DAILY GK -- MAY 401 TO 446 BANKERSADDA.

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401. PM Flags Off Direct Kamakhya To Katra Train

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has flagged off, the first ever direct train between Assam to Jammu & Kashmir. 

ii. This will connect the two pilgrim towns of Devi Peeth of Maa Kamakhya and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine.

iii. The train, which is first of its kind, will cover a distance of 2605 km in about 53 hours passing the through the States of Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, UP, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir. The train, to begin with, will operate on the weekly basis and will help in not only promoting pilgrim tourism between two most revered “Teertha Sthals” of India, but will also connect J&K directly with Northeast.

402. President of India to present Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskars tomorrow

i. Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India will present the Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskars for the year 2016 on May 29 at a function to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. 

ii. Every year the Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskars are awarded to five teachers, one each in the subjects of Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, English and Social Studies. 

iii. The Malti Gyan Peeth Puraskar was instituted by Mohinder Singh Syngle Education & Research Society in honour of its founder Smt. Malti Mohinder Singh Syngle, eminent educationist and social worker. Every year Government school teachers from Punjab Government’s High & Higher Secondary Schools receive this award for their contributions in the field of education. The award carries Rs. one lakh, certificate of excellence, a robe of honour and a medal.

403. FM Arun Jaitley to embark on six-day officials visit to Japan 

i. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will embark on a six-day official visit to Tokyo, Japan from May 29 to June 4. 

ii. He will have meetings with CEOs of Japanese companies including Soft Bank in Tokyo and will also attend the 22nd International Conference on The Future of Asia. 

iii. Than later on the other days, Mr. Jaitley will have several meeting which includes, - meeting with Osamu Suzuki, chairman, Suzuki Motor Corporation, meeting with Japan International Cooperation Agency President Shinichi Kitaoka and Hitachi Chairamn Hiroaki Nakanishi, meeting with CEOs organized by JIBCC, and JICA, meeting with Indian organizations at the India Club and will also deliver a lecture on 'India: Political, Social and Economic Change at Osaka University. The Finance Minister will leave for New Delhi on June 4.

404. ‘Number of public sector banks to come down to 8-10’

i. As per the Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, India will have 8-10 very competitive public sector banks once the "dust settles" and the consolidation phase ends. 

ii. Presently, the country is having 27 state owned banks. He added that the government is doing things necessary to ensure that PSU banks are vibrant competitors. Mr. Sinha also stated that the problem with public sector banks in India was that they have "massive" fixed costs and 75% of it is labour. 

iii. Speaking at an event organised by Indian Software Product Industry Round Table (iSPIRT) Mr. Sinha also stated that they have gone through governance and management reforms and also done asset quality review, now they are in the consolidation phase where they are really trying to ensure that at the end of this consolidation phase, they will have a set of competitive banks. Some of the bank are going to be large scale global players, some of them are going to be differentiated banks.

405. Bihar Govt, UNICEF and MDM Join Hand to Curb Malnourishment

i. The Bihar government MDM scheme, UNICEF and the Bihar based Rajendra Agriculture University entered into an agreement to curb malnourishment among women and children in the state.

ii. As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the three, an Agriculture Nutrition Cell would be set up in the Rajendra Agriculture University, Pusa.

iii. According to the Director of Mid-Day Meal Harihar Prasad, the nutritional quality assessment of food would help quality of food served to students in 7,000 schools of Bihar.

406. Committee for Evolution of a National Education Policy submits report to Ministry of HRD

i. In a bid to give evolution to the Education system Union government-appointed committee directed by Ex-Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramanian has submitted its report of a New Education Policy.

ii. The report containing its recommendations to the Ministry of HRD which had undertaken a consultation process for framing a New Education Policy and this process included online, grassroots and national-level thematic deliberations on 33 themes.

iii. The process covers nearly all gram panchayats, blocks, urban local bodies and districts of all 36 states and UTs was undertaken between May to October last year. This Thematic consultations were carried out by the ministry and also by institutions like UGC, AICTE, NCTE, NCERT and several universities and autonomous institutions.

407. Special Webpage on two years of NDA Government unveiled by PIB.

i. The Press Information Bureau has opened a dedicated webpage that is an information source for the Media on the initiatives and achievements in the last two years of the NDA Government at the Centre chronologically.

ii. The page is hyper-linked on the main page of PIB under the icon Transforming India and Desh Badal Raha Hai.

iii. The PIB has gathered a number of success stories throughout the country on various flagship programmes, innovative projects and schemes of NDA government. These success stories collection work has been carried out by 42 field offices of PIB from across the country.

