CURRENT AFFAIRS

1. Prof. Sriram Ramaswamy, Director of TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences (TCIS), Hyderabad, has been on the list of 50 scientists elected as the Fellows of the Royal Society (FRS) of London, a premier scientific academy of the U.K. and the Commonwealth. Besides him, two other Indian viz.biochemist Ramanujan Hegde, MRC Laboratory of Microbiology, U.K. and applied mathematician Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan, Harvard University were also elected. The Royal Society elects new Fellows and Foreign Members every year. Its mission is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity.
2. In the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s latest Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and the Pacific, India’s growth forecast for 2016 and 2017 has retained at 7.5%. The key to boost India’s economic growth are structural reforms like Goods and Services Tax(GST) and in areas like land and labour.
3. The Supreme Court of India (SCI) has recently constituted R.M. Lodha committee to monitor the functioning of the Medical Council of India (MCI) for at least a year. The apex court has used its rare and extraordinary powers under the Article 142 of the Constitution as the Government of India (GoI) had not acted on the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare. The 3-member committee will have the authority to oversee all statutory functions under the MCI Act and will be free to issue appropriate remedial directions. All policy decisions of the MCI will require approval of the oversight committee.
4. The World Asthma Day (WAD) is an annual event organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) to improve asthma awareness and care around the world. It takes place on the first Tuesday of May. The theme of 2016’s event is “You Can Control Your Asthma”.
5. The Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, a Project Tiger reserve, an elephant reserve and a biosphere reserve in Assam. It is a home to a great variety of wildlife, including many endangered species viz. tiger, pygmy hog, Indian rhinoceros and Indian elephant.

Mindtree co-founder Subroto Bagchi to head Odisha Skill Development Authority

IT major Mindtree co-founder Subroto Bagchi has been appointed as head of the Odisha Skill Development Authority. 

He would report directly to the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and has been given the rank of cabinet minister with a token monthly salary of Re 1. Bagchi was born in Patnagarh block of backward Bolangir district of Odisha. 

About Odisha Skill Development Authority Aims to unify the initiatives on the ground and create momentum for unemployed youth to receive skill-based training to make them employable in the state. Functions: It will be overseeing skill development programmes in the state. 

It will also guide state government to implement and oversee all skill development programmes in the state. Earlier in January 2016, Odisha Government had roped Sam Pitroda as its technology adviser for development of telecom, electronics, IT, ITES sectors.

Current Affairs 2016

• Surender Kumar Bhagat, the 1982-batch IPS officer of the Uttarakhand cadre, has been appointed as the new Director General (DG) of Railways Protection Force (RPF). He will succeed Rajiv Ranjan Verma and will serve RPF till the date of his superannuation i.e. on June 30, 2017. Presently, he is working as Special Director General in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
• The book “Param Vir: A War Diary” has been written by Manju Lodha, a well-known Indian social activist. It was recently launched in London by Navtej Sarna, Indian High Commissioner to United Kingdom. The book chronicles the lives of 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees, the highest military honour bestowed by India to those serving in the Indian armed forces.
• The Maharashtra Government has recently launched ‘Adi Praman’’ a web-based application, which will facilitate the tribal populace of the state to get the caste validity certificates online. The validity certificate will be bar-coded with a unique identification number and enable authorities to directly verify the status of validity certificate using the unique barcode number. The portal “etribalvalidity.mahaonline@gov.in” will show the real-time status of the applications through email and text messages. This initiative will make the entire process of securing caste validity certificate transparent, fast and easy and will effectively curb the menace of bogus certificates.
• The mobile app “Indian Customs- Guide to Travellers” has been launched by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) to inform traders, exporters and importers about Customs Baggage Rules, 2016. The mobile App has been developed by Bengaluru Customs and is available on Android Play store, Apple Store and Windows Store. The app is user friendly and serves as a useful tool for quick and effective dissemination of information about baggage rules and entitlements and hence serves to clarify doubts and concern of International passengers and also ensure better compliance. The CBEC is the nodal national agency responsible for administering customs, central excise, service tax and narcotics in India.
• The Kerala state branch of Indian Medical Association (IMA) has partnered with UNICEF to promote safe and healthy practices for improving maternal and child health in the state. The initiative will help Kerala to achieve world class level in reducing child mortality rate. As part of the partnership, IMA and UNICEF will orient all the 35,000 doctors of the association in the state, on the importance of prescribing good practices to their patients, besides medicine.