Current Affairs 5th January 2016

India-Nepal bus service resumes after 27 years

A friendship bus service between India and Nepal via Champawat in Uttarakhand resumed on Monday after a gap of 27 years, much to the delight of people on either side of the border who have family and trade ties with each other.

The bus runs between Kanchanpur in Nepal close to Banbasa border in Champavat district of Uttarakhand and Anand Vihar, Delhi

About Nepal:

Capital of Nepal: Kathmandu

Currency of Nepal: Rupee

Prime Minister of Nepal: Khadga Prasad Oli

President of Nepal: Bidhya Devi Bhandari

Women to constitute 33% of constables in paramilitary

Government took an important step to improve gender equality in the paramilitary by approving reservation of 33% women at the constable rank in two major central paramilitary forces CRPF and CISF and also setting a 15% quota in the border forces BSF, SSB and ITBP.

About CRPF:

• Founded in: 1939
• Headquarter in: New Delhi
• Present DG of CRPF: K. Durga Prasad

About CISF:

• Founded in: 1969
• Headquarter in: New Delhi
• Present DG of CISF: Surender Singh

Andhra Bank launches IMPS for money transfer

Andhra Bank has launched Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) at all its branches in association with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

A multi-channel, multi-dimensional platform, IMPS makes payments possible within fraction of seconds with all the standards and integrity maintained for security.

The IMPS has been enabled across all branches to provide inter-bank electronic fund transfer service “capable of processing person to account remittances.”

 Under the IMPS, a real time instant fund transfer system for inter-bank remittances, the maximum cap of transaction will Rs.2 lakh. The charges will be at the rate of Rs.5 per transaction.

About Andhra Bank: 

Headquarter of Andhra Bank: Hyderabad, Telangana

Tagline of Andhra Bank: Much more to do with you in focus

Present MD and CEO of Andhra Bank: Suresh N Patel

Kate Atkinson wins Costa novel prize for A God in Ruins

British writer Kate Atkinson on 4 January 2016 won the novel-of-the-year prize at Britain's Costa Book Awards 2015 for the second time in three years. She fetched the award for A God in Ruins, a story of war and its aftermath.

With this, Atkinson became the first author to receive the Costa novel prize three times: for A God in Ruins in 2016, Life After Life in 2013 and Behind the Scenes at the Museum in 1995.

List of Costa Book Awards 2015:

• Novel Award — Kate Atkinson, A God in Ruins
• Poetry Award — Don Paterson, 40 Sonnets
• Children's Book Award — Frances Hardinge, The Lie Tree Blue ribbon
• First Novel Award — Andrew Michael Hurley, The Loney
• Biography Award — Andrea Wulf, The Invention of Nature

Sachin is brand ambassador for Novo Nordisk’s diabetes campaign

Novo Nordisk, Danish pharmaceutical company announced Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar as brand ambassador for the disease awareness campaign ‘Changing Diabetes’ initiated by it in India. It is the leading global insulin maker, is providing free diabetes treatment and education to 4,000 children, who have been suffering from Type-2 diabetes in India.

About Sachin Tendulkar:

Debut Test match: Pakistan vs India , Karachi

Debut ODI match: Pakistan Vs India , Gujranwala

Total run in test: 15921

Total run in ODI: 18426
Total century in test: 51
Total century in ODI: 49

Largest blue star sapphire found in Sri Lanka

The world’s largest blue star sapphire, weighing 1404.49 carets and valued at an astonishing $100 million, has been found in a mine in Sri Lanka.

•  Sri Lankan gemmologists say the sapphire was found in the city of Ratnapura, in southern Sri Lanka, which is known as the ’City of Gems.’
• It has now been valued at $100 million with estimates that it could even be sold at auction for $175 million.
• The current record for a blue star sapphire is 1,395 carats

What is Sapphire:

a transparent precious stone, typically blue, which is a variety of corundum -aluminium oxide

About Sri Lanka:

Capital of Sri Lanka: Colombo

Currency of Sri Lanka: Rupee 

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka: Ranil Wickremesinghe

President of Sri Lanka: Maithripala Sirisena

English cricketer Matthew Hobden dies at age 22

Sussex fast bowler Matthew Hobden has Passed away at the age of 22. He made his first-class debut for Sussex in 2014.

Hobden was tipped to become an England international and was one of six players recently selected to take part in the ECB's England Performance Programme (PEPP).

Former CJI S.H. Kapadia passes away

Sarosh Homi Kapadia, the 38th Chief Justice of India died in Mumbai. He was the first Parsi Chief Justice of India

• Present Chief Justice of India: T. S Thakur