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Ramandeep Singh5/2/2016

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GK Digest April 2016

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International

France operation ‘Sangaris’ comes to an end inCAR

\France will end its three year long militaryoperation ‘Sangaris’ in Central African Republicwhich came into force in 2013 following acommunal violence.

The France government proposed towithdraw its troops citing the formation ofthe new government under Faustin-Archange Touadera and restoration ofpeace

The communal violence broke out in CARwhen Muslim rebels ousted the Christianpresident Francois from power andfollowing this French troops started theoperation ‘Sangaris’ in 2013

India 3rd in worldwide dope violation in newWADA report

India has become No. 3rd in Anti-Doping RuleViolation in 2014 – WADA reported

Russia ranked first followed by Italy 96 Anti-Doping Rule violation cases

registered by India.

India becomes fourth largest spender on defence

India has become the world’s fourth largestspender on defence, following a 13.1% increase inits 2016-17 defence budget, according to USresearch firm IHS Inc.

India’s rise in the rankings from sixthposition last year is a result of an increase inexpenditure to $50.7 billion, combined withcuts to military spending by Russia and

Saudi Arabia, where low oil prices have putconsiderable strain on their finances.

World Intellectual Property Day 2016 observedglobally

The World Intellectual Property Day 2016 was on26 April 2016 observed across the world with thetheme Digital Creativity - Culture Re imagined.

On this day, the World Intellectual PropertyOrganization (WIPO) works together withvarious government agencies, non-government organizations, communitygroups and individuals to hold differentevents and activities to promote WorldIntellectual Property Day.

The day is celebrated to spread awarenessabout the role that intellectual propertyrights (patents, trademarks,industrial designs, copyright) play inencouraging innovation and creativity.

4th Nuclear Security Summit begins inWashington

The fourth edition of Nuclear Security Summit(NSS) began in Washington, United States todiscuss a gamut of issues pertaining to nuclearsecurity.

In this edition of summit, heads of about 53countries and representatives of fiveinternational organisations including theUNO, International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA), European Union (EU), Interpol aretaking part.

India is being represented by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi in the two-daysummit.

World Book and Copyright Day – April 23

World Book and Copyright Day (also known asInternational Day of the Book or World Book Day)


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is observed on April 23 of every year by UNESCO inorder to pay a world-wide tribute to books andauthors on this date, encouraging everyone, and inparticular young people.

World Book Capital 2016: Wroclaw, Poland World Book Capital 2017: Conakry, Republic

of Guinea.

World Autism Awareness Day – April 2 2016

World Autism Awareness Day is an internationallyrecognized day on the 2nd of April everyyear. World Autism Day is also one of only fourofficial health-specific UN Days.

This is the 8th annual World AutismAwareness day encouraging by the Memberof the United Nations to take measures toraise awareness about children with autismthroughout the world.

El Salvador declares drought emergency for firsttime ever

The Central American country of ElSalvador has declared a water shortage emergency

It was the first drought emergency in itshistory.

Residents near by the capital city of SanSalvador have protested because of watershortages in recent weeks

River and water reserve levels have reacheda critical state.

New York Mayor declares April 14 as BindeshwarPathak Day

New York City declared this year’s April 14 as‘Bindeshwar Pathak Day’ in recognition” of thecontributions made by the Indian social activist and‘Sulabh International’ founder for improving the

lives of people engaged in the “most dehumanisingsituation”.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasiohonoured Pathak for his outstanding workto improve health and hygiene and “movingthe world forward“.

World Hemophilia Day – April 17

World Hemophilia Day is an internationalobservance held annually on April 17 by the WorldFederation of Hemophilia. It is an awareness dayfor Hemophilia and other bleeding disorders.

The day was first established in 1989. Theme 2016: “Treatment for All The Vision

of All”

World Heritage Day: 18th April, 2016

World Heritage Day was observed all over theworld on 18 April.

The day is observed with an aim to createawareness among the people towardsconserve and protect the valuable assetsand cultural heritage across the world.

The 2016 theme for the ICOMOSInternational Day on Monuments and Sitescelebrated on 18 April is: The Heritage ofSport.

Bronze bust of Aryabhatta unveiled at UNESCOHeadquarters

A bronze bust of ancient Indian mathematician andastronomer Aryabhatta has been unveiled at theUNESCO by the HRD Minister Smriti Irani in aninternational conference on the zero in Paris,France.

The bust has been sculpted by renownedIndian sculptor Ram Sutar who was


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awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s thirdhighest civilian awards for his contributionto the world of art.

Dubai to build tower taller than Burj Khalifa

Dubai plans to build a tower that will stand higherthan its Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallestskyscraper, will be built by property developerEmaar. The total cost will be USD 1 billion.

The Tower in Dubai Creek Harbour, a 6-square-kilometer master development, willbe a notch higher than 828-metre BurjKhalifa.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt To Build Bridge Across RedSea

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has announced anagreement with Egyptian President Abdul-Fattahal-Sisi to build a bridge over the Red Sea connectingthe two countries.

The announcement made on the secondday of visit of Saudi Arabia's King toCairo.The planned bridge would help inboosting commerce and trade between thetwo allied countries.

Hashim Thaci Sworn In As New President OfKosovo

Hashim Thaci , Foreign Minister of Kosovo has beensworn in as the President of Kosovo by themembers of Parliament of the country in the 3rdround.

Mr. Thaci succeeded Atifete Jahjaga in thevoting held in Pristina.

With this, he becomes fourth President ofKosovo after the European country hadunilaterally declared independence fromSerbia in 2008.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Statue to be ensconced inFrance.

The statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh will beinstalled in France’s Saint-Tropez town, the birthplace of Army General Jean-Francois Allard.

Henri Prevosat-Allard, Deputy Mayor andin-charge of tourism of Saint-Tropez metPunjab Tourism Minister Sohan SinghThandal to invite him for the ceremonywhich will be held in the month ofSeptember.

World Malaria Day: 25 April

World Malaria Day is an international observancecommemorated every year on 25 April andrecognizes global efforts to control malaria.

It was firstly observed in 2008 by UNICEF togive public attention about the diseasewhich causes millions of deaths every year.

India Signed Paris climate pact

India, along with 170 other countries has signedhistoric Paris climate pact in United Nation.

Union Environment and Forestry ministerPrakash Javarekar signed the pact in a highlevel conference at United Nation.

UN Secretary General Baan Kyi Moonchaired the Conference which includeMinisters, diplomats, industrialists andartists.


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World’s largest indoor amusement park to openon 15 August

World’s largest indoor amusement park ’IMG worldof adventure’ will be opened on 15 August inDubai. 30,000 people are expected to visit daily.

CEO, Mr Lennard Otto said that 96 percentof the park is ready and it has an area of 15lac sq. feet, which is equal to 28 Footballgrounds.

Sangey re-elected PM of Tibetan ‘govt-in-exile’

National Democratic Party candidate LobsangSangay has been re-elected prime minister of theTibetan government-in-exile in voting.

Sangay crushed his only rival Penpa Tsering,receiving about 58 percent of the 58,740votes casted in the prime minister’s runoff.

The result in the northern Indian town ofDharmsala, the headquarters of thegovernment-in-exile.

Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk resigns

The Ukrainian Prime Minister, ArseniyYatsenyuk announced his resignation two monthsafter he survived a no-confidence vote inparliament.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, 15th Prime Minister ofUkraine is a lawyer and economist.

Yatseny uk served in the government ofUkraine as Minister of Economy from 2005to 2006.

He was also served as Foreign Minister ofUkraine in 2007 and Chairman of theVerkhovna Rada (parliament) from 2007 to2008

Pakistan, China launch joint air force trainingexercise Shaheen 5

China’s air force to launch joint training exerciseswith Pakistan, the fifth such edition between thetwo countries.Shaheen-5 will take place from April9 to 30 this year.

This joint exercise was started in 2011between both the countries.

Kyrgyzstan Prime Minister Temir Sariyev resigns

Kyrgyzstan Prime Minister Temir Sariyev resignedafter a parliamentary commission accused hiscabinet of corruption.

A commission set up by the ex-Sovietrepublic’s parliament revealed that thegovernment had broken the law, accusing itof having rigged a $100 million roadconstruction tender to a Chinese firm thatlacked the required license.

India, US ‘agree in principle’ on sharing militarylogistics

India and the United States have agreed inprinciple to share military logistics. Union DefenceMinister Manohar Parrikar announced thisagreement at a joint press conference with USDefense secretary Ashton Carter.

According to Mr. Parrikar, the growinginteraction between armed forces of thetwo countries is a “significant aspect ofbilateral relationship”. India has more jointexercises with the US than any othercountry in the world.

The details of the logistic support will bedecided by the two governments.

Indo German Agreement on Namami GangeSigned

An agreement has been signed for GangaRejuvenation under the Namami Gange


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Programme in New Delhi, between the Ministry ofWater Resources, River Development and GangaRejuvenation and German InternationalCooperation.

The agreement was signed in the presenceof the German Ambassador to India, MartinNey and Secretary, and Shashi Shekhar,Ministry of Water Resources, RiverDevelopment and Ganga Rejuvenation

Cabinet nod for MoU with UAE to combat HumanTrafficking

The Union Cabinet has given its approval forsigning of a MoU between India and UAE onpreventing all forms of human trafficking,especially women and children.

The MoU is expected to be signed very soonafter approval. Anti-trafficking Cells andTask Forces will work on both sides toprevent human trafficking.

It will strengthen the bonds of friendshipbetween the two countries and increase thebilateral cooperation on the issues ofprevention, rescue, recovery andrepatriation related to human trafficking

Dharmendra Pradhan Visit of to Bangladesh

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister DharmendraPradhan visited Bangladesh.during his visit hediscussed all bilateral issues relating tohydrocarbon sector between the two countries.

New Delhi based Indian Oil Corporation hasinked an MoU with Bangladesh PetroleumCorporation to scrutinize the possibility ofjointly working on setting up a LPG(Liquefied petroleum gas) import terminalat Chittagong port and other downstreaminfrastructure in that country.

The minister’s discussions with hiscounterpart authorities focused on laying aChittagong-Tripura pipeline.

Bangladesh is likewise signing up Indianengineering consultancy firm EngineersIndia Ltd as consultants for extension of theEastern Refinery.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley visit to US

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on a 10-dayitinerary to the US to attend the Spring Meetings ofthe International Monetary Fund and World Bank,a UN session on the drugs problem, and aninteraction with American investors.

He was accompanied by Reserve Bank ofIndia Governor Raghuram Rajan and ChiefEconomic Advisor Arvind Subramanian andsome Indian Delegations.

FM Arun Jaitley will addresses World Bankin Washington

Sixth Annual Ministerial Meeting of India-US Economic and Financial Partnership(EFP)

G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank GovernorsMeeting

India ranked 133 in World Press Freedom Index

India ranks abysmally low at 133 among 180countries, in the latest annual World PressFreedom Index which says Prime MinisterNarendra Modi seems “indifferent” to the threatsposed to journalists.

The 2016 ‘World Press Freedom Index’released by Reporters Without Borders(RSF), is led by Finland, which retained itstop spot for the sixth consecutive year,followed by the Netherlands and Norway.


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Europe becomes world’s first region to endmalaria: WHO

Europe has become the world’s first region toeliminate malaria the zone recorded with zerocases reported last year, according to the WorldHealth Organization (WHO).

The number of cases reported dropped tozero in 2015 from 90,712 in 1995.

North Korea to block Facebook, Twitter, otherwebsites

North Korea has officially announced it is blockingFacebook, YouTube, Twitter and South Koreanwebsites in a move underscoring its concern withthe spread of online information.

The Ministry of Posts andTelecommunications announcement wasposted this week at the country's mainmobile service provider, Koryolink, andother places serving Internet users.

Very few North Koreans have internetaccess. Typically they can only see a sealed-off, government-sanctioned intranet. Butforeigners in the country had previouslybeen able to surf the web freely.

Vietnam Police Chief Tran Dai Quang sworn in asPresident

Vietnam’s Public Security Minister and Police ChiefTran Dai Quang has been sworn in as thecommunist country’s president. Quang fromCommunist Party of Vietnam.

The Police Chief received 436 votes from465 assembly members who cast theirvotes accounted 5% of a rubber-stamp votefor Mr Quang that made him victory inparliament.

Quang is the first police general to fill thepost, He succeeds Prime Minister NguyenTan Dung withdrew his candidacy.

