1st April to 15th April

AWARDS & HONOURS

A 12-year-old Muslim girl, studying in Class 6 of a school in Mumbai, secured the first place in a Bhagwad Gita competition organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Mariyam Asif Siddiqui, a student of Cosmopolitan High School, won the contest from among 4,500 students who appeared for the competition.

Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) bagged the prestigious Golden Peacock National Quality Award for the year 2015. Golden Peacock Awards were founded by the Institute of Directors, in 1991 and are globally regarded as a benchmark of corporate excellence. The National Quality Award Scheme was instituted to encourage total quality improvements in both manufacturing and service organizations in India.

Professor Susanta Lahiri, Chemical Sciences Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, received the Hevesy Medal Award for his outstanding contributions to heavy ion induced radioisotope production, tracer packet technique, converter targets, and green chemistry. The other person to also win the award this year is Professor Kattesh V. Katti of the Centre for Radiological Research, University of Missouri, Columia. This premier international award named after George de HEVESY, the 1943- Chemistry Nobel Laureate, for his work on the use of isotopes as tracers in the study of chemical processes, is given to “an individual in recognition of excellence through outstanding, sustained career achievements in the fields of pure as well as applied nuclear and radiochemistry, in particular applications to nuclear analytical chemistry." Prof. Lahiri, also a professor at Homi Bhabha National Institute, published nearly 180 papers in peer-reviewed journals such as Physical Review. He is a co-creator of super heavy element 117.

A 15-year-old Indian-origin schoolboy in the UK was awarded the Institute of Physics Prize for conducting an experiment that verified an effect of Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity. Pratap Singh, a student at The Perse School, Cambridge, won the 500 pounds Institute of Physics (IOP) prize at the Big Bang Fair held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

Subadhra Devi Rai, a senior lecturer at the School of Health Sciences (Nursing) at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), has been named winner of the 2015 International Achievement Award by the International Council of Nurses' Florence Nightingale International Foundation. 51 year old Rai became the first Singaporean to get the biennial prize since its introduction in 1999.

Paris- based Syrian-Lebanese Arab poet Adonis was chosen for this year’s Kumaran Asan World Prize for poetry, instituted by the Kumaran Asan Memorial Association to honour poets of international stature and introduce them to Indian readers. Adonis, author of more than twenty volumes of poetry in Arabic and widely translated into almost all languages is a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize for many years. Born Ali Ahmad Said Esber in Western Syria in 1930, he was imprisoned for a while because of his secular and nationalistic positions. Since 1985, he is settled in Paris.

President of India presented National Geoscience Awards (NGA)-2013. Dr. Indra Bir Singh, a professor of Lucknow University, was conferred with the highest honour National Geoscience Award for Excellence for his outstanding contributions in the field of sedimentary technologies. Along with him, 22 other geoscientists were being given the awards in ten disciplines including Mining Technology, Basic Geosciences, Geo-Information

System, etc. The annual awards are presented to honour individuals and team of scientists for their outstanding contributions in the field of fundamental or applied Geosciences, Mining and Allied areas.

Uttar Pradesh government conferred its Sahitya Shiromani Samman and a cash prize of 21 lakh Rupees upon noted poet Gopal Das Neeraj. Presenting the award to Padma Bhashan Neeraj, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said, in view of his lifelong service to Hindi literature, he will also be given Rashtra Ratn- Sitara-e Hind award.

BUSINESS & CORPORATE

Bharti AXA General Insurance (GI) Company Ltd. launched 'Smart Traveller' that offers global coverage for students, individuals, families and frequent travellers.

Germany's BMG music rights company announced that it had signed a music digital distribution deal with China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N), as the world's largest e-commerce firm firms up its bid to become a digital media empire. The deal, one of the first in China made by a major music publisher rather than a label, will bring more than 2.5 million copyrights to Alibaba. Alibaba has set its eyes on becoming an online-media powerhouse, with music, film and television. The $210-billion firm has touted the potential for selling digital products as well as physical products in China, despite the country's track record of users not paying for media content.

A demand of over Rs 570 crore was raised against Cadbury India, the confectionery giant, for allegedly evading excise duty by fraudulently taking exemption for one of its 'ghost' production units in Himachal Pradesh.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to deepen partnership between Indian companies and the bank in those countries where the bank has operations.

Dena Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India to provide insurance cover to all Aadhaar-linked savings account holders of the bank in the age group of 18 to 50 years.

Godrej Nature's Basket, the food retail arm of the diversified Godrej Group, joined hands with Amazon for selling its products through the e-commerce giant's platform in India.

Online search giant Google entered into a strategic partnership with consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to go after the Digital India projects and large enterprise deals. With the Indian partnership, which is an extension of a global deal signed in October, Google wants to push itself into large e-governance projects and improve the sales for its cloud services in India.

Hindustan Zinc, a Group company, and Vedanta Foundation adopted 3,056 anganwadi centres in five districts of Rajasthan. The adoption will benefit 90,000 underprivileged children in the age group of 3-6 years in Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, Rajsamand and Ajmer districts for five years.

