Current Affairs on General

Current Affairs 4 April 2015

A record 13.45 lakh rail tickets were booked online on the first day on 1 April 2015 when the new rule of the railways came into force, allowing passengers to book tickets how many days in advance rather than 60 days?: 120 days

Explanation: The decision for increase of advance reservation period from two months to four months was taken to prevent touts to corner bulk tickets in the latest Railway budget session in 2015. As per IRCTC, Total 13,45,496 rail tickets including 1,25,790 Tatkal were booked online through IRCTC website for total 32,16,039 passengers on the first day of this month. The total collection amount for online booking was Rs 2,50,6552,814 out of which IRCTC service charge would be Rs 43,033,947. IRCTC levies a service charge of Rs 20 per e-ticket in case of sleeper class (SL) and second class sitting and Rs 40 per e-ticket in case of all AC classes irrespective of the number of passengers on an e-ticket while earlier, the service charge was Rs 10 for Sleeper and Rs 20 for AC class.

Name the renowned Hindi poet whose work includes Sufinama, Sankrant has passed away on 1 April 2015?: C. Kailash Vajpai

Explanation: Born in 1936 at Hamirpur of Uttar Pradesh, he has published over 28 books, including 14 volumes of poetry. 79-year-old Vajpeyi was rushed to a private hospital in Saket last night after his health deteriorated. He breathed his last at around 3 AM. Vajpeyi was awarded with Sahitya Akademi award in 2009 for his work Hawa mein hastakshar (Signature in the air) and also received the 'Vachaspati' title from Lucknow University.

The 88th edition of the Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan (ABMSS) will be held from April 3-5 in which village in Gurdaspur district:? Ghuman village

Explanation: The 88th edition of the Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan was started where Marathi saint Namdev spent last years of his life. Ghuman spiritually connects Punjab and Maharashtra like Nanded and for many Saint Namdev, who is an important saint of the Bhakti movement. Top politicians from Maharastra, including Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, former Union ministers Sharad Pawar and Sushilkumar Shinde would also be present.

Current Affairs 3 April 2015

Who was appointed as Joint Secretary in Department of Expenditure on 2 March 2015?: G C Murmu

Explanation: G C Murmu is a Senior Gujarat bureaucrat and considered as very close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A 1985-batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, Murmu was the Principle Secretary to Modi during his tenure as Chief Minister . He was among 27 Joint Secretary level officers whose appointment was cleared by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister. These 27 Joint Secretary are:

IAS officers Tarun Bajaj and Debashri Mukherjee have been appointed Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Bajaj, a 1988-batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, is presently JS in Department of Economic Affairs.

Mukherjee, a 1991-batch IAS officer of Union territories cadre, is presently JS in the DoPT.

Raj Kumar, a 1987-batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, will replace Bajaj.

Peeyush Kumar has been appointed as Joint Secretary, Direct Benefits Transfer, Department of Expenditure. Alka Tiwari, a 1988-batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre, has been appointed as Advisor, Niti Aayog, the order said.

Anu Garg, a 1991-batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, has been shifted out of PMO and appointed as Joint Secretary in Ministry of Textiles.

Krishan Kumar and Selva Kumar, who were working as Directors in the PMO, have been appointed as JS in Departments of Commerce and Economic Affairs respectively.

Sharmila Mary Joseph, who was Director in the PMO, has been appointed as member in National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority.

The post of Sanjeev Kumar Singla as Private Secretary to the Prime Minister has been upgraded to the JS level, the order said.

Umang Narula, a 1989-batch IAS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre, has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC).

Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Private Secretary to Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, has been appointed as JS in Food Processing Ministry.

Praveen Kumar has been appointed JS in Department of Higher Education.

P K Sarangi has been appointed JS Department of Rural Development. Hukum Singh Meena has been appointed in Sarangi's place as JS in Department of Land Resources, it said.

Manish Singh, a 1997-batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed JS in Department of Disinvestment.

Achla Sinha, a 1982-batch Indian Railway Traffic Service officer, has been appointed Additional Secretary (JS level) in the Central Information Commission.

Sunil Sharma, a 1985 batch Indian Railway Personnel Service, has been appointed JS n Department of Health and Family Welfare.

Another Gujarat cadre IAS officer R P Gupta has been appointed Joint Secretary in Coal Ministry. Rajesh Sinha, a 1994-batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, has also been appointed JS in the Coal Ministry.

