Indian surgeons removed world's largest kidney weighing 2.75 kgsPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:14 people agreedThe operation was done by the Surgeons of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRM), Delhi.Ninth Civil Services Day was observed across India on 21 AprilPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:8 people agreedTo mark the Day, a two-day programme was organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances.Indian Navys new missile destroyer ship named Visakhapatnam launchedPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:16 people agreedThis 163-metre-long vessel warship is entirely made of Indian steel and weighs approximately 3000 tons. It is propelled by four gas turbines and is capable to achieve maximum speed of over 30 knots.Virat Kohli announced to set up chain of gyms with the investment of 90 crore rupeesPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:7 people agreedThe gyms will be launched under the brand name Chisel.Former Bengal U-19 Cricket captain Ankit Keshri diedPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:8 people agreedKeshri had captained the Bengal U-19 team in Cooch Behar Trophy and was in the 30-member India U-19 probables list for the 2014 Colts World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.Nasim Zaidi assumed charge as Chief Election Commissioner of IndiaPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:19 people agreedZaidi who became Indias 20th CEC succeeded Hari Shankar Brahma, who had retired on 18 April 2015.Former Chief Minister of Odisha Janaki Ballabh Patnaik diedPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:10 people agreedPatnaik was a senior leader of Indian National Congress and served Odisha as its Chief Minister from 1980 to 1989 and again from 1995 to 1999. He was also Governor of Assam from 2009 to 2014.13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice held in DohaPublished on: 20-APR-2015Important for Exam:34 people agreedThe Summit concluded with the adoption of Doha Declaration.Sitaram Yechury elected as General Secretary of CPI (M)Published on: 20-APR-2015Important for Exam:8 people agreedSitaram Yechury succeeds Prakash Karat, who was the General Secretary of the party from 2005 to April 2015.Shah Rukh Khan, Zayn Malik honoured at the 5th Asian AwardsPublished on: 20-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedKhan was awarded with the prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Cinema award, while, Malik was conferred with Outstanding Contribution to Music.Chhurim Sherpa, first woman to climb the Everest summit twice in a weekPublished on: 20-APR-2015Important for Exam:33 people agreedShe accomplished this feat in 2012, by climbing Everest on 12 May 2012 and 19 May 2012 and the fete was verified by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2013.World Heritage Day 2015 observed globallyPublished on: 18-APR-2015Important for Exam:43 people agreedThe day marks the necessity of protecting the historical monuments and sites located in every part of the world by making collective efforts at international level.PM Narendra Modi concluded his three-nation visit to France, Germany and CanadaPublished on: 18-APR-2015Important for Exam:95 people agreedMajor agreements reached during the three-nation visit included nuclear deal, purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft, return of the Khajuraho sculpture and others.Vankadarath Saritha joined as first woman bus driver of the DTCPublished on: 18-APR-2015Important for Exam:29 people agreedSaritha started her career as an autorickshaw driver and has worked as a bus driver earlier in Hyderabad tooWorld Hemophilia Day 2015 observed globally with theme Building a family of supportPublished on: 18-APR-2015Important for Exam:25 people agreed17 April was chosen as a day to observe Hemophilia day in 1989 to honor Frank Schnabel the founder of WFH, whose birthday falls on the same date.Stanislav Gross, Former Czech Republic Prime Minister, diedPublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:9 people agreedHe was the youngest Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2004 to 2005 at the age of 34.Narendra Modi gifted Miniature Painting titled Guru Nanak Dev to Stephen HarperPublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:26 people agreedThe painting is the work of Virendra Bannu, a Jaipur-based artist, who is the seventh generation artist in his family and is taking forward the legacy of his family in specialized miniature art form.PM of India, Canada paid tributes to victims of 1985 Kanishka incident at Humber Bay ParkPublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:14 people agreedThe memorial was unveiled on 22 June 2007 in Toronto in the memory of the 329 victims in the 23 June 1985 terrorist attack on Air India Flight 182 or Emperor Kanishka.Satya Nadella honoured with the White House Champions of ChangePublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedChampions of Champs honour is given to those who support working families and help make change in their companies or communities.Vikram Patel named among the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World List 2015Published on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:20 people agreedThe Time Magazine described him as a well-being warrior for his contributions in the field of psychiatry.Jamal Benomar, United Nations peace envoy to Yemen, resignedPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:10 people agreedHe was serving as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy for Yemen since 2012.Ancient Indian sculpture Parrot Lady presented to PM Narendra Modi by Canadian PMPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:66 people agreedParrot Lady is a life-sized, sandstone sculpture and is said to be around 900 year old.Dr. Mohan Kumar appointed as Ambassador of India to FrancePublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:23 people agreedHe is a 1981-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer.India successfully test-fired Agni III ballistic missile from Wheelar IslandPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:39 people agreedThe intermediate-range ballistic missile was test-fired by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) from the Wheelar Isalnd off the Odisha coast in the Bay of Bengal.Chemical scientists Susanta Lahiri and Kattesh V Katti received Hevesy Medal Award 2015Published on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedThe awards were presented to them at the Tenth International Conference on Methods and Applications of Radio-analytical Chemistry for their outstanding contributions in the fields of radio and nuclear chemistry.Former Nepalese Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa diedPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedThapa had served as the prime minister of the country for five terms in a political career spanning more than 50 years. He had worked under three different kings.Fourth Lighthouse Museum of India to be opened at Kannur, KeralaPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:41 people agreedThe other three lighthouses museums have been set up at Alappuzha in Kerala and Chennai and Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu.Union Government planned to push for Green Bonds to meets its target of renewable energyPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:24 people agreedLike normal bonds, these bonds can be issued by governments, multi-national banks or corporations.Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai sworn in as first lady judge of Sikkim HCPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:32 people agreedMeenakshi Madan Rai, who is the first female judge of the Sikkim High Court, is also the third High Court judge who hails from the small border state.Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited GermanyPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:33 people agreedDuring his three day visit, the Prime Minister interacted with the Chancellor, business leaders and Indian Diaspora.Justice AR Dave recused from Constitutional Bench hearing petitions challenging NJAC Act, 2014Published on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:18 people agreedNJAC Act, 2014, notified on 13 April 2015, provides for constitution of NJAC comprising of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) as the chairperson, two senior most judges of the SC, Union Law Minister and two eminent personalities as members.Fifth Normandy Group Foreign Ministers meet held in BerlinPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:9 people agreedThe meeting reviewed the progress in implementing the truce pact reached between pro-Russia forces and Ukraine to end the ongoing conflict in the Donbass region of Ukraine.Assamese film director, actor Bidyut Chakraborty diedPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:5 people agreedHe won Indira Gandhi national award for Best First Film of a Director n 1996 for his film Rag Biraag, a film based on a novel written by Jnanpith award-winner Mamoni Raisom Goswami.TRAI received over three lakh e-mails in support of Net NeutralityPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:26 people agreedThe e-mails were in response to a consultation paper released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which proposed that the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can impose differential charges on social networking sites which are providing voice and calling services.Union Government constituted Task Force on Interlinking of RiversPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:26 people agreedThe task force chaired by BN Navalawala will take up all issues for expediting the work on interlinking of rivers in the Country. It would also consider alternative plans in place of infeasible links in the present plan.Over Hundred people killed during Songkran festival in ThailandPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:27 people agreedThe accident occurred after Thais took trains, planes, cars and bikes to head home to their parents and families to celebrate the festival which started on 10 April 2015 evening.Mahatma Gandhi statue in Johannesburg defacedPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:55 people agreedThe statue in Johannesburg is believed to be the only one in the world showing Gandhi as a young lawyer in his court robes.Ernst & Young released a report titled Global IPO Trends 2015Published on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:10 people agreedAs per the report, Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) became the world leader in Initial Public Offerings (IPO) for the first time, outshining rivals, New York and Hong Kong during the 2015 Q1. In 2015 Q1, SSE raised 5.4 billion US dollars.Arun Jaitley inaugurated Vividh Bharati Service of Delhi on FM ModePublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedWith this launch, the services of Vividh Bharti of All India Radio (AIR) will be available to listeners in and around Delhi.Ri Su Yong, the Foreign Minister of North Korea, visited IndiaPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:14 people agreedForeign Minister level talks were held were issues of mutual interest including Indias security concerns were discussed and Yong was informed about the significance of peace and stability in the Korean peninsula for Indias Act East policy.Prime Minister Naredra Modi visited FrancePublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:18 people agreedIn the first leg of his visit, Modi was given a ceremonial reception in the French capital, Paris by Thierry Braillard, Minister of State for Sports of France.Baba Ramdev to be accorded the status of Cabinet Minister by Haryana GovernmentPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:2 people agreedRamdev, the Brand Ambassador for promotion of yoga and ayurveda in Haryana, will be given status equivalent to Cabinet Minister.Nobel laureate German Novelist Gunter Grass diedPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:23 people agreedHis writings mainly focused on the Nazi era, the horrors of the war and the destruction and guilt that remained after defeat of Germany.NASA named Asteroid 316201 after Malala Yousafzai, the winner of 2014 Nobel Peace PrizePublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:28 people agreedThe asteroid is situated in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid orbits the sun every five-and-a-half years.PM Narendra Modi gifted painting titled Tree of Life to French President Francois HollandePublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:31 people agreedBhaskar Mahapatra, an Odisha artist based in Raghurajpur created the painting. He has been practicing the art form for last thirty years along with rest of his family.Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman hanged by Bangladesh for 1971 war crimesPublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:12 people agreedHe was hanged at Dhaka Central Jail after the Supreme Court of Bangladesh rejected his appeal against a death sentence imposed by a special tribunal for genocide and torture of civilians during the conflict.1971 War Hero Lt General Hanut Singh DiedPublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:16 people agreedHe led the 17 Poona Horse regiment in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the 1971 war in the Basantar battle, leading to heavy losses on the Pakistan Army by destroying a number of Pakistani tanks.President inaugurated Songs and Dances of Northeast event in New DelhiPublished on: 11-APR-2015Important for Exam:24 people agreedThe event was intended to showcase richness of Northeast to people living outside Northeast.Bharat Hari Singhania became the president of JK OrganizationPublished on: 11-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedHe is an industrialist with over forty-four years of experience in managing various industries including cement, tyres, paper and succeeded Gaur Hari Singhania who died on 4 April 2015.Arun Kumar Jha appointed as CEO of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)Published on: 11-APR-2015Important for Exam:36 people agreedAs the CEO of KVIC, he will oversee the day-to-day functioning of the commission and report about its activities to the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).India to chair Ninth Meeting of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) CouncilPublished on: 11-APR-2015Important for Exam:30 people agreedIndia will chair the meeting of the 21 member council, which will guide the agencys future programmes and activities and helps set the agenda for the meeting of the annual Assembly to be held in January 2016.India successfully test-fired Dhanush ballistic missilePublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:87 people agreedStrategic Force Command (SFC) of India's Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) test-fired the nuclear capable missile from a naval ship off the Odisha coast.Former Air Chief Marshal of IAF Hrushikesh Moolgavkar diedPublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:27 people agreedHis biography, Leading from the Cockpit: A Fighter pilot's story was published in 2009.Book titled Suleiman Charitra written by Kalyana Malla translated from Sanskrit to EnglishPublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:4 people agreedThe book is a work of translation from Sanskrit to English by diplomat-writer A.N.D. Haskar. The original book Suleiman Charitra was written by a 16th century poet Kalyan Malla.Former Australia Cricket Captain Richie Benaud diedPublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:29 people agreedIn his test career, Benaud played 63 Tests, 28 as captain and never lost a series as captain. He was the first player to score 2000 Test runs and take 200 Test wickets.Jnanapith awardee Tamil writer Jayakanthan diedPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedJayakanthan, known as JK among his friends, focussed on the marginalised sections in his writing and several of his characters reflect their suffering. He was the founder of the Indo-Russian Cultural and Friendship Society.Sumit Mazumder elected as President of Confederation of Indian Industry for the year 2015-16Published on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:11 people agreedDr. Naushad Forbes was elected as the President-designate and Shobana Kamineni was elected as the Vice-President of the CII for the year 2015-16Dr. Nasim Zaidi appointed as Chief Election Commissioner of IndiaPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:50 people agreedZaidi will succeed Hari Shankar Brahma who will demit his office on 18 April 2015. Zaidi will have tenure up to July 2017 when he attains the age of 65.Gopaldas Neeraj, Uday Pratap Singh conferred with Sahitya Shiromani Samman of Uttar PradeshPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:17 people agreedAlong with the award, Gopaldas Neeraj and Uday Pratap Singh also received a cash prize of 21 lakh rupees.Noted singer EM Hanifa diedPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:20 people agreedHe was known for his song Iraivanidam Kaiyenthungal (look up to God he never says no) was an evergreen liked by all crossing across religious barriers.Supreme Court lifted 1990 ban on performance of play Jesus Christ SuperstarPublished on: 08-APR-2015Important for Exam:3 people agreedThe ban on the staging of the play was imposed by the Kottayam District administration through a notification in 1990.Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry constituted Ajay Shankar committee to simplify clearancesPublished on: 08-APR-2015Important for Exam:30 people agreedThe Expert Committee examines the possibility of replacing multiple prior permissions with pre-existing regulatory mechanism and prepares draft legislation for this purpose.Mayilsamy Annadurai appointed as Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC)Published on: 08-APR-2015Important for Exam:24 people agreedAs the Director of ISAC he will oversee development of satellite technology and implementation of satellite systems for scientific, technological and application missions.Piplantri village of Rajasthan, a village that plants 111 trees for every girl bornPublished on: 07-APR-2015Important for Exam:50 people agreedThe 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.World Health Day 2015 observed globally with the theme From farm to plate, make food safePublished on: 07-APR-2015Important for Exam:40 people agreedOn this day WHO conducted various programmes across the world in close cooperation with government agencies and civil society to spread awareness on food safety issues related to the entire spectrum of food supply chain.Pratap Singh, an Indian-origin schoolboy, won Institute of Physics Prize for his Cosmic-ray projectPublished on: 07-APR-2015Important for Exam:34 people agreedHe was awarded for conducting an experiment that verified an effect of Albert Einsteins theory of special relativity at the Bing Bang Fair held at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) Birmingham.Delhi International Airport Limited won Golden Peacock National Quality Award 2015Published on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:60 people agreedThe award will be presented to DIAL by the UAE Minister for Culture, Youth and Development Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan at a ceremony to be held in Dubai on 20 April 2015.Keshari Nath Tripathi sworn-in as 16th Governor of MizoramPublished on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:11 people agreedKeshari Nath Tripathi on 4 April 2015 took additional charge as Governor of Mizoram. He also holds the office of Governor of West Bengal and Bihar. His term would end in 2017.President presented National Geoscience Awards 2013Published on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:20 people agreedThe annual awards are presented to honour individuals and team of scientists for their outstanding contributions in the field of fundamental or applied Geosciences, Mining and Allied areas.Pedro Cateriano Bellido appointed as 7th Prime Minister of PeruPublished on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedBellido replaced Ana Jara, who was sacked on 30 March 2015 after losing the vote of confidence in Congress.Prime Minister released a book titled Pre-Modern Kutchi Navigation Techniques and VoyagesPublished on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:30 people agreedThe book is a depiction and transcription of Malam Ni Pothis, a collection of Gujarati manuscripts which describe the pre-modern navigation technology of Gujarat between the 17th and the 19th century.Indias ace mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu diedPublished on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:34 people agreedBabu who hailed from Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh was regarded as the fastest seven summiteers of the world, that is, he was the fastest mountaineer to climb seven summits of the world in record 172 days in 2006.FM Global released Global Resilience Index 2015 ReportPublished on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:32 people agreedNorway topped the Index which used three factors namely Economic Productivity, Risk Quality, and Supply Chain to assess business resilience of the 130 countries or regions surveyed.Minor planet named after former Chess grandmaster Vishwanathan AnandPublished on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:27 people agreedWith this naming, Grandmaster Vishwanathan has registered his name into the books of planetary science. Other world chess champions whose names are registered in celestial objects are Alexander Alekhine and Anatoly Karpov.Mariyam Asif Siddiqui, Muslim girl won Bhagwad Gita contestPublished on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:21 people agreedSiddiqui who studies in Class 6 in a school at Mira Road near Mumbai won the prize for explaining the teachings of the Bhagwad Gita.Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Give it Up campaignPublished on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:35 people agreedThe 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.Indian-origin nurse Subadhra Devi Rai named for 2015 International Achievement AwardPublished on: 02-APR-2015Important for Exam:85 people agreedSubadhra Devi Rai became the first Singaporean to get the prestigious biennial prize since its introduction in 1999.Sunita Tomar, the face of India's anti-tobacco campaign, diedPublished on: 02-APR-2015Important for Exam:51 people agreedIn 2014, she shot a 30-second video title Sunita highlighting the devastating effect of smokeless tobacco which was used by the government for its anti-tobacco drive.Jaish al-Fatah army group captured Syrian city IdlibPublished on: 02-APR-2015Important for Exam:9 people agreedThe city is strategically located on the highway which connects countrys largest city Aleppo with the Syrian capital Damascus.Renowned Hindi poet Kailash Vajpeyi diedPublished on: 02-APR-2015Important for Exam:42 people agreedKailash Vajpeyi published 28 books, including 14 volumes of poetry. Some of his works includes Sufinama, Sankrant, Dehant se Hatkar (Away from Death), Teesra Andhera (Third Darkness), and Rajnadhi.India launched Operation Raahat to evacuate 4000 Indian nationals from YemenPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:66 people agreedOperation Raahat will involve total of five ships and four aircraft to evacuate about 4000 Indian nationals from strife-torn Yemen.Mustafa Kamal resigned from the post of President of International Cricket CouncilPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedMustafa Kamal sent out the resignation letter to the ICC. He had succeeded Alan Isaac as the 11th President of the ICC in June 2014 for a period of two years.Vice President released a book titled Aatank Ke Saaye Men written by Garima SanjayPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:36 people agreedThe book mainly dwells upon the menace of the burning problem of terrorism in most of the countries worldwideAmazon and IBM announced plans to enter Internet of Things (IoT) MarketspacePublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:19 people agreedThe IoT is a virtual network of devices embedded with electronic sensors and transmitting technologies. The network helps in sharing information on a real time basis.Fourteenth Multi-Parametric Geophysical Observatory (MPGO) inaugurated in Port BlairPublished on: 31-MAR-2015Important for Exam:63 people agreedThe observatories are set up by the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) to study seismic activities by using multi techniques.WJP released Open Government Index 2015 ReportPublished on: 31-MAR-2015Important for Exam:67 people agreedThe Index used four dimensions to assess openness in government functioning. India is placed at the 37th position among 102 countries surveyed.Gods Bankers authored by Gerald Posner releasedPublished on: 31-MAR-2015Important for Exam:30 people agreedPosner through this book has tried to present the secret side of the 200-year history of Vatican finances and the Vatican Bank, the Catholic Church's completely independent financial institution.Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba took over as Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Naval CommandPublished on: 31-MAR-2015Important for Exam:21 people agreedVice Admiral Sunil Lanba took the charge from Vice Admiral SPS Cheema at the Naval base in Kochi.Balbir Singh Senior conferred with Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award of Hockey IndiaPublished on: 30-MAR-2015Important for Exam:32 people agreedBalbir Singh Senior was a member of three Olympic gold medal winning Indian team, viz., London Olympics (1948), Helsinki Olympics (1952) and Melbourne Olympics (1956).Japan organised Worlds first Otaku ExpoPublished on: 30-MAR-2015Important for Exam:14 people agreedThe Expo was organized as a part of a special comic book fair held every five years, which attracts about half a million visitors.Former Union Minister and veteran Congress Party leader Paty Ripple Kyndiah diedPublished on: 30-MAR-2015Important for Exam:8 people agreedHe had served as the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs and Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) in 2004 under the UPA-I government led by Manmohan Singh.Earth Hour 2015 observed globally from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm local timePublished on: 30-MAR-2015Important for Exam:32 people agreedThe tagline for the Earth Hour 2015 is Change Climate Change and it was observed across 172 nations and territories and around 1400+ iconic landmarks of the world switched off the lights.Madan Mohan Malaviya posthumously awarded Bharat RatnaPublished on: 30-MAR-2015Important for Exam:45 people agreedPandit Malaviya was born on 25 December 1861 in Allahabad. He studied in Calcutta University and became a school teacher and later a lawyer and even a newspaper editor. He was the founder of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Hindu Mahasabha.Aditi Arya won the fbb Femina Miss India 2015 titlePublished on: 30-MAR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedShe was crowned Miss India 2015 in the 52nd edition of the beauty contest held in Mumbai.President presented Bharat Ratna award to Atal Bihari VajpayeePublished on: 28-MAR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedThe award giving ceremony is usually held at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi, but an exception was made keeping in mind the poor health of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee.ISRO won Gandhi Peace Prize 2014Published on: 28-MAR-2015Important for Exam:23 people agreedThe Indian space agency successfully launched Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) and at a very cost effective price of 450 crore rupees.Virat Kohli announced to set up chain of gyms with the investment of 90 crore rupeesPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:7 people agreedThe gyms will be launched under the brand name Chisel.TRAI issued recommendations on delivering BroadbandPublished on: 18-APR-2015Important for Exam:14 people agreedThe Authority in its recommendations raised concerns about the slow penetration and adoption of broadband in the country.Arun Jaitley inaugurated Vividh Bharati Service of Delhi on FM ModePublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedWith this launch, the services of Vividh Bharti of All India Radio (AIR) will be available to listeners in and around Delhi.Union Government planned to push for Green Bonds to meets its target of renewable energyPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:24 people agreedLike normal bonds, these bonds can be issued by governments, multi-national banks or corporations.Fifth Normandy Group Foreign Ministers meet held in BerlinPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:9 people agreedThe meeting reviewed the progress in implementing the truce pact reached between pro-Russia forces and Ukraine to end the ongoing conflict in the Donbass region of Ukraine.TRAI received over three lakh e-mails in support of Net NeutralityPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:26 people agreedThe e-mails were in response to a consultation paper released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which proposed that the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can impose differential charges on social networking sites which are providing voice and calling services.Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Give it Up campaignPublished on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:35 people agreedThe 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.Jaish al-Fatah army group captured Syrian city IdlibPublished on: 02-APR-2015Important for Exam:9 people agreedThe city is strategically located on the highway which connects countrys largest city Aleppo with the Syrian capital Damascus.India launched Operation Raahat to evacuate 4000 Indian nationals from YemenPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:66 people agreedOperation Raahat will involve total of five ships and four aircraft to evacuate about 4000 Indian nationals from strife-torn Yemen.Amazon and IBM announced plans to enter Internet of Things (IoT) MarketspacePublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:19 people agreedThe IoT is a virtual network of devices embedded with electronic sensors and transmitting technologies. The network helps in sharing information on a real time basis.Fourteenth Multi-Parametric Geophysical Observatory (MPGO) inaugurated in Port BlairPublished on: 31-MAR-2015Important for Exam:63 people agreedThe observatories are set up by the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) to study seismic activities by using multi techniques.Flight 4U 9525 of Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed in French AlpsPublished on: 25-MAR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedAt the time of crash, A320 Aircraft, flight 4U 9525, was flying from Barcelona to Dusseldorf. Authorities recovered the Black box of the Airbus 320 from the crash site.Narendra Modi gifted Miniature Painting titled Guru Nanak Dev to Stephen HarperPublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:26 people agreedThe painting is the work of Virendra Bannu, a Jaipur-based artist, who is the seventh generation artist in his family and is taking forward the legacy of his family in specialized miniature art form.Ancient Indian sculpture Parrot Lady presented to PM Narendra Modi by Canadian PMPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:66 people agreedParrot Lady is a life-sized, sandstone sculpture and is said to be around 900 year old.Fourth Lighthouse Museum of India to be opened at Kannur, KeralaPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:41 people agreedThe other three lighthouses museums have been set up at Alappuzha in Kerala and Chennai and Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu.Over Hundred people killed during Songkran festival in ThailandPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:27 people agreedThe accident occurred after Thais took trains, planes, cars and bikes to head home to their parents and families to celebrate the festival which started on 10 April 2015 evening.PM Narendra Modi gifted painting titled Tree of Life to French President Francois HollandePublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:31 people agreedBhaskar Mahapatra, an Odisha artist based in Raghurajpur created the painting. He has been practicing the art form for last thirty years along with rest of his family.President inaugurated Songs and Dances of Northeast event in New DelhiPublished on: 11-APR-2015Important for Exam:24 people agreedThe event was intended to showcase richness of Northeast to people living outside Northeast.Supreme Court lifted 1990 ban on performance of play Jesus Christ SuperstarPublished on: 08-APR-2015Important for Exam:3 people agreedThe ban on the staging of the play was imposed by the Kottayam District administration through a notification in 1990.Shah Rukh Khan, Zayn Malik honoured at the 5th Asian AwardsPublished on: 20-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedKhan was awarded with the prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Cinema award, while, Malik was conferred with Outstanding Contribution to Music.Satya Nadella honoured with the White House Champions of ChangePublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedChampions of Champs honour is given to those who support working families and help make change in their companies or communities.Chemical scientists Susanta Lahiri and Kattesh V Katti received Hevesy Medal Award 2015Published on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedThe awards were presented to them at the Tenth International Conference on Methods and Applications of Radio-analytical Chemistry for their outstanding contributions in the fields of radio and nuclear chemistry.Gopaldas Neeraj, Uday Pratap Singh conferred with Sahitya Shiromani Samman of Uttar PradeshPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:17 people agreedAlong with the award, Gopaldas Neeraj and Uday Pratap Singh also received a cash prize of 21 lakh rupees.Pratap Singh, an Indian-origin schoolboy, won Institute of Physics Prize for his Cosmic-ray projectPublished on: 07-APR-2015Important for Exam:34 people agreedHe was awarded for conducting an experiment that verified an effect