1. Sunaina Singh has been appointed the new vice chancellor of Nalanda University (NU). She is expected to take up the new assignment soon. Currently, she is vice chancellor of the English and Foreign Language University (EFLU), Hyderabad. The headquarters of NU is at Rajgir, Bihar. Dr.Vijay Pandurang Bhatka, who is the father of India's first supercomputer and acclaimed scientist, is the Chancellor of the university.
2. N Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, has been selected for the US India Business Council (USIBC)'s Transformative Chief Minister (TCM) award for his good governance to people after bifurcation. Naidu would receive award at the 2nd annual West Coast Summit (WCS) to be held in Menlo Park, California on May 8, 2017.
3. Japan will provide an Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan for an amount of Yen 371.345 billion (=Rs.21,590 crore approx) under FY 2016-2017 to India for infrastructure projects, the dedicated freight corridor. For this, the notes were exchanged in New Delhi between S Selvakumar, Joint Secretary under Department of Economic Affairs and Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India. (Exchange Rate: Re.1 = Yen 1.72).
4. Vanaja N. Sarna, a 1980 batch officer of Indian Revenue Service (IRS), has been appointed the new chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). She succeeded Najib Shah. The CBEC is the apex body for framing policy and administrative issues related to indirect tax, and central excise duty. It works under finance ministry, which comprises of a chairperson and a maximum of six members.
5. The Atria Convergence Technologies (ACT) Fibrenet has recently launched 1 Gigabit per second wired broadband internet service in Hyderabad. With this launch, Hyderabad has become the India's first 'Giga-enabled'. ACT Fibrenet uses fiber optic technology and its 1 Gbps offering is 400 times faster than the average internet speed of 2.5 megabits per second in India. Giga speeds will allow downloads from the internet faster than transferring data from a USB drive and will be available for Rs 5,999 per month.
6. Gilbert Baker, who created the rainbow flag as a symbol for the gay community, has recently passed away in Kansas, United States. Baker's flag was widely associated with LGBT rights causes.
7. The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore has topped the 2017 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings for higher educational institutions in overall ranking. IIT Madras stood at 2nd position, followed by IIT Bombay, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The institutes are ranked by the National Bureau of Accreditation (NBA) based on their teaching and learning resources, graduation outcome, perception, outreach and inclusivity and research productivity. This year, the project has more than 800 new participants and some new categories has also been introduced in medicine and law. Apart from this, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has topped the list in India Rankings 2017 in engineering category, followed by IIT Bombay and Kharagpur. Whereas, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad bagged the first rank in management category while Miranda House, Delhi was ranked the top college. The 2017 India Rankings for higher educational institutions has been released by Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi on April 3, 2017.
8. Darcus Howe (74), one of the most prominent black activists of his generation in Britain, has recently passed away in London, United Kingdom. He was best known in the UK for his Black on Black series on Channel 4; his current affairs programme, Devil's Advocate; and his work with Tariq Ali on "Bandung Fil".
9. Dawit Isaak, an imprisoned Eritrean-Swedish journalist who was arrested in a crackdown on the media in September 2001 and was known for his critical and insightful reporting, has been chosen for the 2017 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. His present location is unknown. The $25,000 Prize is named in honour of Guillermo Cano Isaza, a Colombian journalist who was assassinated in 1986 in front of the offices of his El Espectador newspaper in Bogotá. It is awarded each year to an individual or organization that has persevered to protect press freedoms under adversity. The Prize will be awarded during the celebration of 2017 World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) on May 3, which will be hosted in Jakarta, Indonesia.
10. The Ntangki National Park is a wildlife park located in Peren district of Nagaland. Among the creatures that inhabit the park are the rare hoolock gibbon, golden langur, hornbill, palm civets, black stork, tiger, white-breasted kingfisher, monitor lizard, python and sloth bear. The name "Ntangki" is derived from the Zeme dialect of the Zeliangrong tribe.
