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INDIAN AFFAIRS
NAMAMI GANGE – A cleaning spree of the Holy river Ganga is set out to action in various states
Aiming to give a major boost to Namami Gange Programme, 231 projects inaugurated at over 100 locations in seven states, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Haryana and Delhi.
♦ Projects Worth: Rs.1500 Crore
♦ Union Ministers Nithin Gadkari (Minister of Road Transport & highways and Shipping), Uma bharti ( water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation), Narendra Tomar and Mahesh Sharma launch the works in Haridwar along with the Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat.
♦ Namami Gange will achieve its objective by 2018.
E –VIDHAN Academy to be set up in Dharamshala
i. Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker BBL Butail today said that a National E-Vidhan Academy will be set up in Tapovan in Dharamsala, where Himachal Pradesh is situated.
ii. Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in have already permitted in principle approval for setting up of the National academy.
iii. This academy in Dharamsala will train MPs, MLAs and the staff of such institutions from different states in the country.
Government forms Four-member committee to examine desirability and feasibility of having a new financial year.
i. Government has constituted a four-member committee to examine the desirability and feasibility of having a new financial year.
ii. This Four-Member committee, headed by former Chief Economic Adviser Shankar Acharya.
Other Members:
♦ Former Cabinet Secretary – K M Chandrasekhar,
♦ Tamil Nadu’s former Finance Secretary – P V Rajaraman
♦ Centre for Policy Research Senior Fellow – Rajiv Kumar
iii. It will look into the impact of having a new financial year in relation to effect of different agricultural crop periods, taxation systems and procedures and impact on businesses.
iv. The committee will examine merits and demerits of various dates for the commencement of the financial year, including the current date of April 1.
v. It will recommend the date of commencement of the financial year which in its view is the most suitable for the country.
vi. The Panel will submit its report to the government by December 31.
Rs 300 crore tourist hub to come up in West Bengal’s Gajoldoba
i. Tourism Department of West Bengal plans to set up a tourist hub at Bhorer alo aka Gajoldoba.
ii. Total estimated cost of the project is Rs.300 crore, of which Rs 200 crore would be spent to improve the infrastructure.
iii. The total area of the hub is 208 acres.
iv. The place is likely to be a major tourist destination in West Bengal by 2017.
v. A star hotel will also come up in that place and there will be a mini golf course and facilities for adventure sports, including rafting on the river Teesta.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Indian firms grab top spot for transparency in survey by Institutional Investor
Indian companies rank among the best in the Asia Pacific region for corporate transparency, trust, and access to top executives, according to new research released today by Institutional Investor.
In India, the most honoured companies in Institutional Investor’s All-Asia Executive Team rankings 2016 are
♦ Motherson sumi Systems (Autos and Auto Parts),
♦ Maruthi Suzuki India (Autos and Auto Parts),
♦ HDFC Bank (Banks)
♦ Indusind Bank (Banks),
♦ Kotak Mahindra Bank (Banks),
♦ Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Health Care and Pharmaceuticals)
DOMESTIC AIR PASSENGER GROWTH – INDIA topped the table
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that India’s Air passenger market in India grew at the fastest pace in the world in 2015 and India topped the domestic air passenger growth rankings.
♦ With annual growth of 18.8% (in a market of 80 million domestic passengers), India’s performance surpassed that of Russia (11.9% growth, in a market of 47 million domestic passengers)
♦ The number of domestic fliers in India stood at 80 million, compared to Russia’s 47 million, China’s 394 million and the US’s 708 million.
BANKING & FINANCE
Cabinet approves increase in FDI limit in Axis Bank to 74%
i. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra 
Modi, has approved increased limits in foreign investment in Axis Bank from 62% to 74% of the total paid up share capital of the Axis Bank on a fully commodity basis.
ii. As the result of this approval, foreign direct investment to the tune of Rs 12,973.14 crore will be received in the country with an estimated creation of 6000 to 7000 jobs over the next three years.
iii. The foreign investment will be one of the several ways such as:
♦ Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs),
♦ Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs),
♦ Non-Resident Indians (NRIs),
♦ Foreign Director Investment covering ADRs / GDRs and
♦ Indirect Foreign Investment.
YELDI SOFTCOM received its semi closed wallet license from RBI
i. Reserve Bank of India (RBI), sanctioned a semi clsed wallet license to YELDI SOFTCOM
ii. A semi-closed wallet is a payment instrument that is accepted by a predefined set of merchants that have been contracted specifically by the issuer of the semi-closed wallet.
iii. A semi-closed wallet does not allow users to withdraw or redeem cash
iv. Most semi-closed wallets require a debit card, credit card or a net banking account. But when it comes to adding money to Yeldi’s products, cash could be remitted over a designated counter to add money to the wallet.
v. Yeldi’s products can even be used by the unbanked population of the country.
NPCIL gets India’s first nuclear liability policy
i. India’s first insurance policy covering public liability to an atomic power plant operator has been issued to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited(NPCIL)
ii. The total premium of such policy is Rs 100 crore for a risk cover of Rs 1,500 crore.
iii. Policy complies with all the provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLND).
iv. This policy would cover the liability towards public as a consequence of any nuclear accident in the plants.
v. The insurance coverage will be for all the NPCIL’s plants — like a floater cover.