Iceland PM steps aside after protests overPanama Papers revelations

Iceland’s embattled Prime Minister, SigmundurDavíd Gunnlaugsson, has become the first majorcasualty of the Panama Papers, stepping aside fromhis office amid mounting public outrage that hisfamily had sheltered money offshore

The leaked documents from the MossackFonseca law firm in Panama revealGunnlaugsson and his wife, Anna SigurlaugPálsdó r, bought a British Virgin Islands-based offshore company, WintrisInc, inDecember 2007 to invest her share of thevery substantial proceeds from the sale ofher father’s business, Iceland’s only Toyotaimporter.

NationalNarendra Modi to launch Asia’s Biggest telescopeAries in Nainital

A Major achievement and progress in the field ofAstronomy, the Aryabhatta Research Institute forObservational Sciences abbreviated as ARIES thefirst optical telescope is set to be inaugurated byPM Modi in Nainital.

It was a contract undertaken by the Ariesand Belgian company- AdvancedMechanical and Optical Systems in March ,2007


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Kachhabali Becomes 1st Liquor-free village inRajasthan

Kachabali village in Rajsam and district ofRajasthan, has become the first in state to vote insupport of closing down the only liquor shop in thevillage.

The polling was carried out by the excisedepartment of the state and 94% of thevoters demanded that they want acomplete ban on the sale of alcohol in thevillage.

Seventh navigational satellite IRNSS 1G launched

ISRO developed PSLV-C33 is carrying India’sseventh navigation satellite IRNSS-1G which isblasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre inSri Harikota.

The satellite was successfully placed in sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. Thesatellite with a design life time of 12 yearshas 2 payloads for navigation and ranging.

Mumbai to get its first Arbitration Centre

The financial capital of India is likely to get theInternational Arbitration Centre. This will be theIndia’s first arbitration centre for dealing thefinancial disputes.

The financial disputes of India were dealt inthe Singapore Arbitration centre, now withthe establishment of the Internationalarbitration centre in Mumbai it will be aboon to the Indian companies.

Telangana government launches M Wallet mobileApp

State Road Transport Authority’s brand-newmobile app, M-Wallet, was launched by IT minister

KT Rama Rao and transport minister P. MahenderReddy. Telangana State Transport Authority’slaunched brand-new mobile app named M-Wallet,which is first of its kind in India.

It will help motorists to avoid physicallycarrying documents like driving licence,registration certification and other vehiclerelated documents, since digital certificatescan be uploaded through the App.

Haryana fixes edu qualification for Urban Bodies'polls

Haryana Assembly passed two Bills mandatingminimum educational qualification for contestingurban local bodies polls in the state.

The minimum educational qualification fora general male candidate will be Class X,while that for women and those belongingto SC category would be Class VIII.

“Vidyut PRAVAH” App will Empower CommonPeople to Demand 24×7 Power from The States”

Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy MinisterPiyush Goyal launched a mobile application VidyutPRAVAH Mobile application, the app will empowercommon people to demand 24X7 power from thestates.

Vidyut App will provide information belongto to the current demand met, shortages ifany, surplus power available and the pricesin the Power Exchange.

Union Government releases Indian IntellectualProperty Panorama

Union Government has released Indian IntellectualProperty (IP) Panorama to increase awareness andbuild sensitivity towards IP in the SME sector,academia and researchers.


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The IP Panorma is a single window interfacefor information on IP and guidance onleveraging it for competitive advantage. Itcan be accessed at http://ict-ipr.in/index.php/ip-panorama.

The Indian IP Panorama is a customizedversion of IP Panorama Multimedia toolkitdeveloped by World Intellectual PropertyOrganization (WIPO), Korean IntellectualProperty Office (KIPO) and Korea InventionPromotion Association (KIPA).

Piyush Goyal Launched Schemes for Distributionof Energy Efficient Smart Agriculture Pumps &Fans in Andhra Pradesh

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal withChandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister AndhraPradesh to launch two schemes in Vijayawada ,Andhra Pradesh, In order to make country moreenergy efficient.

National Energy Efficient Agriculture PumpsProgramme,

National Energy Efficient Fan Programme. These Schemes will be implemented by

Energy Efficiency Services Limited underPower ministry.

Low cost and environment-friendly solar lightingdevice Solar Jyoti launched by Dr. Harsh Vardhan

Science and Technology and Earth SciencesMinister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched the Low Costand Environment-friendly solar lighting device,Surya Jothi the device has been developed underthe aegis of the Science& Technology Department.

This technology would lead to the saving offossil fuels to a great extent as 1 unit ofenergy saved is equivalent to 3 units ofenergy generated.

Cabinet approves new oil import policy

1Union Cabinet has given its approval to replacethe existing policy on crude oil import by Oil PSUs.These companies are authorised to go forward totheir own policies for import of crude oil,consistent with the Central Vigilance Commissionguidelines and get them approved by therespective boards.

This decision will provide a more efficient,flexible and dynamic policy for crudeprocurement, eventually benefiting theconsumers.

Oil marketing PSUs have been allowed tobuy crude on a day-to-day basis against theprevailing cumbersome practice of callingtenders two-months before purchase.

‘Green UP – Clean UP’ Programme: Five croretrees to be planted in UP

Akilesh Yadav led Uttar Pradesh government hasdirected all the district magistrates for plantationof 5 crore trees at 6,500 sites in 24 hours on a datefixed in month of July under the ‘Green UP – CleanUP initiative .

Earlier in November, stategovt created arecord by planting 10 lakh plants in a day.

Uma Bharti inaugurates Water Films Festival

Union Minister for Water Resources, RiverDevelopment and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri UmaBharti inaugurated Water Film Festival at WaterExpo-2016 in New Delhi .

Speaking on the occasion the Minister saidthat Water Resources are the prime inputto the growth and prosperity of a nationand Films can prove to be an effective toolof communication to spread the message ofwater conservation. Sushri Bharti said suchfilms should be shown in every nook and


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corner of the country for the benefit of themasses.

The Films festival was organized by Waterand Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS)Limited, a PSU under Ministry of UnionMinister for Water Resources, RiverDevelopment and Ganga Rejuvenation aspart of the ongoing India Water Week 2016celebrations.

Rajasthan Becomes the first state in India to clearland title Bill

Rajasthan has become the first state to pass landtitle bill.

State Assembly passed the Rajasthan UrbanLand (Certification of Titles) Bills 2016.

State government will set up an authoritywhich will be headed by an IndianAdministrative Service Officer.

Now land owners can get their landcertificates by giving a negligible fee tostate government.

Union HRD Minister Smriti Zubin Irani LaunchesISBN Portal

The Union Human Resource Development MinisterSmriti Irani has launched a portal for registrationand allotment of International Standard BookNumber (ISBN) at a function held in New Delhi.

The portal has been created to facilitatepublishers as well as the authors to registerfor ISBN online.

ISBN gives an identity to a book and willenhance information abot authors andpublishers. This interactive automatedsystem would provide fast and efficientservices in a stipulated time frame to thePublishers and Authors as well.

India, Maldives sign six agreements in differentsectors

In the delegation-level bilateral talks led by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and visiting MaldivianPresident Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom bothsides signed 6 agreements in the fields of defence,tourism, taxation, space research, and conservationof mosques.

One agreement was about dual taxation onthe revenue generated by international airtransport.

Jharkhand Government announced to reserve 2percent employment for meritorious sportspersons

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das announcedthat the government would reserve two per centemployment in various departments formeritorious sports persons of the state.

Currently two per cent job quota for medal-winning sports persons is there only in statepolice department.Now it will be applicablein all departments.

Prime Minister to Inaugurate 3rd Asia MinisterialConference on Tiger Conservation

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inauguratethe three-day 3rd Edition of Asia MinisterialConference on Tiger Conservation in New Delhi.

More than 700 tiger experts, scientists,managers, donors and other stakeholdersare gathering to discuss issues related totiger conservation.

Shan-E-Punjab Express Becomes the First TrainFitted with CCTV Surveillance Cameras.


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Union Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu inauguratesfitment of CCTV in Shan-E-Punjab Express(Amritstar-New Delhi) through Video-Conferencing.CCTV Surveillance Cameras installation is a onemore step towards improving security in IndianTrains.

The installation of surveillance systems wasdone through Ms/ A-Paul InstrumentCompany at an approximate cost of 36.71lakh.

CCTV system includes 4 to 6 Cameras percoach with Digital Video Recorder (DVR)

India’s Maharajas’ Express among top rated trainsglobally

India’s Maharajas’ Express has been ranked amongthe top rated trains in the world, while The PlazaNew York was rated among the best hotels for thesuper-rich, says a survey.

The Maharajas’ Express’ train has redefinedthe luxury travel experience by offeringguests the opportunity to explore fableddestinations providing a glimpse of richcultural heritage of Incredible India

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

“PoochO Carpool” app was launched by DelhiTransport Minister Gopal Rai to give people moreoptions for carpooling during the second phase ofthe odd-even traffic scheme(April 15 to 30)

It would help users find carpool optionswithin a radius of 1-5km

It would have a chat feature that will helpusers communicate with the car driverwithout even mentioning their numbers

The scheme is not applicable to CNGvehicles, two-wheelers, women motorists,

cars carrying school children in uniform andseveral kinds of VIPs

Haryana Government renames Gurgaon asGurugram

Manohar Lal Khattar led Haryana governmentdecided to rename Gurgaon district as GurugranThe state government also decided to change thename of Mewat district to Nuh.

The decision comes from government in theaftermath of the demands by people of thearea.

India ranks 44 in 2016 Global Connectivity Index,Digital India seen as driver of growth

India placed at the 44th position among 50different countries in a Global ConnectivityIndex (GCI) report has been compiled Electronicsmajor by Huawei. The list was topped by USA.

The 50 countries assessed by GCI 2016account for 90 percent of global GDP and 78percent of the world’s population.

Huawei claims that the GCI also includessurvey results from 3,000 firms across 10verticals in 10 nations.

“India Rankings 2016” by NIRF

Ministry of Human Resource Developmentreleased the first ever domestic ranking “IndiaRankings 2016″ which has been made by NationalInstitutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).

The report by NIRF covered 3,500educational institutes in 4 categoriesUniversity, Engineering, Management andPharmacy.

In the Tech category, IIT- Madras toppedthe list while in the management category,IIM-Bangalore leads the chart.


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India’s first semi-high speed train ‘GatimaanExpress’ flagged off

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off theGatimaan Express from Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddinstation, Gatimaan Express, India’s first high speedtrain, crossed its maiden trip of 188 Kms in 101minutes.

The train runs at a speed of 160 km perhour, covering the 184 kilometre distancebetween Delhi and Agra in 105-110minutes. Gatimaan Express which is India’sfirst semi-high speed train.

Maharashtra Gov become first to bring lawagainst Social boycott & launched MissionDrinking Water

The Maharashtra Assembly lead by DevendraFadnavis passed the Prohibition of Social BoycottBill 2016 to becoming the first State to enact such alaw.

He also launched the ‘Mission DrinkingWater’ to conquer water crisis.

India, US to collaborate on tackling offshore taxevasion

India and the US have agreed to enhancecollaboration on tackling offshore tax evasion andincrease cooperation in sharing of cross-border taxinformation.

Union Finance Minister, ArunJaitleyand USTreasury Secretary Jacob Lew told in a JointStatement that we are committed tocontinued collaboration and sharing ofexperience in tackling offshore tax evasionand avoidance, including joint tax auditsand tax examination abroad.

The statement was issued after MrJaitleyand Mr.Jacob Lew co-chaired the 6th US-

India Economic and Financial Partnership(EFP) in Washington on the sidelines of theannual Spring Meeting of the IMF and theWorld Bank.

Jharkhand Government launched BhimraoAmbedkar Awas Yojana for widows

A target of 11,000 units (houses) has been set inthe current financial year for the programme,adding Rs 80 crore has been earmarked in thebudget for it.

Rs 75,000 would be granted to build ahouse in districts in hilly terrains and Rs70,000in plains in three installments

The widows would also get pension

Trimbakeshwar allows entry of women with rider,activists

The Trimbakeshwar Devasthan Trust inMaharashtra to allow women into the sanctumsanctorum of Shiva temple for an hour every day.

The Temple Trust allowed with a rider thatthey must wear wet cotton or silk clotheswhile offering prayers in the core area.Women activists have, however, refused toabide by the rule and lodged a policecomplaint against the Temple Trust.

This Decision comes in the aftermath oftrust meeting that arrived on the decisionfollowing an agitation by Pune-basedSwarajya Sanghatana.

Delhi ranked 44th among world’s 50 ‘future-readycities’

Delhi is ranked 44th on the list which is topped bySan Jose, followed by San Francisco, Singapore andLondon as the world’s most future-ready cities.