of Albert Einsteins theory of special relativity at the Bing Bang Fair held at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) Birmingham.Delhi International Airport Limited won Golden Peacock National Quality Award 2015Published on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:60 people agreedThe award will be presented to DIAL by the UAE Minister for Culture, Youth and Development Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan at a ceremony to be held in Dubai on 20 April 2015.President presented National Geoscience Awards 2013Published on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:20 people agreedThe annual awards are presented to honour individuals and team of scientists for their outstanding contributions in the field of fundamental or applied Geosciences, Mining and Allied areas.Mariyam Asif Siddiqui, Muslim girl won Bhagwad Gita contestPublished on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:21 people agreedSiddiqui who studies in Class 6 in a school at Mira Road near Mumbai won the prize for explaining the teachings of the Bhagwad Gita.Indian-origin nurse Subadhra Devi Rai named for 2015 International Achievement AwardPublished on: 02-APR-2015Important for Exam:85 people agreedSubadhra Devi Rai became the first Singaporean to get the prestigious biennial prize since its introduction in 1999.Book titled Suleiman Charitra written by Kalyana Malla translated from Sanskrit to EnglishPublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:4 people agreedThe book is a work of translation from Sanskrit to English by diplomat-writer A.N.D. Haskar. The original book Suleiman Charitra was written by a 16th century poet Kalyan Malla.Prime Minister released a book titled Pre-Modern Kutchi Navigation Techniques and VoyagesPublished on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:30 people agreedThe book is a depiction and transcription of Malam Ni Pothis, a collection of Gujarati manuscripts which describe the pre-modern navigation technology of Gujarat between the 17th and the 19th century.Vice President released a book titled Aatank Ke Saaye Men written by Garima SanjayPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:36 people agreedThe book mainly dwells upon the menace of the burning problem of terrorism in most of the countries worldwideUnion Government constituted Task Force on Interlinking of RiversPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:26 people agreedThe task force chaired by BN Navalawala will take up all issues for expediting the work on interlinking of rivers in the Country. It would also consider alternative plans in place of infeasible links in the present plan.Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry constituted Ajay Shankar committee to simplify clearancesPublished on: 08-APR-2015Important for Exam:30 people agreedThe Expert Committee examines the possibility of replacing multiple prior permissions with pre-existing regulatory mechanism and prepares draft legislation for this purpose.Ministry of Railways constituted Ajay Shankar Committee to review PPP Cell functioningPublished on: 26-MAR-2015Important for Exam:29 people agreedThe Committee will recommend measures to make the cell more effective, customer friendly and result oriented.Union Government constituted SIT to reinvestigate 1984 anti-Sikh riot casesPublished on: 13-FEB-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedThe SIT was constituted on recommendation of Mathur Committee which in its report asked the government to start a fresh probe in the case. The new SIT will be headed by Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of 1986 batch.659Google +35Ninth Civil Services Day was observed across India on 21 AprilPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:8 people agreedTo mark the Day, a two-day programme was organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances.World Heritage Day 2015 observed globallyPublished on: 18-APR-2015Important for Exam:43 people agreedThe day marks the necessity of protecting the historical monuments and sites located in every part of the world by making collective efforts at international level.World Hemophilia Day 2015 observed globally with theme Building a family of supportPublished on: 18-APR-2015Important for Exam:25 people agreed17 April was chosen as a day to observe Hemophilia day in 1989 to honor Frank Schnabel the founder of WFH, whose birthday falls on the same date.World Health Day 2015 observed globally with the theme From farm to plate, make food safePublished on: 07-APR-2015Important for Exam:40 people agreedOn this day WHO conducted various programmes across the world in close cooperation with government agencies and civil society to spread awareness on food safety issues related to the entire spectrum of food supply chain.Earth Hour 2015 observed globally from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm local timePublished on: 30-MAR-2015Important for Exam:32 people agreedThe tagline for the Earth Hour 2015 is Change Climate Change and it was observed across 172 nations and territories and around 1400+ iconic landmarks of the world switched off the lights.

Indian Navys new missile destroyer ship named Visakhapatnam launchedPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedThis 163-metre-long vessel warship is entirely made of Indian steel and weighs approximately 3000 tons. It is propelled by four gas turbines and is capable to achieve maximum speed of over 30 knots.India successfully test-fired Agni III ballistic missile from Wheelar IslandPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:39 people agreedThe intermediate-range ballistic missile was test-fired by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) from the Wheelar Isalnd off the Odisha coast in the Bay of Bengal.India successfully test-fired Dhanush ballistic missilePublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:87 people agreedStrategic Force Command (SFC) of India's Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) test-fired the nuclear capable missile from a naval ship off the Odisha coast.Indian Navy commissioned three Immediate Support Vessels (ISVs) in VishakhapatnamPublished on: 25-MAR-2015Important for Exam:23 people agreedThese ISVs will be operated from Vishakhapatnam and will augment the Navys capabilities to protect the porous maritime borders and offshore assets like petroleum and natural gas production sites.29th Surajkund International Crafts Mela celebratedPublished on: 23-FEB-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedChhattisgarh was selected as the Theme State while Lebanon was Partner Nation for the Surajkund Mela. Sri Lanka was chosen as Partner Nation for 28th Surajkund International Crafts Mela-20123719Google +29Sitaram Yechury elected as General Secretary of CPI (M)Published on: 20-APR-2015Important for Exam:8 people agreedSitaram Yechury succeeds Prakash Karat, who was the General Secretary of the party from 2005 to April 2015.Dr. Mohan Kumar appointed as Ambassador of India to FrancePublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:23 people agreedHe is a 1981-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer.Justice Meenakshi Madan Rai sworn in as first lady judge of Sikkim HCPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:32 people agreedMeenakshi Madan Rai, who is the first female judge of the Sikkim High Court, is also the third High Court judge who hails from the small border state.Bharat Hari Singhania became the president of JK OrganizationPublished on: 11-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedHe is an industrialist with over forty-four years of experience in managing various industries including cement, tyres, paper and succeeded Gaur Hari Singhania who died on 4 April 2015.Arun Kumar Jha appointed as CEO of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)Published on: 11-APR-2015Important for Exam:36 people agreedAs the CEO of KVIC, he will oversee the day-to-day functioning of the commission and report about its activities to the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).Sumit Mazumder elected as President of Confederation of Indian Industry for the year 2015-16Published on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:11 people agreedDr. Naushad Forbes was elected as the President-designate and Shobana Kamineni was elected as the Vice-President of the CII for the year 2015-16Dr. Nasim Zaidi appointed as Chief Election Commissioner of IndiaPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:50 people agreedZaidi will succeed Hari Shankar Brahma who will demit his office on 18 April 2015. Zaidi will have tenure up to July 2017 when he attains the age of 65.Mayilsamy Annadurai appointed as Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC)Published on: 08-APR-2015Important for Exam:24 people agreedAs the Director of ISAC he will oversee development of satellite technology and implementation of satellite systems for scientific, technological and application missions.Keshari Nath Tripathi sworn-in as 16th Governor of MizoramPublished on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:11 people agreedKeshari Nath Tripathi on 4 April 2015 took additional charge as Governor of Mizoram. He also holds the office of Governor of West Bengal and Bihar. His term would end in 2017.Pedro Cateriano Bellido appointed as 7th Prime Minister of PeruPublished on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedBellido replaced Ana Jara, who was sacked on 30 March 2015 after losing the vote of confidence in Congress.Former Bengal U-19 Cricket captain Ankit Keshri diedPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:8 people agreedKeshri had captained the Bengal U-19 team in Cooch Behar Trophy and was in the 30-member India U-19 probables list for the 2014 Colts World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.Former Chief Minister of Odisha Janaki Ballabh Patnaik diedPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:10 people agreedPatnaik was a senior leader of Indian National Congress and served Odisha as its Chief Minister from 1980 to 1989 and again from 1995 to 1999. He was also Governor of Assam from 2009 to 2014.Stanislav Gross, Former Czech Republic Prime Minister, diedPublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:9 people agreedHe was the youngest Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2004 to 2005 at the age of 34.Former Nepalese Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa diedPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedThapa had served as the prime minister of the country for five terms in a political career spanning more than 50 years. He had worked under three different kings.Assamese film director, actor Bidyut Chakraborty diedPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:5 people agreedHe won Indira Gandhi national award for Best First Film of a Director n 1996 for his film Rag Biraag, a film based on a novel written by Jnanpith award-winner Mamoni Raisom Goswami.Nobel laureate German Novelist Gunter Grass diedPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:23 people agreedHis writings mainly focused on the Nazi era, the horrors of the war and the destruction and guilt that remained after defeat of Germany.1971 War Hero Lt General Hanut Singh DiedPublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:16 people agreedHe led the 17 Poona Horse regiment in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel during the 1971 war in the Basantar battle, leading to heavy losses on the Pakistan Army by destroying a number of Pakistani tanks.Former