1. Pranab Mukherjee nominates 6 dignitaries to RS

(i) President has approved nominations of six renowned personalities to Rajya Sabha. These include economist Narendra Jadhav, Olympic medallist Mary Kom, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi, former MP and cricket commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu and journalist Swapan Dasgupta.

(ii) Members with “special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service” are nominated to the Upper House on the recommendation of the government.

(iii) Though independent, the nominated members can vote along with the government, which is set to strengthen the government’s power in Rajya Sabha.

2. M&M becomes first company to join EP100 campaign

(i) Mahindra & Mahindra has become the first Indian company to sign up for the EP100 campaign led by international non-profit organisation ‘The Climate Group’.

(ii) As per the campaign goals, by 2030, M&M aims to double its energy productivity, which is a core requirement for businesses joining the campaign. The auto giant’s Chairman Anand Mahindra represented India Inc. at the signing ceremony of the Paris climate change agreement at the UN.

 (iii) EP100 aims to help businesses achieve and implement bold climate targets, said The Climate Group’s India Executive Director Krishnan Pallassana.

3. Raghuram Rajan,
Sania Mirza among TIME’s 100 Most Influential People

(i) TIME magazine has released the 2016 list of the “100
Most Influential People”. Names of prominent achievers have been included under
tags like Pioneer, Titans, Artists, Leaders and Icons.

(ii) RBI Governor Dr Raghuram G Rajan has made it to the
list for being “India’s prescient banker’ and steering the country through the
global crisis.

(iii)  Among others, Tennis
champ Sania Mirza, actress Priyanka Chopra, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and
founders of Flipkart Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal have also been named in the
list.

(iv) The annual list also features leaders like IMF head
Christine Lagarde and Gen. Lori Robinson, who was selected as the head of the
US military’s Northern Command and icons like Oscar-winning actor Leonardo
DiCaprio, who are “exploring the frontiers of art, science, society, technology
and more.”

4. Rock & pop artiste
Prince passes away at 57

(i) Prince Rogers Nelson, known as Prince, passed away on
April 21 at the age of 57. Known for his phenomenal musical talent that spanned
across genres.

(ii) Known as the master of genres like rock, pop, R&B and
funk, among others, Prince paved the way for an avant-garde pop music, inspiring
artists like Madonna, Bruno Mars and Pharrell.

(iii) His unselective approach to music was exemplified by
his 1984 song “Purple Rain.” Some of his unforgettable his are “1999,” “Let’s
Go Crazy,” and “Kiss”, among others.

(iv) He sold over 100 million records during a career
spanning over 40 years. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, he won seven
Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for original song score for the 1984 film
“Purple Rain.”

5. Harriet Tubman
first Afro-American to feature on $20 note

(i) Anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman will be the first
African-American to be featured on a $20 bill and the first woman in over a
century. She will replace former President Andrew Jackson on the currency note.

(ii) US Treasury Department said that Tubman, who was born
into slavery in the early 1820s and helped hundreds of slaves to escape, would be
featured at the centre of the bill, while Jackson, a slave owner, would move to
the back.

(iii) Further, in what is being seen as the historically
symbolic makeover of the American currency, it was announced that the new $10 bill
will feature an image of the historic march for suffrage and honour leaders of
the suffrage movement, like Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B Anthony,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul.

(iv) The front of the new $5 note will maintain the portrait
of Alexander Hamilton.

6. ISRO scientists
develop world’s lightest material called silica aerogel

(i) In a first, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists
have developed world’s lightest material called silica aerogel, also known as “frozen
smoke” or “blue air”.

(ii) The material, scientists at the Vikram Sarabhai Space
Center (VSCC) in Thiruvananthapuram assert, has excellent thermal resistance
and can be used as a filler in soldiers’ uniforms, thereby helping save many
lives at the Siachen glacier. It can also be used in foot insoles and for
window glazing.

(iii) The matrix of aerogel is made up of 99% air and it is likely to be used
on India’s moon rover in Chandryaan-2 mission. 

(iv) Though its advantages are aplenty, the flipside is that
the material is still very fragile. Scientists are thus trying out ways to
toughen up the material.

7. India among 174
countries to sign Paris climate change agreement

(i) The Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has signed
the historic Paris climate agreement along with other 174 nations at a ceremony
hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York.

(ii) It is yet another significant step that brings together
developing and developed nations to combat glob al warming. The agreement has
set the record for the most countries to sign an international agreement on one
day.

