1. India tops latest ICC T20 rankings
(i) The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released the new T20 rankings wherein team India tops the list despite losing the second semi-final WT20 match. West Indies figures in the second place followed by New Zealand, England, South Africa, and Australia.
(ii) Indian batsman Virat Kohli has maintained his number one position with 889 points and is followed by Aaron Finch, Martin Guptill, Joe Root and Francois du Plessis.
(iii) West Indies bowler Samuel Badree has topped the list of bowlers with 790 points. He is followed by Imran Tahir, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shahid Afridi and Kyle Abbott.
2. DM Reddy appointed
as CEO of Hinduja Foundries
(i) Markus Wermers has resigned from his position as MD
& CEO of Hinduja Foundries. The foundry arm of Hinduja Group and arm of
Ashok Leyland.
(i) DM Reddy has been appointed as CEO and Key Managerial
Personnel (KMP) of the firm.
3. International Day
of Sport for Development and Peace observed
(i) The International Day of Sport for Development and Peace
was observed on April 6.
(ii) The United Nations Office on Sport for Development and
Peace (UNOSDP) has started a campaign titled ‘Let’s play for Sustainable
Development Goals’ which aims to drive organisations and individuals carrying
out SDP initiatives to shoot a video of their team or beneficiaries with an SDG
card that best describes their activity.
(iii) The IDSDP presents an opportunity to build awareness
about the newly adopted UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its
SDGs, focusing on how sport can contribute to their advancement.
4. Iceland PM resigns
over Panama Papers leak
(i) Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson in
the aftermath of the Panama Papers leak which has divulged details about
offshore wealth of public figures across the globe.
(ii) The disclosure was made by law firm Mossack Fonseca,
the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm which is based in Panama.
(iii) As per its reports, Gunnlaugsson owned an undeclared offshore
company with his wife and has been accused of covering up millions of dollars’
worth of family assets.
(iv) Several eminent personalities have come under scanner as
the leaked documents are proof of the huge amount of wealth siphoned off to
evade tax. The list includes Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko; Argentina
President Mauricio Macri, Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan,
etc.
5. India inks $100-million
draft export pact with Islamic Development Bank
(i) India has entered into an agreement with the Islamic
Development Bank for a possible $100 million line of credit to facilitate exports
to IDB’s member nations.
(ii) It inked between the IDB’s private sector arm, the
Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and the
Export-Import Bank of India.
(iii) ICD’s mandate is to drive the development of the
private sector in its 56 member countries by providing financing facilities and
investments according to Sharia laws.
(iv) The MoU aims to promote cooperation to explore the viability
of lending a commercial line of credit of $100 million to ICD to enable export
of goods and services from India to ICD’s member countries.
6. Researchers
develop world’s smallest diode
(i) Group of researchers from the University of Georgia and
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have developed the world’s smallest
diode, which is the size of a single molecule. The breakthrough may help in
development of molecular electronic devices.
(ii) Demand for computing power is pushing scientists
to look for molecules with interesting properties and find ways to establish
reliable contacts between molecular components and bulk materials in an
electrode so as to mimic conventional electronic elements at the molecular scale.
(iii) For instance: the nanoscale diode (or molecular
rectifier) functions like a valve to enable unidirectional flow of in electronic current. A collection of these nanoscale diodes, or molecules, has
properties resembling traditional electronic components such as a wire,
transistor or rectifier.
7. Architect of Madras
Atomic Power Station MHP Rao passes away
(i) MHP Rao, architect and first project director of the Madras
Atomic Power Station has passed away at the age of 88.
(ii) Rao was appointed by the then Nuclear Power Board (now Nuclear
Power Corporation of India Ltd) to monitor the construction and commissioning
of the MAP.
(iii) A recipient of Padma Shri, Rao also served as the
executive director of NPCI for three years. The Sanjay Gandhi Award for
contribution in Science and Technology was also conferred on him in 1983.
8. Madhukar Gupta Committee
formed to bolster border protection
(i) The Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted a committee
under Madhukar Gupta to bolster border protection and address the problem of vulnerability
in border fencing along the Indo-Paki border.
(ii) The committee will study the types of gaps in fencing
and other vulnerabilities along the Indo-Pak border to recommend a comprehensive
approach to fix them on a temporary and permanent basis. The Committee will
submit its report in 3 months.
9. Indian scientists create eco-friendly
technology to purify water
(i) A team of scientists from the Institute of Advance Study
in Science & Technology (IASST) in Guwahati, Assam have developed an
eco-friendly nanotechnology for water purification that could be used in civic
water treatment plants.
(ii) The team crafted a biopolymer using a natural substance
called chitosan (obtained from the hard outer skeleton of shellfishes like
crab, lobster, etc.) as a backbone for the carbon nanoparticles to sit on.
(iii) This material is reportedly the first to act as a
biodegradable and green material for water-softening applications.
10. National
Geoscience Awards 2014 presented
(i) President Pranab Mukherjee recently presented the National
Geoscience Awards for the year 2014.
(ii) Prof. Ashok Kumar Singhvi was conferred with the National
Geoscience Award for Excellence for his remarkable contributions in the field
of sedimentary technologies.
(iii) In addition, 32 other geoscientists were given awards across
13 disciplines, including Mining Technology, Basic Geosciences, Geo-Information
System, etc.
(iv) The Union Ministry of Mines instituted the National
Geoscience Awards in 1966 and are conferred on individuals and scientists for
their contributions in the field of fundamental or applied Geosciences, Mining
and Allied areas.
11. Air France-KLM
CEO to join International Air Transport Association
(i) Alexandre de Juniac, CEO of Franco-Dutch airline holding
company Air France-KLM will quit the firm to join the International Air
Transport Association.
(ii) IATA represents around 260 carriers or 80% of the
world’s airline industry.
12. Bihar imposes
total ban on sale and consumption of alcohol
(i) Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar imposed complete ban
on sale and consumption of liquor, with immediate effect.
(ii) The state effected a blanket ban on country-made liquor
from April 1 onwards and decided to extend it to Indian-Made Foreign Liquor also
due to tremendous support from women.
(iii) The CM said that no new liquor licences will be issued
for sale of alcohol in hotels, bars and clubs across towns and cities.
To get fresh updates on your Facebook & Twitter timelines, subscribe to our pages created specifically for them. We will be posting only those exam specific links on these pages:Bank PO:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pagalguybankpo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaGaLGuYBankPO
SSC & Other Exams:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagalguy-SSC-CGL-Others/879667042056262
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pagalguyssc
UPSC:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pagalguy-UPSC/951926044840262
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaGaLGuYUPSC