WBCS Current Affairs 29/04/2015 to 14/05/2015

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1. Railway Sports Promotion Board has won the 5th Senior Men’s National Hockey Championship 2015. In the final match, they defeated Uttar Pradesh Hockey by 5-3 goals which was played at Pune. While in this championship, the 3rd Position was secured by Air India Sports Promotion Board who had outplayed Hockey Gangpur-Odisha by 5-3 goals.

2. Novelist Siddhartha Gigoo has won 2500 pounds 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize in Asia region for his novel Umbrella Man.

3. Mohammed bin Nayef was appointed as Crown Prince and as Deputy Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia by King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud. This appointment relieved Crown Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz from his duties and comes during a major Cabinet reshuffle.

4. Sri Lankan Parliament has amended the constitution to reduce the power of Executive President and to put into place a Constitutional Council for making key government appoints. In this regard, the Parliament has adopted 19th (19A) Amendment of the Constitution. The reform amendment bill overwhelmingly received 215 votes in favour and just one vote against it in the 225-member assembly. The bill brings reforms to Ensure an independent judiciary and police. Curbs and checks President’s power to dissolve the parliament. Two-term limit of Presidents is restored. The term of the President is reduced from 6 to 5 years. This amendment will also now put into place several independent commissions that will handle key areas of governance such as elections, public service, police and the judiciary and will function outside the influence of the Executive.

5. Ms. Raja Rajeswari became the first Indian-born woman to be appointed a judge in New York City. She was sworn-in as a criminal court judge in New York by Mayor Bill de Blasio along with 27 other judges.

6. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its nod to amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), 1988 by pursuing the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013. The proposed amendments in the bill to amend parent Act mainly aim at laying down more stringent measures to tackle corruption. It also seeks to fill in the perceived gaps in the domestic anti-corruption law as per the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). Key Amendments Proposes more stringent punishment for the offences of bribery, both for the bribe giver and the bribe taker. Enhances punishment from the minimum 6 months to 3 years and from the maximum five years to seven years. Extends the protection of prior sanction for prosecution to public servants who cease to hold office due to retirement and resignation. Non-monetary gratification is also be covered within the definition of the word gratification in the PCA 1988.

7. Seychelles, an archipelago of 90000 inhabitants became the 161st member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It is one of the smallest nations among the WTO members. This approval by WTO ended Seychelles 20-year long wait to become a member of WTO since it had applied for WTO membership in May 1995. Seychelles also became the 33rd government to accede to the rules-based multilateral trading system through Article XII negotiations since the WTO was established in 1995. The President of Seychelles, James Michel had signed the legal instrument for the island nation to the WTO on March 25, 2015 a day after the accession protocol was ratified by the Seychelles National Assembly. As per the WTO rules, the 30-day countdown to its WTO membership was activated on March 27, 2015 and Seychelles officially became a WTO member on April 26, 2015. It should be noted that the Protocol of Accession was signed by former Seychelles’ Minister of Trade, Finance and Investment Pierre Laporte and WTO Director General (DG) Roberto Azevedo.

8. The logo for International Day of Yoga was launched in New Delhi on 29 April 2015. It was launched by Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Union Minister of State (MoS) for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik. The logo was selected by the Committee of Yoga experts, which was constituted by Union Ministry of AYUSH and has been approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Background The idea to observe 21 June as the ‘International Day of Yoga’ was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2014 during his speech at United Nations General Assembly (UN-GA). In December 2014, UN-GA had unanimously had adopted an India-led resolution to observe 21 June as the ‘International Day of Yoga’. The resolution was passed within a record time of 75 days. It was also first resolution in which 177 countries had become co-sponsors and was a world record.

9. Scientists have discovered three planets orbiting a nearby star named HD 7924 that is only 54 light-years away. These planets were discovered by Automated Planet Finder (APF) Telescope located at Lick Observatory in California and W M Keck Observatory, Hawaii.

10. Two Indians, Dr. Pramod Patil and Dr Ananda Kumar have been awarded with the prestigious 2015 Whitley Awards for their contribution to wildlife conservation in developing countries. Both of them received a Whitley prize worth 35000 pound along with seven other environmentalists at a ceremony in Royal Geographical Society, London. Dr. Pramod Patil was awarded for his work to protect the iconic great Indian bustard (GIB) in the Thar Desert. While, Dr Ananda Kumar received this award for developing innovative communication systems namely Elephant Information Network (EIN) has enabled human-elephant coexistence in southern India. About Whitley Award The Whitley Award was established in 1994 by Edward Whitley and given by the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN). Every year, the award recognises and celebrates effective national and regional conservation leaders across the globe. The award is also dubbed as Green Oscar.

11. Union Government has extended e-Tourist Visa scheme to 31 more countries with an effect from 31 May 2015. In this regard, Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a notification. With this the total number of countries under the scheme has gone up to 76. The 31 countries are: Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Bahamas, Bolivia, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Chile, Cayman Island, Dominic an Republic, Dominica, Estonia, El Salvador, Ecuador, France, Grenada, Georgia, Haiti, Honduras,Vatican, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Latvia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Nicaragua, Montserrat, St.Kitts & Nevis Paraguay, and Seychelles.

12. Online marketplace Flipkart has acquired mobile marketing start-up Appiterate in order to strengthen its mobile platform. The financial details of the acquisition deal were not disclosed. This acquisition comes in line with Flipkart’s ‘Mobile First’ focus which aims to increase its presence in the area of mobile technology. Now the Appiterate’s mobile marketing automation platform will be integrated with Flipkart’s mobile app, in order to target it users base on their activity based on the app and website. Tanuj Mendiratta is Co-founder & CEO of Appiterate and was founded in 2013. Its unique technology helps to validate new design or changes to an element on a webpage to improve the sales (conversion rate).