11. Kishori Amonkar (84), the renowned Hindustani classical vocalist, has recently passed away in Mumbai, Maharashtra. She was considered one of the foremost singers in the Hindustani tradition and is an innovator of the Jaipur gharana. Amonkar received a plethora of awards, including the Padma Bhushan in 1987 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2002.
12. Justice Indira Banerjee has been appointed the new Chief Justice of Madras High Court. With this, Justice Banerjee would be the second woman next to Justice Kanta Kumari Bhatnagar (June – November, 1992) to head the charted court. Prior to this appointment, Banerjee was a judge of the Delhi High Court.
13. BP Kanungo has recently taken charge as the new Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a period of three years in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He succeeded R Gandhi. Prior to this appointment, Kanungo was holding the position of Executive Director of RBI. He has worked in several functional areas of the banks such as foreign exchange management, banking and non-banking supervision, currency management, government and bank accounts and public debt. Kanungo has also served as the head of regional offices of RBI at Jaipur and Kolkata besides holding the position of the Banking Ombudsman for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
14. Japan has officially recognized bitcoin and digital currencies as legal money with effect from April 1, 2017, which will help the integration of digital currency into the legacy banking system through regulation. Thus, as per new law's implementation, Bitcoin exchanges will also come under additional regulatory scrutiny. The recognition of cryptocurrency as a legal tender also means the applicability of regulations governing banks and financial institutions to crypto-currency exchange platforms. They will be required to comply with strict Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, along with annual audits. Other requirements include meeting the stated capital and cyber security requirements to ensure consumer protection.
15. K Prithika Yashini has become the India's first-ever transgender person to become a police official, when she took charge as sub-inspector in Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu. In terms of judgement of the Madras High Court delivered in November 2015, directions were given to the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board (TNUSRB) to appoint K Prithika Yashini as a sub-inspector of police as she is entitled to get the job. The judgement further directed the TNUSRB to include transgender people as a "third category", apart from the usual category of "male" and "female".
16. Rajiv Kumar Chander, the 1983 batch Indian Foreign Services (IFS) officer, has been appointed as new Ambassador and permanent representative of India to the United Nations (UN) Offices in Geneva. He will succeed Ajit Kumar. At present, Chander is the consul general of India in Vancouver.
17. Under the 'Aapki Beti, Hamari Beti' scheme, the Haryana government will provide one-time grant of Rs 21,000 to all those families whose third girl child was born on or after August 24, 2015. Under the scheme, the eligible families would receive the amount irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, income and number of sons. The purpose of the scheme is to combat the problem of declining child sex ratio and promote girls' education in the state.
18. Aleksandar Vucic, the current Prime Minister of Serbia, has won the 2017 Serbian Presidential election by 55% of votes. He will take office on May 31, 2017. Vucic is also the leader and president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS). The current office holder is Tomislav Nikolic.
19. Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli has been honoured as the Wisden's Leading Cricketer in the World for 2016. Apart from this, Kohli has already been declared Wisden India Almanack's Cricketer of the Year for the second time in its 2017 edition. In 2016, Kohli amassed 1215 Test runs at an average of 75.93, 10 ODI appearances fetched him 739 runs at 92.37, while he scored 641 T20 International runs at 106.83. Apart from him, Ellyse Perry from Australia has been named for Wisden Leading Woman Cricketer in the World for 2016. The Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World is an annual cricket award selected by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
20. India has been ranked 3rd for the third year in a row in the recently published Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) report for year 2015. The report is compiled by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). As per the report, 117 athletes from India were punished after testing positive for banned substances in 2015. The list is topped by Russia (176), followed by Italy (129), India (117), France (84) and Belgium (67). An ADRV is a doping offence committed by an athlete or athlete support person, which results in certain consequences or sanctions.
21. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently appointed Malvika Sinha as new Executive Director (ED), following the appointment of B P Kanungo as Deputy Governor. As Executive Director (ED), she will look after foreign exchange department, department of government and bank accounts and internal debt management wing. Prior to being promoted as ED, she was Principal Chief General Manager, Department of Cooperative Banking Supervision in the Reserve Bank. Apart from her, there are 10 other EDs of RBI viz. Surekha Marandi, M. Rajeshwar Rao, Sudarshan Sen, Deepak Singhal, Meena Hemchandra, K. K. Vohra, Dr M. D. Patra, Chandan Sinha, Deepali Pant Joshi and Dr. Deepak Mohanty.
22. Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Oxford, has been bestowed with the 2016 ACM A.M. Turing Award for inventing the World Wide Web (WWW), the first web browser, and the fundamental protocols and algorithms allowing the Web to scale. The ACM Turing Award is often referred to as the "Nobel Prize of Computing," which is presented by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) to an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community. The annual award carries a $1 million prize, with financial support provided by Google Inc.
23. Raman Roy, the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Quatrro, has been appointed as the new chairman of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) for 2017-18. Roy is considered one of the poster boys of the Indian business process outsourcing industry, has been a member of Nasscom's executive council and was the vice-chairman for 2016-17. He succeeded CP Gurnani, who is the MD & CEO of Tech Mahindra. Apart from him, Rishad Premji has been appointed as the Vice Chairman of NASSCOM for 2017-18. Premji is the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and Member of the Board in Wipro Ltd.
24. Recently, Iceland's parliament has presented a bill that would require public and private businesses to prove they offer equal pay to employees. The bill entails that companies and institutions of a certain size, 25 or more employees, undertake a certification of their equal-pay programmes. If the bill passed then Iceland will become the world's first country to neutralize gender pay gap. According to World Economic Forum (WEF)'s 2015 Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI), Iceland ranks first, followed by fellow Nordic nations Norway, Finland and Sweden.
25. As per first bi-monthly monetary policy review for 2017-18 of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the repo rate — the main policy rate at which banks borrow from RBI remain unchanged at 6.25%. While, RBI raised the Reverse Repo (RR) rate by 25 bps to 6% and cut the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the bank rate by 25 bps to 6.50%. The central bank also allowed banks to invest in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) in a bid to spur investments in core infrastructure sectors. The Reverse Repo (RR) rate is the rate at which banks lend funds to the RBI.
26. The United Nations (UN)'s International Day of Sports for Development and Peace (IDSDP) is observed every year on April 6 to recognize the power of sport in promoting peace and its ability to inspire. This year (2017), the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) launched the digital campaign #WePlayTogether to encourage organizations and individuals who support or carry out sport for development and peace activities to partake in the commemoration of the IDSDP.
27. India's Travel & Tourism sector has been ranked 7th in the world in terms of its total contribution to the country's GDP, according to the latest report of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). According to data, the travel and tourism sector generated Rs 14.1 trillion in 2016, which is world's 7th largest in terms of absolute size. Additionally, the sector created 40.3 million jobs in 2016, which ranks India 2nd in the world in terms of total employment generated. The sector accounts for 9.3% of the country's total jobs.
28. The Rajasthan government has imposed a 10% cow cess as surcharge on stamp duty for protection and propagation of cows. The surcharge will be applicable on non-judicial instruments. The cess will have a bearing on costs of making documents like property sale or lease deeds, rent agreements and mortgage. Though, judicial stamps, revenue ticket and insurance ticket have been excluded from this order. Rajasthan is the only state in India which has a dedicated Cow Ministry. At present, the Rajasthan Cow Ministry is allocated 11% share of the entire land registrations revenue.
29. Uruguay will become the first country in the world to fully allow the production, sale and consumption of marijuana when its pharmacies will be allowed to sell marijuana in July 2017. It adopted a revolutionary law that fully legalized production, sale and consumption of marijuana. Under the law, buyers must sign up for a national registry of marijuana users to ensure they have fulfilled licensing procedures and do not exceed the monthly maximum purchase of 40 grams (1.4 ounces). Under the law, users also have the option to grow their own pot at home, or join cannabis clubs that grow it in cooperatives.