In the biggest oil and gas deal in a decade, Royal Dutch Shell announced acquisition of smaller British rival BG Group Plc for about USD 70 billion to create the world’s largest independent producer of LNG. The deal, the first major acquisition since oil prices began to slump last July, would be among the largest oil-and-gas deals of past two decades and the biggest in last 10 years.

Online marketplace Snapdeal announced to buy mobile recharge service Freecharge in the biggest-ever deal in the country’s start-up domain, betting that it can sell products and services to millions of users who currently use the Internet company only to recharge their mobile phones.

Jasper Infotech, which owns and operates online marketplace Snapdeal.com, picked up a majority stake in digital financial services platform RupeePower.com as part of its plans to create a financial services marketplace. In August last year, Snapdeal had, in partnership with several banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), launched Capital Assist, which is aimed at enabling its sellers by helping them meet their working capital requirements as they scale up their businesses on the marketplace platform.

Temasek Holdings, the Singapore government's investment arm, completed the acquisition of Mumbai based venture lender SVB India Finance, an arm of Nasdaq listed SVB Financial Group, for Rs 300 crore. The entity is being rebranded InnoVen Capital India. It will roll out operations in Singapore later this year as part of plans to establish itself as a pan-Asia venture lender.

COMMITTEES / SCHEMES / POLICIES

 Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry constituted Ajay Shankar committee to simplify clearances. The Expert Committee examines the possibility of replacing multiple prior permissions with pre-existing regulatory mechanism and prepares draft legislation for this purpose.

 To expedite the implementation of river interlinking programme, the Central Government constituted a task force under former UPSC member B N Navalawala to forge a consensus amongst the states on the issue. The Ministry of Water Resources has constituted the task force to look into all the issues related to interlinking of rivers.

 President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to re-promulgate the Land Acquisition Ordinance as per Article 123 of Constitution. The new ordinance includes 9 amendments that were part of Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015.

 The Union Cabinet approved amendments to the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013 to protect the interests of consumers and curb the malpractices in the real estate sector. The bill seeks to create a uniform regulatory mechanism across the country and enhance the growth of construction sector. It also ensures to bring transparency and accountability in the real estate sector to access capital and financial markets essential for its long term growth.

 The Government notified the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 and the Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act, 2014 for bringing in a change in the existing system for appointment of Judges in Supreme Court and High Courts. The Acts provide for a transparent and broad-based process of selection of Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts by the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).

 To boost eco-friendly vehicles sales, the government launched FAME India scheme that envisages to provide Rs 795 crore support till 2020 for the manufacturing and sale of electric and hybrid vehicles. The scheme envisages providing demand incentives to electric and hybrid vehicles -- from two-wheeler to buses -- in range of Rs 1,800 to Rs 66 lakh.

ECONOMY & FINANCE

 Prime Minister launched the Mudra bank which will provide loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to small entrepreneurs including shopkeepers and beauty parlour owners, hoping that it will promote growth and create jobs. Short for Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Bank, the financial institution will act as a regulator for micro-finance institutions (MFIs). Mudra Bank will have a corpus of Rs 20,000 crore.

 Three highway projects worth Rs 9,500 crore in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, including those connecting Varanasi, were a nod by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), including the strengthening and widening of a total of 455 km of National Highways.

 Union Government gave a nod for release of additional installment of DA and DR. Dearness Allowance (DA) to central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners is increased by 6 %. Existing rate of DA and DR prior to increase is 107 %. Pay rise will benefit about 48 lakh government employees and 55 lakh pensioners.

 The Reserve Bank of India notified government's decision to raise foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the insurance sector to 49 per cent. The RBI notification follows DIPP, Commerce Ministry's press note in March regarding operationalisation of increased FDI limit of up to 49 per cent in the insurance sector. The FDI cap in the sector has been hiked to 49 per cent and that includes foreign investment in the forms of FPI, FII, QFI, FVCI, NRI and DR. A foreign player can now invest in insurance company, insurance brokers, third party administrators, surveyors and loss assessors and other insurance intermediaries appointed under the provisions of IRDA Act 1999.

 Capital market regulator Sebi raised the transaction limit in exchange traded currency derivatives to 15 million US Dollars, from 10 million dollars previously, for both foreign and domestic investors without having any underlying exposure.

 Retirement fund body EPFO suspended the Rs 1,000 minimum monthly pension scheme from this month, a decision which will hit about 32 lakh pensioners. The scheme was launched with effect from September 2014, hiking the pension amount to a flat Rs 1,000 per month for those who were getting lower amount earlier. With the suspension of the scheme, the beneficiaries will get pension at earlier rates. In a circular to its field offices, the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) said it has decided to suspend the scheme in the absence of any direction from the government to continue this benefit beyond March 31. According to the government notification issued on August 19 last year, the benefit of minimum pension was made effective from September 1 to March, 2015.

