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- The decision comes after Home Ministry decided to reduce the number of central armed police force personnel deployed in the north-eastern States.
- The Centre has revoked The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from Meghalaya since April 1, a senior Home Ministry official told The Hindu on Monday. Earlier the AFSPA was effective in 20 km area along the Assam-Meghalaya border
- In Arunachal Pradesh, the impact of AFSPA was reduced to eight police stations instead of 16 police stations and in Tirap, Longding and Changlang districts bordering Assam.
- The Ministry has also relaxed the Protected Area Permit (PAP) for foreigners visiting Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. The PAP will be valid for five years, but residents from Pakistan, Afghanistan and China will not be allowed to visit these areas.
- The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 is effective in whole of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur (excluding seven assembly constituencies of Imphal) and parts of Arunachal Pradesh. As per Section 3 of the AFSPA, it can be invoked in places “where the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary.”
- The AFSPA gives power to army and central forces deployed in “disturbed areas” to kill anyone acting in contravention of law, arrest and search any premises without a warrant and provide cover to forces from prosecution and legal suits without Centre’s sanction.
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- In Afghanistan, at least 60 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack at a voter registration centre in the Afghan capital Kabul on 22April.
- The dead includes 21 women and five children. The blast occurred in front of a local school where a voter registration site is located.
- Several people were near the building before the blast waiting for registering to get voting cards.
- The site also distributes national identification cards for voters, who have no IDs yet.ISIS group claimed responsibility for the attack via its online news portal.
- Afghan election officials have slated Oct 20 as the date for the upcoming parliamentary and district council elections, which has been delayed a couple of times over the past years.The voter registration process started on April 14 for the polls.
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- “I didn’t really fight that man to save everyone else," said the 29-year-old Nashville resident.The man who snatched an AR-15 rifle from a gunman at a busy Tennessee restaurant says his was a “selfish” act of self-preservation and he doesn’t consider himself a hero. Never mind that he is being credited with saving several other lives.
- “When I grabbed the barrel of the weapon it was hot, but I didn’t care. It was life or death,” said James Shaw Jr., a 29-year-old Nashville resident who found himself wrestling with the suspect after four people had already been fatally shot at a Waffle House bustling with wee hour patrons early on 22 April in Nashville.
- Mr. Shaw joined law enforcement officials and Nashville’s Mayor at a news conference on 22April, some 12 hours after the shooting, his right hand bandaged. There he was singled out by Waffle House CEO Walter Ehmer, who was present and thanked Mr. Shaw for his bravery.
- “You don’t get to meet too many heroes in life,” Mr. Ehmer said before addressing Mr. Shaw, who dabbed at tears in his eyes. “We are forever in your debt.”
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- Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on 21 April called for the revival of the ancient Indian traditions and for integrating them with the modern education system, saying doing so would help fight issues such as war and global warming.
- The monk, 82, was delivering a lecture on ‘Role of Ethics and Culture in Promoting Global Peace and Harmony’ in New Delhi. The programme was organised by Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, which aims to preserve the history of the Indian independence movement, and Antar-Rashtriya Sahyog Parishad, a non-political society founded in 1978 with an aim to keep close interaction with people all over the world.
- “Serious discussions on how to include the ancient Indian traditions in educational system should begin. India has the capability to combine modern education with its ancient traditions to help solve problems in the world,” the Dalai Lama said
- The greatness of the Indian civilisation is its spiritual brotherhood and harmony, he said, adding, it has produced the greatest philosophical thinkers and preachers who gave rise to the Nalanda tradition of Buddhism based on reason and logical conclusion.
- Citing quantum physics, which describes nature at the smallest scales of energy levels of atoms and subatomic particles, the Dalai Lama said the concept was explained 2,000 years ago by the Indian philosopher Nagarjuna. “Buddha was an ancient Indian scientist. I consider myself as half monk and half scientist,” he said, referring to his deliberations with scientists.
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- Google Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai is about to have a very big week.On 18 April, an award of 353,939 restricted shares he received before a promotion in 2014 will vest. At the end of last week, the grant was worth about $380 million, making it one of the largest single payouts to a public company executive in recent years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
- Pichai, 45, who has led Alphabet Inc.’s Google since 2015, received the shares before his promotion to senior vice president of products a year earlier, when he took over many of co-founder Larry Page’s responsibilities.
