweresignedinRiyadhduringthetwodayvisitofPrimeMinisterNarendraModitoSaudiArabiafrom2Aprilto3April2016.

• ThevisittoSaudiArabiawaspartofModi’sthree-nation visit to Belgium, the United StatesandSaudiArabiafrom30Marchto3April2016.

• AgreementonLabourCo-operationbetweentheMinistry of Labour, Saudi Arabia andMinistry of External Affairs, India forrecruitmentofgeneralcategoryworkers.

• Technical Cooperation Program betweenthe Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization(SASO).

• Executive Program for Cooperation in theField of Handicrafts between the ExportPromotion Council for Handicraft (EPCH),India and Saudi Commission for Tourismand National Heritage.

• MoU between Financial Intelligence Unitof India and Saudi Arabia concerningCooperationintheExchangeofIntelligencerelated to Money Laundering, TerrorismFinancingandRelatedCrimes.

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• Framework for Investment PromotionCooperation between Invest India andthe Saudi Arabian General InvestmentAuthority (SAGIA).

• Besides, during his visit Modi gifted agold-plated replica of the Cheraman Juma MasjidofKeralatoSaudiKingSalmanbinAbdulaziz Al Saud. Situated in Thrissurdistrict, themosque is believed to be thefirstmosquebuiltinIndiabyArabtradersaround 629 AD.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi was alsoconferred with the King Abdulaziz SashhonourbySaudiArabia,thehighestcivilianhonour of the country.

India, Maldives signed six agreements to deepen bilateral cooperation India and Maldives on 11 April 2016 singed sixagreements toboostthebilateral

relations between the two countries.Theagreements were inked in New Delhi duringthetwo-dayofficialvisitofMaldivianPresidentAbdullaYameenAbdulGayoomtoIndia.

• AgreementforAvoidanceofDoubleTaxationof income-TheAgreementseeks toavoiddouble taxation of income derived frominternational air transport.

• AgreementfortheExchangeofInformationwithrespecttoTaxes–Itenvisagesmutual

assistance for exchange of informationthat is relevant to the administration and enforcement of the domestic lawsconcerningtaxescoveredbytheAgreement.It also includes exchange of informationrelevant to the determination, assessment and collection of such taxes, the recoveryand enforcement of tax claims, or theinvestigationandprosecutionoftaxmatters.

• Bilateral Agreement related to OrbitFrequency Coordination of „South AsiaSatellite”proposedat48oE–Itwillbeusedfor the purpose of performing intersystem orbit-frequency coordination for theoperationof‘SouthAsiaSatellite’.Itwillalsobe used for fulfilling ITU level regulatoryrequirements and obtaining internationallevel protection/recognition for the ‘SouthAsia Satellite’.

• MoU for Cooperation in the area ofconservation and restoration of ancient mosquesandjointresearchandexploratorysurveys in Maldives - It proposes for development of detailed proposals for such projectsbyArchaeologicalSurveyof Indiaand Department of Heritage, Maldives.

• MoUoncooperationinthefieldofTourism- It envisages cooperation in areas of tourism including expansion of bilateralcooperation and exchange of informationand data related to tourism. It seeks to encourage cooperation between tourismstakeholders including Hotels and TourOperators and establishing exchangeprogrammes for cooperation in Human ResourceDevelopment.ItseeksinvestmentintheTourismandHospitalitysectorsandexchangevisitsofTourOperators/Media/

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OpinionMakers forpromotionof twowaytourism.

• Itlooksforwardforexchangeofexperiencein the areas of promotion, marketing, destination development and management. Italsolooksforparticipationintravelfairs/exhibitions in each other’s country andpromotingsafe,honourableandsustainabletourism.

• Action Plan for Defence Cooperation – Itis an important component of the India-Maldives bilateral relationship and theshared strategic and security interests of the twocountries in the IndianOceanregion.It envisages an institutional mechanism at the level of the Defence Secretaries to furtherbilateraldefencecooperation.

India, US agreed on Logistics Exchange Agreement India and the US on 12 April 2016 agreed in principle to conclude a logisticsexchangeagreement to

enable both militaries to use each other‘sassetsandbasesforrepairandreplenishmentof supplies.

• The agreement on Logistics ExchangeMemorandum of Agreement (LEMOA)wasreachedafterdelegation-leveltalksbetweenDefence Minister Manohar Parrikar and visiting US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter

inNewDelhi.• The agreement,whichwas clearedduring

the meet and will be signed in comingmonths, does not entail deployment of American troops on Indian soil.

• TosetupanewbilateralMaritimeSecurityDialogue between officials of defence andforeign affairs ministries

• To enhance on-going navy-to-navydiscussions to cover submarine-relatedissues

• Both countrieswill deepen cooperation inmaritime domain awareness by finalisinga ‘White Shipping’ agreement in the nearfuture.

• LEMOAtraditionallyknownastheLogisticsSupport Agreement (LSA) facilitates the provision of logistical support, supplies and services between the US militaryand armed forces of partner countries on a reimbursable basis. It also provides aframework that governs the exchange oflogistics support, supplies and services.

• The logistic support agreementwith Indiawas earlier proposed in 2004 but it wasresisted by the then UPA government fora decade. The then defence minister AKAnthony saw the agreement as intrusiveand compromising on India’s non-aligned stance.

WorldHomoeopathyDayobserved World Homoeopathy Day was observed

on10April2016and itwasorganisedbyIndia. The day commemorates the birthanniversary of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, a German Physician.

• Hahnemann discovered the principlesof Homeopathy two centuries ago and

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developed it as a gentle healing system of medicine.

• The day is observed by theLigaMedicorumHomoeopathica Internationalis (LMHI), the international professionalbodyofHomeopathsandeveryyear it designates a country to host the day.

• During this day, the Homoeopathicfraternity organizes various symposia, road shows,medicalcampsandconferencesandmemorial events to popularize the strength of Homoeopathy.

• In 2016, to mark the day a two-dayInternational Convention on Homeopathy wasorganisedinNewDelhifrom9Aprilto10April2016.Thethemewas“IntegratingHomoeopathyinHealthCare”.

• The convention was organised in Indiaby Central Council for Research inHomoeopathy (CCRH), an autonomousresearchorganizationofMinistryofAYUSH,Union Government and LMHI.

• On the occasion Shripad Yesso Naik,Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, also released a commemorativestamp and a souvenir on this occasion.

• Homoeopathy in India is recognized andintegrated in the National health care delivery system. Union Government has established Ministry to AYUSH to givefocused attention for the growth anddevelopment of Complementary and Alternative Medicine/Traditional Medicine(CAM/TM).

• Further, India has signed Memoranda ofUnderstanding with Sri Lanka, Mexico,Cuba,Nepal,MauritiusandMongolia.

• At present, Homeopathy is practiced inmore than 80 countries in different formand is officially recognised as system ofmedical specialty.

India and Sweden inked MoU on technical cooperation in rail sector The Ministry ofRailways andthe Ministry of Enterprise andInnovation of the

KingdomofSwedenon15February2016inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on technical cooperation in rail sector.

• The MoU aims at developing cooperationactivities in the railway area to promoteefficiency and sustainability and achieveconcrete results with regard to bilateraltrade, investment, research and technology transfer.

• TheMoUwassignedbyGirishPillai,Adviser/ Infrastructure on behalf of Ministry ofRailways, and Oscar Stenstrom, StateSecretaryonbehalfofSwedishGovernment.

• Benchmark railways policy development,regulations, organization and specificcharacteristics for each country.

• Exchangeofknowledge,technicalexpertise,innovation, technology, sustainablesolutions and research.

• Othercooperationprojectsagreedbetweentheparticipants,suchas, tiltingcoaches/

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trains,capacityallocation(timetabling)andoptimisation of maintenance and improved freight/combinationtraffic.

• Trainingandcontinuingeducationprogramin reliability and maintenance of railtransportsystemforrailwayengineersandmanagers.

• TheMoUwill remain in force for 5 yearsfromthedateofsigning.However,itcanbeextendedforafurtherperiodof5yearswiththewrittenconsentofbothsides.

