GK and Current Affairs Updates

The Bihar Government on 5 April 2016 decided to impose a total ban on alcohol in towns and cities.
•    The decision to ban sale and consumption of India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in municipal and town council areas with immediate effect was taken at a Cabinet meeting.
•    No licence will be granted for sale and consumption of alcohol in places such as hotels, club and bars in towns and cities with immediate effect. 
•    However, the Army cantonment areas will be out of it as they regulated the sale and consumption of alcohol in their own way.
•    On 1 April 2016, the state government had banned sale and consumption of country and spiced liquor in rural areas, but had allowed sale of foreign liquor in towns and cities.
•    After Gujarat, Nagaland and Mizoram, Bihar became the fourth Indian state to impose total ban on alcohol.

The Union Government on 5 April 2016 constituted a high-level committee to suggest ways to strengthen the border protection along the border with Pakistan. 
•    It will also address the issue of gaps and vulnerability in border fencing along Indo-Pakistan border.
•    The committee will be headed by former Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and will submit its report in three months.
•    The mandate of the committee is to study all types of gaps in fencing and all other vulnerabilities in the International Border on Indo-Pakistan Border. 
•    It will suggest comprehensive approach to fix the gaps in fencing and other vulnerabilities on interim and permanent basis.
•    The government's move comes three months after terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed had breached the Indo-Pak border in Punjab and attacked the Pathankot airbase killing seven security personnel.
•    It will suggest (i) ways to strengthen the security along the India-Pakistan Border and (ii) address the issue of gaps and vulnerability in border fencing.

The International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) 2016 was observed across the world on 6 April 2016.
On the occasion of the IDSDP 2016, the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) launched a campaign - Let’s play for Sustainable Development Goals. 
The campaign seeks to encourage organizations and individuals who carry out SDP initiatives to take a picture or a short video of their team or beneficiaries with a SDG card that best describes their activity.
• On 23 August 2013, the UN proclaimed that the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace will be celebrated on April 6 each year.
• April 6 also marks the opening of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.
• This day is commemorated globally each year by international, regional, national sport and development organizations to honour the role that sport plays in society.

Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson resigned on 5 April 2016. He resigned after the leaked Panama Papers exposed offshore finance and tax evasions by him. 
•    The leaks were from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm.
•    The leaks showed Gunnlaugsson owned an offshore company with his wife but had not declared it when he entered parliament. 
•    He is accused of concealing millions of dollars' worth of family assets. He said that he sold his shares to his wife, and denies any wrongdoing.
•    He is one of dozens of high-profile global figures mentioned in the 11.5 million leaked financial and legal records, which were first published on 3 April 2016.
•    He resigned after thousands of protestors protested against him outside the parliament building in the capital Reykjavik. Even the opposition tabled a confidence motion against him.
•    Earlier, the Prime Minister had asked President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson to dissolve parliament and call for an early election.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 April 2016 launched Stand Up India Scheme to promote entrepreneurship among Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes and Women entrepreneurs.
On this occasion, the Prime Minister also inaugurated a Kaushal Kendra (Skilling Center) under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna in Noida.
The Scheme is intended to facilitate at least two projects per bank branch, on an average one for each category of entrepreneur. It is expected to benefit at least 2.5 lakh borrowers within 36 months.
• It provides for refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) with an initial amount of 10000 crore rupees.
• It will create credit guarantee mechanism through the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC).
• It will provide support for borrowers both at the pre loan stage and during operations.
• Its focus is on handholding support for both SC/ST and Women borrowers.
• The aim is to leverage institutional credit structure to reach out under-served sectors of the population by facilitating bank loans repayable up to 7 years and between 10 lakh rupees- 100 lakh rupees for greenfield enterprises in nonfarm sector set up by such SC, ST and Women borrowers.
• The loan under the scheme would be appropriately secured and backed by a credit guarantee through a credit guarantee scheme for which Department of Financial Services would be the settler.
• The National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC) will be the operating agency for the loan.
• Margin money of the composite loan would be up to 25 percent.

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Pratap Rudy on 5 April 2016 launched Transnational Skill Standards in New Delhi.
On this occasion, 2 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between National Skill Development Council (NSDC) and Association of Colleges (UK) and NSDC and UK Awarding Organization City & Guilds and Pearsons Education.
These MoUs were signed to enable sharing of best practice, staff exchange and development of new models to increase employer engagement and investment in skills in India.
•  It was launched with the aim to support Make in India and Skill India initiatives and to align domestic skill standards with that of best practices recognized globally.
•  These Transnational Skill Standards are benchmarked to United Kingdom across 82 identified job roles.
• India chose UK standards to benchmark Indian Skills standards since all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries recognize UK skill certification.
• The Transnational Standards will highlight the gaps in Indian Standards against the UK standards. To cover the gaps, those intending to migrate, will undergo bridge training.
• The Further Education Colleges (FE) of the United Kingdom will partner with Indian Training Providers to impart training on bridge courses.
• FE Colleges will set up Skill Academies of Excellences in the identified sectors in India.
• The training will be provided in several economic activities including agriculture, life science, healthcare, capital goods, textiles, hospitality, information technology, etc.
•  Transnational Skill Standards will support international mobility of Indian workforce and also prepare them to work in international companies having their operations in the country.
• These standards are expected to bring more quality in vocational education which will open more avenues for employment across countries for the youth.

The Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the Manesar-Palwal section of the Kundli- Manesar-Palwal Expressway in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Shri Manohar Lal Khattar and Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Krishna Pal Gurjar in Palwal on 5th April 2016. 

•    That the project had earlier been languishing for several years. 
•    The Centre and the Haryana Government resolved the issues plaguing it and the 52.33 Km long section of the expressway has been completed in a record time of eleven months. 
•    Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways are targeted for completion within 400 days from the start of the project. 
•    Once the two peripheral expressways are ready, the traffic congestion in Delhi will come down by 50 percent, pollution levels will be reduced and the farmers, traders and the people of the region as a whole will benefit due to better connectivity. 
•    The Manesar-Palwal section of the Expressway has been built at a cost of Rs 457.81Crores. 
•    It is an access controlled, six-lane, divided road with 1.5 metre wide paved shoulder on each side. 
•    It intersects with Delhi-Jaipur NH8 near Manesar, Palwal-Sohna-Rewari NH 919, Sohna-Nuh-Alwar Road NH 248A and finally joins NH2 near Palwal. 
•    The road will provide uninterrupted high speed link for traffic, especially commercial traffic from Haryana to neighbouring states. It will also decongest road traffic through Delhi by allowing bypass of traffic not destined for Delhi. 

Indian Air Force (IAF) will participate in Red Flag air exercise along with US, NATO and allied forces that are scheduled to be conducted from 28 April to 13 May 2016 in Alaska.
•    The exercise will see participation of 12 IAF aircraft including the Russian origin Su30 MKI, deep penetration Jaguars, two C17 transport plans and two mid-air refuellers IL 78. Before reaching Alaska, the AIF aircrafts will travel through Bahrain, Egypt, France, Portugal and Canada.
•    It will also see over 150 IAF personnel in action, who will undergo some training before being sent to Alaska. According to an estimate, it will cost India over 100 crore rupees.
•    This is the second time that India is participating in such an exercise after 2008. Due to high cost of participation, IAF decided to take part in the exercise once in every five year. Earlier, the participation in the exercise was scheduled in 2013 but the plan was cancelled by the US following budget cuts.
•    The Red Flag exercises, held periodically at the Nellis Air Force Base since 1975, is advanced aerial combat training exercise. Red Flag – Alaska is a successor to the previous COPE THUNDER exercise series in the Western Pacific and Alaska.
•    Since 1975, air crews from the United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy (USN), United States Marine Corps (USMC), United States Army (USA) and numerous NATO or other allied nations' air forces take part in one of several Red Flag exercises held during the year, each of which is two weeks in duration.
•    The exercise provides an opportunity to practice and refine their skills for real combat situations to the pilots from the US, NATO and other allied. This includes the use of enemy hardware and live ammunition for bombing exercises within the Nellis complex.

The Union Minister for Human Resource Development Smriti Zubin Irani on 4 April 2016 released the India Rankings 2016 under National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in New Delhi.
The India Rankings 2016 is the first of its kind since the launch of NIRF in September 2015. It assessed the performance of higher educational institutions in India and ranked them accordingly.
Union Government launched National Institutional Ranking Framework along with its Web portal
Highlights of India Rankings 2016
Top 5 Universities in India
1) Indian Institute of Science Bangalore
2) Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai
3) Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
4) University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
5) Tezpur University, Tezpur
Top 5 Engineering Institutions in India
1) Indian Institute of Technology Madras
2) Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
3) Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
4) Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
5) Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Top 5 Management Institutions in India
1) Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
2) Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
3) Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
4) Indian Institute of Management Lucknow
5) Indian Institute of Management Udaipur
Top 5 Pharmacy Institutions in India
1) Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal
2) University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chandigarh
3) Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi
4) Poona College of Pharmacy, Pune
5) Institute of Pharmacy, Nirma University, Ahmedabad

The former A.C. Milan defender and Italy manager Cesare Maldini died on 3 April 2016 in Milan, Italy. He was 84.
At club level, Maldini won 4 Serie A league titles and 1 European Cup with Milan. Internationally, he played for the Italian national team, earning 14 caps and participating in the 1962 World Cup.
As a coach, he had a successful career in charge of the Italian Under-21 side, winning the European Under-21 Championship a record three consecutive times.
• Maldini started his playing career with Triestina in 1952. However, in 1954, he transferred to A.C. Milan.
• He won four league titles with Milan, and also later became the team's captain in 1961, a role which he held for several years, until he left the club.
• After retiring from playing, he became a coach. He started his career as an assistant manager for Nereo Rocco at Milan in 1970, and later also coached the team between 1972 and 1974.