GK and Current Affairs Updates

The Maharashtra Government on 18 April 2016 decided to make it mandatory to have a hologram on every alcohol bottle manufactured and sold in the state. The step was taken to check sale of spurious liquor.
•    The Government decided to paste polyester base track and trace hologram, to be supported by a mobile app, which will help consumers find out whether the liquor is fake or genuine.
•    The technique will also help prevent loss of revenue due to cheap liquor being imported into Maharashtra from neighbouring states.
•    The Government is currently developing a free of cost mobile app, which when brought in contact with the hologram, will immediately generate a green or red mark indicating to the buyer whether the liquor, wine, country made liquor, Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) is fake or genuine.
•    If one holds the liquor bottle against the mobile app one will get a green tick mark indicating it is a genuine product. A red tick mark will indicate the product is fake.
•    The decision will be implemented either from 1 July 2016 or 1 August 2016. The decision was taken keeping in mind the last year’s tragedy at Malwani where about 100 people died after consuming spurious liquor.
•    Holography is a photographic technology which records the light scattered from any object, and then projects it in a way that it appears to be three-dimensional.

There are Various types of holograms, including transmission holograms, which allows light to be shined through them and the image to be viewed from the side & another one is rainbow holograms, which are used for security purposes example the one we see on credit cards or driver's licenses

Union Minister for Culture and Tourism and Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma on 18 April 2016 released a Commemorative Coin of 200 rupees and a Circulation Coin of 10 rupees to mark the Martyrdom Day of Tatya Tope.

The Union Ministry of Culture has been celebrating the 200th Birth Anniversary of Tatya Tope during 2015-16 in association with State Government of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh respectively. 
Maharashtra Government organised a three day Mahotsav named ShauryaMahotsav from 26 February 2016.
• Originally known as Ramachandra Pandurang Tope, he was one of the most outstanding leaders of India’s First War of Independence in 1857.
• He was a Maratha Brahman in the service of the former Peshwa ruler of the Maratha confederacy, Baji Rao and his adopted son Nana Sahib. 
• In 1851, when Lord Dalhousie deprived Nana Saheb of his father's pension, Tatya Tope along with Nana Saheb became a sworn enemy of the British.
• In 1857, he led a revolt against British forces along with Jhansi ki Rani and Nana Sahib and gave his important contribution in the First War of Independence (1857-58).
• However, he was captured by the British Forces in April 1859.
• After a hurried trial for waging war against the East India Company, he was hanged to death on 18 April 1859 at Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh by British Forces.

Senior IPS officer Deepak Mishra has been appointed as Additional Director General in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). 
•    His appointment was cleared by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).  He will have tenure till November 2018 with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post. 
•    Deepak Mishra is IPS officer of the 1984 batch of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre. 
•    About Central Reserve Police Force (CRFP) CRPF is the largest statutory Central Armed Police Forces in India. It functions and operates under the aegis of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). 
•    It was established in 1939, under Crown Representative’s Police but after independence it was made statutory Central Reserve Police Force after the enactment of the CRPF Act, 1949. 
•    At present CRPF is the world’s largest paramilitary force with 228 battalions and over three lakh personnel. 
•    Its primary role is to assist States/Union Territories (UTs) in police operations to maintain law and order and contain insurgency.
•    Director General of BSF is K.K.Sharma
•    Director Genral of ITBP is Krishna Chaudhary