 The World Bank released South Asia Economic Focus report which has projected the economic growth of South Asia for the year 2016 and 2017 i.e. It will increase from 7 percent in 2015 to 7.6 percent by 2017. Together with favorable food prices, cheaper oil has contributed to a rapid deceleration of inflation. South Asia went from having the highest inflation rate among developing regions to having the lowest in barely one year. In India, GDP growth is expected to accelerate to 7.5 per cent in fiscal year 2015/16. It could reach 8 per cent in FY 2017/18, on the back of significant acceleration of investment growth to 12 per cent during FY 2016-FY 2018, the bank said in its semi-annual report. The report highlighted that India has already taken encouraging steps to decouple international oil prices from fiscal deficits and to introduce carbon taxation to address the negative externalities from the use of fossil fuels. The World

Economic Forum (WEF) report said India needs a "stable policy framework" to bring in private investments for developing urban infrastructure which faces a fund shortage of $110 billion. As India needs more than $640 billion investments between 2012 and 2031 to deliver basic infrastructure for the country's growing urban population. With 410 million city dwellers, India has the world's second largest urban population, it noted.

 India and France signed 17 agreements, including on the stalled nuclear project in Jaitapur in Maharashtra, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held wide-ranging talks with French President Francois Hollande. An MoU was signed between Larsen and Tubro and AREVA aimed at cost reduction by increasing localisation, to improve the financial viability of the Jaitapur project. The agreement will also enable transfer of technology and development of indigenous nuclear energy industry in India. An MoU on cooperation between the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and French Ministry of Sports, Youth Affairs, Public Education and Community Life was also signed that envisages cooperation and exchange of experiences in the fields of sports medicine and institutional cooperation. The two countries also signed agreements increasing bilateral cooperation in the economic sector.

 India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) became operational at Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City in Gandhinagar district of Gujarat. IFSC rules allow companies incorporated outside India to raise money in foreign currencies by issuance and listing of their equity shares on stock exchanges within the IFSC, where individual and institutional investors from India and abroad, including NRIs, would be allowed to trade. The IFSC regulatory regime allows Indian and foreign stock exchanges to set up separate bourses within IFSC as subsidiaries, while market entities from India and abroad would be allowed to operate there by providing issuance and trading in depository receipts and debt securities of domestic as well as overseas companies.

 India and United States (US) signed Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) transportation between both countries. The MoC aims at fostering cooperative work between both nations on key issues of mutual interest for all modes of transportation, coordinating public and private sector resources and expertise to advance safe, secure, efficient and integrated transportation systems. It seeks to cover areas like urban transportation, highway transportation, safety and environmental protections.

 Union government allowed pharmaceutical companies to hike rates of 509 essential medicines by 3.84 per cent. The new prices will be effective from 1 April 2015. These essential medicines are used for treating various ailments like hepatitis B and C, diabetes, and cancer.

PEOPLE IN NEWS

The Haryana government decided to give “status equivalent to Cabinet Minister” to Baba Ramdev, who has been appointed as the State’s brand ambassador to promote yoga and ayurveda. The emphasis on yoga and ayurveda would lead to an amalgamation of tradition and modernity and inclusion of yoga in the school syllabus would turn Haryana into a model State based on Indian values and traditions. Yoga would be made a compulsory subject in Haryana’s schools for which ‘yogshalas’ will be constructed in all the towns and about 6,500 villages of the State under the guidance of Baba Ramdev.

German Nobel laureate novelist Guenter Grass passed away on in Berlin at the age of 87. Grass is recognized for his efforts to revive German culture in the aftermath of World War II and also had given voice and support to democratic discourse in the post war Germany.

Lieutenant General Hanut Singh (retd) passed away in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. He was 82. He was a 1971 Indo- Pak war hero and one of the most famous officers of the Indian Army. He is recipient of the Maha Vir Chakra, India’s second highest gallantry award for his personal bravery and outstanding leadership.

Retired Air Chief Marshal Hrushikesh Moolgaonkar passed away in Pune at the age of 95. He was commissioned in the Royal Indian Air Force on 30 Nov 1940. He served in the Indian Air Force for 38 Years during which he fought bravely against the Japanese Army in 1941. For his dedication in Kashmir Operation in 1948 and exceptional gallantry and leadership during the famous Battle of Zoji La, he was awarded the Mahavir Chakra in 1948. He was the captain of the first flight of four Ouragan fighters flown to India from France. At that time he became the first Indian to fly faster than sound, flying a Mystere-II fighter Bomber in 1951. On 01 Feb 76, he took over as Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force and took upon himself the task of bringing the IAF’s accident rate under control. He retired from service in 1978 and settled down at Pune.

Legendary Tamil writer Jayakanthan passed away in Chennai at the age of 81. He was known for charting a new course in Tamil literature with his bold and progressive works. He was a recipient of Award (1972), Jnanpith Award (2002) and Padma Bhushan (2009). Russian government had conferred Order of Friendship (2011) on him for his translation works of Russian novelist Pushkin. He was founder of the Indo- Russian Cultural and Friendship Society.

