1. World Asthma day observed today
i. Today is World Asthma Day. It is observed by the Global Initiative for
Asthma, GINA every year the first Tuesday of May. This year’s central theme is You
Can Control Your Asthma.
ii. According to the World Health Organisation, WHO there are about 300
million people suffering from asthma across the globe.
iii. About 60,000 people die of asthma in India every year. Asthma is a lung
disorder that obstructs breathing and the patient experiences chronic inflammation
leading to narrowing of the airway that causes recurrent asthma attacks.
iv. It is also one of the most common non-communicable diseases among
children and remains highly un-diagnosed and un-treated. The exact cause of
asthma is still undiscovered however in most cases it is linked to hereditary
as well as environmental factors.
2. PAN mandatory for central excise registration
i. Now Permanent Account Number, PAN has been made mandatory for private
firms seeking central excise registration. However the government departments
are exempted from the requirement of quoting PAN in their online application.
It said, applicants other than government departments shall not be granted
registration in the absence of PAN.
ii. According to the Finance Ministry order said, applicants seeking
registration shall mandatorily quote PAN of the proprietor or the legal entity
being registered in the application form.
iii. As per the rules, the registration will now be given within two
days of filing online applications to improve the ease in doing business in
manufacturing.
iv. Applicant shall also quote his e-mail address and mobile number in
the application form for communication with the department.
v. Under the new procedure, once duly completed application form is
received online, registration would be granted within two working days and
issued online without any examination of the documents and verification of
documents or premises before the grant of registration.
3. Jonathan
Trott announced retirement from International cricket
i. England batsman Jonathan Trott has announced
his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect after a disappointing
tour of the West Indies.
ii. Trott only returned to the England side last
month following an extended break from the game due to a stress-related illness
but scored a meagre 72 runs, including three ducks, at an average of just 12 in
the three-test series against West Indies.
4. BHEL commissions Bijlee Utpadan’s thermal
unit in Muzaffarpur
i. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited , BHEL, has commissioned a thermal unit
of Kanti Bijlee Utpadan Nigam Limited , KBUNL, in Muzaffarpur, Bihar.
ii. BHEL said, this is the first 195 MW unit to be commissioned by it. The
second 195 MW unit is expected to be commissioned in the current financial
year, the statement added.
5. Army emerge champions in Federation Cup
i. The Indian Army team have emerged champions in the 19th Federation Cup
national senior athletic championships.
ii. At Mangaluru, Karnataka, today, they scored 123.5 points at the end of
the four-day event. The Tamil Nadu team came second by securing 114 points.
iii. Kerala claimed the overall championship in the women’s category with 86
points. They were followed by Karnataka with 68 points.
iv. The best athlete award in the championship in the men’s category was
won by Inderjeet Singh of team Haryana for his stupendous toss in the shot put
event, which helped him qualify for the Rio Olympics in 2016.
v. Srabani Nanda from Odisha was selected as the best athlete in the
women’s category for the agility she displayed in the 100 metre event.
6. NTPC signed
agreement with Jharkhand for Patratu power unit
i. NTPC has signed a pact with Jharkhand
government for setting up a 4,000 MW power plant in the state.
ii. The power producer would establish a joint
venture with Jharkhand Bidyut Vitaran Nigam Ltd for the project as well as for
reviving the Patratu Thermal Power Station (PTPS) in Jharkhand. In the JV, NTPC
would have 74 per cent stake.
iii. The state government will become a partner
in this project without investing any additional
7. Floyd Mayweather Jr defeats Manny Pacquiao
i. American
boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Manny Pacquiao from Philippines on a
unanimous decision to win the unified World Welterweight title of World Boxing
Council, World Boxing Organisation and World Boxing Association.
ii. Mayweather Jr. had Judges Scores of 118-110,
116-112 and 116-112.
iii. The legendary bout termed as
‘Fight of the Century’, took place at iconic MGM Grand, Las Vegas and witnessed
12 rounds of intense boxing.
iv. In the end it was Mayweather Jr. who
continued his undefeated streak to 48 to Nothing (48-0). In initial rounds
Pacquiao won the little battles and was surging ahead but Mayweather Jr. took
advantage of his long reach and accurate punches to be well ahead on the
judge’s scorecard.
v. This fight was the highest
watched and most revenue generating almost 400 million dollars of all time.
8. Future Retail & Bharti Retail merge with each other
i. Future Retail and Bharti group’s Bharti Retail will be
merged with each other. Future Retail will host the retail ops of both
the companies; Future Enterprises will host the infrastructure, investments and
assets.
ii. The merger will happen in two ways. The retail business of
Future Retail will be demerged into Bharti Retail and the retail infrastructure
business of Bharti will be demerged into Future Retail, Future Retail
said in a statement.
iii. The Future group has three main entities, Future
Retail that runs hypermarkets and supermarkets, Future Lifestyle Fashions, and
Future Consumer Enterprise, which acquired the Nilgiris chain in the south from
private equity firm Actis for Rs 300 crore. Bharti Retail runs 15 Easyday
hypermarkets and 200 supermarkets.
iv. The
first entity, to be known as Future Retail Limited post the demerger, will host
the retail operations of both the entities.
v. The second entity, to be known as Future Enterprises
post he demerger will host the infrastructure, investments and
assets of both the companies.
vi. The combined entity will have over 570 retail stores
in 243 cities with operational retail space of over 18.5 million square feet.
vii. It will operate 203 Big Bazaar and ‘easyday’
hypermarkets, 197 Food Bazaar and ‘easyday’ supermarkets, and 171 other stores
comprising of Home Town, eZone, FBB and Foodhall.
viii. Future
Retail is owned by Kishore Biyani and Bharti Retail is owned by Rajan Bharti
Mittal.
