Current Affairs April Pocket PDF 2016prepadda.com/wp-content/uploads/Current Affairs/2016... · · 2017-01-02Current Affairs April Pocket PDF 2016 INDIAN AFFAIRS ... the RK Nagar

1 | P a g e

Current Affairs Pocket PDF

Current Affairs April Pocket PDF 2016

INDIAN AFFAIRS

• “Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan” aka “Inclusiveness and Accessibility Index” has been instigated by the Government in partnership with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to promote the empowerment of persons with disabilities.

• Haryana Assembly passed Haryana Municipal (Amendment) Bill, and Haryana Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2016 to provide civic amenities in unauthorized residential colonies in the Budget Session

• Minimum Qualification for men – class VII and Women - V • India’s first semi-high speed train ‘Gatimaan Express’ flagged off from Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin

station by Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu • The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) touched the historic point in a range of five and

a half years by producing the 100th crore Aadhaar. • Panama Papers: Prime Minister Narendra Modi mulling to set up a group which would be composed

of agencies like CBDT, RBI and FIU. • Illegal assets worth around Rs 6,500 crore - 500 Indians • Telangana has unveiled a new ICT policy along with four other policies to support innovation, gaming

and animation, rural tech centres and growth of electronics • Union Minister of State for Ministry of Textiles, Shri Santosh Gangwar initiated three mega textile

projects in Nagaland 1. Eri Silk Development Project 2. Apparel and Garment Making Centre in Dimapur 3. Muga P3 Basic Seed Station Kobulong in Mokokchung district

• Odisha Adarsh Vidyalaya (OAV) project has been initiated covering 14 districts to provide modern schools in the underdeveloped rural areas and to fill up vacant teacher posts

• Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy launched Transnational Skill Standards in India.

• Government appointed The Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar to endorse the I Support Skill India campaign to build awareness on the importance of skill development.

• Target : To skill 2 crore youth by 2022 • Union Cabinet given its approval to replace the existing policy on crude oil import by Oil PSUs.

Companies are authorised to go forward to their own policies and get them approved by the respective boards.

• Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan dedicated 36 new CNG stations located in Delhi and NCR to the public.

• Cabinet given its approval for promulgation of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Anatomy Regulation, 2016 to lay down procedures for providing supply or availability of unclaimed of dead bodies to the Medical College

• Mission Indradhanush 3rd phase begins on 7th April • Bihar, Gujarat, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh - 216 Districts • Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated Namma Toilet in New Delhi • Government to issue universal identity cards to the physically challenged people to access various

benefits being extended by the Government. • Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal laid the foundation stone for underground cabling work under

Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) in Varanasi- Rs. 432 crores • Kashi-IPDS Mobile App for project monitoring of IPDS Work

2 | P a g e


• UP Government will provide electricity to all villages in Uttar Pradesh and aims to provide electricity 24/7 to every household in India by 2019.

• Jharkhand government reserve two per cent employment in various departments for meritorious sports persons of the state announced by CM Raghubar Das.

• Salam hailed Devi is the first transgender person in Tamil Nadu to contest the assembly elections in the RK Nagar constituency in Chennai

• Union Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu inaugurates fitment of CCTV in Shan-E-Punjab Express (Amritsar-New Delhi). It Becomes the First Train Fitted with CCTV Surveillance Cameras in India.

• Maharashtra passed the dance bar regulation bill with regulations against the violators. • Time : 6 pm and 11.30 pm and Punishment: 5 years in jail and fines of up to Rs 25,000 • Maharashtra Assembly lead by Devendra Fadnavis passed the Prohibition of Social Boycott Bill

2016 to becoming the first State to enact such a law. • Gov has reconstituted Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) board and Ram Bahadur Rai,

Senior Journalist has been appointed as Chairman of the Board. • Delhi Government has banned the production, storage, distribution and sale of pan masala, gutkha and

all forms of chewable tobacco for one year. • Google’s free WiFi service now extended to 10 railway stations such as Pune, Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal,

Ranchi, Raipur, Vijayawada, Kacheguda (Hyderabad), Ernakulum Junction (Kochi) and Vishakhapatnam.

• Government has renamed the Panagarh Airbase Base as Air Force Station Arjan Singh in honour of the Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh on the 97th birthday of Arjan Singh, Marshal of the Indian Air Force.

• Netaji’s Driver Colonel Nizamuddin becomes oldest human alive at 116 years • Union Gov to compensate of Rs 8.5 lakh for SC/ST victim of gang rape, murder or an acid attack

including 47 offences to get the compensation from a state government • The Kohinoor Diamond was gifted to the Britain by Maharaja Ranjith Singh said by the Government

to the Supreme Court • Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma released a Commemorative Coin of Rs. 200/– and a

Circulation Coin of Rs. 10/- on Tatya Tope on the occasion of his Martyr Day. • Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (CGRBMS) launched in New

Delhi by Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation with Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK)

• Maharashtra has facing water crisis in many parts of the State. The State Gov has stepped up to contain the loss and decided to ban digging of bore wells beyond 200 feet.

• Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma unveiled the restored 18 feet tall Finial at Humayun’s Tomb, New Delhi

• Union cabinet gave nod to amend the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill-2015 to enable the distribution of around 42,000 crore among all states to encourage them to plant forests.

• Union Cabinet approved Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) to function from a temporary campus in Tirupati - Initial cost of Rs. 137.30 Crore

• Indian Navy decided to grant permanent commission to seven women officers belonging to the Short Service Commission (SSC) batch of 2008-09.

• The Department of Disinvestment renamed as Department of Investment and Public Asset Management or ‘DIPAM’ announced by Arun Jaitley

• Union government has notified the new rules on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act, 1989 was amended by Parliament in Dec 2015.The police to file charge sheet within 60 days after a complaint is lodged

• Cancer Care campaign launched in Northeast by the Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh in Shillong • Panchayati Raj Divas is celebrated on April 24th at Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and PM addresses

Panchayati Raj Sammelan • Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda inaugurated the first of its kind Current

Good Manufacturing Practise (CGMP) compliant facility for manufacture of DPT and TT vaccine at

3 | P a g e


the Central Research Institute (CRI), Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh. • Government hikes minimum wage for contract workers to Rs 10,000 per month based on a Supreme

Court Verdict announced by Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatrey • Union government gave approval for Gurdwaras Amendment Bill 2016 to provide the rights to

Sahjhardi Sikhs to vote (above 21 years) in the elections to Member of the Board and the committees. • The Lok Sabha passed the Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016 to establish a Regional

Centre for Biotechnology, an study centre of Education, Training and Research • Department of Telecommunications(DoT) issued the notification regarding “Panic Button and Global

Positioning System in Mobile Phone Handsets Rules 2016” • With effect from 01.01.2017 – All feature phones will have configuration of Panic buttons using 5 or 9

Buttons • ‘Operation Sulaimani’ is an initiative of Kozhikode district administration to eradicate poverty and to

avoid food wastage in the district. • Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar announced that free laptops to 500 meritorious students who secure

a minimum of 95 per cent marks in Class X Board examination this year. • Uttarakhand Gov to be first stable to buy short term power procurement through e-auction with nine

biddings - 100-200 Megawatt • Ministry of Railways has pledged to set up a 1 lakh crore rupees safety fund called Rashtriya Rail

Sanraksha Kosh to strengthen safety measures on the rail network to prevent accidents. • Haryana Gov has notified Water Audit Scheme for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to

fillip water harvesting and conservation in industrial units. • Bihar becomes the fourth state in India to impose a total prohibition of alcohol. • President Pranab Mukherjee has implemented the Uttarakhand Appropriation (Vote on Account)

Ordinance, 2016 which sanctions expenditure that has come under direct federal rule. • Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the Green Delhi programme by planting trees at the

Triangular Park at New Delhi. • Gujarat Assembly cleared amendments in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement-Gujarat

Amendment Bill- 2016.It empowers the authorities to exempt projects vital to defence of national security, infrastructure and electrification project or affordable housing or industrial corridors set up by the State and infrastructure projects under PPP model.

• Union cabinet decided to allow States to impose and enforce stock limits on sugar to verify its market price rise.

• Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurated 100 piped water supply projects for rural areas and pledged to make piped water provision in all gram Panchayats by 2017.

• North - Eastern states Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh to implement the National Food Security Act(NFSA)

• Maharashtra Gov has pledged to increase the punishment for chain snatching up to 5 years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 25,000.

• Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the Department of Biotechnology funded Biotech Infrastructure Facility (BIF) at ICAR-National Research Centre on Mithun (ICAR-NRCM), Jharnapani in Nagaland.

• Minister for Science and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan launched government funded Twinning Network Program on Chemical Ecology of North East Region in Kohima

• Union Government and National Socialist Council of Nagaland, under the leadership of N. Kitovi Zhimomi and M.B Neokpao Konyak have mutually agreed to extend the Cease Fire Agreement by another year

• Vasundhara Raje - led Rajasthan government has passed the Rajasthan Urban Land (Certification of Titles) Bills 2016

• Constitution (Schedule Caste) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016 passed in Parliament. The Bill amends the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. The Indian Constitution authorizes the President to state the Scheduled Castes in various states and union territories.

• Parliament passes Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015. The bill amends the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951.

4 | P a g e


• Union government is mulling to make it mandatory to allot 1 per cent of total cost of any highway project for road safety. India witnesses as high as 5 lakh road accidents per annum.

• J & K CM Mehbooba Mufti sanctioned a grant of 5% interest subvention with the effect from 1st April, 2016 with a limit of Rs 5 Lac per unit for a period of four years.

• Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Ministry will earmark Rs 33,000 crores for development of the north-eastern states during the present fiscal.

• Union Government nods Rs. 9,005 crore investment in reasonable housing of 73,205 houses in 3 States for Economically Weaker sections under Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana

3 States: Maharashtra, Punjab and J&K • Union Urban Development Minister Venkaih Naidu, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah flag off

South India’s First Underground Metro in Karnataka East-West corridor of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL)

• Anandiben Patel led Gujarat government declared 10% reservation for the economically backward among upper castes the move likely to benefit all upper caste families with annual income less than Rs six lakh.

• NITI Aayog, Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) and Temasek Foundation jointly to launch Urban Management Programme for Capacity Building of officials of State Governments and ULBs in implementing the Urban Rejuvenation Mission.

