Current Affairs (April 2016):
1.The first
direct container MV Harbour-1 Vessel between India and Bangladesh carrying cotton was flagged off from Krishnapatnam of Andhra Pradesh to
Chittagong on 28 March.The voyage was started as a part of a coastal shipping
agreement to facilitate trade between India and Bangladesh. The trade
agreements were earlier signed during the reign of the then Indian Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi in 1974 and they were revived back after a period of
four decades during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka in June 2015.
2.India’s
biggest ever land, naval and homeland security exhibition Defence Expo 2016
began in Goa. The four-day biennial
event was inaugurated by the Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. This for
the first time, the Expo is being held outside the national capital New Delhi.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on 28 March unveiled Defence Procurement
Policy during the ninth edition ?of Defence Expo India-2016. The 2016 theme is
“Rise of Futurism” and its vision is to make India prosperous by establishing
world class science and technology base in defence sector.”
3.The Union
Government has notified the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other
Subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016. The Act will provide statutory
backing for transfer of subsidies and benefits to eligible people having
Aadhaar (UID) number. Aadhaar Act seeks to provide efficient, transparent and
targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits and services to individuals residing
in India by assigning them unique identity numbers (UID) or Aadhaar number. It
will be used for all benefit that will be linked to consolidated fund of India
or the expenditure incurred from it. The Act gives statutory for establishment
of the Unique Identification Authority of India consisting of a Chairperson
(part time or full time) and two Members (part time). Those individuals not
having Aadhaar number shall be offered alternate and viable means of
identification for delivery of the subsidies, benefits or service.
4.President
Pranab Mukherjee has imposed President’s
Rule (State Emergency) in the state of Uttarakhand
on 27 March in the wake of constitutional breakdown under Article 356 of
Constitution. In this regard, President has signed the proclamation state
Emergency based on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet. With this
proclamation, Congress Government headed by Chief Minister Harish Rawat ceased
to function and the state Assembly has been suspended. Background The
constitutional breakdown in state was due rebellion in the ruling Congress
Government after its nine rebel MLAs rebelled, bringing government in minority
in the state legislature. These 9 rebel MLAs were disqualified by the speaker
under the anti-defection law. This disqualification had reduced the strength of
the 70-member house to 61. So the final tally of Congress MLAs was 27 and BJP
had 28 MLAs.
5.An
India-born academician Surya Deva has been appointed as the United Nations (UN)
Adviser on Human Rights and Businesses. He was appointed by the Geneva-based UN
Human Rights Council (UNHRC) as the Asia-Pacific representative of the UN
Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and
other business enterprises. Surya Deva is an associate professor at the School
of Law of City University of Hong Kong. His research interests lie in Business
and Human Rights, India-China Constitutional Law, Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development.
6.Htin Kyaw (69) sworn in as the first
elected civilian (non-military)
President of Myanmar after 53 years of military rule. Myanmar’s Army was in
power since 1962 coup. He belongs to National League for Democracy (NLD) Party
and succeeds Thein Sein, who had stepped down after end of five years of
army-backed rule.
7.The
Russian Government has approved a deal of ONGC
Videsh Ltd (OVL) to acquire 15% stake in Vankor oilfield from Rosneft. The deal was signed between the OVL
and Rosneft in September 2015 and is worth 1.3 billion US dollars. Vankor is
Russia’s second biggest oil field with capacity of total 2.5 billion
recoverable reserves barrels (or 500 million tonnes).
8.Haryana became the first state in the country to implement the use of injectable contraceptives as a family
planning measure. In this regard, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has
launched ‘Project Salamati’ in assistance of Pathfinder International.
9.The
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has signed 11 unilateral Advance Pricing
Agreements (APAs). With this CBDT has so far entered into 59 bilateral or
unilateral APAs. 50 of these agreements have been signed in the current
financial year i.e. 2016-17.
10.Renowned
playback singer P. Susheela Mohan
created a new world record for singing highest
number of songs. She has now been recognised by both the Guinness Book of
World Records for singing most number of songs in Indian languages. Guinness
Book of World Records officially credited her for singing record 17,695 songs
(solo, duet and chorus backed songs) in twelve Indian languages.
11.Govt to
infuse Rs. 5,050 crore in PSU banks
soon. Likely contenders for the fresh round of infusion include Central Bank of
India, Indian Bank, UCO Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Vijaya Bank and United
Bank of India.
12.The
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to script history by launching
a record number of 22 satellites in
a single mission in May 2016.
13.The
Haryana Assembly on 29 Mar 2016 passed the Haryana Backward Classes
(Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Bill, 2016
to provide reservation for Jats and four other communities in government jobs
and education.
14.India
ranks third among countries with
high number of financial Trojan infections, where cyber criminals defraud
customers of online banking services.
15.Media and
communications agency Maxus India on 29 Mar 2016 said it has bagged the media
duties for online classifieds platform OLX following a multi-agency pitch.
16.Pallavi Fauzdar from Agra became the
first woman solo biker in the Limca Book of Records to reach the tip of Mana
pass in Uttarakhand, arguably the world’s highest motorable mountain pass.
