GK and Current Affairs Updates

Dwayne Bravo, put up an impressive performance in the clash against Kings XI Punjab at Mohali on Monday.
•    Bravo bowled unplayable yorkers to rattle the stumps of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller to help Lions restrict Punjab to a manageable total. The Lions chased down the target with more than two overs to spare.
•    With his four wickets for 22 runs in the match, Bravo became the first bowler in T20s to reach the milestone of 300 wickets. He went past LasithMalinga’s 299 wickets in T20s as the Sri Lankan bowler has been lying low due to injuries in the past few months.
•    R Ashwin is placed 15th in the list with 189 wickets.
•    Here is the list of top five wicket-takers in T20s.
•    In reaching 300 wickets, the 32-year-old Bravo surpassed Sri Lankan speedster LasithMalinga, who sits on 299 wickets.

Delhi-based Priyadarshini Chatterjee on 9 April 2016 was announced the winner of the FBB Femina Miss India World 2016 at the 53rd edition of the Femina Miss India beauty pageant held in Mumbai. 
•    She was crowned the title by Aditi Arya, Femina Miss India 2015.
•    Bangalore girl Sushruthi Krishna emerged as the Femina Miss India Supranational 2016 and Lucknow girl PankhuriGidwani was crowned the Femina Miss India Grand International 2016.
•    Chatterjee will now represent India at the Miss World 2016 pageant, Krishna will participate at Miss International 2016, while Gidwani will take part at the Miss Grand International beauty pageants.
•    The winners were chosen by a panel of judges that included Sanjay Dutt and Sania Mirza among others.
•    List of Special Awards won by contestants
•    Beauty with a purpose - Sushruthi Krishna
•    Best National Costume - RoshmithaHarimurthy
•    Best Talent -  DnyandaShringarpure, Gayathri Reddy and PankhuriGidwani
•    Miss Photogenic - Sushruthi Krishna
•    Miss Body Beautiful - RajkanyaBaruah
•    Miss Fashion Icon - AradhanaBuragohain and Gayathri Reddy
•    Miss Rampwalk - Priyadarshini Chatterjee
•    Miss Congeniality - Natasha Singh

Lee Chong Wei on 10 April 2016 won the men's singles title at the Malaysia Open 2016 held at the Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam, Malaysia.
The world No. 4 grabbed the title by defeating China’s world No. 1 Chen Long a 21-13, 21-8 in just 42 minutes.
The title is Chong Wei's 11th Malaysia Open crown after having won in 2004, 2005, 2006 and consecutively from 2008-2014.
• Lee Chong Wei is a Malaysian Chinese professional badminton player.
• As a singles player, he was ranked first worldwide for 199 consecutive weeks from 21 August 2008 to 14 June 2012.
• He is the third Malaysian player after Rashid Sidek and RoslinHashim to achieve such a ranking, and is the only Malaysian shuttler to hold the number one ranking for more than a year.
• He is a silver medallist in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, making him the sixth Malaysian to win an Olympic medal.

The birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution and Dalit rights activist, would be observed at the United Nations for the first time with focus on combating inequalities to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).•    The Permanent Mission of India to the U.N. in association with the Kalpana Saroj

Foundation and Foundation for Human Horizon will commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of the Dalit icon on April 13 at the U.N. headquarters here, a day before his birthday.
•    On the occasion, a panel discussion will be organised on ’Combating inequalities for the achievement of SDGs.
•    A note circulated by the Indian mission has said that as India celebrates the 125th birth anniversary of the “national icon,” Babasaheb remains an inspiration for millions of Indians and proponents of equality and social justice across the globe.
•    Ambedkar was born on April 14, 1891. He died on December 6, 1956 and was posthumously conferred with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 1990.

