Current Affairs eBook April, 2015

1. National Safe Motherhood day is being observed today. The objective of the day is to
create awareness on proper healthcare and maternity facilities to pregnant and
lactating women.
2. India was elected to four important United Nations (UN) agencies. These agencies are
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Program (WFP), Commission on
Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) and the Governing Council of UN-Habitat.
3. Social Progress Index (SPI) 2015 was released by the US-based non-profit organisation
Social Progress Imperative. On population-weighted basis, the SPI score for the whole
world stands at 61 and at 64.39 when SPI scores are based on simple average of countries.
India with a score of 53.06 is ranked 101st and is placed in the Low Social Progress Group.
In 2014, India with a score of 50.24 was ranked 102 out of 132 countries.
4. Shooter Apurvi Chandela Apurvi seals Rio 2016 berth with World Cup bronze. She notched
up the 10m air rifle bronze in the ongoing ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) in Changwon,
Korea. Apurvi shot a total of 185.6 in the finals, to finish behind Pejcic Snjezana of Croatia,
who won gold, and Ivana Maksimovic of Serbia, who clinched the silver medal.
5. France will partner India in a study for upgrading the speed on the Delhi-Chandigarh rail
line to 200 km per hour and help in the re-development of Ambala and Ludhiana railway
stations. France will also help in development of Smart Cities in India to be identified by
the host government. These were among the outcomes of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s talks with French President Francois Hollande.
6. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat announced fresh measures to provide relief to
rain-hit farmers in the state including free distribution of seeds among them and an
increased subsidy on ginger and turmeric seeds.
7. India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City near here became
operational today and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unveiled rules and regulations for this
global financial hub.
8. Delhi-based JK Organisation has appointed Bharat Hari Singhania as its new president. He
succeeds Gaur Hari Singhania, who died in February.
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Current Affairs – April, 2015 (Vol. 1)
9. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed ban on all construction activities in the
National Capital Region (NCR) that do not follow the guidelines provided by the then
Union Ministry of Environment and forest in 2010.
10. Syndicate Bank and Life Insurance Corporation have signed a memorandum of
understanding to implement the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’. LIC will
provide a life cover of ₹2 lakh in case of death of the insured person at a nominal premium
of ₹330 per annum.
1. An asteroid named after Malala Yousafzai. Amy Mainzer, astronomer at NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in California, named Asteroid 316201 after Malala.
2. Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai won a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol event at the
International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Changwon, South Korea. He
had already qualified for the 2016 Olympics after winning won silver in the 50m Free Pistol
event in 2014 at the World Championships in Granada, Spain.
3. India and France signed 17 agreements, including on the stalled nuclear project in Jaitapur
in Maharashtra, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held wide-ranging talks with French
President Francois Hollande.
4. State-owned Punjab National Bank on Sunday opened 121 ATMs across the country to
commemorate its 121th foundation day. With this, its ATM network has grown to 6,421,
the bank said in a statement.
5. SBI cuts home loan interest rate by up to 0.25%
6. In a new twist to the high profile SEBI-Sahara case, the Indian capital markets regulator
has approached a US court with a USD 12-million claim on proceeds from sale of a
corporate jet owned by a Sahara Group firm.
7. Yuki Bhambri on 11 April 2015 has won the 15,000 US Dollar ITF Futures tournament title.
In the final he recorded a straight-set win over Dzmitry Zhyrmont of Belarus played at
Karshi, Uzbekistan.
8. Supreme Court ordered free treatment for acid attack victims. All the private hospitals in
the country are directed to provide for full and free medical treatment to acid attack
victims.
9. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated first Songs and Dances of the North East, a
cultural festival in New Delhi. The day long festival was organized by Government of
Meghalaya and sponsored by the North Eastern Council (NEC).
10. Arun Kumar Jha was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Khadi and Village
Industries Commission (KVIC).
