CDS-cum-PCS Booster "Current Affairs April 2015".

1. Seychelles becomes 161st member of World Trade Organisation 

 2. India ranks 13th in generating electricity from nuclear source 

3. Japan is the fourth largest foreign direct investment (FDI) contributor to India. It’s major FDI interests is in automobiles, pharmaceuticals and services sectors which accounts for 7.46 per cent of total FDI equity inflows into India. 

4. Scientists have discovered three planets orbiting a nearby star named HD 7924 that is only 54 light-years away. These planets were discovered by Automated Planet Finder (APF) Telescope located at Lick Observatory in California and W M Keck Observatory, Hawaii.

 5. Mohammed bin Nayef was appointed as Crown Prince and as Deputy Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia by King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud. 

 6. Ms. Raja Rajeswari became the first Indian-born woman to be appointed a judge in New York City. She was sworn-in as a criminal court judge in New York by Mayor Bill de Blasio along with 27 other judges.

7.  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 28 April 2015 successfully tested an indigenous cryogenic engine. 

- The powerful version of the cryogenic engine was tested successfully at ISRO’s propulsion complex at Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. A team headed by Director D Karthikesan had led the testing. This engine will allow launch vehicles to carry satellites of up to capacity of four tonnes in geostationary orbit.

8. India’s largest power producer, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) flagged off a Mobile Science Lab (MSL) as part of its efforts to promote scientific learning. MSL seeks to revolutionize rural education in India and make hands-on learning accessible to underprivileged children.

9. India’s rescue operation in quake-hit Nepal named as Operation Maitri 

10. Indian Army conducts Akraman–II defense exercise in Rajasthan .

-Indian Army on 26 April 2015 conducted a major exercise ‘Akraman-II’ in Rajasthan. The exercise was conducted by the Chetak Corps, a part of South Western Command based in Bhatinda, Punjab.

- The exercise aimed to test a new generation of weaponry and platforms which are employed in the desert region to provide ‘real time battle and situational awareness’ to its commanders.

- In this exercise more than 300 Combat Vehicles including Main Battle Tanks, Long Range Artillery Guns participated along with 10,000 troops.

11. Yashwant Sinha gets highest French honour of Officier de la Légion d’Honneur 

12 .Bharatiya Mahila Bank wins Asian Banker Achievement Award 2015 

13. 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal 

14. 50th Jnanpith Award conferred on Marathi litterateur Bhalchandra Nemade 

15. India and Bangladesh have decided to take concerted conservation efforts to protect the rare spectacled Langur. 

- These conservation efforts will be taken to protect this species of Langur found in Patharia Hills Reserve Forest on either side of the fenced border along both nations in Karimganj district of Assam’s Barak Valley.

- The Patheria Hills reserve Forest is spread over an area of around seven thousand hectares on the Indian side and consists of two blocks Patheria ‘A’ and ‘B’. 

-It is only the forest in Assam, where the Spectacled Monkey is found while Mizoram and Tripura are the other two states in the country where it inhabits. Apart from spectacled Langur, the reserve forest is also home to the endangered Hoolock Gibbon and Golden Langur. It should be noted that Golden langue is one of endangered primate species in India.


16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates India’s Healthcare Tourism Portal  www.indiahealthcaretourism.com at the ‘SAAARC Trade Mart’ in the Global Exhibition on Services (GES). It was inaugurated on the occasion of three-day Global Exhibition on Services (GES) that commenced on 23 April, 2015 in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

17. Assam awarded as Best e-Panchayat state on National Panchayati Raj Diwas 

18. 25 April: World Malaria Day 
19. India ranked 117 in World Happiness Report 2015 
Top five countries: Switzerland (1st), Iceland (2nd), Denmark (3rd), Norway (4th) and Canada (5th).

 20. India fourth largest supplier of generic medicines to US: Government 

21. First battalion of Gorkha rifles celebrates Bicentenary year 

22. Every year April 24 is being observed as National Panchayati Raj (PR) Diwas across India
23. Calbuco volcano erupted in Chile

- Chile has the second largest chain of volcanoes in the world after Indonesia which has about 500 that are potentially active. Both countries fall on the Ring of Fire.

