GK and Current Affairs Updates

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 6 April 2016 gave its ex-post facto approval for implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP).
Implementation of OROP will enhance the pension for the pensioner’s/family pensioners of Defence Forces.
• The benefit will be given with effect from 1 July 2014.
• Pension will be re-fixed for pre 1 July 2014 pensioners retiring in the same rank and with the same length of service as the average of minimum and maximum pension drawn by the retirees in the year 2013. Those drawing pensions above the average will be protected.
• The benefit would also be extended to family pensioners including war widows and disabled pensioners.
• Personnel who opt to get discharged henceforth on their own request under Rule 16B of the Army Rule, 1954 or equivalent Navy or Air Force Rules will not be entitled to the benefits of OROP. It will be effective prospectively.
• Arrears will be paid in four half-yearly instalments. However, all the family pensioners including those in receipt of Special/Liberalized family pension and Gallantry award winners shall be paid arrears in one instalment.
• In future, the pension would be re-fixed every 5 year.
• Constitution of Judicial Committee headed by Justice L Narasimha Reddy, Retd. Chief Justice of Patna High Court on 14 December 2015 which will give its report in six months on the references made by the Government of India.
Judicial Committee headed by Justice L. Narasimha Reddy will help in the removal of anomalies that may arise in the implementation of OROP order dated 7 November 2015.
As per Government declaration, the financial implications on account of grant of OROP including Pre-Matured Retirees (PMR) cases would be 10925.11 crore rupees for payment of arrears and annual financial implication would be 7488.7 crore rupees.

Renowned screenwriter and Hollywood actress Barbara Turner was died on 5 April 2016. She was 79.
She was a screenwriter of Petulia, Georgia, Pollock and may other features for film and television.
• She started her career as an actress in Hollywood. She starred in TV series such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Playhouse 90 throughout the late 1950s.
• She shifted her career towards writing in 1966 with her first screenplay which was an adaption of author Jean Genet's play Deathwatch.
• She went on to pen acclaimed scripts for 1968 drama Petulia, Jackson Pollock biopic Pollack and Robert Altman's The Company.
• She wrote and produced music drama "Georgia In 1995. The film was honoured at the Montreal Film Festival's Grand Prix of the Americas.
• She also wrote a handful of screenplays for TV movies which includes The War Between the Tates and Hemingway & Gellhorn, For both of them she was nominated for Emmy award.

International Conference on Zero was held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France from 4 April – 5 April 2016. It was hosted by the permanent delegation of India to UNESCO along with Pierre and Marie Curie University.
•    The inauguration of the Conference was held at Pierre and Marie Curie University on 4 April 2016 while all other sessions were held at UNESCO headquarters.
•    The International Conference will share the rich and remarkable history of mathematics, through the participation of some brilliant minds, resonating with the UNESCO's mandate to advance, transfer and share knowledge for the greater global good.
•    Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Smriti Irani attended the conference along with Fields medallists M. Bhargava and L. Lafforgue.
•    The Conference was held on the following topics:
-    Gems of Ramanujan and their Lasting Impact on Mathematics
-    Indian Mathematics: Negative Numbers, Zero, Infinity and Beyond
-    Zero: Infinity and Set Theory
-    Panel discussion on the Arabic traditions in Mathematics
-    Mathematics in Indian Music
•    The bronze statue of the great Indian mathematician and astronomer Aryabhata who is the living symbol of ancient wisdom was unveiled by the Union Minister at the UNESCO headquarters.
•    Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani attended the Leaders' Forum held at UNESCO Headquarters Paris as a part of the 38th session of the UNESCO General Conference on 16-17 November 2015.
•    During her visit, the minister held a bilateral meeting with Irina Bokov, the Director General of UNESCO to discuss the full range of India's cooperation with the organization.
•    As a follow up to the discussions, on the occasion of the National Mathematics Day on 22 December 2015 both the leaders issued Joint Statement to organize a Conference on 'Zero' at UNESCO headquarters in Paris in 2016.