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The efforts put in by the Delhi and Uniongovernment to make a digitally enablednation, one that allows for last mileconnectivity and helps improve the qualityof life.

Dhoni quits as Amrapali Brand Ambassador

India’s Limited edition Cricket Captain MS Dhonihas resigned as brand ambassador of realty firmAmrapali, days after the residents turned unhappyof a housing project in Noida launched a socialmedia campaign asking the cricketer to dis-associate himself from the builder.

The Indian captain was the brandambassador of the company for the last 7years.

Government to allow Pakistani Hindus to buyproperty, open bank accounts

People belonging to minority communities ofPakistan, staying in India on Long Term Visa, willsoon be allowed to buy property, open bankaccounts and get PAN Card as well as Aadhaar.

The government also offer reduction in feesfor registration as citizens of India fromRs.15,000 to as low as Rs.100.

The exact number of minority refugeesfrom Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistanliving in India is not known.

Approximately, 400 Pakistani Hindu refugeesettlements are there in cities like Jodhpur,Jaisalmer, Jaipur, Raipur, Ahmedabad,

Rajkot, Kutch, Bhopal, Indore, Mumbai,Nagpur, Pune, Delhi and Lucknow.

Nagaland’s Kohima declared ‘smoke-free city’

Nagaland’s capital Kohima has been declared as a‘smoke-free city’.

The official declaration was made by theDeputy Commissioner of Kohima, RovilatuoMor.

A tobacco product contains 4000 chemicalswhich destroy any part of the body andcauses death to one million people in Indiaevery year.

Gujarat govt. decides to provide 10 % reservationto economically backward of higher castes

Gujarat Government will issue an ordinance on 1stMay to provide 10% reservation to economicallybackwards of higher caste.

Any persons, whose monthly family incomeis less than Rs. 50 thousand will entitle forthis new quota.

There will be no change in reservationspresently available to SC, ST and OBCs inthe state.

The ordinance will be drafted in a way thatconstitution provisions regardingreservations would not be violated.

BSF to put tallest 'Tiranga' at Wagah border byJanuary 2017

The Border Security Force (BSF) is planning toinstall the tallest national flag near the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post, famously known as theWagah border.


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The flag at 350 feet is part of BSF'sexpansion plans for the visitors' gallery atthe site of the iconic Retreat ceremony.

NITI Aayog launched urban managementprogramme for capacity building of states andurban local bodies

NITI Aayog chaired by Vice Chairman Dr ArvindPanagariya has launched the Urban ManagementProgramme in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

The Programme is designed by NITI Aayog,Temasek Foundation and SingaporeCooperation Enterprise (SCE) under theplatform of the Memorandum ofUnderstanding signed between NITI Aayogand the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise(SCE).

It was to tap the expertise of Singapore inurban sector to build capacities in StateGovernments and ULBs to design efficientsolutions to urban problems.

Indian Naval Ships Veer and NipatDecommissioned

Two Indian Naval Ships 'Veer' and 'Nipat' weredecommissioned at the Naval Dockyard inMumbai.

The decommissioning ceremony was held inthe presence of Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba,Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief WesternNaval Command.

Rahuri in Ahmednagar Becomes First to have Digi-Locker

Rahuri Municipal Council of Ahmednagar district inMaharashtra has became the first MunicipalCouncil to attain the status of integrated withdigital locker for the issuance of all essentialDocuments.

Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad formally launchedthis service as part of Digital IndiaProgramme.

With this facility, the citizen of the area cannow apply for the certificates like Birth,Marriage and Death Certificates onlinewithout going to Municipal Council andthese documents will be available in theDigilocker signed to the citizens.

EC launches mobile app e-voter for Keralaassembly polls

The Election Commission of India (ECI) haslaunched an innovative mobile application titled e-voter with comprehensive details about theforthcoming 2016 Assembly polls in Kerala.

The app is envisaged for voters’ facilitationfor search in electoral roll, informationregarding candidates, location of pollingstation, affidavit filed by them, filing ofcomplaint and so on.

The e-voter app was developed by the stateIT Mission. It aims at ensuring greattransparency and conduct of free and fairelections.

Netaji’s driver becomes oldest human alive at 116years

Netaji’s Driver Colonel Nizamuddin becomes oldesthuman alive at 116 years by opening a bankaccount at the ripe old age of 116-years.

Colonel Nizamuddin alias Saifuddin’s voteridentity card and passport, which heproduced as proof of identity before the


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State bank of India for opening the account,he was born in 1900.

This year February a Japanese man, whowas thought to be the oldest man alivepassed away at the age of 114

World’s largest ‘charkha’ to be on display at IGIairport

Wooden Charkha -spinning wheel which is largestin the world is planned to be installed at Terminal 3of the Indira Gandhi International Airport here isready for dispatch from a unit of Khadi and VillageIndustries Commission (KVIC) in Ahmedabad.

It was the initiative of KVIC Chairman V KSaxena who decided to install the world’slargest charkha at the international airportin Delhi.

Army conducts battle exercise ‘Shatrujeet’ inRajasthan

Indian Army’s elite STRIKE 1 corps is to conductinga major exercise Shatrujeet in the deserts ofRajasthan to evaluate the capability of the Army tostrike deep into enemy territory in an integratedair-land battle environment.

Nearly 30,000 soldiers are taking part inexercise Shatrujeet to ensure the forces areprovided real war-like situations and arekept in a high state of battle readiness.

The exercise would culminate on April 23.

SC/ST victims to get minimum compensation of Rs8.5 lakh from state government

Union government to compensate of Rs 8.5 lakhfor SC/ST victim of gang rape, murder or an acidattack including 47 offencesto get the

compensation from a state government, The newrules have come into force immediately.

The amended the Scheduled Castes and theScheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities)Rules, 1995, in which states will paycompensation ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs8.25 lakh to SC/ST victims.

The amounts now must be paid by the statewithin 7 days of the incident beingreported, either in full or at various stagesof the investigation and trial, as per aschedule.

The new rule says state Police have to file acharge sheet in cases of SC/ST victimswithin 60 days and any delay has to beexplained in writing by the officers.

Konkani museum to be set up in Mangaluru

Mandd Sobhan, a Konkani cultural organisation,will set up a Konkani museum in Mangaluru.

The Karnataka Budget for 2016-17 hasallocated ₹2.5 crore for the project.

The state government has assured toallocate another ₹2.5 crore in the nextfinancial year.

New Centre for Ganga River Basin Managementand Studies

National Mission for Clean Ganga under theMinistry of Water Resources, River Developmentand Ganga Rejuvenation in collaboration withIndian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK)announced the formal launch of Centre for GangaRiver Basin Management and Studies (CGRBMS) inNew Delhi.


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The Ministry signed a 10 yearMemorandum of Agreement with IITK forprovision of continual scientific support inthe implementation and dynamic evolutionof the Ganga River Basin ManagementPlan.

Ministry was focused on cleaning the Gangaby setting up Effluent Treatment Plants(ETPs) and Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs).

PM Modi inaugurates Shri Mata Vaishno DeviNarayana super-specialty hospital in Katra

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a 230bedded Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Superspecialty Hospital in Katra in Jammu and Kashmir.

For the hospital operation the board hasentered into an agreement with NarayanaHrudayalaya Ltd, Bangalore that operates32 hospitals across the country.

Cabinet approves signing the Paris Agreement

The Union Cabinet headed by the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi approved for signing the ParisAgreement adopted at the 21st Conference ofParties held in Paris in last December.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekarwill sign the agreement from India side on22 April 2016 at the high level signatureceremony convened by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Government merges Rajiv Gandhi KhelAbhiyanwith Khelo India

The Union Government has merged Rajiv GandhiKhel Abhiyan with Khelo India. They mergedanother two sport projects which were launchedduring UPA Government

Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme (USIS)

Missed call service launched for local trainupdates

The Western Railway has launched a unique servicethrough which commuters would be able to knowthe running status of local trains from simply givinga missed call.

The commuter needs to dial the Toll FreeNo.- 1800 212 4502 and the call will getdisconnected automatically after two ringssubsequent to which an SMS will be sentinforming the running status of thesuburban trains.

Western Railway has hired a private agencyto facilitate this service.

The best part of this service is that thesystem can be used by any kind of mobilephones be it smartphone or high endmobile or basic mobile phone.

Commuters would not need to haveinternet connection and the service istotally free of cost and commuters can alsoalternately register themselves with www.Mobitip.Info for daily periodic updates atscheduled times.

Heart of Asia conference begins in New Delhi

The heart of Asia conference has begun in NewDelhi. The conference aims to bring peace andstability to Afghanistan and speeding up itsreconstruction with a focus on enhancinginvestment and connectivity to the country.

In this conference 14 countries areparticipating and apart from those there aresome countries who are supporting theconference which include France, Germany,Canada etc.


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Indo-Mongolia Joint Military Exercise, NomadicElephant – 2016, commenced

The 11th Indo-Mongolia joint training Exercise,titled ‘Nomadic Elephant - 2016’ commenced on 25April 2016 in Mongolia.

The exercise aims at promoting militaryassociations between India and Mongoliawill culminate on 8 May 2016.

Ceasefire in Nagaland extended by one year

Union Government and National Socialist Councilof Nagaland, under the leadership of N. KitoviZhimomi and M.B Neokpao Konyak have mutuallyagreed to extend the Cease Fire Agreement byanother year with effect from April 28.

The agreement targets to bring lastingpeace in the state of Nagaland with theinvolvement of Naga people.

Chandigarh to host this year's International YogaDay

Chandigarh will host this year’s International YogaDay celebrations on June 21, with the Centredeciding to shift the venue from the Rajpath.

The Ministry has decided to shift the venueof the event from Delhi this year, as a steepincrease in the number of participants tothe mass Yoga event is being expected thisyear.

7 Women officers of SSC granted permanentcommission by Navy

To provide equal opportunities to women officersIndian Navy decided to grant permanentcommission to seven women officers belonging to

the Short Service Commission (SSC) batch of 2008-09.

Earlier the Navy had limited women officersonly to the Short Service Commission of 14years.

From 2017women officers can choose tojoin as pilots of Maritime Reconnaissanceplanes viz. Boeing P8I, Dornieras also in theNaval Armament Inspectorate cadre.

Shyam Benegal panel submits report on censorboard

Film maker Shyam Benegal headed committeeconstituted by the Information and Broadcastingministry to suggest measures to help Boardmembers understand the distinctions of filmcertification of the censor board submitted itsreport to I&B minister Arun Jaitly.

The committee suggested that the CentralBoard of Film Certification can declinecertification if a film having anything thatcontravenes the provisions of Section 5B (1)of the Cinematograph Act, 1952.

CBFC head will only plays the role of aguiding mechanism for the body, and not beinvolved in the day-to-day activitiesregarding the certification of films.

Union Railway Ministry to set up Rs 1 lakh croreRashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh

Ministry of Railways has pledged to set up a 1 lakhcrore rupees safety fund called Rashtriya RailSanraksha Kosh which aimed to strengthen safetymeasures on the rail network to prevent accidents.

The announced fund will help to accomplishrailway’s zero-accident mission by


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strengthening the safety measures on therail network in a comprehensive way.

Panel suggests fine or jail for celebs in misleadingads

Parliamentary Standing Committee has beenformed to tackle misleading advertising as well asto fix liability on endorsers/celebrities.

The panel suggests that for first timeoffence the violator may be penalised witheither a fine of Rs 10 lakh or imprisonmentup to two years or both. For second timeoffence a fine of Rs 50 lakh andimprisonment of five years.

Mumbai Noisiest city: Central Pollution ControlBoard

While Delhi may be the dirtiest city in terms of highair pollution but the Mumbai is reported themaximum violation of safe noise levels forconsistently longer periods during 2011-14 andbecomes Noisiest City in India.

Rank 1: Mumbai2: Lucknow 3: Hyderabad4:Delhi

Department of Disinvestment is now ‘DIPAM’

The Department of Disinvestment which runsunder Finance Ministry has been renamed asDepartment of Investment and Public AssetManagement or ‘Dipam’,

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hadannounced renaming of the body in hisbudget speech for 2016-17.

The new department has been mandated toadvise the government in the matters offinancial restructuring of central publicsector enterprises and for attractinginvestment through capital markets.

The body will deal with all mattersconcerning to management of uniongovernment investments in equity includingdisinvestment of equity in central publicsector undertakings.

Uttara khand HC quashes President’s Rule

The Uttarakhand High Court quashed the order ofthe Union government that had put the Stateunder President’s Rule on March 27.

