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National – Across the India

 

1. The Union Government has constituted a committee to consider Scheduled Tribe status to six Communities of Assam.

 

These six Communities are Koch Rajbongshi, Moran, Matak, Tai Ahom, Chutia and Adivasi (Tea Tribes).

 It will be headed by Mahesh Kumar Singla, Special Secretary (Internal Security) Ministry of Home Affairs.

 

2. The multinational Military Exercise Force Eighteen conducted by Indian Army has started in at Pune, Maharashtra.

 

It is a seven days exercise, which will last till 8th March, 2016

Over 300 participants from 18 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Plus countries are participating in this exercise.

Exercise Force Eighteen is the largest multinational ground forces exercise to be conducted on Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) and Peace Keeping Operations (PKO).

It is conducted by India as part of its ambitious Look (Act) East policy and it is one of the largest multi-national military exercises conducted in the country.

 

3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Setu Bharatam Project to make all national highways free of railway crossings by 2019.

 

This project will be implemented by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

More than 50 thousand crore rupees will be spent on the project.

 

4. The Union Government has decided to wind up of National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) with immediate effect as it has fulfilled the mandate.

 

The decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi after it was observed that NMCC has fulfilled the mandate for which it was constituted.

NMCC is to provide a continuing forum for policy dialogue to energize and sustain the growth of manufacturing industry.

 

5. Delhi has become the first state (UT) in the country to launch the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as a public health program for school children.

 

HPV is a DNA virus from the papillomavirus family which is mainly a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that causes genital warts and cervical cancer.

The vaccination program will be completed in the current academic year 2015-16 over two phases.

In the first year, girls studying in Class VI in government schools will be targeted and in the next year girls between the age of 9 and 13 will be targeted.

 

6. The traditional festival of Chapchar Kut of the Mizos was celebrated across the north-eastern state of Mizoram and also in the Mizo-inhabited areas in the neighboring states.

 

The festival is estimated to have started in 1450-1700 A.D. in a village called Suaipui.

It is a spring festival celebrated every year in month of March with great fervor and gaiety by Mizos after completion of their Jhum operation (shifting agriculture by clearing jungle by burning and cultivating in remnants of burning).

Mizos celebrate this festival by dressing in their traditional attire and dancers danced to the tune of typical music and songs. Popular Mizo dances including Cheraw, Chheihlam, Sarlamkai and Khuallam are performed by various cultural groups.

 

7. The first Raisina-Dialogue 2016, a flagship conference on Geopolitics and Geo-economics began in New Delhi.

 

The theme of Raisina-Dialogue 2016 is “Asia: Regional and Global Connectivity”.

The three day conference is joint initiative of Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF), an independent think tank based in India.

It will focus on Asia’s economic, physical, human and digital connectivity and shall attempt to discover challenges and opportunities for the region to manage its common spaces.

 

8. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated a National conference on ‘Women Legislators: Building Resurgent India’ in New Delhi.

The conference intends to hone the skills of legislators to perform their legislative and non-legislative roles with greater effectiveness.

The two-day conference will provide women legislators a platform to interact with their counterparts from across the country.

 

9. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has selected Nagepur village in his Varanasi Constituency of Lok Sabha in Uttar Pradesh under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).

 

Key objectives of SAGY are: –

The development of model villages, called Adarsh Grams, through the implementation of existing schemes, and certain new initiatives to be designed for the local context, which may vary from village to village.

Creating models of local development which can be replicated in other villages.

Earlier in the first phase of SAGY, PM had adopted Jayapur village in Sevapuri Assembly segment of Varanasi in 2014.

 

10. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has released a new Four-colour Classification Scheme for industries based on their pollution potential.

 

The four-colour classification scheme of industrial sectors based on the Pollution Index (PI) which is a function of the Emissions (air pollutants), Effluents (water pollutants), hazardous wastes generated and Consumption of resources.

The Pollution Index (PI) of any industrial sector is a number ranging from 0 to 100. Increasing value of PI denotes the increasing degree of pollution load from the industrial sector.

 

11. As per recently released report of International Labour Organization (ILO) titled-Women at Work: Trends 2016, gender equality still remains elusive in the workplace.

 

The report highlights trends in 2016 in 178 countries and it has been found that millions of women worldwide are not getting the same kind of quality, well-paying jobs as men.

In past 20 years, the gender gap in employment, wages and social protection has changed little. They continue to work longer hours per day than men in both paid and unpaid work.

Globally, women represent nearly 65% of people who have reached retirement age without any regular pension. They lose out in terms of social and retirement benefits since they earn less money.

 

12. Germany has decided to partner with India’s smart city program and will help developing Kochi (Kerala), Bhubaneswar (Odisha) and Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) as smart cities.

 

It was announced by State Secretary in Germany’s Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Gunther Adler in New Delhi at the second meeting of the Indo-German Working Group on Urban Development.