UNESCO’s General Conference President Stanley Mutumba Simataa and UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova on 4 April 2016 signed two new recommendations on Education and Training that reflect new global trends and support the Education 2030 Framework for Action at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
The two recommendations are Recommendation on Adult Learning and Education (ALE) and the Recommendation concerning Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
Salient Features of the two Recommendations
• The revision of these key international instruments responds to the request of Member States to adapt them to reflect new educational, social, economic, cultural and political trends.
• The Recommendations were enthusiastically adopted by Member States at the 38th session of the General Conference held in Paris, in November 2015.
• They are the most up-to-date and comprehensive tools for decision-makers, practitioners, social partners, civil society and other stakeholders in these two complementary areas.
• They will be used around the world to guide the transformation and expansion of equitable learning opportunities for youth and adults.
• Recommendation on Adult Learning and Education (ALE) gives momentum to strengthening ALE as it lays out guiding principles and a comprehensive, inter-sectoral approach to its promotion and development worldwide.
• The Recommendation concerning TVET reflects new trends in TVET as it provides an integrated and holistic approach to education and training that ensures the promotion of a broad spectrum of knowledge, skills and competencies for work and life.
• The simultaneous adoption of both instruments is a reflection of the high priority placed by the international community on the development of lifelong learning.
• The instruments stress the importance of opportunities for lifelong learning, adult learning and education, and skills development for inclusive economic growth, employment and decent work, the alleviation of poverty, social well-being, gender equality and sustainable learning societies.
• The adoption of the instruments is timely as they are valuable resources to support Member States’ policy reforms as implementation of the Education 2030 Framework for Action and the wider 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development get underway.

Indian men won the 2016 Asian Nations Cup Chess tournament with a 3-1 victory over Vietnam in the final round played in Abu Dhabi on 6 April 2016.
•    In the final round match against Vietnam, Grandmasters S P Sethuraman and K Sasikiran won on the second and fourth boards while B Adhiban and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi drew their respective matches on top and third boards.
•    To clinch the title, India collected 17 points, two more than World and Olympiad champions China. India drew Mongolia and beat the rest of the teams in a 22-team tournament.
•    Top seed China who stood at second position in the ranking chart defeated UAE 4-0 in their final round match. Kazakhstan and Iran took the third and fourth places respectively.
•    This was the third time that Indian men won the event. They won at Esfahan, Iran in 2005 and Kolkata 2009 when China did not participate on both occasions.
•    In the women's section, top seed China won the title with 15 points. Uzbekistan was second with 14 and Kazakhstan third with 13 points. Indian women finished fourth with 12 points.

World Health Day (WHD) 2016 was observed globally on 7 April 2016. The theme for the year is Halt the Rise: Beat Diabetes.
The goals of the World Health Day 2016 are:
• Scale up prevention
• Strengthen care
• Enhance surveillance
The day is celebrated every year since it was first celebrated in 1950 to mark the anniversary of the World Health Organisation (WHO) formation in 1948.
The theme of the WHD 2015 was Food safety.
Diabetes is a chronic, progressive non communicable disease (NCD) characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose (blood sugar). It occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough of the insulin hormone, which regulates blood sugar, or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.
• The number of people living with diabetes and its prevalence are growing in all regions of the world. In 2014, 422 million adults had diabetes, compared with 108 million in 1980.
• The epidemic of diabetes has major health and socioeconomic impacts, especially in developing countries.
• In 2014, more than 1 in 3 adults aged over 18 years were overweight and more than one in 10 were obese.
• The complications of diabetes can lead to heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and lower limb amputation. For example, rates of lower limb amputation are 10 to 20 times higher for people with diabetes.
• Diabetes caused 1.5 million deaths in 2012. Higher-than-optimal blood glucose caused an additional 2.2 million deaths by increasing the risks of cardiovascular and other diseases.
• Many of these deaths (43%) occur prematurely, before the age of 70 years, and are largely preventable through adoption of policies to create supportive environments for healthy lifestyles and better detection and treatment of the disease.
• Good management includes use of a small set of generic medicines, interventions to promote healthy lifestyles, patient education to facilitate self-care; and regular screening for early detection and treatment of complications.
On the occasion of WHD 2016, Union Minster of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda launched new initiatives, which are:
• Guidelines for National Dialysis Programme in PPP-mode
The National Dialysis Programme aims to expand dialysis infrastructure, provide free service to 2.2 lakh new end-stage renal disease patients/year.
• Swastha Bharat-Mobile Apllication
The app will provide A-Z info on diseases, symptoms, treatment, health alerts and tips.
• ANMOL-ANM Online Tablet Application
It is a tablet-based application that allows ANMs to enter and updated data for beneficiaries of their jurisdiction. It is Aadhaar enabled. It will help in authentication of records of field workers and beneficiaries. The application aims to improve the standard of child and maternal health services in India.
• e-RaktKosh
It is a centralized blood bank management information system. It will provide information of the nearest blood bank on a mobile and availability of the particular blood group in a given radius.This web-based mechanism interconnects all the Blood Banks of the State into a single network. The Integrated Blood Bank MIS refers the acquisition, validation, storage and circulation of various live data and information electronically regarding blood donation and transfusion service.
• India Fights Dengue-Mobile Application
The application empowers the community members how to contribute towards prevention of dengue.
Apart from the above mentioned initiatives, ICMR India DIABetes (INDIAB) Study Phase-I and WHO India Technical Report on Diabetes in India were also released.

