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1. Meenakshi Madan Rai was sworn in as the first lady judge of the Sikkim High Court.
2. Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) decided to rename Tourist Visa on Arrival-Electronic Travel Authorization (TVoA-ETA) scheme as e-Tourist Visa (eTV) scheme. The renamed scheme will come into effect from 15 April 2105. MHA decided to change the name of the scheme after it observed that the name of the scheme (TVoA-ETA) created confusion among tourists and also it had received requests of name change from some Indian embassies.
3. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the Vividh Bharati Service of Delhi on FM Mode in a function held at premises of New Broadcasting House of All India Radio (AIR). The service will be available on 100.1 Megahertz frequency.
4. The Chinese Government quashed the bid of Taiwan to become a full member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for lack of appropriate name.The Chinese Government said that it would welcome Taiwan in the future but under a different name.
Taiwan made a last-minute application to join the AIIB as a founding member on the deadline day of 31 March 2015 under the name of Chinese-Taipei.
5. Renowned film director and actor of Assam Bidyut Chakraborty died on 15 April 2015 in a private nursing home in Guwahati after brief illness. He was 55.
6. Songkran Festival of Thailand was in news as over 120 people were killed and 1281 were injured while celebrating the festival. Songkran festival is a traditional New Year Eve celebration of Thailand. It is also known as Thailand Water Festival.It is originally celebrated as a way for the Thai people to sprinkle water on their family members and elders for good fortune and pay their respects to images of the beloved Buddha.
7. State-owned power equipment-maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) commissioned a 600 MW thermal unit at Dhabra in Janjgir Champa District of Chhattisgarh for the Dainik Bhaskar Power Limited.
This is the second unit of 2 × 600 MW power project, commissioned by BHEL. The first 600 MW Unit was commissioned in 2014.
8. The Yoga guru Baba Ramdev was in news as State government of Haryana on 13 April 2015 decided to accord status equivalent to a Cabinet Minister on him.
9. Nobel laureate German novelist Gunter Grass died in Luebeck, Germany. He was 87. He was a novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature.
10. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been voted among the 100 most influential people in the world in an online poll by readers of Time magazine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged the winner of this year’s Time 100 readers’ poll.
11. Ramesh Abhishek will continue to head the Forward Market Commission (FMC) till its merger with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). FMC is the regulator of commodity exchanges engaged in future trading.
12. The World Bank has said India continues to be the leading nation in remittances pulling in USD 70 billion from its global migrant workforce in 2014.United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remained the top five migrant destination countries and apart from India, China, Philippines, Mexico and Nigeria are the top five remittance recipient countries, in terms of value of remittances
13. Flipkart has decided to pull out of an ongoing discussion with Airtel to join the Airtel Zero platform. The move follows criticism that the deal would violate the principles of net neutrality.
14. Mobile commerce platform Paytm inked memorandum of understanding MoU with National Centre for Trade Information (NCTI) to promote Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). As per MoU, Paytm will offer a virtual marketplace platform for NCTI members and will extend its services and enable them to sell online. In this regard, Paytm will set up payment gateways platform for online ticketing and membership fees for NCTI.
15. Sania Mirza created history by becoming the first female tennis player from India to achieve the world number one rank in doubles, following her stupendous title win at the WTA Family Circle Cup with partner Martina Hingis, in Charleston.
16. In a first of its kind initiative in the country, Gujarat government is promoting a tour package covering major industrial installations which have earned global acclaim for the state.
Some of the major attractions of this recently launched tour package include a visit to Tata Nano plant in Sanand, Pipavav port .near Amreli, Alang ship breaking yard in Bhavnagar and Amul Dairy in Anand.
17. New Zealand won the 2015 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup men’s hockey tournament. In the final clash played at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia, New Zealand defeated World Champions Australia 3-1.
18. Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB), a regional rural bank headquartered in Dharwad, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Life Insurance Corporation of India under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’. It aims at providing insurance cover to all the Aadhar-linked savings account holders of the bank in the age group of 18 to 50 years.
19. Indian tennis player Yuki Bhambri won the Uzbekistan F1 Futures Men’s singles title by defeating Dzmitry Zyrmont of Serbia.Yuki defeated his rival in two straight sets 6-2 6-4 in the final match held in Karshi, Uzbekistan.
20. Indian shooter Jitu Rai won Bronze medal at the 10-meter Air Pistol Men final in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Rifle/Pistol World Cup held in Changwon, South Korea.
21. A painting titled Tree of Life was gifted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to French President Francois Hollande during his visit to France from 9 April to 12 April 2015.
The painting reflects traditional societal respect for nature in India and tree as a divine gift central to human life is a recurring element in Indian artistic practiceThe Tree of Life, with multiple roots and branches like a banyan tree, is a motif for a tree’s benevolence, fruit, seeds, shelter, healing, procreation and regeneration faculties that sustain life and clean the environment.
The painting is the work of Bhaskar Mahapatra, an Odisha artist and the art form is pigments on silk which he has been practicing for last thirty years along with rest of his family.
22. Lt General (retd) Hanut Singh, the recipient of the Mahavir Chakra and hero of 1971 Indo-Pak war, died in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. He was 82.
23. In a new twist to the high profile SEBI-Sahara case, the Indian capital markets regulator has approached a US court with a USD 12-million claim on proceeds from sale of a corporate jet owned by a Sahara Group firm.
The court has rejected the demand for now, saying that SEBI could not “properly file a claim prior to the Bar Date and in accordance with the terms of the Court’s order“.
24. Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton from Britain on 12 April 2015 won Chinese Grand Prix of Formula One on the Shanghai International Circuit in China.
25. Air Pegasus, promoted by Decor Aviation Private Limited, on Sunday commenced its commercial operation with a daily to-and-fro flight to Hubballi and Thiruvananthapuram
26. The NITI Aayog has initiated the mid-term appraisal process of the 12th Five Year Plan, an exercise which has long been followed prior to establishment of the new body that replaced the Planning Commission.
27. The youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner and girls’ education campaigner Malala Yousafzai now has an asteroid named after her. Amy Mainzer, astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, named Asteroid 316201 after Malala
28. With overseas investors pumping in over Rs. 2,000 crore in the Indian capital markets so far this month, total foreign fund inflows have crossed the Rs. 81,000 crore mark since the beginning of the year.
29. India was elected to four important United Nations (UN) agencies . These agencies are United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Program (WFP), Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) and the Governing Council of UN-Habitat.
30. Social Progress Index (SPI) 2015 was released by the US-based non-profit organisation Social Progress Imperative . On population-weighted basis, the SPI score for the whole world stands at 61 and at 64.39 when SPI scores are based on simple average of countries. India with a score of 53.06 is ranked 101st and is placed in the Low Social Progress Group. In 2014, India with a score of 50.24 was ranked 102 out of 132 countries.
31. Seoul city, the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea, was awarded the title of Global Earth hour Capital 2015 after it won the Earth Hour City Challenge (EHCC) of World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The city of Balikpapan, Indonesia was recognized as the Most Loveable City for 2015 and Thane city was named as the National Earth Hour Capital 2015 of India.
32. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat announced fresh measures to provide relief to rain-hit farmers in the state including free distribution of seeds among them and an increased subsidy on ginger and turmeric seeds.
33. Coca-Cola India has roped in Bollywood actors Varun Dhawan and Gulshan Grover for its latest ad campaign for Maaza, its mango drink. Also, the company has decided to revamp Maaza’s packaging and labelling.
34. Syndicate Bank and Life Insurance Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding to implement the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’. LIC will provide a life cover of ₹2 lakh in case of death of the insured person at a nominal premium of ₹330 per annum. Savings bank account holders of the bank, in the age group of 18 to 50 years, can avail themselves of the product. The scheme will come into effect from June 1.
35. Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela qualified for next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after clinching a 10m air rifle bronze in the ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) in Changwon, Korea
36. India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) became operational at Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City in Gandhinagar district of Gujarat
37. President Pranab Mukherjee appointed the senior most Election Commissioner (EC), Dr. Nasim Zaidi as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). He will succeed incumbent CEC HS Brahma
38. Richie Benaud, the former Australian cricket captain and legendary commentator died in Sydney on 10 April 2015
39. Arun Kumar Jha was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Mumbai.
40. India successfully test fired nuclear weapons-capable Dhanush missile from a ship, off the Odisha coast.
41. Rajasthan Legislative Assembly has passed a Bill to hike allowances for all sitting MLAs and those who have been members of the House since April 1, 2012.
42. India has been designated to chair the ninth meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Council. The meeting is scheduled to be held in June in Abu Dhabi.
43. Flipkart, India’s leading e-commerce marketplace, has tied up with the Dabbawalas of Mumbai for last-mile delivery to customers.
44. Professional social network operator LinkedIn Corp buy privately held online education company lynda.com in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $1.5 billion.
45. Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has bought RBS's diamond and jewellery financing business and related deposit portfolio
46. Peruvian President Ollanta Humala swore in Pedro Alvaro Cateriano Bellido as the nation’s new Prime Minister in a ceremony held on Thursday evening at the Government Palace in Lima, Peru.
47. West Bengal and Bihar Governor K.N. Tripathi, who has been given additional charge of Mizoram, was sworn in as the 16th governor of the northeastern state
48. Delhi International Airport Limited has won ‘Golden Peacock National Quality Award’ for 2015 for their concerted efforts in building a culture of Total Quality across Indira Gandhi International Airport.
