I S S U E 5 , M AY 2 0 1 6

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Accomplishment
- Charles Borromeo resigned from Tata Steel Sports Department -14

- Harmeet Kaur Dhillon, elected to key Republican position - 14

- Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright claimed to be creator of Bitcoin- 15

- Sameer Chadha appointed as Partner and CEO of KPMG - 15

- Mexican diplomat Patricia Espinosa selected as executive secretary of UNFCCC - 16

- Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba appointed as Chief of the Naval Staff- 16

- Kumar Rajesh Chandra appointed Chief of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security-17

- Manohar Kumar takes over as Director (Engg) in NPCC-17

- Dilip Tuli appointed as Senior Vice President of Housing.com -18

- Kishore Biyani appointed as Managing Director of Bharti Retail-18

- Yash Chopras statue is in Switzerland-19

- Shashank Manohar resigns as BCCI president-18

- Uday Kotak, only Indian in Forbes Most Powerful People in the Financial World list-20

- President approves name of Four Judges for Supreme Cour-20

- Manjit Singh, appointed as member of Presidents Advisory Council-21

- Fatma Samoura named first female secretary general of FIFA-22

- Hinupur Pradeep Rao appointed as the Deputy CAG-22

-Justice Tinlianthang Vaiphei sworn in as acting Chief Justice of Tripura High Court-23

- Indian Army Successfully Summits Mount Everest-23

- Indian Army Successfully Summits Mount Everest-23

- Tsai Ing-wen sworn-in as first women President of Taiwan-24

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- Kiran Bedi appointed Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry-25

- Ratan P Watal appointed as Niti Aayogs Principal Adviser-25

- Erdogan ally to be new Turkish Prime Minister-26

- Anurag Thakur becomes BCCIS one of the youngest president-27

- Lt General SK Saini new commandant of Indian Military Academy-27

- Sonowal becomes BJPs first Chief Minister in Assam-28

- Govind Rajan became CEO of Snapdeal owned Freecharge-29

- Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee sworn in as Chief Minister of West Bengal-29

- V Narayana-swamy to be Puducherry Chief Minister-30

Awards
- Swat activist Tabassum Adnan won 2016 Nelson Mandela Award -31

- Former bureaucrat NK Singh selected for Japans highest civilian award-31

- President Pranab Mukherjee conferred 63rd National Film Awards-32

- President Pranab Mukherjee confers Niryat Shree and Niryat Bandhu Awards-32

- Indian Parashar Kulkarni wins 2016 Commonwealth Short Story -33

- President Mukherjee presents gallantry awards to defence personnel-34

- Indian-American Revathi Balakrishnan named as 2016 Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year-34

- Hockey India recommended Ritu Rani and VR Raghunath for Arjuna Awardt-35

- President confers Florence Nightingale Awards.-35

- Anjali Chandrashekhar comes 3rd in UN Poster for Peace contest-36

- Harvey Milk Foundation to Honor Bollywood Actress Celina Jaitlyt-36

- 5 Indians posthumously awarded with Dag Hammarskjold Medal of UN-37

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- South Koreas Jan Kang won Man Booker Internationalt-38

- Vesak Samman Prashasti Patra-2016 Awards Presented to Buddhist scholars-38

- I, Daniel Blake won Palme dOr at Cannes 2016-39

- Routes 2 Roots, a Delhi-based Non-profit organization-39

- Sunil Bharti Mittal, received the Harvard B-School Alumni award-40

- Indian-American scientist Arnab De has received the prestigious Springer Theses Award.-40

- President Pranab Mukherjee presented Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar 2016 -41
- Rehman conferred Japans Fukuoka Prize- 41

NATIONAL NEWS
- Railways launch Indrail Pass for foreigners-43

- Centre government LED scheme launched in Madhya Pradesh-43

- Maha Govt to develop textiles park at Amravati- 44

- Union Government banned import of dogs for commercial breeding.- 44

- Supreme Court banned all diesel cabs in NCR-Delhi from May 1. -45
- Indian Railways to plant trees alongside Railway Track-45

- NRDC signed agreements for commerci-alization of Ghar Sodhon-46

- Supreme Court appointed RM Lodha-panel to reform Medical Council of India-46

- BHEL commis-sioned 600 MW thermal power plant in Madhya Pradesh.-47

- Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu launched Wi-Fi hotspot-47

- Banihal-Baramulla Fast Passenger (DEMU) and Budgam-Baramulla-48

- Two laning with formation of four lane of Shimla Bypass on NH-22 Approved.-49

- Portal for Contract Labour Payment-49

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- Dial 112 for any Emergency throughout India from 1 January 2017- 50

- Telangana govt to set up Monkey rescue and rehabilitation centre-50

- Indian Railways launches Bharat Darshan Tourist train for pilgrims.-51

- Uttarakhand Floor Test: Harish Rawat-51

- Rural Sanitation Initiatives for Ganga-52

- Ministry Of Road Transport & Highways Sets-53

- Maharashtra declares drought in 29000 villages.-53

- Nitin Gadkari Launches INFRACON,-54

- NTPC tied-up with Coal India Limited-55
- Indias first driverless train was flagged off by Union Minister-55

- TMC got huge majority ever in the History of West Bengals election.-56

- LDF will make government in Kerala-56

- BJP to form its 1st government in ASSAM-57

- Jaya lalitha retains power in Tamil Nadu-58

- Odisha to launch Green Passage-59

- BHEL commissions 250 MW thermal unit in Maharashtra-59

- Cyclone Roanu hits coastal area of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh-60

- Gujarat launched Smart Village program-61

- World Bank loans 100 million dollar for Karnataka water projects-62

- Hubballi-Dharwad, the second largest urban center in Karnataka,-62

- Sikkim bans disposable foam food containers.-63

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- 13 new cities announced for smart cities Projects-64

- Cabinet approves 1st ever Capital Goods Policy-64

- Human Resource Development-65

- Union cabinet gives approval to 6 New IITs-66

- Andhra Pardesh to introduce e -office system in all districts.-66

- Indias first multilingual dictio-nary Bhara-tvani launched-67

- Pakke Tiger Reserve in East Kameng district of Arunachal-67

- Lakshadweep became first Union Territory (UT) in the country-68

- Union Ministry of Railways and PEC University of Technology-68

SPORTS
- Indian shooters bagged 3 gold, 1 bronze in ISSF Junior World Cup-70

- Mark Selby won World Snooker Championship-70

- Indian shuttlers qualify for Rio 2016-71

- India finishes fourth in junior shooting World Cup-71

- Bicycle highway between Taj and lion safari-72

- Charlotte Edwards, England womens cricket captain,-72

- Max verstappen becomes youngest F1 GP winner.-73

- Sania -Hingis won Rome Masters womens double pair-73

- Andy Murray beats Novak Djokovic to win first Italian Open title-74

- Sudha breaks 3000 M steeplechase record-74

- Womens relay team sets new national records-75

- Sevilla won 3rd consecutive Europa League title-75

- Barcelona lifted 28th Copa Del Rey title-76

- Pankaj Advani 1st to hold continental, world title-76

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- India claims silver in Asian Team Snooker Championship-77

- Real Madrid won its 11th Championship League title-77

- Two Indian Americans won US Spelling Bee 2016-78

- Sunrisers Hydrabad won their maiden IPL title-78

- Sandhu 1st Indian to play in European Laegue-79

- Alastair cook became youngest player to reach 10,000 Test runs-80

- Weir sets world record in 1 mile wheelchair race-80

ECONOMICS
- The small Industries Development Bank of India has inked with SAARC-82

- Maharashtra is the biggest contributor to income tax collections in India-82

- NABARD partners Germany for food security initiative-83

- Rahuri in Ahmednagar becomes first to have digi-locker.-83

- Union Commerce Ministry launched EXIM Analytics-84

- Reliance to sign 15 new industrial license agreements in the defense sector-85

- Google acquires business technology startup Synergyse-85

- BRICS bank became the first partner with ICICI Bank in India-86

- MoC between Ministry of Women & Child Development and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-87

- ECB decided to end production and issuance of 500 euro banknote-87

- India ranks Ninth in Crony-Capitalism Index-88

- RBI to issue 1000 Rupees Banknotes with inset letter R-88

- Infosys Foundation has signed a pact with Indian Institute -89

- Commemorative Coin of 100 rupees & Circulation Coin-89

- Union Cabinet approves for MoU between SEBI and FSRA Abu Dhabi-90

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- Apple invested $1 billion in Chinese taxi service Didi Chuxing-90

- Apple opens Development Office in Hyderabad-91

- PNB tops list of worst losses in Indian banking history-91

- Nepal SBI Bank launches payment gateway-92

- Demand of Consolidation in Indian Banking sector.-92

- Samsung to launch 1st nationwide loT Network-93

- Intel India announced new initiatives to support Digital India-94

- Infosys Rs 600-cr SEZ project-94

DEFENCE
- Offshore patrol vessel ICGS Shaurya launched.-96

- US Navy tested worlds largest unmanned surface vessel, Sea Hunter-96

- Two Harbour Defence Systems commissioned-97

- Indian Air Forces Electronic Maintenance-97

- Ashwin an indigenous Air Defence interceptor missile, has been -98

- A joint US-Australian military research team successfully-98
- India and Russia have agreed to export BrahMos-99

- BrahMos supersonic cruise missile test fired-99

- Union Ministry of Railways and PEC University of Technology-100

Obituaries
- Famous American actor William Schallert died-101

- Nirankari Spiritual leader Baba Hardev Singh dies in-101

- French scientist Andr Brahic died-102

- Diwaliben Bhil passed away-102

- Veteran leader of CPI(M) K Anirudhan passed away-103

- Marathi litterateur and critique R.G. Jadhav passed away.-103

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SCIENCE
- China developed worlds first graphene electronic paper-105

- University of Cambridge have built the worlds smallest (nanoscale) working engine-105

- CAIPEEX a process to understand Rain Formation in Clouds-106

- Astronomers discovered 3 Earth like planets using TRAPPIST telescope-106

- UN launches Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Zika virus response-107

- Flying Observatory SOFIA detects Atomic Oxygen in Martian Atmosphere-107

- Indian scientist Manvendra K Singh bags SGD-108

- China launched Yaogan -30 remote sensing satellite-108

- First penis transplant in U.S. performed in Boston-109

- Department of Electronics and Information Technology-109

- Scientists discover new form of light-110

- Worlds first Zika virus clone developed-111

- ISRO launches Indias first reusable space shuttle -112

- India lauded for Medicines with the Red Line campaign on antibiotics-112

- ISRO to test rocket that takes its fuel from air-113

- China to launch worlds 1st Quantum satellite-113

- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration-114

- Fossils of oldest multi-cellular organism found-115

PROMINENT RECORD
- Kohima In Nagaland becomes Smoke-Free City-116

- BSF To Unveil tallest national flag.-116

- Renewable energy country attractiveness index 2016 - 117

- Punjab gets worlds largest rooftop solar plant-117

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- Australian engineers set solar cell efficiency world record-118

- Malyaysian women weave worlds longest Rug-118

- Worlds largest cruise ship Harmony of the seas starts Maiden voyage-119

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIP
- India, Papua New Guinea signed four agreements-120
- India, New Zealand signed Air Services Agreement.-120

- India-UAE currency swap agreement Approved-121

- Inter-gover-nmental agreement between India and Mauritius-121

- India and Slovenia sign Protocol amending-122

- India, Oman signed 4 Agreements on defence cooperation-122

- India ,Thailand ,Myanmar to be linked by Highway-123

- India Iran Afghanistan sign transport corridor pact-124

- India and Australia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)-124

LEGAL UPDATE
- Lok Sabha passed the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015- 126
- Supreme Court asked Delhi Government not to register New Diesel Cars-126

- Supreme Court upholds validity of Criminal Defamation Law-127

- Union Cabinet approves National Intellectual Property Rights Policy.-127

- Union Cabinet gives approval to Amendments in Constitution ST Order, 1950 -128

DAYS AND DATE

- International Labour Day celebrated.-129
- National Technology Day observed on May 11- 129

- May 21 observed as Anti Terrosism Day-130

- Menstrual hygiene day observed on 28 May- 130

- International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers 2016 - 131

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- 31 May- World No Tobacco Day -131

SCHEME AND POLICY

- UJALA will be implemented across country by 2019- 133

- Alberta Wildfire: State of Emergency declared by Canada Government.-133

- Prime Minister launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana at Ballia-134

Miscellaneous
- Indian Railways creates Non-Fare Revenue Directorate to explore --advertising in train coaches-135

- Saraswat Bank donates Rs 1 crore for drought relief-135

- Urgent action needed to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030: UN Report.-136

- Chaos and Caliphate: Jihadis and the West in the Struggle-136

- There has always been conspiracy theories about the war US had in middle east.-137

- Worlds oldest stone axe found in Australia-137

- The Drowned Detective by Neil Jordan unveiled-138

- Musharraf declared offender in high treason case-138

- Beti a non-fiction short film invited in 42nd edition of Seattle International-139

- Worlds First Robot Lawyer Hired By U.S. Firm-139

- The World Bank has launched Pandemic Emergency Finance Facility-140

- Mandatory for public transport buses to install emergency buttons-140

- 56 Indian firms in Forbess worlds 2,000 list-141

- United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-141

- India, US held first Maritime Security Dialogue-142

- Researchers create mirror image of DNA-copying protein-143

- US House of Representatives gave nod to bolster-144

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- The Union Ministry of Railways has decided to undertake-144

- The Union Government has given its final approval to setting up of National Investment-145

- Facebook wins trademark case in China-146

Environment
- Irans Zabol most polluted: WHO-147

- April 16 was hottest April ever on Record :NASA-147

- India records its Highest temperature at 51 C- 148

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ACCOMPLISHMENT
Charles including Japan and China, where he
1 Borromeo again won gold medals.
resigned He was awarded the Arjuna Award in
from Tata 1982 and the Padma Shri in 1984.
Steel Sports
Harmeet
Department
2 Kaur Dhillon,
Charles elected to key
Borromeo on Republican
Charles Borromeo 28 April 2016 position.
resigned from
the head of the Tata Steel sports department An Indian
post. American Sikh
woman from
Harmeet Kaur
Vigilance department officials of the company California,
had questioned him in connection with alleged Harmeet Kaur
irregularities in tender process of 4.40 crore Dhillon, got elected in the Republican Party at
rupees. the US national level.

He won a gold medal of 800 m at the
1982 Asian Games held in Delhi
He was also a part of Indian Olympic
contingent that took place at Los Angeles
in 1984.
He joined Tata Steel as sports assistant
in 1979
In 1982, he topped the six-nation
Athletic Meet in Mumbai by winning the
Inter-State Championship at Kozhikode
He won bronze medal at the Peking
International Games in China
Tata honored him as the Best Sportsman
in 1984.
He also represented India at a number of
track and field meets around the world,
She was elected as the newest national
committee woman of the Republican National
Committee on 1 May 2016.
Earlier she was the vice chairman of the
California GOP. She is the first woman elected
to this position in California Republican Party.
She was born in India, but raised in rural
North Carolina after her Sikh parents
moved to the US.
She is a nationally recognized trial lawyer,
boardroom advisor and advocate for
individual, corporate and institutional
clients across numerous industries and
walks of life.

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She has been awarded the prestigious
designation of Northern California
Super Lawyer in business litigation by
Thomson/West Publishing, an accolade
reserved for the top 5% of lawyers in the
jurisdiction.
Dhillons practice in New York, London,
and the San Francisco Bay Area has
focused on federal and state commercial
litigation and arbitration, with a particular
emphasis on unfair competition/trade
secret misappropriation, intellectual.
3 Australian
entrepreneur
Craig Wright
claimed to
be creator of
Bitcoin
Australian
entrepreneur
Craig Steven
Craig Steven
Wright on 2 May
2016 publicly identified himself as the creator
of Bitcoin, digital cryptocurrency. He claimed
to be the real person behind the pseudonym
Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin,
a claim that is disputed within the Bitcoin
community.
Wright graduated from high school in
1987 from Padua College in Brisbane.
He completed 18 SANS Institute courses
and was the worlds first person to
receive GIAC certification in Compliance
and Audits, and was a SANS Institute
Mentor.
ISSUE 5, MAY 2016
15
He worked in information technology for
various companies, including OzEmail,
K-Mart and the Australian Securities
Exchange, as well as working as a
security consultant for Mahindra &
Mahindra.
He was the CEO of the technology firm
Hotwire Preemptive Intelligence Group
(Hotwire PE). Hotwire planned to launch
Denariuz Bank, the worlds first Bitcoin-
based bank, though it encountered
regulatory difficulties with the Australian
Tax Office and failed in 2014.
Since the system works without a central
repository or single administrator, the
U.S. Treasury categorizes bitcoin as a
decentralized virtual currency.
Sameer Chadha
4 appointed as
Partner and
CEO of KPMG
India
On 3 May 2016
Sameer Chadha
was appointed
KPMG Indiaa as the partner
and Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of KPMGs offshore
arm in India.
Chadha joined KPMG Global Services (KGS)
from Barclays Shared Services,
Chadha has 25 years of experience with leading
organisations across the financial services and
consumer goods sectors.
16

He began his career with Nestle India.
Prior to working with Barclays, he
held strategic leadership roles at firms
such as Bank of America, First Source
Solutions and Lehman Brothers.
He is a chartered accountant and holds
a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the
Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi
University.
KPMG was established in India in
September 1993
KPMG India Pvt Ltd offers financial
advisory services, business advisory
services, tax and regulatory services and
risk advisory services.
The firm operates from its
in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi,
Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi,
Chandigarh and Ahmadabad in India.
in July 2016.
Before this she was serving as Mexicos
ambassador to Germany Earlier she had
served as Mexicos representative at the
UN in New York
She used to work in the field of drug
traffic, human rights, women promotion,
social development and childrens rights.
She will be implementing the Paris
Agreement on Climate Change that was
approved by 195 countries in December
2015 during UNFCCCs COP 21 held in
Paris, France.
The UNFCCC is an international
environmental treaty negotiated at the
offices Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992
Kolkata, It came into force in 1994.
It has 196 countries and European
Union (EU) as its members.
It is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto

5 Mexican
diplomat
Protocol which was ratified by 192 of the
UNFCCC Parties.
Patricia The ultimate objective of both treaties
Espinosa is to stabilize greenhouse gas (GHGs)
selected as concentrations in the atmosphere.
executive
secretary of 6 Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba
UNFCCC appointed as Chief of the Naval
Staff
Patricia Espinosa
Ban Ki-
moon has selected Mexican diplomat Patricia Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, got appointed as the
Espinosa as the executive secretary of next Chief of the Naval Staff on 5 May 2016.
the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change). He will assume the charge on 31 May
2016 as the 23rd chief of Indian Navy .
She will replace the incumbent He will succeed present Navy Chief
Christiana Figueres when her term ends Admiral Robin K. Dhowan.

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He was commissioned into the Executive civil aviation security.

Branch of Indian Navy on 1 January In January 1978, the BCAS was
1978. established as a department of the
His sea Command includes commanding Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
the minesweeper INS Kakinada, frigate BCAS became an independent agency of
INS Himgiri and Executive Officer of INS the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 1 April
Viraat, the aircraft carrier. 1987 after the 1985 bombing of Air India
Before FOC-in-C, Western Naval Flight 182.
Command, he was FOC-in-C, Southern The main responsibility of BCAS is to lay
Naval Command, down standards and measures in respect
He was also the Vice Chief of the Naval of security of civil flights at international
Staff and Commandant, National and domestic airports in India.
Defence College.
He is a qualified specialist in navigation
and direction course.
8 Manohar
Kumar takes
He attended the course at the Royal over as Director
College of Defence Studies, UK. (Engg) in NPCC
He was Born on 17 July 1957, and has
been recipient of Param Vishist Seva Manohar Kumar
Medal and Ati Vishist Seva Medal. has taken over
as Director
Kumar Rajesh Chandra appointed (Engineering)
7 Chief of Bureau of Civil Aviation
NPCC
on the Board
Security. of National
Projects Construction Corporation Limited
On 5 May 2016 IPS Officer Kumar Rajesh (NPCC).
Chandra got appointed as the Chief of Bureau
of Civil Aviation Security. He is a graduate from the then Delhi
College of Engineering.
Chandra has been appointed in place of IPS He later did MBA from MDU, Rohtak.
officer G S Malhi. NPCC is a PSU under Ministry Water
Resources, River Development and
Chandra is a 1985 batch IPS officer of Ganga Rejuvenation.
Bihar cadre. National Projects Construction
He is currently working as Additional Corporation Limited (NPCC) was
Director General (Modernisation), Bihar established on 9th hJanuary 1957 as a
Police. premier construction company to create
BCAS acts as regulatory authority for necessary infrastructure for economic

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

18

development of the country in the core Housing.com is a Mumbai-based real

sectors of irrigation and water resources, estate search portal.
power and heavy industries. It allows customers to search for housing
Its administrative control was transferred based on geography, number of rooms,
from Ministry of Irrigation and Power and various other filters.
to Ministry Water Resources, River The company has 6000 brokers and
Development and Ganga Rejuvenation serves 40 cities in India .
(earlier named as Ministry of Water A group of twelve students from the
Resources) in 1989. Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
NPCC ltd comply with Quality founded Housing.co.in in June 2012.
management requirements of ISO 9001- It is the fastest-growing company in the
2008 for execution of Civil Works for online real estate space.
Thermal & Hydro Electric Projects, River It is led by passionate problem-solvers
Valley Projects, Industrial Structures, and backed by top investors.
Project Management Consultancy
services for buildings, Housings, Roads, Kishore Biyani
Bridges and Infrastructure Projects. 10 appointed
as Managing

9 Dilip
appointed
Tuli
as
Director
Bharti Retail
of

Senior Vice
President of On 3 May 2016
Housing.com Future Groups
CEO Kishore
On 1 May Kishore Biyani Biyani was
2016 Dilip Tuli appointed as
was appointed Managing Director (MD) of Bharti Retail.
Dilip Tuli
the new Senior
Vice President - Biyani on 1 May 2016 had resigned from
Strategy & New Business Initiatives of Future Retail Ltd
Housing.com. Future Retail Ltd is the largest listed
Dilip Tuli graduated from the SRCC, retail companies, which operates Big
Delhi University. Bazaar and Food Bazaar.
He holds nearly 15 years of consulting He will continue to hold office as non-
experience. executive director of Future Retail Ltd.
He was a Director with the Deal Advisory Rakesh Biyani, who has also been
practice in KPMG. appointed as Joint Managing Director of
He started his career at PwC. Bharti Retail.

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In May 2015, Future Group had agreed
to merge its retail business with Bharti
Retail in an all-stock deal worth 750
crore rupees to create one of the biggest
supermarket chains with 15000 crore
rupees turnover.
Bharti Retail is a wholly owned subsidiary
of Bharti Enterprises.
Bharti Retail operates a chain of multiple
format stores.
Future Group owns and operates Big
Bazaar, combined retail operations with
Easyday in May 2015.
This collaboration has made it Indias
biggest retail chains with more than 570
stores in 243 cities in India.
12
Ministers and senior bureaucrats from
the Swiss government attended the
inauguration event that was organized
by Interlaken Tourism and Jungfrau
Railways.
The government of Interlaken awarded
him the honorary title of Ambassador of
Interlaken in 2011,
Jungfrau Railways named a train after
him an honour shared only with the
railways founder, Adolf Guyer.
The five-star Victoria Jungfrau Grand
Hotel & Spa in Interlaken also named a
suite after Yash Chopra.
Shashank
Manohar

11 Yash Chopras
Switzerland
statue is in resigns as BCCI
president

Yash Chopra, who shot most of his romantic On 10 May
dramas in the lush mountains of Switzerland, 2016 Shashank
has been honoured with a special statue by the Vyankatesh
government. Manohar resigned
Shashank Manohar as the President
The bronze statue of the Yash Chopra, of BCCI.
which weighs about 250 kilos, was
inaugurated on 11 May 2016 by his He also stepped down as the BCCI
wife Pamela and daughter-in-law Rani representative in the International
Mukerjee. Cricket Council and the Asian Cricket
Chopra, who opened a legacy of South Council .
Asian tourists flocking to Switzerland, He served as the president of the
loved to spend time in the country cricketing body from 25 September 2008
besides shooting his movies. to 19 September 2011.
This statue is installed at the heart of He is holding the office of the president of
Interlaken, inside the Kursaal area, near the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA)
the Congress Centre which is a prime, who is one of the three full members in
popular spot with tourists. the state of Maharashtra.

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20

He is also referred to as Mr. Clean and is Chase & Co, Americas largest bank.
also known for his spotless track record The candidates on the list were judged
and integrity in cricketing circles. on net worth, assets under management
Meanwhile in the Supreme Court, or overseen, three-year track records
BCCI was questioned about their and influence on markets.
apprehensiveness to implement the
Lodha Committee reforms. President approves name of Four
14 Judges for Supreme Court
Uday Kotak, only
13 Indian in Forbes
Most Powerful On 11 May 2016 President Pranab Mukherjee
People in the signed the warrant for the appointment of four
Financial World judges to the Supreme Court.
list
On 4 May 2016 These names were
On 11 May 2016 recommended by the Supreme Court
Forbes magazine Collegium headed by Chief Justice
Uday Kotak released the list of of India TS Thakur . These are the
the Most Powerful suggested names
People in the Financial World. Justice AM Khanwilkar of the Madhya
Pradesh High Court
The only Indian in the list is Uday Kotak, Justice DY Chandrachud of the
the CEO of the Kotak Mahindra Bank. Allahabad High Court
He is ranked 33rd in the list Justice Ashok Bhushan of the Kerala
He has a net worth of 7.1 billion dollars High Court to the Supreme Court
and oversees assets worth 34.6 billion L Nageshwar Rao
dollars. These four will be sworn in as Supreme
The list has been topped by Stephen Court judges on 13 May 2016.
Schwarzman of Blackstone Group The judicial strength of the Supreme
Next on the list is David Tepper of Court will move up to 28.
Appaloosa Management and Jamie They are the first appointments
Dimon of JP Morgan Chase & Co. since the collegium system of judicial
Stephen Schwarzman is the CEO of appointments was restored after
Blackstone Group, the worlds biggest the National Judicial Appointments
private equity firm. Commission Act was struck down.
David Teppere is the CEO of Appaloosa
Management.
Jamie Dimon is the CEO of JPMorgan

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Manjit Singh,
15 appointed as
member of
Presidents
Advisory Council

On 12 May 2016
US President
Barack Obama
Manjit Singh appointed an
Indian-American
engineer, Manjit Singh, as the member of
Presidents Advisory Council on Faith-Based
and Neighborhood Partnerships.

The announcement came along with several

other appointments made by the US President.

Singh is the President of Agilious, a

software technology consulting firm he
founded in 2013.
He is the co-founder of the Sikh American
Legal Defense and Education Fund, a
national Sikh American media, policy
and education organization.
He served as a member of the Board
of Directors of the Guru Gobind Singh
Foundation and also as a Member-
at-Large of The Board of the Interfaith
Conference of Metropolitan in
Washington.
He is an engineering graduate of Bombay
University.
He also received a Master of Science
degree from the State University of New
York in US.
Council work for :
Identifying best practices and successful

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

22

modes of delivering social services. experience and vision who has worked
Evaluating the need for improvements on some of the most challenging issues
in the implementation and coordination of our time.
of public policies relating to faith-based Since starting her UN career as a senior
and neighborhood organizations. logistics officer with the World Food
Making recommendations to the Programme in Rome in 1995, Samoura
President and the Administration on has served as country representative
changes in policies, programs, and or director in six countries, namely
practices. Djibouti, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea,
Madagascar and Nigeria.
16 Fatma Samoura She speaks French (her mother tongue),
named first English, Spanish and Italian.
female secretary Prior to joining the UN, Samoura
general of FIFA spent eight years in the private sector,
working in the fertiliser trading sector
On 13 May for Senchim, a subsidiary of Industries
2016 FIFA Chimiques du Senegal.
Council named
a Senegalese UN Hinupur Pradeep
Fatma Samoura
diplomat Fatma 17 Rao appointed
Samba Diouf Samoura as its first female as the Deputy
Secretary General (SG). CAG

Samoura, 54-year-old, will assume the role of Senior audit
FIFA Secretary General before mid-June after service officer
undergoing an eligibility check administered Hindupur
by an independent review committee. Pradeep Rao was
Hinupur Pradeep Rao today appointed
The announcement was made by FIFA as Deputy
President Gianni Infantino at the 66th FIFA Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
Congress in Mexico City.
Rao, a 1981 batch officer of Indian
Samoura is a 21-year veteran of United Audit and Account Service, is presently
Nations programmes who is currently working as Additional CAG.
the UNs Resident/Humanitarian The Appointments Committee of the
Coordinator and UNDP Resident Cabinet has approved the appointment
Representative in Nigeria. of Rao as Deputy CAG with effect
Fatma is a woman with international from July 1, 2016, an order issued by

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Department of Personnel and Training
said.
The Comptroller and Auditor General is
countrys top auditing body.
In another order, the ACC has appointed
A K Mittal as Member (Engineering) in
Railway Board here.
Mittal, who belong to Indian Railway
Service of Engineers, is presently General
Manager of East Central Railway.
He has been appointed to the new post
with effect from June 1, 2016.
High Court of the state of Tripura was
established in March 2013.
Prior to the establishment, a bench of
the Gauhati High Court used to have
jurisdiction over the state.
The seat of the High Court is at Agartala,
the capital of Tripura.
Deepak Gupta worked as the first Chief
Justice of the court.
This article empowers the President of
India to appoint acting Chief Justice to
a High Court.
Appointment of acting Chief Justice

18 Justice
Tinlianthang
takes place when the office of Chief
Justice of High Court is vacant.
Vaiphei sworn Such an appointment also takes place
in as acting when any such Chief Justice is, by
Chief Justice reason of absence or otherwise, unable
of Tripura High to perform the duties of his office.
Court
Indian Army
Justice 19 Successfully
Tripura High Court Tinlianthang Summits Mount
Vaiphei on 16 May Everest
2016 was sworn in as the acting Chief Justice
of Tripura High Court. He was administered A team of six
the oath of office by the Governor Tathagata Indian Army
Roy at the Raj Bhavan in Agartala. mountaineers led
by Lieutenant
At present Vaiphei is the Acting Chief Mount Everest Colonel Ranveer
Justice of the Gauhati High Court. He Jamwal has
replaced Deepak Kumar Gupta, who successfully summitted Mount Everest (8848
was transferred as the chief justice of metres) at dawn on 19th May 2016.
the Chhattisgarh High Court.
Vaiphei was appointed as an Additional Concurrently, the Lhotse Summit
Judge in the Gauhati High Court in Team under Major Nooruddin Ahmed
July 2003. He was elevated as the Chief is attempting to summit Mount Lhotse,
Justice (Acting) in October 2015. the fourth highest peak in the world at

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

24

8501 metres. but that Beijing must respect Taiwans

The Indian Army climbers were amongst
the initial lot of mountaineers
successfully climb Everest after a hiatus
of two years as the peak was closed
due to the devastation caused by the
earthquake in Nepal last year.
The 30-member Indian Armys Everest
Massif Expedition 2016 was flagged off
by Lt Gen MMS Rai, Vice Chief of the
Army Staff, on 30th March, 2016.
Five members of the team will also be
participating in the tough and intensive
Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon on
29th May 2016, considered to be one
of the toughest trail marathons in the
world.
democracy.
to Earlier in January 2016, Tsai led the
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to
a landslide win in parliamentary and
presidential elections.
This is the only second time that DPP
has won an election in Taiwan. The
Kuomintang (KMT) has been in power
for most of the past 70 years.
The DPP has traditionally leaned
towards independence from China, and
its victory has led to a cooling of cross-
straits relations. China sees Taiwan
as a breakaway province, which it has
threatened to take back by force if
necessary.

