World Health Day 2015 observed globally with the theme From farm to plate, make
food safe(i) 7 April: World Health Day
(ii) World Health Day (WHD) 2015 was observed globally on 7 April 2015. The theme for the year is From farm to plate, make food safe.
(iii) The day is celebrated every year since it was first celebrated in 1950 to mark the anniversary of the WHO formation in 1948.
(iv) The theme of the WHD 2014 was Small bite, big threat which focused on vector borne diseases.
Turkey lifts ban on Twitter, Facebook(i) Twitter has complied with Turkey's request to remove photographs of a prosecutor held at gunpoint by far-left militants, an official said on Monday, and a ban on it ended hours after being imposed.
(ii) Twitter has agreed to shut down accounts and remove images relating to last week's hostage-taking.
(iii) The website will reopen to access very shortly," the senior official told Reuters before the site became accessible again.
Pratap Singh, an Indian-origin schoolboy, won Institute of Physics Prize for his Cosmic-ray project
(i) Pratap Singh, a 15-year-old Indian-origin schoolboy in the United Kingdom, on 12 March 2015 was awarded with the 500 pounds Institute of Physics (IOP) Prize.
(ii) The prize also includes a trip to a national physics-related activity.
(iii) He was awarded for conducting an experiment that verified an effect of Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity.
(iv) He received the award at the Bing Bang Fair held at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) Birmingham.
Indian operation in Yemen helps 26 countries
(i) India is executing one of the most challenging rescue operations in strife-torn Yemen, pulling out its own and citizens from at least 26 other countries.
(ii) On Monday, India evacuated over 1,000 (574 from Sana'a by air and 479 from Al Hodeida by sea) executing a sophisticated air-sea operation showcasing its maritime power.
Rajeev Shukla appointed as Chairman of IPL Governing Council
(i) Rajeev Shukla on 6 April 2015 was re-appointed as the chairman of the Indian Premier League's (IPL) Governing Council by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
(ii) His appointment came just a day before the opening ceremony of the IPL-8 in Kolkata.
(iii) Former Union Minister and Congress leader Shukla was the IPL chairman till 2013 when he resigned from the post in the aftermath of the IPL spot-fixing scandal.
CII and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed MoU to deepen partnership
(i) Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on 6 April 2015 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to deepen partnership between Indian companies and the bank in those countries where the bank has operations.
(ii) It was signed by the CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee and EBRD Vice-President Phil Bennett at a session on Inclusive Business: The Way Forward as part of the National Conference and Annual Session 2015 held by the CII in New Delhi.
(iii) Under the MoU, the EBRD countries of operations would benefit from the transfer of skills from world-class Indian companies.
(iv) The bank has already made 1 billion US dollar investment together with Indian companies and the MoU will help to utilize huge untapped potential in the Indian private sector.
Steel Companies partnered with Union Ministry of Steel to set up Steel Research & Technology Mission
(i) Major Indian Steel Companies on 6 April 2015 signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Union Ministry of Steel for setting up of Steel Research and Technology Mission of India (SRTMI) in New Delhi.
(ii) The primary objective of SRTMI is to promote collaborative Research and Development (R&D) programmes between the ministry and steel industries in priority areas of national importance in the steel sector.
(iii) The participating steel companies in this initiative are Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Tata Steel, JSW Steel of Jindal Group, Jindal Steel and Power Limited, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Metallurgical & Engineering Consultants (India) Limited (MECON).
EPFO updates 15.54 crore PF accounts for 2014-15 on April 1
(i) Retirement fund body has achieved another milestone in the process of digitising its operations by updating 15.54 crore PF accounts for 2014-15 in a day.
(ii) Earlier, the task of updating PF accounts for a financial year used to take months after the end of that fiscal.
(iii) The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is required to update PF accounts for a fiscal till September 30 after the end of that financial year.
India draws bottom line for Rafale
(i) India will not ink the mega $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project to acquire 126 fighters till France agrees to stick to its original pricing, which led its Rafale fighter to defeat the Eurofighter Typhoon in commercial evaluation over three years ago.
(ii) This is India's "bottom line" on which the outcome of long-drawn final negotiations with French aviation major Dassault now hinges, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to leave for France on Thursday as part of his three-nation tour.
