Important Current Affairs of April 5, 2016

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF APRIL, 5, 2016

• United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared that April 4 of each year would be officially proclaimed and observed as International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. It was first observed on April 4, 2006.
• This day aims to raise awareness about landmines and progress toward their eradication.
• 2016 Theme: Mine Action is Humanitarian Action
• Mine action safeguards that landmines and explosivehazards in war-torn areas are found and destroyed, making possible the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
• Mine action is critical for an effective humanitarian response in conflict and post-conflict situations.  This is a central message of the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
• UNMAS coordinates teams to clear roads and runways of explosives, to block off weapons contaminated areas, and to train local people to demine and dispose of explosives.
• Ministry of Human Resource Development released the first ever domestic ranking “India Rankings 2016″ which has been made by National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).
• The report by NIRF covered 3,500 educational institutes in 4 categoriesUniversity, Engineering, Management and Pharmacy.
• In the Tech category, IIT- Madras topped the list while in themanagementcategory, IIM-Bangalore leads the chart.
• India is the host of Asia-Pacific Remote Sensing Symposium from April 4 to 7 to discuss on the applications of remote sensing technologies for disaster mitigation and to better monitor global climate change
• The symposium is organized by the Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS), a professional society of more than 4000 scientists and researchers and attended by the chief of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) among heads of several other space agencies.
• President of French National Space Agency, Vice-President of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Vice-Administrator of China National Space Administration, Director General of EUMETSAT and Mexican Space Agency are also participated at the event.
• Trimbakeshwar Temple Trust passed a resolution that barred all persons except the traditional and hereditary priests from entering the sanctum till the next decision.
• Traditional and hereditary priests will be allowed to enter the sanctum of the Trimbakeshwar temple.
• Trimbakeshwar temple located in Nashik district of Maharashtra
• Tslc Pte Ltd, a fin-tech company announced the launch of its all new mobile-only lending platform CASHe, This new application is very helpful and provides users a personalized experience to borrow cash anytime, anywhere within minutes for their needs.
• CASHe Application was launched in Mumbai at a glittering ceremony. It is the idea lplatform for consumers to take control of their short term finances.
• In accordance with the study by Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement and health solutions business, the Reliance Asset Management Company has been listed among the best employer brands.
• Reliance AMC is the only mutual fund company to get this recognition in India in thetop 25 AON list for 2016.
• 2016 Best Employers Study recognized the best brands that have contributed to organizational excellence.
• The world’s largest crude exporter with crude reserves of about 265 billion barrels Company Aramco is planning to make a major investment in India’s petroleum sector.
• The head of Aramco, Khalid A. Al Falih, recently stated that the company regarded India as the most preferred investment destination.
• Saudi Arabia is currently India’s largest crude supplier, supplying one-fifth of the country’s oil
• Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL), a subsidiary of Vedanta Limited has formally set the Guinness World Record for at the same time planting 208,751 saplings at a solitary area in under 60 minutes.
• The mass plantation drive was organized in Mansa, Punjab on October 30, 2015. 5,928 supporters from different walks of life came together to make this feat possible.
• About TSPL:
• ISO 900, ISO 14001, ISO 50001 and OHSAS certified company TSPL is the largest Greenfield Power Project in Punjab.
• TSPL has set the benchmark for environmental compliance by developing 222 acres of green cover around the periphery of the plant and installing Zero Discharge Unit, Sewage Treatment Plant and High Concentration Slurry Disposal (HCSD) system.
• Vietnam’s Public Security Minister and Police Chief Tran Dai Quang has been sworn in as the communist country’s president. Quang from Communist Party of Vietnam.
• The Police Chief received 436 votes from 465 assembly members who cast their votes accounted 5% of a rubber-stamp vote for Mr Quang that made him victory in parliament.
• Quang is the first police general to fill the post, He succeeds Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung withdrew his candidacy.
• Vietnam:
• Vietnam is the largest exporter of cashews in the world, and the second largest exporter of rice.
• Vietnam has a literacy rate of 94%.
• Capital: Hanoi
• Currency: Vietnamese dong
• Alaska Air Group is all set to acquire Virgin America in a friendly takeover worth around $4 billion including debt to create the US’s fifth-largest airline.
• Alaska Air will pay $57 in cash per share for Virgin America, or a total of $2.6 billion.The deal to create the fifth largest US airline.
• The newly merged company will be headquartered in Seattle US.
• Alaska Airlines:
• Alaska total account for about 5% of US domestic flight capacity, serve more than 100 cities in the US, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico.
• The airline was founded as McGee Airways in 1932.