Tsai Ing-wen Rakesh Kumar Mishra appointed

20 sworn-in as first 21 as CCMB director
women President
of Taiwan Rakesh Kumar Mishra, has been
appointed as the new Director of the Centre for
Tsai Ing-wen Cellular and Molecular Biology by the Council
was sworn-in as for Scientific and Industrial Research.
the President of
Taiwan on 20 May He is a noted expert in the study of
President of Taiwan 2016. With this, function of genes,
she became the He had joined CCMB in 2001 as a
first woman to hold the post in Taiwan. senior scientist after stints at the IISc,
Bangalore, the University of Bordeaux,
Before being presented the official seal, France, Saint Louise University, USA and
59-year-old, Tsai swore the presidential the University of Geneva, Switzerland
oath in front of national flag. She for post-doctoral experience.
succeeded outgoing President Ma Ying- An MSc from Allahabad University,
jeou. Mishras research interests include
Tsai has said she will preserve the investigating evolutionarily conserved
status quo in relations with China, features of genome organisation,

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chromatin structure and epigenetic Virendra Kataria on July 12 barely a

regulation of genes during embryonic year after he had been appointed. Lt
development stages. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar
The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Island Lt Gen Ajay Singh had been given
Biology or CCMB is an Indian additional charge of Puducherry.
Biotechnology research establishment of Kiran Bedi is a retired Indian Police
the Council of Scientific and Industrial Service officer, social activist, former
Research located in Hyderabad, India, tennis player and politician from India.
and a designated Center of Excellence She remained in service for 35 years
for Global Molecular and Cell Biology before taking voluntary retirement in
Network, UNESCO. 2007 as Director General, Bureau of
Police Research and Development.
Kiran Bedi
22 appointed
23
Ratan P Watal
Lieutenant appointed as Niti
Governor of Aayogs Principal
Puducherry Adviser

BJP leader and Former Finance
former IPS officer Secretary,Ratan
Kiran Bedi was on P Watal has been
22nd may 2016 appointed as the
Kiran Bedi
appointed as Ratan P Watal Principle Adviser
Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. for social sector in
Niti Aayog. He has been appointed to the post
This post was under the additional charge of for three years.
Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Island
for nearly two years. The new appointment for Watal comes a
fortnight after his two-month extended tenure
The appointment comes three days after ended in April.
the Congress-DMK alliance won 17
seats in the 30-member state Assembly. He was to retire in February. However, Watal
AIADMK, which contested the elections later got a two-month extension as the Finance
on its own, won four seats while BJP Secretary.
could not get even a single seat.
The LG post in the Union territory had Watal, a retired IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh
been lying vacant after the Narendra cadre, had been Finance Secretary between
Modi Government sacked UPA nominee August last year and April this year.

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

26

Erdogan ally to
The National Institution for 24 be new Turkish
Transforming India Aayog or NITI Aayog Prime Minister
is a Government of India policy think-
tank established by Prime Minister Turkeys
Narendra Modi to replace the Planning governing Justice
Commission. and Development
The stated aim for NITI Aayogs creation Party elected
is to foster involvement and participation President Recep
in the economic policy-making process Erdogan ally Tayyip Erdogan
by the State Governments of India. to become its new
It has adopted a bottom-up approach in leader and prime minister, paving the way for
planning which is a remarkable contrast a constitutional overhaul that would allow the
to the Planning Commissions tradition president to extend his powers.
of top-down decision-making.
One of the important mandates of NITI Binali Yildirim, the sole candidate for
Aayog is to bring cooperative competitive prime minister, received votes from all
federalism and to improve centre state 1,405 delegates at a party congress.
relation . Later Mr. Erdogan gave Mr. Yildirim the
This is well reflected when Indian official mandate to form a government.
Prime Minister appointed three sub- The previous Prime Minister, Ahmet
groups of chief ministers for making Davutoglu, abruptly stepped down
recommendations in three important on May 5 after a public rift with Mr.
areas (centrally sponsored schemes, Erdogan.
skill development and Swachh Bharat). Mr. Yildirim, 60, is expected to play a
NITI Aayog will provide opportunities, subservient role to the president, and to
that the previous Planning Commission push forward a series of constitutional
structure lacked, to represent the amendments that would allow Mr.
economic interests of the State Erdogan to establish an all-powerful
Governments and Union Territories of presidential system.
India. Party leaders announced that the new
government would work in harmony
with the president to realize central
goals for Turkeys future.
Sentiments expressed at the party
congress have been echoed by pro-
government columnists, who have called
for obedience to the chief since Mr.

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Davutoglus resignation. He was elected as the Honorary Secretary

of the BCCI in January 2015.
25 Anurag Thakur He played one match in first-class
becomes cricket representing Himachal Pradesh
BCCIS one of and leading the team as captain in a
the youngest match against Jammu and Kashmir in
president the 2000/2001 season.

On 22 May 2016 Lt General
Anurag Thakur 26 SK Saini new
Anurag Thakur was unanimously commandant of
elected as 34th Indian Military
BCCI President at the boards special general Academy
meeting (SGM) in Mumbai.
Lt General S K
He will serve as President until Saini has taken
September 2017. over as the new
Thakur is a BJP MP in Lok Sabha from SK Saini commandant of
Himachal Pradeshs Hamirpur district, prestigious Indian
is the second youngest BCCI chief. Military Academy (IMA).
Fateh Singh Gaekwad in 1963 became
the youngest BCCI President at the age Lt General Saini assumed the office of
of 33. commandant on May 21. Earlier, he
Thakur succeeds Shashank Manohar was a senior directing staff in National
who stepped down from the position to Defence College (NDC), New Delhi,
take up the ICC chiefs job. Manohar according to press release issued by
was elected the ICCs first independent IMA.
chairman on 12 May 2016. Lt General Saini is an alumni of National
Before being appointed as President, Defence Academy (NDA) and IMA. In
Thakur resigned as BCCI Secretary. 1981, he was commissioned to seventh
Thakur, 41, will also represent the BCCI battalion of Jat regiment.
on the ICC executive board and the In his career of 36 years, he has held
Asian Cricket Council. many important posts.
He is the son of Prem Kumar Dhumal, The Indian Military Academy, Dehradun
the former Chief Minister of Himachal is the officer training Academy of the
Pradesh. Indian Army. IMA was established in the
He has been a member of 14th, 15th year 1932.
and 16th Lok Sabha. During the Indian independence

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

28

struggle, Indian leaders recognized the join the Asom Gana Parishad in 2001,
need for a local military institution to founded by his erstwhile seniors in the
meet the needs of an armed force loyal students organisation, and was elected
to sovereign India. the partys MLA from Upper Assams
The British Raj was reluctant to Moran constituency in 2001.
commission Indian officers or to permit In 2004, he went on to successfully
local officer training. contest the Lok Sabha polls wresting the
Until World War I Indians were not seat for the first time from the Congress
eligible for commission as officers in the by defeating former Union Minister
Indian Army. Paban Singh Ghatowar.
He went on to become the BJP state unit

27 Sonowal
becomes BJPs
President in 2012 and was credited with
raising the partys tally to seven from the
first Chief earlier four and reducing the Congress
Minister in margin to three from seven in the 2014
Assam Parliamentary polls.

Sarbananda Bangar
Sonowal was 28 appointed
sworn in as Indias coach for
Sonowal the 14th chief Zimbabwe tour
minister of
Assam. Sanjay Bangar
has been
Sonowal was sworn in by Governor appointed as the
Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya. He head coach of
took his oath in Assamese. the Indian team
Sanjay Bangar
Along with Sonowal, 10 ministers for the upcoming
including from alliance partners Asom limited-overs series in Zimbabwe.
Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodo Peoples
Front (BPF) also took their oath of office Bangar, the ex-India and Railways all
at the function which was also attended rounder, had been part of the Indian
by BJP President Amit Shah. team as assistant coach till the World
The two from AGP to be sworn-in were T20.
Atul Bora (Jr) and Kesab Mahanta, while The BCCI, however, didnt appoint a
the two from BPF were Pramila Rani bowling coach for the short series during
Brahma and Rihan Daimary. which India will play three ODIs and as
From AASU he predictably went on to many T20 internationals, starting June

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11. growth, customer life cycle management

Bangar had been witnessing a fine and building marketing capabilities
season as a coach, taking Kings XI across the organisation.
Punjab to the IPL 7 final and winning The deal is said to be 30% in cash and
many accolades. 70% in stock. The transaction
His job in the Indian team became more was done at a $5 billion valuation for
hands-on as Fletcher left after the 2015 Snapdeal.
World Cup. Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal
Sanjay Bapusaheb Bangar About this Bahl said here on Wednesday that the
sound pronunciation. joint entity would create the countrys
He is a former Indian cricketer. largest mobile commerce platform with
He was an all-rounder and had over 40 million customers. About half of
represented India in Tests and One Day that comes from FreeCharge.
Internationals. Flipkart, with which Snapdeal is in
He is current batting coach of Indian fierce competition, has 30 million
cricket team since August 2014 registered users. Flipkart had acquired
online clothing firm Myntra for over

29 Govind
became CEO of
Rajan $330 million last year.

Snapdeal owned Trinamool Congress supremo

Freecharge 30 Mamata Banerjee sworn in as
Chief Minister of West Bengal
Snapdeal-owned for second successive five-year
digital payments term.
platform
Freecharge, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata
Govind Rajan has recently Banerjee sworn in as Chief Minister of West
announced a top Bengal on Friday, beginning her second stint
level rejig at the company with the appointment in the once-Left dominated State.
of Govind Rajan as the Chief Executive Officer.
Forty-one ministers, including 17 new
Freecharge had teamed up with Yes Bank faces, were sworn in along with her in
to launch a digital wallet that will allow batches at a function at Red Road in
consumers make payments for transactions central Kolkata.
on both Freecharge and Snapdeal. Among the new entrants in the ministry
were singer Indranil Sen, cricketer
Prior to Snapdeal, Rajan was overseeing Laxmi Ratan Shukla, dissident Marxist
Airtels revenue and market share leader Adbur Razzak Molla, powerful

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30

Muslim leader Siddiqullah Chowdhury general secretary, did not contest the
and a couple of former IPS officers. elections.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and There were three contenders for the
Minister of State for Urban Development chief ministers post - former chief
Babul Supriyo attended the swearing-in minister V.Vaithilingam, party chief
ceremony. A.Namassivayam and Narayanasamy.
Her council of ministers includes five The Congress-DMK alliance won a
Minister of States (Independent Charge) simple majority by bagging 17 of the 30
and 8 MoS. Assembly seats.
West Bengal has always had a very He is a former Member of the Parliament
strong hold for Mamta. of India who represented Puducherry
Narendra Modis Language and his constituency.
speeches also worked against the BJP In the 2014 general elections, he
which lead to the defeat of BJP in the was defeated by the NDA candidate
state. R.Radhakrishnan who was backed by
the ruling All India N.R. Congress.

31 V
swamy
Narayana-
to be
He is a member of the Congress Working
Committee as well as All India Congress
Puducherry Committees General Secretary.
Chief Minister

V Narayana-
swamy is going to
sworn in as the
Chief Minister of
V Narayanaswamy Puducherry.

The decision came after the state

party leaders consulted the party high
command in Delhi on the choice of chief
minister.
Senior Congress leader and former
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and
party general secretary Mukul Wasnik
attended the meeting as AICC observers.
Narayanasamy was elected unanimously
by all the Congress legislators.
Narayanasamy, who is also a party

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AWARDS
Swat activist Former
1 Tabassum Adnan 2 bureaucrat NK
won 2016 Nelson Singh selected
Mandela Award. for Japans
highest civilian
On 28 April award
2016 Tabassum
Adnan, from Swat Former
valley of Pakistan, bureaucrat and
Swat activist won the Mandela NK Singh MP Nand Kishore
- Graa Machel Singh have been
Innovation Award 2016 in Bogota, Colombia. awarded with Order of the Rising Sun, Gold
and Silver which is a Japans highest civilian
She won the award on the concluding award.
day of the International Civil Society
Week held from 25 April to 28 April He was chosen for this prestigious award
2016. for promoting economic, educational
She has been a victim of child marriage, and cultural ties between India and
& was married at the age of 13. Japan.
The marriage went through domestic He is among 91 foreign recipients to
abuse, ended after 20 years . be honoured during the 2016 Spring
She is the founder of Khwendo Jirga Imperial Decoration of Japan by Emperor
(Sisters Council), which is the first Akihito during the investiture ceremony
women-only jirga in Pakistan. in May 2016.
The council meets weekly & speaks N K Singh is a politician, economist and
of womens right, including honour former Indian Administrative Service
killings, and acid attacks. officer (IAS) from Bihar cadre.
The jirga campaigns for women in He had served as a MP in the Rajya
Swat Valley, including issues related to Sabha (2008-2014) from Bihar.
womens security and their voting rights. He was also Principal Secretary to
In March 2015, Adnan, was awarded the Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee. He was
International Women of Courage award also connected with International
in the US. organisations like World Bank, IMF and
UNDP.

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

32

He also had served as Chairman, Board of Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut
Governors of Management Development Film Of A Director -Neeraj Ghaywan for
Institute (MDI), Gurgaon. Masaan
Order of the Rising Sun is a Japanese Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome
Government highest civilian established Entertainment - Bajrangi Bhaijaan
in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. Best Childrens Film - Duronto
It is conferred in recognition of Best Direction - Sanjay Leela Bhansali
distinguished accomplishments of an for Bajirao Mastani
individual. Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film
The modern version of the order is being on National Integration - Nanak Shah
given to non-Japanese recipients from Fakir
1981. Best Film on Environment /
Conservation/Preservation - Valiya
3 President Pranab Chirakulla Pakshikal
Mukherjee Best Film on Social Issue - Niranayakam
conferred 63rd Best Actor - Amitabh Bachchan for Piku
National Film Best Actress - Kangana Ranaut for Tanu
Awards Weds Manu Returns
Best Supporting Actor - Samuthirakani
President Pranab for Visaranai
Mukherjee on Best Supporting Actress - Tanvi Azmi for
3 May 2016 Bajirao Mastani
Pranab Mukherjee
conferred Best Child Artist - Gaurav Menon for
National film awards for the year 2015 in Ben
various categories at the 63rd National Film Best Male Playback Singer - Mahesh
Awards Function held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Kale for Katyar Kaljat Ghusali
Delhi. Best Female Playback Singer - Monali
Thakur for Moh Moh Ke Dhaag (Dum
The President also conferred 2015 Dada Laga Ke Haisha)
Saheb Phalke Award to Manoj Kumar.
Amitabh Bachchan received
Best Actor honour for his role of a
the
4 President Pranab Mukherjee
confers Niryat Shree and Niryat
hypochondriac father in Piku. While Bandhu Awards
Kangana Ranaut received the Best
Actress Award for Tanu Weds Manu On 4 May 2016 President Pranab Mukherjee
Returns. conferred the 15th set of Federation of Indian
Best Feature Film - Baahubali: The Export Organisations (FIEO) Niryat Shree and
Beginning Niryat Bandhu Awards in New Delhi.

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Reliance Industry was adjudged as
the top foreign exchange earner and leading
exporter of last 50 years.
TCS bagged the Gold Award in IT
services.
State Bank of India got the Gold award
President also unveiled the brand new
FIEO Logo representing growth, vibrancy,
innovation and entrepreneurship.
It was set up in 1965 and completed 50
years .
The Federation recently moved to Niryat
Bhawan, New Delhi.
It extended its arms to support the State
Governments through formulation of
Export Strategy and Export Policy.
The Trade Portal developed by FIEO
has provided single window information
on all facets of international trade for
Indian Exim community.
5 Indian Parashar
Kulkarni
wins 2016
Commonwealth
Short Story
Prize for Asia
Region
Indian Parashar
Parashar Kulkarni Kulkarni won the
Commonwealth
Short Story Prize for 2016, for the Asia region.
He was awarded for his politically grounded
unpublished short fiction Cow and Company.
He will get a cash prize of 2500 pounds (3835
ISSUE 5, MAY 2016
33
US dollars).
Parashar Kulkarni is an assistant professor in
Social Sciences at Yale NUS College Singapore.
He is one of the five winners of 2016
Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Winners
from other four regions are:
Faraaz Mahomed - The Pigeon with its
playful tone and unreliable narrator
Stefanie Seddon - Eel, a simply told and
moving story of childhood
Lance Dowrich - comedic Ethelbert and
the Free Cheese
Tina Makereti - Black Milk, which
impressed with a lyricism that takes the
reader into another world while keeping
them always on earth
Now the regional winners will compete
with each other for being selected
as the overall winner of the 2016
Commonwealth Short Story Prize. This
will be announced at the Calabash
International Literary Festival in
Jamaica on 5 June 2016.
The overall winner will receive 5000
pounds (7670 US dollars).
Other Indian authors, who were
shortlisted for the award in the regional
shortlist include
Kritika Pandey for Dirty White Strings
Sumit Ray for Girdhars Mansion
Vinayak Varma for Instant Karma
34

6 President
Mukherjee
Minister Narendra Modi, Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikar, and the
presents three services Chiefs were present in the
gallantry awards ceremony.
to defence
personnel Indian-American Revathi
7 Balakrishnan named as 2016
On 10th May 2016 Texas Elementary Teacher of the
President Pranab Year
President Mukherjee Mukherjee
presented the Indian-American elementary teacher, Revathi
Gallantry Awards and the Distinguished Balakrishnan was honoured by US President
Service Decorations to defence personnel and Barack Obama at the White House.
martyrs posthumously at a ceremony at the
Rashtrapati Bhavan here. She was named as 2016 Texas Elementary
Teacher of the Year.
Sepoy Jagdish was awarded Kirti
Chakra posthumously. He made the She received the honour for her excellent work
supreme sacrifice during terror attack in the field of education at Patsy Sommer
at Pathankot Air Base Elementary School in Texas.
Subedar Mahendra Singh was awarded
Kirti Chakra. She is from Chennai, Tamil Nadu who
Jammu and Kashmir Police Head attributes her success in the field of
Constable Mohammed Shafi Sheikh education to her love of teaching.
and Constable Reyaz Ahmed Lone were She was a systems analyst with Liberty
awarded Shaurya Chakra. Mutual,
Second in Command of CRPF 7th She taught math classes in third through
Batallion Hira Kumar Jha who was fifth grade at Sommer at Sommer
awarded Shaurya Chakra. Elementary for six years
Commander Milind Mokashi who saved Then she used to teach at Forest North
more than 16 hundred persons from Elementary for three years.
war torn Yemen was also presented with She earned her economics degree from
Shaurya Chakra. University of Madras.
Sixteen personnel were awarded Param It identifies exceptional teachers in the
Vishisht Seva Medal and Twenty Four United States of America.
Personnel were awarded Ati Vishisht The honour recognizes their effective
Seva Medal. work in the classroom, engages them in
Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Prime a year of professional learning, amplifies

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their voices and empowers them to
participate in policy discussions at the
state and national levels.
8 Hockey India
recommended
Ritu Rani and
VR Raghunath
for Arjuna Award
On 11 May
2016 Hockey India
recommended
Hockey India
Indian womens
team captain Ritu Rani, VR Raghunath,
Dharamvir Singh for Arjuna Award.
It also recommended Sylvanus Dung
Dung for Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime
Achievement Award
It also recommended CR Kumar for
Dronacharya Award.
VR Ragunath debuted for Indian Hockey
team in 2005 against Pakistan for
bilateral series.
He was part of Indian team that won the
bronze in the 2007 Sultan Azlan Shah
Cup and Silver in 2008.
Ritu Rani led the team to achieve the
2016 Rio Olympic berth.
Dharamvir Singh was also a part of the
2014 Asian Games gold medal winning
team.
Sylvanus Dung Dung was part of the
Indian team that won the gold at the
1980 Moscow Olympic Games
CR Kumar is best known for guiding
the Indian junior mens hockey team to
glory in the 2011 Junior World Cup.
ISSUE 5, MAY 2016
35
President
9 confers Florence
Nightingale
Awards.
On 12 May 2016
President Pranab
Mukherjee
conferred
Florence Nightingale the Florence
Nightingale
Awards to 35 nurses
It was done on the occasion of International
Nurses Day at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New
Delhi.
The day is celebrated worldwide on May 12
every year to commemorate the birth day of
Florence Nightingale and to mark the nurses
contributions towards public health.
These awards are given to the outstanding
nursing personnel employed in Union,
State/Union Territories.
The awards carry 50000 rupees cash
prize, a certificate, a citation certificate
and a Medal.
Dorothy Sutherland in the year 1953
first proposed this very idea
It was first celebrated by the International
Council of Nurses (ICN) in the year 1965.
May 12 was declared to be celebrated as
the birthday anniversary of the founder
of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale
in January in 1974.
36

Anjali Douglas, long-standing U.N. Messenger

10 Chandrashekhar of Peace.
comes 3rd in UN
Harvey Milk
Poster for Peace
contest
11 Foundation to
Honor Bollywood
Anjali Chand- Actress Celina
rashekar, won the Jaitly
third prize at the
Anjali Chandrashekhar United Nations Former beauty
Poster for Peace queen, Bollywood
Contest. actress and
Celina Jaitly global human
She received the award at the U.N. rights activist
Headquarters in New York on May 3. Celina Jaitly, will be honored May 13 by the
Two of Anjalis works were selected Harvey Milk Foundation at the second annual
Break Free and Cutting a Peace Deal. Diversity Honors at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Break Free shows white peace doves in Hollywood, Florida.
fly out of a cage shaped like a nuclear
warhead, while the other poster was She is a strong supporter of repealing
about affirmative action the dove acts Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code,
like scissors and cuts through the image which criminalizes homosexuality,
of a warhead, towards peace. Jaitly will receive the Harvey Milk
Anajli, who studied at PSBB Senior Foundations Lilla Watson Global
Secondary School and went on to Champion Medal at the gala co-presented
graduate from Pratt Institute in the U.S., by the Harvey Milk Foundation and The
is no stranger to using her talent for a Pride Center at Equality Park.
cause to raise funds and to create Jaitly, is an official Champion of the
awareness. Shes been doing it since she United Nations Free & Equal Campaign,
was 10, and has participated in several will be honored for her advocacy and
U.N. campaigns in the past. support for the LGBT rights movement
This campaign was to commemorate the in India.
70th anniversary of the first General A former Miss India winner and Miss
Assembly Resolution and to reaffirm the Universe runner-up, she is one of the
U.N.s historic commitment to nuclear most visible advocates against the
disarmament. At the U.N., she also met criminalization of same-sex relationships
the President of the General Assembly in the worlds largest democracy.
Mogens Lykketoft and actor Michael Jaitly will join other Diversity Honors

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notables to be celebrated for their May.

commitment to transforming lives by
living authentically and advancing Head Constable Shubhkaran Yadav
inclusiveness. served in the U.N. Organization
Guests at Diversity Honors will preview Stabilization Mission in the Democratic
the North American premiere of the Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
Levis X Harvey Milk Foundation Pride He made the supreme sacrifice in April
2016 Collection 2015.
The awards presentation will be hosted Rifleman Manish Malik also served
by WSVN news anchor Omar Lewis and in the U.N. Organization Stabilization
will include Stuart Milks 2016 State of Mission in the Democratic Republic of
the Global Equality address. the Congo.
He died in August 2015 during the

12 5 Indians
posthumously
mission.
Havildar Amal Deka served in the United
awarded Nations Disengagement Observer Force
with Dag (UNDOF).
Hammarskjold He died in June 2015.
Medal of UN Naik Rakesh Kumar served in the U.N.
Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
The United He died in January 2015.
Nations in the Gagan Punjabi was serving in MONUSCO
Dag Hammarskjold third week of May in a civilian capacity under the U.N.
2016 announced Volunteers programme and died in an
that four Indian peacekeepers and a civilian will incident in January 2015.
be honoured along with other 124 personnel The Dag Hammarskjld Medal is a
with a prestigious U.N. medal. posthumous award given by the United
Nations to military personnel, police or
Head Constable Shubhkaran Yadav,Rifleman civilians who lose their lives while serving
Manish Malik, Havildar Amal Deka, Naik in a UN peacekeeping operation.The first
Rakesh Kumar and Gagan Punjabi will be medals were awarded in October 1998.
honoured with the Dag Hammarskjold Medal
awarded posthumously.

The 124 personnel will be honoured on

the International Day of United Nations
Peacekeepers. The day, observed annually on
29 May, will be commemorated this year on 19

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

38

South Koreas Krasznahorkai (2015), Lydia Davis

13 Jan Kang won (2013), Philip Roth (2011), Alice Munro
Man Booker (2009), Chinua Achebe (2007) and Ismail
International Kadare (2005).
The prize is sponsored by Man Group,
The South Korean who also sponsor the annual Man Booker
author Han Kang prize for English language fiction.
has been named
the winner of the 14 Vesak Samman Prashasti
Patra-2016 Awards Presented
Jan Kang 2016 Man Booker
International to Buddhist scholars
Prize for her novel The Vegetarian, splitting
the 50,000 prize with her translator, Deborah On 21st May International Buddha Poornima
Smith. Diwas 2016 was celebrated to commemorate
Buddhas Birth, Sambodhiprapti and
The Vegetarian, published by Portobello Mahaparinirvana falling on the auspicious full
Books, the UK independent publisher, is moon day of the month of Vaishakh.
Ms Hans first novel to be translated into
English. Rajnath Singh, Union Minister for Home
It is the strange story of Yeong-hye, a Affairs was the Chief Guest. Dr. Mahesh
Korean wife who, seeking a more plant- Sharma, Minister of State for Culture &
like existence, decides to become Tourism (I/C) and Civil Aviation, Shri
vegetarian a rebellious decision that Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home
flouts the traditions of her family and Affairs and Shri Upendra Kushwaha,
country. Minister of State for Human Resources
Ms Smith, 28, started to learn Korean Development were present at the
only seven years ago, when she moved occasion.
to Korea. Bhaghwan Buddha was a very large
It was Ms Smith who proposed the idea hearted person and solutions to all
of translating The Vegetarian. problems of mankind are contained in
She also worked on Ms Hans second his teachings.
novel to be translated into English, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar adopted
Human Acts. Buddism as he was greatly influenced
Ms Smith is also the founder of Tilted with the sacred teachings of Bhagwan
Axis Press, a non-profit publishing Buddha.
house that promotes the translation of He wished all Buddhists worldwide on
literature from Africa and Asia. this auspicious occasion.
Previous prize winners include Lszl Ministry of Tourism has launched a

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programme namely Swadesh Darshan awarded to Delbert Mann for Marty.

which has a special component of As of 2016, Jane Campion is the only
Buddhist Circuit which connects female director to have won the Palme
all religious places of Buddhism very dOr for The Piano.
conveniently It previews new films of all genres,
Government of India attaches great including documentaries, from around
importance to Buddh Poornima and now the world.
onwards it will be celebrated every year It was founded in 1946.
like this. On 1 July 2014, co-founder and former
UN recognizes the importance of this head of French pay-TV operator Canal+
day. The UN Day of Vesak Celebration Pierre Lescure took over as President of
is internationally a cultural and the festival.
humanistic festival of the United Nations Routes 2 Roots,
International Organizing Committee. 16 a Delhi-based
Non-profit
organization
15 I, Daniel Blake won Palme dOr
at Cannes 2016 (NGO), has
been awarded
British director Ken Loachs film I, Daniel Blake prestigious
on 22 May 2016 won the Palme dOr at Cannes Inter-cultural
Film Festival. It was Loachs second award for Innovation
best picture at the festival after 2006s The Award 2016
NGO
Wind That Shakes the Barley.
Routes 2 Roots,
Loach is an English film and television a Delhi-based Non-profit organization (NGO),
director. has been awarded prestigious Inter-cultural
He is known for his naturalistic, social Innovation Award 2016.
realist directing style and for his socialist
ideals. The award was given by United Nations
His 1969 film Kes was voted the 7th Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) in
greatest British film of the 20th century Baku, Azerbaijan.
in a poll by the British Film Institute. Under this programme, students from
The Palme dOr (Golden Palm) is the both countries connect with each other
highest prize awarded at the Cannes through written, audio and visual
Film Festival. recordings that share history before
It was introduced in 1955 by the partition and thus help in eliminating
organizing committee. misunderstandings about each others
In 1955, the first Palme dOr was cultures.

