13 April 2016 Current Affairs
India and Germany Signed Agreement On Namami Gange Programme
Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and German International Cooperation (GIZ) on 13 April signed an Implementation agreement for Ganga Rejuvenation under the Namami Gange Programme in New Delhi. The agreement was signed in the presence of the German Ambassador to India, Martin Ney and Secretary, and Shashi Shekhar, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. The objective of the agreement is to enable responsible stakeholders at state and national level to apply integrated river basin management approach for the rejuvenation of the Ganga River.
India Ranks 44th In 2016 Global Connectivity Index
“India ranked 44th with total score of 30 among 50 different countries in the 2016 Global Connectivity Index (GCI) report. Chinese telecom giant Huawei has released its third Global Connectivity Index report during the Global Analyst Summit 2016 in Shenzhen, China. The GCI analyzes the full spectrum of measurements for connectivity and provides a detailed map of the global digital economy. The index benchmarks 50 countries on the basis of its ICT infrastructure including broadband, data centers, cloud services, big data and IoT in the scale ranging from 0 to 100. These 50 countries, account for 90 percent of global GDP. Top 10 countries in 2016 GCI: United States (score-74), Singapore (72), Sweden (70), Switzerland (68), United Kingdom (65), Denmark (64), South Korea (63), Netherlands (63) and Japan (62).”
India Successfully Test Fired Akash Missile
India on 13 March 2016 test fired its indigenously-built surface-to-air Akash missile from complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipuri in Odisha. Two rounds of Akash missiles were fired against Pilot less target aircraft (PTA) Lakshya, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Banshee and Para-barrel. It successfully destroyed the targets coordinated by the user, demonstrating its ‘killing’ efficiency. The Akash (sky) is a mid-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. It is developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India under the integrated guided-missile development programme (IGMDP). IGMDP is also involved the development of the Nag, Agni and Trishul missiles and Prithvi ballistic missile.
Maharashtra Assembly Approved Social Boycott Bill 2016
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on 13 April unanimously approved the Prohibition of Social Boycott Bill, 2016. The bill seeks to crack down on extra-judicial bodies like caste and community panchayats. With this Maharashtra became first state in the country to adopt a comprehensive law to root out oppression carried out by parallel justice delivery system (kangaroo court) in the name of age old traditions, caste and religion.