408. RBL Bank to launch scheme for fintech entrepreneurs

i. RBL Bank is going to launch an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) programme for fintech start-ups in the next 9-12 months. 

ii. Earlier in last month, the bank has also opened a dedicated branch for start-ups in Bengaluru. 

iii. The EIR programme is just one of the many drive of RBL Bank’s engagement with start-ups. Earlier in this year, the Bank has also launched India StartUp Club, a fast-track programme to support early-stage start-ups with a bouquet of basic banking services to jump start their operations. 

409. Sadhguru to lead yoga session at UN on 2nd International Yoga Dayi

Spiritual leader and Isha Foundation founder, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev will lead a yoga session at the UN on the occasion of the second International Yoga Day next month. 

ii. He will lead the yoga session at the UN Headquarter. The International Yoga Day will be commemorated on June 21 and the theme for this Yoga will be Sustainable Development Goals. 

iii. The first International Yoga Day was commemorated at the UN with last year, with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj leading the celebrations along with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and US Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.

410. Tata Group forays into e-commerce with Tata CliQ

i. The Tata Group forayed into e-commerce with the launch of 'Tata CliQ', an online and app-based platform to let users buy apparel and electronics. ii. The products purchased through the platform are also accepted for return at the physical stores of Westside or Croma. 

iii. It also allows users to get their orders delivered ​within 24 hours​.

411. Tech Mahindra to acquire UK-based Target Group

i. IT services and solutions giant, Tech Mahindra is all set to acquire UK based Target Group to strengthen its BFSI portfolio. The transaction is expected to close in  Q2 FY17, subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals. 

ii. The total value of acquisition is GBP112 million (or $164 million) and an adjustment for surplus cash upto GBP 8 million. Target Group provides BPaaS offerings in the areas of lending and investment products servicing to its clients, on variable pricing models.

iii. The acquisition will make Tech Mahindra to one of the top 3 processors in UK financial services for certain complex lending and investment product categories. It also strengthens Tech Mahindra’s European presence and adds several new clients. 

412. Indian author Aditi Krishnakumar wins Asian Book Award

i. A 31 year old Indian woman author, Aditi Krishnakumar has won the 'Scholastic Asian Book Award' for her 32,000-word manuscript rooted in "love of Indian history". 

ii. It was second time lucky for Indian author Aditi Krishnakumar. She has won the Singapore dollar 10,000 award this week for her manuscript "Codex: The Lost Treasure Of The Indus" after being narrowly beaten to the biennial prize in 2014.

iii. The Scholastic Asian Book Award (SABA) is the joint initiative of the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) and Scholastic Asia. 

413. Ashok Leyland Re-Appoints Vinod K Dasari As MD For 5 years

i.  Ashok Leyland's Board of Directors have approved the re-appointment of Vinod K Dasari as Managing Director(MD) of the company for 5 years from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2021.

ii. Ashok Leyland is an Indian automobile manufacturing company based in Chennai, India. Founded in 1948. 

iii. It is the 2nd largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in India, 4th largest manufacturer of buses in the world and 16th largest manufacturer of trucks globally. Operating six plants, Ashok Leyland also makes spare parts and engines for industrial and marine applications. 

414. Three school girls from J&K scale Mount Everest

i. As per Defence spokesperson SD Goswami, three class 12 girls from Leh, Jammu and Kashmir have scaled Mount Everest.

ii. The girls, Stanzlin Laskit, Tashi Laskit and Tsering Angmo, were a part of the first ever all-girls Mount Everest expedition of the National Cadet Corps (NCC). 

iii. The girl cadets were chosen for the expedition via NCC trials held across India.

415. Telangana govt enters Limca Book of Records

i. The Telangana government has entered the Limca Book of Records for conducting the most intensive household survey by a state.

ii. In August 2014, four lakh government employees covered over 1.09 crore households between 7 am and 8 pm in one day. 

iii. The survey was ordered after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao assumed office.

416. Man gets 366 flag tattoos for Guinness record

i. Har Parkash Rishi is an Indian man who holds the Guinness World Record for having the maximum number of flags (366) tattooed on his body. 

ii. The 74-year-old earlier had all his teeth removed so he could fit nearly 500 straws and over 50 burning candles in his mouth. 

iii. He goes by the name Guinness Rishi.

