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1 CURRENT AFFAIRS

April 1, 2015

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2 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1) In an important event in Nigerian

history, who became the first
opposition candidate to win a
presidential election in country, as
announced on 31 March 2015?
Muhammadu Buhari
Explanation: Muhammadu Buhari
is a former military ruler and his
victory over incumbent President
Goodluck Jonathan is seen as a
hugely significant moment in
Nigerias turbulent history. Never
before has a sitting president been
defeated in an election in Nigeria.
Since independence from Britain in
1960, there have been numerous
coups and most elections have
been rigged. This Presidential
Election was held on 28 March
2015 all across Nigeria, which is the

most populous country in Africa and

is also the largest economy of the
continent.
Gen.
Buharis
All
Progressives
Congress
(APC)
defeated
President
Jonathans
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
by over 2 million votes. In another
landmark
development,
the
incumbent President congratulated
Gen. Buhari for his win, a move
which is expected in a smooth
power transfer. It was the fourth
time that Gen. Buhari had sought
the presidency. He ruled Nigeria
from January 1984 until August
1985, taking charge after a military
coup in December 1983. On the
other hand Jonathan was countrys
President since 2010.
2) What is the name of the first
direct container vessel from India to
Qatar which arrived at Doha on 31
March 2015 as part of a non-stop
service launched to facilitate swift
trade between the two countries?
M.S. Convent
Explanation: MS
Convent
completed its maiden voyage from

Nhava Sheva port in Mumbai to

arrive at the Doha Port in Qatar.
The non-stop service will connect
Qatars Doha port with Indias
largest port Nhava Sheva, also
known as Jawaharlal Nehru Port, in
Mumbai. The service was launched
by Milaha Maritime & Logistics, a
subsidiary of the Qatar based
Milaha Group which delivers
integrated transport and supply
chain
solution
in
the
Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC). Unlike
existing services in the market, the
new weekly service will enable
direct shipments between Nhava
Sheva and Doha without the need
for trans-shipment in the UAEs
Jebel Ali, thus increasing reliability
and reducing transit time and costs.

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3 CURRENT AFFAIRS

3) What was Indias external debt

stood as on 31 December 2014
according to the data released by
the Finance Ministry on 31 March
2015? $462 billion
Explanation: Indias external debt
of $462 billion as of end-December
2014 was thus 3.5% greater than
the figure at the end of March 2014.
However, Indias external debt-togross domestic product (GDP) ratio

stood at 23.2% as of endDecember, thus showing marginal

compared with 23.7% as of endMarch 2014. The countrys shortterm debt fell 6.7% from March-end
2014 to $85.6 billion as of
December-end, while long-term
debt rose 6.1% to $376.4 billion.
4) What is the name of the
controversial bill passed by the
Gujarat Assembly on 31 March
2015
which
empowers
law
enforcing authorities to intercept
and record phone calls as evidence
and gives them other contentious
powers? Gujarat Control of
Organized Crime Bill (GUJCOC)
Explanation: The Gujarat Control
of Organized Crime Bill (GUJCOC),
which was introduced in the Gujarat
Assembly
by
Chief
Minister
Anandiben
Patel-led
state
government, was earlier returned
by the President of India thrice to
the
state
government
for
reconsideration. The Bill is a
modified version of the original
2003 Gujarat Control of Organized
Crime (GUJCOC) Bill which was
not cleared by the earlier NDA and
UPA government for last one

decade.
According
to
a
controversial provision in the Bill,
recording of phone calls intercepted
by investigating agencies will be
admissible in the court as evidence.
The Bill also puts the onus of
proving the innocence on the
accused. The GUJCOC Bill, which
is on the lines of the stringent
Maharashtra Control of Organised
Crime Act (MCOCA), was rejected
in 2004 and 2008 by the then
president AJP Abdul Kalam and
Pratibha Patil respectively who had
suggested some amendments in
the provisions related to telephone
interception and confession made
before
police
officer
being
considered as evidence in court.

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4 CURRENT AFFAIRS

5) Which district of Japan on 31

March 2015 became the first-ever
district in the country to recognise
same-sex partnerships as the
equivalent of a marriage by passing
a landmark vote? Shibuya
Explanation: Shibuya is a district
or ward of Tokyo city. It passed a
controversial
but
landmark
ordinance with the majority of the
34 wards legislators standing up to
show their approval. This ordinance

guarantees the identical rights of

married couples, including hospital
visitations and apartment rentals.
However, Japanese conservatives,
including the powerful politicians of
the ruling party, have been unwilling
to back the initiative, and protest
rallies have popped up in Shibuya.
The new ordinance applies only to
Shibuya, and its technically not
legally binding, though violators will
have their names posted on the
wards website.
6) The Income Tax Department on
31 March 2015 took which extreme
step against big tax defaulters? It
published
their
names
in
newspapers
Explanation: The IT Department
had, till now limited itself to posting
the names of some of its biggest
defaulters on its website. But the
department on 31 March adopted
the extreme step of publishing the
name of the defaulters in reputed
newspapers. This was done so that
the common man can come forward
to help the department in knowing
the whereabouts of these. The step
is to enhance public awareness
against these entities who are

acting against law. The newspapers

carried the names of the tax
defaulters and the data published
was quoted to have been published
by
the
Principal
Chief
Commissioner of Income Tax

(Administration). This is the first

time the department has put in
public domain a list of those wilful
tax defaulters who have a tax
liability of Rs. 10 crore and above.

April 2, 2015

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5 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1) What will be the name of the new

capital of Andhra Pradesh as
approved by the Cabinet of the
state on 1 April 2015?
Amaravathi
Explanation: The
name
Amaravathi was approved in view
of the historic significance of
Amaravati town in Guntur district of
the state. This ancient and
medieval town of Amaravathi was

the centre of the Telugu empire for

over 1,800 years from the
2nd century BC to the 16th century
AD, and the political and cultural
capital
of
the
Satavahanas,
Ikshavakus, Eastern Chalukyas,
Telugu Cholas, the Kota chiefs,
Pallavas, Kakatiyas, the Reddy
kings and the Vijayanagara empire.
It is situated on the right bank of the
mighty Krishna River in Guntur. The
new capital city zone is 35 km from
old
Amaravathi,
where
the
government has procured nearly
33,000 acres between Vijayawada
and Guntur through a land-pooling
scheme. Apart from this, the State
Cabinet led by Chief Minister N.
Chandrababu Naidu also gave its
approval to the first phase of the

master plan for the proposed capital

prepared by Singapore government
agencies.

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6 CURRENT AFFAIRS

2) Which state government on 1

April 2015 launched the ambitious
Aahar cheap meal scheme for
providing subsidised food to urban
poor? Odisha
Explanation: Aahar is the name
of the populist programme aimed at
providing meal at Rs. 5 to the urban
poor in the state of Odisha. It was
launched by Chief Minister Naveen
Patnaik at capital Bhubaneswar on
1
April
2015.
Apart
from
Bhubaneswar, the scheme was
also launched simultaneously in
Rourkela, Cuttack, Berhampur and
Sambalpur in the first phase on the
occasion of Utkala Dibasa, the
foundation day of the state. In the
initial stage the scheme is being
sponsored by Odisha Mining
Corporation (OMC) in Cuttack and
Bhubaneswar,
Odisha
Power
Generation Corporation (OPGC) in
Rourkela and Odisha Industrial
Infrastructure
Development
Corporation (IDCO) in Sambalpur.
Tata Steel is supporting the scheme
in Berhampur. However, this model

of financing for scheme was

criticized by states opposition
parties who opposed the manner in
which PSUs and other corporate
houses were asked to fund the
populist scheme instead of making
budgetary
provision
for
the
programme.
3) Who took over as Indias firstever Cyber Security Chief (CSC) on
1 April 2015? Gulshan Rai
Explanation: Gulshan Rai is the
Director
General
of
Indian
Computer Emergency Response
Team (Cert-In). His appointment as
countrys First ever Cyber Security
Chief (CSC) has been done under
the Prime Ministers Office as a
Special
Secretary.
Rai
has
considerable experience in dealing
with matters such as cyber security,
e-Governance, legal framework and
the Information Technology Act. His
appointment came at a time when
cyber security assumes importance
in the backdrop of growing network
intrusions and hacking attempts on
not just businesses but also on the
government.

7 CURRENT AFFAIRS
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4) The amalgamation scheme of

which two private sector banks
came into effect on 1 April 2015
after the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) gave its approval for their
merger? Kotak Mahindra Bank
and ING Vysya Bank

5) Who was the President of the

International Cricket Council (ICC)
who resigned from the post on 1
April 2015 alleging widespread
constitutional violations by the
governing body? Mustafa Kamal
(Bangladesh)

Explanation: The RBI on 31 March

2015 approved the merger of ING
Vysya Bank into Kotak Mahindra
Bank. In November 2014, Kotak
Mahindra Bank had announced it
was
acquiring
Bengalaruheadquartered ING Vysya Bank in
an all-stock deal of over Rs. 15,000
crore ($2.4 billion). The merger deal
was approved by the Competition
Commission of India (CCI) during
February 2015. Following RBIs
approval, all the tangible and
intangible assets of the two entities
were transferred to Kotak Mahindra
Bank to make it the fourth largest
private-sector bank in India after
ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis
Bank respectively. The merged
entity has now 1,214 branches, with
a wide-spread pan-India network.
ING Vysya had around 10,000
employees, while Kotak Mahindra
Bank has around 29,000.

Explanation: Mustafa Kamal is a

Bangladeshi politician and cricket
official. Apart from being the
President of the Bangladesh Cricket
Board (BCB), he was also
functioning as the President of ICC
since 2014. He resigned from this
post as he was apparently hurt at
not being given the opportunity to
hand out the World Cup trophy to
champions Australia. This trophy
was given by ICC Chairman N.
Srinivasan to Australian skipper
Michael Clarke. On the other hand,
Kamal was reportedly denied the
honours after he blamed poor
umpiring
for
Bangladeshs
comprehensive loss to India in the
quarterfinals. The ICC was forced
to issue a statement to reject his
charges. Srinivasan had expressed
his displeasure to the ICC board
members and questioned as to how
can Kamal pinpoint on one wrong
umpiring decision and take it as an

isolated case. It is worth mentioning

that the post of ICC President is
largely that of a ceremonial head
while executive powers lie with the
Chairman.
6) The State Bank of India (SBI) on
31 March 2015 announced plans to
divest 10% stake in its life
insurance arm SBI Life. Which
foreign financial entity is the
minority partner in SBI Life? BNP
Paribas Cardif (France)
Explanation: SBI Life Insurance is
a joint venture between SBI and

BNP Paribas Cardif of France. At

present, SBI owns 74% of the total
capital and BNP Paribas Cardif has
the remaining 26% in the joint
venture.
There
have
been
increased efforts to restructure the
insurance sector in the country after
the Parliament in March 2015 had
passed
the
Insurance
Laws
(Amendment) Bill, 2015 which
seeks
to
increase
foreign
investment
in
private
sector
companies to 49% from the existing
26%.

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8 CURRENT AFFAIRS

April 3, 2015

1) The foreign ministers of P5+1

countries, European Union and Iran
held an important round of

negotiations for limiting Irans

nuclear programme at Lausanne
(Switzerland) during March-April
2015. The lengthy and extended
negotiations ended on 2 April 2015
with the announcement that a broad
framework for the highly anticipated
nuclear deal was achieved in these
negotiations. What is the new
deadline by which the final details
of this deal will have to be worked

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9 CURRENT AFFAIRS

out as announced on 2 April? 30

June 2015
Explanation: Under the agreement
reached during these negotiations,
the world powers and Iran will now
aim to draft a comprehensive
nuclear accord by 30 June 2015.
The talks between the so-called
P5+1 the US, UK, France, China
and Russia plus Germany and
Iran at Lausannes Beau-Rivage
Palace hotel continued beyond the
original self-imposed deadline of 31
March 2015. The European Union
(EU) is the 8th member involved in
these
negotiations
and
the
framework
agreement
was
announced by EU and Iran after
eight days of negotiations. It is
worth mentioning that six world
powers in 2006 had joined in the
diplomatic
efforts
to
bring
accountability in Irans nuclear
programme and lifting economic
sanctions imposed on it in
reciprocation of steps taken by Iran
to limit its nuclear programme.
These 6 world powers are
collectively known as P5+1, or five
permanent members of the UN
Security Council, namely China,
France,
Russia,
the
United

Kingdom, and the United States,

plus Germany.
2) What is the name of the Islamist
militant group that stormed into a
university campus in Kenya on 2
April 2015 and took Christian
students hostage resulting in death
of at least 15 persons? Al
Shabaab
Explanation: Al Shabaab is linked
with to al Qaeda and has a track
record of undertaking attacks in
Kenya. It stormed into Garissa
University College situated near
Kenyas border with Somalia and
took the students belonging to
Christian faith as hostage. Kenyan
authorities accepted that at least 15
causalities were reported in the
incident when security forces tried
to flush out the militants. It is worth
mentioning that Al Shabaab seeks
to impose its own harsh variant of
Sharia law in Kenya. It had
separated Muslims from Christians
in some of its previous attacks in
Kenya. The group had earlier
declared that it would punish Kenya
for sending troops into Somalia to
fight it alongside African Union
peacekeepers.

3) What was the total foreign fund

inflow into India by foreign
institutional investors (FIIs) during
2014-15 that was the highest
annual FII investment in Indian
capital markets? Around Rs. 2.7
lakh crore

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10 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Explanation: According
to
the
latest data available with Central
Depository Services Ltd (CDSL),
the Foreign Institutional Investors
(FIIs) made a net equity investment
of Rs. 1.09 lakh crore in 2014-15,
and a further Rs. 1.64 lakh crore
into debt markets. Thus total FII
inflows during 2014-15 stood
at Rs. 2.73 lakh crore. This was the
highest net inflow by FIIs since
being allowed to invest in Indian
capital markets (equity and debt)
over two decades ago in November
1992. The previous high was in
2012-13, when the net investments
climbed to Rs. 1.68 lakh crore.
4) The Union Govt. on 1 April 2015
revamped the procedure for
appointment of non-official directors
(NoDs) on the Boards of public
sector banks, insurance companies
and financial institutions. What the

new age limit for appointment of

NoDs is, as prescribed in these
guidelines? Less than 67 years
Explanation: The revamp in the
procedure for appointment of NoDs
was done with a view to
professionalise the Boards of these
banks and financial institutions and
further provide requires skill sets to
improve the quality of deliberations
on the Boards. According to the
new guidelines, the applicant for the
post of NoD must less than 67
years of age and have 20 years of
prescribed
professional
work
experience.
NoDs
could
be
appointed for maximum six years or
two terms. Apart from this, a
dedicated
web
portal
(http://financialservices.gov.in/nod)
was created where interested
persons can apply online.
5) Indian badminton ace Saina
Nehwal was officially crowned as
No. 1 woman Badminton player in
the world on 2 April 2015. She
replaced which Chinese player from
top spot? Li Xuerui
Explanation: Nehwals ascent to
the top of womens badminton was

officially confirmed on 2 April with

the release of the latest rankings by
the games international governing
body the Badminton World
Federation (BWF). Chinas Li
Xuerui slipped to third position while
Spains Carolina Marin claimed the

second
position.
Saina
thus
became only the second Indian
overall to be world number one
after Prakash Padukone had the
distinction of being the No.1 mens
badminton player.

April 4-5, 2015

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11 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1) PepsiCo India on 3 April 2015

commissioned first phase of its
largest beverage plant at which
place?
Sri
City
(Andhra
Pradesh)
Explanation: The
plant
was
inaugurated by Andhra Pradeshs
Chief Minister Chief Minister at Sri
City, which is a planned integrated
township located 55 km North
of Tamil Nadu capital Chennai. Its
a manufacturing hub comprising a

special economic zone (SEZ) of

2,700 acres and a domestic tariff
area of 4,300 acres and is in
Chittoor district of the state.
PepsiCo
CEO
Indra
Nooyi
announced that the plant will
generate employment opportunities
for thousands, thus providing the
much needed impetus to economic
growth and development of the
state. The state-of-the-art plant will
also be companys most water
efficient plant in the country.
2) President Pranab Mukherjee repromulgated the land acquisition
ordinance on 3 April 2015 a day
before it was to lapse. The
government was not able to convert

this ordinance into an act, which is

actually the old land ordinance with
amendments.
How
many
amendments were carried out in
that ordinance by the Lok Sabha?
Nine

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12 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Explanation: This
fresh
land
ordinance, which is the 11th by the
Narendra
Modi
government,
incorporates nine amendments that
were part of the bill passed in Lok
Sabha during March 2015. It is
pending before the Rajya Sabha
where the ruling NDA coalition
lacks the numbers to get it passed.
The pending measure, titled Right
to
Fair
Compensation
and
Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement
(Amendment) Bill, was passed in
Lok Sabha, and sought to replace
the ordinance that was promulgated
in December 2014. However, repromulgation of land ordinance was
criticised by the opposition parties.
3) In one of the biggest doping
scandals in recent years in India, as
many as 21 athletes were
suspended on 4 April 2015 on
charges
on
doping.
These
sportspersons are associated with

which
sporting
Weightlifting

discipline?

