Fifa appoints Fatma Samoura as first female secretary general

 Fifa broke new ground by appointing a Senegalese United Nations official as its first female and first non-European secretary general.

•  Fatma Samoura has no experience working in sports but Fifa President Gianni Infantino hopes that will help it try to regain the trust and credibility of the world.

Fédération Internationale de Football Association(FIFA) :

• Headquarters- Zürich, Switzerland
• Membership-  211 national associations
• President- Gianni Infantino
• Senior Vice-President Issa Hayatou

Vice-Presidents-

1.  Ángel María Villar
2. David Chung
3. Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa
4. David Gill
5. Alejandro Dominguez
6. Sunil Gulati

Secretary General -Fatma Samoura

Anil Kumble re-appointed ICC Cricket Committee chairman

 Former India captain Anil Kumble has been re-appointed ICC (International Cricket Council) Cricket Committee chairman for a second term of three years.

•  Earlier he was appointed as the chairman for his first term in 2012 and now he will continue to head the panel until 2018. 
• Besides, former Indian Rahul Dravid was also named member of the ICC Cricket Committee.
•  Former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene also has been appointed member. 
• Former Australia off-spinner Tim May has been elected as current player representative and shall replace Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, who has completed his three-year term.
•  Three-time ICC Umpire of the Year Richard Kettleborough also has been appointed as umpires’ representative in the committee.

ICC (International Cricket Council) :

• Headquarters -Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Chairman- Shashank Manohar
• President -Zaheer Abbas
• CEO- David Richardson

EPFO paid ₹8,200 crore as monthly pension in 2015-16

The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) disbursed ₹8,200 crore as monthly pension and ₹47,630 crore as member benefits in 2015-16.

• The retirement fund body, however, said while seeding data, a mismatch between EPF and Aadhaar data in respect of date of birth and name of pensioner was noticed in certain cases.
• It has, therefore, advised members to either correct their details provided to EPFO offices or those given in Aadhaar, whichever is correct.

Axis Bank appoints Sanjiv Misra as chairman

Private sector lender Axis Bank has appointed Sanjiv Misra as independent director and non-executive chairman for five years with effect from May 12, 2016.

• It is for the first time, the chairman is being appointment by the bank and not nominated by SUUTI (Specified Undertaking of the UTI) which has more than 11 per cent stake in Axis Bank.
• This follows a change made in the Articles of Association (AoA) of the bank.
• The bank also elevated Rajesh Dahiya and Rajiv Anand as executive directors. 
• They will be on the board of the bank.

Axis Bank :

Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra

(MD & CEO)- Shikha Sharma 

NITI Aayog to replace Nehruvian 5-year plans with 15-year vision documents

NDA government at the Centre, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has decided to get rid of the Nehruvian five-year plans, and replace them with 15-year vision documents.

• The NITI Aayog has been directed to prepare a vision document at the earliest.
• The current 12th Five-Year Plan will be terminated in the current financial year, 2016-17. The first 15-year vision document will start from 2017-18, along with a seven-year National Development Agenda which will lay down the schemes, programmes and strategies to achieve the long-term vision. 
• The National Development Agenda will be reviewed after a gap of every three years to ensure that it was aligned with financial needs and requirements.
• For the first Development Agenda, the review would be done in 2019-20, in line with the termination year of the 14th Finance Commission.
• “The National Development Agenda will also deal with issues related to internal security, defence and external affairs.
• The Five-Year Plans first started in 1951 under the country’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

NITI Aayog:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chairperson
• Amitabh Kant, CEO
• Shri Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairperson

RBI issues norms for branch offices by foreign entities

The Reserve Bank on 13 May said that entities from Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and four other regions will require its prior approval to establish branch office or project office in India. 

• Other countries and regions are Sri Lanka, Afghanistan,Iran and Hong Kong or Macau, RBI said while releasing guidelines for foreign entities to open a branch office (BO) or a liaison office (LO) or a project office (PO) in India. 
• Permission of RBI will also be required for opening a BO/LO/PO in Jammu and Kashmir, North East region and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
•  The approval is also required if the applicant is a Non-Government Organisation (NGO), a Non-Profit Organisation, or a Body/ Agency/ Department of a foreign government. 
• It will also be needed if the principal business of the applicant falls in the four sectors — defence, telecom, private security and information and broadcasting.

AR Rahman becomes India’s fourth Goodwill Ambassador for Rio Games

Music composer AR Rahman accepted the Indian Olympic Association’s offer to become the Goodwill Ambassador for the Rio Olympics.

•  He becomes the fourth India’s Goodwill Ambassador for the Rio Olympics after Salman Khan, Sachin Tendulkar and Abhinav Bindra. 
• There was a storm when the IOA named Salman Khan as a Goodwill Ambassador late last month.
•  Rahman is well-respected across the country and bagged an Oscar for his music in ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’
•  The Olympics this year is going to be a very significant event for India as it will send its largest ever contingent – about 90 athletes – to the Games in Rio de Janeiro beginning August 5.

President presents National Florence Nightingale awards

 President Pranab Mukherjee has presented the National Florence Nightingale Awards to thirty-five nursing personnel from across the country at Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occasion of International Nurses Day (May 12). 

• The National Florence Nightingale Awards are given by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government ofIndia as a mark of recognition for the meritorious services rendered by the nurses and nursing professionals in the country. 
• The International Nurses Day is celebrated all over the world on May 12 every year to commemorate Florence Nightingale’s birthday.

Florence Nightingale :

• Florence Nightingale, (12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was a celebrated English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing.
• She came to prominence while serving as a manager of nurses trained by her during the Crimean War, where she organised the tending to wounded soldiers.
•  She gave nursing a highly favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.

