1. UN released a report on AIDS
a) A new report on AIDS named as ‘On the fast-track to end the AIDS epidemic’ is recently released by United Nations.
b) According to this report, if the urgent actions are not taken within next five years, the AIDS epidemic in the world will be prolonged indefinitely. The report also states that the extraordinary progress made over last 15 years could be lost.
c) Since 2004, there is 42% decline in AIDS related deaths due to rapid treatment scale up. Also, the life expectancy of victims in the HIV affected countries have risen in the past years.
d) The report notifies the less implementation of Political declaration on HIV & AIDS distressing, 2011. The HIV infections are continuously on rise in the areas like central Asia & Eastern Europe. From 2000 to 2014, HIV infections in this region are increased by 30% in total.
e) To reach these goals include reaching 90-90-90 treatment target for 2020.It calls for 90 per cent of people living with HIV to know their status, 90 per cent of people who know their HIV-positive status to access treatment, and 90 per cent of people on treatment to have suppressed viral loads.
2. RBI released Draft Guidelines for on tap Licensing of Universal Banks in the Private Sector
a) Eligible promoters :
- Non Banking financial companies (NBFCs) who have a successful track record of 10 years which are controlled by residents.
- Residents, individuals and professionals with at least 10 years of experience in finance and banking
- Groups or entities owned by residents in the private sector with a successful track record of 10 years.
b) Structure of the corporate : For stand alone promoting, converting entities and individual promoters will not mandatorily require Non-Operative Financial Holding Company (NOFHC). The NOFHC shall be owned by the promoter/promoter group to the extent of not less than 51 per cent of the total paid-up equity capital of the NOFHC.
c) Minimum capital requirement : A bank should have an initial minimum paid-up voting equity capital shall be of 5 billion rupees. So, a bank should a minimum net worth of 5 billion rupees (at all times).
d) The existing FDI policy that aggregate foreign investment limit is 74%
e) Provision of Banking regulation Act 1949 & existing guidelines on prudential norms, should be followed by the banks. The bank cannot have any kind of exposure to its promoters, major shareholders who have shareholding to the extent of 10 per cent or more of paid-up equity shares in the bank.
f) Banks should submit a proper business plan to RBI which will show the bank’s potential to achieve financial inclusion.
g) Within the first six years after commencement of business by the bank, the bank should get its shares listed on the stock exchange.
3. Union Government released commemorative coins on Maharana Pratap
a) On the occasion of 475th birth anniversary of legendary Rajput king Maharana Pratap, Union government has released a commemorative coin of 100 Rs. & circulation coin of 10 Rs.
b) These coins were released by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Culture and Tourism Dr. Mahesh Sharma in New Delhi.
c) Maharana Pratap was the ruler of Mewar, a region in north-western India in the present day state of Rajasthan. He was born on 9th May, 1540.
d) Union Ministry of Culture has been celebrating the 475th Birth Anniversary of Maharana Pratap during 2015-16 in association with the State Government of Rajasthan.
4. A web based app on Integrated Waste Management System
a) A web based application on Integrated Waste Management System (IWMS) was launched by Union Ministry of Environment & Forests. The web address of this system is www.iwms.nic.in
b) The aim of this application is to track the movement of hazardous waste. This application will bring transparency in the working of the ministry of Environment and other centre/state level regulatory bodies.
c) This app will provide online permission to individuals for the import and export of certain categories of waste. Such waste will be used for recycling or recovery or co-processing purposes.
d) The application will facilitate the web-based processing, generation and grant of various types of permissions and grant other types of certificates to entrepreneurs and industries.
e) The application will also generate database on waste generating/processing industrial units under construction, or operation. Different categories of waste like hazardous, biomedical, municipal, electronic , etc can be categorized with the use of this app.
5. National Bison Legacy Act signed by Obama
a) United States President Barack Obama has recently signed ‘The National Bison Legacy Act’. With this act, Bison has become US’s first national mammal.
b) Now, Bison has officially joined the ‘Bald Eagle’ as the official symbol of United States.
c) Bisons are the largest mammal in North America. Male bison (called bulls) weigh up to 2,000 pounds and stand 6 feet tall, while females (called cows) weigh up to 1,000 pounds and reach a height of 4-5 feet.
d) Bisons are big in size but they’re also fast & extremely agile. They can run up to 35 miles per hour. Bison can spin around quickly, jump high fences and are strong swimmers.
e) Bison primarily eat grasses, weeds and leafy plants — typically foraging for 9-11 hours a day. Bisons are also called red dogs because of their orangish red colour at their birth.
6. Indian Boxers triumphed at 7th Asian Youth Championship
a) Indian boxers have successfully clinched 4 medals in the 7th Asian Youth Championship. This tournament was held in Palodar in Kazakhstan where more than 150 boxer boxers from 23 countries took part.
b) With three silver medals and one bronze medal, India stood at the 3rd position in overall standings.
c) Ankush Dahiya (60kg), Ashish Kulharia (64kg) and Reyal Puri (81kg) won silver medal for India and Manjeet Singh (+91kg) won the solitary bronze.
d) With 6 gold, 1 silver & 3 bronze medals, Kazakhstan stood at the top position in this championship. Uzbekistan finished at the 2nd rank in overall standing with 3 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals.
