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INDIAN AFFAIRS
Himachal High Court issued notice to Union and State on declaring Monkeys as Vermin
High Court of Himachal Pradesh issued notices on the matter of declaring monkey as vermin for the following 6 months to the Union and state government.
- The Court directed to file a reply within six weeks to all the concerned departments including Union of India, government of Himachal Pradesh and Member Secretary of National Board of Wildlife.
- The petitioner Rajeshwar Singh Negi also appealed that by declaring monkeys a vermin species, the government has made a provision for killing of monkeys and also the main purpose of issuing the notification was that monkeys pose a threat to people and damage their crops the petitioner extended.
- The notification has been directed to only for Shimla town which has less agricultural area than other parts of the state.
Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train to travel under the sea near Thane creek
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad high speed rail corridor will have a 21 km long tunnel out of the total stretch of 508 km that will go under the sea.
- Passengers will experience the thrill of riding under the sea while travelling in the first bullet train of the country, the trains to run at a top speed of 350 kmph.
- Japan has granted a loan amounting to 81 % of the estimated cost of the Rs 98,805 crore high speed rail project.
- Earlier a joint committee has been formed under the vice-chairman of NITI Aayog for timely completion of the project.
Rajnath Singh chairs High Level Committee meeting for Central assistance to Karnataka, Puducherry and Arunachal Pradesh affected by drought and floods
Union Home Minister chairs High Level Committee meeting for Central assistance to Karnataka, Puducherry and Arunachal Pradesh affected by drought and floods.
- The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a meeting attended by various portfolio of Ministers of the High Level Committee (HLC) has granted a Central Assistance of Rs 842.7 crore to Karnataka, Puducherry and Arunachal Pradesh affected by drought and floods.
- The proposals from the Union government is based on the report of the Central Team which visited Karnataka, affected by drought, and Puducherry and Arunachal Pradesh affected by floods.
- The committee approved the assistance Karnataka will get the tune of Rs 723.23crore while Rs 35.14 crore for Puducherry and Rs 84.33 crore for Arunachal Pradesh.
- The center’s assistance of Rs 84.33 crore to Arunachal Pradesh includes Rs.18.00 crore under National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP).
Simhastha Kumbh mela 2016 begins in Ujjain
The Simhastha Kumbh Mela, largest congregation of Hindus began in Ujjain early with the arrival of JunaAkhara for the royal bath on the banks of Kshipra River to take a holy dip.
- A large number of people across the country have converged in the holy city for the month long festival held every 12 years at Ujjain, which is also the abode of Lord Mahakaleshwar, one of the 12 Jyotirlings in the country.
- Ministry of Culture organized a National Cultural Festival (NCF) at Ujjain and Madhya Pradesh as part of the mega event.
Functions being Held:
- Madhya Pradesh CM, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has assured that the Kumbh will be a “Green Simhastha”
- A three-day international philosophic convention will be held during the Kumbh Mela.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the concluding function of the convention on May 14.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Anti Slavery Crusader Harriet Tubman to be first African-American on US Dollar
US Paper Currency will bear the prestigious Anti-Slavery crusader Harriet Tubman who is African-American and the first woman in History. She replaces former President Andrew Jackson on the $20 currency
- Tubman who born in 1820 and helped hundreds of slaves and take the centre spot on the currency whereas Jackson, a slave owner would print to the back explained by US Treasury Department.
Six Indians stamped their names in TIME’s 100 influential People List
- RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan
- Hindi Actress Priyanka Chopra
- Tennis Player Sania Mirza
- Environmentalist Sunita Narain
- Flipkart Founders Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal
- Indian born Chief Executive Officer of Google Sundar Pichai
TCS features in UK’s Times Top 50 employers for women list
Mumbai based India’s largest IT Company TCS has been recognized as one of the UK’s leading employers for women in a list published by The Times.
Diversity & Inclusion corporate function:
- Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) had a formal Diversity & Inclusion corporate function since 2010 designed to provide strategic guidance and support for diversity Programmes across the globe.
- The IT major employs over 1, 00,000 women globally, a third of its total workforce.
