1. BSF to put tallest ‘Tiranga’ at Wagah border by January 2017
i. The Border Security Force (BSF) is planning to install the tallest national flag near the Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post, famously known as the Wagah border.
ii. The flag at 350 feet is part of BSF’s expansion plans for the visitors’ gallery at the site of the iconic Retreat ceremony.
iii. Currently, Jharkhand holds the record of hoisting tallest flag. On January 23 this year, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar hoisted the largest tricolour – a massive 99X66 feet – on the country’s tallest flag post at 293 feet in Ranchi to mark Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary.
2. First time direct tax details published by CBDT
i. First time in the history, a total of 84 page data has been released and put in the public domain, as the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has published direct tax related data including income disclosed in tax returns by various categories of tax player from 2000 to 2015.
ii. The data also include the information of PAN card allocation in the country across various categories and gender.
iii. According to the department, the objective behind the publishing of these statistics was to encourage wider use and analysis of Income Tax data.
3. Govt plans to keep 1% of highways project cost for road safety
i. The Union Minister Nitin Gadkari stated that the government plans to make it mandatory to set aside 1 % of total cost of any highway project for road safety. As India witnesses as high as 5 lakh road accidents per annum in which 1.5 lakh people die and another 3 lakh are crippled.
ii. The government is committed to reducing the number of road accidents and fatalities by 50 per cent in next two to three years.
iii. Presently, road accidents cause an annual loss equivalent to 3 per cent of the GDP.
4. India, Papua New Guinea sign four agreements
i. India and Papua New Guinea has signed four MoUs in myriad sectors at capital Port Moresby.
ii. The MoUs were signed in the presence of the President Pranab Mukherjee and the Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’ Neil. Reports stated that the MoUs relate to Agriculture, Health, Information Technology and Infrastructure.
iii. Under the first MoU, India will provide a Line of Credit of 100 million dollars for specific projects in Transport and infrastructure sectors. The 2nd MoU on Health covers areas such as Public Health, Health Research, Human Resources and Training, Medical Services, Disease Control and Prevention, Drug and Health Care Technologies and Environmental Health. Yet another MoU envisages establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Information Technology in Papua New Guinea. The Fourth MoU delineates all round cooperation in agricultural research and training.
5. Government approves BPCL’s Rs. 3000 cr investment in Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd
i. The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi has given its approval to state owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) to invest Rs. 3,000 in Bharat Oman Refineries Limited (BORL).
ii. As BORL is planning for capacity expansion in BORL’s refinery in Bina, Madhya Pradesh.
iii. The investment will enhance the availability of petroleum products in the Northern and Central parts of the country, industrial development of Madhya Pradesh and substantial increase in employment and tax earnings in the state.
6. NITI Aayog launched urban management programme for capacity building of states and urban local bodies
i. NITI Aayog chaired by Vice Chairman Dr Arvind Panagariya has launched the Urban Management Programme in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Around 150 participants were present in the event.
ii. The Programme is designed by NITI Aayog, Temasek Foundation and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) under the platform of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between NITI Aayog and the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE).
iii. It was to tap the expertise of Singapore in urban sector to build capacities in State Governments and ULBs to design efficient solutions to urban problems. As a part of NITI Aayog’s mandate to promote cooperative federalism, NITI is reaching out to the States to resolve their issues pending with different Ministries. It is emphasized on improving governance particularly of the census towns whose number has significantly increased between census 2001 and 2011.
7. ISRO’s seventh navigational satellite IRNSS 1G launched
i. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has launched India’s seventh navigation satellite of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS 1G) into a Sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (Sub-GTO) on-board PSLV-C33.
ii. The satellite was launched from the First Launch Pad (FLP) of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, which is situated 90 kms from Chennai.
iii. With this launch, India successfully joined the elite group of countries that have their own navigation system technology to cater to the mammoth navigational needs. As in the previous six launches of IRNSS satellites, PSLV-C33 used ‘XL’ version of PSLV equipped with six strap-ons, each carrying 12 tons of propellant.