13. Real estate portal PropTiger.com has acquired its rival Makaan.com to ramp up its presence in India’s secondary property market. After the acquisition both portals will run separately. In this regard, Elara Technologies parent firm of PropTiger.com has entered into a transaction for an undisclosed amount with Makaan.com.

14. Journalist Dr. Prannoy Roy, the executive co-chairman of NDTV, was conferred the RedInk Award for lifetime achievement. Sreenivasan Jain of NDTV was presented ‘Journalist of the Year’ award. Arnab Goswami of Times Now, was honoured with ‘Impact Editor of the Year’ award.

15. India ranks at 13th position in the world in terms of generation electricity from nuclear source. This information was given by Minister of State (MoS) Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply in the Rajya Sabha to an unstarred question.As per the written reply The ranking was based upon the data published by Power Reactor Information System (PRIS) of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2014. India’s current installed nuclear power capacity is 5780 MW. It is expected to increase to 10080 MW by 2019 on progressive completion of projects. Union Government also has accorded sanction for two more projects with a total capacity of 3400 MW. In future more nuclear power projects based both on indigenous technologies and with international cooperation are planned. The total requirement of nuclear fuel i.e. natural uranium is over 5 five years is estimated to be around 5,940 tons. It should be noted that India ranks 13th among the thirty one countries in the world which are generating electricity from nuclear source.

16. India and Japan have signed a Five-point action agenda to increase bilateral trade and investment between the two nations. The action agenda was signed between Japan’s Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Yoichi Miyazawa and Minister of State (independent charge) for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman.

17. ndhra Pradesh and Telangana states have jointly launched a new five-lakh rupees Accident Insurance Scheme for transport drivers. The scheme came into on 1 May 2015 coinciding with the May Day (International Labour Day). It was formally launched by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu at Rajhamundry while Telangana Chief Minister Chandrasekhara Rao made the announcement in Hyderabad.

18. Leading Indian telecom operators including Vodafone, Airtel, Idea and Reliance Communication have slashed their roaming call rates by up to 40 per cent and SMS rates by upto 75 percent. This rate revision of telecom operators comes in line with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) decision to cut maximum or ceiling rate for national roaming calls and SMSes. As per new ceiling rate operators will charge maximum of Rs 1.15 per minute for STD calls on roaming compared to previous charge of Rs 1.50 per minute on roaming. Similarly, an operator can charge a maximum of 80 paise per minute for a local call instead of Re 1.

19. Senior DRDO scientist Satheesh Reddy, has been conferred with the prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN). RIN has recognised Mr. Reddy for his work in the field of inertial and satellite-based navigation and avionics technologies. With this he also became the first Indian to get the fellowship from Royal Institute of Navigation.

20. 14th edition of Indo-French naval exercise Varuna concluded on 2 May 2015 in Goa. The naval exercise concluded in the presence of Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar along with Vice Admiral SPS Cheema, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.

21. Eminent scientist and Bharat Ratna awardee Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao was conferred with Japan’s highest civilian award the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star. He was bestowed with this award for his outstanding contributions to science and Indo-Japanese science cooperation.

22. Senior IPS officer Surender Singh took over as the new Director General (DG) of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). In this regard an order was issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

23. Philip S. Goodman, an American film, television and stage writer, producer and director passed away on 2 May 2015 in New York, United States. He was best known for directing the drama film We Shall Return (1963), which starred Cesar Romero. Goodman was born on February 20, 1926 in New York City. He had graduated from Brooklyn College and the University of Southern California (USC).

24. Maya Plisetskaya, one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century from Russia passed away in Germany. She was 89. Plisetskaya was born in Moscow on November 20, 1925. Her ballet career spanned for more than five decades. She had joined the Bolshoi, a historic theatre in Moscow in 1943. Her performances had captivated audiences around the world. In 1960, she became the Bolshoi’s prima ballerina.

25. Haryana Government has launched seven IT based e-services in the State at Panchkula district. The service was launched by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

26. American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. has won the unified World Welterweight title of World Boxing Council, World Boxing Organisation and World Boxing Association. To win this title he defeated Manny Pacquiao from Philippines on a unanimous decision with Judges Scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112 in 12 rounds of intense boxing. The legendary bout termed as ‘Fight of the Century’ was played at iconic MGM Grand, Las Vegas. This fight was also the highest watched and most revenue generating with almost 400 million dollars of all time.

27. Rajasthan Forest department has allotted more than twelve crore rupees for a bird conservation programme, Project Great Indian Bustard (GIB).

28. Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has been adjudged the world’s best airport for the year 2014. In this regard, Airports Council International (ACI) presented the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) award to IGIA under the category of handling 25 to 40 million passengers per annum. IGIA had scored 4.90 on a scale of 5 points measured by 300 members of the ACI ASQ benchmarking programme. It should be noted that, IGIA has bettered its ranking from second position for three consecutive years 2011, 2012 and 2013 to emerge on top in 2014. Airport Service Quality (ASQ) is the key to understanding how to increase passenger satisfaction and improve business performance. While the ACI is a trade association of the world’s airports and was founded in 1991.

29. Renowned crime writer Ruth Rendell passed away on 2 May 2015 in London, United Kingdom. She was 85. She was best-known for creation of fictional character Inspector Wexford, which was turned into a highly successful TV series in Britain.

30. Union Government has finally recognised motorsports as a sport in India. In this regard, Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has included Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) in the list of sports backed National Sports Federations (NSF).