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

40

This engagement also facilitates the 1968 and is the highest honour given to
students to ask each other questions, any alumni of the institute.
thereby discovering common interests. Mittal serves on the Prime Minister of
Intercultural Innovation Award: It has Indias Council on Trade & Industry and
been instituted by a partnership between has held various prestigious positions
UNAOC and the BMW Group. like Vice-Chairman of International
Formed with a vision of connecting Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
cultures, constantly striving to bridge He was also felicitated with a Padma
the socio-cultural distance between Bhushan, countrys third highest
India and the world through music and civilian honour, in 2007.
art thereby becoming cultural diplomats Mittal also founded Bharti Airtel, the
to the world. countrys largest telecommunications
Ever since its inception (2004) our company.
shows and exhibitions have traveled to Airtel is the first company to launch 4G
more than 20 cities in India and to 12 Services in India.
international cities in Russia, China, Apart from strong marketing and market
United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Pakistan value Airtel has also been in many
and South Africa. controversies.
It has always been the motto of R2R to Airtel is known for its wide network
bring much needed global integrity & coverage and fluent flow of data services
harmony amongst people, cultures and
values across borders and especially in
SAARC countries.
18 Indian-American
scientist Arnab
De has received

17 Sunil Bharti
Mittal, received
the prestigious
Springer Theses
the Harvard Award.
B-School Alumni
award An Indian-
American
Sunil Bharti Arnab De scientist Arnab
Mittal, the founder De has received
and chairman the prestigious Springer Theses Award in
Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti recognition for his outstanding research in
Enterprises, which he developed transgenic mice to study a
received the Alumni Achievement Award of critical tumor-suppressor called A20.
Harvard Business School.
The award is presented annually since Arnab Des thesis was nominated by

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New Yorks Columbia University.
Before this, De, who has also developed
peptide-based prod rugs as therapeutics
for diabetes, had received the Young
Investigator Award at the American
Peptide Symposium.
The thesis prize is awarded by Springer,
a leading global publisher of renowned
scientific journals and books,
recognize outstanding PhD research.
Winners also get a cash prize of 500
Euros.
The research work was highlighted
by the European Molecular Biology
Organization (EMBO) Reports.
Only research considered to be of
fundamental relevance to a general
readership is chosen to be highlighted
by EMBO.
Internationally top-ranked research
institutes select their best thesis
annually for publication in this series.
Nominated and endorsed by
recognized specialists, each thesis is
chosen for its scientific excellence and
impact on research.
Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar for the year 2016
at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The award was conferred upon 15
teachers from Punjab for their rare
contribution in the field of education.
The awardees were facilitated with 1 lakh
rupees cash, certificate of excellence, a
to Robe of Honour and a medal.
The initiative was mainly taken to
promote the quality teaching in the
schools besides encouraging the
hundred percent attendance of girl
students in the government schools.
The Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar was
instituted by Mohinder Singh Syngle
Education & Research Society.
It was instituted in honour of its founder
Malti Mohinder Singh Syngle, eminent
educationist and social worker.
Every year, government school teachers
from Punjab Governments High &
two Higher Secondary Schools receive this
award for their contributions in the field
of education.
The teachers already awarded with
the National or State Awards were not

19 President Pranab
Mukherjee
considered for this award.

presented Malti 20 AR Rehman

Gyan Peeth conferred
Puraskar 2016 Japans Fukuoka
Prize
The President
of India Pranab Adding to the
Mukherjee on Academy Award-
Gyan Peeth Puraskar 29 May 2016 winning Jai Ho
presented the AR Rehman composers vast

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

42
collection of wins, the ceremony had Rahman
presenting a lecture on From The Heart: The
World of AR Rahmans Music.
The Fukuoka Prize is an honour
established in 1990 by the city of
Fukuoka and the Yokatopia foundation.
It was meant to pay a tribute to the
works of individuals and organisations,
who have promoted and preserved the
diverse and rich culture of Asia.
Divided into three categories Grand
Prize, Academic Prize and Arts and
Culture Prize this years winning
list saw Rahman sharing the stage
with historian Ameth R Ocampo from
Philippines (Academic Prize)
Yasmeen Lari from Pakistan (Arts and
Culture Prize).
Allah-Rakha Rahman, born A. S. Dileep
Kumar, is an Indian composer, singer-
songwriter, music producer, musician
and philanthropist.
A.R. Rahmans works are noted for
integrating Eastern classical music
with electronic music, world music and
traditional orchestral arrangements.
Among his awards are two Academy
Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA
Award, a Golden Globe, four National
Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards
and thirteen Filmfare Awards South.
Rahmans body of work for film and
stage has given him the nickname of
the Mozart of Madras, and Tamil
and commentators and fans call him Isai
Puyal
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NATIONAL NEWS
Usage of left luggage offices for storage
Railways launch
1 Indrail Pass for

of luggage at nominal rates.
The Indrail pass is non-transferable.
foreigners
It should always be carried along with

your passport.
Indrail Pass
makes it easier
Centre
for tourists, from
abroad, to buy
2 government
LED scheme
this pass and
launched in
Indrail Pass travel to any part
Madhya Pradesh
of the country

without any limitation.
On 30 April
2016 Piyush
The pass will be valid for a fixed period
Goyal launched
of time.
LED National LED
there would be No reservation fee for
programme -
berths or seats.
Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA)
Rail reservations can be arranged from
in Madhya Pradesh.
the UK, if the Indrail pass is purchased
well in advance.
The scheme is being implemented by Energy
Rail reservations are arranged FREE
Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint
of cost, thus saving time by avoiding
venture of PSUs under the Union Ministry of
lengthy queues at railway stations for
Power.
rail bookings.
No sleeper berth surcharge for night
Under this Programme, 3 crore LED
journeys for any class of accommodation
Bulbs will be distributed in the next 6
(indirect saving of hotel cost).
months in the State.
No extra charge for travelling by faster
UJALA will not only help reduce
trains.
consumers their electricity bills but
Free meals on Rajdhani & Shatabdi
also contribute to the energy security of
expresses.
India.
Railway retiring rooms at nominal rates
The usage of LED bulbs will not only
(subject to availability).
result in reducing electricity bills but
Access to waiting halls at stations.
also help in environment protection.

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

44

The distribution of LED bulbs will city.

happen through DISCOM offices. Raymond Ltd will extend all possible
Consumers can buy these affordable help to the state government in setting
LEDs by presenting any identity card. up the Apparel Park here with a full-
These bulbs come with a three year free fledged fashion designing facility.
replacement warranty . Chairman and Managing Director of
The UJALA scheme played a significant Raymond Ltd Gautam Hari Singhania
role in creating awareness about energy will invest Rs 1,400 crore and the unit
efficient lighting. will provide job opportunities to about
The number of LED bulbs distributed in 8,000 persons.
2015-16 has crossed 15 crore The Nandgoan MIDC is spread across
For 2016, the Union Government is set 200 hectares in Amravati .
to distribute an additional 20 crore LED Raymond will start production by March
bulbs. 31 next year
Sustained efforts under UJALA, Raymond has a unit in Yavatmal and
coupled with industry support, will help the cotton growers
the government achieve its objective of Maharashtra Industries Minister
replacing 77 crore inefficient bulbs by Subhash Desai appreciated the steps
March 2019. being taken by Raymond to revive the
UJALA is the largest non-subsidised life of local farmers in the region.
LED programme in the world.
Union
4 Government
3 Maha Govt
develop textiles
to
banned import
park at Amravati of dogs for
commercial
Maharashtra breeding.
government
has planned to On 27 April 2016
develop Amravati, Indian govt. issued
as a textiles commercial breeding a notification
Textiles park city to promote banning the
this industry in import of dogs for commercial breeding.
cotton-growing areas of the Vidarbha region.
Animal rights organizations had raised
The Nandgaon industrial estate would be concerns over foreign breed dogs
developed as textile park and Amravati suffering due to unsuitable climatic
would soon be recognised as the textiles conditions

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Humane Society International (HSI)
and People for Animals along with other
groups had urged the government to
ban the import on dogs for breeding as
it was resulting in the overpopulation of
street dogs in the country.
Large number of dogs that are not
suitable for the countrys tropical climate
such as St Bernards, Siberian Huskies,
Alaskan Malamutes and others are
being imported by breeders in India.
Many imported breed dogs are being
abandoned by the owners
Animal rights groups also urged the
government to review pet shop and
breeder regulations as recommended by
the Law Commission of India.
In 2015, the commission published a
report on Need to Regulate Pet Shops
and Dog Breeding and Aquarium Fish
Breeding
Extension was given so that private cab
companies could switch to CNG vehicles
by 1 May 2016.
Supreme Court allowed Delhi Police and
Delhi Jal Board to buy and register the
new diesel-run vehicles of 2000 cc engine
capacity and above for transportation
of under trial prisoners, arms and
ammunition and supply of water.
SC Had stopped sale of diesel SUVs and
luxury cars with more than 2000 cc
engine capacity in 2015.
Later SC asked Delhi Police to pay 30
percent of the real value of the vehicle
to be purchased by it as Environment
Compensation Charge (ECC) or green cess
as a pre-condition for their registration
with the transport department.
SC, exempted Delhi Jal Board (DJB) from
paying ECC on the ground that around
250 water tankers would be supplying
water to the citizens of the city.

5 Supreme Court
banned all diesel
The court allowed the plea of police and
allowed to register on payment of ECC.
cabs in NCR-
Indian Railways
Delhi from May
1.
6 to plant trees
alongside
On 30 April 2016 Railway Track
The Supreme
Court of India On 2 May
NCR-Delhi decided to extend 2016 Indian
the deadline for Railways signed
keep out diesel cabs in National Capital Region a MoU with forest
(NCR). Indian Railways departments of
Haryana and
Earlier deadline was 1 April 2016, but it was Punjab to plant trees alongside Railway Track
extended for a month. on Railway Land Boundary.

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

46

The MoU was signed by Pankaj Saxena, Chief
Engineer /P&D, Northern Railway on behalf of
Railways whereas it was by Dr Amrinder Kaur,
Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF)
from forest departments.
Railway can contribute substantially
towards the Green India Mission.
Forest department is involved in the
plantation as well as maintenance and
disposal of trees, thus bringing in the
much needed expertise in afforestation.
Plantation along the railway
on railway land boundary by Forest
department
It will be done without declaring such
land as protected forest with
provision for resumption of such land at
any time by railways .
It will thus ensure no hindrance to
railway works / developmental projects.
Railway land will be protected from
encroachment.
All Zonal railways have been asked to
execute similar agreement between
their zones and concerned State Forest
departments as early as possible.
the Union Ministry of Science & Technology
inked licence agreements with M/s Nabagram
Resham Shilpa Unnayan Cooperative Society
Ltd and M/s Dariapur Rural Development
Society, Kalia Chak of West Bengal for the
commercialization of Ghar Sodhon.
It is a user friendly and non-corrosive
room disinfectant, devoid of the
requirement of labour, water, electricity
and spraying machines.
It has been developed at the Central Silk
track Research & Training Institute (CSRTI),
Berhampore, West Bengal, a constituent
Research Institute under Central Silk
Board, Bengaluru, under the Union
the Ministry of Textiles.
It is gaining popularity among the silk
farmers of the States of West Bengal,
Odisha and Jharkhand.
With this agreement both organizations
will put efforts to bring the fruits of
research for awareness and betterment
of the society.
8 Supreme
appointed
Court
RM
Lodha-panel to

7 NRDC
agreements
signed reform Medical
Council of India
for commerci-
alization of Ghar On 2 May 2016
Sodhon The Supreme
Court of India
National Research RM Lodha-panel appointed a
Development three-member
Corporation panel headed by former Chief Justice of India
NRDC (NRDC), under (CJI) RM Lodha to oversee the functions of the

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Medical Council of India. 600 mega watts coal-based thermal power

plant in M.P.
The panel consists of former CAG Vinod Rai
and Dr SK Sareen. The unit was commissioned at the 1x600
MW Jhabua Thermal Power Project (TPP)
The court appointed the panel after MCI Jhabua Power Ltd is A subsidiary of
has been accused of corrupt. Avantha Power & Infrastructure Limited
A parliamentary committee report said (APIL) which has developed the project.
that the MCI was repeatedly found short This is the second project of APIL
of fulfilling its mandated responsibilities, commissioned by BHEL.
Medical graduates lacked competence 1600 MW Avantha Bhandar TPP at
in performing basic healthcare tasks. Raigarh in Chhattisgarh has already
Instances of unethical practices been commissioned.
continued to grow. The MCI was not Madhya Pradesh has two supercritical
able to spearhead any serious reforms units of 800 MW for NTPC at Gadarwara
in medical education. BHEL was established in 1964 and
Earlier, RM Lodha headed a three- completely owned by Union Government.
member panel appointed by the top court BHEL was awarded a Maharatna
to look into the 2013 betting scandal in Company status in 2013.
the Indian Premier league (IPL) and the BHEL is largest engineering and
functioning of the Board of Control for manufacturing company of its kind in
Cricket in India (BCCI) India.
He also headed the committee appointed It scope of work in the contract envisaged
to sell assets of Pearls Agrotech design, engineering, manufacture,
Corporation Ltd (PACL) and refund 49 supply, erection and commissioning of
thousand crore rupees to the investors. steam turbine, generator and boiler,
along with associated auxiliaries
BHEL commis-
9 sioned 600 MW
and electrical, besides controls and
Instrumentation and electrostatic
thermal power precipitators.
plant in Madhya
Pradesh.
10 Suresh
launched
Prabhakar
Wi-Fi
Prabhu
hotspot at
On 3 May 2016 Vijayawada, Kachiguda and
Bharat Heavy Raipur
Electricals
BHEL Limited On 5 May 2016 Suresh Prabhu launched a
commissioned high speed Wi-Fi hotspot at the three Railway

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

48
Stations.
These stations are Vijayawada in Andhra
Pradesh, Kachiguda in Telangana and Raipur
in Chhattisgarh.
RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. has
been mandated by Ministry of Railways
to provide Wi-Fi
RailTel engaged with Google as the
technology partner for setting up high
speed Wi-Fi network.
RailTel will upgrade its backbone
infrastructure to backhaul high speed
connectivity of approximately 1Gbps per
station.
Wi-Fi services to passengers will be
provided under Railwire the retail
Broadband distribution model of RailTel.
Designed to offer users the best Internet
experience, Railwire Wi-Fi will
available to any user who has a working
mobile connection on a smart phone.
Users will be able to easily stream a high
definition video and surf the web.
RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. is a
Miniratna enterprise of Government of
India.
It is one of the largest neutral telecom
services providers in the country owning
a Pan-India optic fiber network.
It covers all important towns and cities
of the country and several rural areas
covering 70% of Indias population.
11 Banihal-Baramulla
Passenger (DEMU) and Budgam-
Baramulla DEMU in the State of
Jammu & Kashmir.
The Union Minister of Railways Shri
Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in the presence
of Minister of State for Development
of North Eastern Region (I/C), Prime
Ministers Office, Personnel, Public
Grievances & Pensions, Department of
Atomic Energy, Department of Space,
Dr. Jitendra Singh flagged off Train
74619/74620 Banihal-Baramulla Fast
Passenger (DEMU) and 74617/74618
Budgam-Baramulla Demu through Video
Conferencing between Rail Bhawan New
Delhi and Anantnag Railway Station.
Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir Ms.
Mehbooba Mufti graced the inaugural
function at the Anantnag Railway
Station along with other dignitaries.
The State of Jammu & Kashmir has
be great importance from the tourism point
of view where national and international
tourists visit throughout the year and
thus this connectivity will give a boost
to tourism in the State.
Railway is also working with the help of
IRCTC to bring Jammu & Kashmir on a
tourism map which will not only promote
tourism but also promote its handicraft
industry and its delicious cuisines
New train services will reduce the journey
time of the people of Valley and will also
be cost effective as the fares of trains are
less as compared to road transport.
Fast
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Two laning with Portal for

12 formation of four 13 Contract Labour
lane of Shimla Payment
Bypass on NH-22 Management
Approved. System launched

On 4 May 2016 On 4 May 2016
The Cabinet Piyush Goyal,
Committee on launched
NH-22 Economic Affairs Contract Labour Contract
gave its approval Labour Payment
for development of two laning with formation Management System
of four lane of Shimla Bypass (Kaithlighat to
Shimla section) on National Highway-22 in It is a new portal of Coal India Limited
Himachal Pradesh. (CIL).
This will help the government to curb
The work will be completed under the problems like corruption and exploitation
National Highways Development Project of contractual workers by contractors.
(NHDP) Phase-III. It has been planned to make payment
The total length of the road will be 28 to the contractors only after submitting
kilometres. a system generated declaration of
The cost for the project is estimated to compliance.
be 1583.18 crore rupees. It is an integrated system for all
Total number of 4076 mandays are subsidiaries of CIL.
required for construction of one The in-house developed application will
kilometre of highway. maintain a comprehensive database of
111914 mandays will be generated all contract workers in CIL and all its
locally during the construction period of subsidiaries.
this stretch. The portal will be managed by the
The development of this stretch will also Central Mine Planning and Development
help in uplifting the economic condition Institute (CMPDI), Ranchi.
of the State The system has in-built mechanism to
It would also increase employment validate minimum wages paid, generate
potential for local laborers for project wage slips and employment card.
activities. It provides access to all contract workers,
through a Workers Identification
Number (WIN)
It will allow contract workers to register

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

50

their grievance. prank calls) can be a crime.

The Nodal Officer at different locations
in the company will monitor the process.
This will enhance proper monitoring
of legal compliances under Contract
Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act.
In over 98 percent of locations in the
United States and Canada, dialing 9-1-
1 from any telephone will link the caller
to an emergency dispatch centercalled
a Public-Safety Answering Point (PSAP),
by the telecom industry which can send

14 any
Dial 112
Emergency
for emergency responders to the callers
location in an emergency.
throughout India
from 1 January Telangana govt
2017 15 to set up Monkey
rescue and
From 1 January rehabilitation
2017112, the centre
single emergency
Dial 112 number that will Telangana gove-
help people to rnment on 10th
reach immediate services of police, ambulance may issued orders
and fire department will be operational Monkey rescue for setting up a
throughout India. Monkey Rescue
and Rehabilitation Centre in Adilabad district.
The service will also be accessible even
through those SIMs and landlines whose It will be made with an investment of Rs
outgoing call facility has been stopped 2.21 crore.
or temporarily suspended. There was serious man-animal conflict
A person in distress will need to call in both rural and urban areas due to
only 112, which will direct the call to increased pressure on forest habitats,
concerned departments immediately for coupled with increased population of
help. monkeys.
Services were approved by Union The religious beliefs and value attached
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. to monkeys also resist villagers either
9-1-1 is the emergency for the North from killing or from other measures.
American Numbering Plan (NANP), one All these factors have contributed to the
of eightN11 codes. increasing conflict between the monkeys
This number is intended for use in and the human beings.
emergency circumstances only, and to After careful examination of the proposal
use it for any other purpose (such as of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests

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(HoFF), Telangana State government The service offers budget-friendly package

ordered establishment of Monkey Rescue for pilgrims. The package includes
& Rehabilitation Centre at Chincholi train journey, road transportation,
near Nirmal in Adilabad district, as pilot accommodation, sightseeing at tourist
project. locations and onboard and off-board
Telangana is one of the 29 states in meals.
India, in the South of the country. It was Bharat Darshan will cover pilgrimages
formed on 2 June 2014 with the city of destinations like Jagannath Puri,
Hyderabadas its capital. Gangasagar, Baidyanath Dham, Gaya,
Telangana is bordered by the states Banaras and Ayodhya.
ofMaharashtra to the north and North It will also cover 7 Jyotirlinga package
west,Chhattisgarh to the North, Odisha and also offers Dakshin Darshan
to the north east (adjoining khammam with Shirdi tour package that will
district), Karnataka to the west, and cover Shirdi, Tirupati, Kanchipuram,
Andhra Pradesh to the east and south. Rameshwaram, Madurai, Kanyakumari,
Telangana has an area of 114,840 Mysore and Bangalore.
square kilometres (44,340 sq mi), and a Indian Railways is an Indian state-
population of 35,193,978 (2011 census). owned enterprise, owned and operated
by the Government of India through the

16 Indian Railways
launches
Ministry of Railways.
It is one of the worlds largest railway
Bharat Darshan networks comprising 115,000 km
Tourist train for (71,000 mi) of track over a route of 65,808
pilgrims. km (40,891 mi) and 7,112 stations.

Bharat Darshan Uttarakhand
Tourist train for 17 Floor Test:
pilgrims to visit Harish Rawat
Indian Railways Shirdi, Tirupati, wins the Test
Jagannath with 33 votes in
Puri, Gangasagar, Baidyanath Dham and favour
Jyotirlingams among others has been launched
by Indian Railways. On 11
May 2016 in
Harish Rawat the legislative
The tourist train comprises 10 coaches assembly, the
and bookings are being done by IRCTC Harish Rawat-led government got the
wesbite. majority.

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Harish Rawat got 33 votes against 28 Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma
votes out of 61 qualified members who Bharti launched nine projects for rural
voted in the assembly. sanitation initiatives in Jharkhand.
SC said that Harish Rawat can take
charge as the Chief Minister of the. The initiatives were launched under
President Rule under Article 356 was Namami Gange Programme of the
imposed in Uttarakhand on 27 March Ministry.
2016 The main aim of these projects is to
It was done on the recommendation of improve the health and quality of life
the Union Cabinet. of around 45000 households located in
Conduct of composite floor test in the 78 villages of the Ganga River basin in
Uttarakhand legislative assembly was Jharkhand
ordered by the Supreme Court on 5 May The projects will cover the entire 83
2016. kilometer stretch of Ganga in Jharkhand.
On 9 March 2005 Apex court passed the Promotion of safe, individual hygiene
order for Jharkhand Assembly. practices to ensure open defecation free
It was done on the line of earlier order for status of all 78 villages along the river
a composite floor test in Uttar Pradesh Ganga.
in 1998. Promotion of cost-effective, appropriate
Presidents rule refers to the imposition local, low cost, easy to manage
of Article 356 of the Constitution of technologies to ensure improved access,
India on a State whose constitutional sustained use and maintenance of
machinery has failed. infrastructure created for effective
In the event that a State government management of solid and liquid waste.
is not able to function as per the Strengthening of local institutions
Constitution, the State comes under the including panchayats, village level
direct control of the central government. sanitation committees and self-help
groups to effectively manage, enhance

18 Rural Sanitation
Initiatives
and maintain facilities established for
improved sanitation in the villages and
for Ganga an integrated and a holistic livelihood
Rejuvenation in approach.
Jharkhand. 78 units will be established in project
villages for collection, storage and
On 9 May 2016 composting of degradable solid waste
Union Minister 5460 households will be supported for
for Water adoption of composting
Ganga Rejuvenation Resources, River 1860 households will be supported for

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adoption of biogas plants appropriate policy recommendations

Eight village level crematoriums and 32 to address the same in a time bound
bathing Ghats will be. manner.

19 Ministry
Road Transport
Of
20 Maharashtra
declares drought
& Highways Sets in 29000
Up Committee to villages.
Frame Policy For
Taxi Operators On 12 May 2016
Maharashtra
The Ministry of government
Road Transport declared drought
Transport & Highways and Maharashtra declares in over 29000
Highways
has constituted villages of the
a three member committee to prepare a state, most of them in parched Marathwada
policy framework for taxi and other transport and Vidarbha regions.
operators.
The state is implementing various
The committee will be headed by schemes and taking measures to mitigate
Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport the water scarcity in drought-hit areas,
& Highways and have Joint Secretary, and more particularly in Marathwada
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and Vidarbha regions.
and Delhi Transport Commissioner as The villages that have now been declared
its members. as affected by drought were already
A group of taxi and other transport receiving benefits from the government
operators had met Shri Nitin Gadkari, and that the Drought Manual provided
Minister of Road Transport and only for the word drought-like.
Highways and Shipping. On 7 May 2016, the Chief Minister
Supreme Courts order dated 15th Devendra Fadnavis met Prime Minister
December 2015 and directions of EPCA Narendra Modi and requested 10000
dated 29th April 2016 banned diesel crore rupees as relief for the parched
taxis in the NCR state.
People are facing various problems as a 7500 crore rupee was to be spent
result of the ban. on completing irrigation projects in
The Ministry has decided to set up Marathwada and Vidarbha over the next
the three member committee to look three years.
into these issues and come up with Maharashtra is a state in the western

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54

region of India and is Indias third- INFRACON and an updated version of

largest state by area and is also the INAMPRO, three innovative IT initiatives
worlds second-most populous sub- of the Ministry of Road Transport
national entity. & Highways, developed in house
It has over 110 million inhabitants and by NHIDCL( National Highways and
its capital, Mumbai, has a population of Infrastructure Development Corporation
approximately 18 million. Ltd.)
Nagpur is Maharashtras second capital ePACE (Projects Appraisal & Continuing
as well as winter capital. Enhancements) is an online integrated
Management Information System that
Nitin Gadkari brings projects from all wings of the
21 Launches Ministry under a common platform,
INFRACON, ensuring their effective and real time
ePACE and up- tracking.
Scaled INAM INFRACON is the National Portal for
PRO Infrastructure Consultancy Firms and
Key Personnel. This portal acts as a kind
Union Minister of of bridge between consultancy firms
Road Transport working in the road engineering and

Nitin Gadkari & Highways and
Shipping Shri
Nitin Gadkari has called upon stakeholders to
make conscious and active use of innovations
and successful best practices from round the
world in engineering and construction of roads.
The meet was attended by officials
of the Ministry of Road Transport
& Highways, and NHIDCL, besides
contractors, consultants, bankers and
material suppliers concerned with road
construction.
Technological initiatives have also been
brought in like satellite based road asset
management system, use of concrete
for road construction, electronic toll
collection, INAMPRO other IT initiatives.
Gadkari also launched ePACE,
construction sector and domain experts
and key personnel who are deployed both
for project preparation and supervision.
INAM PRO has been developed as a web-
based application for Infrastructure
and Material Providers. It is a kind of
a web based market place that brings
together the material providers and
the prospective buyers on a common
platform.
The Minister also released the IT Task
Force Report on the occasion. The report
has suggested many innovative ways
in which IT can be used to make the
working of the transport sector more
efficient and transparent.

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NTPC tied-up Indias first

22 with Coal India 23 driverless train
Limited was flagged
off by Union
State-run power Minister
producer NTPC
Limited on 16 Union Urban
May 2016 signed Development
a Joint Venture Minister M.
Coal India Limited Agreement (JVA) Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu
with state- and Delhi Chief
run miner Coal India limited to foray into Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday flagged
the Fertilizer Sector and revive plants of the off the trial run of a driverless Metro train here.
Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited (FCIL).
The trial run started at the Mukundpur
The JVA was signed by NTPCs General depot of Delhi Metro and ended at
Manager (BD) Arun Kumar Gupta and Coal Majalis Park station on the Majlis Park-
Indias General Manager (Coal Videsh) T Shiv Vihar corridor of phase 3.
Bandopadhyay. The new train will undergo rigorous trials
to ensure these are ready for smooth
The JV company would initially operations after the commissioning of
be incorporated with 50:50 equity the new corridors.
participation from both. Initially, train operators will run them
It will also contain the provision of for around a year before completely
inducting strategic partners at a switching to unmanned train operations,
later date depending upon business Later, Naidu and Kejriwal stressed the
requirement of JV company. need to improve public transport system
The joint venture company will take up to reduce air pollution in Delhi.
the revival of FCIL plants at Sindri in Naidu said the Delhi governments odd-
Bihar and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. even traffic scheme was a temporary
It will set up an ammonia urea plant at measure to reduce air pollution.
each location. The driverless train is manufactured at
Changwon in South Korea. It arrived
in India at the Mundra port in Gujarat
and was brought by road to Delhi on
specially-made trailers.

