GK and Current Affairs Updates

The 2016 Nuclear Security Summit concluded on 1 April 2016 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C., United States.
•    The fourth edition of the conference, which commenced on 31 March 2016, succeeded the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit. The summit was organised by the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI).
•    The summit was attended by over 50 World leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At the summit, the world leaders pledged to reduce nuclear stocks and protect the active inventories from falling into the hands of terrorists, which could prove to be catastrophic. 
•    However, leaders or representatives of Russia, North Korea, Iran and Belarus remained absent from the summit.
• Many countries, including Kazakhstan and Poland, agreed to to reduce their highly-enriched uranium stockpiles.
• Japan undertook to ship additional separated plutonium to the U.S.
• Canada pledged 42 million US dollars to bolster nuclear security.
• The U.S. disclosed that its own inventory of highly enriched uranium has dropped from 741 metric tons in the 1990s to 586 metric tons as of 2013.
• According to the U.S., since the last summit in 2014, 10 nations have removed or disposed of about 450 kilograms of highly enriched uranium.
• Argentina, Switzerland and Uzbekistan are now free of highly enriched uranium, as is all of Latin America and the Caribbean.
About Nuclear Security Summit
• The Nuclear Security Summit is a world summit, aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism around the globe.
• The genesis of the NSS lies in the speech given by the US president Barrack Obama in Prague, Czech Republic in 2009. In this speech, President Obama called for establishment of nuclear security architecture to prevent the threat of nuclear terrorism.
• The first summit was held in Washington, D.C., United States from 12 April to 13 April 2010.
• The second summit was held in Seoul, South Korea, in 2012.
• The third summit was held in The Hague, Netherlands, from 24 March to 25 March 2014.

India and Saudi Arabia on 3 April 2016 inked five agreements to boost the bilateral cooperation between the two nations. The agreements were signed in Riyadh during the two day visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Saudi Arabia from 2 April to 3 April 2016.
•    The visit to Saudi Arabia was part of Modi’s three-nation visit to Belgium, the United States and Saudi Arabia from 30 March to 3 April 2016.
•    Agreement on Labour Co-operation between the Ministry of Labour, Saudi Arabia and Ministry of External Affairs, India for recruitment of general category workers.
•    Technical Cooperation Program between the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO).
•    Executive Program for Cooperation in the Field of Handicrafts between the Export Promotion Council for Handicraft (EPCH), India and Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage.
•    MoU between Financial Intelligence Unit of India and Saudi Arabia concerning Cooperation in the Exchange of Intelligence related to Money Laundering, Terrorism Financing and Related Crimes.
•    Framework for Investment Promotion Cooperation between Invest India and the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA).
•    Besides, during his visit Modi gifted a gold-plated replica of the Cheraman Juma Masjid of Kerala to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Situated in Thrissur district, the mosque is believed to be the first mosque built in India by Arab traders around 629 AD.
•    Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also conferred with the King Abdulaziz Sash honour by Saudi Arabia, the highest civilian honour of the country.

West Indies Women’s on 3 April 2016 won their maiden Women's Cricket World T-20 title. In the final clash at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, West Indies defeated reigning champions Australia by 8 wickets.
•    Batting first Australia was bowled out at a score of 148 for 5 wickets and in reply West Indies scored 149 at the loss of 2 wickets in 19.3 over.
•    Player of the match - Hayley Matthews (West Indies Women
•    Player of the series - Stafanie Taylor (West Indies Women)
•    Captains of the two teams
•    West Indies - Stafanie Taylor
•    Australia - Meg Lanning
•    Australia, seeking a fourth successive World T20 title, chose to bat and posted 148-5, with Elyse Villani making the first half century in a final.
•    But 18-year-old Windies opener Hayley Matthews hit a stunning 66 off 45 balls with three sixes, in a stand of 120.
•    The Windies won with three balls to spare and their men's team later completed a T20 double.

DCB Bank on 3 April 2016 launched an Aadhaar-based Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) usage facility wherein a customer can transact using his biometric details instead of the PIN. The step is first of its kind in India.
•    The ATM will accept Aadhaar number and Aadhaar fingerprint (biometric) instead of ATM/Debit Card and PIN to dispense cash from the bank account. It is a Cardless and PIN less ATM.  The user can key-in the 12-digit Aadhaar number or swipe the card at an ATM to start a transaction, but at the stage of confirming the identity, it requires biometric details rather than the PIN.
•    This ATM is currently placed in pilot site at DCB Bank at Peninsula Business Park, Lower Parel, Mumbai.
• DCB Bank Ltd. is a private sector scheduled commercial bank in India.
• It has a network of over 176 branches and over 400 ATMs in the country.
• It offers products to individuals, small and medium businesses, rural banking and mid corporates across its branch network.
• The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) is the promoter of the Bank with around 16.3% stake.
• The Bank received the Scheduled Commercial Bank license from the Reserve Bank of India on 31 May 1995.