49. Central Bank of India has topped the list of public sector banks with maximum bad loans including restructured assets as a percentage of total advances.
50. Diageo, the world’s largest spirits maker, on Thursday, took full control of South African beer maker United National Breweries by acquiring the additional 50 per cent stake in the company from Vijay Mallya-controlled Pestello Investments for an initial payment of $22 million.
51. A total of about Rs 900 crore has been sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Urban Development and an amount of about Rs 700 crore has been released to States/UTs based on proposals received under Swachh Bharat Mission during 2014-15.
52. India has welcomed the understanding announced in Lausanne between Iran and the E3+3 on the nuclear issue. A significant step seems to have been taken with the agreement on the parameters of a comprehensive settlement to be negotiated by June 30, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday morning.
China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States form the E3+3.
53. India has been ranked a low 119 out of 130 countries on an index that measures business resilience of nations based on economic, risk quality and supply chain factors, dropping seven notches from last year.
The 2015 FM Global Resilience Index has been topped by Norway for being the country best suited for companies seeking to avoid disruptions in their global supply chain operations.
54. New Zealand cricket team captain Brendon McCullum was conferred with the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for 2014-15. McCullum won the award for his remarkable performance both as a player and the captain during the 2014-15 season.
55. China’s former Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang plans to announcement his retirement next week following years of nagging injuries.
56. Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal will lose her world no. 1 ranking after her gallant fight against Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the semifinals ended in heartbreak at the $500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament.
57. The Union Government extended the deadline for implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) deadline by six months in the states.
The deadline has already been extended twice for implementing the food law, was ending on April 4
58. India’s largest online marketplace Snapdeal announced to acquire RupeePower, a leading digital financial products distribution platform. The acquisition aimed to launch financial service.
59. Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Limited launched Smart Traveller that offers global coverage for students, individuals, families and frequent travellers.
The SmartTraveller Insurance policy offers a choice of two major plans catering to Individuals and Families and frequent travelers through a variant known as Annual Multi Trip International travel insurance plan.
60. Michael Rudenko, a committee member of the Minor Planet Center5 officially named a minor planet as 4538 Vishyanand, to honour India’s first chess grandmaster, Vishwanathan Anand.
61. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Give it Up campaign. The campaign was launched at the annual energy-focussed summit Urja Sangam 2015.
The campaign seeks to extort the better off sections of society to forego their liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy, which would be utilised in providing subsidised LPG connections to the poor.
62. Operation Raahat was in news as India launched a massive air and sea operation to evacuate over 4000 Indian nationals from Yemen. The operation will involve total of five ships and four aircraft.
The operation started after India got permission to dock its offshore patrol vessel INS Sumitra at the Aden harbor of Yemen
63. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sanctioned the scheme of amalgamation of ING Vysya Bank Ltd. with Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. The Scheme will come into force with effect from 1 April 2015.
64. Mustafa Kamal stepped down as the President of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He sent out the resignation letter to the ICC.
The Bangladeshi cricket administrator had succeeded Alan Isaac as the 11th President of the ICC in June 2014 for a period of two years.
65. Prime Minister of Peru Ana Jara was sacked after she lost the vote of confidence in Congress. Congress voted 72 to 42 to censure Jara, with two abstentions.
66. Punjab has launched a special mission to provide school students a separate period for playing along with studies. Named as ‘Padho Punjab-Khedo Punjab Mission’, (Learn Punjab-Play Punjab Mission) a 40 to 50 minute special period has been kept for sports during which students of middle schools will be taught various games including the one being played locally.
Launching it as a pilot project at a government girls school in Roopnaga
67. Misao Okawa, a Japanese woman recognised as the world's oldest person who credited her longevity to "eating delicious things" and getting plenty of rest
68. The much-hyped ‘Aahar’ cheap meal scheme was today launched by Odisha government for providing subsidised food to urban poor.
69. Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Ltd (APCOB) has been reconstituted into two banks following the bifurcation of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
70. New Zealand pace bowler Kyle Mills announced his retirement from all cricket today, following Daniel Vettori in calling it quits after the World Cup final.
71. The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) notified hike in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) limit in Insurance Sector to 49 percent from the present 26 percent.As per the notification, FDI up to 26 percent will be under automatic route and beyond 26 percent and up to 49 percent will be allowed with the approval of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
72. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) raised the transaction limit in exchange traded currency derivatives to 15 million US dollars for both foreign and domestic investors without having any underlying exposure. Earlier, the limit was 10 million dollars.
73. Uttar Pradesh Government conferred Sahitya Shiromani Samman on noted Hindi poet Gopaldas Neeraj and veteran Hindi litterateur Uday Pratap Singh.
74. Tamil novelist, short story writer and literary critic Jayakanthan died in Chennai . He was 81.
75. Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge) Dr. Mahesh Sharma launched Visit Kerala 2015 campaign to promote Kerala tourism.The campaign is an initiative of Kerala Government to promote state-specific tourism products including Ayurveda, Responsible Tourism and Spice route. Under the campaign various innovative programmes and schemes will be launched in India and abroad to attract domestic and foreign tourists.
76. Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Prince Karim Aga Khan were among the eminent personalities awarded the Padma Vibhushan, country’s second highest civilian honour, by President Pranab Mukherjee
77. Mayilsamy Annadurai was appointed as Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bengaluru.
78. Gujarat cricket team on 7 April 2015 won the 2014-15 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy played at the KIIT Cricket Stadium, Bhubaneshwar. In the final clash, Gujarat defeated Punjab by two wickets
79. The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 8 April 2015 formed an expert committee under the chairmanship of Ajay Shankar to suggest simplified compliance for establishing new industries. He is a former Secretary to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
80. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change proposed a colour-coded system to re-classify industries based on pollution potential. As per the proposal, the industries will be re-classified under three-coloured scheme, viz., Red, Orange and Green.
81. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA) Bank to fund the small entrepreneurs.
The Bank was launched under the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). The bank will provide credit of up to 10 lakh rupees to small entrepreneurs and act as a regulator for Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs).
82. Snapdeal, one of India’s largest online marketplacesannounced that it has acquired FreeCharge, a mobile transactions platform.
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.
83. Sumit Mazumder, Chairman and Managing Director, TIL Limited, has been elected as the President of CII for the year 2015-16. He succeeds Mr Ajay Shriram as the new President.
84. Highlights of RBI’s first bi-monthly monetary policy statement, 2015-16:
* Short-term lending rate (repo) unchanged at 7.5%
* Cash Reserve Ratio unchanged at 4%
* Retains Statutory Liquidity Ratio at 21.5%
* Estimates GDP growth at 7.8% in FY’16, up from 7.5% in FY’15
* Forecasts CPI inflation at 5.8% by March 2016
* CPI inflation to dip to 4% in August 2015
* Hailstorms in March affected 17% of the rabi crop sown area
* Future rate cuts will depend on interest rate reduction by banks
* India better prepared to deal with volatility post US Federal Reserve rate action
* State cooperative banks to be allowed to set up offsite/ mobile ATMs without prior approval from RBI
* RBI to formulate scheme for market making by primary dealers in semi—liquid and illiquid G—Secs
85. World Health Day (WHD) 2015 was observed globally on 7 April 2015. The theme for the year is From farm to plate, make food safe.The theme was selected by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to bring focus on growing global burden of food borne diseases and underscore the need for coordinated cross-border action across the entire food supply chain i.e. from farm to plate.
86. Sochi: Indian Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika won the bronze medal along with Swedish Grandmaster Pia Cramling by virtue of making it to the semi-finals of World Women's chess championship
87. Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar launched the first indigenously-built Scorpene submarine at the Mazagaon Dockyard Ltd .
88. Paris- based Syrian-Lebanese Arab poet Adonis has been chosen for this year’s Kumaran Asan World Prize for poetry, instituted by the Kumaran Asan Memorial Association to honour poets of international stature and introduce them to Indian readers.
89. Rajeev Shukla was re-appointed as the chairman of the Indian Premier League's (IPL) Governing Council by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
90. Pratap Singh, a 15-year-old Indian-origin schoolboy in the United Kingdom, was awarded with the 500 pounds Institute of Physics (IOP) Prize. The prize also includes a trip to a national physics-related activity.
91. Piplantri Village of southern Rajasthan's Rajsamand district was in news in second week of March 2015. This village not only embraces daughters but also created a tradition of planting 111 trees every time on the birth of a girl child. The plants are planted in her honour.
92. Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, the Indo-Swiss women pair of Tennis, won the Miami Open Tennis women's doubles title
93. Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams won the 2015 Miami Open Men’s and women’s singles titles of the respectively at Crandon Park Tennis Center in Miami, Florida.
94. India host the 5th meeting of the SAARC Health Ministers to discuss and work out a roadmap for strengthening collaboration among SAARC countries on health challenges faced by them.
95. Public sector lender Dena Bank has partnered with government-owned LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) of India to provide insurance cover to all Aadhaar-linked savings account holders.
96. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 6 April 2015 launched a National Air Quality Index (NAQI) to tackle the menace of air pollution. This National Air Quality Index will provide information on the quality of air in 10 major cities in the country on a real-time basis.The ten cities where the quality of air can be monitored are Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
97. Malli Mastan Babu, one of the top mountaineers of India, died . His dead body was recovered from Andes Mountains in South America, between Argentina and Chile
1. Meenakshi Madan Rai was sworn in as the first lady judge of the Sikkim High Court.
2. Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) decided to rename Tourist Visa on Arrival-Electronic Travel Authorization (TVoA-ETA) scheme as e-Tourist Visa (eTV) scheme. The renamed scheme will come into effect from 15 April 2105. MHA decided to change the name of the scheme after it observed that the name of the scheme (TVoA-ETA) created confusion among tourists and also it had received requests of name change from some Indian embassies.
3. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the Vividh Bharati Service of Delhi on FM Mode in a function held at premises of New Broadcasting House of All India Radio (AIR). The service will be available on 100.1 Megahertz frequency.
4. The Chinese Government quashed the bid of Taiwan to become a full member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for lack of appropriate name.The Chinese Government said that it would welcome Taiwan in the future but under a different name.
Taiwan made a last-minute application to join the AIIB as a founding member on the deadline day of 31 March 2015 under the name of Chinese-Taipei.
5. Renowned film director and actor of Assam Bidyut Chakraborty died on 15 April 2015 in a private nursing home in Guwahati after brief illness. He was 55.
6. Songkran Festival of Thailand was in news as over 120 people were killed and 1281 were injured while celebrating the festival. Songkran festival is a traditional New Year Eve celebration of Thailand. It is also known as Thailand Water Festival.It is originally celebrated as a way for the Thai people to sprinkle water on their family members and elders for good fortune and pay their respects to images of the beloved Buddha.
7. State-owned power equipment-maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) commissioned a 600 MW thermal unit at Dhabra in Janjgir Champa District of Chhattisgarh for the Dainik Bhaskar Power Limited.
This is the second unit of 2 × 600 MW power project, commissioned by BHEL. The first 600 MW Unit was commissioned in 2014.
8. The Yoga guru Baba Ramdev was in news as State government of Haryana on 13 April 2015 decided to accord status equivalent to a Cabinet Minister on him.
9. Nobel laureate German novelist Gunter Grass died in Luebeck, Germany. He was 87. He was a novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature.
10. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been voted among the 100 most influential people in the world in an online poll by readers of Time magazine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged the winner of this year’s Time 100 readers’ poll.
11. Ramesh Abhishek will continue to head the Forward Market Commission (FMC) till its merger with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). FMC is the regulator of commodity exchanges engaged in future trading.
12. The World Bank has said India continues to be the leading nation in remittances pulling in USD 70 billion from its global migrant workforce in 2014.United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remained the top five migrant destination countries and apart from India, China, Philippines, Mexico and Nigeria are the top five remittance recipient countries, in terms of value of remittances
13. Flipkart has decided to pull out of an ongoing discussion with Airtel to join the Airtel Zero platform. The move follows criticism that the deal would violate the principles of net neutrality.
14. Mobile commerce platform Paytm inked memorandum of understanding MoU with National Centre for Trade Information (NCTI) to promote Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). As per MoU, Paytm will offer a virtual marketplace platform for NCTI members and will extend its services and enable them to sell online. In this regard, Paytm will set up payment gateways platform for online ticketing and membership fees for NCTI.
15. Sania Mirza created history by becoming the first female tennis player from India to achieve the world number one rank in doubles, following her stupendous title win at the WTA Family Circle Cup with partner Martina Hingis, in Charleston.
16. In a first of its kind initiative in the country, Gujarat government is promoting a tour package covering major industrial installations which have earned global acclaim for the state.
Some of the major attractions of this recently launched tour package include a visit to Tata Nano plant in Sanand, Pipavav port .near Amreli, Alang ship breaking yard in Bhavnagar and Amul Dairy in Anand.
17. New Zealand won the 2015 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup men’s hockey tournament. In the final clash played at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia, New Zealand defeated World Champions Australia 3-1.
18. Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB), a regional rural bank headquartered in Dharwad, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Life Insurance Corporation of India under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’. It aims at providing insurance cover to all the Aadhar-linked savings account holders of the bank in the age group of 18 to 50 years.
19. Indian tennis player Yuki Bhambri won the Uzbekistan F1 Futures Men’s singles title by defeating Dzmitry Zyrmont of Serbia.Yuki defeated his rival in two straight sets 6-2 6-4 in the final match held in Karshi, Uzbekistan.
20. Indian shooter Jitu Rai won Bronze medal at the 10-meter Air Pistol Men final in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Rifle/Pistol World Cup held in Changwon, South Korea.
21. A painting titled Tree of Life was gifted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to French President Francois Hollande during his visit to France from 9 April to 12 April 2015.
The painting reflects traditional societal respect for nature in India and tree as a divine gift central to human life is a recurring element in Indian artistic practiceThe Tree of Life, with multiple roots and branches like a banyan tree, is a motif for a tree’s benevolence, fruit, seeds, shelter, healing, procreation and regeneration faculties that sustain life and clean the environment.
The painting is the work of Bhaskar Mahapatra, an Odisha artist and the art form is pigments on silk which he has been practicing for last thirty years along with rest of his family.
22. Lt General (retd) Hanut Singh, the recipient of the Mahavir Chakra and hero of 1971 Indo-Pak war, died in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. He was 82.
23. In a new twist to the high profile SEBI-Sahara case, the Indian capital markets regulator has approached a US court with a USD 12-million claim on proceeds from sale of a corporate jet owned by a Sahara Group firm.
The court has rejected the demand for now, saying that SEBI could not “properly file a claim prior to the Bar Date and in accordance with the terms of the Court’s order“.
24. Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton from Britain on 12 April 2015 won Chinese Grand Prix of Formula One on the Shanghai International Circuit in China.
25. Air Pegasus, promoted by Decor Aviation Private Limited, on Sunday commenced its commercial operation with a daily to-and-fro flight to Hubballi and Thiruvananthapuram
26. The NITI Aayog has initiated the mid-term appraisal process of the 12th Five Year Plan, an exercise which has long been followed prior to establishment of the new body that replaced the Planning Commission.
27. The youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner and girls’ education campaigner Malala Yousafzai now has an asteroid named after her. Amy Mainzer, astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, named Asteroid 316201 after Malala
28. With overseas investors pumping in over Rs. 2,000 crore in the Indian capital markets so far this month, total foreign fund inflows have crossed the Rs. 81,000 crore mark since the beginning of the year.
29. India was elected to four important United Nations (UN) agencies . These agencies are United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Program (WFP), Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) and the Governing Council of UN-Habitat.
30. Social Progress Index (SPI) 2015 was released by the US-based non-profit organisation Social Progress Imperative . On population-weighted basis, the SPI score for the whole world stands at 61 and at 64.39 when SPI scores are based on simple average of countries. India with a score of 53.06 is ranked 101st and is placed in the Low Social Progress Group. In 2014, India with a score of 50.24 was ranked 102 out of 132 countries.
31. Seoul city, the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea, was awarded the title of Global Earth hour Capital 2015 after it won the Earth Hour City Challenge (EHCC) of World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The city of Balikpapan, Indonesia was recognized as the Most Loveable City for 2015 and Thane city was named as the National Earth Hour Capital 2015 of India.
32. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat announced fresh measures to provide relief to rain-hit farmers in the state including free distribution of seeds among them and an increased subsidy on ginger and turmeric seeds.
33. Coca-Cola India has roped in Bollywood actors Varun Dhawan and Gulshan Grover for its latest ad campaign for Maaza, its mango drink. Also, the company has decided to revamp Maaza’s packaging and labelling.
34. Syndicate Bank and Life Insurance Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding to implement the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’. LIC will provide a life cover of ₹2 lakh in case of death of the insured person at a nominal premium of ₹330 per annum. Savings bank account holders of the bank, in the age group of 18 to 50 years, can avail themselves of the product. The scheme will come into effect from June 1.
35. Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela qualified for next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after clinching a 10m air rifle bronze in the ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) in Changwon, Korea
36. India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) became operational at Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City in Gandhinagar district of Gujarat
37. President Pranab Mukherjee appointed the senior most Election Commissioner (EC), Dr. Nasim Zaidi as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). He will succeed incumbent CEC HS Brahma
38. Richie Benaud, the former Australian cricket captain and legendary commentator died in Sydney on 10 April 2015
39. Arun Kumar Jha was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Mumbai.
40. India successfully test fired nuclear weapons-capable Dhanush missile from a ship, off the Odisha coast.
41. Rajasthan Legislative Assembly has passed a Bill to hike allowances for all sitting MLAs and those who have been members of the House since April 1, 2012.
42. India has been designated to chair the ninth meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Council. The meeting is scheduled to be held in June in Abu Dhabi.
43. Flipkart, India’s leading e-commerce marketplace, has tied up with the Dabbawalas of Mumbai for last-mile delivery to customers.
44. Professional social network operator LinkedIn Corp buy privately held online education company lynda.com in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $1.5 billion.
45. Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has bought RBS's diamond and jewellery financing business and related deposit portfolio
46. Peruvian President Ollanta Humala swore in Pedro Alvaro Cateriano Bellido as the nation’s new Prime Minister in a ceremony held on Thursday evening at the Government Palace in Lima, Peru.
47. West Bengal and Bihar Governor K.N. Tripathi, who has been given additional charge of Mizoram, was sworn in as the 16th governor of the northeastern state
48. Delhi International Airport Limited has won ‘Golden Peacock National Quality Award’ for 2015 for their concerted efforts in building a culture of Total Quality across Indira Gandhi International Airport.