Kailash Vajpeyi, renowned Hindi poet passed away in New Delhi. He was one of the prominent poets in a group known as San saatth ke baad ki kavita (Post-1960 poetry) that had shaped Hindi literature.

West Bengal and Bihar Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi took additional charge of Mizoram. He was sworn in as 16th Governor of Mizoram on 4 April 2015. Tripathi was given additional charge of Mizoram after Union Government had sacked then Governor Aziz Qureshi.

Asteroid 316201 was named as ‘316201 Malala’ after the youngest Nobel laureate and girls’ education campaigner Malala Yousafzai. The asteroid was named after her by Amy Mainzer, astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, United States. In 2010, Mainzer had discovered the asteroid which was known as 316201. As a discoverer of the asteroid she had owned the rights to name it. Asteroid 316201 Malala is located in the Main Belt between Mars and Jupiter. It orbits around the Sun every 5.5 years and is more-than 2 mile wide.

Ace mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu who went missing in the Andes mountains on March 24 during a climbing mission was found dead. Babu was a top Indian mountaineer, having achieved the feat of becoming the "fastest seven summiteer" in the world (172 days in 2006, during which he climbed seven summits on seven days of the week in each calendar month). He was also the first Indian to summit Mt. Vinson Massif, the tallest peak in Antarctica and the first person from to conquer the Everest. He was an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and IIM Kolkata.

Dr. Mayilsamy Annadurai 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.

Pedro Cateriano Bellido was appointed as Prime Minister of Peru by the President Ollanta Humala. He will replace Ana Jara, who had lost a confidence vote and was sacked by Peruvian Congress amid allegations of corruption.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) 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.

US President Barack Obama nominated prominent Indian-American businesswoman Shamina Singh (executive director of the MasterCard Centre for Inclusive Growth since December 2013) to a key administration post. Singh has been nominated as the member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service for a term expiring in October 2019.

Sumit Mazumder was elected as the President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the year 2015-16. He is Chairman & Managing Director (MD) of TIL Limited. He will succeed Ajay Shriram, Chairman of DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd.

Sunita Tomar, who became the poster girl of India's anti-tobacco campaign after the Union ministry made a 30- second video - 'Sunita' - highlighting the devastating effect of smokeless tobacco – died at the age of 28. She died just two days after writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing displeasure at the statement of BJP MP Dilip Gandhi, chairman of Lok Sabha committee of sub-ordinate legislations, who said there are no Indian studies that link tobacco to cancer.

Minor planet was named after India’s chess legend and first grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand by the Minor Planet Center. His name was given to the minor planet which was previously identified as planet 4538. Now the planet will be called as 4538 Vishyanand and is located somewhere between the Mars and Jupiter. Minor planet 4538 Vishyanand was discovered on 10 October 1988 by Japanese astronormer Kenzo Suzuki.

SPORTS

Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela won Bronze medal in the 10-metre air rifle event at the (International Shooting Sport Federation) ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Changwon, South Korea.

Indian chess Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika won the bronze medal in the World Women’s chess championships along with Swedish Grandmaster Pia Cramling. Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai won a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Changwon, South Korea.

Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton from Britain won Chinese Grand Prix of Formula One on the Shanghai International Circuit in China. This was his second win of the season and his fourth Chinese Grand Prix win. It was also Lewis Hamilton’s overall 35th Grand Prix win.

New Zealand won the 24th edition of Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament 2015 for second time. In the final match, New Zealand defeated World Champions Australia. Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament is an annual tournament held in Malaysia and was established in 1983.

Former Australia captain and legendary cricket commentator Richie Benaud passed away at the age of 84.

Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar was inducted as one of the five new members into the prestigious Laureus Sports Academy. Besides Tendulkar, retired Chinese professional basketball player Yao Ming, Kenyan long-distance runner Tegla Loroupe, Chinese gymnast Li Xiaopeng and former Chinese short track speed skater Yang Yang were the other athletes to be inducted into the Laureus academy. Arguably the greatest batsman in contemporary cricket, Tendulkar had walked into international sunset after a glorious career spanning 24 years, in front of his home crowd at the Wankhede Stadium following a Test series against the West Indies in November 2013. In his over two-decade international career, Tendulkar amassed 18,426 runs in 463 one-dayers at an average of 44.83, while in Tests, he has 15,645 runs at an average of 54.32 in 194 matches. The tally includes 51 hundreds and 66 half-centuries.

Sania Mirza created history by becoming the first Indian female tennis player to achieve the world number one

rank in doubles category. She achieved this feat after winning WTA Family Circle Cup along with her Swiss partner

Martina Hingis.

Yuki Bhambri won the 15,000 US Dollar ITF Futures tournament title. In the final he defeated Dzmitry Zhyrmont of Belarus.

MISCELLANEOUS

World

 India is going to chair the ninth International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) council meeting to be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The 9th IRENA council is scheduled to start from 10 June 2015 and will be a two day event.

