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INDIAN AFFAIRS
Union Government passes Gurdwara amendment bill 2016 & Biotech centre bill
The Union government gave approval for Gurdwaras Amendment Bill 2016 to provide the rights to Sahjhardi Sikhs to vote in the elections to Member of the Board and the committees.
- Under Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, every Sikh who is above 21 years of age can cast their vote in the Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SPGC) Election.
- This Act had created an exception for Sehjdhari Sikhs who trim or shave their beard or hair to vote in the elections.
The Lok Sabha passed the Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016
- To establish a Regional Centre for Biotechnology, an study centre of Education, Training and Research under the sponsorship of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
DoT notified Panic Button and Global Positioning System in Mobile phone handsets Rules
Department of Telecommunications has issued the notification regarding “Panic Button and Global Positioning System in Mobile Phone Handsets Rules 2016”
Aim:
- Providing security to millions of women who face panic situation
- Panic button will act as restrictions to assaulters
- Operation Sulaimani will provide food to around 1,000 people per day. The price of the food will be covered through sponsorship.
- People in need can collect a free meal coupon from any of the distribution centres and walk into any restaurant in the city.
- The hungry people will be served food for free without asking any questions.
- The coupons will be distributed through the counters to be opened in the collectorate, village office and Taluk offices.
Kozhikode District Collector: N. Prasanth
Haryana govt to give free laptops to first 500 meritorious students
- The laptops will be provided under State Merit Scholarship scheme.
Haryana
- Capital: Chandigarh
- Governor: Kaptan Singh Solanki
- Chief Minister: Manohar Lal Khattar
- TOP scheme is an initiative of Union Sports Ministry under which sports persons are funded by the government for top class training as part of their preparations for the Games.
- Till date, 77 Indian athletes in eight disciplines have qualified for the Olympics and many more are likely to qualify in the next two months.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
- The two navies have been carrying out CORPATs along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL)twice a year since 2005.
- The CORPAT has also strengthened understanding and interoperability between the navies and facilitated institution of measures to prevent unlawful activities at sea as well as conduct Search and Rescue (SAR) operations.
BANKING & FINANCE
- For the first time, Finance Ministry has not given concurrence to the rate of interest on EPF as decided by CBT, which is headed by the Union labour Minister, Bandaru Dattatreya.
- EPFO had provided 8.75% interest in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
BUSINESS
BPCL gets green nod for Rs 694 crore LPG project in West Bengal
The environment ministry has given environmental clearance and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance to the BPCL’s project in West Bengal.
Outlay: Rs 694 crore
Aims of the project:To boost supply and help achieve the government’s target of making LPG available to each household by 2018.
- Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) will set up an import terminal at Haldia to import 1 mmtpa of refrigerated Propane and Butane
- It will transfer it through 7.5-km long twin transfer pipeline for LPG production, despatch of bulk LPG via road tankers and bottling of LPG in cylinders
Union Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change: Prakash Javadekar.
Uber partners with Election Commission in Tamilnadu
Taxi operator Uber has partnered with Election Commission in Tamil Nadu to support the “#TN100percent initiative”
Aim: To spread awareness on voting among the electorate for the upcoming election
- Uber held discussions with officials on the importance of voting and encouraging people to cast their vote and would collaborate with EC’s Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation programme
About Uber:
Uber Technologies Inc. is an American multinational online transportation network company headquartered in San Francisco, California
Cadbury inaugurates largest Asia-Pacific facility in India
Cadbury chocolates maker Mondelez inaugurated a Rs 1,265-crore plant in SriCity, Andhra Pradesh. It is the seventh manufacturing unit in India.
- This was the company’s largest plant in the Asia-Pacific region
- The plant’s capacity is 250,000 tonnes a year, which the company hopes to touch by 2020.
Mondelez has plants in Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
- Mondelez CEO: Irene Rosenfeld
Videocon d2h Ties Up With Vodafone M-pesa
Indian direct-to-home (DTH) player Videocon d2h has partnered with Vodafone M-Pesa, now customers can recharge their d2h service using Vodafone m-pesa.