Former Mumbai Ranji Trophy cricketer Ranjan Baindoor passed away at his residence here today following a massive heart attack.
•    Baindoor, an off spinner who could also bat lower down the order, died aged 61 and was a former secretary of Tata Sports Club, said his former teammate Ravi Thakkar.
•    Baindoor was also the chairman of Mumbai's under 19 selection committee.
•    In 16 Ranji Trophy matches between 1974-75 and 1984-85, Baindoor captured 20 wickets at 37.20 per victim, his best innings figures being 4 for 32.
•    He also scored 316 runs with 96 as his highest knock averaging 19.75 per innings.
•    Baindoor underwent a prostrate operation last January, but still travelled to see the Mumbai under-19 team in action against Uttar Pradesh in the Cooch Behar Trophy final at the Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana at Kandivali.
•    Baindoor played four matches for Railways in 1974-75 and 12 matches (267 runs & 19 wkts) for Bombay from 1975-76 to 1983-84. 
•    He was in the Sunil Gavaskar led Ranji Trophy winning Bombay against Delhi in 1983-84. After being hit on his right hand in the second innings, Baindoor, did not bowl and thereafter he retired from first class cricket.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg of Germany on 3 April 2016 won the 2016 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. The final race was held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir near the capital Manama.
Rosberg's 16th Formula One victory was also his fifth in succession after he won the final 4 races of 2015 season and the 2016 Australian Grand Prix.
While Kimi Raikkonen of Finland stood at the second position, Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, winner of the 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix, secured the third place in the race.
Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) and Sergio Perez (Mexico) were at the 15th and 16th positions respectively.
Raikkonen's chances took a major hit shortly afterwards as he dropped to fifth after a poor start of his own.
Raikkonen fought past Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and the two Williams cars of Felipe Massa and Bottas to be second by lap seven - but by that stage he was already 12 seconds adrift of Rosberg, a gap that proved too big to bridge.
By the time the leaders' three pit stops were finished, Raikkonen was only 4.6secs behind Rosberg but the Mercedes driver was comfortably able to hold him off and finished 10 seconds clear.

Vietnam's National Assembly on 2 April 2016 swore in Tran Dai Quang, Minister of Public Security, as the 9th President of the nation.
•    Among the 481 valid votes, 452 out of the total 494 members of the unicameral house, elected Quang, as the president.
•    A resolution approving Quang's presidency was also backed 93.12 per cent of the NA deputies at the plenary session.
•    Truong Tan Sang was the 8th President of Vietnam.
•    Before being elected as the President of Vietnam, Quang served as Minister of Public Security from 2011 to 2016.
•    He is a member of the 12th Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam, in which he is ranked second, after General Secretary NguyễnPhúTrọng.
•    He attended the People's Police School in 1972. From 1972 to 1975, he studied at the School of Foreign Languages Department of Cultural Affairs (now the Ministry of Public Security).

Mehbooba Mufti  on 4 April 2016 sworn in as the Chief Minister (CM) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) at Raj Bhawan in Jammu. The swearing-in ceremony was presided over by J&K Governor NN Vohra.
•    With this, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti became the first woman CM of J&K.
•    Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Nirmal Singh took oath as Deputy Chief Minister.
•    Mufti, the daughter of PDP founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is the second Muslim woman to become the Chief Minister of a state in India. SyedaAnwaraTaimur was the first Muslim woman CM in Assam in 1980 and continued to hold the chair till 30 June 1981.
•    The other legislators who took oath to be the ministers of J&K Government
•    PriyaSethi (BJP)
•    Sunil Kumar Sharma   
•    Asia Naqash  (PDP)
•    Abdul Ghani Kohli (BJP)
•    Syed Naeem Akhtar Andrabi (PDP)
•    ChheringDorje
•    Sajjad Lone (People's Conference)  
•    HaseebDrabu
•    Syed Basharat Ahmed Bukhari (PDP)
•    Chaudhary Lal Singh (BJP)
•    Bali Bhagat (BJP)  
•    Ghulam Nabi Lone (PDP)
•    Sham Lal Choudhary (BJP) 
•    Ajay Nanda (BJP)
•    The state government of J&K was lapsed on 7 January 2016 as the then CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed died due to ill health. Since, then the state is under President’s rule. 
•    The PDP-BJP coalition along with SajadGani Lone led Peoples' Conference have 56 MLAs in the 87-member Assembly. The PDP have 27 members while BJP have 25. Peoples' Conference has two MLAs while two other independents are supporting the coalition.
•    The revival of the PDP-BJP coalition government in the state became possible after three months of stalemate after several rounds of hectic negotiations between the two parties and apparent intervention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

India and Germany’s Development Bank KfW on 1 April 2016 signed an agreement to provide loan assistance of 500 million Euro (about 3750 crore rupees) for the modern and sustainable metro system for Nagpur city. This is the first German assistance to Metro project in the country.
•    The loan period is of 20 years with a moratorium of five years and disbursal will be based on the progress of the project over three years.
•    Costing 1240 million Euro (8680 crore rupees), Nagpur Metro is the first metro to be financed under the Indo-German partnership for clean, socially inclusive and climate friendly mobility for people in cities. Work on Nagpur Metro is being executed by Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Limited (NMRCL).
•    Sanctioned by the Union Government in August 2014, Nagpur Metro Project envisages two corridors and they are 19.70 km North-South section from Automotive Square to Khapri and 18.60 km long line between Prajapati Nagar and Lokmanya Nagar.
•    Physical works of the metro commenced in May 2015 and the whole Metro would be operational by March 2019.

Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash Javdekar on 3 April 2016 inaugurated a White Tiger Safari at Mukundpur in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh.
•    The Safari is situated adjacent to the Mukundpur Zoo which is spread over 75 hectares.
•    The first of its kind safari has cost 50 crore rupees and is spread over an area of 25 hectares.
•    With its inauguration, the safari houses three white tigers, including one male named Raghu and two females named Vindhya and Radha.
•    The white tiger is a pigmentation variant of the Bengal tiger, which is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Sunderbans and especially in the former State of Rewa.
•    The first white tiger was spotted in Madhya Pradesh’s Vindhya region in 1915. However, the rare breed of the big cat died in 1920.
•    In 1951, a white tiger cub, named Mohan, was captured by Rewa Maharaja Martand Singh of Rewa City in Madhya Pradesh, India. The cub later became the progenitor of all known white tigers in the world after the Maharaja arranged for its breeding. It is believed that all the white tigers in the world at present have lineage to Mohan.