Current Affairs Today: 10 April 2016

The Financial Year 2015-16 has been historic for the Port sector in the country, with 94 MTPA capacity added through 34 capital investment projects which is the highest in major ports history.
•    Kandla became the 1st Major Port to reach 100 Mn Tonne traffic in a year helped by 20% improvement in port efficiency while JNPT became the 1st Major Port to reach Rs. 1,000 Crore of net profit helped by 12% of efficiency improvement. 
•    Paradip Port achieved highest coal loading volumes of 24 Mn Tonne with 30% efficiency improvement. He informed that port efficiency improvement has added 50 MTPA of cargo handling capacity leading to high returns for ports with comparatively low investments.
•    Operating profit margins for Major Ports improved from 27% in FY 2013-14 to 39% in FY 2015-16. The Major Ports have increased their operating profits from Rs. 3593 Crore in 2014-15 to Rs. 4,268 Crore in 2015-16, registering increase of about Rs,. 670 Crore.
•    Efficiency improvement has lowered logistics cost for the trade, creating a estimated benefit of Rs. 400-500 Crore per year and turnaround time has reduced by over 40% in Paradip, Tuticorin and Vizag. Shri Gadkari said projects worth Rs. 72,818 Crore have been awarded for port modernization and new port/ terminal development.
•    The forthcoming Maritime India Summit would be a game changer. port led development has potential for direct employment generation for 40 lakh persons while indirectly for 60 lakh persons.
•    The NSAC also approved the National Perspective Plan on Sagarmala. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers including Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water and Sanitation Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh, Minister of Civil Aviation Sh. P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister of Steel and Mines Sh. Narendra Singh Tomar, MoS for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge) Sh. Prakash Javadekar, MoS for Tourism, Culture (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Odisha Chief Minister Sh. Naveen Patnaik, Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog Sh. Arvind Panagariya, and several state ministers.

Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of the State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy laid the foundation stone for underground cabling work under ‘Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS)’ at Kabir Nagar, Old Kashi Area, Varanasi On 8th April 2016 late evening. 
•    Ministry of Power has sanctioned Rs. 432 crores for the project . The scheme covers conversion of overhead lines to Underground cables, establishment of 2 new 33 Kv Sub-stations and augmentation of 11 nos. existing Sub-stations. 
•    On the occasion, Shri Goyal also launched “Kashi-IPDS Mobile App” for project monitoring of IPDS activities in Old-Kashi in a transparent manner.
•    The App will provide details of plan, progress of various activities, the proposed timelines, area-wise work plan etc. for better information dissemination. 
•    Implementation of the IPDS scheme will help in improving the quality and reliability of power supply in the city apart from giving it an aesthetic look and ensuring safety. 
•    IPDS is a flagship scheme of the Government of India which aims to strengthening the power sub-transmission and distribution network in urban areas across the country and help to ensure 24×7 power for all. 
•    Projects worth Rs 24,838 crore, covering 3486 towns have been approved so far under IPDS of which projects worth Rs. 4722 crore for 247 circles covering 637 towns have been sanctioned for UP.

Mother Teresa was posthumously conferred with the UK's prestigious Founders Award 2016.The award is given to recognise and reward exemplary achievements of people within the global Asian community.
Teresa’s only living relative, her 72-year old niece, Agi Bojazhiu received the award on 8 April 2016.
Teresa, who will be made a saint on 4 September 2016, founded the Missionaries of Charity and spent 45 years serving needy people. She passed away at the age of 87 in Kolkata in 1997.
The Founders Awards recognise and reward exemplary achievement across 14 categories that include business, philanthropy, entertainment, culture and sport. It was launched in 2010 by Paul Sagoo, entrepreneur and founder of the Lemon group.
• Community Service award: Rami Ranger, a leading NRI entrepreneur and philanthropist who contributed 100000 pounds for the Mahatma Gandhi statue.
• Business Leader of the Year award: Prakash Lohia, Chairman and co-founder of Indorama Corporation.
• Outstanding achievement in Television’ award: Kunal Nayyar, actor from the hit American comedy series The Big Bang Theory.
• Outstanding Achievement in Cinema award: Asif Kapadia, he is Oscar and BAFT-winning documentary-maker
• Outstanding achievement in Sports award: Tottenham Hotspurs football star Son Heung-Min of South Korea
• Entrepreneur of the Year award: Anil Agrawal, founder and Executive Chairman of the metal and mining company, Vedanta Resources Corporation.
• Outstanding achievement in Science and Technology: Shuji Nakamura, inventor of the blue LED.
• Social Entrepreneur of the year award: Vikram Patel, the leading mental health researcher of India.

