1. President Mukherjee inaugurates second edition of `Global Exhibition on Services' in Greater Noida
i. The second edition of 'Global Exhibition on Services' was inaugurated in UP's Greater Noida at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida by President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.
ii. Inaugurating the event, Mukherjee observed that services-sector had emerged today as an agent of change for the country and it was driving the Indian economy in an inclusive and equitable manner.
iii. According to him, services-sector is the 'sector of the current millennium' with its focus on generating employment, skill development, bringing in FDI, enhancing trade and boosting strategic partnerships.
iv. He lauded the expo as a much-needed forum to give global visibility to the need to encourage trade in services.
v. The sector with its wide outreach can surpass geographical boundaries and unite nations through the common thread of offering skills and capabilities, he stated in a release.
2. Prime Minister confers awards for excellence in implementation of priority programmes
i. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi conferred awards for excellence in implementation of priority programmes on the occasion of 10th Civil Services Day today.
ii. For the priority programme Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJSY), Nagaon, Assam was awarded in North East and Hill States category, Chandigarh in UTs and North 24 Parganas, West Bengal in Other States group.
iii. Under Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), West Sikkim and Bikaner, Rajasthan were awarded in North East & Hill states and Other States category respectively.
iv. The Prime Minister congratulated the awardees for their successful initiatives and said that their success could prove inspirational for other civil servants. The Prime Minister noted that 74 success stories were shortlisted for consideration for awards this year, which represents a substantial jump over previous years.
v. On the occasion, the Prime Minister also released two books namely: The Change Makers and Transforming India.
3. First Meeting of All India Handloom Board held
i. The first meeting of the recently constituted All India Handloom Board was held in New Delhi.
ii. The Chairman and Union Textiles Minister, Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar gave an overview of the various initiatives being taken by the Government for the development of the sector.
iii. The Minister said on the occasion that they all are working with a vision to increase the wages of skilled handloom weavers to the level of Rs. 500/- per day.
iv. He also stated that their major interventions will be to cover five lakh weavers in MUDRA Scheme in next three years and also to take up 300 more block level clusters for development.
v. As per the officials, The Ministry are also aiming to enhance handloom exports from about Rs. 2,500 crore to Rs. 4,500 crore in next three years.
4. The Three day Curtain Raiser International Yoga Fest inaugurated by Shri Shripad Yesso Naik
i. As per the Ayush Minister, National level event for celebration of International Yoga Day this year proposed to be held at Chandigarh.
ii. The three day International Yoga Fest: A Curtain Raiser for International Day of Yoga-2016 was inaugurated by the Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge) and Health & Family Welfare, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik in New Delhi today.
iii. The Yoga Festival has been organized by the Ministry of AYUSH to sensitize the masses regarding the celebration of International Day of Yoga.
iv. Addressing the participants, Shri Shripad Naik said that Yoga is the greatest gift of this country to the entire mankind. Probably that is the reason why as many as 177 out of 193 UN Member States supported the idea of declaring 21st June as the International Day of Yoga , the Minister added.
v. Dr. H. Nagendra, Chancellor, S-VYASA University, Bangalore and Chairperson of the Committee of Yoga Experts for International Yoga Day, highlighted the activities being planned for a grand celebration of the International Yoga Day and the efforts to introduce Yoga among youth and children with the help of Human Resource Development Ministry.
5. HC revoked President's Rule in Uttarakhand
i. The Uttarakhand high court on revoke the imposition of President’ rule in the state and revived the Congress government headed by Harish Rawat, who has been asked to prove his majority on 29 April.
ii. Coming down heavily on the Centre for the 27 March proclamation under Article 356, a division bench of the high court headed by chief justice K.M. Joseph said the imposition of the President’s rule was contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court.
iii. Upholding the disqualification of nine agitator Congress MLAs, the court said they have to pay the price of committing the “Constitutional sin” of defection by being disqualified.
iv. The court said the fate of the rebel Congress MLAs was entirely irrelevant and extraneous to the imposition of President’s rule.
v. Ordering restoration of the Rawat government, the court ordered the ousted chief minister to prove his government’s majority on the floor of the Assembly on 29 April.