7 States namely Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh & Assam) would be taking part in this Programme.

• Railway Ministry to set up two new Directorates & Dial 139 for Cancelling Train Ticket

PLACES IN NEWS

• 125-foot tall Ambedkar statue to come up in Hyderabad • PM Modi inaugurated a 230 bedded Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Super specialty Hospital

in Katra in Jammu and Kashmir. • Trimbakeshwar temple located in Nashik, Maharashtra bars entry for all men and women • Shani Shingnapur temple allows to go into the inner Sanctum after the Bombay High Court had ruled

that women cannot be barred from entering the temple • The Trimbakeshwar Devasthan Trust in Maharashtra to allow women into the sanctum sanctorum of

Shiva temple. • Prime Minister visited the Puttingal Devi temple at Kollam, following fire mishap occurred on the last

day of the seven-day ‘Meena Bharani’ festivities. • Bhubaneswar - top of the first batch of 20 smart cities selected by the Ministry of Urban Development

also became the first to get its Special Purpose Vehicle. • AAP government has decided to build a permanent memorial to APJ Abdul Kalam at DilliHaat in INA • The first ever air-conditioned local train flagged off from Mumbai into it local areas • Union Agriculture and farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh laid the Foundation stone

of first Horticultural Sciences at Karnal, Haryana. • ‘Gudi Padwa’ the Hindu New Year celebrated in Maharashtra • Central Government gave its stamp of approval to the nation’s first Metrino Pod project –A Personal

Rapid Transit (PRT) network in Gurgaon, Haryana - Rs 850 crore • Cheiraoba also called Sajibu Cheiraoba is an annual and religious festival celebrated in Manipur • Simhastha Kumbh Mela, largest congregation of Hindus began in Ujjain. It was celebrating every 12

years • Kerala celebrating the Harvest Festival, Vishu across the state • Uttar Pradesh has directed all the district magistrates for plantation of 5 crore trees at 6,500 sites in 24

hours under the ‘Green UP – Clean UP initiative. • Wooden Charkha - spinning wheel which is largest in the world is planned to be installed at Terminal

3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Ahmedabad

5 | P a g e


• The three day Curtain Raiser International Yoga Fest inaugurated by Shri Shripad Yesso Naik in New Delhi

• Dual capital of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh to host International Yoga day on June 21st of 2016 • Mumbai - Ahmedabad bullet train to travel under the sea near Thane creek - 21 km long tunnel • PM lays foundation stone for India’s biggest power plant in Jharkhand and addresses Panchayati Raj

Sammelan on 24th April. • Almost thousand years old Kerala’s Thazhathangady Juma mosque opens doors to women for the first

time • Indian Navy set up a new naval detachment at Androth islands of Lakshadweep • Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Uma Bharti inaugurated

Water Film Festival at Water Expo-2016 in New Delhi. • India’s poorest district Nabarangpur in Odisha will get its first Government model degree college. It

was funded by the Centre and the state government in the ratio 65:35. • Andhra Pradesh government to set up Rs 1K Crore for Agri-Plastic Park in Vijayawada • Haryana Gov decided to rename Gurgaon district as Gurugram and also decided to change the name

of Mewat district to Nuh. • Capital of Nagaland Kohima city was declared a smoke-free area by Deputy Commissioner Rovilatuo

Mor • Rahuri Municipal Council of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra became the first municipality

to attain the status of integrated with digital locker for the issuance of all essential Documents.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS • Britain’s Royal Mail has issued a set of special postage stamps to mark the 400th death anniversary of

William Shakespeare. • The 125th birth anniversary Dr. Ambedkar was commemorated on 13th April 2016 at the UN

headquarters in New York • Theme: ‘Combating inequalities for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals’ • Bronze bust of Aryabhatta unveiled at UNESCO Headquarters by the HRD Minister Smriti Irani in an

international conference on the zero in Paris, France. • A copy of William Shakespeare’s original First Folio discovered on Scottish island • The statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh will be installed in Saint-Tropez town, France • Saudi Arabia’s has announced a pact with Egypt to build bridge over Red Sea- $1.7bn • China and Sri Lanka decided to redefine the Colombo Port City project by making it an international

financial outpost in the Indian Ocean, as part of the 20-year framework - US$1.5 billion. • Dubai plans to build a tower that will stand higher than its Burj Khalifa, currently the world’s tallest

skyscraper • South Pacific island nation Nauru has become the 189th member of the International Monetary Fund

(IMF) and the World Bank. • South Korea’s main opposition party won in general election, ending the 16-year parliamentary

majority • New York City declared this year’s April 14 as ‘Bindeshwar Pathak Day’ in recognition” of the

contributions made by the Indian social activist Bindeshwar • WADA revoked the accreditation of the Moscow Antidoping Center of Russia due to non-compliance

with the International Standard for Laboratories • European Union lawmakers approved a scheme, to share Airline passenger information to track

foreign fighters travelling to and from conflict areas like Syria. • World level leading researchers and Economists in Nutrition fields have initiated

thorough researches on Nutrition and reiterate the Governments and Businesspersons to invest in Nutrition to accelerate progress for Nutrition.

• Union Government has accorded its approval for expansion of the India – Chile Preferential Trade Agreement

6 | P a g e


• Europe become the world’s first region to eliminate malaria recorded with zero cases • India, China agrees for peaceful negotiations to settle border issue. This negotiation was decided

during the annual 19th round of boundary talks between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi

• Anti Slavery Crusader Harriet Tubman to be first African-American on Official Currency of the United States and its insular territories – US Dollar

• India officially signed the World trade organization’s trade facilitation agreement to make easier at customs procedures to boost commerce. The Instrument of Acceptance handed over by the India’s WTO ambassador Anjali Prasad to WTO director General Roberto Azevedo.

• Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goal Jointly launches programmes under International Solar Allicance along with Ms. Segolene Royal, French Minister of Environment & President of COP21 in New York

• Two thousand year old Syrian architectural landmark Palmyra Arch unveiled by Mayor Boris Johnson. • Cuban Gov adjusted its migration policy and lifted a restriction that prevented Cubans from entering

or leaving the country by cruise ship or commercial vessel • India lays foundation stone for 4000 houses under the third and final phase of Housing Project in

Central and Uva Provinces of Sri Lanka. • Saudi Arabia kingdom has approved the Vision 2030, along term economic reform plan. • Bangladesh Gov passed a draft of the Bangladesh Supreme Court Judge (Investigation Act) 2016 to

empower the Parliament to impeach the Supreme Court judges • Indian Air Force top pilots and jets participating in the Exercise Red Flag in USA • UNICEF and Indian Medical Association’s Kerala wing joined hands to promote safe and healthy

practices across the state for improving maternal and child health.

FOREIGN VISIT BY GOV OFFICIALS

• PM Modi visit to Belgium, USA and Saudi Arabia • Modi participated in

1.13th Summit between the European Union and India took place in Brussels on 30 March 2016.Summit has endorsed the “EU-India Agenda for Action 2020” as a common road map for the strategic partnership in the next five years. 2. 2016 Nuclear Security Summit was held in Washington, D.C

• NaMo announced – security plans in the US as a part of the Summit • India and the US on inked MoU for setting up a new Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave

Observatory (LIGO) in India that will act as catalyst in the research of various aspects of gravitational wave astronomy.

3.5 MoUs were signed between India and Saudi Arabia and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was bestowed with Saudi Arabia’s highest civilian order award dubbed King Abdulaziz Sash

• Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on a 10-day itinerary to the US to attend the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, a UN session on the drugs problem, and an interaction with American investors. FM Arun Jaitley addresses World Bank in Washington Arun Jaitley participated in the Sixth Annual Ministerial Meeting of India and US Economic &

Financial Partnership The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, chaired the BRICS FMs and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG)

meeting India has joined the G20 leadership in fighting money laundering, tax evasion and terror financing. • External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on 4-day visit to Iran, Moscow India has been eying deeper energy ties with that country and has already lined up 20 billion US

dollar as investment in oil and gas also in petrochemical and fertilizer projects in Iran. She attend the annual Foreign Ministers’ meeting of Russia, India and China in Russia

7 | P a g e


Three nations Finalised the Trilateral Chabahar Agreement • Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia “Lundeg Puresvsuren” Visit to India India extended a line of credit (LoC) of USD 1 billion to Mongolia and agreed to exchange of

sentenced prisoner Mongolia confers highest honour to two Indians - Lokesh Chandra and Mansura Haider • President Pranab Mukherjee boards 5 day visit on two nation-tour to Papua New Guinea and New

Zealand • MoU between India and Papua New Guinea

Cabinet approves MoU between India and Papua New Guinea on cooperation in the field of health area and medical science

India awarded $100 million line of credit for development of infrastructure and acceded to jointly develop new avenues of cooperation to explore and develop the Pacific nation’s vast oil and gas resources.

India inks agreements and MoUs with New Zealand in the field of Air Connectivity and Education and Bilateral relation

SUMMITS & CONFERENCES

• National Family Planning Summit 2016 inaugurated by Union Health Minister P. Nadda in New

Delhi. Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan is the brand ambassador and anchor for the new communication approach.

• North East-ASEAN Business Summit 2016 commenced in Imphal, Manipur • The Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the three-day 3rd Edition of Asia Ministerial

Conference on Tiger Conservation in New Delhi. Government has allotted 380.00 crore to the Project Tiger

• Maritime India Summit 2016 Inaugurated by Narendra Modi in Mumbai India, South Korea signed MoU for cooperation and mutual assistance in development of Ports

signed by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road, Transport and Highways and Shipping, Government of the Republic of India

PM Modi pitches for Rs. 1 Lakh Crore investment for Port Development A total of 141 MoUs and Business Agreements were signed by various players in maritime sector Sagarmala National Perspective Plan Released • Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi inaugurates Regional Conference of North Eastern States on Child

Adoption in Shillong, Meghalaya • Prime Minister inaugurates Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices in New Delhi • The Army Commander’s six-day Conference inaugurated by Union Defence Minister Manohar

Parrikar in New Delhi • Heart of Asia Conference for the year 2016 held in New Delhi Participating countries - Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz

Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and UAE • International Defence Expo opens in Malaysia. Around 1000 defence companies from 29 countries

taking part in the exhibition • India hosts Asia-Pacific Remote Sensing Symposium from April 4 to 7 to discuss on the applications

of remote sensing technologies for disaster mitigation and to better monitor global climate change

http://www.affairscloud.com/smt-maneka-sanjay-gandhi-inaugurates-regional-conference-north-eastern-states-child-adoption/

http://www.affairscloud.com/smt-maneka-sanjay-gandhi-inaugurates-regional-conference-north-eastern-states-child-adoption/

8 | P a g e


RANKINGS & REPORTS

• “India Rankings 2016″ released by National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). University

Rank Name City State 1 Indian Institute of Science Bangalore Karnataka 2 Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai Maharashtra 3 Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi Delhi

Engineering 1 IIT – M Chennai Tamil Nadu 2 IIT – B Mumbai Maharashtra 3 IIT – K Kharagpur West Bengal

Management 1 IIM – B Bangaluru Karnataka 2 IIM – A Ahmedabad Gujarat 3 IIM – C Kolkata West Bengal

Pharmaceutical 1 Manipal College of Pharmacy Manipal Karnataka 2 University institute of

pharmaceutical sciences Chandigarh Chandigarh

3 Jamia Hamdard New Delhi Delhi

• India has become the world’s fourth largest spender on defence by US research firm IHS Inc report. Top 3 are USA, China and UK

• A report titled Global report on urban health: equitable, healthier cities for sustainable development, 2016 released by World Health Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) showing the health in equities between the richest and poorest urban populations.