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TMC got huge

24 majority ever in
In 2011 elections her party was able to
secure just 184 seats.
the History of Prafulla Chandra Ghosh. Prafulla
West Bengals Chandra Ghosh (18911983) was the
election. first Chief Minister of West Bengal,
India.
Election
Commission on LDF will make
19 May 2016 25 government in
TMC announced Kerala
results of 2016
Legislative Assembly Election of West Bengal. Pinarayi Vijayan
is set to be the
The elections were held in six phases chief minister of
between 4 April 2016 and 5 May 2016 Kerala as Left
for 294 assembly seats. Democratic Front
In the elections, ruling All India (LDF) has won
LDF
Trinamool Congress (TMC) of Chief 91 seats out 140
Minister Mamta Banerjee crossed the assembly seats.
two-third mark by winning 211 seats.
Congress-Left combine has taken 76 Compared to 2011 assembly elections
seats while BJP has bagged three seats. when it had won 68 seats, LDF increased
Independents and others have won four its tally by 24 seats in 2016 assembly
seats. elections.
West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC On the other hand, Congress Party led
Supremo, Mamta Banerjee won from United Democratic Front (UDF), like in
Bhabanipur Assembly Constituency. other states, is in for a huge setback.
She defeated her nearest Congress rival It is leading only in 47 seats, a big 23
Deepa Dasmunshi by over 25 thousand seats drop compared to 2011 assembly
votes. elections.
West Bengal Speaker Biman Banerjee The account for BJP was opened by
has won from Baruipur Paschim 86-year-old former Union minister O
Constituency. Rajagopal, who won by over 8000 votes.
The huge victory in the assembly He will go down in history as the first BJP
elections 2016 compared to 2011 MLA in Keralas 140-member assembly.
elections by Mamta-led TMC can be It was the image of Rajagopal, popularly
attributed to her campaign Maa, Maati, known as Rajettan, apart from the BJPs
Maanush. organizational strength that helped the

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party to create history. He is considered BJP to form its

a noble and well meaning person. 26 1st government
Anti-incumbency factor against the in ASSAM
Congress chief Minister Oommen
Chandy is responsible for such a Election
massive setback to the grand old party Commission on
in the state. 19 May 2016
The government had been hit by a series announced
of corruption scandals involving some of results of 2016
his top aides and ministers. BJP Legislative
There also has been a barrage of criticism Assembly Election
following a spate of crime against women, Assam.
especially the horrific rape, torture and
murder of a Dalit student. The elections were held in two phases on
Kerala has the lowest positive population 4 April 2016 and 11 April 2016 for 126
growth rate in India, 3.44%; highest assembly seats.
Human Development Index (HDI), In the election, BJP and its alliance
0.790 in 2011; the highest literacy rate, partners have won an absolute majority
93.91% in the 2011 according to the in Assam state assembly election.
census data. It has won 60 seats on its own in the 126
The state has witnessed significant member House. Its ally AGP has won 14
emigration, especially to Arab states seats while another ally BPF has bagged
of the Persian Gulf during the Gulf 12 seats.
Boom of the 1970s and early 1980s, BJP has thus made history by winning
and its economy depends significantly an assembly election in the state.
on remittances from a large Malayalam Ruling Congress has bagged 26 seats,
expatriate community. AIUDF 13 and one seat has gone to an
Hinduism is practiced by more than half independent.
of the population, followed by Islam and BJP Chief Ministerial candidate
Christianity. Sarbananda Sonowal has won from
Majuli seat, defeating his nearest rival
by more than 18000 votes.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has won in
Titabar, with a margin of over 17000
votes.
This thumping win of BJP in north-east
India can be seen as its entry in the
north-eastern part of India or expanding

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58

political influence beyond its traditional to retain power in the state since 1989,
heartland. as she retains R K Nagar constituency
The interesting fact of the results is defeating DMK rival by 39,545 votes.
that the party managed to break into Jayalalithaa secured 97,218 votes
Congress stronghold. against Shimla Muthuchozhan who
Assam is known for Assam tea and polled 57,673 votes.
Assam silk. The first oil well in Asia was Addressing jubilant party workers,
drilled here. Jayalalithaa called the victory a historic
The state has conserved the one-horned one and vowed to strive for the people
Indian rhinoceros from near extinction, with renewed vigour.
along with the pygmy hog, tiger and The bad news for the AIADMK came
various species of Asiatic birds. from Chennai, which was battered by
It provides one of the last wild habitats flash floods in December and whose
for the Asian elephant. The Assamese voters appeared to have overwhelmingly
economy is aided by wildlife tourism, turned against the ruling party.
centred around Kaziranga National Park AIADMK candidates trailed behind the
and Manas National Park which are DMK in 10 of the 16 constituencies in
World Heritage Sites. the capital.
Sal tree forests are found in the state, For the first time, the elections saw
which as a result of rainfall looks green several alternatives to AIADMK and
all year round. Assam receives more DMK. But all drew blank at the polls.
rainfall compared to most part of India. A total of 2,873 voters in the high profile
Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar constituency,
where Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was
27 Jaya lalitha
retains power in a contestant, preferred NOTA.
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu, with over 5.79 crore
registered voters, had recorded 74.26
J Jayalalithaas percent polling in the assembly polls
AIADMK today held on May 16.
clearly headed to Tamil Nadu is the eleventh-largest state
retain power in in India by area and the sixth-most
Tamil Nadu by populous.
Jaya lalitha winning 134 seats The state was ranked sixth among
as arch rival DMK states in India according to the Human
gave a strong fight bagging 89 segments. Development Index in 2011, with the
second-largest state economy.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, set to create Its official language is Tamil, which is
history by becoming the first ever leader one of the longest-surviving classical

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languages in the world. The state government will bear all cost
of the orphan students.
Odisha to launch
28 Green
Scheme
Passage
for
29 BHEL
commissions
orphan students 250 MW
thermal unit in
The Odisha Maharashtra
Government on
17 May 2016 State-owned
decided to launch BHEL has
Green Passage Scheme Green Passage commissioned
Scheme for BHEL a 250 mw
orphan students. thermal unit in
Maharashtra.
The scheme will ensure that the orphan
students get free of cost higher education The unit has been commissioned at Parli
in the state. Thermal Power Station (TPS), located in
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also gave Beed district in the Marathwada region of
his green signal for the scheme, which Maharashtra, Bharat Heavy Electricals
would function under the department of Limited (BHEL) said in a BSE filing.
higher education. The project is owned by Maharashtra
Orphan students pursuing higher State Power Generation Company
education from Plus-II level to post- (Mahagenco). This is the eighth coal-
graduation level will no longer have to based unit commissioned by BHEL at
bear the education expenses. Parli TPS.
As many as 16382 orphan students BHEL has been a major partner in the
lodged in 272 institutions across the power development programme of the
state, will be exempted of admission state and has commissioned 16,000
fee, tuition fees and laboratory fees for mw of power generation capacity in
higher studies. Maharashtra, its highest in any single
They will be provided free hostel facilities state.
and food. The 200-270 MW rating class sets
The state government has also directed supplied by BHEL form the backbone of
all government, private, government the Indian power sector and have been
aided colleges and universities to ensure performing much above the national as
that the orphan students are not charged well as international benchmarks.
in any form. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)

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60

owned by the Government of India, is a severe cyclonic storm.

power plant equipment manufacturer Moving northeastwards, the system is
and operates as engineering and likely to cross south Bangladesh coast
manufacturing company based in New between Khepupara and Coxs Bazar on
Delhi, India. Established in 1964 22 May 2016.
BHEL is Indias largest engineering and It issued heavy to very heavy rainfall
manufacturing company of its kind. warning to coastal Andhra Pradesh,
The company has been earning profits coastal Odisha and coastal Gangetic
continuously since 1971-72 and paying West Bengal under the influence of the
dividends uninterruptedly since 1976- cyclonic storm coupled with gusty winds
77. speeds reaching 90-100 kmph.
Fishermen have been advised not to
Cyclone Roanu
30 hits coastal area
venture into sea as the condition along
and off Andhra Pradesh, South Odisha
of Orissa and and West Bengal coasts are very likely to
Andhra Pradesh be high to very high.
In Andhra Pradesh the district
The cyclonic administrations have been asked to see
storm ROANU that people staying in low-lying areas
that emerged in are shifted to safer places.
the west central
Coastal area Bay of Bengal 31 President Pranab
was in news. It Mukherjee
came into news after India Meteorological inaugurates
Department (IMD) in its prediction said that Intelligent
the Cyclone is likely to intensify into a severe Operations
cyclonic storm by 20 May 2016 night and will Centre and
hit Andhra coast. launches Mobile
App Monitor
At present, ROANU is moving
Pranab Mukherjee
northeastwards and lay centred at south- On 19th May
southeast of Machilipatnam, about 290 President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated
km south-southwest of Visakhapatnam an Intelligent Operations Centre (IOC) in
& 160 km south-southwest of Kakinada. Rashtrapati Bhavan.
IMD issued an orange warning message
to Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. President Mukherjee also launched a Mobile
IMD issued yellow message for West App Monitor for transformation of Presidents
Bengal as the system would turn into Estate into a smart township. The Smart

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Presidents Estate will work around the 4H and collaborative.

theme of a Humane, Hi-tech,Heritage and
Happy Township. Gujarat
32 launched Smart
The IOC is a software solution designed Village program
by IBM. to improve
It helps collect and make sense of the public facilities
rich data streaming in from several in the village
sources within the Estate to provide
intelligent insights. Gujarat Chief
It offers integrated data visualization, Minister
near real-time collaboration and deep Smart Village program Anandiben Patel
analytics that will help agencies prepare on 22 May 2014
for problems, coordinate and manage launched the Smart Village programme to
response efforts and enhance efficiency improve public facilities in villages.
of services.
The Monitor mobile application is a It was conceptualized on the lines of
Residents collaboration tool of the Smart Cities initiative of the Union
Intelligent Operation Center. Government under which 100 cities were
The application will help residents and chosen for infrastructure development.
domain (Energy, Water, Horticulture, Under the Smart Village programme,
Waste and Security) supervisors to 300 villages will be selected.
collaborate in a smarter way for their Villages will be shortlisted by the state-
observations. level committee consisting of experts
It will enable residents to report issues on the basis of Gram Panchayats
such as broken street lights, electricity performance through a transparent
failure, water wastage etc. and check process.
resolution status using their mobile The objective of the programme is to
devices. make villages self-reliant, clean and
It will allow residents to report these hygienic.
issues using their mobile devices in the Toilets, cleanliness, drop-out rate in
Estate on a real time basis. primary schools, malnutrition ratio,
These reported observations can be Anganwadi facilities, vaccination of
used to provide enough details such children, ATVT services are some of the
as location coordinates, address to parameters on which a village will be
concerned departments. adjudged as a Smart Village.
This will help the residents of the Estate These villages will get 80 lakh to 2
become more socially responsible, aware crore rupees cash assistance from the

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State government to implement the end of its contract period.

programme. The project will benefit about one million
residents of the Hubballi-Dharwad,
World Bank including estimated 160000 slum
33 loans 100 dwellers.
million dollar for
Karnataka water
projects
34 Hubballi-Dharwad,
largest urban
the
center
second
in
Karnataka, will become one of
Karnataka the first Indian cities to provide citywide,
Government on continuous, piped water supply to its
24 May 2016 residents.
signed 100
World Bank
million US dollar American biochemist Frances Arnold awarded
loan and project agreement with World Bank. the Millennium Technology Prize 2016

It was to support Karnataka Urban Frances Arnold, the Dick and Barbara
Water Supply Modernization project. Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering,
The project will be implemented over Bioengineering and Biochemistry, has been
a period of six years, initially in the awarded the Millennium Technology Prize for
twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad, with her directed evolution method, which creates
provision for other eligible cities to join new and better proteins in the laboratory using
the project at a later date. principles of evolution.
The Hubballi Dharwad Municipal
Corporation has hired a professional The Millennium Technology Prize, worth
water supply operating company for one million euros (approximately $1.1
improving the water supply system, as million), is the worlds most prominent
also to manage the refurbished system award for technological innovations that
through a 12-year contract in accordance enhance the quality of peoples lives.
with strict performance criteria. Arnold received her undergraduate
The municipality will retain ownership degree in mechanical and aerospace
of the water supply assets and control of engineering at Princeton University in
the service delivery set up. 1979.
The project will help the Hubballi- She earned her graduate degree in
Dharwad Municipal Corporation set up chemical engineering from UC Berkeley
a city-level water utility that will take in 1985.
over water supply operations from the She arrived at Caltech as a visiting
professional operating company at the associate in 1986 and became an

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assistant professor in 1987, associate In order to reduce creation of garbage in

professor in 1992, professor in 1996, the form of used drinking water plastic
and Dickinson Professor in 2000. bottles it is notified that the packaged
She is the recipient o the Charles Stark drinking water bottles may not be used
Draper Prize, the engineering professions during any government meetings or
highest honor, and the National Medal functions.
of Technology and Innovation. It suggested that as an alternative,
She got elected to all three branches of departments can use filtered water
the National Academiesthe National or water from large reusable water
Academy of Engineering (2000), the dispensers or reusable water bottles in
Institute of Medicine (2004), and the government functions.
National Academy of Sciences (2008) Government has been initiating various
She is the first woman elected to all measures to manage the waste and
three branches. maintain a clean environment but it has
The Millennium Technology Prize been found that a lot of disposable foam
is awarded every two years by containers are being rampantly used not
Technology Academy Finland (TAF) only in the bazar areas but also in the
to groundbreaking technological rural pockets.
innovations that enhance the quality of A huge quantity of municipal waste
peoples lives in a sustainable manner, is created in the form of disposable
according to the prize website. products which are environmentally
Arnold is the first woman to win the hazardous and occupy a huge space in
prize the landfill.
The order banned the use and sale of
Sikkim bans disposable items such as cups, plates,
35 disposable foam spoons, containers, etc made from foam
food containers. throughout the state with immediate
effect.
For effective waste Made from polystyrene foam, such food
management containers are generally white in colour.
in an eco-
friendly manner,
the Sikkim
Sikkim bans government has
restricted the
use of mineral water bottles in government
programmes and banned the use of foam food
containers all over the state.

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13 new cities Of the 13 cities that qualified for the

36 announced for project, four are from BJP-ruled States
smart cities while two are from Congress-governed
Projects States.
Lucknow is in Samajwadi Party-ruled
The Union Uttar Pradesh
government Warangal is in Telangana, which is ruled
announced the by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
names of 13 more Chandigarh and Port Blair in Andaman
smart cities Projects cities that will be and Nicobar Islands were also among
developed under the winners of this round.
the Centres Smart City Mission. Assured water and power supply,
sanitation and solid waste management
Lucknow in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh systems, efficient urban mobility and
tops the list, followed by Warangal public transportation, IT connectivity,
in Telangana and Dharamshala in e-governance and citizen participation
Himachal Pradesh. are some of the highlights of the smart
These cities were chosen from the 23 city project.
that failed to get representation in the It aims to transform 100 cities by 2019-
first round of a competition held in 20, with the Union government providing
January, and participated in the fast- financial support of Rs. 48,000 crore
track competition. over five years.
The results were announced by Urban 37 Cabinet approves
Development Minister M. Venkaiah
Naidu on 24th May 2016. 1st ever Capital
Other cities on the list are Chandigarh, Goods Policy
Raipur (Chhattisgarh), New Town
Kolkata, Bhagalpur (Bihar), Panaji On 25 May
(Goa), Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar 2016 The Union
Islands), Imphal (Manipur), Ranchi Cabinet approved
(Jharkhand), Agartala (Tripura) and the National
Capital Goods Policy Capital Goods
Faridabad (Haryana).
The 13 cities selected in the competition Policy 2016.
have proposed a total investment of Rs.
30,229 crore. This is first ever policy for Capital Goods
The investment proposed by 33 cities sector with a clear objective of increasing
under the smart city plans is now Rs. production of capital goods from 2.3
80,789 crore lakh crore rupees in 2014-15 to 7.5 lakh

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crore rupees in 2025. environment.

Objective is to increase the share of 38 Human Resource
capital goods contribution from present Development
12 to 20 percent of total manufacturing (HRD) has
activity by 2025 decided to
To become one of the top capital goods launch ASMITA,
producing nations of the world by raising a student
the total production to over twice the tracking system
current level programme.
To improve skill availability by training HRD
50 lakhs people by 2025 The Union
New initiatives and policy actions and Ministry of Human Resource Development has
they are: decided to launch, a student tracking system
Devising a long term, stable and programme ASMITA.
rationalized tax and duty structure to
ensure cost competitiveness of the sector It is acronym for All School Monitoring
Drafting a comprehensive public Individual Tracing Analysis.
procurement policy with amended It will be launched under Shala Asmita
qualifying criteria and introducing Yojana (SAY).
special provisions in contracts for It aims to track the educational journey
domestic value addition of school students from Class I to Class
Promoting development of new XII across the 15 lakhs private and
technology through indigenous sources government schools in the country.
Providing Technology Upgrade Fund ASMITA will be an online database
Support across all capital goods sub- which will carry information of student
sectors attendance and enrolment, learning
Developing manufacturing clusters with outcomes, mid-day meal service and
shared facilities especially for SMEs infrastructural facilities among others.
The capital goods sector operates in a Students will be tracked through their
dynamic local and global environment Aadhaar numbers and incase those not
and it is imperative for the policy to having unique number will be provided
undergo a periodic review and revision with it.
to maintain its relevance. The Ministry of Human Resource
The National Capital Goods Policy 2016 Development is responsible for the
will be reviewed every five years and development of human resources.
revised appropriately to take account of The Ministry is divided into two
progress in implementation and emerging departments: the Department of School
trends in the national and international Education and Literacy, which deals

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66

with primary, secondary and higher under the Andhra Pradesh Societies
secondary education, adult education Registration Act, 2001. The approval will
and literacy, and the Department give a legal entity to the NIT.
of Higher Education, which deals
with university education, technical Andhra Pardesh
education, scholarship etc. 40 to introduce e
-office system in
Union cabinet all districts.
39 gives approval to
6 New IITs Andhra Pradesh
is going to
implement
Union Cabinet e-Governance
chaired by e -office system initiatives.
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on It is going to be implemented in all
Union cabinet 25 May t gave its districts.
ex-facto approval e-Office will be introduced on a pilot
to the Amendment to The Institutes of basis in all 13 districts in June
Technology Act, 1961 for incorporation Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu
of six new Indian Institutes of Technology announced this program.
(IITs). It was announced during the two-day
These six new IITs will be based in : conference of district collectors.
Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh Already 2,23,582 files with 1,72,40,119
Palakkad in Kerala pages have been scanned and kept ready
Dharwar in Karnataka while another 2,02,193 files would also
Bhilai in Chhattisgarh be digitised soon.
Goa The Chief Minister directed officials
Jammu in Jammu & Kashmir to constitute a Cyber Security wing to
The above Amendment is also for ensure safety of the electronic files.
conversion of Indian School of Mines A three-member committee would also
(ISM), Dhanbad into an IIT by bringing be constituted to prepare the e-file
it into the ambit of the Institutes of protocol.
Technology Act, 1961 and also declaring He directed the Information Technology
it as an institute of national importance. Department to submit quarterly reports
The cabinet also gave ex post facto on e-files and e-Office implementation.
approval to set up NIT, Andhra Pradesh Employees associations are happy with
which has been registered as a Society the e-Office system as it eases the work.

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Advisor to government J Satyanarayana the content in the following main

made a presentation on various sections:
e-Governance initiatives. Paa Thyapustaka Kosha : Textbooks by
Chief Secretary Satya Prakash Tucker various authorities
and other top bureaucrats attended. Jnana Kosha : Encyclopedic Knowledge
base in all languages
Indias first Shabda Kosha: Dictionaries, Glossaries,

41 multilingual
dictio-nary
Terminologies,
Bhasha Kosha: Language learning books
Bhara-tvani Suchanaa Praudyogikii Kosha : It tools (
launched right now linked to TDIL)
Bahumaadhyama Kosha: Multimedia
The Union content
Ministry of More than 130 Dictionaries, Glossaries
Human Resource and Terminology books have been posted
Development on the web portal. These dictionaries are
Bharatvani available in text and PDF formats.
(HRD) on
Wednesday
launched a multilingual knowledge portal
www.bharatavani.in that has more than 130
42 Pakke
Reserve in East
Tiger

dictionaries, glossaries and terminology books Kameng district

in text and PDF formats. of Arunachal
Pradesh has
The content in print and other formats won the India
will be completely digitized and put onto Biodiversity
the portal in the form of searchable text. Award 2016
The portal has been launched in 22
scheduled languages, which eventually Pakke Tiger Reserve Pakke Tiger
will be extended to 100 more languages, Reserve on 22
The App has 35 multilingual Dictionaries May 2016 received the India Biodiversity
and HRD aims to extend it to 250 Award 2016 in one of its four categories in
dictionaries in a years time Mumbai.
Bharatavani aims to foster national
integration by emphasizing on The Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme
multilingual and cross-lingual learning of the Pakke Tiger Reserve was awarded
tools and technologies. the prize under Conservation of
The Bharatavani Portal would publish threatened species category.
Besides this, Hong Niitii, Lower

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

68
Subansiri was awarded under category
IV Biodiversity Management Committee
(BMC) award.
Hornbill Nest Adoption Programme It is
a collaboration of Ghora-Aabhe Society,
Nature Conservation Foundation and
the State Forest Departments.
Under this programme, urban citizens
contribute money to protect hornbill
nests around Pakke Tiger Reserve.
It is a major step towards conservation
of four hornbill species that are found in
the adjoining areas of the Tiger Reserve.
India Biodiversity Awards are joint
initiative of Union Environment, Forest
and Climate Change Ministry, National
Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and United
Nations Development programme
(UNDP).
It recognizes the contribution of the
stakeholders towards the biodiversity
conservation.
Lakshadweep became first Union
43 Territory (UT) in the country
to sign 247 Power for All
document.
Lakshadweep became first Union Territory
(UT) to sign 247 Power for All document.
Representative of Government of India and
the Administration of Lakshadweep signed the
document in presence of P.K. Pujari, Secretary,
Ministry of Power.
The document chalks out a plan to
increase solar capacity of the region
from 2.15 MW to 8.45 MW.
where career starts
At present, 10 inhabited islands of
Lakshadweep are being fed by diesel
mostly.
The plan also envisions reduction of
AT & C losses from current level of
21% to 6.7% till 2019 by increasing the
collection efficiency up to 99 %.
As a part of energy efficiency measures,
1 lakh LED bulbs will be distributed
by UT administration through Energy
Efficiency Services (EESL) and
Incandescent lamps/CFL bulbs will be
replaced with LED bulbs under UJALA
programme. Additionally, replacement
of 3000 conventional street lights with
LED street lights is also being taken up.
The Power for All programme is a major
step in this direction.
Government of India have taken a
joint initiative with respective State
Governments for preparation of State
specific documents for providing 247
power supply to all households /homes,
industrial & commercial consumers and
adequate supply of power to Agricultural
consumers as per state policy.
Union Ministry of Railways and
44 PEC University of Technology
have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding.
(MoU) for setting up of Kalpana Chawla Chair
on Geospatial Technology for Indian Railways
at the University.
Union Ministry of Railways and PEC University
of Technology have signed a Memorandum of
TM

Understanding (MoU) for setting up of Kalpana
Chawla Chair on Geospatial Technology for
Indian Railways at the University.
The MoU was signed in the backdrop of
Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhus
Budget announcement in this regard.
The academic chair is being instituted
in memory of IndoAmerican Astronaut
and Alumnus of PEC Late Kalpana
Chawla. She was the first woman of
Indian origin in space.
ISSUE 5, MAY 2016
69
The objective of the chair is to encourage
research activities of Indian Railways in
Geo-spatial Technology.
It will also help to strengthen Railway
projects where use of remote sensing
data, Geographical information System
(GIS) and global positioning system
(GPS) is predominant.
The Chair will be headed as Chairman
by V.K.Gupta, Member Engineering,
Railway Board and Manoj Arora,
Director, PEC University of Technology,
Chandigarh as Co-chairman.
70

SPORTS
Indian shooters emerge winners.
1 bagged 3 gold, 1 They were followed by France (1841.7)
bronze in ISSF and Poland (1836.3) respectively.
Junior World
Cup

2 Mark Selby won
World Snooker
On 1 May 2016 Championship
Indian shooters
bagged three On 2 May 2016
ISSF gold medals and Mark Selby
a bronze in the won World
ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany. Championship
title of Snooker.
The Indians won gold each in the mens Mark Selby In the final
25m standard pistol and womens 50m match played
rifle prone competitions. in Sheffield. With this win, Selby also ended
Indias Rituraj Singh won an individual Dings chance of being the first Asian player to
gold medal in the mens 25m standard win the world title.
pistol competition
Gaayathri Nithyanadam bagged a This was Selbys second trophy of the
bronze in the womens 50m rifle prone year, earlier he had won minor Gdynia
competition. Open event in Poland.
Rituraj Singh, Shivam Shukla and Arjun This was Selbys second World Snooker
Das walked away with the gold medal title,
in the team event of the mens 25m First was won against Ronnie OSullivan
standard pistol competition, shooting a in 2014.
total of 1661. He entered the list of Steve Davis,
France won the silver medal with 1659 Hendry, John Higgins, Mark Williams
points while Australia won the bronze and Ronnie OSullivan, the stars who
with 1648 points. have won at least two world titles since
Indian women won gold medal in the the event rocked up in Sheffield in 1977.
team event of the 50m rifle prone 2008: Beats Ronnie OSullivan 9-8 to
competition. win Welsh Open
Gaayathri Nithyanadam, Sonika and 2011: Beats Mark Williams 10-9 in
Ayushi Podder shot a total of 1846.6 to Shanghai Masters final

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2012: Wins UK Championship with 10-6 consecutive Commonwealth Games,

win over Shaun Murphy
2014: Wins World Championship 18-14
against Ronnie OSullivan
2015: Wins German Masters and China
Open
2016: Clinches second
Championship
He also won the Masters, an invitation
event, in 2008, 2010 and 2013
but struggled to cross quarters in Super
Series.
Olympics is considered to be kinder to
shuttlers from outside China, Japan and
Korea with only two pairings allowed.
World Olympics tend to be easier than Super
Series
For Manu-Sumeeth, the first ever mens
doubles pairing to qualify for Olympics.

3
Indian shuttlers
qualify for Rio
4 India finishes
fourth in junior
2016 shooting World
Cup
Saina Nehwal,
headed to the Indian shooters
Olympics for third ended their
time.PV Sindhu journey at the
on way to her International
Junior shooting
Rio 2016 maiden Games as Shooting Sport
well as K Srikanth Federation Junior
in mens singles, another first timer. World Cup in Suhl, Germany at a creditable
fourth position.
Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa (No.
15) have made the grade for a second India ended this journey with three gold,
straight Olympics. four silver and three bronze.
India is one of only eight countries in the From April 29-May 5 a total of 585 junior
world to qualify two entries in a category athletes from 48 countries participated
womens singles, with PV Sindhu but only 24 nations made it to the
(ranked No. 10) joining Saina Nehwal medals table
(ranked No. 8). Tally was topped by Italy with seven
Japanese Kento Momotas suspension gold, four silver and one bronze.
opens up mens singles, but Srikanth Russia stood second with five gold, six
will to upset the last Olympic outings of silver and nine bronze
the two legends, Dan and Chong Wei, Germany came third with five gold, three
and title favourite Chen Long. silver and three bronze medals.
Jwala-Ashwini, have done well at For India, Rituraj Singh won two gold

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

72

medals in both the individual and team cost for an international cricket stadium
events of the mens 25m Standard Pistol. in Saifai.
Shivam Shukla also won a gold and a It decided to construct a new ultra
silver. modern state-of-art model bus station
Arjun Das won a yellow metal and a at Kaiserbagh bus station in the state
bronze for Team India. capital.
Yashaswini Singh Deswal won two silver
medals, both in the individual and team
sections of the 10m Air Pistol event.
6 Charlotte
Edwards,
England womens

5 Bicycle highway
between Taj and
cricket captain,
retires from
lion safari international
cricket
On 11 May 2016
The Uttar Pradesh On 11 May
government gave Charlotte Edwards 2016Charlotte
its nod to develop Edwards,
nearly 200- Englands women cricket team captain,
Bicycle highway km long bicycle announced her international retirement.
highway from
Agra to the lion safari in Etawah The 36-year-old, Edwards will continue to play
at domestic level including the first edition of
The highway will not run along the Agra- the forthcoming Womens Super League.
Etawah main road but will cover various
historical and tourism centres. She was a top-order batswomen who
It will cover areas such as Raja Bhoj ki debuted in 1995 at the age of 16 against
Haveli, Bateshwarnath Temple, Mela New Zealand at Guildford.
Kothi Jarar, Naugava ka Quila and When she debuted she was the youngest
other rural areas to reach lion safari in women to play for England, which now
Etawah. rests with Holly Colvin who debuted at
Cabinet also approved the the age of 15, in the first Ashes Test in
implementation of Prime Minister Crop 2005.
Insurance Scheme from the Kharif She is the first female cricketer to score
season 2016. 2000 runs in T20 Internationals and
Cabinet also approved transfer policy for the first player either male or female, to
2016-17 for employees. score 2500 runs in T20 internationals.
The Cabinet approved the construction She won the World T20, the World Cup

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and the Ashes five times for England. He made debut aged 17 at the 2015
In Test match she Batted in 43 innings Australian Grand Prix for Toro Rosso,
of 23 test matches and scored 1676 this made him the youngest driver to
runs. compete in the history of the sport.
Verstappen is also the sports youngest
Max verstappen race leader and youngest podium
7 becomes finisher.
youngest F1 GP He is also the youngest F1 point scorer
winner. and the youngest driver to start a Grand
Prix, both achieved 2015 season.
Dutch teenager,
Max Verstappen, Sania -Hingis
on 15 May 2016 8 won Rome
became Formula Masters womens
Max verstappen Ones youngest double pair
race winner after
winning the Spanish Grand Prix. World No. 1
womens doubles
His teammate Sebastian Vettel stood at team of Sania
the third position. Mirza and Martina
Verstappen drove to triumph after, Sania -Hingis Hingis on 15 May
Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and 2016 captured
Nico Rosberg crashed out in the first lap the Italian Open title. The pair defeated Elena
of the race. Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6(5)-7,
At 18 years and 228 days, Max 10-3 in the final to clinch the title.
Verstappen is the youngest race winner
in F1 history. The Dutchman was two With the win, Mirza and Hingis also captured
years and 210 days younger than the their 14th womens doubles title together.
previous youngest winner, Sebastian
Vettel. Sania Mirza is currently ranked No. 1 in
Max is the son of former F1 driver Jos the womens doubles rankings.
Verstappen who never finished better From 2003 until her retirement from
than third in his career. singles in 2013, she was ranked by the
He became the first Dutchman to win a Womens Tennis Association as Indias
Formula One race and just the second No. 1 player, both in singles and doubles.
to stand on an F1 podium. The other is Throughout her career, she has
his father, Jos, who scored two podium established herself as the most
finishes in 1994 with Benetton. successful female Indian tennis player

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

74

ever. Murray defeated the top-ranked Djokovic 6-3,

Martina Hingis is a Swiss professional 6-3.
tennis player who is currently ranked
world No. 1 in doubles by the WTA. It is Murrays first title in Rome and it
She spent a total of 209 weeks as the comes exactly a week before the French
singles world No. 1. Open begins on 22 May 2016.
The Italian Open is an annual tennis The only other British man to win the
tournament held in Rome, Italy. tournament was George Patrick Hughes
It is one of the most prestigious red clay in 1931.
tennis tournaments in the world after He is also the first British singles
the French Open. champion in Italy since Virginia Wade
The tournament is played on clay courts, won the title in 1971.
currently during the second week of On the other hand, Serena Williams
May. ended a nine-month title drought with a
The event is also known as the Rome 7-6, 6-3 win over Madison Keys in an all
Masters and the Italian Championships. American womens Singles final.
Rafael Nadal has won the title a record Besides, Sania Mirza and her Swiss
seven times. partner Martina Hingis won the Womens
The 2015 Italian Open womens doubles Doubles
title was won by Timea Babos and In the final, the World Number One
Kristina Mladenovic. pair defeated the 7th seeded Russians
Serene Williams is the winner of 2016 Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina
Italian Open womens singles title. 6-1, 6-7, 10-3.
Andy Murray is the winner of 2016
Italian Open mens singles title. Sudha breaks
10 3000 M
Andy Murray steeplechase
9 beats Novak record
Djokovic to win
first Italian Open Olympics runner
title Sudha Singh,
who created a
Andy Murray on national record in
15 May 2016 won Sudha womens 3000m
his first Italian steeplechase at
Andy Murray Open Mens the International Association of Athletics
Singles Tennis Federations Diamond League in Shanghai last
title. In the final played in Rome, third-ranked week.