31. World Press Freedom Day is observed on 3 May every year across the world. The theme of 2015 year is: Let Journalism Thrive! Towards better reporting, gender equality and media safety in the digital age. Observing this day marks an opportunity to: Celebrate the fundamental principles to evaluate press freedom. Assess the state of freedom of press throughout the world. Defend the media from attacks on their independence. Pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession. Background In December 1993, World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly (UNGA. It was proclaimed following the recommendation adopted at 26th Session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991. This recommendation was a response to a call given by African journalists who in 1991 produced the landmark Windhoek Declaration on media pluralism and independence. Since then 3 May, is observed as anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek and is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day.

32. Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) have won the 5th National women hockey championship title. In the final match played at the Master Chandgi Ram sports stadium at Saifai, Uttar Pradesh the the RSPB girls team defeated Hockey Jharkhand by 12-2 goals.

33. Nepal’s devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake on April 25 has partially damaged Swayambhunath Stupa located in Kathmandu which is believed to be the world’s oldest Buddhist shrine. During this earthquake several other monuments situated in the vicinity of the 2,000 year-old Lichchhavi-era Buddhist shrine have been damaged but the main stupa has remained intact during the earthquake.

34. Recently published study in journal Science has found out that 1 out of 6 species on Earth could possibly extinct by the end of the century as a result of increasing global warming if the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) stays the same. The study published was titled Accelerating extinction risk from climate change and is authored by Mark C. Urban. The study highlighted the urgency to take strong action in order to address climate change. Key facts from the report 16 percent of species in the world would face the risk of extinction because of climatic factors. The endemic plants and animals of Australia, South America and New Zealand are at risk as for they would not be able to go to other place when their only homeland becomes uninhabitable. While, the species in North American and European regions have the lowest extinction risk due to climate change. The extinction risks from climate change will also accelerate for every degree rise in global temperature if everyone didn’t act now to limit future climate change. Climate change will affect wildlife directly and indirectly as it may lead to change in weather patterns that may affect the food they rely on or the habitat they live in.

35. Syrian journalist and rights activist Mazen Darwish was honoured with UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2015.

36. Maniram Patel from Gujarat has won Gold medal in the men’s 20 kilometre walk in the 19th Federation Cup senior athletics championship held at Mangaluru, Karnataka. In the finals Patel clocked a time of 1 hour, 29 minutes, 51 seconds to secure first position and win the gold medal. While, Kuldeep of Tata Motors came at second position to win the Silver medal and Ankit Kumar of Indian Navy stood at the third position to win Bronze medal.

37. Cow-urine refinery for research on cow products was opened at Pathmera village in Jalore district of Rajasthan. The refinery was inaugurated by Rajasthan Health Minister Rajendra Rathore. This refinery will play important role in adopting scientific approach for Indian traditional system of medicine.

38. World’s largest flag was unfurled at an event in Ong Jmel in the southern desert area of Tunisia. Tunisian national flag of the size of 19 football pitches was unfurled in a bid to set a Guinness World Record and promote patriotism in the face of Islamist extremism. In this event hundreds of Tunisian’s participated and an honour guard of troops also saluted the red and on the sand to the strains of the national anthem. The flag of 104,544 square metre was made using 80 kilometres of fabric and weighed arounf 12.6 tonnes.

39. State-owned electrical equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) has commissioned a 195-MW thermal unit in Muzzafarpur district in Bihar. The commissioned thermal unit is the first of the two 195-MW units to be commissioned by BHEL at the thermal power plant of Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam (KBUNL). KBUNL is a joint venture (JV) of NTPC and Bihar State Power Generation Company (BSPGCL).

40. Michael Blake, the Oscar-winning writer of ‘Dances With Wolves’ novel passed away in Tucson, Arizona, after a long battle with cancer. He was 69. The novel Dances With Wolves after adapted into movie in 1990 was a major hit and had earned Blake an Academy Award (Oscar) for the screenplay.

41. India’s top rifle shooters have won a rich haul of three gold and two bronze medals at the International Shooting Competition of Hannover in Germany. In this shooting event, Beijing Olympics Games gold medallist Abhinav Bindra won both the individual and team gold in his pet 10 metre air rifle event. Chain Singh won gold medal in the 50 metre men’s rifle and team gold in the 10 metre air rifle event. The Gold medal winning 10 metre air rifle team members included Abhinav Bindra, Chain Singh and Gagan Narang. While, Gagan Narang won the Bronze medal in the men’s 50 metre rifle 3 positions event and Apurvi Chandela won Bronze medal in women’s air rifle event.

42. Lu Ping, Chinese diplomat who oversaw Hong Kong’s transition from British to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 passed away in Beijing. He was 87. He was the China’s Chief negotiator in the years before handover and was known for his hard-line stance for this transistion.

43. Rajasthan Government has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Health Mission (NHM), UNICEF and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to tackle the severe problem malnourishment in the state. This MoU will help to implement the state government programme which was announced during the state budget. In this budget the state government had announced that special attention will be given to the children falling out of medical reach in state. This programme will be initially implemented in thirteen districts of state. In these districts more than 10, 000 children have been identified as malnourished. For this, a special management programme will be organised on the community basis so that malnourishment can be dealt. Currently, Rajasthan has 40 malnourishment treatment centres, which are equipped with ten thousand beds. It is also facilitated with 107 centres with six beds each. During the year 2014-15, around 9,891 were treated in these centres. With this kind of programme the state government has adopted the community-wise strategy to deal with the malnourishment menace.

44. Union Government has made Permanent Account Number (PAN) mandatory for private firms seeking central excise registration. As per the new rules, the PAN registration will now be given within two days of filing online applications to improve the ease in doing business in manufacturing.