• India ranked at 6th Position in the 2015 report on Trends in world military expenditure released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI),

• World Health Day 2016 was celebrated on April 7 with theme “Halt the rise: Beat Diabetes”. WHO has released its first Global Report on Diabetes.

• India’s Maharajas’ Express has been ranked among the top rated trains in the world and Plaza New York was rated among the best hotels for the super - rich. Singapore Airlines topped in the favourite list.

• India ranks 44 in 2016 Global Connectivity Index by Huawei. • Delhi ranked 44th among world’s 50 ‘future-ready cities’ by Dell Top cities: San Jose, San Francisco, Singapore and London

• Forbes Releases First Ever ‘Global Game Changers’ List Top 3: Marc Benioff (USA), Jeff Bezos (USA) and Rahul Bhatia (IND) Indians in the list: Rahul Bhatia(3), Cyrus Poonawalla(23) and Sunny Varkey (26)

• India ranked at 133 among 180 countries in the recent annual meeting of World Press freedom Index. Top 3 nations are Finland, Netherlands and Norway

• TIME’s 100 influential People List released by News Magazine TIME Six Indians in the list are RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, Hindi Actress Priyanka Chopra,

Tennis Player Sania Mirza, Environmentalist Sunita Narain , Flipkart Founders Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, CEO of Google Sundar Pichai

• Mumbai based India’s largest IT Company TCS has been recognized as one of the UK’s leading employers for women in a list published by The Times.

• Most influential brand in India: Top 5 brands are Google, Facebook, Gmail, Microsoft and Samsung and Flipkart ranked 7th. • World Health Organisation reported that 21 nations including Six African region and four of

9 | P a g e


India’s Neighbouring countries: Bhutan, China, Nepal and Malaysia could be free from Malaria by the year 2020

• India ranked 3rd in worldwide dope violation in new WADA report. Top 4 countries are Russia, Italy, India followed by Belgium.

• Fairness for Children report released by UNICEF. Top 4 countries are 1.Denmark 2. Finalnd 3.Norway 4.Switzerland

BANKING & FINANCE

• Micro-pension scheme Swavalamban, Subscribers can switch to the Atal Pension Yojana (APY).APY is applicable only to workers in the age group of 18-40 years

• National Stock Exchange (NSE) introduced a new index to its broad market indices “Nifty Mid Smallcap 400”.It comprise of 400 companies

• German Government’s Development Bank KFW provide a loan assistance of EUR 500 million (about Rs.3,750 crore) for the modern and sustainable metro system for Nagpur. It is the first metro rail project.

• DCB Bank has started an Aadhaar - based ATM Which is the first ATM in the country which operates using the Aadhaar data

• SBI launched State Bank of India NO Queue app. It is a mobile-based virtual queuing application for customers to book an instant queue ticket for select services at select branches within a configured radius of 15 kms

• India’s first cash giving app ‘CASHe’ launched in Mumbai by TSLC Pte Ltd • RBI has announced the first Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2016-17. It cuts the Repo rate

by 25 basis points to 6.5% and kept the Cash Reserve Rate (CRR) unchanged. • Union Government has tripled the funding for exports to Iran to Rs 3,000 crore through the Export

Development Fund (EDF) of the EXIM Bank. • Cabinet approves recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission on Fiscal Deficit target

of 3% of gross state domestic product (GSDP) for states for the 2015-20 period. • Global Growth will come to 8 percent this year, lower than a previous forecast of 3.9 percent

according to World Trade Organization (WTO) • World Bank presented its ambitious climate action plan that will help nations to create an

additional 30 Gigawatts of renewable energy, early warning frameworks and in creating climate smart agriculture investment plans for at least 40 nations.

• India sat again on the top of the Credit Suisse Emerging Consumer Scorecard 2016 by Credit Suisse’s Other Countries position are China(2), Saudi Arabia(2),Indonesia (4th), Turkey (5th), Mexico (6th), Brazil (7th), South Africa (7th) and Russia (8th).

• Kochi based Federal Bank signed pact with Phillip Capital, for managing the NRI Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS).

• India has offered to invest up to $20 billion in Iran announced by Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradha during his two day visit to Iran. This was the first visit by an Indian minister to Iran.

• Bharti Airtel’s payments bank venture Airtel M Commerce Services Ltd has become the first entity to receive final approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start a payments bank.

• The Corporate Affair Ministry has exempted housing finance companies from filing financial statements in XBRL format. Banking, insurance, power sector and non-banking finance companies are already exempted.

• Kochi based Federal Bank with Chillar Payment Solutions Ltd Launched Campus Wallet in Kerala to promote the start-up’s technology.

• India, growth is projected to notch up to 7.5 per cent in 2016-17, as forecast in October according to Economic Outlook IMF

• India named as the world’s largest remittance recipient in 2015 despite experiencing a $ 1 billion drop from the previous year according to the World Bank

10 | P a g e


• RBI (Raghuram Rajan) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI- adviser Nandan Nilekani) launched the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to encourage electronic payment systems for ushering in a cashless society in India.

• World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) President Jin Liqun signed the first co-financing framework agreement.

• New Development Bank (NDB) sanctions $ 250 million funding to Canara Bank for a renewable energy project in India

• RBI has reduced the minimum tenure of Masala bonds to three years from the previously stated five years. ”Masala Bond” is used to refer to rupee-denominated borrowings by Indian entities in overseas markets.

• Government to allow Pakistani Hindus to buy property, open bank accounts and also offer reduction in fees for registration as citizens of India from Rs.15,000 to as low as Rs.100.

• Oriental Bank of Commerce will raise over 178 crore by issuing share to Life Insurance Corporation on a preferential basic and allot 2, 15, 48,758 equity shares of the bank

• Uttar Pradesh(15%) has claimed the most favoured investment destination of PPP Projects followed by Maharashtra and Gujarat, followed by Maharashtra and Gujarat, According to the ASSOCHAM-SREI

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) clears $300-million loan for upgradation of UP roads connectivity of about 400 Kms in major district of Uttar Pradesh

• Banks were advised to share all the transactions details in standard format so that Revenue Intelligence and Central Security agencies to probe the money laundering and financial fraud Cases.

• Govt relaxes norms for partial PF withdrawal. Now EPF members have three more months to withdraw the entire balance in their EPF accounts, until an employee attains the age of 58.

• RBL becomes first private sector bank to open dedicated branch for Startups in Bengaluru. It will offer banking services like foreign exchange, remittances and cash management.

• IFMR capital has enabled the first capital market transaction for MUDRA which emphases on providing low cost loans to microfinance and non-banking financial institutions. This will be a short term transaction with tenure of 1.5 years

• Railways have finished the financial year 2015-16 with a record high capital expenditure of Rs 94,000 crore, an increase of Rs 37,000 crore over the previous fiscal.

• RBI issued the master direction for merger of private sector banks and also between NBFCs and banks. The decision of amalgamation should be approved by respective boards by two-thirds majority and all accounts should be KYC compliant.

• CAPITAL LOCAL AREA BANK introduced the nation’s first Small Finance bank “Capital Small Finance Bank Limited” in Punjab

• HDFC Standard Life Insurance has tied up with India bulls Housing Finance Ltd for a corporate agency agreement.

• India’s nuclear power agency Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has cleared insurance policy for all 21 reactors. India plans to build around 60 nuclear reactors with an aim to produce 63,000 megawatts (MW) of power by 2032

• National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned a loan of 1000 crore rupees to Haryana State Warehousing Corporation (HSWC) for the purchase of wheat during the ongoing Rabi marketing season.

• Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) - The Income Tax Department planned to add interest to delayed refunds made against excess TDS deductions and will also not litigate with the deductor on this issue in the future.

• Information services company Experian launched Hunter Fraud Score a new scoring mechanism that measures the probability of fraud in a credit application across the banking and insurance industries

• Mountaineer and Explorer Sir Edmund Hillary is featured on face of the $5 bill currency note named best Banknote of the year. It was Designed by Canada Banknote Company

• All the Banks mandated to report to the central government within two days any information on NGOs getting foreign funds.

11 | P a g e


• Union government given its approval for the MoU that links Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and the Insurance Authority of United Arab Emirates. The agreement pave the way for enhanced cooperation in the field of insurance supervision

• DBS Development Bank launched a mobile-only bank in India. It will provide customer service via a 24×7 artificial intelligence-driven assistant networks

• Canada based Mobilephone maker BlackBerry and Digitsecure a payments platform launched BBM Money in India

• Central Board of Direct Taxes has released a hard data on the total number of taxpayers in the country for first time

• World’s fastest Bombay stock exchange has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Korea Exchange (KRX) of South Korea for listing S&P BSE Sensex-based derivatives contracts on the latter.

• National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) joint venture with German government for a special programme on ‘Soil Protection and Rehabilitation for Food Security’

• Small Industries Development Bank of India and SAARC Development Fund (SDF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for mutual cooperation and collaboration.

BUSINESS

• India is expected to buy 145 M777 Howitzers for $750 million from UK based BAE Systems to prepare its Mountain Strike Corps

• A US grand jury slapped $ 940 million fine on India’s Tata group namely Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata America International Corp

• Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) initiated the hot trial of the new state of the art 1.2 MTPA (million tonne per annum) Universal Rail Mill (URM) from its flagship entity, the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP).

• Union finance ministry imposed the Safeguard duty of up to 20 percent on steel imports until March 2018 to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap Chinese imports.

• Adani won mining leases for controversy-hit USD 21.7 billion Carmichael coal project in Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in Australia.

• The Reliance Asset Management Company has been listed among the best employer brands by Aon Hewitt

• The world’s largest crude exporter with crude reserves of about 265 billion barrels Company Aramco is planning to make a major investment in India

• Xiaomi has made the first investment$25 million investment in digital media firm, Hungama, India • Navratna Company has commissioned a record Rs 30,300 crore projects in the last fiscal and also

achieved a planned capex of Rs 22,500 crore. It includes the establishment of two new international inter-connections one with Nepal and the other with Bangladesh

• Bhubaneswar based The East Coast Railway (ECoR) has become the largest freight loading railway zone of Indian Railways, the board with 49 million tonnes of freight.

• EMC Corporation has opened its second R&D centre in India at Pune. The company already has a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.

• Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has commissioned a season wise tiltable canal top solar PV plant at Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh.

• NTPC’s 2,100 MW Farakka Super Thermal Power Station in West Bengal had to stop generation, given a declining availability of cooling water from the Farakka feeder canal

• E-commerce giant Snapdeal has initiated Snapdeal Sunshine, a program that allows users to donate to the associated NGOs

• India and shareholders of the Turkmenistan - Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Pipeline Company Limited inked an accord to invest $200 million in studies and engineering for the $10 billion project

12 | P a g e


• Micromax teams up with Visa and Tran Serv to promote digital payments. Users will be able to use mobile-based push payments using mVisa and make eCommerce payments on merchant and social media applications

• Polaris has tied up with the popular e-commerce website Snapdeal to sell its ATV (All Terrain Vehicles).