17.American
poet and novelist Jim Harrison, best
known for his collection of three novellas Legends Of The Fall, passed away on
26 March.
18.The Union
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched India’s first indigenous rotavirus vaccine named Rotavac to combat infant mortality due
to diarrhoea. It was launched by Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda as part of
country’s ambitious Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). The vaccine is
being introduced initially in four States Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh (first to launch it) and Odisha. The vaccine is administered orally to
infants in three dose course at ages of six, ten and fourteen weeks.
19. China
has launched its first cybersecurity public organisation aimed at better
safeguarding national cybersecurity and guiding internet companies in perform
their duties, the media reported on 26 Mar 2016.
20.Indian-American
Nandita Bakshi (57) has been
appointed the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bank of the West,
a subsidiary unit of French banking giant BNP Paribas.
21.Indian
Test Captain Virat Kohli has
replaced Aaron Finch as the number one batsman in the latest ICC T20 rankings.
22.European
Union, through the European Investment Bank (EIB), will lend India €450 million
(approximately Rs. 3,300 crore) towards constructing a 23-km long Lucknow Metro
rail line and a purchasing a fleet of new trains.
23.The
government of India has approved a $1.5 billion (approximate Rs 9,000 crore) to
support Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in rural areas.
24.The 4
days National AROGYA fair is going to be started from 26 March in Goa. The fair will be organised by
AYUSH Ministry and Confederation of Indian industry.
25.Kadhaprasangam
maestro and actor VD Rajappan has
passed away at a private hospital in Kottayam.
26.The Union
Ministry of health and welfare has been taking consistent efforts to develop
new medicines and keep the contagious diseases under control. Recently, the
minister of Health and Welfare launched the Rota virus vaccine.
27.Intel’s
former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman Andrew Grove passed due to away Parkinson’s disease.
28.The
Reliance Defence and Engineering Ltd (RDEL), which was previously known as
Pipavav Defence, has decided to further diversify into design and development
of naval weapons and sensors, which cost about 60 per cent of a weapons
platform.
29.To ensure
minimum damage to the ecosystem of the Sundarbans during this polling season,
the district administration and political parties have decided to minimise the
carbon footprint in the islands.
30.India
Post has released a customised commemorative stamp on Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited (HAL) in recognition of the company’s 75 years services to the nation.
31.Prime
Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Brussels on the first leg of his three-nation
tour to Belgium, the US and Saudi Arabia.
32.Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley has launched Make in India conference in Sydney and asked
Australian businesses to be the part of India's growth story.
33.India’s
first indigenous composites sonar dome, a ship’s underwater eyes and ears, was
today flagged off by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar from here to be
delivered to Mazgaon docks in Mumbai.
34.The
government permitted 100% FDI in the marketplace format of e-commerce retailing
with a view to attract more foreign investors.
35.The
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement that it has cancelled
registration of 22 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) including Amazan
Capital and Mascot Commerce.
36.Asia's
biggest telescope has been launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. The telescope has been
located at a height of 2,500 metres at Devasthal
in Nainital district. The site was
chosen for getting a clear view of the sky. The telescope has mirror of 3.6 m
diameter.
37.Dr. Najma
Heptulla, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs launched innovative
entrepreneurship and skill development programme of Maulana Azad National
Academy for Skills (MANAS)– through leading national/ international experts in
different skill sets in New Delhi. She also inaugurated online two training
centres of Beauty & Wellness Sector, one in Okhla and another in Daryaganj
area.
38.J P
Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched two major Digital initiatives
to provide easy access to health services to the public: GIS-enabled HMIS
application and the self-printing of e-CGHS cards, in New Delhi.
39.State-run
Vijaya Bank said the government has approved a capital infusion of Rs 220 crore
in lieu of preferential allotment of shares.
40.Kachhabali
village in Bhim tehsil of Rajsamand district has become the 1st in the state to
vote to close down its lone liquor shop.
41.Indian
Direct Selling Association (IDSA) has announced Jitendra Jagota as the new
Chairman in its new Executive Committee at the General Body Meeting held in New
Delhi.
42.The Oscar
winning US actress Patty Duke has passed away recently. She was 69 year old.
She won Oscar for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker in 1963. Her cause
of death was sepsis from a ruptured intestine.
43.Indian
Test Captain Virat Kohli kept his Performance at the top helped his side into
the semifinals of the World Twenty20 after defeating Australia. He has replaced
Aaron Finch as the number one batsman in the latest ICC T20 rankings.
Number-one ranked India will go head to head with third- ranked West Indies in
Mumbai , while in the first semi-final in Delhi while second-ranked New Zealand
will square-off against fifth-ranked England.
44.According
to a United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) report, India
ranked sixth among the world's top 10 manufacturing countries.
45.India's
fastest train, the Gatimaan Express,
is all set to be launched on April 4, opening a new chapter in the history of
the Indian Railways.The inaugural run of Gatimaan Express from Hazrat
Nizamuddin, Delhi, to Agra Cantt. is scheduled for April 5, the Divisional
Railway Manager's office said in a statement.
46.World
Autism Awareness Day is an internationally recognized day on the 2nd of April
every year. This year the theme is "Autism and the 2030 Agenda: Inclusion
and Neurodiversity".
