Current Affairs, April 2015– Important Events

1st Apr.2015:

• Amaravati will be the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.

• The International Cricket Council accepted the resignation of President Mustafa Kamal, who quit the position after being denied the honour of presenting the World Cup winners' trophy.

2nd Apr. 2015:

• Iran, the P5+1 (five permanent members of the UN Security Council, namely China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, plus Germany) and the European Union (EU) conceded on a framework agreement called as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) intended to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The agreement was reached at Switzerland.

• Dr Subadhra Devi Rai, an Indian-origin Singaporean nurse, named for the 2015 International Achievement Award by the Florence Nightingale International Foundation (FNIF) of the International Council of Nurses.

3rd Apr. 2015:

• Somali militants kill nearly 150 students in a Kenyan university.

4th Apr. 2015:

• Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal loses her world no. 1 ranking after her defeat against champion Li Xuerui in the semifinals of Malaysia Open.

6th Apr. 2015:

• The first of the six French-designed Scorpene submarines which are being manufactured in Mumbai launched today by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

• Rajeev Shukla has been appointed the new chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council.

• The National Air Quality Index (NAQI) was launched for the first time in India by PM Narendra Modi   for assessing the quality of air in major urban centres across the country on a real-time basis.

7th Apr. 2015:

• World Health Day (WHD) 2015 observed globally.

8th Apr. 2015:

• The Union Government evacuated around 4000 Indians from the war zone of Yemen under Operation Raahat.

• The 5th meeting of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Health Ministers was held at New Delhi.

• The Sri Lankan Cricketer Kumar Sangakkara has been honoured with the Cricketer of the Year in the 2015 edition of the prestigious Wisden Cricketers’ Almanackl.

• PM Narendra Modi launched the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd. (Mudra) Bank to cater to small businesses.

• Sim Bhullar became the first player of Indian descent to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) league as he made his debut for Sacramento Kings.

9th Apr. 2015:

• India successfully test-fired its nuclear-capable Dhanush ballistic missile with a strike range of 350 km from a naval ship off the Odisha coast.

• The government barred Greenpeace India from receiving funds from abroad by suspending its Foreign Currency Regulation Act registration.

• India was placed at 101st place in the Social Progress Index (SPI) ratings. After Norway at the top of the rankings, came Sweden, Switzerland and Iceland.

10th Apr. 2015:

• Australian cricketer and commentator Richie Benaud died at Sydney.

12th Apr. 2015:

• India Beat South Korea by 4-1 on penalties to Win Bronze Medal in Azlan Shah Cup Hockey Cup.

• Gujarat is a first of its kind initiative in India launched industrial tourism package to promote its development by showcasing its major industrial installations which have earned global acclaim for state.

13th Apr. 2015:

• Yoga guru Ramdev gets the status of cabinet minister in Haryana.

• Hillary Clinton will be the Presidential candidate for Democrat Party in 2016.

• New Zealand wins the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup men’s hockey tournament after defeating Australia.

• Sania Mirza became the first female tennis player from India to become world number one player in doubles ranking after she wins won WTA Family Circle Cup with Martina Hingis.

• Union Government notified the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014 and the Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act, 2014.

• Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) commissioned a 600 MW thermal unit at Dhabra in Janjgir Champa District of Chhattisgarh for the Dainik Bhaskar Power Limited.

• German Nobel laureate novelist Guenter Grass was died at Luebeck, Germany. He was 87. He was recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature.

14th Apr. 2015:

• Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) decided to rename Tourist Visa on Arrival-Electronic Travel Authorization (TVoA-ETA) scheme as e-Tourist Visa (eTV) scheme.

15th Apr. 2015:

• Six parties including SP, JDU and RJD of Janata Parivar have announced that they will merge to form a national party headed by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh.

• Canada agreed to supply 3,000 metric tonnes of uranium to energy-hungry India from this year under a $254 million five-year deal to power Indian atomic reactors. Canada is the third country to supply uranium to India after Russia and Kazakhstan.

16th Apr. 2015:

• Indian PM Narendra Modi and Canadian PM Stephen Harper signed a nuclear agreement on supply of uranium to India in which 7.1 million pounds of uranium concentrate to India till 2020.

• Dr. Mohan Kumar appointed as the next Ambassador of India to France.

• Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar elected as member of prestigious Laureus Sports Academy.

• Pakistan and Russia have agreed to hold first-ever joint military exercises as part of their enhanced defence cooperation.

• Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella honoured with the White House Champions of Change.

• Former Nepal Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa passed away in Gurgaon.

18th Apr. 2015:

• World Heritage Day was observed Globely.

19th Apr. 2015:

• Sitaram Yechury elected as the new CPM general secretary.

• Kerala launched Subodham project, to help people in the state to overcome addiction to liquor.

