NATIONAL:
India all set to host Asia-Pacific remote sensing symposium:
· India will host the Asia-Pacific Remote Sensing Symposium in Delhi to discuss applications of remote sensing technologies for disaster mitigation and bettering global climate change monitoring.
· The four-day symposium will be attended by the Chief of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) among heads of several other space agencies.
· It is expected to see participation of 100 foreign and 300 national scientists and researchers.
PM Modi announces to set up 24x7 call center for Indian workers engaged in foreign countries:
· Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India has the capacity to provide the global workforce to the world in coming days.
· He also announced to set up 24x 7 call center for Indian workers engaged in other countries in various languages.
· He told the workers to utilise Madad portal, the new Grievances Management System of Ministry of External Affairs for grievances pertaining to Consular Services offered by Indian Missions abroad.
India to ratify COP 21 global climate agreement on April 22:
· Union Environment, Forests and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar has said, India along with 100 other nations would ratify the COP-21 Global Climate Agreement on the 22nd of this month.
· COP-21 would be ratified at a high-level signing ceremony to be convened at the UN Headquarters in New York.
· The Minister added that the proposed Compensatory Afforestation Funds Bill 2015 would unlock 40,000 crores rupees funds for the ‘Green India’ initiative. The Bill is likely to be passed in the second half of the budget session.
Mehbooba Mufti to be sworn in as first woman Chief Minister of J&K on Monday:
· In Jammu and Kashmir, the new government headed by Mehbooba Mufti will be sworn in on Monday at 11 AM .
· She will be the 13th Chief Minister of the state.
· State Governor N.N.Vohra has issued invitation to her to form the new government.
· The swearing in ceremony will take place at Raj Bhawan in Jammu.
· Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu and Jitendra Singh are expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
President Pranab Mukherjee inked Ordinance on Uttarakhand expenditure:
· President Pranab Mukherjee has implemented the Uttarakhand Appropriation (Vote on Account) Ordinance, 2016 which sanctions expenditure that has come under direct federal rule because of a political crisis.
· The decision in this regard has been taken at the Union cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Union home minister Rajnath Singh.
Coastal circuit project in Goa gets Centres nod:
· Union government has approved Goa’s coastal circuit project under the SwadeshDarshan Scheme, Goa will soon be allocated funds for development projects to be undertaken in the first phase along its coastal belt.
· A Sum of Rs. 99.99 crores of has been given by the central assistance is a record highest allocation received by Goa Tourism since 2010.
Gujarat Assembly cleared amendments in Land Acquisition Act:
· The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement-Gujarat Amendment Bill- 2016 was passed in the Gujarat Assembly.
“Vidyut PRAVAH” App for common people to demand power:
· Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy launched a mobile application ‘Vidyut PRAVAH- Electricity, Price Availability and Highlights’.
· The mobile application provides highlights of the power availability in the country on real time basis.
· The Web / Mobile App provides a wealth of information pertaining to the current demand met, shortages if any, surplus power available and the prices in the Power Exchange.
· The Web application can be accessed through vidyutpravah.in. The mobile version will be freely available for download from the Playstore for both Android and iPhones.
India ranked 6th in top 10 largest manufacturers list: UN report
· The United Nations Industrial Development Organization in its report has placed India at 6th among the world’s top 10 largest manufacturing countries. India previously held the 9th rank.
· The Yearbook, published by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), found that in India, the Manufacturing Value Added (MVA) grew by 7.6% in 2015 compared to the previous year.
· China tops the list of 10-top industrial producers followed by the US, Japan, Germany and Korea. Indonesia was placed at the bottom of the list.
Government to halve Christian Couples’ separation time:
· The government plans to amend a law to reduce the separation period for Christian couples seeking to file for divorce by mutual consent, a move which comes against the backdrop of a Supreme Court ruling and demands by the community.
· The Law Ministry has drafted a Cabinet note to amend the Divorce Act, 1869 to halve the separation period for couples from the present two to one year before they can file for divorce by mutual consent to bring it at par with laws governing other communities.
· The separation period under Hindu Marriage Act, Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act and the Special Marriage Act is one year.
I-T dept launches tax calculator on website:
· The Income Tax department has launched a computer-based tax calculator on its official website that will allow users to obtain their annual tax liability.
· The facility can be used by any individual, corporate or any other entity for computing tax liability.