- The Times emphasized the need for more women to pursue careers in the IT industry, both in the UK and globally, we want to show that working in technology can be hugely fulfilling and rewarding.
BANKING & FINANCE
Railways shows record high capital expenditure
Railways have finished the financial year 2015-16 with a record high capital expenditure of Rs 94,000 crore, an increase of Rs 37,000 crore over the previous fiscal.
- Railways intends to step up capital expenditure to boost the economy by its contribution,
- The department have set a target of Rs 1.5 lakh crore capital expenditure for the current fiscal.
- The Prime Minister NarendraModi is supposed to have assured an enhanced Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) of up to Rs 60,000 crore if it continues the trend.
- The Centre had earlier announced a GBS of Rs 40,000 crore for the railways in 2016-17, same as the year before.
- The Ministry of Finance had slashed Rs 8,000 from the Rs 40,000 crore GBS in last November, quoting low spending by the Indian Railways in the first six months of the fiscal.
BUSINESS
India’s ranks first in FDI Destination which replaces China in 2015
In 2015, India gained the first rank in the World for Foreign Direct Investment overtaking the US and China
- India attracts $63 billion value FDI projects from other countries in 2015.
- Make in India Campaign resulted in major increase in job creation from 1.16 lakh new jobs in 2013 to 2.25 lakh in 2015
- 98% FDI into India comes through automatic route which are not under the control of FIPB
- India is a emerging destination for renewable energy due to wider government policies, infrastructure and programmes designed to attract investment.
Mahindra & Mahindra becomes first Indian company to join EP100 campaign
Mumbai based Mahindra & Mahindra has become the first Indian company to join a global energy campaign headed by an international non-profit group that will work with the world’s most influential businesses in setting commitments to double their energy productivity.
- The decision comes a day before Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra will represent the corporate world at the high-level signing ceremony of the historic Paris climate change agreement at the United Nations.
- On the‘EP100’ campaign led by The Climate Group, the world’s largest manufacturer of tractors has committed to doubling their energy productivity by 2030 on a baseline of 2005.
- The company is on a pipeline to make a strong contribution towards achieving the climate goals agreed upon at COP21.
Accenture opens cyber centre in Bengaluru
US IT major Accenture plans to expand its global security presence by opening a cyber centre in Bengaluru. It will be the largest cyber security facility in Accenture’s global delivery network
- The Cyber Centre will aid Accenture’s clients tackle complex security challenges which includes more than 50 facilities employing about 3,400 security specialists.
- The new state-of-the-art facility brings together multiple capabilities, across innovation, incubation and development of new solutions to consulting under one roof.
- This initiative facilitates clients to tap the latest strategies and technologies to address their toughest cyber security challenges.
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS
Chadian President Idriss Deby wins fifth term
Idriss Deby of Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS) party has won the presidential election for the fifth time since 1990.
- He secured more than 61.56 per cent of the vote in the presidential polls with opposition leader Saleh Kebzabo a distant second on 12.8 per cent.
Chad:
- Capital: N’Djamena
- Currency: Central African CFA franc
- The Centrum Group, set up in 1995 by Chandir Gidwani and Khushrooh Byramjee. It has 125 branches across 48 cities.
- It offers investment banking (equity & debt), wealth management, institutional broking and forex services.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
ISRO Scientists made world’s lightest material ‘Silica Aerogel’
Scientists in Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre lab recently manufactured the world’s lightest material called silica aerogel or blue air. The applications of ‘Silica Aerogel’ mentioned below:
- The aerogel can used as filler in soldiers’ uniforms to save lives of soldiers at the Siachen glacier.
- It can be handy in insulating rocket engines as it can be used both in space and on Earth.
- It can be also used to make light weight clothing. It can be also painted on windows in to keep buildings cool or warm.
- ISRO is planning to use this material on moon rover in Chandryaan-2 mission of India.
Pakistan, China to launch satellite to monitor CPEC projects in 2018
Pakistan and China jointly to launch of a special satellite to monitor the development of the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project by June 2018.
- The Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) and the China Great Wall Industry Cooperation (CGWIC) inked an agreement for the development and launch of the Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite (PRSS-1) System.
