Rafael Nadal beats Kei Nishikori to win Barcelona Open for ninth time

    Ace tennis player Rafael Nadal( Spain ) beat the defending champion, Kei Nishikori( Japan ), 6-4, 7-5 to win the Barcelona Open for the ninth time ;equalling  Guillermo Vilas’s record of 49 career clay-court titles.

• He also has now won his first 10 matches of the European clay-court 2016 season.
• Nadal added this title to his trophy from Monte Carlo last week as the 14-time grand slam winner regains form on his favourite surface before next month’s French Open.

Rafael Nadal :

• Rafael "Rafa" Nadal ( born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked world No. 5.
•  He is widely regarded as the greatest clay-court player in history; due to his dominance and success on the surface, he has been titled "The King of Clay".
•  His evolution into an all-court threat has established him as one of the greatest players in tennis history.

25 April: World Malaria Day

   World Malaria Day (WMD) is an international observance commemorated every year on 25 April and recognizes global efforts to control malaria.

History :

• World Malaria Day was established in May 2007 by the 60th session of the World Health Assembly, WHO's decision-making body.
•  The day was established to provide "education and understanding of malaria" and spread information on "year-long intensified implementation of national malaria-control strategies, including community-based activities for malaria prevention and treatment in endemic areas.

2016 Theme: “End Malaria For Good”.

 It reflects the vision of a malaria-free world set out in the Global technical strategy for malaria 2016-2030.

Goals of the strategy are: 

1. Reduce rate of new malaria cases by at least 90% .
2.  Reduce malaria death rates by at least 90%.
3.  Eliminate malaria in at least 35 countries.
4.   Prevent a resurgence of malaria in all countries that are malaria-free.

Sahapedia : online encyclopedia on Indian culture launched

The Union Government has launched India’s first online interactive heritage portal named    Sahapedia .
The web portal is a collaborative knowledge resource on the arts, culture and heritage of India.
Sahapedia will seek public participation to enable users looking for answers on niche fields about a region’s culture.
Sahapedia is a not-for-profit society headed by former TCS chairman S. Ramadorai, who currently helms the National Skill Development Agency.
 Sahapedia will be accessible across user groups such as scholars, practitioners, students, teachers, travellers and enthusiasts, while integrating activities and services including research, documentation, digitisation and conservation.

India ratifies Trade Facilitation Agreement

   

India has ratified the new Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).

• India’s WTO ambassador Anjali Prasad handed over her country’s instrument of acceptance to Director-General Roberto Azevêdo on 22 april.
• “India is one of the most dynamic economies in the world today and has become a top recipient of foreign investment. Ratifying the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement will help India further boost economic growth by reducing trade costs and supporting its integration into the global economy.”

What is Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)?

• The Trade Facilitation Agreement is the first multilateral trade agreement to be concluded since the WTO was established 20 years ago. 
• Once it enters into force, the Agreement is expected to reduce total trade costs by more than  14 per cent for low-income countries and more than 13 per cent for upper middle-income countries by streamlining the flo w of trade acr oss borders .

Salman Khan to be Goodwill Ambassador for Rio Olympics 2016

   

  Bollywood actor Salman Khan will be the goodwill ambassador for the Indian contingent at the Rio Olympics 2016.

•  The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had to choose between two to three candidates including Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan. 

 IOA have chosen Salman Khan considering he is more connected with youth and sport persons. 

Salman Khan will be the face and mascot of the Indian Rio Olympics contingent in Rio Olympics.

•  He will be part of the some of the promotional events.  
• This is the first time when a Bollywood superstar will be a goodwill ambassador for the national squad for such a big event like summer Olympics.

Rio Olympics 2016 :

• Host city  - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Motto- Live your passion

President nominated six members to Rajya Sabha

The President of India has nominated Shri Swapan Das Gupta, Shri Navjot Singh Sidhu, Dr. Subramanian Swamy, Shri Narendra Jadhav, Sh. Suresh Gopi and Ms. Mary Kom to the Rajya Sabha.

12 people can be recommended to the Upper House. As of now, there are seven vacancies among these 12, for which six names have been announced, and one kept in abeyance.

Nominations to the Upper House:

• The government recommends names of people having “special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service”.
• As per Article 80 of the Indian constitution, members are nominated by the President to the Upper House on the recommendation of the government.
• The government recommends members in this category at anytime and it is not bound to an electoral cycle like the other seats.

Primate species new to India discovered in Arunachal Pradesh

A new primate species in India has been discovered by a team of biologists and wildlife photographers during their bird watching trip to Arunachal Pradesh’s Anjaw district.

• The White Cheeked Macaque, hitherto unknown in India, was actually spotted by the team last year, but it took almost a year to confirm by the scientific community before the announcement.
• With this, White Cheeked Macaque has become a new primate species in India.

White-cheeked macaque

Scientific classification

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Primates
• Family: Cercopithecidae
• Genus: Macaca
• Species: M. leucogenys