47.India is
hopeful of receiving the first loan issued by the newly formed Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in the second half of the year. The
country is looking for funds on lower interest rates for its ambitious solar
power project that intends to scale the capacity to 100 gigawatts by 2022.
48.The
government has issued a new set of income tax return (ITR) forms that require
people with an income of Rs 50 lakh and above per annum to disclose their
assets.The new forms are for assessment year 2016-17.The finance ministry
published a gazette order in this regard and taxpayers can file their their
ITRs till the stipulated deadline of July 31.
49.Veteran
journalist and writer Babu Bharadwaj passed away due to cardiac arrest in
Kozhikode, Kerala. He was 68. As a journalist, he was part of prominent print
and television media in Kerala.
50.Germany’s
Development Bank KfW to provide loan assistance to metro system for Nagpur.
51.West Indies have won the World T20 final in stunning fashion
with four straight sixes in the final over to beat England by four wickets.
52.Ace
Indian boxer Shiva Thapa has won the silver medal at the Asian/Oceania
Qualifying Tournament held in Qian’an, China in the 56 Kilogram category final.
53.Germany’s
Development Bank KfW will provide loan assistance of 3750 crore rupees for the
modern and sustainable metro system for Nagpur city.
54.The Union
Finance Minister has extended the safeguard duty on import of some steel
products by two years i.e till March 2018.
55.India
expects $500M AIIB loan for solar power projects in 2016.
56.US, Saudi
Arabia impose joint sanction on fundraising for terrorists.
57.The
National Stock Exchange (NSE) has launched a new index Nifty MidSmallcap 400.
It will represent the mid and small market capitalization segments of the stock
market. The new index will comprise of 400 companies which are the constituents
of Nifty Midcap 150 and Nifty Smallcap 250 indices.
58.In a
major step towards improvement of infrastructure for cancer cure, Maharashtra
tied up with the Tata Trusts to link all government colleges and medical
colleges to the national cancer grid for uniform cancer profiling and quality
treatment.
59.Consumer
loans became cheaper with banks moving to a new way of setting lending rates
following RBI’s diktat to ensure faster and effective transmission of its
policy rate cuts to borrowers. A number of banks, including ICICI, Bank of
India, IDBI today joined their peers like SBI, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank to make
a shift to lending rates based on marginal cost of funds. Other banks that have
adopted new methodology for calculating lending rates include Kotak Mahindra
Bank, Yes Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce. Banking major SBI, HDFC Bank, Axis
Bank, among others would move to new methodology for setting lending rates from
April 1. RBI had asked banks to price fixed rate loans of up to three years
based on marginal cost of funds from April 1. The lending rate based on
marginal cost of funds is lower than base rate in some cases resulting in lower
EMIs for borrowers. Most of the banks were deciding lending rates based on
their average cost of funds.
60.Ace
Indian boxer Shiva Thapa has won the silver medal at the Asian/Oceania
Qualifying Tournament held in Qian’an, China in the 56 Kilogram category final.
61.Pakistan’s
Sikh religious body elected a caretaker president after its first chief Sham
Singh died. Tara Singh was elected the caretaker “pardhan” at a meeting of the
Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.
62.Bhartiya
Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd (BHAVINI) has appointed the Kallol Roy as its new
chairman and managing director (CMD).
63.Bollywood
star Ranveer Singh, who brought alive the role of Maratha warrior Peshwa
Bajirao II on the silver screen through Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Bajirao
Mastani”, will on Friday be feted with the ‘Maharashtrian Of The Year’
64.Australian
pacer Clint McKay has announced his retirement from international cricket after
his first-class team Victoria Bushrangers won the Sheffield Shield tournament.
65.Blackstone
To Acquire HP's 60% Stake In Mphasis.
66.World’s
largest oil firm Aramco to invest in India.
67.IIT Madras and IIM Bangalore have topped the list of top educational institutes
unveiled by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development.
68.Mining
conglomerate Vedanta said its subsidiary Talwandi Sabo Power (TSPL) has set the
Guinness World Record for planting 2,08,751 saplings at a single location in
less than an hour.
69.The
mobile application 'Vidyut Pravah' has been launched by Mr. Piyush Goyal, the
minister of state (Independent Charge) for Power, coal, new and renewable
energy, to empower Common People to Demand 24x7 Power from The States.
70.Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has launched the first phase of the Green Delhi
initiative by planting trees at the Triangular Park near ITO Chowk.
71.Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) today cuts the Repo rate under the liquidity adjustment
facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6.5% in its first bi-monthly monetary
policy review for the 2016-17 fiscal.
72.Former
Mumbai Ranji Trophy cricketer Ranjan Baindoor passed away at his residence
following a massive heart attack.
73.Kenya’s
Cyprian Kotut claimed a double in the French capital within a month when he won
this year’s Paris Marathon in personal best of 2 hours, 07 minutes and 13
seconds.
74.5 times
world chess champion Viswanathan Anand will be honoured with the Hridaynath
Award, which felicitates and recognises successful individuals across the
country from various walks of life.
75.The
world’s first public dengue vaccination programme was launched in the
Philippines as nurses began injecting the first batch of a million children
with a French drug to combat the sometimes deadly disease.
76.The
Government has released Rs. 25,834 crore to FCI as Food Subsidy. In addition to
this, wage and means advance of Rs. 10,000 crore will be released shortly.