Air Chief Marshal of IAF Hrushikesh Moolgavkar diedPublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:27 people agreedHis biography, Leading from the Cockpit: A Fighter pilot's story was published in 2009.Former Australia Cricket Captain Richie Benaud diedPublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:29 people agreedIn his test career, Benaud played 63 Tests, 28 as captain and never lost a series as captain. He was the first player to score 2000 Test runs and take 200 Test wickets.Jnanapith awardee Tamil writer Jayakanthan diedPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedJayakanthan, known as JK among his friends, focussed on the marginalised sections in his writing and several of his characters reflect their suffering. He was the founder of the Indo-Russian Cultural and Friendship Society.Noted singer EM Hanifa diedPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:20 people agreedHe was known for his song Iraivanidam Kaiyenthungal (look up to God he never says no) was an evergreen liked by all crossing across religious barriers.Indias ace mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu diedPublished on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:34 people agreedBabu who hailed from Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh was regarded as the fastest seven summiteers of the world, that is, he was the fastest mountaineer to climb seven summits of the world in record 172 days in 2006.Sunita Tomar, the face of India's anti-tobacco campaign, diedPublished on: 02-APR-2015Important for Exam:51 people agreedIn 2014, she shot a 30-second video title Sunita highlighting the devastating effect of smokeless tobacco which was used by the government for its anti-tobacco drive.Renowned Hindi poet Kailash Vajpeyi diedPublished on: 02-APR-2015Important for Exam:42 people agreedKailash Vajpeyi published 28 books, including 14 volumes of poetry. Some of his works includes Sufinama, Sankrant, Dehant se Hatkar (Away from Death), Teesra Andhera (Third Darkness), and Rajnadhi.Former Union Minister and veteran Congress Party leader Paty Ripple Kyndiah diedPublished on: 30-MAR-2015Important for Exam:8 people agreedHe had served as the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs and Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) in 2004 under the UPA-I government led by Manmohan Singh.Jamal Benomar, United Nations peace envoy to Yemen, resignedPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:10 people agreedHe was serving as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy for Yemen since 2012.Mustafa Kamal resigned from the post of President of International Cricket CouncilPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedMustafa Kamal sent out the resignation letter to the ICC. He had succeeded Alan Isaac as the 11th President of the ICC in June 2014 for a period of two years.Nasim Zaidi assumed charge as Chief Election Commissioner of IndiaPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedZaidi who became Indias 20th CEC succeeded Hari Shankar Brahma, who had retired on 18 April 2015.Chhurim Sherpa, first woman to climb the Everest summit twice in a weekPublished on: 20-APR-2015Important for Exam:33 people agreedShe accomplished this feat in 2012, by climbing Everest on 12 May 2012 and 19 May 2012 and the fete was verified by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2013.Vankadarath Saritha joined as first woman bus driver of the DTCPublished on: 18-APR-2015Important for Exam:29 people agreedSaritha started her career as an autorickshaw driver and has worked as a bus driver earlier in Hyderabad tooVikram Patel named among the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World List 2015Published on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:20 people agreedThe Time Magazine described him as a well-being warrior for his contributions in the field of psychiatry.Justice AR Dave recused from Constitutional Bench hearing petitions challenging NJAC Act, 2014Published on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:18 people agreedNJAC Act, 2014, notified on 13 April 2015, provides for constitution of NJAC comprising of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) as the chairperson, two senior most judges of the SC, Union Law Minister and two eminent personalities as members.Baba Ramdev to be accorded the status of Cabinet Minister by Haryana GovernmentPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:2 people agreedRamdev, the Brand Ambassador for promotion of yoga and ayurveda in Haryana, will be given status equivalent to Cabinet Minister.NASA named Asteroid 316201 after Malala Yousafzai, the winner of 2014 Nobel Peace PrizePublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:28 people agreedThe asteroid is situated in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid orbits the sun every five-and-a-half years.Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman hanged by Bangladesh for 1971 war crimesPublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:12 people agreedHe was hanged at Dhaka Central Jail after the Supreme Court of Bangladesh rejected his appeal against a death sentence imposed by a special tribunal for genocide and torture of civilians during the conflict.Minor planet named after former Chess grandmaster Vishwanathan AnandPublished on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:27 people agreedWith this naming, Grandmaster Vishwanathan has registered his name into the books of planetary science. Other world chess champions whose names are registered in celestial objects are Alexander Alekhine and Anatoly Karpov.Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba took over as Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Naval CommandPublished on: 31-MAR-2015Important for Exam:21 people agreedVice Admiral Sunil Lanba took the charge from Vice Admiral SPS Cheema at the Naval base in Kochi.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17 April 2015 returned to India after his three-nation visit to France, Germany and Canada.

During his nine-day visit, which took place from 9 April to 17 April 2015, he met leaders of the three nations namely French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The visit concluded with some major agreements which would boost Modis vision of Clean India, Make in India and others.

Some major agreements include purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets with France, agreement for supply of uranium with Canada for nuclear power plants in India and Airbus plan to come to India and be a part of Make in India initiative.

MoUs and agreements signed with France and Germany covered areas like Defence and Nuclear Energy, Space, Economic relations, Railways, Energy, Tourism, Science and Technology, Skill Development, Ayurveda, manufacturing, urban development, environment, railways, cleaning of rivers, language and science & technology.

Agreements with Canada covered the areas of uranium, visas, terrorism, foreign investment promotion and protection, Canada-India comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) free-trade deal, culture and people-to-people ties, regional and global issues and others.

The other major highlights of the visit were the gifts presented by PM Modi to the leaders of the respective countries.The gifts included A miniaturepainting titled Guru Nanak Devto Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. The painting on handmade paper with mineral colours had Guru Nanak Dev with his two disciples Bhai Mardana and Bhai Bala, sitting beside him is painted in the traditional Indian miniature style. Apainting titled Tree of Lifewas gifted to French President Francois Hollande. Tree of Life: A painting that reflects traditional societal respect for nature in India. Somereproductions of Sir CV Ramans manuscripts and paperswere gifted to the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. CV Raman had strong connection with Germany.

Besides, the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper presented ancientIndian sculpture Parrot Ladyto Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Parrot Lady is a life-sized, sandstone sculpture and is said to be around 900 year old and was carved for placement in one of the Khajuraho temples that form a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Madhya Pradesh. It was returned to India in line with the1970 UNESCO Convention.Categories All 2015 Current Affairs 2014 Current Affairs Study Guides National | India News Capsule Economy International | World Sports Science | Technology Corporate Environment | Ecology State Current Affairs Magazines Current Affairs Videos Test & Quizzes Discussion | Analysis India | World This Week Archives 152Google +2PM of India, Canada paid tributes to victims of 1985 Kanishka incident at Humber Bay ParkPublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:14 people agreedThe memorial was unveiled on 22 June 2007 in Toronto in the memory of the 329 victims in the 23 June 1985 terrorist attack on Air India Flight 182 or Emperor Kanishka.Mahatma Gandhi statue in Johannesburg defacedPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:55 people agreedThe statue in Johannesburg is believed to be the only one in the world showing Gandhi as a young lawyer in his court robes.Piplantri village of Rajasthan, a village that plants 111 trees for every girl bornPublished on: 07-APR-2015Important for Exam:50 people agreedThe 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.Islamic State Group bulldozed ancient city of Nimrud in IraqPublished on: 07-MAR-2015Important for Exam:53 people agreedNimrud overlooking the Tigris River was founded in the 13th century BC and was considered the jewel of the Assyrian era.Ernst & Young released a report titled Global IPO Trends 2015Published on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:10 people agreedAs per the report, Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) became the world leader in Initial Public Offerings (IPO) for the first time, outshining rivals, New York and Hong Kong during the 2015 Q1. In 2015 Q1, SSE raised 5.4 billion US dollars.FM Global released Global Resilience Index 2015 ReportPublished on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:32 people agreedNorway topped the Index which used three factors namely Economic Productivity, Risk Quality, and Supply Chain to assess business resilience of the 130 countries or regions surveyed.WJP released Open Government Index 2015 ReportPublished on: 31-MAR-2015Important for Exam:67 people agreedThe Index used four dimensions to assess openness in government functioning. India is placed at the 37th position among 102 countries surveyed.13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice held in DohaPublished on: 20-APR-2015Important for Exam:34 people agreedThe Summit concluded with the adoption of Doha Declaration.India to chair Ninth Meeting of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) CouncilPublished on: 11-APR-2015Important for Exam:30 people agreedIndia will chair the meeting of the 21 member council, which will guide the agencys future programmes and activities and helps set the agenda for the meeting of the annual Assembly to be held in January 2016.1st Counter-Terrorism Conference 2015 held in JaipurPublished on: 21-MAR-2015Important for Exam:77 people agreedThe first international conference on counter-terrorism was held in Jaipur for three days from March 19 2015 to March 21 2015 to discuss emerging policy and technological issues related to counter-terrorism activities. The