· Meanwhile, the e-filing of income tax returns for individuals is likely to begin from mid-April, media reports said.
Australia approves Adani Group's coal mining leases:
· Indian conglomerate Adani Group was granted approval from Australia's Queensland state government for three mining leases, with a proposed investment of $7.7 billion, under the company's Carmichael project, the Reuters reported.
· The project, which was supported by the Australian government, was earlier challenged in local courts for potential environmental damage, leading to its delay.
Andaman Nicobar gets semi-submarine ocean safari:
· Chief Secretary of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Anand Prakash, recently launched a semi-submarine ocean safari. Called the 'Coral Safari', the semi-submarine will take 100 passengers into the sea in a fully air-conditioned cabin.
· A product of Heaven on Ocean Tourism Private Limited, the safari will let tourists explore the underwater corals and rare species of fishes around the islands.
Germany’s Development Bank KfW to provide loan assistance to metro system for Nagpur:
· Germany’s Development Bank KfW will provide loan assistance of three thousand and 750 crore rupees for the modern and sustainable metro system for Nagpur city being executed by Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Limited.
· Costing 8,680 crore rupees, Nagpur Metro is the first metro to be financed under the Indo-German partnership for clean, socially inclusive and climate friendly mobility for people in cities.
INTERNATIONAL:
PM Modi discusses bilateral links with Justin Trudeau:
· Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau and discussed bilateral ties, their first meeting after the latter swept to power last year. Modi and Trudeau met here on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit.
· Last year, Prime Minister Modi had visited Canada when he held extensive talks with the then Canadian Premier Stephen Harper.
· Canada had agreed to supply 3,000 metric tonnes of uranium to energy-hungry India under a $254 million five-year deal to power Indian reactors.
· The agreement for uranium supply, which came two years after protracted negotiations following the 2013 civil nuclear deal between India and Canada, was signed after comprehensive talks Modi had with Harper in April last year.
Greece passes asylum law needed for migrant deal:
· Greece passed an asylum amendment bill that is needed for the implementation of the European Union-Turkey migrant deal that will take effect soon.
· Under the deal, asylum seekers who arrive in Greece will be returned to Turkey. Notably, the deal has been criticised by UN agencies and rights groups who claim it violates the rights of asylum seekers.
Gen Tran Dai Quang sworn in as Vietnam President:
· Vietnam's Parliament swore in the Public Security (Police) Minister General Tran Dai Quang as the Communist country's President.
· Quang is the only candidate put forward for the Presidency and he was backed by 460 of the 465 lawmakers in the Parliament.
· Notably, Vietnam is led by the coalition of the President, Prime Minister, and Communist Party Chie.
APPOINTMENTS:
Masakui appointed as Ambassador to Zimbabwe:
· Masakui (IFS: 2001), presently Director in Ministry of External Affairs, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Zimbabwe.
· He will succeed Surinder Kumar Datta.
· Capital of Zimbabwe – Harare
· President of Zimbabwe – Robert Mugabe
Shubhdarshini Tripathi appointed as Ambassador to Jordan:
· Shubhdarshini Tripathi (lFS: 1994), presently Deputy Chief of Mission in Berlin, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of lndia to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Ms Tripathi will succeed Anil Trigunayat.
· Capital and largest City of Jordan – Amman
· Currency – Jordanian Dinar
· Prime Minister of Jordan – Abdullah Ensour
Nandini Singla appointed as Ambassador to Portugal:
· Nandini Singla (IFS: 1997), presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Portugal.
· Capital of Portugal – Lisbon
· Currency – Euro
· Prime Minister of Portugal – Antonio Coasta
· President of Portugal – Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
Satender Kumar concurrently accredited as the next High Commissioner of India to Barbados:
· Shri Satender Kumar, Ambassador of India to the Republic of Suriname, has been concurrently accredited as the next High Commissioner of India to Barbados with residence in Paramaribo.
· Capital of Barbados – Bridgetown
· Currency – Barbadian Dollar
· Prime Minister of Barbados – Freundel Stuart
BANKING :
DCB Bank starts India’s first Aadhaar-based ATM:
· In a first for any domestic bank, small-sized lender DCB Bank has started an Aadhaar-based ATM usage facility wherein a customer can transact using his biometric details instead of the PIN.