30. The Madhya Pradesh government has recently launched the Deendayal Rasoi Yojana (DRY), under which subsidized meals will be available at Rs 5 per plate to people, especially the economically disadvantaged sections of society. Under the yojana, anyone can have a wholesome meal at Rs 5 which includes four chapatis, one vegetable curry and Dal every day between 11 am to 3 pm. The arrangement would cater to at least 2000 persons every day. The wheat and rice would be made available at these canteens at Rs one each through fair price shops. Local municipal bodies will make the water and electricity available free-of-cost. The funds for setting up these centres would be made available under Chief Minister's Urban Infrastructure Scheme.
31. Hindi film 'Dhanak' has won the Best Children's Film award at the 64th National Awards. The award carries a 'Golden Lotus Award (Swarna Kamal)', a certificate and cash prize of Rs. 1.5 Lakh. The awards ceremony will be held on 3 May 2017. The movie is written and directed by Nagesh Kukunoor.
32. Malala Yousafzai (19), the youngest—ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate, will become the United Nations (UN)'s youngest-ever Messenger of Peace to promote girls' education around the world as part of her new role. She is honoured by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a ceremony at the U.N. headquarters in New York on April 10, 2017. Yousafzai is a Pakistani education activist, who came to prominence when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head on her school bus in 2012 as punishment for campaigning for girls to go to school which defied the militant Islamic group's ban on female education.
33. The Keibul Lamjao National Park is the only floating park in the world, located in the Bishnupur district of Manipur. It is an integral part of Loktak Lake, which is famous for the phumdis floating over it. The park is home to brow-antlered deer 'Sangai' that has been included in the Centre-sponsored endangered species recovery programme. Apart from the brow-antlered deer, the other mammals reported are the hog deer, wild boar, , large Indian civet, common otter, jungle cat, golden cat, bay bamboo rat, musk shrew, etc.
34. Dame Asha Khemka, an Indian-origin educationist in the UK, has won the 'Asian Businesswoman of the Year' award for her efforts in the field of education and skills at the Asian Business Awards ceremony in Birmingham in April 2017. She is the Principal and CEO of West Nottinghamshire College in England. Khemka was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2014 in recognition of her services to the deprived areas of the West Midlands as principal of West Nottinghamshire College.
35. The 12th edition of Indo – Mongolian Joint Military Exercise "Nomadic Elephant" has started at Vairengte in Mizoram from April 5, 2017 and will continue till April 18, 2017. Mongolian Army is represented by nine officers and 36 soldiers of the elite 084 Special Forces Task Battalion while Indian Army is represented by a contingent comprising of three officers, four JCOs and 39 soldiers of the Jammu & Kashmir Rifles. The purpose of the military exercise is to train the troops in Counter Insurgency & Counter Terrorism Operations under the United Nations mandate. The joint training will also lay emphasis on conducting operations by a joint subunit, comprising of troops from both the armies, in adverse operational conditions aimed at enhancing the interoperability between the two armies.
36. Bengaluru city police has launched "Pink Hoyslas" police patrol vehicles for women safety. Pink Hoysalas will be stationed at 51 hot spots' that have been identified on the basis of the crime pattern in various city areas, especially those related to safety of women and children. The vehicles will also patrol during the night to extend a moral support for women of Bengaluru. Apart from this, an emergency panic alarm app "Suraksha" has also launched for women to send emergency alerts directly to the city police control room in case of threat. The Suraksha app is available from Android and iOS platforms.
37. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has named Intel as its official Innovation Partner for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2017. The ICC has collaborated with Intel to transform the cricket experience for fans and help coaches and players improve performance. The 2017 season will be the 8th edition of the Champions Trophy, which will begin on June 1 and end on June 18. 8 teams will participate and a total of 15 matches will be played. The opening game will be played between England and Bangladesh, while the India Pakistan rivalry will be played on June 4 at Birmingham.
38. The Uttar Pradesh will launch cheap food canteen "Annapurna Bhojnalayas" across all 14 municipal corporations in the state. Under the scheme, breakfast will be provided at Rs 3, while lunch and dinner will cost Rs 5 only. As per scheme, breakfast will consist of porridge, poha and idli-sambhar along with tea and snacks while for lunch and dinner, dal and rice, seasonal vegetables and chapatis will be served.