Explanation: The
Indian
Weightlifting Federation (IWF) on 4
April provisionally suspended 21
weightlifters after being tested
positive for banned substances.
The lifters tested positive across
different championships both outof-competition and in-competition.
But the maximum numbers of
offenders were caught at the
National
Youth
and
Junior
Weightlifting Championships, which
was held in Yamunanagar in
January 2015. During the National
Youth and Junior Weightlifting
Championships, 8 weightlifters had
tested positive. Some of the
prominent lifters caught in doping
related
cases
include
2006
Commonwealth
Games
gold
medallist weightlifter Geeta Rani
(Punjab), Harjeet Kaur (Haryana),
Mangte P Kom (Chandigarh) and
Punjabs Simranpreet Kaur, who
won a gold medal in 63kg in both
the Youth and Junior categories.
The National Anti-Doping Agency
has increased the ban period of first
time dope offenders to maximum of

four years from two, effective from 1

January 2015.

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13 CURRENT AFFAIRS

4) Who was sworn in as the new

Prime Minister of Peru on 2 April
2015 to replace Ana Jara, who was
thrown out of office by Congress on
corruption
charges?
Pedro
Cateriano
Explanation: Pedro Cateriano was
till now countrys Defence Minister.
He was named as the new Prime
Minister by President Ollanta
Humala who is going through a
difficult relationship with countrys
130-member, unicameral Congress.
It is worth mentioning that Pedro
Caterianos predecessor Ana Jara
lost a confidence vote in Congress
following allegations of spying on
her opponents. It was the latest in a
series of political blows absorbed in
recent
months
by
President
Humala.

5) What is the name of the Alabama

(US) inmate who was set free on 3
April 2015 after serving almost 30
years on death row for a crime he
did not commit after a U.S.
Supreme Court ruling? Anthony
Ray Hinton
Explanation: 58-year old Anthony
Ray Hinton was one of Alabamas
longest-serving death row inmates.
He was set free from the Jefferson
County Jail in Birmingham on 3
April
after
prosecutors
acknowledged that there was not
enough evidence linking him to two
1985 murders. In 2014, the U.S.
Supreme Court had ruled that
Hinton
had
constitutionally
deficient representation at his initial
trial.

6) Malli Mastan Babu whose death

came to prominence recently, was
associated with which discipline?
Mountaineering

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14 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Explanation: Malli Mastan Babu

was
one
of
Indias
top
mountaineers, who went missing on
24 March 2015 after he went on a
climb up the high mountains
between Argentina and Chile in
South America. His body was found
in the Andes mountain ranges in
Chile by the helicopter search
teams on 3 April. Mastan Babu had
earlier
scaled
several
insurmountable mountain peaks
and
achieved
records
and
accomplishments all over the world.
He was regarded as the fastest 7
summiteer in the world, that is,
fastest to climb summits in all seven
continents. He was also the first
person from Andhra Pradesh to
scale Mt. Everest in the Himalayas.

7) Who is poised to become the first

player of Indian origin to feature in a
National Basketball Association
(NBA) team of US as reported
during April 2015? Sim Bhullar
Explanation: Sim Bhullar is a
Canadian professional basketball
player of Indian origin who on 2
April 2015 signed a 10-day contract
with the Sacramento Kings NBA
team to become the first player of
Indian descent to be on an NBA
teams regular season roster. 7 ft 5
inches tall Bhullar weighs 161 kg
and has a wing span of 8 ft 2 inch.
His parents had migrated to
Canada from Punjab in India.

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15 CURRENT AFFAIRS

April 6, 2015

1) India Post, the postal department

of Govt. of India, on 1 April 2015
closed its 135-year old Money
Order (MO) service. The Money
Order service, which provided panIndia door-delivery of funds to a
payee from over 155,000 post
offices, was an integral part of the
department since 1880. India Post
is now focusing on which 2 postal
remittance services? Electronic
Money Order (eMO) and Instant
Money Order (iMO)
Explanation: The legendary MO
service was the traditional money
transfer service of India Post and
end of its service did evoke a sense
of nostalgia for numerous Indians
who grew upon being part of this

service. However, in the era of

instant communications the MO
service made way for its electronic
versions eMO and iMO. Both
these are much faster and simpler
means to remit money. Under eMO
service money is paid at the doorstep of a payee from Rs.1 to
Rs.5,000 within a day, along with
21 standard messages. It is booked
at an authorised post office and
delivered pan-India from all delivery
post offices. This can also be
tracked on the India Post website.
The iMO system provides instant
money order service for amounts
ranging from Rs.1,000 to Rs.
50,000. An instant, web-based
system, money can be remitted by
designated iMO post offices
where an electronic version of a
form is filled along with an identity
proof.
2) What is the code name given to
the operation to rescue Indians
stranded
in
Yemen
being
undertaken which involves Indian
Navy, Indian Air Force and Air India

as major partners? Operation

Rahat

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16 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Explanation: Operation Rahat was

initiated during April 2015 with the
objective rescuing thousands of
Indian stranded in Yemen after the
war between Houthi rebels and
forces led by Saudi Arabia
escalated. This operation primarily
involves 2 naval ships INS
Mumbai (warship) and INS Sumitra
(patrol vessel) apart from logistics
support from M V Kawarati and M V
Coral. Indian Air Force has
deployed its state-of-the-art C-17
Globemaster transport aircrafts to
airlift stranded Indians from Djibouti,
the African country across the Red
Sea. Air India contributed to this
mission by lifting passengers
directly from Yemeni capital Sanaa.
Ministry of External Affairs and
Ministry of Defence are playing
major part in this mission.
3) What is the name of the ship of
the Indian Navy which rescued 441
people from Yemen, including
foreign nationals, to Djibouti on 5
April 2015? INS Mumbai

Explanation: INS Mumbai was

berthed outside the port of Aden in
southern Yemen to rescue the
stranded people as situation
worsened in this region. The people
were ferried in small craft in
batches to the waiting ship. These
crafts were hired by authorities
ashore for this purpose. Of the total
441 people rescued by this ship,
176 were foreign nationals from 20
other countries of Africa, Asia,
Europe and North America. INS
Mumbai reached Djibouti with all
the rescued persons late in the
evening.
An
important
fact
associated with this rescue was that
even as this rescue was being
undertaken heavy shelling between
the warring sections was going on.
4) The Union Govt. has asked
banks and insurers to develop a
common infotech module by 30
June 2015 to facilitate rolling out of
three new social security schemes
announced in the Union Budget of
2015-16. Which three schemes are
these? Atal Pension Yojana, the
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima
Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri
Jeeven Jyoti Bima Yojana

17 CURRENT AFFAIRS
Page

Explanation: Atal Pension Yojana

is the pension scheme, Pradhan
Mantri Jeeven Jyoti Bima Yojana is
the life insurance scheme while
Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima
Yojana
is
non-life
insurance
scheme and all the three were
announced by Union Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union
Budget
for
2015-16.
Operationalisation of these three
schemes would be implemented
through banks in collaboration with
state-run insurance companies and
the Provident Fund Regulatory and
Development Authority (PFRDA)
since
participation
in
these
schemes would be possible only
through bank accounts and auto
debit instruction by subscribers. All
three schemes would be integrated
with the core banking system used
by banks in order to provide a
single-point enrolment of schemes
in a seamless manner and
substantial
enrolment
of
subscribers.
5) Super Typhoon Maysak struck
which sparsely populated country in
the east of the Philippines on 4 April

2015 resulting in death of 9 people?

Federated States of Micronesia
Explanation: Federated States of
Micronesia is a small country
comprising of four states spread
across the Pacific Ocean in the east
of the Philippines. It was struck by
Super Typhoon Maysak on 4 April
with winds blowing over 250 kph at
its peak. It smashed houses and
destroyed crops across Micronesia
and then made a landfall in the
Philippines on 5 April. However, by
then Maysak had slowed down
considerably with winds of 55 kph
and was rated as a tropical
depression.
6) Why 5 April 2015 became a
significant day for the Large Hadron
Collider (LHC)
Project
being
undertaken by CERN beneath the
Franco-Swiss border near Geneva
(Switzerland)? The LHC machine
was started once again on this
day after being stalled since 2013
Explanation: The Large Hadron
Collider (LHC), which is the worlds
largest machine and the most
complex experimental facility ever
built, was stalled since 2013 to

receive an upgrade. After receiving

this upgrade the LHC was restarted
on 5 April with almost double
power. Its main aim is to allow
physicists to test the predictions of
different theories of particle physics
and prove or disprove the existence

of the theorized Higgs Boson

particles. The LHC generates up to
600 million particles per second,
with a beam circulating for 10
hours, traveling more than 6 billion
miles.

April 7, 2015

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18 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore

and Hyderabad

1) The National Air Quality Index

(NAQI) was launched for the first
time in India by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on 6 April 2015
primarily for assessing the quality of
air in major urban centres across
the country on a real-time basis.
The index has been launched
initially in 10 cities of the country.
Which cities are these? Delhi,
Agra,
Kanpur,
Lucknow,
Varanasi,
Faridabad,

Explanation: The
NAQI
was
launched by the Prime Minister
during the two-day Environment
and Forest Ministers Conference
held at New Delhi. The launch of
this index is being seen as an
important step in the direction of
enhancing public awareness about
deteriorating air quality in Indias
cities. As part of the endeavour, the
Union
Environment
Ministry
proposes
to
extend
the
measurement of air quality to 22
state capitals and 44 other cities
with a population exceeding one
million. NAQI will have one
number, one colour and one

description to inform the public

about air quality in a simple and
easily understandable format. It has
been developed by the Central
Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in
technical consultation with IIT
Kanpur and an expert group
comprising
medical,
air-quality
professionals
and
other
stakeholders.

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19 CURRENT AFFAIRS

2) What is the name of the first of

the Indian Navys six Scorpene
class stealth submarines that was
undocked on 6 April 2015 for
conducting sea trials? Kalvari
Explanation: Kalvari is the first of
the six Scorpene class stealth
submarines to be built under the
ambitious Project 75 of the Indian
Navy. The first Scorpene submarine
has
been
named
after
its
predecessor, an erstwhile Russian
Foxtrot class submarine, Kalvari. It
was the first submarine operated by
India. The six Scorpenes are being
built by Mazagon Docks Ltd in
collaboration with French firm
DCNS. The Scorpene submarines
pack a potent punch and would
come equipped with anti-ship
missiles and long-range guided

torpedoes along with modern

sensor suite. Undocking of Kalvari
submarine was done by Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikar at
Mumbai and this paves the way for
sea trials and its eventual
commissioning in September, 2016.
The remaining five boats (under
Project 75) would be delivered by
the yard by 2020 and would form
the core of the navys submarine
arm for the next two decades.
3) Kenya, in its first response to the
recent al-Shabab assault at Garissa
University, bombed bases of the
group through its fighter jets on 6
April 2015. These attacks were
carried out in which of its
neighbouring country? Somalia
Explanation: The
Kenyan
warplanes targeted two camps in
the Gedo region in Somalia
believed to be used by al-Shabab to
cross into Kenya. This was Kenyas
first response to the al-Shabab
assault of 2 April 2015 which left
148 people dead at Garissa
University. The attack on Garissa
University, about 150km (90 miles)
from the Somali border, was the
deadliest by al-Shabab in Kenya.

However, many people in Somalia

believe the air assault is merely
aimed at showing Kenyans that the
government is responding to the
threat posed by al-Shabab.

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20 CURRENT AFFAIRS

4) Who was appointed as the new

Chairman of the Indian Premier
League (IPL) Governing Council on
6 April 2015 to replace Ranjib
Biswal? Rajeev Shukla
Explanation: Congress
leader
Rajeev Shukla was the IPL
chairman till 2013 when he
resigned from the post in the
aftermath of the IPL spot-fixing
scandal. His emergence as the
consensus candidate took place
after intense speculation over who
will take charge of the league with
former Indian captain Sourav
Ganguly, Ajay Shirke and Ranjib
Biswal being the others in the fray.
Sourav Ganguly was, however,
chosen as a member of the IPL
Governing Council while the senior
national selection committee led by
Sandeep Patil was retained for
another season. Team India
Director Ravi Shastri also remained
in the IPL Governing Council.

5) A Turkish court during April 2015

ordered Internet firms to block
access to social media sites to stop
the sharing of photos of a hostage
taken during an armed siege.
Which far-left group was suspected
to be involved in this siege?
DHKP-C
Explanation: DHKP-C, which in
English is the acronym for
Revolutionary Peoples Liberation
PartyFront, is considered a
terrorist group by Turkey, the
European Union and US. It is
primarily a Marxist-Leninist party
and has carried out a number of
assassinations
and
suicide
bombings. On 31 March 2015, the
suspected members of this group
took prosecutor Mehmet Selim
Kiraz hostage in capital Istanbul.
The two gunmen who carried out
this siege died in the operation
while the prosecutor was badly
wounded and later died of his
injuries. A Turkish court ordered
social sites like Facebook, Twitter
and YouTube to remove images
taken during the siege to stop the
sharing of photos. The block was
lifted from Facebook and Twitter

after the two social networks

complied with the court order.
Before imposing the blocks on the
websites, Turkish authorities had
moved to stop newspapers printing
the images.
6) What is the number of the anticorruption helpline launched on 5
April 2015 by Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal, which on 6 April
received
an
overwhelming

response of over twelve thousand

calls? 1031
Explanation: 1031 is the number of
the new anti-corruption helpline
launched in Delhi. On its first day of
operation it received as many as
12,731 calls. The call centre
location has been kept secret by
the state authorities and all
complaints are being forwarded to
anti-corruption branch.

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21 CURRENT AFFAIRS

April 8, 2015

1) Which entity becomes the first

public sector undertaking (PSU) to
hit the market in fiscal year 2015-16
with its disinvestment taking place
on
8
April
2015?
Rural
Electrification Corporation (REC)

Explanation: Union Govt. is selling

5% of its stake in REC on 8 April at
Rs. 315 a share to mop up over Rs.
1,550 crore, marking the first PSU
disinvestment of the current fiscal.
The price for the offer for sale
(OFS) of 4.93 crore REC shares
was decided on 7 April at a meeting
headed by Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley. The government has
budgeted to raise Rs. 41,000 crore
through minority stake sale in 201516. The disinvestment department
has a pipeline of companies to sell
minority stake to avoid bunching up

of disinvestment towards the end of

end of the fiscal. The companies
which have been lined up for
disinvestment
include
BHEL,
Dredging Corporation, NALCO, IOC
and NMDC.

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22 CURRENT AFFAIRS

2) The National Green Tribunal

(NGT) on 7 April 2015 gave which
far-reaching order pertaining to
plying of vehicles in Delhi? It
banned all diesel vehicles over
ten years old from plying on
Delhi roads
Explanation: A bench headed by
NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter
Kumar passed the order as it noted
that countries like Denmark, Brazil,
China and Sri Lanka are also in the
process of banning diesel vehicles.
This order is being seen as the one
with wide-ranging ramifications. In
its order NGT noted that diesel is
prime source of air pollution in the
National Capital Region (NCR) and
the situation is so alarming that
people have been even advised to
leave Delhi due to adverse effects
on health. The Tribunal directed
the Transport department
of Delhi government
and
other
concerned authorities to prepare a

comprehensive data of registration

of all such vehicles which are 10 or
more years old.
3) In a shocking incident as many
as 20 labourers hired by suspected
sandalwood smugglers were shot
dead by a task force in Andhra
Pradesh (AP) on 7 April 2015. This
incident took place at which place
of AP? Seshachalam forest
(Chittoor district)
Explanation: This incident took
place in Chittoors Seshachalam
forest on the outskirts of the temple
town of Tirupati. Nine alleged
sandalwood
smugglers/labourers
were killed in one place and 11 in a
second clash a kilometre away in
the incident. But this shooting case
provoked
strong
protests
in
neighbouring Tamil Nadu as
majority of the killed persons were
from the state. Almost all political
parties ridiculed the incident in the
state. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
also raised his concern over the
incident with his AP counterpart N.
Chandrababu Naidu and said that
such high casualty raises concerns
about police restraint. On the other
hand National Human Rights

Commission (NHRC) on 7 April

issued notices to AP Chief
Secretary and DGP seeking their
explanation
about
this
firing
incident. A tough plan to combat the
smuggling of red sandalwood was a
major
campaign
promise
of
Chandrababu Naidu ahead of last
years election, which he won. He
then formed a special task force,
which has been given plenty of
modern weapons and resources, to
fight the red sandalwood mafia.