• Golden Tobacco Ltd. has become the first company in India to implement the rule of Union Health Ministry.85% pictorial health warnings in tobacco products

• Union Government imposes anti-dumping duty on N-Butyl Alcohol from European Union, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and the US for five years

• Apollo Hospitals group has tied-up with search giant Google in providing health information as part of the Google’s launch of Health Card in India.

• Noble Travels has launched its online visa assistance portal, Visaforsure to offer information and facilitation services to customers who are applying for visas, be it for tourist or business.

• Panasonic along with US-based sustainable energy provider, AES would install a joint project of 10 MW energy storage array at Jhajjar, Haryana. This is the first large-scale battery-based energy storage project of India.

• Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) and Public company Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) are planning a joint venture to bring 2×600 MW Raghunathpur thermal power project.

• Competition Appellate Tribunal (Compat) set aside Rs 258-crore penalty on Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet

• US think-tank Atlantic Council has launched an India-US trade initiative to strengthen economic ties and meet the two countries’ bilateral trade target of $500 billion.

• IMF, WB, UN and OECD are set to join with other International organizations to jointly work on tax related issues and develop new policies and standards to stop tax base erosion and evasion

• India’s ranks first in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) overtaking the US and China. India attracts $63 billion value FDI projects No 1. Gujarat attracted $12.4 billion No. 2 Maharashtra brought $8.3 billion

• Mumbai based Mahindra & Mahindra has become the first Indian company to join a global energy campaign EP100’ headed by an international non-profit group the Climate Group

• US IT major Accenture plans to expand its global security presence by opening a cyber centre in Bengaluru. It will be the largest cyber security facility in Accenture’s global delivery network

• Union Gov has decided to provide subsidy of Rs 24.4 crore for 10,000 Million Tons of pulses such that 8000 Million Tons of Tur Dal and 2000 MT of Urad being allocated to the States

• Vistara announced a long term strategic partnership with TCS for a broad range of information technology services including application maintenance services and airport infrastructure support.

• Department Of Telecom Approves Spectrum Sharing (800Mhz Spectrum) deal between Anil Ambani-led RCom and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.

• Uber has entered into a partnership with Gujarat Tourism and FICCI in Ahmedabad to facilitate soft skill training for Uber driver-partners.

• RIL, world’s biggest refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat has bought crude oil from Iran after a 6-year break.

• India has banned import of milk and milk products, certain mobile phones and a few other items from China as their quality was unacceptable announced by Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

• Environment ministry has given environmental clearance and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance to the Rs 694 crore BPCL’s project in West Bengal.

• Taxi operator Uber has partnered with Election Commission in Tamil Nadu to support the “#TN100percent initiative” to spread awareness on voting among the electorate for the upcoming election

• Cadbury chocolates maker Mondelez inaugurated a Rs 1,265-crore plant largest Asia-Pacific facility in SriCity, Andhra Pradesh.

13 | P a g e


• Videocon d2h has partnered with Vodafone M-Pesa, now customers can recharge their d2h service using Vodafone m-pesa.

• Union Gov in line to sell 36% of stakes through offer for sale mode in Faridabad based Hydropower generation company NHPC

• Japanese automobile maker Isuzu has opened its new factory at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh paving the way for a position in the Indian light commercial vehicle (LCV) and utility vehicle (UV) markets.

• Union Cabinet approved an increase in investment in Bharat Oman Refineries to a maximum of Rs 3,000 crore.

• Mumbai based integrated power company Tata Power has commissioned its 44 MW Lahori windfarm project in Shajapur of Madhya Pradesh.

• Mumbai based Reliance Defence has inked a pact with three Ukrainian state-owned firms namely Ukroboronprom, Spetstechno Exports and Antonov to collaborate on a range of military products.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

• Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh conferred with “Maharashtrian Of The Year” award “lifetime achievement award” was bestowed with singer Asha Bhosle by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis at a ceremony held at Mumbai.

• Egyptian author and journalist, Ahmed Naji conferred with the prestigious PEN/ Barbey Freedom to Write Awardpresented by PEN America Other awardees are J.K. Rowling, Dr. Mona Hanna Attisha and LeeAnne Walters and Michael

Pietsch • Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL) has formally set the Guinness World Record for at the same

time planting 208,751 saplings at a solitary area in under 60 minutes. in Mansa, Punjab • President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the National Geoscience Awards 2014 to 33 geoscientists at

Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Professor Ashok Kumar Singhvi was conferred with the highest honour National Geoscience

Award for Excellence Dr Indra Sekhar Sen have awarded with Young Scientist Award

• Chess maestro Viswanathan Anand honoured with the Hridaynath Award receive by the Maharashtra governor C Vidyasagar Rao.

• 2016 Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen released by American magazine Forbes • Indian businesswomen who have made the cut in the latest list

Rank Name Company 1 Nita Ambani Reliance Foundation Chairperson 2 Arundhati Bhattacharya Chairperson of State Bank of India 14 Mu Sigma CEO Ambiga Dhiraj 16 Dipali Goenka CEO Welspun India 18 Vinita Gupta CEO Lupin 22 Chanda Kochhar ICICI Bank Managing Director 26 Vandana Luthra VLCC Health Care Founder 28 Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Biocon Founder

• “The saint of the gutters”, Mother Teresa has been posthumously conferred with the United Kingdom’s prestigious Founders Award 2016.The award was received by niece, Agi Bojazhiu

• Tamil descendent Judge Navanetham Pillay, South Africa’s first non-white woman has been convened upon the highest French civilian the Legion of Honour.

• Priyadarshini Chatterjee from Delhi was announced as the winner of FBB Femina Miss India World by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan during a star-studded ceremony.

• Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova awarded with UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2016 during the celebration of World Press Freedom Day hosted by Finland.

14 | P a g e


• Actress Priyanka Chopra will be bestowed with Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation’s Best Actress of the Year Award on the 147th Dadasaheb Phalke Jayanti in Mumbai on April 24.

• Soni Chaurasiya a Kathak dancer from Varanasi has broken the world record of longest dance performance of Mohiniattam by continuously dancing for 123 hours and 30 minutes.

• IIT-Kharagpur conferred with National Intellectual Property (IP) Award in the academic institutes’ category by Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the celebration of World IP Day

• Bollywood star Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won the ‘Global Indian of the Year’ award and Eminent tennis player Sania Mirza honoured at the NRI of the Year Award 2016 at NRI of the Year award function held in Mumbai.

• J & K born poet and novelist Padma Sachdev chosen for the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2015 for her autobiography named ‘Chitt-Chete’ written in Dogri language.

• American Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders won the TIME 100 reader poll with 3 percent of the vote, ahead of Hilary Clinton. PM Narendra Modi, Bollywood Actress Priyanka Chopra and Tennis great Sania Mirza and are also among the probable contenders named by the magazine for its annual list.

• T N Ninan, Chairman and Editorial Director of Business conferred with Mumbai Press Club’s lifetime achievement award by the Governor of Maharashtra C Vidyasagar Rao

• Serbia, Novak Djokovic won Sportsman of the year Trophy and United States, Serena Williams bagged the Women’s top honour Sportswoman of the year

Laureus World Sports Awards Team of the Year 2016 – Rugbey Team, New Zealand Comeback of the Year 2016 – Dan Carter, New Zealand Union Player Breakthrough of the Year 2016- Jordan Spieth, American Golf Star

• The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee gave away the Hindi Sevi Samman Awards for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 in New Delhi. Ge Fuping, who was given George Grierson prize for his remarkable works done for the

propagation of Hindi in foreign Alka Dunputh (from Mauritius) and Shichiro Soma (from Japan) were also given the George

Grierson award by the President. • The 2016 Pulitzer Prize Won by the Associated Press in Journalism public Service Category • Indian Diplomat in the United Kingdom Mr. Amitav Banerji honoured with highest awards of Cyprus

– Commander of the Order of Merit for the contribution of work towards major roles in Commonwealth Secretariat for 20 years by Cyprus Foreign Minister Loannis Kasoulides

• Mahatma Gandhi’s granddaughter Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee has been awarded with one of France’s highest honour The Order of Arts and Letters by French Ambassador Francois Richier.

• In the 6th edition of Randstad Award 2016, Google India emerged as the most attractive employer for a second consecutive year followed by Mercedes-Benz

• Bollywood Actress Radhika Apte Wins Best Actress award at Tribeca Film Fest for her contribution in the Film Madly Other Winners:

Best US narrative feature award – Dean directed by Demteri Martin Best International narrative feature award – Junction 48 Best Actor award in an international feature to his work in ‘The Tenth Man’ – Alan Sabbagh Best Actor in a US narrative feature film – Dominic Rains Best Actress in a US narrative feature film – Mackenzie Davis

• Indian Documentary film, “Undercover Asia: Girls for Sale” has won a bronze world medal at the New York Festivals 2016 in the Social Issues category.

• Jennifer Aniston (47) was named as the World’s Most Beautiful Woman for 2016 by People magazine,

• Veteran Actor Manoj Bajpayee will be awarded with the Dadasaheb Phalke award in the Best Actor Category (Critics’ Choice) for his contribution in Hansal Mehta’s Biographical drama, “Aligarh”.

15 | P a g e


• Eminent three Odisha Artists Prefulla Kar, Alok Kanungo and Sadasiv Pradhan have been selected for prestigious Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi Samman announced by Dhirendranath Mallick, Secretary, Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi.Artists will be awarded by the Honourable president in a function to be conducted in New Delhi

• A food engineering research scholar K Ashok Kumar from IIT Kharagpur wins prestigious International Plant Nutrition Scholar Award on Plant Nutrition.

• A Burundian activist Marguerite Barankitse awarded with First Humanitarian Prize with saving thousands of children during a 12-year civil war by Hollywood actor and Activist George Clooney

• Jagendra Singh honoured posthumously with “RedInk Veer Patrakar Puraskar” by Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao in Mumbai NDTV India’s senior Executive Editor Ravish Kumar awarded with the ‘Journalist of the year’

award. • Pakistani radio journalist Misha Euceph selected for prestigious White House Correspondents

Association (WHCA). The scholarship would be presented by US President • Indian Institute of Management Calcutta Acquires EFMD Quality Improvement System (EQUIS)

Accreditation and becomes the first Indian business school to achieve the ‘Triple Crown’ in accreditation

• Politician NK Singh will be awarded with Japan’s Second Highest national award ‘The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star’. The award will be presented by Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on May 10th in Japan.

• Odisha hailed eminent sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has won gold medal for his Mahatma Gandhi sculpture for non-violence and peace in an International Sand Art Championship held at Russia.

• Pakistani activist Tabassum Adnan, who fights for women’s rights, has won the Nelson Mandela – Graça Machel Innovation Award 2016 in the individual activist category.

