62nd National Film Awards

Best Feature Film – Court (Marathi, Guajarati, Hindi and English)
Best Actor -Vijay Sanchari (Nanu Avanalla Avalu, Kannada)
Best Actress – Kangana Ranaut (Queen)
Best Direction – Srijit Mukherjee (Chotushkone, Bengali)
Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment –Mary Kom Haider, a Hindi film bagged most awards (5)

13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice held in Doha

The 13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice was held from 12 April 2015 to 19 April 2015 at Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha, Qatar. The Summit concluded with the adoption of Doha Declaration.

The Doha Declaration aims at integrating crime prevention and criminal justice into the wider United Nations (UN) agenda to address social and economic challenges and to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels, and public participation.

During the conference, delegates pledged action to promote justice for all, underline link between rule of law, sustainable development and by adopting a statement to that effect participants committed themselves to integrating crime prevention and criminal justice into the wider UN agenda.

The Doha Congress in 2015 coincided with the 60th anniversary of the Crime Congress. The summit was attended by a large group of policymakers, academicians working in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice to contribute to the drafting of the United Nations agenda and standards on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

The UN conference on crime control is held at every five-year intervals. The first Congress was held in Geneva, Switzerland in 1955 while the 12th Congress was held in Salvador, Brazil in 2010.

Shah Rukh Khan, Zayn Malik honoured at the 5th Asian Awards

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and teen idol Zyan Malik on 17 April 2015 were honoured at the 5th Asian Awards held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.  

Khan was awarded with the prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Cinema award. The 49-year-old actor received the award by Indian-origin British filmmaker Gurinder Chadha.

Previous winners in the cinema category included Irrfan Khan (2014), Anupam Kher (2013) and Yash Chopra (2011).

On the other hand, 22-year-old Malik was awarded with the Outstanding Contribution to Music. He is an English singer and songwriter, and a previous member of the boy band One Direction. 

List of Awardees

Category	Winners
Founders Award		Dr. Amar Bose, Founder of Bose Corporation
Entrepreneur of the Year		Jack Ma, Founder & CEO of Alibaba
Outstanding Achievement in Cinema		Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood actor
Chivas Regal Social Entrepreneur of the Year		Gopi Gopalakrishnan, President, World Health Partners
Outstanding Achievement in Sport		Kumar Sangakkara, Cricketer of Sri Lanka
Business Leader of the Year		The Hinduja Brothers
Outstanding Achievement in Television		Sanjeev Bhaskar, Comedian, actor and broadcaster
Outstanding Achievement in Art & Design		John Rocha, Designer
Outstanding Achievement in Science & Technology		Sir Tejinder Singh Virdee, Experimental particle physicist
Outstanding Achievement in Music		Zayn Malik, English singer and songwriter

About Asian Awards
It was launched in 2010 by Paul Sagoo, entrepreneur and Founder of the Lemon Group to recognise and reward exemplary achievement from within the Asian community across 14 categories that include business, philanthropy, entertainment, culture and sport. 

In 2010 and 2011, the awards were only open to those born in or with direct family origin from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, or Bangladesh, however, in 2013, the Awards were opened to all people of both South and Eastern Asian origin.

UN Report India fifth biggest E waste producer

Global E-Waste Monitor Report   which takes a detailed overview of e-waste generation across the countries  is released by UN University- a UN Think Tank.

Report Highlights: 

•    India has generated total 1.7 Mt (million tonnes) of electronic and electrical equipment in 2014. 
•    Ranking: 1. USA  2. China, 3. Japan 4. Germany 5. India
•    The US and China produced 32% of total world s e-waste which is highest e-waste generation in 2014.
•    Asia is the largest e-waste producer in the world . Total e-waste generated by Asia is 16 Mt or 3.7 kg per inhabitant.  
•    e-waste generation ranking in Asia : 1. China -6.0 million tonnes  2. Japan- 2.2 million tonnes  3. India -1.7 million tonnes.
•    Africa generated the lowest amount of e-waste per inhabitant in 2014 which amounts 1.7 kg/inhabitant. Total waste generated by Africa is only 1.9 Mt.
•    Developed countries from Europe are among the top per capita producers.  The top five being Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, and the UK.
•    People discarded mostly kitchen equipments, laundry and bathroom equipments like microwave ovens, washing machines and dishwashers.
•    Report estimated that the e-waste volume may rise from 21% in 2014 to 50 million tonnes in 2018 which highlights the world s fast-growing e-waste problem. Increase in sales of electrical and electronic equipments coupled with reduced product life cycle period , have been resulting into rapid rate e-waste generation.
•    Less than 16% of e-waste has been recycled and reused. Thus recycling of e-waste is a major challenge.
•    Toxins in e-waste include lead glass, batteries, mercury, cadmium, chromium and ozone-depleting substances (CFCs) which pose health associated problems like impaired mental development, cancer, and damage to livers and kidneys.

