1. Mulayam to head new Janata party

i.Leaders of six political parties on Wednesday announced the formation of a new party to defeat the BJP and combat communal forces in the country.

ii. Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh will
lead the new party formed after the merger of the Janata Parivar comprising the
SP, the Janata Dal (United), the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Janata Dal
(Secular), the Samajwadi Janata Party and the Indian National Lok Dal.

iv. A six-member committee including former
Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Lalu Prasad, Sharad Yadav and Ramgopal Yadav
will decide on issues such as the name and flag of the new party.

v.The SP has five seats in the Lok Sabha and
15 in the Rajya Sabha. It’s in power in Uttar Pradesh with 232 MLAs in the
403-member Assembly.

vi. On the other hand, the RJD has four Lok
Sabha members and one in the Rajya Sabha, while the JD (U) has two in the Lok
Sabha and 12 in the Rajya Sabha.

vii. Former Prime Minister Deve Gowda’s Janata
Dal (Secular) has two seats in the Lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha, while
the INLD has two members in the Lower House and one in the Upper House.

viii. In total, the new party will have strength
of 15 members in the Lower House and 30 in the Upper House

2. Visa on
Arrival Scheme rename to e – Tourist Visa

i. Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has
renamed Tourist Visa on Arrival-Electronic Travel Authorization scheme
(TVoA-ETA) to e-Tourist Visa with effect from 15 April 2015.

ii. With this ambiguities faced by foreign
tourists especially by scheme’s nomenclature VoA, presuming that they would be
granted visa on arrival upon landing will be removed.

ii. A committee of officers from the External
Affairs Ministry, MHA and Bureau of Immigration also had suggested renaming the
scheme.

iii. Foreign tourists were confused with Visa on
Arrival (VoA) scheme as other countries allowed tourist to land and then get
visa.

About
e-Tourist Visa Scheme –  

1. e-Tourist Visa Scheme is a pre-authorization
of Visa to foreigners that being given prior to travel.

2. Under the scheme, a foreign tourist is
required to apply for a visa online by uploading his photograph and passport
and also paying his visa fee online.

3. Then visa authorities will process his
application and send him an electronic travel authorization, or simply e-visa,
via e-mail within 72 hours.

4. TVoA-ETA was launched in November 2014. It
had enabled Electronic Travel Authorization to 44 countries at nine airports
across India.

3. Bidyut
Chakraborty, renowned Assamese film director passed away

i. Bidyut Chakraborty, renowned Assamese film
director, actor passed away today in Guwahati, Assam. He was 55.

ii. He had directed several Assamese movies
including Goon Goon Gaane Gaane, Dwaar and Raag-Biraag.

iii. His directorial film Rag-Birag is based on a
novel written by Jnanpith award-winner Mamoni Raisom Goswami. Chakraborty
‘s last film was Dwar (2012) which was based on a short story by
Swarnakamal winning film critic Apurba Sharma.

4. Justice
Meenakshi Madan Rai became first lady judge of Sikkim HC

i. Meenakshi Madan Rai was sworn in as the
first lady judge of the Sikkim High Court.

ii. This appointment of Rai as the
judge of the Sikkim High Court has helped the state to get its full strength of
three judges after a gap of about one year.

5. B N
Navalawala to head task force on inter-linking of rivers

i. Union Government constituted a
task force on interlinking of rivers in the country.

ii. The Task Force will be chaired by former
Secretary of Ministry of Water Resources B N Navalawala and comprises experts
and senior officials.

6. India retain
No.2 in ODI rankings

i. India has retained its second position in
the ODI ranking.

ii. India with 116 points, placed just behind
world champions Australia (122 points).

iii. India is followed by South Africa (112),
Sri Lanka (108), New Zealand (107, England (101), Pakistan (95).

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