Government of India has appointed Gurdeep Singh, currently head of Gujarat State Electricity Corp, as the chairman and managing director of NTPC Ltd, India’s biggest power producer.

About Gurdeep Singh

• Prior to this appointment he was serving as the managing director (MD) of Gujarat State Electricity Company Limited (GESC).
• He had spearheaded several key reforms during his tenure at GESC, Singh including innovative solar power programmes such as the solar power plant over the Sardar Sarovar canal
• He had started his career in NTPC in 1987 and earlier had worked with Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, IDFC Projects and Powergen in different capacities.

• Earlier in December 2015, SC in its ruling had passed order appointing Justice Virendra Singh as Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh using its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.
• Court’s order came after repeated failure of the state government to comply with the court’s directives in the appointment of Lokayukta.

• Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
• Pune, Maharashtra.
• Jaipur, Rajasthan.
• Surat, Gujarat.
• Kochi, Kerala.
• Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
• Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
• Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
• Solapur, Maharashtra.
• Davangere, Karnataka.
• Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
• New Delhi Municipal Corporation.
• Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
• Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.
• Belagavi, Karnataka.
• Udaipur, Rajasthan.
• Guwahati, Assam.
• Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• Ludhiana, Punjab.
• Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

• The vision for smart cities includes quality communications including Wi-Fi and infrastructure like drinking water on tap, automated waste collection and uninterrupted power supply, all luxuries for most cities.
• The cities would offer “decent living options to every resident” which would provide a “very high quality of life comparable with any developed European city”, a note from the Urban Ministry declared.
• To build smart cities, India allocated Rs. 6000 crores ($962 million) in last year’s budget.

About Kalpana Ranjani

• Born as Kalpana Ranjini to theatre artists VP Nair and Vijayalakshmi, her name became synonymous with effortless comedy with her comic timing bang on, making her the beloved of Malayalis across the globe.
• She made her Malayalam film debut with MT Vasudevan Nair’s 1983 film Manju and two years later in Tamil with the film Chinna Veedu and went on to act in over 300 films in Malayalam and Tamil.
• She is survived by her daughter Sreemayi, who is 16 years old.
• She divorced her husband, Malayalam film director Anil, in June 2012.
• Kalpana also recently had a liver transplant. Popular actress Urvashi and Kalaranjini are her siblings.

• Among her other Malayalam hits are “Ennum Eppozhum”, “Karnavar”, “Dolphins”, “Bangalore Days” and “Spirit”.
• She had bagged the “National Award” for the Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Thanichalla Njan.
• Her versatility was something that movie goers cherished. From her poignant role in Charlie as a sex worker with HIV/AIDS, to characters that made us laugh in movies like Poochakaaru Mani Kettum and her histrionics as UDC Kumari in Dr Pasupalan.
• Some of her well known films include Sathi Leelavathi (1995) and Kaliveedu (1996).

President Pranab Mukherjee has announced the names of recipients of year 2016 Padma awards. He approved conferment of 112 Padma Awards.

2016 Padma Vibhushan Awards

2016 Padma Bhushan Awards

2016 Padma Shri Awards

• He had started learning training taleem in 1953 under the guidance of legendary Pandit Gyan Prakash Ghosh
• Having learnt from exponents belonging to different gharanas or schools of music, Ghosh was able to create a unique style of playing which is followed by his students, many of them prominent names of the of the music world now.
• He had performed with vocalists such as Pandit Omkarnath Thakur, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Girija Devi, Pandit Vinayakrao Patwardhan and Akhtari Bai.
• A recipient of the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1999-2000, Ghosh had taken forward the concept of tabla ensembles large number of tabla players showcasing their talent together.
• He also received the ITC Sangeet Research Academy award and the Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan award.
He had earned rave reviews for his ‘jugalbandi’ performances with celebrated classical musicians like Ustad Vilayat Khan, sitarists Pandit Ravi Shankar and violinist Pandit VG Jog.
At international level, he had collaborated with artists like Pete Lockett, Greg Ellis and John Bergamo.

• It integrates a social, community-driven aspect with anytime, anywhere accessibility to digital P2P (peer-to-peer) transactions.
• Udio​ is different from other mobile wallets such as Paytm, Oxigen or Citrus in a way that while other mobile wallet players depend upon cashbacks and discounts to drive consumer adoption, TranServ’s Udio wallet brings the user experience​.
• It enables users to do squaring of dues, sharing dinner bills or a cab ride and also to pay electricity and gas bills and make DTH & mobile recharges.It is relatively easy to use and is a more casual approach for making cashless payments similar to mobile banking.