These three cities are among the top 20 cities selected by Urban Development Ministry which are to be developed as smart cities.

 

13. National carrier Air India successfully flew the World’s longest all-woman operated and supported flight from the national capital New Delhi to San Francisco (United States).

 

The flight was operated as part of International Women’s Day celebrations and travelled a distance of around 14,500 kilometres in close to 17 hours.

The non-stop flight to San Francisco took off on 6th March 2016 from New Delhi.

The flight was under the command of Kshamta Bajpayee and Shubhangi Singh. They were supported by First Officers Ramya Kirti Gupta and Amrit Namdhari.

 

14. India is going to host BRICS Friendship Cities Conclave in Mumbai (Maharashtra), financial capital of India from April 14 to 16, 2016.

 

It will be attended by the top Urban Policy makers and Planners from BRICS Nations viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the conference which will be attended by representatives of at least two cities from each of the BRICS nations.

The three-day conclave will be organized by Mumbai First, a think-tank working to find solutions for city’s development.

 

15. Karnataka government has launched Mukhyamantri Santwana Harish Yojana to provide free medical treatment to road accident victims for the first 48 hours (2 days) in the nearest government or private hospital.

 

The scheme has been named after Harish Nanjappa who had donated his eyes moments before his death. He had died as no help was provided to him after he was severely injured in mishap in February 2016.

Under the scheme immediate medical relief would be provided to the victim during the Golden Hour with financial aid up to Rs 25,000 during the first 48 hours of treatment.

 

16. The first ever all girls National Cadet Corps (NCC) Mount Everest expedition was flagged off by Union Minister of State (MoS) for Defence Rao Inderjeet Singh in New Delhi.

 

The aim of mountaineering expeditions in NCC is to strengthen the character and instill qualities of courage, discipline, comradeship and leadership in the cadets.

The team consisting of ten girl cadets is led by Colonel Gaurav Karki, along with fifteen service personnel. They will reach Nepal on 31st March 2016 and likely to summit the peak between 15 and 25th May, 2016.

 

17. 57 countries are going to take part in the first Maritime India Summit 2016 scheduled to be held in April 2016 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

 

The maiden Maritime India Summit is scheduled to be held in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It will be organised by Union Ministry of Shipping.

It was announced by the Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari on the sidelines of media launch of the Maritime India Summit 2016.

 

18. The fourth edition of the India-Indonesia Joint Training Exercise Garuda Shakti has begun at Magelang in Indonesia.

 

The exercise will continue till 23rd March, 2016.

The aim of the exercise is to build and promote positive relations between the Armies of India and Indonesia and enhance their abilities to undertake joint tactical level operations in a counter insurgency environment under United Nations Charter.

 

19. The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) for providing free of cost LPG (cooking gas) connections to women from BPL Households.

 

This scheme will be implemented by Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. It will be for the ministry will be implementing a welfare scheme.

The PMUY seeks to empowering women and protecting their health by shifting them from traditional cooking based on unclean cooking fuels or on fossil fuels that have serious health hazards to clean cooking gas.

 

20. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing and ratification of the Bay of Bengal Initiative on Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.

 

BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative on Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) is the sub-regional group of seven countries in South Asia and South East Asia.

The BIMSTEC Convention aims to extend widest measures of assistance among 7 member countries through mutual cooperation.

 

21. Union Power Ministry has announced name UJALA for the LED based Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP).

 

UJALA is acronym for Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All.

The National LED based DELP programme was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 2015 for energy conservation by reducing energy consumption.

The target of programme is to replace 77 crore incandescent lamps with LED bulbs. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) is implementing it and is currently running successfully in over 120 cities across India.

 

22. Myanmar to help the country bolster its railway transportation system.

 

In this regard, RITES (Public Sector Enterprise under Union Ministry of Railways) has signed a contract with Myanmar Railways.

The supply contract is a vital project being funded under an existing line of credit (LOC) extended by India to Myanmar.

 

23. Union Government’s premier think-tank NITI Aayog has launched the ‘Women Transforming India’ initiative.

 

The initiative was launched on the eve of International Women’s Day (8th March) in partnership with the United Nations and MyGov.

This initiative is also considered as an important step forward in furthering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which includes Gender as a one of the stand-alone goal.

 

24. Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has launched an online Clean My Coach service in line with Indian Railways cleanliness drive Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat and Union Government’s flagship Digital India Program.

 

The online service allows travellers to get their compartments cleaned by sending an SMS or by a designated website or by using an application.

The service was announced by the Railway Minister in his 2016-17 Rail Budget speech.

 

25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated three major railway projects in Bihar at an estimated cost of 7000 crore rupees.