Memorandum of Understanding between India and United Arab Emirates on cooperation in preventing and combating of Human Trafficking

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the PrimeMinister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India andUnitedArabEmirates(UAE)oncooperationin preventing and combating of HumanTrafficking. The MoU is expected to besigned very soon after the approval.

• The MoU will strengthen the bonds offriendship between the two countries andincrease the bilateral cooperation on theissues of prevention, rescue, recovery and repatriation related to human trafficking especially women and children

expeditiously.• Thefollowingarethesalientfeaturesofthe

MoU:(i)To strengthen cooperation to prevent all

formsofhumantrafficking,especiallythatofwomenandchildrenandensurespeedyinvestigationandprosecutionoftraffickersand organized crime syndicates in either country.

(ii)Taking preventive measures that wouldeliminatehumantraffickinginwomenandchildren and in protecting the rights of victimsoftrafficking.

(iii)Anti-trafficking Cells and Task Forceswillworkonbothsidestopreventhumantrafficking.

(iv)Policeandotherconcernedauthoritieswillwork in close cooperation and exchangeinformationwhichcanbeusedtointerdicthumantraffickers.

(v)The repatriationof victimswouldbedoneasexpeditiouslyaspossibleandthehomecountrywillundertakethesafeandeffectivere-integration of the victims.

(vi) AJointTaskForcewithrepresentativesfrom both sides would be constituted tomonitortheworkingoftheMoU

• As a destination of trafficking, SouthAsian countries are mainly affected bydomestic trafficking, or trafficking fromtheneighboringcountries.However,SouthAsian victims are also increasingly detected intheMiddleEast.

• IndiaisasourceandtransitcountryasfarastraffickingtoUAEisconcerned,whereasUAE is a destination and transit countryfor men and women, predominantly fromSouth, Southeast and Central Asia and

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EasternEuropewhoaresubjectedtoforcedlabourandsextrafficking.

• Migrant workers, who comprise over95 percent of the UAE‘s private sectorworkforce, are recruited primarily fromEthiopia,Eritrea,IranandEast,SouthandSoutheast Asia.

• Some of theseworkers face forced labourin the UAE. Women from some of thesecountries travel willingly to the UAE towork as domestic workers, secretaries,beauticians and hotel cleaners, but somearesubjectedtoforcedlabourbyunlawfulwithholdingoftheirpassports,restrictionson movement, non-payment of wages,threatsandphysicalorsexualabuse.

• Thereinforcementofanti-traffickingeffortsatall levelsbetweentheUAEandIndiaisessential for prevention and protection of victims.

• This requires mutual cooperation amongboththecountriesforintelligencesharing,joint investigation and a coordinatedresponse to the challenges of human trafficking.

• For this purpose, it is proposed to sign aMemorandumofUnderstandingwithUAE.WehavealreadysignedoneMoUtopreventtrafficking with Bangladesh and anotherwith Bahrain is to be signed during thismonth.

India and Mauritius signed MoU to cooperate in Traditional Medicine and Homoeopathy India on 19 April 206 signed a Memorandum of Understanding

(MoU) with Mauritius on cooperation in thefield of traditional system of medicine andHomoeopathy.

TheMoUwassignedduringtheUnionMinsterofStateforAYUSH(IndependentCharge)andHealth and Family Welfare, Shripad YessoNaik’s visit to Mauritius.

• The MoU envisages exchange of experts,supplyoftraditionalmedicinalsubstances,joint research and development andrecognition of the traditional systems of healthandmedicineinbothcountries.

• Italsoaimsatpromotionandpopularizationof the various Indian traditional systems whichfallunderAYUSH.

• The MoU with Mauritius is part of theMinistry AYUSH’s mandate to propagateIndian systems of medicine globally. IthasenteredintosimilarMoUswithChina,Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, Hungary,Bangladesh and Nepal.

India and Mauritius share several cultural, historical, linguistic and literary similarities, traditional medicine including medicinal

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plants arepromisingareaswhichneed tobe further explored and can prove to bemutuallybeneficialtothepeopleofthetwocountries.

The government of Mauritius also hasa long history of traditional medicine in common with India and both countriesshareacommonculturewithrespecttotheayurvedic system of medicine.

Moreover, there are a large number ofmedicinal plants, particularly those found in the tropical region and are common to thetwocountriesgivensimilargeo-climaticfactors.

Union Cabinet approved MoU on Technical Cooperation between India and Bhutan

The Union Cabinet on 20 April 2016 gaveits approval for signing a Memorandum of UnderstandingwithBhutan.

• Thetwonationswillsignanagreementontechnicalcooperationinthefieldofcapacitybuilding, benchmarking and bilateralexchangeininfrastructureengineering.

• Atpresent,thetwocountriesaresupportingeach other in an already ongoing Hydro Power Cooperation which provides anexemplarytemplateformutualcooperation.

• India re-negotiated the 1949 treatywith Bhutan and signed a new treatyof friendship in 2007. The new treatyreplaced the provision requiring Bhutanto take India‘s guidance on foreign policy

with broader sovereignty and not requireBhutan to obtain India‘s permission overarms imports.

• The Government of Bhutan and theGovernment of India agree to promote cultural exchanges and cooperationbetweenthetwocountries.

• These shall be extended to suchareas aseducation, health, sports, science and technology.

• Both Governments agree to continue toconsolidate and expand their economiccooperation for mutual and long-term benefit.

Harriet Tubman will be the first African-American to appear on US paper currency

TheU.S.TreasuryDepartmentannouncedon 20 April 2016 that the image of an American abolitionist and anti-slaveryactivist Harriet Tubman will appear on anewseriesofUS$20bills.

India, France launch $1 Trillion Potential Solar Programme under ISA India and France have launched a programme with $1 trillionPotential Solar

Programme under the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

• It isasolarfinanceprogrammethataimsat helping developing countries to fully

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harness their solar resources for a clean energy future.

• It was announced by Minister of Statefor Power Piyush Goyal and FrenchEnvironmentMinisterSegoleneRoyalattheministerial side event on ISA at the United Nations.

• Solarfinanceprogrammeaimsatloweringthecostoffinanceand facilitatestheflowof more than 1 trillion dollars investment to membersoftheISA.

• Both countries also launched a secondprogramme at the ISA meeting whichaims to make available solar technologyfor farmers. The meeting was attendedby representatives of over 25 countriesincluding the US, Bangladesh, Brazil and Nigeria.

• The ISA was launched at the 2015 ParisClimateChangeSummitbyPrimeMinisterNarendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande.

• It seeks to empower solar-rich countrieslocated between the tropic of Cancer andthetropicofCapricorntomakecollaborativeefforts to harness solar energy to generate the electricity. Under this alliance, 121 countries that fallwithin the tropicshavebeeninvited.

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International Day of Sport for Development and Peace 2016 observed

The InternationalDay of Sport for Development and

Peace (IDSDP) 2016 was observed acrosstheworldon6April2016.

On the occasion of the IDSDP 2016,the United Nations Office on Sport forDevelopmentandPeace(UNOSDP)launcheda campaign - Let’s play for SustainableDevelopment Goals.

The campaign seeks to encourageorganizations and individuals who carryout SDP initiatives to take a picture or a short video of their team or beneficiarieswithaSDGcardthatbestdescribes theiractivity.

• On 23 August 2013, the UN proclaimedthat the International Day of Sport for DevelopmentandPeacewill be celebratedon April 6 each year.

• April6alsomarkstheopeningofthefirstmodernOlympicGamesinAthensin1896.

• This day is commemorated globally eachyear by international, regional, nationalsport and development organizations to honour the role that sport plays in society.

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International Day of Human Space Flight observed International Day of Human Space Flight wasobserved on 12April 2016. Theday is celebrated

to commemorate Soviet Cosmonaut YuriGagarin’sjourneyintoouterspace.

• The 55th anniversary of First HumanSpaceFlightwascommemoratedatUnitedNations on 12 April 2016. Since Gagarin, 536individualshaveleftEarthonavoyageinto space.

• Gagarinon12April1961becamethefirsthuman to leave Earth’s atmosphere andopenthewayforspaceexplorationforthebenefitofallhumanity.

• Heon12April1961completedanorbitoftheEarthwithVostokspacecraft.