• Indira Nooyi, Satya Nadella, Bhavesh Patel among highest paid Chief Executive Officers in world Three Indian born persons are among 100 highest paid CEOs globally PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi was ranked sixth LyondellBasell’s Bhavesh Pate was ranked Eighth Microsoft’s Satya Nadella was ranked 26th Rankings: 1. Oracle Coporation CEO’s Mark V Hurd and Safra A Catz –$53.2 millio 2. Robert A Iger of Walt Disney – $43.5 million 3. David Cote of Honeywell International – $33.1 million 4. Jeffrey R Immelt of General Electric – $26.4 million 5. Rupert Murdoch of Twenty-First Century Fox – $22.2 million 6. James P Gorman of Morgan Stanley – $22 million

• A fossilised skeleton of a hadrosaur also called duck-billed dinosaur has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest hadrosaurid skeleton on displayin Shandong province of China

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

• Simplice Sarandji - Prime Minister of Central African Republic • Davio Gunnlaugsson - Prime minister of Iceland resigned • Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson - Prime minister of Iceland • Nguyen Xuan Phuc – Prime minister of Vietnam • Arseniy Yatsenyuk - Prime minister of Ukrainian resigned • Volodymyr Groysman - Prime minister of Ukraine • Temir Sariyev - Kyrgyzstan Prime Minister resigned • Bounnhang Vorachit – President of Laos • Idriss Deby - President of Chad • Clement Mouamba – Prime Minister of Congo • Lobsang Sangay - Prime minister of Tibet

16 | P a g e


• Riek Machar - Vice president of South Sudan’s • Radha Kumar - University Council United Nation • Ajay Singh Banga – US member of the Commission on Enhancing National Cyber security. • Geeta Pasi – US envoy to Chad • C.P. Gurnani - Chairman of NASSCOM • J Geeta Reddy - Public Accounts Committee Chairperson of Telangana • Vasu - Director of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) • Meeran Borwankar - DG of Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) • S. Ravindran - Chairman of Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) • Deepak Kashya - Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of BSNL. • Ratan Wattal - Liaison officer with Jammu and Kashmir • Soumen Mitra - Kolkata Police Commissioner • Susmita Pande - Chairperson of National Monument Authority (NMA) • Vijay Shekhar Sharm- chairman of Industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). • Deepak Mishra - Additional Director General in the Central Reserve Police Force • Judge N K Agarwal - Haryana’s Lokayukta • P.K.Mishra - Goa’s Lokayukta • Subramanian Swamy - Nominates members of Rajya Sabha • Navjot Singh Sidhu - Nominates members of Rajya Sabha • Narendra Jadhav - Nominates members of Rajya Sabha • Suresh Gopi - Nominates members of Rajya Sabha • Swapan Dasgupta - Nominates members of Rajya Sabha • Mary Kom - Nominates members of Rajya Sabha • Ajith Kumar – Chief of Rubber Board • Bhupendra Kainthola - Director of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). • Pankaj Kumar - Ambassador for Girl Child (AFGC) • Surender Kumar Bhagat - DGof Railways Protection Force (RPF). • Jaspal Bindra – Chairman of Centrum Group • Amitabh Coomar – CEO of GoJavas • Manish Sharma - CEO of Panasonic’s India • Sharad Agarwal – India Head, Lamborghini • Hugh Johnston – Twitter board of directors • Tausif Monif - President of Lambda • Dhoni - Brand Ambassador of Amrapali resigned • Punit Soni - Flipkart Chief Product Officer resigned • Virat Kohli - Brand ambassador of Premier Futsal • Bimlendra- CEO of Tata Steel’s Europe • MS Dhoni - Brand Ambassador of LAVA International • Ajay Devgn and Kajol - Brand ambassadors of Andhra Pradesh tourism • Debraj Pradhan - Ambassador of India to Norway • Masakui - Ambassador of India to the Republic of Zimbabwe • Nandini Singla - Ambassador of India to Portugal • Satender Kumar - Ambassador of India to the Republic of Barbados • T. Suresh Babu - Ambassador of India to Mongolia • Bishwadip Dey - High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago • Rudra Gaurav Shresth - High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Mozambique • Geetha Johri - Gujarat’s first woman DGP • Mahesh Iyer – COO of Thomas Cook • Inzamam-ul-Haq - Chief selector of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) • Rahul Johri – CEO of BCCI

17 | P a g e


• Salman Khan - Goodwill ambassador for India at Rio Olympics • Nandu Nateka - CCI’s Legends Club (First non-cricketer) • Rick Osterloh - Google new hardware division as Senior Vice-President • Charles Borromeo - Tata Steel sports department has resigned • Ram kumar leaves ICICI; Vijay Chandok made ED

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given approval for the proposal of ATC Asia

Pacific Pte Ltd, Singapore to acquire 51% shareholding in Viom Networks Ltd by method of transfer from existing shareholders.

• Flipkart has acquired a Bengaluru-based mobile payments company PhonePe • Noida based IT company HCL Technologies acquire all of the business of Geometric Limited. • Pune based Computer services firm Persistent Systems acquire US-based Genwi for an undisclosed

amount • Alaska Air Group acquires Virgin America in a friendly takeover worth around $4 billion including

debt to create the US’s fifth-largest airline. • Private equity firm Blackstone India entered into an agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

to buy a majority stake in Mphasis Limited in a deal valued between $825 million and $1.1 billion. • Gurgaon - based carpooling app Orahi has acquired Odd-Even.com to find partners to commute during

the odd-even rule, for an undisclosed amount. • Kishore Biyani’s Future Group acquires Rocket Internet’s FabFurnish for Rs. 20 Crore • Bharti Airtel has announced the acquisition of 20 MHz spectrum in eight circles from Aircel for Rs

3,500 crore. • New York based Microblogging platform Twitter has acquired employee and manager feedback startup

Peer. • Chennai-based customer support platform Freshdesk has acquired New Delhi-based Memetic Labs

Technologies for an undisclosed sum • New Delhi based JK Asia Pacific group has acquired of Cavendish Industries Ltd for Rs 2200 crore • Finnish mobile network equipment maker Nokia to buy France’s Withings S.A. for 170 million

Euros ($191 million)

SCHEMES

• Gov launched Gram Uday to Bharat Uday Abhiyan from 14th to 24th April, 2016 to generate nation-wide efforts to increase social harmony across villages, strengthen Panchayati Raj, promote rural development, and foster farmers’ progress.

• Government of Punjab to begin the process of issuing 303074 pre-active cashless Farmers Health Insurance Cards under Bhagat Puran Singh Sehat Bima Yojna .It will enable farmers to get health cover up to Rs 50,000 for their treatment and compensation of Rs 5 Lakhs in case of death

• Union Minister for Women & Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi initiated a project Swadhar Greh scheme to construct 100 special Home for widows at Vrindavan, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.

• Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel launched the state-wide implementation of Centre’s National Food Security Act ‘Maa Annapurna Yojna’. People will get wheat at Rs 2 per kilo and rice at Rs 3 per kilo under this scheme

• Jammu & Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti announced to launch Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Food Entitlement Scheme (MMSFES) to supplement the National Food Security Act (NFSA) from July 1, 2016.State’s public distribution system will get additional 5 kgs of ration per person.

• Jharkhand Government launched Bhimrao Ambedkar Awas Yojana for widows on 125th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar. Construct a home for Widows and Pensions. Rs 75,000 will be granted to build a house in districts in hilly terrains and Rs 70,000 in plains areas

18 | P a g e


• Uttarakhand has become the 10th state to join the UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana). Net benefit of about Rs 962 crore would accrue to the state.

• Eight states have issued bonds worth over Rs.98,959.96 crore under UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana) scheme in 2015-16.The special bonds (non-SLR special securities) issued by RBI.

• Gov has approved Goa’s coastal circuit project under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. Sum of Rs. 99.99 crores given by the central assistance is a record highest allocation received by Goa Tourism since 2010.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated the “Stand up India scheme” and a Web portal for the scheme in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Composite advance between 10 lakh and upto Rs.100 lakh.The process would be led by SIDBI, Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) and NABARD

• Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal with Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister Andhra Pradesh to launched National Energy Efficient Agriculture Pumps Programme and National Energy Efficient Fan Programme in Vijayawada , Andhra Pradesh

• Ministry of Rural Development has released a central share of Rs. 12,230 Crore to the States in connection with the implementation of its flagship programme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The Ministry planned to maintain 60:40 wage-material ratio at the District level.

• Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Union Minister of women and Child Development launched Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme in additional 61 districts

• Haryana Gov has notified the Affordable Plotted Housing Policy 2016 for low and medium standard towns under Deen Dayal Jan Awas Yojana. All the projects are be required to be completed within seven years from the date of license granted

• Gov has merged Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan with Khelo India.Aim of the scheme is to Construct Sports Complexes in each block and exclusively both for outdoor and indoor sports discipline for 5 years and conducting summer camps every year to enhance the sports spirits

• Union government allots Rs. 800 crore to clean up polluted lakes in Bangalore under AMRUT scheme to rejuvenate lakes especially the Bellandur Lake

• Union Sports Ministry has decided to provide Rs. One lakh per month as Out of Pocket allowance to the sports persons under the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme. Till date, 77 Indian athletes in eight disciplines have qualified for the Olympics

MoUs

• Indian Oil Corporation inked an MoU with Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation to scrutinize the possibility of jointly working on setting up a LPG (Liquefied petroleum gas) import terminal at Chittagong port and other downstream infrastructure in that country.

• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Mumbai based Sun Pharma have joined into an agreement for research and innovation in preventive health announced by Union Health Minister JP Nadda

• MoU has been signed by the 25 ministries comprising human resource development to encourage research in premier technical institutions through IMPRINT (Impacting Research Innovation and Technology)

• Maharashtra (Devendra Fadnavis) first state to signed MoU with the Tata Trusts (Ratan Tata) to link all government colleges and medical colleges to the national cancer grid for uniform cancer profiling and quality treatment. The initiative targets to have 50,000 bone marrow donors.

• The Department of Space (DoS) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) signed a pact to deliver scientific considerations for airports’ construction in India.

• Union Cabinet approved a MoU signed between India and Sweden for technical cooperation in the rail sector.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldives President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom signed signed 6 agreements in the fields of defence, tourism, taxation, space research, and conservation of mosques.

19 | P a g e


• Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved for signing the Paris Agreement adopted at the 21st Conference of Parties held in Paris in last December. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar signed the agreement from India side on 22 April 2016 in UN

• Central Council for Research in homoeopathy (CCRH) has signed two MOUs with College of Homeopaths of Ontario, Canada and another between CCRH and Yerevan State Medical University, Armenia during two day International Convention on World Homoeopathy Day organized at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

• United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and GITAM University signed a MoU to empower the adolescents 10-19 years and address the adolescent issues in the district of Visakhapatnam. Kerala

• An agreement has been signed for Ganga Rejuvenation under the Namami Gange Programme in New Delhi between the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and German International Cooperation.