9. Japan’s highest civilian award conferred on CNR
Rao
i. Japan’s highest civilian award conferred on the eminent
scientist C N R Rao, for his outstanding contributions to science and
Indo-Japanese science coperation.
ii. The
Emperor of Japan conferred the country’s highest award, the Order of the Rising
Sun, Gold and Silver Star, on the C N R Rao (Bharat Ratna awardee), a release
by Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research said.
iii. CN Rao is also the only Indian
to be elected as a foreign member of the Japan Academy in Jawaharlal Nehru
Centre for Advanced Scientific Research.
iv. CN Rao is a National Research
Professor, Linus Pauling Research Professor and Honorary President of the
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research here.
10. India & Japan join hands to crack down on cybercrime
i. India and Japan
join hands to tackle cybercriminals in internet espionage, cyberterrorism and
stealing personal as well as critical data.
ii. The
major area of focus was technologies that can help in securing the flow of
information on the Internet as well as protect critical government data on
cloud. India has also asked Japan to help it with technologies that can check
hackers and network intrusions, the source added.
11. Veteran Congress leader, Baleshwar Ram passed away
i. Veteran
Congress leader and Former Union minister Baleshwar Ram passed away due to
kidney-related ailments in Patna, Bihar. He was 87.
ii. Since
1952 he had served as MLA for five-term from various assembly constituencies in
Bihar.
12. Renowned crime writer Ruth Rendell passed away
i. Renowned
crime writer Ruth Rendell passed away in London, United Kingdom. She was 85.
ii. She
was best-known for creation of fictional character Inspector Wexford, which was
turned into a highly successful TV series in Britain.
13. Philip S. Goodman, television and stage writer passed away
i. Philip
S. Goodman an American film, television
and stage writer, producer and director passed away in New York, United States.
ii. He
was best known for directing the drama film We Shall Return (1963), which
starred Cesar Romero.
iii. He had written for numerous television series of the 1950s and 1960s
such as Profiles in Courage, Rocky King Detective, Alfred Hitchcock Presents,
and Johnny Staccato. He also had directed plays at the Actors Studio.
14. Mazen
Darwish conferred with Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2015
i. Syrian journalist and rights activist Mazen Darwish was conferred with UNESCO-Guillermo
Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2015.
ii. The
award was given by the UN’s Cultural body for recognition of his work carried
out in Syria for more than 10 years at great personal sacrifice, harassment,
enduring a travel ban, as well as repeated detention and torture.
iii. Currently
he has been jailed by the Bashar al-Assad’s regime. He was arrested in February
2012 along with his colleagues Hani Zaitani and Hussein Ghreir at the Syrian
Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression. All of them are accused of
promoting terrorist acts.
About the
award
i. The award was annually given on the occasion of World Press
Freedom day by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO).
ii. The award
was named in honour of a Colombian journalist Guillermo Cano Isaza, who was
assassinated in front of the offices of his newspaper, El Espectador, in Bogota
in 1986.
15. World Press Freedom day
celebrated
i. World Press Freedom day was celebrated every
year on 3rd May.
ii. The
day which celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate
press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their
independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the
exercise of their profession.
iii. The international day was
proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 following a Recommendation
adopted at the 26th Session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991.
16. Railway girls clinch National Hockey C’ship
title
i. Railway
Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) had defeated Jharkhand by 12 – 2 and won the 5th
National women hockey championship title.
ii. Earlier for the third spot, Hockey Punjab
beat Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy by 2-0. Hardeep Kaur and Reena Rani scored
for the Punjab team.
17. Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey passed away
i. David Goldberg, CEO
of SurveyMonkey a popular Silicon Valley executive passed away.
ii. He is the husband of Facebook
second-in-command and “Lean In” author Sheryl Sandberg.
iii. Goldberg was CEO of online survey
questionnaire provider SurveyMonkey. He died Friday night, the company said in
a statement on its website.
18. Parag Parikh dies in car accident
i. Parag Parikh, well-known
investor and portfolio advisor, was killed in a car accident in Omaha,
Nebraska, US, on Sunday.
ii. Parag Parikh, 61, of
Mumbai, India, was pronounced dead at the Nebraska Medical Center and his wife,
Geeta Parikh, 59, was hospitalised in critical condition with head and chest
injuries.
iii. The couple was in the US
to attend the Warren Buffett-controlled Berkshire Hathaway’s annual
shareholders meeting on Sunday.
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