booster april 2016 eng

www.mahendraguru.com

www.mahendraguru.com[2]

MIXTURES of Eco/Banking/RBI

April 01 : Vodafone m-pesa has partnered with Mumbai-based radio taxi service provider TABcab for providing cashless transactions to commuters in the city.

April 01 : Japan will provide Rs 14,251 crore in loans to India for finance power, rail, road, sanitation and irrigation projects.

Loan documents were exchanged between the two sides.

April 01 : In a bid which further strengthen and promote business ties with Australia, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) announced inking an MoU with Australia India Business Council (AIBC).

April 02 : German Government’s Development Bank KfW will provide a loan assistance of EUR 500 million (about Rs.3,750 cr) for the modern and sustainable metro system for Nagpur city being executed by Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Limited (NMRCL).

April 02 : Flipkart announced the acquisition of PhonePe, a city-based mobile payment company co-founded by the e-commerce giant's two former employees.

PhonePe, co-founded by Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari, is building India's first Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based product.

April 07 : Reliance Industries director Nita Ambani and State Bank of India chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya have been ranked top two in Forbes “Asia 50 Power Businesswomen 2016” list, which acknowledges the inroads women are

making in the business world, despite gender inequalities. Including Ms. Ambani and Ms. Bhattacharya, eight Indian businesswomen have made the cut in the latest list .

April 09 : India's rank remained unchanged at 19th in 2015 in the list of top 30 merchandise exporters of the world, according to a WTO report.

China continues to hold the top position in the list. However, India's ranking among top importers slipped by one notch to 13th in 2015, from 12th in previous year. In imports, the US topped the list.

April 11 : Domestic handset maker Micromax will now integrate a new wallet offering, powered by Visa and TranServ, for its smartphone users as it looks to beef up its services business.

April 11 : India's limited-overs cricket captain M.S. Dhoni has been signed up as brand ambassador by handset manufacturer Lava International in a move to strengthen its brand in India.

Lava International, founded in 2009, achieved revenues of $1.2 billion in fiscal 2014-15.

April 13 : India's growth pegged at 7.5% for 2016-17; global economic expansion estimated at 3.2%.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) retained India's growth projections for 2016-17 at 7.5 per cent, while it cut global economic expansion by two percentage points to 3.2 per cent for 2016 and one percentage point to 3.5 per cent in 2017.

April 14 : The Indian entertainment arm of 21st Century Fox, STAR India, has announced a restructuring, elevating



chief executive officer Uday Shankar to chairman and CEO.

April 16 : Telangana Government signed an MoU with China-based KDX and Dubai-based Aries EPICA Electronics to manufacture glass-free 3-D screens, mobiles, televisions and electronic home appliances in the state.

April 16 : Apollo Hospitals has entered into a tie-up with Google in providing health information as part of the search engine's launch of Health Card in India.

Apollo had compiled comprehensive information on 400 diseases including malaria and dengue which would show up once the keyword of the disease was typed in.

April 18 : Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan is embarking on an ambitious project to document the expansive history of India's now $160-billion IT industry and is setting up a new not for-profit organisation as part of that project. Gopalakrishnan launched a new smartphone app called Itihaasa that aims to extensively narrate the history of India's IT revolution over the past six decades.

April 18 : India's wholesale prices fell for the 17th straight month in March, with the Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation declining 0.85% from a year ago on the back of falling prices of manufactured products, government data showed.

In March, prices of food articles rose by 3.73% year-on-year, as pulses became dearer by 34.45%. For onions, however, the rate of inflation dropped significantly, with prices going down by 17.65%. Vegetables and fruits were also cheaper.

April 18 : A global consortium with Reliance Jio as a key member announced the launch of a 8,100-km, 100 GBPS fibre optic communications

cable system, inking East Asia and West Asia, with a landing at Chennai. It can also connect with other systems for a global reach.

April 19 : Tata Trusts and Jain Irrigation Systems (JISL) have signed an agreement to work towards improving agriculture extension, agribusiness and research and development systems in multiple geographies across the country.

April 20 : Intel Corp. is planning to slash 12,000 jobs, 11% of its workforce, a consequence of the shrinking personal-computer market and the chip maker’s failure to take advantage of the industry’s transition to smartphones.

The company aims to save $750 million this year, with annual run-rate savings of $1.4 billion by mid-2017. It plans to post a second-quarter charge of $1.2 billion related to the cost-cutting program.

April 20 : Chandramouli Venkatesan, managing director of Mondelez India Foods says the product is targeted at biscuit consumption in the morning, adding, it will perfectly complement the company's much-loved morning beverage, Bournvita.

Mondelez India Foods, manufacturer of a range of products under the Cadbury brand, recently launched Cadbury Bournvita Biscuits.

April 21 : According to Randstad report: Google India remained the most attractive employer in the country in 2016, followed by Mercedes-Benz at the second spot, human resource consultancy.



According to the 6th edition of Randstad Award, Google India emerged as the most attractive employer for a second consecutive year.

April 21 : According to the head of the Russian state technology corporation Rostecs international cooperation department :

Russia will sign a joint manufacturing contract with India for 200 Ka-226T light utility multirole helicopters before the end of the year.

The agreement, signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia, details the production of at least 200 helicopters.

April 21 : India's largest IT services firm TCS has been recognized as one of the UK's leading employers for women in a list published by The Times.

TCS' rank in The Times Top 50 is recognition of its continued drive to make gender equality a central part of its business strategy.

April 21 : India has replaced China as top destination for foreign direct investment by attracting $63 billion worth FDI projects in 2015.

Also there was an 8 per cent increase in project numbers to 697. In 2015, India was for the first time the leading country in the world for FDI, overtaking the US.

April 23 : Automobile giant Mahindra & Mahindra has become the first Indian company to join a global energy campaign led by an international non-profit group that will work with the world's most influential businesses in setting commitments to double their energy productivity.

By signing up to 'EP100' campaign led by 'The Climate Group', the world’s largest manufacturer of tractors has committed to doubling their energy productivity by 2030,

a core requirement for any business signing on to the campaign.

April 23 : According to Nomura,Leading indicators still suggest non-agriculture GDP growth will consolidate over the next two quarters. Still, we expect GDP growth to recover to 7.8 per cent Y-o-Y in 2016 from 7.3 per cent in 2015, due to higher public capex, upcoming pay commission awards and a normal monsoon.

April 23 : According to the study by global research firm Ipsos, Google ranks on the top and is followed by Facebook, Gmail, Microsoft and Samsung in the top five ,all of which are foreign brands.

April 25 : Britain's annual rich list has a distinctly Indian flavour with two sets of India- born brothers grabbing the top two slots.

Mumbai-born property magnates David and Simon Reuben have topped 'The Sunday Times' Rich List 2016 with a fortune of 13.1 billion pounds, followed by the Hinduja brothers at 13 billion pounds.

The Reubens, who own London Oxford Airport and London Heliport, have increased their fortune by 3.4 billion pounds in the past year to jump to the top slot.

April 26 : Krishnapatnam Port said it has launched a direct bi-weekly rail connectivity service between ICD Bengaluru and the port in association with state- owned Container Corporation (CONCOR).

It will run a shuttle service to Maersk Salalah catering to the demand from business houses in and around Bangalore, Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd (KPCL) .



April 26 : New Delhi: The Finance Ministry approved 8.7 percent interest on Employees Provident Fund (EPF) deposits for 2015-16, labour minister B a n d a r u Dattatreya said.

It may be recalled that the government had on March 18, slashed interest rates payable on small savings including PPF and Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) in a bid to align them closer to market rates.

April 28 : The Cabinet gave its ex-post facto approval for the memorandum of u n d e r s t a n d i n g between Insurance Regulatory and D e v e l o p m e n t Authority of India (IRDAI) and the Insurance Authority of United Arab Emirates.

The MoU, which was signed for enhanced co-operation between the two authorities in the field of insurance supervision by providing a framework for co-operation such as channels of communication, an official statement said after the meeting.

April 28 : Panama and the United States have signed an agreement on sharing of back account information in a step Panama's finance minister hailed as proof of his country's cooperation in fighting tax evasion.

April 28 : Ratings firm Ind-Ra today revised downwards to 7.7 per cent India's GDP growth forecast for the current financial year, from 7.9 per cent earlier, due to weak industrial growth.

April 29 : Joint Venture for first Auto Shredding Plant in India for Recycling of Specialised Steels (Business).

April 29 : A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Mahindra Intertrade Ltd and MSTC Limited, a PSU under the Ministry of Steel, for setting up a Joint Venture Company for establishing first of its kind Auto Shredding Plant in India in New Delhi.

April 29 : Indra Nooyi, Satya Nadella, Bhavesh Patel among highest paid CEOs in world (Business)

As many as three Indian origin persons have been named among 100 highest-paid CEOs globally with PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi and LyondellBasell's Bhavesh Patel making it to the top ten list compiled by Equilar.

April 30 : Ashok Chawla, former chief of Competition Commission, will be the new chairman of National Stock Exchange subject to approval from market watchdog Sebi.

The exchange is now awaiting nod from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for appointing Chawla as the chairman.

April 30 : Singapore-based DBS Bank, hitherto focusing on the affluent segment, has decided to shed that tag and instead go for mass-market retail (individual) customers.

April 30 : In the third roll-back in two months, the government raised the interest rate on employee provident fund (EPF) contributions to 8.8% for 2015-16 against 8.7% approved by the Finance Ministry last week.

BANKINGApril 04 : The country's largest

lender, State Bank of India, has launched a virtual queuing mobile application that will help customers save on time.

State Bank of India launched 'State Bank of India NO Queue' mobile application to save the valuable time of its esteemed customers for availing of banking services.



The application, which can be downloaded from Google Play and Apple app stores, was launched by SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya .

April 08 :

The World Bank has unveiled an ambitious climate action plan that will help developing countries add 30 gigawatts of renewable energy, bring early warning systems to 100 million people and develop climate- smart agriculture investment plans for at least 40 nations. The World Bank has set the target for achieving this by 2020.

April 12 : Driven by India's expected GDP growth of 7.7 per cent in 2017 and 7.5 per cent in 2016, the World Bank forecasted gradual acceleration in South Asia's economic growth from 7.1 per cent in 2016 to 7.3 per cent in 2017.

In neighbouring Pakistan, growth is projected to accelerate modestly from 4.5 per cent in 2016 to 4.8 per cent in 2017.

April 14

: India retained its top spot in 2015, attracting about $69 billion in remittances, down from $70 billion in 2014, the World Bank said in its annual report "Migration and Development Brief".

Other large remittance recipients in 2015 were China, with $64 billion, the Philippines

($28 billion), Mexico ($25 billion) and Nigeria ($21 billion).

April 14 : State-owned Punjab National Bank stated that it has launched many services, including SMS alert in Hindi and other languages and Indo-Nepal Remittance.

PNB also stated that other services include Unified Payment Interface, Launch of Mahila Kaushal Vikas Yojna and Housing Finance Scheme on the occasion of 122nd Foundation Day.

April 16 : India was among the first four countries to get a loan from the newly established BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) ,New Development Bank (NDB) which gave a $250 million funding to Canara Bank for a renewable energy project.

The project will result in generation of 500 Mw of renewable energy and savings of about 800,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

April 19 : Multi-lateral funding agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a project loan of $300 million (about Rs 2,000 crore) for upgradation of over 400 km of major district roads in Uttar Pradesh.