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23 CURRENT AFFAIRS

4) RBI presented its first bi-monthly

Monetary Policy Review on 7 April
2015 and kept all primary rates,
including
the
Repo
Rate,
unchanged. What is the estimated
GDP growth rate proposed to be
achieved by RBI during fiscal year
2015-16? 7.8%
Explanation: The RBI estimated
that the Indian economy would
achieve a healthy growth rate of
7.8% during 2015-16, up from 7.5%
in 2014-15. RBI has already
reduced the repo rate by 50 basis
points (bps) so far this year and
hence restrained itself from further
reduction this time. It kept the cash
reserve ratio (CRR) or the

proportion of deposits banks have

to keep aside with RBI unchanged.
Banks were hoping for a cut in CRR
to cut interest rates. But in another
important move, the RBI asked
banks to pass on the Repo Rate cut
benefits to customers and the
industry.
Following
are
the
major
highlights of RBIs First bimonthly Monetary Policy Review
for 2015-16
Short-term lending rate (Repo)
unchanged at 7.5%
Cash Reserve
unchanged at 4%

Ratio

Statutory
Liquidity
unchanged at 21.5%

(CRR)

Ratio

Consumer Price Index (CPI)based inflation forecasted at 5.8%

by March 2016
5) Union Govt. has planned which
step to promote the Kisan Vikas
Patra (KVP), which was relaunched during November 2014?
It has roped in Public Sector
Banks (PSBs) to sell KVP
certificates

Explanation: There-launched
Kisan Vikas Patra has failed to
garner much interest and collected
just Rs 1,100 crore in 2014-15.
Gross collections for KVP were as
high as Rs 21,631.16 crore in 201011, which was the year before it
was discontinued. KVP is presently
issued through Post Offices only
and the Union Govt. has now
decided to sell KVPs through PSBs
also. Finance minister Arun Jaitley
had in November 2014 re-launched
the KVP, which was a hugely
popular small saving scheme of the
1990s. On the other hand, another
small saving scheme launched last
year, the Sukanya Samriddhi
Account (SSA), is fast gaining
popularity with over 27 lakh
accounts already opened under it.

6) Which PSU sector bank on 7

April 2015 signed an agreement
with Life Insurance Corporation
(LIC) to provide insurance cover to
its savings account holders under
the Prime Ministers Pradhan Mantri
Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJBY)
scheme? Dena Bank
Explanation: Under
this
agreement, LIC will give a life cover
of Rs 2 lakh in case of death of the
insured person at a nominal
premium of Rs. 330 per annum.
Account holders in the age group of
18 to 50 years can avail of the
product. Dena Bank currently has
1.2 crore savings accounts and is
targeting to extend the life cover
benefit to all the customers.

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24 CURRENT AFFAIRS

April 9, 2015
1) MUDRA Bank, an ambitious
initiative to provide boost to Indias
micro and small business entities,
was inaugurated by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi at a programme
held in New Delhi on 8 April 2015.
What is the full expansion of the

term MUDRA? Micro Units

Development
and
Refinance
Agency
Explanation: MUDRA Bank will
primarily serve the financial needs
of small entrepreneurs and will also
act as a regulator for MicroFinance Institutions (MFIs). It is
being set up through a statutory
enactment and will be responsible
for developing and refinancing
through
the
Pradhan
Mantri
MUDRA Yojana, which was also
launched on this occasion. MUDRA
Bank has a corpus of Rs 20,000
crore and a credit guarantee corpus
of Rs 3,000 crore. Initially it will
work as part of the Small Industries
Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

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25 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Read all About : Click Here

2) The
Telecom
Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI) on 7 April
2015 recommended use of a single
number for all emergency services
in the country, including police, fire
brigade and ambulance. What
number is this? 112
Explanation: TRAI
has
recommended number 112 on the

lines of the 911 emergency

number of the U.S. Presently,
callers in India need to dial-in
different numbers for different
emergencies such as 100 for
police, 101 for fire, 102 for
ambulance and 108 for emergency
disaster management. TRAI has
proposed the use of a single
number as use of a single number
is simpler and desirable from a
users perspective. TRAI also
recommended
that
existing
emergency numbers be retained as
secondary numbers and the calls
made to them be re-routed to 112.
However, once calls to the
secondary
numbers
reduce
significantly, they can be withdrawn
gradually.
As
per
the
recommendations, callers seeking
help should be able to dial 112
even from mobile or landline
phones where outgoing facility has
been debarred or the service
temporarily suspended.

3) Small Industries Development

Bank of India (SIDBI) completed
how many years of its operations
during April 2015? 25 years

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26 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Explanation: SIDBI is the leading

financial entity engaged in the
growth and development of micro,
small
and
medium-scale
enterprises (MSME) in India. It is a
non-independent financial institution
which was set up through a
Parliamentary act on 2 April 1990. It
was initially the wholly-owned
subsidiary of IDBI while at present
Govt. of India holds 33% stake in it.
It initially started its operations as a
refinance agency to banks and
state level financial institutions for
their credit to small industries. But
later it expanded its activities by
including direct credit to the SME
through 100 branches in all major
industrial clusters in India.

4) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on

8 April 2015 announced which two
major reliefs for farmers hit by the
recent unseasonal rains and hailstorms?
Following are the two reliefs
announced by the Prime Minister
The eligibility criteria for
claiming compensation has been
reduced to 33% from 50% (for
crop damage)

The amount of compensation

has been increased to 1.5 times
Explanation: After getting on-thespot assessment reports about the
damage from senior Ministers,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8
April 2015 announced that the
criteria of 50% crop damage for
providing compensation to affected
farmers has been reduced to 33%.
This announcement is expected to
help
more
farmers
get
compensation for their crop loss.
On the other hand, the amount of
compensation has been increased
to 1.5 times. This means that if
earlier he was getting Rs. 100 as
compensation, now he will get Rs.
150.
Unseasonal
rains
and
hailstorms have damaged Rabi
(winter-sown) crops in 113 lakh
hectares of area across 14 states.
The Government had also set up an
informal group of ministers, headed
by Home Minister Rajnath Singh to
look into the issue of raising the cap
for financial assistance given to
farmers whose crops have been
affected.

5) Which leading online retail

company
acquired
mobile
transactions platform FreeCharge
as announced by the company on 8
April 2015? Snapdeal

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27 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Explanation: Snapdeal, which is

one of Indias largest online retail
marketplace, acquired FreeCharge,
a mobile commerce platform where
users can pay their mobile, DTH
and utility payments across most
major
operators.
However,
FreeCharge will continue to function
as an independent platform and
without any changes in its shopping
experience. With this acquisition,
Snapdeal can offer a wide range of
products and services, including
financial services, mobile recharge
and utility payments with a growing
user base of over 40 million.

6) Which US state on 7 April 2015

became the first one in the country
to impose a ban on a common
second-trimester
abortion
procedure? Kansas
Explanation: The common secondtrimester abortion procedure is
often described as dismembering a
foetus. Republican Gov. Sam

Brownback signed a bill imposing

the ban, and the new law takes
effect from 1 July 2015. Under the
law, the procedure is banned
except when necessary to save a
womans life or prevent irreversible
damage to her physical health.
Doctors cannot use forceps,
clamps,
scissors
or
similar
instruments on a fetus to remove it
from the womb in pieces. However,
two abortion rights groups that
operate Kansas clinics with abortion
services announced that they are
considering challenging the new
law in court. Abortion rights
supporters said the procedure is
often the safest for women seeking
to terminate pregnancies during the
second trimester.

7) Liu Xiang, who was Chinas first

Olympic gold medalist in an athletic
event, announced his retirement on
7 April 2015. He was the Olympic
and World Champion in which
athletics event? 110m hurdles
Explanation: Liu Xiang had won
the countrys first Olympic mens
athletics gold in the 110m hurdles in
Athens in 2004 and added a world

title in 2007. He also held the world

record in 2006 with a time of 12.88
seconds. He held in the same high
esteem in China as popular

basketball player Yao Ming and

tennis star Li Na, who have also
recently retired.

April 10, 2015

Thus, as per the provisions of
Section 2(45) of the Companies
Act, 2013
IFCI became
a
government company (PSU) with
effect from 7 April 2015. IFCI is at
present the leading infrastructure
finance company in the country.

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28 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1) Which entity has become Indias

newest public sector undertaking
(PSU) during April 2015 after Union
Govt. increased its stake to over
51% in this entity? IFCI Limited
Explanation: IFCI
was
earlier
known as the Industrial Finance
Corporation of India and was
incorporated on 1 July 1948 as a
government company. It was the
first development finance institution
in the country. Till now the Union
Govt. had 47.93% stake in it. Some
time back the govt. acquired IFCIs
6 crore preference shares and
taking up its stake up to 51.04%.

2) US-based rating agency Moodys

on 9 April 2015 upgraded Indias
economic outlook from stable to
positive. It announced that the
Indian govt. is taking steps to
improve its economic strength.
What is Moodys upgraded rating
for India now? Baa3
Explanation: Baa3 rating stands
for below investment grade rating.
Moodys also stressed that a further
rating upgrade could follow in about
12 to 18 months times. However it
also held that constraints like
inflationary pressures, occasional

balance of payments pressures,

etc. are still capable of negatively
affecting Indias credit profile.

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29 CURRENT AFFAIRS

3) India was placed at 101st place in

the Social Progress Index (SPI)
ratings that were released globally
on 9 April 2015. Which country
topped this list? Norway
Explanation: Social
Progress
Index (SPI) is a comprehensive
rating of countries based on
indicators of well-being such as
health, water and sanitation,
personal
safety,
access
to
opportunity, tolerance, inclusion,
personal freedom and choice. The
SPI, which gives data for 133
countries, is also an alternative to
GDP. After Norway at the top of the
rankings,
came
Sweden,
Switzerland and Iceland. Lowest
ranked after the Central African
Republic
were
Chad, Afghanistan and
Guinea.
Last years leader, New Zealand,
which has half of Norways GDP
per person, came fifth. The United
States came 16th, losing marks for
its lack of healthcare provision as
well as its high murder and suicide
rates. Britain came 11th, Germany

14th, Japan 15th, France 21st, Brazil

42nd, Russia 71st and China 109th.
India was ranked 101st on SPI,
which was even below the rankings
achieved
by
Nepal
and
Bangladesh.
4) The U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA)
recently
upgraded the safety rating of airline
companies in India as well as that
of the civil aviation regulator DGCA.
This was done by granting
Category 1 rating to India under its
International
Aviation
Safety
Assessment (IASA) programme.
When FAA had assigned Category
2 to Indias aviation safety? 14
January 2014
Explanation: On 14 January 2014
the FAA had assigned India a
Category 2 IASA rating, which
signified that Indias civil aviation
safety oversight regime did not
currently comply with international
safety standards set by the
International
Civil
Aviation
Organisation (ICAO). Under this
category, the U.S. continued to
work with Indias DGCA while
Indias air carriers continued
existing service to the U.S.

However, they were not allowed to

establish new service to the U.S.
using their own aircraft. Category 1
was awarded following a FAA
review of the Directorate-General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA) during
December
2014,
subsequent
meetings, and an FAA visit to India
during March 2015. A Category 1
rating means that the countrys civil
aviation authority complies with
ICAO standards and permits Indias
air carriers to add flights to the U.S.
using their own aircraft and carry
the code of U.S. carriers on their
operations. India had first achieved
a Category 1 rating in August 1997.

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30 CURRENT AFFAIRS

5) Which company became the first

Indian private company since the
year 2000 to list overseas as it
recently made its debut on US
stock exchange NASDAQ?
Videocon D2h
Explanation: Videocon D2h is a
private company from the stable of
Videocon Group and is engaged in
providing direct-to-home services
across India. It made its debut on
New York-based NASDAQ by
raising $ 325 million through
issuance of American Depository

Receipts (ADRs). Thus it became

the first Indian private company
since the year 2000 to list overseas.
VideoconD2h also became the first
sizeable Indian listing on US
exchanges and the first Indian
media company to be listed at
NASDAQ.
With
a
market
capitalization of around $1.15
billion, it is now among the most
valued
Indian
companies
at
NASDAQ.
6) Jnanapith Award winning writer
D.Jayakanthan, who passed away
on 8 April 2015, was associated
with which language? Tamil
Explanation: 81-year
old
Jayakanthan passed away at
Chennai after a prolonged illness
on 8 April. He was considered a
colossus in the world of Tamil
literature and had won both the
Jnanpith and Sahitya Akademi
Awards. He had multi-faceted
personality and apart from being an
ace writer he was also into
filmmaking. He was awarded the
Jnanapith Award in 2002.

7) Which port recently upstaged

Chennai Port Trust (CPT) in car
handling volumes to become the
largest car-exporting port of India?
Kamarajar Port Ltd (KPL),
Ennore (Tamil Nadu)

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31 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Explanation: Kamarajar Port Ltd

(KPL) at Ennore handled 2.15 lakh
cars of five carmakers during 201415 while Chennai Port Trust (CPT)
handled 22,000 less while working
with just three carmakers during the
same period. This is the first time in
recent years that the car handling
volume of CPT has fallen below the
2-lakh mark. It is worth mentioning
that KPL was started as satellite
port to the CPT in 2001 and is
barely 25 km away from it. But KPL
started gaining in strength in recent
years, as CPT failed to address
some long-standing issues such as
pollution arising out of dusty
cargoes and traffic congestion
during peak hours.
8) A Special Court in Hyderabad on
9 April 2015 awarded 7 year
rigorous imprisonment to former
chairman of Satyam Computers
B.Ramalinga Raju and nine other
accused in the Satyam Computers

scandal apart from varying amounts

of fines. This multi-million fraud
case came to surface in which
year? 2009
Explanation: B. Ramalinga Raju
was the founder of Satyam
Computer Services and was
Chairman of this company from
1987 to January 2009. The multimillion scam in Satyam broke out
following
the
confessional
statement by Ramalinga Raju on 7
January 2009. Raju had admitted in
the trial that the cash and bank
balances of the company were
inflated to the tune of Rs.5,040
crore and liability was suppressed
to the tune of Rs.1,230 crore and
debtor position was overstated. He
also confessed that Satyams
accounts had been falsified over a
number of years. The trial in the
case was started on 8 November
2010. In the judgement given by
Special
judge
B.V.L.N.
Chakravarthy on 9 April, Ramalinga
Raju and his brother Rama Raju,
former managing director, were
penalised Rs.5.5 crore each, while
the eight other accused were asked
to pay a penalty of Rs.50 lakh each.

April 11, 2015

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1) India and France signed 17

agreements after the summit talks
between Indian Prime Minister
Narendra
Modi
and
French
President Francois Hollande were
held at Elysee Palace (Paris) on 10
April 2015. A major breakthrough
was achieved in the French Rafale
jet deal with agreement on France
selling 36 Rafale jet fighters to
India. The original Rafale jet deal
was done for how many aircrafts?
126
Explanation: The original deal was
for 126 fighter aircraft under Indian
Air Force (IAFs) Medium Multi-Role
Combat Aircraft project in 2007.
French Dassault Rafale was
shortlisted in 2012 after rigorous
evaluation but negotiations were
stuck over pricing and delivery

guarantees
for
the
aircraft
manufactured
by
Hindustan
Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) in India.
Now India will purchase 36 Rafale
directly from France and this will not
involve any technology transfer.
Thus it would result in faster
transfer of aircrafts to India. The
major reasons for the direct
purchase of 36 Rafale jets from
France are the fast-depleting fighter
strength of the IAF, unending
delays in the negotiations and the
steep price rise.
2) Among other agreements signed
between India and France on 10
April 2015, an important agreement
was struck on both the countries
proceeding forward on the stalled
nuclear project in Jaitapur in
Maharashtra. This nuclear project
involves which Indian and French
firms? Larsen & Toubro (India)
and Areva (France)
Explanation: The Jaitapur Nuclear
Project has been stuck for long
because of differences over the

cost of the power generated. Under

this project French company Areva
is to set up six nuclear reactors with
a total power generation capacity of
about 10,000 MW. The agreement
between Larsen & Toubro and
Areva is aimed at cost reduction by
increasing localisation and to
improve the financial viability of the
Jaitapur project.

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33 CURRENT AFFAIRS

3) Indian formally ended its massive

evacuation efforts in Yemen named
Operation Raahat on 10 April
2015. This mission successfully
evacuated how many people from
war-torn Yemen? 5,600
Explanation: Operation Raahat
was started on 31 March 2015 and
5,600 people, including 4,640
Indians and 960 nationals from 41
countries, were evacuated under it.
Two ships of the Indian Navy INS
Sumitra and INS Mumbai were
engaged in this operation apart
from aircrafts of the Indian Air Force
and Air India. The Naval rescue
operation was conducted primarily
in three ports of Yemen Aden, Al
Hudaydah and Al Mukalla. On the
other hand the Indian Air Force
(IAF)
deployed
its
C-17

Globemaster-III aircraft in 12
shuttles from African country
Djibouti to Mumbai and Kochi under
this operation. With successful
conclusion of the operation, the
Indian Embassy in Yemen was
closed on 10 April.
4) UNESCO praised Indias efforts
towards ensuring education for all
in the Education For All Global
Monitoring Report (EFAGMR) that
was published on 9 April 2015.
India was lauded in its successful
attempts to increase enrolments in
pre-primary education and universal
primary enrolment. However, India
was not able to achieve the set
target in which field as revealed by
this report? Targets pertaining
to universal youth literacy
Explanation: The
Dakar
Framework to deliver Education For
All commitments was adopted by
the governments of 164 countries in
2000. The UNESCO on 9 April
published the Education For All
Global Monitoring Report to
evaluate the progress of countries
on these goals. In this report it was
mentioned that India is likely to
reach the EFAs first goal of 80%

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34 CURRENT AFFAIRS

enrolment in pre-primary education

by 2015. The second goal of
universal primary enrolment has
already been achieved by the
country. However, the report
mentioned that India will not be able
to reduce its adult illiteracy rate by
half (it has reduced it by 26%). The
countrys major success has been
in reaching gender parity for
primary and lower secondary
enrolment, the only country in
South and West Asia to do so. It
has also made progress towards
improving the quality of education,
but major gaps remain.