 

Three projects are Rail-cum-road bridge at Patna over the River Ganga, Rail-cum-road bridge at Munger, Additional bridge at Mokama over the River Ganga: It is double line Railway Bridge.

These three bridges will provide connectivity to north and south Bihar and further help in development of North Bihar.

 

26. The Allahabad High Court celebrated its 150th foundation day on 14th March 2016. President Pranab Mukherjee was the Chief Guest of the celebrations.

 

Allahabad High Court was established in 1866 after seat was shifted from Agra to Allahabad in 1869. It had replaced the old Sadr Diwani Adalat.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur and Union Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda were some of the dignitaries who attended the function.

On this occasion, CJI Justice Thakur dedicated digitization centre of Allahabad High court, Reserve bank of India (RBI) also released a 10 rupees coin, Postal department released a postage stamp and a Souvenir of the High court.

 

27. Recently, power generation unit 1 at Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) in Gujarat was shut down for indefinitely period after leakage of heavy water.

 

The Kakrapar nuclear plant is located near Vyara in south Gujarat. It consists of two units of pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR) of 220 MW each. NPCIL is operator the plant.

The reactor was shut down as per design provisions after a small leak in the Primary Heat Transport (PHT) System of the plant was detected.

Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), operator of KAPS has confirmed that there was no harmful, radioactive leakage and the backup safety mechanisms for emergency situation are working as intended.

 

28. The Union Government has notified maximum sale price (MSP) of Bt cotton seed for the year 2016-17.

 

Bt cotton is a genetically modified organism (GMO) cotton variety, which produces an insecticide to bollworm.

It is produced by the gene coding technique by inserting Bt toxin into cotton as a transgene that causes it to produce this natural insecticide in its tissues.

Union Government has issued notification as per the Cotton Seed Price (Control) Order, 2015 under the Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

 

29. Union Government has announced that out of 96,000 animal species found in India more than 50 animals have been assessed as critically endangered (CR) and 310 as endangered (EN).

 

The assessment studies were conducted by Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and it has recorded 96,000 species of animals from India.

These include Gangetic River Dolphin (CR) with budgetary support of Rs 23 crore, Dugong (CR) with a budget of Rs 23.58 crore, Great Indian Bustard (CR) with Rs 108.25 crore, Manipur Brow Antlered deer (CR) with support of Rs 99.95 crore and wild Buffalo (CR) with Rs 2 crore.

 

30. Haryana’s New Secretariat Building in Chandigarh has become first building in the country to have an early Earthquake Warning and Security system (onsite).

 

The system was installed by New Delhi based Terra Techcom Private Limited and Secretary Electronics GmbH, Germany.

The system can provide crucial seconds for evacuation in event of an earthquake and is already being used in 26 countries around the world.

 

31. India ranked 118th out of 157 countries on the United Nations’ World Happiness Index (WHI) 2016.

 

 It was declared by the fourth World Happiness Report 2016 published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), a global initiative for the UN.

 World Happiness Report aims at influencing government policy and is prepared on the basis of study undertaken by Gallup World Poll.

 Top 10 countries in the list are Denmark (1st), Switzerland (2nd), Iceland (3rd), Norway (4th) and Finland (5th), Canada (6th), Netherlands (7th), New Zealand (8th), Australia (9th) and Sweden (10th).

 

32. The India Aviation 2016, an international exhibition and conference on civil aviation kicked off in Hyderabad, Telangana.

 

 It is the fifth edition in the biennial series of this international exhibition and was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Begumpet Airport (also known as Hyderabad Old Airport).

 It has been jointly organised by Ministry of Civil Aviation and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on the lines of Make in India.

 

33. The largest fair on Food and Hospitality Sector in India, AAHAR 2016 has kicked off at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

 

 It is the 31st edition in this series of the fair and was inaugurated by Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

 It is largest show of its kind in South Asia. It is organized by India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) under aegis of Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

 It will cover two separate but concurrent exhibitions Hospitality India to cover Hotel & Restaurant Equipment and Supplies and Food India to cover Foods, Processed Foods, Food Processing and Beverages.

 

34. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated World Sufi Forum in New Delhi.

 

The four-day event is being organized by All India Ulama and Mashaikh Board (AIUMB), the apex body of Sufi Dargahs in India.

More than 200 Indian and International delegates, including Sufi Shuyukh, scholars, academicians, spiritual leaders and masters of Sufism are going to participating at the event.

 

35. Union Government has launched Depot Online System of state run Food Corporation of India (FCI) to bring transparency and minimize storage losses of food grains.

 

It was launched by Union Food and public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in New Delhi as part of Digital India initiative of Union Government.

It will help real time monitoring of FCI operations and enhance transparency and efficiency.

 

36. Punjab Government has notified swine flu (H1N1) under the Epidemic Disease Act to prevent the spread of disease in the state.

 

In the regard, Health and Family Welfare Department of state has issued notification based on recommendations of state advisory committee headed by Dr. D Behera.

Swine fluis a respiratory disease caused by viruses (influenza viruses) that infect the respiratory tract of pigs.

 

37. The Supreme Court has allowed publication of photographs of Governors, Chief Ministers and the Ministers of the department concerned in government advertisements.

 

Ruling in this regard was given by a SC bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi on pleas by Union Government and states which had sought review of the Supreme Court judgement.

This ruling of Supreme Court has modified its earlier 2015 order which only had permitted photographs of President, Prime Minister and Chief Justice of India (CJI) in the government advertisements.

 

38. Goa government has classified Feni, country liquor as the heritage spirit of the state.

 

Feni is a form of spirit produced exclusively in the coastal state of Goa. It is a distilled brew made from coconut or cashew fruits.

For this, state government has opined not categorize it as country liquor as it is presently defined under the Goa Excise Duty Act, 1964.

State government also has proposed to bring an amendment to the Act to change the status.

 

39. The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has launched new anti-TB (Tuberculosis) drug Bedaquiline.

 

It was launched by the Union Health Minister J P Nadda as part of the TB national programme.

Initially the drug will be made available in six public hospitals in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Guwahati and Ahmedabad.

Later it will be introduced in 104 districts across five States.

 

40. The fast patrol vessel (FPV) of the Indian Coast Guard ICGS Arnvesh was commissioned at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

 

The ship is primarily intended to undertake coastal patrol, surveillance at sea, anti-smuggling, anti-piracy operations and search and rescue operations.

The vessel among the 20 FPVs indigenously built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).

It is capable of carrying a crew of five officers and 34 men on board.

 

41. The Indian Navy for the first has deployed a P8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft to Seychelles for surveillance in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Seychelles.

 

The deployment has been done in accordance with the MoU signed between India and Seychelles.

The deployment will provide Professional assistance to the Seychelles People’s Defence Force (SPDF) in curbing illegal activities and piracy as well as contribute towards security and stability in the IOR.

 

42. India has assumed BRICS Chairmanship from the Russian Federation for the year 2016.

 

BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj formally unveiled the BRICS Logo for the duration of India’s BRICS Chairmanship and also launched website.

For the second time India has assumed BRICS Chairmanship and had hosted the BRICS Summit in 2012 for first time in New Dehli.

The 7th BRICS Summit was held in the Russian city of Ufa in July 2015.

 

43. India’s Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve (ABR) was included in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

 

ABR in situated at the southern-most end of the Western Ghats and spread over two southern states Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The event took place at the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere (ICCMAB) programme of UNESCO that concluded recently in Lima, Peru.

Along with this 19 other sites were also included.

Among these sites,  9 are the Biosphere Reserves i.e. Nilgiri (Western Ghats), Gulf of Mannar (Tamil Nadu), Sunderban (West Bengal), Nanda Devi (Uttarakhand), Nokrek (Meghalaya), Pachmarh (Madhya Pradesh), Similipal (Odisha), Achanakmar-Amarkantak (Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh) and Great Nicobar.

 

44. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) for the first time notified new environment standards for Gensets running on various kinds of fuels including LPG, petrol and diesel in various cities.

 

The primary aim of the new standards for Gensets is to control air and noise pollution emanating from the operation of Gensets.

These standards were recommended by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) after consultations with industries and other stakeholders.

 

45. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the implementation of the rural housing scheme of Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana- Gramin.

 

Under the scheme, financial assistance will be provided for construction of pucca houses to all houseless and households living in dilapidated houses.

 The expenditure involved in implementing the project is Rs.81975 crore in a span of 3 years from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

 

46. Andhra Pradesh government inaugurated India’s first river linking project viz. Pattiseema lift irrigation project connecting Godavari River with Krishna River from the ongoing Polavaram Multi-purpose Irrigation Project.

 

The project has been completed in a record time of one year by the Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL).

The project has capactiry to lift 80 tmc (trillion metric cubic feet) of flood water from Godavari River in a span of 110 days during the flooding season between July and October.

 

47. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) successfully commissioned a 600 MW coal-based thermal power plant in Telangana.

 

The unit was commissioned at the upcoming 2×600 MW Singareni Thermal Power Project (TPP) located at Jaipur in Adilabad district of Telangana.

SCCL is India’s second largest coal mining company and operates 16 opencast and 32 underground mines in 4 districts of Telangana.

 

48. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified the E-Waste Management Rules, 2016.

 

The new set of rules will supersede the E-Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011 and will pave the way for more transparent and environment friendly management of e-waste across the country.

Urban Local Bodies (Municipal Committee/Council/Corporation) were given the duty to collect and channelized the orphan products to authorized dismantler or recycler.

