Notes:
The Indian School team has won the 5th edition of Asian School Hockey Championship after defeating Malaysia by 5-1 at the Aishbagh Stadium in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. For India, Alishan Mohammad scored two goals and Pratap Lakra successfully converted a penalty corner and a penalty stroke in the goal. Maninder Singh scored the fifth goal. Malaysia managed to score its single goal through Akhimullah Anuar Esook.

Notes:
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has appointed an internationally acclaimed actress and philanthropist Kristin Davis as its new Goodwill Ambassador. Davis from United States championed UNHCR’s work through media interviews and via her social media channels. She has also supported key UNHCR advocacy and fundraising events and campaigns – including traveling to Australia in 2016 to help raise funds for women victims of sexual violence in DR Congo. The headquarters of UNHCR is located in Geneva, Switzerland.

Notes:
Dr Akhilesh Das Gupta (56), the former Union Minister of State for Steel under Dr. Manmohan Singh Government during UPA-I, has recently passed away in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He was a Prominent Educationist, Professor, and Indian Politician & Philanthropist. Dr. Gupta was the President of Badminton Association of India (BAI), Vice President of Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC), Member – Executive Council of Badminton World Federation (BWF) & Vice President of Indian Olympic Association (IOA). He was also the member of the Rajya Sabha for three terms from 1996 to 2014. Dr. Gupta was the son of Freedom Fighter Late Shri Babu Banarasi Das, the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

Notes:
The Union government will launch an umbrella programme ‘SAMPADA’ for food processing sector with Rs. 6,000 crore outlay to integrate current and new schemes. The purpose of the new programme is to reduce food wastage and to double farmers’ income. This programme will help create infrastructure for linkage of entire supply chain. The acronym ‘SAMPADA’ stands for “Scheme for Agro-Marine Produce Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters”.

Notes:
Shiva Kirti Singh, the retired Supreme Court judge, has been appointed the new chairman of the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). The top slot in the telecom tribunal had been vacant for nearly a year since Justice Aftab Alam retired in June 2016. The purpose of the TDAST is to adjudicate disputes and dispose of appeals with a view to protect the interests of service providers and consumers of the telecom sector and to promote and ensure orderly growth of the telecom sector As per norms, the head of the dispute resolution agency for the telecom industry must be a person, who has been a Supreme Court judge, or the chief justice of a high court.

Notes:
Atu Zumvu, a Sub-Divisional Police Officer with the Nagaland Police, has become the first Naga cop to confer with the prestigious Shaurya Chakra award at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on April 6, 2017 since Nagaland attained statehood. Zumvu won the prestigious award because he shot down three National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) outfit members, who were responsible for killing 81 people. Nagaland attained statehood in 1963 and since then this is the first time a police officer from the state has been honored with this award.

Notes:
The Union government has recently constituted an inter-ministerial committee to monitor the regional air connectivity scheme UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) which seeks to make flying affordable by connecting un-served and under-served airports. Besides, the panel would be responsible for coordination among stakeholders, including state governments, for time bound implementation of the scheme. The committee will be chaired by Rajiv Nayan Choubey, the Civil Aviation Secretary. The committee will also be responsible for overall monitoring of the schemes of promotion of regional connectivity by way of revival of unserved and under-served airports.

Notes:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently released a book ‘Matoshree’, authored by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in New Delhi on April 11, 2017. The book ‘Matoshree’ covers the life and times of legendary Devi Ahilyabai Holker who ruled the Holkar Empire spread over the Malwa region from 1767 to 1795. Ahilyabai Holkar was a very able ruler and organizer, highly respected during her lifetime and considered as a saint by people after her death. She is remembered and worshipped by people for her exemplary governance, sense of justice and fairness.

Notes:
Bengaluru has been ranked the top-paying city for professionals in India with an average yearly salary of Rs.14.6 lakh, according to the 2017 Salary Trends Study by Randstad. Mumbai ranks second with Rs14.2 lakh followed by Hyderabad and NCR with an average annual CTC figure of Rs 13.6 lakhs and Rs 13.5 lakhs respectively. Chennai (Rs 13.4 lakh), Pune (Rs 13.2 lakh) and Kolkata (Rs 11.4 lakh) were the other top payers in the list. The Randstad Salary Trends Study 2017 is an analysis of 1,00,000 jobs across 20 industry verticals and 15 core functions. The survey identifies roles that are experiencing strong demand in the job market across industries and pay relatively higher remunerations for talent in the six to 10 years experience bracket when compared to other professionals in the same salary range. Core Java professionals top the list of these “Hot Jobs” with an average annual CTC of Rs18.06 lakh, followed by digital marketing professionals with Rs17.09 lakh and testing automation engineers with Rs14.67 lakh.

Notes:
Mukta Dutta Tomar, a 1984-batch IFS officer, has been appointed as the new Ambassador of India to the Federal Republic of Germany. She will succeed Gurjit Singh. Presently, she is the additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).