2,000 runs and 200 wickets at Test

level. He played in 63 Tests, 28 as
captain, before retiring in 1964 to
pursue a career in journalism and
broadcasting. Benaud started his
commentary career with the BBC in
1960. But he came into his
elements after he became the lead
commentator
on
Australian
televisions Channel Nine from
1977. His measured and laconic
commentary style was fodder for
imitators and cricket fans across the
world.

5) Former Australia cricket captain

and legendary commentator Richie
Benaud, who passed away on 9
April 2015, was one of the core
members of which Australian
cricket channel? Channel Nine

6) Air Chief Marshal Hrushikesh

Moolgavkar, who was Chief of Air
Staff of the Indian Air Force (IAF)
from 1976 to 1978, passed away at
the age of 95 in Pune on 9 April
2015. What important flying history
was associated with him? He was
among the first three Indian
pilots to fly faster than sound

Explanation: Richie Benaud was a

fascinating leg-spin bowler of his
era. He was the first man to achieve

Explanation: Air Chief Marshal

Hrushikesh Moolgavkar headed the
IAF from 1 February 1976 to 31

August 1978. In 1951, he was part

of the team under the then Air
Commodore P.C. Lal along with Flt
Lt Roshan Suri, which went to
France and UK to test and procure
a second generation Jet Fighter for
the IAF. It was while testing the
Mystere IVa and later the
Supermarine Swift that the three
pilots became the first Indian pilots
to fly faster than sound or crossing
the sound barrier. He was also one
of the first to fly the MiG Fighter
aircraft in 1954.

news for which reason recently?

He announced his candidature
for US Presidential Elections
2016
Explanation: Pastor Terry Jones
made headlines in 2010 when he
declared his intention to burn the
Koran on the ninth anniversary of
the 9/11 terror attacks. This
resulted
in
causing
deep
consternation
in
the
U.S.
administration, which feared a
violent backlash. During April 2015
he announced his plans to runs for
US Presidency to be held in 2016.

7) Terry Jones, the controversial

pastor of Florida (US) came to

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35 CURRENT AFFAIRS

April 12-13, 2015

1) In a landmark development, U.S.
President Barack Obama and
Cuban President Raul Castro held
a meeting on 11 April 2015, which
market the first summit between the
two countries since the height of the
Cold War. This historic meeting
took place at which place?
Panama City

36 CURRENT AFFAIRS
Page

Explanation: The Obama-Castro

summit meeting took place at
Panama City on 11 April during the
ongoing Summit of the Americas
being held here. A day before
Barack Obama and Raul Castro
shook hands and traded cordial
greetings during the inaugural
session of the Summit. Not once in
more than 50 years have the top
leaders of Cuba and the US spent
quality time together, assuring their
summit to become an important
event for the history books. Both
the countries have been on path to
warming the bilateral relations since
December 2014. On 17 December
2014 both the leaders announced
the beginning of a process of
normalizing relations between the
two
countries.
The
relations
between the two countries have
been in the range from bad to
worse since the embassies in
Washington and Havana were
closed in 1961.

2) Which airline became the newest

air service operator in India on 12
April 2015 when it commenced its
first flight on this day? Air
Pegasus
Explanation: Air Pegasus became
the newest domestic airline in India
as its first flight took off from
Bangalore to Hubli on this day. Its
maiden flight was inaugurated by
Union Aviation Minister Ashok
Gajpathi Raju at Bengaluru. The
airline is promoted by Decor
Aviation, which calls itself the
largest ground handling service
provider in South India. The
company has its presence in all
major airports in South India
including
Bengaluru,
Chennai,
Trivandrum, and Cochin. Air
Pegasus received its flying permit
from aviation regulator Directorate
General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
last year (2014). It will operate the
72-seater ATR 72-500 aircraft and
will initially connect the southern
cities of Bengaluru, Hubli, Kochi
and Trivandrum with the IT capital
city as its base.
3) 7 personnel of Chhattisgarhs
elite Special Task Force (STF) were

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37 CURRENT AFFAIRS

killed and 10 injured in a Maoist

ambush on the morning of 11 April
2015 in south Bastar region of the
state. This was the STFs singlebiggest causality in a day in several
years. The ambush took place in
which
Maoist-Naxalite
infested
district? Sukma
Explanation: Sukma
is
the
southern-most
district
of
Chhattisgarh. This ambush took
place near Pidmed village of Sukma
district on the morning of 11 April
when around 60 STF personnel
were attacked by cadres suspected
to belong to the CPI (Maoist)s
South Bastar battalion, headed by
Hidma. Hidma is the emerging
young Tribal leader who is also a
member of the CPI (Maoist) Danda
Karanya Special Zonal Committee
(DKSZC). The STF personnel were
forced to retreat, leaving the dead
behind.
Apart
from
platoon
Commander Shankar Rao, head
constables Rohit Sori, Manoj
Baghel,
Mohan
Uike
and
Constables Rajkumar Markam,
Kiran Deshmukh, Rajman Netam
were killed in the encounter.

4) The first ever International

Financial Services Centre (IFSC) or
Finance Special Economic Zone
(FSEZ) became operational on 10
April 2015 after it was inaugurated
by Union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley. This first-of-its-kind IFSC
called Gujarat International Finance
Tech-City (GIFT City) is situated at
which place of Gujarat? Between
Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad
Explanation: GIFT City is the firstof-its-kind IFSC to be established in
India and has been centrally and
strategically
located
between
Gujarat capital Gandhinagar and
Ahmedabad. Its main purpose is to
provide high quality physical
infrastructure (electricity, water,
gas,
district
cooling,
roads,
telecoms and broadband), so that
finance and tech firms can relocate
their operations there from Mumbai,
Bangalore, Gurgaon etc. where
infrastructure is either inadequate
or very expensive. This project is
also called a FSEZ (Finance
Special Economic Zone). This is
one of the dream projects of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, when he
was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
Union Govt. expects that GIFT City

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38 CURRENT AFFAIRS

will
likely get back much
of
the business of financial services currency
derivatives
and
reinsurance
businesses,
for
instance -that India is losing out
to Singapore, Dubai and
London now. During inauguration of
GIFT City, Arun Jaitley also
unveiled rules and regulations for
this global financial hub. The
regulations are aimed at creating a
vibrant IFSC on the lines of those in
Dubai and Singapore and check the
flight of trading in rupee and Indian
securities to such offshore financial
hubs.

5) Summit of the Americas, which

was held on 10-11 April 2015 at
Panama City (Panama), was which
edition of the multilateral summit?
7th
Explanation: The Summits of the
Americas (SOA) is a series of
international summits involving
heads of state from North America,
South America, Central America

and the Caribbean. The first edition

of Summit of the Americas was held
in 1994 at Miami (US). The
7th edition of the Summit assumed
importance as this was the first time
that Cuba took participated in the
Summit. Hence it became the firstever Summit of the Americas where
all 35 pan-American countries took
part.

6) Sania Mirza created history on

12 April 2015 when she became the
first female tennis player from India
to achieve the world number one
rank in doubles. She achieved this
career landmark after winning
which title with her Swiss partner
Martina Hingis? WTA Family
Circle Cup
Explanation: The top seeded pair
of Hingis-Mirza defeated the pair of
Casey Dellacqua and Darija Jurak
by 6-0, 6-4 in just 57 minutes to win
the WTA Family Circle Cup title in
Charleston (US). Before Sania, only
Leander
Paes
and
Mahesh

Bhupathi had achieved the top rank

when they dominated mens
doubles circuit in the last 90s. Sania
is also first female player from the
country to win Grand Slam
tournaments.

7) Who won the Chinese Formula

One (F1) Grand Prix for 2015 that
was held on 12 April 2015 at
Shanghai?
Lewis
Hamilton
(Britain)

Explanation: Lewis Hamilton of

Mercedes team and his German
teammate Nico Rosberg ensured a
one-two finish for Mercedes in the
2015 Formula 1 Chinese Grand
Prix. With this win, reigning world
champion Hamilton took his second
victory of the season and his fourth
at Chinese GP. Ferraris Sebastian
Vettel
beat
teammate
Kimi
Raikkonen. Force Indias Mexican
driver Sergio Perez took the
11th position while the teams other
driver German did not finish the
race.

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39 CURRENT AFFAIRS

April 14, 2015

1) The Union Govt. during April

2015 notified rules that restrict
Governors official travel outside
their respective states to 73 days in

a calendar year. The new law

pertaining to this also requires that
Governors avoid or limit frequency
of their visits to the home state.
What is the name of this law?
Governors
(Allowances
and
Privileges) Amendment Rules,
2015
Explanation: These new travel
norms for Governors have been laid
by the Governors (Allowances and

40 CURRENT AFFAIRS
Page

Privileges)
Amendment
Rules,
2015. As per the new norms laid by
the said law, the duration of a
governors official visits outside the
state shall not exceed 20% of the
days in a calendar year, i.e., 73
days. The new rules were notified
by the Union Home Ministry on 10
April 2015. As per the new norms,
governors must seek the approval
of the President and forward their
communication in this regard, two
weeks in advance for private visits
outside the state and seven days in
advance for official visits. For
foreign travel, the presidential nod
must be sought at least six weeks
in advance for private as well as
official visits. For an emergency
official visit, the intimation may be
sent to Presidents secretariat as
soon as the programme is finalized.
The 73-day travel restriction is
aimed at curtailing the tendency of
certain governors, especially those
in charge of north-eastern states, to
stay for extended periods outside
the state.

2) Hundreds and thousands of

Indians have sent e-mails to
countrys
telecom
regulator
Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India (TRAI) to share their views on
Net Neutrality via a website
(SaveTheInternet.in) established by
a group working to spread
awareness about it in India. The
issue of Net Neutrality has come
to news mainly after announcement
of a platform by Airtel that allegedly
would create disparity among
Internet users in India. What is the
name of this platform? Airtel
Zero
Explanation: During April 2015,
Airtel announced Airtel Zero, a
platform that allows consumers free
access to select apps and services
with the cost of this data traffic
being borne by the companies that
have signed up. For example, if
Flipkart signs up as an Airtel Zero
partner, consumers will not be

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41 CURRENT AFFAIRS

charged for data that they will use

while accessing Flipkart, and Airtel
will bill Flipkart for that session. This
platform is therefore expected to
infringe the concept of Net
Neutrality. However, Airtel is not
alone in this as Facebooks
ambitious project Internet.org also
works on similar concept. Net
Neutrality is the principle that
Internet service providers (ISPs)
should treat all traffic on their
networks equally. That means
users should be able to access all
websites at the same speed and
cost. No website should be given
preferential treatment over another.
The main purpose of website
(SaveTheInternet.in) is to assist
supporters of strong Net Neutrality
in articulating their own views on
the matter in order to submit a
response to the TRAI before the
deadline on 24 April 2015.
3) The Japanese team working on
the feasibility report for the
proposed first bullet train corridor
between Mumbai and Ahmedabad
during April 2015 submitted its
latest report on the project. What is
the
approximate
cost
for

establishing
this
stretch
as
estimated by this team? Rs. 1
lakh crore
Explanation: The Japanese team
submitted this report during the
second week of April 2015. In this it
has factored in the cost escalation
through the years that it will take to
finish the bullet train project. It has
estimated that around Rs. 98,000
crore would be spent on the project,
with some more expected additional
costs. The interim report estimates
40,000 people will use the corridor
daily
by
2023.
After
the
commissioning of the works, it will
take around eight years for the first
bullet train to hit the tracks. The
project may also bleed Indias
coffers as its rate of return is
projected to be only around 3-4%.
Indian Railways considers a project
economically viable if it has a rate
of return of at least 14%.
4) According to the information
released on 13 April 2015, one of
the deadliest botnets (malware
virus) ever was neutralized by a
network of firms. These firms
included Microsoft, Japans Cyber
Defense Institute, and Internet

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42 CURRENT AFFAIRS

security solutions firms Trend Micro

and Kaspersky and they launched
an attack on the said virus resulting
in its neutralization. What is the
name of this dreaded botnet?
Simda
Explanation: Simda is said to be
one of the most dreaded and
strongest botnets ever and it
affected over 7.70 lakh PCs across
190 countries. It is a pay-per-install
malware used to distribute illicit
software and different types of
malware. These malware could
siphon off financial information from
infected PCs. Botnet is a network of
PCs that are taken as slaves by
cyber criminals. The number grows
significantly as more and more
vulnerable users are trapped by the
malware. The global operation
against Simda was joined by law
enforcement agencies of many
other
countries.
Russia-based
Internet security solutions firm
Kaspersky Labs estimated that
hundreds
of
thousands
of
computers across the world, with
the vast majority of victims located
in the US, had became slave PCs
in the Simda botnet.

5) Former US Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton on 12 April 2015
announced that she would be
running for the office of U.S.
president in 2016. She would thus
try to become the first women
president in the US. She had first
tried to run for Presidency in which
year? 2008
Explanation: Hillary Clinton ran for
the
Democratic
presidential
nomination in 2008 but lost to
Barack Obama. While Clinton is
considered the clear frontrunner to
win her partys nomination, her path
to the presidency is likely to be a
challenging one. Republicans are
expected to criticize her use of a
private email address and server
out of her home in and in the
process
deleting
potentially
thousands
of
emails
and
documents relating to the deadly
attack on a U.S. government
compound in Benghazi, Libya, in
2012.

6) The Nobel-winning legendary

German writer Gunter Grass
passed away on 13 April 2015 at
the age of 87 years. He was best
known for his first novel The Tin
Drum that was published in 1959.
In which year he won the Nobel
Prize for Literature? 1999
Explanation: Apart from being an
ace writer and novelist, Grass was

an accomplished llustrator, graphic

artist, sculptor and playwright. He
was lauded by Germans for helping
to revive their culture in the
aftermath of World War II and
helping to give voice and support to
democratic discourse in the post
war nation. Grass made his literary
reputation with The Tin Drum,
published in 1959. It was followed
by Cat and Mouse and Dog
Years, which made up what is
called the Danzig Trilogy after the
town of his birth, now the Polish city
of Gdansk.

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43 CURRENT AFFAIRS

April 15, 2015

Commission to undertake the
process of selection of judges
instead of the nearly two decade
old collegiums system. What is the
name of this Commission?
National Judicial Appointments
Commission (NJAC)
1) The Union Govt. on 13 April
2015 notified a law pertaining to
selection of judges for countrys
courts. It paves the way for a

Explanation: According
to
the
notification issued by the Govt. on
13 April, judges will be chosen by
the National Judicial Appointments

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44 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Commission (NJAC). NJAC will

comprise of a team of six members
that includes the Chief Justice of
India, the two most senior judges of
the Supreme Court, two eminent
persons, and the Law Minister. The
two eminent Indians will be chosen
in turn by the Chief Justice, the
Prime Minister and the leader of the
largest opposition party in the Lok
Sabha. However, the move is likely
to be seen as confrontationist, since
the Supreme Court is hearing a
case that seeks to have the law
declared
unconstitutional.
For
nearly two decades, judges have
been appointed or transferred by a
collegium a group of five senior
judges. The new law passed last
year by parliament has been
challenged in the Supreme Court by
a cluster of petitioners including
leading advocates.
2) First anniversary of the horrific
abductions of over two hundred
girls by Nigerian militant Islamist
group Boko Haram was observed
all over the world on 14 April 2015.
This incident took place in which
town of the country? Chibok

Explanation: Chibok is a town in

Borno state in north-eastern
Nigeria. On 14-15 April 2014, 276
female students were kidnapped
from the Government Secondary
School in this town by the militants
of Boko Haram group. The militants
pretended to be guards and took
these girl students in truck possibly
into the Konduga area of the
Sambisa Forest where Boko Haram
were known to have fortified camps.
Later 57 girls were released/freed
while 219 girls remain it its custody.
There have been sightings of the
girls reported, but none has been
found. On the other hand Boko
Haram claims the girls have
converted to Islam and been
married off. The abduction of the
girls in Chibok sparked global
outrage, with nations such as the
US and China promising to help
find them.
3) Insurance
Regulatory
and
Development Authority of India
(IRDA) has recently come out with
new corporate agency norms under
the new exposure draft. Under this
IRDA has proposed to allow each of
the corporate agents to sell policies

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45 CURRENT AFFAIRS

of a maximum of three life insurers

and three general insurers, besides
a host of other changes. The
insurance industry has been
virtually divided on this norm. What
is the present IRDA norm on this
issue? At present corporate
agents are allowed to sell
policies
of
only one
life
insurance and one non-life
insurance company
Explanation: IRDA had asked for
the
view of
the
insurance
companies by 10 April 2015.
According to some reports the
proposed norm to allow more
insurance for corporate agencies
was okayed by life insurers which
are not promoted by banks whereas
bank-led insurance companies
have raised their doubts about it.
Once implemented, the new norms
are expected to trigger higher
interest of various entities, including
banks,
non-bank
finance
companies and others. While there
are over 250 corporate agents
currently,
the
main
activity,
however, could happen in bankinsurance tie-ups. The bank-led
insurance companies will face more
challenges if the proposed norms

are brought into force without any

change.
4) Which bank was placed at the
top spot among all banking entities
in mobile banking transactions
during January 2015 according to
the pertaining data released by RBI
on 14 April 2015? HDFC Bank
Explanation: Private sector-based
HDFC Bank maintained the lead in
mobile transactions, with Rs
4,906.86 crore worth recorded in
January 2015. The bank saw a
huge nine-fold growth in mobile
banking
transactions
during
January 2015 as compared to
January 2014. ICICI Bank followed
HDFC Bank with mobile banking
transactions worth Rs 2,224.97
crore while SBI was third in the list
with Rs. 1,586.4 crore. HDFC Bank
has seen robust growth in the
internet banking space and recent
trends suggest mobile banking, a
subset of internet banking, has far
outpaced the latter.
5) India continued to be the leading
nation in remittances during 2014
as announced by the World Bank

on 14 April 2015. How much net

remittance was received by India
from its global migrant workforce in
2014? $70 billion

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46 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Explanation: According to World

Banks Report on Remittance,
India, China, Philippines, Mexico
and Nigeria were the top five
remittance recipient countries, in
terms of value of remittances during
2014. Total remittances in 2014
reached $583 billion. This is more
than
double
the
official
development assistance (ODA) in
the world. India received $ 70
billion, China $ 64 billion, the
Philippines $ 28 billion. On the
other hand, United States, Saudi
Arabia, Germany, Russia and the
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
remained the top five migrant
destination countries.
6) On 13 April 2015 the Securities
and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) issued procedures for

tendering and settlement of shares

through stock exchanges for
takeovers, buy back and delisting of
entities. These procedures would
be applicable on which offers? On
all offers for which public
announcement is made on or
after 1 July 2015
Explanation: The procedures will
facilitate tendering of shares by the
shareholders and settlement of the
same, through the stock exchange
mechanism. The procedures will be
applicable to all the offers for which
public announcement is made on or
after 1 July. However, for all
impending
offers,
acquirer/
promoter/ company have the option
to follow this mechanism or the
existing one. The stock exchanges
having nationwide trading terminals
shall also facilitate acquirers to
provide the platform in case of
companies exclusively listed on
regional stock exchanges.