The loan, which is ADB's first road sector assistance in Uttar Pradesh,.

April 26 : To check debit card frauds, SBI has launched a facility under 'SBI Quick: SMS and Missed Call Banking' service whereby the customer can choose to activate or deactivate their cards using various platforms, like ATM, and Point of Sale (POS).

April 30 : National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) said that it has collaborated with the German government for a special programme on 'Soil Protection



and Rehabilitation for Food Security'. A high-level delegation from the Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Ministry of Germany, led by Stefan Schmitz, Commissioner, was here in connection with the programme, a release said.

RBIApril 05 :

The Reserve Bank cut the key interest rate by 0.25 per cent and introduced a host of measures to smoothen liquidity supply so that banks can lend to the productive sectors.

On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, it has been decided to:

# reduce the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 6.75 per cent to 6.5 per cent.

# reduce the minimum daily maintenance of the cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 95 per cent of the requirement to 90 per cent with effect from the fortnight beginning April 16, 2016, while keeping the CRR unchanged at 4.0 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).

# continue to provide liquidity as required but progressively lower the average ex ante liquidity deficit in the system from one per cent of NDTL to a position closer to neutrality.

# narrow the policy rate corridor from +/-100 basis points (bps) to +/- 50 bps by reducing the MSF rate by 75 basis points and increasing the reverse repo rate by 25 basis points, with a view to ensuring finer alignment of the weighted average call rate (WACR) with the repo rate.

Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 6.0 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate to 7.0 per cent. The Bank Rate which is aligned to the MSF rate also stands adjusted to 7.0 per cent.

April 13 : Airtel M Commerce Services (AMSL), a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, granted the first payments bank license from Reserve Bank of India (RBI). AMSL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Airtel, which offers mobile money services under the brand name Airtel Money.

www.mahendras.org



National & State News of the Month

April 01 : State-owned power equipment maker BHEL said it has commissioned its 5th 500 MW unit at Chandrapur Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) in Maharashtra.

With this, 9 coal-based sets aggregating to 3,340 MW.

April 02 : India retained its top spot in 2015, largest manufacturer in the world. After improving its manufacturing economy in the domestic market, India has now considerably risen to 6th position in the global rankings after China, US, Japan, Germany and Republic of Korea, according to the International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2016. Previously, India held the 9th rank.

April 02 : For the first time, a city has been declared kerosene free with sale of subsidised cooking and lighting fuel being stopped in Chandigarh completely.

Households have been shifted to LPG to help declare Chandigarh kerosene free.

The Petroleum Ministry with the help of Chandigarh Administration has been working for the last few months to make Chandigarh 'a Kerosene Free City'.

April 04 : Mehbooba Mufti, chairperson of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been sworn in as the first woman chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir

April 04 : IAF to take part in Red Flag exercise in US with NATO members Amid growing bonhomie between India and the US, 12 IAF aircraft, including the

Russian origin Su30 MKI, will fly to Alaska to take part in the prestigious 'Red Flag' air exercise that will see them in action alongside NATO forces during war games.

April 05 : The Gatiman Expres is India's first semi-high speed train and according to Indian Railways, will cruise at a top speed of 160 km per hour.

Gatimaan Express, Indian Railways first semi-high speed train, completed its maiden 200 km journey to Agra, Uttar Pradesh from Delhi within the targeted 100 minutes.

April 05 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the 'Stand up India' scheme under which banks will give loans of up to Rs 1 crore to SC/ST and women entrepreneurs.

The 'Stand up India Scheme' is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship among Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and women by giving loans in the range of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore for setting up a new enterprise.

There would be a Rs 10,000 crore refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC) will create a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore.

April 06 : In the quest to align to skill standards which are recognised globally, Union Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister, Rajiv Pratap Rudy along with National Skill Development Corporation and UK-India Education and Research Initiatives announced the launch of "Transnational



Skill Standards" in India. These standards in skill development are benchmarked to United Kingdom across 82 identified job roles.

April 06 : The Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the Manesar-Palwal section of the Kundli- Manesar-Palwal Expressway in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Shri Manohar Lal Khattar and Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Krishna Pal Gurjar in Palwal. The Manesar Palwal section of the express way has been built at the cost of Rs. 457.81 crore.

It is an access controlled, six-lane, divided road with 1.5 metre wide paved shoulder on each side. It intersects with Delhi-Jaipur NH8 near Manesar, Palwal-Sohna-Rewari NH 919, Sohna-Nuh-Alwar Road NH 248A and finally joins NH2 near Palwal. The road will provide uninterrupted high speed link for traffic, especially commercial traffic from Haryana to neighbouring states.

April 06 : Union Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar inaugurated three mega textile projects in Nagaland.

These three projects included Apparel and Garment Making Centre in Dimapur, Muga P3 Basic Seed Station Kobulong in Mokokchung district and newly approved Integrated Eri Silk Development Project under North East Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS).

April 06 : THE FIRST-EVER a i r - c o n d i t i o n e d suburban train for Mumbai rolled into the city.

The blue-grey train rake with a stainless steel body has 12 coaches with a capacity to seat 5,964 passengers, as opposed to 4,984 in the old Siemens rake.

April 07 : In a resounding testimonial to the government's public diplomacy efforts, India has been ranked among the top 10 countries

in terms of its digital diplomacy p e r f o r m a n c e , according to a global research and advocacy platform.

India and Mexico are the only two countries from the developing world in this list

April 07 : The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan dedicated 36 new CNG stations located in Delhi and NCR to the public. 30 out of these stations have been installed by Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL)

April 08 : The Union Minster of Human Resource Development Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani launched a portal for registration and allotment of International Standard Book Number (ISBN).

April 08 : Raja Rammohun Roy National Agency for ISBN, (Book Promotion and Copyright Division), under Department of Higher Education had organized the event for launch of ISBN portal.

April 09 : Government has roped in cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar to endorse the 'I Support Skill India' campaign, in an attempt to reach out to the youth and build awareness on the importance of skill development.

April 09 : Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu Inaugurates Fitment of CCTV In Amritsar- New Delhi Shan-E-Punjab Express Through Video-Conferencing

In keeping with the budgetary proposal to step up security measures in Railways, Minister for Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu inaugurated the Train No.s 12497/12498 Shan-e-Punjab Express. Referring to the Shan-e-Punjab train becoming the first train fitted with surveillance security cameras.



April 11 : Central Council for Research in h o m o e o p a t h y (CCRH) has signed two MOUs with institutions of higher education of Canada and Armenia. These MOUs between CCRH and College of Homeopaths of Ontario, Canada and another Between CCRH and Yerevan State Medical University, Armenia, were signed during two day International Convention on World Homoeopathy Day organized at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

Shripad Yesso Naik, Hon'ble Minister of State (IC) for AYUSHin his valedictory address greeted the people of India on the occasion of World Homoeopathy Day and appreciated that Homoeopathy has taken major scientific leaps in the past and its body of evidence is growing by the day.

April 12 : The number of wild tigers across the world has increased for the first time in over a

century, growing to an estimated 3,890 as compared to 3,200 in 2010, a report by Global Tiger Forum (GTF) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

The report showed India tops the list, with the highest population of wild tigers at 2,226.

April 13 : The decision that Gurgaon district to be renamed as G u r u g r a m , has been taken by the Manohar Lal Khattar government which claimed that people of the area have been making a demand in this regard.

Known around the world for its MNCs, such as Microsoft, TCS, Wipro, golf courses

and gated colonies that dot the cityscape, Gurgaon is set to get a new name — Gurugram. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced the decision along with that of Mewat, which will be called Nuh.

April 13 : Leading actor Ajay Devgn and his actress wife Kajol will serve as brand ambassadors of Andhra Pradesh tourism

April 13 : An Implementation Agreement for Ganga Rejuvenation under the Namami Gange Programme was signed in New Delhi between the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and German International Cooperation (GIZ) of Germany.

The project duration is three years i.e. from 2016 to 2018 and the German contribution in the project will be to the tune of Rs. 22.5 crore.

April 13 : Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launched ‘Mission Drinking Water.

The mission was launched in the backdrop of recurring droughts and severe water crisis in Marathwada and Vidarbha region of the state.

April 14 : Arihant, the lead ship of India's Arihant-class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, has been designed based on the Russian Akula-1 class submarines.

According to sources, the test was conducted on March 31 from Arihant in the Bay of Bengal. The missile was fired from around 20 metres under water, and covered a distance of 700 km before hitting the target.

Both the missile and the submarine have been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

April 14 : An MoU was signed by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road, Transport and Highways and Shipping, Government of the Republic



of India and Mr. Kim Young Suk, Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, Government of the Republic of Korea in Mumbai

This MoU is for cooperation and mutual assistance between India and Republic of Korea in port related matters.

April 14 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugrated the first-ever three-day Maritime India Summit (MIS), aimed at attracting global investors to the huge opportunities in the maritime sector.

Deals worth over Rs.82,000 crore are expected to be signed during the event, in which delegates, CEOs and experts from 41 countries will participate, in which South Korea is a partner.

April 15 : The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, launched the pilot of e-NAM - the e-trading platform for the National Agriculture Market. Under this Project, Government of India is providing a grant of Rs. 30 lacs to the proposed agriculture mandis of the states. The farmers will be provided “farmer helpline services round the clock” for obtaining information related to this portal.

April 15 : The Indian Navy has tied up with Jamia Millia Islamia for awarding graduation degrees to naval personnel for their in-service training. Navy conducts training programmes for its sailors at centres across the country.

Jamia Milia Islamia to give degrees for naval trainees. A Joint-Equivalence Committee, with members both from Jamia and Navy, was constituted for credit determination for Reuters.

April 16 : E m p l o y m e n t generation in eight key sectors, including gems & jewellery, handloom, leather and automobiles,

was at seven-year low of 1,35,000 jobs in 2015, a survey by Labour Bureau showed.

April 18 : National Mission for Clean Ganga under the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK) announced the formal launch of Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (CGRBMS)

The Ministry signed a 10 year Memorandum of Agreement with IITK for provision of continual scientific support in the implementation and dynamic evolution of the Ganga River Basin Management Plan.

April 19 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jammu and Kashmir's Karta town, where he is scheduled to address the convocation at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, interact with citizens, apart from a wide range of other activities.

In his tweet he wrote that he will also inaugurate the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Superspeciality Hospital and a sports complex besides addressing a public meeting.

April 20 : The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today gave its approval to move official amendments in the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015.

The legislation will ensure expeditious utilization of accumulated unspent amounts available with the ad hoc Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), which presently is of the order of Rs.40,000 crore, and fresh accrual of compensatory levies and interest on accumulated unspent balance, which will be of the order of approx. Rs. 6,000 crore per annum, in an efficient and transparent manner.



April 20 : Ministry of Road Transport & Highways sets steep targets for 2016-17 : Aims at 2.5 times increase in award and construction of National Highways

Minister of Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari has fixed a 2.5 times increase in the target for award and construction of National Highways for the year 2016-17.

The year 2015-16 has been one of very positive outcomes for the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. Works on a length of more than 10,000 km were awarded for the very first time. The completion of construction of 6000 km marked a year-over-year increase of nearly 36 %.

April 20 : Bowing to pressure from trade unions, the government has set aside the c o n t r o v e r s i a l provident fund (PF) withdrawal norms that had restricted complete withdrawal from PF account before the retirement age of 58 years.