In a bid to improve operational efficiency, Union Cabinet on 6 April 2016 allowed public sector oil companies to have their own independent crude import policy based on their commercial requirements.
•    The approval was given during a cabinet meet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
•    The decision will replace the existing policy on crude oil import by Oil PSUs and vest the oil PSUs with the power to evolve their own policies. This will lead to a more efficient, flexible and dynamic policy for crude procurement, eventually benefiting consumers.
•    State-owned firms like Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) have traditionally been allowed to source crude only from national companies of oil producing countries. The existing policy was approved by the Cabinet in the year 1979.
•    However, it was long felt that the list of companies from where the PSUs can buy crude oil on term contracts needs to be expanded to include global oil giants.
•    With this in view, in 2001, the Union Cabinet delegated substantial powers to Navaratna and Maharatna companies among PSUs. Such companies are given high degree of autonomy in various operational, financial and investment matters.

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Radha Mohan Singh, on 6 April 2016 laid the foundation stone of Haryana State University of Horticultural Sciences at Karnal, Haryana.
The establishment of a fully-fledged horticultural university will cater the needs to support the gap between teaching, research and extension activities in the state.
• The university will be built on 118 acres. It will meet the demand of skilled human resources.
• The university will establish the convergence and synergy to disseminate latest technology and horticulture education to the young generation.
• The university is expected to help in improving productivity levels and to adopt appropriate crop diversification to suit the agro climatic conditions of the region.
• It will also act as a skill development centre to cater the larger demand for trained manpower in the production, post harvest and processing industries.
University will also act as a skill development centre to cater the larger demand for trained manpower in the production, post harvest and processing industries. 
There is a huge scope for agro-processing industries like mango, citrus, aonla, strawberry in fruits and pea, tomato, potato, carrots, garlic, onion in vegetables and mushroom. 

Myanmar's (Burmese) Parliament in Naypyidaw on 5 April 2016 passed a bill that gives Aung San Suu Kyi a role similar to that of Prime Minister. The Lower House passed the bill to create the post of state counsellor, which now requires only presidential approval to become law.
•    Earlier, the bill has gone through the Upper House and now will be sent to the President Htin Kyaw for the approval.
•    Unelected military representatives holding a quarter of Parliamentary seats boycotted the vote, calling the bill unconstitutional. Suu Kyi's party won elections but she is not allowed to be president.
•    Clause 59 (F) of the Burmese Constitution bars candidates with foreign spouses or children but Suu Kyi's two sons hold British passports.
•    The new democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government of Myanmar thinks that the clause was written specifically to prevent 70-year-old Nobel laureate Suu Kyi from taking office. 
•    At present, Aung San Suu Kyi is to head four cabinet posts including foreign affairs, president’s office, education, and energy ministries.

The President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 5 April 2016 presented the National Geoscience Awards - 2014 at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
The annual awards are presented to honour individuals and team of scientists for their outstanding contributions in the field of fundamental or applied Geosciences, Mining and Allied areas.
For the year 2014, Prof. Ashok Kumar Singhvi was conferred with the highest honour National Geoscience Award for Excellence for his outstanding contributions in the field of sedimentary technologies.
Along with him, 32 other geoscientists were being given the awards in 13 disciplines including Mining Technology, Basic Geosciences, Geo-Information System, etc.
• These are the prestigious awards in the field of Geosciences in the country.
• These were instituted in 1966 by the Union Ministry of Mines as National Mineral Awards and rechristened as NGA in 2009.
• Any citizen of India who is a professionally qualified geo-scientist or engineer or technologist or academician with significant contribution in any field of earth sciences is eligible.
• Nominations are invited annually for NGA under three categories viz., NGA, National Geoscience Award for Excellence and Young Researcher Award which carry 200000, 500000 and 50000 rupees award money respectively.
• The selection of the awardees is a three tier process and the final round of selection is done by the Award Making Authority chaired by the Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Mines.