8. Indian Naval Ships Veer and Nipat Decommissioned
i. Two Indian Naval Ships ‘Veer’ and ‘Nipat’ were decommissioned at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.
ii. INS Veer and Nipat are the first two of this class to be decommissioned. Now eight ships of this category will remain.
iii. The decommissioning ceremony was held in the presence of Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.
9. Rahuri in Ahmednagar Becomes First to have Digi-Locker
i. Rahuri Municipal Council of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra has became the first Municipal Council to attain the status of integrated with digital locker for the issuance of all essential Documents.
ii. Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad formally launched this service as part of Digital India Programme.
iii. With this facility, the citizen of the area can now apply for the certificates like Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates online without going to Municipal Council and these documents will be available in the Digilocker signed to the citizens. This will also ensure them the peace of mind provided by the easy security of their documents forever.
10. EC launches mobile app e-voter for Kerala assembly polls
i. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched an innovative mobile application titled e-voter with comprehensive details about the forthcoming 2016 Assembly polls in Kerala.
ii. The app is envisaged for voters’ facilitation for search in electoral roll, information regarding candidates, location of polling station, affidavit filed by them, filing of complaint and so on.
iii. The e-voter app was developed by the state IT Mission. It aims at ensuring great transparency and conduct of free and fair elections. The app has ‘know your candidate’ option that would provide constituency wise details of candidates. It has ‘constituency list’ option that would give segment wise details of voters (total number of voters, number of male voters and female voters) and total polling stations.
11. Gujarat Announces 10% Quota For Economically Backward
i. Gujarat has declared 10% reservation in higher education institutions and government jobs for the economically backward members of all non-reserved castes, with annual income below rs. 6 lakh.
ii. This will be on top of the 49% reservation currently available for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Castes.
iii. The ordinance will be brought out on May 1, the state’s foundation day.
12. Swat activist Tabassum Adnan wins 2016 Nelson Mandela Award
i. A women’s rights activist from Swat valley of Pakistan, Tabassum Adnan, has won the Nelson Mandela Graça Machel Innovation Award 2016 in Bogota, Colombia.
ii. She won the award for the individual activist category on the concluding day of the International Civil Society Week held from April 25-28.
iii. A victim of child marriage, Tabassum Adnan was married at the age of 13. The marriage which was marked by frequent domestic abuse, ended after 20 years when she gathered the courage to divorce her abusive husband.
13. Mongolia confers highest civilian honour to two Indians
i. Mongolia has conferred its highest civilian award “North Star” to two noted Indian scholars-Lokesh Chandra and Mansura Haider for their contribution to Mongolian studies.
ii. It was presented by the Mongolian Foreign Minister Lundeg Purevsuren.
iii. This year is being the 60th Anniversary of Indo-Mongolian diplomatic relations on which Mr. Lokesh Chandra, president of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Mansura Haider, former academic adviser at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), have been presented with the award for their contribution to the development of friendly relations between India and Mongolia and promotion of Mongolian studies.
14. Jayasurya recalled as Sri Lanka’s cricket chief selector
i. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has announced appointment of Sanath Jayasuriya as chief selector of the Sri Lankan Cricket team.
ii. He has already served as the chief selector from January 2013 to March 2015.
iii. Now Jayasuriya-led committee will succeed the Aravinda de Silva led committee. The new four member selection panel will take office on 1 May 2016 and will serve for two years which include, former wicketkeeper-batsman Romesh Kaluwitharana, former fast bowler Eric Upashantha and former off spinner Ranjith Madurasinghe.
15. Garima wins gold at Commonwealth Judo Championship
i. Garima Chaudhary has won another gold medal at the 2016 Commonwealth Judo Championship finals at Port Elizabeth in South Africa.
ii. She has clinched the gold in 63kg junior category.
iii. In the year 2012, the 26-year-old Meerut based judoka was the only representative from India to contest for Judo Olympic medals at the London Olympic Games in 2012. The judoka has also participated in the previous edition of the competition held at Glasgow in 2014 but made an exit in quarter final.
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