National
Beti Bachao Beti Padho Scheme extended to 61 more districts with low child sex ratio:
i. The Union Government has extended the Beti Bachao Beti Padho Scheme in additional 61 districts across 11 States and Union Territories with low Child Sex Ratio.
ii. It was announced by the Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi.
A few key insights of the Scheme:
a) The scheme is designed to address the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio and related issues of disempowerment of women through a life cycle continuum.
b) The main objective is to prevent gender biased sex selective elimination by strict enforcement of laws with stringent punishment to violators.
c) The scheme was launched by PM Narendra Modi in January 2015 from Haryana in 100 districts of the country to address the issue of declining Child Sex Ratio.
d) The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), is the nodal agency for the implementation of the scheme.
Trilateral Chabahar Agreement has been finalized by India, Afghanistan and Iran:
i. India, Afghanistan and Iran have finalized draft of the Chabahar Trilateral Agreement on Transport and Transit Corridors (Chabahar Agreement).
ii. The second meeting of experts from India, Afghanistan and Iran was held in New Delhi on April 11 to finalize the text of the Trilateral Agreement among the three countries on Chabahar Agreement.
A few key insights of the Agreement:
a) The Agreement envisions trilateral cooperation for providing alternative access to seas to Afghanistan, inter alia for Afghanistan’s trade with India.
b) When it will come into force it will significantly enhance utilization of Chabahar port, contribute to economic growth of landlocked Afghanistan,
c) It will facilitate better regional connectivity including between India and connections to Afghanistan and Central.
The Central Government Unveils commemorative coin to mark Tatya Tope martyrdom day:
i. The Union Government has released a commemorative coin of 200 rupees and a circulation coin of 10 rupees on freedom fighter Tatya Tope.
ii. It was released by the Union Culture Minister Dr. Mahesh on the occasion of the Martyrdom Day of Tatya Tope in New Delhi.
iii. The Union Ministry of Culture has been celebrating the 200th Birth Anniversary of Tatya Tope during 2015-16 in association with State Government of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
iv. Tatya Tope was one of the notable generals in India’s First War of Independence (1857-58) i.e. Revolt of 1857. He was born as Ramachandra Pandurang Tope in Yeola in Nashik District of Maharashtra.
International
World Heritage Day gets observed on 18th April:
i. Every year World Heritage Day is being observed across the world on April 18. It is also known as International Day for Monuments and Sites.
ii. The main objective of this day is to create consciousness to preserve and protect the precious assets and cultural heritage across the world.
iii. 2016 Theme: ‘The Heritage of Sport’. It was decided by the International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in the backdrop of Rio Olympics 2016 to be hosted in August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
iv. The first world Heritage Day observed on April 18, 1982 by the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in Tunisia. It was approved in 1983 by UNESCO.
Note: Total 32 sites from India are included in the list of World Heritage sites, of which 25 are cultural sites and 7 are natural heritage sites.
EU parliament approves passenger data sharing to fight terror:
i. The European Parliament has approved creation of a European passenger name records (PNR) system to combat terrorism
ii. PNR is a joint system for security agencies to access airline passenger data on all flights to and from the EU.
iii. PNR system will include name, travel dates, ticket details, itinerary, contact details, travel agent and seat number, means of payment and baggage information of the passengers.
Appointments & Resignations
Deepak Mishra appointed as ADG of CRPF:
i. Senior IPS officer Deepak Mishra has been appointed as Additional Director General in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
ii. His appointment was cleared by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
iii. Deepak Mishra is IPS officer of the 1984 batch of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre.
About Central Reserve Police Force (CRFP):
a) CRPF is the largest statutory Central Armed Police Forces in India. It functions and operates under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
b) It was established in 1939, under Crown Representative’s Police but after independence it was made statutory Central Reserve Police Force after the enactment of the CRPF Act, 1949.
c) At present CRPF is the world’s largest paramilitary force with 228 battalions and over three lakh personnel.