77.Unique
Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had generated 100 crore Aadhaar numbers
in five-and half years since the first Aadhaar was issued in 2010.
78.Shivraj
Singh Chouhan, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh along with Union
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and other dignitaries have inaugurated
the world's first wildlife sanctuary for white tigers in Madhya Pradesh.
79.India's
first cash giving app has launched by a fin-tech company called Tslc Pte Ltd. The app is named as CASHe.
80.Union
Government has released Indian Intellectual Property (IP) Panorama to increase
awareness and build sensitivity towards IP in the SME sector, academia and
researchers. The IP Panorma is a single window interface for information on IP
and guidance on leveraging it for competitive advantage. It can be accessed at
http://ict-ipr.in/index.php/ip-panorama.
81.The Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on 5 April 2016 launched Stand Up India Scheme to
promote entrepreneurship among Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes and Women
entrepreneurs.
82.Mother
Dairy, an Indian FMCG company has partnered with Indian Premium League (IPL)
cricket team Delhi Daredevils as its principal sponsor.
83.Pranab
Mukherjee, the President of India conferred the National Geoscience Awards 2014
at a function to be held at RashtrapatiBhavan in New Delhi. The National
Geoscience Awards was previously known
as the National Mineral Awards and was instituted by the Ministry of Mines in
1966.
84.Odisha
government has launched 100 AdarshaVidyalayas and CBSE-affiliated English
medium schools in 14 districts of the state
85.The Chief
Minister of Bihar Mr. Nitish Kumar has declared total ban on the sale of all
forms of alcohol with immediate effect.
86.To
improve air connectivity, government plans to develop 25 regional airports.
87.India has
signed a memorandum of understanding with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB)
for a possible $100 million line of credit to simplify exports to IDB’s member
countries.
88.The Union
Government on 5 April 2016 constituted a high-level committee to suggest ways
to strengthen the border protection along the border with Pakistan. It will
also address the issue of gaps and vulnerability in border fencing along
Indo-Pakistan border.
89.Mumbai
has got its first air-conditioned suburban local train. which was flagged off
from Integral Coach Factory in Chennai on March 31, has finally arrived in the
metropolis, and its trial run would take place within a week.
90.Delhi
government has passed a proposal to build a memorial for late President APJ
Abdul Kalam at DilliHaat, south Delhi.
91.The World
Health Day is a global health awareness day celebrated every year on 7 April,
under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO) from 1950.
92.Reliance
Foundation Chairperson Nita Ambani has been named the most powerful
businesswoman in Asia by Forbes, leading a list of 50 women leaders from the
region that includes eight from India.
93.KamlaAdvani
(83-years),wife of senior BJP leader L.K. Advani died at the All India
Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) due to cardiac arrest.
94.The
annual fees for undergraduate courses (UG) in IITs will be hiked from existing
Rs. 90,000 to Rs. two lakh from upcoming academic session.
95.Iceland
ruling coalition Government has named SigurdurIngi Johannsson (53- years) as
the new Prime Minister after igmundur Gunnlaugsson had stepped down .
96.A
three-day North East-ASEAN Business Summit begins this afternoon at the City
Convention Centre in Imphal, Manipur.
97.Indian
men have won the Asian Nations Cup Chess 2016 tournament with a 3-1 victory
over Vietnam in the final round played in Abu Dhabi.
98.To
promote the Swachh Bharat Mission, Union Urban development Minister Venkaiah
Naidu inaugurated 'Namma Toilet' in the national capital Delhi.
99.Minister
of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra
Pradhan dedicated 36 new CNG stations located in Delhi and NCR to the
public.
100.American
multinational information technology company HR Inc (Hewlett-Packard) has
launched eight new personal products including the world thinnest laptop. The
laptop is having 10.4 mm thickness. According to the company ‘Spectre’ is the
world’s thinnest laptop and has a battery life of up to nine and a half hours.
101.The
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) cleared conversion of Working
Capital Term Loan (WCTL) of Bank of Baroda's (BoB) 29.91 crore rupees loan to
Andrew Yule & Co. Ltd. (AYCL) into equity shares.
102.Snapdeal
has partnered with 9 non governmental organisations (NGOs) to launch Snapdeal
Sunshine, a platform where users can make donations to causes under education,
health, sports, women empowerment, disaster relief and old age care.
103.The
veteran journalist and author Yogendra
Bali has passed away on Thursday due to a heart attack. He was 85 year old.
104.American
country music legend Merle Haggard died
of pneumonia at his home in Northern California, the day was his 79th birthday.
105.India
sat again on the top of the Credit Suisse Emerging Consumer Scorecard 2016. In
accordance with the report, Indian consumers stay more optimistic about their
present and future funds and moderately low inflation expectations.
106.Capital
city of Manipur, Imphal, has been hosting North East-ASEAN Business Summit
2016at the City Convention Centre.
107.The
Vasundhara Raje-led government has managed to pass the Rajasthan Urban
Land(Certification of Titles) Bills 2016 in the state assembly.
108.On the
occasion of World Health Day 2016 that was celebrated on April 7 with theme
“Halt the rise: Beat Diabetes”, WHO has released its first Global Report on
Diabetes.