April 16, 2015

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47 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1) A
new
report
of
the
Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI) has claimed that a village in
Haryana is probably the oldest
Harappan site. This report has thus
also debunked the early research
that the Indus Valley civilizations
Harappan phase originated in Sind,
in present-day Pakistan. What is
the name of this Haryana village?
Bhirrana
Explanation: Bhirrana (or Birhana)
is a small village in Haryanas
Fatehabad district and is around
220 km away from Indian capital
Delhi. The latest ASI report, based
on C 14 (Carbon 14) radio-dating,
has said the mounds at Bhirrana
village, on the banks of Ghaggar

river, in Fatehabad district date

back to 7570-6200 BC. The
previous Pakistan-French study had
put Mehrgarh site in Pakistan as the
oldest in the bracket of 6400-7000
BC. Mehrgarh is located near the
Bolan Pass, to the west of the Indus
River valley and between the
Pakistani cities of Quetta, Kalat and
Sibi. The C 14 dates of excavations
at Bhirrana readily agree with the
accepted
chronology
of
the
Harappan civilization starting from
Pre-Harappan to Mature Harappan.
But according to the ASI report, for
the first time, on the basis of radiometric dates from Bhirrana, the
cultural remains go back to the time
bracket of 7300 BC. The C 14
dating was done at Birbal Sahni
Institute of Paleobotany in Lucknow
over last 10 years.
2) The Union Govt. on 15 April
2015 constituted an inter-ministerial
committee to review the Official
Secrets Act in context of demands
to declassify files related to Netaji
Subhas Chandra Boses death or

48 CURRENT AFFAIRS
Page

disappearance. Who is heading this

committee? Cabinet Secretary

and Samajwadi
(SJP)

Explanation: It is worth mentioning

that Prime Minister Narendra Modi
had met Netaji Subhas Chandra
Boses grandnephew, Surya Bose,
in Berlin during his official visit of
Germany. He had promised to
examine
the
request
for
declassification of all files related to
events
since
his
death
or
disappearance in Taiwan on 18
August 1945. The setting-up of this
inter-ministerial
committee
on
Official Secrets Act is significant in
the light of recent disclosures of the
Nehru administrations surveillance
on Netajis kin. RAW, IB, Union
home ministry and PMO officials
will be part of this committee.

Explanation: These six parties

belong to the so-called Janata
Parivar (Janata Family) with their
links with the erstwhile Janata
Party. The six parties, which have
come together are Nitishs Janata
Dal (United), Lalu Prasads RJD,
Mulayam Singh Yadavs Samajwadi
Party (SP), Om Prakash Chautalas
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD),
Janata Dal (Secular) led by former
Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda
and Samajwadi Janata Party (SJP).
Mulayam Singh Yadav was made
leader of the new entity. A sixmember committee including H.D.
Deve Gowda, Lalu Prasad, Sharad
Yadav and Ramgopal Yadav will
decide on issues such as the name
and flag of the new party.

3) Which six political parties on 15

April 2015 announced the formation
of a new party by merging
themselves in the new entity to
defeat
the BJP and
combat
communal forces in the country?
Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya
Janata Dal (RJD), Samajwadi
Party (SP), Janata Dal (Secular),
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)

Janata

Party

4) A Task-Force on Interlinking of
Rivers was constituted by the
Ministry of Water Resources, River
Development
&
Ganga
Rejuvenation on 14 April 2015. The
Task Force will take up all issues
for expediting the work on
interlinking of rivers in the country.
Who was appointed as the

Chairman of this Task-Force?

B.N. Navalawala

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49 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Explanation: B.N. Navalawala is

an internationally renowned waterresources expert with specialisation
in planning, design and execution of
multipurpose
water
resources
projects, flood management and
economic planning & financial
management of water resources.
The other members of this TaskForce include experts and senior
officials related with the subject.
The Task-Force would facilitate
interlinking of intra-state and intrabasin Rivers also along with that of
inter-state and inter-basin links.
Apart from examining the existing
links that are laid out as per the
National Perspective Plan under
both Himalayan and Peninsular
components, the Task-Force would
also consider alternative plans in
place of infeasible links in the
present plan.
5) What is the new name of Tourist
Visa on Arrival-Electronic Travel
Authorization (the online visa
scheme for travellers), which was
renamed on 14 April 2015? eTourist Visa (eTV)

Explanation: Tourist Visa on

Arrival enabled by Electronic Travel
Authorization (TVoA-ETA) was
launched on 27 November 2014 to
44 countries at nine airports to
facilitate short duration international
travellers. Since the launch of the
scheme, 1.1 lakh visas have been
issued by Government under this
scheme. Its name was changed by
the Home Ministry for providing
more practicality in its usage.
6) Which private sector bank would
become the first from India to have
its mobile banking application (app)
made available on the Apple
Watch, that will be officially
released during April 2015?
HDFC Bank
Explanation: Simply
titled WatchBanking,
the
move makes HDFC the first bank,
and also the first Indian company to
launch an app for the Apple Watch,
due to launch in India on 24 April
2015. According to the information
released by HDFC Bank, the bank
is probably the fourth banking entity
in the world to have such an app
and the first Indian bank to have its
app on the Apple Watch.

7) Telecom equipment major Nokia

will
acquire
which
French
telecommunications firm for around
$16.6 billion as announced on 14
April 2015? Alcatel-Lucent
Explanation: The acquisition of
Alcatel-Lucent will be an all-share
deal with the firm being valued at
15.6 billion euros ($16.6 billion).
Finland-based Nokias takeover of
Alcatel-Lucent is expected to
redefine the telecom equipment

sector which is currently suffering

weak
growth
prospects
and
pressure from low-cost Chinese
players Huawei and ZTE. According
to some pertaining reports, the
combined company will have about
114,000 employees and combined
sales of around 26 billion euros. In
mobile equipment it will rank a
strong second, with global market
share of 35 percent, behind
Swedens Ericsson with 40% and
ahead of Huaweis 20%.

April 17-18, 2015

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50 CURRENT AFFAIRS

relations between the two countries.

The United States has currently
kept which four countries in the
State Sponsors of Terrorism list?
Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria

1) During April 2015, the US Govt.

announced that it will remove Cuba
from the list of state sponsors of
terrorism. This announcement is
seen as a key step in President
Barack Obamas bid to normalize

Explanation: The
term
State
Sponsors of Terrorism is a
designation applied by the United
States to countries which its
Department of States (Foreign
Ministry) alleges to have repeatedly
provided support for acts of
international terrorism. The list was
initially started on 29 December

1979 with four countries Libya,

Iraq, South Yemen and Syria. Cuba
was added to the list on 1 March
1982 and Iran on 19 January 1984.
Later North Korea and Sudan were
added to the list in 1988 and 1993
respectively. At present Cuba, Iran,
Sudan and Syria are on this list
which results in imposition of strict
unilateral sanctions. Cuba was
designated a state sponsor of terror
in 1982 because of what the White
House said was its efforts to
promote armed revolution by
organizations that used terrorism.

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51 CURRENT AFFAIRS

2) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

on 17 April 2015 came out with
which important proposal pertaining
to term deposits? It proposed to
allow banks to offer differential
interest rates for term deposits
Explanation: The RBI allowed
banks to offer differential interest
rates, based on whether their term
deposits are with or without a
premature withdrawal facility. In its
sixth bi-monthly monetary policy
review, in February 2015, the RBI
had had decided to introduce the
feature of early withdrawal facility in
a term deposit as a distinguishing

feature for offering differential rates

of interest. Liquidity or ease of
withdrawal, touted as the biggest
advantage of bank fixed deposits
(FDs), might soon be restricted due
to this proposed move. According to
RBIs proposal, all term deposits of
individuals held singly or jointly of
Rs 15 lakh and below should have
such a facility. Banks have also
been allowed to offer deposits
without the option.

3) Kashmiri
separatist
leader
Masarat Alam Bhat was arrested by
the Jammu and Kashmir Police
from his Srinagar residence on 17
April 2015. He was arrested in
connection with the provocative
actions during the rally on 15 April.
He, along with Hurriyat leader Syed
Ali Shah Geelani, had given the call
for holding a controversial rally at
which place in Kashmir on 17 April?
Tral
Explanation: Tral is a locality in
south Kashmir which has seen

52 CURRENT AFFAIRS
Page

tension and protests over the death

of a young man allegedly during an
encounter between the Army and
terrorists on 14 April. Masarat Alam
Bhat, who is a key separatist
Kashmiri leader, had advocated
holding the Tral Chalo Rally to
protest against the killing incident.
He was released from jail during
March 2015 after being there for
many years. But his release caused
a major political controversy that
dominated proceedings in countrys
Parliament too. On 15 April 2015 he
took part in a rally to greet Syed Ali
Shah Geelani on his arrival in
Srinagar from New Delhi in which
he chanted pro-Pakistan slogans. It
was also alleged that he unfurled
Pakistani flags in the rally which he
denied. However, some of his
supporters unfurled Pakistani flags
thus
causing
another
major
controversy. He was arrested in the
case registered in police station
Budgam in connection with the
same rally. On 17 April over 12
people were injured during the Tral
Chalo Rally, which turned violent
with incidents of stone-pelting on
security personnel.

4) What would be the maximum

sum assured for life insurance
policies sold through common
service
centres
(CSCs)
as
proposed in the draft regulations
released
by
the
Insurance
Regulatory
and
Development
Authority of India (IRDA)? Rs. 2
lakh
Explanation: The common service
centre (CSC) platform is currently
being used by citizens to access
and pay for the services offered by
multiple government agencies and
private sector players. Set up under
the national e-governance plan,
about
150,000
CSCs
are
functioning under different names in
different states. The IRDA had
issued guidelines for utilising the
CSC network to sell insurance
products in September 2013. The
IRDA has now proposed a
maximum sum assured of Rs. 2
lakh for life insurance policies sold
through CSCs. However, motor
insurance would be allowed to
exceed this limit.

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53 CURRENT AFFAIRS

5) What is the name of United

Nations Special Adviser on Yemen
who resigned from his post on 16
April 2015 after his apparent failure
to bring peace in this war-ravaged
country? Jamal Benomar
Explanation: Jamal Benomar is a
Moroccan diplomat and was
formally appointed UN Special
Adviser on Yemen on 1 August
2012. However, he was serving this
position since April 2011. He had
come under criticism from some
countries in the Middle East,
particularly Saudi Arabia, as his
recent efforts to broker peace
showed little success. On 16 April
he expressed an interest in moving
on to another assignment. His
resignation came as the war in
Yemen intensified, with the Saudiled coalition continuing its air
campaign against Houthi rebels.

6) James Anderson took his

384th Test wicket when he removed
West Indies batsman Denesh
Ramdin on the final day of the first
test in Antigua on 17 April 2015.
With this he became the highest
wicket-taker for England. Whose
record of 383 wickets he broke?
Sir Ian Botham
Explanation: Legendary
allrounder Ian Botham was the
leading wicket taker for England in
Test cricket till now. Botham took
383 wickets in 102 Tests between
1977 and 1992, as well as scoring
5,200 runs at an average of 33.54.
Anderson surpassed Botham in his
100th Test match. But West Indies
held its nerves to deny England its
first-ever Test match victory in
Antigua as chasing an improbable
438 for victory it ended the day with
3 wickets remaining.

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54 CURRENT AFFAIRS

April 19, 2015

1) The Central Board of Direct

Taxes (CBDT), the apex policy
making body of the Income Tax
department, notified the new
Income Tax Return (ITR) Forms on
17 April 2015. However, seeing the
furious backlash against the
proposal to seek plethora of details
in these forms, the govt. on 18 April
decided to put them on hold. What
was the additional information
sought in these new forms that was
apparently criticized by various
quarters? Apart from the usual
information, the new forms
sought details of all bank
accounts held, foreign assets,
beneficiaries,
foreign
travel,
expenses incurred and detailed
break-up of capital gains

Explanation: With these changes,

this was the fifth revamp of the
income tax forms in the past five
years. The new forms (ITR-1 and
ITR-2) were supposed to be used to
file returns from July 2015 for the
assessment year 2015-16. They
sought enhanced disclosure of
foreign assets financial and
physical -income generated through
foreign
assets,
and
the
beneficiaries and beneficial owners
of these assets. Govt. expected that
higher disclosure of domestic
assets will help check undisclosed
domestic (benami) assets, which
will form a part of the benami
property Bill to be introduced by the
government. The new forms
required an assessee also to
furnish the number of bank
accounts held by the individual at
any time (including opened/closed)
during the previous year with the
last balance in his or her account
on March 31 of the just concluded
fiscal year. Another controversial
disclosure sought was whether one
has travelled abroad, as well as the

expenses incurred during the travel.

It was required to disclose whether
the expenses incurred during
foreign travel were from a personal
account or billed to the company,
while on an official trip. However,
taxpayers were worried about the
extra effort needed to fill in the
details and experts believed that it
would add to paperwork and
harassment. Seeing the backlash,
the govt. decided to put the new
forms on hold.

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55 CURRENT AFFAIRS

2) What was the annual trade deficit

for India for year 2014-15, the
figures for which were released by
the govt. on 17 April 2015? $137
billion
Explanation: The annual trade
deficit for India for fiscal year 201415 increased by $1.2 billion to touch
$137 billion. The figure stood at
$135.8 billion during 2013-14.
During
2014-15,
Indias
merchandise exports declined 1.2%
to $310.5 billion, while imports were
down 0.6%, at $447.6 billion. On
the other hand, Indias trade deficit
in March 2015 was the highest in
four months, at $11.79 billion.
These figures have underscored

risks for growth prospects in Indian

economy with continuous fall in
exports. As far as steep decline in
imports is concerned it was mainly
due to a plunge in global prices of
crude oil, by nearly half since last
June.

3) In an important chapter in
women empowerment in Delhi, for
the first time a female driver was
appointed in the bus service of the
Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC).
What is her name? Venkadarath
Saritha
Explanation: 30-year
old
Venkadarath Saritha is from
Telangana and will be on day-time
duty on regular routes in Central
Delhi. Saritha, who moved from
Hyderabad to New Delhi four years
ago, was selected from among
seven women candidates who had
applied for the post in response to a
DTC
advertisement.
After
completion of formalities, she

attended a four-week training

programme at the DTC training
school. Delhi Transport Minister
Gopal Rai handed over DTCs
appointment letter to her on 18 April
2015. She will now join her regular
duty at Sarojini Nagar Depot from
20 April.

Hasan Imam (President, Indian

National
Congress)
and
Dr.
Sachchidanand
Sinha
(First
Speaker of Lok Sabha) . Three
Chief Justices from Patna High
Court namely, Justice B.P. Sinha,
Justice Lalit Mohan Sharma and
Justice R.M. Lodha went on to
become the Chief Justice of India.
The Court has planned year long
centenary celebrations and the
occasion was inaugurated by the
President on 18 April.