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The 4x100m women relay team, included

Sudhas new record 9:26:55secs Dutee Chand, Srabani Nanda, HM
rewritten 15 days after Asian champion Jyoti and Merlin Joseph, clocked 44.03
Lalita Babars national mark in New seconds to finish the race.
Delhi, has intensified the friendly rivalry The clocked time broke the 18-year-old
between the duo who train under same record of 44.43s created by the quartet
foreign coach Nikolai Snesraev. of Saraswati Dey, Rachita Mistry, EB
Lalita has already qualified for the Shyla and PT Usha on 22 July 1998 in
Rio Olympics in womens 3000m Fukuoka, Japan.
steeplechase. The China A and the China B team
For Sudha, the the IAAF Diamond League grabbed the first and third position
race was her first international outing on respectively while Japan finished
track since the 2014 Asian Games and second.
she admitted to have butterflies in her The China A team clocked 42.65s for the
stomach prior to the prestigious event in gold medal.
Shanghai, where she finished eighth in Japan finished the race in 43.81s for the
the womens 3000m steeplechase. silver medal.
Sudha, finished fourth in her pet event The China B team finished third for the
at the 2014 Asian Games. bronze medal by clocking 43.89s.
Lalita, who finished eighth in the World
Championships in Beijing last year, said 12 Sevilla won 3rd
consecutive
she could not run her natural race in
Shanghai. Europa League
title
Womens relay
11 team sets new Sevilla achieved
national records a remarkable
hat-trick as
The Indian it became the
Sevilla
4x100m womens first club to win
relay team on 18 three successive
May 2016 broke Europa League titles with victory over Jurgen
the 18-year-old Klopps Liverpool .
national record
National records
to finish in 4th The Spanish club came from behind
position at the IAAFWorld Challenge held in to defeat its English opponent 3-1 at
Beijing, China. the St. Jakob-Park stadium in Basel,
Switzerland, with Kevin Gameiro

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76

canceling out Daniel Sturridges in the same season.

beautifully controlled first half strike The Catalan club also lost Luis Suarez
before a brace from Coke sealed Sevillas with an apparent muscle injury early
success. in the second half. The Uruguay
The victory marks Sevillas fifth Europa striker, who cried on the bench after
League success in 11 years and ensures it being substituted, had been crucial
will qualify for next seasons Champions for Barcelona in the final stages of the
League. Spanish league, scoring 14 goals in the
Liverpool, meanwhile, will miss out on last five matches.
European competition altogether next Sevilla, trying to win its sixth Copa
year having finished a poor eighth in the title and first since 2010, controlled
English Premier League this season. possession after Barcelona went a man
This win is being great achievement for down and was close to scoring several
the team as the level of enthusiasm is on times, with its best chance coming on
week. a low shot from outside the area by
Banega that struck the post in the 50th.
Barcelona lifted
13 28th Copa Del 14 Pankaj Advani
Rey title 1st to hold
continental,
Barcelona world title
finished its
season on a high Indias ace cueist
by capturing the Pankaj Advani on
Copa Del Rey 22 May 2016 won
title. the Asian 6-Red
Barcelona Pankaj Advani
Jordi Alba snooker title.
scored seven minutes into extra time
and Neymar sealed the victory late to To win this tile for the first time, he
give Barcelona a 2-0 win over Sevilla for defeated Malaysian Keen Hoh Moh 7-5
its second straight Copa Del Rey title. in the finals held in Abu Dhabi.
Neymar closed the scoring in stoppage To reach the finals, he defeated Aditya
time after another perfect set-up by Mehta, an Indian player, 6-1 in a semi
Messi to give Barcelona its 28th Copa final match.
trophy. With this win, Advani became the first
It was the seventh time in team history in the world to hold both world and
that Barcelona won both domestic titles continental titles in 6-Red snooker at
the same time.

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Earlier, in August 2015, he retained the the continents 6-Red champion, lost
World 6-Reds Snooker title in Karachi, to Soheil Vahedi 7-54. Amir and Soheil
Pakistan. then joined hands to trounce the Indian
He has been winning titles like: pair of Advani and Mehta 1-77.
IBSF World Snooker Championship Pankaj then came back to win against
IBSF World 6-Red Snooker Amir 69-64 to make it 2-2. In the do-or-
Championship - Gold die clash, Aditya lost to Soheil 40-74. In
IBSF World 6-Red Snooker the semi-finals, India thrashed Pakistan
Championship - Gold (a world record of 3-0.
winning world titles in both billiards and The World Snooker Championship is
snooker in all formats) the leading snooker tournament both in
World Team Billiards Championship - terms of prestige and prize money.
Gold (highest number of world titles by The first championship was held in
any Indian sportsperson) 1927 and was won by Joe Davis. Davis
World Billiards Championship (a record won the first 15 championships before
8 world titles for a 27-year-old) retiring from the event, undefeated, after
Asian Billiards Championship (a record his 1946 success.
5 times) In the 1950s snooker went into a period
of decline and the championship was not
India claims held after 1952, although an unofficial
15 silver in Asian championship was held until 1957.
Team Snooker In 1964 the championship was revived
Championship on a challenge basis and in 1969 the
championship became a knock-out
India managed to event again.
win a silver medal
in the Asian Real Madrid
Snooker team 16 won its 11th
championship in Championship
Asian Team
Abu Dhabi after League title
they lost to Iran 2-3 yesterday.
Mehta, Indias lone professional snooker Real Madrid
player gave the country a good start has won the
after he beat Irans Amir Sarkosh 65- 11th Champions
53 in the opening game, according to League final,
information provided by the team coach Real Madrid beating Atletico
Derek Sippy. Madrid 5-3 on
Thereafter, Advani, recently crowned penalties following a 1-1 draw at the San Siro

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

78

in Milan. Thirteen-year-old Jairam is the younger

brother of the 2014 co-champion, Sriram
Atletico, has now suffered a third loss in Hathwar.
a European cup final, the most recent Nihar, at age 11, is the youngest winner
being the defeat to Real Madrid in the of the bee on record.
2014 decider. Each will receive a trophy and $45,000
Shoot-out winner Ronaldo described in cash and prizes.
Real Madrids win as unbelievable, ahead Because the best spellers become fluent
of what will be a gruelling European in Latin and Greek roots, the bee went
Championships campaign with Portugal. to words derived from trickier or more
The opener came via Sergio Ramos, who obscure languages, including Afrikaans,
famously equalized against Atletico in Danish, Irish Gaelic, Maori and Mayan.
the dying seconds of the 2014 final. Jairams winning word was Feldenkrais,
Real Madrid commonly known as which is derived from a trademark and
Real Madrid, or simply as Real, is a means a system of body movements
professional football club based in intended to ease tension.
Madrid, Spain. Niram won with gesellschaft, which
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football means a mechanistic type of social
Club, the team has traditionally worn a relationship.
white home kit since inception. Snehaa Kumar of Folsom, California,
The word Real is Spanish for Royal finished third, and Sylvie Lamontagne of
and was bestowed to the club by King Lakewood, Colorado, was fourth.
Alfonso XIII in 1920 together with the
royal crown in the emblem.
18 Sunrisers Hydrabad won their
maiden IPL title
Two Indian
17 Americans won

Sunrisers Hyderabad clinched the 2016 IPL
US Spelling Bee title by beating Royal Challengers Bangalore
2016 in the final. The Hyderabad unit successfully
defended 209 runs even after fifties from Chris
The Scripps Gayle and Virat Kohli for RCB.
National Spelling
Bee ended in a In a battle between IPLs best batting
tie for the third and bowling line-ups, the Orange Army
US Spelling Bee consecutive year came up trumps despite initial blitzkrieg
on Thursday from Chris Gayle and Kohli, defending
night, with Jairam Hathwar and Nihar Janga their total of 208 for seven by restricting
declared co-champions. the home team to 200 for seven.

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It was David Warners batting and have won the tournament and then
astute captaincy complemented by some defended it the next season, winning in
inspirational death overs bowling by 2010 and winning again in 2011.
Mustafizur Rahaman (1/37 in 4 overs) 2008: Rajasthan Royals
and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0/25 in 4 2009: Hyderabad Dakkn Chargers
overs) that clinched the issue. 2010: Chennai Super Kings
Warner, who hit 69, finished second in 2011: Chennai Super Kings
run-getters list with 848 runs. 2012: Kolkata Knight Riders
The turning point certainly would be 2013: Mumbai Indians
the 24 runs that Ben Cutting (39 no 2014: Kolkata Knight Riders
and 2/35) got in the final over off Shane 2015: Mumbai Indians
Watsons bowling during Sunrisers 2016: Sunrisers
innings and then came back to dismiss
a rampaging Gayle. Sandhu 1st
Gayle (76 off 38 balls) and skipper 19 Indian to play
Kohli (54 off 35 balls) had a scintillating in European
opening stand of 114 in 10.3 overs as Laegue
it looked like a cakewalk for the home
team. Indian goalkeeper
Stuart Binny hit Mustafizur down the Gurpreet Singh
ground for a six as the equation came Sandhu etched
down to 37 from 3 overs. his name into
But Bhuvneshwar bowled a brilliant Indian footballs
European Laegue
18th over keeping everything in the history book after
blockhole as only 7 came off the over. becoming the first player in the history of the
Out of the thirteen team that have nation to play in a game in the top division of a
played in the Indian Premier League, European league.
three have won it twice, while three have
won it once each. The former East Bengal star achieved
The Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata the feet as he was named in Norwegian
Knight Riders, and Mumbai Indians are side Stabaeks starting line-up for their
the most successful teams in leagues Tippeligaen game against Start.
history. However, this week, Gurpreet made
The other three teams who have history when he was named a starter
won the tournament are the Deccan in Stabaeks starting eleven in a bottom
Chargers,Rajasthan Royals and of the Norwegian league clash against
Sunrisers Hyderabad. Start. Thus, after waiting for nearly
The Super Kings are the only team to two long years, Gurpreet finally got his

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80

break. Tendulkar was 31 years and 326 days

The 66 keepers start was made even
sweeter as he kept a clean sheet as his
side romped home to a 5-0 win.
The win helped Stabaek pull away from
the bottom and they now stand only
a point away from getting out of the
relegation zone at the midway point of
their season.
Indian composer and musician AR
Rahman was conferred with Japans
Fukuoka prize for 2016 on Monday.
The Oscar-winning music maestro was
reportedly honoured with the Grand
Fukuoka prize for his outstanding
contribution to Asian culture through
music.
old when he reached the landmark
against Pakistan at Eden Gardens in
2005.
The England skipper became the 12th
batsman overall to reach the milestone
and he achieved it in his 128th Test.
Alastair Nathan Cook, MBE (born 25
December 1984) is an English cricketer.
A left-handed opening batsman, he is
the captain of the England Test team
and former ODI captain, and plays
county cricket for Essex.
Cook played for Essexs Academy and
made his debut for the first XI in 2003.
He played in a variety of Englands youth
teams from 2000 until his call up to the
Test side in 2006.

20 Alastair
cook became Weir sets world
youngest player 21 record in 1 mile
to reach 10,000 wheelchair race
Test runs
Paralympian
Alastair Cook David Weir made
achieved a world history by
fabulous becoming the
Alastair cook
milestone as he first wheelchair
broke Sachin Paralympian David race to complete
Tendulkars record and became the youngest a mile in less
to reach 10,000 runs in Tests on the fourth than three minutes on Sunday.
day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Posting a time of two minutes and 57
Durham. seconds, Weir shaved six seconds off
his previous best performance at the
Cook became the first England player to Westminster Mile
reach the landmark of 10,000 runs and Six-time gold medalist Weir said after
he also became the youngest at 31 years the race: Ive always said I could do it.
and 158 days to achieve the landmark. Sundays victory was Weirs fourth

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consecutive Westminster Mile title, Athletes are classified in accordance

beating South African rival Ernst.
Wheelchair racing is the racing of
wheelchairs in track and road races.
Wheelchair racing is open to athletes
with any qualifying type of disability,
amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral
palsy and partially sighted (when
combined with another disability).
with the nature and severity of their
disability or combinations of disabilities.
Like running, it can take place on a
track or as a road race.
The main competitions take place at the
Summer Paralympics which wheelchair
racing and athletics has been a part of
since 1960.

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ECONOMICS
1 The
Industries
small
institution aimed to aid the growth
and development of micro, small and
Development
medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs).
Bank of India
In 1996, a first funding mechanism
has inked with
was created in SAARC, South Asian
SAARC
Development Fund (SADF), merging
Development
the SAARC Fund for Regional Projects
Bank (SDF)
(SFRP) and the SAARC Regional Fund.

SIDBI SADF objectives were to support
industrial development, poverty
alleviation, protection of environment,
The Small Industries Development Bank
institutional/human resource
of India (SIDBI) has inked MoU with
development and promotion of social
SAARC Development Fund (SDF)
and infrastructure development projects
This has been done to promotte for
in the SAARC region.
mutual cooperation and collaboration.
The MoU was signed by Deputy Managing
Director of SIDBI A K Kapur and SDF 2 Maharashtra
is the biggest
CEO Sunil Motiwal.
contributor
MoU initiates SDF and SIDBI to work
to income tax
together in co-funding of projects in
collections in
Indian MSMEs on risk sharing basis in
India
identified sectors.

Development of suitable financial
Maharashtra
products for SME financing for MSMEs
contributed Rs.
of other Saarc states, the Finance
Income tax 2,77,720.11
Ministry said in a statement.
crore, of the total
Technology transfer and making
Rs. 6,95,788.85 crore in income tax collections,
available software to MFIs regarding
in financial year 2014-15.
loan tracking systems in other SAARC
states.
This detail was released by the countrys
Capacity development of SDF, SIDBI
income tax department for the first time
and SME funding institutions in SAARC
on 29th April 2016.
countries.
There are 10 categories of income tax
SIDBI is an independent financial

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in India individuals, corporates,

This is part of the German governments
trusts, local authorities, government,
special initiative One World, No Hunger
partnership firms, Hindu Undivided
initiative.
Family (HUF), body of individuals,
India is the only country in Asia to be
association of persons and artificial
part of this initiative.
juridical person.
NABARD is anchoring two major
The number of individual tax payers
programmes soil conservation
has decreased by 3.70 lakh between
and rehabilitation of degraded land
financial years 2012-13 and 2013-14.
programme in Maharashtra and Madhya
In 2013-14, 4.87 crore individuals
Pradesh.
paid taxes, which was 4.90 crore in the
It is also conducting innovation of
previous year.
watershed development and climate
In all, 7.14 lakh companies paid
change adaptation programmes
corporate tax in financial year 2013-14,
in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,
a bit more than 7.03 lakh companies in
Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
the previous year
Germanys One World, No Hunger
Overall, the number of income tax payees
focuses on food and nutrition security,
declined to 5.17 crore in financial year
promotion of innovation, protection and
2013-14 from 5.21 crore in the previous
sustainable use of natural resources so
financial year.
as to create stable livelihood in rural
areas and promotion of responsible land
NABARD
3 partners

use and access to land.
This initiate has been happily welcomed
Germany for
by many countries across the globe.
food security
initiative
4 Rahuri
Ahmednagar
in

In April 2016
becomes first to
National Bank
have digi-locker.
for Agriculture

NABARD and Rural
Rahuri Municipal
Development
Council of
(NABARD) collaborated with German
Ahmednagar
government for a special programme on
district in
Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food
Digital locker Maharashtra
Security.
became the first
Municipal Council to attain the status of

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84

integrated with digital locker for the issuance (I/C) for Commerce and Industry Nirmala
of all essential Documents. Sitharaman on 3 April 2016 launched EXIM
Analytics Dashboard to provide an easy access
Digitalization of governance was to detailed trade data of the country.
essentially meant to bring in
transparency in the administration It will ensure the following:
and restore peoples confidence in The export turnover of the country, how
Government. it performs over time?
Department of Information Technology What are the export destinations?
will also help all municipal bodies in What items are being exported?
digitalizing governance and making Which are the ports inland, sea or
administration paperless. airports from which the exports are
Dilipji Gandhi, Member of Parliament taking place?
personally took interest in the initiative This will enable small and upcoming
The Website is integrated as an issuer businessmen to foray into global trade
and Requester with DigiLocker where based on reliable information directly
the Citizen will have access to all these accessible through government sources.
documents at any time. Export Overview: It provides analysis of
They will have freedom to access them data by time period, export destinations
from anywhere in the world at any time. and ports of export.
The citizen of the area can now apply for Import Overview: It provides analysis of
the certificates like Birth, Marriage and data by time period, countries of Import
Death Certificates online without going and ports of import.
to Municipal Council Balance of Trade (BOT): BOT can be
This will also ensure them the peace of analysed over time periods for different
mind provided by the easy security of Regions, Countries and Ports.
their documents forever. The data for analysis is presented
as a months aggregate at its lowest
5 Union granularity, namely, at the level of
Commerce country, commodity, port etc.
Ministry At present, monthly data from April 2014
launched EXIM till January 2016 has been provided on
Analytics the analytics. Progressively additional
Dashboard for dashboards and data for older period
export, import will be added.
data
EXIM Analytics
Minister of State

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Reliance to sign Google acquires

6 15 new industrial 7 business
license technology
agreements in startup
the defense Synergyse
sector
Google has
Reliance Defence, acquired business
subsidiary technology
Reliance Defence of Reliance Synergyse startup Synergyse
Infrastructure founded by an
Limited, the company last week received 15 Indian-origin entrepreneur Varun Malhotra.
industrial licenses for making a wide array of
high technology equipment ranging from heavy The financial detail was disclosed by the
weapons, armored vehicles, ammunition, Google.
electronic warfare systems, UAVs and directed Synergyse was launched in 2013 to teach
energy weapon systems. users how to use Google Applications.
With this acquisition, Synergyse will be
10 pertain to land systems, three for joining the Google Apps team and help
the naval systems and remaining two it to accelerate its mission and build
covering niche technologies across the Google Apps.
defense spectrum. Entrepreneur Varun Malhotra has over
Reliance will be competing with a host 10 years of experience in the enterprise
of established companies like the TATA, space.
L&T, Baba Kalyani Group, Mahindras Google is an American multinational
among others, to get orders. technology company specializing in
Reliance is focusing on defence deals Internet-related services and products.
including Armys plans to spend an These include online advertising
additional Rs. 50,000 crore over next technologies, search, cloud computing,
ten to fifteen years and software. Most of its profits are
This investment has to be done in derived from AdWords.
different combat vehicles, air defence An online advertising service that places
missile systems among others. advertising near the list of search
Reliance Defence also intends to address results.
a large potential international market Google was founded by Larry Page
for combat vehicles in the Middle East, and Sergey Brin while they were Ph.D.
Africa and South America. students at Stanford University.
Together, they own about 14 percent of

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86

its shares and control 56 percent of the On 5 May 2016 National Association of
stockholder voting power through super Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM)
voting stock. signed a partnership agreement with Facebook
They incorporated Google as a privately
held company on September 4, 1998. This is done to build a product design
initiative in India.
8 BRICS bank became the first This initiative is aimed towards
partner with ICICI Bank in India encouraging Indian entrepreneurs to
become problem solvers and develop
ICICI Bank on 5th may 2016 became the solutions.
first financial institution in the country Nasscom Product Council aim at
to tie up with the BRICS Grouping- supporting over 500 product start-ups
promoted New Development Bank (NDB) on product design.
This tie up has been done for a It focuses on training over 5000 product
partnership in bond issuances, co- designers in two years.
financing, treasury management and This is the second time that NASSCOM
human resources. and Facebook have partnered to promote
NDBs first president is ICICI Bank entrepreneurship and startup initiatives
veteran KV Kamath in India.
NDBs mandate includes partnering with Earlier in 2015, NASSCOM partnered
local development banks in member- with Facebook for its initiative called
countries and this MoU will help it Leaders Building for the Next Billion.
leverage the deep market access and Facebook is a corporation and an online
insight of ICICI Bank in the countrys social networking service headquartered
financial markets. in Menlo Park, California, in the United
ICICI Bank and NDB will also leverage a States.
mutually beneficial partnership in other Its website was launched on February
areas such as treasury risk management, 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg with his
account and cash management services. Harvard College roommates and fellow
Headquartered in Shanghai, the NDB students Eduardo Saverin, Andrew
began operations with an initial capital McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris
of $100 billion last year as a multilateral Hughes.
development bank promoted by Brazil, The founders had initially limited the
Russia, India, China and South Africa. websites membership to Harvard
students, but later expanded it to

9 NASSCOM inks MoU

Facebook to develop a product
with colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy
League, and Stanford University.
design initiative It gradually added support for students

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at various other universities and later to Centers (AWCs) in 162 high burden
high-school students. districts of eight participating States.
Since 2006, anyone in general who has Technical support at the national
attained an age of 13 years or more has and state level for strengthening their
been allowed to become a registered capacities to deliver nutrition especially
user of the website, though variations during pre-conception, pregnancy and
in the minimum age requirement exist first two years of life.
depending on applicable local laws. The Common Application Software
(CAS) will be developed by the BMGF

9 MoC
Ministry
between
of
with support of their partners.
It will be made available to the Ministry
Women & Child free of cost along with its Source Code
Development for hosting by MWCD with NIC.
and Bill &
Melinda
Foundation
Gates
10 ECB decided to
end production
and issuance
On 4 May 2016 of 500 euro
MWCD Union Cabinet banknote
approved the
signing of Memorandum of Co-operation On 4 May 2016
between Ministry of Women & Child The European
Development (MWCD) and Bill & Melinda Central Bank
500 euro banknote
Gates Foundation (BMGF). (ECB) announced
to permanently
The MoC will be signed for the stop producing the 500 euro banknote by the
cooperation in Information and end of 2018.
Communication Technology Enabled
Real Time Monitoring of Integrated Child 500 euro banknote, like the other
Development Services (ICDS). denominations of euro banknotes,
The MoC will cover 162 high malnutrition will always retain its value and can be
burden districts of eight states. exchanged at the national central banks
Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, of the Euro system.
Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya On 20 April 2010, money exchange
Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh offices in the United Kingdom stopped
are those 8 states. selling 500 euro notes because of money
The phase-I of ISSNIP will roll out ICT- laundering.
RTM through one Lakh Anganwadi The five hundred euro note is the

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88

highest-value euro banknote. Management, Aditi Gandhi and Michael

It is one of the highest value circulating Walton of Centre for Policy Research of
banknotes in the world, worth around New Delhi, and others in 2014.
558 USD, 3634 Chinese Yuan, 62700 Due to its limitations the index was not
Japanese Yen, 544 Swiss Franc or 395 recognized internationally.
Pound sterling. It also aims to measure the increase
The note is used in the 23 countries. trend in the number of economic rent-
It is the largest note measuring 160 82 seekers.
mm and has a purple colour scheme. 12 RBI to issue
The five hundred euro note contains 1000 Rupees
several security features such as Banknotes with
watermarks, invisible ink, holograms inset letter R
and microprinting.
On 9 May 2016

11 India
Ninth in Crony-
ranks The
Bank of
Reserve
India
Capitalism Index announced that it
1000 Rupees
will shortly issue
India is ranked at 1000 rupees denomination banknotes with the
ninth position in inset letter R in both the number panels.
crony-capitalism
index that was It will be done in the Mahatma Gandhi
released by the Series 2005
Crony-Capitalism Economist in the It will carry the signature of Dr.
first week of May Raghuram G. Rajan, Governor, Reserve
2016. Bank of India on the obverse.
The banknotes of 1000 rupees banknotes
As per the latest crony-capitalism index will have six angular bleed lines in four
the non-crony sector wealth in India sets of 1-2-2-1 lines on the obverse in
amounts to 8.3 per cent of the GDP both, the upper left and right hand edge
Russia topped the list of the banknotes.
It was followed by Malaysia, the These will facilitate identification of these
Philippines and Singapore. notes by visually impaired persons.
Russia fares worst in the index, wealth All the banknotes in the denomination
from the countrys crony sectors of 1000 rupees issued by the Reserve
amounts to 18 per cent of its GDP. Bank in the past, including 1000 rupees
It was based on the work by Ruchir denomination banknotes with ascending
Sharma of Morgan Stanley Investment size of numerals in the number panels

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but without bleed lines and enlarged have excelled in their research work, the
identification mark, will continue to be company added.
legal tender. Grant is aimed at fulfilling the
Foundations objective of creating equal

13 Infosys
Foundation
opportunities for students from poorer
background and advancing the quality
has signed of research done at Indian institutions.
a pact with The establishment of scholarships,
Indian Institute fellowships and travel awards provides
of Science opportunities for students at different
Education academic levels to gain from the grant,
and Research it said.
(IISER), Pune,
Infosys Commemorative Coin of 100
This is to 14 rupees & Circulation Coin of
support students from economically 10 rupees on Maharana Pratap
weaker section to pursue high quality released
education.
The Memorandum of Understanding On 9 May 2016 The Union Government
aims at providing opportunities for released a commemorative coin of hundred
economically weaker students to rupees and a circulation coin of ten rupees on
pursue high quality science education Maharana Pratap.
and research through scholarships,
fellowships and travel awards, Infosys The coin was released as a part of
said in a release. 475th Birth Anniversary celebrations of
It said as part of the MoU, the corpus Maharana Pratap.
fund of Rs. 5 crore named as The Infosys The coin was released by Minister of
Foundation Endowment Fund, State (Independent Charge) for Culture
This fund will continue in perpetuity and Tourism Dr Mahesh Sharma in New
to benefit a minimum of 50 students Delhi.
annually. Maharana Pratap was a brave warrior,
The grant will be used towards the successful organizer and ingenious
establishment of Infosys Foundation strategist, who fearlessly fought the
Scholarships which will be awarded to Mughals and protected his people until
BS-MS students, Infosys Foundation his death.
Fellowships endowed to integrated He was a ruler of Mewar, a region in
PhD students and Infosys Foundation north-western India in the present day
Travel Awards to PhD students who state of Rajasthan.

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His birth anniversary is celebrated It would also contribute towards

every year on the 3rd day of the Jyestha
Shukla phase.
He was the eldest son of Maharani
Jaiwanta Bai and Udai Singh II, founder
of Udaipur.
He belonged to the Sisodia clan of
Rajputs.
Union Ministry of Culture has been
celebrating the 475th Birth Anniversary
of Maharana Pratap in association with
the State Government of Rajasthan.
strengthening the information sharing
framework between the two regulators.
Apart from Abu Dhabi, SEBI also signed
bilateral agreements with a number
of countries which include Mauritius,
Bangladesh etc
SEBI is a signatory to global market
regulators grouping IOSCOs MoU which
encourages the exchange of information
and assistance

16 Apple invested
15 Union
approves
Cabinet
for
$1 billion in
Chinese taxi
MoU between service Didi
SEBI and FSRA Chuxing
Abu Dhabi
Apple said it
The Union invested $1 billion
Cabinet chaired in Chinese ride-
by Prime Minister Apple
hailing service
SEBI
Narendra Modi on Didi Chuxing.
12 May 2016 gave
its approval to Securities and Exchange Board Didi is the worlds largest mobile transportation
of India (SEBI) to sign a Memorandum of service platform that offers mobile technology-
Understanding (MoU) with Financial Services based transportation options across over 400
Regulatory Authority (FSRA), Abu Dhabi. major Chinese cities, including taxi hailing,
private car hailing, social ride-sharing,
The MoU is for mutual co-operation and Chauffeur, DiDi Bus, DiDi Test Drive and DiDi
technical assistance between the two Enterprise Solutions.
financial regulators.
It will promote further development of Company saw a total of 1.43 billion rides
economic links and cooperation between on its platform in 2015.
the two signatories In February 2016, DiDi became the
It will help to create conditions for worlds second largest online transaction
development of securities markets in the platform.
two countries. The company said it completes more

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than 11 million rides a day, with more At present, Apple leads the world in
than 87 percent of the market for private innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac,
car-hailing in China. Apple Watch and Apple TV.
One of the major reasons behind making Across India, Apple supports over
the investment was the chance to learn 640000 iOS app developer jobs and other
more about certain segments of the positions related to the iOS ecosystem.
China market.
Apple is entirely confident of growing
business in the the long term in Chinas
18 PNB tops list of
worst losses in
economy. Indian banking
Apple opens history
17 Development
Office in Punjab National
Hyderabad Bank reported
a net loss of Rs
Apple Inc. on 5,367.14 crore
PNB for the fourth
19 May 2016
opened a new quarter ended
Development March 2016 against net profit of Rs 306 crore
Office in in the same quarter a year ago.
Apple
Hyderabad,
Telangana. Provisions of the bank jumped nearly 3
times, 173 per cent, to 10,485.23 crore
The office was formally opened by Apples for the quarter under review from Rs
CEO Tim Cook. 3834.19 crore in the same quarter last
The facility will focus on development year.
of Maps for Apple products, including The asset quality of Punjab National Bank
iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. deteriorated as gross non-performing
This investment will accelerate Maps assets rose to 12.90 per cent of gross
development and create up to 4000 jobs. advances during the quarter, from 6.55
With iOS 9 Apple added Transit, offering per cent in the year-ago period.
a combination of trains, subways, buses Gross NPAs were Rs 55,818.33 crore in
and walking, which is already available the quarter against Rs 25,694.86 crore
for more than 300 cities around the last year.
world. Bad loans as a percentage of net
Apple revolutionized personal technology advances stood at 8.61 per cent during
with the introduction of the Macintosh the last quarter of 2015-16, from 4.06
in 1984. per cent year ago.