- The award swelled in value as Alphabet’s stock surged 90 per cent since the grant date, compared with a 39 per cent advance of the S&P 500. He has received two more nine-figure stock grants since then. The company has yet to disclose Pichai’s compensation for 2017.
- Winnie King, a spokeswoman for the Mountain View, California-based company, declined to comment. In 2016, CEOs of S&P 500 companies realized an average of $16.2 million from shares that vested or exercising stock options, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
- Other tech executives have received hefty payouts in the past. Facebook Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg reaped $2.28 billion when he exercised 60 million options as part of the company’s initial public offering in August 2012. Months later, restricted shares worth $822 million held by his deputy Sheryl Sandberg fully vested.
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- Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country's largest IT outsourcing company created history on Monday by becoming the first Indian company to reach the $100 billion market capitalisation (m-cap) mark.
- The shares of the IT behemoth were trading 4 per cent above previous closing mark at Rs 3,545 on the BSE at 10.30 am, thus hitting an all-time high.
- By definition, market capitalisation is the value of a company that is traded on the stock market, calculated by multiplying the total number of shares by the present share price.At 10.30 am, the market value of the company stood at Rs 6,79,332.81 crore ( $102.6 billion).
- Last week, when the markets closed on Friday, the company was at the verge of the milestone as the m-cap stood at slightly above $99 billion. TCS stock had surged more than 6 per cent on 20April.
- The rise in the TCS scrip's fortune came after the it posted a rise of 4.5 per cent in its Q4 net profit. In the January-March quarter, the company reported a net profit of Rs 6,925 crore, up 4.57 per cent against Rs 6,622 crore posted in the same quarter last year.
- On top of that, the company announced a 1:1 bonus for its shareholders. This is the third bonus share offering by the company since its listing in 2004. TCS had allotted 1:1 bonus shares in 2006 and 2009.
- The Tata group flagship, which contributes around 85 per cent of the group's profit, reported a revenue growth of 8.2 per cent at Rs 32,075 crore for the three months to March. In dollar terms, the company had its highest revenue growth in 14 quarters at 11.7 per cent.
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- Students from the Government Polytechnic Institute in Pune have created a hybrid go-kart that runs on both electric and engine motors.
- The go-kart was unveiled at a state level competition organized by the Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education in March.
- The nine-member team comprised Shubham Thorat, Shubham Takawale, Kartik Tikhe, Durgesh Wagh, Atharva Naik, Amar Shelar, Aditya Pingle, Omkar Umadi and Mohit Sonawane.
- “This project raises awareness on saving fuel by switching to electric motors. The starting torque is provided by the engine and is manually switched to the electric drive system. This automatically decreases the rate of emission,” Thorat said. “A simple switch is used to shift from petrol to electric mode and vice versa,” he added.
- Per the students, said the most innovative part of the project was a hydrogen kit that could be directly connected to the carburettor as an alternative to fossil fuel.
- The students used second-hand spare parts to construct the go-kart a 110cc scooter engine, mufflers, fuel tanks and tyres. The students were guided by R R Saraf, a professor at the institute.
- “The main challenge for students during this project was obtaining a brushless D C motor and its controller. They are expensive, and only a few stores across the country sell these,” Saraf said.
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- President Ram Nath Kovind on 23April presented the Kirti Chakra posthumously to CRPF Commandant Pramod Kumar and Army havildar Giris Gurung, who laid down their lives in the line of duty.
- Kumar, from the 49 Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force, succumbed to the injuries he received while fighting militants in Srinagar in August 2016. Gurung, from the 4th Battalion of the Gorkha Rifles, also succumbed to his injuries while fighting terrorists in Kupwada district of Jammu and Kashmir.
- During the defence investiture ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the president also presented the Shaurya Chakra posthumously to Major Kunal Gosavi of the Regiment of Artillery, and Lance Naik Raghubeer Singh of the Mahar Regiment, who made the supreme sacrifice in separate operations in November 2016 and February 2017, respectively.