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly will write a memoir titled Endurance: My Year in Space and Our Journey to Mars, as announced on 6 April 2016. The book will be published by Alfred A. Knopf.
•    Scott returned to Earth in March 2016 after spending almost a year aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
•    The memoir will offer a glimpse of Scott’s journey to space and his life aboard the ISS. He will also recount the obstacles he encountered along the way, his early struggles in school, his training as a Navy test pilot, and the work required to become an astronaut and live in space for one year.
•    Scott’s arguments in favour of more space travel, both government-sponsored and private, will also be included in the book.
•    The book will be published in November 2017.
•    Scott Joseph Kelly is an engineer, retired American astronaut and a retired U.S. Navy Captain.
•    He commanded the International Space Station on Expeditions 26, 44 and 45.
•    His first spaceflight was as pilot of Space Shuttle Discovery during STS-103 in December 1999.
•    In November 2012, Scott was selected, along with Mikhail Korniyenko, for a special year-long mission to the International Space Station. Their year in space commenced 27 March 2015 with the start of Expedition 43, continued through the entirety of Expeditions 44 and 45, both of which Scott commanded.
•    He passed command to Timothy Kopra on 29 February 2016, when the ISS year long mission ended.
•    He returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-18M on 1 March 2016.
•    In October 2015, he set the record for the total accumulated number of days spent in space by an American astronaut. For the ISS year long mission, he spent 340 consecutive days in space.
•    His identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, is a former astronaut. The Kelly brothers are the only siblings to have travelled in space.

Italian luxury sports car maker Lamborghini on 6 April 2016 announced the appointment of former Audi India executive Sharad Agarwal as Head of India operations.
As the head of Lamborghini India, Agarwal will be responsible to drive the entire activities for the company in the subcontinent, overseeing sales, marketing, after sales and network development.
• Prior to his appointment at Lamborghini, Agarwal has been associated with Audi India since May 2012 as Head of Corporate Sales, Fleet and Leasing and Financial Services. He moved as Head of Field Forces in 2013.
• He has also been associated with Zuari Industries, TVS Motor Company and Mahindra First Choice.
• Lamborghini is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars.
• Ferruccio Lamborghini, an Italian manufacturing magnate, founded AutomobiliFerruccio Lamborghini S.p.A. in 1963 to compete with established marques, including Ferrari.
• Its production facility and headquarters are located in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy.

A State in Denial - Pakistan's Misguided and Dangerous Crusade authored by veteran journalist BG Verghese was re-released on 28 March 2016. It was re-released during a discussion organised by the India International Centre, New Delhi.
•    The book explores a subject of immense global significance of Pakistan and its relations with remaining World including India.
•    The author give a brisk overview of the events that came to define post-Independence Pakistan include the battle for Kashmir; the integration of Karat and Hyderabad into India; the creation of Bangladesh.
•    He also draws a rare archival material, approaches subjects that have long been contentious like the Indus water treaty, Siachen and the dangerous nuclear forays of AQ Khan.
•    The author while analyzing Pakistan’s present-day plunge into internal dissent, self-made jihadi extremism, provincial rivalry and military rule, he offers a gentle way out of the nation’s self-made dilemmas by encouraging Pakistan to become more than the Indian other, and urging it to move away from fundamentalism and embrace the syncretic, Sufi-infused Islam.
•    BG Verghese who died on 30 December 2014, in his last book differs from others on the subject with its ultimately optimistic outlook and some radical out-of the-box solutions on how the two countries can dismantle and bury deep over six decades of acrimony.

Bharti Airtel on 7th April 2016 will pay Rs.3,500 crore to acquire 4G spectrum in eight telecom circles from Aircel.
•    With this acquisition, which comes close on the heels of its Rs. 4,428 crore spectrum deal with Videocon, Bharti Airtel will become a pan-India 4G operator.
•    Airtel will acquire the rights to use 20 Mhz in 2,300 band spectrum in Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Assam, the North-East, Andhra Pradesh and Odishatelecom circles.
•    The move comes ahead of the big ticket launch of 4G services expected from Reliance Jio, which is expected to intensify competition in the space.
•    Bharti Airtel and its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom have entered into definitive agreements with Aircel Ltd and its subsidiaries Dishnet Wireless Ltd and Aircel Cellular Ltd to acquire rights to use 20 MHz of 2,300 Mhz band 4G spectrum for eight circles for an aggregate consideration of Rs. 3500 crore.
•    Aircel’s 4G airwaves in the 2,300 Mhz band are valid till September 20, 2030.
•    The transfer of the right to use for the circles of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa is subject to the revision of spectrum caps with the upcoming auction to be conducted by department of telecommunication.

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.