· The user can key-in the 12-digit Aadhaar number or swipe the card at an automated teller machine (ATM) to start a transaction, but at the stage of confirming the identity, it requires biometric details rather than the PIN.
· Enrolments under Aadhaar are set to cross the 100 crore mark soon. The data is being used for a slew of purposes like opening bank accounts and the government’s direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme.
SBI makes it easy with ‘State Bank of India NO Queue’ app:
· 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.
· Launched by, SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya.
· The application is a mobile-based virtual queuing application for customers to book an instant queue ticket for select services at select branches.
· Based on the services selected, the list of branches with addresses providing those services within a configured radius of 15 kms will be populated in the application.
· By this app, customers can view details such as expected waiting time at a given branch, the number of customers waiting and distance to the branch from the point of booking.
· Once the customer reaches the branch, he has to activate his Q-ticket and will be serviced immediately, thus avoiding waiting time at the branch.
AWARDS AND HONOURS:
Ranveer Singh honoured as “Maharashtrian of The Year”:
· Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh, who started his career with romantic comedy “Band Baaja Baaraat” in 2010 has been conferred with “Maharashtrian Of The Year” award.
· On the other hand, the “lifetime achievement award” was bestowed upon 82 year old legendary singer Asha Bhosle.
· The award was presented by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at a ceremony held at Mumbai.
· Superstar Aamir Khan was guest of honour at the event.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY:
Reliance Industries launches e-fashion portal Ajio:
· Reliance Industries Ltd, the oil to yarn conglomerate launched its online fashion portal Ajio.com with the preview of its collection at the ongoing Lakme Fashion weekin Mumbai.
· Isha Ambani, director on the board of Reliance Retail, has been closely associated with the online fashion venture from its conceptualisation.
· The company has said that it will offer the largest collection of private labels for women online, in an earnings presentation in January.
Cigarette production halted over health warnings:
· India’s key tobacco manufacturers have threatened to halt production claiming “ambiguity” over the government’s policy on health warnings displayed on tobacco packs.
· The Tobacco Institute of India (TII), a lobby group that represents 98% of India’s cigarette industry, said in a statement that they have “unanimously decided to shut all their cigarette factories with effect from April 1 owing to ambiguity on the policy related to revision of Graphic Health Warnings on tobacco product packs.”
HCL Technologies to acquire Geometric's business:
· HCL Technologies said it has signed an agreement with Mumbai-based engineering services firm Geometric to acquire the latter's business in an equity swap deal estimated at $200 million.
· HCL will issue 10 equity shares to Geometric shareholders for every 43 shares held by them. The deal excludes a joint venture Geometric has with European multinational company Dassault Systèmes.
Persistent acquires San Jose-based Genwi:
· Persistent Systems has acquired San Jose-based Genwi, developer of the Genwi Marketing System, a flexible and customisable platform that delivers superior user experience to the sales and marketing teams at many Global 1,000 companies.
· Founder and CEO of Genwi – Rahul Patel
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:
Reusable Blue Origin rocket makes third successful vertical landing:
· Jeff Bezos’ space transportation company, Blue Origin, successfully launched and landed for the third time a suborbital rocket capable of carrying six passengers, taking another step on its path in developing reusable boosters.
· The New Shepard rocket and capsule blasted off from a launch site in West Texas and landed minutes later back at a landing pad.
SPORTS:
Australia pacer Clint McKay announces retirement from international cricket:
· Australian medium-pacer Clint McKay has announced his retirement from international and Australis’a first-class cricket.
· The 33-year-old Victoria Pacer will carry on playing in the English country circuit for Leicestershire and also play in the Big Bash League for the Sydney Thunder.
Shiva Thapa wins Silver medal at Asian/Oceania Qualifying event in China:
· Indian boxer Shiva Thapa bagged silver medal after losing in the final of the Asian/Oceania Qualifying Tournament.
· Assam grown boxer went down 0-3 to Thailand’s ChatchaiButdee in the summit clash.
· Thapa has become the first Indian pugilist to have sealed a berth for the Rio Olympics. He has defeated KairatYeraliyev 3-0 in the semi-finals
OBITUARY:
Actor Larry Drake died from rare cancer:
· A rare form of cancer cost former “LA Law” star Larry Drake his life, according to the actor’s death certificate.
