1- National Green Tribunal bans diesel vehicles older than 10 years in Delhi

National Green Tribunal

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on 7 April 2015 held that all diesel vehicles heavy or light which are more than 10 years old will not be permitted to ply in Delhi and NCR. The judgment was given by bench headed by NGT Chairman Justice Swatanter Kumar on a petition filed by Vardhaman Kaushik who had contended that the level of particulates in Delhi is raising manifold. NGT bench held that Diesel is prime source of air pollution in Delhi. The current situation is so alarming that people have been advised to leave Delhi due to adverse effects on health. Numbers of countries like Brazil, China, and Denmark etc are in the process or have prohibited diesel vehicles. They have achieved it by imposing stringent taxes on the vehicles. Certain stringent measures need to be taken to ensure that residents of Delhi do not travel closer to ill-health with each breath they take. In this regard, tribunal bench directed the Transport department of Delhi government and other concerned authorities to prepare a comprehensive data of registration of all such vehicles which are 10 or more years old. Earlier in November 2014, NGT had banned all the petrol vehicles over 15-year old in Delhi and NCR.

2- CCEA approves strengthening and widening of three sections of highways connecting Varanasi and Madurai

CCEA

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7 April 2015 approved strengthening and widening of three sections connecting the two temple towns of Varanasi and Madurai.

• CCEA approved four laning of Sultanpur-Varanasi section of National Highway-56 in Uttar Pradesh- This project will upgrade 138 km long stretch NH-56 at the cost of 3,800 crore rupees. It will substantially upgrade Varanasi’s connectivity to Lucknow and other parts of Central UP.
• Varanasi to Ghazipur, Gorakhpur and Nepal section of NH- 29 in UP– This project will upgrade 200 km long stretch NH- 29 at the cost of 4,400 crore rupees. It will improve regional connectivity and facilitate improved movement of people and goods in the region and across the border.
• Madurai-Ramanathapuram section of NH- 49 in Tamil Nadu- This project will upgrade 115 km long stretch NH- 49 at the cost of 1,400 crore rupees. It will be undertaken under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP) Phase-III.

3- April 7: World Health Day

World health Day was observed all over the world on April 7, 2015. Theme for year 2015 was “food safety” with the slogan from farm to plate, make food safe. The theme highlights “Need to make food free from viruses, microbes and chemicals substances” that are responsible for more than 200 diseases. Indirectly unsafe food is linked to the annual deaths of some 2 million people, mostly children. Need to create awareness about food safety as it possesses challenges from the changes in food production, distribution and consumption. Changes in the environment and new emerging pathogens and antimicrobial resistance are also challenge to food safety. In this regard, WHO is also working with countries to strengthen efforts to detect, prevent and respond to foodborne disease outbreaks in line with the Codex Alimentarius.

About World Health Day

Every year on April 7, World Health Day is celebrated under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO). Purpose: To focus on increasing the life expectancy by adding good health to the lives of people and promoting healthier living habits. This day marks the WHO’s founding and is observed since 1950, Since then April 7 every year is seen as an opportunity by the WHO to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to global health each year.

4- Pratap Singh wins Institute of Physics Prize

Pratap Singh || Institute of Physics Prize

15-year-old Indian-origin student, Pratap Singh from United Kingdom (UK) has won prestigious award Institute of Physics (IOP) Prize. Singh, who is a student at The Perse School, Cambridge received the prize for his experiment to verify an effect of Albert Einstein’s special relativity theory. The award comprises £500 cash prize and a trip to a national physics-related activity. His research will be also published in international journal Physics Education.

Pratap Singh’s experiment

Singh in his experiment used two Geiger-Muller tubes to detect cosmic-ray muons. They are the high-energy particles created high above the Earth. Using these tubes, he created a mathematical model for cosmic-ray muons arrival rate with and without time dilation. By statistical analysis and using a Raspberry Pi computer he showed that these cosmic ray munons follow the model predicted by Einstein’s 1905 theory of special relativity.

5- Dena Bank inks MoU with Life Insurance Corporation to provide insurance cover

State owned Dena Bank has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India to provide insurance cover to its all Aadhaar-linked savings account holders in the age group of 18 to 50 years. LIC will provide insurance cover under the Union Government’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJBY) scheme. Under the MoU LIC will give a life cover of Rs 2 lakh in case of death of the insured person. In this regard, a nominal premium of 330 rupees per annum will be charged from account holder. Those who join the scheme before completing 50 years can continue to have the risk of life cover up to the age of 55 years.

6- Bangladesh Cabinet approves revised trade deal with India

Bangladesh Cabinet

Bangladesh cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has approved the revised India-Bangladesh trade agreement. The revised agreement will facilitate both countries to use each other’s land and water routes for trade with a third country and remove long standing barrier in regional trade. With this Bangladesh will be able to use Indian railways, roads and waterways in transshipment of goods to Bhutan and Nepal. While, India will be able to send goods to Myanmar through Bangladesh. Under the modified deal both countries will be able to use transport networks for transporting the goods for a fee. These fees and charges for transporting goods will be the same for both the countries and will be fixed through bilateral discussions. The deal will be in force for 5 years instead of the existing tenure of 3 years, and further can amended through mutual agreement. At present, India has similar agreement with Nepal and Bhutan but Bangladesh’s trade with Nepal and Bhutan was hindered for want of such a treaty with India. Previously, trucks from Nepal and Bhutan entering from Bangladesh along the Indian border were required to park at a specific point near border. But under the revised deal, trucks from Nepal and Bhutan will enter Bangladesh through the Indian corridors.

7- Dr. Mayilsamy Annadura took charge as Director of ISRO satellite centre

Dr. Mayilsamy Annadura

Dr Mayilsamy Annadurai has assumed the office of Director, ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He replaced Dr. S.K. Shivakumar, who had retired on 31 March 2015.

About Dr Mayilsamy Annadurai

Annadurai had joined ISRO in 1982. He had started his career at ISAC as the team leader to design and develop Software Satellite Simulator. He was Mission Director of ISRO’s INSAT Missions from 1992 to 2005. He was also lead member of ISRO’s satellite mission team and brought about the efficient ground automation for satellite operations. Annadura also had served as Project Director of India’s first Lunar Mission, Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2. In 2011, he was Programme Director of Indian Remote Sensing Satellites and Small Satellite Systems (IRS&SSS). He also had served as Programme Director of India’s first interplanetary mission- Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan. Annadura has authored 3 books and has 75 papers to his credit.

8- BCCI re-appoints Rajeev Shukla as IPL Governing Council chairman

Rajeev Shukla

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has re-appointed Rajeev Shukla as chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council. Previously, he was IPL chairman till 2013 but had resigned from the post after the IPL ‘spot-fixing’ scandal. Former Indian Cricket team Captain Sourav Ganguly was also selected in the IPL Governing Council. Head of Senior national selection committee, Sandeep Patil was retained for another season in the IPL Governing Council along with Team India Director Ravi Shastri. Former captain Anil Kumble also has been retained as chairman of the Technical committee IPL Governing Council while Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia will head the powerful finance committee.

Other members of IPL Governing Council are

• Jagmohan Dalmiya (BCCI president) – Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee.
• Chetan Desai- Head the Marketing Committee.
• Gokaraju Gangaraju- In-charge of the Tours and Programmes Committee.
• Biswarup Dey- Head of the Media Committee.
• Anurag Thakur- Head of Affiliations Committee.

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

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