1. Russian President Putin is most influential person in the World: Time

i. Russian President Vladimir Putin has emerged the winner of this year’s Time 100 readers’ poll of most influential people in the world.

ii. He edged out rapper-singer CL (of the South Korean girl-group 2NE1) to claim the number one spot with 6.95 per cent of the votes in the final tally.

iii. Pop stars Lady Gaga (2.6 per cent), Rihanna (1.9 per cent) and Taylor Swift (1.8 per cent) rounded out the top five.

iv. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal named also included in the list of  100 most influential people in the world.

v. Narendra Modi however garnered just 0.6 per cent of the votes cast, with only 34 per cent of the people voting in his favour and 66 per cent against. Kejriwal got 0.5 per cent, with 71 per cent voters saying he should not be in the list.

vi. Other winners of the online poll include US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, the Dalai Lama, Harry Potter actress Emma Watson, Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Pope Francis, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

2. BSF launches countrywide tele-medicine network for troops

i. The country’s largest border guarding force BSF has launched an ambitious satellite-based tele-medicine programme to address medical and health-related problems of its troops deployed in far-flung frontier areas and difficult regions in the hinterland.

ii. The tele-medicine or ‘e-medicine’ facility will be operated and hosted from the Kadamtala-based composite hospital of the force in Siliguri in West Bengal.

iii. “The initiative will come as a big boost to the medical setup of the force. The programme is aimed to connect far-flung border posts and other locations of the force in direct contact with our medical experts.

3. Turkey launches construction of first nuclear power plant

i. Turkey has launched the construction of its first nuclear power plant station, in Akkuyu in Mersin province on the shores of the Mediterranean is being built, like Iran`s first nuclear power plant, by Russia`s nuclear agency Rosatom.

ii. It is the first of three nuclear power plants Turkey currently plans to build to reduce its dependence on importing energy from exporters like Russia and Iran.

Note: A second plant is due to be built by a French-Japanese consortium in the Black Sea city of Sinop while a third plant whose location is yet to be finalised is also planned.

4. Foreign Minister of North Korea, Ri Su Yong, the visited India

i. Ri Su Yong, the Foreign Minister of North Korea, visited India from 12 April to 14 April 2015.

ii. He was on a three-day visit to India and this was the first-ever visit of a foreign minister of North Korea to India.

iii. During the visit, foreign minister level talks were held covering issues of mutual interest including India’s security concerns were discussed.

5. Axis Bank ties up with Kochi Metro for debit card-cum-ticket

i. Kochi Metro Rail Limited has tied up with Axis Bank for an automated fare collection system (AFC) for the metro.

ii. Axis Bank has been chosen to invest the entire funds required for the AFC. It will also pay a royalty of Rs. 209 crore to KMRL over the next 10 years for the right to be KMRL’s partner.

iii. The bank will issue co-branded debit cards to the users of the Kochi Metro system.

iv. In return, the bank will get the unique opportunity to populate its debit card in the metro ecosystem and in the entire city with the possibility of getting a large number of new clientele, KMRL pointed out in a statement.

6. CRISIL forecast India’s GDP growth rate at 7.9% this fiscal

i.  CRISIL has forecasted India’s gdp growth rate at 7.9% cent in current fiscal year.

ii. However, agency’s projection is lower than 8-8.5 per cent GDP growth forecast by the government for 2015-16.

iii. Indian economy grew at 7.4 per cent in 2014-15 and 6.9 per cent in 2013-14.

7. NASA named Asteroid 316201 after Malala Yousafzai

i. US space agency NASA has named Asteroid 316201 after Malala Yousafzai, the winner of 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.

ii. The asteroid is situated in the main
asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid orbits the sun every
five-and-a-half years.

8. Allan Donald stepped down as South Africa bowling coach

i. Former
fast bowler Allan Donald stepped down as South Africa’s bowling coach after
four years with the team.

ii. He said, it it was the right time to move on following last month’s World Cup,
where South Africa lost in the semi-finals.

iii. He joined as bowling coach under former head coach Gary Kirsten in 2011.

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