1. President Mukherjee honours teachers with Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar 2016

a) President Pranab Mukherjee recently presented the Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar 2016 to 15 teachers for excellence in the field of academics.

b) The award comprises a cash prize of Rs.1 lakh, a certificate of excellence, a Robe of Honour and a medal.

c) It was instituted by Mohinder Singh Syngle Education and Research Society in honour of its founder Mrs Malti Mohinder Singh Syngle, renowned educationist and social worker.

d) Teachers in Punjab’s high and higher secondary public schools receive this award for their outstanding contributions. However, those who already have received a national award are not considered for this honour.

2. Indian-American scientist Arnab De wins Springer Theses Award

a) Indian-American scientist Arnab De has been honoured with the Springer Theses Award for his remarkable research in developing transgenic mice to study a critical tumour-suppressor called A20.

b) He also developed peptide-based prodrugs as therapeutics for diabetes and received the Young Investigator Award at the American Peptide Symposium. Also, his thesis was nominated by New York’s Columbia University

c) Springer, a world renowned publisher of books and journals, awards candidates with thesis prize to recognise outstanding PhD research.

d) Internationally, top-ranked research institutes send their best thesis annually for publication in the book series: “Springer Theses: Recognising Outstanding PhD research”. Winners also get a cash prize of €500. The research work was highlighted by the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO).

3. Discus thrower Seema Punia qualifies for Rio Olympics

a) Asian Games discus throw gold medal-winner Seema Punia has qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics with a 62.62 metre effort at the Pat Young’s Throwers Classic 2016 at Salinas (California) in the US.

b) The 32-year old discus thrower defeated 2008 Olympic discus throw champion Stephanie Brown-Trafton of the US to win the gold medal.

c) This year will be her third appearance in Olympics. Based in Haryana, Punia is the 19th Indian track and field athlete to qualify for the Rio Olympics.

4) Manohar Parrikar inaugurates second submarine assembly workshop in Mazgaon

a) Union Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar inaugurated a submarine assembly workshop in Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai.

b) The newly-built Submarine Marine Assembly Workshop is a pre-engineered building structure that will simultaneously handle construction of multiple submarines. Built at a cost of Rs. 153 crore, it aims to assemble five submarines in the workshop at the same time.

c) Features such as rain water harvesting, sewage treatment plan, grey water treatment plant, oily water separator plant for treatment of sewage, grey water and oily water respectively, with zero discharge into the municipal drains are a part of the workshop. This facility will enable MDL to go in for a second line of submarines concurrently.

d) The current construction of Scorpene class submarines is taking place at its East Yard in collaboration with DCNS of France. Kalvari, the first submarine of this class, is expected to join the Indian Navy soon.

5) China to launch its first hack proof Quantum Communication Satellite

a) The first experimental Quantum satellite is ready to be launched in Beijing, China. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) claims that the interceptions (due to use of quantum photons) of these satellites can neither be separated nor duplicated.

b) The project includes launch of a satellite, building of four ground stations for quantum communication and one space quantum teleportation experiment station.

c) The first quantum satellite took five years of effort and will be sent to Jiuquan Satellite launch centre in June.

6) High-speed Spanish Talgo Train trial run to be conducted in India

a) Trial run of a nine-coach Spanish train was conducted on the Bareilly-Moradabad route of Uttar Pradesh as a part of railway ministry’s strategy to increase the speed of trains.

b) The 90-km trial run incorporated a 4500 HP diesel engine and was conducted by a joint team of the Railway Design Standards Organisation (RDSO) and Spanish train manufacturer Talgo.

c) The nine-coach Talgo train comprises two Executive Class cars, four Chair Cars, a cafeteria, a power car and a tail-end coach for staff and equipment. It is built to run on curves without getting its speed affected.

d) Talgo’s lighter in weight and consumes 30% less energy with speed up to 115 km per hour.

7) Real Madrid wins 2016 European Champions League

a) Real Madrid earned its 11th European Champion title. It defeated city rivals Atletico Madrid through a penalty shoot-out following a 1-1 draw.

b) Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winning penalty in a 5-3 shootout victory against Atletico Madrid. Atletico earlier lost in their two previous finals appearances.

8) NASA successfully deploys Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM)

a) NASA has successfully deployed its first experimental inflatable room attached to the International Space Station (ISS).

b) It is an expandable habitat technology demonstration for the International Space Station which will significantly decrease the amount of transport volume for future space missions.

c) BEAM is set to launch on the 8th SpaceX Commercial Resupply Service mission. The 1,400 kg Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) was built by Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace under a $17 million NASA contract. It supports an AES objective to develop a deep space habitat for human missions beyond Earth orbit.

9) Sushma Swaraj launches PM’s website in 6 regional languages

a) Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official website will now available in six major regional languages, including Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam and Bengali. The aim is to reach out to people across India.

b) Earlier, the PMO website: www.pmindia.gov.in, which highlighted several initiatives of the government, could be viewed only in English and Hindi.

10) Gujarat CM launches campaigns against malnutrition

a) Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel has launched two campaigns ‘Bal Amritam’ and ‘Mission Shakti’ to curb malnutrition in Ahwa town in Dangs district.

b) The campaign also focuses on reducing infant and maternity mortality rates in tribal-dominated district to the state’s average.

c) The salient features of the campaign are:

i. Iron-rich supplementary food would be provided to children and women residing in both towns and remote forested areas.

ii. Awareness will be created among tribal women about free screening and treatment of breast and cervical cancers at government hospitals.

11) Vice Admiral Girish Luthra takes charge of Western Naval Command

a) Vice Admiral Girish Luthra has been appointed as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of the Western Naval Command.

b) He will succeed Sunil Lanba who will proceed to New Delhi to take over as the Chief of Naval Staff.

c) An alumnus of the National Defence Academy in Pune, Luthra was awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2012 and Vishisht Seva Medal in 2008.

12) Actor Madhavan becomes goodwill ambassador for LEPRA India

a) Actor R Madhavan was recently appointed as the goodwill ambassador for LEPRA India. He will work to create awareness about leprosy and its treatment.

b) LEPRA India is a non-government organisation working in the fields of leprosy, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV or AIDS and community health.

13) India, Australia sign MoU to enhance R&D capabilities in biotech

a) An MoU was signed between India’s BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council) and Horticulture Innovation Australia to enhance research and development (R&D) in the field of horticulture.

b) The MoU aims to create and deploy modern tools of plant biotechnology to increase crop productivity in both nations. The funding commitment from BIRAC and Hort Innovation is up to 6 million Australian dollars over a period of three years.

c) The event was presided over by Australian High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu and Vijay Raghavan.

14) Actor Suresh Chatwal passes away

a) Veteran film and television actor Suresh Chatwal has passed away. He was last seen on the comedy show “F.I.R.,” in which he played a commissioner.

b) Chatwal made his acting debut in the year 1969 with ‘Rakhi Rakhi’ and was seen in films like ‘Karan Arjun’, ‘Koyla’ and ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’. He was last seen on the big screen in ‘Nakshatra’ in 2010.

15) Lewis Hamilton wins Monaco F1 Grand Prix

a) Lewis Hamilton 2016 recently won the Monaco F1 Grand Prix after a close battle with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

b) The F1 motor race was held at the Circuit de Monaco and was the sixth round of the 2016 season.

c) Lewis Hamilton became only the 15th driver in history to win multiple Monaco Grands Prix. He is a British F1 racing driver from England and races for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team.