Booster April 2016 Eng PDF

www.mahendraguru.
com
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 Governments
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 201617; 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
www.mahendraguru.com
[2]
chief executive officer Uday Shankar to
chairman and CEO.
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 16 : Telangana Government

signed an MoU with
China-based
KDX
and Dubai-based Aries
EPICA
Electronics
to manufacture glassfree 3-D screens, mobiles, televisions and
electronic home appliances in the state.
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 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.
April 20 : Intel
Corp.
is
planning to slash
12,000 jobs, 11%
of its workforce, a
consequence of the
shrinking personalcomputer
market
and the chip makers
failure to take advantage of the industrys
transition to smartphones.
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.
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
muchloved morning beverage,
Bournvita.
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.
Mondelez India Foods, manufacturer of

a range of products under the Cadbury
brand, recently launched Cadbury Bournvita
Biscuits.
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 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.
April 18 : A global consortium with Reliance Jio as a

key member announced the launch of a 8,100km, 100 GBPS fibre optic communications
[3]
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 Ka226T light utility multirole helicopters
before the end of the year.
The agreement, signed during Prime Minister
Narendra Modis 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.
a core requirement for any business signing

on to the campaign.
April 23 : According
to
Nomura,Leading
indicators
still
suggest
nonagriculture 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 Indiaborn
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.
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 worlds largest
manufacturer of tractors has committed to
doubling their energy productivity by 2030,
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
stateowned
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) .
[4]
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.
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)
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.
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 28 : The Cabinet gave

its ex-post facto
approval for the
memorandum of
understanding
between Insurance
Regulatory
and
Development
Authority of India
(IRDAI) and the Insurance Authority of
United Arab Emirates.
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.
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 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 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 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.
BANKING
April 28 : Ratings firm IndRa 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 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.
April 29 : Joint Venture for first Auto Shredding Plant

in India for Recycling of Specialised Steels
(Business).
[5]
The application, which can be downloaded
from Google Play and Apple app stores,
was launched by SBI Chairman Arundhati
Bhattacharya .
April 08 :
($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.
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
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
[6]
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.
RBI
## 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.
April 05 :
## 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.
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.
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.
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.
www.mahendras.org
[7]
[8]
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 UKIndia Education and Research Initiatives
announced the launch of "Transnational
[9]
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 KundliManesar-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
air-conditioned
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
performance,
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.
[10]
April 11 : Central
Council
for Research in
homoeopathy
(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
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.
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
Gurugram,
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
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
[11]
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
threeday 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.
[12]
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
programme for development of sports,

thereby dropping former prime minister
Rajiv Gandhi's name from it.
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 yearover-year increase of nearly 36 %.
April 20 : Bowing to pressure
from trade unions,
the
government
has set aside the
controversial
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
Indias districts are
affected by severe
drought, raising the
courts 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
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
newlyelected 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)
[13]
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
Commonwealth
Parliamentary
Association.
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, Southern Naval Command
April 30 : Gujarat government announced 10 percent
reservation for economically backward
classes (EBCs) in general category.
Sharma will take

part in the Executive
Committee Meeting
of the Association
in London from April 27 to 30.
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.
April 08 : The
Chinese
government
will
provide Bangladesh
grant assistance of
about $50 million
for construction of
the eighth Bangladesh-China Friendship
Bridge.
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 centerright coalition of
Iceland approved a
new Prime Minister,
the
Minister
of
fisheries of Sigurdur
Inga Johansson.
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
[14]
delegation-level
talks with visiting
Maldivian President
Abdulla
Yameen
Abdul
Gayoom
and Prime Minister
Narendra Modi.
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.
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.
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 :
April 20 : India
and
Mauritius
sign
MoU to promote
cooperation in the
field of Traditional
Medicine
and
Homoeopathy
[15]
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
countrys president,
Xi Jinping, calling
him commander in
chief of the nations
new joint forces battle command centre as he
seeks to consolidate power over the military.
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
governmentin-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 :
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
Ahead of President Pranab Mukherjee's trip