45. The Union Cabinet has approved Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill on Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India & Bangladesh. Decision in this regard was taken in Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. The Bill seeks to operationalize the Land Boundary Agreement with Bangladesh by exchanging several enclaves located along the common border of both nations. The territories involved in the exchange are located in the North eastern states of Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura. This Constitutional Amendment Bill in order to come in effect needs to be passed by Parliament and also needs to be ratified by at least 50 per cent of the state legislatures. Background The Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill, 2013 aims to ratify the LBA between India and Bangladesh under the Indira-Mujib pact of 1974 to exchange areas and people on either side of the border. The pact was signed on 16 May 1974 between both nations, soon after the independence of Bangladesh in order to find a solution to the complex nature of border demarcation. This pact was ratified by Bangladesh government in 1974. In 1974, Union Cabinet had granted approval to this pact but was not ratified as it involved cession of territory. In 2013 bill in regard was introduced Rajya Sabha and was subsequently referred to a select committee headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor for recommendations. The committee had unanimously recommended implementation of the LBA.

46. Information technology giant, Microsoft has launched a cloud computing-based offering Edu-Cloud with an aim to Make Learning Fun. It seeks to enhance digital learning and teaching in schools and higher education institutions in India through virtual learning platforms.

47. State owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited has signed a pact with Jharkhand government to setup a 4,000 MW Patratu power plant in the state. As per the pact, NTPC and Jharkhand Bidyut Vitaran Nigam Limited will establish a Joint Venture (JV) company for the project as well as for reviving the Patratu Thermal Power Station (PTPS). In this JV Company NTPC will have 74 per cent stake. The state government will be a partner in this project and will not invest any additional capital in it. The JV Company will build an efficient super critical project of 4,000 MW in two phases. This project on completion will provide cheap and affordable 24X7 power supply to every household and adequate power for farmers in Jharkhand.

48. Rajya Sabha on 6 May 2015 passed the Delhi High Court (Amendment) Bill, 2014. The Bill was introduced in the house by Union Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda. The Bill seeks to amend the Delhi High Court Act, 1966. Key highlights of bill Increases pecuniary jurisdiction of the Delhi high court over suits above the value of two crore rupees from present 20 lakh rupees. Empowers the Chief Justice (CJ) of the Delhi High Court to transfer any pending suit to a relevant subordinate court. It should be noted that, pecuniary jurisdiction refers to the jurisdiction of a court over a suit based on the amount or value of its subject matter.

49. Maharashtra government has decided to bring down the crop loss percentage to 33 per cent from existing 50 per cent. The crop loss percentage is crucial in awarding compensation to farmers whose crop is hit by natural calamities. Decision in this regard was taken in the State Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

50. Indian Army inducted the first regiment of the indigenously-developed surface-to-air Akash missile system. Each regiment of Akash missile in the Indian Army consists of six launchers with each launcher having three missiles. Indian Army had placed orders for two regiments worth about 19,000 crore rupees. The first regiment will be ready by July 2015 and the second one by the end of 2016.

51. The French Parliament has approved a surveillance law that strengthens the intelligence services of the country to prevent terrorist attacks. This law was adopted in the French Parliament by 438 votes to 86. This law was drafted by French Government three days after terrorist attack on Paris based satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015 in which 17 people were killed.

52. The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was presented a Freedom of Expression Courage award from the PEN American Center. Editor-in-chief Gerard Biard and critic-essayist of Charlie Hebdo, Jean-Baptiste Thoret accepted the award at a function held at the American Museum of Natural History. The satirical magazine was recognized for this award by PEN American Centre as 12 of its staff members had died during January 2015 terrorist attack on its Paris based office.

53. Lok Sabha has passed the Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2014 which is also known as Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill. The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution in order to introduce the goods and services tax (GST). Consequently, the bill also seeks to carry out new indirect tax regime in the country that will subsume various central and state levies like sales tax, excise and service tax except taxes on the supply of alcoholic liquor for human consumption and petroleum products.

54. In recently released 2015 Mother’s Index in the State of the World’s Mothers (SOWM) report titled The Urban Disadvantage, India was placed at 140th position out of 179 countries. The report prepared by Save the Children and was launched by Union Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla in New Delhi. Key facts from the report Top 5 countries as per 2015 Mother’s Index: Norway (1st), Finland (2nd), Iceland (3rd), Denmark (4th) and Swedan (5th). Bottom 10 countries: Niger (175th), Mali (176th), Central African Republic (177th), Congo (178th) and Somalia (179th). The report has noted that the growing number of slums in the world is main cause for the urban rich-poor gap and reducing urban under-5 mortality. In the slums, high child death rates are rooted to conditions that are related to disadvantage, deprivation and discrimination. With reference to India India is among the 10 countries in the world that have the greatest survival divide between wealthy and poor urban children. In case of India, the 29 per cent of the urban population living in slums. Children’s among this urban poor population is 3.2 times likely to die by the age of 5 compared to the urban rich population. About Mother’s Index The Mother’s Index scores countries on five parameters. They are maternal health, children’s well-being (measured as under-5 mortality rate), economic status, educational status and political status.

55. Huge Lava Lake was spotted on Jupiter’s Moon Io by an extremely powerful telescope on Earth named Large Binocular telescope Interferometer (LBTI). LBTI located on Mount Graham in Arizona, United States had taken highest resolution ground-based images of Io. This finding was published in the Astronomical Journal.