• TheUNGeneralAssemblyon7April2011declared 12 April as the International Day of Human Space Flight to celebrate eachyearattheinternationallevelthebeginningof the space era for mankind and its role in achieving sustainable development goals,well-beingofpeoplesandmaintainingouterspace for peaceful purposes.

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World Hemophilia Day was observed on 17 April 2016 WorldHemophiliaDaywasobservedon 17 April 2016 across the world. Theday is observed

to advocate for the global efforts to ensureappropriate care and treatment of diseases, which are the oldest known genetic bleedingdisorderscausedbyGeneticDeficiency.

• 50 Years of Advancing Treatment for Allhasbeendecidedasthethemefortheyear2013.TheWorldFederationofHemophilia(WFH) and the global community haveworked together, for over aperiod of past50years,toimprovecareandtreatmentforinheritedbleedingdisorders.

• 17 April is observed as the WorldHemophiliaDayeveryyearacrosstheworld.Hemophilia generally is a blood disorderthat effects a huge population across the world.Thediseaseisgenerallytransmittedto the daughter from his father at the time ofbirth,whofurtherbecomesthecarrierofhemophilia cells of the defected gene to her children.

• This is a non-curable disease but can behandled,iftreatedfinely.WorldHemophiliaDay aims to increase awareness of thisdiseaseandotherbleedingdisordersaswellaswherewehavebeen,wherewewanttogo,andthattogether,wecanclosethegap

in care. Hemophilia B is the second most common kind of bleeding disorder, alsotermedasfactorIXdeficiency.

• 75percentofthepeoplesufferingfromthediseaseacrosstheworldreceiveinadequatetreatment or no treatment at all. Thepercentage of the people suffering from the disorderishigherthantheVonWillebranddisorderandrarefactordeficiencies.

World Book and Copyright Day observed The World Bookand Copyright Day was celebratedon 23 April 2016acrosstheworld.

• The events on this day are organized bytheUnitedNationsEducational,Scientificand Cultural Organization (UNESCO), topromotereading,publishingandcopyright.

• The day was first celebrated on 23 April1995.

• Everyyear,UNESCOandtheinternationalorganizationsrepresentingthethreemajorsectors of thebook industry - publishers,booksellersand libraries,select theWorldBook Capital for a one-year period, effective 23Aprileachyear.

• This year the city ofWroclawwas chosenas the World Book Capital 2016 for itscommitment to spread the message of the powerofbookstonurturecreativity.

• 23Aprilisconsideredasasymbolicdatefor

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worldliterature.• In 1616, on this date Cervantes, William

Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega died.

• Itisalsothedateofbirthordeathofotherprominent authors such as Maurice Druon, Haldor K Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov andManuelMejiaVallejo.

• In1995,UNESCOinitsGeneralConferenceinParis,paidaworld-widetributetobooksand authors on this date by encouragingeveryone to discover the pleasure of reading. Inthisregard,UNESCOcreatedtheWorldBook and Copyright Day.

World Malaria Day World MalariaDay (WMD) isbeing observedannually on 25April across the worldtorecognizethe globalefforts to control

preventablevectorbornediseasemalaria.

• It also seeks to highlight the need forcontinued investment and sustained political commitment for elimination and control of malaria. 2016 Theme: “EndMalariaForGood”.

• Itreflectsthevisionofamalaria-freeworldset out in the Global technical strategyfor malaria 2016-2030. The strategy wasadoptedby theWorldHealthAssembly inMay2015.

• It aims to dramatically lower the globalmalaria burden over the next 15 yearsand is alignedwith the 2030 SustainableDevelopment Goals.

• Goalsofthestrategyare:(i)Reducerateofnewmalariacasesbyatleast90%(ii)Reducemalaria death rates by at least 90% (iii)Eliminatemalaria inat least35countries(iv) Prevent a resurgence of malaria in all countries that are malaria-free.

• The World Malaria Day was establishedby the 60th session of the World HealthAssembly,adecision-makingbodyofWorldHealthOrganization(WHO)inMay2007.

• Itwasestablishedtoprovideunderstandingand education of malaria and also spread information on year-long intensifiedimplementation of national malaria-control strategies. It is one of eight official globalpublichealthcampaignscurrentlymarkedbytheWHO.

National Panchayati Raj Diwas EveryyearApril24is being observedas National Panchayati Raj(PR)DiwasacrossIndia.

• Amendment)Act,1992thatcameintoforcewitheffectfrom24April1993.

• IthadledadefiningmomentinthehistoryofIndiawhichhelpedindecentralizationof

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politicalpowertothegrassrootslevel.• Inturnithadledtoinstitutionalizationof

Panchayati Raj (PR) through the village,Intermediate and District level Panchayats.

• Every year on this day Union Ministryof Panchayati Raj organises NationalConference to commemorate the National PanchayatiRajDiwas.

• Best performing Gram Panchayats areconferred with Rashtriya Gaurav GramSabha Purskar by the Union Ministry ofPanchayatiRaj.

• ThePanchayatiRajinIndiagenerallyreferstothesystemintroducedbyconstitutionalamendment in1992, although it is basedupon the traditional panchayat system of South Asia.

• The modern panchayati raj and its grampanchayatsarenottobeconfusedwiththeextra-constitutional khap panchayats (orcaste panchayats) found in northern India.

• While the panchayati raj system wasformalized in 1992, leading up to that change, a number of Indian committeesstudiedvariouswaysofimplementingmoredecentralized administration.

World Intellectual Property Day 2016 observed globally The WorldIntellectual Property Day 2016 was on26 April 2016

observed across the world with the themeDigitalCreativity:CultureReimagined.

• Onthisday,theWorldIntellectualPropertyOrganization (WIPO) works togetherwith various government agencies, non-government organizations, community groups and individuals to hold different events and activities to promote WorldIntellectual Property Day.

• Thedayiscelebratedtospreadawarenessabout the role that intellectual propertyrights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright) play in encouraging innovation and creativity.

• This year theme explores the future ofculture in the digital age: how we createit,howweaccess it,howwefinance it.Abalancedandflexible intellectualpropertysystemhelpsensurethatthoseworkinginthe creative sector and artists themselves areproperlypaidfortheirwork,sotheycankeep creating.

• InOctober1999,theGeneralAssemblyoftheWorldIntellectualPropertyOrganization(WIPO) approved the idea of declaringa particular day as a World IntellectualProperty Day.

• In 2000, World Intellectual PropertyOrganization(WIPO)designated26Aprilasan annualWorld Intellectual Property (IP)DaytoaddresstheperceivedgapbetweenIntellectual Property as a business/legalconcept and its relevance to people’s lives.

• April 26 was specifically chosen as theConvention Establishing the WorldIntellectual Property Organization, firstentered into force in 1970 on this date.

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PM Modi launched Gram Uday Se Bharat UdayAbhiyan on Dr. Ambedkar‘s birth anniversary

PM Narendra Modi on 14April 2016launched ‚Gram Uday Se Bharat

UdayAbhiyan‘atMhow,MadhyaPradesh.TheAbhiyan(campaign)waslaunchedonthe125thbirth anniversary of BabasahebAmbedkar athisbirthplacetostrengthenPanchayatiRajinvillages and ensure social harmony in villages.

The campaign also seeks to promote ruraldevelopment and foster farmers’ welfare andlivelihoods to poor. The 11-day campaign (from 14 April to 24April2016)willfocusongeneratingnationwideefforts on promoting the aim of the programme. The campaign will be run jointly by theMinistriesofRuralDevelopment,Agriculture,Social Justice, Labour and Information andBroadcastingalongwiththeStates.

• It will be conducted across the country,beginningwiththeBirthAnniversaryofDr.BRAmbedkaron14April2016,culminatingin “National Panchayati Raj Day” on 24April 2016.

• The aim of this campaign is to make

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nationwideeffortstostrengthenPanchayatiRaj and through it, boost social harmonyin the villages, promote rural development andfosterfarmers’welfare&livelihoodsofthe poor.

• PrimeMinisterwilladdressallGramSabhason24April 2016and the addresswill betelecast and aired to all villages across the country, and villagerswill gather togetherto hear it.