· The 66-year-old actor, who played Benny Stulwicz in the long-running TV legal drama, died last month after losing his battle with a string of health issues.
1. In a first, DCB Bank offers ATM transactions sans PIN
1. In a first for any domestic bank, small-sized lender DCB Bank has started an Aadhaar-based ATM usage facility wherein a customer can transact using his biometric details instead of the PIN.
2. The user can key-in the 12-digit Aadhaar number or swipe the card at an automated teller machine (ATM) to start a transaction, but at the stage of confirming the identity, it requires biometric details rather than the PIN.
3. Seeding the bank account with the Aadhaar number will be essential before a customer can use the facility.
4. The first of the Aadhaar-based ATMs has been installed at its corporate office in the megapolis' Lower Parel area and Natrajan said it will be waiting for a month more for the technology to stabilise before a mass rollout.
2. PM to launch scheme for loans to SC/STs, women on April 5
1. 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.
2. 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.
Features of Scheme
i. The scheme is expected to benefit a large number of such entrepreneurs, as it is intended to facilitate at least two such projects per bank branch on an average — one for each category of entrepreneur
ii. SC/ST and women entrepreneurs who avail of the loan would be given a RuPay Debit Card for withdrawal, besides comprehensive support such as pre-loan training, facilitating loan, factoring and marketing.
iii. There would be a Rs. 10,000-crore refinance window through the 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.
iv. The government will create a web portal for online registration and support services and also prepare a credit history of borrowers.
v. During the launch, 5,100 e-rickshaws would be distributed by Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC) under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna scheme.
vi. In addition, the recipients will also be covered under the Pradhan Matri Jan Dhan Yojna, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jivan Jyoti Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana and eight other significant schemes.
3. PM visits TCS’ all-women IT centre in Riyadh
1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with Saudi women IT professionals at the first-of-its-kind all-women TCS training centre in the heart of the city here and invited them to visit India.
2. At the TCS Centre 1,000 women work in BPO operations, 85 per cent of whom are Saudi nationals.
3. TCS established the first all-women Business Process Services (BPS) centre in Riyadh in 2013.
4. India jumps to 6th place in top-10 manufacturers list: Report
1. With its ranking going up by three places, India has now been ranked sixth among the world’s 10 largest manufacturing countries. The country previously held the 9th rank.
2. The Yearbook, published by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), finds that in India, the Manufacturing Value Added (MVA) grew by 7.6 per cent in 2015 compared to the previous year.
3. It also said that the quarterly index of industrial production (IIP) shows 1 per cent growth of manufacturing output in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to the same period of previous year.
4. The report also said that the global growth rate of manufacturing production has slowed to 2.8 per cent in 2015.
5. China tops the list of 10-top industrial producers followed by the US, Japan, Germany and Korea. Indonesia was at the bottom of the list.
5. Flipkart acquired UPI-based payments start-up PhonePe
1. E-commerce giant Flipkart announced that it has acquired payments start-up PhonePe Internet Pvt. Ltd.
T2. he start-up PhonePe was launched in December 2015 by former Flipkart executives Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer.
3. As per the deal of acquisition, PhonePe will function as an independent business unit. The details of the transaction were not disclosed, however, the deal is not cash transaction.
4. PhonePe is Flipkart’s third major acquisition in payments, after it bought payments start-up NGPay in 2014, and FX Mart Pvt. Ltd, which owns a prepaid wallet licence, in August 2015.
6. Chandrayaan II to be indigenous mission with 'minor' US help
1. Opting to go solo in its ambitious Chandrayaan II project, India has decided not to take Russia on board and keep the mission completely indigenous with "minor" help from the US.
2. ISRO chairman A S Kiran Kumar said Chandrayaan II, having an indigenously built Lander and Rover, will be launched by December 2017 or first half of 2018. The spacecraft will also have instruments that will collect samples and send the data back to earth.
3. Chandrayaan, the country's Lunar Exploration Programme, is an ongoing series of outer space missions by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
4. In its Chandrayaan Mission I, ISRO was able to make the important discovery of water on the earth's sole satellite. India has now jettisoned Russia in the Chandrayaan II project and would be embarking upon an indigenous venture but with a bit of help from the United States.
7. Shahid Afridi quits as Pakistan T20 captain
1. Facing criticism for Pakistan's dismal show in the ICC World Twenty20, Shahid Afridi stepped down as captain of the team but will continue to play in the shortest format of the game.
