1. Bankruptcy bill passed in Rajya Sabha
i. The Rajya Sabha has passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, which had already been passed by the Lok Sabha last week.
ii. The Code seeks to consolidate and amend the laws relating to reorganization and insolvency resolution in a time bound manner.
iii. The bill also proposes setting up of an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board, and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Fund.
2. President of India presents National Florence Nightingale Awards
i. Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the president of India today presented the National Florence Nightingale Awards to 35 nursing personnel at function in Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occasion of International Nurses Day.
ii. The National Florence Nightingale Awards are given by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as a mark of recognition for the meritorious services rendered by the nurses and nursing professionals in the country.
iii. The Award carries a cash award of 50 thousand rupees, a certificate, a citation and a medal. The International Nurses Day is celebrated all over the world on May 12 every year to commemorate Florence Nightingale’s birthday.
3. Rwanda hosts 26th World Economic Forum on Africa
i. Rwanda is hosting the 26th World Economic Forum on Africa (WEF) in its capital Kigali from 11 to 13th May. Promoting innovation is being high on the agenda.
ii. The theme of this 26th World Economic Forum on Africa is – Connecting Africa’s Resources through Digital Transformation. The event is focusing, among other things, on how to diversify economies, tackle inequality and strengthen collaborations among countries.
iii. The goal of the World Economic Forum is to promote public-private partnership and particular emphasis is on how technology can promote online entrepreneurs, enable cross-border data exchange and tackle barriers to trade.
4. President appoints CJs of MP, Allahabad & Kerala HCs as SC judges
i. President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed Chief Justices of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the Allahabad High court and that of the Kerala High court as judges of the Supreme Court.
ii. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Law and justice, the President also appointed Lavu Nageswara Rao, as SC judge.
iii. In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar, Chief Justice of the Madhya.
5. Iran stops free shipping of oil to India: Govt
i. Iran has stopped free shipping of oil to Indian refiners from April 2016 and the freight will be arranged by the buyers in future.
ii. Iran since 2013, has offered free shipping due to international sanctions imposed on it because of its nuclear program, Iran has asked for all payments in Euros.
iii. However, Iran has continued with its liberal fiscal terms of offering 90-day credit period – payment becomes due only after three months of invoice being raised.
6. Government inks MoU with NDTV Ethnic Retail Ltd. to popularize India Handloom products
i. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between The Development Commissioner (Handlooms), Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and NDTV Ethnic Retail Ltd. for popularizing India Handloom textiles as a fashionable product for youth.
ii. The three-year MoU was signed at Udyog Bhawan.
iii. The joint endeavor will endorse and launch a project, Indianroots Fashion Accelerator (IFA), a project by NDTV to support fresh talent and to support new and innovative ventures in fashion industry. Government will support the project with incubation and production support.
7. Nalco signs MoU with BARC for research and development
i. Odisha based aluminium company, National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai for Research and Development (R&D) in fields of mutual interest.
ii. NALCO incorporated in 1981 as a public sector enterprise of the Ministry of Mines, Government of India. As per NALCO’ chairman, Extraction of Gallium from Bayer Liquor will be NALCO’s first R&D project with BARC.
iii. The MoU was signed by B K Satpathy, executive director (Business Development) with BARC representative.
8. ICICI launches country’s 1st contactless credit card for SMEs
i. ICICI Bank, a private sector lender has launched the country’s first contactless business credit card in association with Jet Airways for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their employees.
ii. ICICI Bank is the first bank globally to offer a dual advantage reward programme on the expenses and repayments of the credit card.
iii. This card is powered by the ‘VISA payWave’ contactless technology that enables the cardholder to make payments by simply tapping the card at contact less enabled terminals in more than 48 countries including India.
9. Reliance Jio Infocomm launches digital wallet
i. Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio Infocomm has launched its digital wallet service, called as JioMoney Wallet, for Indian consumers, following the introduction of 4G services to the public through an employee-driven invite system.
ii. The company has already signed up more than 50,000 online merchants for this service. JioMoney will also be accepted at thousands of offline stores across India.
iii. It is available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store. It is the 2nd app from Reliance Jio to go live after messaging app Jio Chat. The wallet service will give Reliance Jio access to the Rs 350-crore and growing mobile wallet market in India.