• Private equity firm Blackstone India has entered into an agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to buy a majority stake in Mphasis Limited in a deal valued between $825 million and $1.1 billion.
• It is the largest deal by Blackstone in India and is the largest private equity transaction in the country.
• Mphasis, IT Services provider which offers Applications, Business Process Outsourcing and Infrastructure Services.
• Researchers expect that ballast water carried by ships is giving a vehicle to get non-native intrusive species over the Indian Coast.
• In such manner, a study was led by the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala.
• The survey has found 10 invasive species in the biodiversity rich intertidal habitats of the Kerala coast including one seaweed, one species of bryozoan, one species of mollusc and seven species of ascidian.
• America based space Company Blue Origin successfully accomplished the third launchand vertical landing of its reusable New Shepard rocket, the BE-3 engine used to land the Rocket back at the company’s testing site in Texas.
• The unmanned crew capsule also landed safely, using parachutes, The breakthroughs by Blue Origin and parallel efforts by rival Internet mogul Elon Musk’s SpaceX open up the potential for cutting costs for Space travel and making rockets as reusable as airplanes
• Team of Scientists from Institute of Advance Study in Science & Technology in Assam have developed an eco-friendly nano technology for water-softening applications.
• Nano Technology in water Purification:
• The team crafted a biopolymer using a naturally occurring substance, calledchitosan (obtained from the hard outer skeleton of shellfish, including crab, lobster, and shrimp) as a backbone for the carbon nanoparticles.
• They remove calcium and magnesium components of water through ion exchange, the same process that is used by common water purifiers.
• This material of its kind with potential to act as a biodegradable and green material for water-softening applications and conventional water-softening techniques use synthetic resins.
• This could be used in civic water treatment plants.
• Ministry of Environment and Forests notified new Hazardous Waste Rules will ensure resource recovery and disposal of hazardous waste in environmentally sound manner.
• The provisions in the Rules emphasizes Government’s priority for Ease of Doing Business and Make in India, but with responsible concerns for sustainable development.
• Provisions in the Rules:
• The Rules notifies distinguishes hazardous Wastes from other wastes include:Waste tyre, paper waste, and metal scrap, used electronic items, etc. and are recognized as a resource for recycling and reuse.
• These resources supplement the industrial processes and reduce the load on the virgin resource of the country.
• Items Banned in the Rules:
• Waste edible fats and oil of animals
• Household waste
• Critical Care Medical equipment
• Tyres for direct re-use purpose
• Solid Plastic wastes including Pet bottles
• Waste electrical and electronic assemblies scrap
• Other chemical wastes especially in solvent form.
• Kenya’s Visiline Jepkesho and Cyprian Kotut were dominant winners at the 40th edition of the Paris Marathon.
• The Kotut, also won the Paris half-marathon last month, completed the 195-kilometer(26-mile) race in 2 hours, 7 minutes and 11 seconds to improve on his personal best set last year when finishing runner-up in Milano on his debut over the distance (2:08.55).
• Mercedes driver NicoRosberg claimed the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix towin his fifth straight race and Kimi Raikkonen finished second for Ferrari.
• Five in a row Nico  Rosberg wins Bahrain Grand Prix While his  Champion teammate Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of a third successive Bahrain Grand Prix victory.
• The Results:
• NicoRosberg, Germany, Mercedes.
• KimiRaikkonen, Finland, Ferrari.
• Lewis Hamilton, England, Mercedes.
• Bahrain Grand Prix:
• The 2016 Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix will take place with 11 teams battling for a place on the podium. It has race length of  4 Km
• The Race Championship race in Bahrain sponsored by Gulf Air.
• Italian football manager and player, Cesare Maldini has died on April 3. He was 84.
• Cesare Maldini won four Serie A titles during his time with Milan and was skipper of the side in 1963.
• Cesare Maldini
• Cesare as an Italian football manager and defender, who spent most of his playing career with Italian club C. Milani.
• In his 412 appearances for AC Milan and moved into coaching when his playing career ended, managing the north Italian club from 1972-74.
• Maldini won 4Serie Aleague 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.
• Former Mumbai Ranji Trophy player RanjanBaindoor died on April 4 due to a fatal heart attack at his residence in Mumbai.
• Mumbai left-arm spinner played for the then Bombay Ranji team from 1974-75 to 1984-85.
• Hetook 20 wickets in 16 games at 37.20 with a best of 4 for 32. He was also a useful lower-order batsman with a career best of 96 and aggregated 316 runs at an average of 19.75.
• Baindoor was also the former secretary of Tata Sports Club and served as the chairman of the selection committee for the under-19 team.
• He is the former Mumbai left-arm spinner and current member of the selection committee of the senior and Under-23 sides.