6. IMF, WB, UN And OECD Form New Group To Stop Tax Erosion
i. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank has stated that they are going to join forces with other international organizations to cooperate on tax issues and develop new tools and standards to halt tax base erosion and evasion.
ii. This new group will also include the United Nations and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
iii. The new group will particularly focus on building effective tax systems in developing countries and avoid tax base erosion.
iv. The decision was announced after the release of 'Panama Papers', which highlighted the widespread use of tax haven countries by wealthy individuals to avoid taxes.
v. The group will help emerging marketing countries to develop policies for the "informal" sectors of their economies that operate in cash transactions outside the tax system. It also aims to provide "toolkits" to help developing countries implement measures developed under a previous G20/OECD tax effort, known as the "Base Erosion and Profit Shifting" project.
7. Accenture launches cyber centre in Bengaluru
i. Global professional services company Accenture on Thursday said it opened a cyber centre here to expand its global security presence and help organisations tackle complex security challenges.
ii. The new centre will be a hub for continuous, collaborative innovation, melding the combined brainpower of the clients.
iii. The state-of-the-art facility brings together interdisciplinary capabilities of innovation, incubation and development of new solutions along with managed delivery of cyber defence services.
iv. The cyber centre is the largest cybersecurity facility in the Accenture Global Delivery Network, which includes more than 50 facilities," it said, adding Accenture has grown its security presence in India for nearly five years and it is now one of the company's largest geographies globally.
v. Along with the cyber centre, Accenture has also launched its new cloud based security solution Cyber Defence Platform to deliver advanced threat detection, correlation, search and incident management capabilities.
8. ICC and Emirates Airline renewed deal for additional seven years
i. The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Emirates Airline on 19 April 2016 renewed their deal for an additional seven years.
ii. With this, Emirates Airlines became the Global Partner for all ICC events from 2016-2023.
iii. The ICC and the Emirates relationship date back to 2002, when the award-winning airline came on board as a sponsor of the ICC. The partnership was strengthened with Emirates becoming the ICC’s official partner for the 2007-2015 events cycle.
iv. This new deal is an extension and expansion of previous partnership as Emirates will continue its sponsorship of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Match Referees. The Fly Emirates logo will be displayed prominently on the umpires’ clothing when they are officiating at all international cricket matches.
v. In the current cycle, the partnership promises to reach greater heights, as the ICC will stage an ICC World Twenty20 tournament in 2020, two ICC Champions Trophy and two ICC Cricket World Cups.
9. JK Tyres Acquired Cavendish Industries For Rs 2200 Crore
i. The leading Indian tyre manufactures JK Tyre has announced that it had completed the acquisition of tyre, tube and flap maker Cavendish Industries at an enterprise value of Rs.2,200 crore.
ii. It is a unit of Kesoram Industries Ltd and Kesoram Industries is a B.K. Birla Group company.
iii. The Cavendish industries is located in Laksar near to Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
iv. The deal will add a capacity to produce 10 million tyres a year. The agreement will also enable JK’s entry into the fast-growing two-wheeler and three-wheeler tyre market and will also boost its capacity to produce truck and bus radials.
v. The JK Tyre will fund the deal through a mix of internal accruals and debt raised by JK Group associates, such as Bengal & Assam Co. Ltd (the holding company) and Valiant Pacific LLC, a trading firm. JK Tyre will hold a 64 % stake in Cavendish, while the rest will be held by Bengal & Assam and Valiant.
10. Communist Laos appoints new President, Prime Minister
i. The National Assembly of Laos elected the chief of the ruling Communist Party, Bounnhang Vorachit, as president in a transition of power necessitated by the completion of the maximum permissible 10 years in office by outgoing president Choummaly Sayasone.
ii. Foreign minister Thongloun Sisoulith was elected prime minister.
iii. Phankham Viphavanh was appointed vice president, along with three deputy prime ministers: Bounthong Chitmany, Sonexay Siphandone and Somdy Douangdy.
iv. All were elected with two-thirds majorities by the National Assembly to serve a five-year term in office.
v. Landlocked Laos has been exclusively ruled by the Communist Party since the end of the Vietnam War in 1973 and mirrors the communist government in Vietnam.