• During the campaign, various Panchayatlevelandnationallevelprogrammeswillbeheld across the country.

(1)SocialHarmonyProgramme:14to16April 2016

I. On the occasion of the 125th BirthAnniversary of Dr. BR Ambedkar, in allGramPanchayats,peoplewillpayhomagetoDr.Ambedkarandvillagerswillresolvetostrengthen social harmony in the village.

II.Dr.Ambedkar‘s life and his views aboutNational unity will be discussed, andliterature regarding Dr.Ambedkar will bedistributed.

III. On this day, information about theschemesrunbythegovernmenttopromotesocialequitywillbegiven.Exhibitionswillalsobeorganized.

(2) GramKisanSabhafrom17to20April2016

MeetingoffarmerswillbeorganizedineveryGram Panchayat. Information regarding schemes in the agriculture sector will begiven in the farmers’ meetings. Suggestions toimproveagriculturewillbeinvitedfrom

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farmers.

(3)GramSabhaorVillageAssemblyfrom21to24April2016

To celebrate the National Panchayati RajDay, Gram Sabhas will be held in eachGramPanchayatonanydaybetweenthesefour days.

(4)As preparatory activities, the followingwouldbeundertaken:

I.PrabhatPheriII. Clean Drinking Water and Sanitation

CampaignIII. Cultural ProgrammesIV. Sports competitions

Jharkhand Government launched Bhimrao Ambedkar Awas Yojana for widows Jharkhand Chief Minister RaghubarDason

14April2016launchedtheBhimraoAmbedkarAwasYojanaforwidows. Itsobjectiveoftheschemeistocreateequalityand harmony in society, ensuring all round development.

• Theprogrammeiswithabudgetallocationof 80 crore rupees and a target of 11000units(houses)forwidowswassetin2016-17financialyear.

• An amount of 75000 rupees would begrantedtobuildahouseindistrictsinhillyterrains and 70000 rupees in plains and the amount would be distributed amongthe beneficiaries in three installments intheirbankaccounts.

• Thewidowswouldalsogetpension. Das said the Commission for Schedule

Castewouldbesetupsoon.Ambedkarhaddrafted the Constitution and its specialty is that even a common man could hold the highest post as it inspires to work risingabove class, caste and creed, he said,adding its objective is to create equalityand harmony in society, ensuring all round development.

Das appealed to the people to ensure cleanliness and asked parents to send their children to schools

The Union Government in the third week of April 2016 has merged Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA),

launchedbytheUPAgovernment,withthe Khelo India programme for development of sports. Twoothersportprojects,UrbanSportsInfrastructure Scheme (USIS) and National Sports Talent Search Scheme (NSTSS),launched by the Congress-led UPA regimehavealsobeenabsorbedunderKheloIndia. KheloIndiaisbasedonGujarat‘smodelof Khel Mahakumbh, in which schools andcolleges from different parts of the country participate inabout27disciplines.Similarly,theSportsAuthorityofGujarat(SAG)organises

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summercampsunderthisprojecteveryyear.

• RajivGandhiKhelAbhiyanwasacentrallysponsoredschemelaunchedon21February2014inplaceoferstwhilePanchayatYuvaKridaaurKhelAbhiyan(PYKKA).

• PYKKAisaruralsportsinitiativeintroducedbytheMinistryofYouthAffairsandSports,Government of India to promote youth and social development through sports.

• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan aimed atconstructing sports complexes in eachblockandexclusivelybothforoutdoorandindoorsportsdisciplinefor5years.

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EVENT AND SuMMITNuclear Security Summit 2016 concluded in Washington DC

The2016NuclearSecurity Summit concluded on 1 April 2016 at the WalterE. Washington

ConventionCenter,Washington,D.C.,UnitedStates.

• Thefourtheditionoftheconference,whichcommencedon31March2016,succeededthe 2014 Nuclear Security Summit. Thesummit was organised by the NuclearEnergyInstitute(NEI).

• Thesummitwasattendedbyover50Worldleaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At the summit, the world leaderspledged to reduce nuclear stocks and protect the active inventories from falling into the hands of terrorists, which couldprovetobecatastrophic.

• However, leaders or representatives ofRussia, North Korea, Iran and Belarusremainedabsentfromthesummit.

• Manycountries,includingKazakhstanandPoland, agreed to to reduce their highly-enriched uranium stockpiles.

• Japan undertook to ship additionalseparated plutonium to the U.S.

• Canada pledged 42 million US dollars to

bolsternuclearsecurity.• TheU.S.disclosedthatitsowninventoryof

highly enriched uranium has dropped from 741metrictonsinthe1990sto586metrictonsasof2013.

• AccordingtotheU.S.,sincethelastsummitin 2014, 10 nations have removed ordisposedofabout450kilogramsofhighlyenriched uranium.

• Argentina,SwitzerlandandUzbekistanarenowfreeofhighlyenricheduranium,asisallofLatinAmericaandtheCaribbean.

AboutNuclearSecuritySummit• The Nuclear Security Summit is a world

summit, aimed at preventing nuclear terrorismaroundtheglobe.

• The genesis of theNSS lies in the speechgivenbytheUSpresidentBarrackObamain Prague, Czech Republic in 2009. Inthis speech, President Obama calledfor establishment of nuclear securityarchitecture to prevent the threat of nuclear terrorism.

• Thefirstsummitwasheld inWashington,D.C.,UnitedStatesfrom12Aprilto13April2010.

• The second summit was held in Seoul,South Korea, in 2012.

• Thethirdsummitwasheld inTheHague,Netherlands, from 24March to 25March2014.

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International Conference on Zero held in Paris International Conference on Zero was heldat UNESCOheadquarters in

Paris, France from4April – 5April 2016. Itwas hosted by the permanent delegation ofIndiatoUNESCOalongwithPierreandMarieCurie University.

• The inauguration of the Conference washeld at Pierre and Marie Curie University on 4April2016whileallothersessionswereheldatUNESCOheadquarters.

• TheInternationalConferencewillsharetherichandremarkablehistoryofmathematics,throughtheparticipationofsomebrilliantminds, resonating with the UNESCO‘smandate to advance, transfer and share knowledgeforthegreaterglobalgood.

• Union Human Resource Development(HRD) Minister Smriti Irani attended theconferencealongwithFieldsmedallistsM.Bhargava and L. Lafforgue.

• TheConferencewasheld on the followingtopics:

- Gems of Ramanujan and their LastingImpact on Mathematics

- Indian Mathematics: Negative Numbers,Zero,InfinityandBeyond

- Zero:InfinityandSetTheory- PaneldiscussionontheArabictraditionsin

Mathematics- Mathematics in Indian Music• The bronze statue of the great Indian

mathematicianandastronomerAryabhatawhoisthelivingsymbolofancientwisdomwasunveiledbytheUnionMinisterattheUNESCOheadquarters.

• UnionHRDMinisterSmriti Iraniattendedthe Leaders‘ Forum held at UNESCOHeadquarters Paris as a part of the 38thsessionoftheUNESCOGeneralConferenceon16-17November2015.

• Duringhervisit,theministerheldabilateralmeeting with Irina Bokov, the DirectorGeneralofUNESCOtodiscussthefullrangeofIndia‘scooperationwiththeorganization.

• As a follow up to the discussions, on theoccasion of the National Mathematics Day on 22December2015boththeleadersissuedJoint Statement to organize a Conference on‚Zero‘atUNESCOheadquartersinParisin 2016.

Heart of Asia conference begins in New Delhi

TheHeartofAsia(HoA) conference began in NewDelhi with theobjective ofbringing peace

andstabilitytoAfghanistan. Theconferencewasattendedbyofficialsofanumberofcountriesandislikelytodeliberate

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onahostofissueslikecombatingchallengeofextremismandterrorism.

• HoAprocesshavebeentodeviseasustained,incremental approach to implementation of theconfidencebuildingmeasures(CBM)inAfghanistan/ItwillalsoseektospeedupreconstructioninAfghanistanwithafocuson enhancing investment and connectivity to the country.

• Energy, infrastructure and investmentdeals to shore up economic growth ofAfghanistanmayfigureinthetalks.

