1- Maharashtra government sets up task forces on agriculture development and poverty alleviation

Maharashtra government on 18 April 2015 set up a task force on agriculture development and poverty alleviation to address the issues. It will be 12-member panel for agriculture development and will be headed by the state’s additional chief secretary (Agriculture).

Members: Secretaries of the departments of finance, planning, water conservation, water resources, forest, cooperation, dairy development will be its members.

Task force for poverty alleviation

State government also has set up another task force for poverty alleviation. It will be headed by principal secretary (Social Justice Department). Members: Secretaries of departments of tribal development, rural development, finance, housing, urban development, labour and public health will be its members.

Background

During the first meeting of National Institution for Transformation of India (NITI) Aayog held in February 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested to all state governments to set up panels for agriculture development and poverty alleviation to address the issues.

2- Vankadarath Saritha, first woman bus driver of Delhi Transport Corporation

Vankadarath Saritha

Vankadarath Saritha, a 30-year-old driver became first woman bus driver to be inducted in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). DTC has currently posted her at Sarojini Nagar depot and will work in day-time duty at a route in the central part of the city, starting from 20 April 2015. Saritha hails from Nalgonda district in Telengana. She had started her career as an autorickshaw driver and previously had worked as a bus driver in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Prior to joining DTC, she was working as a taxi driver in Delhi. Delhi government’s this step will allay its concern regarding women’s security in the capital and also encourage women’s contribution to such sectors where they’re currently not participating.

3- RVNL Sings MoU with Private Sector Dighi Port Limited for Rail Connectivity

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 18 April 2015 between Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) and Dighi Port Limited. The MoU will facilitate construction of 34 km of railway link between Roha and Dighi Port in Raigad district of Maharashtra. The project cost is estimated around Rs. 723 crore. It was signed in the presence of Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai. Dighi Port is the first non- major private sector seaport in Maharashtra located on the banks of Rajapuri Creek in Raigad district over 150 km from Mumbai. The port is being developed by Balaji Infra Projects Ltd (BIPL) under a 50 year Build, Own, Operate, Share, Transfer (BOOST) concession agreement. The agreement was signed by BIPL with the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), Government of Maharashtra in order to develop, operate, finance and maintain the Port.

4- Andhra Pradesh Government inks MoU with IISL Company to replace streetlights in 13 municipalities with LED lights

Andhra Pradesh Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the IISL Company to replace the existing streetlights in 13 municipalities with LED lights in the state. MoU was signed by Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development P. Narayana and IISL’s representatives in Amaravati, the new capital state. As per the agreement, IISL will maintain replace and maintain LED streetlights in the 13 municipalities for seven years. The all existing streetlights in all the municipal corporations and municipalities will be changed to LED streetlights in a phased manner. By installing LED streetlights, state government aims to reduce the power consumption by 50 per cent.

5- International Paralympic Committee derecognises Paralympic Committee of India

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has suspended the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) for indefinite period. IPC’s this move comes after PCI had provided shoddy treatment to athletes during the National Para-Athletics Championships held in Ghaziabad from March 20 to 22, 2015. This is second time PCI has been suspended by PCI. With this suspension, Indian para-athletes will not be able to participate in any IPC-sanctioned competition, including 2016 Paralympic Games at Rio de Janeiro. In this regard, Union Sports Ministry also has issued a show cause notice to PCI. This notice was issued based upon enquiry conducted by Sports Authority of India (SAI). SAI in its enquiry had reported that the sports venue did not have proper facilities to conduct National Championship and also lacked allied facilities required for differently abled athletes.

About Paralympic Committee of India (PCI)

PCI was founded in 1992 as the Physically Handicapped Sports Federation of India. It was recognized in November 2011, as National Sports Federation (NSF) for promotion of sports amongst the physically challenged sportspersons in the country. It is also responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Paralympic Games and other international athletic meets.

6- Ashish Jakhar from Haryana sets National Youth record in hammer throw

Ashish Jakhar from Haryana on 17 April 2015 set a national youth record in boys’ hammer throw event and won gold medal in the 12th National Youth Athletics Championships held in Bambolim, Goa. In this event, Ashish had hurled 5kg ball-and-chain at record distance of 72.04 metres in a second throw which made a national youth record. In his opening throw he had hurdled at a distance of 71.92 metres. With this, he broke the previous national record of 70.35 metres which was set by Haryana’s Sukhdev Singh in 2009. While, Uttar Pradesh’s Miraj Ali took the silver medal with a 68.35 metres throw in the meet. Hammer throw event in the 12th National Youth Athletics Championships is also the selection trials for the inaugural Asian Youth Championships which are to be held in Doha in May 2015. At present and so far this season, only Chinese thrower Xu Wenjie has a better mark than Ashish in the Asian rankings, with a 72.35 metres throw.

7- US President Barack Obama to honour Satya Nadella with ‘Champion of Change’ award

Satya Nadella

United States (US) President Barack Obama is going to honour Microsoft’s Indian-origin CEO Satya Nadella with the ‘Champions of Change’ award. He will be honoured with this award for bringing change within his company to support working families. Under Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft recently had announced that all the suppliers doing business with Microsoft in the US will have to provide at least 15 days of paid leave to their employees who handle Microsoft work each year starting from 2016 onwards. Apart from him, 11 other persons were honoured with Champions of Change award for their exemplary leadership.

About Satya Nadella

Originally from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh and was born in 1967.

Educational Qualification: He holds bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University, Master’s degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from the University of Chicago.

Microsoft career- He had joined Microsoft in 1992. He was appointed CEO of company in February 2014.

About Champions of Change award

It is given to those who support working families and help make change in their companies or communities. In this regard, White House had created the ‘Champions of Change’ programme in order to feature these individuals and to empower and inspire members of their communities.

8- SC appoints CBI SP Vivek Priyadarshi as head of team probing IPL scandal

CBI

Supreme Court has appointed Vivek Priyadarshi to head an investigating team to further probe the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 6 spot-fixing and betting scandals. Decision in this regard was taken by a SC bench comprising Justices T S Thakur and F M I Kalifulla. The bench took this decision on the recommendation of a three member panel headed by former Chief Justice of India (CJI) RM Lodha which was appointed in January 2015. Vivek Priyadarshi currently is serving as Superintendent of Police (SP) in the anti-corruption cell of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He will succeed 1983-batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IPS officer B B Mishra as the head of the probe team following his retirement. SC also has given Priyadarshi liberty to form his own team and seek the services of police officers from the central and state governments as and when required to probe into this case.

Like this post? Comment here !! Or have something to share? Write to us: info@khichdionline.com

Read More

#Current Affairs  JANUARY , FEBRUARY ,  MARCH – Date-wise  |  2015

#Current Affairs May 2015