 

49. President Pranab Mukherjee has imposed Present’s Rule (State Emergency) in the state of Uttarakhand in the wake of constitutional breakdown under Article 356 of Constitution.

 

In relation to this, President has signed the proclamation state Emergency based on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet

 Article 356 empowers the President to issue a proclamation of Present’s Rule (State Emergency), if he is satisfied that situation has arisen in which government of a state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Notably, he can act accordance with the report of the Governor or without it.

 

50. India’s biggest ever land, naval and homeland security exhibition Defence Expo 2016 began in Goa.

 

The four-day biennial event was inaugurated by the Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

This for the first time, the Expo is being held outside the national capital New Delhi.

It is the 9th edition of the series of biennial land, naval and internal homeland security systems exhibitions.

The 2016 theme is “Rise of Futurism” and its vision is to make India prosperous by establishing world class science and technology base in defence sector.

 

51. The Environment Ministry notified Construction & Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016 for the first time.

 

The rules were notified to effectively tackle the issues of pollution and waste management.

The basis of these rules is to recover, recycle and reuse the waste generated through construction and demolition.

 

52. Haryana became the first state in the country to implement the use of injectable contraceptives as a family planning measure.

 

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has launched ‘Project Salamati’ in assistance of Pathfinder International.

Under the Project Salamati, injectable contraceptives would be available free of cost at all primary health centres, community health centres, sub divisional and district hospitals.

 

53. India’s first indigenous composites sonar dome, a ship’s underwater eyes and ears, was flagged off by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

 

The sonar dome was dedicated to the nation and will be delivered to Mazgaon Docks, Mumbai for use in the warships of Indian Navy.

The sonar dome is dsigned and produced by a Defence and Research Development Organisation’s (DRDO’s) Research and Development Establishment (Engineers) lab based in Pune.

 

International – Across the Globe

 

1. The 7th edition of India, Seychelles joint military exercise LAMITYE 2016concluded in Victoria, Mahe Island, Seychelles.

 

The fourteen day exercise was conducted at Seychelles Defence Academy (SDA), Victoria from February 15 to 28, 2016.

The aim of joint bilateral military exercise was to improve interoperability between armies of both countries in jointly fighting Counter Terrorism/ Counter Insurgency.

 

2. Government of Peru has declared emergency for three weeks after a major oil pipeline burst in the country’s northeast region affecting two rivers Chiriaco and Morona.

 

Beacuse of this over 3,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into the rivers which are the main source of water and food for several indigenous communities in this region.

The emergency has declared to warn communities not to eat fish from the polluted waters of these rivers.

 

3. As revealed by Global Energy Architecture Performance Index (GEAPI) Report compiled by World Economic Forum (WEF), India has been ranked at the 90th place in a list of 126 countries on the basis of their ability to deliver secure, affordable and sustainable energy.

 

Top 10 countries in GEAPI Report are –

Switzerland (1st)

Norway (2nd)

Sweden (3rd)

France (4th)

Denmark (5th)

Austria (6th)

Spain (7th)

Colombia (8th)

New Zealand (9th)

Uruguay (10th).

 

GEAPI Report was prepared in collaboration with Accenture. It has explored the energy architecture of 126 countries. It is based on their ability to provide energy access across three dimensions of energy triangle viz. affordability, security, environmental sustainability and access.

 

4. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) consistently adopted the toughest sanctions ever imposed on North Korea in response to its fourth nuclear test and rocket launch.

 

For this the 15-member council passed a resolution drafted by the United States and backed by China.

 

5. India has filed a complaint against the United States decision to impose high fees L-1 and H-1B categories of temporary working visas in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

 

US had imposed fees on certain applicants for L-1 and H-1B categories of non-immigrant temporary working visas into the country,

US measure is inconsistent with the global norms and it would impact Indian IT professionals as it makes Indian IT companies less competitive in that market.

These measures appear to be “inconsistent” with the terms, limitations and conditions agreed under the GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services).

 

6. India and United States have launched the Fulbright – Kalam Climate Fellowship enabling Indian research scholars to work with American institutions in the field of climate change.

 

It will sponsor up to 6 Indian PhD students and post-doctoral researchers to work with US institutions for a period up to one year.

It will be operated by the binational US-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) under the umbrella of the prestigious Fulbright program.

It will be jointly funded by both the governments.

 

7. The Arab League has declared Lebanese movement Hezbollah, a Shia political organization a terrorist group.

 

The move comes after the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had adopted the same stance.

Decision in this regard was taken during the Arab League Foreign Ministers’ meeting at the organization’s seat in Egypt’s capital Cairo.

All-22 Arab League members supported the decision except Lebanon and Iraq expressed reservations.

 

8. China’s Supreme Court has decided to set up its own International Maritime Judicial Centre (IMJC) to handle territorial disputes and protect its sea rights.