• Union Cabinet given its approval for signing of a MoU between India and UAE on preventing all forms of human trafficking, especially women and children.

• Union Cabinet was approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and Bangladesh to promote development of cooperation in fisheries and aquaculture and allied sectors through mutually agreed activities and procedures.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its nod for India adopting the statute of the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) which will help in checking cross border wildlife crimes. Now India become a formal member of SAWEN

• Bhubaneswar based Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) and Educational Consultants India Limited, a central PSU, jointly signed a MoU to work in areas of education and human resource development.

• Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley and US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew have agreed to enhance collaboration on tackling offshore tax evasion and increase cooperation in sharing of cross-border tax information.

• Indian School of Business (ISB) and Singapore Management University (SMU) signed a MoU for collaboration in innovation, entrepreneurship and research for five years.

• Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge) and Health & Family Welfare Shri Shripad Yesso Naik and Mauritius Government inks MoU to promote cooperation in the field of Traditional Medicine and Homoeopathy

• Narendra Modi apprised the MoU signed with Bahrain, Kuwait, Nepal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and BRICS Nations on Organizing Youth Exchange Programmes with these countries.

• Union Cabinet approved for signing of a MoU between India and Bhutan on technical cooperation in the field of capacity building, benchmarking and bilateral exchange in infrastructure engineering.

• India and Sri Lanka signed MoU to supply 150 Boats to Mullaitivu fishermen. The total cost of the project of Rs. 100 million.

• Trilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed among Sri Lanka, Japan and India for collaboration in Science & Technology

• Khaled Al-Aboodi, CEO of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and Tarun Sharma, regional head on behalf the EXIM Bank signed a MoU with ICD for a possible $100 million line of credit to simplify exports to IDB’s member countries.

• FICCI inked a MoU with Australia Indian Business Council (AIBC) to strengthen and promote business ties with Australia

• Tata Trusts signed MoU with the Odisha government to achieve elimination of Malaria from the state by 2030.

COMMITTEES

• Information and Broadcasting Ministry has formed a three-member Committee to oversee the guidelines set for government advertisements by the Supreme Court are followed. The committee

20 | P a g e


headed by the former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) B B Tandon. • Union Minister of Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal released Report of the

Technical Committee on Large Scale Integration of Renewable Energy in India. The Committee has published a 15 point Action Plan for facilitating large scale integration of renewable in the country, in a secure and reliable manner.

• Haryana government set up a two-member Commission of Inquiry headed by Retired Justice S N Jha, former Chief Justice of Jammu to probe the sequence of events leading to violence during the Jat agitation for reservation in February.

• Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh chairs High Level Committee meeting for Central assistance to Karnataka, Puducherry and Arunachal Pradesh affected by drought and floods. Rs 842.7 crore to Karnataka, Puducherry and Arunachal Pradesh affected by drought and

floods. • The finance minister Arun Jaitley formed a sub-committee headed by former Chief Economic Adviser

Ashok Lahiri panel to interact with the trade and industry on the imposition of central Excise duty on jewellery. The committee has to submit report within 60 days.

• Union Government has set up a panel to make a blueprint for doubling farmer’s income by 2022.The Panel was headed by Agriculture Ministry Additional Secretary Ashok Dalwai,

• Film maker Shyam Benegal headed committee constituted by the Information and Broadcasting ministry panel submits its report on censor board. Children and adults are protected from potentially harmful or unsuitable content while audiences, particularly parents, are authorized to make informed watching decisions

• Parliamentary Standing Committee has been formed to tackle misleading advertising as well as to fix liability on endorsers/celebrities. The committee was headed by MP J C Divakar Reddy . The violator may be penalised with either a fine of Rs 10 lakh or imprisonment up to two years

or both.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• PM Narendra Modi launched National Agriculture Market portal that will have 21 mandis from 8 States to connect e-mandis in several state on the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar.

• States include Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh – Rs.200Cr • GOI released Indian Intellectual Property (IP) Panorama in New Delhi by offering a single window

interface for information and guidance on intellectual property • Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) Headed by Ramesh Abhishek launched Startup

India portal and mobile app In New Delhi. • Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal launched a mobile application

Vidyut PRAVAH Mobile application to empower common people to demand 24X7 power from the states.

• India’s smartest app based cab company Ola has introduced electric rickshaws on its platform at the ‘Start-up India’ event held in Noida

• The Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has launched a new service, ‘Twitter Seva’, to address issues and grievances of startups, exporters and importers, and other stakeholders.

• HRD Minister Smriti Zubin Irani launched a portal for registration and allotment of International Standard Book Number (ISBN) in New Delhi

• Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched the Low Cost and Environment-friendly solar lighting device, Surya Jothi.

• Photo-Voltaic Integrated Micro Solar Dome costs about Rs.1200 and the Non Photo-Voltaic version around Rs. 500.

• DIPP has launched web-based dashboard for monitoring commitments of ministries under Make in India

• Maharashtra Government has decided to use hologram technique to check every alcohol bottle

21 | P a g e


manufactured and sold in the State. • Intel India has inaugurated ‘UnnatiKendras’ across 10 towns in Telangana to create a blueprint for the

digitization of non-urban India. The company to set up the first Unnati Kendra at Nadimpalli village. • BSNL has started testing of WiFi based network to connect 1lakh panchayats under rural broadband

project of Government in three villages – Karenda, Phalsa and Bahadri in Alwar district of Rajasthan. • BSNL launched data sharing facility for pre-paid customers across the country. It will allow four

users to share data among themselves • Supercomputer Param Kanchenjunga was formally unveiled by Sikkim Governor Shrinvas Patil in

Sikkim based National Institute of Technology. • Indian Railway used drone for the first time to inspect Dedicated Freight Corridor project. It was be

tested in Bihar State. • Infosys cofounder S Gopalakrishnan launched a new app ‘Itihaasa’ that chronicles the “fascinating

journey” of the Indian IT Industry. • Delhi Government announced app based premium bus service scheme in order to encourage private

car owners to switch to public transport. The registration for it would start from June 1 this year. • Minister of State of Culture and Tourism (I/C) and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Dr. Mahesh

Sharma launched the National Monuments Authority (NMA)’s Web Portal called NOC Online Application and Processing System (NOAPS)

• Mr. Piyush Goyal, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy launched DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) an online portal for the acquisition of short-term power by DISCOMs

• Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai launched PoochhO Carpool app to help people during odd-even scheme(April 15 to 30)

• India’s first open source encyclopedia to the Art and culture Sahapedia has launched. The Meaning of “Saha” in Sanskrit meant as “Together with”

• Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL) has become the first e-office electricity distribution company among all power utilities in India.

• Election Commission has launched mobile application eVoters with comprehensive details about the coming May 16 assembly polls in Kerala.

• University of Georgia (UGA) and Israel’s Ben-Gurion University has created the world’s smallest diode using a single DNA molecule.

• India is going to start its online platform, Hotstar in other countries over the next few months. • California based giant HP unveiled world’s thinnest HP Spectre Notebook weighing 1 kg and as thin as

10.4 mm • Chinese researchers introduced a new approach for making an all-weather solar cell developed a highly

efficient dye-sensitized solar cell. • Solar Impulse 2, solar-powered aeroplane has landed in Silicon Valley, California, after a three-day

flight across the Pacific Ocean. • Purdue University Researchers in Indiana in the US have come up with the first 3D map of the virus

structure. The virus is built similar to other flaviviruses, like that of dengue • Team of Scientists from Institute of Advance Study in Science & Technology in Assam have

developed an eco-friendly Nano technology for water-softening applications – Chitosa • China’s first security robot “AnBot” unveiled at the ongoing China Chongqing Hi-Tech Fair. It was

jointly developed by the National University of Defence Technology and a robotics company in central China’s Hunan Province.

• The world’s first licensed vaccine “Dengvaxia” against a mosquito-bo disease “dengue” has been launched by Philippines. It is the first public immunization program for dengue fever

• ISRO and NASA are jointly operated mission NISAR a satellite that helps studying earthquake and its patterns .The satellite is called NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR

• ISRO Scientists Scientists in Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre lab recently manufactured the world’s lightest material called silica Aerogel or blue air.

• ISRO developed PSLV-C33 is carrying India’s seventh navigation satellite IRNSS-1G which is

22 | P a g e


launched off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. • China has successfully launched a retrievable scientific research satellite “SJ-10″to study Micro-gravity • China has launched a sounding rocket also called Research Rocket Kunpeng-1B was launched from

Danzhou by the National Space Science Center (NSSC). • US based aerospace company SpaceX has successfully landed a reusable rocket Falcon 9 rocket into

orbit. • Pakistan and China jointly to launch of a special satellite to monitor the development of the $46 billion

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project by June 2018. • Russia has launched its maiden rocket Soyuz-2.1A from a new cosmodrome • Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has abandoned its efforts to reinstate the operations of

costly satellite Hitomi that was used to probe the black holes using X-Ray Telescopes. • America based space Company Blue Origin successfully accomplished the third launch and vertical

landing of its reusable New Shepard rocket, the BE-3 engine in Texas • US Researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics have discovered a rare triple-star

system KELT-4Ab with a gas giant planet that is similar in size to Jupiter. • NASA engineers tested a 3D printed rocket engine turbo pump with liquid methane for NASA’s

journey to Mars and other deep-space missions • NASA has unveiled the launch of the New Aviation Horizons initiative in NASA’s 2017 budget • NASA astronaut Scott Kelly retired from the NASA, but he will continue to participate in the ongoing

research related to his one-year mission. • Mobile POS solutions company ePaisa launched its digital wallets business into a new mobile

application Master-Wallets. Payments would be made into the merchant’s verified bank account. • OED Technologies of China has developed the world’s first graphene electronic paper, the new

material has been adjudged as the world’s first of its kind. • Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao launched Online App called AdiPraman which will enable the

tribal populace of the state get the caste validity certificates online. This is the first of its kind in India. • Finance Ministry governing Central Board of Excise and Customs has launched mobile app

calledIndian Customs Guide to Travellers.The app is available on mobile platform such as Android Play store, Apple Store and Windows Store.

DEFENCE

• 13 the Edition of bi-annual exercise Tat Suraksha began in Andaman and Nicobar from April 5. • India and the United States have agreed in principle to share military logistics. Union Defence

Minister Manohar Parrikar announced this agreement • Indian Army’s elite STRIKE 1 corps is to conducting a major exercise Shatrujeet in the deserts of

Rajasthan to evaluate the capability of the Army. • Indian military has completed an amphibious exercise ‘Jal Prahar‘ in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

All three wings of the armed forces Army, Air Force and Navy are participated. • India’s indigenously developed surface-to-air Akash missile was test fired for second consecutive day

from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near Balasore in Odisha. • India has conducted a secret test of the nuclear-capable undersea ballistic missile K-4 SLBM in the

Bay of Bengal from INS Arihant from the Vishakhapatnam coast in Andhra Pradesh. • INS Karmuk and a Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft are participating in the 22nd Indo-Thai

Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) in the Andaman Sea. • US Navy is leading 30-nation maritime exercise across Middle East Waters The International Mine

Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX) started in Bahrain. • The 11th Indo-Mongolia joint training exercise ‘Nomadic Elephant -2016′commenced at Mongolia. • China’s air force joint training exercises with Pakistan Shaheen 5 began in China • The Pakistan Navy has successfully conducted a test launch of the shore-based anti-ship Zarb Missile

in the Arabian Sea

23 | P a g e


• Russian Military test-fired a cruise missile named Iskander tactical missile system from the Kapustin Yar practice range in the Astrakhan Region as part of drill.