49. Central Bank of India has topped the list of public sector banks with maximum bad loans including restructured assets as a percentage of total advances.
50. Diageo, the world’s largest spirits maker, on Thursday, took full control of South African beer maker United National Breweries by acquiring the additional 50 per cent stake in the company from Vijay Mallya-controlled Pestello Investments for an initial payment of $22 million.
51. A total of about Rs 900 crore has been sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Urban Development and an amount of about Rs 700 crore has been released to States/UTs based on proposals received under Swachh Bharat Mission during 2014-15.
52. India has welcomed the understanding announced in Lausanne between Iran and the E3+3 on the nuclear issue. A significant step seems to have been taken with the agreement on the parameters of a comprehensive settlement to be negotiated by June 30, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday morning.
China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States form the E3+3.
53. India has been ranked a low 119 out of 130 countries on an index that measures business resilience of nations based on economic, risk quality and supply chain factors, dropping seven notches from last year.
The 2015 FM Global Resilience Index has been topped by Norway for being the country best suited for companies seeking to avoid disruptions in their global supply chain operations.
54. New Zealand cricket team captain Brendon McCullum was conferred with the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for 2014-15. McCullum won the award for his remarkable performance both as a player and the captain during the 2014-15 season.
55. China’s former Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang plans to announcement his retirement next week following years of nagging injuries.
56. Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal will lose her world no. 1 ranking after her gallant fight against Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the semifinals ended in heartbreak at the $500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament.
57. The Union Government extended the deadline for implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) deadline by six months in the states.
The deadline has already been extended twice for implementing the food law, was ending on April 4
58. India’s largest online marketplace Snapdeal announced to acquire RupeePower, a leading digital financial products distribution platform. The acquisition aimed to launch financial service.
59. Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Limited launched Smart Traveller that offers global coverage for students, individuals, families and frequent travellers.
The SmartTraveller Insurance policy offers a choice of two major plans catering to Individuals and Families and frequent travelers through a variant known as Annual Multi Trip International travel insurance plan.
60. Michael Rudenko, a committee member of the Minor Planet Center5 officially named a minor planet as 4538 Vishyanand, to honour India’s first chess grandmaster, Vishwanathan Anand.
61. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Give it Up campaign. The campaign was launched at the annual energy-focussed summit Urja Sangam 2015.
The campaign seeks to extort the better off sections of society to forego their liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy, which would be utilised in providing subsidised LPG connections to the poor.
62. Operation Raahat was in news as India launched a massive air and sea operation to evacuate over 4000 Indian nationals from Yemen. The operation will involve total of five ships and four aircraft.
The operation started after India got permission to dock its offshore patrol vessel INS Sumitra at the Aden harbor of Yemen
63. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sanctioned the scheme of amalgamation of ING Vysya Bank Ltd. with Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. The Scheme will come into force with effect from 1 April 2015.
64. Mustafa Kamal stepped down as the President of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He sent out the resignation letter to the ICC.
The Bangladeshi cricket administrator had succeeded Alan Isaac as the 11th President of the ICC in June 2014 for a period of two years.
65. Prime Minister of Peru Ana Jara was sacked after she lost the vote of confidence in Congress. Congress voted 72 to 42 to censure Jara, with two abstentions.
66. Punjab has launched a special mission to provide school students a separate period for playing along with studies. Named as ‘Padho Punjab-Khedo Punjab Mission’, (Learn Punjab-Play Punjab Mission) a 40 to 50 minute special period has been kept for sports during which students of middle schools will be taught various games including the one being played locally.
Launching it as a pilot project at a government girls school in Roopnaga
67. Misao Okawa, a Japanese woman recognised as the world's oldest person who credited her longevity to "eating delicious things" and getting plenty of rest
68. The much-hyped ‘Aahar’ cheap meal scheme was today launched by Odisha government for providing subsidised food to urban poor.
69. Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Ltd (APCOB) has been reconstituted into two banks following the bifurcation of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
70. New Zealand pace bowler Kyle Mills announced his retirement from all cricket today, following Daniel Vettori in calling it quits after the World Cup final.
71. The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) notified hike in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) limit in Insurance Sector to 49 percent from the present 26 percent.As per the notification, FDI up to 26 percent will be under automatic route and beyond 26 percent and up to 49 percent will be allowed with the approval of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
72. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) raised the transaction limit in exchange traded currency derivatives to 15 million US dollars for both foreign and domestic investors without having any underlying exposure. Earlier, the limit was 10 million dollars.
73. Uttar Pradesh Government conferred Sahitya Shiromani Samman on noted Hindi poet Gopaldas Neeraj and veteran Hindi litterateur Uday Pratap Singh.
74. Tamil novelist, short story writer and literary critic Jayakanthan died in Chennai . He was 81.
75. Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge) Dr. Mahesh Sharma launched Visit Kerala 2015 campaign to promote Kerala tourism.The campaign is an initiative of Kerala Government to promote state-specific tourism products including Ayurveda, Responsible Tourism and Spice route. Under the campaign various innovative programmes and schemes will be launched in India and abroad to attract domestic and foreign tourists.
76. Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Prince Karim Aga Khan were among the eminent personalities awarded the Padma Vibhushan, country’s second highest civilian honour, by President Pranab Mukherjee
77. Mayilsamy Annadurai was appointed as Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bengaluru.
78. Gujarat cricket team on 7 April 2015 won the 2014-15 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy played at the KIIT Cricket Stadium, Bhubaneshwar. In the final clash, Gujarat defeated Punjab by two wickets
79. The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 8 April 2015 formed an expert committee under the chairmanship of Ajay Shankar to suggest simplified compliance for establishing new industries. He is a former Secretary to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
80. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change proposed a colour-coded system to re-classify industries based on pollution potential. As per the proposal, the industries will be re-classified under three-coloured scheme, viz., Red, Orange and Green.
81. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA) Bank to fund the small entrepreneurs.
The Bank was launched under the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). The bank will provide credit of up to 10 lakh rupees to small entrepreneurs and act as a regulator for Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs).
82. Snapdeal, one of India’s largest online marketplacesannounced that it has acquired FreeCharge, a mobile transactions platform.
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.
83. Sumit Mazumder, Chairman and Managing Director, TIL Limited, has been elected as the President of CII for the year 2015-16. He succeeds Mr Ajay Shriram as the new President.
84. Highlights of RBI’s first bi-monthly monetary policy statement, 2015-16:
* Short-term lending rate (repo) unchanged at 7.5%
* Cash Reserve Ratio unchanged at 4%
* Retains Statutory Liquidity Ratio at 21.5%
* Estimates GDP growth at 7.8% in FY’16, up from 7.5% in FY’15
* Forecasts CPI inflation at 5.8% by March 2016
* CPI inflation to dip to 4% in August 2015
* Hailstorms in March affected 17% of the rabi crop sown area
* Future rate cuts will depend on interest rate reduction by banks
* India better prepared to deal with volatility post US Federal Reserve rate action
* State cooperative banks to be allowed to set up offsite/ mobile ATMs without prior approval from RBI
* RBI to formulate scheme for market making by primary dealers in semi—liquid and illiquid G—Secs
85. World Health Day (WHD) 2015 was observed globally on 7 April 2015. The theme for the year is From farm to plate, make food safe.The theme was selected by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to bring focus on growing global burden of food borne diseases and underscore the need for coordinated cross-border action across the entire food supply chain i.e. from farm to plate.
86. Sochi: Indian Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika won the bronze medal along with Swedish Grandmaster Pia Cramling by virtue of making it to the semi-finals of World Women's chess championship
87. Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar launched the first indigenously-built Scorpene submarine at the Mazagaon Dockyard Ltd .
88. Paris- based Syrian-Lebanese Arab poet Adonis has been chosen for this year’s Kumaran Asan World Prize for poetry, instituted by the Kumaran Asan Memorial Association to honour poets of international stature and introduce them to Indian readers.
89. Rajeev Shukla was re-appointed as the chairman of the Indian Premier League's (IPL) Governing Council by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
90. Pratap Singh, a 15-year-old Indian-origin schoolboy in the United Kingdom, was awarded with the 500 pounds Institute of Physics (IOP) Prize. The prize also includes a trip to a national physics-related activity.
91. Piplantri Village of southern Rajasthan's Rajsamand district was in news in second week of March 2015. This village not only embraces daughters but also created a tradition of planting 111 trees every time on the birth of a girl child. The plants are planted in her honour.
92. Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, the Indo-Swiss women pair of Tennis, won the Miami Open Tennis women's doubles title
93. Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams won the 2015 Miami Open Men’s and women’s singles titles of the respectively at Crandon Park Tennis Center in Miami, Florida.
94. India host the 5th meeting of the SAARC Health Ministers to discuss and work out a roadmap for strengthening collaboration among SAARC countries on health challenges faced by them.
95. Public sector lender Dena Bank has partnered with government-owned LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) of India to provide insurance cover to all Aadhaar-linked savings account holders.
96. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 6 April 2015 launched a National Air Quality Index (NAQI) to tackle the menace of air pollution. This National Air Quality Index will provide information on the quality of air in 10 major cities in the country on a real-time basis.The ten cities where the quality of air can be monitored are Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
97. Malli Mastan Babu, one of the top mountaineers of India, died . His dead body was recovered from Andes Mountains in South America, between Argentina and Chile
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1. Meenakshi Madan Rai was sworn in as the first lady judge of the Sikkim High Court.
2. Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) decided to rename Tourist Visa on Arrival-Electronic Travel Authorization (TVoA-ETA) scheme as e-Tourist Visa (eTV) scheme. The renamed scheme will come into effect from 15 April 2105. MHA decided to change the name of the scheme after it observed that the name of the scheme (TVoA-ETA) created confusion among tourists and also it had received requests of name change from some Indian embassies.
3. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the Vividh Bharati Service of Delhi on FM Mode in a function held at premises of New Broadcasting House of All India Radio (AIR). The service will be available on 100.1 Megahertz frequency.
4. The Chinese Government quashed the bid of Taiwan to become a full member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for lack of appropriate name.The Chinese Government said that it would welcome Taiwan in the future but under a different name.
Taiwan made a last-minute application to join the AIIB as a founding member on the deadline day of 31 March 2015 under the name of Chinese-Taipei.
5. Renowned film director and actor of Assam Bidyut Chakraborty died on 15 April 2015 in a private nursing home in Guwahati after brief illness. He was 55.
6. Songkran Festival of Thailand was in news as over 120 people were killed and 1281 were injured while celebrating the festival. Songkran festival is a traditional New Year Eve celebration of Thailand. It is also known as Thailand Water Festival.It is originally celebrated as a way for the Thai people to sprinkle water on their family members and elders for good fortune and pay their respects to images of the beloved Buddha.
7. State-owned power equipment-maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) commissioned a 600 MW thermal unit at Dhabra in Janjgir Champa District of Chhattisgarh for the Dainik Bhaskar Power Limited.
This is the second unit of 2 × 600 MW power project, commissioned by BHEL. The first 600 MW Unit was commissioned in 2014.
8. The Yoga guru Baba Ramdev was in news as State government of Haryana on 13 April 2015 decided to accord status equivalent to a Cabinet Minister on him.
9. Nobel laureate German novelist Gunter Grass died in Luebeck, Germany. He was 87. He was a novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature.
10. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been voted among the 100 most influential people in the world in an online poll by readers of Time magazine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged the winner of this year’s Time 100 readers’ poll.
11. Ramesh Abhishek will continue to head the Forward Market Commission (FMC) till its merger with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). FMC is the regulator of commodity exchanges engaged in future trading.
12. The World Bank has said India continues to be the leading nation in remittances pulling in USD 70 billion from its global migrant workforce in 2014.United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remained the top five migrant destination countries and apart from India, China, Philippines, Mexico and Nigeria are the top five remittance recipient countries, in terms of value of remittances
13. Flipkart has decided to pull out of an ongoing discussion with Airtel to join the Airtel Zero platform. The move follows criticism that the deal would violate the principles of net neutrality.
14. Mobile commerce platform Paytm inked memorandum of understanding MoU with National Centre for Trade Information (NCTI) to promote Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). As per MoU, Paytm will offer a virtual marketplace platform for NCTI members and will extend its services and enable them to sell online. In this regard, Paytm will set up payment gateways platform for online ticketing and membership fees for NCTI.
15. Sania Mirza created history by becoming the first female tennis player from India to achieve the world number one rank in doubles, following her stupendous title win at the WTA Family Circle Cup with partner Martina Hingis, in Charleston.
16. In a first of its kind initiative in the country, Gujarat government is promoting a tour package covering major industrial installations which have earned global acclaim for the state.
Some of the major attractions of this recently launched tour package include a visit to Tata Nano plant in Sanand, Pipavav port .near Amreli, Alang ship breaking yard in Bhavnagar and Amul Dairy in Anand.
17. New Zealand won the 2015 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup men’s hockey tournament. In the final clash played at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia, New Zealand defeated World Champions Australia 3-1.
18. Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB), a regional rural bank headquartered in Dharwad, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Life Insurance Corporation of India under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’. It aims at providing insurance cover to all the Aadhar-linked savings account holders of the bank in the age group of 18 to 50 years.
19. Indian tennis player Yuki Bhambri won the Uzbekistan F1 Futures Men’s singles title by defeating Dzmitry Zyrmont of Serbia.Yuki defeated his rival in two straight sets 6-2 6-4 in the final match held in Karshi, Uzbekistan.
20. Indian shooter Jitu Rai won Bronze medal at the 10-meter Air Pistol Men final in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Rifle/Pistol World Cup held in Changwon, South Korea.
21. A painting titled Tree of Life was gifted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to French President Francois Hollande during his visit to France from 9 April to 12 April 2015.
The painting reflects traditional societal respect for nature in India and tree as a divine gift central to human life is a recurring element in Indian artistic practiceThe Tree of Life, with multiple roots and branches like a banyan tree, is a motif for a tree’s benevolence, fruit, seeds, shelter, healing, procreation and regeneration faculties that sustain life and clean the environment.
The painting is the work of Bhaskar Mahapatra, an Odisha artist and the art form is pigments on silk which he has been practicing for last thirty years along with rest of his family.
22. Lt General (retd) Hanut Singh, the recipient of the Mahavir Chakra and hero of 1971 Indo-Pak war, died in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. He was 82.
23. In a new twist to the high profile SEBI-Sahara case, the Indian capital markets regulator has approached a US court with a USD 12-million claim on proceeds from sale of a corporate jet owned by a Sahara Group firm.
The court has rejected the demand for now, saying that SEBI could not “properly file a claim prior to the Bar Date and in accordance with the terms of the Court’s order“.
24. Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton from Britain on 12 April 2015 won Chinese Grand Prix of Formula One on the Shanghai International Circuit in China.
25. Air Pegasus, promoted by Decor Aviation Private Limited, on Sunday commenced its commercial operation with a daily to-and-fro flight to Hubballi and Thiruvananthapuram
26. The NITI Aayog has initiated the mid-term appraisal process of the 12th Five Year Plan, an exercise which has long been followed prior to establishment of the new body that replaced the Planning Commission.
27. The youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner and girls’ education campaigner Malala Yousafzai now has an asteroid named after her. Amy Mainzer, astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, named Asteroid 316201 after Malala
28. With overseas investors pumping in over Rs. 2,000 crore in the Indian capital markets so far this month, total foreign fund inflows have crossed the Rs. 81,000 crore mark since the beginning of the year.
29. India was elected to four important United Nations (UN) agencies . These agencies are United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Program (WFP), Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) and the Governing Council of UN-Habitat.
30. Social Progress Index (SPI) 2015 was released by the US-based non-profit organisation Social Progress Imperative . On population-weighted basis, the SPI score for the whole world stands at 61 and at 64.39 when SPI scores are based on simple average of countries. India with a score of 53.06 is ranked 101st and is placed in the Low Social Progress Group. In 2014, India with a score of 50.24 was ranked 102 out of 132 countries.
31. Seoul city, the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea, was awarded the title of Global Earth hour Capital 2015 after it won the Earth Hour City Challenge (EHCC) of World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The city of Balikpapan, Indonesia was recognized as the Most Loveable City for 2015 and Thane city was named as the National Earth Hour Capital 2015 of India.
32. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat announced fresh measures to provide relief to rain-hit farmers in the state including free distribution of seeds among them and an increased subsidy on ginger and turmeric seeds.
33. Coca-Cola India has roped in Bollywood actors Varun Dhawan and Gulshan Grover for its latest ad campaign for Maaza, its mango drink. Also, the company has decided to revamp Maaza’s packaging and labelling.
34. Syndicate Bank and Life Insurance Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding to implement the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’. LIC will provide a life cover of ₹2 lakh in case of death of the insured person at a nominal premium of ₹330 per annum. Savings bank account holders of the bank, in the age group of 18 to 50 years, can avail themselves of the product. The scheme will come into effect from June 1.
35. Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela qualified for next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after clinching a 10m air rifle bronze in the ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) in Changwon, Korea
36. India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) became operational at Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City in Gandhinagar district of Gujarat
37. President Pranab Mukherjee appointed the senior most Election Commissioner (EC), Dr. Nasim Zaidi as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). He will succeed incumbent CEC HS Brahma
38. Richie Benaud, the former Australian cricket captain and legendary commentator died in Sydney on 10 April 2015
39. Arun Kumar Jha was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Mumbai.
40. India successfully test fired nuclear weapons-capable Dhanush missile from a ship, off the Odisha coast.
41. Rajasthan Legislative Assembly has passed a Bill to hike allowances for all sitting MLAs and those who have been members of the House since April 1, 2012.
42. India has been designated to chair the ninth meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Council. The meeting is scheduled to be held in June in Abu Dhabi.
43. Flipkart, India’s leading e-commerce marketplace, has tied up with the Dabbawalas of Mumbai for last-mile delivery to customers.
44. Professional social network operator LinkedIn Corp buy privately held online education company lynda.com in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $1.5 billion.
45. Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has bought RBS's diamond and jewellery financing business and related deposit portfolio
46. Peruvian President Ollanta Humala swore in Pedro Alvaro Cateriano Bellido as the nation’s new Prime Minister in a ceremony held on Thursday evening at the Government Palace in Lima, Peru.
47. West Bengal and Bihar Governor K.N. Tripathi, who has been given additional charge of Mizoram, was sworn in as the 16th governor of the northeastern state
48. Delhi International Airport Limited has won ‘Golden Peacock National Quality Award’ for 2015 for their concerted efforts in building a culture of Total Quality across Indira Gandhi International Airport.
