1. Riyad Mahrez first African footballer to bag Player of the Year title
(i) Associated with English club Leicester City,
footballer Riyad Mahrez is the first-ever African to bag the Professional
Footballers’ Association Player of the Year award.
(ii) This season Mahrez played admirably well to
take his team to the top of the league, scoring 17 goals and making 11 assists
in 34 games.
(iii) Besides Mahrez, Sunderland striker Beth
Mead won ‘Women’s Young Player of the Year’ and Dele Alli of
Tottenham Hotspur
was named
‘Young Player of the Year’.
2. LS passes Regional
Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016
(i) The Lok Sabha has passed the Regional
Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016 which seeks to establish a regional centre
for biotechnology that will undertake research and impart training in the upcoming
areas of biotechnology in order to create a hub of technology expertise.
(ii) As per the Bill, a regional centre for
biotechnology, an institution of education, training and research, are to be
established under the aegis of UNESCO in the National Capital Region.
(iii) This is a significant move considering India’s
advancement in biotechnology and the immense potential the sector holds. Some
of India’s noteworthy achievements in this field include the affordable
indigenous rotavirus vaccine that will help save lives of millions of poor
children; inexpensive diagnostic technologies and affordable generic drugs to
treat diseases like Celiac, HIV, Dengue, Hepatitis C; drought and disease-resistant
crops that help in improving agricultural productivity, etc.
3. Naval Detachment
inaugurated in Lakshadweep
(i) A Naval Detachment (NAVDET) was recently inaugurated
at Androth Island of Lakshadweep to extend India’s naval presence to the island
and provide communication network connectivity with mainland.
(ii) The detachment will also help to enable
Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC) monitoring and function as an Observance and
reporting organisation, besides radar surveillance.
(iii) Vice Admiral Girish Luthra has stated
that the new Detachment will improve the Indian Navy’s reach and surveillance,
and play a crucial role in strengthening maritime security and stability.
4. Shyam Benegal
committee submits report on Censor Board
(i) The panel headed by film-maker Shayam
Benegal has submitted its report with suggestions for the holistic revamp of
the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The panel also includes
actor-filmmaker Kamal Hassan, filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, ad guru Piyush
Pandey and film journalist Bhawana Somayaa, among others.
(ii) Some of the recommendations of the panel
are: Two more categories of U/A be added; one plus 12 years of age and one plus
15 years of age and two categories of adult-normal adult and adult with caution.
(iii) The CBFC can refuse certification if
a film contains content that breaches the provisions of Section 5B (1) of the
Cinematograph Act, 1952.
(iv) The CBFC can refuse certification “content
in a film crosses the ceiling laid down in the highest category of
certification”.
5. World Day for Safety
and Health at Work observed
(i) The World Day for Safety and Health at Work
was observed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on April 28 on the theme
‘Workplace Stress: a collective challenge”.
(ii) This day was designated in 2003 to promote
occupational safety, health and decent work.
(iii) As per data, annually around two million
men and women lose their lives through accidents and diseases linked to their
work. Further, there are 270 million occupational accidents.
6. Gopal Subramanian appointed
amicus curiae for execution of Lodha panel recommendations
(i) The
Supreme Court has slammed the BCCI for running a “prohibitory regime” and
appointed senior advocate Gopal Subramanian as amicus curiae for implementation of
RM Lodha panel’s recommendations.
(ii) The court observed that young players wanting
to achieve big in cricket do not get opportunities if they are not in line with
the BCCI.
(iii) The Lodha panel’s report suggests
large-scale structural reforms. The judicial bench chaired by Chief Justice T S
Thakur and Justice FMI Kalifulla thus stated that the policy of
one-state-one-vote, similar to ICC’s one-country-one-vote system, should work for
India as well. More so because it will bring in equality in cricket.
7. Cartoonist V T
Thomas passes away
(i) V T Thomas a.k.a Cartoonist Toms, who was
known for his renowned characters Boban and Molly, has passed away at age 86.
(ii) Malayala Manorama carried the cartoons for
nearly four decades. The themes of the comic strip, which varied from childish pranks
to contemporary social and political satire, told the story of Boban and Molly,
who hailed from a middle class Christian family in Central Travancore. Their parents
Pothen and Mariya, Appi Hippy, Kunchukurup, panchayat president Ettunnan and
his Chettathi were also some of Thomas’ his characters.
8. Delhi National
Museum of Natural History gutted
(i) A massive fire damaged many parts of Delhi’s
celebrated National Museum of Natural History.