 24. India and France begin naval exercise ‘Varuna’ on 23 April 2015 off the Goa coast.

25.  NASA develops first 3-D printed copper rocket engine part 

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

27.  Earth Day is being observed on 22 April 
28. Information and Broadcasting Ministry receives ISO 9001:2008 certification from the British Standards Institute (BSI) 

 29. All the Light We Cannot See, a novel based on Second World War by author Anthony Doerr   won the Pulitzer Prize 2015 for fiction.
30.  Japan’s state-of-the-art Magnetic levitation technology (Maglev) train has clocked a new world speed record smashing through the 603 kilometre per hour mark in a test run near Mount Fuji.

31. Xi Jinping conferred with Nishan-e-Pakistan award 

32. A new species of a gecko was spotted at the ruins of the World Heritage Site of Hampi in Karnataka. It was named as Cnemaspis adii after a young herpetology researcher Aditya Srinivasulu from Hyderabad, Telangana.

 33. India 5th biggest generator of e-waste in 2014: UN report

- Top 5 e-waste producing nations: US, China, Japan, Germany and India.

34. Indian Railways launches E-Samiksha to monitor rail projects online 

 35. Indian Navy’s new stealth destroyer named INS Visakhapatnam was launched on 20 April 2015 at the Mazgaon Docks Ltd (MDL) in Mumbai, Maharashtra. 

- Visakhapatnam is the Kolkata-class warship and the first of P15-B stealth destroyers which is designed indigenously and fitted with advanced features. 

- It is the largest destroyer commissioned in India

36. Neeraj Kumar appointed chief adviser to BCCI’s Anti-Corruption & Security Unit (ACSU).

   37. Kerala government launches Subodham project to end liquor, drug abuse 

38. Three Indian race walkers Khushbir Kaur, Manish Rawat and Sandeep Kumar have qualified for 2016 Rio Olympics.

 39. Lewis Hamilton wins Bahrain Grand Prix of Formula One 

40. Dr Nasim Zaidi on 19 April 2015 assumed the charge as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). He is India’s 20th CEC and succeeded Hari Shankar Brahma, who had retired on April 18, 2015.

 41. Vankadarath Saritha, first woman bus driver of Delhi Transport Corporation 

42. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has suspended the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) for indefinite period. IPC’s this move comes after PCI had provided shoddy treatment to athletes during the National Para-Athletics Championships held in Ghaziabad from March 20 to 22, 2015.

 43. US President Barack Obama to honour Satya Nadella with ‘Champion of Change’ award 

44. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on 17 April 2015 approved release of Gharials in Sutlej and Beas rives in the state to promote eco-tourism. Initially, 10 Gharials (last surviving species of the family Gavialidae) will be released in the Harike Wildlife Sanctuary as a part of ‘Gharial Recovery Action Plan’.

 45. Susanta Lahiri awarded Hevesy Medal Award 2015 

- The award was presented to him for his outstanding contributions in heavy ion induced radioisotope production, converter targets, tracer packet technique and green chemistry.


46. Nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-III ballistic missile was successfully tested on 16 April 2015.

- The test was conducted from Wheelar Isalnd off the Odisha coast in the Bay of Bengal by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) with support of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

- Range: 3000 km. Dimensions: 17 metres in length, 2 metres in diameter. 

-Launch weight is around 50 tonnes. 

-Payload: It can carry a nuclear warhead of 1.5 tonne and is protected by carbon all-composite heat shield. It is a two-stage solid-propelled missile.


47. Canadaagreed to supply 3,000 metric tonnes of uranium to India under a $254 million five-year deal to power Indian atomic reactors.

48. Dr. Mohan Kumar appointed as new Ambassador to France 

- He will succeed Arun Kumar who was recently appointed Ambassador to the United States

49. Turkey on 14 April 2015 began the construction of its first nuclear power plant located at Akkuyu in Mersin province on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

- It will be built by Akkuyu Project Company, a subsidiary of Russia’s nuclear agency Rosatom.

50. Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has renamed Tourist Visa on Arrival-Electronic Travel Authorization scheme (TVoA-ETA) to e-Tourist Visa with effect from 15 April 2015.

 51. Haryana Government gives yoga guru Ramdev Cabinet Minister Status 

52. Union Government brought into force the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014 along with the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014. 

-In this regard, notification to effect from 13 April 2015 was issued by the Union Law Ministry. With this new law the collegium system to appoint members to the higher judiciary has come to an end. 

-Now President will appoint judges in the Supreme Court (SC) and 24 High Courts (HCs) in consultation with the NJAC.

NJAC Act, 2014 

-Composition of NJAC 

-As per Article 124A, NJAC is a 6 member constitutional body. Consisting of Chairman- Chief Justice of India (CJI). 

-Members- Two senior most Judges of the Supreme Court, the Union Minister of Law and Justice and two eminent persons. 

-Two eminent persons will be nominated by committee led by Prime Minister of India, the CJI, and the Leader of the Opposition in the House of the People. 

-As per 124B, functions of NJAC are Recommend persons for appointment as CJI, Judges of SC, Chief Justices and other Judges of High Courts.

- Recommend transfer of Chief Justices and other Judges HCs from one HC to another HC.

- About Collegium system Previously, under the collegium system, five top judges of the Supreme court recommended transfer and elevation of judges to Supreme Court and High Courts.

- It came into existence in 1993 after a Supreme Court judgement.

53. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) on 13 April 2015 commissioned 600 MW unit of a thermal power project for the Dainik Bhaskar Power Limited (DBPL) at Dhabra in Janjgir Champa district of Chhattisgarh.

 54.  Sania Mirza becomes first Indian female tennis player ranked World No.1 in Women’s Doubles 

 55. New Zealand won Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament 2015 by defeating World Champions Australia.

56. Lewis Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix of Formula One 

57. Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai on 12 April 2015 won a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Changwon, South Korea.

 58. Asteroid 316201 named after Malala Yousafzai 

 59. April 11: National Safe Motherhood day 

 60. Indian shooter Apurvi Chandela on 11 April 2015 won Bronze medal in the 10-metre air rifle event at the (International Shooting Sport Federation) ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup in Changwon, South Korea.  

-She won the bronze after she shot score of 185.6 in the qualifying fifth final round.

61. India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) became operational at Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City in Gandhinagar district of Gujarat. It became operational after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unveiled the rules and regulations for this global financial hub.

-IFSC rules and regulations Aim at creating a vibrant IFSC on the lines of those in Dubai and Singapore. 

-They also seek to check the flight of trading in rupee and Indian securities to such offshore financial hubs. 

-These rules will allow companies incorporate outside India to raise money in foreign currencies by issuance and listing of their equity shares on stock exchanges within the IFSC.

- They will also allow individual and institutional investors from India and abroad, including NRIs to trade.

- Allows foreign and Indian stock exchanges to set up separate bourses within IFSC as subsidiaries.

 62. India was elected to four key bodies of the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC). 

-India was elected to these bodies during ECOSOC’s coordination and management meeting held at UN headquarters in New York, United States (US) by acclamation i.e. form of election that does not use a ballot.

-Four key subsidiary bodies are 

-Executive Board of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ­­- India is elected for a 3 year term beginning January 2016. It was elected, along with 13 other nations. 

-Executive Board of World Food Programme (WFP) – India is re-elected to the for a 2 year period starting from January 2016, along with 5 other nations.

- Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) – India is elected for a 3 year period starting from January 2016. India was elected along with 19 other nations. Some of them are Iran, Pakistan, Austria, France, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and US.

- Governing Council of United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) – India is elected for a 3 year period starting from January 2016 along with 13 other nations.

- With this, India has created significant 100 percent record of winning the UNECOSOC elections.