April 20 : The central government , told the Supreme Court that more than one-third of India’s districts are affected by severe drought, raising the court’s anxiety over steps being taken by the the Centre and state governments in providing imminent relief.

Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha informed a bench led by Justice Madan B Lokur that 256 of 675 districts in the country have been declared drought-hit.

April 21 : The government has merged Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA), launched by the previous UPA government, with the Khelo India

programme for development of sports, thereby dropping former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's name from it.

Two other sport projects launched by the previous regime, that is, Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme and National Sports Talent Search Scheme, have also been merged under Khelo India.

April 21 : The Indian Navy announced grant of permanent commission to women officers on completion of seven years in service, adding that seven of its women officers who joined in 2008-09 will be accorded permanent commission.

April 22 : Himachal Pradesh has bagged another National Award in Agriculture sector for 2015-16 as Hamirpur district has been selected for the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration.

The award is given for excellent implementation of Soil Health Card Scheme, Upma Chowdhary, Additional chief secretary (Agriculture) said.

April 23 : The Rashtrapati Bhavan approved a list of six nominated members to the Rajya Sabha, including senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, former Test cricketer and BJP MP Navjyot Singh Sidhu and boxing legend Mary Kom among others.

April 25 : Nine newly-elected members, of them five from the Congress, were administered their oath of membership of the Rajya Sabha.

April 25 : Shri J P Nadda inaugurates first of its kind Central Government CGMPcompliant facility for production of vaccines at CRI, Kasauli (national)



Shri J P Nadda, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare inaugurated the first of its kind Current Good Manufacturing Practise (CGMP) compliant facility within the Central Government for manufacture of DPT and TT vaccine at the Central Research Institute (CRI), Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh.

April 26 : Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Sitasharan Sharma has been nominated as a member of the C o m m o n w e a l t h P a r l i a m e n t a r y Association.

Sharma will take part in the Executive Committee Meeting of the Association in London from April 27 to 30.

April 27 :

A Naval Detachment (NAVDET) at Androth Island of Lakshadweep was inaugurated by Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, AVSM, VSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South-ern Naval Command

April 30 : Gujarat government announced 10 percent reservation for economically backward classes (EBCs) in general category.

EBCs in the upper castes, include Patidars, with a family income cap of 6 lakh rupees a year that is 50000 rupees per month can avail the benefit.

International News of the Month

April 02 : Vietnam's National Assembly elected Tran Dai Quang as the country's new president.

Truong Tan Sang was relieved from duty as the president.

April 07 : Marking the 60th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations with India, Oman has issued special postal stamps depicting the Taj Mahal and the Gulf country's iconic Grand Mosque.

Oman Post issued the stamps in a ceremony at the Indian Embassy in Muscat.

The Guest of Honour was Under Secretary for Diplomatic Affairs at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman, Ali bin Ahmed Al-Isa'eei.

April 07 : The ruling center-right coalition of Iceland approved a new Prime Minister, the Minister of fisheries of Sigurdur Inga Johansson.

April 08 : The Chinese government will provide Bangladesh grant assistance of about $50 million for construction of the eighth Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge.

In this connection an agreement was signed between Bangladesh and China in capital Dhaka.

The length of the bridge will be 1,400 metres and Bangladesh roads and highway department will carry out the project.

April 08 : Kosovo's new president, Hashim Thaci, has assumed his post in a swearing-in ceremony at the Parliament that the opposition boycotted.

Thaci, 47, who replaces Atifete Jahjaga, was elected in Parliament in the absence of nearly all opposition lawmakers who earlier tried to disrupt the voting with tear gas.

April 11 : India and Maldives signed six agreements, including one on Defence Cooperation and avoidance of double taxation, after



delegat ion- level talks with visiting Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The other agreements inked were for exchange of information regarding taxes, space cooperation and conservation of historical monuments and tourism.

April 12 : Kyrgyz Prime Minister Temir Sariyev resigned, after several parliament members accused his cabinet of corruption.

The government's work has stalled at such a difficult time.

April 15 : Ukraine's parliament appointed pro-Western speaker Volodymyr Groysman as prime minister in a bid to end months of political gridlock and unlock vital aid to the war torn-state.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he hoped the new government "will not be guided by some sort of phobias or act in the interest of foreign agencies" -- a veiled reference to Brussels and Washington.

April 16 : Nepal's first woman acting Chief Justice Sushila Karki has assumed office, months after the country got its first woman President and Speaker.

She is also known for judgements allowing women to pass their citizenship to their children, previously open only to men in Nepal.

April 20 : India and Mauritius sign MoU to promote cooperation in the field of Traditional Medicine and Homoeopathy

India has signed an MoU with Mauritius on cooperation in the field of traditional system of medicine and Homoeopathy. The MoU was signed during the recent visit of Minster of State for AYUSH(Independent Charge) and Health & Family Welfare, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik to Mauritius.

This MoU also aims at promotion and popularization of the various Indian traditional systems which fall under AYUSH.

April 21 : Memorandum of Understanding between India and Bhutan on Technical Cooperation in the Field of Capacity Building, Benchmarking and Bilateral Exchange

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bhutan on technical cooperation in the field of capacity building, benchmarking and bilateral exchange in infrastructure engineering. Through this MoU, the Central Public Works Department will stand to gain in terms of experience in hills road construction which is of paramount importance in J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and various States of North-East Region. The CPWD also expects to garner some road construction projects in Bhutan.

April 22 : The Malaysian government recently introduced the Electronic Travel Authorization Visa (e-visa) for a short visit to the country. At this point in time, the e-visa facility is available to Indians residing in India only and is valid for a single journey stay of maximum 30 days in Malaysia for tourism purposes.

April 22 :



Chad's incumbent president, Idriss Deby, an important ally of the West in the fight against Islamist militants, won a fifth term in office in a lopsided first-round victory, the Central African country's elections commission announced

April 22 : Anti-slavery crusader Harriet Tubman will become the first African-American on the face of U.S. paper currency, and the first woman in more than a century, when she replaces former President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.

Lew said the designs should be unveiled by 2020 and go into circulation

April 22 : Chinese state media have unveiled a new title for the country’s president, Xi Jinping, calling him “commander in chief” of the nation’s new joint forces battle command centre as he seeks to consolidate power over the military.

April 23 : Representatives from 170 countries met at the UN to sign the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and made clear the urgency of taking action to stop global warming.

In order for the accord to take effect, at least 55 countries responsible for 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions must complete the ratification process.

The two countries leading the world in emissions of greenhouse gases, the US and China, committed themselves to complete the ratification process this year.

April 23 : On Earth Day, WWF India and a global technology company signed an agreement which aims at providing infrastructure support to frontline forest guards and field staff monitoring various wildlife species, including tiger, elephants and rhinos.

April 27 : Palestinians inaugurated a giant statue of Nelson Mandela donated by the South African city of Johannesburg to their political capital in the Israeli-occupied West

Bank. The six-metre (20-foot) two-tonne bronze statue was a gift from Johannesburg with which Ramallah is twinned.

April 27 : Lobsang Sangay has been re-elected prime minister of the Tibetan g o v e r n m e n t -in-exile in voting held last month, officials announced, with Sangay saying the election shows that Tibetans in exile “are practicing democracy, whereas China is not

April 27 :

Ahead of President Pranab Mukherjee's trip to Papua New Guinea, the government ap-proved the signing of an agreement between the two countries, seeking cooperation in the field of healthcare and medical sciences.

India and Papua New Guinea signed four agreements, including in areas of healthcare and information technology, on the second and concluding day of President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to this Pacific island-nation.

April 30 : Tabassum Adnan, a women's rights activist from Pakistan's troubled Swat valley has won the prestigious Nelson Mandela award, becoming the second woman from the restive region to gain international recognition after Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.



April 01 : Senior IFS officer K Nandini Singla has been appointed India's next Ambassador to Portugal. Singla, a 1997-batch IFS officer, is currently posted as Joint Secretary (Europe Desk) in the Ministry of External Affairs here.

She is expected to take up her assignment shortly," the External Affairs Ministry said. Singla will succeed Jitendra Nath Misra.

April 01 : Shri Rajiv Gauba, IAS (Jharkhand cadre-1982 batch) took over as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Urban Development

Shri Gauba also served in the International Monetary Fund representing the Country for four years on the Board of IMF

Shri Gauba joined the Ministry of Urban Development on superannuation of Shri Madhusudhan Prasad on March 31,2016

April 06 : Dominica's Patricia Scotland has taken over as the first woman S e c r e t a r y - G e n e r a l of the 53-member C o m m o n w e a l t h , succeeding India's Kamalesh Sharma.

She has succeeded Sharma who was appointed Secretary- General in 2007 and 2011.

April 07 : Kolkata Metro railway chief A K Kapoor was appointed as Member (Electrical) of the Railway Board. Kapoor is presently posted as General Manager, Metro Railway, in Kolkata.

April 07 : The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has constituted a three-member panel, headed by former

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) B B Tandon, to see that guidelines set for government advertisements by the Supreme Court are followed.

April 08 : An eminent Indian-origin litigator has been appointed to one of the senior most positions in New York, Attorney General office.

Manisha Sheth has been appointed as Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

April 09 : Maharashtra cadre IPS officer Meeran C Borwankar appointed as Director General, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), a consultancy organisation under the Centre for modernisation of police forces.

April 09 : The competent authority has approved the induction of Shri Rakesh Asthana, IPS (GJ:84) as Additional Director in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on deputation basis for a period of four years.

April 09 : Rajeev Talwar, CEO of DLF Ltd, has taken charge as the Chairman of National Real Estate Development Council.

Talwar is a member of the board of directors and CEO of DLF Ltd.

A post-graduate and a graduate from St. Stephens College, Delhi University, he started his career in 1976 as a Probationary Officer with State Bank of India.

April 13 : Japanese car maker Nissan Motors has appointed former Mahindra Group executive Deepa Thomas as its vice-president (VP) for communications and CSR.

Appointments of the Month



April 15 : L&T Finance Holdings elevated Dinanath Dubhashi as its deputy managing director.

Dubhashi has been in the industry for a quarter of a century with experience across multiple domains such as corporate banking, cash management, credit ratings, retail and rural lending.

April 15 : President Barack Obama appointed Indian American MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga to a key administration post as a member of the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity.

Banga is one of the nine members of the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity appointed by Obama

April 15 : Susmita Pande, a professor at Ujjain's Vikram University, has been appointed as the new chairperson of the National Monument Authority (NMA).

NMA, under the Culture ministry, is responsible for the protection and preservation of centrally protected monuments and sites

April 16 : Adille Sumariwalla was re-elected unopposed as the president of Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for a second term at its Annual General Body Meeting .

Sumariwalla was the lone nomination received for the top post and was declared elected president for the term 2016-2020 by the returning officer Justice (Retd) Kailash Gambhir on the first day of the AFI AGM.

April 18 : Justice Rao, along with Justices Huluvadi G Ramesh and Rajiv Shakdher from the Allahabad and Delhi High courts respectively, had been transferred to the High Court.

April 19 : The Competent Authority has approved the appointment of Shri Deepak Mishra, IPS as Addl. Director General in CRPF from the date of assumption of charge of the post and upto 30.11.2018 (i.e. date of his retirement on superannuation) or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

April 19 : Pakistan Cricket Board appointed former Test leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed as the new head coach of the National Cricket Academy.

