GK and Current Affairs Updates

In order to build an inclusive society, wherein members of Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes can lead   productive, safe and dignified lives with adequate support for their growth and development, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is implementing various schemes. These schemes aim economic, educational and social empowerment of these target groups.
 
•    To enable Scheduled Caste students to complete their education at post matriculation or post-secondary stage, Department of Social justice & Empowerment provides financial assistance in the form of post matric scholarship. SC boys and girls studying in middle, school higher secondary schools, colleges and universities are also given assistance for hostel facilities.
•    The Government also provides financial assistance to scheduled Caste students for pursing research studies leading to M. Phil., Ph.D. and equivalent research degree in universities, research institutions and scientific institution. Not only that selected Scheduled Caste are also given National Overseas Scholarship for pursing higher studies of Master level courses and Ph.D.  programmes abroad in specified fields of study.
•    During 2014-15 and 2015-16,Departmentof Social welfare and Empowerment Also, disbursed scholarships worth approximately Rs.7,465 crore under the various Schemes, e.g., Pre-matric, Post-matric, National Overseas, National Fellowship and Dr. Ambedkar Post-matric Scholarship for EBC, being run for students belonging to Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Classes, Economically Backward Classes etc. The scholarships benefitted approximately 3, 30, 64,900 students.
•    Rs. 38,832 crore has been allocated to SC Sub plan during current fiscal year to provide 100% grant to the States/UTs, as an additive to their Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP).  The main objective is to give a thrust to family oriented schemes of economic development of SCs below the poverty line.
•    Also, the Government has decided to provide financial assistance to 2.5 lakh Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Women Entrepreneurs under the Stand Up India Campaign.
•    Some of the other measures for Economic Empowerment of these targeted groups include:
•    Hubs are being created for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Entrepreneurs at a cost of Rs.500 crore.
•    Under the Mudra Yojana, 3.22 crore loans have been disbursed out of which 72.89 lakh loans have been disbursed to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe, Entrepreneurs.
•    The Government of India and PSUs have special provision for purchasing goods from Micro and Small Scale Industries. They have been asked to purchase at least 4% from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Entrepreneurs, which will be intensively followed up.
•    Under the Scheme of Venture Capital Fund, 36 proposals worth Rs.135.91 crore have been approved for Scheduled Caste Entrepreneurs. Rs.64.86 crore have been disbursed also.
•    The National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation has imparted motor driving training to 250 women, working as Safai Karmacharis or their dependent,  out of which 60 women have got employment.
•    The authorized share capital of NSFDC has been increased from Rs.1000 crore to Rs.1500 crore to provide loans to SCs for taking up self-employment.
•    First ever the National Conference of Dalit Entrepreneurs organized by the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi on 29th December, 2015to discuss special need of these entrepreneurs.

Kobe Bryant hailed LA Lakers 'greatest ever player' as he retires after 20-year NBA career.
Bryant, 37, pulled on the purple and gold for the final time as he took to the court against against the Utah Jazz in Los Angeles
Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978) is an American retired professional basketball player. 
•    He played his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He entered the NBA directly from high school and won five NBA championships with the Lakers. 
•    Bryant is an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. He led the NBA in scoring during two seasons, and ranks third on both the league's all-time regular season scoring and all-time postseason scoring lists. 
•    After beginning his 20th season with the Lakers in 2015–16, which set an NBA record for the most seasons with the same team, Bryant announced that he would retire after the season.
•    The son of former NBA player Joe Bryant, Kobe Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country. 
•    He declared for the NBA draft upon graduation, and was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets, who traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers. As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, and he was named an All-Star by his second season. Despite a feud between them, Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002.

Manny Pacquiaoon 9th April 2016 rebounded from the biggest defeat of his career with a poised performance on 9th April 2016 night in Las Vegas, flooring Timothy Bradley twice on his way to a unanimous 12-round decision in their trilogy welterweight fight.
•    He announced his retirement after the match.
•    Pacquiao was returning to the ring following surgery on the rotator cuff on his right shoulder which kept him out for almost a year after losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr in their $700 million extravaganza last May. 
•    He showed an adroitness in his boxing skills in a chess match against Bradley, outthinking the American to put him down twice, in the seventh and ninth rounds.
•    All three ringside judges scored the fight 116-110 to the Filipino, who, if this is to be the 37-year-old's last walk to a prize-fighting ring, finishes with a record of 58 wins, six losses and two draws. It was Bradley's second defeat in his 36-fight career, having been bettered twice only at the hands of Pacquiao.
•    Rising through eight weight divisions in his 21-year career, Pacquiao became one of the greatest pay-per-view draws in the sport, having headlined 22 pay-per-view fights, generating more than 18 million buys and $1.2 billion in television revenue from fight sales, and an estimated $300 million in career earnings.
•    Pacquiao landed 122 of 439 punches to 99 from 302 for Bradley.

