1. Govt hikes minimum wage for contract workers to Rs 10,000
i. The Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya has stated that the minimum wage for contract workers has been increased to Rs. 10,000 per month.
ii. The Minister of State for Labour and Employment informed Lok Sabha that the wage hike has been done based on a Supreme Court verdict.
iii. It is the endeavour of the central government to make reforms in labour laws and to proceed from minimum wage to universal wage. The decision has been taken to make changes to rule 25 of the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Central Rules. Now every contract worker will be entitled to get Rs. 10,000 per month.
2. World Intellectual Property Day 2016 observed globally
i. The World Intellectual Property Day 2016 was on 26 April 2016 observed across the world with the theme Digital Creativity - Culture Re imagined.
ii. On this day, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) works together with various government agencies, non-government organizations, community groups and individuals to hold different events and activities to promote World Intellectual Property Day.
iii. The day is celebrated to spread awareness about the role that intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright) play in encouraging innovation and creativity.
3. Over two lakh new Central government jobs by 2017
i. The announcement has been made that over two lakh posts are estimated to be created by the Central government in its various departments.
ii. The Central government has projected in the budget estimates for 2016-17 an increase of about 2.18 lakh in the existing workforce of 33.05 lakh, as in 2015, by 2017.
iii. The Home Ministry will add 5,635 new jobs to take its strength to 22,006 in 2017. Similarly, there will be 47,264 new posts in police departments to take its total to 10,75, 341 in 2017 from 10,28,077 (its strength in 2015), it said. There will be increase of 10,894 in staff strength of the Defence Ministry to take the manpower count to 51,084 in 2017, according to the budget estimates presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
4. Heart of Asia conference begins today in New Delhi
i. The heart of Asia conference has begun today in New Delhi. The conference aims to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan and speeding up its reconstruction with a focus on enhancing investment and connectivity to the country.
ii. The main aim of HoA process have been to devise a sustained, incremental approach to implementation of the confidence building measures (CBM) in Afghanistan and Energy, infrastructure and investment deals to shore up economic growth of Afghanistan may also figure during the conference.
iii. In this conference 14 countries are participating and apart from those there are some countries who are supporting the conference which include France, Germany, Canada etc.
5. Govt to provide Rs 1 lakh per month to Rio-bound athletes
i. Union Sports Ministry has decided to provide one lakh rupees per month as out of pocket allowance to the sports persons under the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme in their preparation for the Olympics and Paralympics Games at Rio de Janeiro.
ii. 77 Indian athletes in eight disciplines have qualified for the Olympics till date and many more are likely to qualify in the next two months.
iii. Target Olympic Podium scheme is a sports ministry initiative under which Olympic medal prospects are funded by the government for top class training as part of their preparations for the Games.
6. Union Government constitutes Ashok Dalwai committee for doubling farmers’ income by 2022
i. The Union Government has recently constituted 8-member inter-ministerial committee to prepare a blueprint for doubling farmers’ income by 2022.
ii. The committee will be headed by Ashok Dalwai, Additional secretary at the Union Agriculture Ministry and is expected to submit the report in two months.
iii. Its members will include officials from Agriculture and Food Ministries, experts from the Delhi-based National Council of Applied Economic Research and National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research. Terms of reference of the Committee Prepare plan to shift farm policies to income based from current production-oriented. Identify potential areas of agriculture where more investment should happen.
7. Indo-Mongolia Joint Military Exercise, Nomadic Elephant – 2016, commenced
i. The 11th Indo-Mongolia joint training Exercise, titled ‘Nomadic Elephant - 2016’ commenced on 25 April 2016 in Mongolia.
ii. The exercise aims at promoting military associations between India and Mongolia will culminate on 8 May 2016.
iii. The aim of this exercise is to develop synergy and inter operability between the two armies to fight in Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism environment under the United Nation mandate.
8. INS Karmuk Corvette participated in Indo-Thai Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT)
i. Indian Missile Corvette, INS Karmuk along with a Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft participated in the 22nd Indo-Thai Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) on 25 April 2016 in the Andaman Sea.
ii. India’s indigenously built Missile Corvette is based at the Andaman and Nicobar Command.
iii. The 22nd edition of CORPAT would bolster the already strong bilateral relationship between the two nations and contribute significantly to enhancing maritime security in the region. It would include participation of one warship and one Maritime Patrol Aircraft of India and Thailand with the closing ceremony being held at Port Blair, Headquarters Andaman and Nicobar Command (HQANC) from 25 April -27 April 2016.