 

It was announced by China’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Zhou Qiang at the annual meeting of the national legislature National People’s Congress (NPC).

This move will help China to bolster its claims in the disputed South and East China seas and also help it become a maritime power.

 

9. Htin Kyaw has been elected Myanmar’s Parliament as the first civilian (non-military) President of the country after 53 years of military rule.

 

He was candidate of National League for Democracy (NLD) party and was elected after securing 360 of the total 652 casted votes.

Myint Swe and Henry Van Thio will serve as first vice-president and second vice-president of the country, respectively.

As per Myanmar’s constitution adopted in 2008, President is elected under a complex system in which the two chambers of parliament nominate two presidential candidates and military MPs nominated a third candidate, assuring the army continued influence.

 

10. Syrian Army and popular defence forces have regained control of the ancient city of Palmyra from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group.

 

 The liberation of the historic city of Palmyra from the ISIS terror group was undertaken by joint efforts of Syrian Army with support of national aviation and Russian Aerospace Forces.

 The ancient city of Palmyra is a UNESCO designated World Heritage site and home to some of the world’s most magnificent ancient ruins.

 ISIS had taken complete control of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra in May 2015. After the seizure of entire ancient city, they had destroyed many ancient ruins.

 

11. The Government of Russia approved a deal for ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) to acquire 15 percent stake in Vankor oilfield from Rosneft.

 

The deal is worth 1.3 billion US dollars. It was signed between the OVL and Rosneft in September 2015.

This deal is in addition to another deal that was signed between the OVL and three other oil companies in March 2016.

 

12. The 13th edition of India-European Union Summit was held on in Brussels, capital of Belgium.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi represented Indian side in the summit.

The European Union (EU) was represented by President of the European Council, Donald Tusk and President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.

The 13th summit laid out concrete priority actions for the strategic bilateral partnership in areas like trade and investment, climate, energy, water and migration in the next five years.

 

Sports

 

1. Car racer Armaan Ebrahimwas awarded the Motorsports Man-of-the-Year Trophy at ceremony organized by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).

 

Ebrahim was presented with the Raymond Gautam Singhania Rolling Trophy and cash prize of 2 lakh rupees for his performance in the Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo Asia Series.

On the other hand, I. Chandhok received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to motorsports in the country.

 

2. Rahul Sachdev has won the first All India Open Invitational Snooker Championship 2016 held at Aurangabad in Maharashtra.

 

Rahul defeated Pushpender Singh of Indian Railways by 5-3 score, In the final match.

It was his maiden title and is considered as major breakthrough in his career after winning this title.

 

3. Aaron Phangiso, South Africa left-arm spinner has been suspended by International Cricket Council (ICC).

 

He was suspended after ICC’s Panel of Human Movement Specialists found that his bowling deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under ICC regulations.

So far he has played 16 one-day internationals (ODIs) and 9 T20s for South Africa.

 

4. The Mumbai under-23 cricket team has won the Col CK Nayudu Trophy for the season 2015-16 by defeatingMadhya Pradesh under-23 cricket team.

 

This was Mumbai s second big title of the season after they had won the Ranji Trophy for the 41st time earlier.

Col CK Nayudu Trophy is named after country’s first Test captain Col. Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu.

 

5. Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai has won Gold medal in the 50m Pistol Men final event at the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup held in Bangkok, Thailand.

 

Jitu Rai is the winner of the 2014 Asian Games. He is currently ranked 5th in the world in the 50m Pistol Men’s event.

He scored 191.3 points in the final round and beating two of the strongest members of the Chinese Olympic team, Pang Wei and Wang Zhiwei.

 

6. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has promoted Hockey India national-level umpire Nepoleon Singh (30) as the International Outdoor Umpire.

 

The decision was taken by FIH after seeing his performance in the recently-concluded 12th South Asian Games 2016 held at Guwahati, Assam.

Nepoleon started his career as an umpire from Manipur in the 3rd Hockey India Junior Women National Championship 2013 held at Ranchi, Jharkhand.

Now he became one of the young umpires from India who have recently been upgraded to international-level outdoor umpire.

 

7. Patna Pirates has won the third season of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) by defeating U Mumbai.

 

Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) is a professional Kabaddi (indigenous sport) league based on the format of the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 cricket tournament.

Rohit Kumar (Patna Pirates) was awarded Best Raider and Mohit Chillar (U Mumba) was awarded Best Defender of the Match.

 

8. India has won the 2016 Asia Cup T20 trophy for a record sixth time after beating Bangladesh by 8 wickets in the final.

2016 Asia Cup was held in Bangladesh from 24 February to 6 March 2016. It was the 13th edition of the Asia Cup.

 

Man of the Match: Shikhar Dhawan.

Man of the series: Sabbir Rahman (Bangladesh).

Most runs in the series: Sabbir Rahman (176) of Bangladesh.