to Papua New Guinea, the government approved 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
Mukherjees visit to this Pacific islandnation.
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.
[16]
[17]
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) B
B Tandon, to see that guidelines set for
government advertisements by the Supreme
Court are followed.
Appointments of the
Month
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
Secretary-General
of the 53-member
Commonwealth,
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 threemember
panel,
headed by former
April 08 : An eminent Indianorigin 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 vicepresident (VP) for
communications and
CSR.
[18]
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 IndianAmerican
Geeta
Pasi, a career foreign
service officer, as the
country's next envoy
to Chad.
April 21 : The Goa government 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.
[19]
April 23 : Indian
Information
Service (IIS) officer
Bhupendra
Kainthola
was appointed as Director
of Pune-based Film and
Television Institute of
India (FTII).
April 26 : Talking about his

priorities after taking
over as ACB chief,
Mathur, the seniormost officer of the
rank of DG.
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).
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.
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 28 : Rajeev
Sharma
appointed as Chairman
and Managing Director
of Power Finance
Corporation (PFC), a
Navratna Public Sector
Undertaking. S harma
is presently CMD of Rural Electrification
Corporation Ltd.
[20]
[21]
Till date (i.e. up to NGA-2013), seven
hundred twenty one geoscientists have been
honoured with the National Geoscience
Awards.
Awards of the Month

April 01 : Bollywood star
Ranveer Singh,
who
brought
alive the role of
Maratha warrior
Peshwa Bajirao
II on the silver
screen through Sanjay Leela Bhansalis
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 :
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 computergenerated 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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred

with the Arabian countrys 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.
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
[22]
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.
April 18 : Veteran
actor
Jeetendra and Anil
Kapoor were named
for
Maharashtra
governments 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.
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.
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
Indian-American
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.
[23]
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 Zealands fivedollar note has been
named the banknote
of the year for 2015, a
clear winner among
nearly
40
eligible
designs from a record
20 countries.
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.
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
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.
[24]
Paliwal along with her
companion Dipesh Tanwar
was on a nationwide tour on
her Harley Davidson when
the accident happened.
Eulogies of the Month

April 01 : Ronnie Corbett, one
of Britains most
popular entertainers,
who was a regular
television fixture for
more than 50 years,
has died aged 85.
Paliwal, a Jaipur resident,

was known for her skills
with the motorcycle and for having driven
the Harley Davidson bikes at 180kmph.
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
Hans-Dietrich
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.
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 cofounded 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.
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.
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.
[25]
April 25 : Papa Wemba, one
of Africa's greatest
music stars, has died
after collapsing on
stage during a festival
in the Ivory Coast.
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."
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.
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.
[26]
Sports News of the

Month
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 wasnt 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 Sammys 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 18year 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 Pakistans head
coach in the wake
of teams early exit
from the World
Twenty20 in India.
Shahid Afridi had quit T20 teams captaincy
due to their poor performance at the
[27]
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 2113, 21-8 in a match that lasted 42 minutes.
April 11 : Unbeaten throughout the
championship,
Indian
mens and womens khokho teams won both the
categorys 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 Malingas 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 Zealands 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
[28]
Leading Women's Cricketer in the World for
2015.
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.
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.
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.
They had won their maiden crown in 201314 season and had finished second last
season (2014-15) behind Mohun Bagan.
He finished his career with a total of 355

century breaks and earned more than 5.5
million pounds in prize money.
April 18 : Indonesias Sony

Dwi
Kuncoro
beat Korean Son
Wan-Ho to win
the
Singapore
Open Superseries
as
Thailands
Ratchanok Intanon also triumphed,
becoming the worlds top female shuttler in
the process.
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
The unfancied Kuncoro, who stunned twotime 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
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.
[29]
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 alreadyexisting 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.
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 Mens 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.
The twin brothers took advantage of their

experience and mutual chemistry against
April 25 : Rafael Nadal beat defending champion Kei