49. Central Bank of India has topped the list of public sector banks with maximum bad loans including restructured assets as a percentage of total advances.
50. Diageo, the world’s largest spirits maker, on Thursday, took full control of South African beer maker United National Breweries by acquiring the additional 50 per cent stake in the company from Vijay Mallya-controlled Pestello Investments for an initial payment of $22 million.
51. A total of about Rs 900 crore has been sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Urban Development and an amount of about Rs 700 crore has been released to States/UTs based on proposals received under Swachh Bharat Mission during 2014-15.
52. India has welcomed the understanding announced in Lausanne between Iran and the E3+3 on the nuclear issue. A significant step seems to have been taken with the agreement on the parameters of a comprehensive settlement to be negotiated by June 30, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday morning.
China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States form the E3+3.
53. India has been ranked a low 119 out of 130 countries on an index that measures business resilience of nations based on economic, risk quality and supply chain factors, dropping seven notches from last year.
The 2015 FM Global Resilience Index has been topped by Norway for being the country best suited for companies seeking to avoid disruptions in their global supply chain operations.
54. New Zealand cricket team captain Brendon McCullum was conferred with the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for 2014-15. McCullum won the award for his remarkable performance both as a player and the captain during the 2014-15 season.
55. China’s former Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang plans to announcement his retirement next week following years of nagging injuries.
56. Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal will lose her world no. 1 ranking after her gallant fight against Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the semifinals ended in heartbreak at the $500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament.
57. The Union Government extended the deadline for implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) deadline by six months in the states.
The deadline has already been extended twice for implementing the food law, was ending on April 4
58. India’s largest online marketplace Snapdeal announced to acquire RupeePower, a leading digital financial products distribution platform. The acquisition aimed to launch financial service.
59. Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Limited launched Smart Traveller that offers global coverage for students, individuals, families and frequent travellers.
The SmartTraveller Insurance policy offers a choice of two major plans catering to Individuals and Families and frequent travelers through a variant known as Annual Multi Trip International travel insurance plan.
60. Michael Rudenko, a committee member of the Minor Planet Center5 officially named a minor planet as 4538 Vishyanand, to honour India’s first chess grandmaster, Vishwanathan Anand.
61. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Give it Up campaign. The campaign was launched at the annual energy-focussed summit Urja Sangam 2015.
The campaign seeks to extort the better off sections of society to forego their liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy, which would be utilised in providing subsidised LPG connections to the poor.
62. Operation Raahat was in news as India launched a massive air and sea operation to evacuate over 4000 Indian nationals from Yemen. The operation will involve total of five ships and four aircraft.
The operation started after India got permission to dock its offshore patrol vessel INS Sumitra at the Aden harbor of Yemen
63. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sanctioned the scheme of amalgamation of ING Vysya Bank Ltd. with Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. The Scheme will come into force with effect from 1 April 2015.
64. Mustafa Kamal stepped down as the President of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He sent out the resignation letter to the ICC.
The Bangladeshi cricket administrator had succeeded Alan Isaac as the 11th President of the ICC in June 2014 for a period of two years.
65. Prime Minister of Peru Ana Jara was sacked after she lost the vote of confidence in Congress. Congress voted 72 to 42 to censure Jara, with two abstentions.
66. Punjab has launched a special mission to provide school students a separate period for playing along with studies. Named as ‘Padho Punjab-Khedo Punjab Mission’, (Learn Punjab-Play Punjab Mission) a 40 to 50 minute special period has been kept for sports during which students of middle schools will be taught various games including the one being played locally.
Launching it as a pilot project at a government girls school in Roopnaga
67. Misao Okawa, a Japanese woman recognised as the world's oldest person who credited her longevity to "eating delicious things" and getting plenty of rest
68. The much-hyped ‘Aahar’ cheap meal scheme was today launched by Odisha government for providing subsidised food to urban poor.
69. Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Ltd (APCOB) has been reconstituted into two banks following the bifurcation of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
70. New Zealand pace bowler Kyle Mills announced his retirement from all cricket today, following Daniel Vettori in calling it quits after the World Cup final.
71. The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) notified hike in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) limit in Insurance Sector to 49 percent from the present 26 percent.As per the notification, FDI up to 26 percent will be under automatic route and beyond 26 percent and up to 49 percent will be allowed with the approval of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
72. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) raised the transaction limit in exchange traded currency derivatives to 15 million US dollars for both foreign and domestic investors without having any underlying exposure. Earlier, the limit was 10 million dollars.
73. Uttar Pradesh Government conferred Sahitya Shiromani Samman on noted Hindi poet Gopaldas Neeraj and veteran Hindi litterateur Uday Pratap Singh.
74. Tamil novelist, short story writer and literary critic Jayakanthan died in Chennai . He was 81.
75. Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge) Dr. Mahesh Sharma launched Visit Kerala 2015 campaign to promote Kerala tourism.The campaign is an initiative of Kerala Government to promote state-specific tourism products including Ayurveda, Responsible Tourism and Spice route. Under the campaign various innovative programmes and schemes will be launched in India and abroad to attract domestic and foreign tourists.
76. Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Prince Karim Aga Khan were among the eminent personalities awarded the Padma Vibhushan, country’s second highest civilian honour, by President Pranab Mukherjee
77. Mayilsamy Annadurai was appointed as Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bengaluru.
78. Gujarat cricket team on 7 April 2015 won the 2014-15 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy played at the KIIT Cricket Stadium, Bhubaneshwar. In the final clash, Gujarat defeated Punjab by two wickets
79. The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 8 April 2015 formed an expert committee under the chairmanship of Ajay Shankar to suggest simplified compliance for establishing new industries. He is a former Secretary to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
80. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change proposed a colour-coded system to re-classify industries based on pollution potential. As per the proposal, the industries will be re-classified under three-coloured scheme, viz., Red, Orange and Green.
81. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA) Bank to fund the small entrepreneurs.
The Bank was launched under the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). The bank will provide credit of up to 10 lakh rupees to small entrepreneurs and act as a regulator for Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs).
82. Snapdeal, one of India’s largest online marketplacesannounced that it has acquired FreeCharge, a mobile transactions platform.
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.
83. Sumit Mazumder, Chairman and Managing Director, TIL Limited, has been elected as the President of CII for the year 2015-16. He succeeds Mr Ajay Shriram as the new President.
84. Highlights of RBI’s first bi-monthly monetary policy statement, 2015-16:
* Short-term lending rate (repo) unchanged at 7.5%
* Cash Reserve Ratio unchanged at 4%
* Retains Statutory Liquidity Ratio at 21.5%
* Estimates GDP growth at 7.8% in FY’16, up from 7.5% in FY’15
* Forecasts CPI inflation at 5.8% by March 2016
* CPI inflation to dip to 4% in August 2015
* Hailstorms in March affected 17% of the rabi crop sown area
* Future rate cuts will depend on interest rate reduction by banks
* India better prepared to deal with volatility post US Federal Reserve rate action
* State cooperative banks to be allowed to set up offsite/ mobile ATMs without prior approval from RBI
* RBI to formulate scheme for market making by primary dealers in semi—liquid and illiquid G—Secs
85. World Health Day (WHD) 2015 was observed globally on 7 April 2015. The theme for the year is From farm to plate, make food safe.The theme was selected by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to bring focus on growing global burden of food borne diseases and underscore the need for coordinated cross-border action across the entire food supply chain i.e. from farm to plate.
86. Sochi: Indian Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika won the bronze medal along with Swedish Grandmaster Pia Cramling by virtue of making it to the semi-finals of World Women's chess championship
87. Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar launched the first indigenously-built Scorpene submarine at the Mazagaon Dockyard Ltd .
88. Paris- based Syrian-Lebanese Arab poet Adonis has been chosen for this year’s Kumaran Asan World Prize for poetry, instituted by the Kumaran Asan Memorial Association to honour poets of international stature and introduce them to Indian readers.
89. Rajeev Shukla was re-appointed as the chairman of the Indian Premier League's (IPL) Governing Council by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
90. Pratap Singh, a 15-year-old Indian-origin schoolboy in the United Kingdom, was awarded with the 500 pounds Institute of Physics (IOP) Prize. The prize also includes a trip to a national physics-related activity.
91. Piplantri Village of southern Rajasthan's Rajsamand district was in news in second week of March 2015. This village not only embraces daughters but also created a tradition of planting 111 trees every time on the birth of a girl child. The plants are planted in her honour.
92. Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, the Indo-Swiss women pair of Tennis, won the Miami Open Tennis women's doubles title
93. Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams won the 2015 Miami Open Men’s and women’s singles titles of the respectively at Crandon Park Tennis Center in Miami, Florida.
94. India host the 5th meeting of the SAARC Health Ministers to discuss and work out a roadmap for strengthening collaboration among SAARC countries on health challenges faced by them.
95. Public sector lender Dena Bank has partnered with government-owned LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) of India to provide insurance cover to all Aadhaar-linked savings account holders.
96. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 6 April 2015 launched a National Air Quality Index (NAQI) to tackle the menace of air pollution. This National Air Quality Index will provide information on the quality of air in 10 major cities in the country on a real-time basis.The ten cities where the quality of air can be monitored are Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
97. Malli Mastan Babu, one of the top mountaineers of India, died . His dead body was recovered from Andes Mountains in South America, between Argentina and Chile
1. Meenakshi Madan Rai was sworn in as the first lady judge of the Sikkim High Court.
2. Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) decided to rename Tourist Visa on Arrival-Electronic Travel Authorization (TVoA-ETA) scheme as e-Tourist Visa (eTV) scheme. The renamed scheme will come into effect from 15 April 2105. MHA decided to change the name of the scheme after it observed that the name of the scheme (TVoA-ETA) created confusion among tourists and also it had received requests of name change from some Indian embassies.
3. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the Vividh Bharati Service of Delhi on FM Mode in a function held at premises of New Broadcasting House of All India Radio (AIR). The service will be available on 100.1 Megahertz frequency.
4. The Chinese Government quashed the bid of Taiwan to become a full member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for lack of appropriate name.The Chinese Government said that it would welcome Taiwan in the future but under a different name.
Taiwan made a last-minute application to join the AIIB as a founding member on the deadline day of 31 March 2015 under the name of Chinese-Taipei.
5. Renowned film director and actor of Assam Bidyut Chakraborty died on 15 April 2015 in a private nursing home in Guwahati after brief illness. He was 55.
6. Songkran Festival of Thailand was in news as over 120 people were killed and 1281 were injured while celebrating the festival. Songkran festival is a traditional New Year Eve celebration of Thailand. It is also known as Thailand Water Festival.It is originally celebrated as a way for the Thai people to sprinkle water on their family members and elders for good fortune and pay their respects to images of the beloved Buddha.
7. State-owned power equipment-maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) commissioned a 600 MW thermal unit at Dhabra in Janjgir Champa District of Chhattisgarh for the Dainik Bhaskar Power Limited.
This is the second unit of 2 × 600 MW power project, commissioned by BHEL. The first 600 MW Unit was commissioned in 2014.
8. The Yoga guru Baba Ramdev was in news as State government of Haryana on 13 April 2015 decided to accord status equivalent to a Cabinet Minister on him.
9. Nobel laureate German novelist Gunter Grass died in Luebeck, Germany. He was 87. He was a novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature.
10. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been voted among the 100 most influential people in the world in an online poll by readers of Time magazine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged the winner of this year’s Time 100 readers’ poll.
11. Ramesh Abhishek will continue to head the Forward Market Commission (FMC) till its merger with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). FMC is the regulator of commodity exchanges engaged in future trading.
12. The World Bank has said India continues to be the leading nation in remittances pulling in USD 70 billion from its global migrant workforce in 2014.United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remained the top five migrant destination countries and apart from India, China, Philippines, Mexico and Nigeria are the top five remittance recipient countries, in terms of value of remittances
13. Flipkart has decided to pull out of an ongoing discussion with Airtel to join the Airtel Zero platform. The move follows criticism that the deal would violate the principles of net neutrality.
14. Mobile commerce platform Paytm inked memorandum of understanding MoU with National Centre for Trade Information (NCTI) to promote Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). As per MoU, Paytm will offer a virtual marketplace platform for NCTI members and will extend its services and enable them to sell online. In this regard, Paytm will set up payment gateways platform for online ticketing and membership fees for NCTI.
15. Sania Mirza created history by becoming the first female tennis player from India to achieve the world number one rank in doubles, following her stupendous title win at the WTA Family Circle Cup with partner Martina Hingis, in Charleston.
16. In a first of its kind initiative in the country, Gujarat government is promoting a tour package covering major industrial installations which have earned global acclaim for the state.
Some of the major attractions of this recently launched tour package include a visit to Tata Nano plant in Sanand, Pipavav port .near Amreli, Alang ship breaking yard in Bhavnagar and Amul Dairy in Anand.
17. New Zealand won the 2015 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup men’s hockey tournament. In the final clash played at the Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh, Malaysia, New Zealand defeated World Champions Australia 3-1.
18. Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB), a regional rural bank headquartered in Dharwad, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Life Insurance Corporation of India under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’. It aims at providing insurance cover to all the Aadhar-linked savings account holders of the bank in the age group of 18 to 50 years.
19. Indian tennis player Yuki Bhambri won the Uzbekistan F1 Futures Men’s singles title by defeating Dzmitry Zyrmont of Serbia.Yuki defeated his rival in two straight sets 6-2 6-4 in the final match held in Karshi, Uzbekistan.
20. Indian shooter Jitu Rai won Bronze medal at the 10-meter Air Pistol Men final in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Rifle/Pistol World Cup held in Changwon, South Korea.
21. A painting titled Tree of Life was gifted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to French President Francois Hollande during his visit to France from 9 April to 12 April 2015.
The painting reflects traditional societal respect for nature in India and tree as a divine gift central to human life is a recurring element in Indian artistic practiceThe Tree of Life, with multiple roots and branches like a banyan tree, is a motif for a tree’s benevolence, fruit, seeds, shelter, healing, procreation and regeneration faculties that sustain life and clean the environment.
The painting is the work of Bhaskar Mahapatra, an Odisha artist and the art form is pigments on silk which he has been practicing for last thirty years along with rest of his family.
22. Lt General (retd) Hanut Singh, the recipient of the Mahavir Chakra and hero of 1971 Indo-Pak war, died in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. He was 82.
23. In a new twist to the high profile SEBI-Sahara case, the Indian capital markets regulator has approached a US court with a USD 12-million claim on proceeds from sale of a corporate jet owned by a Sahara Group firm.
The court has rejected the demand for now, saying that SEBI could not “properly file a claim prior to the Bar Date and in accordance with the terms of the Court’s order“.
24. Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton from Britain on 12 April 2015 won Chinese Grand Prix of Formula One on the Shanghai International Circuit in China.
25. Air Pegasus, promoted by Decor Aviation Private Limited, on Sunday commenced its commercial operation with a daily to-and-fro flight to Hubballi and Thiruvananthapuram
26. The NITI Aayog has initiated the mid-term appraisal process of the 12th Five Year Plan, an exercise which has long been followed prior to establishment of the new body that replaced the Planning Commission.
27. The youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner and girls’ education campaigner Malala Yousafzai now has an asteroid named after her. Amy Mainzer, astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, named Asteroid 316201 after Malala
28. With overseas investors pumping in over Rs. 2,000 crore in the Indian capital markets so far this month, total foreign fund inflows have crossed the Rs. 81,000 crore mark since the beginning of the year.
29. India was elected to four important United Nations (UN) agencies . These agencies are United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Program (WFP), Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) and the Governing Council of UN-Habitat.
30. Social Progress Index (SPI) 2015 was released by the US-based non-profit organisation Social Progress Imperative . On population-weighted basis, the SPI score for the whole world stands at 61 and at 64.39 when SPI scores are based on simple average of countries. India with a score of 53.06 is ranked 101st and is placed in the Low Social Progress Group. In 2014, India with a score of 50.24 was ranked 102 out of 132 countries.
31. Seoul city, the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea, was awarded the title of Global Earth hour Capital 2015 after it won the Earth Hour City Challenge (EHCC) of World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The city of Balikpapan, Indonesia was recognized as the Most Loveable City for 2015 and Thane city was named as the National Earth Hour Capital 2015 of India.
32. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat announced fresh measures to provide relief to rain-hit farmers in the state including free distribution of seeds among them and an increased subsidy on ginger and turmeric seeds.
33. Coca-Cola India has roped in Bollywood actors Varun Dhawan and Gulshan Grover for its latest ad campaign for Maaza, its mango drink. Also, the company has decided to revamp Maaza’s packaging and labelling.
34. Syndicate Bank and Life Insurance Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding to implement the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’. LIC will provide a life cover of ₹2 lakh in case of death of the insured person at a nominal premium of ₹330 per annum. Savings bank account holders of the bank, in the age group of 18 to 50 years, can avail themselves of the product. The scheme will come into effect from June 1.
35. Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela qualified for next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after clinching a 10m air rifle bronze in the ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol) in Changwon, Korea
36. India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) became operational at Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City in Gandhinagar district of Gujarat
37. President Pranab Mukherjee appointed the senior most Election Commissioner (EC), Dr. Nasim Zaidi as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). He will succeed incumbent CEC HS Brahma
38. Richie Benaud, the former Australian cricket captain and legendary commentator died in Sydney on 10 April 2015
39. Arun Kumar Jha was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Mumbai.
40. India successfully test fired nuclear weapons-capable Dhanush missile from a ship, off the Odisha coast.
41. Rajasthan Legislative Assembly has passed a Bill to hike allowances for all sitting MLAs and those who have been members of the House since April 1, 2012.
42. India has been designated to chair the ninth meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Council. The meeting is scheduled to be held in June in Abu Dhabi.
43. Flipkart, India’s leading e-commerce marketplace, has tied up with the Dabbawalas of Mumbai for last-mile delivery to customers.
44. Professional social network operator LinkedIn Corp buy privately held online education company lynda.com in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $1.5 billion.
45. Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has bought RBS's diamond and jewellery financing business and related deposit portfolio
46. Peruvian President Ollanta Humala swore in Pedro Alvaro Cateriano Bellido as the nation’s new Prime Minister in a ceremony held on Thursday evening at the Government Palace in Lima, Peru.
47. West Bengal and Bihar Governor K.N. Tripathi, who has been given additional charge of Mizoram, was sworn in as the 16th governor of the northeastern state
48. Delhi International Airport Limited has won ‘Golden Peacock National Quality Award’ for 2015 for their concerted efforts in building a culture of Total Quality across Indira Gandhi International Airport.