9. India lays foundation for final phase of Housing Project in Central and Uva Provinces of Sri Lanka
i. India lays foundation stone for 4000 houses under the third and final phase of Housing Project in Central and Uva Provinces of Sri Lanka.
ii. High Commissioner of India, Y.K.Sinha, and Minister of Infrastructure and Community Development, Palani Digambaram jointly laid the foundation stone for the third phase of the Indian Housing Project at Dunsinane Estate in Nuwara Eliya District.
10. Videocon d2h Ties-up With Vodafone m-pesa
i. Videocon d2h has announced that its sub-base of over 15 million can now recharge their d2h service using Vodafone m-pesa.
ii. This tie-up with Vodafone allows its customers a simple, convenient and on-demand recharge facility using the proven m-pesa platform.
iii. In addition, the 1,20,000+ Vodafone m-pesa CashIn points will also accept recharge for Videocon d2h, thus providing additional convenience to customers.
11. Hero to invest Rs 3k cr in new Andhra unit
i. Hero MotoCorp is setting up a factory in Andhra Pradesh. It plans to invest Rs 3,000 crore, for annual capacity of 1.8 million units. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu will be unveiling the foundation stone next month.
ii. Hero has three manufacturing facilities, at Gurgaon and Dharuhera in Haryana and Haridwar in Uttarakhand. The two-wheeler major is also setting up two more facilities in Rajasthan and in Gujarat.
iii. For the new facility, the state government has allocated around 600 acres at Tada in Chittoor district, close to Chennai.
12. Top gay rights activist Xulhaz Mannan murdered in Bangladesh
i. Bangladesh police say a top gay rights activist and editor at the country's only LGBT magazine is one of two people who have been hacked to death in Dhaka yesterday.
ii. The US ambassador to Bangladesh condemned the killing of Xulhaz Mannan, who also worked at the US embassy. Another person was also injured when the attackers entered a Dhaka flat.
iii. Since February last year suspected militants have killed several secular or atheist writers and members of religious minority groups. The two men were murdered two days after a university teacher was hacked to death by suspected Islamist militants on Saturday. So-called Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility - but the Bangladeshi government insists there is no IS presence in the country
13. JKLF founder Amanullah Khan dead at 82
i. Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) founder Amanullah Khan passed away at a Rawalpindi hospital. He was 82.
ii. Khan, the father-in-law of Kashmir’s regional party People’s Conference president Sajad Gani Lone was suffering from a chronic lung disease.
iii. The deceased leader, who was born in the Astore area of Gilgit on August 24, 1934, was also the co-founder of the Kashmir Independent Committee in 1963. He was elected secretary general of the JK Plebiscite Front (PF) in 1965 and co-founded the JK National Liberation Front (NLF) with Maqbool Bhat.
14. Mohun Bagan's Jeje Lalpekhlua named FPAI Player of the Year
i. Professional football club Mohun Bagan and India striker Jeje Lalpekhlua on 25 April 2016 won the Football Players’ Association of India (FPAI). The award function held in Mumbai.
ii. Lalpekhlua received the highest number of votes from fellow professional footballers to finish on top in the shortlist which included India captain Sunil Chhetri, Bikash Jairu, David Lalrinmuana and Dhanachandra Singh.
iii. Nigerian striker Ranti Martins, who played for East Bengal in the I-League, was named the Foreign Player of the Year. The Manipur-born Udanta Singh of I-League champion Bengaluru FC bagged the Young Player of the Year award. Bengaluru FC’s coach Ashley Westwood won the Coach of the Year award. Debjit Majumder was named the Fans’ Player of the Year.
15. Rower Dattu Bhokanal qualifies for Rio Olympics
i. Indian rower Dattu Bhokanal has qualified for the Rio Olympics after winning a silver in the finals of men's single sculls at the 2016 FISA Asian and Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta at Chung-ju in South Korea.
ii. The 25-year-old armyman clocked 7 mins 7.49 seconds in the 2km course to finish second and qualify for the Rio Olympics.
iii. He has also represented India in the last Asian Games in Korea and at the 16th Asian championships in China where he won a silver medal.
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