 India has been elected to four key subsidiary bodies of the United Nations' agency on economic and social issues, continuing its impressive record of winning elections at the world body. With the election wins, India maintained its 100 per cent record of winning elections held in the UN Headquarters. It was elected, along with 13 other nations, to the Executive Board of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for a three-year term beginning January 2016.UNICEF addresses the needs of children with emphasis on giving long-term benefits to children everywhere, particularly those in developing countries. India was also re- elected to the Executive Board of the World Food Programme for the 2016-2018 term along with five other nations. WFP is the food assistance arm of the UN which provides food assistance to around 90 million people in 80 countries in a year. It was among the 20 nations to be elected to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) for a three-year term, beginning January 2016. India also got re-elected to the Governing Council of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) for the term 2016-2019. UN-Habitat is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.

 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.

India

 Visit Kerala 2015 campaign was launched to promote Kerala tourism. The campaign is an initiative of Kerala Government to promote state-specific tourism products including Ayurveda, Responsible Tourism and Spice route in India and abroad.

 Haryana School Education Department ordered 10% reservations to EWS in private unaided schools. The 10% reservation is meant for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Below Poverty Line (BPL) category students from Classes I to XII in private unaided schools.

 Andhra Pradesh Cabinet approved Amaravathi as capital of the State. Amaravathi, located at Tullur between Vijayawada and Guntur on the banks of River Krishna, derives its name from Lord Amareswara temple in the village and it is known as Dakshina Kashi (Kashi of the south).

16th April to 30th April

AWARDS & HONOURS

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.

Srinagar-born novelist Siddhartha Gigoo won the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Asia region for "Umbrella Man", a tale of surreal meditation on mental health and the environment. Gigoo won 2500 pounds and will now compete with the other four regional winners for the 5000 pounds grand prize, to be announced in London on September 8. Born in Srinagar in 1974, Gigoo's first novel "The Garden of Solitude" was first published in 2011. He has also written two poetry books, "Fall and Other Poems" (1994) and "Reflections" (1995). Gigoo, whose writings have appeared in various literary journals has also produced and directed a short film "The Last Day." His latest film is titled "Goodbye, Mayfly".

Eminent Marathi litterateur Bhalchandra Nemade, whose 1963 ovel Kosala(Cocoon) changed the dimensions of Marathi novel, was selected for 2014 Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour in India, by the Jnanpith Selection Board. Nemade is the fourth Marathi writer to win the literary honour after VS Khandekar in 1974, VV Shirwadkar alias Kusumagraj in 1988, and Govind Karandikar alias Vinda Karandikar in 2003.

Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor was conferred with the prestigious Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award 2015.Master Dinanath Mangeshkar was instituted in 1999 in memory of Dinanath Mangeshkar, father of Lata Mangeshkar. Since then it is awarded annually to persons for their outstanding contributions to music and movies.

Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain conferred the Nishan-e-Pakistan, top civilian award on Chinese President Xi Jinping. He was bestowed with this award for his outstanding contribution in promotion of relationship between the two countries.

The French Government appointed former Finance Minister and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honour), the highest French civilian distinction, in recognition of his international action as Union Minister of Finance (1998-2002), then External Affairs (2002-2004), and his invaluable contribution to thought on international issues.

Indian-origin diplomat Gopinath Pillai was awarded ‘Outstanding Service Award’ for his services by the National University of Singapore (NUS). Current he is serving as Ambassador-at-Large of Singapore and special envoy to Andhra Pradesh.

The 2015 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded by the Pulitzer Prize Board for work during the 2014 calendar year. The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States. It was established in 1917. Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories.

List of 2015 Pulitzer Prize Winners

Books, Drama and Music

 Fiction- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

 Drama – Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis

 History – Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People by Elizabeth A. Fenn.

 Biography – The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe by David I. Kertzer.

 Poetry – Digest by Gregory Pardlo. General Nonfiction- The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert.

 Music – Anthracite Fields by Julia Wolfe.

Journalism

 Public Service- The Post and Courier, Charleston.

 Breaking News Reporting- The Seattle Times Staff.

 Investigative Reporting- Eric Lipton of New York Times and Wall Street Journal Staff.

 Explanatory Reporting- Zachary R. Mider of Bloomberg News.

 Local Reporting- Rob Kuznia, Rebecca Kimitch and Frank Suraci of the Daily Breeze.

 National Reporting– Carol D. Leonnig of Washington Post.

 International Reporting– New York Times Staff.

 Feature Writing– Diana Marcum of the Los Angeles Times.

 Commentary- Lisa Falkenberg of the Houston Chronicle.

 Criticism– Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times.

 Editorial Writing– Kathleen Kingsbury of Boston Globe. Editorial Cartooning– Adam Zyglis of Buffalo News.

 Breaking News Photography– St. Louis Post-Dispatch Photography Staff.

 Feature Photography– Daniel Berehulak, freelance photographer of New York Times.

Bharatiya Mahila Bank Ltd won The Asian Banker Achievement Award 2015 for Technology Implementation in the category of Best Outsourcing Project (New Bank). The award was received by Usha Ananthasubramanian, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharatiya Mahila Bank Ltd.