• HoA conference is a part of the IstanbulProcessestablished2011whichprovidesaplatform to discuss an agenda of regional cooperationwithAfghanistanatitscentre.

• The14membercountriesofHoAengageinresult-oriented cooperation for a peaceful andstableAfghanistanand,byextension,asecureandprosperousregionasawhole.

• 14 participating countries: Russia,China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic,Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia,UAE, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Supportingcountries: Australia, Canada, Denmark,Egypt,Finland,France,Germany,Italy,Iraq,Japan,Norway,Poland,Spain,Sweden,UKand US. Supporting Organisations: UN,NATO,SAARC,SCO(ShanghaiCooperationOrganisation) and OIC (Organisation ofIslamic Cooperation).

13th India EU summit The 13th editionofIndia-EuropeanUnion Summit was held inBrussels, capital of Belgium.

• PrimeMinisterNarendraModirepresentedIndian side in the summit.

• While the European Union (EU) wasrepresented by President of theEuropeanCouncil, Donald Tusk and President ofthe European Commission, Jean-ClaudeJuncker. The 13th summit laid outconcrete priority actions for the strategic bilateral partnership in areas like tradeandinvestment,climate,energy,waterandmigrationinthenextfiveyears.

• Bothsidesendorsedtheagendatoconcretethe road-map for the EU-India StrategicPartnershipforthenextfiveyears.

• BothsidesagreedtofurtherthenegotiationsonearlyconclusionoftheBTIA.

• BothsidesadoptedaJointDeclarationonCounter-terrorism to step up cooperation to counter radicalisation and violent extremism.

• Itwillalsoallowjointlycounteringtheflowof sources of terrorist financing, ForeignTerroristFightersandarmssupply.

• The European Investment Bank (EIB)agreedtolendloanof450millionEurosforthe construction of the firstmetro line inLucknow.

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• Bothsidesreaffirmedtheircommitmenttoimplement the G20 Skills Strategy and also expressedtheirintentiontoorganiseahighlevel skills seminar.

• The Joint Declaration was adopted inthis regard to enhance cooperation on environment issues, including on the ‘Clean Ganga’ and ‘Clean India’ flagshipprogrammes.

• Bothsidesagreedtoextendthisagreementuntil2020toboostinnovationandresearchinIndiaandEurope.

• Bothsidesagreedtoestablishthisagendain order to enhance involvement of citizens’ in the strategic partnership.

• Both sides expressed their confidence insolvingthemarinecasecurrentlyunderwayin the framework of the United NationsConventionontheLawoftheSea(UNCLOS).

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Global Tiger population grew by 22% in a Century: WWF and GTF TheWorldWildlifeFund (WWF) andthe Global TigerForum (GTF) on10 April 2016

announced that after a century of constant decline, global wild tiger populations haveincreased.

• Accordingtothemostrecentdata,around3890tigersnowexistinthewild,whichisupby22percentfromanestimated3200in2010.

• This rise in the number of tigers can beattributed to increase in tiger populationin tiger survey countries, namely India, Russia,Nepal,andBhutanandenhancedprotection of the specie through use of latest technology.

• Further, the support of government ofdifferent countries, law enforcementagencies, and local communities to WWFin its advocacy of zero tolerance for tiger poaching across Asia also led to increase in tiger population.

• Governments of countries with tigerpopulations came together in 2010 in Russiatopledgethegoalofdoublingwild

tigernumbersby2022.• Although the target of doubling their

population is not achieved but to makesure that the goal is achieved at time, these countries have planned to meet again in April 2016 to report on their progress andcommittonextstepstohelptigerstorebound.

• The 3rd Asia Ministerial Conference onTiger Conservation takes off on 12 April2016 in New Delhi. The conference willsee participation of more than 700 tiger experts, scientists,managers, donors andother stakeholders from all Tiger RangeCountries.Duringtheconferencetheywilldiscuss issues related to tiger conservation and ant poaching strategies during three-day event

• India:2226• Russia:433• Indonesia:371• Malaysia:250• Nepal:198• Thailand:189• Bangladesh:106• Bhutan:103• Besides, tiger population is also found in

countries like Myanmar, China and Laos PDR.

• Although,thisincreaseintigerpopulationis welcome news for conservationists andwildlife lovers but the question arises onhowtomanagethepaceoftheirgrowth.

• Thequestionispertinentbecauseinrecentpastwehaveseendeathofatleast27tigers

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inIndiaitselfofwhich9alonewererecordedinMadhyaPradesh.Ontheotherhand,11instanceswererecordedinwhichtigerboneandskinwasseizedfrompoachers.

• In first 10 days of April 2016, at leastthree tiger deaths were recorded acrossChandrapur (Maharashtra), Ranthambore

(Rajasthan) andBandhavgarh (Madhya Pradesh).

BlackBerry Launches BBM Money Transfer Service in India BlackBerry has

nowlaunchedBBMMoney,apaymentsolution,in partnership with Digitsecure, a paymentsplatforms to cater to the BBM users in India. HotRemit is a product of Digitsecure, whichdoes thework of amobilewallet, which hasbeenusedtocreatetheBBMMoneyservice.

• BlackBerry Messenger, also known asBBM, is a proprietary Internet-basedinstant messenger and videotelephony application included on BlackBerry devices that allows messaging and voice callsbetweenBlackBerry, iOS,WindowsPhoneand Android users.

• It is developed by BlackBerry Limited(formerly known as Research In MotionLimited (RIM)) and was first released inAugust2005.

• BBM is after new customers becausethe customers they currently have are of

old ages when BBMwas a big name butnowadayssinceandroidandIOShastakenover themarketBBMisfinding ithardtostay in the competition.

• This payment service has came afterfacebook launchedmoney transfer facilityvia its messenger app.

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Union Government

Union Govern-ment released Indian Intellectual Property Panorama Union Government on 31 March 2016

released the Indian Intellectual Property (IP) PanoramainNewDelhi.Itisasinglewindowinterface for information on Intellectual Property and guidance on leveraging it for competitive advantage.

• TheIndianIPPanoramacanbeaccessedonhttp://ict-ipr.in/index.php/ip-panorama

• It seeks to increase awareness and buildsensitivity towards Intellectual Property,among stakeholders in the SME sector,academia and researchers.

• ThefollowingfivemodulesoftheIndianIPPanoramawerereleased:

• ImportanceofIPforSMEs,• Trademark,• Industrialdesign,• InventionandPatentand• PatentInformation• The Indian IP Panorama was developed

undertheaegisofDepartmentofElectronicsand Information Technology (DeitY) andDepartment of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under Union Government

by Centre for Development of AdvancedComputing (C-DAC), in close coordination withtheIndianIPoffice.

• It isacustomizedversionof IPPanoramaMultimediatoolkitwhichwasdevelopedbyWorld Intellectual Property Organization,Korean Intellectual Property Office andKorea Invention Promotion Association.

• The toolkitwasadapted to cater toSMEsandstart-ups,especiallyintheICTEsectorof India, based on an agreement signedbetweenWIPOandDeitY.

• TheIndianIPPanoramaisthusacustomizedversionofWIPO’soriginalproductandisinaccordancewithIndianIPlaws,standards,challenges and needs of the Indian ICTEsector.

• India is a member of WIPO and party toseveraltreatiesadministeredbyWIPO.

• Recognizing that the strategic use ofintellectual property could contributesignificantly to the national developmentobjectives of India, DIPP entered into anMoUwithWIPOon13November2009.

• The Indian IP office has been recognisedas an International Searching Authority and International Preliminary ExaminingAuthority under the Patent Cooperation Treatyasinforcefrom15October2013.

• It may be recalled that a leading Indianconsumer electronics company,MicromaxInformatics Limited was recognized withthe1.25millionthinternationaltrademarkunder WIPO’s Madrid System for the

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InternationalRegistrationofMarks.• India acceded to Madrid Protocol for the

InternationalRegistrationofMarksatWIPOon8July2013.

• The Madrid System for the InternationalRegistration of Marks (Madrid system)offers trademark owners a cost effective,user friendly and streamlined means of protecting and managing their trademark portfolio internationally.