109.Washington,
D.C. Headquartered World Bank presented its ambitious climate action plan that
will help nations to create an additional 30 gigawatts of renewable energy,
early warning frameworks and in creating climate smart agriculture investment
plans for at least 40 nations.
110.Kochi
based Federal Bank has signed pact with Phillip Capital,for managing the NRI
Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS).
111.The
Vietnamese parliament elected Former
deputy prime minister of Vietnam elected
Nguyen XuanPhuc as the 8th Prime Mininster of Vietname parliament . He was
succeeded Nguyen Tan Dung who was removed from office on 6 April 2016.
112.Amitabh
Coomar, a former divisional manager for brand marketing at ITC has appointed as CEO of GoJavas and Jai Vohra,
the Head of Marketplace at Jabong.Com will appointed as headof the company’s Strategy and Planning
functions.
113.India
Open Super Series Defeat costs SainaNehwal and KidambiSrikanth dearly as the
top Indian shuttlers slipped down the order in the latest BWF World ranking.
114.Kansai
Nerolac Paints Ltd has signed up with the Gujarat Lions franchise as associate
sponsor for the ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) which will
start on April 9,2016.
115.Delhi
CM, ArvindKejriwal has launched actor EmraanHashmi’s book titled, ”The Kiss of
Life How a Superhero and my son defeated cancer”.
116.Merle
Haggard, one of the most successful singers in the history of country music
died at his farm in California on April 6, He was 79.
117.In one
of the worst tragedies to hit Kerala, at least 106 people were killed and 383
injured in a devastating fire that engulfed the 100-year-old Puttingal Devi
Temple complex near Kollam during an unauthorised display of fireworks early on
Sunday.
118.U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry visited the revered memorial to Hiroshima's
atomic bombing on Monday, delivering a message of peace and hope for a
nuclear-free world seven decades after United States used the weapon for the
first time in history.
119.The IMF
on Sunday defended negative interest rates set by central banks, given
"significant risks" of slow growth, while acknowledging potential for
dangerous boom-and-bust cycles.
120.Japanese
electronics giant Panasonic has appointed senior executive Manish Sharma to its
global executive council, inducting an Indian onto the coveted decision-making
body of the $80-billion company for the first time ever.
121.The
Architect or father of the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), Mr. MyneniHari
Prasad Rao has passed away in Chennai. He was 88 year old. He is survived by
three daughters and a son.
122.Bihar
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was on Sunday elected as the Janata Dal-United
president, a move that would put him in complete command of the party as its
seeks to expand beyond the state and prepares for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
123.US
Defence Secretary Ashton Carter
began a three-day visit to India on Sunday, seeking to advance a relatively new
defence relationship. Washington sees India as a counterweight to the growing
power of China.
124.India is
ready to invest $20 billion in the development of Iran's Chabahar port and has
requested it to allocate adequate land in the Chabahar Special Economic Zone
(SEZ), state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) said in a statement in New
Delhi on Sunday.
125.German
Justice Minister Heiko Maas appealed in a newspaper interview to media to hand
over the Panama Papers that show how offshore firms are used to stash the
wealth of the world's elite.
126.Ukrainian
Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk tendered his resignation in a televised
broadcast on Sunday and signalled support for parliamentary speaker and
presidential ally Volodymyr Groysman to take over his post.
127.East
Coast Railway (ECoR) has emerged as the largest freight loading railway zone of
Indian Railways in 2015-16. ECoR loaded 173.49 million tonnes of freight
compared to 161.91 million tonnes achieved in the corresponding period previous
year and registered an increase of 7.1 per cent, its officials said.
128.Gujarat
chief Minister Anandiben Patel officially launched the state-wide
implementation of National Food Security Act, which has been renamed as Maa
Annapurna Yojna (Scheme) by the state government.
129.Delhi
girl, Priyadarshini Chatterjee was
announced as the winner of FBB Femina Miss India World by Bollywood superstar
Shah Rukh Khan during a star-studded ceremony.
130.Britain’s
Anthony Joshua won the International Boxing Federation heavyweight title in
London with a second-round knockout of Charles Martin.
131.Union
government is set to issue universal identity cards to the physically
challenged with the objective of providing them easy access to various benefits
being extended by the government.
132.Union
Power Minister Piyush Goyal laid the foundation stone for underground cabling
work under Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) in Varanasi. The Ministry
has sanctioned Rs. 432 crores for the project.
133.Akilesh
Yadav led Uttar Pradesh government has directed all the district magistrates
for plantation of 5 crore trees at 6,500 sites in 24 hours on a date fixed in
month of July under the ‘Green UP – Clean UP initiative .
134.The
government will provide electricity to all villages in Uttar Pradesh located in
remote locations and aims to provide electricity 24/7 to every household in
India by 2019.
135.Prime
Minister visited the Puttingal Devi temple at Kollam, following fire mishap.
The mishap happened due to the display of fireworks occurred on the last day of
the seven-day ‘MeenaBharani’ festivities.
136.Dubai
plans to build a tower that will stand higher than its Burj Khalifa, currently
the world’s tallest skyscraper, will be built by property developer Emaar. The
total cost will be USD 1 billion.