• Indian Naval Ships namely Veer and Nipat, served for the defence operations under illustrious 22nd Killer Squadron decommissioned from the Indian Navy

ENVIRONMENT

• High Court of Himachal Pradesh issued notices on the matter of declaring monkey as vermin for 6 months

• World’s first “White Tiger Safari” opened at Mukundpur in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh. The Safari has been inaugurated by the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

• Ministry of Environment and Forests notified new Hazardous Waste Rules will ensure resource recovery and disposal of hazardous waste in environmentally sound manner.

• Endangered bird spoon-billed sandpiper was spotted in tropical island of China’s Hainan area • World’s longest-ever captured python weighing 250 kg and eight-metre length dies in Malaysia • The Central American country of El Salvador has declared a water shortage emergency. It was

the first drought emergency in its history. • In south western Japan two powerful earthquakes hit a day killed at least 29 people and 1,500 people

injured • Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have combined the best features of a lobster

and a fish to create an artificial eye that can see in the dark • Scientists have identified three new species of mouse lemurs Ganzhorn’s mouse lemur, Microcebus

manitatra and Microcebus boraha in the South and East of Madagascar • Mumbai Noisiest city and Delhi may be the dirtiest city according to the report released by Central

Pollution Control Board • Taiwan Archaeologists have discovered a 4,800year old human fossil of a mother holding an infant

child in her arms • Endangered Asiatic wild dogs spotted in nature reserve in China’s Gansu province have spotted at

least nine such dogs or dholes on camera.

SPORTS

• Australian medium-pacer Clint McKay(33) announced his retirement from international and Australis’a first-class cricket

• Pakistan’s head coach Waqar Younis resigned from his position after his team exit from the World Twenty20 tournament.Shahid Afridi appointed as Pakistan’s T20 captain

• England middle order batsman James Taylor (26) retired from International Cricket • Sri Lankan veteran cricketer Rangana Herath has announced his retirement from limited-overs cricket. • International Hockey Federation has promoted Durga Thakur of India as the international outdoor

umpire after her good performance at the recently-culminated Hawke’s Bay Cup in Hastings New Zealand.

• Hong Kong all-rounder Irfan Ahmed has been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for two and a half years

• India cricket team will play its Day-Night Test against the New Zealand this year announced by BCCI. • BCCI decided to waive off the financial penalty of USD 97 million that was levied on the West Indies

Cricket Board for withdrawal of their 2014 series against India in the halfway. • A seven-year-old girl Tajamul Islam is set to become the first Indian to represent the country at the

World Kickboxing Championship in Andria, Italy • India to host 2018 Commonwealth Judo Championships in Jaipur, besides organising the Asian

Cadet and Asian Junior Judo Championships in September in Kerala this year.

24 | P a g e


• The International Hockey Federation pronounced a new annual tellurian home and divided league to be implemented in 2019

• Mother Dairy has partnered with IPL cricket team Delhi Daredevils as its principal sponsor. • Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd has signed up with the Gujarat Lions franchise as associate sponsor for the

ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) • International Cricket Council (ICC) has extended its contract with Emirates Airline for another seven

years • Indian boxer Shiva Thapa bagged silver medal and Thailand’s Chatchai Butdee won gold at the

Asian/Oceania Qualifying event in China • Miami Open 2016 held in Florida, United States

Category Champions Runner Men’s Singles Novak Djokovic Kei Nishikori Women’s Singles Victoria Azarenka ( Belarus ) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) Men’s Doubles Pierre Hugues (France )

And Herbert Nicolas (France) Tímea Babos (South Africa) and Yaroslava Shvedova (USA)

Women’s Doubles Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) and Lucie Šafářová (Chezh Republic)

Tímea Babos (Hungary) and Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan)

• West Indies Women’s Clinched their maiden Women’s World Twenty20 against Australia at Eden Gardens in Kolkata

• West Indies won ICC world Twenty20 against England at Eden Gardens, Kolkata • Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia wins world title with record-setting free stake score by winning a world

championship. Ashley Wagner of USA wins silver. Anna Pogorilaya of Russia wins bronze.

• Kenya’s Visiline Jepkesho and Cyprian Kotut were winners at the 40th edition of the Paris Marathon. • Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg claimed the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix towin his fifth straight

race.Second KimiRaikkonen, Finland followed by Lewis Hamilton, England, Mercedes • India’s duo Chitra Magimairaj and Varshaa Sanjeev won the seniors and under-21 gold

medals respectively at the WLBS World snooker championship in Leeds. • India won the Asian Nations Cup chess team championship defeating Vietnam in Abu Dhabi • FIFA World Rankings 2016- India dropped two places to the 162nd position in the latest FIFA

rankings Rank(Men’s) Country Rank(Women’s) Country 1 Argentina 1 United States 2 Belgium 2 Germany 3 Chile 3 France 4 Colombia 4 England 5 Germany 5 Australia

• New BWF Ranking

Category Player Rank Men’s Singles Kidambi Srikanth 14

ParuPalli Kashyap 18 Women’s Singles Saina Nehwal 8

Pusarla V Sindhu 10 Men’ Doubles Manu Attri

B Sumeeth Reddy 19

Women’s Doubles

JwalaGutta AshwiniPonnappa

15

25 | P a g e


• WTA rankings Women’s Singles Women’s Doubles Rank Serena Williams (USA) Martina Hingis (Swiss) 1 Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) Sania Mirza (India) 2 Angelique Kerber (GER) Bethanie Mattek- Sands (US) 3 Garbine Muguruza (ESP) Yaroslava Shvedova (Kzh) 4 Victoria Azarenka (BLR) Lucie Safarova (CZR) 5

• Malaysian Open 2016 Category Champions Men’s Singles Lee Chong Wei ( Malaysia) Women’s Singles Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand) Men’s Doubles Kim Gi-Jung( South Korea ) and

Kim Sa-rang ( South Korea) Women’s Doubles Tang Yuanting (China) and

Yu Yang (China) Mixed Doubles Tontowi Ahmed ( Indonesia) and Liliyana Nastir (

Indonesia )

• India beat Canada to earn first win at Hawke’s Bay Cup in Hastings, New Zealand • Britain’s Anthony Joshua won the International Boxing Federation heavyweight title in London • Danny Willett has won the Masters at Augusta National to become the first Briton to claim US

Master’s title in 20 years • S.P. Chawrasia of India was honoured with the Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of the Month for March. • India’s men’s and women’s teams have each won their respective titles at the Third edition of khokho

championships in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. • Cricket Legend Sachin Tendulkar released the teaser poster of Sachin: A Billion Dreams his upcoming

biopic. It was directed by British director James Erskine. • The Top Five Players in the Wisden 2016

Player Role Country Jonny Bairstow Wicket Keeper & Batsman. England Brendon McCullum Batsman. New Zealand Steve Smith Batsman. Australia Ben stokes All Rounder England Kane Willamson Batsman New Zealand

• Bombay High Court ordered all IPL matches after April 30 to be shifted from drought affected Maharashtra.

• Indian Paddlers Soumyajit Ghosh and Manika Batra booked their Olympic tickets by winning their respective groups in the Asian Qualifiers in Hong Kong.

• Manipuri boxer MC Mary Kom has been named as one of the brand ambassadors of the forthcoming World Championships by the International Boxing Association (AIBA).

• Australia thrash India to win Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament in Malaysia • Nico Rosberg of Mercedes claimed a dominant win in Chinese Grand Prix over Mercedes team mate

Lewis Hamilton • Monte Carlo Masters title

Men’s Singles: Spain Maestro Rafael Nadal won his ninth Monte Carlo Masters title by defeating Gael Monfils of France

Men’s Doubles - French Pair Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut won the title, defeating UK’s Jamie Murray and Brazilian Bruno Soares

• Agartala hailed Dipa Karmakar will be the first Indian women gymnast in the history to qualify for Olympics

• Hockey India to withdraw the National junior team from the annual Sultan of Johor Cup to be held this year due to injury concerns.

26 | P a g e


• Former national champion Vishnu Vardhan put his name into the record books by becoming the first champion of the Asian Tennis Tour (ATT) after he beat Sidharth Rawat in New Delhi.

• Indian ace shooter Jitu Rai ended with sixth spot in the men’s 50m pistol event on the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup being held at Rio de Janeiro.

• Spain based Rafael Nadal clinches 49th Clay court cup and equalled the record with Guillermo Vilas in Barcelona Open Tennis. Doubles Winners title clinched by United States Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan

• French pair of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic won women’s doubles final of the Stuttgart Grand Prix tournament and women’s singles title was won by Angelique Kerber of Germany

• India’s Mairaj Ahmad Khan bagged the silver medal in the men’s Skeet event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup

Marcus Svennson-Gold and Tamarro Casandro-Silver • Indian Football Striker Jeje Lalpekhlua won the Football Players’ Association of India (FPAI) – Indian

Player of the year award at Cooperage Football Stadium in Mumbai.The award was presented by FPAI President Renedy Singh

• Indian Wrestler Sandeep Tomar and Indian Rower Dattu Bhokanal booked a berth for the Rio Olympics

• Riyad Mahrez of Algeria was adjudged as the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player of the Year. He is the first African to receive the award.

• Tokyo 2020 Olympic organizer’s released a new snake-eye logo featuring an indigo coloured check in the design

• TVS Racing group has signed with its first woman rider Shreya Sunder Iyer in the Indian National Rally championship for 2016

• International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) due to government intervention in the cricket board due to that a vacuum has been made in the cricket leadership.

• Indian archer Deepika Kumari equals the world record in the woman’s recurve event South Korean archer Ki Bo-Bae at the Archery World Cup in Shanghai.

• Explosive former Srilankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya as the chief selector and will serve a two-year term for the Sri Lanka Cricket.

• New Zealand batsman Kane Stuart Williamson has been named as the Black Caps captain in all the three formats of the game of cricket.

• Former South Africa pacer Allan Donald is set to join the Australian team as temporary bowling coach • Indian judok as players Avatar Singh and Thoudam Kalpana Devi are qualified for the Rio Olympics

after their impressive performances in Asian Championship in Tashkent. • Garima wins gold at Commonwealth Judo Championship Rajwinder Kaur won a silver at the 2016

Commonwealth Judo Championship held in South Africa • Sprinter Sudha Singh has booked berth for Rio Olympics by finishing second in the 3000m

steeplechase event at the FederationCup in New Delhi.