Most wickets in the series: Al-Amin Hossain (11) of Bangladesh.

 

9. Maria Sharapova, former world number one female tennis player has revealed that she failed a drugs test at the Australian Open.

 

Due to this failure the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has provisionally suspended her till further action from Tennis for violating Anti-Doping Rule.

She has been tested positive for meldonium, a substance that has been added in the forbidden list by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on 1 January 2016.

 

10. Rest of India has won the Irani Cup Cricket Title 2015-16 by defeating Mumabi in the final match of the cup by four wickets.

 

The Irani Cup tournament was started during the 1959-60 season to mark the completion of 25 years of the Ranji Trophy championship.

In the final match played at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, Rest of India overhauled the record victory target of 480 by making 482 for 6 on the fifth and final day.

This successful chase was also the best-ever run-chase in the Irani Cup history. It has bettered Rest of India’s previous 424, chasing target set by Delhi at the Ferozshah Kotla in 1982-83.

 

11. Services has won the 70th edition of Santosh Trophy Football Championships title 2016 by defeating hosts Maharashtra.

 

In the final match played at SEC Railway Stadium, Nagpur (Maharashtra), the Services defeated host team Maharashtra by 2-1 goal score.

Santosh Trophy is an annual Indian football tournament played in India.

With this win, Services has retained that title and has won it for fifth time in year 1961, 2012, 2013 and 2015.

 

12. Lin Dan from China has won the prestigious 2016 All England Badminton title in the men’s singles category.

 

In the final match played at Birmingham, England he defeated Chinese teammate Tian Houwei by 21-9, 21-10 score.

It was his overall sixth All England badminton title and earlier he had won it in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012.

All England Open Badminton Championships is one of the oldest as well as the prestigious badminton tournaments of the world.

 

13. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has suspended Bangladesh bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny for bowling with an illegal action with an immediate effect.

 

They were suspended after independent assessments have found that their bowling actions of is illegal.

The assessments were performed at the ICC-accredited testing centre at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai.

 

14. Ace Indian shuttler HS Prannoy (World no 13) has won the prestigious 2016 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in the men’s single category.

 

In the final match played at Basel, Switzerland, he defeated Marc Zwiebler (World no 7) of Germany 21-18, 21-15 score.

It was his second Grand Prix Gold title after the Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold won in 2014.

 

15. Star Indian grappler Yogeshwar Dutt has won a Gold medal in the Asian Olympic Qualification tournament in the 65 kg freestyle category.

 

The match was held at Astana (Kazakhstan).

He defeated Katai Yeerlanbieke from China in the 65 kg freestyle category.

With this victory he secured an Olympic quota place for India.

He is second Indian wrestler after Narsingh Yadav to secure berth in the 74 kg freestyle category for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

 

16. Indian wrestler Hardeep Singh has won silver medal in the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament in the 98 kg category.

 

The tournament held in Astana, Kazakhstan.

With this win, Hardeep became the first Indian to get an Olympic berth in the Greco-Roman category in last 12 years.

The previous participation in this category was of Mausam Khatri in 2004 Athens Games.

 

17. Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has declared his retirement from all forms of International Cricket after the end of his team’s campaign in the ongoing ICC World Twenty20.

 

He made this announcement at I S Bindra Stadium in Mohali, Punjab. Earlier in 2015, he had announced his retirement from Test cricket at the end of 2015 Ashes tour of England.

He had played total 59 test matches and had scored 3731 runs at an average of 35.19. His highest test score was 176 and total test score comprises of 4 centuries.

 

18. Sergey Karjakin, Russian grandmaster has won the prestigious FIDE World Chess Candidates Tournament held in Moscow.

 

In the final Round 14, he defeated American grandmaster Fabiano Caruana scoring 8.5 points.

He will now play with the incumbent world champion, Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, in a match for the world chess crown in November 2016.

He holds the record for the world’s youngest Grandmaster ever after he had qualified for this title at the age of 12 years and 7 months.

 

Awards & Recognition

 

1. Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA)has won three international awards for 2015 year given by the Airports Council International (ACI).

 

2. Three British scientists have won a prestigious 2016 Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Prize (also known as Brain Prize) for giving vital insight how the human brain remembers, learns and navigates.

 

These scientists are –

Timothy Bliss

Graham Collingridge

Richard Morris.

 

Grete Lundbeck European Brain Research Prize largest prize for neuroscience in the world, which is bestowed upon one or more scientists who have distinguished themselves by an outstanding contribution to European neuroscience and who are still active in research.

 

3. Dr. Bhagwati Lal Vyas, an Eminent poet has been selected for the 2015 Bihari Puraskar for his anthology of Rajasthani poems ‘Katha Sun Aawe Hai Sabad’ published in 2010.