Two Indians, Dr. Pramod Patil and Dr Ananda Kumar have been awarded with the prestigious 2015 Whitley Awards for their contribution to wildlife conservation in developing countries. Dr Ananda Kumar, a conservationist from India, was awarded the prize, in honour of his work using innovative communication systems to enable human-elephant coexistence in southern India. Another winner of the Whitley Award, dubbed 'Green Oscar' is Dr Pramod Patil. He has been awarded for his work to protect the iconic great Indian bustard in the Thar Desert. Dr Pramod and Dr Ananda are among the seven conservationists to have been awarded the Whitley Awards for their efforts to protect wildlife in developing countries.

BUSINESS & CORPORATE

Bank of Baroda, a leading Indian public sector bank, has tied up with UAE Exchange to offer an instant cash transfer facility to NRI customers. UAE Exchange, a global remittance and foreign exchange company, serves over 7.9 million customers worldwide and currently has over 750 branches across 32 countries.

Cap Gemini SA, a French information technology services company, announced to buy U.S.-based rival IGATE Corp for $4 billion in a deal that would make North America into its biggest market and hand IGATE's founders a $1 billion windfall.

Car rental firm, Carzonrent acquired car-pooling startup firm Ridingo, as it plans to grow aggressively and achieve Rs 6,000 crore revenue by having presence in 250 Indian cities in the next five years.

Online marketplace Flipkart announced the acquisition of Appiterate, a mobile engagement and marketing automation company based out of Delhi. Appiterate helps ecommerce companies target consumers better and increase sales by using push notifications and in app messages.

Largest private sector lender ICICI Bank in collaboration with Tech Mahindra launched a payment service 'Tap-n- Pay' based on the near-field communications (NFC) technology, enabling customers make over-the-counter payments without using cash. It can be used for merchant payments by merely tapping a NFC-enabled mobile phone or a tag on the counter.

KPMG in the United States has elected Lynne Doughtie, CPA, as its next chairman and CEO, adding to the growing ranks of women in prominent leadership positions in the accounting profession. Doughtie, 52, will serve a five-year term starting July 1. She is a 30-year KPMG veteran who has headed the firm’s advisory business since 2011.

Drug firm Lupin launched anti-bacterial Zaxine tablets, under a licensing pact with Salix Pharmaceuticals Inc, in the Canadian market.

Online travel services provider MakeMyTrip has acquired Mygola, a startup travel guide firm. MakeMyTrip Group CEO Deep Kalra said the company has acquired 100 per cent of Mygola. Mygola, founded in 2009 by Anshuman Bapna and Prateek Sharma, has raised capital from Helion Ventures, Blumberg Capital and 500Startups, among other angel investors.

Real estate portal PropTiger acquired rival Makaan.com for an undisclosed amount as the Rupert Murdoch-backed website aims to ramp up its presence in India's secondary property market. Last November, Rupert Murdoch-led News Corp had acquired 25% stake in PropTiger for $30 million (Rs 185 crore) as part of its strategy to expand presence in digital media.

Bengaluru-based United Spirits Limited announced the resignation of Pathai Ananthasubramanian Murali, who was its executive director and chief financial officer. United Spirits is controlled by the world’s largest spirits maker, Diageo, which has raised its stake in the Indian firm to 54.78 per cent.

COMMITTEES / SCHEMES / POLICIES

 The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its nod to amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), 1988 by pursuing the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013. The proposed amendments in the bill to amend parent Act mainly aim at laying down more stringent measures to tackle corruption. It also seeks to fill in the perceived gaps in the domestic anti-corruption law as per the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).

 A bill to amend the Regional Rural Banks Act was passed by Parliament, with government saying it was necessary to empower such financial institutions which are the "jewel in the crown" of the country's financial system. The Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2014, which got the assent of the Rajya Sabha, seeks to help Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) raise their authorised capital and will enable them to mop up funds from capital market to help strengthen them. This amendment bill increases the authorised capital of each Regional Rural Bank (RRB) from Rs 5 crore to Rs 2000 crore divided into Rs 200 crore of fully paid share of Rs 10 each. This bill amends Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 and aims to strengthen the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and deepen their financial inclusion.

 In a rare action, a private member’s Bill protecting and providing rights for transgenders was passed by the Rajya Sabha. The Bill also guarantees reservation in education and jobs, financial aid and social inclusion. This is the first time in 45 years that a private members' Bill has been passed by the House. The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014, paves the way for a law on the matter in the near future.

 The Union Cabinet cleared plans to spend nearly Rs 1 lakh crore in five years on two programmes which are on top of its agenda: Narendra Modi's pet project to build 100 smart cities and the urban development mission now renamed after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Under the decision made by the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Modi, the Smart Cities project will get Rs 48,000 crore over five years. The outlay for the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) has been hiked massively to Rs 50,000 crore, compared with Rs 42,900 crore approved and Rs 36,398 crore released over nine years under the National Urban Renewal Mission, as the project was originally called. The AMRUT project will cover 500 cities and towns.

