National Affairs

  • The Maharashtra government has decided to link all ration shops in Mumbai and suburban Thane district with a biometric system by November with a view to check irregularities in the public distribution system (PDS).
  • The Maharashtra government has set up a 12 member task force onagriculture development and poverty alleviation to address the issues.
    • This task force will be headed by the additional chief secretary (Agriculture).

People in News

  • Egypt’s ex-president Mohammed Morsi could be sentenced to death on Tuesday on charges of inciting the killing of protesters, in the first verdict against him nearly two years after his fall from power.
    • Mr Morsi, who was Egypt’s first freely elected president, also faces the death penalty in two other trials — including one in which he is accused of spying for foreign powers and escaping from prison during the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolt.

New Appointments

  • Dr Nasim Zaidi assumed charge as India’s new Chief Election Commissioner.
    • He is an IAS officer from Uttar Pradesh cadre of the 1976 batch.
    • He is 20th chief election commissioner (CEC) of India.
    • He will succeed Hari Shankar Brahma, who retired yesterday.
    • He will be the CEC till July, 2017, when he turns 65.
    • Important Point to Note : An election commissioner can remain in office for six years or till he attains the age of 65 years.
  • Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yechury today was elected as the next general secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist).
    • Mr. Yechury is the fifth general secretary of the 50-year-old party.

Awards & Honors

  • Noted Goa-based psychiatrist and professor of international mental health, Dr. Vikram Patel, has made it to the Time magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
    • Dr. Patel, co-founder of the Goa-based mental health research NGO, Sangath, and the Centre for Global Mental Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine where he is professor, featured in the Time’s category of ‘Pioneers’.
    • Headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom President Barack Obama calls “India’s reformer-in-chief”, four people of Indian origin figure in the Time magazine’s list.
    • The remaining two were,
      • Chanda Kochhar, managing director and CEO of ICICI Bank,
      • Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO .

Science & Technology

  • India’s first satellite, Aryabhata‬ was launched on this day (19 April 1975), 40 years ago.
    • It was named after the great Indian astronomer of the same name.
    • It was built by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and was launched by the Soviet Union from Kapustin Yar using a Kosmos-3M launch vehicle.
    • The objective of this project was to gain experience in building and operating a satellite in space.

Even More:

1. Infosys Chief Executive Officer, Vishal Sikka, has been appointed as Advisory Professor by the East China Normal University (ECNU), one of the prestigious universities in China. Professor Shijun Tong, CCP Secretary of ECNU, formally conferred the Advisory Professorship to Mr Sikka.

East China Normal University, established in 1951, is the first national normal university of the People’s Republic of China.

2. Two Indians, Zeena Johar, SughaVazhvu Healthcare Founder and journalist and author Rahul Pandita, were chosen along with 16 people as 2015 World Fellows by Yale University which is the signature global leadership development initiative by the US University.

Johar founded SughaVazhvu Healthcare (SVHC) and IKP Centre for Technologies in Public Health (ICTPH) to create a primary- care delivery network through rural clinics. Pandita has reported extensively about conflicts in Iraq and Sri Lanka and is known for his reportage on Maoist insurgency in central and eastern India, and on issues in Kashmir.

3. CPM leader Sitaram Yechury was elected as the next general secretary of Communist Party of India (Marxist). With this, he became the fifth general secretary of CPI (M). During this Veteran leaders V.S. Achuthanandan, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and Nirupam Sen were dropped from the Central Committee.

4. Vankadarath Saritha, a 30-year-old driver, became the first woman bus driver to be inducted in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) which has currently posted her at Sarojini Nagar depot and will work in day-time duty at a route in the central part of the city. Earlier she was working as a taxi driver in Delhi before joining DTC.

5. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has suspended the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) for indefinite period after PCI had provided shoddy treatment to athletes during the National Para-Athletics Championships held in Ghaziabad in March this year. With this suspension, Indian para-athletes will not be able to participate in any IPC-sanctioned competition, including 2016 Paralympic Games at Rio de Janeiro.

6. Ashish Jakhar set a national youth record in boys’ hammer throw event and won gold medal in the 12th National Youth Athletics Championships held in Bambolim, Goa. He had hurled 5kg ball-and-chain at record distance of 72.04 metres in a second throw which made a national youth record. With this, he broke the previous national record of 70.35 metres which was set by Sukhdev Singh in 2009.