Russia approves OVL’s deal to acquire 15% stake in Vankor oilfield The Governmentof Russia 24March 2016 approved a deal for ONGC Videsh

Ltd(OVL)toacquire15percentstakeinVankoroilfieldfromRosneft.

• Thedealisworth1.3billionUSdollars.ItwassignedbetweentheOVLandRosneftinSeptember2015.

• Thisdealisinadditiontoanotherdealthatwas signed between the OVL and threeother oil companies in March 2016.

• Asperthedeal,OVL’sstakeinVankorwillraiseto26percentfrom15percent,whilethe other three companies could together pick up 23.9 per cent. Consequently,Rosneftwill retaintheremaining50.1percent.

• Both these deals will help India secure

access to lucrative Russia‘s oil market,whileRosneftwillgainaccesstotheIndianmarket.

• It is located in Russia’s east Siberia andconsistsof500mntonnesofoiland182bncubicmetersofgas.

• It started commercial production in 2009and, at present, produces 440000barrelsof oil per day.

• Thefield,whichwasdiscoveredin1988,isthelargestfieldinRussiaandkeyproviderofvolumestotheEastSiberiaPacificOcean(ESPO) Pipeline that fulfills the energyneeds of China.

France announced to end Operation Sangaris across Central African Republic in 2016

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves LeDrian on30 March 2016

announcedthatFrancewillenditsOperationSangaris in the Central African Republic in2016.

• The decision was taken in view of theachievementoftheobjectiveofitsmilitaryintervention in the country. The missionwaslaunchedwiththeobjectiveofrestoringsecurity in the country after three years of communal violence.

• The announcement came alongsidethe swearing-in ceremony of Faustin-

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ArchangeTouadera as the first electedPresident of the nation in three years.

• Thepulloutwillbeinparallelwiththebuild-up of the 12000-strong UN force, MINUSCA, andtheEuropeanUnion‘strainingmission(EUTMRCA).Atpresentithasbeenreducedfrom2500atitspeakinDecember2013to900.Around300FrenchtroopswillremaininCAR,whowillrejoinMINUSCAandtakepartinEUTMRCA.

• The Operation was launched by FranceinDecember 2013 to support the AfricanUnion-led International Support Mission to theCAR (MISCA).TheMISCAwas formedwiththeadoptionofResolution2127bytheUnited Nation Security Council (UNSC).

• The resolution was adopted against thebackgroundofkillingofthousandsduringthe religious and ethnic violence betweenChristians and Muslims in the country thattookplaceinMarch2013plungingthecountryintoacivilwar.

• CAR plunged into the civil war in March2013, when Muslim Seleka rebels oustedPresident Francois Bozize and installed their leader Michel Djotodia in power for10 months. Later in 2014, a transitionalgovernment was brought in underinternational pressure.

Union Gover-nment released India Rankings 2016 under National Institutional Ranking Framework

The Union Minister for Human ResourceDevelopment Smriti Zubin Irani on 4 April2016releasedtheIndiaRankings2016underNational Institutional Ranking Framework(NIRF)inNewDelhi. The India Rankings 2016 is the first of itskind since the launch of NIRF in September2015. It assessed the performance of highereducational institutions in India and ranked them accordingly. Union Government launched National Institutional Ranking Framework along withitsWebportal HighlightsofIndiaRankings2016 Top5UniversitiesinIndia1) Indian Institute of Science Bangalore2)InstituteofChemicalTechnology,Mumbai3)JawaharlalNehruUniversity,NewDelhi4)UniversityofHyderabad,Hyderabad5)TezpurUniversity,Tezpur Top5EngineeringInstitutionsinIndia1)IndianInstituteofTechnologyMadras2) IndianInstituteofTechnologyBombay

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3)IndianInstituteofTechnologyKharagpur4)IndianInstituteofTechnologyDelhi5)IndianInstituteofTechnologyKanpur Top5ManagementInstitutionsinIndia1) Indian Institute of Management Bangalore2)IndianInstituteofManagementAhmedabad3)IndianInstituteofManagementCalcutta4)IndianInstituteofManagementLucknow5)IndianInstituteofManagementUdaipur Top5PharmacyInstitutionsinIndia1) Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences,

Manipal2) University Institute of Pharmaceutical

Sciences, Chandigarh3)JamiaHamdard,NewDelhi4)PoonaCollegeofPharmacy,Pune5)Institute of Pharmacy, Nirma University,

Ahmedabad

Madhukar Gupta committee constituted to suggest ways to strengthen security along Indo-Pak border The UnionGovernment on 5 April 2016

constituted a high-level committee to suggest waystostrengthentheborderprotectionalongtheborderwithPakistan. • Itwill also address the issue of gaps and

vulnerabilityinborderfencingalongIndo-Pakistanborder.

• The committee will be headed by former

HomeSecretaryMadhukarGuptaandwillsubmititsreportinthreemonths.

• Themandateof thecommittee is tostudyall types of gaps in fencing and all other vulnerabilities in the International Borderon Indo-Pakistan Border.

• Itwillsuggestcomprehensiveapproachtofixthegapsinfencingandothervulnerabilitiesoninterimandpermanentbasis.

• Thegovernment‘smovecomesthreemonthsafterterroristsbelongingtoPakistan-basedterror group Jaish-e-Mohammed had breached the Indo-Pak border in PunjabandattackedthePathankotairbasekillingseven security personnel.

• It will suggest (i) ways to strengthen thesecurity along the India-Pakistan Border and (ii) address the issue of gaps and vulnerabilityinborderfencing.

Iceland PM Gunnlaugsson resigned after Panama papers leak revelations Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson resigned on

5 April 2016. He resigned after the leakedPanamaPapersexposedoffshorefinanceandtaxevasionsbyhim. TheleakswerefromPanama-basedlawfirmMossackFonseca,theworld’sfourthbiggestoffshorelawfirm.

• TheleaksshowedGunnlaugssonownedan

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offshorecompanywithhiswifebuthadnotdeclareditwhenheenteredparliament.

• He is accused of concealing millions ofdollars‘worthoffamilyassets.Hesaidthathesoldhisshares tohiswife,anddeniesanywrongdoing.

• He is one of dozens of high-profile globalfiguresmentionedinthe11.5millionleakedfinancialandlegalrecords,whichwerefirstpublishedon3April2016.

• He resigned after thousands of protestorsprotested against him outside the parliament building in the capital Reykjavik. Eventheopposition tabledaconfidencemotionagainst him.

• Earlier, the Prime Minister had askedPresident Olafur Ragnar Grimsson todissolve parliament and call for an early election.

UNESCO adopted two new recomme-ndations on Education and Training UNESCO’sGeneral Conference President Stanley

Mutumba Simataa and UNESCO’s Director-General IrinaBokovaon4April2016signedtwonewrecommendationsonEducationandTraining that reflect new global trends andsupport the Education 2030 Framework forActionatUNESCOHeadquartersinParis. The two recommendations are

Recommendation on Adult Learning andEducation (ALE) and the RecommendationconcerningTechnicalandVocationalEducationandTraining(TVET).

SalientFeaturesofthetwoRecommendations

• The revision of these key internationalinstruments responds to the request ofMemberStatestoadaptthemtoreflectneweducational, social, economic, cultural and political trends.

• TheRecommendationswereenthusiasticallyadopted by Member States at the 38thsession of the General Conference held in Paris,inNovember2015.

• They are the most up-to-date andcomprehensive tools for decision-makers, practitioners, social partners, civil society and other stakeholders in these twocomplementary areas.

• They will be used around the world toguidethetransformationandexpansionofequitable learning opportunities for youthand adults.

• Recommendation on Adult Learning andEducation (ALE) gives momentum tostrengthening ALE as it lays out guidingprinciples and a comprehensive, inter-sectoral approach to its promotion and developmentworldwide.

• The Recommendation concerning TVETreflectsnewtrendsinTVETas itprovidesan integrated and holistic approach to education and training that ensures the promotionofabroadspectrumofknowledge,skillsandcompetenciesforworkandlife.

• The simultaneous adoption of both

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instrumentsisareflectionofthehighpriorityplacedbythe internationalcommunityonthe development of lifelong learning.