- The bilateral agreement between the two nations in space domain would open new outlooks of socio-economic and scientific cooperation, giving boost to the historic bilateral relations.
SPORTS
Jitu Rai finishes sixth at Rio shooting World Cup
Indian ace shooter Jitu Rai ended with sixth spot in the men’s 50m pistol event on the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup being held at Rio de Janeiro.
- Indian shooter who is the world number one in the event, eligible for the finals in fourth position, shooting a score of 563.
- He was eventually eliminated after the 12th shot to claim sixth spot. Earlier his team mate Prakash Nanjappa had finished 19th in qualification with a score of 556.
- The Winners: OlehOmelchuk of Ukraine won the gold in the event. And Wang Zhiwei of China took the bronze medal with 169.7 points.
Irfan Ahmed banned for two and a half years by ICC
Hong Kong all-rounder Irfan Ahmed has been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for two and a half years, he will not be allowed to play any form of cricket until May 4, 2018
- The Pakistan-born cricketer was provisionally suspended in November with the ICC´s anti-corruption unit (ACU) investigating his role in relative to the activities of another suspected offender.
- The cricketer failed to report suspect approaches made to him between January 2012 and January 2014 to the ICC.
- In the hearing by the ICC, he accepted the charges laid against him and decided not to appeal against the decision.
- Irfan has played 6 One-Day Internationals and 8 Twenty20 matches since his debut in 2008.
OBITUARY
Music legend Prince Roger Nelson dies at 57
- The iconic rock artist and musician Prince Roger Nelson dies at his Paisley Park Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota. He was 57
About Prince Roger Nelson:
- Prince became an international sensation in the 1980s, when he popularised the Minneapolis sound of danceable funk, incorporating rock elements.
- His 1984 album Purple Rain is often described as one of the greatests of all time.Among his best-known songs are When Doves Cry ,Cream and Kiss .
- His final album “HITnRUN Phase One” released in September, 2015.
Awards:
- Prince became the recipient of 7 Grammy Awards, Golden Globe and also an Academy Award and also won an Oscar for the song score ‘Purple Rain’
- Rolling Stone magazine rated him at 27 number on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
James Bond director Guy Hamilton dies at 93
- Hamilton directed Sir Roger in “Live and Let Die” and “The Man with the Golden Gun”
- He also directed Sir Sean Connery in “Goldfinger” and “Diamonds are Forever”.
Police horse ‘Shaktiman’ died
An Indian police horse ‘Shaktiman’ which was injured during a Bharatiya Janata Part protest rally last month in Uttarkhand, died
- It was a well trained horse and part of Uttarakhand Mounted Police for years
BOOKS & AUTHORS
The Making of India: The Untold Story of British Enterprise’- New book by KartarLalvani
A top NRI entrepreneur unveiled a book that tell about the British rule and its role in 
creating a unified India has attracted enthusiastic reviews for bringing out the untold colonial rule.
- The book open the story 17th century when a small seafaring island despatched sailing ships over 11000 miles on a five-month trading journey in search of new opportunities.
- The book also outlines the British enterprise’s contributions in the 19th and 20th centuries that helped to create a unified India, out of multi-cultural, multi-linguistic and divided regions of the vast Indian-subcontinent.
KartarLalvani:
- KartarLalvani was born in Karachi in 1931. He moved to Mumbai in 1947 after partition.
- He is the founder-chairman of Vitabioticsa global nutraceutical company that major in vitamin and mineral based formulations.
IMPORTANT DAYS
World Earth Day being observed world wide on 22nd April 2016
With support of more than one billion people across the world would mark the event by showing support for environmental protection and safeguards.
- Focus: First focus would be planting trees to make a “significant and measurable impact”on the planet.
- Theme for 2016 – Trees for the Earth
- Goal: To plant 7.8 billion trees over the next five years.
- India signs climate pact along with over 170 states at UN.
- Dr. Harsh Vardhan celebrates Earth Day by inaugurating India’s first Cellulosic Alcohol Technology Demonstration Plant at Kashipur, Uttarakhand.
