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National News
Indo German Agreement on Namami Gange
- Agreement has been signed for Ganga Rejuvenation under the Namami Gange Program in New Delhi
- Agreement signed between Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and German International Cooperation
Maharashtra Legislative Council clears Dance bar bill
- Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra passed the dance bar regulation bill with regulations against the violators.
- Bar owners or operators face up to five years in jail and fines of up to Rs 25,000 for violations.
- dance bars should be at least a km away from any education or religious institution
- They should operate between 6 pm and 11.30 pm.
- Bans running bars in the residential buildings and permits them in semi-residential ones only if the three-fourths residents approval.
MoU with UAE to combat Human Trafficking
- MoU is expected to be signed very soon after approval from the cabinet
- Anti-trafficking Cells and Task Forces will work on both sides to prevent human trafficking.
MoU between India and Bangladesh on cooperation in the field of Fisheries
- To strengthen the friendly relations between India and Bangladesh
- To promote development of cooperation in fisheries and aquaculture and allied sectors
- MoU will remain in force for a period of five years and it could be extended further
Haryana Government renames Gurgaon as Gurugram
- Decision comes from government in the aftermath of the demands by people of the area.
- Gurgaon district derived its name from the name of Guru Dronacharya and hence it came to be known as Gurugram.
SC: Treat drought as disaster
- 10 states reeling under drought in the country
- Court pointed out that drought could be covered under the Disaster Management Act.
- Drought was not expressly mentioned in the Disaster Management Act, but it can be covered under loss of crops.
- Centre informed the court that it could not force states to declare a drought as the matter came within states’ domain. Also, there is no statute to regulate declaration of drought.
Heat wave warning for Telangana
- India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a heat wave warning for the next two days for Telangana.
- Heat wave conditions were likely to prevail over parts of Hyderabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Rangareddy, Khammam and Nalgonda districts.
- The State would have day temperatures hovering between 40 degree Celsius and 45 degree Celsius.
- A heat wave is a very dangerous situation and major threat to lives.
Warrant against I&B Secretary
- Press Council of India (PCI) took a unanimous view to serve I&B Secretary Sunil Arora with a bailable arrest warrant
- Arora had questioned the powers of the Council to serve summons directing him to appear before its members.
Tap forex pool to help exporters: Ministry
- Aim is to help reduce the costs and enhance the competitiveness of exporters at a time of global trade slowdown and weak demand overseas.
- Commerce Ministry has asked RBI to use a part of its foreign exchange reserves to give long-term loans at low interest rate to the Exim Bank of India
Elderly women outnumber men, says NSS report
- India has more elderly women than men with the sex ratio of the country’s 60-plus population recorded at 1,033 women per 1,000 men in the 2011 Census, up from 1,029 in the 2001 census.
- The share of elderly women (per 1,000 population) in both urban and rural areas is higher than those of men.
- Overall proportion of the elderly in India has gone up. India is home to the world’s largest youth population.
Canada to offer formal apology for Komagata Maru tragedy
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will offer an apology in the House of Commons on May 18.
- Canadian government of the day turned away more than 300 Indians seeking a better life in Canada almost 102 years ago. This has been termed Komagata Maru Tragedy.
- Japanese steam ship named Komagata maru, filled with Indian immigrants was forced to return to India on September 29, 1914 from Canada when the passengers were not allowed to land in Canada
- Only 24 out of 352 passengers were admitted to Canada. This was due to the Continuous passage act enacted by the Canadian government to check the immigrants and particularly from India.
- 19 Canada-bound Indian immigrants were killed in police firing and many were arrested by the British police.
Rival teams possibly used potassium chlorate in Kerala temple disaster
- Potassium Chlorate is a banned explosive.
- They had also probably sourced the chemical illegally from matchstick factories.
- It is commonly used in pyrotechnics as it can produce beautiful colors, is cheap and easily available.
Statute of SAWEN to check wildlife crimes
- Statute of the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) which will help in checking cross border wildlife crimes.
- MoU allows the country to become a formal member of SAWEN in order to strengthen ties with the member countries in controlling the trans-boundary wildlife crimes
International
India ranks 44 in 2016 Global Connectivity Index
- 50 countries assessed by GCI 2016 account for 90% of global GDP and 78% of the world’s population.
- Report has been compiled by Electronics major Huawei.
- GCI also includes survey results from 3,000 firms across 10 verticals in 10 nations.
Nauru becomes 189th member of IMF, World Bank
- Nauru applied for membership in the Washington-based IMF and World Bank in April 2014,
- Joined the United Nations in 1996 as the world’s smallest independent republic.
