1. India’s single emergency number ‘112’ to be active from January 1
ii. Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has approved the provision of a single number for various emergency services that would be similar to the ‘911’ all-in-one emergency service in the US.
iii. The service will also be accessible even through those SIMs and landlines whose outgoing call facility has been stopped or temporarily suspended. People will be able to feed ‘112’ in panic button system which will also be available on all mobile phones from January 1 under law. The panic button will enable users to make emergency call or send alerts to multiple numbers just by pressing a button.
2. India ranks ninth among crony capitalist nations
ii. In India, the non-crony sector wealth amounts to 8.3 per cent of the GDP, as per the latest crony-capitalism index. In the 2014 ranking also, India stood at the ninth place.
iii. Among the 22 countries in the updated index, Germany is the cleanest with least number of crony capitalists, ranking at the bottom of the index, while China has the biggest concentration of crony wealth in the world at $360 billion.
3. Cultural festival in Egypt inaugurated to observe Tagore’s birth anniversary
ii. It is with the objective to build connections between the people of the two countries who share strong cultural bonds.
iii. The Embassy of India in Cairo and Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture are hosting the Tagore Festival from 8th May to May 12. The Tagore festival was inaugurated by India's Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya in Cairo with a painting exhibition showcasing works of artists from Egypt, India and other countries.
4. Indian Railways launches Bharat Darshan Tourist train for pilgrims
ii. Comprising 10 coaches, the train begins the “East Darshan” on May 8 from Chandigarh and travelling from Delhi Cantonment to cover Jagannath Puri, Gangasagar, Baidyanath Dham, Gaya, Banaras and Ayodhya. The bookings are being done by IRCTC and it has firmed up a budget-friendly package for pilgrims.
iii. According to the package, a person has to pay Rs 830 per day to selected destinations in the east or south of the country or packages that cover major religious sites. Bharat Darshan will also cover “7 Jyotirlinga” package beginning on May 23 from Chandigarh through Delhi Cantonment will cover Ujjain (Omkareshwar and Mahakaleshwar), Dwarka (Nageshwar), Veraval (Somnath), Aurangabad (Grishneshwar) and Nasik (Bhimashankar and Triyambakeshwar).
5. GOI starts UBIN drive for budding entrepreneurs
ii. It will help enable budding entrepreneurs to set up their business without any delays as it produce results well within targeted time and its no longer business as usual in India.
iii. The drive has been launched by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) under the aegis of Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This portal will be automatically linked to Ministry Of Corporate Affairs (MCA) portal after it is issued to the intended beneficiary. The move is seen as a major step towards ease of doing business and the start-up India initiative of the government
6. Kalraj Mishra Inaugurates Khadi Spinning and Weaving Centre in Srinagar
ii. At the centre — Harmukh Khadi Gram Udyog Sansthan — Mishra also distributed 25 model charkhas among local artisans at a function. iii. The event was organised by Khadi and Village Industries Board, Srinagar.
7. Gujarat Government accords minority status to Jain community
ii. The previous UPA Government at the Centre had conferred the minority status on the Jain community at the national level in January 2014. Jains were the 6th community to have minority status after Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis.
iii. Under the Constitution, religious and linguistic minorities enjoy special rights. The minority status helps to give constitutional safeguards to minority communities and make them eligible for welfare programmes of the Union Minority Affairs Ministry.
8. Infosys Foundation signs pact with IISER
ii. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aims at providing opportunities for economically weaker students to pursue high quality science education and research through scholarships, fellowships and travel awards.
iii. As part of the MoU, the corpus fund of Rs. 5 crore named as ‘The Infosys Foundation Endowment Fund’, will continue in perpetuity to benefit a minimum of 50 students annually. Infosys said the grant is aimed at fulfilling the Foundation’s objective of creating equal opportunities for students from poorer background and advancing the quality of research done at Indian institutions.
9. SMS-based Vehicle Monitoring Service of Nagaland bags award
ii. The SMS-based Vehicle Monitoring System was conceived by the Nagaland Police Department and executed by Ben Imchen, a post-graduate from IIT Delhi.
iii. The project was launched in April last year and provides an easy platform for policemen and citizens to report vehicle theft and alert the various field formations of police across the state by sending one SMS.The award for the Best Practice in the category of Road Safety and Traffic Management was presented to Nagaland Police by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary at a function in New Delhi.
