24 May 2016

S K Sharma appointed CMD of Nuclear Power Corporation of India

Renowned scientist S K Sharma was appointed the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). In his new role, Mr Sharm will be responsible for design, construction, commissioning and operation of nuclear power reactors. He has been appointed to the new post for a period of five years. At present,he is working as Distinguished Scientist and Director (Operations) in NPCIL.
 About Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited
NPCIL is a government-owned corporation responsible for the generation of nuclear power for electricity. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra and is administered by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
 Established: September 1987 under the Companies Act 1956
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra. All nuclear power plants operated by NPCIL are certified for ISO-14001 (Environment Management System). 
Till 2003, NPCIL was the sole corporation responsible for constructing and operating India’s commercial nuclear power plants.

Sarbananda Sonowal sworn-in as - Assam Chief Minister

After winning 2016 Assam State Assembly Election, BJP leader and former Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at the age of 54 sworn-in as the 14th Chief Minister of Assam.
at the oath ceremony which was held in Khanapara, Guwahati, Governor Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sarbananda Sonowal.
Here Governor also administered oath of office and secrecy to the 10 ministers of his government. After this, maiden BJP government assumed power in the North Eastern state for first time in the political history of independent India. 
Assam new Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also became second tribal chief minister of Assam after Jogen Hazarika who was in the office 1970s.
Know About Sarbananda Sonowal - 
• Sarbananda Sonowal is an Indian politician. He became the Chief Minister of Assam after winning 2016 state assembly election with absolute majority.

• Sarbananda Sonowal was formerly the Union Minister for Sports & Youth Affairs and Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and Skill Development in the Narendra Modi Government.

NALCO signs MoU with Iran to set up smelter plant in Chabahar

· The National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has signed a MoU with Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).

·         The signing of the MoU coincided with the official two days state visit of Prime Minister NarendraModi to Iran.

· Key Facts

o   The MoU was signed to explore the possibility of setting up smelter- cum-gas based power plant on joint venture in Iran for the proposed smelter plant in Chabahar Free Trade Zone.
o   For the proposed smelter plant NALCO will supply alumina from its refinery in India.
o   The MoU envisages tolling arrangement with existing smelters in Iran for producing aluminium and also proposes to look into other businesses.

o   It also envisages setting up of a joint taskforce comprising NALCO and IMIDRO experts to work out the details of the project.

Indigenously built INS Tarmugli commissioned in Indian Navy

·       The Indian Navy has commissioned indigenously built highly maneuverable Fast Attack Craft INS Tarmugli at the commissioning ceremony held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.


·         INS Tarmugli will be based in Visakhapatnam under the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Andhra Pradesh). It would be deployed for coastal patrol and surveillance operations along the East Coast of India.

Switzerland to open world’s longest and deepest train tunnel after 17 years

·  After 17 years of construction work, the Gotthard Base Tunnel will open for the first time June 1, extending 57 km in length into the bowels of the earth 2,300 meters below the Gotthard massif in the Swiss Alps.

·  With speeds reaching up to 250 km/hr, the travel time from one end of the tunnel to the other will take just 20 minutes.


· By December, when the tunnel is fully operational, passengers can expect to reduce their travel time on routes such as Milan to Zurich, and Basel to Luganoby between 25 to 40 minutes.

23 May 2016

Sikkim CM Pawan Chamling conferred with Nepal’s literary award

Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling was conferred with the Yug Kavi Siddhicharan Award, one of the Nepal’s prestigious literary award.
The award was bestowed upon him by Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli for his commendable contributions in promoting Nepali literature in India.
The award ceremony was organised by Siddhicharan Shrestha Academy on the occasion of 105th birth anniversary of the late poet Shrestha.
 Yug Kavi Siddhicharan Award carries a certificate of appreciation and a sum of 100,000 Nepali Rupees.
Pawan Chamling is an author of many books in Nepali, English and Hindi. He is also a publisher. He has been awarded twice by the Sikkim Sahitya Parishad for the best poem Chintan Puraskar in 1987 and Bhanu Puraskar in 2010.
His other works in Nepali include Prarambhik Kavita (1978), Antyaheen Sapana: Mero Bipana (1985), Ma Ko Hoon! (1992) and Sikkim ra Nariko Maryada.