39. Colson Whitehead from United States has won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in fiction for his novel "The Underground Railroad". The novel had received the 2016 National Book Award of the US. This is for the first time in more than 20 years that the same work won the Pulitzer and National Book Award for fiction. The novel depicts the journey of a young woman that escaped from slavery via a fantastical train system.
40. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently released a book 'Matoshree', authored by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in New Delhi on April 11, 2017. The book 'Matoshree' covers the life and times of legendary Devi Ahilyabai Holker who ruled the Holkar Empire spread over the Malwa region from 1767 to 1795. Ahilyabai Holkar was a very able ruler and organizer, highly respected during her lifetime and considered as a saint by people after her death. She is remembered and worshipped by people for her exemplary governance, sense of justice and fairness.
41. Achim Steiner from Germany, an expert in environmental issues and politics, has been named as the new administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). He will succeed Helen Elizabeth Clark, a former New Zealand Prime Minister. Previously, he served at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and headed the UN office in Kenya. The UNDP focuses on poverty reduction, HIV/AIDS, democratic governance, energy and environment, social development, and crisis prevention and recovery. The headquarters of UNDP is located in New York City, United States.
42. The World Bank (WB) has approved a $375 million loan to India's first waterway project "National Waterway (NW) 1". The waterway project is to create a water transport fairway on a 1,360-km stretch of the Ganga River between Varanasi and Haldia. The project will help build the infrastructure needed to develop water transportation in the area. It will finance the construction of six multi-modal terminals, 10 RORO jetties, ship-repair facilities as well as passenger jetties along the river. It will also help modernise the ageing Farakka lock and add a new lock to allow for smoother passage of boats. The project will also help the Inland Waterways Authority of India acquire a state-of-the-art River Information System as well as navigation aids to make travel on the river safer and more reliable. The US$375 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a 7-year grace period and a maturity of 17 years.
43. Haldia Port of West Bengal has topped the list in the first-ever ranking of the ports on Sanitation Parameters under the Union Ministry of Shipping. The ranking was based on the efforts undertaken by ports to counter waste generating sources with respect to port operation, office area, township area and the response to incoming ships. The ranking of all 13 Indian ports was conducted by the Quality Council of India (QCI) during the 'Swachhta Pakhwada' observed from March 16-31, 2017.
44. India's first industrial-articulated robot "TAL Brabo" has been launched by TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors. It is the first industrial robot to be fully conceptualized, designed & made in India for Micro, Small and Medium Industries (MSME). The indigenously built robot is available in two variants of payloads of 2 kg and 10 kg, priced at Rs. 5 lakh and Rs.7 lakh. It can be used for tasks such as picking and placement of materials, welding, sealant application and vision-based inspection. The robot can be programmed to operate 24/7 and can perform complex operations cost effectively. Apart from the MSME sector, the robot can also be used by large-scale manufacturers.
45. The Haryana government has recently launched 'Operation Durga' campaign to ensure women safety in the state. Under this campaign, 24 teams have been formed by the Chief Minister's Flying Squad. The teams comprise woman personnel, including nine Sub-inspectors of Police, 14 Assistant Sub-inspectors, six Head Constables and 13 constables, besides other police officers from each district. The teams will visit public places such as schools, colleges, bus stands and railway stations and will nab anti-social elements indulging in crimes against women, including eve teasing, vulgar comments, stalking and other similar activities.
46. Justice Gita Mittal has become the acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court (DHC). She has authored many significant judgments and was also instrumental in the establishment of vulnerable witness deposition complexes in Delhi. Her judicial pronouncements include judgments on compensation to riot victims, right to shelter for displaced persons, right to marriage of a woman member of the armed forces, among others. She has also been part of various court committees. She succeeded Chief Justice G. Rohini , who retires on April 13, 2017.
47. The Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has stated that the Habibganj station in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh has been handed over to a private firm to be operated by it. With this, Habibganj station has become the India's first privately-run railway station. The station building will be developed in line with airport terminals. Though, the trains at the station will still be run by the Railways.