Mushtaq, who was until recently the bowling coach of the national team, has been tasked with the responsibility of running the NCA affairs.

April 21 : The Indian cricket board has appointed Rahul Johri as its new chief executive officer, in line with the recommendations of the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee.

He will take on his new role on June 1, 2016, reporting to the BCCI secretary and will be based at the Mumbai office.

April 21 : US President Barack Obama has nominated Indian-American Geeta Pasi, a career foreign service officer, as the country's next envoy to Chad.

April 21 : The Goa govern-ment decided to appoint Justice P.K. Mishra, former Chief Justice of Patna High Court who had recently retired as chairman of Goa State Human Rights commission, as Lokayukta of the State.

April 23 : Senior IAS officer J S Mathur was appointed as Secretary in the Union Ministry of Panchayatai Raj.



April 23 : Indian Information Service (IIS) officer Bhupendra Kainthola was appointed as Director of Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

Kainthola, a 1989 batch IIS officer, has been appointed to the post for three years, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

April 26 : Boeing India President Pratyush Kumar has been appointed as the Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in India.

US Ambassador to India Richard Verma is the honorary President of the chamber.

April 26 : Online marketplace Snapdeal announced the appointment of Kanika Kalra as Vice President (Marketing).

A seasoned global marketing professional with a career spanning over 12 years, Kanika joined Snapdeal after several triumphant stints at Hindustan Unilever limited, Pepsico and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Limited.

April 26 : Talking about his priorities after taking over as ACB chief, Mathur, the senior-most officer of the rank of DG.

Satish Mathur, a 1981-batch IPS officer, took charge as the ACB chief. Prior to this, Mathur was heading the Maharashtra State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation (MSPHWC).

April 27 : Bureaucratic Ashok Lavasa appointed Expenditure Secretary. Senior IAS officers Ashok Lavasa and Ajay Mittal appointed as Expenditure and Information and Broadcasting secretaries respectively in a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle.

In all, 14 new secretaries have been appointed in various central government departments.

April 28 : Rajeev Sharma appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of Power Finance Corporation (PFC), a Navratna Public Sector Undertaking. Sharma is presently CMD of Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd.



April 01 : Bollywood star Ranveer Singh, who brought alive the role of Maratha warrior Peshwa Bajirao II on the silver screen through Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Bajirao Mastani”, will be feted with the ‘Maharashtrian Of The Year’

April 02 : Four authors and a translator from India are in the running for the 2016 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, which has shortlisted 26 "fresh and unexpected" stories by writers from 11 countries. Currently in its 5th year, the Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000-5,000 words) in English.

Short stories that are translated into English from other languages are eligible too.

April 04 :

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with the Arabian country’s highest civilian honour — the King Abdulaziz Sash.

The prime minister was presented the award by King Salman bin Abdulaziz at the Royal Court on the night before his scheduled departure to New Delhi.

The award is named after Abdulaziz Al Saud, the founder of the modern Saudi state.

April 06 : The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee will confer the National Geoscience Awards - 2014 at a function to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The National Geoscience Awards carries a cash prize and a certificate.

Till date (i.e. up to NGA-2013), seven hundred twenty one geoscientists have been honoured with the National Geoscience Awards.

April 08 : Former army chief General (retired) J J Singh will be conferred with the highest French civilian distinction, Officer of the Legion of Honour

April 08 : “The Jungle Book” director Jon Favreau has been feted with the PETA US award for using computer-generated imagery rather than relying on abused captive animals to create the film.

For “The Jungle Book”, which releases in India in April,Favreau was tasked with bringing to life some of the most iconic animal characters ever seen on screen, from Baloo the bear to Shere Khan the tiger.

April 09 : Nitish Kumar has been awarded with the K Veeramani Award for Social Justice 2015 for his contribution towards social justice as Chief Minister.

The award is given away by Periyar International, a Chicago-based voluntary organisation.

April 09 : Mother Teresa has been posthumously conferred with the UK's prestigious Founders Award this year which is given to recognize and reward exemplary achievements of people within the global Asian community

The Asian awards was launched in 2010 by Paul Sagoo, entrepreneur and founder of the Lemon group.

April 11 : Actress Priyanka Chopra will be given Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation's "Best Actress of the Year" award. This would be Priyanka's

Awards of the Month



second award from the Foundation after she received her first award for 'Most Memorable Performance' for 2011 film Saath Khoon Maaf.

April 11 : Khadija Ismayilova, an investigative journalist from Azerbaijan, has been chosen to receive the 2016 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

Ms Ismayilova, a freelance journalist and contributor to the Azerbaijani service of Radio Free Europe, was detained in December 2014, and, in September 2015, was sentenced to seven and a half years’ imprisonment on charges relating to abuse of power and tax evasion.

The Prize will be awarded during the celebration of World Press Freedom Day, 3 May, hosted by Finland this year.

April 11 : "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was adjudged the Movie of the Year and actor Daisy Ridley won the honour for Breakthrough Performance at the MTV Movie Awards.

Director J.J. Abrams accepted the award from Samuel L. Jackson and Alexander Skarsgard at the gala.

April 13 : Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has won the 'Global Indian of the Year' award.

Aishwarya was honoured at NRI of the Year award function held here last evening. The actress, 42, dedicated the award to her daughter Aaradhya. Besides Aishwarya, noted tennis player Sania Mirza was also honoured at the NRI of the Year Award 2016.

April 16 : The Mumbai Press Club selected T N Ninan, Chairman and Editorial Director of Business Standard,for this year's 'RedInk Award for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism'.

The award will be presented to Ninan by the Governor of Maharashtra C Vidyasagar Rao on April 26.

April 18 : Veteran actor Jeetendra and Anil Kapoor were named for Maharashtra government’s awards in memory of late Raj Kapoor.

Jeetendra, 74, will be given Raj Kapoor Lifetime Contribution Award and the 59-year-old “Virasat” star will receive the Raj Kapoor Special Contribution Award, Maharashtra Cultural Affairs Minister Vinod Tawde said in a statement.

The lifetime award carries a citation, a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh while the special contribution award carries a citation, a trophy and a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh.

April 19 : The Associated Press won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for reporting on abuse in the seafood industry that helped free 2,000 slave laborers, and Reuters and The New York Times shared the breaking news photography award for images of the European refugee crisis.

April 19 : Novak Djokovic pipped the likes of Usain Bolt and Lionel Messi to win the 'Sportsman of the Year' trophy for a third time, while Serena Williams clinched the top honour in the women's category at the Laureus World Sports Awards.

April 21 : London-based Indian diplomat Amitav Banerji was conferred one of the highest awards of Cyprus - Commander of the Order of Merit - at a ceremony at the Cypriot high commission in London. The Commonwealth, with 53 members including India, is the largest association of countries after the United Nations.

April 23 : Padma Shri awardee I n d i a n - A m e r i c a n Ashok Mago has received the prestigious Distinguished Alumni Award from theUniversity of Texas in the US for his services to the world of trade and industry.



Veteran actor Jeetendra, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Bollywood star Ranveer Singh were honoured with '74th Master Dinanath Mangeshkar Awards'.

Jeetendra, 74, got the lifetime achievement award while Bhansali and Ranveer got special award for direction and acting for their magnum opus "Bajirao Mastani".

The top honour was given by legendary singer AshaBhosle.

April 27 : New Zealand’s five-dollar note has been named the banknote of the year for 2015, a “clear winner” among nearly 40 eligible designs from a record 20 countries.

The honour is awarded every year by the International Bank Note Society.

April 27 : A food engineering research scholar from IIT Kharagpur has won the prestigious

International Plant Nutrition Scholar Award.

The award was recently given by the US-based International Plant Nutrition Institute to K Ashok Kumar, research scholar at the department of agricultural and food engineering, IIT Kharagpur.

The award carries a cash prize of USD 2,000 and a recognition certificate.

April 29 : Senior journalists Manoj Sharma and Sarika Malhotra have been jointly awarded the inaugural Aster Media Awards for writings that have helped create public awareness and drive action on social issues.



Eulogies of the MonthApril 01 : Ronnie Corbett, one

of Britain’s most popular entertainers, who was a regular television fixture for more than 50 years, has died aged 85.

He was best known as one half of The Two Ronnies with his comedy partner, Ronnie Barker

April 02 : Germany's Cold War-era veteran foreign minister H a n s - D i e t r i c h Genscher, who was the country's top diplomat when the Berlin Wall fell, has died at age 89, his office .

Genscher was among a selected few politicians who left a strong personal mark on the course of postwar European history, and tributes poured in immediately.

Genscher's marathon 1974-92 tenure as foreign minister broke longevity records in Europe and spanned some of the continent's most dramatic moments.

April 05 : Former AC Milan defender and Italy coach Cesare Maldini has died at the age of 84.

Born in Trieste in 1932, Maldini won four Serie A titles with Milan, as well as their first European Cup in 1963, as a player. He then managed the club between 1972-1974. He was capped 14 times by Italy.

April 07 : Veteran journalist and author Yogendra Bali died, after a brief illness.

He was 86 and is survived by wife Vijay and daughters Kalika and Purva.

April 12 : One of India's top female bikers, Veenu Paliwal died in road accident in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district.

Paliwal along with her companion Dipesh Tanwar was on a nationwide tour on her Harley Davidson when the accident happened.

Paliwal, a Jaipur resident, was known for her skills with the motorcycle and for having driven the Harley Davidson bikes at 180kmph.

April 12 : Former Real Madrid defender Pedro de Felipe died here aged 71, the Spanish football club. De Felipe, who was born in Madrid in 1944, won the European Cup in 1966, five La Liga titles and one Copa del Rey during his successful career with Real Madrid.

De Felipe played a total of 170 games and was one of the most prominent defenders for Real Madrid which dominated the Spanish football in the 1960s.

April 16 : Filmmaker Dan Ireland, who co-founded the Seattle Film Festival has died. He was 57.

His directorial debut, “The Whole Wide World” helped launch the career of his lead actress, Renee Zellweger.

April 22 : Prince, who defined the sound of the '80s with songs such as "Kiss" and "Purple Rain" and defied the music industry in a fight for creative freedom, died.

The 57-year-old singer was found unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota, Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson said.

April 23 : Famous Urdu poet Prof. Malik Zada Manzoor Ahmed died after a prolonged illness. He was 91.

Scholar, orator, poet and novelist, he had recited poems at thousands of Mushairas and kavi-sammelans since 1949, in a number of countries other than India, which includes USA, Canada, UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, Nepal and Pakistan.



April 25 : Papa Wemba, one of Africa's greatest music stars, has died after collapsing on stage during a festival in the Ivory Coast.

Papa Wemba, who was known as the "king of Congolese rumba" for helping to bring the highly popular sound to an international audience, was 66.

April 25 : Soul singer Billy Paul has died from a serious medical condition at his home. He was 81.

The singer's death was announced on his website. The singer is best known for his Grammy-award winning 1972 hit, "Me and Mrs Jones."

April 01 : Veteran Journalist and founder member of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists S V Jayasheela Rao died at a private hospital. Rao, who was hospitalised for breathing problem for the last five days, passed away at Maiya Hospital here, his family sources said.