 

Bihari Puraskar was instituted by the K K Birla Foundation in 1991 and given annually for an outstanding literary work in Hindi or Rajasthani published during last 10 years by a Rajasthani writer.

Vyas’s works reflect the unpleasant changes in human relations, social disparity and loss of human values although positivity and his faith in human life.

His works includes compendium of poems titled ‘Shatabdi Niruttar’ (1977), ‘Footpath Par Chiriya Nachti Hai’ (1984) and a collection of short stories ‘Suraj Leelti Ghatiyan’ stand out.

 

4. Bill Gates, Microsoft Co-founder has retained the title of the world’s richest person in the Forbes’ 30th annual ranking of the world’s billionaires list (2016 edition).

 

The Forbes list of billionaires is an annual ranking of the world’s wealthiest people, compiled and published by the American business magazine Forbes.

Gates has topped the list for 17 of the last 23 years, with a net worth of $75 billion.

He was followed by Amancio Ortega (Italy), founder of clothing retail giant Zara was at second place with net worth of $67 billion.

 

5. Manoj Kumar, veteran Film Actor and Director has been selected for the prestigious 47th Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2015.

 

Dadasaheb Phalke Award is conferred by the Union Government on person for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian Cinema.

Manoj Kumar was selected by a five member jury consisted of Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Salim Khan, Nitin Mukesh and Anup Jalota.

He is best known for acting in and directing films with patriotic themes. His first patriotic film was Shaheed (1965) based on the life of Bhagat Singh.

He was also awarded with National Film Award (1968) for the film Upkaar, Padma Shri in 1992 and Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.

 

6. Padma Sachdev, renowned Dogri poetess and write has been awarded prestigious Krutitava Smagra Samman for the year 2015.

 

Dogri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in India and Pakistan. In India, it is chiefly spoken in states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and northern Punjab. Dogri speakers are called Dogras and the Dogri-speaking region is called Duggar.

Padma Sachdev is first modern woman poet of Dogri language. She also writes in Hindi.

She was bestowed with this award for her outstanding contribution in literature and great service to Dogri Language. It was presented to her by West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.

 

7. Dr. Amrita Patel was conferred prestigious 2016 Mahindra Samriddhi India Agri Lifetime Achievement Award also known as the Krishi Shiromani Samman.

 

She was bestowned with this award for her contribution in the field of agriculture and to increase productivity and rural prosperity by Union Minister of Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh.

Currently she is Chairman of Charutar Arogya Mandal.

She had served as Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) from 1998 to 2014.

She had played a pivotal role in the implementation of NDDB’s Operation Flood which was the world’s biggest dairy development program that had transformed India from a milk-deficient nation into the world’s largest milk producer by surpassing the USA in 1998.

 

8. Mahindra & Mahindra Chairman and Managing Director (MD) Anand Mahindra was conferred with Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by French Government.

 

Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur is the highest French civilian award which was started by first emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802.

He was presented with this award by Francois Richier, Ambassador of France to India in recognition of his outstanding national and international achievements.

Anand Mahindra is one of the most prominent business leaders in India. Under his leadership Mahindra & Mahindra group has turned into a global company of outstanding repute.

 

9. Kerala Tourism’s campaign titled ‘New Worlds’ has won the prestigious ‘Golden City Gate Award’ at the at the Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin (ITB-Berlin) 2016.

 

The New Worlds campaign was launched internationally by UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai at the World Travel Mart in London.

The campaign contains three short films directed by reputed Malayalam filmmaker Anwar Rasheed.

It has won the silver prize in 2016 Das Golden Stadttor or Golden City Gate, which is dubbed as the Oscar of tourism communication.

 

10. Palestinian teacher Hanan Al Hroub from a refugee camp has been awarded prestigious one million dollar 2016 Global Teacher Prize.

 

The Global Teacher Prize was set up by Sunny Varkey, Kerala-born entrepreneur and educational philanthropist in 2014.

She was presented with the award at a ceremony held in Dubai for her outstanding contribution to the profession.

 

11. India Inc. became first in the world to formally adopt the United Nations’ (UN) agenda for the world’s sustainable development and 17 goals identified for its implementation.

 

It was formally adopted by the India Inc. at the 11th National Convention on Sustainable Development Goal (NCSDG) organized by the Global Compact Network in Mumbai.

Sustainable Development Goals aims at broadening the horizon for growth and transformation under the theme of people, planet and prosperity.

The convention was inaugurated by Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.

 

12. Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic religious sister and missionary will be elevated to Sainthood.

 

Mother Teresa was born as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu on 26 August 1910 in Skopje (Now in Macedonia) then part of the Kosovo Vilayet in the Ottoman Empire.

She will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church on September 4, 2016.

Pope Francis has approved a decree recognizing a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa’s intercession with God.

In 2003, Mother Teresa was beatified by then late Pope John Paul. Beatification req