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56 CURRENT AFFAIRS

4) President Pranab Mukherjee

inaugurated the Centenary Year
Celebrations of which High Court
on 18 April 2015? Patna High
Court
Explanation: Patna High Court is
the High Court of Bihar state. The
foundation-stone of the Patna High
Court was laid on 1 December 1913
by the then Viceroy and GovernorGeneral of India Sir Charles
Hardinge. It was formally opened
on 3 February 1916. Some of the
noted personalities who practiced
here included Dr. Rajendra Prasad
(First President of India), Syed

5) US space agency NASA during

April 2015 revealed the first-ever
colour image of dwarf planet Pluto.
This photo was taken by a Pluto
probe that was sent by the agency
in 2006. What is the name of this
probe? New Horizons
Explanation: New Horizons, the
NASA space probe to study the
dwarf planet Pluto, was launched
from Cape Canaveral on 19

January 2006. It is set to fly by the

Pluto system on 14 July 2015.
During April it sent the first-ever
colour image of Pluto and its largest
moon Charon. It was taken from a
distance of 115 million km from the
dwarf planet. One important
features of this image is that
Charon is seen dimmer than Pluto.
The contrast may be due to a
difference in composition of the two
bodies or it could even be caused
by a previously unseen atmosphere

on Charon. Till date, astronomers

knew about only one moon of Pluto
called Charon which is nearly 50%
as wide as the dwarf planet. Exactly
85 years after Plutos discovery,
New Horizons has now spotted
small moons orbiting Pluto. The
moons, Nix and Hydra, are visible
in a series of images taken by the
New
Horizons
spacecraft
at
distances ranging from about 201 to
186 million km.

April 21, 2015

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57 CURRENT AFFAIRS

corridor project on 20 April 2015

primarily to link their economies and
strengthen the bilateral economic
relations. The project called ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor would
link Chinas western Xinjiang region
with which Pakistani port?
Gwadar

1) In an important international
development China and Pakistan
launched an ambitious economic

Explanation: Gwadar Port is in the

southern Pakistan on the Arabia
Sea.
The
China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor is a huge
project to connect Pakistans
Gwadar
port
with
Chinas

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58 CURRENT AFFAIRS

northwestern autonomous region of

Xinjiang. The project would include
a network of highways, railways
and pipelines and would pass
through
Pakistans
backward
Baluchistan province with a long
history of separatist movements.
Costing $46 billion, this project is
being considered as a pivot in
China-Pakistan
relations.
The
agreement for this project was
signed on the occasion of Chinese
President Xi Jinpings landmark
state visit of Pakistan, which started
on 20 April. It is expected that this
project would transform Pakistan
into a regional hub and give China
a shorter and cheaper route for
trade with much of Asia, the Middle
East and Africa.
2) Which
public
sector
bank
launched Rupay Platinum Debit
Card on 20 April 2015 by tying up
with National Payments Corporation
of India (NPCI)? IDBI Bank
Explanation: The Rupay Platinum
Debit Card fulfils the vision of the
RBI of offering a domestic, openloop, multilateral payment system to
all banks and financial institutions in
India. All transactions under this

card scheme will be processed

within the country and will be in
compliance with the regulatory
requirement for debit cards and the
PIN has been made mandatory for
performing any kind of transactions.
This ensures a higher level of
security to the customers. The card
enables cost-effective, fast and
secure access to large number of
ATMs, POS terminals, e-commerce
websites
and
participating
merchant-establishments
across
the country.
3) ICICI Bank on 20 April 2015
launched a new payment service
called Tap-n-Pay which enables
customers make over-the-counter
payments without using cash. This
first-of-its-kind payment service was
launched in collaboration with which
IT company? Tech Mahindra
Explanation: ICICI Banks Tap-nPay payment service is based on
the
near-field
communications
(NFC) technology. It can be used
for merchant payments by merely
tapping a NFC-enabled mobile
phone or a tag on the counter. One
important feature of this service is
that it is a close-end one, only for a

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59 CURRENT AFFAIRS

close group of customers, like

canteen payments at the work
place, and not universal like a debit
or credit card. Any person having
any bank account, and not limited
to ICICI customers, can avail the
service. For making payments, the
user will have to bring the NFC tag
or the mobile phone near a device
at the merchants facility and the
amount will automatically get
debited from the prepaid account,
without keying-in any code.

4) A Kolkata-class stealth destroyer

warship for the Indian Navy that
was launched on 20 April 2015 at
Mumbai. It has been designed
indigenously and has been fitted
with advanced features. It will be
known by which name after being
commissioned into the Indian
Navy? INS Visakhapatnam
Explanation: The ship, weighing
approximately 3,000 tons during the
launch, is slated to be christened as

INS
Visakhapatnam
on
commissioning. It will be the first of
P15-B stealth destroyers (under
Kolkata-class) and will be propelled
by four gas turbines. It is designed
to achieve a speed of over 30 knots
at a displacement of approximately
7,300 tons. The indigenisation
content in P15-B class destroyers is
a notch above her illustrious
predecessors in line with the Make
in India policy of the Government.
The vessel is expected to be
commissioned in the Navy in 2018.

5) In a tragic accident, a promising

Bengal batsman passed away on
20 April 2015 owing to an injury
sustained
during
a
Cricket
Association of Bengals (CAB)
Senior one-day knock-out match
three days ago on 17 April. What
was the name of this young
cricketer, who was also a former
Bengal U-19 captain? Ankit
Keshri

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60 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Explanation: Ankit Keshri had

captained the Bengal U-19 team in
Cooch Behar Trophy and was in the
30-member India U-19 probables
list for the 2014 Colts World Cup in
the United Arab Emirates. He was
also playing for Bengal-A (U-23
side) in CK Nayudu national
Championship. He got injured while
trying to take a catch during a CAB
Senior ODI match between local
giants
East
Bengal
and
Bhowanipore club. He collided with
left-arm pacer Sourav Mondal who
too ran on his follow through to take
the catch. After being in hospital for
three days and showing signs of
recovery he passed away on 20
April after a massive cardiac arrest.
Thus it was another tragic on-field
incident in the game of cricket after
Australian Phillip Hughes death last
November.

6) What is the name of the 21-year

old English batsman who made
cricketing history by scoring 350 in
a one-day club match on 20 April
2015? Liam Livingstone
Explanation: Liam
Livingstone
scored 350 off just 138 balls for his
team Nantwich in a National Club
Championship match against fellow
north-west side Caldy. His innings
included 34 fours and 27 sixes.
Owing to this Nantwich achieved a
mammoth total of 579 for seven in
just 45 overs. Overwhelmed by
what had happened to them in the
field, Caldy collapsed to 79 all out
as Nantwich won by a huge margin
of 500 runs. His astonishing assault
is believed to be the highest
recorded individual in any form of
one-day match, surpassing the 334
not out made by the then 15-yearold Nikhilesh Surendran in an
Indian school fixture in Hyderabad
in 2008.

April 22, 2015

ordering the arrest and torture of
protesters during his rule.

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61 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1) What sentence was pronounced

on former Egyptian President and
Muslim
Brotherhood
leader
Mohamed Mursi by an Egyptian
court on 21 April 2015? 20 years
of prison
Explanation: In 2012 Mohamed
Mursi became Egypts first freely
elected president. But protests
began building less than a year into
his rule when he issued a decree
granting
himself
far-reaching
powers. He was deposed by the
army in July 2013 following mass
street protests against his rule.
Since then, the authorities have
banned his Muslim Brotherhood
movement and arrested thousands
of his supporters. He was delivered
the sentence of 20 years in jail for

2) Janaki Ballabh Patnaik (J.B.

Patnaik), the three-time Odisha
Chief Minister, passed away in
Tirupati on 21 April 2015. His last
official appointment was as the
Governor of which state? Assam
Explanation: 89-year old J B
Patnaik was the most powerful
Congress leader from Odisha. He
first became chief minister of
Odisha
in
1980
and
was
in power till 1989. He returned for a
four-year stint in 1995. He was
appointed Assam Governor in 2009
and occupied this post till 10
December 2014. Patnaik was in
Tirupati to attend the convocation
ceremony of the Rashtriya Sanskrit
University, where he breathed his
last.

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62 CURRENT AFFAIRS

3) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on

20 April 2015 expelled which four
rebel leaders from the party on
charges
of
indiscipline?

Yogendra
Yadav,
Prashant
Bhushan, Anand Kumar and Ajit
Jha
Explanation: The four leaders
were expelled by AAPs national
disciplinary action committee which
found all four guilty of anti-party
activities. Ahead of their expulsion
both Yogendra Yadav and Prashant
Bhushan
had
sent
scathing
responses to the showcause
notices issued to them by the
partys
national
disciplinary
committee. The two leaders had
called a meeting of party volunteers
some days ago to launch a Swaraj
Abhiyan (self-rule campaign) which
was expected to lay the ground for
the formation of a breakaway party.
Yadav and Bhushan had been the
founding members of AAP while
Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha were the
core members.

4) During 2014 India added 15

more species to the Red List of
threatened species published by
the
International
Union
for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
With this what was the total number
of threatened species on this list for
India at the end of 2014? 988
Explanation: In 2013, the number
was 973. With 659 species in 2008,
the increase over seven years is
50%, in part due to better research
identifying more threatened species
and deforestation. But despite
having 988 threatened species at
the end of 2014, India was
successful in climbing down a spot
to occupy the seventh place.

5) What is the rate of interest for

General Provident Fund (GPF) and
other related schemes that has
been retained for 2015-16 as
notified by the Finance Ministry on
21 April 2015? 8.7%
Explanation: The 8.7% rate of
interest will be effective from 1 April

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63 CURRENT AFFAIRS

2015 and will apply on Provident

Funds of central government
employees, railways and defence
forces. The interest rate for GPF is
in line with the interest rate fixed for
Public Provident Fund (PPF) at
8.7% for 2015-16. The Government
had, however, raised the interest
rates for other small saving
schemes. The interest rate for
senior citizens savings scheme was
hiked from 9.2% to 9.3% and for
Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA),
the special deposit scheme for girl
child, the interest rate has been
hiked from 9.1% to 9.2%,
respectively. The interest earning
for Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) has
been retained at 8.7%.
6) Japanese drug company Daiichi
Sankyo
on
20
April
2015
announced its decision to sell its
stake in which leading pharma
company of India, which resulted in
huge decline in the value of this
companys share on 21 April 2015?
Sun Pharmaceutical
Explanation: Japans
Daiichi
Sankyo was the erstwhile owner of
Ranbaxy after it had bought the
company in 2008 for over $4 billion

from its Indian promoter family. But

its experience subsequently soured
as the extent of Ranbaxys
regulatory troubles with the United
States
Food
and
Drug
Administration
revealed
itself.
Daiichi had to pay $500 million to
settle criminal and fraud charges
against it in the US market. At
present, four of its plants are
banned from making and selling
products in the US. Daiichis exit
from Sun Pharmaceutical was seen
as a caution by a segment of Indian
corporate
world
about
the
perception of Indian market by
Japanese investors.

7) During
April
2015
which
countrys magnetic levitation train
broke its own world speed record
by touching speed of 603km/h
(374mph) in a test run? Japan
Explanation: The
magnetic
levitation (Maglev) train, owned by
Central Japan Railway (JR Central),
broke its own world speed record of

590km/h speed when it achieved

speed of 603km/h (374mph) in a
test run near Mount Fuji. JR Central
wants to introduce the service
between Tokyo and the central city
of Nagoya by 2027. The 280 km
journey would take only about 40

minutes, less than half the current

time. But the actual trains will
operate at a maximum of 505km/h
on this route. Maglev trains use
electrically charged magnets to lift
and move carriages above the rail
tracks.

April 23, 2015

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64 CURRENT AFFAIRS

and
Guru
(Chhattisgarh)

1) The National Tiger Conservation

Authority (NTCA) recently gave its
in-principle approval for creation of
three new tiger reserves in the
country. This was announced by
the Union Environment Minister
Prakash Javadekar in Lok Sabha
on 21 April 2015. These 3 new tiger
reserves will be established at
which places? Ratapani (Madhya
Pradesh), Sunabeda (Odisha)

Ghasidas

Explanation: The
decision
to
establish three new tiger reserves
came after the tiger census in
January 2015 showed an overall
rise in numbers. Apart from this, the
NTCA also accorded final approval
to a proposal to declare Kudremukh
National Park in Karnataka and
Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand
as tiger reserves. Seeking to
provide more protected spaces for
the endangered species, State
governments have been asked to
send conservation proposals for the
following areas: Suhelwa in Uttar
Pradesh,
Mhadei
in
Goa,
Srivilliputtur
Grizzled
Squirrel

Wildlife Sanctuary/ Meghamalai

Wildlife Sanctuary/ Varushanadu
Valley in Tamil Nadu, Dibang in
Arunachal Pradesh and CauveryMM Hills in Karnataka.

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65 CURRENT AFFAIRS

2) Saudi Arabia on 21 April 2015

ended its month-long military
operation against the Houthi rebels
under which air strikes were
conducted. What was the name of
this
operation?
Operation
Decisive Storm
Explanation: Operation Decisive
Storm was military operation
against Yemens Houthi, who had
seized large areas of Yemen. This
operation was spearheaded by a
coalition of nine Arab nations lead
by Saudi Arabia. It was started on
25 March 2015 and it mainly
involved air strikes. Apart from
Saudi Arabia, other 8 Arab
countries that took part in this
operation were Egypt, Morocco,
Jordan, Sudan, the United Arab

Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and

Bahrain. On 21 April 2015, Saudi
Arabia announced an end to
Operation Decisive Storm, saying
the interventions focus would shift
from military operations to the
political process and that it had
achieved its military objective of
removing the threat to Saudi Arabia
and neighbouring countries. Iran,
which was supporting the fellow
Shiite Houthis, welcomed the
ceasefire, which followed months of
factional fighting between the
militant group and forces loyal to
the government, which was driven
out of the capital Sanaa.
3) Which
international
news
channel was forced to go off air in
India for five days from 22 April
2015 as the government penalised
it for repeatedly showing wrong
maps of the country? Al Jazeera
Explanation: The Information and
Broadcasting Ministry said that it
had come to its notice that Al
Jazeera had shown a wrong map of
India in some of its broadcasts in
2013 and 2014, after which the
matter was referred to Surveyor
General of India (SGI). The SGI

had observed that in some of the

maps displayed by Al Jazeera, a
portion of Indian territory of Jammu
and Kashmir (i.e. PoK and Aksai
Chin) has not been shown as a part
of Indian territory. The channel
also did not show Lakshadweep
and Andaman Islands in some of
the maps. On 22 April, this channel
only showed a blank screen with a
message saying that as instructed
by the ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, this channel will not
be available from 00.01 hours on
22nd April till 00.01 hours on 27th
April 2015.

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66 CURRENT AFFAIRS

4) What is the name of the mobile

app launched by Indian Railways
on 22 April 2015 that will facilitate
obtaining unreserved passenger
tickets? UTS
Explanation: Indian Railways UTS
application is an android-based
application (app) which can be
downloaded via the Google Play
Store. After downloading the UTS
app, users will receive a registration
ID number for the creation of an
electronic wallet. Money for buying
tickets will have to be loaded
through
the
e-wallet
mobile

payment system either online or at

a ticket counter at any station.
Passengers have the option of
topping up the e-wallet at ticket
counters or on the IRCTC website
using a credit or debit card. It has
been developed by the Centre for
Railway
Information
Systems
(CRIS). Having booked a ticket
using the app, a commuter need
not take a print-out of the same and
can show its soft copy on the
cellphone to the TTE. This app has
been launched as the Indian
Railways takes forward its initiative
for paperless ticketing and makes it
much easier to obtain unreserved
tickets. The app-based ticketing
system was tried out in the Mumbai
suburban sector on a pilot basis. A
version of the app for BlackBerry
devices will be made available later.
5) Indias leading online travel
services
provider
MakeMyTrip
acquired which travel startup as
announced on 22 April 2015?
MyGola
Explanation: MyGola is a startup
travel guide firm that was founded
in 2009 by Anshuman Bapna and
Prateek Sharma. On the other hand

MakeMyTrips
services
and
products
include
air
tickets,
customised holiday packages, hotel
bookings, railway tickets, bus
tickets, car hire and facilitating
access to travel insurance. It was
founded in 2000 by Deep Kalra and
has also been listed on the
NASDAQ. MakeMyTrip has done
100% acquisition of MyGola, which
has been done through the
companys
earlier
announced
innovation fund.
6) Indian Railways on 21 April 2015
launched an online monitoring
mechanism
to
monitor
implementation of various ongoing
projects including Rail Budget

proposals. What is the name given

to this new mechanism? ESamiksha
Explanation: E-Samiksha
has
been developed to make it a highly
interactive web-based, user-friendly
and customised system. Apart from
budget-related projects, the ESamiksha can also be used for
monitoring the infrastructure target
and board meeting follow-up.
Designed by NIC, the software is
currently being used by Cabinet
Secretariat,
PMO
and
other
Ministries for monitoring progress
implementation
of
various
programmes and follow-up of
meetings.

