1) Sports Minister asked NADA to adopt zero tolerance policy towards

‘doping’:

 He talked on the possibility to make doping in sports a criminal

offence.
 He also directed NADA to sensitise players through various
awareness campaigns and seminars about side effects of using
harmful banned substances.
 Last year in Rio Olympics 2016, wrestler Narsingh Yadav was
banned for using banned substance ‘Methandienone’. This banned
drug is known to increase protein synthesis and muscle strength.
 National Anti Doping Agency is the Indian watchdog agency in sports
whose primary responsibility is to implement the anti-doping rules
made by WADA and to regulate programmes related to drug abuse.

2) Economic Agreements between India and Sri Lanka:

 An MOU was signed between the two nations on energy and

infrastructure projects.
 One LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) plant in Colombo and one solar
plant in Trincomalee to be set up.
 India will also set up joint Industrial Zones and Special Economic
Zones in the island nation Sri Lanka.

4) 52nd Jnanpith Award for Bengali Poet Sankha Ghose:

 He was presented with monetary award of Rs 11 lakhs and bronze

replica of Goddess Saraswati.

 He was also the winner of Sahitya Academy Award as well as

conferred with Padma Bhushan in 2011.
 Jnanpith Award is the India’s prestigious literary award which was
awarded annually by Bharatiya Jnanpith. It was constituted in 1961.
 It was awarded in literature written in any of languages included in
the Eighth schedule of Indian Constitution plus English. Unlike,
Bharat Ratna, it was not awarded posthumously.

5) Government to set up All-women IRB in J&K:

 In order to counter notorious women stone pelters in the Kashmir

Valley, GOI decided to set up All-women Indian Reserve Battalion
(IRB).
 The candidates will be drawn from the local youths with 60%
reservation to people living in border areas.
  Its 75% expenditure will be contributed by the Central Government.
 Last year Government sanctioned five IRBs for the State.

6) LED lights installed in India under Street Lighting National

Programme:

 Under this programme government replaced 21 lakhs conventional

bulbs with energy efficient LED bulbs for the Street lighting.
 Rajasthan became the largest recipient of LED street lights under
this programme.
 It was implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (under Ministry
of Power).
 EESL is a joint venture is the joint venture of various Public sector
power companies.

2) The construction of Eastern Peripheral Expressway gets 60%

completed:

 It is 135 Km under construction expressway between Kundli and

Palwal of the Haryana state.
 It is the first access controlled expressway after which vehicles of
other states would not need to enter Delhi while transit.
 It is slated to be completed in August this year.

3) New Nickel Zinc batteries successfully developed by Research lab

in US:

 US Naval Research Lab developed this new type of batteries which

would be a safe alternate to Li-Ion batteries.
 Li-Ion batteries are prone to explosion and can catch fire due to
overheating.
 This new Ni-Zn batteries would not be prone to short circuit and fail
like conventional such batteries.
 It uses 3D Zn sponge in place of powdered Zn anode (positively
charged electrode).

4) India set to sign FTA with the Eurasian Economic Union:

 The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is expected to sign between India

and trade bloc during the PM Modi’s visit to St Petersburg,Russia.
 EEU consists of five Soviet Union nations which include Armenia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
 EEU HQ is in Moscow, Russia and its Chairman is Tigran Sargsyan
(Armenia).
5) Basava Jayanti celebrated on May 1:

 It is observed in the memory of 12th Century Kannada poet,

philosopher and Social reformer Basavanna during the reign of King
Bijjala I of Karnatka (Kalachuri dynasty).
 He spread his social awareness messages through Poetry known
as Vachanaas. He was against social ills like gender and social
discrimination, superstitions etc.
 PM Modi released the copy of his Vachanaas in 23 Indian languages
on this occasion.

1) Breeding centre for great Indian Bustard to be set up in Rajasthan:

 It will be the first such captive breeding centre for the Indian
bustard in India.
 The two facilities will be open one in Kota and another in Jaisalmer.
 Great Indian Bustard is the state bird of Rajasthan and is critically
endangered bird according to IUCN’s conservation status.

2) DPT launches new portal ‘Tarang Sanchar’:

 The web portal www.tarangsanchar.gov.in is launched to share

information on Mobile towers and their Electromagnetic emission
compliances.
 It will allow people to know the working of mobile towers anywhere in
the country and to track their radiation emissions. They will be able to
check compliance status of these towers.
 It will help to alleviate misconceptions of people related to health
risks arising out of mobile towers.

3) Odisha launched state’s Startup web Portal:

 In order to make Odisha the top 3 startup destination in the country,

the state CM Naveen Patnaik launched the new startup web portal.
 It will be one stop destination for investors which is aimed to ease the
process of registration and other related documentation. The portal
will also avail benefits under Odisha startup policy.

4) INSA Medal for Young Scientist Award 2017 announced to scientist

of Tezpur University:
  Sanjay Pratihar of Tezpur University is chosen for this prestigious
medal.
 He contributed to multi-metal complexes.

5) International Workers’ Day on May 1:

 Every year this day is celebrated on 1st May. It is also known as May
Day.
 It was originated in 1884 when workers of US and Canada
demonstrated to limit their workings to eight hour a day.
 This day is commemorated by Socialist and Communist parties only.
Though India is a welfare state, so it is not celebrated as National
Day.

6) Nepal Chief Justice impeached:

 Sushila Karki was suspended by Parliament through impeachment

after accusing her to interfere with executive powers.
 She is the Nepal’s first woman Chief Justice.