Nishikori 6-4, 7-5 to win the Barcelona Open
[30]
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 months 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.
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 : Theres something
about
Deepika
Kumari in an
Olympic year.
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 mens 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.
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.
[31]
[32]
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
Interferometer
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, NASAs
Hubble
Space
Telescope
has
revealed a rich tapestry of more than half a
million stars at its core.
April 01 : North
Korea
fired a shortrange
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 highpressure 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
Chinas 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 Jongun 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 surfaceto-air
Akash
missile from the
Integrated
Test
Range (ITR) at
Chandipur
near
Balasore.
[33]
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, Chinas
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. Kunpeng1B 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, highspeed flight and space tourism.
April 28 : Russia
launched
its
inaugural rocket from a
new cosmodrome a day
after a technical glitch
thwarted
the
muchpublicized 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 subGeosynchronous 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.
[34]
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
Hashmis
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 Ayaans 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
years April 14
as Bindeshwar
Pathak
Day
[35]
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 Oscarwinning actor Leonardo DiCaprio who
are "exploring the frontiers of art, science,
society, technology and more."
April 26 : The eleventh IndiaMongolia 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.
[36]
IMPORTANT DAYS
CCRH
Central Council For Research In
Homeopathy
CGRBMS
Centre
Management & Studies
CAMPA
Compensatory Afforestation Fund
10th April World Homeopathy Day
Management & Planning Authority
14th April
Dr.B.R. Ambedkar Jayanti
NHIDCL
National Highways & Infrastructure
17th April
World Haemophilia Day
Development Corporation
18th April
World Heritage Day
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
2nd April
World Autism Awareness Day
5th April
National Maritime Day
7th April
World Health 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
ABBREVIATIONS
UNIDO
United Nations Industrial Development
Organizations
NCGTC
National Credit Guarantee Trustee
Company
[37]
For
Ganga
River
Basin
SPECIAL FEATURES
Maritime History and Heritage has been created for

participants.
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 & MultiModal 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 Indias glorious maritime history and
heritage. A special e-book lounge focusing on Indian
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 Indias 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
[38]
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.
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.
Gatimaan Express, Indias fastest train, hits tracks

next week
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.
After two years of wait, Indias fastest train, the semibullet 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.
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.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flaged off the train with

remote control from Rail Bhawan .
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.
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 trains 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.
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 Gurgaons brand image and,
consequently, its ability to attract investments.
This wont affect the working of companies per se, but,
in my personal opinion, the name can have a negative
impact from a brand perspective. If youre trying to
attract talent and investment, the name wont 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
[39]
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
Dronacharyas 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.
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 multifunctional 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.
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.
Under Soil Health Card mechanism, the government can

help farmers adopt crop diversification.
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.
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.
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 nonavailability of prime minister Modi forced it to fix some
new date.
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.
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.
[40]
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 nations
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 Governments 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 agrimarketing 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 (201516 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.
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[41]
## The Government is all set to launch a master application, 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 agencies to develop an app that will incorporates services
like applying for a passport, filing income-tax returns 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 ministry of communications and information technologys
National e-governance division (NeGD).
What will UMANG do?
## Some of the services which will be available under UMANG are, National scholarship, Healthcare
applications, Passport Seva, Women Safety (Nirbhaya), E-Post, Crime and criminal tracking, Network 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 remembering 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 within 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 departments 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.
[42]
1ST BI-MONTHLY MONETARY

POLICY REVIEW 2016
Current Monetary Policy Rates:

## CRR 4%
Monetary and Liquidity Measures
## SLR 21.25%
On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving

macroeconomic situation, it has been decided to:
## REPO RATE 6.5%
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;
Important Highlights
## 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);
## REVERSE REPO RATE 6%