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67 CURRENT AFFAIRS

April 24, 2015

1) The famous Gorkha Rifles of the
Indian Army completed how many
years of its existence on 24 April
2015? 200 years
Explanation: Gorkhas
are
considered one of the fiercest
fighters in the world. They have

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68 CURRENT AFFAIRS

made a name for themselves

throughout the world for their
courage. The Gorkhas completed
200
years
of
soldiering
in India under the British, and, later,
the Indian flag, on 24 April 2015.
Comprising not just the gritty
Gorkhas, but also men from
Kumaon and Garhwal regions, Sir
Robert Colquhuon had raised the
first battalion of Gorkhas on 24 April
1815 in Uttaranchals Almora. Only
a few others including the Madras
and Grenadiers Regiments (1758),
Punjab Regiment (1761), Rajputana
Rifles (1775), Rajput Regiment
(1778), Jat Regiment (1795) and
Kumaon Regiment (1813) are
among the other native infantry
regiments that preceded them. The
unit that was raised on that day still
serves with the Indian Army.
2) Which personality of Indian origin
was sworn-in as the 19th SurgeonGeneral of the United States on 22
April 2015 to become the highest
ranking Indian-American in the
Obama administration? Vivek
Murthy
Explanation: 37-year old Vivek
Murthy was sworn in as U.S.

Surgeon-General by Vice-President
Joe Biden at a ceremony held at
Fort Myer in Virginia. He thus
became the youngest-ever incharge of the countrys public
health. Murthy is a Vice Admiral in
the
Public
Health
Service
Commissioned Corps. He comes
from an immigrant family from
Karnataka (India). He was just three
when his family migrated from
England to Miami (Florida). He
received his bachelors degree from
Harvard. From there, he earned his
medical degree and masters in
business administration at Yale
University. In addition to practising
internal medicine at Brigham and
Womens Hospital, he in 2009
started a non-profit organisation
called, Doctors for America.
3) Union Cabinet on 22 April 2015
cleared
amendments
to
the
Juvenile Justice Act. What is the
most important clause of this
proposed Act? It would allow
juveniles aged between 16 and
18 to be tried as adults for
heinous crimes such as murder
and rape

Explanation: The proposed new

law gives the Juvenile Justice
Board the power to assess whether
the perpetrator of a heinous crime
aged between 16 and 18, had acted
as a child or as an adult. The
Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 came
under intense scrutiny after the
2012 Delhi gang rape in which a
juvenile was found to be guilty,
along with four adults. On April 6
this year, the Supreme Court had
asked the government to re-visit the
law so that a juvenile cannot get
away with rape and murder by
claiming he is too young to
understand the consequences of
his crime. The bill associated with
this proposed Act will now be
presented before the Parliament.

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69 CURRENT AFFAIRS

4) The popular video-sharing site

YouTube on 23 April 2015
completed how many years of its
existence? 10 years
Explanation: YouTube
was
created by three former employees
of PayPal Chad Hurley, Steve
Chen and Jawed Karim in
February 2005. However, the first
video on this site was uploaded on
titled Me at the Zoo featuring

Jawed Karim at the San Diego was

uploaded on 23 April 2005. Thus
the site completed 10 years of its
first video upload on 23 April 2015.
Search engine company Google
acquired YouTube for $1.65 shares
of Google in November 2006.
YouTube is now worlds third most
visited site on the Internet after
Google and Facebook. Today,
YouTube has 800 million unique
users a month and 300 hours of
new videos are uploaded to the site
every minute, three times more
than in 2014. Since 2010 the
company has been headquartered
in San Bruno, California.
5) The
Hubble
Telescope
completes 25 years of its launch on
24 April 2015. It has provided
breathtaking images, produced
fundamental
discoveries
and
brought about a paradigm shift in
our understanding of the universe
since its launch in 1990. This iconic
telescope is a joint venture between
which two space entities? NASA
and the European Space Agency
(ESA)
Explanation: The Hubble, which
has so far travelled more than 3

billion miles, has made more than

1.2 million observations since 1990
by completing an orbit around the
Earth every 97 minutes at a speed
of about 8 km per second. It was
launched in its orbit 552 km above
Earth on 24 April 1990 by NASAs
space shuttle Discovery. It has now
become almost a household name
with the innumerable discoveries it
has made in its 25 years lifespan.

6) What is the name of the volcano

in Chile which erupted for the first

time in more than 42 years on 22

April 2015 resulting in evacuation of
residents from nearby areas?
Calbuco Volcano
Explanation: Calbuco Volcano is
located in southern Chile and is
little more than 1,000 kilometres
south of Chiles capital, Santiago. It
is considered one of the top three
most potentially dangerous among
Chiles 90 active volcanoes. It last
erupted in 1972. This eruption
resulted in the evacuation of the
1,500 inhabitants of the nearby
town of Ensenada along with
residents
of
two
smaller
communities.

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April 25-26, 2015

1) At least 1,500 people died in a
massive earthquake and a series of
aftershocks that hit several parts of
Nepal and India since morning of
25 April 2015. Which district of
Nepal was the epicentre of the
quake? Lamjung
Explanation: Lamjung district was
the magnitude of the massive

71 CURRENT AFFAIRS
Page

earthquake that struck Nepal and

India on 25 April 2015. The
earthquake occurred around 1141
hours with epicentre at Lamjung at
distance of 77 km from Nepal
capital Kathmandu. The depth of
this earthquake was 14-15 km
below
Earths
surface.
The
earthquake was of 7.9 magnitude
on the Richter scale as recorded by
US Geological Survey (USGS).
Apart from Nepal, tremors were felt
across eastern and northern parts
of India. The tremors, which were
felt in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West
Bengal, Sikkim, Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Haryana, Delhi and Punjab, lasted
for a minute, triggering panic and
forcing people to rush out of their
houses and offices. Over 1,500
people died in Nepal while over
people died in India. Bihar was the
worst hit in India with at least 60
deaths followed by Uttar Pradesh
with over 25 deaths. Deaths were
also reported from West Bengal
and Jharkhand. The earthquake
activity in the seismically active
Himalayan region is due to the
movement of the two tectonic
plates-Indian and Eurasian plates.
The
2004
tsunami
inducing,

Sumatra earthquake off Indonesia

that caused widespread havoc has
set off heightened seismic activity.
This usually is active in 15 year
cycles.

2) The long-pending Goods and

Services Tax (GST) Bill was moved
in the Lok Sabha by Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley amid stiff
resistance by several Opposition
parties on 24 April 2015. The Bill
seeks to amend the Constitution to
introduce GST which will subsumes
various Central indirect taxes,
including the Central Excise Duty,
Countervailing Duty, Service Tax,
etc. It also subsumes State value
added tax (VAT), octroi and entry
tax, luxury tax, etc. The GST Bill, if
passed in the Parliament, will
facilitate which amendment in the
Indian
Constitution?
One
Hundred and Twenty-Second
Amendment (122ndAmendment)

72 CURRENT AFFAIRS
Page

Explanation: The GST Bill was

officially introduced in the Lok
Sabha on 19 December 2014. The
Bill inserts a new Article in the
Constitution
to
provide
for
legislation on the taxation of goods
and services a concurrent power of
the Centre and the States. For the
Constitution to be amended, it
needs two-thirds majority in both
houses of parliament and then its
ratification by at least 15 state
legislatures. It will then send to the
president for his final signatures.
The Bill seeks to establish a GST
Council tasked with optimising tax
collection for goods and services by
the State and Centre. The Council
will consist of the Union Finance
Minister (as Chairman), the Union
Minister of State in charge of
revenue or Finance, and the
Minister in charge of Finance or
Taxation or any other, nominated
by each State government. The
proposed GST Council will be the
body that decides which taxes
levied by the Centre, States and
local bodies will go into the GST;
which goods and services will be
subjected to GST; and the basis

and the rates at which GST will be

applied.

3) In a rare development, a private

members Bill protecting and
providing rights for transgenders
was passed by the Rajya Sabha on
24 April 2015. This was the first
time in 45 years that a private
members Bill has been passed by
the House. Which Rajya Sabha
member brought this bill? Tiruchi
Siva (DMK)
Explanation: Tiruchi Siva belongs
to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(DMK) party and is a Member of the
Parliament
representing
Tamil
Nadu in the Rajya Sabha. The
government had initially asked
Tiruchi Siva to withdraw his Bill but
he
refused
to
relent.
The
government tried to explain that
there are some anomalies in the Bill
that need further work, but the
Opposition that has a majority in the
Rajya Sabha, did not accept the

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73 CURRENT AFFAIRS

governments assurance of bringing

in some more provisions in the Bill.
Sivas Bill has 58 clauses in 10
chapters dealing with different
aspects
ranging
from
social
inclusion, rights and entitlements,
financial and legal aid, education,
skill development to prevention of
abuse, violence and exploitation.
The bill (Rights of Transgender
Persons Bill, 2014) paves the way
for a law on the matter in the near
future. The government assured the
House that it would bring an
updated Bill in the Lok Sabha. After
45 years a private member bill has
been passed. Only 14 private
member bills have been passed by
Parliament so far, all before 1970.
4) The Draft Agreement on Coastal
Shipping between India and
Bangladesh was finalized during a
Secretary-level talk held at New
Delhi during April 2015. According
to this Draft Agreement, the
bilateral inland water transit and
trade will now be automatically
renewed after how many years
instead of the current norm of one
year? Five Years

Explanation: Subject to approval of

the competent authority of the
respective
countries,
this
arrangement would allow River Sea
Vessels (RSV) to carry cargo
between the two neighbours. The
commencement of coastal shipping
between the two countries would
give a boost to Exim trade between
India and Bangladesh. Both the
countries also agreed on extension
of Protocol on Inland Water Transit
and Trade (PIWTT) with the
provision of automatic renewal. This
is in line with the proposed
amendment to the BangladeshIndia trade agreement. This will
make PIWTT being automatically
renewed after five years. It was also
agreed between the countries that a
draft agreement for the regular
movement of passengers and
cruise vessels would be shared by
India with Bangladesh through
diplomatic channel.

5) Union Human Resource and

Development (HRD) Minister Smriti
Irani on 24 April 2015 introduced
the logo winner of for the New
Education Policy (NEP) who
emerged as the winner in the
competition was held through
MyGov Platform. What is his name?
Nawaj Shaikh

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74 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Explanation: Nawaj Shaikh is from

National AIDS Research Institute
(NARI) and belongs to Pune. The
said competition was held through
the MyGov Platform for suggesting
the Logo, Slogan and Tagline for
the New Education Policy of the
Government of India. More than
3000 entries were received. It was
for the first time ever that this
particular logo was designed by a
common man of the country and
not by any advertising agency or a
corporate house. A cash prize of
Rs. 10,000 will be awarded to
Shaikh.
6) What will be the slogan of the
New Education Policy that was

unveiled on 24 April 2015 by HRD

Minister Smriti Irani? Nayi
Shiksha Neeti Kare Saakaar,
Gyaan, Yogyata aur Rojgaar
( , ,
)
Explanation: This
slogan
was
prepared
by
Vinod
Kumar
Maheshwari of Rewari (Haryana).
He would be awarded cash prize of
Rs. 10,000 for his effort.
7) What will be the English tagline
of the New Education Policy that
was unveiled on 24 April 2015 by
HRD Minister Smriti Irani?
Educate Encourage Enlighten
Explanation: This tagline is an
effort of Ms. Vipitha Devi of Paravur
(Kerala). She had made this entry
for NEPs slogan but the selection
committee and HRD Minister felt it
was more appropriate for the
tagline. She too will be awarded Rs.
10,000 for her effort.

April 27, 2015

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75 CURRENT AFFAIRS

1) What is the name given to Indian

Armys relief and rescue operation
in Nepal that was launched after the
devastating earthquake in the
country on 25 April 2015?
Operation Maitri
Explanation: Operation Maitri is
the name given to the massive
rescue and relief launched by the
Indian Army in Nepal. It involves
medical teams, Engineer Task
Forces (consisting of manpower,
skid steers and JCBs), blankets and
tents and INMARSAT for satellite
communications
devices.
The
operation was launched shortly
after the 7.9-magnitude quake hit
Nepal at 11.56 am on 25 April. The
first military plane carrying relief
materials and Indian experts landed

in Kathmandu before 6 pm. On the

other hand the Indian Air Force has
mobilised
its
IL-76,
C-130J
Hercules and C-17 Globemaster
transport
aircraft
and
Mi-17
helicopters for Operation Maitri.
The National Disaster Response
Force (NDRF) too is playing a key
role. The NDRF has dispatched 10
teams to Nepal for its first major
operation on foreign soil.

2) The Standing Committee on

Finance headed by Veerappa Moily
has urged the Modi-Government to
go ahead with the Direct Taxes
Code (DTC). This committee tabled
its report in the Lok Sabha on 24
April 2015. What was the view of
the Union Govt. on DTC? Union
Govt. had expressed that there is
no merit in going ahead with the
DTC

76 CURRENT AFFAIRS
Page

Explanation: The present Union

Govt. led by Narendra Modi was
seen
reluctant
with
the
implementation of the direct taxes
code (DTC), which was originally
drafted in 2009 and was once
touted as an important tax reform.
This was so because the govt.
apparently believed that DTC, in its
current form, does not serve any
purpose, as most of the things it
had proposed initially have already
been brought under the Income-Tax
Act. But the Standing Committee on
Finance was not convinced with the
Governments reply on DTC. In its
report tabled on 24 April, the
committee clearly mentioned that
the DTC should be implemented
within a stipulated deadline along
the lines of the goods and services
tax (GST) regime. The Standing
Committee has also suggested that
all the four reports submitted by the
Tax
Administrative
Reforms
Commission be implemented in a
holistic manner and not in a
piecemeal approach.
3) Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)
began a new crude processing unit
at which place on 26 April 2015 with

capacity of 300,000 barrel per day

(bpd)? Paradip (Odisha)
Explanation: Paradip Refinery is
situated in Odisha and has been
established at a cost of around $5.2
billion. It is the 11th unit of IOC and
is the most sophisticated plant ever.
Paradip plant was initially expected
to begin operations in 2012, but a
flurry
of
problems,
involving
supplies
from
contractors,
environmental concerns and natural
calamities, repeatedly delayed the
project. With the commissioning of
Paradip refinery, IOCs overall
refining
capacity
has
been
increased to 1.61 million bpd, about
35% of the countrys 4.6 million bpd
capacity. The
last
refinery
commissioned in India was three
years ago, when HPCL-Mittal
Energy Ltd (HMEL) commissioned
its 180,000 bpd refinery at Bathinda
(Punjab) in 2012. India has nearly
doubled its refining capacity over
the last decade to almost 5 million
barrels per day, making it the
worlds fourth largest refining centre
after the US, China and Russia.

deal is likely to bolster the Chinese

phone makers presence in the
worlds third-largest smartphone
market.

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77 CURRENT AFFAIRS

4) Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus

of the Tata Group, recently
acquired a stake in which major
Chinese
phone
company
to
become first Indian to make
investment in this company?
Xiaomi
Explanation: Xiaomi is at present
the No. 3 global smartphone maker
and was valued at $45 billion after a
funding round held in December
2014. On the other hand Ratan
Tata was the chairman of salt-tosoftware Tata Sons for more than
two decades and is the one of the
most respected business leaders in
India. He has previously invested in
Indian start-ups, including online
retailer Snapdeal. The financials
related to the investment were not
disclosed. Tatas investment in
Xiaomi comes against the backdrop
of an aggressive push by Xiaomi in
India after entering the market,
which has huge growth potential
with just one in 10 people using
smartphones, in July 2014. This

5) Who was the Chairman of the

German auto group Volkswagen
who resigned from the post on 25
April 2015 after more than two
years of his dominating presence?
Ferdinand Piech
Explanation: 78-year
old
Ferdinand Piech was a towering
figure at the iconic German
carmaker Volkswagen for more
than two decades. He is grandson
of the inventor of the Volkswagen
Beetle Ferdinand Porsche. He
resigned after losing a showdown
with
company
CEO
Martin
Winterkorn in which he was isolated
in
a
five-to-one
vote
of
Volkswagens steering committee.
Piech resigned with immediate
effect from all his roles at
Volkswagen. When Piech became
CEO of VW in 1993, the company
was losing money, prompting him to

cut pay and working hours at

German plants and streamline
production. During his nine-year
tenure, he turned a loss equivalent
to 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion) into

a 2.6 billion euro profit while

spearheading VWs expansion to a
12-brand
entity
that
makes
everything from fuel-efficient city
cars
to
40-tonne
trucks.