56. NASA successfully tested a 10-Engine Electric Plane named Greased Lightning-10 (GL-10) that that can take off and land like a helicopter and fly efficiently like an aircraft. During several test flights, remotely piloted GL-10 prototype successfully transitioned from hover to wing-borne flight.

57. Lok Sabha passes Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014 for trying juveniles as adults. The bill has provision that allows trying of juveniles between the ages of 16 and 18 years as adults for heinous offences. However, the bill empowers Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) to examine the nature of crime and decide whether it was committed as a child mind or as an adult mind. Based upon the preliminary inquiry of JJB, juvenile offender will be either sent for rehabilitation or will be tried as an adult. The Bill also seeks to consolidate and amend the law related to children alleged and found to be in conflict with law and children needing care and protection. It also has provision for the establishment of Child Welfare Committees (CWC) in each district. The CWC will determine institutional care for juvenile in need of care and protection.

58. India and Iran have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of the strategically important Chabahar Port in Iran. The MoU was signed by Minister for Shipping and Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and his Iranian counterpart Minister for Transport and Urban Development Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi in Tehran, Iran.

59.The Union Cabinet has approved amendments in the Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011 to keep issues of national security out of its purview. Decision in this regard was taken at Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The amendments accepted by the Union Cabinet to the parent Act are done with a view to incorporate necessary provisions that aim at strengthening safeguards against disclosures.

60. To enhance cooperation in the renewable energy sector, Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 12 countries in past 3 years. It was announced by Union Minister of Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. In addition to these 12 MoUs, a letter of intend and joint declaration of intend were also signed with Egypt and Germany for this sector. Statistics of India’s Renewable energy sector In year 2014-15, the power generation from renewable energy sources was 61,780.55 million units (MUs) compared to 53,058.76 MUs in 2013-14 and 47,613.06 MUs in 2012-13. In year 2014-14, power produced from various renewable energy source include 4,598.34 MUs from solar, 33,768.21 MUs from wind, 3,159.84 from biomass, 7,959.55 from small hydel projects and 11,880.75 MUs from bagasse. India has potential of producing 8,96,602 MW from renewable energy from various sources. Of this total potential 7,48,990 MW from solar and 1,02,772 MW from wind can be produced. While, 19,749 MW from small hydro, 5,000 MW from bagase cogeneration, 17,536 MW from biomass, and 2,554 MW from waste to energy can be produced.

61. On 7th May 2015, the parliament of India has passed the 119th constitutional amendment bill 2013, which now after the assent of the President will enter in to the statue book [as Constitution 100th Amendment Act 2015]. Background India and Bangladesh share a 4,096 km land boundary covering West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram. This is largest among the international boundaries that India shares with its neighbours. On this boundary, some 50,000-100,000 people reside in so called Chitmahals or Indo-Bangladeshi enclaves. There are 102 Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh and 71 Bangladeshi ones inside India. Inside those enclaves are also 28 counter-enclaves and one counter-counter-enclave, called Dahala Khagrabari. This ambiguity has led the life of the residents of these enclaves to misery. They are unable to get the basic government services because they are isolated from their own country by strips of foreign land. This issue was pending ever since Bangladesh got birth. For the first time, a vision to solve this issue had been enshrined in the Indira-Mujib pact of 1972. Accordingly, the India Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement was signed between the two countries in 1974. However, this agreement need ratification from the parliaments of the both countries as it involved exchange of the territories. While Bangladesh had ratified it as back as 1974 only, it was not ratified by Indian parliament till now. The 119th Amendment Bill 2013 The 119th constitutional amendment bill 2013 sought to ratify the land boundary agreement between the two countries. This amendment needed special majority in the parliament to get passed. The bill proposed to amend the 1st schedule of the constitution to exchange the disputed territories occupied by both the nations in accordance with the 1974 bilateral LBA. Key features of Land Boundary Agreement The LBA envisages a notional transfer of 111 Indian enclaves to Bangladesh in return of 51 enclaves to India. The area transferred to India is less than that transferred by India to Bangladesh. In totality India incurs a net loss in terms of area occupancy. This remained a major concern of opposition from the north-eastern affected states and west Bengal. Also, most of the area concerned is occupied by the tribals of the NE states and hence the swapping takes away their land rights leaving them more vulnerable. Current Status The Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill has been passed by the Parliament of India on 7th May 2015.While India will gain 510 acres of land, ten thousand acres of land will notionally go to Bangladesh. However, these are remote enclaves which India cannot access. This legislation will redraw India’s boundary with Bangladesh by exchanging enclaves in Assam, West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya. Implications It will secure the long stranded boundary and enable to curb the illegal migration, smuggling and criminal acts cross the border. It would help those stateless citizens by granting the citizenship from their respective countries. It would help settle the boundary dispute at several points in Meghalaya, Tripura, Assam, and west Bengal. It would improve the access to the underdeveloped north-eastern state and would further enhance the developmental works in the region. It would help to increase the connectivity with the south-east Asia as part of India’s North-eastern policy. All these could be achieved with the active support from Bangladesh. LBA and the Teesta water agreement are the two major setbacks for future cooperation, development and trade in the region and would damage India’s short and long-term national and security interest.

62. E-commerce solutions provider for fashion and lifestyle products Myntra.com has acquired Bengaluru based mobile app development platform company Native5. This acquisition will help to strengthen and expand Myntra’s mobile technology team which is focused on driving transformational change in the online shopping space.

63.Nadia district in West Bengal has won the 2015 United Nations Public Service Award in the category of improving delivery of public services for the initiative ‘Sabar Shouchagar’ It was announced by the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The award will be presented by the UN Secretary General in June 2015 in Medellin, Colombia. Nadia district is the first open defecation free district in country. The district had achieved this feat by making toilets available for all under state governments flagship programme Sabar Shouchagar.