7. Singapore’s NRF granted SGD 3 million grant to an Indian scientist
a) Singapore’s National Research Foundation granted Dr. Manavendra K Singh a grant of SGD 3 million (14.7 crore Rs.).
b) He was awarded with this fellowship for research in the field of congenital and adult cardiovascular diseases. Dr. Manvendra Singh works at Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore as an assistant professor in the cardiovascular and metabolic disorders programme.
b) Singapore’s NRF fellowship was also awarded to six other young scientists from other parts of the world. The National Research Foundation was set up in 1st January, 2006 with an objective to transform Singapore into a vibrant R&D hub.
8. Rural Sanitation Initiatives for Ganga Rejuvenation launched
a) Total 9 different projects were launched for rural sanitation initiatives for conservation of river Ganga in Sahibganj, Jharkhand. Union Minister for water resources, River development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Uma Bharti, launched these projects.
b) There are around 45,000 households located in the Ganga river basin Jharkhand. These projects aim at enhancing the health and quality of life of this population through improved sanitation practices. The quality of wastewater and stormwater runoff flowing through this region will also be improved under these projects.
c) These projects will focus on reducing the practice of open defecation along the river in this 83 km long stretch and increase the hygiene practices in the region.
d) Effective management of solid and liquid waste, strengthening local institutions, infrastructure for collection-storage and composting of waste degradation, adoption of biogas plants, creating common bathing ghats and community toilets will also be carried out under these projects.
e) United Nations Development programme will provide technical and implementation support.
9. Veteran American actor William Schallert passed away
a) Veteran American actor William Schallert has recently passed away in California, US.
b) William Schallert was famous for his role in popular TV series The Patty Duke Show as Martin Lane. This series aired on TV from 1963 to 1966.
c) He was among the founders of the Circle theatre with Sydney Chaplin (Charlie Chaplin’s son) and other students in 1946. He acted in Philbert, Perry Mason, he Smurfs, Jefferson Drum etc.
d) His portrayal of Martin Lane in The Patty Duke Show was ranked at 39th position in TV Guide’s list of 50 greatest tv dads.
10. Free Public Wi-Fi Service launched at 5 railway stations by Google
a) Railway stations of Ujjain, Jaipur, Patna, Guwahati & Allahabad will soon get a free public Wi-Fi service. Google has recently provided this service under Railwire. Railwire is an extensive fibre network of Indian railways Railtel which provides internet service in rail.
b) Google is now currently working on covering some important suburban Mumbai stations in collaboration with Railtel.
c) Mumbai Central, Pune, Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal, Ranchi, Raipur, Vijayawada, Kacheguda, Ernakulam Junction, Vishakhapatnam are already enjoying the the Railtel-Google free high speed Wi-Fi service.
11. World Migratory Bird Day observed across the globe
a) 10th of May, 2016 was observed the World Migratory Bird Day. This year’s theme for the day was ” Stop the illegal killing, taking & Trade of Migratory birds.
b) This day is observed with an objective to increase awareness and action for the protection of migratory birds and their habitats.
c) Bird festivals, education programmes, exhibitions and bird-watching excursions are organised each year by environmentalists across the world during the 2nd week of May each year.
d) United Nations made an independent international treaty on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA). This day was initiated by UN in 2006 as the effort taken under this treaty.
12. Atma Ram Nadkarni appointed as Additional Solicitor General
a) Atma Ram Nadkarni, a senior Bombay High Court was recently appointed as Additional Solicitor General (ASG).
b) He is appointed as ASG in Supreme Court for next 3 years by The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
c) An Additional Solicitor General acts as law officer to advise the Central government on various legal matters. Solicitor General and Additional Solicitor Generals assist the government’s top legal adviser Attorney General.
13. Lok Sabha passed the Anti-Hijacking Bill, 2014
a) Anti-Hijacking Bill, 2014 was recently passed by Lok Sabha. This bill seeks to repeal the Anti-Hijacking Act, 1982.
b) The Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft , 1970 and its protocol supplementary signed in 2010 will be under the use due of this bill.
c) As per the bill, even if the ground handling staff & airport personnel are killed during hijacking, the hijackers will be given death penalty. Previously, hijackers could be tried for death penalty only if hostages, such as flight crew, passengers and security personnel would get killed.
d) The jurisdiction provided to the Indian judicial system as per this bill includes Indian territory, Against an aircraft registered in India, On board an aircraft which lands in India with the accused still on board, By or against an Indian citizen, By a person who is present in India and is not extradited by the central government, and others.
e)Hijacking and the related offences shall be extraditable. Extraditable offences are those offences for which one country may transfer the accused to another country’s legal jurisdiction.
f) Both the houses of the parliament have passed this bill and it is now sent to the president for his assent.