OBITUARY

• Zaha Hadid - Iraqi-British architect • Ronnie Corbett - UK’s Entertainer • Larry Drake – Actor • Cesare Maldini - Italian football manager and player • Barbieri - Latin Jazz saxophonist • Barbara Turner- US screenwriter and producer • Merle Haggard – US Musician • David Gest – US Entertainer, Producer • Arnold Wesker - British playwright • Malick Sidibe - Eminent African photographer

27 | P a g e


• Doris Roberts – US actress • Bill Campbell - Former Ivy League football coach • Chyna (Joan Laurer) - Former WWE Women’s Champion • Prince Roger Nelson - Rock artist and musician • Guy Hamilton - British Film Director • Papa Wemba - Africa’s greatest music legend • Banharn Silpa - Veteran Thai politician • Harry Wu - China human rights campaigner • Babu Bharadwaj - Eminent journalist from Kerala • RanjanBaindoor - Ranji Trophy player from Mumbai • M.H.P.Rao - Father of Madras Atomic Power Station • Yogendra Bali - Veteran journalist • C Silvera - Former Union Minister of Mizoram • Veenu Paliwal - India’s first woman biker • J.S. Sekhon - Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge • Satyanand Munjal- Co-founder of Hero Cycles group • D.Ravinder - Finance Minister’s PRO & Former Journalist from Telangana • Ismael Quintana - Pioneer of salsa music • ‘Shaktiman’ - Indian police horse, Uttarkhand • Amanullah Khan - Founder of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), • Thoppil Thomas - Eminent cartoonist from Kerala

BOOKS & AUTHORS

• ”The Kiss of Life How a Superhero and my son defeated cancer” authored by Bilal Siddiqui and Co-authored by Emraan Hashmi.

• A State in Denial – Pakistan’s Misguided and Dangerous Crusade authored by veteran journalist BG Verghese

• NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly will write a book titled “Endurance: My Year in Space and Our Journey to Mars”.

• The Making of India: The Untold Story of British Enterprise’ authored by KartarLalvani

IMPORTANT DAYS

Apr 2: World Autism Awareness Day – ‘Autism and the 2030 Agenda: Inclusion and Neurodiversity’ Apr 4: International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action – ‘Mine Action is Humanitarian Action’ Apr 5: National Maritime Day – ‘Ease of doing business in the maritime sector’ Apr 6: International Day of Sport for Development and Peace – ‘Let’s play for Sustainable Development Goals’ Apr 7 : World Health Day – ‘Halt the rise: beat diabetes’ Apr 8 : International Romani Day Apr 10 : World Homeopathy Day Apr 11 : National Safe motherhood day Apr 12 : International Day of Human Space Flight Apr 14 : Bhimrao Ambedkar – 125th Birth Anniversary Apr 17 : World Hemophilia Day – ‘Treatment for All The Vision of All’ Apr 18 : World Heritage Day – ‘The Heritage of Sport’ Apr 21 : Civil Services Day

28 | P a g e


Apr 22 : World Earth Day – ‘Trees for the Earth’ Apr 25 : World Malaria Day - End malaria for good Apr 23 : World Book and Copyright Day Apr 26 : World Intellectual Property Day – ‘Digital Creativity: Culture Reimagined’ Apr 29 : International Dance Day International Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare Apr 30 : International Jazz Day

STATIC GK - APRIL

New Delhi: New Delhi itself was not established until 1912 when the British moved India’s capital city from Calcutta to

Delhi in 1911. Odisha • Capital: Bhubaneswar • Governor: S.C. Jamir • Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik Jharkhand: • Capital: Ranchi • Chief Minister: Shri Raghubar Das Haryana • Capital: Chandigarh • Governor: Kaptan Singh Solanki • Chief Minister: Manohar Lal Khattar Bihar: • It is the Third largest State by population. • Bihar has 40 lok Shaba and 16 Rajya Shaba seats. Odisha: Chilka lake of Odisha is the biggest for Brackish Water (Saline) lagoon, it is set to be India’s biggest and world second biggest coastal lagoon. Maharashtra: Mumbai is a financial capital of India, India’s first train in India ran between Mumbai and Thane in 1953. Nagaland: Nagaland is the 16th State it was established in 1963, As per Census 2011, Nagaland is the smallest state in India. Festivals of Maharashtra: Makar Sankrant, Nag Panchami, Gudhi Padwa, Pola, Narali Pournima, Gokul Ashtami, Dussehra, The

Banganga Festival, The Elephanta Festival and The Ellora Festival Famous Temples in Maharashtra • Siddhivinayak Temple • Mahalakshmi Temple • Bhimashankar Temple • Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple

29 | P a g e


• Kailash Temple • Walkeshwar Temple Uttar Pradesh: • Uttar Pradesh is by far the most populated state in India. • Varanasi is one of the world’s oldest living • The Kumbha Mela that is held every 12 years is another attraction of Uttar Pradesh. NSE: • Established in 1992 • MD & CEO – Chitra Ramkrishna NPCIL : • NPCIL was created in September 1987 under the Companies Act 1956 • HQ: Mumbai, Maharashtra • CMD: K.C. Purohit NABARD: Mumbai based NABARD was established on the recommendation of Sivaraman Committee in 1982. Airports in India: The Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi is the busiest airport in India. India has a total of 132 Airports, including 24 International Airports, 7 Customs Airports, 78 Domestic Airports

and 26 civil enclaves at Military Airfields. Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia possesses about 16% of the oil reserves It is the world’s largest exporter of petroleum liquids and

the industry relies on almost half of its GDP. • Saudi Arabia was a founding member of OPEC in 1960 • Capital: Riyadh • Currency: Saudi Riyal.

South Korea: • Capital: Seoul • Currency: Won

WADA: • Headquarters: Montreal, Canada • President: Craig Reedie

Cuba: • Capital: Havana • Prime minister: Raúl Castro • Currency: Cuban peso

Bangladesh: • East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971 after a war of independence against Pakistan. • Bangladesh has the third largest Muslim population in the world next to Indonesia and Pakistan.

Iran: • Capital: Tehran • Currency: Iranian Rial

30 | P a g e


• The word Iran means the land of Aryans in Persian. • Persia in olden times.

WTO: • HQ: Geneva, Switzerland • Founded: 1995 • World Bank HQ: Washington D.C, USA • AIIB HQ: Beijing, China

New Zealand: • Location: Island nation in the south - western Pacific Ocean • Capital city: Wellington • Prime Minister: John Key • Currency: New Zealand dollar ($)

USA: • Capital: Washington, D.C ; Currency: Dollar • President: Barack Obama; Indian Ambassador to the US: Arun Singh.

China: • Capital: Beijing • Currency: Renminbi • President: Xi Jinping

Oman: • Capital: Muscat • Currency: Omanian Rial

France: • Capital: Paris • Currency: Euro • PM: Manuel Valls

Jordan • Capital and largest City of Jordan – Amman • Currency – Jordanian Dinar • Prime Minister of Jordan – Abdullah Ensour

Portugal: • Capital and largest City of Portugal – Lisbon • Currency – Euro • Prime Minister of Portugal – Antonio Coasta • President of Portugal – Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa

Barbados • Capital and largest City of Barbados – Bridgetown • Currency – Barbadian Dollar • Prime Minister of Barbados – Freundel Stuart

Central African Republic • Capital: Bangui

31 | P a g e


• Currency: Central African CFA franc Vietnam: • Vietnam is the largest exporter of cashews in the world, and the second largest exporter of rice. • Vietnam has a literacy rate of 94%. • Capital: Hanoi • Currency: Vietnamese dong

Iceland • Capital: Reykjavik • Currency: Icelandic króna

Norway: • Prime Minister of Norway – Erna Soleberg • Capital Of Norway – Oslo • Currency – Norwegian Crone

UNICEF: • HQ: New York • CEO: Anthony Lake

Bangladesh • Bangladesh is known as ‘The Land of Bengal” • The independence of Bangladesh was declared on 26 March 1971 • Capital: Dhaka • Currency: Taka • PM : Sheikh Hasina

Pakistan: • Capital: Islamabad • Prime Minister: Nawaz Sharif • President: MamnoonHussian • Currency: Pakistani rupee

El Salvador • Capital: San Salvador • Currency: US Dollar • President: Salvador Sánchez Cerén

Taiwan: • Capital: Taipei • Currency: New Taiwan Dollar

International Cricket Association: • Headquarters: United Arab Emirates • President: Zaheer Abbas • CEO: Dave Richardson

Mongolia: • Bordered by China and Russia

32 | P a g e


• Capital: Ulaanbaatar • Currency: Mongolian tögrög • President: Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj • Prime minister: Chimed Saikhanbileg Madhya Pradesh: • It is the second largest state by area and 5 th largest state by population. • Chief Minister: Shivraj Singh Chouhan • Governor: Ram NareshYadav

SIDBI: • SIDBI is an independent financial institution s established in 1990, it is a wholly owned subsidiary

of Industrial Development Bank of India.

ICICI: • HQ: Mumbai • CEO: ChandaKochhar • Tagline:Hum Hai Na, KhyalApka

Judo Federation of India(JFI)

• Man Mohan Jaiswal, General Secretary of Judo Federation of India (JFI). • Headquarters: New Delhi

33 | P a g e


AffairsCloud Important Page Links

Current Affairs Sections

Current Affairs Current Affairs 2016 Current Affairs Today Current Affairs PDF Current Affairs Quiz Current Affairs Mock Test Study Materials PDF

Subject-Wise Question Sections

Reasoning Questions Quantitative Aptitude Questions English Questions Computer Questions Banking Awareness Questions

Study Guide Sections

General Aptitude Reasoning Letter Writing Math Tricks Computer Awareness

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR EXAMS!!!

Suggestions are welcomed; Contact us any time at [email protected] &

[email protected]

http://www.affairscloud.com/current-affairs/

http://www.affairscloud.com/current-affairs-2016/

http://www.affairscloud.com/current-affairs/current-affairs-today/

http://www.affairscloud.com/current-affairs-pdf-capsule/

http://www.affairscloud.com/current-affairs-quiz-current-affairs/

http://www.affairscloud.com/current-affairs-online-mock-test/

http://www.affairscloud.com/study-material-pdf-download/

http://www.affairscloud.com/reasoning-questions/

http://www.affairscloud.com/quantitative-aptitude-questions/

http://www.affairscloud.com/english-questions-and-answers/

http://www.affairscloud.com/quiz/computer-awareness-quiz/

http://www.affairscloud.com/banking-awareness-quiz/

http://www.affairscloud.com/banking-awareness/general-aptitude/

http://www.affairscloud.com/banking-awareness/reasoning/

http://www.affairscloud.com/banking-awareness/letter-writing/

http://www.affairscloud.com/banking-awareness/math-tricks/

http://www.affairscloud.com/banking-awareness/computer-awareness/

mailto:[email protected]