- Kovind presented the Kirti Chakra to Major Preetam Singh Kunwar of the Garhwal Rifles also. Shaurya Chakra were presented to Lance Naik Kashmir Singh, Subedar Shabir Ahmed, Assistant Commandant Vikas Jakhar and Sub-Inspector Mohammad Riyaz Alam Ansari of the CRPF.
- While Lance Naik Deepak Ale and Havildar Rabindra Thapa of the Gorkha Rifles, Major Raj RV of the Grenadiers Regiment and Corporal Devdendra Mehta of the Air Force were also presented with Shaurya Chakra.
- Major Pradeep Shoury Arya, Paratrooper Manchu and Naik Narender Singh all with the Special Forces were also presented the Shaurya Chakra. Kirti Chakra is awarded for "conspicuous gallantry otherwise than in the face of the enemy" while Shaurya Chakra is awarded for "gallantry otherwise than in the face of the enemy".
- Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) was awarded to 13 officers including Lt Gen Sarath Chand, the vice-chief of the Indian Army; Lt Gen Devraj Anbu, General Officer Commander-in-Chief, Northern Command; Vice Admiral Abhay Karve, flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command
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- India has won 8th South Asian Judo Championship. On the concluding day of the championship Indian women and men won team events in Lalitpur, Nepal on 23April evening.
- Keeping the unbeaten streak Indian women white washed the championship by beating host Nepal by 5-0 in the final of team events. Indian men also won team championship. They defeated Pakistan by 3-2 in the final.
- Earlier Indian women grabbed all 7 gold medals in the individual category while men bagged 3 gold and 3 bronze medals. India topped the medal tally winning 10 Gold and 3 Bronze medals in the individual category. Host Nepal remained second and Pakistan got third place.
- A total 102 players from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated in the 3 day championship.
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- Scientists have developed a new method to make ‘smarter’ drugs that are more effective at reaching their target.
- The researchers from the University of Lincoln in the UK devised a technique to ‘decorate’ gold nanoparticles with a protein of choice so they can be used to tailor drug to more accurately target an area on the body, such as a cancer tumour.
- “Gold nanoparticles are a vital tool in new drug development and drug delivery systems. We have unlocked the key to binding proteins and molecules so that those drugs will be more effective,” said Enrico Ferrari, a nanobiotechnologist from the University of Lincoln.
- “This method might help to design nanomedicines that do not need extensive chemical modification of a protein drug or a nano-carrier and therefore can be developed more easily and faster,” said Ferrari, who led the study published in the journal Nature Communications.
- Researchers took fragments of proteins from bacteria and flatworms, which when fused together were effective at binding to the gold nanoparticle surface and able to form stable bonds to any other protein.
- By mixing this fusion protein with gold nanoparticles, it permanently binds to the gold surface while also being able to stably bind a target protein on which a specific ‘tag’ was included.
- Gold nanoparticles are spheres made of gold atoms with a diameter of only few billionths of a metre which can be coated with a biological protein and combined with drugs to enable the treatment to travel through the body and reach the affected area.
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- Detained Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, will be awarded UNESCO's World Press Freedom Prize, the United Nations' cultural body said 23April
- Shawkan was arrested in August 2013 as he covered deadly clashes in Cairo between security forces and supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
- He is one of 700 defendants facing charges of killing police and vandalising property during the clashes.
- "The choice of Mahmoud Abu Zeid pays tribute to his courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression," said Maria Ressa, head of the UNESCO jury which is awarding the prize.
- Egypt's foreign affairs ministry yesterday voiced its "profound regret that an organisation with the status of UNESCO would honour a person accused of terrorist and criminal acts".
- Several hundred people, including three journalists, were killed during the security forces' bloody dispersal of a pro-Morsi sit-in after the military ousted the Islamist in 2013.
- Egypt's first democratically elected president had taken office in 2012 but faced mass protests a year into his controversial rule.
- Press freedom group Reporters without Borders (RSF) ranks Egypt 161st out of 180 countries on its press freedom index, saying at least 31 journalists are currently detained in the North African country.
- It slammed a decision by the Egyptian prosecution in March to seek the death penalty against Shawkan.UNESCO said it will officially award its prize to Shawkan on May 2, to mark World Press Freedom Day.
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