Venkata Ramana Murthy, a 1987-batch Indian Defence Accounts Service officer, has been appointed JS in Corporate Affairs Ministry. Subhashish Panda has been made JS in Department of Food and Public Distribution.

Raja Sekhar Vundru has been appointed DDG in UIDAI. Aditya Joshi has been made Joint Secretary in Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, in Vundru's place.

Sasidhar K Srinivas has been appointed JS, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation. Rashmi Saxena Sahni, a 1984-batch Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax), has been appointed as Joint Secretary in Women and Child Development Ministry.

Posted on: 03rd April 2015 Read complete Article →

Government Amends Procedure for appointment which post on the boards of Public sector Banks, Insurance companies and Financial institution to professionalize the boards?: Non Official Directors (NODS)

Explanation: The Government of India has amended the procedure for appointment of Non Official Directors (NoDs) on the Boards of Public Sector Banks (PSBs), Insurance Companies and Financial Institutions with a view to professionalize the Boards of these banks and further provide required skill sets to improve the quality of deliberations on the Boards of these banks leading to efficient management of these banks and further leading to better profitability ratios. Salient features of the revamped procedure for appointment of NoDs are as follows:-

A designated Web Portal ( http://financialservices.gov.in/nod) has been created where interested persons can apply online with all the relevant details. The person will have access to status of his application.
There would be one High Level Search Committee which will go through the available applications and would recommend names to the Government for approval.
The applicant should have at least a graduation degree, should be less than 67 years of age and have 20 years of work experience, in following categories:
- Persons of eminence with special academic training or practical experience in the fields of agriculture, rural economy, banking, cooperation, economics, business management, human resources, finance, corporate law, Risk Management, Industry and IT will ordinarily be considered.
- Retired Senior Government Officials, Academicians, Directors of premier Management, Banking Institutes, professors with 20 years experience would be considered. Chartered Accountants with 20 years experience would also be considered.
NoDs could be appointed for maximum six years or two terms.

Current Affairs 2 April 2015

What will be the name of the new capital of Andhra Pradesh as approved by the Cabinet of the state on 1 April 2015?: Amaravathi

Explanation: Amaravathi is situated on the right bank of the mighty Krishna River in Guntur and capital city zone is 35 km from old Amaravathi, where the government has procured nearly 33,000 acres between Vijayawada and Guntur through a land-pooling scheme. The capital was chosen in view of the historic significance of Amaravati town in Guntur district of the state. This ancient and medieval town of Amaravathi was the centre of the Telugu empire for over 1,800 years from the 2nd century BC to the 16th century AD, and the political and cultural capital of the Satavahanas, Ikshavakus, Eastern Chalukyas, Telugu Cholas, the Kota chiefs, Pallavas, Kakatiyas, the Reddy kings and the Vijayanagara empire.

Posted on: 02nd April 2015 Read complete Article →

Which state government on 1 April 2015 launched the ambitious “Aahar” cheap meal scheme for providing subsidized food to urban poor?: Odisha

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

Who took over as India’s first-ever Cyber Security Chief (CSC) on 1 April 2015?: Gulshan Rai

Explanation: Gulshan Rai is the Director General of Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) as he has the considerable experience in dealing with matters such as cyber security, e-Governance, legal framework and the Information Technology Act. The appointment done under the Prime Minister’s Office as a Special Secretary.

Current Affairs 1 April 2015

One of the co-founders of European software giant SAP, has died unexpectedly at the age of 74 on 31 March 2015. What was his name?: Klaus Tschira

Explanation: Tschira, stepped down from SAP`s supervisory board in 2007 was the trained physicist, who left IBM to found SAP in 1972 together with four IBM colleagues. The German business software company began by developing software that could process data in real time rather than overnight in batches, and went public in 1988. SAP, Europe`s biggest technology company with revenue of 17.6 billion euros ($18.9 billion), market capitalisation of 82.3 billion euros and more than 74,000 employees in 2014.

Posted on: 01st April 2015 Read complete Article →

As part of a non-stop service launched to facilitate swift trade between the two countries - India nad Qatar. What is the name of the first direct container vessel from India to Qatar which arrived at Doha on 31 March 2015 ?: M.S. Convent

Explanation: MS Convent's non-stop service will connect Qatar’s Doha port with India’s largest port Nhava Sheva, also known as Jawaharlal Nehru Port, in Mumbai. The service was launched by Milaha Maritime & Logistics, a subsidiary of the Qatar based Milaha Group which delivers integrated transport and supply chain solution in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Posted on: 01st April 2015 Read complete Article →