16 May 2016

UIDAI launches special enrolment drive in 4 States/UTs

·        The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) launched a unique initiative to enroll left over population for Aadhaar, in four States and Union Territories, viz., Haryana, Goa, Chandigarh and Puducherry, where the Aadhaar saturation levels are more than 100% (as per projected population figure of 2015).

·        As on May 12, 2016, over 101.26 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated across the country.

·        This pilot exercise in the four States/Union Territories will be conducted between May 13 – June 15, 2016.

·        Enrolment request of only persons over the age of 18 years will be accepted on the portal mentioned above. Providing a mobile number as well as other demographic details is also mandatory as a mobile OTP-based verification will be conducted once the person submits the enrolment request.

RBS to close retail banking operations in India

·        Royal Bank of Scotland on Monday said it will close down it's retail operations in the country which will resulting in shutting down of 10 branches.

·        The Global Hub India business that operates across India will continue to provide strategic support to the bank and to its customers and will continue to deliver vital bank functions for the RBS global network.

Indian short film ‘Beti’ to be screened at Seattle International Film Festival

·        Beti, a four minute documentary film on girl child education from India, has been invited for special screening at the 42nd Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), Washington DC.

·        Beti is the only short film from India to be featured amongst 421 films representing 85 countries and will be screened on 30 May 2016, which is Seattle Memorial Day at the SIFF.

Indian artist Anjali Chandrashekar wins award at UN poster contest on N-disarmament

Indian artist Anjali Chandrashekar (22) has won the third prize in UN Poster for Peace contest presented by the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA) to raise awareness of the need for nuclear disarmament. Her poster titled ‘Cutting Barriers through Peace’ featured a peace dove slicing through a nuclear weapon.

 The first prize was won by Ivan Ciro Palomino Huamani (38) from Peru for his poster titled ‘Spinning Peace’. His poster featured a nuclear weapon being unravelled into string which is then used to fly kites and balloons, and to jump rope. Second prize was won by Michelle Li (15) for her poster titled ‘Peace in our Hands’, which had  featured a shadow puppet of a peace dove above a broken nuclear weapon.

 Anjali Chandrashekar:

 She is a New York-based designer and activist. She had founded ‘Picture It’, a non-governmental organisation at the age of 10. Her NGO uses imagery to raise awareness and funds for various health, humanitarian and environmental causes. Background The UN Poster for Peace contest was organised to commemorate the anniversary of the very first UN General Assembly resolution adopted in 1946 establishing a Commission to deal with problems related to the discovery of atomic energy.

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis clinch - 2016 Italian Open Title

On 15 May 2016, World No. 1 women's doubles team of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis captured the Italian Open title. The pair defeated Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6(5)-7, 10-3 in the final to clinch the title.

This Italian Open women’s doubles title was the fifth title for the Indo-Swiss pair after Sydney, Brisbane, Australian Open and St Petersburg.

After this win, Mirza and Hingis also captured their 14th women's doubles title together.

Know About Italian Open Title - 

• The Italian Open Title is an annual tennis tournament, which held in Rome, Italy. 

• It is one of the most prestigious red clay tennis tournaments in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, and the women's competition being a Premier 5 event on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour.

NITI Aayog to prepare 15-year vision documents by replacing 5-year plans

• The Union Government announced to replace 5-year plans with 15-year vision documents.Beginning from 2017-18 financial year, the long-term perspective plans will be prepared by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog. 

Know About NITI Aayog – 

• NITI Aayog, which is known as The National Institution for Transforming India Aayog is a Government of India policy think-tank established by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to replace the Planning Commission.

• The main aim of NITI Aayog's creation is to foster involvement and participation in the economic policy-making process by the State Governments of India. 

Max Verstappen becomes youngest Formula 1 winner

Red Bull F1 driver Max Verstappen (18) from Netherlands created history by becoming Formula One’s youngest race winner. He achieved this feat after winning the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, which was his debut race for Red Bull at the age of 18. He was able to win the Spanish Grand Prix by maintaining lead position after Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Roseberg crashed into each other in the 1st lap of race.
 About Max Verstappen-

•  Born on 30 September 1997 in Hasselt, Belgium. 
• He is the son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen. So far, he is the youngest driver to compete in the history of the F1 after he made his debut at age of 17 years, 166 days,at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix for Toro Rosso. 
• He had entered 2015 F1 season with Italian team Toro Rosso. In 2016 season, he was promoted by Red Bull as a replacement for Daniil Kvyat. 
• Verstappen is also the youngest driver to lead a lap during a Formula 1 Grand Prix and also the youngest driver to secure a podium.