 The Rajya Sabha passed Payments and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014 .The bill seeks to amend the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 so as to address the problem of insolvency in the payment and settlement system by increasing transparency. It is also aimed at bringing India's banking payment system in sync with international practices.

 With an aim of monitoring implementation of various ongoing projects including Rail Budget proposals, railways launched E-Samiksha, an online monitoring mechanism. It is a very good beginning and now each and every project implementation can be monitored on real-time basis, Railway Minister announced after launching the system. Apart from budget-related projects, the E-Samiksha can also be used for monitoring the infrastructure target and board meeting follow-up.

 The Supreme Court of India (SC) declared that the fundamental right to speech and expression as provided by the Article 19 (1) of the Indian Constitution should not be misused to abuse nationally revered figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Subash Chandra Bose. The SC further stated that, one cannot resort to abusive language against historical figures in the guise of artistic expression to accentuate sensationalism.

ECONOMY & FINANCE

 Government decided to continue its Rs 1,000 per minimum monthly pension scheme in perpetuity, a move which would benefit over 20 lakh pensioners under social security scheme run by EPFO. Retirement fund body EPFO had suspended the Rs 1,000 minimum monthly pension scheme from April 1. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had to suspend the scheme in the absence of any direction from the government to continue with this benefit beyond March 31. The scheme was launched with effect from September 2014, hiking the pension amount to a flat Rs 1,000 per month for those who were getting lower amount earlier. The Cabinet also approved corresponding grant of continuous annual budgetary support for implementing the minimum pension, which will be to the tune of Rs 850 crore per year on a tapering basis.

 Bank of Maharashtra, Dena Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce were imposed with a monetary penalty of Rs. 1.5 crore each by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for violation of Know Your Customer (KYC)/ Anti Money Laundering (AML) norms. The RBI also cautioned eight other banks -- Central Bank of India, Bank of India, Punjab and Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, UCO Bank, Union Bank of India and Vijaya Bank – “to put in place appropriate measures and review them from time to time to ensure strict compliance of KYC requirements in future”.

 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revamped priority sector lending (PSL) norms. Now, loans to sectors such as social infrastructure, renewable energy and medium enterprises will also be treated as PSL. While retaining the 40 per cent PSL target for domestic banks, the distinction between direct and indirect agriculture has been done away with. This means banks can meet their entire agriculture lending target - 18 per cent of their net loans disbursed in the previous year - by funding to indirect agriculture, which includes loans to companies engaged in the agriculture sector. Direct agriculture refers to individual farmers or groups directly engaged in agriculture and allied activities. Now, food and agro processing units will form part of agriculture. In the renewable energy segment, bank loans of up to Rs 15 crore for solar- based power generators, biomass-based power generators, wind mills, micro-hydel plants, etc, will be considered part of PSL. For individual households, the loan limit will be Rs 10,00,000 a borrower. On the home finance front, loans of up to Rs 28 lakh to individuals in metropolitan centres and up to Rs 20 lakh in other centres will qualify as PSL, provided the overall cost of the dwelling unit is Rs 35 lakh in the metropolitan centres and Rs 25 lakh in other centres.

 In a move that could see over Rs 7500 crore of retirement savings of workers going into the capital markets for the first time, Labour ministry has notified the new investment pattern for the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The new pattern allows the retirement fund body to invest 5% of its incremental income in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) from the current financial year.

 Moving ahead in line with digital India, railways launched mobile application for paperless unreserved tickets. Developed by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) “utsonmobile” – the paperless unreserved ticketing feature in mobile application aims to eliminate the need for printing of unreserved tickets.

 The government retained the rate of interest for General Provident Fund (GPF) and other related schemes at 8.7 per cent for the current fiscal. The 8.7 per cent interest will apply on Provident Funds of central

government employees, railways and defence forces. The rate of interest will be effective from April 1, 2015.

 Indian economy is expected to grow marginally higher at 7.5 per cent during the year compared with 7.2 per cent in 2014 and interest rate cuts will buttress private sector spending, as per global rating agency Moody’s.

 Japan’s main stock market index Nikkei 225 on 21 April 2015 closed above the 20000 level for the first time in 15 years. The index surged by just over 15% in 2015, building on an incredible 140% boom since June 2012.The index performance improved against the background of central bank of Japan pumping money into the economy at a rapid pace, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledging to reform the way Japan Inc. does business.

 India emerged as the fourth largest supplier of generic medicines to the United States. India’s generic medicines exports touched over US 4 billion dollars in 2013-14 in spite of stringent regulatory measures imposed by US.

 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved three highway projects in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra with a total cost of 5,150 crore rupees.

 A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) to export petroleum products to Bangladesh.

PEOPLE IN NEWS

Shanta alias Bimba Modak, eminent Marathi film and stage actress of yesteryear, passed away at the age of 97. Modak, who entered the industry when it was a taboo for women to work in cinema, made her debut in the film Chul aani Mul directed by noted playwright and writer Vishram Bedekar in 1946. She was honoured with a lifetime award by Maharashtra government in 1980 for her versatile acting talent.