The Court also ordered that a floor testmust be held in the Uttarakhand Assemblyon April 29 where former CM HarishRawat’s claim of having majority supportshall be put to test.

PM ushered in “Stand Up India” scheme

In order to promote entrepreneurship, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi initiated the “Stand upIndia scheme” and a Web portal for the scheme inNoida, Uttar Pradesh.

The initiative is taken to elevateentrepreneurship among ScheduledCaste/Schedule Tribe and Women byproviding loans between Rs. 10 Lakhs to Rs.100 Lakhs.

5100 E-Rickshaws also distributed at thelaunch event by Bhartiya Micro Credit(BMC) under the Pradhan Mantri MudraYojna scheme. Kaushal Vikas Kendra alsoinaugurated in Noida.


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UIDAI produced 100 crore Aadhaars

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)touched the historic point in a range of five and ahalf years by producing the 100thcrore Aadhaar.

The first Aadhaar was issued in 2010. This major landmark had achieved just after

the government notification of Aadhaar(Targeted Delivery of Financial and otherSubsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016which will give statutory support toexchange of subsidies and advantages toqualified individuals having Aadhaar (UID)number.

National Maritime Day – April 5

The 53rd National Maritime Day is observed on 5th

April with the theme of “Ease of doing business inthe maritime sector”.

The National Maritime Day is celebratedevery year on 5th April in commemorationof the maiden voyage of the first IndianVessel ‘S. S. Loyalty’.

Odisha Adarsh Vidyalaya (OAV) project instigatedby Odisha

In 14 districts of the state100 Adarsha Vidyalayashas been launched by Odisha ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik during an event held inthe Ambagaon village of Ganjam district, Odisha.

These schools will be administered by theOdisha Adarsh Vidyalaya Sangathan of thestate.

Anandiben Patel launches ‘Maa Annapurna Yojna’

Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel launchedthe state-wide implementation of Centre’s National

Food Security Act, which has been renamed as MaaAnnapurna Yojna by the state government.

Under the scheme, a beneficiary holdingthe Annapurna card will receive wheat at Rs2 per kilo and rice at Rs 3 per kilo. Currently,Above Poverty Line (APL) card holdingfamilies are entitled to a monthly stock of2.5 kg wheat per member of the family atRs 7.70 per kg.

Permanent memorial to Kalam at Dilli Haat in INA

AAP government has decided to build a permanentmemorial to APJ Abdul Kalam at a famous markethere where belongings of the former Presidentincluding his books and musical instruments wouldbe on display.

They will be kept inside the Delhi Assemblytill July 27 and thereafter, they will bepermanently placed at Dilli Haat.

The Delhi government will also have apermanent exhibition on Kalam at DelhiHaat.

Mumbai gets its first-ever AC local train

The first ever air-conditioned local train forMumbai flagged off into the city, the blue-greytrain rake with a stainless steel body has 12coaches with a capacity to seat 5,964 passengers.

The new train will consume 25% lesserenergy as opposed to normal rakes.

The train has been in the making since July2014 in the Integral Coach Factory inChennai, under an Rs 54-crore project.

Bihar Government imposes complete ban onalcohol


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With the ban on country liquor Bihar wouldbecome the fourth state in India to impose a totalprohibition of alcohol.

After the ban on country liquor, the stategovernment said it would continue sellingIMFL at 655 liquor shops in towns andcities.

Trade and Economy

Japan commits loan worth 14251 crores

Japan has been providing support to India bothfinancially and technically when it comes to thedevelopment of Infrastructure. It has nowcommitted a loan worth 242.2 billion yen for thevarious infrastructure projects in India.

Transmission System Strengthening Projectin Madhya Pradesh -JPY 15.45 billion

Odisha Integrated Sanitation ImprovementProject -JPY 25.7 billion

Dedicated Freight Corridor Project (Phase 1)-JPY 103.6 billion or Rs 6,170 crore

North East Road Network ConnectivityImprovement Project- JPY 67.1 billion

Jharkhand Horticulture Intensification byMicro Drip Irrigation Project -JPY 4.65 billion

Union Government launches Startup India portaland mobile app

The Union Government has launched the StartupIndia portal (http://startupindia.gov.in) and mobileapplication.

They will also provide information regardingincubators and funding agencies recognizedfor the purpose of recommending Startupsup to Rs 25 crore.

Startup India Hub was established withinInvest India will be a single point of contactfor the entire Startup ecosystem. It wouldenable exchange of knowledge and willwork in a hub and spoke model withGovernments, Angel Funds, VCs, Incubators,Mentors, etc.

Flipkart acquires mobile payments firm PhonePe

India’s largest e-commerce company Flipkart hasacquired PhonePe, a Bengaluru-based mobilepayments company

It was co-founded by ex-Flipkart employeesSameer Nigam and Rahul Chari.

PhonePe is building India’s a UnifiedPayments Interface (UPI) based product,which is, planned to go live in April. Theinterface will allow users to transact usingtheir unique identification and mobilephone number or virtual payments addresswithout sharing any other bank details.

Ficci, AIBC sign MoU to strengthen business ties

In a bid further strengthen and promote businessties with Australia, FICCI on Friday announcedinking an MoU with Australia India Business Council(AIBC).

The agreement was signed in the presenceof the visiting Finance Minister Arun Jaitleyduring the 'Invest in India Round TableConference' here.

According to National Chairman of AIBCDipen Rughani: "The signing of the MoU is agreat milestone in the bilateral relationsbetween the two organisations and willcertainly have a positive impact and add


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tremendous value to the business relationsbetween the two countries."

The agreement reinvigorates the ongoingrelationship between the two organisationsto further promote, facilitate and grow thetrade and investment relationship betweenAustralia and India.

India signed World Trade Organization’s Tradefacilitation agreement

India officially signed the World tradeorganization’s trade facilitation agreement

This move would supplement India’songoing reforms to bring in simplificationand transparency in cross-border trade ingoods. India is 76th country to sign TFA.

RBI issues master direction on merger of privatesector banks

Reserve Bank of India(RBI) issued the masterdirection for merger of private sector banks andalso between NBFCs and banks.

The decision of amalgamation should beapproved by respective boards by two-thirds majority

NBFC merging with a private sector bank, allaccounts should be KYC compliant as theywould eventually become accounts of thebanks after amalgamation.

Union Government imposes safeguard duty onimport of steel products

Union finance ministry imposed the Safeguard dutyof up to 20 percent on steel imports until March2018 to protect domestic manufacturers fromcheap Chinese imports.

The finance ministry notification directs 20percent ad valorem safeguard duty in the

first year from September 14, 2015 toSeptember 13, 2016 on hot-rolled flatproducts of non-alloy and other alloy steelin coils of 600 mm width or more.

Banks have to report foreign contribution toNGO’s within 48 hours

All the Banks mandated to report to the centralgovernment within two days any information onNGOs getting foreign funds.

The amended Foreign Contribution(Regulation) Amendment Rules2015 directed these rules in Gazette of Indiaon December 2015.

As per the rules banks have to report to thecentral government within 48 hours anytransaction in respect of receipt andutilization of any foreign contribution byany person.

This is applicable irrespective of whether ornot such person is registered or grantedpermission under the FCRA.

DBS Bank launches mobile-only bank

Singapore based DBS Development Bank launcheda mobile-only bank in India. The dedicated digibankuses technologies like biometrics and artificialintelligence for paperless, signature-less andbranchless bank.

The virtual bank will influence biometrics-integrated ID and Aadhaar card to ensurethat that there is no paperwork. It willprovide customer service via a 24×7artificial intelligence-driven assistantnetworks.

It will have an intuitive budget optimiserthat will help customers do their budgeting,track expenses and analyse purchasingtrends.


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The digibank is smart such that it canunderstand customer behavior andpreferences, synthesise data, and providerecommendations.

It also has embedded soft token security,avoiding the need to wait for SMS to arrive.

Account should not need to maintain anyminimum balance requirements earn 7 percent interest for accounts opened ondigibank and can avail themselves of freecash withdrawals.

Account holders will be provided with aphysical debit card which can be used in allVisa-enabled online and POS transactions

India has elevated to 6th position among World’sTop 10 Manufacturers

In accordance with the “The Yearbook” publishedby the United Nations Industrial DevelopmentOrganization (UNIDO), India has been positioned at6th place among the world’s 10 largestmanufacturing countries.

The list has been surmounted by China,which was followed by the US, Japan,Germany and Korea. Indonesia was stoodat the bottom of the list.

The India’s growth has been upgraded to 3positions as compared to the previous9th.As per report, the Manufacturing ValueAdded (MVA) in India enhanced by 7.6% in2015 in comparison with the previous year.

While India shows the tremendous growth,on the global front, the growth rate ofmanufacturing production has slowed to2.8% in 2015.

DCB Bank starts India’s first Aadhaar-based ATM

Maharashtra based Small-sized lender DCB Bankhas started an Aadhaar-based ATM usage facility inwhich a customer can transact using his biometricdetails instead of the PIN.

This is the first ATM in the country whichoperates using the Aadhaar data. One cando a transaction without the card as well.

ATM card holders can key-in the 12-digitAadhaar number or swipe the card at anautomated teller machine (ATM) to start atransaction

Germany’s Development Bank KfW to provideloan assistance to metro system for Nagpur

Germany’s Development Bank KfW will provideloan assistance of 3750 crore rupees for themodern and sustainable metro system for Nagpurcity.

In this regard, a loan agreement was signedby Joint Secretary in Department ofEconomic Affairs S Selvaraj and DirectorGeneral of KfW Roland Siller in New Delhi.

The loan period is 20 years with amoratorium of 5 years and disbursal will bebased on the progress of the project overthree years.

With this Nagpur metro project becomesfirst metro to be financed under the Indo-German partnership for clean, sociallyinclusive and climate friendly mobility forpeople in cities. The project is beingexecuted by Nagpur Metro Rail CorporationLimited and its total costing is of 8,680crore rupees.

2015 report on “World Military Expenditure”released by SIPRI

In accordance with the report released byStockholm International Peace Research Institute(SIPRI), India has been ranked at 6th Position in the2015 report on Trends in world militaryexpenditure.

The chart has been topped by the USA asthe world’s biggest spender in 2015.


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Top 5 countries – USA, China, Saudi Arabia,Russia and UK.

Asia’s 50 most powerful businesswoman listtopped by Nita Ambani

American magazine Forbes has released 2016“Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen” list featuringbusiness women from 14 countries, includingChina, Indonesia, Australia, Vietnam, Thailand,Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Philippines and NewZealand.

In accordance with the list, 8 Indian womenhave made their mark in the list of 50women leaders which is topped by RelianceFoundation Chairperson Nita Ambani (52).

Union Minister Piyush Goyal Lays FoundationStone for IPDS Work

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal laid thefoundation stone for underground cabling workunder Integrated Power Development Scheme(IPDS) in Varanasi.

The Ministry has sanctioned Rs. 432 croresfor the project.

The IPDS Scheme covers conversion ofoverhead lines to Underground cables,establishment of 2 new 33 Kv Sub-stationsand augmentation of 11 nos. existing Sub-stations.

Centre Releases Rs.12, 230 crore To States ForMGNREGA

The Ministry of Rural Development has released acentral share of Rs. 12,230 crore to the states forimplementation of its flagship programmes underthe Mahatma Gandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act (MGNREGA).

The Minister also underlined that this fundrelease will take care of the pending wageliability of the States for the previousFinancial Year (2015-16) and help the Statesto run the programme during the newFinancial Year (2016-17).

Airtel Buys Aircel’s 4G Spectrum in 8 Circles For Rs3,500 crore

Bharti Airtel announced the acquisition of 20 MHzspectrum in eight circles from Aircel for Rs 3,500crore.

Bharti will acquire spectrum or radio wavesin 2,300 MHz band in Tamil Nadu, Bihar,West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam,North East, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

Aircel had won the spectrum in agovernment auction and is entitled to holdit till September 20, 2030. After thisacquisition, Bharti Airtel will become a pan-India 4G operator.

India retains 19th rank among top 30global exporters

India’s rank remained unchanged at 19th in 2015 inthe list of top 30 merchandise exporters of theworld, according to a WTO report. China continuesto hold the top position in the list.

However, India’s ranking among topimporters slipped by one notch to 13th in2015, from 12th in previous year. Inimports, the US topped the list.

India’s exports dipped by 17.2 per cent toUSD 267 billion last year while importsaggregated at USD 392 billion. In 2014, thecountry’s outbound and inbound shipmentsaggregated at USD 317 billion and USD 460billion respectively.

Further, India’s rank remained unchangedat 8th last year among the top 30 leading


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exporters of commercial servicesrespectively. In imports, India positioned10th.