137.The US
Navy is leading 30-nation maritime exercise across Middle East Waters. The
International Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMEX) started with a conference
in Bahrain.
138.India
has offered to invest up to $20 billion in Iran announced by Oil Minister
Dharmendra Pradha during his two day visit to Iran. This was the first visit by
an Indian minister since the US and other western powers lifted sanctions
against Iran in January.
139.Tamil
descendent Judge Navanetham Pillay, South Africa’s first non-white woman judge
who is of Indian origin, has been convened upon the highest French civilian the
Legion of Honour.
140.Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the “3rd Asia Ministerial Conference” on
the Tiger Conservation in New Delhi.
141.Union
Govt. has appointed senior IPS officer Ms. Meeran C. Borwankar as the Director
General in the Bureau of Police Research
& Development (BPR&D).
142.The G7
Foreign Ministers' Meeting is one of the ministerial meetings that held in
advance of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima on 10th & 11th April, 2016.
143.Sanmar
Chemicals, India's private sector petrochemical firm, will receive Rs.1,996
crore equity investment from Fairfax India Holdings, reported Reuters.
144.India
leading telecom company Bharti Airtel received its payment bank license that is
had applied for in partnership with Kotak Mahindra Bank, a move that will help
the companies take Indian government's financial inclusion plans to the next
level.
145.Virat
Kohli Named As Brand Ambassador Of Premier Futsal Football League.
146.Industry
body Internet and Mobile Association of India, has appointed Paytm founder
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, chairman of its the newly formed payments banks group.
147.India's
men's and women's teams have won both the category’s championship titles at the
third Asian Kho-Kho championship organised in Indore.
148.India
and Germany signed an agreement on the implementation Agreement for Ganga
Rejuvenation under the Namami Gange Programme.
149.Leading
actor Ajay Devgn and his actress
wife Kajol will serve as brand
ambassadors of Andhra Pradesh tourism.
150.Haryana
Government has decided to rename Gurgaon as Gurugram. State government also has renamed Mewat as Nuh.
151.Fitch
Ratings expects India to be on the top of the global growth ladder and
expanding by 7.7 per cent in the current fiscal.
152.IMF in
its latest, World Economic Outlook report said, India’s growth is projected to
notch up to 7.5 per cent in 2016-17, overtaking China’s GDP by more than 1 per
cent.
153.The
Department of Post will launch its payments bank by January next year and top
management of the new-age venture would be in-place by July, a senior official
said today.
154.Former
Indian Army Chief General (retd.) JJ Singh was conferred with the highest
French civilian distinction, Officer of the Legion of Honour.
155.Dogri
Poetess and novelist Padma Sachdev (76) has been chosen for the prestigious
Saraswati Samman for the year 2015.
156.India
remained the world’s largest remittance recipient in 2015 despite experiencing
a one billion US dollar drop from the previous year.
157.PM
Narendra Modi today launched Gram Uday Se Bharat UdayAbhiyan on 125th birth anniversary
of Dr. BhimRaoAmbedkar at Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.
158.Democratic
presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has won Time magazine’s readers’ poll of
the world’s 100 most influential people, garnering more than three times as
many votes as his rival Hillary Clinton.
159.The
Republic of Nauru, a tiny South Pacific island nation in Pacific Ocean became
the 189th member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
160.India
ranked 44th among 50 different countries in the 2016 Global Connectivity Index
(GCI) report compiled by Chinese telecom giant Huawei. United States has topped
the index, Singapore ranks second and Sweden ranks third in the list.
161.Australia
defeated India by 4-0 to lift ninth Sultan Azlan Shah Cup title.
162.Union
Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya has said that the government has decided to
bring out an executive order to increase minimum wages to 10,000 rupees per
month for contract labourers across the country.
163.As part
of its steps to support budding entrepreneurs, the government on April 21 will
launch a new service, Twitter Seva, to address various queries of startups in a
time bound manner.
164.The
Indian Army conducted major battle exercise named as ‘Shatrujeet’ in the Thar
Desert of Rajasthan near to the border with Pakistan.
165.Union
government to compensate of Rs 8.5 lakh for SC/ST victim of gang rape, murder
or an acid attack including 47 offen cesto get the compensation from a state
government, The new rules have come into force immediately.
166.Forbes
in its inaugural edition of Global Game Changers List launched this year has
ranked some of the biggest names in business.
167.A US
grand jury has slapped $ 940 million fine on two companies of India’s Tata
group namely Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata America International
Corporation.
168.Google's
massive book-scanning project cleared its final legal hurdle Monday as the US
Supreme Court denied an appeal contending it violates copyright law.
169.For the
first time, United Nations observed the birth anniversary of Dr. BR Ambedkar.
170.The
Maharashtra legislature has unanimously passed the Maharashtra Prohibition of
People from Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill, 2016
to end the menace social boycott practiced by extra-judicial institutions like
caste and community panchayats.
171.The
International Earth Day has been celebrated every year around the worldon 22nd
April. This year’s theme is ‘Trees for
the Earth’, it sets the goal of planting 7.8 billion trees over the next
five years.
172.The
Centre has decided to release 10,000 metric tonnes of pulses, mainly Tur and
Urad, from buffer stock to ensure their availability at reasonable prices.
