CHRONICLE APRIL 2018

Jacob Gedileyihlekisa Zuma

·         The fourth President of South Africa Jacob Zuma who held the post since 2009 resigned from his post on February 15 facing a motion of no confidence in Parliament following corruption allegations.

 

Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh

·         Indian princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh on February 6 was honoured by the Royal Mail of the UK, which marked the centenary of the Sufragette movement with eight special stamps.

 

Khaleda Zia

·         Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader and three-time Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was jailed for five years after being found guilty in a corruption case by a Special Judge's Court in Dhaka.

 

Krishna Kumari

·         Human Rights activist Krishna Kumari is the second Hindu woman to be elected as a Senator in Pakistan.

·         The Pakistan Senate has had only one female Hindu member, Ratna Bhagwandas Chawla from the PPP. until now.

·         Ms. Kumari is also the first Hindu woman belonging to a Scheduled Caste. Ms. Chawla represented the province of Sindh from 2006 to 2012, and represents Sidh.

 

Avani Chaturvedi

·         Flying officer Avani Chaturvedi has become the first Indian woman to fly a fighter aircraft solo.

·         She flew a MiG-21 bison in her first solo sortie from IAF's Jamnagar base in Gujarat.

 

K.P. Sharma Oli

·         KP Sharma Oli was on February 15 sworn in as Nepal's prime minister for the second time.

 

Cyril Ramaphosa

·         Cyril Ramphosa has become the new President of South Africa after the resignation of Jacob Zuma amid long-standing corruption allegations.

 

Chandrashekar Kambar 

·         Kannada litterateur and Jnanpith recipient Chandrashekar Kambar has been elected President of the Sahitya Akademi.

 

Indra Nooyi

·         Pepsico Chairman Indra Nooyi has been named as the first independent female director of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

 

Neelam Kapur

·         Ms. Neelam Kapur has taken over as Director General, Sports Authority of India.

 

Abhilasha Kumari

·         Abhilasha Kumari has become the first women Chief Justice of the Minipur High Court.

 

Abdul Hamid

·         Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid has been re-elected for a second term.

 

Kunwar Bai Yadav

·         The mascot of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Kunwar Bai Yadav has passed away.

 

·         Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on February 10 conferred the Grand Collar of the State of Palestine, the highest Palestinian hounour for foreign dignitaries, in recognition of his contributions to promoting relations between India and Palestine.   

 

GOLDEN MAN BOOKER PRIZE

·         It is a special award announced as a part of the 50^th anniversary celebrations of Man Booker Prize for Fiction (first awarded in 1969).

·         The awardee will be selected from the past winners. There are 51 books in contention.

·         If will be judged by five judges and then voted for by the public.

 

Indian in contention

·         Salman Rushdie: Midnight's Children (1981)

·         VS Naipaul: In a Free State (1971)

·         Arundhati Roy: The God of Small Things (1997)

·         Kiran Desai: The Inheritance of Loss (2006)

·         Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger

Note:

 

·         Man Booker Prize for Fiction is awarded for best original novel. Written in the England language, and published in the UK.

·         Man Booker International Prize is awarded for best book in English translation.    

 

Oscars 2018

·          The 90^th Academy Awards, or the Oscars, was given away at the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, California, USA. It is presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for excellence in cinematic achievements.    

Major Awards

·         Best Picture: "The Shape of Water"

·         Best Director: Guillermo del Toro, "The Shape of Water"

·         Best Actor: Gray Oldman, "Darkest Hour"

·         Best Actress: Frances McDormand, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"

·         Best Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"

·         Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney, "I, Tonya"

·         Best Foreign Language Film: "A Fantastic Woman"

·         Best Animated Feature: "Coco"

·         Best Score: "The Shape of Water"

 

SCO Summit 2018

·         This year's summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will be held in the city of Qingdao, China in June.

 

WSDS 2018

·         The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS)-2018 was held in New Delhi.

·         The theme of the 2018 edition was 'Partnerships for a Resilient Planet'.

 

·         India, a country that ranks third from the bottom in the global Environmental Performance Index, will host the World Environment Day this years, on June 5.

 

·         Announcement to this effect was made by the UN on February 19.

 

·         "Best Plastic Pollution" is the theme of the World Environment Day this year.

 

·         This Perils of Being Moderately Famous: Soha Ali Khan

 

·         A Century is Not Enough: Soarav Ganguly

 

Mission Buniyaad'

·         It is an initiative by Delhi Government to ensure that students studying in primary schools in the Capital develop age-appropriate and class-appropriate reading and maths skills.

 

Mauritius Drags India to ICJ

·         The Mauritius government has dragged India to the International Court of Justice for arbitration in the InduTech Zone Investments case.

·         InduTech Zone IT SEZ has failed to take off after CBI chargesheeted Andhra opposition leader Jagan Mohan Reddy in the scam involving the land earmarked for the purpose.  

 

Space X's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets are named after Han Solo's ride in Star Wars, the Millennium Falcon (founder Elon Mark).

 

India signed a key pact with Oman on February 12 that allows her military vessels to use the strategically located Duqum port and dry dock.

 

Strategic Importance of the Port

·         The Duqm port on the southeastern coast of Oman, opening into the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, is strategic to India because to its north is the Chabahar port in Iran.

 

Tanzania Withdraws from UN Refugee Programme  

·         Tanzanian President John Magufuli had announced that his country will pull out of the UN's "comprehensive refugee response framework", which provides lasting solutions for refugees, including integration into host communities.

 

·         It was in the news as the Union Budget 2018-19 re-introduced LTCG tax on equity shares.

 

·         Investors have to pay 10% LTCG tax on gains exceeding Rs one lakh on the sale of shares or equity mutual funds held for more than one year.

 

·         State-owned lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) on February 15 informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it had detected fraudulent transactions worth $ 1,771.7 million (over Rs 11,000 crore) in its mid-corporate branch at Brady House, South Mumbai.

 

·         LoUs are conveyed from bank to bank through Society for Wordwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) instructions, which pass through a triple layer of checks.   

 

BHARAT 22

·         The Government in August 2017, announced a new Exchange Traded (ETF) by the name BHARAT 22.

·         Bharat 22 consists of 22 stocks of CPSE's, PSB's & strategic holding of SUUTI.

·         Compared to energy heavy CPSE ETF, Bharat 22 is a well-diversified portfolio with 6 sectors (Basic Materials, Energy, Finance, FMCG, Industrials & Utilities).

·         The Bharat 22 Index will be rebalanced annually.

·         ICICI Prudential AMC will be the ETF Manager and Asia Index Private Limited (JV BSE and S & P Global) will be the Index Provider.   

 

CPSE ETF

·         The CPSE ETF was launched in March 2014 for raising funds through disinvestment of government's share in public sector undertakings.

 

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

·         The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on February 7 approved the enhancement of the target of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) from five crore to eight crore with an additional allocation of Rs 4,800 crore. The revised target will be achieved by 2020.

 

·         PMUY seeks to seeks to safeguard the health of women and children by providing them with LPG as a clean cooking fuel.