49. Central Bank of India has topped the list of public sector banks with maximum bad loans including restructured assets as a percentage of total advances.
50. Diageo, the world’s largest spirits maker, on Thursday, took full control of South African beer maker United National Breweries by acquiring the additional 50 per cent stake in the company from Vijay Mallya-controlled Pestello Investments for an initial payment of $22 million.
51. A total of about Rs 900 crore has been sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Urban Development and an amount of about Rs 700 crore has been released to States/UTs based on proposals received under Swachh Bharat Mission during 2014-15.
52. India has welcomed the understanding announced in Lausanne between Iran and the E3+3 on the nuclear issue. A significant step seems to have been taken with the agreement on the parameters of a comprehensive settlement to be negotiated by June 30, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday morning.
China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States form the E3+3.
53. India has been ranked a low 119 out of 130 countries on an index that measures business resilience of nations based on economic, risk quality and supply chain factors, dropping seven notches from last year.
The 2015 FM Global Resilience Index has been topped by Norway for being the country best suited for companies seeking to avoid disruptions in their global supply chain operations.
54. New Zealand cricket team captain Brendon McCullum was conferred with the Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for 2014-15. McCullum won the award for his remarkable performance both as a player and the captain during the 2014-15 season.
55. China’s former Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang plans to announcement his retirement next week following years of nagging injuries.
56. Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal will lose her world no. 1 ranking after her gallant fight against Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the semifinals ended in heartbreak at the $500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament.
57. The Union Government extended the deadline for implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) deadline by six months in the states.
The deadline has already been extended twice for implementing the food law, was ending on April 4
58. India’s largest online marketplace Snapdeal announced to acquire RupeePower, a leading digital financial products distribution platform. The acquisition aimed to launch financial service.
59. Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Limited launched Smart Traveller that offers global coverage for students, individuals, families and frequent travellers.
The SmartTraveller Insurance policy offers a choice of two major plans catering to Individuals and Families and frequent travelers through a variant known as Annual Multi Trip International travel insurance plan.
60. Michael Rudenko, a committee member of the Minor Planet Center5 officially named a minor planet as 4538 Vishyanand, to honour India’s first chess grandmaster, Vishwanathan Anand.
61. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Give it Up campaign. The campaign was launched at the annual energy-focussed summit Urja Sangam 2015.
The campaign seeks to extort the better off sections of society to forego their liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidy, which would be utilised in providing subsidised LPG connections to the poor.
62. Operation Raahat was in news as India launched a massive air and sea operation to evacuate over 4000 Indian nationals from Yemen. The operation will involve total of five ships and four aircraft.
The operation started after India got permission to dock its offshore patrol vessel INS Sumitra at the Aden harbor of Yemen
63. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sanctioned the scheme of amalgamation of ING Vysya Bank Ltd. with Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. The Scheme will come into force with effect from 1 April 2015.
64. Mustafa Kamal stepped down as the President of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He sent out the resignation letter to the ICC.
The Bangladeshi cricket administrator had succeeded Alan Isaac as the 11th President of the ICC in June 2014 for a period of two years.
65. Prime Minister of Peru Ana Jara was sacked after she lost the vote of confidence in Congress. Congress voted 72 to 42 to censure Jara, with two abstentions.
66. Punjab has launched a special mission to provide school students a separate period for playing along with studies. Named as ‘Padho Punjab-Khedo Punjab Mission’, (Learn Punjab-Play Punjab Mission) a 40 to 50 minute special period has been kept for sports during which students of middle schools will be taught various games including the one being played locally.
Launching it as a pilot project at a government girls school in Roopnaga
67. Misao Okawa, a Japanese woman recognised as the world's oldest person who credited her longevity to "eating delicious things" and getting plenty of rest
68. The much-hyped ‘Aahar’ cheap meal scheme was today launched by Odisha government for providing subsidised food to urban poor.
69. Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Ltd (APCOB) has been reconstituted into two banks following the bifurcation of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
70. New Zealand pace bowler Kyle Mills announced his retirement from all cricket today, following Daniel Vettori in calling it quits after the World Cup final.
71. The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) notified hike in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) limit in Insurance Sector to 49 percent from the present 26 percent.As per the notification, FDI up to 26 percent will be under automatic route and beyond 26 percent and up to 49 percent will be allowed with the approval of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
72. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) raised the transaction limit in exchange traded currency derivatives to 15 million US dollars for both foreign and domestic investors without having any underlying exposure. Earlier, the limit was 10 million dollars.
73. Uttar Pradesh Government conferred Sahitya Shiromani Samman on noted Hindi poet Gopaldas Neeraj and veteran Hindi litterateur Uday Pratap Singh.
74. Tamil novelist, short story writer and literary critic Jayakanthan died in Chennai . He was 81.
75. Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge) Dr. Mahesh Sharma launched Visit Kerala 2015 campaign to promote Kerala tourism.The campaign is an initiative of Kerala Government to promote state-specific tourism products including Ayurveda, Responsible Tourism and Spice route. Under the campaign various innovative programmes and schemes will be launched in India and abroad to attract domestic and foreign tourists.
76. Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Prince Karim Aga Khan were among the eminent personalities awarded the Padma Vibhushan, country’s second highest civilian honour, by President Pranab Mukherjee
77. Mayilsamy Annadurai was appointed as Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bengaluru.
78. Gujarat cricket team on 7 April 2015 won the 2014-15 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy played at the KIIT Cricket Stadium, Bhubaneshwar. In the final clash, Gujarat defeated Punjab by two wickets
79. The Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry on 8 April 2015 formed an expert committee under the chairmanship of Ajay Shankar to suggest simplified compliance for establishing new industries. He is a former Secretary to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
80. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change proposed a colour-coded system to re-classify industries based on pollution potential. As per the proposal, the industries will be re-classified under three-coloured scheme, viz., Red, Orange and Green.
81. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd. (MUDRA) Bank to fund the small entrepreneurs.
The Bank was launched under the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). The bank will provide credit of up to 10 lakh rupees to small entrepreneurs and act as a regulator for Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs).
82. Snapdeal, one of India’s largest online marketplacesannounced that it has acquired FreeCharge, a mobile transactions platform.
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.
83. Sumit Mazumder, Chairman and Managing Director, TIL Limited, has been elected as the President of CII for the year 2015-16. He succeeds Mr Ajay Shriram as the new President.
84. Highlights of RBI’s first bi-monthly monetary policy statement, 2015-16:
* Short-term lending rate (repo) unchanged at 7.5%
* Cash Reserve Ratio unchanged at 4%
* Retains Statutory Liquidity Ratio at 21.5%
* Estimates GDP growth at 7.8% in FY’16, up from 7.5% in FY’15
* Forecasts CPI inflation at 5.8% by March 2016
* CPI inflation to dip to 4% in August 2015
* Hailstorms in March affected 17% of the rabi crop sown area
* Future rate cuts will depend on interest rate reduction by banks
* India better prepared to deal with volatility post US Federal Reserve rate action
* State cooperative banks to be allowed to set up offsite/ mobile ATMs without prior approval from RBI
* RBI to formulate scheme for market making by primary dealers in semi—liquid and illiquid G—Secs
85. World Health Day (WHD) 2015 was observed globally on 7 April 2015. The theme for the year is From farm to plate, make food safe.The theme was selected by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to bring focus on growing global burden of food borne diseases and underscore the need for coordinated cross-border action across the entire food supply chain i.e. from farm to plate.
86. Sochi: Indian Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika won the bronze medal along with Swedish Grandmaster Pia Cramling by virtue of making it to the semi-finals of World Women's chess championship
87. Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar launched the first indigenously-built Scorpene submarine at the Mazagaon Dockyard Ltd .
88. Paris- based Syrian-Lebanese Arab poet Adonis has been chosen for this year’s Kumaran Asan World Prize for poetry, instituted by the Kumaran Asan Memorial Association to honour poets of international stature and introduce them to Indian readers.
89. Rajeev Shukla was re-appointed as the chairman of the Indian Premier League's (IPL) Governing Council by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
90. Pratap Singh, a 15-year-old Indian-origin schoolboy in the United Kingdom, was awarded with the 500 pounds Institute of Physics (IOP) Prize. The prize also includes a trip to a national physics-related activity.
91. Piplantri Village of southern Rajasthan's Rajsamand district was in news in second week of March 2015. This village not only embraces daughters but also created a tradition of planting 111 trees every time on the birth of a girl child. The plants are planted in her honour.
92. Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, the Indo-Swiss women pair of Tennis, won the Miami Open Tennis women's doubles title
93. Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams won the 2015 Miami Open Men’s and women’s singles titles of the respectively at Crandon Park Tennis Center in Miami, Florida.
94. India host the 5th meeting of the SAARC Health Ministers to discuss and work out a roadmap for strengthening collaboration among SAARC countries on health challenges faced by them.
95. Public sector lender Dena Bank has partnered with government-owned LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) of India to provide insurance cover to all Aadhaar-linked savings account holders.
96. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 6 April 2015 launched a National Air Quality Index (NAQI) to tackle the menace of air pollution. This National Air Quality Index will provide information on the quality of air in 10 major cities in the country on a real-time basis.The ten cities where the quality of air can be monitored are Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
97. Malli Mastan Babu, one of the top mountaineers of India, died . His dead body was recovered from Andes Mountains in South America, between Argentina and Chile
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