Christopher Alan Bayly, one of the foremost historians of nineteenth century India and a member of the influential Cambridge school of historiography, passed away at the age of 70. Bayly’s body of work has been essential reading in History and related disciplines in Indian and other universities across the globe. His expertise was Benares and north India during the nineteenth century, which colleagues said was his “natural home”.

United Nation (UN) peace envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar resigned, after losing support from Gulf countries for his mission in the conflict-riven nation.

Former Chief Minister (CM) of and senior Congress leader Janaki Ballabh Patnaik passed away at the age of 89. Patnaik had served as CM of Odisha for three times and was in office from 1980 to 1989 and again from 1995 to 1999.

Finland's opposition Centre Party won the general election, ousting Prime Minister Alexander Stubb's left-right coalition after a campaign dominated by the country's economic woes. Centre Party leader Juha Sipila, a 53- year-old IT millionaire and newcomer to politics, is set to become Finland's next prime minister.

Loretta Lynch was sworn in as the 83rd US attorney general, the first African-American woman to serve as the top law enforcement official of US.

Mohammed bin Nayef was appointed as Crown Prince and as Deputy Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia by King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.

Dr. Nasim Zaidi assumed the charge as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). He is India’s 20th CEC and succeeded Hari Shankar Brahma, who retired on April 18, 2015.

Former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar was appointed as chief advisor of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s Anti Corruption & Security Unit (ACSU) for a term of one year. It was under Mr. Kumar’s leadership that Delhi Police arrested former Test bowler S. Sreesanth along with domestic spinners Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing while playing for Rajasthan Royals in the sixth edition of the IPL.

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir won the Presidential re-election by securing 94 per cent of the vote. With this win he will have additional term of five years in office which will extend his current 25-year rule. He is in power since 1989.

United Nations (UN) nominated Peter Jan Graaff of the Netherlands as the new chief of UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER). Since October 2014, Graaff had served as Ebola crisis manager for Liberia, one of the African countries which were affected by the Ebola epidemic along with Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Chennai-born Raja Rajeswari was sworn-in as a criminal court judge in New York, becoming the first India-born woman to be appointed a judge in New York City.

Sitaram Yechury was unanimously elected as the general secretary Communist Party of India (Marxist). He is the fifth general secretary of the 50 year old party which was formed in 1964.

Surya Bahadur Thapa, former Prime Minister (PM) of Nepal passed away at the age of 87. Thapa had served as Prime Minister of Nepal for five times under three different kings.

Vankadarath Saritha, a 30-year-old driver became first woman bus driver to be inducted in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).

Indian-American Dr. Vivek Murthy was sworn-in as the 19th US Surgeon General.He is the youngest-ever (37- year-old) to become in- charge of the country’s public health. With this appointment he is also the highest ranking Indian-American in the Obama Administration.

Supreme Court appointed Vivek Priyadarshi to head an investigating team to further probe the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 6 spot-fixing and betting scandals.

SPORTS

Ashish Jakhar from Haryan set a national youth record in boys’ hammer throw event and won gold medal in the 12th National Youth Athletics Championships held in Goa.

Three Indian race walkers Khushbir Kaur, Manish Rawat and Sandeep Kumar have qualified for 2016 Rio Olympics.

Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton from Britain won the Bahrain Grand Prix of Formula One on the Sakhir Grand Prix Circuit.

World champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the Shamkir Chess tournament by defeating Rauf Mamedov of Azerbaijan. Former world champion Viswanathan Anand finished second in this tournament.

Railway Sports Promotion Board won the 5th Senior Men’s National Hockey Championship.

India’s Shamjetsabam Sarjubala and Pinki Jangra clinched gold medals at the 22nd President’s Cup Open International Boxing Tournament held in Indonesia.

India’s Y Pranjala won the Asian Junior Tennis championship title by defeating China’s Zheng Wushuang in the final match.

MISCELLANEOUS

World

 The World Trade Organisation (WTO) welcomed Seychelles as its 161st member, ending 20 years of negotiating its accession terms.

 Russia, Argentina signed agreements on economic & energy co-operation. Under the agreement, Russia will finance the hydroelectric plant in Argentina’s Neuquen River, while Russia’s Rosatom nuclear corporation will build a new reactor at Argentina’s Atucha 3 nuclear power plant.

India

 The Delhi government gave approval for the setting up of a farmer compensation scheme to be named after Gajender Singh, who allegedly committed suicide during an AAP rally on April 22.

 Haryana Government inaugurated the excavation work on the Rs. 50-crore ‘Saraswati Revival Project’ at Rolaheri village in Yamunanagar district. It is said that river Saraswati flows through 41 villages of Yamunanagar district. It originates from Adi Badri and its water falls in Somb river. It has been proposed that a check dam would be constructed on Somb river to store rain-water and divert it to Saraswati.

 The Kerala government launched a major campaign "Subodham" to help people in the state overcome alcohol, drug and other substance abuse. The "Subodham" project, envisaged by the excise department, will be implemented by a high-level committee comprising experts from various fields.