## 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%.
## 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
## 2016-17 growth forecast at 7.6%
## 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;
## Proposes custodian banks; banks focusing on

wholesale and long term financing.
## Expects inflation at around 5%

## Cut in small savings rate, MCLR introduction to
improve monetary policy transmission
## RBI also proposed to redefine bank branches and

permissible methods of outreach.
## Second bi-monthly monetary policy on June 7.
[43]
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 Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)
on April 28, 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre
SHAR, Sriharikota.
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.
## This is the thirty fourth consecutively successful

mission of PSLV and the thirteenth in its 'XL' configuration.
## 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 satellite 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 constituting 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 satellite system designed to provide position information
in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian
mainland.
## IRNSS provides two types of services1. Standard Positioning Services (SPS) - provided to all
users
2. Restricted Services (RS) - provided to authorized users.
## A number of ground facilities responsible for satellite ranging and monitoring, generation and trans-
[44]
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 benchmark.
## Actual lending rates will be determined by adding
components of spread to the MCLR
## Bank will review and publish their MCLR of different 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 sanctioned will be applicable till the next reset date, irrespective 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 different maturities
## Overnight MCLR
## One-month MCLR
## Three month MCLR
## Six month MCLR
## One year MCLR
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[45]
OMO and MSS

## OMO: OMOs are the market operations conducted
by the Reserve Bank of India by way of sale/ purchase of Government securities to/ from the market
with an objective to adjust the rupee liquidity conditions 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.
## 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.
## Similarly, when the liquidity conditions are tight, the

RBI will buy securities from the market, thereby releasing liquidity into the market.
## 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.
## 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.
## 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 securities issued under the MSS.
## These securities are issued not to meet the government's expenditure.
## The payments for interest and discount will not be

made from the MSS account.
## Introduction: The MSS scheme was launched in

April 2004 to strengthen the RBI's ability to conduct
exchange rate and monetary management.
## The receipts due to premium and / or accrued interest

will not be credited to the MSS account.
The salient features of the MSS are:

## The Government will issue treasury bills and/ or
dated securities under the MSS in addition to its normal borrowing requirements, for absorbing liquidity
from the system.
CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR THE

UPCOMING EXAMS
## 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 revenue and fiscal balances of the Government to the
extent of interest payment on treasury bills and/ or
dated securities outstanding under the MSS.
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[46]

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making in the business world, despite gender

cable system, inking

April 16 : Telangana Government

April 19 : Tata Trusts and

Apollo had compiled comprehensive

The company aims to save $750 million

April 18 : India's wholesale

Mondelez India Foods, manufacturer of

In March, prices of food articles rose by

April 18 : A global consortium with Reliance Jio as a

a core requirement for any business signing

Also there was an

The Reubens, who own London Oxford

It may be recalled that the government had

April 28 : The Cabinet gave

April 30 : Ashok Chawla, former chief of Competition

The MoU, which was signed for enhanced

April 30 : Singapore-based DBS Bank, hitherto

April 30 : In the third roll-back in two months, the

April 28 : Ratings firm IndRa today revised

April 04 : The country's largest

April 29 : Joint Venture for first Auto Shredding Plant

($28 billion), Mexico ($25 billion) and

The World Bank has unveiled an ambitious

April 16 : India was among

## reduce the minimum daily maintenance of the

## narrow the policy rate corridor from +/-100 basis

The Reserve Bank cut the key interest rate

April 13 : Airtel M Commerce Services (AMSL), a

On the basis of an assessment of the current

National & State News of

and gated colonies that dot the cityscape,

century, growing to an estimated 3,890

The mission was launched in the backdrop

was at seven-year low of 1,35,000 jobs in

programme for development of sports,

Minister of Road Transport & Highways Shri

Two other sport projects launched by the

A Naval Detachment (NAVDET) at Androth

Sharma will take

EBCs in the upper castes, include Patidars,

In this connection an agreement was signed

India has signed an MoU with Mauritius on

The other agreements inked were for

This MoU also aims at promotion and

Bank. The six-metre (20-foot) two-tonne

April 23 : Representatives from 170 countries met

Ahead of President Pranab Mukherjee's trip

April 01 : Senior IFS officer K

April 08 : An eminent Indianorigin litigator has been

April 19 : The Competent Authority

April 26 : Talking about his

Kainthola, a 1989 batch IIS officer, has

Satish Mathur, a 1981-batch IPS officer,

Awards of the Month

April 08 : Former army chief

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred

April 09 : Mother Teresa has been

Ms Ismayilova, a freelance journalist and

The lifetime award carries a citation, a

The honour is awarded every year by the

Eulogies of the Month