- This tie-up will gives us an opportunity to serve both Videocon d2h and Vodafone subscribers by providing a safe, secure and convenient mode to pay for services to customers
Key People:
- Videocon d2h CEO : Anil Khera
- Vodafone India CEO: Sunil Sood
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Indian Institute of Technology Scholar wins International Award on Plant Nutrition
A food engineering research scholar from IIT Kharagpur wins prestigious International Plant Nutrition Scholar Award on Plant Nutrition.
Awarded to: K Ashok Kumar
- He has been pursuing his PhD at the Department Of Agricultural and Food Engineering, IIT Kharagpur on nutrition management of rice-chickpea production system in laterite soil
Hollywood Actor George Clooney awards new humanitarian prize to Burundi Orphanage Founder
A Burundian activist Marguerite Barankitse awarded First Humanitarian Prize with saving thousands of children during a 12-year civil war
- She is the first recipient of a new humanitarian prize
Venue: Yerevan, Armenia
Presented by: Hollywood actor and Activist George Clooney
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS
Badminton ace Nandu Natekar has been inducted into the Legends Club, founded by the late Cricket Club of India president Raj Singh Dungarpur, as the first non-cricketer, along with 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev.
ACQUISITONS & MERGERS
Finnish mobile network equipment maker Nokia on Tuesday said it was planning to buy France’s Withings S.A. for 170 million euros ($191 million) in its bid to expand into digital health markets.
- Withings’ products include activity trackers, weighing scales, thermometers, blood pressure monitors, home and baby monitors. The firm has about 200 employees.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State of Culture and Tourism (I/C) and Minister of State for Civil Aviation launched the National Monuments Authority (NMA)’s Web Portal called “NOC Online Application and Processing System (NOAPS)”
- The Portal has used the technology and expertise of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), who are in the process of mapping of 3686 ASI protected monuments and sites.
- The web portal of NMA has now been integrated with the online portal of local bodies of Delhi and Mumbai viz. NDMC, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and MCDs (South MCD, North MCD, East MCD) to facilitate single window clearance for construction on a common application form.
In a bid to reduce commuter woes keep its suburban passengers informed about delays and disruptions, the Western Railway has launched a unique service through which commuters would be able to know the running status of local trains from simply giving a missed call.
- The commuter needs to dial the Toll Free No. 1800 212 4502 and the call will get disconnected automatically after two rings subsequent to which an SMS will be sent informing the running status of the suburban trains.
SPORTS
Football Striker Jeje clinches FPAI Indian Player of the year Award
Indian Football Striker Jeje Lalpekhlua won the Football Players’ Association of India (FPAI) – Indian Player of the year award
- Awarded during Annual Awards function at Cooperage Football Stadium in Mumbai
- Awarded by: FPAI President Renedy Singh
- He defeated opponent Alexandru Chirtoaca 10-0 in the face-off to decide the bronze medal winner.
- He has previously won gold medals at the 2016 Asian Wrestling Championships and the 2013 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship.
- The 25-year-old Rower clocked 7 mins 07.49 seconds in the 2km course to finish second and qualify for the Rio Olympics.
OBITUARY
JKLF founder Amanullah Khan dead at 82
The founder of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Amanullah Khan died in Pakistan. He was 82.
- He was considered to be the architect of Kashmir’s armed insurgency
- He was the founders of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front that led a violent campaign for independent Kashmir, including the killing of an Indian diplomat in the UK in the mid-80s and hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane to Lahore
- Khan, listed among the most wanted fugitives in India by the Central Bureau of Investigation for “murder and criminal conspiracy”
Keys:
- JKLF setup in 1977
- J & K Capital : Jammu& Srinagar
- J & K Governor: Narinder Nath Vohra
- J & K CM: Mehbooba Mufti
Veteran Thai politician and former premier Banharn Silpa-archa died at the age of 83,
- Born to a Chinese family in central Suphan Buri province in 1932, Banharn was first elected an MP in the seventies and went on to become Thailand’s 21st prime minister in 1995.
IMPORTANT DAYS
- In 2000, WIPO’s member states designated April 26 – the day on which the WIPO Convention came into force in 1970 – as World IP Day.
- Aim: To learn about the role that intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright) play in encouraging innovation and creativity.
Theme for 2016: “Digital Creativity: Culture Reimagined”
