Chennai-born Raja Rajeswari is New York’s first Indian-American woman judge
(i) Chennai-born Raja Rajeswari has been sworn-in as a criminal court judge in New York by Mayor Bill de Blasio, becoming the first India-born woman to be appointed a judge in New York City.(ii) Ms. Rajeswari, 43, who had migrated to the U.S. from Chennai as a teenager, previously worked with the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office for her entire career in several bureaus including Criminal Court, Narcotics, Supreme Court, and the Sex Crimes Special Victims Bureau, where she last served as Deputy Chief.
(iii) Ms. Rajeswari took the oath of office at a ceremony in New York City on Monday along with 27 other judges appointed earlier this month to the Family Court, Criminal Court, and Civil Court, which are part of the New York State Unified Court System.
Dance director Vijay dies in accident, in Nepal(i) Even as the members of the unit filming ‘Etakaaram.com’ were heaving a sigh of relief on their providential escape from the earthquake that devastated Nepal, a road accident claimed the life of Vijay, the choreographer for the movie, on Monday. who used to run a dance academy in Bapatla.
(ii) After wrapping up four days of shooting in a place called Kokra in Nepal, the unit was said to be returning to Kathmandu when the Tata Safari van in which the unit was travelling met with an accident.
(iii) Vijay was a native of Bapatla in Guntur District and his family has been in the street living behind the Shadi Khana near marketyard.
(iv) Vijay was part of the 20-member crew of "Etakaaram.com’’, which left for Nepal on Friday.
Former Coca-Cola veteran joins Snapdeal as Senior VP-Marketing
(i) Snapdeal, an online marketplace, today announced that it has appointed Idi Srinivas Murthy as Senior Vice President – Marketing.
(ii) Mr. Murthy joins Snapdeal after a string of successes in Marketing at The Coca-Cola Company and GlaxoSmithKline.
(iii) An electrical engineer from Vivekanand Engineering College, Mumbai and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) – Calcutta, Mr. Murthy was Regional Director, Marketing at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), South Africa where he spearheaded GSK’s portfolio expansion, innovation, and consumer and medical marketing across 44 countries.
(iv) At The Coca-Cola Company, he worked across different roles in Marketing and operations.
(v) Kunal Bahl, co-Founder and CEO, Snapdeal.
Rajya Sabha passed Payments and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014
(i) The Rajya Sabha on 27 April 2015 passed Payments and Settlement Systems (Amendment) Bill, 2014 with voice vote. With this the bill has been passed by both the houses of Parliament. It was passed by the Lok Sabha on 9 December 2014.
(ii) The bill seeks to amend the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 so as to address the problem of insolvency in the payment and settlement system by increasing transparency.
(iii) It is also aimed at bringing India's banking payment system in sync with international practices.
The Annual Credit Plan 2015-16 launched in Kalaburagi district
(i) Deputy Commissioner Vipul Bansal said that the Annual Credit Plans of banks should not become a mere ritual and bankers should make honest efforts to achieve financial targets and also help the farming sector get all the benefits due to them.
(ii) Launching the Distrct Annual Credit Plan 2015-16 here on Monday, Mr Bansal said that banks, which deduct the premiums for crop insurance in crop loans, seldom made any effort to ensure that the farmers got back their insurance amount in the event of the failure of the crop.
(iii) State Bank of India, which is the lead bank of Kalaburagi, had prepared an ambitious credit plan of Rs. 5,111 crore which included Rs. 4,275 crore priority sector lending and Rs. 836 crore non-priority sector lending.
Union Government cancelled licenses of nearly 9000 NGOs
(i) Union Government on 27 April 2015 cancelled the licences of around 9000 NGOs for violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010.
(ii) These foreign funded NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) failed to file annual returns for the years 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12.
(iii) Union Ministry of Home Affairs in an order said that the registration of the NGOs that had neither filed their annual returns for three years nor given any explanation for the delay, stood cancelled with immediate effect.
(iv) The Ministry also directed the district magistrate concerned to manage the assets of these NGOs in any manner considered necessary and in public interest.
Wimbledon announces 7 per cent increase in prize money
(i) Prize money is increasing by 7 per cent at Wimbledon this year, with 1.88 million pounds ($2.85 million) going to the men’s and women’s singles champions.(ii) The All England Club announced that prize money for the grass-court Grand Slam will total 26.75 million pounds ($40.60 million). Organisers say the prize fund will be “the highest ever in professional tennis,” surpassing last year’s U.S. Open purse of $38.25 million. The total prize money for singles is going up by 8 per cent.
(iii) Last year’s champions Novak Djokovic and Petra Kvitova each received 1.76 million pounds.
(iv) The tournament will run from June 29 to July 12. The break between the French Open and Wimbledon (normally two weeks) has been extended to three weeks for the first time this year.
Two-bedroom scheme launch in May: KCR
(i) Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday announced that his election promise of constructing two-bedroom houses for poor will take off in May.
(ii) He also announced that orders regularising the services of contract employees will be issued shortly and that the unemployed who are opposing jobs for contract staff will also be accommodated in government service.
(iii) The process will commence the day after the committee headed by C.R. Kamalanathan finalised the bifurcation of State-level posts between the two States, he said.
(iv) In the power sector itself, youth will get about 25,000 jobs as the government was headed for a huge expansion of the sector.