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Current Affairs – April, 2015 (Vol. 1)
11. Lewis Hamilton wins 2015 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix.
12. Indian men’s football team climbed 26 places to occupy the 147th position in the April
edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking out of 209 football playing nations or
regions.
1. PM Narendra Modi gifted painting titled Tree of Life to French President Francois
Hollande during his visit to France. The painting is the work of Bhaskar Mahapatra, an
Odisha artist.
2. In order to make supply of healthy and hygienic food to the needy children in all the
government schools, Puducherry government has drawn their guidelines for
implementing the ‘Anna Dhanam’ scheme in the state.
3. Gujarat government launches industrial tourism to showcase development. In a first of its
kind initiative in the country, Gujarat government is promoting a tour package covering
major industrial installations which have earned global acclaim for the state.
4. Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the engineering major, has signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with French firm Areva for cooperation to maximise localisation for
the 9,900-MW Jaitapur nuclear plant in Maharashtra.
5. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has commissioned a second 600 MW thermal unit
in Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir Champa District for the Dainik Bhaskar Power Limited.
6. Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB), a regional rural bank headquartered in Dharwad,
has signed a memorandum of understanding with Life Insurance Corporation of
India under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’ which aims at providing
insurance cover to all the Aadhar-linked savings account holders of the bank in the age
group of 18 to 50 years.
7. Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, the top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair won the 731000 US dollar
WTA Family Circle Cup doubles title. This was third consecutive team title for the IndoSwiss pair. Earlier, they won the Miami Open Tennis women’s doubles title on 5 April 2015
and Indian Wells Open title on 21 March 2015.
1. The popular ‘Vividh Bharati’ services of All India Radio (AIR) will now be available to
listeners in and around Delhi on mobile handsets with the launch of FM transmission of
the channel by Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley.
2. NASA offers $18,000 to people to stay in bed for its ‘Bed Rest’ research which is designed
to study the effects of prolonged exposure to micro-gravity and requires participants to
remain horizontal for a period of 70 days.
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Current Affairs – April, 2015 (Vol. 1)
3. Japan court blocks restarting of two nuclear reactors. The Nuclear Regulation Authority
(NRA) last December approved the restarting of the reactors, saying they met tougher
safety standards introduced after Japan’s tsunami-sparked nuclear disaster at Fukushima
in 2011.
4. Flipkart has decided to pull out of an ongoing discussion with Airtel to join the Airtel Zero
platform. The move follows criticism that the deal would violate the principles of net
neutrality.
5. FDI inflows into services sector grew by about 47 per cent to $2.64 billion in April-January
last fiscal.
6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been voted
among the 100 most influential people in the world in an online poll by readers of Time
magazine. Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged the winner of this year’s Time 100
readers’ poll.
7. Ramesh Abhishek will continue to head the Forward Market Commission (FMC) till its
merger with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). FMC is the regulator of
commodity exchanges engaged in future trading.
8. State Government of Haryana decided to accord Yoga guru Baba Ramdev the status
equivalent to a Cabinet Minister.
9. The World Bank has said India continues to be the leading nation in remittances pulling in
USD 70 billion from its global migrant workforce in 2014.
10. Mobile commerce platform Paytm inked MoU with National Centre for Trade Information
(NCTI) to promote Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
11. Nobel laureate German novelist Gunter Grass died in Luebeck, Germany. He was 87.
1. Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) decided to rename Tourist Visa on ArrivalElectronic Travel Authorization (TVoA-ETA) scheme as e-Tourist Visa (eTV) scheme.
2. Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai sworn in as first lady judge of Sikkim HC. Her oath of the
office was administered by the Governor Srinivas Patil at Ashirwad Hall at Raj Bhavan in
Gangtok.
3. Nokia buys Alcatel-Lucent for €15.6 billion.
4. The government has formed an inter-ministerial committee headed by cabinet secretary
to review the Official Secrets Act in context of demands to declassify files related to Netaji
Subhas Chandra Bose’s death or disappearance. RAW, IB, Union home ministry and PMO
officials will be part of the panel.