Gujarat Government launches Smart Village program

Gujarat Government has launched Smart Village program to improve public facilities in the villages. It was launched by Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on the occasion of completion of two years of her Government.

Key facts
 Under this programme, 300 villages will be selected for Smart Village program. Villages will be shortlisted by the state-level committee consisting of experts on the basis of Gram Panchayat’s performance through a transparent process. It seeks to make villages ‘smart’ on the lines of Smart Cities that will help them become self-reliant, clean and hygienic. Toilets, cleanliness, drop-out rate in primary schools, malnutrition ratio, Anganwadi facilities, vaccination of children, ATVT services are some parameters on which village will be adjudged as ‘Smart Village’. These villages will get 80 lakh to 2 crore rupees cash assistance from the state government to improve public facilities in the villages. Besides, CM also felicitated Sarpanchs of villages from the state which have completed 100 percent toilet targets.

India, Oman sign 4 bilateral agreements on defence cooperation

India and Oman have signed four Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs)/agreements on defence cooperation. These MoUs/agreements were signed in Muscat during the visit of Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to Oman.
 Signed agreements are MOU on Defence Cooperation:
It was singed between the Union Ministry of Defence of India and Ministry of Defence Sultanate of Oman.
MOU in the field of Marine Crime Prevention at Sea: It was signed between the Indian Coast Guard and the Royal Oman Police (Coast Guard).
 MOU on Maritime Issues: It was signed between the Government of India and the Government of Sultanate of Oman.
Protocol on Flight Safety information Exchange: It was signed between Royal Air Force of Oman and the Indian Air Force.

China country wins Uber Cup Badminton tournament for 14th time

On 21 May 2016, Chinese women badminton team showing its supremacy won the Uber Cup title.
In this final played at the Kunshan Sports Centre Gymnasium in Beijing, the host country defeated South Korea 3-1.
Since 2012, China was the host country’s third triumph and overall it won the title for 14th time since it first started competing in the Uber Cup in 1984.
South Korean team was unable to end their six-year drought at the Uber Cup.

Anurag Thakur unanimously elected - BCCI President

on 22 May 2016 Anurag Thakur was unanimously elected as 34th BCCI President at the board’s special general meeting (SGM) in Mumbai.Anurag Thakur will serve as BCCI President until September 2017.Anurag Thakur, is the second youngest BCCI chief. He is a BJP MP in Lok Sabha from Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur district

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Do You Know – 
• Anurag Thakur succeeds Shashank Manohar who stepped down from the position to take up the ICC chief's job. However, Manohar was elected the ICC's first independent chairman on 12 May 2016.
• Before being appointed as BCCI President, Thakur resigned as BCCI Secretary. Thakur at the age of 41 will also represent the BCCI on the ICC executive board and the Asian Cricket Council.

India’s first reusable space shuttle RLV-TD launched

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully test launched the first indigenous Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD).

Launch Details: 

It was launched from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The launch was part of a series of technology demonstration missions, which is considered as a first step towards realising a Two Stage To Orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable vehicle. 

After launch RLV-TD glided back onto a virtual runway in Bay of Bengal and re-entered the atmosphere after reaching a height of over 70 km.

 Key facts :

RLV-TD is winged body aerospace vehicle that operated in hypersonic flight regime. It is capable of launching satellites into orbit around earth and then re-enter the atmosphere It has been configured to act as a flying testbed to evaluate various technologies, including hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight. It was launched using a nine-ton solid rocket motor (SRM) which is designed to burn slowly to accommodate the vertical lifting of winged body The RLV-TD was 6.5 meter long and has aeroplane like structure. It weighs about 1.75 tonnes and is very similar to the retired US space shuttle. It was built by a team of 600 scientists over five years at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.

PankajAdvani Wins Asian 6-Red Snooker

· Indias ace cueist PankajAdvani created history in Abu Dhabi by clinching the Asian 6-Red Snooker title.

·The double IBSF World Six-Red Snooker Champion stamped his authority again in the short format of the game, defeating top seeded Malaysian Keen Hoh Moh 7-5 last night.

· With a confidence boosting 6-1 semi-final victory against compatriot Aditya Mehta to book his spot in the finals and coming closer to winning his first continental title, Advani clearly walked to the table with the utmost poise winning the first frame 39-4.