Iconic Indian woman boxer Mary Kom has been named as the International Boxing Association (AIBA) ambassador for Women’s World Championship. 
•    She is one of the eight ambassadors for the upcoming World Championship of AIBA scheduled from May 19 to 27, 2016 in Astana, Kazakhstan. 
•    The AIBA-appointed ambassadors for the World Championship also include Nicola Adams (Great Britain), Marlen Esparza (US), Adriana Arauja (Kazakhstan), StanimiraPetrova (Bulgaria) and Khadija Mardi (Morocco). 
•    The female officials chosen as ambassadors are KheiraSikiYakoub (Algerian) and Jennifer Huggins (Canada). 
•    About MC Mary Kom Her full name is MangteChungneijang Mary Kom and belongs to Kom tribal community of the north-eastern state of Manipur. She is nicknamed Magnificent Mary. 
•    She is Five-time World Boxing champion, and the only woman boxer to have won gold medal in each one of the six world championships. 
•    She had won a bronze medal in 2012 London Olympics in the flyweight (51 kg) category and was only Indian woman boxer to qualify for this category. 
•    She is also first Indian woman boxer to get a Gold Medal in the 2014 Asian Games held at Incheon, South Korea. 
•    Her Autobiography is named Unbreakable 
•    For her precious contribution to the sport of boxing (sports), she has been conferred with Padma Bhushan (2013), Padma Shree (2010) and Arjuna Award for Boxing (2003).

US President Barack Obama has nominated MasterCard’s Indian-American CEO Ajay Banga as a member of the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity. 
•    Mr. Banga is one of the 10 members of the Commission which also includes General Keith Alexander former Director of the top US spying body National Security Agency (NSA). 
•    The commission was established in February 2016 to make detailed recommendations to strengthen cybersecurity in both the public and private sectors while protecting privacy, ensuring public safety and economic and national security. 
•    Banga is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. He had started his career at Nestle India, working in sales and management roles from 1981 to 1994. 
•    He was appointed president and CEO of MasterCard in 2010. He joined MasterCard in 2009 as President and COO. Prior to joining MasterCard, he held various senior management roles with Citigroup from 1996 to 2009 and most recently serving as CEO of Citigroup Asia Pacific. 
•    He had served as director for Marketing and Business Development at PepsiCo Restaurants International India from 1994 to 1996. 
•    He also had served as a member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations since 2015. He also a member of the Board of Directors of the Dow Chemical Company, the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross, the Council of Foreign Relations. 
•    Currently he also serves as Chairman of the Financial Services Roundtable and Co-Chair of the American India Foundation.

Anthony Joshua on 9 April 2016 won the International Boxing Federation heavyweight title. He knocked out Charles Martin in the second round at the O2 Arena in London.
Joshua, the 2012 Olympic gold medallist, captured his first world title in only his 16th professional fight.
• Anthony Joshua is a British professional boxer.
• He holds the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles.
• As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the super heavyweight division at the 2012 Olympics, and silver at the 2011 World Championships.
• As of March 2016, he is ranked the world's eighth best heavyweight boxer by The Ring magazine, and currently holds a 100% knockout ratio.
• He is also only the second boxer in history, after Joe Frazier, to win a professional world heavyweight title while still reigning as the Olympic champion at the top weight.