Floater Insurance: A type of insurance policy that covers property that is easily movable and provides additional coverage over what normal insurance policies do not.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Dipa Karmakar becomes first Indian gymnast to clinch ‘World Class Gymnast’ award
i. Dipa Karmakar becomes the first Indian gymnast to secure World Class Gymnast award, 
‘Gymnaste de Classe Mondaile’ by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG).
ii. she is also the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
iii. karmakar received the letter of distinction that also carries a special badge, which she will be carrying during the Olympics.
iv. FIG decided to honour Karmakar for the fine performance in the World artistic gymnastics championships, held in Glasgow 2015
v. She ranked fifth in that event in Glasgow.
APPOINTMENTS
Juergen Hase – New CEO for Reliance Group IoT business operations
i. Anil Ambani led Reliance Group, which had drawn up a comprehensive strategy to drive growth in the Internet of Things (IoT) space, has appointed Juergen Hase as the Group CEO for its IoT Business.
ii. Juergen has worked in the global telecommunications industry for more than 25 years to develop, implement and execute new businesses in different global markets.
iii. It is noted that Reliance Communications has already announced an IoT partnership with Jasper (which was subsequently acquired by Cisco), and various IoT solutions have been jointly piloted in India over the past few months in preparation for the commercial launch.
iv. Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital for Remote Healthcare and Assisted Living and these (IoT pilot projects on healthcare, vehicle insurance, power management) are intended to be scaled up and made available for external customers under Juergen’s leadership.
Deepak Singhal takes charge as the Chief Secretary of UP
i. Deepak Singhal has been appointed the new Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh.
ii. Mr. Singhal will succeed Alok Ranjan, who has got retire in the month of June after a three-month extension of service.
iii. He will also hold additional charge of Principal Resident Commissioner of UP in New Delhi, and chairman of the Pradeshiya Industrial & Investment Corporation of UP (PICUP)
Uttar Pradesh
♦ Capital: Lucknow
♦ Chief Minister: Akhilesh Yadav
♦ Governor: Ram Naik
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
ARTIFICIAL PANCREAS – A boon to Diabetic patients
i. In order to monitor blood glucose in patients with diabetes an automatically adjusts levels of insulin entering the body, researchers found how to make a artificial PANCREAS in 2018.
ii. One part of the clinical need for the artificial pancreas is the variability of insulin requirements between and within individuals – on one day a person could use one third of their normal requirements, and on another three times what they normally would.
iii. Currently available technology allows insulin pumps to deliver insulin to people with diabetes after taking readings from glucose meters, but these two components are separate.
iv. It is the joining together of both parts into a ‘closed loop’ and makes an artificial pancreas.
New tarantula species named in the honor of Nobel laureate Garcia Marquez
i. A new species of tarantula has been identified near the home town of Gabriel Garcia 
Marquez, the late Nobel literature laureate.
ii. The newly researched “Kankuamos marquezi” is named for both Garcia Marquez and the indigenous Kankuamo group who live in the area of Caribbean Colombia where the writer was born.
iii. spider’s body is three centimeters long with legs the same length giving an overall size of nine centimeter (3.5 inches).
iv. Garcia Marquez: He was born in Aracataca near Colombia’s northern coast and started out as a journalist in Cartagena.
China inducts its largest homegrown military transport plane, Y20.
i. China has inducted its largest indigenously-built transport aircraft Y-20, that allows the world’s largest force to transport cargo and troops over long distances in diverse weather conditions.
ii. The maximum take off weight of that transport plane is 200 tonnes.
iii. The plane is comparable to the Russian-made IL-76 and the US C-17.
iv. The indigenously designed and developed Y-20 took its maiden flight in January 2013 and made its debut at the 10th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in November 2014.
SPORTS
RIO OLYMPICS 2016 – Swimmers Sajan Prakash and Shivani Kataria chosen to represent India
i. After a long wait, the names of the swimmers set to represent India at the Rio Olympics 2016 have been revealed by the Swimming Federation of India (SFI)
ii. As per the decision of SFI Swimmers Sajan Prakash and Shivani Kataria will represent India at the Rio Olympics.
iii. The SFI selected them through the Universality rule, which allows one male and one female competitor to participate provided the swimmer has participated in the last World Championship.
About Sajan Prakash and Shivani Kataria:
♦ Kerala swimmer Sajan Prakash, who won six gold and three silver medals at the Indian National Games in February 2015, is a national record holder in 200m butterfly and 1500m freestyle.
♦ The only woman in consideration was Shivani Kataria, in the 200 m freestyle. She has been the only Indian woman to compete at the last World Championship.
Lionel Messi handed 21-month prison term in Spain for tax fraud
i. FC Barcelona’s Superhero Lionel Messi his father Jorge have been sentenced to 21 
months in prison for tax fraud, but the Barcelona forward is not expected to spend any time behind bars.
ii. This jail term for deceiving Spain of €4.1m (£3.5m; $4.5m) between 2007 and 2009.
iii. Messi proclaimed that he “knew nothing” about his financial affairs, while his father said he was told by a legal adviser that the practice was legal.
iv. As well as the jail terms, Messi was fined about €2m and his father €1.5m. They made a voluntary €5m “corrective payment“, equal to the alleged unpaid tax plus interest, in August 2013.
v. FC Barcelona gives all its support to Leo Messi and his father with relation to the sentence for tax evasion.