 The Union Minister for Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi inaugurated the Regional Conference of North Eastern States on Child Adoption in Shillong, Meghalaya on 18th April 2016. The Conference was organized by the Central Adoption Resource Authority(CARA) of the WCD Ministry. 
•    Ministers In-charge of Social Welfare and Women & Child Development in the North Eastern States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura participated in the conference. 
•    Addressing the Conference, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi said that children are the most vulnerable of human beings and their issues need to be looked into with empathy. It is due to this reason that the adoption reform was the first initiative taken up by the WCD Ministry after the new Government took charge, the Minister explained. 
•    Smt Maneka Gandhi said that this reform process has culminated in the enactment of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. The new Act lays down timelines for the Child Welfare Committees and Adoption Agencies for various stages of adoption. The Act provides for mandatory registration of Childcare Institutions and linkage with CARA, so that each child becomes ‘adoptable’. The Minister warned that a stringent penalty is provided in Law in case of non-compliance. 
•    Smt Maneka Gandhi advised the adoption agencies to bring children with the agency to adoptable stage immediately. Secondly it must be ensured that the medical reports and home study reports are complete and comprehensive. 
•    She also suggested them to use the facility of foster care for children who have crossed the maximum age limit for adoption and also asked them to remain alert regarding trafficking of children. 
•    The WCD Minister highlighted the steps being taken to prevent crimes against women and their empowerment like special Mahila Police Volunteer schemes and panic button in Cell phones. 
•    Smt Maneka Gandhi urged that the women and other women Self Help Groups of the North East to make use of the Digital Marketing Portal, Mahil E-Haat of WCD Ministry to market their beautiful products and have direct linkage with the prospective buyers. 
•    About 400 delegates attended the Conference, including the stakeholders from the State Adoption Resource Agencies (SARAs), District Child Protection Units (DCPUs), Child Welfare Committees (CWCs), Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAAs) and Child Care Institutions (CCIs) in the North Eastern States, besides the senior officers from the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) and the concerned Department of the State Governments in the region. 
•    The conference was organised with a view to familiarize the stakeholders involved in the adoption process in North Eastern States about the provisions relating to adoption under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and orient them about the provisions of Adoption Guidelines - 2015 as well as the online adoption process through Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS). 

The Mumbai Press Club on 15th April 2016 selected T N Ninan, Chairman and Editorial Director of Business Standard, for  2016 'RedInk Award for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism'.
•    The award will be presented to Ninan by the Governor of Maharashtra C Vidyasagar Rao on April 26 here.
•    The Award recognises Ninan's extensive contribution to business journalism through good editorial leadership which he provided over the years to a host of publications, says a release issued here by the Mumbai Press Club.
•    The 'RedInk Journalist of the Year' Award would be given to NDTV India's senior Executive Editor Ravish Kumar for his consistent and good reporting on politics and issues that concern the common man.
•    The RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism are given in 10 categories for meritorious work in TV, print and digital formats. The categories are Politics, Crime, Health & Wellness, Business, Environment, Human Rights, Photography, Science & Innovation, Entertainment & Lifestyle and Sports.
•    The selection of winners was made by eminent people from various walks of life including Justice (retd) B N Srikrishna for Human Rights, Shobha De for Entertainment & Lifestyle, SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya for Business, Harsha Bhogle for Sports and Sudheendra Kulkarni for Politics.
•    Nearly 1,500 entries and nominations were received this year, up from 800 last year. The judging process for these 10 categories will be completed by April 16, the release added.
•    At a time when journalists are under severe threat of violence and pressures from vested interests and "hashtag writing", the theme for the RedInk Awards-2016 is 'To Rise Above All', the release said.
•    The Awards will be presented at a function at JamshedBhaba Hall, NCPA, here on April 26.

•    In the past, doyens of journalism including Vinod Mehta, KuldipNayar, N Ram, MrinalPande and (last year) Dr Prannoy Roy have been honoured with the 'RedInk Award for Lifetime Achievement'.