• The instruments stress the importanceof opportunities for lifelong learning, adult learning and education, and skills development for inclusive economic growth,employmentanddecentwork,thealleviation of poverty, social well-being,gender equality and sustainable learningsocieties.

• The adoption of the instruments istimely as they are valuable resources tosupport Member States’ policy reformsas implementation of theEducation 2030Framework forActionandthewider2030Agenda for Sustainable Development getunderway.

Forbes released Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen 2016 list

Forbeson6April2016releasedAsia’s50PowerBusinesswomen 2016 list. The list featureseightIndianwomenbusinessleaders.

• Reliance Industries Director Nita Ambaniand State Bank of India Chairman Arundhati BhattacharyahavebeenrankedtoptwoinForbes’Asia50PowerBusinesswomen2016list.China’s ZhuChongyun,Cofounder&Chairman of Shenzhen Marisfrolg Fashion, wasranked50thonthelist.

• The list also includes more than 27newcomers.

• Thelistincludesfollowingwomenbusinessleaders from India

• NitaAmbani,Director,RelianceIndustries

• ArundhatiBhattacharya,Chairman,Bankof India

• AmbigaDhiraj,CEO,MuSigma• Dipali Goenka, CEO and Joint Managing

Director,WelspunIndiaLtd• VinitaGupta,CEO,LupinLtd• ChandaKochhar,MDandCEO,ICICIBank• Vandana Luthra, Founder, VLCC Health

Care Ltd• Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and

Managing Director, Biocon Ltd.• Top10PowerBusinesswomen2016• 1-NitaAmbani(India)• 2-ArundhatiBhattacharya(India)• 3-CaoThiNgocDung(Vietnam)• 4-SomruedeeChaimongkol(Thailand)• 5-SabrinaSihMingChao(HongKong)• 6-SolinaChauHoiShuen(HongKong)• 7-EvaYi-HwaChen(Japan)• 8-SoniaCheng(HongKong)• 9-ChewGekKhim(Singapore)• 10-YuwadeeChirathivat(Thailand)

Saudi Arabia, Egypt to build bridge across Red Sea

Saudi Arabia and Egypt on 8 April 2016agreed to build a bridge over the Red Sea.The announced bridge will connect the twocountries.

• Theplannedbridgewouldhelpinboostingcommercebetweenthetwoalliedcountries.It will also connect the two continents,Africa and Asia, and result in increasing trade between the two continents tounprecedented levels.

• The announcement was made by Saudi

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Arabia‘s King Salman bin Abdulaziz aftermeeting Egyptian President Abdul-Fattahal-Sisi at the President’s Ittahidiya Palace. KingSalman,80-year-oldmonarch,isonafive-daylongvisittoEgypt.

• Egyptian President Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi,who earlier presented the King with theceremonial Nile Collar, Egypt’s highesthonour, said the bridge would be namedafter the Saudi king as King Salman binAbdelAzizBridge.

• ARedSeabridgelinkingthetwocountrieshas been proposed several times before,buthasfailedtobecomeareality.Theideaof a causeway (bridge) between the twocountrieshadbeenfloatedsincethe1980sbutinthepastitnevercrosseditsplanningstage.

• Previous plans for the bridge‘s routesuggested a 32-kilometre span across theTiran Strait, at the entrance of the RedSeaGulfofAqaba,whichwouldallowforacommutebetweenthetwocountriesinjust20 minutes.

400-year-old Shakespeare’s ‘First Folio’ found in Scotland

A copy of the first edition ofthe original ‘First Folio’ authored by William

Shakespeare was found at the MountStuart House on the Isle of Bute, off the

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Shakespeare’s

westerncoastofScotland.Theeditionwasfirst published in 1623, seven years afterShakespeare death.

• The discovery comes ahead of the 400thdeath anniversary of the playwright.Shakespearediedon23April1616.

• Withthis, thenumberofknownsurvivingcopiesoftheFirstFoliointheworldto234.Mostothersareinlibrariesandaccessibleonly to scholars.

• It is one of the world’smost sought-afterbooks,whichcontains36of theBard,18of which would otherwise not have beenrecorded.

• The goatskin-bound book contains playslikeMacbeth,TwelfthNight,JuliusCaesar,As You Like It and The Tempest amongothers.

• TheFirstFolio isworthanestimated2to2.5 million pounds (about 18.8 crore to23.5crorerupees)butitisnotupforsale.ItwillbeonpublicdisplayatMountStuartuntilOctober2016.

• ThefirstpageoftheFolioisaninscriptionfroman18thcenturyeditorofShakespearecalled Isaac Reed, who has described theprocess thathowheacquired thebook in1786.TheFolioalso includesannotationsbyReedthatsuggestheuseditasaworkingdocument.

Fire accident at Puttingal temple in Kerala: At least 110 people died

At least 110 people were charred todeathinafireaccidentatPuttingalDevitempleon 10 April 2016 during a festival at Paravur

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in Kollam district of Kerala. More than 380injuredwereadmittedtovarioushospitals.

• Thetragedystruckaround3.30amduringdisplayoffireworksatthetemplecomplex,which is around 70 kms from the statecapitalThiruvananthapuram.Thefirehasnowbeenbroughtundercontrol.

• Chief Minister OommenChandy whorushed to the disaster spot has asked the chief secretary to write to the ElectionCommissionforexemptingthetreatmenttotheinjuredfromthepurviewoftheElectionCode of Conduct.

• The state’s Home Minister RameshChennithalahasorderedadetailedinquiryinto the fireworks disaster. The districtadministration has set up a control room numberwithnumber0474-251-2344.

• Besides, Kerala government ordered ajudicial inquiry by a retired High CourtJudgealongwithaninvestigationbyCrimeBranch of the State Police in the Puttingal Devitemplefiretragedy.Police

• Haveregisteredacaseforallegedlystoringfirecrackerstentimesmorethanwhatwaspermitted. While, the Union Governmentsaid that the PetroleumExplosives SafetyOrganization(PESO)wassenttothetempletoprobetheuseandstorageoffirecrackersthere.

• It will be assisted by Department ofIndustrialPolicyandPromotiontoestablishfactswiththehelpofdistrictauthorities.

U.N. to observe Ambedkar’s birth anniversary.

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The birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar,the architect of the Indian Constitution and Dalit rightsactivist,wouldbeobservedattheUnitedNations for the first timewithfocusoncombatinginequalitiestoachieveSustainableDevelopmentGoals(SDGs).

• The Permanent Mission of India to theU.N. inassociationwith theKalpanaSarojFoundation and Foundation for Human Horizonwillcommemoratethe125thbirthanniversaryoftheDaliticononApril13atthe U.N. headquarters here, a day beforehisbirthday.

• Ontheoccasion,apaneldiscussionwillbeorganised on ’Combating inequalities forthe achievement of SDGs.

• A note circulated by the Indian missionhas said that as India celebrates the125th birth anniversary of the “nationalicon,” Babasaheb remains an inspirationfor millions of Indians and proponents of equalityandsocialjusticeacrosstheglobe.

• Ambedkar was born on April 14, 1891.He died on December 6, 1956 and wasposthumously conferred with the BharatRatna, India’s highest civilian award, in1990.

A State in Denial authored by BG Verghese

A State in Denial - Pakistan‘s Misguided and Dangerous Crusade authored by veteranjournalist BG Verghese was re-released on28 March 2016. It was re-released during adiscussionorganisedbytheIndiaInternationalCentre,NewDelhi.

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• The book explores a subject of immenseglobal significance of Pakistan and itsrelations with remaining World includingIndia.

• Theauthorgiveabriskoverviewoftheeventsthat came to define post-IndependencePakistan include the battle for Kashmir;theintegrationofKaratandHyderabadintoIndia;thecreationofBangladesh.

• He also draws a rare archival material,approaches subjects that have long beencontentious like the Indus water treaty,Siachen and the dangerous nuclear forays of AQ Khan.

• The author while analyzing Pakistan’spresent-day plunge into internal dissent, self-made jihadi extremism, provincialrivalry and military rule, he offers a gentle wayoutofthenation’sself-madedilemmasby encouraging Pakistan to becomemorethan the Indian other, and urging it to move away from fundamentalism and embracethesyncretic,Sufi-infusedIslam.