417. Sushma launches PMO's website in 6 languages

i. External Affair Minister Sushma Swaraj has launched the official website of PM Narendra Modi's Office in six regional languages including Gujarati, Marathi, Malyalam, Tamil, Telgu and Bengali. 

ii. The PMO website was earlier available only in English and Hindi. 

iii. This initiative is part of the on-going efforts of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reach out to the people and communicate with them in their own language. 

418. Railways holds trial of high-speed Talgo coaches

i. Indian Railways has conducted the first ever trial run for high-speed Talgo trains of Spain on the Bareilly-to-Moradabad stretch in Uttar Pradesh with speeds averaging 80-115 kmph.

ii. Talgo consumes 30% less energy and can run on curves without decelerating, an official said. It can complete the journey between Delhi and Mumbai in about 12 hours against the present 17 hours.

iii. The second trial run will be conducted on the Palwal-to-Mathura section of the North-Central Rail​​way.​ Talgo is a Madrid-based Spanish leading manufacturer of semi-high speed (160-250 kmph) and high-speed (350 kmph) passenger trains, which are energy-efficient.​

419. Manohar Parrikar inaugurates second submarine assembly workshop in Mazgaon

i. Second submarine assembly workshop of the Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) was inaugurated by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

ii. After inaugurating the workshop, Parrikar said that the level of indigenisation in submarine construction should be much higher than the present. At present, MDL is building six Scorpene class of submarines for the Indian Navy, with around 35% of indigenisation.INS Kalvari, the first submarine of this class, is expected to join the Indian Navy by end of 2016.

iii. Submarine Marine Assembly Workshop is a pre-engineered building structure to handle construction of multiple submarines simultaneously. It was built at an expense of 153 crore rupees. It will make it possible to assemble five submarines in the workshop at the same time.

420. Gujrat CM launches state-wide campaigns against malnutrition

i. Chief Minister of Gujrat, Anandiben Patel has launched two state-wide campaigns against malnutrition at Ahwa town in Dangs district.

ii. As part of Bal Amritam and Mission Shakti campaigns, iron-rich supplementary food would be provided to children and women, whether they live in towns or remote forested areas.

iii. She also called for creating awareness among tribal women about free screening and treatment of breast and cervical cancers at government hospitals. During her visit Patel dedicated several projects to the people. They include a nursing school for 40 students and a hostel built at a cost of Rs 12.70 crore, a science college built for Rs 11 core and modernization of a civil hospital a at cost of Rs 31.46 crore.

421. China to launch world's 1st quantum satellite

i. According to a scientist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China will launch the world's first quantum communication satellite in July.

ii It aims to improving the security of data transmission. 

iii. The satellite, which took five years to develop, will use quantum photons, which cannot be separated or duplicated, making the communication immune to wiretapping or interceptions.

422. Vice Admiral Girish Luthra takes charge of Western Naval Command

i. Vice Admiral Girish Luthra has succeeded Sunil Lanba as the Flag Officer Commander-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command in a ceremonial parade in Mumbai.

ii. Vice Admiral Lanba will take over as the Chief of Naval Staff in New Delhi.

iii. Before taking over as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Command, Vice Admiral Luthra served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Naval Command. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy in Pune, the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington and Naval Command Naval War College, USA. Luthra was awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2012 and Vishisht Seva Medal in 2008.

423. Kiran Bedi takes oath as Lt Guv of Puducherry

i. Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi has taken oath as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. 

ii. She is the fourth woman Lt Governor of Puducherry, a post which was under the additional charge of Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Island for almost two years. 

iii. It was lying vacant since the removal of UPA nominee Virendra Kataria by the BJP-led central government.

424. V Narayanaswamy to be Puducherry Chief Minister

i. Former Union Minister of State, V Narayanaswamy was unanimously elected as Congress Legislature Party leader, to become the Chief Minister of Puducherry, where the Congress-DMK alliance won the May 16 Assembly polls. 

ii. This was announced by former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit and AICC General Secretary Mukul Wasnik, during the Congress legislature party meeting held in Puducherry.

