14th April 2015

>>The PM’s visited to Germany and inaugurated the famous Hannover industrial fair along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

1. Both leaders spoke in favour of a free trade agreement between the European Unionand India. PM Modi said that this was important for the expansion of India as amanufacturing hub.

2. The joint statement by both countries recognized the establishment of a workinggroup on urban development.

3. PM Modi promised to set up a mechanism to help German companies invest and dobusiness in India — something that he has done only for Japan and the US.

4. While addressing a diaspora event in Berlin, PM Modi said that India would lead the way in dealing with climate change. He added that India is not answerable to the worldin relation to climate change.

5. The two countries said stronger educational exchanges will be encouraged along with collaborations between universities.

>>FM transmission of Vividh Bharati Service was launched by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley on 14 April 2015. 
It was launched at function held at New Broadcasting House of All India Radio (AIR) in Delhi.

>>Indian-American businesswoman Shamina Singh has been nominated as the member  of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). 
She was nominated to top most post by United States President Barack Obama for term of four years.

>> Turkey launched the construction of its first nuclear power plant, a controversial USD 20 billion project slammed by ecologists which Ankara hopes will begin a new era of greater energy self-sufficiency.

• The nuclear power station, in Akkuyu in Mersin province on the shores of the Mediterranean is being built, like Iran`s first nuclear power plant, by Russia`s nuclear agency Rosatom.
• It is the first of three nuclear power plants Turkey currently plans to build to reduce its dependence on importing energy from exporters like Russia and Iran. 
• A second plant is due to be built by a French-Japanese consortium in the Black Sea city of Sinop while a third plant whose location is yet to be finalised is also planned.
• The construction of the power station, which is expected to be completed by 2020 and will have four power units with a capacity of 1200 MW each.
• The launch of the power plant comes two weeks after Turkey suffered its most serious nationwide power cut in 16 years which exposed the shortcomings of its energy system.
• The project is strongly backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of his plan to make Turkey one of the world`s top ten economies. 

>>The country's largest border guarding force BSF has launched an ambitious satellite-based tele-medicine programme to address medical and health-related problems of its troops deployed in far-flung frontier areas and difficult regions in the hinterland.

• The tele-medicine or 'e-medicine' facility will be operated and hosted from the Kadamtala-based composite hospital of the force in Siliguri in West Bengal.
• The 100-bed hospital centre in the eastern flank of the country, which will have a full-time team of doctors, would have links through satellite phones and the VSAT platform to connect the posts of the Border Security Force (BSF) along the Indo-Pak and Indo-Bangla frontiers that it guards.
• "The initiative will come as a big boost to the medical setup of the force. The programme is aimed to connect far-flung border posts and other locations of the force in direct contact with our medical experts".
• Officials said such a medical system was the need of the hour in the BSF as the troops deployed in border areas have to not only face the vagaries of the nature and climate but also counter diseases like malaria and flu quite often.
• They said it is impossible for them to keep a doctor or medical attendant in each border post of the force and hence it was decided to link these posts through communication gadgets and links that are available with the troops which are deployed in a variety of operational theatres ranging from the hot deserts of Rajasthan to the icy heights in Jammu and Kashmir and riverine and dense jungle borders in West Bengal and North Eastern states.
• The tele-medicine link also envisages to train few personnel in each of the border posts in basic skills of administering first aid to a colleague, a lesson also taught to troops during their training days.

>>The Ministry of Home Affairs has renamed   “Tourist Visa on Arrival-Electronic Travel Authorization (TvoA-ETA)” scheme to  “e-Tourist Visa” to clarify that it is not an on-arrival scheme,, who are under the impression that the visa is being granted on arrival.

• The government has issued 1.10 lakh visas under the new scheme that was launched on November 27 last year. According to the MHA, it will be extended to more countries and airports in a phased manner.
•  After some Indian embassies raised the issue with the Home Ministry seeking change of name, a committee comprising officials of the Bureau of Immigration, Home and External Ministries was formed to suggest a new name.

>>Online restaurant guide Zomato on 14 April 2015 acquired MaplePOS, a cloud-based point of sale product for restaurants developed by Delhi based MapleGraph.

>>the Centre today constituted a 'Task Force' to work on forging consensus among different states for speedy implementation of the NDA government's ambitious project. 

• The Union Water Resources Ministry's decision came in the backdrop of opposition from a couple of states over interlinking of rivers. 

• The Task Force would be chaired by B N Navalawala and take up all issues for expediting the work on interlinking of rivers in the country. 

• Apart from examining the existing links that are laid out as per the National Perspective Plan under both Himalayan and Peninsular components, the Task Force would also consider alternative plans in place of infeasible links in the present plan, the release added. 

• The panel would facilitate interlinking of intra-state and intra-basin rivers also along with that of inter-state and inter-basin links. 

• The Task Force would also provide guidance on norms of appraisal of individual projects in respect of economic viability, socio-economic, environmental impacts and preparation of resettlement plans. 

>>Australia today assured India that it would extend full technological support for the ambitious project to cleanse the Ganga, saying measures like controlling effluent discharge could be used to clean the river.

• "Australia has promised its full support to Ganga Rejuvenation plan. This was communicated by Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop when she called on Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharati here today," a statement said.

• Both the leaders also discussed bilateral co-operation in sectors like water-flow forecasting, recharging of ground water, mapping of ground water storage and inter-linking of rivers.

>>A three-month action plan has been formulated to combat pollution for the National Capital Region. 

Key facts:

• Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Independent Charge, Shri Prakash Javadekar stated that National Thermal Power Corporation, NTPC, has decided to convert Units IV and V of Badarpur Plant with retro-fitting, which will reduce emission load from two-thirds to one-thirds.
•  NTPC has also decided to phase out Units I, II and III in a time-bound manner. He also added that the Centre is forming rules for handling construction and demolition waste. 

• Rajasthan is taking effective steps to manage construction and demolition waste and will inspect the fuel quality being used in industrial units in Bhiwadi. 
• Haryana government will ensure that only BS IV norms are registered
• New Delhi Municipal Corporation, NDMC, is coming out with the first plant for plasma gasification in Asia. This facility will treat polluting material and convert it into gas. 

>>The WORLD BANK has predicted 8% GDP growth rate of India by 2017 and said that due to favorable oil prices and strong expansion in the country accelerate the economic growth.