In 2015, India’s commercial services exportsaggregated at USD 158 billion while importswere USD 126 billion.

The report said that China registered thehighest merchandise trade by value in 2015with USD 2,275 billion worth of exports.

Total world merchandise exports were USD16,482 billion whereas imports were USD16,766 billion.

RBI gives nod to BhartiAirtel’s payments BankUnit

Gopal Vittal led Bharti Airtel’s payments bankventure Airtel M Commerce Services Ltd hasbecome the first entity to receive final approvalfrom the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start apayments bank.

Delhi based Bharti Airtel will set up thepayments bank in partnership with KotakMahindra Bank, which holds 9% stake inAirtel M Commerce, a subsidiary of BhartiAirtel.

Nauru becomes 189th member of IMF, WorldBank

South Pacific island nation Nauru has become the189th member of the International Monetary Fund(IMF) and the World Bank.

Nauru applied for membership in theWashington-based IMF and World Bank inApril 2014, after joining the United Nationsin 1996 as the world’s smallest independentrepublic.

India To Notch Up To 7.5 % Growth In 2016–17 :IMF

In its Economic Outlook IMF retained its 7.5 percentGDP expansion forecast for India in 2016 and2017.

IMF suggested the government to sizedown the subsidies, initiate labour reformsand dismantle infrastructure bottlenecks tosustain strong growth.

In India, growth is projected to notch up to7.5 per cent in 2016-17, as forecast inOctober.

IMF 2016 global growth forecast for thefourth time in the past year to 3.2 per cent,quoting China’s slowdown, persistently lowoil prices and chronic weakness in advancedeconomies. This was down from 3.4 percent projected in January.

Reliance AMC named as India’s “Best EmployerBrand”

In accordance with the study by Aon Hewitt, theglobal talent, retirement and health solutionsbusiness, the Reliance Asset ManagementCompany has been listed among the best employerbrands.

Reliance AMC is the only mutual fundcompany to get this recognition in India inthe top 25 AON list for 2016.

World’s largest oil firm Aramco plans to invest inIndia

The world’s largest crude exporter with crudereserves of about 265 billion barrelsCompany Aramco is planning to make a majorinvestment in India’s petroleum sector.

The head of Aramco, Khalid A. Al Falih,recently stated that the company regardedIndia as the most preferred investmentdestination.


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Saudi Arabia is currently India’s largestcrude supplier, supplying one-fifth of thecountry’s oil.

Private equity firm, Blackstone to buy Mphasis for$1.1billion

Private equity firm Blackstone India has enteredinto an agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise(HPE) to buy a majority stake in Mphasis Limited ina deal valued between $825 million and $1.1billion.

It is the largest deal by Blackstone in Indiaand is the largest private equity transactionin the country.

Mphasis, IT Services provider which offersApplications, Business Process Outsourcingand Infrastructure Services.

Panama Papers: Investigation of 500 Indians asper new anti-black money law

Union Government declared that action will betaken against unlawful accounts held abroad byIndians and constituted a multi-agency group tocontinuously monitor information after the Reportfrom Panama Papers which says 500 Indians beingnamed off illegal fund holdings in abroad.

Panamanian law firm have revealedoffshore accounts linked to the world’smost prominent people hundreds of Indianshave been named.

India signs USD 100m draft export pact with IDB

India has signed a memorandum of understandingwith the 56-member Islamic Development Bank(IDB) for a possible $100 million line of credit tosimplify exports to IDB’s member countries.

The agreement was signed by Khaled Al-Aboodi, CEO of the IDB, and Tarun Sharma,regional head on behalf the EXIM Bank.

RBI cuts repo rate by 25 basis points

RBI has announced the first Bi-monthly MonetaryPolicy Statement for 2016-17. It cuts the Repo rateunder the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25basis points to 6.5% and kept the Cash ReserveRate (CRR) unchanged.

Repo Rate : 6.50% Reverse Repo Rate : 6.00% Marginal Standing Facility Rate : 7.00% Bank Rate : 7.00% CRR : 4% SLR : 21.25%

India world’s largest remittance recipient in 2015:World Bank

According to the World Bank India named as theworld’s largest remittance recipient in 2015 despiteexperiencing a $ 1 billion drop from the previousyear, the first decline in its remittances since 2009.

India reserved its top spot in 2015,attracting about $69 billion in remittances,down from $70 billion in 2014, the WorldBank in its annual report ‘Migration andDevelopment Brief’.

BSNL to launch data sharing service facility forusers across India

BSNL to launch data sharing facility for pre-paidcustomers across the country. It will allow fourusers to share data among themselves. No chargeswill be levied for availing this facility.

Currently, the company has introduced aspecial tariff voucher (STV) for this service


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in south zone. The STV allows sharing ofdata among a group of people.

NDB sanctions $ 250 million for India’s renewableenergy scheme

India gets a loan from the BRICS’s China based NewDevelopment Bank (NDB) which gave a $250million funding to Canara Bank for a renewableenergy project.

The Development Bank has approved fourgreen renewable energy projects fromIndia, China, Brazil and South Africaentailing Bank financing of $811 million.

RBI cuts maturity of masala bonds to three years

RBI has reduced the minimum tenure of Masalabonds to make it more attractive. The term”Masala Bond” is used to refer to rupee-denominated borrowings by Indian entities inoverseas markets.

The minimum maturity period for therupee-denominated bonds issued overseasreduced to three years from the previouslystated five years.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC),the investment arm of the World Bankissued a 1,000 crore bond to fundinfrastructure projects in India that werelisted on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

US jury slaps $940 million fine on two companiesof India’s Tata group

A US grand jury has slapped $ 940 million fine ontwo companies of India’s Tata group namely TataConsultancy Services (TCS) and Tata AmericaInternational Corp

TCS and Tata America International mustpay USD 240 million to Epic Systems forstealing its software

Tata firms have also been asked to payanother USD 700 million as penalty.

Banks to Share All Transaction Details In StandardFormat

From now onward all the Banks have to share thetransaction details in a standard format.

The banks were providing data in variousfile formats making it difficult for theagencies to process and analyse theinformation.

The processing of multi-format data alsoresults in wastage of manpower and time.

To recover with this issue a meeting wascalled by the Central Economic IntelligenceBureau and a commonly acceptable formatwas designed.

FSS to provide UPI solution for 6 banks

Financial Software & Systems Pvt. Ltd. (FSS), aChennai-based payments technology andtransaction processing company, has inkedagreements with six banks to provide UPI (UnifiedPayment Interface) solution across the country ona hosted platform.

UPI facilitates easy and seamless person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-merchant(P2M) transactions for end-customers.

A bank customer can download this app inhis/her mobile devise, register the accountnumber and take a virtual address.

India and Mauritius sign MoU to promotecooperation in the field of Traditional Medicineand Homoeopathy


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Union Government inks Memorandum ofUnderstanding with Mauritius for the followingadvantages

Traditional system of Medicine andHomeopathy

Exchange of Experts, Supply of traditionalmedicinal substances

Joint research and Development Recognition of the traditional systems of

health and Medicine

RBL becomes first private sector bank to opendedicated branch for Startups

RBL Bank launches Bengaluru branch exclusively forstartups. The dedicated branch will assistentrepreneurs in setting up new companies andoffer banking services like foreign exchange,remittances and cash management.

It will also provide a range of value addedservices including registration, legal and taxformalities through its affiliates andpartners.

Morgan Stanley downgrades Bank of Baroda andICICI Bank

Morgan Stanley downgraded India’s biggest privatesector bank ICICI as well as state-run Bank ofBaroda, citing rising concerns about Non-Performing Assets(NPA).

These banks will have to provide moremoney to cover for NPAs in the current andnext fiscal year.

India to Purchase 145 M777 Howitzers for US$750 Million

India is expected to buy 145 M777 Howitzers for$750 million to prepare its Mountain StrikeCorps. The decision to buy ultra-light Howitzers

produced by UK based BAE Systems under theMake In India

The Decision was taken at a meetingbetween Indian Defense Minister ManoharParrikar and his US counterpart AshtonCarter. The price notified by the US in 2012was $694 million. But the Gun makerseeking price revision of 10% hike from theearlier price.

Union government allots Rs. 800 crore to clean uppolluted lakes in garden city

Union government has pledged to provide Rs. 800crore under AMRUT scheme to rejuvenate lakesespecially the Bellandur Lake the largest and mostpolluted water body.

Out of the total sum 500 crore is for layingdown a 74 kms trunk sewage pipeline. Ofthe total money about Rs 162 crore havebeen provided to construct 4 SewageTreatment Plant (STPs) in Bellandur Lake.

India bans import of mobile phones, milk, steelproducts from ChinaIndia has banned import of milk and milk products,mobile phones and some other items from Chinaafter finding them of poor quality.

Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharamansaid in Lok Sabha that Some mobile phones,which don’t have International MobileStation Equipment Id number and somesteel products have also been banned fromimporting from China.

Completely banning imports from anycountry is not possible due to World TradeOrganisation rules even if we haveproblems diplomatically, territorially ormilitarily,” she said.


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International Solar Alliance Cell and UNDPDeclared Cooperation for Promoting Solar EnergyThe Interim Administrative Cell of InternationalSolar Alliance (ISA Cell) and the United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP) declared theirintention to promote solar energy globally.

It was declared at UN headquarter NewYork by Solar Alliance Cell. Joint declarationis a new beginning and will help inleveraging and expediting solar energydevelopment and deployment in ISAcountries.

Cabinet clears expansion of India-Chile tradeagreement

Introduction: Union Government headed by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, has successfully accordedits approval for expansion of the India – ChilePreferential Trade Agreement

Advantages of Agreement:

Import and Export of Products Double taxation treaty particularly for

Mining Sector Help to increase our trade concentration Several Opportunities to explore various

sectors Chile has offered concessions to India on

1,798 tariff lines and India has offeredconcessions to Chile on 1,031 tariff lines

Xiaomi invests $25 million funding in Hungama

Xiaomi has made $25 million investment in indigital media firm, Hungama. It is the firstinvestment made by Xiaomi in the country.

Hungama has 65 million monthly activeconsumers. It has partnerships with over700 content creators, and offers over 8,000movies in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam,

Bengali, Punjabi and six other Indianregional languages on its platform.

ISRO, NASA to jointly launch satellite to studyearthquakes and their patterns

In ISRO and NASA are jointly operated missionNISAR a satellite that helps studying earthquakeand its patterns will be launched.

The satellite is called NASA-ISRO SyntheticAperture Radar, or NISAR and is designed tomake observations and measurements ofecosystem disturbance, ice-sheet collapse,and natural hazards such as tsunami,volcanoes and landslides.

Ola introduce e-rickshaws on its platform

India’s smartest app based cab company Ola hasintroduced electric rickshaws on its platform. It waslaunched in the presence of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi at the ‘Start-up India’ event held inNoida

A total of 5,100 Ola e-rickshaws will belaunched in partnership with Bhartiya MicroCredit (BMC) and will be deployed acrossDelhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad andGhaziabad.

Government widens export funding to Iran to Rs3,000 crore

The agreement between Exim Bank of India and aconsortium of Iranian banks led by Central Bank ofIran for financing the purchase of goods andservices from India to Rs 3,000 crore, from Rs 900

This will facilitate an opportunity to Indiancompanies to penetrate andenhance theirfootprint in Iran.


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Mother Dairy Partners Delhi Daredevils AsPrincipal Sponsor

Mother Dairy, an Indian FMCG company haspartnered with Indian Premium League (IPL) cricketteam Delhi Daredevils as its principal sponsor.

With this association, the brand MotherDairy will be seen on Delhi Daredevils teamjersey, along with the visibility at key spotsin the stadium on match days.

Appointments

Faustin-Archange Touadera sworn in as Presidentof Central Africa

Faustin-Archange Touadera was sworn in as thepresident of the Central African Republic in themain stadium at Bangui.

Central African Republic has been atpolitical unrest since the communalviolence between Christians and Muslimsthat took place in 2013

Wipro appoints Patrick Dupuis as its Boardmember

The IT Major Wipro has announced theappointment of Patrick Dupuis as its newindependent board member.

Patrick Dupuis was the Senior VicePresident of Paypal Holdings.He has alsobeen a part of BJC healthcare and

functioned as the CFO of Sitel, one of thelargest customer care company

Wipro

Established: 1945 Headquarters: Bengaluru Chairman:Azim Premji

First female speaker for Vietnam Parliament

Vietnam has chosen Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan as itsfirst female speaker.

Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan got 472 votes out ofthe total 481 votes and got a clean sweep ofmajority in becoming the speaker of theassembly

She became the first female speaker of thenation and also elected as the chairpersonof National Election council with 467 votesout of 477

Earlier she served as the Vice Chairpersonof the National Assembly from July, 2011

Rajiv Gauba takes over as Secretary of UrbanDevelopment Ministry

Rajiv Gauba took over as Secretary to theGovernment of India in the Ministry of UrbanDevelopment.

Jharkhand governmentis now looking foranother Chief Secretary.

Bhupendra Kainthola is new FTII director

Bhupendra Kainthola, an Indian InformationService (IIS) officer of 1989 batch, has beenappointed as the new Director of Film andTelevision Institute of India (FTII).


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FTII, country’s premier institute thatprovides training for acting, film making,video editing, direction and production.

It is an autonomous body under Ministry ofInformation and Broadcasting.

Bishwadip Dey to serve in Republic of Trinidadand Tobago

Shri Bishwadip Dey was appointed as the HighCommissioner of India to the Republic of Trinidadand Tobago

He is currently working as the Deputy Chiefof Mission in Embassy of India, Thimphu

Nagaland Chief Secy Pankaj Kumar becomes firstAmbassador for Girl Child

Nagaland Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar hasbecome the first Ambassador for Girl Child (AFGC)under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Project

Every AFGC will provide one underprivileged girl child the chance to live abetter life besides contributing towardsquality education of such girls.

Government reconstitutes IGNCA board; RamBahadurRai appointed as Chairman

Government has reconstituted Indira GandhiNational Centre for Arts (IGNCA) board. RamBahadur Rai, Senior Journalist has been appointedas Chairman of the Board.

Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharmaappoints a new 20-member team includingclassical dancer Sonal Mansingh, lyricistPrasoon Joshi, artist Vasudeo Kamath andUnion Culture Ministry Secretary.

Ajay Devgn, Kajol to be brand ambassadors ofAndhra Pradesh tourism

Bollywood actors Ajay Devgn and Kajol are all set tobecome the brand ambassadors of Andhra PradeshTourism.

About 8 million tourists visited AndhraPradesh in 2015, a 30% increase over theprevious year, according to the stategovernment. Of these, 237,000 wereforeign tourists mainly from SoutheastAsian countries such as Singapore, Malaysiaand West Asia.

The celebrity couple were prepared to takeup the role of brand ambassadors for thetourism of Amravati and the rest of thestate.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma appointed chairman ofIAMAI payments banks group

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma hasappointed as the chairman and Vodafone Indiabusiness head Suresh Sethi as Vice chaiman of thenewly formed payments banks group Industry bodyInternet and Mobile Association of India(IAMAI).

IAMAI Payments Banks is an innovativemodel of bringing unbanked population intothe formal banking fold.

Ukraine appoints Groysman new Prime Minister

Ukraine’s parliament has appointedVolodymyrGroysman as the country’s new primeminister. He was voted in by MPs 257 to 50 as the16th Prime Minister of Ukraine.

MPs voted to approve Mr. Groysman’sappointment and accept the resignation ofhis predecessor, ArseniyYatsenyuk.

Groysman will succeed Yatsenyuk, afterserving as his deputy during the latter’s first


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government, in the aftermath of thetoppling of pro-Russian President ViktorYanukovych in 2014.

C.P. Gurnani appointed as Chairman of NASSCOM

C.P. Gurnani appointed as Chairman of NationalAssociation of Software and Services Companies(NASSCOM) for 2016-2017.He will replace B V RMohan Reddy, who served as Chairman for 2015-16.

Mr. Raman Roy, Chairman and ManagingDirector of Quatrro Global Services,appointed as the Vice Chairman ofNASSCOM for 2016-17.

Govt ropes in Sachin Tendulkar for ‘SkillIndia’ campaign

Prime Minister’s Skill India Mission is all set to get amajor boost with cricket icon Sachin Tendulkarendorsing the ‘I Support Skill India’ campaign of theMinistry of Skill Development andEntrepreneurship (MSDE).

The ministry's target is to skill 40.2 croreyouth by 2022. It has also introduced itsflagship scheme Pradhan Mantri KaushalVikas Yojana (PMKVY), the world's largestmonetary reward scheme promoting skilldevelopment to those who need financialsupport.

It is an attempt to reach out to the youthand build awareness on the importance ofskill development.

GoJavas Appointed Amitabh Coomar As Its NewCEO

Gojavas, the logistics and supply chain solutionscompany has announced the appointment of Mr.

Amitabh Coomar as the Chief Executive Officer(CEO).

The appointment of Coomar came after thedeparture of Vijay Ghadge, who was theChief Operating Officer (COO) of thecompany.

LAVA International Announces MS Dhonias ItsBrand Ambassador

Indian cricket legend MS Dhoni was elected as abrand ambassador of local handset maker LavaInternational.

MS Dhoni will be the new face of Lava’smulti-channel marketing campaign to makeit the most reliable brand of Indian market.

Centre appoints Finance Secretary as liaisonofficer with Jammu and Kashmir

Finance Secretary Ratan Wattal was appointed asthe liaison officer to working between Jammu andKashmir government and central government

He will be responsible to ensure the flow offunds to the J & K government andimplementation of Prime Minister’sDevelopment Package in the state.

Government appoints Susmita Pande as NationalMonument Authority (NMA) Chairperson

Susmita Pande, a professor at Ujjain’s VikramUniversity, has been appointed as the newchairperson of the National Monument Authority(NMA) for a three-year term.

She would succeed Himanshu Prabha Ray,the professor at Jawaharlal NehruUniversity.

NMA, under the Union Culture & TourismMinistry, is responsible for the protection


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and preservation of centrally protectedmonuments and sites.

Rudra Gaurav Shresth appointed as the next HighCommissioner of India to the Republic ofMozambique

IFS Officer from 1999 cadre Rudra Gaurav Shresthpresently Director in the Ministry, has beenappointed as the next High Commissioner of Indiato the Republic of Mozambique.

He will assume his new duty soon.

Geetha Johri becomes Gujarat’s first woman DGP

Geetha Johri is all set to become first woman topcop of Gujarat. With this she will be the Gujarat’sfirst woman IPS officer who promoted to DGP rank.

Geetha has been promoted from the rankof ADGP to Director General of Police andshe will continue at her present post asManaging Director of the Gujarat StatePolice Housing Corporation.

She is a 1982-batch IPS officer, who isoriginally from Tamil Nadu.

Thomas Cook elevates Mahesh Iyer to COO post

Thomas Cook has elevated Mahesh Iyer, head of itsforeign exchange division, to the position of chiefoperating officer(COO).

He will be responsible for day to daybusiness management.

He will also be responsible for managing thevisa and foreign exchange business in India,Mauritius and Sri Lanka.

PCB appoints Inzamam-ul-Haq as new chiefselector

Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haqappointed as the head of the new selectioncommittee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)

Inzamam, who replaces former batsmanHaroonRasheed.

He was the Afghanistan cricket team coachfor the past six months

India’s Durga Thakur Promoted as InternationalHockey Umpire

International Hockey Federation has promotedDurga Thakur of India as the international outdoorumpire. FIH’s list currently has 14 Indians in theelite league of international umpires (10 men, 4women).

Thakur started her career as an umpirefrom the third Hockey India Sub-Junior Men& Women National Championship.

She is a graduate of NSNIS in 2011 her firstinternational assignment came in 2015 atthe double six-Nation Cup inBreda, Netherlands.

Laos appoints new president, prime minister

Communist Party chief Bounnhang Vorachit wasappointed as the country’s new president andforeign minister Thongloun Sisoulith as the primeminister of Laos by Laos’s National Assembly

The National Assembly has electedpresident, with more than two-thirds of thevotes.

Centre appoints A. Ajith Kumar as Rubber BoardChief

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet hasapproved the appointment of A. Ajith Kumar, a1994 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, to the post


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of chairman, Rubber Board, Kottayam. The post hasbeen lying vacant since August 2014.

He has been appointed for a period up toMay 31, 2018.

BCCI appoints media veteran Rahul Johri as CEO

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasappointed Rahul Johri as its new CEO, in line withthe recommendations of the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee.

Before this assignment, Johri was executivevice-president and general manager forSouth Asia at Discovery Network.

Johri will join the Board on June 1st. He willbe responsible for the stakeholdermanagement and building robust strategiesfor further promoting the sport.

Suresh Babu appointed as the next Ambassadorof India to Mongolia

Current Ambassador of India to Armenia T. SureshBabu has elected as the country’s next Ambassadorto Mongolia.

He is expected to take up his assignmentshortly.

Goa appoints Justice PK Mishra as Lokayukta

Goa Government appointed former Chief Justice ofPatna High Court Justice, P. K. Mishra as Lokayuktaof the state.

He had recently retired as chairman of GoaState Human Rights commission.

He will succeed Justice (Retd) SudarshanReddy, Goa’s first Lokayukta.

Shubhdarshini Tripathi appointed as Ambassadorto Jordan

Shubhdarshini Tripathi presently Deputy Chief ofMission in Berlin, has been appointed as the nextAmbassador of lndia to the Hashemite Kingdom ofJordan.

Nandini Singla , presently Joint Secretary inthe Ministry has been appointed as the nextAmbassador of India to Portugal

Masakui has been appointed as theambassador to Zimbabwe.

Shri Satender Kumar, Ambassador of Indiato the Republic of Suriname, has beenconcurrently accredited as the next HighCommissioner of India to Barbados

Madhukar Gupta committee to suggest ways totighten security along Indo-Pak borderThe Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has

constituted high-level committee to suggest waysto tighten security along India-Pakistan border.

The committee will be headed by formerUnion Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta.

It will Study all types of gaps in the fencingand all other vulnerabilities along the India-Pakistan border. Suggest a comprehensiveapproach to fix them on interim andpermanent basis. It will submit its report inthree months i.e. till June 2016.

Awards

Ranveer Singh honoured as “Maharashtrian ofThe Year”

Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh, who started hiscareer with romantic comedy “Band Baaja Baaraat”


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in 2010 has been conferred with “Maharashtrian OfThe Year” award.

On the other hand, the “lifetimeachievement award” was bestowed upon82 year old legendary singer Asha Bhosle.

The award was presented by MaharashtraChief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at aceremony held at Mumbai.

Imprisoned Novelist Ahmed Naji bagged PENFreedom to Write Award

The prestigious PEN/Barbey Freedom to WriteAward, presented by PEN America has beenconferred upon, jailed Egyptian author andjournalist, Ahmed Naji.

Naji will be accorded with the award at PenAmerica’s annual Literary Gala on 16 May2016 at the American Museum of NaturalHistory in New York.

New Zealand's $5 bill named best banknote of theyear

New Zealand’s five-dollar note has been named thebanknote of the year for 2015 by the InternationalBank Note Society.

The $5 note has won form the 40 eligibledesigns from a record 20 countries.The $5note has featured mountaineer Sir EdmundHillary and on the other side, a rare yellow-eyed penguin and local flora.

Swat activist Tabassum Adnan wins 2016 NelsonMandela Award

A women's rights activist from Swat valley ofPakistan, Tabassum Adnan, has won the NelsonMandela Graça Machel Innovation Award 2016 inBogota, Colombia.

She won the award for the individualactivist category on the concluding day ofthe International Civil Society Week heldfrom April 25-28.

A victim of child marriage, Tabassum Adnanwas married at the age of 13. The marriagewhich was marked by frequent domesticabuse, ended after 20 years when shegathered the courage to divorce herabusive husband.

Sudarsan Pattnaik bags gold medal at SculptureChampionship in Moscow

Renowned artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has won thegold medal at ninth Moscow Sand SculptureChampionship in Russia.

Mr. Pattnaik won the competition for his 15feet high art work Mahatma Gandhi'ssculpture for non-violence and peace.

The 20 top sculptors from differentcountries competed at the championship.

PM Narendra Modi conferred Saudi Arabia’shighest civilian honour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred SaudiArabia’s highest civilian honour- the King AbdulazizSash.

The prestigious award was bestowed uponIndian Prime Minister by incumbent SaudiArabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz at theRoyal Court.

Vedanta sets Guinness World Record for massplantation

Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL), a subsidiaryof Vedanta Limited has formally set the GuinnessWorld Record for at the same time planting208,751 saplings at a solitary area in under 60minutes.


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ISO 900, ISO 14001, ISO 50001 and OHSAScertified company TSPL is the largestGreenfield Power Project in Punjab.

Bollywood Actress Radhika Apte Wins BestActress award at Tribeca Film Fest

The 30 year old actress has won the best actressaward in an International narrative feature honourat Tribeca Film Festival for her contribution in theFilm Madly.