April 01 : Former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame,

The 7-foot-6 Yao, whose career started in Shanghai in the Chinese Basketball Association, was the first pick in the 2002 draft and is given much of the credit for bringing the NBA to China.

April 01 : An Olympic quota place pocketed, Indian boxer Shiva Thapa (56kg) ended his campaign with a silver medal after losing in the final of the Asian/Oceania Qualifying Tournament .

Shiva had booked his ticket to Rio de Janeiro by making the finals after beating Kazakhstan's Kairat Yeraliyev.

April 01 : ADAM Scott announced he wasn’t going to play in the Olympics next year and nobody batted an eyelid.

Yet there is something that rankles about his decision not to be bothered to represent his country

April 04 : West Indies created history by becoming the first nation to win the ICC World T20 twice with a dramatic four-wicket victory over England riding on Carlos Brathwaite four consecutive lusty sixes in the final over of the innings.

Chasing a tricky target of 156, it was Marlon Samuels, who did an encore of the 2012 final that Darren Sammy’s men had won, hitting a magnificent 85 not out off 66 balls with nine boundaries and two huge sixes.

However it was the unheralded giant Brathwaite, who scored 34 off only 10 balls as he hit the four most important maximums of his short cricketing career.

April 04 : West Indies converted their maiden appearance in a World Twenty20 final into a historic victory in Kolkata, beating three-time defending champions Australia for the first time in a T20 international by pulling off the second highest chase in the tournament's history.

The heroes of the daunting pursuit were 18-year old Hayley Matthews and the captain Stafanie Taylor, whose half-centuries and 120-partnership came at more than a run a ball.

April 04 : World number one Novak Djokovic surpassed Roger Federer as the highest-earning player in ATP Tour history, after capturing a third consecutive Miami Open crown with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Japan's Kei Nishikori.

Djokovic's win -- his sixth career victory in Miami to equal Andre Agassi's record -- saw him pocket $1.028 million (902,000 euros), taking him past Federer as the all-time ATP earnings leader with $98,199,548 to the Swiss great's $97,855,881.

April 04 : Judd Trump beat fellow Englishman Ricky Walden to win the China Open for the second time in his career.

The world number seven claimed eight consecutive frames on his way to a 10-4 victory over Walden, 33, who is three places below him in the rankings.

Trump claimed the £85,000 top prize, while Walden picked up £35,000.

April 05 : Underfire Waqar Younis resigned as Pakistan’s head coach in the wake of team’s early exit from the World Twenty20 in India.

Shahid Afridi had quit T20 team’s captaincy due to their poor performance at the

Sports News of the Month



prestigious event, where they managed just one win at the Group stage.

The 44-year-old, who first coached the side in 2010-11, wants his recommendations to be implemented by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

April 07 : Australia's football federation has announced a collaboration with the Australian government to provide a number of football-based grassroots development programmes in India.

The FIFA has said it had held talks with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Sports Authority of India to secure access to national facilities in the event that the programme expands beyond the state of Kerala.

"Just Play" is a joint venture between the Australian government, the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), Unicef and UEFA Foundation. FIFA has been an official partner since the programme was inaugurated in 2009.'

April 07 : The Indian men won the Asian Nations Cup chess championship while the women's team just missed out on a podium finish to finish fourth in Abu Dhabi.

India won 3-1 to annex the title for the third time with a tally of 17 points.

Eight-time champions China blanked hosts UAE 4-0 in the last round, but could not dislodge India from the top and had to settle for second place with 15 points.

Except drawing unexpectedly versus Mongolia, India won all their matches, including against a strong Chinese side.

April 08 : Failure to defend their individual titles at the India Open Super Series last week cost Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth dearly as the top Indian shuttlers slipped down the order in the latest BWF World rankings

Saina, who had to deal with a nagging ankle

injury, lost two places to sink to World No. 8 in women's singles after losing in the semifinals of India Open, while Srikanth dropped four spots to be placed at the 14th spot in men's singles.

April 11 : Malaysia's badminton star Lee Chong Wei won his 11th Malaysian Open title, a much-needed boost for his pursuit of a still-elusive Olympic gold medal.

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

April 11 : Unbeaten throughout the championship, Indian men’s and women’s kho-kho teams won both the category’s championship titles at the third Asian Kho-Kho championship organised in Indore.

In both the finals, the hosts scored victory against Bangladesh teams.

Both the match winners from India won a cash prize of Rs 51,000 each for their outstanding performances in the championship.

April 12 : With his four wickets for 22 runs in the match, Bravo became the first bowler in T20s to reach the milestone of 300 wickets. He went past Lasith Malinga’s 299 wickets in T20s as the Sri Lankan bowler has been lying low due to injuries in the past few months. Here is the list of top five wicket-takers in T20s.

April 13 : Chess wizard Vishwanathan Anand was conferred with the prestigious Hridaynath Award, which recognises individuals for success in various walks of life.

The honour comprises a cash award of Rs 2 lakh and a momento.

April 14 : New Zealand’s Kane Williamson was named the Wisden's Leading Cricketer in the World for the year 2015. On the other hand, White Ferns captain Suzie Bates was named the



Leading Women's Cricketer in the World for 2015.

For the first time two New Zealand players - Williamson and Brendon McCullum - were named among the Wisden Almanack's Five Cricketers of the Year.

April 18 : Bengaluru FC were crowned as I-League football champions for the second time in three years as they blanked Salgaocar 2-0 in their penultimate league match in Bengaluru.

They had won their maiden crown in 2013-14 season and had finished second last season (2014-15) behind Mohun Bagan.

April 18 : Indonesia’s Sony Dwi Kuncoro beat Korean Son Wan-Ho to win the Singapore Open Superseries as Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon also triumphed, becoming the world’s top female shuttler in the process.

The unfancied Kuncoro, who stunned two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan in the semi-finals, took the first game 21-16.

April 18 : Dipa Karmakar created history by becoming the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics as she booked a berth for the Rio Games after a strong performance at the final qualifying and test event.

The 22-year-old garnered a total score of 52.698 points in the Olympics qualifying event to book a berth for artistic gymnastics in Rio Games to be held here in August.

Apart from being the first Indian woman, she will also be an Indian gymnast qualifying for the quadrennial extravaganza after 52 long years.

April 18 : Rafael Nadal claimed his ninth Monte Carlo Masters title, his first ATP crown since July 2014, as the Spaniard defeated Frenchman

Gael Monfils in final by three sets. It has taken Nadal four years to wait for crowning in the Principality and almost two years for an ATP 1000 Masters title, Xinhua news agency reported.

Nadal then broke three times to dominate the final set 6-0 and wrapped up his 48th final victory on clay.

April 18 : Six times world champion Steve Davis announced here on Sunday his retirement from competitive snooker 38 years after turning professional.

He finished his career with a total of 355 century breaks and earned more than 5.5 million pounds in prize money.

April 19 : Hours after creating history by becoming the first Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, Dipa Karmakar clinched the gold in vaults finals at the test event of the Rio Games

Ms Karmakar, 22, scored 14.833 as her best effort to finish first in the women's vaults finals and win the gold in a rare such feat by an Indian gymnast in a global event.

The International Federation of Gymnastics (Federation Internationale de Gymnastique) has confirmed Dipa's Rio Games qualification in its official release.

April 19 : James Cooke of Britain won the men's individual gold medal at the Modern Pentathlon World Cup. Hungarian Adam Marosi won the silver and his fellow countryman Bence Demeter took the bronze medal. Cooke came 16th in the fencing, first in the swim and 11th in the riding. Cooke's overall score was 1,491 points.

April 20 : UEFA have announced that Hawk-Eye will provide the goal-line technology (GLT) at the European Championship in France in June and July.



Hawk-Eye (GLT), which deploys seven cameras in each goal, is already used in the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A and was also used by FIFA for last year's women's World Cup in Canada.

It will be used along with the already-existing system of additional assistant referees behind each goal.

April 21 : TVS Tyres announced that they would be principal sponsor of franchise Gujarat Lions in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament.TVS in the past have been associated with sporting events like Pro Kabaddi League, Hockey India League and Cricket All Stars Series.

April 21 : Brazilian swimmer Larissa Oliveira set her second South American record in three days when she won the 100 metres freestyle at an Olympic test event here.

In the 200m backstroke, Leonardo de Deus secured a Games spot by winning the final in 1 minute, 56.57 seconds.

April 23 : Rio Olympics 2016: Salman Khan to be Goodwill Ambassador for Indian contingent.

Superstar Salman Khan will represent India in the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio as he has been nominated as the Goodwill Ambassador for the Indian Contingent.

This is the first time that a Bollywood superstar has been chosen to as a Goodwill Ambassador for the games.

April 25 : Bob and Mike Bryan won the Barcelona Open doubles tennis title after defeating Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas and the Spaniard Marcel Granollers.

The twin brothers took advantage of their experience and mutual chemistry against

Cuevas and Granollers who played on Sunday their first doubles final, reports Efe.

This is the Bryan brothers' second title in 2016.

April 25 : German woman tennis player Angelique Kerber won the Stuttgart Open title after beating compatriot Laura Siegemund in straight sets in the final.

Kerber, ranked third in the world, defeated Siegemund.

This is Kerber's ninth title throughout her professional career and the second in 2016 after winning the Australian Open's final against United States legend Serena Williams.

April 25 : Wrestler Sandeep Tomar secured an Olympic quota place for India in the men's 57kg freestyle category with a bronze-medal finish on the final day of the 1st World Olympic Qualifying tournament here.

Sandeep qualified for the Olympics by winning the playoff bout after having clinched the bronze medal.

April 25 : Indian shooter Mairaj Ahmed Khan started off his campaign at the ISSF World Cup on a positive note by winning a silver medal in Men’s Skeet.

Earlier in the year he became India's first ever Skeet shooter to win an Olympic quota place.

The ISSF World Cup is also serving as a test event for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

April 25 : Kenya's EliudKipchoge retained the men's title of the London Marathon with a second fastest time in the event so far.

April 25 : Rafael Nadal beat defending champion Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-5 to win the Barcelona Open



for the ninth time, equaling Guillermo Vilas’ record of 49 career clay-court titles.

Nadal added this title to his trophy from Monte Carlo last week as the 14-time Grand Slam winner regains form on his favorite surface ahead of next month’s French Open.

Nishikori had won the tournament for the last two years after early exits by Nadal.

April 26 : The Judo Federation of India (JFI) announced that it has been allotted the Commonwealth Judo Championships 2018 which will be organised in Jaipur.

This will be the first time that Commonwealth Judo Championships will be held in India.

April 26 : Indian rower Dattu Bhokanal qualified for the Rio Olympics after winning a silver in the finals of men’s single sculls at the 2016 FISA Asian and Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta at Chung-ju in South Korea.

April 26 : Mohun Bagan and India striker Jeje Lalpekhlua declared winner of the 'Indian Player of the Year' award by the Football Players Association of India (FPAI) at its annual awards function held at the Cooperage Ground here.

April 27 : Badminton ace Nandu Natekar has been inducted into the Legends Club, founded by the late Cricket Club of India president Raj Singh Dungarpur, as the first non-cricketer, along with 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev.

Apte, a former Test opening batsman, has obtained the consent from Kapil Dev and Nandu Natekar.

April 27 : IPL's newest cricket team, Gujarat Lions have entered into a partnership with Reliance Games, a publisher and developer of mobile games.