Panagarh Air Force Base of West Bengal was renamed as Air Force Station Arjan Singh on 16 April 2016. This can be termed as a rare honour to the nation’s oldest soldier Marshal of Air Force Arjan Singh.
Air Officer Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Air Command, Air Marshal C Harikumar unveiled the rechristening plaque at a ceremony held at the Panagarh Air Base. He announced that the crucial Air Force Base in the eastern theatre will now be called Air Force Station Arjan Singh.
Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, 97, had led the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the 1965 India-Pakistan war.
The decision of rechristening the Air Force Station was announced by the Chief of Air Staff Arup Raha on 15 April 2016 at a function in New Delhi to mark 97th birthday of the Marshal Arjan Singh. Military installations are not usually named after individuals, especially when they are alive, a defence spokesperson informed.
• Panagarh, approximately 150 kilometers from Kolkata, is located in Burdwan district.
• It was developed during the Second World War as part of the US Army's 'over the hump' operations against the Japanese.
• Post the Second World War, Air Force Station, Panagarh, played a significant role during the Indo-Pak Wars of 1965 and 1971.
• As Squadron Leader, he led the Tiger squadron in saving Imphal Valley against the marauding Japanese forces. At that time, he was the commanding officer of No.1 Squadron.
• His leadership and daring exploits earned him a DistinguishedFlyingCross (DFC), which was pinned on him by Lord Mountbatten in Imphal during the operations.
• He was the IAF chief from August 1964-69.
• He was the first Indian Air Chief to be elevated to the rank of Air Chief Marshal on 16 January 1966.
• In recognition of his lifelong services, the union government conferred the rank of the Marshal of the Indian Air Force on Arjan Singh on 28 January 2002 making him the first and the only Five Star rank officer with the Indian Air Force.

Union Government on 14 April 2016 appointed SusmitaPande as the new chairperson of the National Monument Authority (NMA). She is professor a professor at Ujjain's Vikram University.
She would succeed HimanshuPrabha Ray, the professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University whose term ended in September 2015. The position was lying vacant for five months after his demission from office.
At the time of appointment, she was the head of the School of Studies in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology in Vikram University of Madhya Pradesh.
• It is organised under Union Ministry of Culture and Tourism, headquatered in New Delhi.
• It is responsible for the protection and preservation of monuments and sites.
• It manages the prohibited and regulated area around the centrally protected monuments.
• The chairperson of NMA will be selected for a three-year term by the appointments committee of the Union Cabinet.

Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13 April 2016 approved India for adopting the Statute of the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) and India.
It also approved India to become a formal member of SAWEN to strengthen ties with the member countries in controlling the trans-boundary wildlife crime through communication, coordination, collaboration, capacity building and cooperation in the region.
• To take initiatives for bringing harmonization and standardization in laws and policies of member countries concerning conservation of fauna and flora;
• To document the trend of poaching and illegal trade, and related threats to the natural biodiversity within and across countries in the region;
• To strengthen institutional responses to combat wildlife crime by promoting research and information sharing, training and capacity building, technical support, sharing experiences and outreach; and
• To encourage member countries to prepare and implement their National Action Plans in curbing wildlife crime and to collaborate towards effective implementation.
The South Asia region is very vulnerable to illegal traffic and wildlife crimes due to presence of precious biodiversity and large markets as well as traffic routes for wildlife products in the south East Asian region.
The collaboration in harmonizing as well as enforcing the wildlife protection in the region is considered very important for effective conservation of such precious biodiversity.

World Homoeopathy Day was observed on 10 April 2016 and it was organised by India. The day commemorates the birth anniversary of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, a German Physician.
•    Hahnemann discovered the principles of Homeopathy two centuries ago and developed it as a gentle healing system of medicine.
•    The day is observed by the Liga Medicorum Homoeopathica Internationalis (LMHI), the international professional body of Homeopaths and every year it designates a country to host the day.
•    During this day, the Homoeopathic fraternity organizes various symposia, road shows, medical camps and conferences and memorial events to popularize the strength of Homoeopathy.
•    In 2016, to mark the day a two-day International Convention on Homeopathy was organised in New Delhi from 9 April to 10 April 2016. The theme was “Integrating Homoeopathy in Health Care”.
•    The convention was organised in India by Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH), an autonomous research organization of Ministry of AYUSH, Union Government and LMHI.
•    On the occasion Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, also released a commemorative stamp and a souvenir on this occasion.
•    Homoeopathy in India is recognized and integrated in the National health care delivery system. Union Government has established Ministry to AYUSH to give focused attention for the growth and development of Complementary and Alternative Medicine/Traditional Medicine (CAM/TM).
•    Further, India has signed Memoranda of Understanding with Sri Lanka, Mexico, Cuba, Nepal, Mauritius and Mongolia.
•    At present, Homeopathy is practiced in more than 80 countries in different form and is officially recognised as system of medical specialty.