central theme of the Conference is Integrated Approach to Counter-Terrorism.Indian economy to grow at 7.5 per cent in 2015: Moody'sPublished on: 18-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedThe growth projections come soon after Moodys had revised Indias sovereign ratings outlook to positive (Baa3) from stable. Another ratings agency, Fitch, had reaffirmed its stable outlook on India.WEF released a report titled Urban Development Recommendations for India under FUDS initiativePublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:14 people agreedThe report on India is the third in the FUDS Initiative. The first two presented the results of the initiatives engagement with three Chinese cities: Tianjin, Dalian and Zhangjiakou.World Bank released South Asia Economic Focus reportPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:18 people agreedAs per the report, economic growth of the region will increase from 7 percent in 2015 to 7.6 percent by 2017EPFO suspended 1000 rupees minimum monthly pension schemePublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:56 people agreedGovernment notification issued on 19 August 2014 said that the benefit of minimum pension was made effective from 1 September 2014 to 31 March 2015.SEBI raised the limit for currency derivatives trades to 15 million US dollarPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:14 people agreedThe capital market regulator said that the FPIs and domestic clients can take position (long and short) in foreign currency up to 15 million US Dollars or equivalent per exchange.RBI notified hike in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in Insurance Sector to 49 percentPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:41 people agreedThe hike in the insurance sector from the present 26 percent to 49 percent is in tune with the DIPPs March 2015 decision regarding operationalisation of the hike.Union Cabinet gave nod for release of additional installment of DA and DRPublished on: 08-APR-2015Important for Exam:21 people agreedWith this decision, Central Government employees as well as pensioners are entitled for DA or DR at the rate of 113 percent (an increase of 6 percent) of the basic pay with effect from 1 January 2015.CCEA approved two FIIs proposals in pharmaceutical companies Aurobindo and GlenmarkPublished on: 08-APR-2015Important for Exam:9 people agreedThe foreign Investments worth 4187 crore rupees will help the companies to expand their operations and research and development facilities.CCEA gave nod for strengthening and widening of 455-km of National HighwaysPublished on: 08-APR-2015Important for Exam:11 people agreedThe projects are aimed at improving road connectivity in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and the expenditure to be incurred on these projects will be borne by the Union Government.Prime Minister launched MUDRA Bank under PM Jan Dhan Yojana to fund small entrepreneursPublished on: 08-APR-2015Important for Exam:198 people agreedThe MUDRA Bank launched by Prime Minister seeks to go beyond the concept of credit only approach and provides both credit plus solution for small entrepreneurs spread across the country.Union Government launched FAME-India scheme to boost electric, hybrid vehicle salesPublished on: 02-APR-2015Important for Exam:54 people agreedThe scheme was launched with an aim to boost sales of eco-friendly vehicles in the country. It is a part of the National Mission for Electric Mobility.Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved uniform gas price for urea plantsPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:14 people agreedAs per the estimation of the Department of Fertilizer (DOF), the decision will lead to additional production of around 37.13 lakh million tones (MT) of urea.RBI imposed 5 lakh rupees fine on 16 Central Co-operative Banks for violation of normsPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:55 people agreedThe penalty was imposed for non-adherence of the Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering guidelines.RBI signed Currency Swap Agreement with Central Bank of Sri LankaPublished on: 27-MAR-2015Important for Exam:26 people agreedThe Reserve Bank of India on 25 March 2015 signed a 400 million US Dollars currency swap agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The agreement is valid for a period of three years from the date of signing.Centre Party won the Parliamentary Elections of FinlandPublished on: 20-APR-2015Important for Exam:4 people agreedJuha Sipilas Centre Party was able to win 49 seats in the 200-member Parliament, which means that the party will have to go for coalition support from second-placed euroskeptic Finns party, formerly known as the True Finns.India and South Korea held high level defence talks in SeoulPublished on: 20-APR-2015Important for Exam:13 people agreedThe meeting was held with South Korean Defence Minister Han Min-koo at the Ministry of Defence of Korea in Seoul.UN released a report titled Global E-Waste Monitor 2014Published on: 20-APR-2015Important for Exam:18 people agreedAs per the report, in the year 2014 volume of e-waste is estimated around 41.8 million metric tonnes (Megatonnes Mt) and it is expected to rise by 21 percent to 50 million Mt in 2018.Union Government decided to transfer training and apprentice divisions to Skill Development MinistryPublished on: 18-APR-2015Important for Exam:17 people agreedThe DGET comprises 12000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) across the country.Time Magazine released list of 100 most influential people in the worldPublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:41 people agreedThe list includes four Indians namely Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chanda Kochhar, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Vikram Patel, co-founder of the NGO Sangath.Pakistan Supreme Court stayed executions by Military CourtsPublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:3 people agreedThe order of the court came on a petition filed by the countrys Supreme Court Bar Association seeking a stay in executions ordered by military courts.India, Canada issued Joint Statement titled New Vigour, New StepsPublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:13 people agreedModis visit to Canada is the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 42 years and the highlight of the visit was agreement on civil nuclear cooperation under which Cameco of Canada will supply uranium to India over the next five years to meet its energy needs.Russia lifted ban on delivery of S-300 Missile System to IranPublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:9 people agreedRussia lifted the 2010 ban in the back drop of an informal agreement reached on 2 April 2015 between P5+1, the EU and Iran to prepare the final draft of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by 30 June 2015.Tennessee House voted to make Bible as official state bookPublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:13 people agreedThe lawmakers voted 55-38 in favor of Rep. Jerry Sexton's original Bill, despite questions of constitutionality of the Bill.Pakistan and Russia agreed to hold first-ever joint military exercisePublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:26 people agreedThe two nations also agreed to promote joint participation in military exercises and resolve conflicts through diplomatic means.India and Canada signed nuclear agreement on supply of UraniumPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:25 people agreedPM Modi is on a three-day official visit to Canada, which is the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 42 years.India, Belarus agreed to enhance bilateral tiesPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:17 people agreedThe Belarusian Foreign Minister, Makei was accompanied by a 3-member business delegation representing prominent Belarusian state enterprises dealing in potash, fertilizers, dumper trucks and tractors.IMF released World Economic Outlook April 2015 UpdatePublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:33 people agreedGlobal growth is forecasted at 3.5 percent in 2015 and 3.8 percent in 2016 which is in line with forecasts made in the January 2015 WEO Update.India-Germany released Joint Statement to strengthen Strategic PartnershipPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:7 people agreedThe two countries agreed to utilize the momentum generated by Indias participation in the Hannover Messe to foster stronger ties between business and industry on both sides in order to support Indias Make in India initiative.Delhi Declaration on Public Health Challenges adopted at 5th SAARC Health Ministers meetPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:17 people agreedEarlier SAARC Health Ministers were held in Maldives in 2012, Dhaka in April 2006, Islamabad in 2005 and New Delhi in 2003.China quashed bid of Taiwan to become full member of AIIBPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:29 people agreedThe Chinese Government said that it would welcome Taiwan in the future but under a different name.World Bank released Migration and Development BriefPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:17 people agreedIn 2014, India continued to be highest recipients of remittanceParliament of Ukraine passed a law banning organisations that propagate Communism and NazismPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:8 people agreedParliament of Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada, on 9 April 2015 passed a legislation that equates Communism with Nazism (nationalist-socialist) and banned both the regimes.Normandy Four Group agreed to form working group to implement ceasefire deal on Ukraine conflictPublished on: 14-APR-2015Important for Exam:14 people agreedThey agreed to support international monitors and establish four working groups to address the most pressing issues faced by people in the embattled region, where Russian-backed separatists are fighting Ukrainian government forces.India and France signed 20 MoUs and Agreements to give new impetus to bilateral co-operationPublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:34 people agreedPrime Minister Modi during his visit to France gifted a painting titled Tree of Life, reflecting traditional societal respect for nature in India to the French President Francois Hollande.State legislature of Oklahoma passed a bill that allow use of nitrogen gas for executionsPublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:30 people agreedThe bill that was passed by the legislature without a single dissenting vote allows use of nitrogen-induced hypoxia as a method of execution.India elected to four United Nations agenciesPublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:61 people agreedIndia was elected to UNICEF, WFP, CCPCJ and UN-Habitat whose activities are coordinated by the UNECOSOC (the United Nations Economic and Social Council).Social Progress Index 2015 released by Social Progress ImperativePublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:27 people agreedIndia 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 countriesIndia and USA signed Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on transportationPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:38 people agreedThe MoC will enable India to make use of worlds latest technology available with the USA for projects like developments of waterways and multi-modal hub.University of Cape Town voted for removal of the statue of British colonialist, Cecil RhodesPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:9 people agreedThe controversial statue of Cecil John Rhodes will be removed from the University of Cape Town (UCT) campus after the Council, voted in favour of its removal.Sri Lanka and Pakistan signed Six AgreementsPublished on: 07-APR-2015Important for Exam:14 people agreed