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Current Affairs – April, 2015 (Vol. 1)
5. Online restaurant guide Zomato announced the acquisition of MaplePOS, a cloud-based
point of sale product for restaurants developed by a group of techies from Delhi.
6. The Chinese Government quashed the bid of Taiwan to become a full member of the Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for lack of appropriate name.
7. Assamese film director, actor Bidyut Chakraborty died. He was 55.
8. Union Government forms task force to expedite work on inter-linking of rivers. The Task
Force will be chaired by former Secretary of Ministry of Water Resources B N Navalawala
and comprises experts and senior officials.
9. Information technology group Tech Mahindra partnered with U.S.-Israeli Comverse Inc to
set up a research and development centre in Israel.
10. India defeated South Korea 4-1 (6-3) on penalties to win the bronze medal in the 24th
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament.
1. Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar was inducted as one of the five new members into
the prestigious Laureus Sports Academy in a glittering annual award ceremony at the
Shanghai Grand theatre.
2. Canada and India have signed with a series of agreements and promises that will send
Canadian uranium to the South Asian nation, liberalize visas for Canadian travellers,
“soon” ratify a long-awaited foreign investment deal and lay a road map to complete
stalled trade talks.
3. App-based taxi aggregator Ola said it has raised USD 400 million (about Rs. 2,500 crore)
from a clutch of investors led by DST Global as it eyes expansion into smaller cities across
India.
4. Hitachi Automotive sets up auto parts facility in Tamil Nadu.
5. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Russian company INTMA signed a MoU to set
up a gas-based power project in Kazakhstan.
6. Former Nepal PM Surya Bahadur Thapa died.
7. Professors Susanta Lahiri and Kattesh V. Katti awarded Hevesy Medal Award 2015 for
their outstanding contributions in the fields of radio and nuclear chemistry.
8. India successfully test-fired nuclear weapons-capable Agni-III ballistic missile from the
Wheeler Island off Odisha coast. Although the missile has a strike range of more than
3,000 k.m.
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Current Affairs – April, 2015 (Vol. 1)
9. Leaders of six Janata Parivar parties announced their decision to merge into one larger
entity. Mulayam Singh Yadav will be the head of new party.
10. Dr. Mohan Kumar was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to France. He is a 1981batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer. He will succeed Arun Kumar who was appointed
Ambassador to the United States.
1. Microsoft’s Indian-origin CEO Satya Nadella was honoured with the White House
Champions of Change.
2. Narendra Modi gifted Miniature Painting titled Guru Nanak Dev to Canadian Prime
Minister, Stephen Harper. The painting is the work of Virendra Bannu, a Jaipur-based
artist.
3. RBL Bank (formerly Ratnakar Bank) has launched India’s first golf-centric credit card. The
card — based on the premium MasterCard World platform — has been launched in
association with the Indian Golf Union (IGU).
4. India’s ‘Parrot Lady’ is to return home, after Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
handed over to his counterpart, Narendra Modi, the 800-year-old Indian sandstone
sculpture of a woman holding a parrot.
5. Bharatiya Janata Party Rohini legislator Vijender Gupta was appointed the leader of
opposition in the Delhi assembly.
6. RBI to launch Rs. 10 coins on centenary of Gandhi’s return from South Africa.
7. United Nation (UN) peace envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar has resigned, after losing
support from Gulf countries for his mission in the conflict-riven nation.
8. The East China Normal University (ECNU), one of the prestigious universities in China,
announced the appointment of Dr. Vishal Sikka, Chief Executive Officer of Infosys, as
Advisory Professor.
9. India ranks below Bhutan, Sri Lanka in broadband reach: TRAI
1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Canada has generated business worth more than
1.6 billion Canadian dollars, according to official figures released by the Harper
government in Toronto.
2. World Heritage Day 2015 observed globally.
3. Maharashtra Government decided to discontinue Guard of Honour to ministers.
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Current Affairs – April, 2015 (Vol. 1)
4. India’s second largest state-owned oil explorer company, Oil India Limited (OIL) has
commissioned 54 MW wind energy projects saddled between Gujarat and Madhya
Pradesh.