64. President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Retired IAS officer Achal Kumar Jyoti as the Election Commissioner. He will serve as Election Commissioner for a period of three years, i.e. till he attains the age of 65 years old (the age at which Election Commissioners demit office under the Constitution). With this appointment, the strength of three member Election Commission of India (ECI) has now gone to two.

65. Noted Assam historian and social scientist Dr. Amalendu Guha passed away on 7 May 2015 in Guwahati, Assa, following age related ailments. He was 91. He was known for his extensive research related to the socio-economic history of North eastern state of Assam.

66. Prime Minister Narendra Modi released a commemorative coin to mark the birth centenary of Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati in New Delhi. Swami Chinmayananda was a renowned Hindu spiritual leader and teacher who had inspired the formation of a global nonprofit organisation called Chinmaya Mission to spread the knowledge of Advaita Vedanta.

67. India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a RuPay Platinum debit card in association with National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). The card initially would be issued free to customers maintaining a quarterly balance of 50,000 rupees. For the convenience of customers, this card has a special feature which is accepted at all payment channels including ATMs, point-of-sale (PoS) and eCommerce.

68. President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Mr. Arvind Saxena as Member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The tenure of Mr. Saxena will commence from the date he enters upon the office till he attains age of 65 years. (As per Article 315, the Chairman and members of UPSC has term of six years or until he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier).

69. In the 2015 United Kingdom Parliamentary elections, Prime Minister David Cameron led Conservative Party has won the election. Conservative Party by winning 331 seats out of total 650 seats in House of Commons has emerged single largest party in this general election. Conservative Party received 36.9% vote share of the total national vote. With this win, David Cameron will become Prime Minister for second term. Labour Party has won 232 seats with 30.4% vote share, emerging as largest opposition party. Scottish National Party (SNP) has emerged third largest party in this election by winning 56 seats with 9% of vote share. SNP has won 56 seats of the 59 seats from Scotland.

70. The Institutions of higher learning in India and Russia have signed 11 Memorandum of Intents (MoIs) to establish the Network of Institutions of Higher Education. As per MoIs, leading Russian and Indian Academic Institutes will combine their efforts to train highly qualified staff for innovative economy and expand scientific, technical and technological cooperation.

71. United States (US) President Barack Obama has nominated Sanjita Pradhan, an IIT alumnus to his advisory commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). Sanjita Pradhan is a Nepali American. She holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Technology. Presently, she is serving as an Executive Officer of the Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs at the Iowa Department of Human Rights. She was appointed to this position in 2013.

72. Mhairi Black at the age of 20 became the youngest elected Member of Parliament (MP) in United Kingdom in over 300 years.

73. National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered that every household in Delhi must pay a monthly environmental compensation to clean up pollution in Yamuna River. Decision in this regard was taken by NGT bench headed by its chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar. This decision was given while hearing a petition by environmental activist, Manoj Misra against severe pollution in Yamuna River. NGT has ordered that, to clean up Yamuna River the compensation will be paid by a particular household and will be directly proportional to the property tax or water tax, whichever is higher. In case of households in unauthorised colonies, which do not pay property tax or water bill will pay the amount ranging from 100 to 500 rupees to clean river. This compensation amount would be added to electricity bills, water bill or the property tax by the respective departments which will later transfer the money to Delhi government. The fund collected from this environmental compensation will be utilized to set up new sewage treatment plants and provide other technology to clean up river Yamuna.

74. Indian Navy has commissioned INS Sardar Patel naval base in Porbandar, Gujarat in the presence of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel and Admiral RK Dowan. The aim of this new naval base at Porbandar is to beef up security along the 1600 km coastline of the state. It will also increase the maritime security on western coast and strengthen surveillance and security in the region. The newly commissioned naval base is christened after India’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Patel. It is second naval base of Indian Navy on Gujarat coast, the first one is INS Dwarka at Okha in Dwarka district.

75. North Korea successfully conducted underwater test-fire of a newly developed submarine-launched ballistic missile. North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un gave the order to test-fire the missile and oversaw the test-launch from a location off-shore. This successful test indicates the progress in the secretive state’s pursuit of building missile-equipped submarines which is described as a world level strategic weapon.

76.A record number of 10 Indian-origin Members of Parliament (MPs) were elected in recently concluded general election that elected 56th Parliament of the UK. It has broken the previous 2010 general election record in which eight Indian-origin were elected.

77. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9 May 2015 launched three mega social security schemes in Kolkata, West Bengal. Three schemes intend to widen the process of financial inclusion in the country include Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana (PMJJBY). Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY). Atal Pension Yojana (APY). Atal Pension Yojana (APY) Under APY scheme, the pension subscribers will receive a fixed minimum monthly pension ranging from 1,000 rupees to 5,000 rupees at the age of 60 years. The fixed minimum monthly pension will be depending on the contributions subscribers. Contribution: Union Government will co-contribute 50 percent of the total contribution of subscriber for a period of 5 years. Eligibility: Subscribers must have bank account and should not be members of any statutory social security scheme and or Income Tax payers. The minimum age of joining: 18 years and maximum age is 40 years. Focus of APY: To target unorganised sector workers. Coverage: The pension will also be available to the spouse on the death of the subscriber and thereafter, the pension corpus would be returned to the nominee. Subscriber and Enrolment Payment: It will auto-debited from the accounts account holders depending upon selected monthly pension range. Enrolment agencies: Subscribers will be enrolled through institutional architecture of National Pension System by all Points of Presence (Service Providers) and Aggregators under Swavalamban Scheme. Operational Framework of APY: It will be administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Yojana (PMJJBY) Under the PMJJBY, the insurance subscriber will get an annual life insurance in case of death. Eligibility: Available any person in the age group of 18 to 50 years having a bank account. Risk Coverage: 2 Lakh rupees in case of death due to any reason. Payment Mode of premium: 330 rupees per annum will be directly auto-debited by the bank from the subscribers account. Implementation of Scheme: Will be offered by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and all other life insurers who are willing tie-up with banks for the purpose of joining the scheme. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) Under the PMSBY, the insurance subscriber will get annual life insurance in case of accidental death, partial disability or full disability. Eligibility: Available to any person in the age group 18 to 70 years. Any person having Aadhaar number linked bank account can join the scheme. He/she must give a simple form to the bank every year before 1st of June. In the form name of nominee also must be given. Risk Coverage: For accidental death and full disability– 2 Lakh rupees For partial disability – 1 Lakh rupees. Payment Mode of premium: 12 rupees per annum will be directly auto-debited by the bank from the subscribers account in case of long-term option. Implementation of Scheme: Will be offered by all Public Sector General Insurance Companies and all other insurers who are willing tie-up with banks for the purpose of joining the scheme

78. Land-to-land configuration of BrahMos missile was successfully test-fired from the Car Nicobar Islands. BrahMos Block–III version i.e. land-to-land configuration of missile was launched from a Mobile Autonomous Launcher (MAL) for its full-range of 290-km test.

79. Four MoUs were signed to give big push for investment of 24,000 crore rupees for infrastructure development in Chhattisgarh in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The signed MoUs are meant to enhance development of the state and covers investment in areas from railway lines, steel plants and pipelines

80. Veteran actor and film producer Shashi Kapoor has been conferred with prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award 2014. The award was bestowed upon him by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley at a special function held in Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He is the 46th film personality to receive this honour and third member of his illustrious family after father Prithviraj Kapoor (1972- Posthumously) and elder brother Raj Kapoor (1987).

81. Haryana Government has decided to include Deaflympics in its Sports Policy in order to boost the morale of differently-abled sportspersons in the state. Decision in this regard was taken during a state cabinet meet chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. With this inclusion, Deaflympian medalists now will be able to get cash rewards, jobs and other benefits from the state government.

82. World Health Organization (WHO), a U.N. health agency has declared Liberia Ebola-free. WHO has hailed Liberia’s Ebola eradication efforts as an enormous development in the long crisis and monumental achievement as the virus has killed more than 4,716 people in the country alone.

83. Every year, `National Technology Day’ is observed across India on May 11. This day glorifies the importance of science in day-to-day life and motivates students to adopt science as a career option. National Technology Day is being commemorated to celebrate the anniversary of first of the five tests of Operation Shakti (Pokhran-II) nuclear test which was held on 11 May 1998 in Pokhran, Rajasthan. Apart from Pokhran nuclear test, on this day first indigenous aircraft Hansa-3 was test flown at Bangalore and India also conducted successful test firing of the Trishul missile on the same day. Considering all these achievements 11 May was chosen to be commemorated as National Technology Day.

84. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated Namaste Russia, a festival of Indian culture in Moscow during the last leg of his tour in Russia. Namaste Russia will be six month long festival i.e. form May to November 2015. The festival seeks to enthrall the Russian audience with cultural events from India.

85. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the modernised and expanded part of the IISCO Steel Plant in Burnpur near Asansol distrct of West Bengal. IISCO Steel Plant is a fully-owned subsidiary of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and has the largest blast furnace in the country. Newly expanded plant is built by Union Government at a cost of 16000 crore rupees and spreads across 953 acres. The mordernisation of plant has made it environment friendly as it is equipped with the latest and advance green technologies that has zero emission.

86. Eminent banker Kundapur Vaman Kamath was appointed as first President New Development Bank (NDB) of BRICS nations. He will have of five year term after the bank becomes operational within one year.
About New Development Bank (NDB) BRICS group of nations comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa in 2014 had inked a pact to set up NDB and emergency reserve fund. This agreement was signed during the 6th BRICS Summit being held in Fortaleza, Brazil. To begin with, the bank will start operating with $50 billion in initial capital with the five BRICS contributing $10 billion each. According to the pact, the capital of the bank will be divided equally among the five participating nations and initially it will focus on infrastructure projects member countries. The headquarters of the bank will be located in Shanghai, China and it will have a regional office in Johannesburg, South Africa. The chairmanship of the bank will be rotational and its first President will come from India for the first 5 years followed by Brazil and Russia. Note: BRICS nations comprise 40 per cent of the world’s population and accounts for nearly US $ 16 trillion in GDP.

87. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has renominated Prof. Kuruppassery Varkey Thomas as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for a second term of one year. For the first term, Thomas was nominated in August 2014. He is the senior Congress Parliamentarian from Ernakulum Constituency, Kerala.About Public Accounts Commission (PAC) PAC is one of the most important finance committees in the Parliament along with the Committee on Estimates and the Committee on Public Undertakings. It is constituted every year and consists of 22 members – 15 from Lok Sabha and 7 from Rajya Sabha. The members from Lok Sabha are elected from amongst its members according to the principle of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. Members from Rajya Sabha elected by that House in like manner are associated with the Committee. Speaker usually appoints the Chairman of the PAC. It should be noted that a minister cannot be elected to as member of Committee. It should be noted that since 1967, Chairman of PAC is senior member of the main Opposition party. Function of PAC: The key function of PAC is to examine annual audit reports of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) after they are tabled in Parliament by President. Prior to KV Thomas, senor BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi was chairman of PAC for four consecutive years during 15th Lok Sabha (2009-2014). Note- CAG usually submits 3 audit reports. They are audit report on appropriation accounts, audit report on finance account and audit report on public undertakings.


88. Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has appointed K Satish Reddy as the chairman of the National Safety Council (NSC). He will succeed Venu Srinivasan, who was appointed in July 2011. As the chairman of the NSC, Mr. Reddy will oversee its functioning to generate and develop initiatives on Safety, Health and Environment at the national level. Presently, he is Chairman of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Limited. About National Safety Council (NSC) NSC is the apex non-profit making body under the aegis of Union Ministry of Labour and Employment. Objective: It seeks to develop, generate and sustain a voluntary movement on safety, health and environment at the national level. Established: On 4 March 1966. It is registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 and Societies Registration Act, 1860. Headquarter: Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. Functions: The apex body conducts specialised workshops and courses, carries out risk assessments and safety audits and facilitates awareness camps in organisations.

89. According to 2015 census report, the number of Asiatic lions in Gir sanctuary of Gujarat and its surrounding areas has gone up to 523. This 14th census lion census, has registered 27 percent increase in the number of Asiatic lions compared to 2010 census which had registered 411 Asiatic lions. As per recent census, There are 201 female, 109 male lions and 213 sub-adults as well as cubs in Gir sanctuary and other protected areas in Gir Somnath, Junagadh, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts of Saurashtra region of Gujarat.

90. Dedicated E-Commerce Centre of India Posts, a government-operated postal system was launched in New Delhi to cater the e-commerce business enterprises. It was launched by Union Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at Safdarjang, New Delhi. This project is implemented by Department of Posts, through Delhi Postal Circle.

91. Lok Sabha on 11 May 2015 passed Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015 by a voice vote. The bill seeks to deal with the menace of black money and to replace the Income Tax (IT) Act, 1961 for the taxation of foreign income. Salient features of the Bill Scope- Provisions will applicable to both undisclosed foreign income and assets including financial interest in any entity and the Act will be applicable to all persons resident in India. Rate of tax– A flat rate of 30 percent tax will be applied to undisclosed foreign income or assets. In case of any carried forward losses, no exemption or deduction or set off will be allowed which may be admissible under the existing IT Act, 1961. Penalties- Violation will entail stringent penalties. Following are penalties mentioned For nondisclosure of foreign income or assets outside India, penalty will be equal to three times the amount of tax payable i.e. 90 percent of the undisclosed income in addition to tax payable at 30%. In case of failure to furnish return in respect to foreign income or assets, there will be of 10 lakh rupees. Prosecutions- For various types of violations, the bill proposes enhanced punishment. They are For willful attempt to evade tax, the punishment will be rigorous imprisonment from 3years to 10 years and a fine. In case of failure to furnish a return of foreign assets the punishment will be rigorous imprisonment of 6 months to 7 years with fine. One-time compliance opportunity It also adds provision of one-time compliance opportunity to persons for limited period who have undisclosed foreign assets that has not been disclosed for the purposes of Income-tax. In this case, such persons will be permitted to file a declaration before a tax authority, and pay a penalty at the rate of 100%. In order to include offence of tax evasion as a scheduled offence under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the bill proposes amendment to PMLA, 2002.

92. President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Justice Cyriac Joseph as acting Chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). His appointment comes after then Chairman of NHRC Justice K.G. Balakrishnan completed his tenure. He will remain in office till new Chairman is appointed.

93. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has inked memorandum of understanding (MoU) with state-run Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to provide easy finance to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for their growth.

94. Dr. Sivanadane Mandjiny, an Indian-American Professor in US is named UNC Pembroke’s recipient of the UNC Board of Governors 2015 Award for Excellence in Teaching. He will receive this award along with each professor of the other 16 UNC campuses. The award carries commemorative bronze and US $ 12,500 cash prize.

95. President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the National Florence Nightingale Awards to 35 nursing personnel from across the country on the occasion of International Nurses Day. The National Florence Nightingale Awards were presented at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

96. Indian-origin Member of Parliament (MP) Priti Patel was appointed as Minister of State (MoS) for Employment in the David Cameron led United Kingdom Government. British Prime Minister David Cameron has also promoted her to his Cabinet.

97. Union government has announced that, the current immunisation rate in rural areas is around 58 per cent while it is over 67 per cent in urban regions of the country. It was announced by Union Health Minister J P Nadda on 12 May 2015 in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. As per the written reply, Lack of awareness among parents and non- availability of vaccines is the main reasons behind the low rate of immunization in the country.

98. Union Government has constituted Committee headed by Justice A.P. Shah to look into the issue of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs). It was announced by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha. The committee will submit its report expeditiously in order to resolve the issue of MAT between the tax authorities and the foreign investors.

99. Uttar Pradesh Government has launched Samajwadi water ATM scheme at bus stations. The scheme was launched by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. It seeks to provide potable water to bus passengers at reasonable price. In this regard, state government will install water ATMs at most of the bus stations which will provide potable water at the rate of 1 rupee per litre and cold water at 2 rupees per litre. Apart from this scheme, state government also lauched affordable ‘Lohia gramin bus seva’, with 25 per cent lower bus fares. This scheme will provide connectivity at affordable fare between cities and rural areas where there was no means of public transport is available. 149 self-operating inquiry services, super luxury air-conditioned bus service were also launched by the state government.

100. Daniel Mookhey has become first Indian-origin Member of Parliament (MP) from the Australian state of New South Wales to be sworn in to Australian parliament on the Hindu religious text, the Bhagavadgita.