(ii) The fire services took over four hours to
douse the flames, and though no casualties were reported, many valuable specimen
of animals, insects and birds and hundreds of books may have been damaged.
(iii) Established in 1972, the National Museum
of Natural History in New Delhi is one of two museums focusing on nature in
India. It functions under the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
9. ICC suspends Cricket
Association of Nepal
(i) The International Cricket Council (ICC) has
suspended the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) owing to excessive government
interference.
(ii) ICC stated that CAN has flouted Article
2.9 of the ICC’s Articles of Association, which prohibits government
interference and requires free and fair elections.
(iii) The suspension means that CAN will not receive
ICC funding for events or other purposes. However, the ICC has declared that Nepal
cricket teams would participate in ICC events.
(iv) Note: Nepal cricket has been facing crisis
after the National Sports Council formed an ad-hoc committee to run the CAN in
December 2015.
10. Badminton player Nandu
Natekar inducted into CCI’s Legends Club
(i) For the first time, a non-cricketer has
been inducted into the Cricket Council of India’s (CCI) Legends Club.
(ii) With him, renowned cricketer Kapil Dev has
also been made part of the club.
(iii) The Club celebrates the birthdays of Vijay Merchant, Vijay Hazare, Vinoo
Mankad, Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. From now on, birthdays of the two
new inductees will also be marked.
11. IIT scholar Ashok
Kumar wins International Plant Nutrition Scholar Award
(i) Ashok Kumar, a research scholar from
IIT-Kharagpur, has won the coveted International Plant Nutrition Scholar Award.
(ii) Given by the US-based International Plant
Nutrition Institute, the award carries a certificate and cash prize of $2000.
(iii) Associated with the department of agriculture
and food engineering, Kumar has been pursuing his PhD on nutrition management
of rice-chickpea production system in laterite soil. The study will help use of
organic fertiliser in the right quantity and timing to rice crop so that yield
of rice-chickpea cropping system rises by 10%.
12. Parliamentary panel
suggests fine, imprisonment for celebrities of deceptive ads
(i) A recent Parliamentary Standing Committee on
the Consumer Protection Bill, 2015 has recommended measures to reform
advertising practices in India.
(ii) Headed by Telugu Desam Party MP J C
Divakar Reddy, the committee suggested several changes in its latest report. Some
of the salient recommendations are:
-Accord legal powers for the Advertising Standards
Council of India (ASCI) to curb misleading ads.
-Impose severe penalties, including jail term and revoking
of license for those involved in food adulteration.
– Strengthen Department of Consumer
Affairs to make laws regulating e-commerce, direct selling and multi-level
marketing where consumer complaints are increasing.
– For first-time offence, the offender may
be penalised with either a fine of Rs.10 lakh or imprisonment up to two years
or both. For second offence, the panel recommends a fine of Rs.50 lakh and
imprisonment of five years. Punishment and fine will increase proportionately
for subsequent offences.
– Hold celebrities responsible for deceptive advertisements by imposing stringent
action like jail term up to five years and penalty up to Rs.50 lakh.
13. Chinese labour
camp activist Harry Wu dies
(i) Harry Wu, prominent Chinese labour camp and
human rights activist has passed away at the age of 79.
(ii) He founded the Laogai Research
Organisation, which creates awareness about China’s “laogai” or forced labor
detention centers, which proliferated under revolutionary leader Mao Zedong. He
also established the Laogai Museum in Washington, which gives voice to those
subjected to the system.
(iii) In
the 1950s, when expression of intellectual opinion was stifled, Wu was tagged a
counter-revolutionary and sentenced to life in prison. He later lived in exile.
(iv) In
1994, he became the first recipient of the Martin Ennals Award – known as the
Nobel Prize for human rights, and continued to protest against other human
rights violations, including China’s forced organ harvesting and population
control measures.
14. Two-time Olympic winner Felix Sanchez
retires
(i) Two-time Olympic 400-meter hurdles gold
medalist champion Felix Sanchez has retired from the sport. He will not
participate at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
(ii) Sanchez made his first Olympic team in
2000 and won his first gold in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2004 Olympics in
Athens and second at the 2012 Summer Games in London. He also bagged two gold
medals in the 2001 and 2003 world championships.
(iii) With a personal best score of 47.25, he
is the eighth best runner of all-time. Between 2001 and 2004, he won 43
consecutive races and has run 48 races under 48.50.
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