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National News
Gurdwara amendment bill 2016
- Under Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, every Sikh who is above 21 years of age can cast their vote in the Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SPGC) Election.
- Act had created an exception for Sehjdhari Sikhs who trim or shave their beard or hair to vote in the elections.
Biotech centre bill passed
- Lok Sabha passed the Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016
- To establish a Regional Centre for Biotechnology, a study center of Education, Training and Research under the sponsorship of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Panic Button and Global Positioning System in Mobile phone handsets from 2017
- Aim:
- Providing security to millions of women who face panic situation
- Panic button will act as restrictions to assaulters
Operation Sulaimani to eradicate Poverty in Kozhikode District
- Aim is to eradicate poverty and to avoid food wastage in the district.
- Will provide food to around 1,000 people per day.
- Price of the food will be covered through sponsorship.
- People in need can collect a free meal coupon from any of the distribution centers and walk into any restaurant in the city.
- Hungry people will be served food for free without asking any questions.
- Coupons will be distributed through the counters to be opened in the collectorate, village office and Taluk offices.
Haryana govt to give free laptops to first 500 meritorious students
- The laptops will be provided under State Merit Scholarship scheme.
- Free laptops to 500 meritorious students who secure a minimum of 95 per cent marks in Class X Board examination this year.
Rs 1 lakh per month to Rio-bound athletes
- One lakh per month as Out of Pocket allowance to the sports persons under the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme.
- an initiative of Union Sports Ministry under which sports persons are funded by the government for top class training as part of their preparations for the Games.
- 77 Indian athletes in eight disciplines have qualified for the Olympics and many more are likely to qualify in the next two months.
Generics prescription law Cure for high medicines bill
- Central government is considering the introduction of a law to make it mandatory for doctors to prescribe generic drugs
- So that patients can access affordable medicines provided through state-run Jan Aushadhi stores.
- Doctors usually don’t prescribe generic medicines supplied through Jan Aushadi stores. So patients find it tough to ask for the correct generic equivalents.
Centre steps in to expedite patent approvals
- Government is taking measures to reduce the time to examine patent applications for clearing them at the earliest.
- Time is between 5 and 7 years for the first examination of patent applications.
- Target is to bring it down to 18 months, which is the benchmark in the U.S. for the first examination after the applications are filed.
- To bring down the examination time, government will be setting a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and an annual benchmark.
NIMZ in Medak
- Final approval to the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) at Zaheerabad in Medak district, Telangana.
- Estimated total investment by the manufacturing industry by the end of the ultimate phase of the NIMZ’s development is 17, 300 crore
- Employment generation is about 2.77 lakh.
Government considering axing 52 out of 200 allowances
- Seventh Pay Commission found inadequate the justifications offered by the Ministries for these allowances.
- Commission suggested that another 36 be subsumed in an existing allowance or in new allowances it proposed.
International
INS Karmuk engaged in Indo-Thai Coordinated Patrol
- 22nd Indo-Thai Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT), scheduled from 19-27 April 2016 in the Andaman Sea.
- Two navies have been carrying out CORPATs along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) twice a year since 2005.
- Strengthened understanding and interoperability between the navies and facilitated institution of measures to prevent unlawful activities at sea as well as conduct Search and Rescue (SAR) operations.
Business and Economy
8.7% interest on EPF for 2015-16
- 7% interest on PF deposits for over 5 crore subscribers of retirement body Employment Provident Fund Organization (EPFO),
- Lower than 8.8% decided by Central Board of Trustees (CBT).
Rs 694 crore LPG project in West Bengal
- To boost supply and help achieve the government’s target of making LPG available to each household by 2018.
- Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) will set up an import terminal at Haldia to import 1 mmtpa of refrigerated Propane and Butane
- Will transfer it through 5-km long twin transfer pipeline for LPG production, dispatch of bulk LPG via road tankers and bottling of LPG in cylinders
Uber partners with Election Commission in Tamilnadu
- “#TN100percent initiative” To spread awareness on voting among the electorate for the upcoming election
Cadbury inaugurates largest Asia-Pacific facility in India
- Company’s largest plant in the Asia-Pacific region
- Plant’s capacity is 250,000 tonnes a year, which the company hopes to touch by 2020.
Videocon d2h Ties up with Vodafone M-pesa
- Now customers can recharge their d2h service using Vodafone m-pesa.
- Tie-up will serve both Videocon d2h and Vodafone subscribers by providing a safe, secure and convenient mode to pay for services to customers
Nokia plans to acquire Withings for $191 million
- Planning to buy France’s Withings S.A. for 170 million euros ($191 million) in its bid to expand into digital health markets.
- Withings’ products include activity trackers, weighing scales, thermometers, blood pressure monitors, home and baby monitors.
People in News
Natekar first non-cricketer added to CCI’s Legends Club
- Badminton ace Nandu Natekar has been inducted into the Legends Club, founded by the late Cricket Club of India president Raj Singh Dungarpur
JKLF founder Amanullah Khan dead at 82
- Founder of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Amanullah Khan died in Pakistan. He was 82.
- Considered to be the architect of Kashmir’s armed insurgency
- Founder of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front that led a violent campaign for independent Kashmir
- Listed among the most wanted fugitives in India by the Central Bureau of Investigation for “murder and criminal conspiracy”
Science and Technology
NMA’S online web portal ‘NOAPS’ to facilitate single window clearance
- Portal has used the technology and expertise of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
- Web portal of NMA has now been integrated with the online portal of local bodies of Delhi and Mumbai viz. NDMC, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and MCDs (South MCD, North MCD, East MCD)
- To facilitate single window clearance for construction on a common application form.
Missed call service launched for local train updates in Mumbai
- Commuter needs to dial the Toll Free No. 1800 212 4502 and the call will get disconnected automatically after two rings
- Subsequent to which an SMS will be sent informing the running status of the suburban trains.
Awards
IIT Scholar wins International Award on Plant Nutrition
- K Ashok Kumar, a food engineering research scholar from IIT Kharagpur wins prestigious International Plant Nutrition Scholar Award on Plant Nutrition.
- Pursuing his PhD at the Department Of Agricultural and Food Engineering, IIT Kharagpur on nutrition management of rice-chickpea production system in laterite soil.
George Clooney awards new humanitarian prize to Burundi Orphanage Founder
- Burundian activist Marguerite Barankitse awarded First Humanitarian Prize with saving thousands of children during a 12-year civil war
- The first recipient of a new humanitarian prize
Sports
Football Striker Jeje clinches FPAI Indian Player of the year Award
- Indian Football Striker Jeje Lalpekhlua won the Football Players’ Association of India (FPAI) – Indian Player of the year award
- Awarded during Annual Awards function at Cooperage Football Stadium in Mumbai
Wrestler Sandeep Tomar (57 kg) & Rower Dattu Bhokanal book berth for Rio Olympics
- Indian Wrestler Sandeep Tomar qualified for the Rio Olympics after winning a bronze in the freestyle 57 kg category at the World Qualifying Tournament in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
- Indian Rower Dattu Bhokanal booked a berth 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.