National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014

Union Government has brought into force the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014 along with the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014. In this regard, notification to effect from 13 April 2015 was issued by the Union Law Ministry. With this new law the collegium system to appoint members to the higher judiciary has come to an end. Now President will appoint judges in the Supreme Court (SC) and 24 High Courts (HCs) in consultation with the NJAC. 

Facts about NJAC Act, 2014 
Composition of NJAC 
As per Article 124A, NJAC is a 6 member constitutional body. Consisting of Chairman- Chief Justice of India (CJI). Members- Two senior most Judges of the Supreme Court, the Union Minister of Law and Justice and two eminent persons. Two eminent persons will be nominated by committee led by Prime Minister of India, the CJI, and the Leader of the Opposition in the House of the People. 

As per 124B, functions of NJAC are 
Recommend persons for appointment as CJI, Judges of SC, Chief Justices and other Judges of High Courts. Recommend transfer of Chief Justices and other Judges HCs from one HC to another HC. 

About Collegium system 
Previously, under the collegium system, five top judges of the Supreme court recommended transfer and elevation of judges to Supreme Court and High Courts. It came into existence in 1993 after a Supreme Court judgement.

India elected to four United Nations agencies

India was elected to four important United Nations (UN) agencies on 8 April 2015. These agencies are United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Program (WFP), Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) and the Governing Council of UN-Habitat.

India was elected to these bodies at the Coordination and Management Meeting (CMM) of UNECOSOC (the United Nations Economic and Social Council) held at the UN headquarters in New York, USA.

India was elected by acclamation, which is a form of election that doesn’t use a ballot.

Results of Elections
• India, along with thirteen other nations, was elected to the Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for a three year period starting from January 2016.
• India was re-elected to the Executive Board of the World Food Programme (WFP) along with five other nations for a two year period starting from January 2016. 
• India was elected to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) along with nineteen other nations for a three year period starting from January 2016. Some of the nations that were elected to CCPCJ included Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Austria, France, Sweden and the United States.
• India was re-elected to the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) along with thirteen other nations for a three year period starting from January 2016.

Significance of India’s election to UN bodies

• India has a 100 percent record of winning the UNECOSOC elections. For instance, in the first week of April 2015, India was re-elected to the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council for the period of 2015-17. In October 2014, India was re-elected to ECOSOC by garnering the maximum number of votes in the Asia-Pacific group. 
• These continuous wins at various UN bodies highlights the fact that India’s role as an important and influential global power is now recognised by a vast majority of the UN membership.

PM launches first Indian Air Quality Index (AQI)

The government has unveiled the National Air Quality Index (AQI) that will give real time data regarding the level of pollutants in the air. It will inform people on the impact of air pollution on their health.

Initially, 10 cities will be covered by the index. These cities include Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Each of These cities will have a monitoring station with Air Quality Index displayed on the board.

Different studies have found high level of air pollution in India. The environmental preference index placed India at 174th position out of 178 countries for air quality last year. A study conducted by WHO has found 13 of the most polluted 20 cities in the world present in India.

The Air Quality Index is the global standard that is used to determine the quality of air. Multiple data that is already available with the country’s Central Pollution Control Board is considered and is presented on a color coded scale having six levels by it.

Dark green is the first level, which indicates good quality air where as maroon indicates severe pollution. The index identifies health impacts associated with each category.

The index gives current and 24-hour average data on particulate matter – PM2.5 and PM 10 along with other pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, ozone and carbon monoxide.

New CEC named by President

Dr Nasim Zaidi has been named as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by President Pranab Mukherjee. He will succeed H.S.Brahma, who is the current CEC.

He is a 1976 batch officer of UP cadre and has retired in July 2012 as Secretary to the Union Government in Ministry of Civil Aviation. He had also hold the position of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Bad performance for India on Social Progress Index (SPI)

India has been ranked at 101th place out of 133 countries on the Social Progress Index (SPI) in which Norway is placed at 1st position and U.S at 16th position. India s performance is very poor in the Index as even its neighbours such as Nepal and Bangladesh have secured better ranks. India s ranking is poor than it per capita GDP ranking, which is 93.

The index ranked all these countries on different indicators of wellness including health, water and sanitation, personal safety, access to opportunity, tolerance, inclusion, personal freedom and choice.

MUDRA Bank becomes reality

MUDRA Bank announced in the union budget this year has finally become a reality. It was launched by PM Modi on Wednesday. It will be functioning as a regulator for Micro-Finance Institutions and will serve as a credit provider to small entrepreneurs. The initial corpus is Rs. 20,000 crore.