About Mrinalini Sarabhai

• Mrinalini Sarabhai was born on 11 May 1918 in Kerala and was educated in Switzerland and Kolkata. She was daughter of former MP Ammu Swaminathan, founder of the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts in Ahmedabad.
• In 1948, Ms Sarabhai set up an institute of dance in Ahmadabad where she trained thousands of dancers and choreographers.
•  she has written several novels, plays, poetry and stories for children.
• She was widow of noted space scientist Dr. Vikram Sarabhai who is considered as the Father of the Indian Space Program. Leading danseuse, actor and activist Mallika Sarabhai is her daughter.
• Awards and Honours: Padma Bhushan Award (1992), Padma Shri (1965) and Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship (1994).

About Bihar Kosi Basin Development Project

• IRNSS-1C was launched on October 16, 2014 and IRNSS-1D on March 28, last year.
• The four satellites that were already launched include IRNSS-1A on July 1, 2013, while IRNSS-1B on April 4, 2014.
• IRNSS-1E has a lift off mass of 1,425 kg and carries Corner Cube Retro Reflectors for laser ranging and a highly accurate rubidium atomic clock (also part of the navigation payload of the satellite).
• RNSS-1E is the fifth navigation satellite in the IRNSS space system, comprising seven satellites, which would be on par with US-based GPS once the full complement of spacecraft is launched.
• The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite system, IRNSS, consists of seven satellites to provide real-time data on the position of objects to aid road, air and maritime traffic apart from providing mapping and tracking services.

• In this edition of list top 20 scoring countries are all high-income countries. The top rankings were dominated by European countries.
• Top 10 in GTCI list: Switzerland (1st), Singapore (2nd), Luxembourg (3rd), United States (4th), Denmark (5th),Sweden (6th),United Kingdom (7th), Norway (8th),
• Canada (9th) and Finland (10th).
• Bottom 5 countries: Mali (105th), Tanzania (106th), Ethiopia (107th), Burkina Faso (108th) and Madagascar (109th).
• India’s scenario: It has slipped by 11 positions in this edition of list compared to previous rank of 78 in 2014-15 edition of list.
• Lower position indicates acute shortage of skilled workforce. It also ranks at last among BRICS members.

• Training half a million jobless workers, greater use of apprenticeships and aiding companies for hiring young workers.
• Updating country’s labour-friendly business model in an increasingly online and border-free economy.
• Loosening rigid working time rules including 35-hour workweek and a bonus of 2,000 euros to small businesses that hire young people.
• Integrate youth from France’s troubled suburbs especially minorities who face job discrimination into the global economy.
• These measures will be included in draft economic reform laws which French government is going to present in parliament.

What is Algorithm Trading?

• Algorithmic trading in financial markets refers to transaction orders generated by using advanced mathematical models that involve automated execution of trade.
• It uses mathematical models and software codes to make transaction decisions on exchanges and execute them at high speed.
• This technology-driven trading enables traders to take advantage of any profit making opportunities arising in the market much before a human trader can even spot them.

• The bio-artificial liver is based on human liver cells and has been designed to be attached outside a patient’s body.
• This liver device is based on cells taken from human fat, skin or other tissues and is reprogrammed into liver cells.
• It can help  to prolong lives of patients with liver failure by recovering patients’ liver functions till suitable donor livers for a transplant is found.

India’s Dinesh Sharma has been elected to the board of directors of the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

• With authorised capital of $ 100 billion and subscribed capital of $ 50 billion, AIIB will invest in sectors including energy, transportation, urban construction and logistics as well as education and healthcare.
• China is the largest shareholder with 26.06% voting shares. India is the second-largest shareholder with 7.5% followed by Russia 5.93% and Germany with 4.5%.
• India whose total capital subscription amounts to $8.37 billion has paid first instalment of $334.70 million to the paid-in capital stock of the bank. 20% of the subscription is to be paid in five equal instalments.
• The election of India to board of directors of the AIIB is expected to provide significant role for it as it is the forum that approves the loans for projects.

About Anuradha Roy

• Ms Roy is novelist, journalist and editor.
• Her first novel An Atlas of Impossible Longing has been translated into 15 languages across the world.
• Till date she has authored three novels viz. An Atlas of Impossible Longing (2008), The Folded Earth (2011) and Sleeping on Jupiter (2015).

About DSC Prize for South Asian Literature

• It is a literary prize awarded annually to writers of any nationality or ethnicity writing about South Asia on themes such as culture, history, politics or people.
• The prize was instituted in 2011 by DSC Limited, an Indian infrastructure and construction company.
• The writers are chosen for their original full-length novel written in English or translated into English and published in the year preceding the judging of the prize.

• In the 2016 general elections, DPP which leads the camp that wants independence from China led by Tsai Ing-wen emerged victorious with 56% of the total vote share. She defeated Eric Chu of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) Party that secured 31% vote share.