• Nasim Zaidi takes over as new Chief Election Commissioner of India.

• Indian movie "Mary Kom" has won the Best Film award and has been endowed with the Bronze Horse Award in the Stockholm International Film Festival Junior (SIFFJ).

20th Apr. 2015:

• Indian Navy's most powerful war ship INS Visakhapatnam launched into water for the first time at Mazgaon Dock in Mumbai.

• Novak Djokovic of Serbia won the Monte-Carlo Masters title of Tennis

21st Apr. 2015:

• Former Governor of Assam and three times CM of Odisha Janaki Ballabh Patnaik died at Tirupati.

• Japan's state-of-the-art maglev train clocked a new world speed of 600 kilometre (373 miles) per hour running speed.

• Former Egyptian President and Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges arising from the killing of protesters.

• India's third largest software services firm Wipro appointed Azim Premji's son Rishad Premji as director.

• China and Pakistan signed an agreement on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan worth 46 billion US dollars. The agreement was signed by China’s President Xi Jinping and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

22nd Apr. 2015:

• Earth Day observed across the World.

• The Railway Ministry has launched ‘utsonmobile’, a mobile application for paperless unreserved tickets.

• New York Times wins prestigious Pulitzer prizes for West Africa Ebola coverage.

23rd Apr. 2015:

• United Nations (UN) observed World Book and Copyright Day across the world.

24th Apr. 2015:

• The Rajya Sabha passed a bill that seeks equal rights for the transgender.

• Video sharing site YouTube completes 10 years of the first video share on the website.

• The Gorkha Rifles completes its 200 years of establishment.

25th Apr. 2015:

• Wold Malaria Day observed today.

26th Apr. 2015:

• Indian Military and Para Military forces launched a massive rescue operation in Nepal under the name of "Operation Maitri".

• Indian Army conducted a major exercise ‘Akraman-II’ in Rajasthan.

27th Apr. 2015:

• Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has won Presidential re-election.

• Loretta Lynch sworn-in as the 83rd Attorney General of United States and become the first African-American woman to serve as the nation’s top law enforcement official.

28th Apr. 2015:

• NASA has launched an project named The Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) that will lead the search for signs of life beyond our solar system.

• The World Bank projects India's GDP to expand to 7.5 per cent in the current fiscal year.

29th Apr. 2015:

• Saudi King Salman appointed Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef as his new heir and made his son, Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman, second-in-line to succeed.

Miscellaneous

·         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. India was elected to these bodies at the Coordination and Management Meeting (CMM) of UNECOSOC (the United Nations Economic and Social Council) held at the UN headquarters in New York, USA.

·         According to the ‘Global E-Waste Monitor 2014’compiled by United Nation(UN)’s think tank United Nations University (UNU), India is the fifth biggest producer of e-waste in the world.India came in fifth, behind the US, China, Japan and Germany.

·         Paris- based Syrian-Lebanese Arab poet Adonis has been chosen for 2015 Kumaran Asan World Prize for poetry, instituted by the Kumaran Asan Memorial Association to honour poets of international stature.

·         Professor Susanta Lahiri was awarded prestigious the Hevesy Medal Award 2015 for his outstanding contributions in heavy ion induced radioisotope production, converter targets, tracer packet technique and green chemistry.

·         World Women Chess Championship 2015 was won by Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine by defeating Russian Natalija Pogonina. World Women’s chess championships held at Sochi, Russia.

·         The Laureus World Sports Awards for the year 2015 were given at Shanghai in China. Ace tennis star Novak Djokovic of Serbia and sprinter Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia were named as the Laureus World Sportsman and Sportswoman of the 2015 respectively.

·         As per TRAI latest report, India ranks 125th in the world for fixed broadband penetration with only 1.2 per 100 inhabitants and the global average is 9.4 per 100 inhabitants. In the wireless or mobile broadband segment, India is ranked at 113th with a penetration of 3.2 per 100 inhabitants.

·         Columbia University scientists have created the world’s first self-powered camera. K. Nayar, a computer scientist of Indian origin, headed the research and designed a pixel that apart from measuring incident light also converts it into electric power.

·         NASA engineers have developed the first full-scale three dimensional (3-D) printed copper rocket engine parts.

·         Michael Rudenko, a committee member of the Minor Planet Center officially named a minor planet as 4538 Vishyanand, to honour India’s first chess grandmaster, Vishwanathan Anand.

·         Thane in Mumbai, Maharashtra was named as the National Earth Hour Capital 2015 in the Earth Hour City Challenge (EHCC) 2015 conducted by World Wide Fund. Seoul city, the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea, awarded the title of Global Earth hour Capital 2015 after it won the Earth Hour City Challenge (EHCC) of World Wildlife Fund (WWF).