Sports
Dipa 1st female Indian gymnast to enter Olympics:
i. Gymnast Dipa Karmakar became the first female Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympic games as she cleared the final artistic gymnastics qualifier for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
ii. Karmakar, who hails from Tripura, is also the first Indian gymnast in 52 years to qualify for the Olympics.
iii. At 2014 Commonwealth Games held at Glasgow she had created history becoming the first Indian female gymnast to win medal (bronze) in history of the games.
iv. She also had won a bronze medal at the Asian Gymnastics Championships and had finished fifth at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams win Laureus Awards:
i. World No 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic from Serbia has won the 2016 Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award. He has won it for second time after winning it in 2012.
ii. US tennis legend Serene Williams has won the 2016 Laureus Sportswoman of the Year Award. It was her fourth Laureus Awards after she won it in 2003, 2007 and 2010.
iii. The 2016 Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony for the first time was held in Berlin, Germany. The awards are dubbed as Oscar of the sports and are bestowed on sportspersons in different categories.
iv. The Award is given by Laureus World Sports Academy since 2000. The awards are presented in 7 different categories.
Some important 2016 Laureus World Sports Awardees:
Sportsman of the Year: Novak Djokovic (Tennis), Serbia.
Sportswoman of the Year: Serena Williams (Tennis), United States.
The Team of the Year: New Zealand National Rugby team.
Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Daniel Dias (Paralympic swimmer), Brazil.
Spirit of Sport Award: Johan Cruyff (Football), Netherlands.
Rafael Nadal wins 2016 Monte Carlo Masters title of Tennis:
i. Ace tennis player Rafael Nadal (World No 5) from Spain has won the 2016 Monte Carlo Rolex Masters title of Tennis.
ii. In the final match he defeated Gael Monfils of France. It was his overall 9th Monte Carlo Masters title and his 68th win from 100 finals on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour.
iii. It was also Nadal’s 100th ATP Tour final appearance and this win also helped Nadal to equal Noval Djokovic’s (World No 1) record of 28th Masters Titles.
iv. He is the only male player in tennis history to win one Grand Slam and Masters 1000 title for ten consecutive years from 2005 to 2014.
v. He also had won 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles. In tennis is famously known as the King of Clay.
Nico Rosberg wins 2016 Chinese Grand Prix:
i. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg from Germany has won the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix held at the Shanghai International Circuit.
ii. It was Rosberg’s overall seventeenth championship title of F1 in his career and the third consecutive win in the 2016 season.
iii. Top 3 teams are: Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.
Short News
I. Maharashtra Government has decided to make it mandatory to have a hologram on every alcohol bottle manufactured and sold in the state in order to check sale of spurious liquor.
II. The federal grand jury in the US State of Wisconsin has slapped 940 million US dollars fine against two companies of India’s Tata group – Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata America International Corp.
III. Veteran Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has announced his retirement from T20 and One Day International Cricket (ODI).
IV. Renowned Malian photographer Malick Sidibe passed away in Bamako, Mali. He was 80. He was the first photographer and the first African to be awarded the Golden Lion lifetime achievement award at the Venice Biennale in 2007.
V. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced that the state will be made kerosene free next year.
VI. Former Pakistan cricket team captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq has been appointed as the chairman of the senior selection committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Inzamam earlier resigned from his post as coach of the Afghanistan cricket team.
VII. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated a superspeciality hospital in Jammu and Kashmir’s Katra district. Named Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Superspeciality Hospital.
VIII. The Tirupati Balaji temple management on Monday deposited 1,311 kg of gold with the Punjab National Bank under the three-year short term Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS).
IX. Brazil’s Congress voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff. The Congress’ decision needs approval from the Senate, after which the country will be led by Vice President Michel Temer.
X. Denmark is the best country in the world to raise children and it is followed by Finland, Norway, and Switzerland. This is based on the UNICEF’s ‘Fairness for Children’ report that ranks countries based on the inequalities in child well-being between different sections of their society.