7) California based SpaceX company launched its first satellite for US

military:

 The aerospace company launched this secretive satellite which is

known as NROL-26.
 It is a spy satellite which is carried by Falcon 9 rocket.
 The company was founded in 2002 with the goal to decrease
operational costs in space technologies and to colonise the Mars
planet.

1) Court grants Rs 55 lakh as compensation to Air Force Pilot:

 Wing Commander Sanjeet Singh Kaila was injured in a MiG-21

fighter jet crash in 2005. He then moved the court seeking the
compensation citing the violation of his ‘fundamental right to life’.
 The Delhi High Court in the judgment announced the compensation
of Rs 55 lakh in which Rs 5 lakh would be paid by Government and
the rest by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
 Right to life is the Fundamental right under Article 21 of Indian
Constitution.

3) Advanced version of BrahMos missile test fired successfully:

  Indian Army has successfully tested land attack BrahMos missile. It is
an advanced version of the cruise missile.
 It was test fired from a mobile autonomous launcher in the Andaman
and Nicobar Islands.

4) New Index of Industrial Production (IIP) to be launched soon:

 India is ready to unveil new IIP with the base year of 2011-12.
 Currently, IIP is calculated on the base year 2004-05.
 This index is made on the basis of monthly industrial data mainly
from the books of accounts.
 New IIP index will be launched Chief Statistician and Ministry of
Statistics and Program Implementation (MOSPI) Secretary Mr. TCA
Anant.

5) Railways ready to launch Humsafar express this month:

 Humsafar Coach will have 3-tier in all the coaches.

 It will be the first such train in India.
 Indian Railways make profit only in operating 3-tier coaches.

1) World’s tallest railway bridge to be constructed over Chenab River:

 It will connect Katra with Kauri in the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
 The total length will be 1.315 km and it will be made of blast proof
steel to withstand explosions.
 The bridge will be 35 meters higher than Eiffel Tower of Paris which
is expected to complete by 2019.

3) India conducted successful test of the advanced BrahMos Block III

Land Attack Cruise Missile (LACM):

 The test was carried in the Andaman and Nicobar Island which will
shape India’s future policy in the Indian Ocean.
 The current range of this supersonic missile is set at 450 Km and is
expected to increase up to 600 Km. The current long range is the
result of India’s entry into Missile Technology Control Regime
(MTCR) last year in June. Before being its member, the range of
BrahMos was set up to 290 Km due to the obligations set by the
Regime.
 BrahMos is capable to launch from land, sea, sub-sea and air. It is
inducted in 2007.

4) Union Cabinet cleared package to resolve NPA problem:

  In order to tackle problem of Non-Performing assets the cabinet
cleared various measures which includes ordinance, disinvestment of
ITDC hotels, policy approval to give preference to domestic steel and
iron products, approval of national Steel Policy 2017 and international
status to Vijaywada Airport.
 The policy approval of giving preference to domestically
manufactured iron and steel products is for their use in government
infrastructure projects.

5) New Chairman of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chosen:

 Congress Lok Sabha MP Mallikarjun Kharge appointed as the new

PAC Chairman by the Speaker of Lok Sabha.
 He replaced congress leader KV Thomas.

6) Indore cleanest city of 2017 in India:

 The survey was carried out by Clean India Mission (Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan) – an initiative launched in 2015 to make India defecation
free by 2019 on the occasion of 150th anniversary of Mahatma
Gandhi.
 The survey is based on three indicators namely open defecation free,
solid wste management and waste collection.
 Total 434 cities are included in this year’s survey.
 The dirtiest city is Gonda of Uttar Pradesh.
 Mysuru skips to 5th spot this year. It was No.1 in 2016 and 2014.

1). Braj Bihari Kumar to succeed economist S K Thorat as ICSSR

Chairman:

 The Union government has appointed Braj Bihari Kumar, editor of

quarterly journals Dialogue and Chintan Srijan, as the new Chairman
of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).
 Kumar’s name was finalized for the top position by the Union Ministry
of Human Resource Development.

2). Trial of Agni-II Ballistic Missile fails to meet desired parameters:

 India flight-tested Agni-II Intermediate Range Surface-to-Surface

Ballistic Missile from Abdul Kalam Island in Bhadrak district of
Odisha.
 The user trial failed and it did not meet all the desired parameters.

 The test was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) as
part of a training exercise.
3). Shabana Azmi starrer 'The Black Prince' awarded at film fest in
Houston:

 Hollywood film 'The Black Prince', starring Indian actress Shabana

Azmi and singer-poet Satinder Sartaaj, was on 3 May 2017 awarded
the Special Jury Remi Award at the 50th annual World Fest -
Houston International Film Festival.
 'The Black Prince' is a historic biopic on the emotional life story of the
last king of Punjab - Maharajah Duleep Singh and his fragile
relationship with Queen Victoria, who was Godmother to his children.
Maharajah Duleep Singh was also named as the Black Prince of
Perth shire.

5). NASA’s first inflatable Greenhouse could enable water recycling

on Mars:

 NASA Scientists have designed an inflatable greenhouse that could

be used one day by astronauts to grow fresh food and produce
oxygen on Mars or Moon.
 The first-of-its-kind sample involves an inflatable, deployable
greenhouse that can support plant and crop production for nutrition,
air revitalization, water recycling and waste recycling.

6). India expected to achieve 7.1% growth in 2017: UN report:

 A United Nations (UN) on 1 April 2017 released its annual flagship

report titled 'The Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific
2017'.
 The report was released by UN Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
 The report says India is expected to achieve 7.1 per cent economic
growth in 2017 as re-monetization restores consumption and
infrastructure spending increases.
 It also said India's growth would edge up to 7.5 per cent next year.
These targets will be met by higher private and public consumption
and increased infrastructure spending.