11. Zee Media Corp Group CEO Bhaskar Das quits
i. Zee Media Corporation today said its Group CEO - News Cluster Bhaskar Das has quit following his transfer to another Essel Group entity.
ii. Bhaskar Das, Group CEO - News Cluster of the company has been transferred to another entity forming part of Essel Group.
iii. He resigned as Chief Executive Officer of the company with effect from April 20, 2016.
iv. Das, who was president of media group Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd (BCCL), had joined Subhash Chandra-led Essel Group as chief executive officer (CEO) in 2012. He was given the responsibility of driving the group's news business, including the digital properties.
v. Zee Media Corporation is one of the largest news networks in the country with 10 news channels in six different languages, Mumbai edition of DNA newspaper and digital properties like zeenews.Com and dnaindia.Com.
12. Centre appoints Rubber Board chief
i. Senior IAS officer A Ajith Kumar appointed as Kerala-based Rubber Board's chairman, a post lying vacant for over a year and a half.
ii. The appointment comes less than a month ahead of Assembly polls due in the southern state on May 16.
iii. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved the appointment of Kumar,a 1994 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, to the post of chairman, Rubber Board, Kottayam, an order issued by Department of personnel and Training.
iv. He has been appointed for a period up to May 31, 2018, which is the date of his superannuation.
v. The post has been lying vacant since August 2014.
13. Indian diplomat Amitav Banerji honoured by Cyprus
i. Amitav Banerji, an Indian diplomat in the UK has been conferred with one of the highest awards of Cyprus for his work in a number of senior roles within the Commonwealth Secretariat for over two decades.
iii. Born in 1953, Banerji graduated from Georgetown University and went on to do his Masters from the Delhi School of Economics.
iv. He joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1975 and served in different capacities for 15 years, including postings to Pakistan, Spain and Malaysia.
v. From August 1990 to May 2015, he served in a series of roles at the Commonwealth Secretariat including Head of the Secretary General’s Office and towards the last six years as Political Director.
14. Goa Appoints Justice P.K. Mishra As Lokayukta
i. Retired Justice P K Mishra would be most probably the Lokayukta for Goa.Goa government has recommended his name to Governor Mridula Sinha.
ii. According to the Chief Minister of Goa that in Lokayukta Act, the Governor is the final authority to appoint the Lokayukta on the advice tendered by the Chief Minister, in consultation with the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court and the Leader of the Opposition.
iii. In October 2013, the first Goa Lokayukta, Justice (retd) B Sudarshan Reddy, had quit from his post citing personal reasons. He had assumed charge in March 2013.
iv. His resignation left investigations of 21 cases, including the crucial illegal mining scam and the recruitment's in government department, pending before the ombudsman in the State.
v. Since then, government was dilly dallying over the appointment of his successor, claiming that no retired judge was available. And Justice Mishra, former chief justice of Patna high court, has served the state as the chairman of Goa Human Rights Commission.
15. Comedian Victoria Wood Has Passed Away
i. Comedian, singer and writer Victoria Wood has died after “a short but brave” battle with cancer aged 62.
ii. The comedian found fame in the 1980s and was best known for her BBC sketch Acorn Antiques and comedy Dinnerladies.
iii. She won five Baftas including two for her one-off ITV drama Housewife 49.
iv. She established herself as a comedy star with her hit show Victoria Wood As Seen On TV and went on to create the popular BBC comedies Acorn Antiques and Dinnerladies, featuring her long-time collaborator Julie Walters.
v. The pair became friends in the 1970s and first worked together in 1981 on the comedy sketch show Wood and Walters. Wood appeared on BBC One’s That’s Life! in 1976, which brought her into millions of homes on a frequent basis.
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