MUDRA will play the role of laying down policy guidelines for the business of micro enterprise financing and registering MFI entities along with their rating and accreditation.

MUDRA Bank will be enumerating "responsible financing practices", whose will eliminate over indebtedness while ensuring proper principles of client protection and recovery methods.

It will also work to develop standards to govern last mile lending to micro enterprises.

The initial products and schemes of MUDRA will be known as  Shishu ,  Kishor  and  Tarun  signifying the level of development and need of funding for the beneficiary micro unit.

Delhi Government launched India’s first e-ration card Service

Delhi Government on 27 March 2015 launched India’s first e-ration card service. The service was launched by the Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal.

In this service, E-ration card will be linked with Aadhaar cards and it would enable the beneficiaries of Public Distribution System (PDS) to get the cards online from the government’s web portal without hassles.

The new service is expected to curb corruption and increase transparency in the system.

The service would cut down the delays in preparation of ration card and would ensure the fast delivery to the beneficiaries.

As soon as an application for providing food security is approved by the Food Supply Officer concerned, a message will go to the cellphone number of the beneficiary informing him or her about approval of application and ration card.

ISRO won Gandhi Peace Prize 2014

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 27 March 2015 won Gandhi Peace Prize 2014. The award was selected by the jury under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Besides Prime Minister, other members of the Jury that selected the ISRO for the award were Justice H L Dattu, Chief Justice of India; Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the single largest Opposition Party in the Lok Sabha; LK Advani, Member of Parliament and Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

The Indian space agency successfully launched Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and at a very cost effective price of 450 crore rupees.

The launch makes India the first Asian country to enter the Martian sphere of influence.

ISRO became the fourth space agency after National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US, Russian Federal Space Agency (RFSA) and European Space Agency to have undertaken a mission to Mars.

Besides launching various research and communication satellites, the space agency through its cutting-edge technologies contributes to the nation's development through satellite based education, health care and connectivity to community activities for sustainable economic development.

About the Award

The Gandhi Peace Prize for social, economic and political transformation through non-violence was instituted in the year 1995 on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

It is given to individual or organisation for making social, economic and political transformation through non-violence means.

The award comprises an amount of one crore rupees and a citation.

Nobel Laureate John Nash won Abel Prize 2015 for work on partial differential equations

Nobel Laureate John F Nash Jr. won the Abel Prize 2015 for his work on partial differential equations. The prize was announced on 25 March 2015 by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters. They will receive the Abel Prize from His Majesty King Harald at a ceremony in Oslo on 19 May 2015.

He will share the Prize with Louis Nirenberg, Professor Emeritus at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. They both will share the prize money of 760000 US dollar.

Nash and Nirenberg won the prize for striking and seminal contributions to the theory of nonlinear partial differential equations and its applications to geometric analysis. Partial differential equations are important in both pure math and describing natural phenomena.

John Nash is a senior research mathematician at Princeton University. He won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1994 for his work in game theory as dramatized in the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind in which he was portrayed by actor Russell Crowe.

About the Abel Prize

The Abel Prize is an international prize presented annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. The prize was named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel.

The award was established in 2001 by the Government of Norway and complements the Holberg Prize in the humanities.

The Abel Prize has often been described as the mathematician's Nobel Prize, competing in that respect with the much older Fields Medal. It comes with a monetary award of 6 million Norwegian kroner (NOK).

In 2014, it was won by Yakov G Sinai, Professor at Princeton University and Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences.

The first Abel Prize was won by Jean-Pierre Serre, Professor at Collège de France, Paris in 2003.

Establishment of PCPIRs

The Government of India has approved setting up four Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Regions (PCPIRs) in the States of Andhra Pradesh (Vishakhapatnam – Kakinada), Gujarat (Dahej), Odisha (Paradeep) and Tamil Nadu (Cuddalore – Nagapattinam) which are estimated to attract investments of around Rs.7.63 lakh crore and provide employment to around 33.96 lakh persons. These PCPIRs are at different stages of implementation. PCPIRs are the projects with long gestation period and may take around 15-20 years to achieve full potential. As on 31.01.2015, investment of approx. Rs. 1.60 lakh crore have been made and direct & indirect employment for approx 2.23 lakh persons has been generated. 

The PCPIR projects are already functional and realization of full potential is a gradual process. The Government has set up Steering Committees for monitoring the implementation of PCPIRs in various States. The PCPIRs have been promoted in domestic and international forum through exhibition, road shows and interaction with industry associations in order to attract investments. 

