Narendra Modi gifted Miniature Painting titled Guru Nanak Dev to Stephen Harper
(ii) Modi was on an official visit to Canada from 14 April to 16 April 2015.
(iii) The painting is the work of Virendra Bannu, a Jaipur-based artist, who is the seventh generation artist in his family.
(iv) Bannu has been taking forward the legacy of his family in specialized miniature art form.
Tennessee House voted to make Bible as official state book
(i) The Tennessee House of Representatives on 16 April 2015 voted to make Andrew Jackson's Bible as the official book of Tennessee, a US state.
(ii) Now, the Bill will go to Senate for being passed and if it is passes in Senate then it will become an Official book of the state.
(iii) The lawmakers voted 55-38 in favor of Republican Rep. Jerry Sexton's original Bill, despite questions of constitutionality of the Bill.
Satya Nadella honoured with the White House Champions of Change
(ii) He is one of the 12 local Champions of Change who were honoured for their exemplary leadership.
(iii) Champions of Change honour is given to those who support working families and help make change in their companies or communities.
(iv) Satya Nadella is the first Indian-origin Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Microsoft. He was named as one of the Champions of Change for his employee-friendly initiative.
(v) For instance, recently Microsoft announced that from 2016 onwards all the suppliers that do business with Microsoft in the US will have to provide at least 15 days of paid leave each year to their employees who handle Microsoft work.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor to dazzle at Cannes 2015
(i) Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who is gearing up for her comeback on the silver screen, will be scorching the red carpet of the 68th edition of the Cannes International Film Festival along with Bollywood’s style icon Sonam Kapoor.
(ii) Cosmetic brand L’Oreal confirmed the presence of its two brand ambassadors at Cannes on its Twitter handle, posting: “Retweet if you are excited to see @sonamkapoor and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan walk the Red Carpet at #Cannes2015”.
(iii) The representatives of the two actresses also confirmed that they will be heading to Cannes during the film Jamboree, which is scheduled to be held from May 13-24.
India’s ‘Parrot Lady’ to fly back home
(ii) The sculpture dates back to the 12th century. It was returned in accordance with the 1970 UNESCO Convention, tweeted External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.
(iii) “Canada returns Indian heritage piece — “Parrot Lady” PM @narendramodi receives sandstone sculpture from Khajuraho,” he tweeted.
Modi visits gurdwara in Vancouver
(i) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper visited a gurdwara in Vancouver on Thursday.
(ii) At the Khalsa Diwan Society’s Sikh Gurdwara, located on the southern edge of Vancouver, a large crowd of supporters gathered at the temple before filing inside.
(iii) The president of the historic Sikh society, which has roots stretching back more than 100 years said Mr. Modi will be the third Indian Prime Minister to visit, after Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit in 1949 and Indira Gandhi’s 42 years ago.
Vishal Sikka appointed as University Advisory Professor at ECNU
(i) The East China Normal University (ECNU), one of the prestigious un
iversities in China, announced the appointment of Dr. Vishal Sikka, Chief Executive Officer of Infosys, as Advisory Professor.
(ii) According to a release from the company, Professor Shijun Tong, CCP Secretary of ECNU, formally conferred the Advisory Professorship to Mr Sikka.(iii) Commenting on the same Dr. Vishal Sikka, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Infosys said: “ECNU is a prestigious Chinese university.
(iv) It is a great honour to receive this recognition, and I accept it with deep gratitude.
India to grow at 7.5 % in 2015: Moody’s
(i) A week after it revised its outlook on India to ‘positive’ from ‘stable’, international credit rating major Moody’s pegged India’s growth at 7.5 percent for 2015.
(ii) “India’s economy is on a cyclical upswing. Forward looking indicators suggest domestic demand is gathering momentum,” said Faraz Syed, associate economist, Moody’s Analytics.
(iii) According to the ratings agency, low inflation rate has enabled the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut interest rates by 50 basis points in early 2015 which has helped in easing pressure on the private sector.
(iv) “Lower rates as well as the government’s infrastructure and disinvestment programs should provide a boost to domestic-oriented industries,” said Syed.
CII expects economy to grow at 7.8-8.2 % in FY16
(ii) “India is currently the fastest growing economy in a global environment that remains soft. CII expects GDP growth to lie in the range of 7.8-8.2 per cent in 2015-16,” the newly appointed President of the industry body, Sumit Mazumder, told reporters.
(iii) He added industry and services were expected to continue on the path of recovery though there were risks that agriculture might be a dampener if there were disappointments on the monsoon front.
(iv) The RBI had cut its repurchase rate by 25 basis points on January 15 and on March 4.
RBI to launch Rs. 10 coins on centenary of Gandhi’s return from SA
(i) The Reserve Bank will launch Rs. 10 coins to commemorate the centenary of return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa.
(ii) “The Government of India has minted the coins which the Reserve Bank of India will shortly put into circulation,” it said in a notification.
(iii) The existing coins in this denomination shall also continue to be legal tender, it added.
Universal connectivity, net neutrality can coexist in India: Zuckerberg
Mr. Zuckerberg’s comments come amid a raging debate that such plans lead to violation of the principle of Net neutrality in India, with partners in his dream initiative internet.org leaving the portal.
(ii) Defending the initiative, Mr. Zuckerberg said: “We’re proud of this progress. But some people have criticised the concept of zero-rating that allows internet.org to deliver free basic Internet services, saying that offering some services for free goes against the spirit of net neutrality. I strongly disagree with this.
India ranks below Bhutan, Sri Lanka in broadband reach: TRAI
(ii) “India ranks 125th in the world for fixed broadband penetration. Some of our neighbours like Bhutan and Sri Lanka are ahead of us.
(iii) We need to seriously think about it,” TRAI Chairman Rahul Khullar said while sharing details of recommendations on the subject of ‘Delivering Broadband Quickly’
(iv) To promote the use of fixed-line broadband, TRAI also proposed that the licence fee on the revenues earned from fixed line should be exempted for 5 years.
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