Tennis reigned supreme at the 2016 Laureus World Sports Awards in Berlin, with Novak Djokovic winning the World Sportsman of the Year Award while Serena Williams won the Female Sportsperson of the Year Award. 
•    This is the third time Djokovic is winning the award, having picked it up in 2012 and 2015. This is the second successive year that he is winning the award after clinching three grand slams - the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open last year.
•    The 28-year-old, who pipped athlete Usain Bolt and football superstar Lionel Messi to the award, dedicated his win to Formula One legend Nicki Lauda and late footballer Johan Cryuff.
•    Williams won her third Sportswoman of the Year Award after getting nominated a record 10 times. Like Djokovic, the 34-year-old too won three Grand Slams last year.
•    Three-time Formula One World Champion Lauda was presented with the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award while the late Dutch football legend Cryuff who passed away last month due to cancer, was honoured with the Laureus Spirit of Sport Award which was collected by his son Jordi Cryuff.
•    The list of winners at the 2016 Laureus World Sports Awards:
•    Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award: Novak Djokovic (Tennis)
•    Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award: Serena Williams (Tennis)
•    Laureus World Team of the Year Award: All Blacks, New Zealand (Rugby)
•    Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award: Jordan Spieth (Golf)
•    Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award: Dan Carter (Rugby)
•    Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Daniel Dias (Swimming)
•    Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Jan Frodeno (Ironman Triathlon)
•    Boxer Tyson Fury claims WladimirKlitschko lost his World Heavyweight title clash on purpose
•    David Beckham and Rory McIlroy named in Sunday Times top 10 list of most generous celebrities
•    Boris Becker slams Andy Murray over his remarks on doping in tennis

The Russian military test-fired a nuclear-capable short-range Iskander M cruise missile as part of its drills in the country’s southern Astrakhan region.
•    The cruise missile was lanched from Kapustin Yar missile test range on Friday (April 15) and a video of the launch was released by Russia’s Defense Ministry on Monday (April 18).
•    The video shows the missile’s launch and the strike of its target, a site the ministry said was some 200 kilometers from the launch position.
•    The ministry said the site simulated an underground enemy command point.
•    Iskander-M is a variant of the Russian tactical missile system designated SS-26 Stone by NATO. 
•    It can fire two types of missiles, the quasi-ballistic 9M723 and the cruise 9M728. Both types can maneuver quickly on their flight path to make interception by enemy anti-missile weapons more challenging.
•    Earlier India on 14th march 2016 successfully test-fired its indigenously built nuclear-capable intermediate range Agni-I ballistic missile, capable of hitting a target 700 kms away, from a test range off Odisha coast as part of a user trial by the Army.

India on 19 April 206 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mauritius on cooperation in the field of traditional system of medicine and Homoeopathy.
The MoU was signed during the Union Minster of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge) and Health and Family Welfare, Shripad Yesso Naik’s visit to Mauritius.
• The MoU envisages exchange of experts, supply of traditional medicinal substances, joint research and development and recognition of the traditional systems of health and medicine in both countries.
• It also aims at promotion and popularization of the various Indian traditional systems which fall under AYUSH.
• The MoU with Mauritius is part of the Ministry AYUSH’s mandate to propagate Indian systems of medicine globally. It has entered into similar MoUs with China, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, Hungary, Bangladesh and Nepal.
India and Mauritius share several cultural, historical, linguistic and literary similarities, traditional medicine including medicinal plants are promising areas which need to be further explored and can prove to be mutually beneficial to the people of the two countries.
The government of Mauritius also has a long history of traditional medicine in common with India and both countries share a common culture with respect to the ayurvedic system of medicine.
Moreover, there are a large number of medicinal plants, particularly those found in the tropical region and are common to the two countries given similar geo-climatic factors.

Union Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Minister of State(IC) Piyush Goyal on 18 April 2016 released Report of the Technical Committee on Large Scale Integration of Renewable Energy, Need for Balancing, Deviation Settlement Mechanism (DSM) and associated issues in New Delhi.
He also launched Ancillary Services Operations in India.
 
