3 April 2013 Current Affairs
Indian PM schedules UAE visit in August
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will pay a “stand Alone visit” to the United Arab Emirates in early August, the first by an Indian prime minister to the Gulf nation since Indira Gandhi visited nearly three decades ago.
Carbon aerogel world’s lightest material
Chinese scientists have developed the world’s lightest substance — carbon aerogel — with a density only one sixth of that of the air.Scientists at Zhejiang University produced the solid material which has a density of only 0.16 mg/cubic centimetre, breaking the previous record of the world’s lightest material held by graphite aerogel.The graphite aerogel was developed by German scientists last year with a density of 0.18 mg/cubic centimetre.
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Oscar winner and novelist, died
Oscar, the Booker Prize winner novelist and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, author of “Heat and Dust” and many other books set in India, died on 03 April 2013.Jhabvala also worked on several movie adaptations with filmmakers James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, winning two Academy Awards for her screenplays for 1985 movie “A Room With a View” and “Howards End” in 1992.Jhabvala was born in Germany but emigrated with her family to Britain during the Nazi regime. She later married an Indian architect and moved to India, where she began to write about her life there.Jhabvala collaborated with Merchant and Ivory on more than 20 movies including “The Remains of the Day” and “Mr. And Mrs. Bridge.”
Prez Pranab Mukherjee clears anti-rape bill
President Pranab Mukherjee had given his assent to the anti-rape bill which provides for life term and even death sentence for rape convicts besides stringent punishment for offences like acid attacks, stalking and voyeurism.Mukherjee accorded his assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill-2013 on 03 April 2013.This is called as the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013.The law, passed by Lok Sabha on March 19 and by Rajya Sabha on March 21.
Cyprus Finance Minister Michalis Sarris Resigns
On 3 April Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris has resigned citing his role as chairman of Laiki Bank, whose failure was a major contributor to the island’s near financial meltdown, as one of the reasons behind his decision.