6th April 2015

>>Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched the National Air Quality Index (AQI) for monitoring the quality of air in major urban centres across the country on a real-time basis and enhancing public awareness for taking mitigative action.  

• The AQI has been at present launched for 10 cities -- Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. 

• As part of the endeavour, the Union Environment Ministry proposes to extend the measurement of air quality to 22 state capitals and 44 other cities with a population exceeding one million. 

• It will have 'one number, one colour and one description' to inform the public about air quality in a simple and easily understandable format. 

• There are six AQI categories, namely: Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very poor and Severe. 

• The index considers eight pollutants -- PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3 and Pb). The likely health implications of the six categories would also be provided with a colour code. 

>> An agreement for a piece of land to  construction of a memorial to framer of the Indian constitution Babasaheb BR Ambedkar was signed .

• The tripartite agreement was signed between the union ministry of textiles, the government of Maharashtra and the National Textile Corporation, for transfer of 12 acres of land at the Indu Mills Compound in Mumbai, where the last rites of Ambedkar were performed.
•  Modi, paves the way for resolving the long-pending issue of transfer of land from the National Textiles Corporation to the Government of Maharashtra to enable construction of a befitting memorial for Bharat Ratna Babasaheb B.R. Ambedkar," .
• Prime Minister Modi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and union Minister of State for Textiles Santosh Gangwar were present during the signing of the agreement.

>> Arab poet Adonis has been chosen for this year’s Kumaran Asan World Prize for Poetry, instituted by the Kumaran Asan Memorial Association to honour poets of international stature and introduce them to Indian readers.

•  “Though separated by more than a century, Asan and Adonis have a lot in common as poets. Both are great modernisers in their language, Asan in Malayalam and Adonis in Arabic, and they share a spontaneous urge for freedom and social reformation without compromising traditional values,” the jury said.

• Adonis, author of more than 20 volumes of poetry in Arabic and widely translated into almost all languages, is a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize for many years.
• His famous work includes- If Only the Sea Could Sleep, Pages of Day and Night, Songs of Mihyar the Damascene, Not A Star, A Voice, A King is Miyhar, The Adoring Rock, Take me to God.

• Born Ali Ahmad Said Esber in Western Syria in 1930
• The award, consisting of a cash prize of Rs.3 lakh, a memento and citation

>> Indian chess Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika won the bronze medal in the World Women’s chess championships along with Swedish Grandmaster Pia Cramling. 

>>  Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday launched the first of the six Scorpene submarines (Project 75) at the Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) here.

• "After undergoing trial test run at sea to check technical glitches, if any, the sub will be commissioned on September 2016," said the official.

• Originally, the first submarine was to be ready for induction in 2012.
• Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) has informed the Navy that the project would be delayed by another 18 months from the 2015 deadline announced by defence minister AK Antony in Parliament last year.

>>Twitter has acquired Periscope ,a startup that lets users stream live video from their phone,according to a person familiar with the deal.