425. Madhavan becomes goodwill ambassador for LEPRA India

i. Bollywood Actor R Madhavan has become the goodwill ambassador of LEPRA India organization that fight against diseases like leprosy and tuberculosis. 

ii. LEPRA India is a non-government organisation working in the fields of leprosy, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV or AIDS and community health. It is also known as the Lepra Society.

iii. Lepra Society was registered in Hyderabad in 1989 and becomes Lepra India Trust in New Delhi in 1996. Presently, Lepra Society is working in 54 districts of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh and since its inception has cured 3.6 lakh persons affected by leprosy and treated 67,000 patients with disabilities. LEPRA Society works with the Central & State Government in various disease control programme.  

426. India, Australia sign MoU to enhance R&D capabilities in biotech

i. India and Australia have signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance research and development capabilities in biotechnology by launching a joint funding call. 

ii.The MoU was signed between India’s BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council) and Horticulture Innovation Australia (HIA). BIRAC is a PSU which works under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, while HIA is a non profit, grower-owned R&D and marketing company for Australia’s horticulture industry.

iii. The MoU seeks to stimulate and enhance the strategic research and innovation capabilities of the Indian biotech industry. The focus of the funding call is to undertake horticultural research in order to develop and deploy modern tools of plant biotechnology to improve crop productivity. The funding commitment from BIRAC and Horticulture Innovation is up to 6 million Australian dollars over a period of 3 years.

427. Indian-American scientist Arnab De wins Springer Theses Award

i. An Indian-American scientist Arnab De has received the prestigious Springer Theses Award in recognition for his outstanding research in which he developed transgenic mice to study a critical tumour-suppressor called A20. He was nominated by New York’s Columbia University for his PhD thesis. ii. Before this, Mr. De, who has also developed peptide-based prodrugs as therapeutics for diabetes. For this he had received the Young Investigator Award at the American Peptide Symposium.

iii. The thesis prize is awarded by Springer, a leading global publisher of renowned scientific journals and books, to recognize outstanding PhD research. The Internationally top-ranked research institutes select their best thesis annually for publication in the book series: “Springer Theses: Recognising Outstanding PhD research”. 

428. Actor Suresh Chatwal passes away in Mumbai

i. Veteran film and television actor Suresh Chatwal has passed away in Mumbai. 

ii. Chatwal, who made his debut with the 1969 film 'Rakhi Rakhi', worked in several Bollywood films including 'Karan Arjun', 'Munna Bhai MBBS' and 'Om Shanti Om'. He was last seen on the big screen in "Nakshatra" in 2010.

iii. The veteran actor also worked in television and is known for playing the role of Dhukhiya in Doordarshan's "Nukkad." Suresh was last working on the popular comedy show "F.I.R.," which airs on SAB TV. He played the role of a commissioner on the show. 

429. SRH defeat RCB to win their maiden Indian Premier League title

i. Sunrisers Hyderabad has defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 8 runs to clinch the IPL title for the first time at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. 

ii. Batting first, the Sunrisers posted 208/7, courtesy skipper David Warner's 69(38) and Ben Cutting's brisk 39(15). In reply, RCB openers Chris Gayle's 76(38) and captain Virat Kohli's 54(35) was insufficient for the team to win their first-ever IPL title.

iii. List of Awards and winner: Best Batsman Award (Orange Cap) - Virat Kohli (973 runs with 4 centuries), Best Bowler Award (Purple Cap)- Bhuvneswar Kumar (Total 23 wickets ), Man of the Match in Final - Ben Cutting (39 runs and 2 wickets), Vitara Brezza Glam- David Warner, Emerging Player -  Mustafizur Rahman, Most Valuable Player-  Virat Kohli, Orange Cap (most runs scored in the season)  -  Virat Kohli (RCB, 973 runs) and Purple Cap (most wickets in the season) -  Bhuvneshwar Kumar (SRH, 23 wickets).

430. Lewis Hamilton wins Monaco F1 Grand Prix

i. Three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes celebrated his first win of the Formula One season Monaco Grand Prix. 

ii. Australian Daniel Ricciardo finished second for Red Bull, with Mexican Sergio Perez third for Force India. 

iii. Championship leader, Nico Rosberg finished seventh and his lead at the top was cut to 24 points.

431. Real Madrid win its 11th Champions League title

i. Real Madrid defeated Atletico Madrid 5-3 in the penalty shoot-out to win their eleventh Champions League title. 

ii. The Los Blancos have won the Champions League the most number of times. 

iii. Real manager Zinedine Zidane became only the 7th person in history to win the Champions League or the European Cup, as it was called earlier, as both player and manager.

432. No tax deduction for PF withdrawals of up to rs. 50,000 from June 1

i. The government has notified that it has raised the threshold limit of PF withdrawal for deduction of tax (TDS) from existing Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000. So there will be no deduction for PF withdrawals of up to rs. 50,000. 

ii. Because the government had introduced the proposal to deduct TDS on PF withdrawals in order to discourage pre-mature withdrawal and to promote long term savings. 

iii. Also, no tax is deducted if employee withdraws PF after a period of five years. The provision will come into effect from June 1, 2016.

433. Indian Railways, PEC sign MoU to set up Kalpana Chawla Chair on geospatial technology

i. The PEC University of Technology of Chandigarh and Union Ministry of Railways have signed an MoU for setting up of Kalpana Chawla Chair on Geospatial Technology for Indian Railways at the University. 

ii. The academic chair is being instituted in memory of Indo–American Astronaut and Alumnus of PEC Late Kalpana Chawla. She was the first woman of Indian origin in space.

iii. The objective of the chair is to encourage research activities of Indian Railways in Geo-spatial Technology. The Chair will be headed as Chairman by V.K.Gupta, and Manoj Arora, as Co-chairman. 

434. India and US to sign 2 key pacts during Homeland Security Dialogue

i. India and US are all set to sign two key agreements in the month of July during the Homeland Security Dialogue, which is going to be held in Washington.

ii. The first deal which is likely to be signed would exempt prominent Indian citizens from immigration checks in America and the other one pave the way for exchange of information on terrorists on a real time basis.

iii. In US- India Homeland Security Dialogue, the Indian delegation will be lead by the Home Minister Rajnath Singh while the US team would be headed by Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Charles Johnson.

435. JICA to provide Rs. 1,548 cr for TN urban healthcare

i. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement with the Government of India to provide a loan of Rs. 1,548 crore to improve the quality of urban healthcare services in Tamil Nadu.

ii. The Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan will be provided at 0.3 per cent interest rate for a period of 40 years (including 10 years of grace period).

iii. It will be implemented in 17 cities in Tamil Nadu which include Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy, etc. Till now since 1981, JICA has given Rs. 19,870 crore through ODA loans for comprehensive development of Tamil Nadu.

436. NBCC to launch Ganga cleaning project in Bihar

i. Public sector company NBCC (India) is set to kickstart projects aimed at cleaning the Ganga in Bihar, which has also got the financial approval for few project from the centre.

ii. Under the project, NBCC will undertake cleaning of debris, construction of new ghats, modernisation of existing ghats, repair, cleaning of the river surface, construction of crematorium and public facilities such as toilets. It will also set up a village drainage system in order to curb direct discharge into the river.

iii.  In total, NBCC will carry out projects across 19 towns in Bihar but till now it has got the approval only for 9 towns. The company is waiting for approval of remaining 10 town by the Ministry. The estimated cost of the project to company is around rs 600 crore.

437. ONGC Videsh signs pact with SOCAR trading

i. ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has signed a pact with the trading arm of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic) to foray into oil trading. 

ii. The objective of the MoU is to explore possibilities of joint marketing of OVL's crude oil portfolio.

iii. The MoU was signed by S P Garg, Director (Finance), OVL and Arzu Azimov, CEO, SOCAR.

438. RIL sells stake in African oil retailer GAPCO

i. Reliance Industries, a conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mumbai has sold its stake in African fuel retailer Gulf Africa Petroleum Corporation (GAPCO) to Total S. A. of France for an undisclosed sum. 

ii. With this sell, Total S. A. has become the care taker of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania's GAPCO business. Total S.A., a French multinational integrated oil and gas company is a leading retailer of petroleum products in Africa.

iii. GAPCO is a holding company incorporated in Mauritius by the JV of FOC and GAPCO but at the time of its starting only RIL has owned GAPCO shares with owning complete 76% stake of GAPCO while Fortune Oil Corporation, Mauritius has the remaining.

439. Snapdeal opens data sciences centre in California

i. Online marketplace Snapdeal has established a data sciences centre in San Carlos, California, which will help it to get top global talent and build high-value solutions. 

ii. This centre will focus on big-data and advanced analytics to add clarity to Snapdeal's consumer-centric initiatives, which will help to shape business strategy and optimize the operational efficiencies using data. 

iii. The centre is headed by Nitin Sharma, Senior Vice President, Data Sciences. 