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Net interest margins of Punjab National transactions between the Himalayan nation
Bank slid 27 per cent to Rs 2767.71 and India.
crore in Jan-Mar 2016 period against With the launch of above services, the
Rs 3791.58 crore in the same period last customer of Nepal SBI Bank can utilise
year. various features of mobile banking and
For the full fiscal, the lender reported a other value added services along with
net loss of Rs 3,974.39 crore compared the platform of the payment gateway,
with a net profit of Rs 3,061.58 crore in the bank said in a statement.
corresponding last fiscal. The Payment Gateway was inaugurated
At 12.47 am, shares of public sector by SBI Managing Director B Sriram, and
bank erased their initial gains and were Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae.
trading 0.07 per cent at Rs 73.85. Nepal SBI Bank is providing banking
With this huge loss, Punjab National services from its 70 Offices including 59
Bank is now among the several public branches and 3 Regional Offices.
sector banks that have reported losses Besides, Sriram also handed over a
due to bad loans. cheque for Rs 5.21 crore to Nepal Prime
Syndicate Bank reported a net loss Minister K P Oli for PM Natural Disaster
of Rs 2,158.17 for the quarter ending Relief Fund.
March 2016 due to more than three- As a part of social responsibility initiatives
fold rise in provisions for bad loans and of Nepal SBI, Sriram also inaugurated
contingencies. construction of main entrance gate of
Bank of Baroda, UCO Bank, Central Pashupati area development trust on
Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and the theme of UNESCO World Heritage
Dena Bank have earlier reported losses Design.
due to bad loans. Demand of
20 Consolidation in
19 Nepal SBI Indian Banking
Bank launches sector.
payment
gateway Indias largest
lender State Bank
Nepal SBI of India (SBI)
Bank, one of the formally started
largest overseas SBI merger of 5
subsidiaries of associative banks
Nepal SBI Bank
SBI, has launched and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with itself. The
payment gateway merged entity will have Indias one-fourth of
to facilitate online trade and non-trade the deposit and loan market.

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is not driven by the inherent strength

Post-consolidation, SBIs market share will of the banking system. It is resorted to
increase from 17 per cent to 22.5-23 per cent, escape from the problem of NPAs.
while the total business of the merged entity There are apprehensions among the
will be over 35 lakh crore rupees. labour unions that the consolidation
will lead to job losses.
Against this backdrop, it is pertinent to analyse
pros and cons of consolidation in the Indian Samsung to
banking sector. 21 launch 1st
nationwide loT
Consolidation will help in leveraging Network
the synergies among the banks that
have diverse portfolios, focus areas and Samsung
coverage areas. Electronics will
As the government is the only common partner with SK
owner of all the PSBs, the process Telecom to build
of consolidation is much easier and Samsung Electronics a LoRaWAN
effortless. network for the
Indian companies are going global. Now Internet of Things that will cover all of South
we are home to many multinational Korea.
companies that have presence in
various sectors of the economy. Again The two companies claim that this is the
this context, big-ticket Indian banks worlds first nationwide IoT network.
are the most proper platforms to deliver LoRaWAN stands for long-range wide-
financial services to them. area network, and is specifically
At present, there is not a single Indian designed for Internet-connected,
bank in the top 50 global banks list. The battery-operated objects.
consolidation is expected to fill this gap, South Korea may be getting the first
and, consequently, help build the Brand countrywide IoT network, but LoRaWAN
India among international investors. has already been used to build a citywide
International experience is also IoT data network in Amsterdam that
favourable towards consolidation. Banks launched last August.
in Japan gained a lot as a result of large Samsung Electronics and SK Telecoms
scale merger and acquisition process IoT network will be available throughout
between 1990 and 2004. South Korea by the middle of this year.
Experts argue that consolidation should The South Korean government has said
take place in a positive environment. that it plans to invest 100 billion won by
The present process of consolidation 2024 in smart cars and IoT as part of a

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drive to promote the countrys startup online and up-skill their technology
industry and decrease its dependence know-how.
on semiconductor manufacturing. Trained personnel at these centers are
South Koreas Internet speeds are also conducting in-depth sessions on
already among the fastest in the world. digital literacy, computer skills and
internet facilities, along with dedicated

22 Intel
announced
India
new
guidance sessions in entrepreneurship,
language and vocational training, with
initiatives to the goal of creating opportunities for
support Digital non-urban education, employment and
India empowerment.

Infosys Rs 600-cr SEZ project
Intel
announced
India
a 23
series of initiatives Infosys will set up its second
Intel
that strengthen biggest facility worth nearly Rs 600
its support for crore in Bangalore.
the Digital India programme launched by
the Government of India. Intel detailed three It received necessary clearances from
projects designed to accelerate digital literacy the Karnataka Government.
at the grassroots level by reaching out to the The new facility will be set up in north
population in non-urban India, up-skill citizens Bangalore
in tier II cities and beyond, and encourage It can accommodate 8,000 employees.
innovation from the local level The Karnataka Government cleared
Infosys proposal to set up an Special
Building on the momentum of its Ek Economic Zone (SEZ) near the Bangalore
Kadam Unnati Ki Aur initiative, the International Airport.
company aims to accelerate access to According to Industries Department
technology in non-urban India, Intel officials, the company had sought an
India e-launched its latest Unnati additional 60 acres of land adjacent to
Kendra at Common Service Centre (UK the 40 acres of land already allotted to
at CSC) in Karnal. it.
Intel India also announced the Digital In May, Infosys received clearance for
Unnati website, being set up in 7.23 acres of land near its existing IT
collaboration with the CSC e-Governance SEZ campus in South Kanara.
Services India Ltd. Infosys had said that it plans to open a
It will enable Village Level Entrepreneurs software development centre of 2 million
(VLEs) to learn how to assemble a PC built up sq ft area with an investment of

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Rs 700 crore.
The land will be allotted by the Karnataka
Industrial Areas Development Board
It will also provide 13 lakh litres of water
a day.
Wipro has also received formal approval,
both from the State Government and
the SEZ Board of Approval to build and
operate an SEZ in Bangalore.

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Defence
GSL chairman and managing director
1 Offshore Shekhar Mital said that all the six ships
patrol vessel would be delivered to the Coast Guard
ICGS Shaurya by 2017.
launched.
US Navy tested
On 5 May 2016 2 worlds largest
Goa Shipyard unmanned
Limited (GSL), surface vessel,
ICGS launched Indian Sea Hunter
Coast Guard Ship
(ICGS) Shaurya at Vasco. On 2 May 2016
US Navy tested
This 105-metre new generation OPV that was the worlds largest
launched by the Governor of Goa, Mridula unmanned
US Navy
Sinha will be delivered to the Coast Guard surface vessel
after sea trials are completed. named Sea
Hunter in San Diego.
The vessel is capable of cruising at a
speed of 23 knots and has a range of It is a self-driving 132-foot ship able to
6000 nautical miles. travel up to 10000 nautical miles.
It will be fitted with state-of-the-art It is designed to travel thousands of
machinery like the integrated machinery miles out at sea without a single crew
control system and integrated bridge member on board.
system. The Pentagons research arm, the
The vessel carries four boats for boarding Defense Advanced Research Projects
party operations. Agency (Darpa) developed the ship with
One 30 mm gun and two 12.7 mm guns Virginia-based Leidos.
associated with fire control system form The ship is powered by two diesel
the main weaponry package. engines.
The indigenously designed ship is It is a 132ft-long (40-metre) unarmed
capable of search and rescue operations, prototype ship.
pollution control and external The ship underwent two years of testing
firefighting. which includes verifying that it can
safely follow international norms for

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operating at sea. Both the IUHDSS and MWDC will

It is the naval equivalent of Googles self- function under the control of the Naval
driving car. Officer-in-Charge Commodore Sanjiv
It marks the first step toward sending Issar.
unmanned cargo vessels between Integrated Underwater Harbour Defence
countries, according to military officials, and Surveillance System is a multi-
who showed off the ship in San Diego sensor system that can detect, identify,
today before it was put in the water. track and generate warnings for all
The Pentagons research arm, the types of surface and underwater threats
Defense Advanced Research Projects to Vizag harbor.
Agency (Darpa) developed the ship along Mine Warfare Data Centre collates,
with Virginia-based Leidos. analyses and classifies the data collected
Darpa will test it in conjunction with by the Navys Mine Hunting Ships
the Navy over the next two years off This technical advancement might
Californias coast. greatly raise the confodence of Indian
The tests will largely focus on its ability Navy and its security concerns
to react on its own to avoid collisions Its been so long for India to wait for such
with seafaring traffic. technology and finally its here
During the testing phase, the ship
will have human operators as a safety Indian Air
net, but once it proves to be reliable, 4 Forces
the autonomous surface vessel will Electronic
maneuver itself able to go out at sea for Maintenance
months at a time. Management
System launched
3 Two Harbour Defence Systems
commissioned Indian Air Force
has launched
On 11 May 2016 Integrated Underwater Indian Air Forces its Electronic
Harbour Defence and Surveillance System) and Maintenance
Mine Warfare Data Centre were inaugurated Management System (e-MMS) Project, an
automated military maintenance system.
They were inaugurated by Flag Officer
Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval It was inaugurated by the Chief of Air
Command Vice Admiral HCS Bisht. Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha at the
The two Harbour Defence Systems Air Force Station in Pune, Maharashtra.
would enhance the Navys surveillance The e-MMS project is one of the largest
capability. Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) IT

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implementation in the world. The project
has been designed and developed by the
Indian IT giant Wipro.
IAF had signed the contract for the
project e-MMS with Wipro as a System
Integrator (SI) in 2013.
The e-MMS system has a central console
that will help IAF to get rid of paper
works and heavy logbooks. It seeks to
seamlessly connect squadrons, wings,
commands, and Air Headquarters after
its implementation.
It will transform IAFs paper-based
legacy maintenance system to an online
system as it will be implemented in IAFs
hierarchy and functioning.
long single-stage solid rocket propelled
guided missile equipped with a
navigation system, a hi-tech computer
and an electro-mechanical activator.
It weighs around 1.2 tonnes and has a
diameter of less than 0.5 meter.
With this, India became the fourth
country to have successfully developed
this anti-ballistic missile system.
The other three are United States,
Russia and Israel.
This is inspired by late President of India
Shri Abdul Kalam
This interceptor missile is enough to
destroy various demo.

Ashwin an
6 A joint US-
Australian
5 indigenous military
Air Defence research team
interceptor successfully
missile, has been tested a
successfully hypersonic
tested technology in
the Australian
India on 15 May US-Australian military
desert
Ashwin 2016 successfully
test fired an A two-hour flight from Sydney to London
indigenously developed Advanced Air Defence is a step closer to reality after the latest
interceptor missile, Ashwin. successful test Wednesday of hypersonic
technology in the Australian desert.
It was launched from the complex of A joint US-Australian military research
Abdul Kalam Island (formerly known as team is running a series of 10 trials at
Wheeler Island) off Odisha coast. the worlds largest land testing range,
Ashwin is capable of destroying any Woomera in South Australia, and at
incoming hostile ballistic missile. Norways Andoya Rocket Range.
Indigenously developed by DRDO, the Scientists have said hypersonic
ADD interceptor missile isa 7.5-meter technology could cut travelling time

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from Sydney to London to as little as two Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of
hours for the 17,000-kilometre (19,540- Russia.
mile) flight. Russia is the partner country in the
Hypersonic flight involves travelling at BrahMos joint venture with its consent
more than five times the speed of sound discussions with several other countries,
(Mach 5). including Philippines, South Korea,
Scientists involved in the programme -- Algeria, Greece, Malaysia, Thailand,
called Hypersonic International Flight Egypt, Singapore, Venezuela and
Research Experimentation (HIFRE) -- Bulgaria .
are developing an engine that can fly at BrahMos has: 3 times more velocity, 2.5
Mach 7 to 3 times more flight range, 3 to 4 times
Each test builds on previous ones, with more seeker range, 9 times more kinetic
the latest used to measure heat on the energy.
outside of a vehicle in hypersonic flight, The missile has identical configuration
Smart said. for land, sea and sub-sea platforms and
The next test, scheduled for 2017, would uses a Transport Launch Canister (TLC)
involve the scramjet engine separating for transportation, storage and launch.
from the rocket booster and flying on its
BrahMos

own, he added.
The first test was conducted in 2009 with
8 supersonic
the project expected to be completed in cruise missile
2018. test fired

7 India and Russia have agreed to

export BrahMos
India on 27th
May successfully
test fired the over
India and Russia have agreed in 290-km range
principle to export the worlds fastest BrahMos BrahMos land-
anti-ship cruise missile, BrahMos, to attack supersonic
UAE, Vietnam, South Africa and Chile. cruise missile.
BrahMos was developed jointly by Indias
Defense Research and Development The system was put to check by the
Organization (DRDO) and Russias NPO Indian Air Force, which has acquired
Mashinostroyenia (NPOM), which in a squadron of it consisting of over 50
1998 established the company BrahMos missiles, at about 1200 hours in the
Aerospace. Pokharan firing range.
The name BrahMos is a portmanteau The unique BrahMos weapon system on
formed from the names of two rivers, the numerous occasions has established its

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supremacy in the world of supersonic Indian origin in space.

cruise missile.
The flight conducted has met its mission
parameters in a copybook manner.
The missile met all flight parameters the
formidable weapon successfully hit and
annihilated the designated target.
DRDO chief is S Christopher.
The accuracy was recently re-established
in a campaign conducted by the Indian
Army in the eastern sector last year.
This formidable missile system has
empowered all three wings of the armed
forces with impeccable anti-ship and
land attack capability.
The objective of the chair is to encourage
research activities of Indian Railways in
Geo-spatial Technology.
It will also help to strengthen Railway
projects where use of remote sensing
data, Geographical information System
(GIS) and global positioning system
(GPS) is predominant.
The Chair will be headed as Chairman
by V.K.Gupta, Member Engineering,
Railway Board and Manoj Arora,
Director, PEC University of Technology,
Chandigarh as Co-chairman.

9 Union Ministry of Railways and

PEC University of Technology
have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding

(MoU) for setting up of Kalpana Chawla Chair
on Geospatial Technology for Indian Railways
at the Universit

Union Ministry of Railways and PEC University

of Technology have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) for setting up of Kalpana
Chawla Chair on Geospatial Technology for
Indian Railways at the University.

The MoU was signed in the backdrop of

Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhus
Budget announcement in this regard.
The academic chair is being instituted
in memory of IndoAmerican Astronaut
and Alumnus of PEC Late Kalpana
Chawla. She was the first woman of

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Obituaries
His portrayal of Martin Lane on The

1 Patty Duke Show was recognized as No.

39 on its list of 50 Greatest TV Dads.
Famous
American actor
Nirankari
William Schallert
died
2 Spiritual leader
Baba Hardev

Singh dies in
On 8 May 2016
Canada road
American actor
accident
William Schallert William Schallert

passed away in
On 13 May 2016
California, U.S.
Baba Hardev
Singh, the
He was 93.The actor was best known for his Baba Hardev Singh
Spiritual leader
work as Martin Lane on the hit series The Patty
and chief of Nirankari Mission, died in a road
Duke Show,
accident in Montreal, Canada. He was 62.

This show was aired on ABC from 1963 until

Born on 23 February 1954, Baba Hardev
1966.
Singh became a member of the Nirankari
Seva Dal in 1971.
He was Born on 6 July 1922,
In 2005, he established the Nirankari
He began acting in University of Southern
Museum in Sant Nirankari Sarovar
California in Los Angeles.
complex in New Delhi.
In 1946, he helped found the Circle
He had 10 to 15 million followers around
Theatre with Sydney Chaplin and several
the world.
fellow students.
The mission was established in 1929,
In 1948, he was directed by Sydneys
by Baba Buta Singh who previously
father, Charlie Chaplin, in a staging of
belonged to the Nirankari sect. He was
Somerset Maughams Rain.
succeeded by Baba Avtar Singh.
He starred in Philbert, an innovative
The mission began as a reform movement
1964 TV pilot for ABC
within Sikhism.
He appeared in many films and television
It started in form of the Sant Nirankari
series as Perry Mason, The Smurfs,
Movement or Universal Brotherhood
Jefferson Drum among others.

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102

Movement that believed in
importance of a living leader.
The mission flourished after base of the
mission was shifted to Delhi from West
Punjab, after partition of India in 1947.
As of 2016, the organization has 2000
centers and millions of followers all over
the globe.
the It was his interest in Saturn and its rings
which led him to launch his Neptune
research.
Neptunes outermost ring is divided
into three arcs to which Brahic gave the
names Liberte, Fraternite and Egalite.
In 1990 an asteroid, number 3488, was
named Brahic in his honour.

Diwaliben Bhil passed away

3
French scientist
Andr Brahic
4
died

Andr Brahic Folk singer and Padma award winner Diwaliben
was an expert Punjabhai Bhil passed away on 19th May in
on the solar her hometown Junagadh.
system, in 1984.
He launched Her final rites were performed in
a programme Junagadh in presence of local political
Andr Brahic
which led to leaders, folk artists among others.
the discovery, with US astronomer William A primary school dropout, Diwaliben was
Hubbard, of the rings around the gaseous a self-taught folk artist who rose from
planet Neptune. humble background to gain acclaim
both in India and around the world.
Born into a modest family in Nazi- Diwaliben, began her singing career
occupied Paris in 1942, Brahic was from a local Garbi, has become the voice
initiated into astrophysics after the war of hundreds of Gujarati folk songs and
by Evry Schatzman, considered the garbas,
father of the discipline in France. Born in a tribal family, she worked
In the 1980s, Brahic became a specialist at a primary school as part of the
in exploring our solar system with the governments literacy programme, before
help of the NASA Voyager and later US- her talent was recognized.
Europe Cassini unmanned missions, Besides Gujarati folk songs, Diwaliben
which continue to this day. has also sung many garba and bhajans,
He was an astrophysicist at the and even given voice to numerous
Commission for Atomic Energy and Gujarati film songs.
Alternative Energies (CEA) and a Diwaliben Bhil got major recognition
professor at the University of Paris. with her song Aiwa Aiwa on the album

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Mann ke Manjeere released in April
2001
Veteran leader
5 of CPI(M)
Anirudhan
passed away
Veteran
former MLA and
MP K Anirudhan
passed away at
K Anirudhan his residence on
23rd May 2016 at
the age of 92.
Anirudhan was suffering from age-
related ailments for some time and died
last night, the sources said.
Known for his significant contribution to
build the Communist party movement in
southern parts of the state, Anirudhan
was elected to the state assembly in
1963, 1965, 1979 and 1980.
Anirudhan, also an active trade union
leader, had represented the
Chirayinkeezhu constituency near here
in Lok Sabha after defeating former chief
minister R Sankar in the 1967 elections.
He is survived by wife Sudharma and
sons, CPI-M Lok Sabha MP A Sampath
and Kasthuri.
He was attracted to the independence
movement during his school days.
He was forced to join a school in nearby
Kanyakumari district as he was expelled
from both St Joseph School and SMV
School for participating in the freedom
struggle.
103
Marathi litterateur and critique
K 6 R.G. Jadhav passed away.
Marathi litterateur and critique R.G. Jadhav,
and passed away at his residence following a
prolonged illness.
He was best known for his 91 reflective
poems on Mahatma Gandhi.
A prolific literary critic, Professor Jadhav,
who was born at Vadodara in Gujarat,
taught Marathi literature in various
colleges across Maharashtra, including
Elphinstone College in Mumbai and
Milind College in Aurangabad, among
others.
Prof. Jadhav presided over the 2004
Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held at
Aurangabad and served as chief editor
of the Marathi Vishwakosha based in
Wai between 2000 and 2002.
then Conceived along the lines of the World
Almanac and the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, the ambitious Vishwakosha
project, launched by the State
government in 1960 in an effort to inform
and edify the Marathi-speaking world
on modern science and arts, began as
a print concept before moving online in
2011.
Barack Obama became first incumbent
US president to visit Hiroshima Memorial
Barack Obama became the first sitting
U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, where
he called for a world without nuclear
ISSUE 5, MAY 2016
104

weapons during his remarks at the

citys Peace Memorial Park.
In the Hiroshima museums guest book Hiroshima Peace Memorial commonly
before his speech, the President wrote called the Atomic Bomb Dome, in
that he hoped the world will find the Hiroshima, Japan, is part of the
courage, together, to spread peace, and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and was
pursue a world without nuclear weapons designated a UNESCO World Heritage
Obamas visit, the first to Hiroshima by Site in 1996.
a sitting U.S. president, comes as an The ruin serves as a memorial to the
acknowledgement from the American people who were killed in the atomic
leaders towards the suffering of the bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August
estimated 140,000 killed during the 1945.
bombing on Aug. 6, 1945.
That figure includes 20,000 Koreans
who had been forced by the Japanese
military to work in the city for the
imperial war machine.

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Science
lower than for traditional e-papers,
1 China developed
worlds first
which use the rare, expensive metal
indium.
graphene
electronic paper
2 University
Cambridge
of

China has
have built the
developed a new
worlds smallest
electronic paper,
(nanoscale)
which has been
Electronic paper working engine
heralded as the

worlds first
On 2 May
graphene electronic paper.
2016Cambridge
Cambridge researchers have
Compared with traditional e-papers, graphene
built the worlds
e-paper is more pliable and has more intensity
smallest working engine. The research was
and its high-light transmittance means optical
published in the journal of the National
displays will be much brighter.
Academy of Sciences of the United States of
America (PNAS).
E-papers have been produced on a commercial
scale since 2014.
The engine is few billionths of a meter in
size and uses light to power itself.
Compared with liquid crystal displays,
The nano scale engine can set a
e-papers are thinner, bendable and energy
benchmark for nano-machines that can
efficient, meaning products are more portable.
navigate in water, sense the environment
around them, or even enter living cells
Graphene is the worlds strongest and
to fight disease.
lightest known material.it can conduct
Professor Jeremy Baumberg from
heat and electricity.
the Cavendish Laboratory, who led
The material can be used to create hard
the research, has named the devices
or flexible graphene displays, used in
Actuating Nano-Transducers.
electronic products such as e-readers
Device is made of tiny charged particles of
and wearable smart devices.
gold, bound together with temperature-
Graphene is derived from carbon,
responsive gel.
meaning production costs will be much
When the engine is with a laser, it stores

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large amounts of elastic energy in a The research data has been used to
fraction of a second. formulate ice nucleation scheme for
This has the effect of forcing the gold inclusion of such processes in the
nano particles to bind together into tight forecast models.
clusters. Artificial rain making techniques
However, when the device is cooled, the involving cloud seeding cannot be used
polymers take on water and expand, and for bringing rain clouds to rainfall
the gold nano particles are strongly and deficit/drought areas
quickly pushed apart.
Astronomers discovered 3 Earth
7 like planets using TRAPPIST
6 CAIPEEX a process to understand
Rain Formation in Clouds & telescope
impact of Randomized Cloud
Seeding. Astronomers discovered three planets which
have similar sizes and temperatures those of
Minister of State for Science & Technology and Venus and Earth
Earth Sciences, YS Chowdary first used the
term CAIPEEX in Parliament. This was found using the TRAPPIST telescope
at ESOs La Silla Observatory.
On 4 May 2016 In Lok Sabha, the minister
informed that the Indian Institute of Tropical The discovery was published in the
Meteorology (IITM) is putting its effort in Journal Nature on 2 May 2016.
understanding the rain formation in clouds Ultra-cool dwarf star 2MASS
through this research program. J23062928-0502285, now also known
as TRAPPIST-1.
Under this experiment, air borne They found that the dim and cool star
observations are taken through faded slightly at regular intervals which
randomized cloud seeding and the indicated that several objects were
impact is recorded. passing between the star and the Earth.
Aircraft observations have to be On the detailed analysis, it showed that
conducted before and after the seeding to three planets are present around the
determine the environmental conditions star.
and the quantum of seeding material. It is much cooler and redder than the
These operations include detailed Sun and barely larger than Jupiter.
measurements of aerosols, cloud Despite being so close to the Earth, the
droplets, raindrops and ice particles, star is too dim and too red to be seen
registering the growth of clouds before with the naked eye or even visually with
and after the seeding. a large amateur telescope.

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Two of the planets have orbital periods of In case of humans, the virus causes
about 1.5 days and 2.4 days respectively, mild illness known as Zika fever (Zika or
and the third planet has a orbital period Zika disease).
in the range 4.5 to 73 days. Since January 2015, 61 countries
and territories have reported local
UN launches transmission of Zika.
8 Multi-Partner The recent rise in the spread of the virus
Trust Fund in some countries has been accompanied
for Zika virus by an unprecedented rise in the number
response of children being born with unusually
small heads
On 6 May 2016 On 1 February 2016, WHO announced
United Nations that the cluster of cases of microcephaly
announced the and other neurological disorders.
Multi-Partner establishment
of the UN Zika
Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund to finance
9 Flying
Observatory
critical unfunded priorities in the response to SOFIA detects
the Zika outbreak. Atomic Oxygen
in Martian
It fund was announced by UN Secretary- Atmosphere
General Ban Ki-moon.
Atomic Oxygen
The Fund aims to provide a rapid, was detected in
Flying Observatory the upper layers
flexible and accountable platform to
support a coordinated response from of the Martian
the UN system and partners. atmosphere known as Mesosphere.
It will directly support the Zika Strategic
Response Framework, developed by the Atomic oxygen affects how other gases escape
World Health Organization (WHO Mars .It therefore has a significant impact on
Under the programme, the donors will the planets atmosphere.
contribute to a central point and an
Advisory Committee will direct funds The research was published in the journal
to the highest-priority activities in the Astronomy and Astrophysics.
affected countries.
Zika virus (ZIKV) is transmitted by These more recent observations were
daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes, such possible due to SOFIAs airborne
as A. aegypti. location, flying between 37000-45000

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feet, above most of the infrared-blocking The scientist has been awarded the
moisture in Earths atmosphere. fellowship to pursue research in the field
The last measurement of the atomic of congenital and adult cardiovascular
oxygen in Martian atmosphere was diseases.
diagnosed by Viking and Mariner He works as an assistant professor at
missions of the 1970s. Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared He is also an adjunct assistant professor
Astronomy (SOFIA) at National Heart Research Institute
SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP jetliner Singapore
modified to carry a 100-inch diameter He obtained his masters degree in
telescope. Biotechnology from Madurai Kamaraj
It is a joint project of NASA and the University.
German Aerospace Center. After completing his masters, he
SOFIA program is managed by NASAs joined MD/Ph.D program in Molecular
Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Medicine at Hannover Medical School,
California. Germany.
The aircraft is based at NASAs Armstrong The National Research Foundation was
Flight Research Centers hangar set up on 1 January 2006.
It is a department within the Prime
Indian scientist Ministers Office.
10 Manvendra K The NRF sets the national direction for
Singh bags SGD research and development (R&D) by
3 million grant developing policies, plans and strategies
from Singapores for research, innovation and enterprise.
NRF
China launched

Dr Manvendra
11 Yaogan -30
K Singh, was remote sensing
Manvendra K Singh awarded a grant satellite
of SGD 3 million
by Singapores National Research Foundation China has
(NRF). successfully
launched a
He is a scientist from Uttar Pradeshs remote sensing
Gorakhpur city Yaogan -30 satellite which
He is among the seven young scientists will focus on
from across the world to be endowed experiments on survey of land, crop yields and
with the Singapore NRF fellowship. disaster relief.

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The satellite named Yaogan 29 was recovering well and showing no signs of
carried by a Long March 4C rocket rejecting the transplant.
after it was launched on Thursday Manning, a bank courier in Halifax,
from Taiyuan in the countrys northern Mass., underwent the operation on May
Shanxi province. 8 and 9.
This is the 219th mission for the Long The surgeons who led the 15-hour
March rocket family. China launched procedure, Curtis Cetrulo and Dickens
the first Yaogan series satellite, Ko, said they were cautiously optimistic
Yaogan1, in 2006. Manning will regain full urinary and
The satellite will be used for experiments, sexual function.
land surveys, crop yield estimates and Manning has been cancer free for about
disaster relief, staterun Xinhua news four years, the physicians said.The
agency reported. surgeons stressed the psychological
Western analysts believe the series of aspects of such transplants.
satellites are of a military nature, using Team plans to further develop transplant
electronic intelligence, electrooptical protocols on civilians, noting that
and synthetic aperture radar sensing Defense officials are hesitant about
equipment. supporting experimental surgeries for
This launch comes weeks after China service members.
had successfully launched Yaogan28. A team of South Africa surgeons
performed the worlds first successful
First penis penis transplant in a nine-hour operation
12 transplant in in December 2014.
U.S. performed
in Boston Department of
13 Electronics and
Surgeons in Information
Boston have Technology
performed the to built first
first penile social security
Penis transplant transplant in the platform
United States,
a procedure that soon could help severely Indias first
wounded troops, surgeons at Massachusetts national social
IT to bulit
General Hospital . security platform
will be developed by the Department of
Thomas Manning, 64, whose penis was Electronics and Information Technology (
removed in 2012 due to penile cancer, is DeitY ), which has been entrusted with the

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task following the intervention of the Prime Yojana for old age pension.
Ministers Office to end the tug of war between
Scientists
three central ministries.
14 discover new
Officials said the PMO stepped in after form of light
the ministries of labour, finance, and
communications and IT could not reach Researchers in
consensus on who should set up the Ireland have
backbone for distributing social security discovered a new
benefits. form of light.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley had in his Their discovery
budget speech said that the government Scientists discover is expected
will develop a national social security to reshape
platform for handing out monetary scientists understanding of lights basic
benefits. nature.
Officials said that once the platform is
established, beneficiaries under various Angular momentum describes the
schemes will have to enrol with the rotation of a light beam around its
ministries concerned which are offering axis. Until now, researchers believed
benefits under the particular schemes. the angular momentum was always
Multiple Benefits Providing social a multiple of Plancks constant -- a
security to Indians has been one of the constant ratio that describes the
key focus areas of various schemes relationship between photon energy and
launched by the Narendra Modi -led frequency, and also sets the scale for
NDA government. Most of these schemes quantum mechanics.
require the beneficiary to pay a small The newly discovered form of light,
amount as premium or contribution. however, features photons with an
While the Jan Dhan scheme launched in angular momentum of just half the value
2014 aimed to provide a bank account of Plancks constant. The difference
along with a Rupay debit card to every sounds small, but researchers say the
Indian household, the Jan Suraksha significance of the discovery is great.
Scheme launched in 2015 aimed to For a beam of light, although traveling
provide a social security net to Indians. in a straight line it can also be rotating
Under Jan Suraksha, the government around its own axis, John Donegan,
brought in three schemes - Suraksha a professor at Trinity College Dublins
Bima Yojana providing an accident cover, School of Physics, explained in a news
Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana providing a release. So when light from the mirror
life insurance cover and the Atal Pension hits your eye in the morning, every

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photon twists your eye a little, one way Cloning the virus unlocks scientists
or another. ability to more quickly develop
Our discovery will have real impacts for countermeasures and explore whether
the study of light waves in areas such or how the Zika virus has evolved to
as secure optical communications, spread more quickly and cause more
Donegan added. severe diseases in people.
Researchers made their discovery after For 60 years, the Zika virus remained
passing light through special crystals obscure, with few identified cases in
to create a light beam with a hollow, people and mild disease symptoms.
screw-like structure. Using quantum However, since 2007, the virus
mechanics, the physicists theorized has sparked frequent epidemics
that the beams twisting photons were associated with serious diseases such
being slowed to a half-integer of Plancks as microcephaly and Guillain-Barre
constant. syndrome. The researchers from The
The team of researchers then designed University of Texas Medical Branch
a device to measure the beams angular (UTMB) first constructed the Zika virus
momentum as it passed through the clone.
crystal. As they had predicted, they Five fragments spanning the complete
registered a shift in the flow of photons viral genome were individually cloned
caused by quantum effects. and assembled into the full-length clone
The researchers described their of the Zika virus.
discovery in a paper published this week The infectious complementary DNA
in the journal Science Advances. (cDNA) clone allows researchers to make
Zika virus from test tube and cells on
Worlds first petri dishes.
15 Zika virus clone The researchers then used the UTMB-
developed developed Zika mouse model to
demonstrate that the cloned virus
Scientists have infected the mice and gave them
genetically neurological disease.
engineered a Furthermore, the team engineered a
clone of the Zika luciferase reporter Zika virus. Luciferase
virus strain, an is the chemical in fireflies that gives
Zika virus advance that them their signature glow.
may aid the The glowing reporter virus could be
development of vaccine and therapies against used for antiviral drug screening and to
the infection which has been linked to serious track Zika virus infection in mosquitoes
birth defects. and small animal models.

