16th April 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today left for a two-nation three-day visit to Iran and Russia.
• Her  Iran visit is aimed to step up engagement in a range of areas including oil and trade as the strategically important Persian Gulf nation is now ready to resume business as usual after lifting of sanctions under a historic nuclear deal.
• Note : Iran is an important country for India for its energy security as well as to get access to oil and gas-rich Central Asian nations.
• From Iran, She will leave for a two-day trip to Moscow to attend the annual Foreign Ministers' meeting of Russia, India and China.

National Affairs

• Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das launched the "Bhimrao Ambedkar Awas Yojana" for widows.
  
• Objective of this Scheme : To create equality and harmony in society, ensuring all round development.
• Important Points to Note about This Scheme :
• The programme is with a budget allocation of 80 crore rupees and a target of 11000 units (houses) for widows was set in 2016-17 financial year.
• Under this scheme, an amount of 75000 rupees would be granted to build a house in districts in hilly terrains and 70000 rupees in plains and the amount would be distributed among the beneficiaries in three installments in their bank accounts.
• The widows would also get pension.

Awards & Honors

• New York City declared this year's April 14 as 'Bindeshwar Pathak Day' in recognition of the contributions made by the 'Sulabh International' founder. 
• Note : His organisation engages nearly 50,000 people, has constructed nearly 1.3 million household toilets, and 54 million government toilets.
• The Indian Air Force has renamed West Bengal's Panagarh airbase as 'Air Force Station Arjan Singh' after the former IAF chief. 
• Note : Singh, having the rank of 'Marshal of the IAF', is the IAF's only ‘five-star’ rank officer.

Science & Technology

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for a power plant of Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (PVUNL), a joint venture company of National Thermal Power Corporation and Jharkhand government, on April 24.
• The PM will be laying the foundation stone for a 4000MW unit, the first phase of the 8000MW project.

Deaths

• Award-winning Malian photographer, Malick Sidibe (80) passed away.
• He is famous for his black and white studio portraits that captured the lives of young Malians in the 1960s and 1970s.
• Note : In the year 2007, he became the first African winner of the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Biennale.
• Punjab lokpal and former Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge, Justice Jai Singh Sekhon passed away.

Business & Economy

• According to App Store analytics firm App Annie, China has surpassed Japan to take the number two position in iOS revenues in Q1 2016, up from the third place in January. 
• China is already the leader in terms of iOS downloads since 2015, influenced by the adoption of Apple's larger-screened devices. 
• Note : The list is topped by the United States.

New Appointments

• Ukraine’s parliament has appointed Volodymyr Groysman as the country’s new Prime Minister.

Sports

• Indian professional table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal from Tamil Nadu qualified for the Rio Olympics 2016 after beating Iran's Noshad Alamiyan 4-3 in the Asian Olympic qualification event today. 
• Note : The 33-year-old 2004 Arjuna award recipient has won Men's Singles gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and Men's Doubles gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

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