2. The mercurial cricketer played 27 Tests for Pakistan before retiring from the format in 2010 with 1716 runs and 48 wickets.
3. In 398 ODIs, he has 8064 runs and 395 wickets, while 98 T20 International appearances have fetched him 1405 runs and 97 wickets.
Haryana Assembly passes bills for mandatory educational criteria for urban local bodies elections
i. The Haryana Legislative Assembly has unanimously passed two bills to make minimum educational qualification criteria mandatory for the urban local bodies election (ULBs).
ii. These bills are (i) The Haryana Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2016 (ii) Haryana Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
iii. These bill seeks to amend the amend Section 13 A of the Haryana Municipal Act, 1973 and Section 8 of the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 respectively.
Key features of the Haryana Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2016
- Minimum educational qualification for a candidate contesting ULBs election in the general category would be Class X i.e. matriculation.
- Female candidate from open category and a male candidate from Scheduled Caste (SC) will be required to be at least 8th standard pass.
- Minimum educational qualification for SC women candidates will be 5th standard pass.
- Candidate should not be convicted or have charges framed against him in a criminal case by a court for an offence punishable with imprisonment for not less than 10 years.
- There should be no pending arrears of electricity bills against the candidate contesting the elections to ULBs. Candidates must have a functional toilet at their residence.
Union Government releases Indian Intellectual Property Panorama
i. Union Government has released Indian Intellectual Property (IP) Panorama to increase awareness and build sensitivity towards IP in the SME sector, academia and researchers.
ii. The IP Panorma is a single window interface for information on IP and guidance on leveraging it for competitive advantage. It can be accessed at http://ict-ipr.in/index.php/ip-panorama.
Key facts
- The Indian IP Panorama is a customized version of IP Panorama Multimedia toolkit developed by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and Korea Invention Promotion Association (KIPA).
- The toolkit has been adapted to cater to start-ups and SMEs especially India’s ICTE sector based on an agreement signed between DeitY and WIPO.
- Thus, the Indian IP Panorama is a customized version of WIPO’s original product has been framed in accordance with Indian IP laws, standards and needs of the Indian ICTE sector.
- 5 modules of the Indian IP Panorama: (i) Importance of IP for SMEs, (ii) Trademark, (iii) Industrial design, (iv) Invention and Patent and (v) Patent Information.
- Developed under the aegis of: Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in close coordination with the Indian IP office.
World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO): It is the global body for promotion and protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It encourages and provides assistance to all its 188 member countries in formulating a national IPR policy however it does not dictate or prescribe any mandatory measures. India is a member of WIPO and party to several treaties administered by WIPO.
Union Government imposes safeguard duty on import of steel products
i. The Union Finance Minister has extended the safeguard duty on import of some steel products by two years i.e till March 2018.
ii. In this regard, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has issued a notification mentioning that safeguard duty will be reduced to 10% in stages till 2008 from current 20%.
iii. The safeguard duty will be imposed on steel products hot-rolled flat products of non-alloy and other alloy steel in coils of 600 mm width.
iv. The duty will be on the products which are imported at or above the minimum import price (MIP), which helps to set a floor price mainly to discourage imports below this price.
v. The main intention of this move is to protect domestic industry from onslaught of cheap steel supplies (imports) from China amid a global glut.
What is Safeguard Duty?
- The safeguard duty is tariff barrier imposed by government on the commodities to ensure that imports in excessive quantities do not harm the domestic industry.
- It is mainly temporary measure undertaken by government in defence of the domestic industry which is harmed or has potential threat getting hared due to sudden cheap surge in imports.
Renowned journalist Babu Bharadwaj passes away
i. Veteran journalist and writer Babu Bharadwaj passed away due to cardiac arrest in Kozhikode, Kerala. He was 68.
ii. As a journalist, he was part of prominent print and television media in Kerala.
About Babu Bharadwaj
- Born in Kozhikode in 1948 at Chemmenchery. He had studied at Poyilkavu High School, and later at Malabar Christian College and the Thrissur Engineering College.
- As a writer he had written many novels and stories. His famous works include Pravasiyude Kurippukal, Shavaghoshayathra, Pravasiyude Vazhiyambalangal, Puppet Theatre (short story collection) and Adrushya Nagarangal.