With this partnership, Reliance Games becomes the Official Gaming Partner of the Rajkot based team, led by ace batsman Suresh Raina.

April 28 : There’s something about Deepika Kumari in an Olympic year.

In 2012, in the run up to the London Games she raised her game to such a level that it propelled her to the world no.1 position in the rankings. But nerves did her in when it mattered the most.

April 29 : Top seed Jagadeesh Kalaga of Andhra Pradesh won the Under-17 boys singles title, while Aakarshi Kashyap bagged twin crownes in the Under-15 and Under-17 girls singles category at the PNB MetLife Junior Badminton Championship Season 2 National Finals

April 30 : After Salman Khan's appointment as the good will ambassador for the Rio 2016 Olympics, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has now roped in shooter and 2008 Olympic gold-medalist Abhinav Bindra as well.

April 30 : Olympics-bound Lalita Babar smashed her own national record to win the gold while Sudha Singh also qualified for the Rio Games while winning silver in women's 3000m steeplechase on the second and penultimate day of the Federation Cup National Athletics Championships in New Delhi.

Sudha's was the first Olympic qualifying effort in the Championships.



Science News of the Month

April 01 : Union Minister of Science &Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan proudly addressed a distinguished gathering of scientists at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES)

April 01 : Nancy Aggarwal and Karan P. Jani, two Indian student scientists who work with the Laser I n t e r f e r o m e t e r Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) project that recently proved the existence of gravitational waves envisaged by Albert Einstein a century ago, are excited about the possibility of returning to India.

The Union Cabinet had recently approved Rs 1200 crore for the project, and this will be the third LIGO observatory, and the first one outside of U.S that will come up.

April 01 : Delving deep into the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has revealed a rich tapestry of more than half a million stars at its core.

April 01 : North Korea fired a short-range missile into the sea,hours after the U.S., South Korean and Japanese leaders pledged to work closer together to prevent North Korea from advancing its nuclear and missile programs.

The surface-to-air missile fired from an eastern coastal area flew into waters off the North's east coast.

April 04 : Expanding its nuclear power generation in a big way, China has developed the country's

first 300-megawatt nuclear reactor cooling pump, a critical component. The cooling pump has been tested for 200 hours of continuous operation under automated high-temperature and high-pressure conditions

April 06 : Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, launched the Low Cost and Environment-friendly solar lighting device, which would prove to be a boon for the urban and rural households in the country that do not have reliable access to electricity. The device has been developed under the aegis of the Department of Science & Technology.

April 06 : China ,launched a retrievable scientific research satellite in a bid to aid scientists to study microgravity and space life science. SJ-10 was put into orbit by Long March 2-D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-western China’s Gobi desert. Second scientific satellite, 25 retrievable one

April 08 : US space agency NASA is planning an ambitious mission involving international scientists to explore the possibility of life on Europa, the moon of planet Jupiter.

April 09 : North Korean leader Kim Jong-un supervised a successful test of a new engine for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), its state media has claimed.

April 12 : India test fired its indigenously developed surface-to-air Akash missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near Balasore.



The missile targeted an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) named 'Banshee', an official of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said. The missile, with a strike range of 25 km and capability to carry warhead of 60 kg, was test fired from the launch complex-3 of the ITR.

April 14 : This cutaway shows a concept B330 space habitat for astronauts designed by Bigelow Aerospace. The private spaceflight company has teamed up with launch provider United Launch Alliance to put a huge private space habitat. Bigelow Aerospace will loft its giant, expandable B330 modules — each of which will provide one-third as much usable volume as the entire International Space Station (ISS) — aboard United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rockets, representatives from both companies announced.

April 19 : The returning capsule from SJ-10, China’s first microgravity satellite, landed safely at 4:30 pm on April 18 in Siziwang Banner, in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

April 21 : China is set to launch a core module belonging to its first space station around 2018, a China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation official said

Two space labs will be launched later and dock with the core module, "Tianhe-1," said Wang Zhongyang, spokesperson with a key research institute attached to the corporation.

Construction on the space station is expected to finish around 2022

April 22 : 150 Long March rocket launches scheduled 2016-2020.

China will launch about 150 of its Long March carrier rockets over the next five

years, one of its space chiefs said, days ahead of celebrations marking the launch of the country's first satellite 46 years ago. "In the 13th Five-Year Plan period [2016-2020], we will see about 30 launches [of the Long March series] each year," Chen Xuechuan, assistant president of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, told Xinhua.

April 27 : The Kunpeng-1B sounding rocket is launched from Danzhou City in south China's Hainan Province. Kunpeng-1B was launched from Danzhou City at 2 a.m. by the National Space Science Center (NSSC).

The rocket fulfilled its mission of taking measurements in the upper atmosphere that will help with research of rocket sounding, high-speed flight and space tourism.

April 28 : Russia launched its inaugural rocket from a new cosmodrome a day after a technical glitch thwarted the much-publicized event in a sign of continued crisis in the nation's space industry. An unmanned Soyuz-2.1A rocket carrying three satellites roared off into a clear blue sky from the launch pad at Vostochny cosmodrome in the remote Amur Region near China's border at 0501 Moscow time (0201 GMT), state television showed.

April 28 : ISRO's PSLV-C33, carrying India's seventh navigation satellite IRNSS-1G, blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 12.50 p.m. The satellite was successfully placed in sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.

A regional navigation satellite system with just seven spacecraft and in civil domain is unique to India. The three global versions of other countries offer worldwide commercial coverage and are operated by their militaries.



Miscellaneous News of the Month

April 04 : PROJNU, HCU among top 5 Indian universities in HRD Ministry 'India Rankings 2016' list Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), is the third best university in the country, a new ranking from the Ministry of Human Resource Development shows. Hyderabad Central University, which has also been rocked by student protests, has been ranked fourth best in the country.

April 07 : The World Health Day is a global health awareness day celebrated every year on 7 April, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO).

In 1948, the WHO held the First World Health Assembly. The Assembly decided to celebrate 7 April of each year, with effect from 1950, as the World Health Day.

April 07 : Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Sushri Uma Bharti inaugurated Water Film Festival at Water Expo-2016 in New Delhi

The Films festival was organized by Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) Limited, a PSU under Ministry of Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation as part of the ongoing India Water Week 2016 celebrations.

April 08 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched actor Emraan Hashmi’s book “The Kiss of Life: How a superhero and my son defeated cancer”.

The book, which Emraan has co-written with author Bilal Siddiqi, tells about his struggle with his six-year-old son Ayaan’s cancer treatment. The book has been published by Penguin Books India in three languages.

April 09 : In the first beauty pageant held after the devastating earthquake of April last year, Asmi Shrestha was crowned Miss Nepal 2016.

The 22-year-old business administration graduate, from the capital city, defeated 19 contestants in the final round.

Asmi received a cash prize of Rs 100,000 and a scooter along with other gift hampers..

April 11 : The winners of this year's FBB Femina Miss India have been announced--after a glorious ceremony night--and Delhi girl Priyadarshini Chatterjee has bagged the crown for FBB Femina Miss India World.

She will now go on to represent India at the Miss World 2016 pageant.

April 15 : Pakistan and China began their fifth joint air exercise, Shaheen-V, at an operational base in Pakistan. The last such exercise between Pakistan and China -- Shaheen-IV -- was conducted in Beijing in October 2015.

April 15 : Iconic Indian woman boxer M C Mary Kom added another honour to her list of accolades as she was named one of the eight ambassadors for the upcoming World Championships by the International Boxing Association (AIBA). An elated Mary Kom (51kg), who has five World Championship gold medals to her credit, said she feels honoured by the AIBA's gesture.

April 16 : In a rare honour, New York City declared this year’s April 14 as ‘Bindeshwar Pathak Day’



in recognition of the contributions made by the Indian social activist and ‘Sulabh International’ founder for improving the lives of people engaged in the “most dehumanising situation”.

April 18 :

British singer-songwriter Elton John and novelist J.K. Rowling have topped the list of the most generous celebrities in the country for donating millions to charity in 2015.

Elton John donated 26.8 million pounds (around $38 million) in 2015 for the benefit of various charity initiatives, including his Elton John AIDS Foundation in Britain and the US.

April 21 : The Australian city of Melbourne has been named the world's best sporting city of the past decade, beating London, New York, Tokyo, Berlin and Sydney to the crown.

April 21 : Media in India continues to be under stress as the country figures low at 133 out of 180 nations in the latest press freedom index, an international watchdog said, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being "indifferent" to threats against scribes.

The report however said the situation was "worsening in India" although "its media are dynamic and much more capable of playing the role of democracy's watchdog than the media in most other countries in last third of the index".

April 22 : RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, tennis star Sania Mirza, actress Priyanka Chopra, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and founders of Flipkart Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal have been named by Time magazine in its

list of the '100 Most Influential People in the World'.

Time's annual list, includes pioneers like American composer Lin Manuel-Miranda, leaders like IMF head Christine Lagarde and icons like Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio who are "exploring the frontiers of art, science, society, technology and more."

April 26 : The eleventh India-Mongolia joint training exercise, ‘Nomadic Elephant-2016’, to promote military associations between the countries kicked off at Mongolia.

From the Mongolian Armed Forces, a total of 60 personnel will take part in the exercise.

April 27 : India is projected to dominate the growth in the working-age population in Asia Pacific by 2050, becoming home to over a billion people eligible to enter the job market, a UN report has said.

Region-wide, 68 per cent of people are of working age and only 32 per cent are dependents.

April 28 : Renowned artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has won the gold medal at ninth Moscow Sand Sculpture Championship "The magical world of sand" 2016.

20 top sculptors from different countries competed at the championship, which was held from April 21 to 27 at Kolomenskoye in Moscow.



IMPORTANT DAYS2nd April World Autism Awareness Day

5th April National Maritime Day

7th April World Health Day

10th April World Homeopathy Day

14th April Dr.B.R. Ambedkar Jayanti

17th April World Haemophilia Day

18th April World Heritage Day

21st April National Civil Services Day

22nd April Earth Day

23rd April World Book & Copyright Day

24rth April Panchayati Raj Diwas

25th April World Malaria Day

26th April World Intellectual Property Day

ABBREVIATIONSUNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organizations

NCGTC National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company

CCRH Central Council For Research In Homeopathy

CGRBMS Centre For Ganga River Basin Management & Studies

CAMPA Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management & Planning Authority

NHIDCL National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation

WAPCOS Water & Power Consultancy Services

LIGO Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory

BMC Bhartiya Micro Credit

NERTPS North East Textile Promotion Scheme

MSDE Ministry Of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship

SHC Soil Health Card

STCR Soil Test Crop Response

USIS Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme

NSTSS National Sports Talent Search Scheme

AAY Antyodaya Anna Yojana

SFAC Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium



SPECIAL FEATURES

Prime Minister to inaugurate first ever Maritime India Summit in Mumbai

The Ministry of Shipping is all set to showcase the investment opportunities in the sector at the first ever Maritime India Summit 2016, scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in Mumbai on the 14th of April 2016. The objective of the Summit is to attract potential investors to the vast opportunities that the various components of the Maritime Sector have on offer. It will showcase projects covering sectors like port development and modernization, Greenfield ports, port led development under “Sagarmala”, shipbuilding, ship repair and ship breaking, inland water transportation, coastal shipping, lighthouse tourism and cruise shipping, hinterland connectivity and logistics handling facilities to the potential investors from across the world.