Gujarat Becomes The First State To Conduct Online Elections

Gujarat has been creating landmark strides in the wing of elections to the local body authorities. Earlier the Gujarat government was successful in clearing the bill which has paved the way for compulsory voting by all the voters in the local municipal and panchayat elections. The very controversial Gujarat Local Authorities Laws Bill, 2009 was passed in the previous year, which made

(a) The voting by all those voters in the electoral college mandatory
(b) Also provided for 50% reservation for women in the local authorities.

Now after making the voting mandatory, the government has decided to make some appeasements by facilitating easy voting. This, the State Election Commission plans to bring by Online Voting.

This according to the commission would facilitate all those voters who are unable to reach the polling stations. The method follows a series of steps as follows:

(1) The voters would have to register themselves in the Gujarat Election Commission Official website.(2) They would have to present themselves for the physical verification which would be carried out by the local officials who would visit the address specified by the voters.(3) The officials would collect the biometric details and along with that would also note the hardware configuration of the laptop and the desktops that would be possibly used for voting.(4) The voters would be asked to use the same hardware as checked by the officials for voting.(5) While voting the voters would receive a OTP(One Time Password) that would be sent to their mobile phones, which would be followed by a line for the purpose of verification.(6) Using these verifications the voter could cast his/her vote online. 

Govt launches E-Vaidya Scheme

The health minister launched the second electronic UPHC - Urban Primary Health Centre in the state of Andhra Pradesh. This would be the first of its kind e-Vaidya telemedicine facility launched in the country. The e-Vaidya scheme comes under the flagship- NUHM (National Urban Health Mission).

E-Vaidya is primarily a digital health unit which would serve as a primary health center, and is a highly innovative approach with a frugal combination between the offline and the online modes. It would help in enabling and provisioning of the health care for all. It operates under a cooperative partnership between the state and the central government. The scheme importantly introduces e-UPHC i.e electronic Urban Primary Health Centre.

The various important points under the scheme:

(a) Usage of videoconferencing with which the patients can directly interact with the doctors at far off places.
(b) Specialists and other consultation could be easily carried out by the technique.
(c) The Online e-UPHC at the fringe places would have the facility for video conferencing and also other basic facilities such as machinery for X-Ray, basic labs and other diagnostic technologies.
(d) The common people could consult these doctors using video conferencing and use these facilities for the various tests which are asked to be conducted on them for the purpose of diagnosis.
(e) Many plans are covered under the scheme, the patients could opt for yearly memberships from the e-Vaidya site and can consult with the doctors even while sitting at homes with internet. But the patients will have to pay a nominal fees for memberships.
(f) The fees would vary according to the kind of consultation seeked and the time period availed for such consultations. 

Union Cabinet paves the way for New Development Bank

The union cabinet has approved the establishment of New Development Bank and the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA). The Bank will help India and other member countries to raise and avail resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects. In the New Development Bank each participant country will be given one vote with none having veto power unlike the World Bank, which assigns votes based on the capital share. The BRICS CRA is aimed at providing short-term liquidity support to the members to help mitigate BOP crisis situation through currency swaps, in case such a situation arises.

Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched Swachh Vidyalaya Programme under Swachh Bharat Mission with an objective to provide separate toilets for boys and girls in all government schools within one year. The Ministry financially supports States/Union Territories inter alia to provide toilets for girls and boys in schools under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). Under SSA and RMSA 88,728 toilets have been sanctioned during 2014-15. 1.58 lakh toilets as well as dysfunctional toilets have been taken up by Public Sector Undertakings/Corporates for construction/repairs. Besides an amount of Rs. 56.51crore has been allocated from the Swachh Bharat Kosh for re-construction/repairs of the dysfunctional toilets. 

National Marine Police Academy at West Coast

The Government of India has decided to establish a National Marine Police Training Institute in the land offered by the Government of Gujarat located at Pindara village in Devbhoomi Dwarka district of the State, to impart training to the marine Police personnel of all the coastal States/Union Territories in the country.  It will take, at least, 4 years to operationalise this Institute. 

3rd Tortoise Festival organised at Hajong Lake in Assam

3rd Tortoise Festival was organised at Hajong Lake in Dima Hasao district of Assam on 21 February 2015. The festival was organised to create awareness among people on the endangered tortoise species by Environment and Forest Department of Dima Hasao. 

The day-long festival saw various activities like discussions, presentation and others aimed at protection of the species. 

About Hajong Lake
• The lake is a unique tortoise habitat and is situated in the Langting Mupa forest reserve at a distance of around 300kilometres from Guwahati 
• The lake is the only natural tortoise home in Assam 
• Hajong Lake that is popularly known as the tortoise lake is a habitat of few varieties of Hill Terrapins (a rare species)
• At present, around 400 to 500 tortoises are dwelling in the Hajong Lake