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There are a number of possible factors which is expected to take 10-15 years.
that may account for the current Zika The government has invested Rs 95
virus epidemic that can now be tested crores in the project.
with the UTMB clone. ISRO chairman Kiran Kumar said that it
For instance, the Zika virus may have is essentially an attempt bring down the
evolved in a way that enhances mosquito cost of making infrastructure for space.
transmission, leading to it spreading The RLV is a mechanism to bring
much more quickly. down the cost of launch. We intend
This idea could be tested by comparing to go through a series of technology
how infectious the original Zika strains demonstration exercises, the first one
are to mosquitoes with current strains, of which we call HEX-01, that is a
followed by manipulating the clone to hypersonic experiment. It is called a
test the effects of recent mutations on winged body, Kumar said.
mosquito transmission. This is the first of a series of experiments
The study was published in the journal and India still have a long way to go
Cell Host and Microbe. till it reach the actual RLV, which will
give a tremendous capacity in terms of
ISRO launches launching at a very low cost.
16 Indias first
reusable space India lauded for
shuttle 17 Medicines with
the Red Line
The ISRO campaign on
successfully antibiotics
launched the first
Made in India The term
ISRO space shuttle Medicines with
the Red campaign
It is called the Reusable Launch Vehicle. Red Line campaign was appreciated
It was launched early on 23rd May by the Global
morning from Sriharikota in Andhra Review on Antimicrobial Resistance.
Pradesh. The review was commissioned by the UK
The test launch is important because Prime Minister David Cameron in 2014
in 2011, the U.S.s Nasa abandoned its and chaired by economist Jim ONeil.
reusable space shuttle project As per the review, India led the way so
The RLV-TD is described as a very far with its idea of a Red Line Campaign
preliminary step in the development of for antibiotics packaging.
a reusable rocket, the final version of It has several key messages - learn how

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to identify prescription drugs; curb self aims at using oxygen present in the
medication; and become more aware of atmosphere up to 50 km from the earths
the dangers of misusing antibiotics. surface to burn the fuel stored in the
The campaign was named so as it was rocket.
mandated that all prescription only The new propulsion system, once
drugs should be marked with a vertical mastered, would complement ISROs
red line on the pack. aim to develop a reusable launch vehicle
The packs with red lines should be that would have longer flight duration.
consumed only on doctors advice and The Dual Mode Ramjet (DMRJ), the
the patients need to complete full course ramjet-scramjet combination, is
as prescribed by the doctor. currently under development, which
The campaign was launched by the will operate during the crucial Mach 3
Union Ministry of Health and Family to Mach 9 ascend flight of the launch
Welfare in February 2016. vehicle.
The launch of the campaign became ISRO is now evolving and testing various
inevitable due to growing misuse of technologies to bring down the cost of
antibiotics across the country. launch vehicles.
The national space agency has earlier
ISRO to test developed rockets that can send multiple
18 rocket that takes satellites in a single mission.
its fuel from air

After successfully
19 China
launch worlds
to

testing a 1st Quantum

reusable launch satellite
vehicle, Indian
Space Research China will
ISRO Organisation launch its first
(ISRO) is planning experimental
to test an air-breathing propulsion system, quantum
which aims to capitalise on the oxygen in the Quantum satellite communication
atmosphere instead of liquefied oxygen while satellite in July.
in flight.
Its communications cannot be
Generally, vehicles that are used to intercepted.
launch satellites use combustion of It will be the first quantum communication
propellants with oxidizer and fuel. through a satellite in the world.
The air-breathing propulsion system Quantum communication boasts ultra-

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high security as a quantum photon can The National Aeronautics and Space
neither be separated nor duplicated. Administration (NASA) has successfully
It is hence impossible to wiretap, deployed the first experimental inflatable room
intercept or crack the information attached to the International Space Station
transmitted through it. (ISS).
The CASs project includes launch of
a satellite and building of four ground The experimental inflatable room dubbed
stations for quantum communication as BEAM (Bigelow Expandable Activity
and one space quantum teleportation Module) was deployed after it was
experiment station. successfully expanded and pressurized.
Chinese scientists have taken five years The inflatable room BEAM has been built
to develop and manufacture the first by Nevada Company Bigelow Aerospace.
quantum satellite. It will be attached to the ISS for a two-
It will be transported to Jiuquan Satellite year test and is the first such habitat to
Launch Centre in June. hold humans in orbit.
Upon completion, the satellite will be It is made up of aluminium and soft
able to establish quantum optical links fabric which expands in space. It is light
simultaneously with two ground bases weight and also takes minimal space. It
thousands of kilometers apart. creates place for astronauts to live and
Chinese scientists have taken five years work.
to develop and manufacture the first It is 4 metres long and 3.2 metres in
quantum satellite. diameter with 16 cubic metres of interior
It will be transported to Jiuquan Satellite volume when fully expanded.
Launch Centre in June, CAS said. Its 2 year orbital test is intended to
pave the way towards the use of such
The National habitable rooms for long space trips,
20 Aeronautics including to Mars and Moon.
and Space
Administration
(NASA) has
successfully
deployed the first
experimental
inflatable room
NASA attached to the
International
Space Station (ISS)

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Fossils of oldest environment.

21 multi-cellular
organism found

The researchers,
writing in the
journal Nature
Communications,
said they had
Multi-cellular uncovered fossils
showing that
complex life on Earth began more than 1.5bn
years ago.

After first emerging from the primordial

soup, life remained primitive and single-
celled for billions of years, but some of
those cells eventually congregated like
clones in a colony.
Scientists took to calling the later part of
this period the boring billion because
evolution seemed to have stalled.
Previously, eukaryotes of comparable
size had not been known to appear in
the fossil record until about 600m years
ago, when a multitude of soft-bodied
creatures inhabited the worlds oceans.
Their very existence 1.56bn years ago
would mean that oxygen levels were
sufficiently high to allow for such large
organisms to subsist.
Antcliffe suggested the fossils were
more likely corresponded to colonies
of bacterial cells, rather than a single
complex organism.
Truly multicellular creatures display
three-dimensional form in which only
some cells are in direct contact with the

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PROMINENT RECORD
smoke-free state in India, and in 2014
1 Kohima In Himachal Pradesh became the second.
Nagaland
becomes
2
BSF To Unveil
Smoke-Free tallest national
City flag.

On April 29 The Border
Nagalands Security Force
Smoke-Free City capital Kohima (BSF) has
was declared announced
smoke-free. Unveil Tallest plans to unveil
a 350-feet-high
Announcement has been done by the national flag, the tallest in the country, near
Deputy Commissioner Rovilato Mor. the Attari-Wagah border by January 2017.
A campaign was initiated by the students
of 22 educational institutes, to raise It can be seen both from Lahore as well
awareness about the harmful effects of as Amritsar.
smoking. The current record is held by the
It was organized by the District Tobacco flag on top of a 293-feet-high mast in
Control Cell (DTCC) and Department of Jharkhands Ranchi.
Health and Family Welfare. Apart from that various new high altitude
As part of the campaign, the students flags have been put across the nation.
held placards, some of which read one such flag is also situated in New
tobacco kills us, Smoking is Paying Delhi central park which is now a great
Someone to Kill You and Say No to tourist attracttion
Tobacco and Yes to Life. Such initiatives raise the patriotism and
They also shouted slogans Make respect for the country into the hearts of
Kohima, Smoke Free City and Breathe people.
Healthy, Live Happy.
Chandigarh was declared the first
smoke-free city in 2007.
Kottayam in Kerala and Shimla also
came into this list.
In 2010, Sikkim was declared the first

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Renewable attractiveness index (RECAI) ranks

3 energy country 40 markets on the attractiveness of
attractiveness their renewable energy investment and
index 2016 deployment opportunities.
released: India The ranking is given based on a number
Placed at 3rd of macro, energy market and technology-
Position. specific indicators.

Punjab gets
Index 2016 released
Global
organization
4 worlds largest
EY on 10 May rooftop solar
2016 released the Renewable energy country plant
attractiveness index 2016.
Worlds largest
The report reveals 40 countries on the Single Rooftop
attractiveness of their renewable energy Solar Power
investment and deployment opportunities Plant with
based on a number of indicators. Solar plant capacity of11.5
MegaWatt (MW)
The emerging markets now represent was inaugurated at Dera Baba Jaimal Singhat
half of the countries in the 40-strong Beas, in Amritsar, Punjab.
index, including four African markets
featuring in the top 30. It was inaugurated by Punjab Chief
Index was topped by the United States Minister Prakash Singh Badal on 18
(US) and was followed by China at 2nd May 2016.
position and India at 3rd position. This is the largest Solar Power Plant
Countries like Chile at 4th position, spread over 82 acres of rooftop in single
Brazil at 6th position and Mexico at 7th campus on multiple roofs with installed
position climbed higher in the index top capacity of 19.5 MW.
10. The plant has been set up with the cost
While Germany and France fell in of 139 crore rupees.
the ranking to 5th and 8th position The project will generate clean and green
respectively. energy sufficient to power approximately
Argentina was the highest-scoring new 8000 homes.
entrant in the index. The transformation This solar power project at Dera Beas
of the countrys economy brought it into will help in abating about 4lakh tonnes
the index in 18th position. of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in next 25 years
The Renewable energy country This is equivalent to plant nearly 2 lakh

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trees. wavelengths. The new result, however,

Considering the fact that pollution level was achieved using normal sunlight
and global temperature has gone up ----- with no concentrators.
-------- like anything, any such initiative
is quite commendable. Malyaysian
6 women weave
Australian worlds longest
5 engineers Rug
set solar cell
efficiency world The rug was
record created as a
symbol of local
Engineers from culture and
the University of Malyaysian women tradition, as the
New South Wales Kayan people
UNSW (UNSW) have from Borneo are well known for being skilled
set a new world rattan mat weavers.
record for solar efficiency, converting sunlight
to electricity at a rate of about two-thirds the It was organised by a local womens
theoretical limit. organisation called Peng Doh Belaga.
The entire rug was expertly hand-woven
The new world record for unfocused by women from all over Malaysia, before
sunlight saw the engineers achieve a the individual pieces were gathered and
conversion rate of 34.5 per cent. joined together.
This marks nearly a 50 per cent leap Guinness World Records adjudicator
on the previous record of 24 per cent Rishi Nath confirmed that the enormous
efficiency, set by Alta Devices of the mat had broken the previous record -
United States, a 797.51 m long rug manufactured in
For the new record, the UNSW Sweden in 2010.
researchers used a 28-cm2 four-junction The women began constructing the rug
mini-module embedded in a prism in January this year, and over the past
he result was obtained by the same five months they have been filmed for a
UNSW team that set a world record in documentary called Mat Weavers Tale.
2014, achieving an electricity conversion The film follows their record-breaking
rate of over 40% by using mirrors to journey and celebrates the regions
concentrate the light a technique known heritage of mat weaving.
as CPV (concentrator photovoltaics)
and then similarly splitting out various

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Worlds largest
7 cruise ship The Royal Caribbean ship has capacity for
Harmony of 6,000 people and has facilities including
the seas starts its waterslides, an Ampitheatre, and
Maiden voyage high-street restaurants.
Harmony of the Seas, which cost almost
The worlds 800million to build and weigh 227,000
largest ship tonnes. sailed past the Isle of Wight last
which is 330ft night on its way to the Netherlands on
Maiden voyage longer than the the four-night cruise
infamous Titanic The ship was carried out of the port by
today set sail from Southampton on its several tugs which had to turn the huge
maiden voyage to Rotterdam. vessel and guide it out to the open sea.
Harmony of the Seas, which cost almost Theres no passengers on board but the
800million to build and weigh 227,000 ship which is nearly 330 foot longer
tonnes. than Titanic, has around 500 crew as its
The huge ship, which it is claimed burns continues its sea trial until Sunday.
1,147 gallons of fuel an hour - equivalent
to 376million cars - will return later this
week before heading off to Cherbourg for
a three-night cruise, then to Barcelona
later this month.

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INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONSHIP
India, Papua New Council of Agricultural Research and
1 Guinea signed PNG University of Technology, Lae,
four agreements Papua New Guinea.
Papua is one of the most culturally
On 29 April diverse countries in the world.
2016 India and 852 languages are spoken in country
Papua New Over 7 million people lives in customary
Guinea signed communities, which are as diverse as
four agreements/ the languages.
Papua New Guinea MoUs Only 18 percent of its people live in
urban centres.
These agreements have been done to boost the It is one of the worlds least explored
bilateral relations. nations, culturally and geographically.

These MoUs were inked during the two-day India, New

visit (28 to 29 April 2016) of President Pranab 2 Zealand signed
Mukhrejee to Papua New Guinea. Air Services
Agreement.
This visit was the first ever presidential visit
from India to Papua New Guinea. On 1 May 2016
India and New
MoU between the Union Ministry of Zealand signed
Health and Family Welfare and the an Air Services
Ministry of Health and HIV/AIDS of Air Services Agreement which
Papua New Guinea has been signed will introduce
MoU for a USD 100 Million Credit direct flights between the two countries.
Line was signed for development of
infrastructure in the island-nation The agreement was signed in the presence
between the Government of Papua New of the President Pranab Mukherjee and
Guinea and the Export Import Bank of the New Zealand Prime Minister John
India. Key.
MoU for cooperation in agricultural Mukherjee was on an official tour to
research was signed between the Indian Papua New Guinea (April 28-29, 2016)

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and New Zealand (April 30 to May 2, Bank of UAE will consider signing a
2016). bilateral Currency Swap Agreement on
The agreement will lead to easier mutually agreed terms and conditions.
connectivity that has halted both The MoU will help to further strengthen
business travel and people-to-people the close economic cooperation and
contact in the past. relationship between India and UAE.
Business, Education and Tourism A currency swap involves exchange of
sector has boomed between India and principal and interest in one currency
New Zealand in recent years. for the same in another currency.
There are nearly 175000 Indians in It is considered to be a foreign exchange
New Zealand of which about 15000 are transaction.
Indian students. Reserve Bank of India is Indias central
The two-way trade has doubled between banking institution, which controls the
the two countries in the last few years. monetary policy of the Indian rupee.
The two-way tourist traffic has also It commenced its operations on 1
witnessed rise April 1935 during the British Rule in
accordance with the provisions of the
India-UAE
3 currency swap
Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

agreement Inter-gover-
Approved 4 nmental
agreement
The Union between India
Cabinet gave its and Mauritius
approval for the
MoU between The Union
India-UAE Reserve Bank of Cabinet chaired
India (RBI) and by Prime Minister
Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Narendra Modi
India and Mauritius
on co-operation concerning currency swap on 12 May 2016
agreement. approved to sign the inter-governmental
agreement between India and Mauritius.
The Agreement was signed in February,
2016 during the official visit of Crown This is based on cooperation in cooperatives
Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed and related fields.
Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India.
The MoU commits that RBI and Central The agreement between the two countries
will be for duration of five years.

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It provides for promoting cooperation evasion.

through short and medium term
programmes.
Both countries also signed a protocol on
taxation that amend the convention for
the avoidance of double taxation and the
prevention of fiscal evasion with respect
to taxes on income and capital gains on
10 May 2016.
A joint meeting was held on September
2012 in Department of Agriculture,
Cooperation & Farmers Welfare followed
by Ministerial level meeting after a year
in September, 2013.
It was discussed for the possibility
of signing an MoU between the two
countries for exchange of legislation
governing cooperatives, exchange
information and technicalities pertaining
to the cooperative sector, establishment
of institutional linkages and deputation
of experts under ITEC programme.
The protocol was signed by Indian
ambassador to Slovenia Sarvajit
Chakravarti, and Slovenian Finance
Minister Dusan Mramor on behalf of
Slovenia.
This agreement will widen the scope of
the existing framework of exchange of
tax related information.
The framework is likely to help curb tax
evasion and tax avoidance between the
two countries.
It will also enable mutual assistance in
collection of taxes.
Slovenia, formerly a part of erstwhile
Yugoslavia, attained Independence in
of 1991. India recognized Slovenia on 11
May 1992.
Soon after recognition, the then Foreign
Minister of Slovenia Dimitrij Rupel
visited India on 18 May 1992.
Slovenia opened its resident mission

5 India
Slovenia
and in New Delhi on 1 August 2002. While,
India opened its resident Mission in
sign Protocol Ljubljana in February 2007.
amending
India-Slovenia
Double Taxation 6 India,
signed
Oman
4
Avoidance Agreements
Convention on defence
cooperation
Double Taxation India and Central
European country
Slovenia signed a protocol in second week India and Oman
on May 2016 to amend an existing double on 22 May
taxation avoidance treaty in Ljubljana. This India, Oman 2016 signed 4
new agreement will curb tax avoidance and tax Memorandums of

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Understanding in Muscat. They were signed Naseem Al Bahr.

during the visit of Indian Defence Minister The Indian Navy has berthing rights in
Manohar Parrikar to Oman. Oman and has been utilizing Omans
MOU on Defence Cooperation between ports as bases for conducting anti-
the Ministry of Defence of Sultanate of piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.
Oman and Ministry of Defence of India
MOU between the Royal Oman Police India ,Thailand
(Coast Guard) and the Indian Coast 7 ,Myanmar to
Guard in the field of Marine Crime be linked by
Prevention at Sea Highway
MOU between the Government of
the Sultanate of Oman and India on The Asian
Maritime Issues highway linking
Protocol between the Government of the India, Myanmar
Sultanate of Oman represented by Royal and Thailand
Air Force of Oman and the Government has been put into
Linked by Highway
of India represented by the Indian Air service.
Force on Flight Safety information Myanmar Vice President U Nyan Tun,
Exchange Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid
Defence cooperation with Oman is of Jatusripitak and Chairman of the Kayin
importance for India due to Omans National Union General Saw Mutu Sae
strategic location at the mouth of the Po attended an inaugural ceremony of
Persian Gulf. the service on 22nd May 2016, Xinhua
Bilateral relation between Indian and reported.
Oman were formally established with With the 25.6-km-long section becoming
signing of a 1953 Indo-Oman Treaty of operational, travel time between
friendship, Navigation and Commerce, a Thinggan Nyenaung and Kawkareik
first between India and an Arab country. will be reduced from three hours to 45
A military protocol was signed in minutes.
1972, and the two air forces together The construction of the Asian highway
conducted Exercise Eastern Bridge in section started in 2012 with the
2009 in Oman and in 2011 in India. assistance of Thailand.
Since 1993, navies of both the countries The Asian highway runs from Moreh in
have been conducting joint exercises - India to Thailands Maesot via Myanmars
Naseem Al Bahr. Tamu, Mandalay and Myawaddy.
The most recent exercise was conducted The section, also part of the East-West
in the Arabian Sea off Goa coast in economic corridor of the Greater Mekong
January 2016. It was the 10th edition Subregion, will not only enhance trade

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between Myanmar and Thailand, but
also contribute to better links among
people in the region.
A cornerstone laying ceremony was
also held at Myawaddy on Sunday for
the building of Myanmar-Thailand
Friendship Bridge No.2 to link Thailands
Maesot with Myanmars Myawaddy.
India
8 Afghanistan
sign transport
corridor pact
On 23 May 2016
India, Iran
Afghanistan
signed
India Iran Afghanistan agreement on
Trilateral Transit
and Transport Corridor.
The agreement was signed in
presence of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran
and the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
in Tehran.
The purpose of the agreement is to
facilitate seamless transport of goods
between India and Afghanistan via
the Chabahar port that is strategically
located in the South East of Iran.
This agreement is expected to bring
down cargo tariffs and boost regional
economic development.
Besides, India and Iran also signed
an agreement for the development of
the Chabahar port. This agreement
is complementary to the agreement
on Trilateral Transit and Transport
Corridor.
Under the agreement, India will develop
the Chabahar port in Iran at an estimated
cost of 150 million US dollars.
India and Australia have signed a
9 Memorandum of Understanding
Iran (MoU) to enhance research and
development (R&D) capabilities
in biotechnology.
Seeking to stimulate and enhance the strategic
research and innovation capabilities of the
and Indian biotech industry, BIRAC, a PSU under
the Ministry of Science and Technology signed
the MoU with Horticulture Innovation Australia for
launching a joint funding call.
The focus of the call is to undertake
horticultural research in order to
the develop and deploy modern tools of
plant biotechnology to improve crop
productivity.
The event was presided over by
Australian High Commissioner to India
Harinder Sidhu and Vijay Raghavan.
Horticulture Innovation Australia (Hort
Innovation) is a not-for-profit, grower-
owned Research and Development and
marketing company for Australias
horticulture industry.
It works collaboratively with industry,
the Australian government and the
nations leading research institutions to
deliver ground-breaking advancements
in areas such as agri-technology, pest
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management, and trade and industry

promotion.
Biotechnology is the use of living
systems and organisms to develop or
make products, or any technological
application that uses biological systems,
living organisms or derivatives thereof,
to make or modify products or processes
for specific use (UN Convention on
Biological Diversity, Art. 2).
Depending on the tools and applications,
it often overlaps with the (related) fields of
bioengineering, biomedical engineering,
bio-manufacturing, etc.

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LEGAL UPDATE
Lok Sabha Laws said that quality of forest cover
1 passed the has declined between 1951 and 2014,
Compensatory with poor quality of compensatory
Afforestation afforestation plantations being one of
Fund Bill, 2015 the reasons behind the decline.

On 3 May 2016
Lok Sabha
2 Supreme
asked
Court
Delhi
passed the Government not
Compensatory to register New
Lok Sabha
Afforestation Diesel Cars
Fund bill, 2015.
On 10 May 2016
It is intended to establish setting up of a The Supreme
National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Court asked the
and also a State Compensatory Afforestation New Diesel Cars Delhi Government
Fund. to not register the
new diesel cars.
The Bill establishes the National
Compensatory Afforestation Fund under It relaxed its April 30 order of imposing
the Public Account of India, and a State ban on diesel taxis in Delhi-NCR from 1
Compensatory Afforestation Fund under May 2016
the Public Account of each state. It allowed the existing All India Tourist
These Funds will receive payments for: Permit (AITP) diesel taxis to operate in
(a) compensatory afforestation, (b) net the national capital till the expiry of
present value of forest (NPV), and (c) their permit.
other project specific payments. The permits which are issued for a
These Funds will be primarily spent on period of five years, however, will not be
afforestation to compensate for loss of renewed after expiry.
forest cover It further underlined that diesel taxis
The Bill establishes the National and will eventually have to go off the roads
State Compensatory Afforestation Fund It is likely to free up more than 60000
Management and Planning Authorities taxis, which had to go off roads since
to manage the National and State Funds. they had not switched to CNG.
A High Level Committee on Environment The court-mandated stipulation

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regarding fare compliance with It said that defaming a person amounts

government norms may affect surge to offence against society and the
pricing used by taxi aggregators, which government is entitled to lodge a
the Delhi government had sought to stop case against a person under criminal
during odd-even phase 2. defamation law.
The bench in its 268-page verdict
3 Supreme Court dismissed apprehensions and said that
upholds validity criminal defamation may have a chilling
of Criminal effect on the freedom to circulate ones
Defamation Law independent view.

On 13 May 2016 Besides, the petitioners who are facing
The Supreme criminal defamation trial were given
Court agreed with eight weeks time to approach the High
constitutional Courts concerned under Article 226
Criminal Defamation
validity of and Section 482 of the Cr.
penal laws on
defamation. 4 Union Cabinet approves National
Intellectual Property Rights
The two-judge bench of Justices Dipak Misra Policy.
and Justice Prafulla C Pant said the right
to life under Article 21 includes the right to On 12 May 2016 The Union Cabinet approved
reputation. the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
Policy that will lay the future roadmap for
It said that the current criminal intellectual property in India.
defamation law is constitutionally valid.
It held that criminalization of defamation The National Intellectual Property Rights
to protect individual dignity of life and (IPR) Policy will endeavor for a Creative India;
reputation is a reasonable restriction on Innovative India
the fundamental right of free speech and
expression. The National IPR Policy is a vision
The court said that Sections 499 and document that aims to create and
500 of the Indian Penal Code make exploit synergies between all forms of
defamation a criminal offence. intellectual property (IP), concerned
The bench said that the freedom of statutes and agencies.
right to speech and expression does not It sets in place an institutional
confer any right to a person to trample mechanism for implementation,
the reputation of others. monitoring and review.

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It aims to incorporate and adapt global Bhuyan, iv) Dhanuhar / Dhanuwar, v)

best practices to the Indian scenario. Kisan
This policy shall weave in the strengths vi) Saunra, Saonra, vii) Dhangad
of the Government, research and Jharkhand - viii) Bhogta, Deshwari,
development organizations, educational Ganjhu, Dautalbandi (Dwalbandi),
institutions, corporate entities Patbandi, Raut, Maajhia, Khairi (Kheri),
including MSMEs, start-ups and other ix) Puran
stakeholders in the creation of an Tamil Nadu - x) Malayali Gounder, xi)
innovation-conducive environment. Narikoravan, Kurivikkaran
The Policy recognizes that India has Tripura - xii) Darlong
a well-established TRIPS-compliant Puducherry - xiii) Irular (including Villi
legislative, administrative and judicial and Vettaikaran)
framework to safeguard IPRs. Besides, it also seeks to identify new
Foster creativity and innovation and communities in the Union Territory of
thereby, promote entrepreneurship and Puducherry.
enhance socio-economic and cultural After the Bill becomes an Act, members
development of the communities included in the list
Focus on enhancing access to healthcare, of Scheduled Tribes will be able to derive
food security and environmental benefits meant for Scheduled Tribes
protection, among other sectors of vital under the existing schemes.
social, economic and technological Further, existing entries in list of
importance. Scheduled Castes (SCs) in case of
Union Cabinet gives approval to Jharkhand and Other Backward Classes
5 Amendments in Constitution ST (OBCs) /Most Backward Classes (MBCs)
Order, 1950 of Central /State lists would be modified.
Under Article 342 of the Constitution of
Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister India certain privileges/concessions to
Narendra Modi on 25 May 2016 gave the ex- the members of Scheduled Tribes has
post facto approval to the amendments in the been provided.
Constitution (Schedule Tribes) Order, 1950. As per the approved Modalities of June
1999, later modified in June 2002, any
The approval was given to modify the proposal for inclusion/exclusion by
list of Scheduled Tribes in respect of five the concerned State Government/UT
States, namely, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Administration shall be in concurrence
Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Tripura with the both the Registrar General
Assam - i) Boro, Boro Kachari, Bodo, of India (RGI) as well as the National
Bodo Kachari, ii) Karbi (Mikir) Commission for Scheduled Tribes
Chhattisgarh - iii) Bhuinya, Bhuiyan, (NCST).

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dAYS AND DATE

1 International
2 National Technology Day
Labour Day observed on May 11
celebrated.
On 11 May 2016 National Technology Day was
1st May is celebrated across India.
International
Labour Day, The function was headed by the President
known as May Pranab Mukherjee in Vigyan Bhawan in
Day. New Delhi.
Labour Day
The theme for celebrations of the
The theme of International Labour Day Technology Day 2016 is Technology
of 2016 is Celebrating the international enablers of Startup India.
labour movement. The day commemorates the anniversary
The whole world celebrates 1st May of first of the five tests of Operation
every year as International Labour Day Shakti (Pokhran-II) nuclear test which
to highlight the significance of hard work was held on 11 May 1998 in Pokhran,
and the result we get through it. Rajasthan.
This is also known as International National Technology Day is a very special
Workers Day and May Day. day for Indian Technology since 1999.
80 countries across the world have It is so significant because India achieved
declared national holiday on this day. a huge technological advancement on
The first demand for an eight hour the day. The first, indigenous aircraft
working day and better working Hansa-3 was test flown at Bangalore
conditions gained momentum in early on this day.
19th century. India also performed successful test
On the first of May in 1886, four firing of the Trishul missile on the same
striking workers of a harvesting plant day. India also executed three successful
at Haymarket in Chicago were killed in nuclear tests, carried out at Pokhran, in
police firing. Rajasthan May 11.
It was protested all over and ever since,
first of May is observed as workers day.
Labour is one of the four key factors of
production along with Land, Capital and
organisation.