The Actress starred in ‘Clean Shaven; whichis a part of the filmMadly.

Indian documentary ‘Undercover Asia: Girls forSale’ wins bronze medal in New York Festivals2016

Indian Documentary film, “Undercover Asia: Girlsfor Sale” has won a bronze world medal at the NewYork Festivals 2016 in the Social Issues category.

This documentary film explores anti-trafficking activist Rishi Kant’s search fortwo minor girls, who have been abducted.

Jennifer Aniston named as World’s Most BeautifulWoman by People magazine

Jennifer Aniston(47) was named as the World’sMost Beautiful Woman for 2016 byPeople magazine, for the second time.

She has received this honour in 2004. Last year winner was Sandra Bullock. Aniston won an Emmy Award in 2002 and

a Golden Globe Award in 2003.

Bernie Sanders wins Time reader poll of 100 mostinfluential people

American Democratic presidential candidate BernieSanders won the TIME 100 reader poll with 3percent of the vote, ahead of Hilary Clinton whowas 25th with 1 per cent of the vote.

Bernie had finished with 3.3% of the totalvotes on the poll, edging out the SouthKorean boy band Big Bang’s 2.9%, Burmeseleader Aung San SuuKyi’s 2.2%, andPresident Obama’s 2%.

Government renames Panagarh airbase afterformer IAF Chief Arjan Singh

Union government has renamed the Panagarhairbase Base as Air Force Station Arjan Singh inhonour of the Marshal of the Air Force ArjanSingh.This Honour came from the government onthe 97th birthday of Arjan Singh, Marshal of theIndian Air Force.

The Air base station is located in Burdwandistrict which is around 150 kms fromKolkata. Panagarh was constructed in 1944during the Second World War.

Air Force Station played a significant role inthe 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan.

Delhi girl Priyadarshini Chatterjee crowned MissIndia World 2016

Delhi girl, Priyadarshini Chatterjee was announcedas the winner of FBB Femina Miss India World byBollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan during a star-studded ceremony.

She saw off competition from Bangalore girlSushruthi Krishna, who was the 1st runnerup and Lucknow’s Pankhuri Gidwan.

Priyadarshini will represent India at theMiss World 2016


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Mother Teresa Conferred With Founders AwardPosthumously In UK

The Nobel Peace Prize awardee Mother Teresanow has been conferred with the UK's prestigiousFounders Award this year.

The award is given to recognize and rewardexemplary achievements of people withinthe global Asian community.

The Founders award is to recognize andreward exemplary achievement within theglobal Asian community across 14categories that include business,philanthropy, entertainment, culture andsport.

Teresa, who died in 1997 at Kolkata, havespent more than 45 year of her life asserving the poor, the sick and the orphaned.

Khadija Ismayilova to receive UNESCO/GuillermoCano World Press Freedom Prize 2016

Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova awardedwith UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World PressFreedom Prize 2016. The Prize will be awardedduring the celebration of World Press FreedomDayon 3rd May 2016 hosted by Finland.

She has been recommended Ismayilova inrecognition of her outstanding contributionto press freedom in difficult circumstances.The prize is awarded on therecommendation of an independent jury of12 news

Priyanka Chopra to be conferred with DadasahebPhalke Film Foundation Award 2016

Actress Priyanka Chopra will be bestowed withDadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation’s Best Actressof the Year Award.

The ceremony will be held on the 147thDadasaheb Phalke Jayantiin Mumbai onApril 24.

This will be the second award from theFoundation after she received her first onefor Most Memorable Performance in 2011for her role in Vishal Bhardwaj’s7khoonmaaf.

Varanasi Kathak dancer breaks world record

Soni Chaurasiya a Kathak dancer from Varanasi hasbroken the world record of longest danceperformance by continuously dancing for 123hours and 30 minutes.

She broke the record on 9th April at 9.21pm at Mount Litera Zee School, Varanasi.With her performance, she broke theprevious record of Hemlata Kundalu ofTrichur, Kerala, who performedMohiniattam continuously for 123 hoursand 20 mins.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won Global Indian of theYear 2016 award

Bollywood star Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan haswon the ‘Global Indian of the Year’ award, she washonoured at NRI of the Year award function held inMumbai.

She dedicated the award to her daughterAaradhya.t continues

Eminent tennis player Sania Mirzahonoured at the NRI of the Year Award2016 where she was conferred with theGlobal Indian Icon of the year award.

Ex-army chief JJ Singh gets highest French civilianhonour


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Former army chief Gen. (retd) JJ Singh wasconferred with the highest French civiliandistinction, Officer of the Legion of Honour byFrench Ambassador to India, Francois Richier.

Singh was chosen for the honour inrecognition of his “stellar role” inmodernizing the Indian Army and initiatingrobust exchanges between the Indian andFrench armies.

Jammu-born poet Padma Sachdev gets SaraswatiSamman

Jammu& Kashmir born poet and novelist PadmaSachdev has been chosen for theprestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2015for her autobiography named ‘Chitt-Chete’written in Dogri language and published in 2007.

Sachdev’s work was selected among fiveworks that were shortlisted from 22 worksin as many languages published betweenthe years 2005-2014.

The award carries an award money of Rs 15lakh, a citation and a plaque.

Forbes Releases First Ever ‘Global Game Changers’List, Three Indians Make The Cut

Forbes in its inaugural edition of Global GameChangers List launched this year has ranked someof the biggest names in business.

Topped by Mark Benioff of Salesforce.comand Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook ranked30.

Three Indians have been featured in the list,they are Rahul Bhatia of Inter GlobeEnterprises, Cyrus Poonawalla of SerumInstitute of India, and Sunny Varkey ofGEMS Education at 3, 23 and 26positions respectively.

T N Ninan gets Mumbai Press Club’s lifetimeachievement award

The Mumbai Press Club selected T N Ninan,Chairman and Editorial Director of BusinessStandard, for this year's 'RedInk Award for LifetimeAchievement in Journalism'.

The award will be presented to Ninan bythe Governor of Maharashtra C VidyasagarRao on April 26 in New Delhi.

Djokovic, Serena bag top honours at LaureusWorld Sports awards

Serbia, Novak Djokovic won “Sportsman of theyear” Trophy for the third continuous victory

Serena Williams also bagged the Women’stop honour “Sportswoman of the year” forthe third time.

The 2016 Pulitzer Prize Winners

Awarded for achievements in newspaper andonline journalism, literature and musicalcomposition in United States

The winner in the public service category ofthe journalism is awarded a gold medal.

Winners of 2016

Public Service – Associated Press Breaking News Reporting – Los Angeles

Times Staff Investigative Reporting – Leonora LaPeter

Anton and Anthony Cormier of the TampaBay Times and Michael Braga of theSarasota Herald-Tribune

Explanatory Reporting – T. Christian Millerof Pro Publica and Ken Armstrong of TheMarshall Project


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Local Reporting – Michael LaForgia, CaraFitzpatrick and Lisa Gartner of the TampaBay Times

National Reporting – The Washington PostStaff

International Reporting – Alissa J. Rubin ofThe New York Times

Feature Writing – Kathryn Schulz of TheNew Yorker

Commentary – Farah Stockman of TheBoston Globe

Criticism – Emily Nussbaum of The NewYorker

Mahatma’s granddaughter Tara GandhiBhattacharjee gets French honour

Mahatma Gandhi’s granddaughter Tara GandhiBhattacharjee has been awarded with one ofFrance’s highest honour. The Order of Arts andLetters for her contribution in promoting peace,solidarity, culture, education, and development.

Bhattacharjee was conferred the Officier de l’Ordredes Arts etLettres (Order of Arts and Letters)honour by French Ambassador Francois Richier.

Google India awarded ‘most attractive employer’in India

In the 6th edition of Randstad Award 2016, GoogleIndia emerged as the most attractive employer fora second consecutive yearfollowed by Mercedes-Benz in the second place.

The sectoral specific special recognitionaward: Dell

Consumer Electronics: Samsung India E Commerce: Amazon India

Pranab Mukherjee presents National GeoscienceAwards 2014

President Pranab Mukherjee conferred theNational Geoscience Awards 2014 at a function tobe held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

33 geoscientists received the NationalGeoscience Awards (NGA 2014) whichincludes one Award for Excellence, oneYoung Scientist Award and 19 individual and/ or team awards in 16 fields ofgeosciences.

Viswanathan Anand to be feted with HridaynathAward

Chess maestro Viswanathan Anand will behonoured with the Hridaynath Award, whichfelicitates and recognises successful individualsacross the country from various walks of life.

The Five time World champion will receivethe prize from the Maharashtra governor C.Vidyasagar Rao.

Sports

Australia pacer Clint McKay announces retirementfrom international cricket

Australian medium-pacer Clint McKay hasannounced his retirement from international andAustralia’s first-class cricket.

The 33-year-old Victoria Pacer will carry onplaying in the English country circuit for


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Leicestershire and also play in the Big BashLeague for the Sydney Thunder.

West Indies lift their second ICC World T20 title

West Indies beat England by four wickets to lifttheir second ICC World T20 title in Kolkata. Withthis win, West Indies become the first side to winT20 World Cup for the second time. All previousteams had won, but only once.

Chasing a stiff 19 for win in the final overbowled by Ben Stokes, Carlos Brathwaitefired four consecutive sixes to gun downEngland's 155 in emphatic fashion, with twoballs to spare.

Nandu Natekar becomes first non-cricketer to beinducted into Legends Club

Badminton ace Nandu Natekar has been inductedinto the Legends Club, founded by the late CricketClub of India president Raj Singh Dungarpur, as thefirst non-cricketer, along with 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev.

The Legends Club will celebrate thebirthdays of Nandu Natekar -- on May 12 --and Kapil Dev -- on January 6, 2017.

The Legends Club celebrates the birthdaysof Vijay Merchant, Vijay Hazare, VinooMankad, Sunil Gavaskar and SachinTendulkar.

Riyad Mahrez becomes first African footballer towin PFA Player of the Year

Riyad Mahrez of Algeria was adjudged as theProfessional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Playerofthe Year .He is the first African to receive theaward.

On the other hand, Dele ally of Totten hamclub has been chosen as young player of theyear.

Mairaj shoots silver at Rio World Cup

Indian shooter Mairaj Ahmed Khan made asuccessful start to his campaign at the ISSF WorldCup by winning a silver medal in men's skeet eventin Rio de Janeiro. Mairaj's feat gave India its firstskeet medal at a World Cup.

Mairaj lost to Sweden’s Marcus Svennson 2-1 in the shoot-off tiebreaker in the goldmedal match on Sunday night after bothwere tied on 14 targets at the end of theregulation 16 shots. Italy’s TamarroCasandro got the bronze. Earlier, Mairajshot 122 out of 125 in the qualifying roundto be second among the top six shooters.

In the semifinal stage, both Mairaj andMarcus shot 15 out of 16 targets each toearn the right to contest for the gold medal.

Women’s World T20: Maiden title for WestIndies women

The Caribbean women lifted the T20 world cupafter their convincing eight-wicket win overAustralia in the women’s World T20 final.

A world record 120-run opening partnershipbetween Matthews and Taylor set up thechase, which became pretty facile in theend. It was West Indies’ maiden title,dethroning three-time defendingchampions.


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Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes make throughWisden’s top five cricketers of 2015

In the 153rd and latest edition of Wisden hasincluded New Zealand captain Kane Williamson andpredecessor Brendon McCullum are amongWisden’s five cricketers of the year.

Australia captain Steve Smith, and England’sBen Stokes and Jonny Bairstow were theothers announced.

Australia thrash India 4-0 to win Sultan AzlanShah Cup

Australia achieved up a huge 4-0 victory over Indiain the summit clash to win the Sultan Azlan ShahCup hockey tournament in Malaysia.

Australia won the tournament for a recordninth time.

The New Zealand took the third place whilethe Hosts Malaysian team grabbed fourthspot.

The tournament is named after theninth King of Malaysia, Sultan AzlanShah and keen fan of field hockey.

Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath retires from ODIs,T20Is

Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath has retired from50-over and Twenty20 internationals in order tocarry on playing test matches.

The 38-year-old took 74 wickets in 71 one-day internationals and another 18 in 17 T20matches for the island nation, shoulderedthe burden of the slow bowling attackfollowing the retirement of spin greatMuttiah Muralitharan in 2011.

He has the record of best bowling figures inTests by a left-arm spinner.