48. The Jharkhand Police has recently launched 'Tare Zameen Par programme' to enlighten children in Naxal-affected areas in the Palamau district of Jharkhand. The purpose of the programme is to restore confidence in the state police force and to encourage children to lead happy lives. As a part of the programme, the state police appealed the locals to donate bags, shoes, books and clothes to improve the basic amenities of the children in the Naxal-affected areas.
49. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has won the 2017 Time magazine's readers' poll of the 100 most influential people in the world. Duterte got 5% of the total "yes" votes in the poll, which closed on April 16, 2017. The official TIME 100 list, which is selected by TIME's editors, will be announced on April 20, 2017.
50. The first-ever Nepal-China joint military exercise 'Sagarmatha Friendship-2017' has started at Kathmandu, Nepal from April 17, 2017 with a special focus on counter- terrorism and disaster management. The purpose of 10-day-long military exercise is to exchange experience, skills and professional knowledge between the armies of Nepal and China. It is to be known that Sagarmatha is the Nepali name of Mt Everest that is bordering between Nepal and China.
51. India's oldest and largest Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), IIT Kharagpur will start "Vastu Shastra" classes for architecture students from the next academic session i.e. starting from August 2017. It will be introduced to undergraduate students as part of courses on basic design and history of architecture. At the post-graduate level, concepts of social principles, 9-circuit placements or the nabagraha mandal, sacred altars and design semiotics and semantics will be taught to students. The purpose of this initiative is to explore India's ancient roots in Vastu Shastra. It is a part of the institute's Science and Heritage Initiative (SandHI) which will oversee the curriculum design.
52. The Chief Minister of Manipur , Nongthombam Biren Singh has recently launched two web applications to check corruption and to keep track of government activities. The newly launched web-sites are Anti-Corruption Cell and Digital Application for Review by Public And Nation (DARPAN), which will monitor all government funded projects and ensure transparency and accountability. The purpose of the website DARPAN is to inform the people of the State about various projects being taken up by the Government of Manipur and current status of the projects and check dissemination of fake or incorrect status report by using GPS location verification.
53. Malaysia Airlines will become the world's first airline to track its flights with the help of satellites by 2018. For this, Malaysia Airlines has signed an agreement with Aireon LLC, SITAONAIR and FlightAware LLC that will enable it to monitor its aircraft flight paths in real time anywhere in the world including over the Polar Regions and the most remote oceans. No new avionics or modifications are needed for aircraft to be tracked by the satellites.
54. The International Mother Earth Day (IMED) is observed every year all over the world on April 22 with the message to protect environment. The day is celebrated worldwide to raise awareness among people that they have a collective responsibility to promote harmony with nature and to balance the economic, social and environmental needs of present and future generations. The campaign theme for 2017 is "Environmental and Climate Literacy". The day was proposed at the UNESCO conference in 1969 and the first Earth Day celebrations took place in 1970.
55. The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has offered honourary life membership to Sandhya Agarwal, former captain of the Indian women's Test team. Agarwal is being honoured in recognition of her distinguished service to the game. She has played 13 Tests and 21 ODIs from 1984 to 1995. After her retirement, she continued to contribute to the game as a selector and coach, besides being a member of the BCCI's women's committee. Presently, she is the chairperson of Girl's Under-19 and senior women's team of MPCA. The Marylebone Cricket Club, founded in 1787, has been recognised as the sole authority on the laws of cricket since its foundation.
56. Kasinadhuni Viswanath (87), the renowned actor-director, has been named for the prestigious 2016 Dada Saheb Phalke award for his outstanding contribution to the film industry. He is icon in the film industry and known for classical and traditional art, music and dance. The award will be conferred by President Pranab Mukherjee at a function on May 3 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. With this, Viswanath will become the 48th recipient of the award, the highest recognition in Indian cinema. The award carries a golden lotus, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakhs and a shawl.
