1. Rajiv Gauba is new Secretary
of Ministry of Urban Development

(i) Rajiv Gauba, a 1982 batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre,
has been appointed as the new Secretary of Ministry of Urban Development. He
replaces Madhusudan Prasad.

(ii) Earlier, he was Chief Secretary, Jharkhand, for 15 months.

(iii) A physics graduate from Patna University, Gauba has
held senior positions in policy making and programme implementation at the
Centre as well as state governments and in international organisations.

(iv) He has also served on the board of the International
Monetary Fund representing India for four years.

2. Vietnam parliament
elects Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan as first female speaker

(i) Vietnam’s National Assembly (NA) has elected Nguyen Thi
Kim Ngan as its first female speaker. Previously she was serving as the vice-chairperson
of the NA since July 2011.

(ii) She won the post by securing
472 of 481 votes at the ongoing 11th session of the 13th NA.            

(iii) In addition, she was
also elected as the Chairperson of the National Election Council with 467 votes
out of 477 valid ballots.

3. Renowned journalist
Babu Bharadwaj passes away

(i) Journalist and writer Babu Bharadwaj has passed away at
the age of 68.

(ii) He was part of prominent print and television media in
Kerala. Bharadwaj was serving as the chief editor of online news portal Dool
News. He was the first Joint Secretary of Students’ Federation of India (SFI).

(iii) He authored a novel titled Kalapangalkkoru Grihapadam, which won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi
award in 2006.

4. FICCI signs MoU
with Australia India Business Council

(i) The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI) has signed an MoU with the Australia India Business Council (AIBC)
in order to bolster business relations between the two nations.

(ii) The agreement strengthens ties between the two
organisations to promote greater trade and investment between Australia and
India.

(iii) The MoU also strengthens partnership for the upcoming
“Engaging with India” conference to be held on May 16 and 17.

(iv) FICCI President Harshavardhan Neotia also announced the
launch of the Indian body’s office in Australia, which will be headed by CEO of
Rio Tinto India, Nik Senapati.

5. Gujarat clears
amendments in Land Acquisition Act, 2013

(i) The Gujarat Assembly has passed the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement (Gujarat Amendment) Bill 2016 in the absence of Congress MLAs, who
have been suspended.

(ii) The recommended changes seek to ease the process of
land acquisition for certain projects by excluding them from a few stringent provisions
of the original law brought in by the then UPA government in 2013.

(iii) One of the main provisions is the elimination of the social
impact assessment (SIA) for projects related to defence and social sectors,
such as building air base, defence manufacturing units, schools, roads, canals,
affordable houses, etc. There will also be no SIA on acquiring land for
industrial corridors.

(iv) Further, the government would not have to get consent
of 80% affected parties while acquiring land for social and defence sectors.

(v) Section 23A (which has been added after Section 23) empowers
district collectors to decide on land acquisition and compensation amount with
mutual consent of concerning parties.

6. World Autism
Awareness Day observed on April 2

(i) World Autism Awareness Day is annually observed on April
2. This year’s theme is “Autism and the 2030 Agenda: Inclusion and
Neurodiversity”.

(ii) The aim is reflect on the new Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) and their implications for improving the lives of people with
autism.

(iii) Goals that are for the well-being of persons with
disabilities include- quality education, decent work and economic growth, reduced
inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, etc.

7. Green Delhi
initiative launched

(i) Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has launched the Green Delhi initiative
and has promised to rid the city streets of dust.

(ii) The initiative has been launched after an action plan was
submitted by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to the Supreme Court after the
latter demanded information on measures being carried out to improve air
quality and reduce pollution in the Capital.

(iii) The initiative involves the greening of approximately
120 acres, which includes central verges, side verges and the kutcha portion of
roads under flyovers.

(iv) Pollution absorbing shrubs such as Thevetianerefolia
(Pila Kaner), Nerium oleander (Lal Kaner), Calliandrabrevipes (Powder puff) and
Bougainvilleas and trees such a Ficusinfectoria (Pilkhan), Cassia Siamea will
be planted.

8. Egyptian author-journalist
Ahmed Naji to receive PEN award

(i) Imprisoned Egyptian author and journalist will be conferred
with the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, which presented by PEN America, a literary
and human rights organisation.

(ii) The 30-year-old was given a two-year sentence for penning
a book titled The Use of Life as for
“destroying social values.”

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