10. Jaguar Land Rover partners firm to build phones
ii. The smartphones and accessories will be launched in early 2017.
iii. As per the Bullitt Group, the firm will partner with Land Rover to define and develop a groundbreaking portfolio of mobile devices and peripherals which will take the brand into a new and exciting commercial terrain.
11. Saraswat Bank donates Rs 1 cr relief for drought in Maharashtra
ii. The drought relief in Maharastra is caused by the two deficient years of the monsoon rainfalls and now has been a major problem resulting into shortage of water availability across the country including Maharashtra.
iii. The Vice Chairman of Bank, Mr. Gautam E Thakur, has handed over the cheque of Rs 50,00,000 to Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis and another cheque of Rs 50,00,000 to Nana Patekar, Founder of NAAM Foundation handed over by the director of Kishore Rangnekar.
12. South Indian Bank announces tie-up with National Australia Bank
ii. As per Bank, the agreement enable faster, hassle-free remittances through internet at the best exchange rates. With this, National Australian Bank will be the main banking correspondent of South Indian Bank in Australia.
iii. As per this deal, the exchange rate is decided by the South Indian Bank and the NRI customers in Australia would get the best possible rates. Besides, the remitted money can be either converted into Indian rupee or maintained in Australian dollar.
13. UN launches Multi-Partner Trust Fund for Zika virus response
ii. The fund was launched by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN Headquarters in New York, United States.
iii. The Fund aims to provide a rapid, flexible and accountable platform to support a coordinated response from the UN system and partners. It will directly support the Zika Strategic Response Framework developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in consultation with UN agencies. This fund will help donors to contribute to a central point and an Advisory Committee will direct funds to the highest-priority activities in the affected countries.
14.SpaceX successfully launches Japanese JCSAT-14 Satellite
ii. JCSat-14 manufacturer SSL of Palo Alto, California, confirmed that the satellite was healthy in geostationary transfer orbit and sending signals. SSL declined to confirm whether the final launch mass had changed from previous estimates of around 4,700 kilograms.
iii. It was the second consecutive drone-ship touchdown by the rocket’s first stage and was accomplished despite what SpaceX officials had said were particularly challenging conditions due to the velocity necessary for the launch. The previous successful drone-ship landing, performed in April, was done following a launch of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule into low Earth orbit.
15. Airport Show opens in Dubai
ii. This is the 16th edition of the Airport Show and premier airport event for the Middle East, North Africa and Indian subcontinent region.
iii. The show has recorded a 30 per cent growth in participants for the Business Connect programme with an all-time high participation of 154 buyers. This year's show will see buyers from - Algeria, Armenia, Bahrain, Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Zimbabwe and the host country, UAE.
16. Sadiq Khan Elected First Muslim Mayor Of London
ii. Khan also set a record by winning 1.1 million votes. With a 45 % election turnout, he finished with a margin of 13.6 percentage points over Zac Goldsmith of the Conservative Party.
iii. His victory also marks the return of Labour Party rule in the British capital after eight years of Conservatives in power.
17. Veteran leader Chennamaneni Rajeswara Rao passes away
ii. Rao hailed from Marpaka village of Vemulawada mandal in Karimnagar district and participated in Telangana's armed struggle against the Nizam.
iii. He started his political career as a communist and was elected as a CPI legislator from Sircilla assembly constituency in Karimnagar in 1967, 1978, 1985 and 1994 assembly elections. Subsequently, he quit the party and represented TDP from Sircilla seat till 2004 before he took retirement from active politics.
18. Novak Djokovic wins 2016 Mutua Madrid Open
ii. It was Djokovic’s fifth win in the last 6 ATP 1000 competitions. With the win, he also reached a record 29 Masters 1000 titles.
iii. Mutua Madrid Open title was Djokovic’s second title on the Caja Mágica clay. He claimed the game in two hours and six minutes.
0 comments:
Post a Comment