Ø The PM said the government would shortly launch the Micro Units
Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank.
Ø The U.S., Iran and five other world powers on Thursday announced an
understanding outlining limits on Iran’s nuclear programme so it cannot lead to
atomic weapons, directing negotiators toward achieving a comprehensive
agreement within three months. Reading out a joint statement, European
Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said a “decisive step” after more
than a decade of negotiations had been achieved. U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry and the top diplomats of Britain, France and Germany also briefly
took the stage behind them.
Ø Exporters and importers of cashew, mineral water, spices and other food
products from the State and neighbouring Goa, Kerala will soon have a larger
facility at Mangalore University to test whether radioactive content in
commodities are within permissible limits. The Centre for Advanced
Research in Environmental Radioactivity, an upgraded version of the existing
radio ecology laboratory, is expected to be ready in three months. Sources
in the university told The Hindu that if an importing country insisted on getting
clearance certificate for radioactive contents for certain commodities, then
exporters from the country would have to get it done from the Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board authorised agency.
Ø The Indian Army is set to take the “Swachh Bharat” campaign to Mount
Everest with a mountaineering team planning to clean up and bring down tonnes
of garbage dumped there by mountaineers over the decades. This will be done as
part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the first Indian team scaling the
world’s highest peak. Fifty years ago, an Indian team led by Captain
(the then Lieutenant Commander) M.S. Kohli had scaled the Mount Everest
(Sagarmatha) for the first time. Major A.S. Cheema was the first Indian to scale
the peak, army officers said. The Army team will contribute towards
restoring the ecological balance of the route by bringing down some of the
non-biodegradable waste left behind by generations of climbers. The Army
mountaineers, thus, aim to give back to ‘Sagarmatha’ a measure of reverence
that she merits, and also convey a message of our Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s vision of a clean environment, the officer added. The team aims to bring
down at least 4,000 kg of non-biodegradable waste from the high-altitude camps.
The 30-member team is being led by Maj R.S. Jamwal, an experienced mountaineer.
Army Chief General Dalbir Singh flagged off the team on Wednesday. They will
depart for Kathmandu on April 4 and begin scaling the peak mid-May. The team
has been undergoing special endurance and mountaineering training for the
high-altitude mission.
Ø A life-size chocolate statue of actor Benedict Cumberbatch has been
crafted out of cocoa in London to celebrate his getting voted the dishiest
dramatic actor on UKTV. The 40-kg statue took 250 hours to make.
Ø Alien spaceships have never entered Japanese airspace, the country’s
Defence Minister Gen Nakatani has told parliamentarians, after being questioned
about a possible aerial invasion by little green men.
Ø Former Syndicate Bank Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) S.K. Jain,
who was arrested by the CBI last year for allegedly accepting bribes from
private firms for extending credit, has been booked by the Enforcement
Directorate in a money laundering case. The case has been registered
under various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The
Directorate’s job would be to track down and attach the bribe money paid
allegedly to Mr. Jain by representatives of two private firms to secure credit
approval or increase in the credit limit. Mr. Jain was arrested last
August along with his brother-in-law and four others for allegedly receiving a
bribe of Rs. 50 lakh to grant credit extension to one of the two firms —
Bhushan Steel and Prakash Industries — that were then under the CBI scanner in
the coal block allocations scam. In the searches that followed, the CBI
claimed to have seized Rs. 21 lakh in cash and gold worth Rs. 1.68 crore from
Mr. Jain's premises.
Ø Prince Harry will begin a month-long attachment with the Australian Army
on Monday, officials said, spending time on bush patrols, working with an
indigenous regiment and possibly flying helicopters. The 30-year-old,
who will be nudged down to fifth in line to the throne by the birth of his
brother Prince William’s second child this month, has already announced he will
leave the British military in June after his Australian swansong. Upon
arrival in Canberra, the royal will lay a wreath at the Australian War Memorial
before reporting for duty to Australian Defence Force chief Air Chief Marshal
Mark Binskin. Captain Wales, as he is known in the British Army, will be
embedded with a number of Australian army units and regiments. “He is expected
to take part in a range of unit-based activities and training exercises,” the
Australian Defence Force said.
Ø Pakistan is set to acquire eight submarines from China for nearly $5
billion, in what is likely to be the biggest arms export deal for the Communist
giant which on Thursday defended the move, saying its defence ties with
Pakistan adhered to international treaties. The deal was reportedly
finalised during last month’s visit by Pakistan Naval Chief Muhammad Zakaullah
to China. Often described as Pakistan’s “all-weather friend”, China is
likely to extend a long-term loan, possibly at a low interest rate, to cover
the cost of the project. Negotiations with China on the financial aspect
of the purchase were in an advanced stage, a Pakistani media report said.
Pakistan has been negotiating the purchase of submarines from China since 2011.
China is Pakistan’s biggest supplier of military hardware which included battle
tanks, naval ships as well as fighter jets.
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