• India has set an ambitious target of achieving 175 GW of renewable generation capacity.
• In order to integrate such high penetration of renewable energy and address the concerns of the stakeholders in renewable energy, a high level Technical Committee was constituted with members from Ministry of Power, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), Central Electricity Authority (CEA), renewable rich states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Power Utilities like PGCIL, Power System operation Corporation Ltd. (POSOCO), NTPC, State Generating companies and Private generating companies and Institutions like India Meteorological department (IMD), National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), GIZ, Ernst & Young (E&Y), etc.
• The committee had extensive deliberations and has recommended several actions, such as bringing flexibility in the conventional generation, frequency control, generation reserves, ancillary services, forecasting, scheduling, deviation settlement mechanism, balancing requirement, data telemetry and communication, Renewable Energy Management Centres (REMCs), Transmission system augmentation and strengthening as well as certain compliance actions at renewable generation front.
• The Committee recommended a 15 point Action Plan for facilitating large scale integration of renewables in the country, in a secure and reliable manner.
• Some of the actions have been completed with active support of CERC, State Energy Regulatory Commission (SERC), NIWE and other stake holders.
• Regulatory Framework for Intra-State Settlement and Imbalance Handling has already been implemented in 5 states.
• For Model Regulations for Regulatory Framework for Forecasting, Scheduling and Imbalance Settlement for Renewable Energy (RE) generators have been published in November 2015 and Draft regulations have already been floated by 6 States.
• Other States are in the process of formulation. Regulatory Framework for Reserves at inter-state level have been issued in October 2015.
• Ministry of Power (MOP), MNRE, GIZ, POSOCO and States are working together to prepare the DPR for implementation of Renewable Energy Management Centres (REMCs). DPR for Southern States and Southern Regional Load Despatch Centre (SRLDC) is under finalisation and combined NIT would be floated soon.
• CEA as Planners would specify Technical Standards and Protection Requirements for Renewables. Focus has also been given on Capacity Building of State Load Despatch Centres (SLDCs) particularly in RE Rich States.
• Report also talks about the Newer Technologies say Micro-Grids, Demand Response, Prosumers, Electricity Storage, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles etc.
• Thus all the recommendations aim at making the grid secure and reliable even with large scale integration of renewables.
• In an electricity grid, the basic services are power generation, energy supply and power delivery from the producer to the consumer.
• Some system support services such as frequency and voltage control are required for secure and reliable grid operation.
• These support services are known as Ancillary Services and are basically procured and pressed into service by the System Operator.
• Amendment to the Tariff policy has also been notified, which mandates implementation of Ancillary Services.
• The Regulatory framework for implementation of Ancillary Services Operations has been notified by CERC. National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) operated by POSOCO has been designated as Nodal agency for implementation of Ancillary Services.
• It is being implemented for the first time in the country and would help in better grid management even with large scale renewable generation addition in the grid.
• The initiative undertaken by the committee would not only lead to smooth and secure grid operation with large scale integration of renewable but is also environment friendly and would help in fulfilling our commitment to green and clean environment.
• It would reduce the carbon foot print and help in meeting our commitment towards reduction in carbon emission.

German Formula 1 Mercedes Driver Nico Rosberg on 17 April 2016 won 2016 Formula 1 Pirelli Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai International Circuit.
With this, he made a hat-trick by winning all three Grand Prix that were held in 2016. The other Grand Prix include 2016 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix and 2016 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany stood second and Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat secured 3rd place where as Lewis Hamilton finished at seven.
top 10 finishers in 2016 Chinese Grand Prix
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
3. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
6. Felipe Massa, Williams
7. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
8. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso
9. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso
10. Valtteri Bottas, Williams
•    It was designed as the race circuit for the new millennium and the modern track, with its stunning architecture. It achieved its goal of becoming China's gateway to the world of Formula One racing since its debut in 2004.
•    The 5.4 kilometre racing track is shaped like the Chinese character shang, which stands for high or above. Hermann Tilke and Peter Wahl were the architects of the Circuit.
•    Other symbols represented in the architecture originate from Chinese history, such as the team buildings arranged like pavilions in a lake to resemble the ancient Yuyan-Garden in Shanghai.