173.Chad’s
veteran leader and incumbent President Idriss Deby(63-years) has won a fifth
term in office after taking more than 60 percent of the vote in the first round
of presidential polls.
174.Pop
music superstar Prince Rogers Nelson(57-years), popularly known as Prince was
found dead at his home in suburban Minneapolis.
175.Senior
IAS officer of Kerala cadre A Ajith Kumar has been appointed as the chairman of
Rubber Board, Kottayam, Kerala.
176.The
five-time Bafta-winning actress and comedian Victoria Wood (62-years) has died
at her London home after a short illness with cancer.
177.Scientists
from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have indigenously developed
world’s lightest synthetic material called ‘silica aerogel’ or ‘blue
air’.
178.Europe
has become the world’s first region to wipe out malaria with zero cases
reported in the year 2015.
179.Breaking
gender barrier,Indian Navy has granted permanent commission to seven Short
Service Commission (SSC) women officers who joined the service in 2008-09.
180.Women
were permitted entry to the ‘garbhagriha‘ of the Trimbakeshwar temple in Nashik
District of Maharashtra.
181.Govt.
has decided Chandigarh to host the International yoga day. The first
International Day of Yoga was observed world over by millions on June 21, 2015.
182.Former
WWE women’s champion and reality TV star Chyna (45-years) real name Joanie
Laurer has died at her home in Southern California.
183.The
Union Cabinet has given its approval for operationalisation of new Indian
Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) at Tirupati, Andhra
Pradesh.
184.India
and China have agreed to adhere to peaceful negotiations to settle the border
issue and reach a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution.
185.President
Pranab Mukherjee honoured the Chinese professor GeFuping with the George
Grierson prize for his remarkable works done for the propagation of Hindi
abroad.
186.The
Uttarakhand high court on revoke the imposition of President’ rule in the state
and revived the Congress government headed by Harish Rawat, who has been asked
to prove his majority on 29 April.
187.Union
Government has notified that the Department of Disinvestment is renamed as
Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).
188.The
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced Rahul Johri as its
first-ever chief executive officer (CEO).
189.US
President Barack Obama has nominated Indian-American Geeta Pasi as the
country’s next envoy to central African nation Chad.
190.Laos’s
National Assembly appointed Communist Party chief Bounnhang Vorachit as the
country’s new president and named foreign minister Thongloun Sisoulith as prime
minister.
191.The Goa
govt. has appointed former Chief Justice of Patna High Court Justice P.K.
Mishra, as Lokayukta of the State.
192.China
has suspended an international anti-corruption task force earlier this year
after taking over the G-20 presidency.
193.PM
Narendra Modi dedicated the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Super speciality
Hospital to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in Katra belt of Reasi
district.
194.Gujarat
government has announced exemption to small salt producers from industrial salt
VAT.
195.The
govt. has merged Rajiv Gandhi KhelAbhiyan (RGKA) with the Khelo India programme
for development of sports.
196.Wholesale
price-based inflation remained in negative territory for the 17th month in a
row, at minus 0.85 per cent in March this year.
197.Renowned
Hollywood actress Doris Roberts(90-years) passed away in Los Angeles in her
sleep. She was best known for playing meddling mother Marie Barone in US sitcom
Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005).
200.Ace
tennis Player Rafael Nadal from
Spain beat the defending champion, Kei Nishikori (6-4, 7-5) to win the
Barcelona Open Tennis 2016 for the ninth time. With this victory, Nadal has
equalled Guillermo Vilas’ (Argentina) decade’s old record of 49 clay-court
titles. Rafael Nadal has won 14 Grand Slam singles titles, 28 titles in ATP
World Tour Masters 1000 events and 16 ATP World Tour 500 tournaments.
202.World
Malaria Day (WMD) is being observed every year on 25 April across the world to
recognise the global efforts to control preventable vector borne disease
malaria. The World Malaria Day was established by the 60th session of the World
Health Assembly, a decision-making body of World Health Organization (WHO) in
May 2007.
203.Every
year April 24 is being observed as National Panchayati Raj (PR) Diwas across
India. On the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Diwas, PM Narendra Modi has
addressed the Panchayat across the country from Jamshedpur (Jharkhand).
Panchayat Raj system was first adopted by the state of Rajsthan in Nagaur
district on 2nd Oct 1959.
204.Former
Congolese Finance Minister Mouamba Clement has been appointed as as the new
Prime Minister of the central African country. He will be responsible for
forming a government in consultation with the president in accordance with the
25 October 2015 constitution. Earlier,Sassou Nguesso had led Congo between 1979
and 1992 and again had returned to power after a civil war in 1997.
205.The
Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry has notified new rules on
Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birth anniversary to give effect amended Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 to ensure speedy justice
to members of the SC/ST community. The new rule includes the provision of
completing an investigation and filing a charge sheet in the court within 60
days of the filing of complaint by a member of SC/ST community. There is also
provision of relief for offences of rape and gang rape, introduced for the
first time.
206.India
will host the 2018 Commonwealth Judo Championships in Jaipur. The Commonwealth
Judo Championships had allotted to India, by the Commonwealth Judo Congress
held at Port Elizabeth, South Africa. This will be the first time that
Commonwealth Judo Championships will be held in India.