- He also had produced a Malayalam movie named Iniyum Marichittillatha Nammal (1980) directed by Chintha Ravi.
- Awards and Honours: He had won Kerala Sahitya Akademi award (2006) for his novel Kalapangalkkoru Grihapadam.
Flipkart acquires mobile payments firm PhonePe
i. India’s homegrown e-commerce giant Flipkart has acquired a Bengaluru-based mobile payments company PhonePe for an undisclosed sum.
ii. PhonePe has been co-founded by ex-Flipkart employees Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari. After the acquisition, the mobile payments company will function as an independent business unit.
Key facts
- PhonePe is building India’s a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based product. It is expected to be launched in April 2016.
- The interface this mobile payments gateway will allow users to transact using their unique identification and mobile phone number or virtual payments address.
- This will be without sharing any other bank details and anyone with a bank account can perform instant transactions by using mobile phone.
- This payment gateway is in contrast to the present payments process, which involves entering numerous account/card details and multi-level interventions.
Germany’s Development Bank KfW to provide loan assistance to metro system for Nagpur
i. Germany’s Development Bank KfW will provide loan assistance of 3750 crore rupees for the modern and sustainable metro system for Nagpur city.
ii. In this regard, a loan agreement was signed by Joint Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs S Selvaraj and Director General of KfW Roland Siller in New Delhi.
iii. The loan period is 20 years with a moratorium of 5 years and disbursal will be based on the progress of the project over three years.
iv. With this Nagpur metro project becomes first metro to be financed under the Indo-German partnership for clean, socially inclusive and climate friendly mobility for people in cities.
v. The project is being executed by Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Limited and its total costing is of 8,680 crore rupees.
4th Nuclear Security Summit begins in Washington
i. The fourth edition of Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) began in Washington, United States to discuss a gamut of issues pertaining to nuclear security.
ii. In this edition of summit, heads of about 53 countries and representatives of five international organisations including the UNO, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), European Union (EU), Interpol are taking part.
iii. India is being represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the two-day summit. The fourth summit is the last summit under the current format and also under the presidency of Barack Obama.
Key facts
- The summit will highlight achievements and commitments of several countries towards safeguarding nuclear devices and technologies and reducing the threat of nuclear terrorism.
- This edition of summit is expected to take stock of the measures being taken by all countries to safeguard nuclear materials and facilities and also prevent non-state actors gaining access to them.
- It is also a crucial element of the US strategy to keep terrorists from acquiring fissile material to make nuclear weapons.
- The prime focus of the summit will be on North Korea and the terrorist organisation ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).
Background
- The idea of Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) was mooted by the US President Barack Obama in 2009 and the first summit was held in 2010 in Washington.
- It is a signature event of global diplomacy in Obama’s presidency that aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism around the globe.
- India has been contributing its bit to strengthen nuclear security by taking an active part in the summit ever since its inception in 2010.
- The second, third summits were held in Seoul (South Korea) and The Hague (Netherlands) in 2010, 2012 and 2014 respectively.
Shiva Thapa wins Silver medal at Asian/Oceania Qualifying event in China
i. Ace Indian boxer Shiva Thapa has won the silver medal at the Asian/Oceania Qualifying Tournament held in Qian’an, China in the 56 Kilogram category final.
ii. In the final match, he lost to Thailand’s Chatchai Butdee by 0-3 score who won the gold medal.
iii. By entering in the final match of this event, he had booked his ticket to 2015 Rio de Janeiro Olympics Games after beating Kazakhstan’s Kairat Yeraliyev in the semifinals.
iv. Shiva is a World Championship bronze-medallist in the Bantamweight category held in Doha in 2015. He also had participated in the 2012 London Olympics and was the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics.
i. Ace Indian boxer Shiva Thapa has won the silver medal at the Asian/Oceania Qualifying Tournament held in Qian’an, China in the 56 Kilogram category final.
ii. In the final match, he lost to Thailand’s Chatchai Butdee by 0-3 score who won the gold medal.
iii. By entering in the final match of this event, he had booked his ticket to 2015 Rio de Janeiro Olympics Games after beating Kazakhstan’s Kairat Yeraliyev in the semifinals.
iv. Shiva is a World Championship bronze-medallist in the Bantamweight category held in Doha in 2015. He also had participated in the 2012 London Olympics and was the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics.
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