57. As per latest annual update of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) military expenditure database, the United States is the largest military spender in the world with an expenditure of $611 billion, followed by China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. India has acquired the 5th position as largest military spender in 2016 with expenditure of $55.9 billion for 2016-17.
58. The 15th edition of Indo-French naval exercise "Varuna" has started at Toulon port on southern France's Mediterranean coast on April 24, 2017 to deepen combat coordination between the two navies. The purpose of current naval exercise is to underscore India's peaceful presence and solidarity with friendly and like-minded countries towards ensuring good order in the maritime domain and to strengthen the existing bonds between India and France. From Indian side, guided missile destroyer INS Mumbai, stealth frigate INS Trishul and fleet tanker INS Aditya are taking part in it, which will continue till April 30, 2017. The ships are part of the Indian Navy's overseas deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and West Coast of Africa and they arrived at Toulon port on southern France's Mediterranean coast.
59. Dileep K Nair, the youngest-ever chancellor of India, has won the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Foundation Kerala State award for the year 2016-17 for excellent performance in the field of education. in Trivendurum, Kerala. Currently, he is the Chancellor of the North East Frontier Technical University NEFTU in Arunachal Pradesh. Nair has around 12 years of experience in various Educational Projects in different parts of the country. He is also the founder of The Automobile Society (India) and The Engineer's Outlook Magazine.
60. Belgium has become the first country to open an honorary consulate office in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). This is in addition to Belgium's embassy in Delhi, two consulates general in Mumbai and Chennai and an honorary consulate in Kolkata. Beside this, Hari Sankaran was nominated as Honorary Consul of the Kingdom of Belgium to the state of Gujarat. Sankaran is the Vice-Chairman and MD of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS). The GIFT city is India's first multi-service SEZ with International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) status which is catering to India's large financial services market by offering global firms world's class infrastructure and facilities.
61. El Salvador has become the first country in the world to ban the mining of metals to protect water sources and the environment. According to the text published on April 27, 2017 in the official journal the law bans prospection, exploration, exploitation, extraction or processing of metallic minerals in El Salvador. The new law entered into force after being signed by President Salvador Sanchez Ceren and will protect poor rural communities threatened by proposed mining projects.
62. Prof. Sankha Ghosh, an eminent Bengali poet and literary critic, has been conferred the 52nd edition of the Jnanpith Award (2016) by President Pranab Mukherjee at a function in New Delhi on April 27, 2017. He was awarded for his outstanding contribution in the field of literature. Excerpt of Ghosh's classic creations are Adim lata -gulmomay, Murkho Baro, Samajik Noy and Baborer Prarthana. With this, Prof. Ghosh has become the 6th Bengali author to win India's highest literary award after Mahasweta Devi, Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, Ashapurna Devi, Subhash Mukhopadhyay and Bishnu Dey.
63. The International Basava Convention (IBC) has been inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on April 29, 2017. To mark the occasion, he launched translated volumes of Vachana, penned by 12th century social reformer Basavanna and other saints in 23 Indian languages The Prime Minister has also released the digital version of the work at the first-ever celebration of Basava Jayanthi at the national level. Vachana is a prosaic form well known in the Kannada literature which propagate values of universal brotherhood. This style of writing was used by Basavanna for spreading social awareness and brings equality in the society in the 12th century. The event also coincides with golden jubilee of Basava Samiti, set up by former Vice President B D Jatti in 1964 with an aim to spread Basavannas message across India. The 23 Vachana volumes, edited by esteemed literary scholar late M M Kalburgi and translated by more than 200 people, was commissioned by the Bengaluru based Basava Samithi at a cost of Rs. 2.5 crore of which, the Karnataka government contributed Rs. 1 crore.
64. India's first electric taxi (e- taxi) trial will be held in Nagpur, Maharashtra from May 24, 2017. For this initiative, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) will provide 200 taxis. The e-taxi is one of the ambitious projects of the Union Government and forms as a part of its United Nations Development Program (UNDP) millennium goals to tackle pollution. The project will be undertaken by Nagpur Municipal Corporation and is the first project of its kind in India.
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