• BG Verghese who died on 30 December2014, in his last book differs fromothersonthesubjectwithitsultimatelyoptimisticoutlook and some radical out-of the-boxsolutions on how the two countries candismantleandburydeepoversixdecadesof acrimony.

Royal Mail of British issued set of stamps to mark 400th death anniversary of William Shakespeare

RoyalMailofBritishon12April2016honouredplaywright William Shakespeare by issuinga set of special postage stamps to mark the 400th anniversary of his death. Theywill besoldat8000postofficesacrossBritain.

• Itpublishedtenfirstclassstampsfeaturingfamous phrases from the playwright’srepertoiretomarktheimpactofhiswritingon the present day.

• The stamps are the latest of manycommemoration items and events to remember Shakespeare who was bornin 1564 to become an actor, poet andplaywright as well as a businessman.Shakespeareisbelievedtohavediedonhisbirthday23April1616 inStratford-upon-Avon.

• Famous lines from the plays of Macbeth,Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, JuliusCaesar, Much Ado About Nothing andHamletareincludedinthenewcollection,while a special postmark saying WilliamShakespeare 1564-1616 will appear onletters as part of the commemoration this week.

• Hisplaysarecontinuallyperformedandre-

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interpreted throughout theworld,makinghimarguablythemostinfluentialwriterofall time.

• He introduced around 1700 words andphrases into the English language,includingassassinationandall‘swell thatendswell.

Union Cabinet approved to adopt South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network Union Cabinetchaired by thePrime Minister

Narendra Modi on 13 April 2016 approvedIndia for adopting the Statute of the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN)and India.

It also approved India to become a formalmember of SAWEN to strengthen ties withthe member countries in controlling thetrans-boundary wildlife crime throughcommunication, coordination, collaboration,capacitybuildingandcooperationintheregion.

• Totakeinitiativesforbringingharmonizationandstandardizationinlawsandpoliciesofmembercountriesconcerningconservationoffaunaandflora;

• To document the trend of poaching andillegal trade, and related threats to the natural biodiversity within and across

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countriesintheregion;• To strengthen institutional responses

to combat wildlife crime by promotingresearch and information sharing, training and capacity building, technical support,sharingexperiencesandoutreach;and

• Toencouragemembercountriestoprepareand implement their National Action Plans incurbingwildlifecrimeandtocollaboratetowardseffectiveimplementation.

The South Asia region is very vulnerableto illegal trafficandwildlifecrimesdue topresenceofpreciousbiodiversityandlargemarketsaswellastrafficroutesforwildlifeproductsinthesouthEastAsianregion.

The collaboration in harmonizing as wellas enforcing the wildlife protection in theregion is considered very important for effective conservation of such precious biodiversity.

On Boundary Issue 19th Round of Talks held between India and China in Beijing

On20April2016the 19th Roundof talks betweenIndia and China

on theBoundary Issuewasheld inBeijing .India and China on the Boundary Question wasrepresentedby

National Security Adviser of India, AjitDovalandStateCouncillorofChina,Mr.YangJiechi.

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• They agreed to abide for peacefulnegotiations to settle the problematicborder issue and reach a fair, reasonableandmutuallyacceptablesolution.

• Both the leaders had discussion on the3488km-longLineofActualControl(LAC).It remains undemarcated resulting in tensionsbetweenthetwosides.

• Doval and Yang, also discussed allcontentious bilateral, regional andinternational matters of mutual concern.

• Bothsidesagreedon the fact thatChina-Indiarelationshavebroadprospects.

• On 7 September 1993 Agreement on theMaintenance of Peace and Tranquillityalong the Line of Actual Control in the India-ChinaBorderAreaswassigned.

• On 29 November 1996, Agreement onConfidence Building Measures in theMilitary Field along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas wassigned.

• On 23 June 2003, Declaration onPrinciplesforRelationsandComprehensiveCooperationbetweenIndiaandChinawassigned.

• On 23 October 2013, Border DefenceCooperationAgreementwassigned.

Pakistan and China signed agreement for launching a satellite to monitor China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

On20April2016PakistanandChinasignedanagreement for the launch of a special satellite tomonitor the development of the 46 billionUS dollarChina-PakistanEconomicCorridorprojects.

• PakistanMinisterforPlanning,Developmentand Reform, Ahsan Iqbal on behalf ofPakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission and China GreatWall Industry Cooperation President YinLimpingsignedtheagreementinIslamabad,Pakistan.

• Bothagreedforthedevelopmentandlaunchof the Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite(PRSS-1)SystemandinthisregardlaunchasatelliteinJune2018.

• Spacetechnologyisfundamental insocio-economic development, infrastructure upgradation,agricultureproduction,urbanplanninginnewera.

• it will help Pakistan in national securityarenabystrengtheningbordersecurityandsurveillance apparatus.

• TheCPECisa46billionUSdollarprojectlaunchedwiththehelpofChinatoconnectwesternChina tosouthernPakistansport

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city of Gawadar. It would give access toBeijingintotheArabianSea.

Time Magazine released list of 100 most influential people in the world Time Magazineon 21 April 2016 released a list of 100 Most

InfluentialPeopleintheWorld.

• RBI Governor RaghuramRajan, tennisplayer Sania Mirza, actress Priyanka Chopra, Google CEO SundarPichai andfounders of Flipkart, Binny Bansal have beennamedbyTimemagazineinitslist.

• The TIME 100 is not a ranking, but acombinationofpublicfiguresfromvariousdifferent fields. The list includes thepublicfigureswhohavehadsomekindofsignificantimpactontheworld.

• Someofthepeopleinthislistareasfollows:• AzizAnsari• CaitlynJenner• SunitaNarain• BinnyBansalandSachinBansal• PopeFrancis• SundarPichai• PriscillaChanandMarkZuckerberg• KimJong-un• LoriJ.Robinson• RaghuramRajan• HillaryClinton

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• JustinTrudeau• BarackObama• DonaldTrump• NickiMinaj• SaniaMirza• Adele• LeonardoDiCaprio

Street in Switzerland named after Roger Federer

Roger Federer has had a street named afterhiminSwitzerlandwhichleadstothenationalcentreofSwisstennisinBiel,wherethecurrentworldNo3trainedasjunior.

• The17-timeMajorwinnerwashumbledbythegesture,appearingbefore1500peopletoopen‚AlleeRogerFederer‘.

• The 34-year-old Federer is gearing up forthesecondMajorof2015,theFrenchOpen,whichrunsfromMay22-June6atRolandGarros.

• Aside from Novak Djokovic and AndyMurray,FedererwillbewaryofaresurgentRafaelNadalwhoflourishesonclaycourts.

• The Spaniard, a nine-time French Openwinner, signalled a return to form bywinningtheMonteCarloMasters,hisfirstMasterstitleinalmosttwoyears.

• Federerreachedthequarter-finalsinMonteCarloand ispleasedwith the state ofhisgame after knee surgery earlier this year.

• Healsobanishedtalkthatbeingsidelinedfortwomonthsmadehimconsiderretirement.

Wrestler Sandeep Tomar qualifies for Rio2016

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South Korea Unveils Zika-Proof Olympic Uniforms South Korea‘s Olympiccommittee on 27th April 2016 unveiled Zika-proof uniforms

completewithmosquitorepellent

• Mosquito-repellent chemicals were addedtotheoutfits,whichallincludelongpants,long-sleevedshirtsandjackets.

• The decision to use mosquito repellentuniform during the Rio games was takenbecauseofthespreadoftheZikavirus.

• Thevirusisspreadbydaytime-activeAedesmosquitoes.

• EarlierinApril2016,representativesoftheSouthKoreanOlympicorganisationandthegovernment visitedRio to inspect venues,athletes‘ facilities and local hospitals. Brazilhasreportedabout1.5millionZikainfectionsoutofaworldwidetotalofabout2 million.

• The disease has been declared aglobal emergency by the World HealthOrganisation.

• Itcausessevereheadachewhichmightleadto death.

• Fever,Bodypainetc.arecommontraits.

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