7th April 2015

>>A 15-year-old Indian-origin schoolboy in the UK has won the Institute of Physics Prize (IOP) for his experiment on Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity.

• Pratap Singh, who is a student at The Perse School, Cambridge, won the 500 pounds Institute of Physics (IOP) prize for proving that cosmic ray muons would not be able to reach the Earth in detectable numbers unless special relativity was involved.
• He received the prize during the Big Bang Fair held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham in March.
• In his experiment, Singh used two Geiger-Muller tubes to detect cosmic ray muons, which he thinks should not reach the Earth in detectable numbers unless time dilation occurs.
• He then created a mathematical model for their arrival rate with and without time dilation, and using a Raspberry Pi and some statistical analysis, showed that they follow the model predicted by Einstein's 1905 theory of special relativity.

>>Scientists from four research institutions in Kerala discovered a rare species of plant named Oldenlandia dineshi from Palakkad region of Western Ghats.

• The scientists came across the plant in a quarry during an exploration of the Nenmara region south of Palakkad in the valley of the Nelliyampathy hills.

• The plant species named Oldenlandia dineshi is a shrub with long linear tapering leaves and dark blue flower. The flowering period is from July to September and fruiting from September to October.

• The species has been named in honour of TK Dinesh Kumar, former Professor of Botany, University College, Thiruvananthapuram.

  

>> Piplantri Village of southern Rajasthan's Rajsamand district was in news for planting 111 trees every time on the birth of a girl child.

• The tradition was started by village’s former sarpanch Shyam Sundar Paliwal in 2006. He started the initiative in the memory of his daughter Kiran, who died a few years ago.
• The tradition at Piplantri village sets a different example of respect and honour for women by planting 111 trees whenever a girl child is born. To protect the trees from termites, the residents plant aloe vera plants around them.

>> World Health Day (WHD) 2015 is  observed  On 7th April 2015,  globally on the theme "From farm to plate, make food safety".

• The theme was selected by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to bring focus on growing global burden of food borne diseases and underscore the need for coordinated cross-border action across the entire food supply chain i.e. from farm to plate.
• “WHO will dedicate its 2015 World Health Day to food safety to catalyse collective Government and public action to put measures in place that will improve safety of food from farms, factories, street vendors and kitchens.
• WHO held the first World Health Assembly in 1948. The Assembly decided to celebrate 7 April of each year, with effect from 1950, as the World Health Day.

Themes of World Health Day
2015:Food safety
2014:vector-borne diseases:small bite,big threat
2013:Healthy heart beat,Healthy blood pressure
2012:Godd health adds life to years.
2011:Anti-microbial resistance:no action today,no cure tomorrow.

>> Dena Bank, the state-run lender  on Monday signed agreement with LIC  to provide insurance cover to its savings account holders under the Prime Minister's Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJBY) scheme.

• Under the MoU, LIC will give a life cover of Rs 2 lakh in case of death of the insured person at a nominal premium of Rs 330 per annum.
• Account holders in the age group of 18 to 50 years can avail of the product.
• People who join the scheme before completing 50 years can continue to have the risk of life cover up to the age of 55 years subject to payment of premium.
• The scheme will come into effect from June 1, 2015.
• The bank customers can join the scheme between June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016.

  

>> Dr Mayilsamy Annadurai has assumed the office of Director, ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He replaced Dr. S.K. Shivakumar, who had retired on 31 March 2015.

>>Bangldesh Cabinet has approved a revised trade deal with India under which the two nations would be able to use each other's land and water routes for sending goods to a third country, removing a long standing barrier in regional trade.

• "This is a huge achievement for Bangladesh...under the agreement we (Bangladesh) will now be able to use Indian, roads, railways and waterways in transshipment of goods to Bhutan and Nepal," Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters today about the overnight development.

• He said under the deal India would also be able to send goods to Myanmar through Bangladesh.
• India and Bangladesh had their original trade agreement signed in 1972 soon after emergence of Independent Bangladesh, but under that deal, which expired on March 31, trade could only be done between the two neighbours.
• Officials said the proposed deal would be in force for five years instead of the existing tenure of three years and the fees and charges would be fixed through discussions between the two countries.

>> Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7 April 2015 approved strengthening and widening of three sections connecting the two temple towns of Varanasi and Madurai.

CCEA approved for laning of

Sultanpur-Varanasi section of National Highway-56 in Uttar Pradesh- This project will upgrade 138 km long stretch NH-56 at the cost of 3,800 crore rupees. It will substantially upgrade Varanasi’s connectivity to Lucknow and other parts of Central UP.

 Varanasi to Ghazipur, Gorakhpur and Nepal section of NH- 29 in UP- This project will upgrade 200 km long stretch NH- 29 at the cost of 4,400 crore rupees.

Madurai-Ramanathapuram section of NH- 49 in Tamil Nadu- This project will upgrade 115 km long stretch NH- 49 at the cost of 1,400 crore rupees.

>> The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday banned all diesel vehicles over ten years old from plying in Delhi and the National Capital Region and also cracked the whip on rampant construction activity adding dust to the air.

• Reiterating that diesel vehicles are major source of pollution in the ambient air quality and citing examples of countries which are in the process of controlling or banning diesel vehicles, the NGT ordered, “We direct all diesel vehicles, heavy or light, which are ten years old will not be permitted on roads of NCR of Delhi”.
• Tuesday’s order is in furtherance of the NGT’s order dated November 26, 2014 by which it had directed that “all vehicles, diesel or petrol, which are more than 15 years old shall not be permitted to ply on the roads”.
• The Tribunal also directed Delhi government to ensure vehicles are checked for weight, age and pollution levels at all entry points of Delhi and overloaded and polluting vehicles are prevented from entering the city limits.

 >> The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has proposed a single number ‘112’ for all emergency calls across the country including for ambulance, fire brigade, and police.

•  “Authority recommends that the number 112 be adopted as the single emergency number for India. This new number may be popularised extensively through a public awareness campaign by the Government,” the regulator said.
• As of now, there are different numbers for each service, such as 100 for police, 101 for fire service and 102 for ambulance. TRAI has also suggested that the existing emergency numbers be retained as secondary numbers.

>> The Union Cabinet on 7 April 2015 gave its nod to release an additional installment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners.

• The Govt rise the DA of 6% to 113 percent from the existing rate of 107 percent with effect from 1 January 2015. This decision is going to benefit 48 lakh government employees and 55 lakh pensioners.

>> Mission Indradhanush, the flagship programme of the Union government to ensure immunisation of children and pregnant women, was launched in five districts on Tuesday.

• It would help to bring down infant and maternal mortality rates.This mission started with a “catch-up” campaign from April to July which will cover all children up to two years and pregnant women.
• Indradhanush, representing seven colours, will cover diseases such as diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B and antigens or vaccines would be provided for them during the drive.
• The intensified immunisation campaigns in the selected districts would help reduce morbidity and mortality due to disease that can be prevented by vaccines.
• Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Ballari, and Koppal have been covered under this mission.

>>RBI has kept the repo rate(7.5%) and CRR(4%) unchanged

>>SBI and HDFC banks cut their base lending rates by 15 basis points to  9.85 %.This will be effective from 10^th April.