The event will have participation of delegates, CEOs and speakers from 41 countries in addition to India. Republic of Korea is the Partner Country for the Summit.

The 13 thematic sessions include sessions on Sagarmala - Port Led development; Ship Building, Ship Repair and Ship Breaking; Skill Development through Maritime Education & Training; Inland Water Transportation and Coastal Shipping; Hinterland Connectivity & Multi-Modal Logistics; Opportunities in International Shipping & Maritime Financing;Opportunities in Maritime States; Cruise Shipping & Lighthouse Tourism; Island Development & Aquatic Resources; Maritime Security and Counter-Piracy.

An MOU with South Korea on Port Development & Operations is also proposed to be signed.

Talking to newspersons on the eve of the Summit in Mumbai, Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari said that the port led development is high on priority of the Government. He said it has potential of creating one crore jobs, 40 lakh directly and 60 lakh indirectly in next five years.

An exhibition, along with exclusive demo sessions will showcase the latest technologies, products and services as well as help disseminate knowledge about the latest development in Maritime Sector. The exhibition has a special India Pavilion and dedicated pavilions for South Korea and Norway. A total of 200 companies are setting up stalls in the exhibition showcasing maritime competence and latest technologies.

A Special Ship Museum is being created at the venue by famous art director Shri Nitin Desai. This museum has depiction of India’s glorious maritime history and heritage. A special e-book lounge focusing on Indian

Maritime History and Heritage has been created for participants.

Given its 7517 Km long coastline, 14,426 Km of navigable inland waterways and rich and ancient maritime traditions, Indian Maritime Sector offers immense development potential. Sea borne trade is growing at twice the global growth rate. 100 percent FDI has been allowed under automatic route for port development projects. Further, income tax exemption is being provided to infrastructure development including ports. There is now reduced Service tax incidence on coastal shipping and Viability Gap Funding for PPP projects. All these steps have been taken so that the Maritime Sector in the country can realize its full potential and regain its lost glory.

Chandigarh Becomes the First Kerosene Free City of India

Chandigarh has added another feather in its cap by becoming India’s first kerosene free city. Leaving the old traditions of burning kerosene lamps and stoves, Chandigarh has shown that it is the real modern city of India. Chandigarh Administration has made a lot of efforts to get the ‘Kerosene Free’ title for the city. Becoming kerosene free means that no kerosene will be available at shops and old depots and everyone will have to move to modern means – LPG cylinders.

This has been done taking into view the adverse effects of kerosene oil on the environment and health of people. Generally poor people who did not have a gas connection were using kerosene oil for cooking and the government used to make kerosene available at subsidized rates through depots. One such depot was in Sector 22, Chandigarh where people could be witnessed standing in line to get their turn for kerosene oil. Moving forward to ban kerosene in Chandigarh, the Administration has provided LPG connections for all citizens in the city especially those who are under BPL (Below poverty line).

Kerosene Free Chandigarh

The ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MoPNG) and the Chandigarh administration have taken this initiative jointly. The supply of subsidised kerosene has been stopped in the city from the month of April and no kerosene will be available in Chandigarh whatsoever. In order to move people from Kerosene to LPG, enrolment camps were organised and LPG connections were given to people who used kerosene.

Two schemes has been started by Ajit Balaji Joshi, deputy commissioner of Chandigarh.

# Deposit free LPG connection scheme

# Interest free loan scheme

Deposit free LPG connection scheme is for Below



Poverty Line(BPL) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families. Under this scheme free LPG cylinder and a regulator worth Rs. 1600 have provided to these families.

The second scheme is interest free loan scheme. This scheme includes the other families using kerosene oil that does not come under below poverty line. These families will be provided one gas cylinder, a regulator and a suraksha pipe worth Rs. 1750.

During this campaign 15,249 LPG connections were provided in Chandigarh out of which 1,574 were for BPL households.

Kerosene, when used as a cooking gas causes many health related problems like coughing, difficulty in breathing and increases risk of asthma, TB and cancer.

It may also cause various skin problems like dermatitis. Burning of kerosene oil also causes the air to be polluted and harms people living nearby. All major cities of India will soon be made Kerosene free. Our beautiful city Chandigarh has taken the lead by becoming the first kerosene free city of India.

Gatimaan Express, India’s fastest train, hits tracks next week

After two years of wait, India’s fastest train, the “semi-bullet” Gatimaan Express, is set to begin its inaugural run in April. But instead of New Delhi, it will depart from Hazrat Nizamuddin and reach Agra in 100 minutes.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flaged off the train with remote control from Rail Bhawan .

The proper commercial run of the train, slated to achieve a top speed of 160 kmph — a landmark for India .

The 12049/50 Gatimaan Express will clock a speed of 160 km per hour speed in the Tughlakabad-Agra section. Prior to that, it is slated to run at 120 km per hour.

The original idea to run the train from New Delhi station and make it reach Agra in 90 minutes or even in 105 or 110 minutes has been abandoned.

The train’s fares will be higher than that of a Shatabdi.

The train will have 12 coaches of Executive Class as well as chair cars. It is yet to be decided whether to allow commercial booking for the inaugural run or start it the following day. The train will have 12 coaches of Executive Class as well as chair cars.

According to a Railway Board member, the train will have “Rail Hosts and Hostesses” dressed in a blue uniform, specially designed for them. A private service provider has been appointed to carry out end-to-end passenger interface activities including checking of the tickets.

Passengers will also get a wide variety of food options to choose from — continental, Indian, Italian, Indian and others.

Gurgaon district to be renamed Gurugram, Mewat as Nuh: Haryana government

Known around the world for its MNCs, such as Microsoft, TCS, Wipro, golf courses and gated colonies that dot the cityscape, Gurgaon is set to get a new name — Gurugram.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced the decision along with that of Mewat, which will be called Nuh.

Though Khattar has given in-principle approval for the changes, the decision will now be placed before the Haryana cabinet before it is sent to the union government.

In the past two years, after various meetings of the House, the resolution to change the name was passed thrice. This is a positive step and will only draw all of us closer to the rich heritage Gurgaon once had — which we all have forgotten about as a result of urbanisation.

Vimal Yadav, who was part of the committee that recommended the name change to the CM.

The mayor, along with other councillors, has also been working on the idea to erect a statue of Guru Dronacharya at an important landmark in the city.

According to a corporation committee member, Gurgaon is said to have been the ancestral village of Guru Dronacharya, who in the Mahabharata instructed the Pandavas and Kauravas.

Most of feel that the city should be renamed Gurugram to emphasise the fact that this is where Guru Dronacharya used to live. Not many people are aware of it and there is nothing wrong in renaming it.

According to officials, the change of name will not make much difference in corporation records. Corporation officials will be asked to change the name from Gurgaon to Gurugram in all revenue and registry records. All the records are available online and the entire process of changing the name will take about three months.

However, a section of corporates in Gurgaon feel otherwise. Some expressed concern about the effect the change will have on Gurgaon’s “brand image” and, consequently, its ability to attract investments.

This won’t affect the working of companies per se, but, in my personal opinion, the name can have a negative impact from a brand perspective. If you’re trying to attract talent and investment, the name won’t do much, it sounds almost medieval.

The business leader of an MNC, with country headquarters in Gurgaon, also said the renaming was a confusing move.

Precious funds will end up getting directed to purely administrative or symbolic changes, whereas some very



real-life needs in infrastructure and human development will continue to go remain undeveloped for want of funds.

Official said the name Gurgaon is a corruption of Guru Gram, ie, village of a spiritual leader.

Umesh Aggarwal, the BJP MLA from Gurgaon, said, “The demand to change the name to Gurugram has been on for the past 12 to14 years.

This place never was Gurgaon. It always was Guru Gaon — village of the Guru. People distorted the name. Guru Dronacharya’s ashram was here — where Kauravas and Pandavas gained their gurukul. Mata Sheetla was his wife. We have a temple in her name in old Gurgaon.”

Khelo India

Politics and sports always go hand in hand. The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has purged yet another scheme — Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan — named after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, by merging it with Khelo India.

Two other sport projects — Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme (USIS) and National Sports Talent Search Scheme (NSTSS) — launched by the Congress-led previous UPA regime have been absorbed under Khelo India, for which, Rs 140 crore has already been allocated in NDA government's third budget for the financial year 2016-17.

The RGKA, a centrally sponsored scheme named after Rajiv Gandhi, was launched by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and then sports minister Jitendra Singh in February 2014 to replace Panchayat Yuva Krida aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA), which was Mani Shankar Aiyar's brainchild.

The aim of the RGKA was to construct sports complexes in each block of the country, both for outdoor and indoor sports disciplines, over a period of five years (by 2020).

However, with the NDA government at the Centre, Rahul's dream project never really took off before being merged with 'Khelo India' two years later by the Narendra Modi government.

Khelo India is based on Gujarat's model of "Khel Mahakumbh", in which, schools and colleges from different parts of the country participate in about 27 disciplines. Similarly, the Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG) organises summer camps under this project every year.

It has been learnt that the sports ministry was trying to launch this scheme on April 16 recently, but non-availability of prime minister Modi forced it to fix some new date.

Soil Health Card – A tool for Agri revolution

Agriculture since ages is the mainstay of the Indian population. The story of Indian agriculture has been a spectacular one, with a global impact for its multi-functional success in generating employment, livelihood, food, nutritional and ecological security. Agriculture and allied activities contribute about 30 per cent to the gross domestic product of India

In the entire scenario, importantly the Narendra Modi government has laid emphasis on the Soil Health Card Scheme.

Central government to issue ‘Soil card’ to farmers which will carry crop-wise recommendations of nutrients and fertilizers required for the individual farms. This is aimed to help farmers to improve productivity through judicious use of inputs.

Essentially, the Soil Health Card scheme is modeled on a successful programme launched by Prime Minister Modi during his tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat.

Under Soil Health Card mechanism, the government can help farmers adopt crop diversification.

Farmers would understand the fertility factor of the land better and can be attracted towards value added newer crops. This would help reduction in risk in farming and also the cost of overall cultivation process would get reduced.

Some states are already issuing Soil Health Cards but, it was found that, there was no uniform norm for sampling, testing and distribution of Soil Health Cards across the states.

Taking a holistic view on these, the central government has thus rightly taken measures like launching of a Soil Health Card portal. This would be useful for registration of soil samples, recording test results of soil samples and generation of Soil Health Card (SHC) along with Fertilizer Recommendations.

The official sources in the Agriculture ministry say that the Soil Health Card portal aims to generate and issue Soil Health Cards based on either Soil Test-Crop Response (STCR) formulae developed by ICAR or General Fertilizer Recommendations provided by state Governments.

The scheme has been approved for implementation during 12th Plan with an outlay of Rs.568.54 crore. For the current year (2015-16) an allocation of Rs.96.46 crore – only for the central government share-has been made. The scheme is to be otherwise implemented on 50:50 sharing pattern between Government of India and state Governments.



The government is effectively marching in quite ambitiously for a grand success of the Soil Health Card scheme and proposes to ensure that all farmers in the country have their respective Soil Health Cards by the year 2017.

National Agricultural Market – A Harbinger of Change

The Government realises the importance of agricultural sector for the growth and development of the nation’s economy. Nearly 58 per cent of its people continuing to depend upon agriculture for their livelihood. Agriculture sector is also highly vulnerable to the vicissitudes of nature that impact the crop enterprise at its production stage. Only when the market is integrated over space and time, can market efficiency be realised.