- World Bank helps developing countries to spur growth and fight poverty
Business and Economy
Campus Wallet in Kerala launched
- Kochi based Federal Bank has joined with Chillar Payment Solutions Ltd. to promote Campus Wallet
- 16 schools in the state have on boarded to Campus Wallet with around 14000 students using the Campus Wallet.’
- An Identity Card faded Banking technology with students can make payments in stores, canteen, library etc within the respective campuses
India To Notch Up To 7.5 % Growth In 2016–17 : IMF
- IMF suggested the government to size down the subsidies, initiate labor reforms and dismantle infrastructure bottlenecks to sustain strong growth.
AMD ties up with HSMC for chip manufacturing
- Leading Chip maker AMD ties up with HSMC to enter Indian electronics sector for chip manufacturing.
- Demand for electronic products in India is expected to reach $400 billion by 2020.
Golden Tobacco Ltd became first company in India to implement 85% pictorial health warnings
- Before, the cigarette packets used to cover only 40% of the packet’s area.
- Now both the sides of cigarette packets will now display health warnings in 85% of the area.
Vijay Mallya acquires Barbados Tridents CPL Franchise for Just 100 USD
- Running the team will cost about $2 million but the Barbados government is granting subsidies to the franchise.
- CPL teams depend on ticket sales and sponsorship to generate revenue.
Science and Technology
“DEEP” The Power Procuring Online Portal’
- DEEP (Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price) is an online portal for the acquisition of short-term power by DISCOMs.
- Ensure the continuous flow of power from seller to the buyer.
- Very strong weapon to bring the illegal transactions into the light, and confine all these illegal transactions.
- Will also help in price reduction through competition.
Akash missile test fired in Odisha
- Indigenously developed surface-to-air missile
- Test fired for second consecutive day from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near Balasore in Odisha.
PoochhO Carpool app to help people during odd-even scheme in Delhi
- To give people more options for carpooling during the second phase of the odd-even traffic scheme (April 15 to 30)
- Help users find carpool options within a radius of 1-5km
- Would have a chat feature that will help users communicate with the car driver without even mentioning their numbers
Environment and Ecology
Above normal monsoon in India this year
- The monsoon is likely to be “above normal” and likely to be 106% of the average of 89 cm.
- Rains within 96% and 104 % of this average are considered “normal” in the terminology of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Three of India’s natural world heritage sites face threat from harmful activity: WWF
- The Western Ghats, Sundarbans National Park and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary – are facing threats from harmful industrial activities
- Sundarbans in West Bengal and neighboring Bangladesh have been hit by various activities including unsustainable water use, dams, wood harvesting, over-fishing and shipping lanes.
- Ecology of Western Ghats is threatened by mining and oil and gas exploration
- Manas Wild Life Sanctuary faces threat from dams and unsustainable water use.
People in News
Deepak Kashyap appointed as anti-corruption official in BSNL
- A 1985 batch officer of Indian Railway Service
- CVO acts as distant arm of Central Vigilance Commission to check corruption.
Centre appoints Finance Secretary as liaison officer with Jammu and Kashmir
- Finance Secretary Ratan Wattal was appointed as the liaison officer for working between Jammu and Kashmir government and central government
- Responsible to ensure the flow of funds to the J & K government and implementation of Prime Minister’s Development Package in the state.
US entertainer David Gest found dead in UK hotel
- Reality television star died at the Four Seasons hotel in Canary Wharf.
- Best known in the UK for his appearances on “I’m A Celebrity, Get Me out Of Here!” and “Celebrity Big Brother”.
Awards
Padma Sachdev gets Saraswati Samman
- Jammu & Kashmir born poet and novelist Padma Sachdev has been chosen for the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2015
- Her autobiography named ‘Chitt-Chete’ written in Dogri language and published in 2007 has been identified for giving her the award.
- Sachdev’s work was selected among five works that were shortlisted from 22 works in as many languages published between the years 2005-2014.
Sports
Sachin Tendulkar’s Biopic coming soon
- Sachin is making his acting debut with the movie, which has been directed by award-winning British director James Erskine.
- First poster of the movie has been released. 55 Days of training. One pair of trousers. The Sachin story, reads the caption on the poster.
England Cricketer James Taylor retired from International Cricket
- Plays county cricket for Nottinghamshire
- Made his Test debut in 2012 at Headingley against South Africa.
- Played 7 test matches and 27 ODI internationals for England and captained the side against Ireland in May 2015