1. India, US sign
pact to establish LIGO gravitational wave detector

(i) On April 1, India’s Department of Atomic Energy inked an
MoU with the US National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish an advanced
gravitational wave detector in India.

(ii) This pact comes a month after the Union Cabinet
approved Rs.1200 crores for the LIGO-India project under which LIGO will build a
gravitational wave observatory in India which is likely to be functional by
2023. This will LIGO’s third observatory and the first to be established
outside the US.

(iii) The MoU also stipulates setting up of a Joint
Oversight Group (JOG) with the scientists from NSF, DAE and the Indian Department
of Science and Technology for better management of the project.

2. Jitendra Jagota to
chair Indian Direct Selling Association

(i) The Indian Direct Selling Association has named Jitendra
Jagota, Director of Legal and Govt. Affairs at Avon India, as its chairman. He replaces
Rajat Banerji, who is Amway India’s Head of Corporate Affairs.

(ii) IDSA also announced its new executive committee which comprised
heads of several notable direct selling companies, including Amit Chadha who
was appointed as Secretary General.

3. Well-known
Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid passes away

(i) Renowned Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid has passed
away at the age of 65. In 2015, she was the first woman to receive the Royal
Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Gold Medal in appreciation of her work.

(ii) In addition, she twice won the RIBA Stirling Prize, the
UK’s most respected architecture award, in 2010 and 2011.

(iii) Among other honours, Hadid also titled the Commander
of the Civil Division of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to
architecture. In 2004, she became the first woman and first Muslim recipient of
the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

(iv) The buildings she designed include the London Olympic
Aquatic Centre, Evelyn Grace Academy (UK), Maxxi- National Museum of the 21st
Century Arts (Rome), Galaxy Soho Building (Beijing), Guangzhou Opera House (China),
Bridge Pavilion (Spain), Pierres Vives building (France), Serpentine Sackler
Gallery (London), etc.

4. Geeta Reddy
appointed as Telangana PAC chairperson

(i) Senior Congress MLA Geeta Reddy has been appointed as
the chairperson of Talangana’s legislature committee on Public Accounts.

(ii) This is the first time that a woman legislator has been
appointed to chair the PAC.

(iii) The PAC examines the reports of the Comptroller and
Auditor General, and comprises 30 members drawn from both the Assembly and the Legislative
Council. As a rule, it is always headed by a legislator from the opposition
party.

5. Oscar-winning
actress Patty Duke dies

(i) Patty Duke, who won the Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actress for portraying the role of Hellen Keller in “The Miracle
Worker” at the age of 15, has passed away, aged 69.

(ii) She later attained greater prominence in 1963, when she
was given her own series, The Patty Duke Show.

(iii) Besides being a theatre artiste and producer and
singer, she was well-known as an activist for mental health issues, after she
was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1982. Duke also served as the president
of the actors union-the Screen Actors Guild, from 1983 to 1988.

6. Single window
interface for IP launched

(i) The government has unveiled the Indian Intellectual Property
(IP) Panorama, a single-window interface for information on IP and guidance on using
it to attain competitive advantage.

(ii) The Indian IP Panorama is an individualised version of
IP Panorama Multimedia toolkit, developed by World Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office and Korea
Invention Promotion Association.

(iii) The toolkit will cater to small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) and start-ups, especially in the ICT sector, based on an agreement
signed between WIPO and the department of electronics and information
technology (DeitY).

(iv) The portal aims to raise awareness and foster sensitivity
towards IP not only among stakeholders in the small and medium enterprises sector,
but also academia and researchers.

7. Kachhabali becomes
first liquor-free village in Rajasthan

(i) Kachhabali village in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district has
become the first in the state to decide on shutting down its only liquor shop.

(ii) The decision was taken after a referendum conducted by
the state excise department saw 67.11% of voters objecting to sale of alcohol
in the village.

8. British comedian
Ronnie Corbett passes away

(i) Well-known British comedian, who was famous for the comedy
show “The Two Ronnies”, has died aged 85.  

(ii) He conducted The Two Ronnies with his partner Ronnie
Barker, who passed away in 2005. The show successfully ran from 1971 to 1987.

(iii) Corbett, who began acting at the age of 15, was an
indispensable part of British television for over 50 years. He also flourished as
a solo performer, with his best-known role being Timothy Lumsden in the sitcom Sorry! between 1981 and 88.

9. Legislative Assembly
passes the Haryana Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2016

(i) The Haryana Assembly unanimously passed the Haryana
Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the Haryana Municipal Corporation
(Amendment) Bill, 2016.

(ii) The two legislations make it compulsory for those
contesting the polls for urban local bodies to have a minimum educational
qualification.

(iii) For a general category candidate, the minimum
educational qualification would be Class X, while for those belonging to SC
category it would be Class VIII.

(iv) Further the bills stipulate that the candidate must not
have been convicted or have charges against him/her by a court in a criminal
case for an offence punishable with imprisonment for not less than 10 years. Also,
there should be no pending arrears of electricity bills against the candidate.

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