Dipa Karmakar becomes first Indian womangymnast to qualify for Olympics

Dipa Karmakar created history by becoming thefirst Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics.Karmakar, the 22-year-old gymnast from Tripura,exhibited a strong show as she completed herperformance at the final qualifier and Olympic TestEvent in Rio de Janiero.

She had created history by becoming thefirst woman gymnast to win a bronze medalin the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in2014.

This win had made her the first Indianwoman to win a commonwealth gymnasticsmedal and the second Indian, after AshishKumar.

Rafael Nadal wins Monte Carlo Masters title

Rafael Nadal defeated Frenchman Gael Monfils tograb the 2016 Monte Carlo Masters title.

He defeated Gael Monfils by 7-5 5-7 6-0 in 2hours 46 minutes to claim his ninth title,but his first since 2012.

Nadal has, now, claimed clay-court titles ineach of last 13 years. Before losing the 2013final to world number one Novak Djokovic,Nadal had won eight consecutive titles.

India wins 2016 Asian Nations Cup Chesstournament

India won the Asian Nations Cup chess teamchampionship defeating Vietnam with a convincing3-1 margin in the final round in Abu Dhabi. This wasthe third time that Indian men won the event.

India finished well against Vietnam withGrandmasters SP Sethuraman and KSasikiran winning on second and fourth


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boards while B Adhiban and Vidit SantoshGujarathi drew on first and third boards.

India earned 17 points, two more thanWorld and Olympiad champions China, toclinch the title.

Lee Chong Wei Wins 11th Malaysian Open Title

Malaysia's badminton star Lee Chong Wei won his11th Malaysian Open title, a much-needed boostfor his pursuit of a still-elusive Olympic gold medal.

Lee cruised to victory with a flurry ofdevastating smashes against world numberone Chen Long from China, beating him 21-13, 21-8 in a match that lasted 42 minutes.

Danny Willett, first British to win US Masters golf2016

Danny Willett has won the Masters at AugustaNational to become the first Briton to claim USMaster’s title under his belt which is to become thefirst British victory in 20 years.

He won with a superb five-under-par 67 as2015 champion Jordan Spieth crumbledduring a final round.

He is one of the golf’s rising stars, havingclimbed from outside the top 100 to insidethe top 10 in less than two years.

Chawrasia wins Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of Month

S.P. Chawrasia of India was honoured withthe Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of the Month forMarch, to his performance at the Hero IndianOpen. He is the second Indian to win the HiltonAsian Tour Golfer of the Month award.

His superb display of golf in his NationalOpen last month to win his third title on theAsian Tour by defeating 2015 Hilton AsianTour Golfer of the Year Anirban Lahiri and

South Korean rising star Jeunghun Wang bytwo shots.

England Cricketer James Taylor retired fromInternational Cricket

England middle order batsman James Taylor hasbeen forced to retire from cricket at the young ageof 26 due to a serious heart condition, by theEngland and Wales Cricket Board.

He played 7 test matches and 27 ODIinternationals for England and captainedthe side against Ireland in May 2015.

Vishnu Vardhan is first ATT champion

Former national champion Vishnu Vardhan put hisname into the record books by becoming the firstchampion of the Asian Tennis Tour (ATT) after hebeat Sidharth Rawat by 7-6(7), 6-3 in the final ofthe $5,000 event at the DLTA Complex in NewDelhi.

Vishnu Vardhan is aprofessional tennis player from AndraPradesh.

Nico Roseberg wins 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg claimed the 2016Bahrain Grand Prix towin his fifth straight race andKimi Raikkonen finished second for Ferrari.

Five in a row Nico Rosberg wins BahrainGrand Prix While his Champion teammateLewis Hamilton’s hopes of a third successiveBahrain Grand Prix victory.

Deaths


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Babu Bharadwaj Passes Away

Renowned writer and journalist Babu Bharadwaj,68, passed away. He breathed his last at a privatehospital in the city where he was undergoingtreatment after suffering a cardiac arrest.

He was working as the chief editor of theonline news portal Dool News. He hadworked with Kairali TV, Chinta Magazineand Media One. He was the first JointSecretary of Students’ Federation of India(SFI).

His novel “Kalapangalkkoru Grahapadam”won the best novel award of the KeralaSahitya Akademi. He was also the producerof film “Iniyum Marichittillatha Nammal”directed by Raveendran.

Ronnie Corbett dies aged 85

Entertainer Ronnie Corbett, best known for BBCcomedy sketch show The Two Ronnies, has diedaged 85.

Corbett was one of the UK's best-lovedcomedians and along with Ronnie Barker;their double act was one of the mostsuccessful of the 1970s and '80s. His mostmemorable solo projects include the sitcomSorry! and the game show Small Talk.

Renowned Iraqi-British Architect Zaha Hadidpasses away

Renowned Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadidpassed away due to heart attack. She was 65.

She was the first female winner of the topPritzker Architecture Prize (2004), alsoknown as the Nobel for architecture.

ZahaHadid Born on 31st October 1950 inBaghdad, Iraq. Hadid first had studiedmathematics at the American University in

Lebanon and later pursued architecture atthe Architectural Association in London in1972.

She had designed the London AquaticsCentre, which was used during the 2012London Olympics.

Sherlock Holmes actor Douglas Wilmer dies aged96

Sherlock Holmes actor Douglas Wilmer has died atthe age of 96.

He donned the famous deerstalker in themid-1960s to play Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'scharacter in a BBC series.

Former Italy coach, AC Milan player CesareMaldini passes away

Italian football manager and player, CesareMaldini has died on April 3. He was 84.

Cesare Maldini won four Serie A titlesduring his time with Milan and was skipperof the side in 1963.

In his 412 appearances for AC Milan andmoved into coaching when his playingcareer ended, managing the north Italianclub from 1972-74.

British playwright Arnold Wesker died

British playwright Arnold Wesker, has died at theage of 83. He had Parkinson’s disease.

London born prolific political writer whoproduced more than 40 plays, as well asbooks of essays, poetry and short stories.His work also included children’s fiction anda first novel, Honey, which was published in2005.

Punjab lokpal Justice J.S. Sekhon passes away


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Punjab lokpal and former Punjab and Haryana HighCourt Judge, Justice Jai Singh Sekhon passed away.

Sekhon, elder brother of Punjab cabinetminister Janmeja Singh Sekhon, had beenfighting cancer for more than a year.

He started his career as a lawyer at theFerozepur district and sessions court andbefore being elevated as high court judge,he worked as district and sessions judge inseveral courts of the state.

Hero group co-founder SatyanandMunjal dies at99

Co-founder of Hero Cycles group SatyanandMunjal,died at the age of 99 in Model Town, Ludhiana.

Munjal was popularly known as ‘mahatma’SatyanandMunjal for being devoted toseveral social causes related to theAryaSamaj.

Hero Honda started in 1984 as a jointventure between Hero Cycles of Indiaand Honda of Japan by Dr. Brijmohan LallMunjal

Iconic African photographer Malick Sidibe passesaway at 80

Eminent Malian photographer Malick Sidibe hasdied at 80 years old, He had been ill for some time.

Malick is known for his street scenes andstudio shots that render a portrait of photosof Mali’s post-colonial period helped peoplesee the Mali’s in a new light.

He was the first African and the firstphotographer to win the Golden Lion forLifetime Achievement, in 2007.

The distinctions he earned are theInternational Center of Photography InfinityAward for Lifetime Achievement in 2008

and the Hasselblad Foundation’s annualaward in 2003

Telangana Finance Minister’s PRO & FormerJournalist D. Ravinder passes away

Telangana Finance Minister Eatala Rajender’sPublic Relations Officer and former journalist D.Ravinder passed away.

Ravinder from Raikal of Karimnagar district,Telanagana

He worked as reporter forEtv and Saakshi Telugu news channels.

Later, he joined as PRO to the FinanceMinister

Chyna, Former WWE women’s champ, passesaway

Former WWE Women’s Champion, as well asformer WWE Intercontinental Champion,Chyna (Real name: Joan Laurer) passed away.

Chyna became the first woman in WWEhistory to participate in the Royal Rumblematch, when she entered as the 30thentrant during the 1999 Royal Rumblematch.

Former Bombay Ranji player Ranjan Baindoorpasses away

Former Mumbai Ranji Trophy player RanjanBaindoor died on April 4 due to a fatal heart attackat his residence in Mumbai.

Hetook 20 wickets in 16 games at 37.20with a best of 4 for 32. He was also a usefullower-order batsman with a career best of96 and aggregated 316 runs at an averageof 19.75.

Baindoor was also the former secretary ofTata Sports Club and served as the


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chairman of the selection committee for theunder-19 team.

Father of Madras Atomic Power Station“M.H.P.Rao” passes away

The architect of Madras Atomic Power Station(MAPS), “Myneni Hari Prasad Rao” aka MHP Raopassed away due to old age ailments. He was 88.

He was specially appointed by the thenNuclear Power Board to administer theconstruction and commissioning of theMAP.

He had also served as a member ofSouthern, Western and Northern IndianRegional electricity boards.

Cartoonist Toms Passes Away in Kerala

Eminent cartoonist Vadakkal Thoppil Thomasknown as Toms has died at a private hospital inKottayam due to agerelated illnesses. He was 86.

His impression createdeverlasting cartooncharacters like Bobanum Moliyum (Bobanand Molly.

The Bobanum Moliyum strip was firstpublished in Malayala Manorama in 1957.Toms retired from the newspaper in 1987.

Veteran Journalist Yogendra Bali Is No More

The veteran journalist and author Yogendra Balihas passed away due to a heart attack. He was 85year old.

Mr. Bali was a member of the generalcouncil of the Lalit Kala Akademi and amember of its committees on ArtEducation, Publications, the Triennele andInternational Exhibitions.

In his long and success career, Mr. Bali hasserved The Times of India as its rovingcorrespondent till retirement.

Mr. Bali has written many books whichinclude The Communal Bogey' withforeword by late prime minister JawaharlalNehru, 'Chandra Shekhar: A PoliticalBiography,' 'Pawan Chamling: Daring To BeDifferent,' and 'Sri Satguru Ram Singh Ji andFreedom Movement of India'.

Former Union MoS Dr C Silvera passes away

Former Union Minister of Mizoram C Silvera died at81.He was the only leader from Mizoram to be inthe union council of ministers.

Silvera was born on May 6, 1935 .Heworked as medical officer under the BaptistChurch of Mizoram before joining politics.

He was elected to RajyaSabha in 1985 andto ninth, tenth and eleventh LokSabha.

He was inducted as union minister of statefor health and family welfare on February17, 1994 and afterwards was allottedindustry portfolio.

Screenwriter Barbara Turner passed away

Barbara Turner, the Emmy–nominatedscreenwriter and producer has died in Los Angeles.

The 79 year old screenwriter earned twoEmmy norms for “The War Between theTates” and “Hemingway & Gellhorn” andworked on numerous films such as“Petulia”, “Georgia” and “Pollock”.


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BooksThe Making of India: The Untold Story of BritishEnterprises authored by Kartar Lalvani

The making of India: The untold story of BritishEnterprises authored by Kartar Lalvani was in newsin the third week of April 2016. The book discussesthe British rule and its role in creating a unifiedIndia.

The book supposedly brings out the manypositive aspects of the colonial rule.

The story of the book open in the 17thcentury when a small seafaring islanddispatched sailing ships over 11000 miles ona five-month trading journey in search ofnew opportunities.

Book Launched By Arvind Kejriwal Co-AuthoredBy Imran Hashmi

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has launchedthe book "The Kiss of Life: How a superhero and myson defeated cancer" in New Delhi.

The book is written by Bilal Siddiqi and coauthored by Emraan Hashmi.

The book has been published by PenguinBooks India in three languages.

The book narrates the story of Emraan’s lifewhen his family dealt with the horrificstruggle as his six-year-old son Ayaanbattled his way through cancer. The book isabout hope to all cancer patients who loseshope, his or her body starts to give up.

NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly will write a bookabout his year in space

NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly will write a book titled“Endurance: My Year in Space and Our Journey toMars”. Mr. Scott Kelly returned to the Earth inMarch 2016 after spending almost a year aboardthe International Space Station (ISS).

The book will be published by Alfred A.Knopf.

He holds the record for the most total timespent in space, with more than 520 dayslogged on spacecraft, including the 340consecutive days he worked on the spacestation.

A State in Denial authored by BG Verghese

A State in Denial – Pakistan’s Misguided andDangerous Crusade authored by veteran journalistBG Verghese was re-released during a discussionorganised by the India International Centre, NewDelhi.

Former union minister Shashi Tharoordescribed Verghese’s book as the mostexplicit description of India-Pakistanrelation.


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