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May 21 Menstrual
3 observed as Anti 4 hygiene day
Terrosism Day observed on 28
May
Anti-Terrorism
Day observed Menstrual
Across India on Hygiene means all
21 May 2016. The of the ways that
day is celebrated you manage your
Anti Terrosism Day as Death Menstrual Hygiene monthly cycle:
Anniversary of from the products
former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi. you use, to the way you clean them, to how it
impacts your day-to-day life.
Every Year Union Home Ministry
administers the Anti-Terror pledge to It is rather a lack of knowledge and the
Government employees. ability to access sanitary products can
The staff of the Northeast Frontier have serious negative consequences for
Railway Construction Organisation some menstruating people.
observed Anti Terrorism Day by pledging Menstruation affects about half of the
to work for promoting peace. worlds population; yet in many parts
The objective behind the observance of of the world, the stigma and shame, as
Anti-Terrorism Day is to wean away the well as lack of sanitation and education
people from terrorism and violence. around menstruation, negatively
The Day is observed to generate impacts the lives of millions of women
awareness in the country among all and girls.
sections of people, about the danger of Menstrual Hygiene Day is an effort to
terrorism and violence and its effect on raise awareness of these barriers to
the people, society and the country as a menstruation.
whole. Menstrual Hygiene Day, a day
dedicated to building awareness about
the importance of good menstrual
hygiene and the taboos surrounding
menstruation, is observed on May 28th.
Menstrual hygiene day is an annual
awareness day, on 28 May, that aims
to break taboos and raise awareness
about the importance of good menstrual
hygiene management for women and

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adolescent girls worldwide. Peacekeepers was so designated by

It was initiated by the German-based United Nations General Assembly
NGO WASH United in 2014. Resolution 57/129, on 11 December
2002.

5 International
Day of United
It was designated after an
request of the Ukrainian Peacekeepers
official

Nations Association and the Government of

Peacekeepers Ukraine to the UN General Assembly.
2016 observed The day was first celebrated in 2003.
with theme The date, May 29, marks the anniversary
honouring Our of the creation of the United Nations
Heroes Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO)
in 1948 to monitor the ceasefire after
United Nations The International the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which was
Day of United the first ever UN peacekeeping mission.
Nations Peacekeepers 2016 was observed on
29 May 2016 with the theme Honouring Our
Heroes.
6 31 May- World
No Tobacco Day
The day offers a chance to pay tribute to
the Blue Helmets invaluable contribution People, non-
to the work of the Organization and to governmental
honour more than 3400 peacekeepers organizations
who have lost their lives serving under and governments
the UN flag since 1948, including 128 in unite on World
2015. No Tobacco Day No Tobacco Day
On the other hand, the UN Postal to draw attention
Administration (UNPA) also issued a set to the health problems that tobacco use
of six new stamps for the occasion. can cause. It is held on May 31 each
Honour the memory of the UN year.
peacekeepers who have lost their lives Hand saying no thanks to a packages of
in the cause of peace. cigarettes offered
Pay tribute to all the men and women World No Tobacco Day focuses on
who have served and continue to serve informing people about health problems
in UN peacekeeping operations for their associated with tobacco use.
high level of professionalism, dedication World No Tobacco Day is a day for
and courage. people, non-governmental organizations
The International Day of United Nations and governments organize various

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132
activities to make people aware of the
health problems that tobacco use can
cause. These activities include:
Public marches and demonstrations,
often with vivid banners.
Advertising campaigns and educational
programs.
People going into public places to
encourage people to stop smoking.
where career starts
The introduction of bans on smoking in
particular places or types of advertising.
Meetings for anti-tobacco campaigners.
Moreover, laws restricting smoking in
particular areas may come into effect
and wide reaching health campaigns
may be launched.
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 133

SCHEME AND POLICY

and make it cheaper.

1 UJALA
implemented
will
across country
by 2019
The Centres
ambitious
National
programme
UJALA Unnat Jyoti
Affordable LEDs
for All (UJALA) - will be implemented across
the country by 2019.
Total of 9 crore LED bulbs were sold in
the country, which means people will
get the benefit of Rs 5,500 crore in their
electricity bills.
Almost 77 crore incandescent bulbs
will be replaced till 2019 in the country
which will ensure an annual benefit
of Rs 40,000 crore to the people in
their electricity bills and it will reduce
dependability on coal.
The cost of a 9-W LED bulb under the
scheme is Rs 85 only.
Madhya Pradesh has set a target of
switching over to this mode in the next
one-and-a-half year.
The worlds largest solar power plant is
coming up in Madhya Pradeshs Rewa
district.
Govt. is urging people to replace old
lamps with LED bulbs to save power
be State energy minister Rajendra Shukla
ingfrmed that after selling the targetted
3 crore LED bulbs, Madhya Pradesh
would order for 7 crore more bulbs.
Alberta Wildfire: State of
2 Emergency declared by Canada
LED Government.
-
by On 5 May 2016 a state of emergency was
declared in the city of Fort McMurray due to
a massive wildfire destroyed several of homes.
At least 80000 residents were ordered to
leave the northern Alberta city.
Wind whipped wildfires, which broke
out on 1 May 2016, have destroyed at
least 1600 homes and forced more than
80000 residents to flee.
More than 250 firefighters are battling
the blaze that was actively burning in
residential areas.
Officials also issued mandatory
evacuation orders for the Anzac, Gregoire
Lake Estates .
Alberta is a western province of Canada.
It is Canadas fourth-most populous
province and the most populous of
Canadas three Prairie Provinces.
Alberta and its neighbor Saskatchewan
were districts of the Northwest Territories
until they were established as provinces
on September 1, 1905

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134

Prime Minister country.

3 launched The scheme is aimed at replacing the
Pradhan Mantri unclean cooking fuels mostly used in
Ujjwala Yojana the rural India with the clean and more
at Ballia efficient LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas).

On 1 May 2016
Indian PM
launched the
PMUY Pradhan Mantri
Ujjwala Yojana
(PMUY) at Ballia, Uttar Pradesh.

The scheme aims to provide cooking

gas connections to five crore BPL
beneficiaries over.
LPG spread predominantly in Urban and
Semi Urban Areas
But the rural poor have limited access to
Clean fuel (LPG).
Use of fossil fuels and conventional fuel
like cow dung are having serious health
implications for women and Children.
According to WHO,5 Lakhs die every
year due to heart disease, pulmonary
diseases etc.
5 crore LPG connections will be provided
to BPL families with 1600 rupees.
Connections will be given in the name of
Women.
EMI Facility for meeting the cost of Stove
and Refill cost.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is an
ambitious social welfare scheme of
Narendra Modi Government.
Under the PM Ujjwala Yojana, the
government aims to provide free LPG
connections to BPL households in the

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Miscellaneous
passengers annually. It also carried
Indian Railways
1 creates Non-
1058.81 million tons of freight in the
year.
Fare Revenue In 20142015, Indian Railways had
Directorate revenues of 1634.50 billion rupees.
to explore Indian Railways is the worlds seventh
advertising in largest commercial or utility employer
train coaches It has over 1.376 million employees as of
last published figures in 2013.
On 4 May 2016
Indian Railways Saraswat Bank
Indian
(IR)
Railways
announced 2 donates Rs 1
creation of Non-Fare Revenue Directorate to crore for drought
carry out advertisements in rail coaches, along relief
the track and near stations.
Advertisements on coaches, wagons, The Saraswat
locomotives and at stations will be Bank has donated
explored. of Rs one crore
It will be headed by a senior railway towards drought
official. Saraswat Bank relief work.
Revenues are estimated to be increased
by 10 per cent to 20 per cent from the The Bank has donated Rs 50 lakh each
current 5 per cent from the non-tariff to the Maharashtra Chief Ministers
sources. Drought Relief Fund, and to the NAAM
Railways were first introduced to India Foundation, an NGO started by actors
in 1853. Nana Patekar and Makarand Anaspure,
Indian Railways is an Indian state- specifically aimed at alleviating the
owned enterprise, owned and operated impact of drought, a release issued here
by the Government of India. said.
It is one of the worlds largest railway Gautam E Thakur, Vice Chairman of
network the bank handed over a cheque of Rs
It has more than 115000 km of track 50 lakh to Maharashtra Chief Minister
over a route of 65808 km and 7112 Devendra Fadnavis.
stations. Kishore Rangnekar, Director, handed
In 2014-15, railway carried 8.397 billion over another cheque of Rs 50 lakh

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136

to Nana Patekar, Founder, NAAM society has played in securing many

Foundation. of the gains made and the leadership
Saraswat Bank is an urban co- provided by people living with HIV.
operative banking institution based in The report also calls the shortfalls in
Maharashtra, India and operating as a the implementation of the 2011 Political
co-operative bank since 1918. Declaration on HIV and AIDS distressing.
In 1988, the Bank was conferred with The report draws attention to regions
Scheduled status by Reserve Bank of where new HIV infections are continuing
India. to rise, such
The Bank is the first co-operative bank The report gives strong emphasis to
to provide Merchant Banking services. the links between the response to HIV
The Bank got a permanent license to and the success of the Sustainable
deal in foreign exchange in 1978. Development Goals (SDGs).
Presently the Bank is having To reach these goals include reaching
correspondent relationship in 45 the 909090 treatment target for 2020.
countries covering 9 currencies with
over 125 banks. In 1992, the Bank
completed 75 years.
4 Chaos and Caliphate: Jihadis
and the West in the Struggle
Platinum Jubilee Celebrations were
inaugurated on 14 September 1992 and The book titled Chaos and Caliphate: Jihadis
the Bank also crossed the business level and the West in the Struggle for the Middle
of Rs. 700 Crores. East authored by Patrick Cockburn exposes
how millions of people were killed by a series of

3 Urgent action needed to end

the AIDS epidemic by 2030: UN
disastrous Western interventions in West Asia.

Report. It draws together a careful selection of

Cockburns writings from the frontlines
On 6 May 2016 United Nations released a new of the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq,
report terming Fast-Track stress on to end the Libya and Syria
AIDS epidemic . It also presents the authors fear that
dividing the region will repeat the horrors
It reveals that the extraordinary of Partition.
acceleration of progress made over the Patrick Oliver Cockburn is an Irish
past 15 years could be lost. journalist.
UN through report urges all partners to He has been a Middle East correspondent
ensure that the global AIDS epidemic is since 1979 for the Financial Times and,
ended as a public health threat by 2030. presently, The Independent.
It also underlines the critical role civil He has written four books on Iraqs

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recent history. The India Handloom Brand was

He won the Martha Gellhorn Prize in launched by Honble Prime Minister on
2005 7th August, 2015
He also won The James Cameron Prize The main objective is to promote the
in 2006 production of quality products with
new designs for winning the trust and
There has always been conspiracy confidence of customers.
5 theories about the war US had in The registration under the brand is
middle east. People think it as given after stringent testing of samples
a conspiracy for oil and other in Govt. of India laboratories.
speculations are also there.
Worlds oldest

Government inks MoU with NDTV Ethnic Retail 6 stone axe found
Ltd. to popularize India Handloom products in Australia

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) On 11 May
has been signed between The Development 2016 Australian
Commissioner (Handlooms), Ministry of archaeologists
Textiles, Government of India and NDTV Ethnic announced
Retail Ltd. for popularizing India Handloom discovery of
textiles as a fashionable product for youth. Worlds oldest stone a piece of the
worlds oldest axe.
The three-year MoU was signed on 10th
May, 2016 at Udyog Bhawan. It was found in the remote Kimberley
Government will support the project with region of Western Australia.
incubation and production support. The axe fragment is about the size of a
India Handloom Brand will also provide thumbnail and dates back to a Stone
an interface where fashion professionals Age period of 45000 to 49000 years ago.
will be able to accesses facilities such as It is an axe with a handle attached.
Weavers Service Centres and handloom Its antiquity coincides with or
clusters. immediately follows the arrival of
The initiative will connect fashion humans on the Australian landmass.
designers with Handloom sector in an New studies of the fragment revealed
organized manner. that it comes from an axe that had been
Shri Aneesh Nair, Chief Innovation shaped from basalt then polished by
Officer, NDTV Ethnic Retail Limited was grinding it on another rock until it was
also present on the occasion of signing very smooth.
of the MoU. The axe fragment was initially excavated

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138

in the early 1990s by Professor OConnor
This type of axe must have been very
useful for a variety of tasks like chopping
down or taking the bark off trees.
Original Screenplay for The Crying
Game.
He also won the Silver Bear for Best
Director at the Berlin International Film
Festival for The Butcher Boy.

7 The Drowned
Detective by Neil
Jordan unveiled
8 Musharraf
declared
offender in high
The Drowned treason case
Detective
authored by Former Pakistan
Neil Jordan president General
depicts genre- (Retd.) Pervez
Neil Jordan defying story Musharraf has
about a private Musharraf been declared
investigator. a proclaimed
offender in a high treason case.
Investigator arrived in a small Eastern
European city because he was told about the The special court, ordered for advertising
opportunities opening up in former Soviet the verdict in an English and Urdu daily
countries. each.
The court, also directed to place the
The books first few pages are about a copy of the order outside Musharrafs
wayward minister who cheats on his residences and before it
wife. The former military ruler was in March
The minister is tracked by the detective 2014 formally charged with treason for
whose name is Jonathan. imposing emergency and the Provisional
One day, an elderly couple approached Constitutional Order on November 3,
Jonathan to investigate the 2007.
disappearance of their daughter. Pervez Musharraf is a Pakistani politician
Jonathan feels compelled to find the and a retired four-star army general
daughter as the faded photograph of who tenured as the tenth President of
the little girl reminds him of his own Pakistan from 2001 until tendering
daughter. resignation, to avoid impeachment, in
Neil Patrick Jordan is an Irish film 2008.
director, screenwriter and novelist. On 31 March 2014, Musharraf was
He won an Academy Award for Best booked and charged with high treason

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for implementing emergency rule and dream for the future.

suspending the constitution in 2007.
Pervez Musharraf was born on 11 August
1943, to an Urdu-speaking family in
Delhi.
He is the son of Syed and Zarin
Musharraf.
His father, Syed Musharraf, graduated
from Aligarh Muslim University, in
Aligarh, India and was a civil servant
under Government of India.
Beti a non-
9 fiction short film
The Seattle International Film Festival
(SIFF), held annually in Seattle,
Washington since 1976, is among the
top film festivals in North America.
Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006
festival had 160,000 attendees.
In recent years, the SIFF has run for
more than three weeks (24 days), in May/
June, and features a diverse assortment
of predominantly independent and
foreign films and, in recent years, a
strong contingent of documentaries.

invited in 42nd
edition of Seattle
International
10 Worlds First
Robot Lawyer
Film Festival Hired By U.S.
2016 Firm

Beti, a four minute The worlds
Film Festival 2016 documentary first artificial
film on girl intelligence
child education from India, has been invited lawyer has been
for special screening at the 42nd Seattle Robot Lawyer
employed by a law
International Film Festival (SIFF), Washington firm in the U.S.,
DC. which will use the robot to assist its various
Beti is the only short film from India to be teams in legal research.
featured amongst 421 films representing
85 countries and will be screened on 30 The robot called ROSS is built upon
May 2016, which is Seattle Memorial Watson, IBMs cognitive computer.
Day at the SIFF. With the support of Watsons cognitive
The film was made by young student computing and natural language
filmmakers of Chandigarh. processing capabilities, lawyers can ask
The movie is directed by Shivain Arora. ROSS their research question and the
The short film promotes girl child by robot reads through the law, gathers
narrating the real life story of three girls evidence, draws inferences and returns
from a government school and their highly relevant, evidence-based answers.

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ROSS also monitors the law around
the clock to notify users of new court
decisions that can affect a case.
ROSS Intelligence, the company that
built ROSS, began out of research at the
University of Toronto in 2014
Robot culture seems to be very vast and
clear. This is this reason why team is
looking forward to it.
This facility addresses a long, collective
failure in dealing with pandemics.
The PEF facility launch announcement
came few days ahead of the May 26-27
Summit of Group of Seven Leaders in
Ise-Shima, Japan.
G7 leaders had urged the World Bank
Group to develop the initiative during
their May 2015 summit in Schloss-
Elmau, Germany.

11 The World Bank

has launched
Japan became the first donor to the PEF
initiative and committed $ 50 million.
Pandemic Innovative financing for crisis responses
Emergency by PEF, together with financing for
Finance Facility preparedness and prevention in
peacetime, including through IDA, are
The World important to mitigate human and social
Bank Group losses and to help quickly recover in the
has launched event of a crisis.
The World Bank Pandemic
Emergency Mandatory for
Finance Facility a new financing mechanism to 12 public transport
quickly mobilize funds to tackle global disease buses to install
outbreaks and create a new insurance market emergency
for pandemic risk. buttons

PEF is expected to bring the much needed It is going to be
coordination and speed for future global mandatory for
disease outbreak response efforts. public transport
Pandemics pose some of the biggest buses to install
Public transport
threats in the world to peoples lives emergency
and to economies, and for the first time buttons, CCTV cameras and vehicle tracking
we will have a system that can move devices to ensure the safety of women
funding and teams of experts to the commuters, Road Transport and Highways.
sites of outbreaks before they spin out
of control Government will issue a notification on
Jim Yong Kim is the President of the June 2, laying down the safety measures
World Bank Group. to be installed in public transport buses

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across the country. to 121 from 142 last year, with a market
The statement came at an event at value of USD 50.6 billion and assets
Bikaner House in Delhi where Gadkari worth USD 91.5 billion.
launched 20 such Rajasthan government Reliance is followed by State Bank of
buses. India which is ranked 149 and has a
The 20 Mahila Gaurav Express buses 23.3 billion dollar market value.
that would run between Delhi and The other Indian companies on the list
Rajasthan are part of a pilot project. are Oil and Natural Gas ranked (220),
The Rajasthan government plans to ICICI Bank (266),
eventually bring over 2,300 more buses HDFC Bank (275),
under the projects ambit. Indian Oil (371),
Many women are also scared of the Tata Consultancy Services (385),
consequences of confronting harassers. NTPC (400),
Only 36% of those surveyed say they Bharti Airtel (453),
would help a co-passenger being Axis Bank (484),
harassed; 22% others feel its safer to Infosys (590),
ignore such regular incidents. Bharat Petroleum (650),
Wipro (755,
56 Indian firms Tata Steel (1178)
13 in Forbess Adani Enterprises (1993)
worlds 2,000 Coal India (465),
list Larsen and Toubro (505),
ITC (781),
Mukesh Ambani- Kotak Mahindra Bank (899),
led Reliance Mahindra and Mahindra (901) and
Industries leads HCL Technologies (943).
the pack of 56
Worlds 2,000 list Indian
Forbess
firms
annual
in
14 United States
International
Agency for
Development
list of the worlds 2,000 largest and most (USAID) launched Indias first
powerful public companies, integrated web portal designed
to promote and mainstream Net Zero Energy
US is leading the list with 586 companies. Buildings (NZEB) in India.
The 2016 Forbes Global 2000, a snapshot
of the worlds largest companies, shows The United States Agency for
the dominance of US and China in the International Development (USAID) and the
current global business landscape. Ministry of Power today launched Indias first
Reliance improved its ranking this year integrated web portal designed to promote and

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mainstream Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) LatinAmerica, the Middle East, and
in India. Eastern Europe.

The portal (www.nzeb.in (link is external))

was launched by Mr. Pradeep Kumar
15 India,
first
US held
Maritime
Pujari, Secretary, Ministry of Power, and Security
Ambassador Jonathan Addleton, USAID Dialogue
Mission Director to India.
A first of its kind, the portal provides India and the
complete information about Net Zero United States
Energy Buildings those that generate (US) on 16 May
as much energy as they use as well as 2016 held the
how to achieve near-zero energy status Maritime Security first round of
through the use of efficient lighting and discussions
equipment, integration of renewable under the recently-constituted Maritime
energy technologies, and best practice Security Dialogue. The dialogue was held
design strategies. between the officials of Defence and External
Affairs ministries and their US counterparts.
The United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) is The Indian side was represented by Shambhu
the United States Government agency Kumaran, Joint Secretary in-charge of Planning
which is primarily responsible for and International Cooperation (PIC) and Munu
administering civilian foreign aid. Mahawar, Ministry of External Affairs Joint
Secretary, Americas (AMS).
President John F. Kennedy created
USAID from its predecessor agencies While, David Shear, Assistant Secretary of
in 1961 by Executive Order. USAIDs Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs;
programs are authorized by the Manpreet Anand, Deputy Assistant Secretary
Congress in the Foreign Assistance of State for South and Central Asian Affairs and
Act, which the Congress supplements Vice Admiral Aucoin, Commander, US Seventh
through directions in annual funding Fleet, were the officials from the American side.
appropriation acts and other legislation.
Although it is technically an independent Both the sides discussed various
agency, USAID operates subject to the issues including Asia-Pacific maritime
foreign policy guidance of the President, challenges, naval cooperation, and
Secretary of State, and the National multilateral engagement.
Security Council. They also agreed for the white shipping
USAID operates in Africa, Asia, technical arrangement to improve data

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sharing on commercial shipping traffic. of a protein responsible for two life-critical

Navy-to-Navy discussion on submarine functions:, copying DNA and transcribing it
safety and anti-submarine warfare was into RNA
also undertaken.
The dialogue was one of the several Crucial step in someday making reverse-
new initiatives agreed between Indian versions of molecules that could be more
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar resistant to viral attacks.
and his US counterpart Ashton Carter Have to build their own reverse version
during the latters visit to India in April of the DNA polymerase that coordinates
2016. copying, which drastically slowed down
It was created as a part of the maritime the process.
security objectives under the India-US Scientists have been making mirror
Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific images of DNA for years, so the Tsinghua
and Indian Ocean Region. researchers were able to order many
The newly constituted Maritime Security parts of their experiment, but they did
Dialogue between India and US is a sign have to build their own reverse version
of the growing relations between our two of the DNA polymerase that coordinates
countries. copying, which drastically slowed down
The dialogue comes as India and the US the process.
are cautiously eyeing the rise of China. That will need to speed up to make
The US wants its regional allies to adopt the process financially rewarding, but
a more united stance against China over biochemical companies are already
the South China Sea, where tension looking at the lucrative potential for
has spiked since Chinas construction mirror-image molecules, which could
of artificial islands with facilities for more efficiently operate inside the body
military use. without being degraded by enzymes
that break down typically-oriented
Researchers molecules.
16 create mirror
image of DNA-
copying protein

Scientists
at Tsinghua
University in
Beijing have
DNA-copying created a mirror-
image version

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17 US House
Representatives
of the US-India Defence Technology and
Trade Initiative (DTTI).
gave nod to On the bilateral front, the legislative
bolster defense approval is an important milestone in the
ties with India US-India relations as it addresses one of
on par with the tricky issues of defence technology
NATO transfer and sale.
The legislation will give enough leverage
On 20 May 2016 to the executive branch of the US
The US House The US House of Government in dealing with India. For
Representatives India, it encourages the government to
gave its nod to a bipartisan legislation to authorize enhanced military planning
improve defence ties with India. with the USA.
The future missions of mutual interest
In this regard, an amendment to the National will be such as humanitarian assistance
Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) was and disaster relief, counter piracy, and
approved by the House. The amendment is maritime domain awareness.
dubbed as Enhancing Defence and Security
The Union
Co-operation with India.
18 Ministry of
The legislation, once approved by the Railways has
Senate and the President, will bring the decided to
countrys bilateral relations with India undertake a
on par with its NATO allies and Israel. week long RAIL
It seeks to promote greater defence HAMSAFAR
trade and encourage additional military SAPTAAH
cooperation between the United States
and India. Ministry of Railways Ministry of
The legislation is primarily aimed at Railways has
easing restrictions on sale of defence decided to undertake a week long RAIL
equipment and technology transfer to HAMSAFAR SAPTAAH from 26th May to 1st
India. June, 2016.
It encourages the executive branch to
designate an official to focus on US- Each day of the week will focus on a
India defence cooperation. particular theme and hence the days
It will facilitate the transfer of defence have been named as
technology and maintain a special office 26th May-Swachchta Diwas,
in the Pentagon dedicated exclusively to 27th May-Satkar Diwas,

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28th May-Sewa Diwas, announced setting up of sixteen national

29th May-Satarkata Diwas, investment and manufacturing zones
30th May-Saamanjasya Diwas, (NIMZs) under National Manufacturing
31st May-Sanyojan Diwas and Policy (NMP).
1st June-Sanchaar Diwas. Till 2013-14, 16 NIMZs have been set
Shri Mohd. Jamshed shall be the Nodal up.
Member. Ahmedabad-Dholera Investment Region,
CRB and Board Members may also Gujarat
be visiting and participating in these Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Part city near
activities as per their programmes. Aurangabad, Maharashtra
Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Manesar-Bawal Investment Region,
Prabhakar Prabhu has directed that all Haryana
the General Managers should personally Khushkhera-Bhiwadi-Neemrana
supervise various activities. Investment Region, Rajasthan
This practice is being done after a long Pithampur-Dhar-Mhow Investment
time of regular complaint regarding Regioin, Madhya Pradesh
features and qualities of railway services. Dadri-Noida-Ghaziabad investment
Region, Uttar Pradesh
The Union Government has Dighi Port Industrial Area, Maharashtra
19 given its final approval to setting Jodhpur-Pali-Marwar Region in
up of National Investment & Rajasthan
Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in Nagpur in Maharashtra
Kalinganagar,Odisha. Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh
Medak in Andhra Pradesh (now
The Union Government on 26 May 2016 Telengana)
approved establishment of a National Prakasam in Andhra Pradesh
Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in Tumkur in Karnataka
Odisha. Kolar in Karnataka
Bidar in Karnataka
For execution of the project, the Union Gulbarga in Karnataka
Ministry of Commerce and Industry has
approved the 4241 crore rupees.
Of this fund, estimated 3816 crore
rupees will be invested for the first phase
of the project which will be completed by
2020.
In order to boost manufacturing
sector, the Union Government in 2014

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Facebook wins Facebook has been trying to break the

20 trademark case ice with China for years. He met Chinese
in China President Xi Jinping during his visit to
the US last year.
The Beijing High Zuckerberg also met Alibaba Group
Court has ruled Holdingss executive chairman Jack Ma
in favour of the and discussed about innovation during
facebook the visit.
Last week, Apple lost an appeal in China
Facebook for its iPhone trademark.
A lower court ruled that a Chinese
It said that a Chinese company should company Xintong Tiandi can use the
not have been allowed to register the iPhone mark on its leather goods.
face book trademark back in 2014.
The Zhongshan Pearl River Drinks
Factory in southern Guangdong
province had registered the brand name
face book,
It produces food products like potato
chips and canned vegetables.
Twitter, Facebook etc are currently
blocked to nearly 700 million internet
users in China.
But many people are using virtual
private networks (VPNs) to access the
site.

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Environment
guidelines.
2
1 Irans
most polluted:
Zabol
April 16 was
WHO hottest April
ever on Record
On 12 May :NASA
2016 The
World Health Last month
Organisation was the hottest
(WHO) in a Hottest April April on record
WHO survey globally and the
announced that seventh month in a row to have broken global
New Delhi is no longer the worst polluted city temperature records.
in the world in terms of air quality.
The latest figures smashed the previous
However, India is home to four of the five cities record for April by the largest margin
in the world with the worst air pollution. ever recorded.
It makes three months in a row that the
The dirtiest air was recorded at Zabol in monthly record has been broken by the
Iran, which suffers from months of dust largest margin ever, and seven months
storms in the summer. Zabol clocked in a row that are at least 1C above the
PM2.5 measure of 217. 1951-80 mean for that month.
The next four cities in the list were Figures released by Nasa over the
Gwalior, Allahabad, Patna and Raipur. weekend show the global temperature
New Delhi was the surveys 11th of land and sea was 1.11degree celcius
worst city, measured by the amount of warmer in April than the average
particulate matter under 2.5 micrograms temperature for April during the period
found in every cubic metre of air. 1951-1980.
Delhi had an annual average PM2.5 The new record broke the previous one
measurement of 122. by 0.24C, which was set in 2010, at
Populations in low-income cities are the 0.87C above the baseline average for
most impacted. April. That record itself broke one set
98% of cities in low- and middle income three years earlier at 0.75C above the
countries with more than 100000 baseline average for April.
inhabitants do not meet WHO air quality The current blast of hot air around the

ISSUE 5, MAY 2016

148

globe is being spurred by a massive El April and May tend to be the hottest
Nio, which is a release of warm water months in northwest India, and this
across the Pacific Ocean. But its not year has been exceptionally so.
the biggest El Nio on record and that Christopher C. Burt, a weather historian
spike in temperatures is occurring over at Weather Underground, posited that
a background of rapid global warming, Aprils heat wave was the most intense
pushing temperatures to all-time highs. ever observed in Southeast Asia.
The record temperatures were wreaking In India it lasted for weeks - but the heat
havoc with ecosystems around the world. never truly dissipated, dragging on into
Theyve triggered the third recorded May. Hundreds of people have died from
global coral bleaching, and in Australia heat-related illness.
93% of the reefs have been affected by Northern India and Nepal have been
bleaching along the 2,300km Great battling their worst wildfires in years.
Barrier Reef. In the northern parts of the Officials have on occasion banned
reef, its expected the majority of coral is daytime cooking in an attempt to prevent
dead, and on some reefs over 90% of the accidental fires that killed nearly 100
coral is dying. people in late April.
The India Meteorological Department
India records issued a severe heat wave warning for a
3 its Highest huge swath of the country on Thursday,
temperature at which will continue through Saturday.
51 C The department expects temperatures
will remain above average through at
A small city in least May 27.
northwest India A similar period of extreme heat killed
scored 51 degrees over 2,500 people in 2015.
Celsius on
Highest temperature 19th may 2016
afternoon, and
broke the countrys record for all-time hottest
temperature.

The previous record, 50.6 degrees

Celsius, was set in 1886.
The record was broken in Phalodi, which
is just 125 miles away from the city that,
up until this afternoon, claimed fame as
the hottest location in India - Pachpadra.

TM

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