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78 CURRENT AFFAIRS

April 28, 2015

1) In a step with far-reaching

consequences the Union Govt. on
26 April 2015 cancelled the licences
of
8,975
non-governmental
organisations (NGOs). This was
done after it suspended the FCRA
registration of Greenpeace India
and put foreign donor Ford
Foundation on the watch-list. What
is the reason for cancellation of
licences of so many NGOs?
Failure of these NGOs in filing
their annual returns

Explanation: These NGOs had

failed to file annual returns for the
years 2009-10, 2010-11 and 201112. In its order, the Union Home
Ministry recalled that it had issued
notices to 10,343 NGOs on 16
October 2014, stating that they
should file their annual returns
within a month, specifying amount
of foreign funds received, sources
of such funds, the purpose for
which these were received and the
manner in which such foreign
contribution was utilized. However,
only 229 NGOs reverted to the
home
ministry.
The
Ministry
cancelled licences of these NGOs
for violation of Section 18 thereof,
read with Rule 17(2) of Foreign
Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2011
(FCRA).

2) What was the name of the major

exercise conducted by the Indian
Navy in Rajasthan on 26 April 2015
in Rajasthan that aimed to test a
new generation of weaponry and
platforms in desert region?
Akraman-II

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79 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Explanation: Akraman-II involved

more than 300 combat vehicles
including main battle tanks, long
range artillery guns participated
along with 10,000 troops. It was
conducted by the Chetak Corps, a
part of South Western Command of
the Army, which is based in
Bhatinda, Punjab. Apart from
testing the desert war preparedness
of the Army, this exercise also
tested the capabilities of Indian Air
Force (IAF) in launching deep
insertion of helicopter-borne and
airborne army units.

3) Radio Iran on 27 April 2015

claimed that the chief of Islamic
State (IS) jihadist group is dead.

What is his name? Abu Bakr alBaghdadi

Explanation: Al-Baghdadi,
believed to be in his 40s, had a $10
million US bounty on his head.
Since taking the reins of the Islamic
State in 2010, he had transformed it
from a local branch of al-Qaida into
an
independent
transnational
military force, positioning himself as
perhaps the pre-eminent figure in
the global jihadist community. On
27 April Radio Iran claimed that he
has passed away. Earlier a report in
British
newspaper Guardian claimed that
he was severely injured in a US-led
coalition air strike in March 2015.
According to that report, alBaghdadi was injured at al-Baaj
district of Nineveh (Iraq), close to
the Syrian border. However, these
claims were not verified by the IS or
any other Islamist group.
4) According to the 2015 World
Happiness Report published by the
United Nations (UN) during April
2015, which country is the happiest
country in the world? Switzerland

80 CURRENT AFFAIRS
Page

Explanation: UNs 2015 World

Happiness Report was the third
such report since 2012 and it
primarily
seeks
to
quantify
happiness as a means of
influencing government policy. This
report has been published by the
Sustainable Development Solutions
Network (SDSN), which is a global
initiative for the UN. According to
the report, Switzerland, Iceland,
Denmark,
Norway,
Canada,
Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, New
Zealand, and Australia are the top
10 happiest countries in the world.
The US is ranked 15, followed by
UK (21), Singapore (24), Saudi
Arabia (35), Japan (46) and China
(84). This study uses variables such
as real GDP per capita, healthy life
expectancy, having someone to
count on, perceived freedom to
make life choices and freedom from
corruption and generosity to assign
the countries specific Happiness
Index.
5) What was Indias rank in the
2015 World Happiness Report
published by the United Nations
(UN) during April 2015?
117th (Out of 158 countries)

Explanation: Indias rank dropped

six notches from the 2013 report,
when it was on the 111th spot.
Pakistan is ranked 81 and
Bangladesh, 109. Places like
Ukraine (111), Palestine (108) and
Iraq (112) too come up higher than
India on the index.
6) Which country was listed at the
bottom in the 2015 World
Happiness Report published by the
United Nations (UN) during April
2015? Togo
Explanation: Togo is a subSaharan country in Africa. It was
listed at the bottom in the 2015
World Happiness Report to emerge
as the least happy country in the
world. It was followed by Burundi,
Benin, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Ivory
Coast, Guinea, Chad, Afghanistan
and Syria.
7) Which IT firm of France on 27
April 2015 announced acquisition of
US-based IT service outsourcing
company iGate for $4 billion?
Capgemini
Explanation: Headquartered
in
New Jersey, U.S., iGate reported

revenues of $1.3 billion in 2014. Its

largest market is North America,
which
represented
79%
of
revenues, followed by Europe
(14%) and Asia-Pacific (7%).
Interestingly, iGate had bought
Indias Patni Computer Systems in
2011 in partnership with private
equity giant Apax Partners in a $1.2
billion deal. The combined revenue
of the merged company is
estimated at 12.5 billion in 2015
and around 1.9 lakh employees.
The acquisition is expected to
strengthen
Capgeminis
key
businesses in application and
infrastructure services as well as
BPO and engineering services.

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8) Which former No. 1 mens

Badminton player from Malaysia
was handed a backdated eightmonth ban for doping by the
Badminton World Federation (BWF)

on 27 April 2015? Lee Chong

Wei
Explanation: Lee Chong Wei is a
former No.1 mens Badminton
player and is a two-time Olympic
silver medallist. He has been under
a provisional suspension since
November 2014 after testing
positive for anti-inflammatory drug
dexamethasone during the world
championships
three
months
earlier. The BWF said its doping
panel is convinced this Lees is not
a case of doping with intent to
cheat. However, the panel found
that he had been negligent. The
back-dated BWF ban means he has
still chances of winning gold at the
Rio Olympics next year. Lees
inactivity has seen his ranking
slump to 30th in the world. He
however remains one of Malaysias
favourite sporting sons.

April 29, 2015

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1) Indian Army has recently cleared

the field trials of which 45-calibre
artillery gun as disclosed by Union
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar
in Parliament on 27 April 2015?
Dhanush
Explanation: The
Ordnance
Factory Board (OFB) has built the
Dhanush
from
manufacturing
blueprints that Swedish company
Bofors supplied India as part of the
controversial 1986 purchase of 410
FH-77
howitzers.
This
155
millimetre 45-calibre artillery gun
has cleared its field trials and is
ready for manufacture in numbers.
According to reports Dhanush
performed better than the Bofors

gun in the field trails paving way for

its induction. It is worth mentioning
that the field of artillery guns to
support infantry and armour in
battle is one of Indian Armys most
worrying operational gap and now it
is expected that this gap would be
gradually filled. Artillery guns have
historically caused more battlefield
casualties than any other arm. The
Indian Army, so-far, is satisfied with
the performance of the Dhanush
during winter trials held in Sikkim
and summer trials in Rajasthan last
year.

2) The National Green Tribunal

(NGT) on 28 April 2015 gave which
important and far reaching order
pertaining to NCR-Delhi area? It
imposed a complete ban on
burning of waste in open
including garbage, leaves, plastic
and crop residues

Explanation: NGT on 28 April gave

another significant order to tackle
air pollution in Delhi-NCR by
imposing complete prohibition on
burning of any kind of garbage,
leaves, waste, plastic, rubber or any
such other materials in open areas
for any part of NCR-Delhi. A fine of
Rs. 5,000 was mandated for
violators of this order. The order
came three weeks after the Tribunal
banned plying of diesel vehicles
which were more than 10 years old
in the region. The order was passed
by a bench headed by NGT
Chairperson Justice Swatanter
Kumar.

Baltimore included protests, looting

and arson largely in the west of the
city. Maryland Governor Larry
Hogan on 26 April declared a state
of emergency in the state. Curfew
was imposed in Baltimore to bring
situation in control. Freddie Gray
was laid to rest on 27 April and this
ceremony was attended by civil
rights leaders, families of other
people killed by police and
numerous prominent politicians.
The situation was still tense in the
city as on 28 April with some
sporadic incidents of arson being
reported.

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83 CURRENT AFFAIRS

3) Which U.S. city witnessed

incidents of rioting and looting
during April 2015? Baltimore
Explanation: Baltimore
is
the
largest city in the state of Maryland.
The riots in the city started after
marches being held on 25 April
2015 to protest against death of a
25-year
old
African-American
Freddie Gray turned violent. Gray
passed away on 19 April after a
week of coma he went into soon
after his arrest by Baltimore Police
on 12 April. The violent incidents in

4) On 27 April 2015 Kazakhstan

President Nursultan A. Nazarbayev
was announced as the winner in the
snap presidential election by an
almost unprecedented 97.7% of the
vote. He has won the Presidential
elections in Kazakhstan for how
many successive times now?
Five

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Page

Explanation: Nursultan
A.
Nazarbayev
has
governed
Kazakhstan since the Soviet Union
collapsed as its President. He won
a whopping 97.7% of the vote in the
election held on 26 April 2015. The
Central Election Commission of
Kazakhstan said that turnout was
higher than 95%, meaning that
nearly 93 of every 100 voting-age
Kazakh citizens had headed to the
polls and cast a ballot for
Nazarbayev. His two opponents,
who
support
the
current
government and were seen as
playing a perfunctory role in the
elections, won a combined 2.3%.
The election, which was called in
February 2015, was seen as a
move by Nazarbayev to win a vote
of confidence as Kazakhstan,
Central Asias largest country, faces
both
a
daunting
economic
slowdown driven by the collapse in
oil prices and regional instability
because of the crisis in Ukraine.
5) Who was sworn in as the first
African-American woman Attorney
General of the United States on 27
April 2015? Loretta Lynch

Explanation: Loretta Lynch was

sworn in as the 83rd Attorney
General of the United States by
Vice-President Joe Biden on 27
April. She was confirmed by the
Senate Judiciary Committee on 26
February 2015, and approved by
the Senate on 23 April. Earlier she
was nominated for the post by
President
Barack
Obama
in
November 2014. She thus became
the first African-American woman
and the second woman (after Janet
Reno) to hold this post. Lynch is
also the second African-American
(after the incumbent Eric Holder) to
occupy the coveted post. The
Attorney General of the U.S. heads
the U.S. Department of Justice and
is the chief law enforcement officer
of the U.S. Govt.
6) The bilateral trade between India
and the United States crossed
which landmark figure during 2014,
as disclosed by US Ambassador to
India Richard Verma during April
2015? $100 billion
Explanation: The bilateral trade
between the two countries stood at
$103 billion during 2014. Both
countries are now gunning the

ambitious target of $500 billion

annual bilateral trade in a few
years. The Department of Industrial
Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of
Indian Govt. is of the view that the
$500-billion target was achievable if
India continued to move on a high
growth trajectory and managed to
attract investments from US-based
companies.

7) Who became the first India-born

woman to be appointed a judge in

New York City on 27 April 2015?

Raja Rajeswari
Explanation: 43-year old Raja
Rajeswari was born in Chennai.
She had migrated to the U.S. from
Chennai as a teenager and worked
with the Richmond County District
Attorneys Office for her entire
career
in
several
important
bureaus. She took the oath of office
at a ceremony in New York City on
27 April along with 27 other judges
appointed earlier this month to the
Family Court, Criminal Court, and
Civil Court, which are part of the
New York State Unified Court
System.

April 30, 2015

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85 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Mizoram to be built along Indias

vast West-to-East land border?
Bharat Mala

1) What is the name given to an

ambitious road project proposed by
the Union Govt. from Gujarat to

Explanation: According
to
the
information disclosed by Union
Roads Secretary Vijay Chhibber,
Bharat Mala project will be a road
built along Indias vast west-toeast
land border, from Gujarat to
Mizoram, at a cost of around Rs
14,000 crore. The government

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86 CURRENT AFFAIRS

hopes to finish the project in five

years. The project will start from
Gujarat and Rajasthan, move to
Punjab and then cover the entire
string of Himalayan states Jammu
and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,
Uttarakhand and then portions of
borders of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
alongside Terai, and move to
Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,
and right up to the Indo-Myanmar
border in Manipur and Mizoram.
The Bharat Mala project has a
strong strategic component. Its
Indias
attempted
answer
to
improve reach and connectivity in
border areas, right across a large
part of
which lies Chinas
impressive road infrastructure.
2) Which South-east Asian country
on 29 April 2015 undertook the
controversial executions of 8
persons including 7 foreigners, an
incident which drew widespread
condemnation from around the
world? Indonesia
Explanation: Indonesia executed
two Australians, four Nigerians, one
Brazilian and one of its own citizen
in the early hours of 29 April. The
executions were carried out by

police firing squads at Pasir Putih

prison on the island of Nusa
Kambangan off the southern coast
of Java. All the eight persons were
charged with drug trafficking. The
dead included Andrew Chan and
Myuran Sukumaran (Australia),
Raheem Salami, Silvester Obiekwe
Nwolise, Okwudil Oyatanze and
Martin Anderson (Nigeria), Rodrigo
Gularte (Brazil) and Zainal Abidin
(Indonesia).
However,
the
execution of a ninth convict, Pilipino
woman named Mary Jane Veloso,
scheduled to happen at the same
time, was unexpectedly postponed
at nearly the last minute. This
happened after the Philippine
government
requested
her
assistance in a human trafficking
case involving a woman who
surrendered to the Philippine police
on 28 April. The mass execution
was the second in Indonesia this
year. In January 2015, five foreign
drug convicts and one Indonesian
convicted of murder were shot by
firing squads on the island.
However,
international
anger
poured over the executions with
Australia recalling its Ambassador
to Indonesia. Indonesia Govt.

rejected international pleas to

cancel the executions, including
from Ban Ki-moon, secretary
general of the United Nations (UN).

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3) In a major achievement for

ISRO, an indigenous cryogenic
engine was successfully tested on
28 April 2015. This test is expected
to propel India into a bigger league
of nations with capability to launch
satellites weighing up to five
tonnes. This test was conducted
from the Liquid Propulsion systems
centre (LPSC) at ISROs propulsion
complex. This complex is situated
at which place? Mahendragiri
(Tamil Nadu)
Explanation: In a silent operation
at the Mahendragiri test facility,
Indian
Space
Research
Organisation (ISRO) successfully
test-fired the indigenous cryogenic
engine CE-20 for 645 seconds. This
marks a milestone in the countrys

effort to develop a big cryogenic

engine to fly the ambitious GSLVMark III by the end of 2016. In the
absence of a proven indigenous
cryogenic engine, India has been
dependent on foreign space
agencies like Arianne for the launch
of heavy communication satellites.
So far Indias GSLVs were being
powered by cryogenic engines
given by Russia. Of the seven such
engines, ISRO has used up six.
Indias first attempt with an
indigenous cryogenic engine was a
failure. The second flight was a
success, but that engine had a
much lower thrust, about seven
tonnes. So the successful test of
CE-20, means that India will be
ready for a stage test (after
integrating the engine with the
upper stage) in six months.
4) Union Govt. on 27 April 2015
announced extending e-Tourist
Visa scheme for 31 more countries.
With this extension the scheme will
be available for how many countries
from 1 May 2015? 76
Explanation: Government of India
has launched e-Tourist Visa on 27
November 2014 for 45 countries

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from nine designated Indian

Airports. This scheme was earlier
known as Tourist Visa on arrival
enabled by Electronic Travel
Authorisation scheme. On 27 April
2014 the govt. announced its
decision to extend the scheme for
31 more countries from 1 May
2015. These 31 countries are
Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda,
Bahamas,
Barbados,
Belize,
Bolivia, Canada, Cayman Island,
Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica,
Dominic an Republic, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Estonia, France, Georgia,
Grenada, Haiti, HolySee (Vatican),
Honduras, Latvia, Liechtenstein,
Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro,
Montserrat, Nicaragua, Paraguay,
St.Kitts & Nevis and Seychelles.
With this, the total number of
countries coming under the scheme
will go up to 76. The scheme will be
extended to more countries in a
phased
manner.
Govt.
has
proposed to extend the scheme to
150 countries by the end of this
financial year.
5) A Russian spacecraft loaded with
cargo for the International Space
Station (ISS) that was launched on

25 April 2015, went out of control

and was on its way to crash into the
earths atmosphere. What is the
name of this space mission?
Progress 59
Explanation: The Progress 59
cargo spacecraft (attached with the
ISS programme) was launched
successfully from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early
on 25 April 2015. It was carrying
2721.5 kg of food, fuel and
materials for scientific experiments
for the crew at the International
Space Station (ISS). The mission
suffered a serious malfunction
shortly after its launch. After it
separated from the Soyuz booster
rocket, Russian flight controllers
were unable to confirm the health of
all the spacecrafts systems,
including the deployment of its
navigational antennae and docking
system. Scientists expected this
spacecraft to crash into the earths
atmosphere soon and they also
made it clear that it will probably
burn up on re-entry into the Earths
atmosphere. But the failed attempt
will not put the six ISS crew
members at risk. The astronauts

have plenty of provisions, enough

to last months.
6) In a sudden development, Saudi
King Salman bin Abdulaziz on 29
April 2015 sacked his younger half
brother as crown prince. Who was
appointed as the new heir
apparent? Deputy Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Nayef (the
nephew of the King)

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89 CURRENT AFFAIRS

Explanation: He also appointed his

son,
Prince
Mohammed
bin

Salman, as deputy crown prince,

and replaced veteran Foreign
Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal with
the
kingdoms
Washington
ambassador Adel al-Jubeir. It is
worth mentioning that 78-year old
King Salman acceded to the throne
in January 2015 after the death of
his half-brother Abdullah bin Abdul
Aziz. The rise of Prince Mohammed
bin Nayef means that for the first
time a grandson of the kingdoms
founder, King Abdul Aziz, is in line
to rule.

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