Competitive Guidance
 Current Affairs
 
 International
 ♦ Brazil's Dilma Rousseff to face impeachment trial
 Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff is to face trial after the Senate voted to impeach and suspend her. Ms Rousseff is accused of illegally manipulating finances to hide a growing public deficit ahead of her re-election in 2014, which she denies. Senators voted to suspend her by 55 votes to 22.
 
 ♦ Switzerland honours Yash Chopra with a Bronze Statue
 Switzerland Government has honoured veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra by unveiling a bronze statue at Interlaken. Chopra was known for opening a legacy of South Asian tourists flocking to Switzerland and spend much time in the country besides shooting his movies.
 Economy
 ♦ Rs 100 Commemorative Coin on Maharana Pratap released
 A commemorative coin of Rs 100 and a circulation coin of Rs 10 were released today on the occasion of 475th birth anniversary of Maharana Pratap. Also the Union Culture and Tourism ministry has agreed to release a sum of Rs 9.5 Crore to the Rajasthan state government for the development of the Indoor Stadium at Khel Gaon, in memory of the great warrior.
 
 ♦ Govt notifies relaxed FDI norms for ARCs
 The Union government has notified the relaxed foreign investment norms in asset reconstruction companies (ARCs), as it looks at effectively dealing with the burgeoning bad debts in Indian banking system.
 The department of industrial policy and promotion permitted 100% foreign direct investment in asset reconstruction companies to come in without any prior government approval under the automatic route. Earlier, while 49% FDI was permitted under the automatic route, investors needed prior government approval to increase their stake beyond 49%.
 
 ♦ India Mauritius sign DTAA
 The Protocol for the amendment of the Convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital gains between India and Mauritius was signed by both the countries.
 National
 ♦ Asia's first Rice Technology Park in Karnataka
 The Karnataka Government has decided to establish Asia's first Rice Technology Park at Gangavati in Koppal district. Maize Technology Park is to come up at Ranebennur in Haveri district. The Rice Technology Park is to be set up in 315 acre at Karatagi in Gangavathi of Koppal district.
 The park will be the focal point of agro-based activity in the region catering to most parts of the Tungabhadra Command Area. Sona Masuri, which is a lightweight and aromatic variety of rice, is grown pre-dominantly in this area.
 
 ♦ Harish Rawat proved majority in Uttarakhand
 Harish Rawat is set to become the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand once again. He proved his majority in the floor of the house. With this, the chaos has come to an end.
 The floor test to prove the Congress government's majority was held after a political battle that lasted over a month with the Centre imposing President's Rule on March 27 after nine Congress MLAs voted with the BJP in the House on the budget-related Appropriation Bill on March 18. The House Speaker disqualified the rebels, and the decision was upheld later by the High Court and Supreme Court, which paved the way for the floor test.
 
 ♦ '112' to be active from January 1
 The single emergency number '112' will be operational throughout India from January 1, 2017 to help people reach immediate services of police, ambulance and fire department. It is similar to the '911' all-in-one emergency service in the US. The service will also be accessible even through such SIMs and landlines whose outgoing call facility has been stopped or temporarily suspended.
 
 Persons in news
 ♦ Sunil Lamba: Vice-Admiral Sunil Lamba will be the next Chief of the Indian Navy. He will take over on 31st of May. He will be the 23rd Chief of Indian Navy.
 ♦ Enda Kenny: Enda Kenny has been re-elected as Irish Prime Minister.
 ♦ Sadiq Khan: Sadiq Khan has been elected the new Mayor of London - boosting Labour Party after it slumped in Scotland's elections. Mr Khan is the city's first Muslim mayor.
 
 Sports
 ♦ Djokovic emerged victorious
 Novak Djokovic beat defending champion Andy Murray in the Madrid Open final. Djokovic now moved ahead of Spain's Rafael Nadal with a record 29 ATP Masters 1000 titles.
 ♦ India @ fourth in jr. shooting WC
 The Indian squad ended their campaign at the ISSF Junior World Cup with a creditable fourth place finish in the medals table. The Indian juniors had an overall tally of three gold, four silver and three bronze medals in the competition, the winners are….
 * Rituraj Singh won two gold medals in both the individual and team events of the men's 25m Standard Pistol.
 * Shivam Shukla won gold and a silver in pistol event
 * Arjun Das won gold and a bronze
 
 ♦ Among the junior women….
 * Yashaswini Singh Deswal- Two silver medals, both in the individual and team sections of the 10 metre Air Pistol event.
 Italy topped the table with seven gold, four silver and one bronze. Russia stood second. Senior World cup is scheduled on from May 19th, will be held in Munich, Germany.
 
 - Rajendra Sharma
 Current Affairs Faculty, Hyderabad