The Department of Agriculture & Cooperation in the Union Government’s Ministry of Agriculture is keen to increase the net returns of the farmer. Hence, its emphasis is on creating an unified market, that is well integrated across the nation.

Integration of agri-markets across the country through the e-platform is seen as an important measure for overcoming the challenges posed by the present agri-marketing system namely - fragmentation of State into multiple market areas, each administered by separate APMC, multiple levy of mandi fees, requirement for multiple license for trading in different APMCs, licensing barriers leading to conditions of monopoly, poor quality of infrastructure and low use of technology, information asymmetry, opaque process for price discovery, high level of market charges, movement controls, etc. The need to unify the markets both at State and National level is, therefore, clearly the requirement of time, in order to provide better price to farmers, improve supply chain, reduce wastages and create a unified national market. The Scheme envisages implementation of the National

Agriculture Market by the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation through Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) by creation of a common electronic platform deployable in selected regulated markets across the country. A budgetary provision of Rs.200 crores has been made to be spent over the next three years (2015-16 to 2017-18). An appropriate and common e-market platform will be set up, that would be deployable in selected 585 regulated wholesale markets in States/UTs desirous of joining the e-platform. SFAC will implement the national e-platform in 3 phases covering 250, 200 and 135 mandis during 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 respectively.

The DAC will meet expenses on software and its customisation for the States & UTs and provide it free of cost to them. DAC will also give grant as one time fixed cost subject to the ceiling of Rs.30.00 lakhs per Mandi (other than for the private mandis) for related equipment / infrastructure in 585 regulated mandis, for installation of the e-market platform.

Provisions are also being made for establishing soil testing laboratories in the Mandis. Big private mandis will also be allowed access to the e-platform for purposes of price discovery. However they will not be supported with any funds for equipment / infrastructure.

For integration with the e-platform the States/UTs will need to undertake prior reforms in respect of (i) a single license to be valid across the State, (ii) single point levy of market fee and (iii) provision for electronic auction as a mode for price discovery. Only those States/UTs that have completed these three pre-requisites will be eligible for assistance under the scheme.

The Central Government also realizes that active participation of the State Governments is a pre-requisite for successful implementation of the scheme. The Government is committed to and is confident of making ‘National Agricultural Market’ a reality.

SUBSCRIBE

CHANNEL TO GET FREE VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/c/MahendraGuruvideos

STUDY MATERIAL



# The Government is all set to launch a master appli-cation, which is being hailed as ‘Mother of all App’.

# The app, UMANG will consolidate 200+ services offered by Central, State and Local administrations under one single platform.

# The Government has invited bids from partner agen-cies to develop an app that will incorporates services like applying for a passport, filing income-tax re-turns and paying various bills or to access any other government services through just one mobile app.

What is UMANG? # UMANG stands for Unified Mobile Application for

New-age Governance. # The project is being developed by the union minis-

try of communications and information technology’s National e-governance division (NeGD).

What will UMANG do? # Some of the services which will be available un-

der UMANG are, National scholarship, Healthcare applications, Passport Seva, Women Safety (Nirb-haya), E-Post, Crime and criminal tracking, Net-work and systems, Commercial tax/GST, Income tax, CBSE/State education boards, E-Municipality, IRCTC, Utility bills, Mother and child tracking, Public distribution system, Transport Vahan/Sarathi, e-Court, m-Kisan, Land records, PF/NPS.

# The government plans to have at least 50 services this year and gradually scale up to 200 in three years.

How will it work? # The platform will be designed in such a manner that

it would be capable of maintaining or remember-ing citizen personal details, preferences and data required to access department services without the user having to re-enter every time.

# Key identification documents like Aadhar Card, PayGov and DigiLocker shall also be included with-in this platform.

How to access? # The government aims to make the app available to

anyone using a Smartphone and internet. # There is also a proposal that all these services should

be made available on SMS and a single toll-free number for those not having Smartphone .

# The app can be accessed 13 languages including English.

When will UMANG be made available for public? # Even though the project has been on the pipeline for nearly

eight months, the actual app is not even in its infancy. # The government is still looking for a private agency

which it can work together on the project. # The NeGD will also create a financial incentive for

its partner agency to bring more government depart-ments within the UMANG ecosystem.

# But with, the government eyeing roll out 50 services on the app this year, UMANG could be on its way sooner, than later.



1ST BI-MONTHLY MONETARY POLICY REVIEW – 2016

Monetary and Liquidity MeasuresOn the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, it has been decided to:Reduce the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 6.75 per cent to 6.5 per cent;

# reduce the minimum daily maintenance of the cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 95 per cent of the requirement to 90 per cent with effect from the fortnight beginning April 16, 2016, while keeping the CRR unchanged at 4.0 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL);

# continue to provide liquidity as required but progressively lower the average ex ante liquidity deficit in the system from one per cent of NDTL to a position closer to neutrality; and

# narrow the policy rate corridor from +/-100 basis points (bps) to +/- 50 bps by reducing the MSF rate by 75 basis points and increasing the reverse repo rate by 25 basis points, with a view to ensuring finer alignment of the weighted average call rate (WACR) with the repo rate;

Current Monetary Policy Rates: # CRR – 4% # SLR – 21.25% # REPO RATE – 6.5% # REVERSE REPO RATE – 6%

Important Highlights # Home, auto and other loans are set to become

cheaper with RBI today reducing the short-term lending rate by 0.25 per cent to over 5-year-low of 6.5 per cent, taking the total cut to 1.5 per cent since January last year.

# The bank has slashed marginal standing facility by 0.75%.

# 2016-17 growth forecast at 7.6% # Expects inflation at around 5% # Cut in small savings rate, MCLR introduction to

improve monetary policy transmission # Proposes custodian banks; banks focusing on

wholesale and long term financing. # RBI also proposed to redefine bank branches and

permissible methods of outreach. # Second bi-monthly monetary policy on June 7.



IRNSS-1G # PSLV-C33 Successfully Launches India's Seventh

Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1G

# In its thirty fifth flight (PSLV-C33), ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle successfully launched the 1425 kg IRNSS-1G, the seventh satellite in the In-dian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) on April 28, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.

# This is the thirty fourth consecutively successful mission of PSLV and the thirteenth in its 'XL' con-figuration.

# ISRO completed IRNSS constellation and termed IRNSS to the nation as ‘NavIC’ (Navigation Indian Constellation).

# After a flight of 19 minutes 42 seconds, IRNSS-1G was injected into an elliptical orbit where the satel-lite successfully separated from the PSLV.

# After separation, the solar panels of IRNSS-1G were deployed automatically.

# IRNSS-1G is the seventh of the seven satellites con-stituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System.

1. IRNSS-1A- on July 02, 2013

2. IRNSS-1B- on April 04, 2014

3. IRNSS-1C- on October 16, 2014

4. IRNSS-ID- on March 28, 2015

5. IRNSS-IE- on January 20, 2016

6. IRNSS-1F- on March 10, 2016

# All the six satellites are functioning satisfactorily from their designated orbital positions.

# IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satel-lite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland.

# IRNSS provides two types of services-

1. Standard Positioning Services (SPS) - provided to all users

2. Restricted Services (RS) - provided to authorized us-ers.

# A number of ground facilities responsible for satel-lite ranging and monitoring, generation and trans-

mission of navigation parameters, etc., have been established in eighteen locations across the country.

# The successful launch of IRNSS-1G, the seventh and final member of IRNSS constellation, signifies the completion of the IRNSS constellation.



MCLR – II (Simplified) # All rupee loans sanctioned and credit limits from 1

April 2016 will be priced with MCLR which will be the internal benchmark

# The MCLR will be a tenor linked internal bench-mark.

# Actual lending rates will be determined by adding components of spread to the MCLR

# Bank will review and publish their MCLR of differ-ent maturities every month on a pre-announced date

# Banks may specify interest dates on their floating rate loans. They will have the option to offer loans with reset dates linked either to the date of sanction of the loan/credit limits or to the date of review of MCLR

# The periodicity of reset shall be one year or lower # The MCLR prevailing on the day the loan is sanc-

tioned will be applicable till the next reset date, ir-respective of the changes in the benchmark during the interim period

# Existing loans and credit limits linked to the base rate may continue till repayment or renewal, as the case may be. Existing borrowers will also have the option to move to the MCLR linked loan at mutually acceptable terms

# Banks will continue to review and publish base rate as hitherto

MCLR will comprise - Marginal cost of funds

# Negative carry on account of CRR # Operating costs # Tenor premium

Marginal cost of funds # Marginal cost of funds will comprise of Marginal

cost of borrowings and return on net worth # Negative carry on account of CRR # Negative carry on the mandatory CRR which arises

due to return on CRR balances being nil # Required CRR*(marginal cost)/(1-CRR)

Operating costs # All operating costs associated with providing the

loan product including cost of raising funds will be included under this.

Tenor premium # The cost arise from loan commitments with longer

tenor # Bank shall publish the internal benchmark for differ-

ent maturities # Overnight MCLR # One-month MCLR # Three month MCLR # Six month MCLR # One year MCLR

https://www.facebook.com/Emahendras



OMO and MSS # OMO: OMOs are the market operations conducted

by the Reserve Bank of India by way of sale/ pur-chase of Government securities to/ from the market with an objective to adjust the rupee liquidity condi-tions in the market on a durable basis.

# When the RBI feels there is excess liquidity in the market, it resorts to sale of securities thereby sucking out the rupee liquidity.

# Similarly, when the liquidity conditions are tight, the RBI will buy securities from the market, thereby re-leasing liquidity into the market.

# MSS: MSS (Market Stabilization Scheme) securities are issued with the objective of providing the RBI with a stock of securities with which it can intervene in the market for managing liquidity.

# These securities are issued not to meet the govern-ment's expenditure.

# Introduction: The MSS scheme was launched in April 2004 to strengthen the RBI's ability to conduct exchange rate and monetary management.

The salient features of the MSS are:

# The Government will issue treasury bills and/ or dated securities under the MSS in addition to its nor-mal borrowing requirements, for absorbing liquidity from the system.

# These will have all the attributes of existing treasury bills and dated securities.

# The treasury bills and dated securities will be issued by way of auctions to be conducted by the RBI.

# The timing of issuance, amount and tenure of such securities will be decided by the RBI.

# The Government, in consultation with the RBI, will fix an annual aggregate ceiling for these instruments.

# The amounts raised under the MSS will be held in a separate identifiable cash account titled the Market Stabilization Scheme Account (MSS Account) to be maintained and operated by the RBI.

# The amounts credited into the MSS Account will be appropriated only for the purpose of redemption and/ or buy back of the treasury bills and / or dated securi-ties issued under the MSS.

# The payments for interest and discount will not be made from the MSS account.

# The receipts due to premium and / or accrued interest will not be credited to the MSS account.

# The treasury bills and dated securities issued for the purpose of the MSS will be matched by an equivalent cash balance held by the Government with the RBI.

# Thus, there will only be a marginal impact on rev-enue and fiscal balances of the Government to the extent of interest payment on treasury bills and/ or dated securities outstanding under the MSS.

https://www.youtube.com/c/MahendraGuruvideosCURRENT AFFAIRS FOR THE

UPCOMING EXAMS

booster april 2016 eng

Documents