26th World Economic Forum on Africa inaugurated at Rawanda

 Rwanda is hosting the 26th World Economic Forum on Africa (WEF) in its capital Kigali from 11 to 13 May under the theme: Connecting Africa’s Resources through Digital Transformation. 

• The event will focus, among other things, on how to diversify economies, tackle inequality and strengthen collaborations among countries.
•  This is the first time that the WEF is being held in Rwanda, whose economy has improved dramatically since the country was rocked by a genocide against theTutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994.

World Economic Forum :

• The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Swiss nonprofit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva.
•  Recognized by the Swiss authorities  as the international institution for public-private cooperation, its mission is cited as "committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas"

UP Government approves ‘bicycle highway’ between Taj and lion safari

Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has given its approval to develop over 197 km long ‘bicycle highway’ from Agra up to the lion safari in Etawah to encourage eco-tourism in vicinity of Taj Mahal.

•  Decision in this regard was taken by State Cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. 
• The bicycle highway will not run along the Agra-Etawah main road but will cover various historical and tourism centres.
•  It will start from eastern gate of the Taj Mahal and will cover other historical areas such as Bateshwarnath Temple, Raja Bhoj ki Haveli, Mela Kothi Jarar, and Naugava ka Quila and other rural areas to reach lion safari in Etawah.

Taj Mahal :

• The Taj Mahal  is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra.
•  It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan (reigned 1628–1658), to house the tomb of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
•  The tomb is the centrepiece of a 42-acre complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.

Shashank Manohar elected unopposed as ICC’s first independent Chairman

 Veteran cricket administrator Shashank Manohar was elected unopposed as ICC’s (International Cricket Council) first independent Chairman.

•  He was the sole nominee for the position and the ICC Board has now unanimously supported his appointment. 
• He will have tenure of two years.
•  ICC the international governing body of cricket is head-quarterd at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

MP Tourism wins Lonely Planet’s Best Indian Destination for Wildlife Award

The Madhya Pradesh Tourism (MPT) won the Lonely Planet Group’s Best Indian Destination for Wildlife Award. 

• The award was handed over to MPT at a function in Mumbai by actress Amy Jackson. 
• Madhya Pradesh located in Central India has 25 wild life sanctuaries including 9 National Parks. 
• Among them Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Pench are ideal habitat for tigers. 

Rodrigo Duterte wins 2016 Philippines Presidential Election

Anti-crime candidate and mayor of Davao City, Rodrigo Duterte has won the 2016 presidential election of the Philippines by a landslide victory.

•  He will become the 16th President-elect of Philippines.
•  In the Presidential election held on 9 May 2016, Rodrigo Duterte secured 39% (15.36 million) of the votes.

Philippines :

1. Capital - Manila
2. Currency- Philippine peso

Sanjay Mitra committee to prepare policy framework for taxi operators

 The Union Government has constituted a three member committee to prepare a policy framework for taxi and other transport operators. 

• The committee will be headed by Sanjay Mitra, Secretary of Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. The committee was constituted after taxi and other transport operators had appraised the situation emerging from Supreme Court’s order and directions of Environment Pollution Control Authority of banning diesel taxis in the National Capital Region (NCR).
•  It will look into these issues and come up with appropriate recommendations to address the same in a time bound manner.

Mauritius investors to be taxed from Apr 2017

 The government has gained the right to tax capital gains arising in Mauritius from sale of shares acquired on or after April 1, 2017, in Indian companies.

•  India and Mauritius signed a protocol for amendment of a three-decade-old double taxation avoidance agreement. 
• The agreement was signed in Port Louis.

May 11: National Technology Day

National Technology Day is being observed across India on May 11 to glorify the importance of science in day-to-day life and motivate students to adopt science as a career option. 

• The theme of the year 2016 is ‘Technology enablers of Startup India’. 
• The day is being commemorated to celebrate the anniversary of first of the five tests of Operation Shakti (Pokhran-II) nuclear test, held on 11 May 1998 in Pokhran, Rajasthan. 
• India also conducted successful test firing of the Trishul missile on the same day.

Veteran leader Chennamaneni Rajeswara Rao passes away

 Veteran Communist leader and five-time-MLA Chennamaneni Rajeswara Rao died at a hospital in Hyderabad, following illness. 

• He was 93 and is survived by three daughters and a son Ch. Ramesh, who is the TRS MLA from Vemulawada constituency in Karimnagar district.

Shashank Manohar resigns as BCCI president

 Shashank Manohar has resigned as the president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the chairman of International Cricket Council (ICC).

•  The move has come in anticipation of Mr. Manohar set to be re-nominated as ICC chief during the governing body’s annual board meeting scheduled for next month. 
• However, with the ICC set to revert to its old rule of not allowing its chief to hold a post in his/her home board, Mr. Manohar has stepped down. 
• The deadline for filing the nomination for the ICC chief’s post is May 23.
•  The BCCI will have to propose Mr. Manohar as its ICC presidential candidate.

Atma Ram Nadkarni appointed as Additional Solicitor General

Senior advocate of Bombay High Court Atma Ram Nadkarni on 9 May 2016 was appointed as Additional Solicitor General (ASG). 

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Nadkarni as Additional Solicitor General in Supreme Court for a period of three years.

Scientist develops World’s first holographic flexible phone

Scientists from the Queen’s University (Canada) have developed the world’s first holographic flexible smartphone named HoloFlex. 

• The HoloFlex smartphone lets users to interact with 3D (Three dimensional) videos and images without using any headgear or glasses.
•  HoloFlex features is a high-definition Flexible Organic Light Emitting Diode (FOLED) touch-screen display.