(iii) The agreement will be effective 30 days after at least
55 Parties to the UNFCCC ratify it.

(iv) India has reiterated its plans to quadruple renewable
power capacity to 175 gigawatts by 2022 as part of the government’s plan to
supply electricity to every household.

(v) India also aims to add 100 gigawatts of photovoltaic
capacity, 60 gigawatts of wind power, 10 gigawatts of biomass and five
gigawatts of hydro projects.

8. IMF, OECD, UN and
the World Bank form ‘Platform for Collaboration on Tax’

(i) The world’s
major multilateral organisations including the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), United
Nations and the World Bank Group have joined hands to set up a ‘Platform for
Collaboration on Tax’.

(ii) The move comes in the aftermath of the Panama Papers expose,
which involved 11.5 million leaked documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack
Fonseca. It made public the offshore banking activities of many heads of State,
politicians, celebrities and other public figures.

(iii) The Platform’s first duty will be to deliver several ‘toolkits’
created to help emerging countries implement measures developed under the
G20/OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project and other
international tax issues. While one toolkit on tax incentives has been delivered,
the remaining will be delivered by March 2018.

(iv) It aims to help governments across the world address
tax challenges. As taxation plays an important role in realising the Sustainable
Development Goals, the Platform also aims to better frame technical advice to
developing countries as they seek both more capacity support and greater
influence in designing international rules.

9. Europe is world’s
first region to eradicate malaria: WHO

(i) As zero cases were reported in 2015, Europe has become
the first region in the world to eradicate malaria, the WHO said.

(ii) From 90,712 in 1995, the number of locally transmitted cases
dropped to zero last year. WHO said that strong political commitment, high detection
and surveillance of malaria cases, mosquito control, cross-border collaboration
have led to this milestone.

(iii) A country which has zero locally acquired malaria
cases for at least three consecutive years is eligible for WHO’s certification
of malaria elimination. Europe has been given the distinction based on the present
scenario and the likelihood that it will continue for the next two years.

(iv) In total, there were 438,000 malaria deaths in 2015,
most of them children under five with the vast majority in Africa.

10. International
Mother Earth Day observed

(i) The International Mother Earth Day observed in April 22
and it coincided with the signing of the historic Paris climate change
agreement.

(ii) Earth Day was first celebrated in the United States in
1970 and is organised by the Earth Day Network. However, the General Assembly added
the prefix Mother to this day as the planet is referred in many countries as
Mother Earth.

(iii) This year’s theme ‘Trees for the Earth’ urges people
to take efforts to increase the tree count in their areas as trees help to
combat climate change, counteract loss of habitats of species and also help communities
and their livelihoods.

11. Comedienne
Victoria Wood dies

(i) Well-known British comedienne Victoria Wood recently
passed away at the age of 62 after a short battle with cancer.

(ii) She carved a niche for herself as one of the UK’s most
popular comedians in the 1980s. Her major break was when she wrote, produced
and starred in Dinner Ladies in 1998, a BBC sitcom about staff working in a
fictional factory canteen in Manchester. The series won several awards
including Best New TV Comedy at the 1999 British Comedy Awards.

(iii) Recognised as a stalwart of British comedy, the
five-time BAFTA award-winning artiste was awarded the Commander of the Most
Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2008.

12. Idriss Deby becomes
President of Chad for fifth time

(i) Earning 61.6% of the votes polled during the
presidential elections, Idriss Deby has won his fifth term as President of Chad.
Opposition leader Saleh Kebzaho bagged only 12.8% of the votes polled.

(ii) Chad’s economy has been affected by the steep fall in
international oil prices and a weakening of regional security due to chaos in
Libya to the north and the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in Nigeria to the
south. An ex-army commander, Deby came to power in 1990 and over the years has taken
key steps to marshal regional armies to fight militant groups.

(iii) The Central African nation is the headquarters for the
five-nation regional force formed to fight Boko Haram in Nigeria. It is also
the base for France’s military operations in Africa.

13. WADA suspends accreditation
of Beijing’s anti-doping laboratory

(i) The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended the accreditation
the National Anti-Doping Laboratory in Beijing, prohibiting the agency from
conducting WADA-related testing.

(ii) The four-month suspension is effective immediately,
although the laboratory has 21 days to appeal the decision in the Court of
Arbitration for Sport.

(iii) If the Beijing laboratory satisfies the Disciplinary
Committee in meeting these requirements, the laboratory may apply for
reinstatement prior to the expiry of the four-month suspension period,”
WADA said.

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