5. Palladam Hi-Tech Weaving Park (PHWP) has bagged the ‘Best National Park Award’ under
the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks in the country.
6. Zeena Johar, SughaVazhvu Healthcare Founder and journalist and author Rahul Pandita
are the two Indians named 2015 Yale World Fellows in US. They are among 16 people
named by Yale University as its 2015 World Fellows, the signature global leadership
development initiative at the prestigious US institution.
7. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) Sings MoU with Private Sector Dighi Port Limited which
will facilitate construction of 34 km of railway link between Roha and Dighi Port in Raigad
district of Maharashtra. The project cost is estimated around Rs. 723 crore.
8. Andhra Pradesh Government has signed a MoU with the IISL Company to replace the
existing streetlights in 13 municipalities with LED lights in the state.
9. Hinduja brothers – S P Hinduja and G P Hinduja – have won the Business Leader of the
Year 2015 award at the prestigious 5th Asian Awards.
10. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal approved release of Gharials in Sutlej and Beas
rives in the state to promote eco-tourism. Initially, 10 Gharials (last surviving species of
the family Gavialidae) will be released in the Harike Wildlife Sanctuary as a part of ‘Gharial
Recovery Action Plan’.
1. Ashish Jakhar from Haryana on 17 April 2015 set a national youth record in boys’ hammer
throw event and won gold medal in the 12th National Youth Athletics Championships held
in Bambolim, Goa.
2. LIC buys Rs 300 crore Infosys shares in Q4.
3. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has suspended the Paralympic Committee
of India (PCI) for indefinite period.
4. Supreme Court has appointed Vivek Priyadarshi to head an investigating team to further
probe the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 6 spot-fixing and betting scandals.
5. Maharashtra government sets up task forces on agriculture development and poverty
alleviation.
6. Vankadarath Saritha, a 30-year-old driver became first woman bus driver to be inducted
in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).
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Current Affairs – April, 2015 (Vol. 1)
7. Nasim Zaidi assumed charge as the 20th Chief Election Commissioner succeeding H.S.
Bramha who retired after completing his term.
8. Rajya Sabha member Sitaram Yechury was elected as the next general secretary of
Communist Party of India (Marxist). He is the fifth general secretary of the 50-year-old
party.
1. Indian Navy’s new destroyer, INS Visakhapatnam, with enhanced capability to operate in
nuclear, biological and chemical atmosphere, launched in Mumbai.
2. Former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar appointed as chief advisor of the Board
of Control for Cricket in India’s Anti-Corruption & Security Unit (ACSU) for a term of one
year.
3. Largest private sector lender ICICI Bank in collaboration with Tech Mahindra launched a
payment service ‘Tap-n-Pay’ based on the near-field communications (NFC) technology,
enabling customers make over-the-counter payments without using cash.
4. IDBI Bank has tied up with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch Rupay
Platinum Debit card with upgraded features.
5. Chhurim Sherpa, first woman to climb the Everest summit twice in a week.
6. The Kerala government launched a major campaign “Subodham” to help people in the
state overcome alcohol, drug and other substance abuse.
7. Promising Bengal batsman Ankit Keshri passed away owing to an injury sustained during
a Cricket Association of Bengal’s senior one-day knock-out match.
8. Novak Djokovic wins Monte Carlo Masters.
9. India’s Y Pranjala clinched the Asian Junior Tennis championship title after a come-frombehind victory over top seed Chinese Zheng Wushuang at New Delhi.
10. Lewis Hamilton wins Bahrain Grand Prix of Formula One.
11. Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and teen idol Zyan Malik were honoured at the 5th Asian
Awards. Khan was awarded with the prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Cinema
award. Previous winners in the cinema category included Irrfan Khan (2014), Anupam
Kher (2013) and Yash Chopra (2011).
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