207.The BCCI
is all set to host its first-ever day and night cricket Test with the pink ball
when New Zealand tour India. Before that, Duleep Trophy will act as a dress
rehearsal for the day-night Test match. The main objective of the Duleep Trophy
will be to check how the pink kookaburra behaves under the light in
sub-continental conditions.
208.Indian
shooter Mairaj Ahmed Khan (40-years)
has won the silver medal in the Men’s Skeet event of the ISSF Shooting World
Cup in Rio De Janerio. Mairaj’s feat, gave India its first skeet medal at a
World Cup. Earlier,he became India’s first ever skeet shooter to win an Olympic
quota place after finishing at sixth place in last year’s ISSF Shotgun World
Cup in Italy.
209.Sushila
Karki has become the first female acting Chief Justice of Nepal’s Supreme Court
ending the male domination in higher posts in the judiciary. She replaced
Kalyan Shrestha.
210.People
in Kerala are celebrating the harvest festival, Vishu . Devotees across the
state are visiting temples, performing special pujas and exchanging gifts to
mark the occasion.
211.Every
year World Intellectual Property Day (WIPD) is being observed on 26 April to highlight
importance of intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, industrial
designs, copyright) in encouraging innovation and creativity.
212.Union
Sports Ministry has decided to provide one lakh rupees per month as out of
pocket allowance to the sports persons under the Target Olympic Podium (TOP)
scheme in their preparation for the Olympics and Paralympics Games at Rio de
Janeiro.
213.Haryana
Government has decided to give free laptops to first 500 meritorious students,
who would secure a minimum of 95% marks
in annual Board examination of Class X in 2016-17.
214.Taxi
operator Uber has partnered with Election Commission in Tamil Nadu to spread awareness on
voting among the electorate for the May 16 assembly polls.
215.Heart of
Asia (HoA) conference begins in New Delhi. The conference is with the objective
of bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan and speeding up its
reconstruction with a focus on enhancing investment and connectivity to the
country.
216.The
Western Railway has launched a unique service through which commuters would be
able to know the running status of local trains from simply giving a missed
call.
217.The
Union Govt. has recently constituted 8-member inter-ministerial Ashok Dalwai
committee to prepare a blueprint for doubling farmer’s income by 2022.
218.Parliament
has passed the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2016 to remove given to
Sahjdhari Sikhs to vote in the elections to members of the Board and the
Committees.
219.Finance
Ministry has approved 8.7 per cent interest on Provident Fund deposits for over
five crore subscribers of Employee Provident Fund Organisation, EPFO for
2015-16.
220.Indian
rower Dattu Bhokanal qualified for the Rio Olympics after winning a silver in
the finals of men’s single sculls at the 2016 FISA Asian and Oceania Olympic
Qualification Regatta at Chung-ju in South Korea.
221.Riyad
Mahrez has become the first African football player ever to receive the
Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year award.
222.Global
data analytics company Experian, launched its ‘Hunter Fraud Score’, a new
scoring mechanism that measures the probability of fraud in a credit
application across banking and insurance industries.
223.The
Tibetan government-in-exile re-elected Lobsang Sangey as the Prime Minister for
a second consecutive term.
224.Income
Tax department will now add interest amount to a delayed refund made on excess
Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) deductions and will also not litigate with the
deductor on this issue in the future.
225.India’s Deepika Kumari has equalled the world
record in Women’s Recurve event at the qualifying stage of Archery World Cup
being held in Shanghai.
226.The
Union Railway Ministry has decided to create a 1 lakh crore rupees safety fund
named Rashtriya Rail SanrakshaKosh to strengthen safety measures on the rail
network to prevent accidents.
227.Badminton
ace Nandu Natekar has been inducted into the Legends Club, founded by the late
Cricket Club of India president Raj Singh Dungarpur.
228.The
former prime minister of Thailand, Banharn Silpa-archa was passed away in
Bangkok. He was 83.
229.New
Zealand’s Kane Williamson was named
the Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the World for the year 2015.
230.For the
first time, United Nations observed the birth anniversary of Dr. BR Ambedkar on
14th April.
231.Road
Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said government plans to make
it mandatory to set aside one per cent of total cost of any highway project for
road safety.
232.Jammu
and Kashmir(J&K) govt. has approved 5% interest subvention to flood-hit
traders with effect from 1st April this year.
233.Renowned
Kerala cartoonist V T Thomas passed
away in Kottayam, Kerala. He was popularly known as Toms and had created the
legendary cartoon characters Boban and Molly (Bobanum Moliyum).
234.India
has successfully put into orbit its seventh and final navigation satellite( IRNSS-1G)
with its own rocket PSLV C 33.
235.Renowned
artist Sudarsan Pattnaik (39-year) has won the gold medal at ninth Moscow Sand
Sculpture Championship at Russia.
236.South
Africa's great bowler Allan Donald has been appointed as bowling coach of
Australia cricket team for their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, while Stuart Law
will mentor the batsmen.
237.New
Zealand have appointed Kane Williamson as their captain in all three formats of
the game (cricket).
238.Former
Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya
has been reappointed as the country’s chief selector, a little more than a year
after he stepped down from the position.