The six agreements pertained to advancing cooperation in disaster management, sports, shipping, socio-economic development, education and narcotics control.Pakistan President promulgated the General Elections 2013 Inquiry Commission Ordinance 2015Published on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedAccording to the Ordinance, A judicial inquiry commission will be set up by the Supreme Court of Pakistan to inquire into the organization and conduct of the 2013 general elections to the lower house of the Parliament.Al-shabab attacked Garissa University College in KenyaPublished on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:20 people agreedThe terror attack is the second-worst in the country's history next to the bombings carried out by Al-Qaeda on the US Embassy in Nairobi in which 213 people were killed.Iran and P5+1 gave nod for nuclear agreement Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)Published on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:26 people agreedAccording to the agreement Iran will limit its nuclear enrichment capacity, enrichment level and stockpile for specified durations and there will be no enrichment facility other than the one at Natanz.California Court ruled Yoga taught in San Diego County schools does not violate religious freedomPublished on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:6 people agreedThe parents of two students at an Encinitas district school near San Diego said the yoga classes, which were taught as part of the school's physical education curriculum, infringed on their children's constitutional rights.General Muhammadu Buhari won Presidential Election of NigeriaPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:37 people agreedHis party All Progressives Congress (APC) secured 15424921 votes and Goodluck Jonathan's People's Democratic Party (PDP) secured 12853162 votes.Third International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria announced 3.8 billion US dollar aidPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:12 people agreedThe financial aid will help UN organisations and partners to meet urgent needs of victims of Syrias civil war in Syria and neighbouring countries.Peru Prime Minister Ana Jara sacked over alleged domestic spyingPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:7 people agreedThe Peruvian Prime Minister was forced to step down over alleged spying against the lawmakers, reporters, business leaders and everyday citizens.Myanmar Government and 16 Ethnic Rebel Groups signed draft cease-fire agreementPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:12 people agreedThe agreement that can be a significant step towards ending decades of conflict was reached after seven rounds of talks.China and Sri Lanka inked five agreements during visit of Maithripala Sirisena to ChinaPublished on: 31-MAR-2015Important for Exam:39 people agreedThe agreements were signed during the Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena to China to deepen development partnership between both the countries.Cricket South Africa launched Africa T20 CupPublished on: 22-APR-2015Important for Exam:7 people agreedThe tournament that will run from 4 September to 4 October 2015 will feature Zimbabwe, Kenya, Namibia, hosts South Africa and 12 CSA affiliates.Archana, Anezka won cadet girls doubles title at the French Junior and Cadet OpenPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:17 people agreedIn the title clash, Archana and Ilcikova defeated the French pair of Lucie Gauthier and Leili Mostafavi 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-5 and clinched the gold medal.Neeraj Kumar appointed as Chief Adviser of Anti-Corruption & Security Unit of BCCIPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:8 people agreedNeeraj Kumar is a 1976 batch IPS officer of the AGMU cadre. Earlier, he has served as the Delhi Police commissioner for 13 months i.e. from June 2012 to July 2013.Novak Djokovic won Monte Carlo Masters title of TennisPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:6 people agreedWith this win, Djokovic also became the first player to sweep the opening three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events of a season. The previous two titles were won at Indian Wells and Miami.Three Indian race walkers Khushbir, Manish, Sandeep qualified for 2016 Rio OlympicsPublished on: 20-APR-2015Important for Exam:13 people agreedThey qualified for the Rio Olympics after completing their race in stipulated qualification time during the IAAF Race Walking Challenge at Rio Maiorin Portugal.Laureus World Sports Awards for the year 2015 conferredPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:66 people agreedSachin Tendulkar was inducted, along with four other exceptional athletes, namely Yao Ming, Tegla Loroupe, LiXiaopeng and Yang Yang.Sachin Tendulkar elected as member of Laureus Sports AcademyPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:26 people agreedSachin Tendulkar was inducted, along with retired Chinese professional basketball player Yang Yang.Allan Donald resigned as South Africa Bowling CoachPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedHe was appointed to the position in 2011 as a member of the teams chief coach Gary Kirstens support staff, which he continued to fulfill under the current coach Russell Domingo since August 2013.Brijbushan Sharan Singh re-elected as President of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI)Published on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:23 people agreedAs the president of the WFI he will guide the General Council of the federation and set the policy tone in order to achieve the objectives enshrined in the WFI Constitution.New Zealand won Sultan Azlan Shah Cup mens hockey tournament by defeating AustraliaPublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:19 people agreedNew Zealand has won the title for only the second time since inception of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup competition in 1983. New Zealands first victory came in 2012 against Argentina.Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain won Chinese Grand Prix of Formula 1Published on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedWith the present victory, the reigning world champion Hamilton registered his second victory of the season and his fourth in China having won the titles in 2008, 2011 and 2014.Yuki Bhambri won ITF Uzbekistan F1 Futures Singles TitlePublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:6 people agreedYuki won the title by defeating Dzmitry Zyrmont of Serbia in two straight sets 6-2 6-4 in the final match held in Karshi, Uzbekistan.Apurvi Chandela won Bronze in 10-m Air Rifle Women event at ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup in ChangwonPublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:16 people agreedWith the present win, she has become the second Indian shooter to be qualified to represent India in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Jitu Rai won Bronze in 10-m Air Pistol Men event at ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup in ChangwonPublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedIt is the fourth world cup medal for Jitu Rai having won three medals including two silvers and one gold in two separate events held in Munich and Maribor in 2014.Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won WTA Family Circle CupPublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:27 people agreedWith this win, Sania Mirza also became the first female tennis player from India to achieve the world number one rank in doubles. Sania is also first female player from the country to win Grand Slam tournaments.Indian football team climbed to 147 position in FIFA/Coca-Cola rankingsPublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:19 people agreedIndia could improve its ranking by 26 positions due to its commendable performance against Nepal in March 2015.Liu Xiang, former Olympic 110m hurdles champion, retiredPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:13 people agreedHe became an icon in China after winning the country's first Olympic men's track and field gold medal in the 110 metres hurdles in Athens in 2004. He held the world record in 2006 with a time of 12.88 seconds.Dronavalli Harika won bronze in World Women's chess championshipPublished on: 08-APR-2015Important for Exam:21 people agreedIn the semi-final clash, Harika lost to Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine. She got 20000 US Dollars for the Bronze medal finish.Gujarat won Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 TrophyPublished on: 08-APR-2015Important for Exam:22 people agreedWicketkeeper and opening batsman Smit Patel's unbeaten 50 helped Gujarat to win their second Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title. The final match was played at the KIIT Cricket Stadium, Bhubaneshwar.PCI President Rajesh Tomar suspended for mismanagement in Para-Athletics gamesPublished on: 08-APR-2015Important for Exam:17 people agreedIt was alleged that the participants were accommodated in unfurnished flats with unhygienic facilities in Ghaziabad.Rajeev Shukla appointed as Chairman of IPL Governing CouncilPublished on: 07-APR-2015Important for Exam:17 people agreedShukla was the IPL chairman till 2013 when he resigned from the post in the aftermath of the IPL spot-fixing scandal.Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams won the 2015 Miami Open Tennis Singles titlesPublished on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:46 people agreedThe duo won the 2015 Miami Open Mens and womens singles titles by defeating Andy Murray and Suarez Navarro respectively at Crandon Park Tennis Center in Miami, Florida.Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won 2015 Miami Open Women's Doubles titlePublished on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:6 people agreedSania Mirza and Martina Hingis, the Indo-Swiss women pair of Tennis defeated the Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 7-5, 6-1 in the final played in Miami.21 weightlifters test positive, provisionally suspended by IWFPublished on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:16 people agreedSample B of these 21 lifters has been sent for test by IWF. In case, the sample tests positive then the first-time offenders could face a ban for four years.Brendon McCullum conferred with Sir Richard Hadlee Medal for 2014-15Published on: 02-APR-2015Important for Exam:10 people agreedThe countrys highest cricketing honour was presented to him during the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) Awards presentation ceremony held in New Zealands capital Auckland.Union Sports Ministry signed MoU with IIFCL to support TOP Scheme for BadmintonPublished on: 02-APR-2015Important for Exam:16 people agreedUnder the MOU, IIFCL shall contribute 30 crore rupees to the TOP Scheme under its initiatives for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). IIFCL have contributed 10 crore rupees so far.Kyle Mills of New Zealand retired from all forms of International CricketPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:12 people agreedIn October 2009, he reached his at number 1 position of first on the International Cricket Council's one-day international bowlers rankings after taking nine wickets in New Zealands series against Australia.Daniel Vettori retired from all forms of International CricketPublished on: 31-MAR-2015Important for Exam:5 people agreedDaniel Vettori is the eighth player in Test history to take 300 wickets and score 3000 runs. He is the youngest player to represent New Zealand in Test cricket, having made his debut in 199697 at the age of 18.Researchers developed smart phone-based Digital Diffraction Diagnosis System to diagnose cancerPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:18 people agreedResearchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) of USA developed a smart phone-based device, called as D3 (Digital Diffraction Diagnosis) System, which performs rapid and accurate molecular diagnosis of cancerous tumors.Stanford Researchers created a Smartphone Battery that charges in only one minutePublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:41 people agreedThe battery invented is the first high-performance aluminum battery which is fast-charging, long-lasting and inexpensive.AIIMS study found Ashwagandha powder, Sidh Makardhwaj are effective in treating Rheumatoid ArthritisPublished on: 07-APR-2015Important for Exam:16 people agreedAshwagandha (Withania somnifera) powder is derived from a plant and Sidh Makardhwaj is a formulation of herbal and mineral ingredients.Steel Companies partnered with Union Ministry of Steel to set up Steel Research & Technology MissionPublished on: 07-APR-2015Important for Exam:11 people agreedThe mission aims at increasing investment on R&D in the steel sector from the present level of 0.2-0.3 to the international benchmark of 1-2 percent of the industry turnover.Port Blair Magnetic Observatory inaugurated to monitor seismic activitiesPublished on: 31-MAR-2015Important for Exam:35 people agreedIt is a part of network of observatories called as Multi-Parametric Geophysical Observatories (MPGO), established by the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG).upin launched hepatic encephalopathy drug Zaxine in CanadaPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:5 people agreedThe agreement to launch Zaxine drug was signed in September 2014.Carzonrent India acquired car-pooling startup firm RidingoPublished on: 20-APR-2015Important for Exam:5 people agreedThe acquisition is part of the strategy of company to build leadership into evolving sharing economy.BHEL commissioned 600 MW thermal unit of OP Jindal Thermal Power ProjectPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:34 people agreedIn last three months, BHEL has added three units of 600 MW aggregating to 1800 MW capacity in Chhattisgarh.BHEL and Russian firm INTMA inked MoU to set power plant in KazakhstanPublished on: 16-APR-2015Important for Exam:28 people agreedThe MoU aims to set forth a path to combine the BHEL's competence in design and manufacturing of power plants and INTMA's strength in handling EPC contracts so as to bid and execute projects of mutual interest in Russia and Kazakhstan.Temasek acquired InnoVen Capital India for 300 crore rupeesPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:8 people agreedWith this acquisition, Temasek announced its entry into the venture debt segment.Royal Dutch Shell Plc acquired BG Group for about 70 billion US dollarPublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:12 people agreedThe deal would vault Shell far ahead of rivals like Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp. in the race to build market share for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).Godrej Natures Basket joined hands with Amazon for selling its productsPublished on: 13-APR-2015Important for Exam:11 people agreedThe company has listed a wide range of products on Amazon's platform in the first phase and the range will increase exponentially in the coming months.Snapdeal acquired mobile recharge service FreeChargePublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:24 people agreedAs per the deal, Freecharge will continue to work as an independent platform and will offer many more digital goods in future. Also, most of Freecharges institutional investor would get Snapdeal stock.Rajasthan and Vedanta Group signed a MoU to improve 3056 Anganwadi Centres in five districtsPublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:6 people agreedThe anganwadi centres of five districts are Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, Rajsamand and Ajmer will be improved in five years under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).Dena Bank inked MoU with Life Insurance CorporationPublished on: 07-APR-2015Important for Exam:29 people agreedThe insurance cover will be provided under the Prime Ministers Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJBY) scheme. The scheme will come into effect from 1 June 2015.CII and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed MoU to deepen partnershipPublished on: 07-APR-2015Important for Exam:5 people agreedThe MoU will help Indian companies to expand their business in those countries where the bank has operations.DGCEI slapped 570 crore rupees excise duty fine against Cadbury India LimitedPublished on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:33 people agreedThe fine was slapped for allegedly evading excise duty by fraudulently taking exemption for one of its unopened production units in Himachal Pradesh.Google signed strategic partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers to target Digital India projectsPublished on: 06-APR-2015Important for Exam:21 people agreedWith the Indian partnership, Google wants to push itself into large e-governance projects and improve the sales for its cloud services in India.Snapdeal acquired RupeePower to launch financial servicePublished on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:7 people agreedSnapdeal will now offer consumers a financial services marketplace, a first of its kind initiative in the e-commerce industry.Bharti AXA General Insurance launched Smart TravellerPublished on: 04-APR-2015Important for Exam:18 people agreedThe 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.Satishchandra Doreswamy resigned as Chief Business Officer of WiproPublished on: 02-APR-2015Important for Exam:8 people agreedAs a CBO at Wipro, he had responsibilities for Business Operations Group, Delivery Leadership and Global Transformation charter.Vijay L Kelkar resigned from Tata Chemicals BoardPublished on: 02-APR-2015Important for Exam:16 people agreedVijay L. Kelkar is an Indian economist and academician who served as the Chairman of the Thirteenth Finance Commission constituted by the President of India. He also served as Advisor to the Union Ministry of Finance (20022004)Alibaba signed digital distribution deal with German music rights group BMGPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:19 people agreedThe deal will bring more than 2.5 million copyrights to Alibaba, whose music platforms already had many of the songs from artists including Kylie Minogue, the Rolling Stones and Jean-Michael Jarre.RBI approved the amalgamation of ING Vysya Bank with Kotak Mahindra BankPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:64 people agreedWith this approval of RBI, Kotak will come up as the countrys fourth largest private sector lender.IBM announced to invest 3 billion US dollars to build an Internet of Things (IoT) unitPublished on: 01-APR-2015Important for Exam:16 people agreedThe unit will build industry-specific data services and developer tools and offer them over Cloud-based open platform to its enterprise customers. These services will help its clients to make business decisions in a better way.Australia's IAG to raise stake in SBI General Insurance to 49 percentPublished on: 31-MAR-2015Important for Exam:38 people agreedIAG decided to increase its stake in SBIGI in the backdrop of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 that seeks to increase foreign investment limit in local insurers to 49 percent from 26 percent.Katsushi Inoue appointed as President and CEO of Honda Cars IndiaPublished on: 30-MAR-2015Important for Exam:11 people agreedCurrently, he is working as General Manager in Marketing Planning office in Japan. He has been associated with Honda Motor Co for over 29 years.TC Goyal to retire from the post of Managing Director of DLF LimitedPublished on: 27-MAR-2015Important for Exam:7 people agreedHe had joined the company in 1981 and was elevated to the position of managing director in 1998. Goyal successfully steered the company in various phases of its growth and expansion.New species of Geckos discovered at the World Heritage Site of Hampi in KarnatakaPublished on: 21-APR-2015Important for Exam:12 people agreedThe gecko has been named as Cnemaspis adii after a young herpetology researcher from Hyderabad, Aditya Srinivasulu.TERI, FNI, INTASAVE-CARIBSAVE signed MOU to further Climate & Development AgendaPublished on: 18-APR-2015Important for Exam:12 people agreedThe three institutes have identified cooperation in nine areas such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, low carbon strategies and global policy advocacy among others.Haryana Government notified forests in Aravalli range are not a forestPublished on: 17-APR-2015Important for Exam:17 people agreedMangarbani grove in Aravalli is often considered as the last remaining virgin forest in Delhi-NCR and held sacred by local villagers.45-day long annual fishing ban on Eastern Coast of India startedPublished on: 15-APR-2015Important for Exam:10 people agreedThe ban is imposed to safeguard fish in their breeding season and increase the fish catch. During this period of ban, the fishermen with mechanized boats are barred from venturing out into the sea for fishing till mid-night of 31 May 2015.NGT banned construction activities causing air pollution in Delhi-Nation Capital Region (NCR)Published on: 11-APR-2015Important for Exam:17 people agreedThe directive was delivered by a bench headed by the NGT Chairman Justice Swatanter Kumar, in order to check growing menace of air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR).Thane named as National Earth Hour Capital 2015 by WWFPublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:60 people agreedPune received a special mention from the jury for its city mobility plan and solar and waste-to-energy initiatives while Rajkot was felicitated for the citys performance in the field of renewable energy.Seoul won WWFs Earth Hour City Challenge to become the Global Earth Hour Capital 2015Published on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:53 people agreedAs part of the Earth Hour City Challenge 2015, the city of Balikpapan, Indonesia was recognized as the Most Loveable City for 2015.Scientists detected rapid accumulation of anesthetic gases in atmosphere causing global warmingPublished on: 10-APR-2015Important for Exam:15 people agreedThe study revealed that concentrations of potent global warmers Desflurane, Isoflurane and Sevoflurane reached an alarming level in the global atmosphere starting from crowed urban areas to pristine Antarctic environment.Spiders belonging to Thomisidae family named after Telangana statePublished on: 09-APR-2015Important for Exam:24 people agreedThese crabs were discovered by two researchers from the Zoology Department of Osmania University, namely, G.B. Pravalikha and Chelmala Srinivasulu during their expedition at Nagnur in Karimnagar district.State Environment and Forest Ministers Conference adopted Resolution on Protecting EnvironmentPublished on: 08-APR-2015Import