63. Arun Kumar Jha on 10 April 2015 was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Mumbai. 

-Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT)  appointed him to the post of CEO (Joint Secretary level post) in order to balance period of his overall 5 year tenure up to September 2016.

64. India registered a major milestone for the nuclear industry by producing record nuclear fuel i.e. producing over 1,252 Metric Tonne (MT) of uranium bundles.

 65.  India on 9 April 2015 successfully test fired nuclear weapons-capable Dhanush missile from a ship, off the Odisha coast. 

-Test- The ship-based missile was launched from an Offshore Patrolling Vessel (OPV), deep inside the Bay of Bengal to test its full range. It successfully hit the target point with high degree of accuracy.

- Indigenously developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). 

--The surface-to-surface missile is a naval variant of Prithvi missile. 

-Capable of carrying of 500 to 1000 kilogram conventional as well as nuclear payload. It is a single-stage, liquid-propelled missile and has range of 350 km.

65. TRAI recommends 112 as single emergency number for India 

 66. rime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 April 2015 launched Micro Units Development Re-finance Agency (MUDRA) Bank in New Delhi. 

-MUDRA Bank will act as a regulator for ‘Micro-Finance Institutions’ (MFIs) involved in manufacturing, trading and service activities to promote their growth. 

-The Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana will be the main support system for the bank and will be the part of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)

MUDRA Bank will provide financing on 3 stages- Shishu, Kishore and Tarun.

- Shishu is first stage in which loan cover upto Rs 50,000 will be given to a business entity at start of business. 

-Kishore is second stage in which loan cover ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh will be given.

- Tarun is the third stage in which loan cover up to Rs. 10 lakh will be given.

67. April 7: World Health Day 

Theme for year 2015 was “food safety” with the slogan from farm to plate, make food safe

 68. Dr Mayilsamy Annadurai  assumed the office of Director, ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He replaced Dr. S.K. Shivakumar, who had retired on 31 March 2015.

 69. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched National Air Quality Index (AQI) to give pollution information on real time basis. Initially the new index will cover 10 cities. 

-They are Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra, Faridabad, Varanasi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

- Later it will be extended to more than 60 cities with a population exceeding one million

- The AQI has been developed for six pollutants- nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, ozone, Particle Pollution (PM)2.5, PM10 and carbon monoxide. The new AQI is hosted on the website of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

 70. Dronavalli Harika wins bronze in World Women’s chess championship AND Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine) – Won Gold medal 

 71 .First indigenously-built Scorpene Submarine on 6 April 2015 was undocked at the Mazagaon Dockyard Limited (MDL) in Mumbai, Maharashtra. 

-The undocked submarine was named Kalvari and is expected to be commissioned into Indian Navy by September 2016. 

-The submarine is part of the Indian Navy’s ambitious submarine programme- Project 75.

- This programme is undertaken in collaboration France to build fleet of six such submarines.

 71.  Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL)   won the prestigious Golden Peacock National Quality Award for the year 2015.

 72. Winners of 2015 Miami Open Titles 

 -Men’s Singles Title World No. 1 and Serbian ace tennis player Novak Djokovic has won the 2015 Miami Open Men’s Singles Title. I

-Women’s singles Title World No. 1 and American ace tennis player Serena Williams has won the 2015 Miami Open Women’s singles Title

-Women’s doubles Title India’s Sania Mirza and Switzerland’s Martina Hingis pair has won 2015 Miami Open Women’s doubles Title.

73. Minor planet named as 4538 Vishyanand after Indian Chess legend Viswanathan Anand 

74. India ranks 119 on 2015 FM Global Resilience Index 

 75. Amaravathi named as new capital of Andhra Pradesh 

 76. Union Government on 1 April 2015 launched Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles (FAME) – India Scheme.

- The scheme was launched as part of the National Mission for Electric Mobility to boost eco-friendly vehicles sales in the country.


77. Gulshan Rai took charge as India’s first cyber security chief 

  78. Pakistan 8th most dangerous country in the world: Country Threat Index