10. Kenya to close World’s biggest refugee camp in Dadaab
i. The Kenyan government has decided to close the World’s biggest refugee camp in Dadaab. Presently, around 3,28,000 refugees mostly from Somalia are staying in Dadaab camp.
ii. Kenyan Government sources said, the camp compromises Kenya’s security because it harbors some of Somalia’s Al-Shabab militants and is a conduit for smuggling weapons.
iii. The decision has been condemned by domestic and international rights groups and organizations dealing with refugees. The UN has urged Kenya to reconsider its decision to close Dadaab camp.
11. Obama honours Indian-American elementary teacher Revathi Balakrishnan
i. An Indian-American woman elementary teacher from Texas has been honored by US President Barack Obama at the White House for her excellent work in the field of education. He was among the 56 ‘state teachers of the year’ list.
ii. Revathi Balakrishnan, a talent and gifted specialist teacher at Patsy Sommer Elementary School in Austin was also named as 2016 ‘Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year’ by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) as part of the National Teacher of the Year Program.
iii. Balakrishnan has taught at ‘Sommer Elementary’ for six years before teaching at Forest North Elementary for three years. Originally from Chennai, Balakrishnan was a systems analyst with Liberty Mutua for about 12 years before becoming a teacher.
12. Kotak sole Indian on Forbes’ most powerful list
i. Kotak Mahindra Bank Chief Uday Kotak, with a net worth of $7.1 billion.
ii. He is the only Indian in Forbes’ ‘Money Masters: The Most Powerful People In The Financial World’ list of 40.
ii. The 57-year-old is ranked 33rd in the list topped by Blackstone Group’s CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who has a net worth of $10.2 billion.
13. AR Rahman named Goodwill Ambassador for Olympics
i. Renowned Music composer AR Rahman has accepted the Indian Olympic Association’s offer to become the Goodwill Ambassador for Rio Olympics.
ii. Rahman is India’s fourth Goodwill Ambassador after Bollywood actor Salman Khan, Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.
iii. Notably, this time , India is to send its largest ever contingent of about 90 athletes to the Rio Olympics starting August 5.
14. Manohar elected first independent ICC Chairman
i. Former BCCI President Shashank Manohar, who resigned recently, was now elected unopposed as the ICC’s first independent Chairman for two years.
ii. ICC’s Full Council also approved changes to its Constitution to accommodate the independent Chairman.
iii. This comes after ICC abolished its President post and amended its rules so that the ICC Chief cannot be associated with a cricket board.
15. Brazil Prez Rousseff suspended for six months
i. Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff was suspended for at least six months after the country’s Senate voted 55-22 to impeach and put her on trial.
ii. The Senate’s upper house will try Rousseff for allegedly manipulating the government’s accounts ahead of the last election.
iii. The judges will reportedly be Senators, many of whom are accused of more serious crimes.
16. Cricket commentator Tony Cozier has passed away
i. West Indies cricket writer, commentator and journalist, Tony Cozier has passed away. He was suffering from neck and legs related infections. He was 75 year old.
ii. He was awarded with Cozier life membership for his services to the game in 2011 by the London-based Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
iii. He was a most familiar voice to cricket audiences the world over as well as at home in the West Indies. He served the industry as cricket broadcaster for 50 years and became especially well-known in Britain after first joining the BBC’s Test Match Special team in 1966.
17. Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat Praveen Rashtrapal has passed away
i. Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat Praveen Rashtrapal has passed away after suffering a heart attack.
ii. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day as a mark of respect towards sitting Congress member. He is 76 year old.
iii. He was a elected to the 13th Lok Sabha (1999-2004). He was a member from the Upper House from April 2006 to April 2012 and was re-elected in April 2012. He was also a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G scam in the previous Lok Sabha.
18. Stephen Curry named NBA’s Most Valuable Player for second straight year
i. Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the second straight year.
ii. With this, he became the first unanimous winner in the award’s 61-year history after a record-breaking contribution to the Warriors’ historic season.
iii. Stephen Curry, the 11th person to win back-to-back MVP awards, swept all 131 first-place votes including 130 from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters and one from the Kia MVP fan vote. He secured 1310 points to top in the list.
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