American aerospace company SpaceX on 9 April 2016 achieved the historic feat of successfully launching and landing Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket landed on a drone ship at sea after being launched into space.
•    This was the first time that the company succeeded in landing the rocket in Ocean. The feat was achieved after the company failed to do so in its four previous attempts. This feat also is important because the landing proved that SpaceX can land its rockets both on solid ground and Ocean.
•    This was the second time SpaceX successfully landed one of its rockets post-launch, the first time was on 21 December 2015, when the company's Falcon 9 rocket touched down at a ground-based landing site in Cape Canaveral, Florida, after putting a satellite into space.
•    Falcon 9:
•    Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit.
•    As the first rocket completely developed in the 21st century, Falcon 9 was designed from the ground up for maximum reliability.
•    Falcon 9’s simple two-stage configuration minimizes the number of separation events -- and with nine first-stage engines, it can safely complete its mission even in the event of an engine shutdown.
•    Falcon 9 made history in 2012 when it delivered Dragon into the correct orbit for rendezvous with the International Space Station, making SpaceX the first commercial company ever to visit the station.
•    Since 2012, SpaceX has made a total of three flights to the space station, both delivering and returning cargo for NASA.
•    Falcon 9, along with the Dragon spacecraft, was designed from the outset to deliver humans into space and under an agreement with NASA; SpaceX is actively working toward that goal.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt on 8 April 2016 agreed to build a bridge over the Red Sea. The announced bridge will connect the two countries.
•    The planned bridge would help in boosting commerce between the two allied countries. It will also connect the two continents, Africa and Asia, and result in increasing trade between the two continents to unprecedented levels.
•    The announcement was made by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz after meeting Egyptian President Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi at the President’s Ittahidiya Palace. King Salman, 80-year-old monarch, is on a five-day long visit to Egypt.
•    Egyptian President Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi, who earlier presented the King with the ceremonial Nile Collar, Egypt’s highest honour, said the bridge would be named after the Saudi king as King Salman bin Abdel Aziz Bridge.
•    A Red Sea bridge linking the two countries has been proposed several times before, but has failed to become a reality. The idea of a causeway (bridge) between the two countries had been floated since the 1980s but in the past it never crossed its planning stage.
•    Previous plans for the bridge's route suggested a 32-kilometre span across the Tiran Strait, at the entrance of the Red Sea Gulf of Aqaba, which would allow for a commute between the two countries in just 20 minutes.

Shan-e-Punjab has become the first train in the country to have surveillance cameras as part of the Railways’ initiative to ensure safety of passengers and reduce crime. 
•    As many as 122 CCTV cameras have been installed in 21 coaches of the train, which runs between Amritsar and New Delhi.
•    The facility was inaugurated by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu through video conferencing from New Delhi. In his message, he said, “We promised it in the Budget and today we have fulfilled our promise,” adding passenger’s security was their prime concern.
•    Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi, Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora and senior officials of the Railways were present at the station. 
•    Cameras had been installed at a cost of Rs 36.71 lakh. These have been put up in two sleeper class coaches, three chair car coaches and all 16 non-AC coaches of the train. Four to six cameras have been installed in each bogie.
•    Cameras had been strategically placed so that they did not undermine the privacy of passengers but acted as deterrent for miscreants. 
•    LCD screens to keep an eye on the entire train have been put up inside the guards’ compartment. Parkash said high-definition images of the surveillance system would be helpful in identifying miscreants.

A copy of the first edition of the original ‘First Folio’ authored by William Shakespeare was found at the Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute, off the western coast of Scotland. The edition was first published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare death.
•    The discovery comes ahead of the 400th death anniversary of the playwright. Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616.
•    With this, the number of known surviving copies of the First Folio in the world to 234. Most others are in libraries and accessible only to scholars.
•    It is one of the world’s most sought-after books, which contains 36 of the Bard, 18 of which would otherwise not have been recorded.
•    The goatskin-bound book contains plays like Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, As You Like It and The Tempest among others.
•    The First Folio is worth an estimated 2 to 2.5 million pounds (about 18.8 crore to 23.5 crore rupees) but it is not up for sale. It will be on public display at Mount Stuart until October 2016.
•    The first page of the Folio is an inscription from an 18th century editor of Shakespeare called Isaac Reed, who has described the process that how he acquired the book in 1786. The Folio also includes annotations by Reed that suggest he used it as a working document.

India’s rank remained unchanged at 19th in 2015 in the list of top 30 merchandise exporters of the world, according to a WTO report. China continues to hold the top position in the list.
•    However, India’s ranking among top importers slipped by one notch to 13th in 2015, from 12th in previous year. In imports, the US topped the list.
•    India’s exports dipped by 17.2 per cent to USD 267 billion last year while imports aggregated at USD 392 billion. In 2014, the country’s outbound and inbound shipments aggregated at USD 317 billion and USD 460 billion respectively.Slowdown in the gobal demand hit India’s exports in 2015 and this year too the shipments are in the negative zone.
•    Further, India’s rank remained unchanged at 8th last year among the top 30 leading exporters of commercial services respectively. This list was topped by the US in both exports and imports. In imports, India positioned 10th.In 2015, India’s commercial services exports aggregated at USD 158 billion while imports were USD 126 billion.
•    Indian government has announced a host of incentives with an aim to nearly double goods and services exports to USD 900 billion by 2019-2020.The report said that China registered the highest merchandise trade by value in 2015 with USD 2,275 billion worth of exports.
•    Total world merchandise exports were USD 16,482 billion whereas imports were USD 16,766 billion.“Exports of developed and developing countries should grow at around the same rate in 2016, 2.9 per cent in the former and 2.8 per cent in the latter. Meanwhile, imports of developed economies are expected to outpace those of developing countries in 2016, with a 3.3 per cent rise in the former compared to a 1.8 per cent increase in the latter,” it said.
•    Falling for the 15th month in a row, exports dipped 5.66 per cent in February to USD 20.73 billion due to contraction in shipments of petroleum and engineering goods amid tepid global demand.