440. Surajit Kar Purkayastha Appointed Director General Of West Bengal Police

i. Former Kolkata Police Commissioner Surajit Kar Purkayastha has appointed as the new Director General of Police in West Bengal following the retirement of G M P Reddy. 

ii. Purkayastha is a 1985 batch Indian Police Service officer. He has earlier served as Kolkata's Commissioner of Police.

iii. He had also worked with the Intelligence Branch for many years and is one of the few IPS officers who have worked for Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Iran.

441. Ashok Lavasa named as Finance Secretary

i. Ashok Lavasa, who was recently appointed as the Secretary, Expenditure in the Finance Ministry has been designated as the Finance Secretary by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) headed by PM Narendra Modi . 

ii. The 1980 batch IAS officer was shifted from the Environment Ministry to the Finance Ministry after the retirement of Ratan P. Watal on April 30. 

iii. Watal was later appointed as Principal Advisor in NITI Aayog. 

442. Noted Kannada writer D Javare Gowda passes away

i. Noted Kannada writer D. Javare Gowda has passed away following a cardiac arrest in Mysuru. He was 101 year old. 

ii. He was popularly known as 'De Ja Gow' in literary circles. He has served the Mysore University from 1969 to 1975 as Vice-Chancellor. He played an important role in getting the classical language status for Kannada by launching an indefinite fast and threatening to return the Padma Shri that was conferred on him in 2001. 

iii. In recognition of his contribution to literature and the cause of Kannada, the Karnataka government has honoured him with the Karnataka Ratna (2008) and the Nadoja title (2003).

443. Former Lok Sabha MP Rudra Madhab Ray passes away

i. Former Lok Sabha MP from Odisha and senior BJP leader Rudra Madhab Ray has passed away at a hospital in Bhubaneswar. He was suffering from Kidney related problems from past couple of month. He was 80 year old. 

ii. He was elected to the Odisha Assembly three times from Daspalla constituency from 1990 to 1995, 1995 to 1997 and again from 2004 to 2009.

iii. He was born on November 23, 1937 at Madhyakhanda village in Odisha’s Nayagarh district and was a member of the Indian Parliament, and represented Kandhamal (Lok Sabha Constituency) on BJD ticket in 2009. He was suspended from Biju Janata Dal on 12 April 2014 for his alleged role in anti-party activities.

444. AR Rahman conferred with Japan's Fukuoka prize 2016

i. Renowned Indian music composer A. R. Rahman has been awarded with the Japan's Fukuoka prize 2016 for his outstanding contribution towards towards creating, preserving and showcasing South Asian traditional fusion music. 

ii. For the year 2015, noted Indian Historian Ramchandra Guha was conferred with Fukuoka Prize in academic category. 

iii. The Fukuoka Prize is an award established by the city of Fukuoka and the Yokatopia Foundation to honor the outstanding work of individuals or organizations in preserving or creating Asian culture. There are three prize categories : Grand Prize, Academic Prize, and Arts & Culture Prize.

445. Kohli named T20 Player of Year in Ceat Award event

i. Star Indian Batsman Virat Kohli added another feather to his cap as he was named 'Ceat T20 Player of the Year' awards 2016 in Mumbai. Recently, after the conclusion of IPL 2016, he was also named as the Player-of-the-Tournament after scoring 973 runs in 16 matches. 

ii. While, former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Besides, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer were awarded 'The Young Player of the Year award' and 'Domestic Cricketer of the Year' respectively.

iii. The other awardee includes - England batsman Joe Root, who was named as the Ceat International Cricketer of the Year as well as International Batsman of the Year while, India off-spinner R Ashwin won the Ceat International Bowler of the Year award and Rohit Sharma was named as the Indian Cricketer of the Year. 

iv. One special award was handed over to Rahane, who has become the fifth Indian Cricketer to score a century in each inning of a Test Match. 

v. A New Zealand duo of Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill were also awarded as the "Test Cricketer of the Year" and "ODI Cricketer of the Year" respectively.

446. Alastair Cook Becomes Youngest Cricketer To Score 10000 Test Runs

i. England captain Alastair Cook has become the youngest ever batsman to cross 10,000 runs in Test cricket and also become the 12th man to join the elite 10,000-run club in Test cricket.

ii. Cook, who is 31 years and five months old, beat Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar's record, who was 31 years and 10 months old when he crossed 10,000 runs. 

iii. Cook achieved the landmark on Day 4 of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street. He is also the first Englishman to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket.