Current Affairs Update – 15th April, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important current affairs of 15th April, 2015.

• Wholesale prices declined at a faster-than-expected annual rate of 2.33 per cent in March, their fifth straight fall, on the back of tumbling oil and manufacturing prices, Government data showed on Wednesday.
• The data compared with a 1.95 per cent year-on-year fall forecast by economists in a Reuters poll and a provisional 2.06 per cent decline in February.
• The reading for January wholesale price inflation was revised to -0.95 per cent from -0.39 per cent earlier.

• Public sector firms, including BHEL, Instrumentation Ltd and HMT, have firmed up six MoUs with companies from Germany, Switzerland, Russia and Bulgaria for scaling up Indian manufacturing in high-tech areas.
• The Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed yesterday at an event organised by engineering exporters' body EEPC India at the ongoing Hannover Messe fair in Germany.
• Power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) inked a pact with Russian Joint stock company INTMA for upcoming projects in Russia and Kazakhstan.
• While Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Ltd and Bulgaria-based Milkotronics Ltd signed an MoU to manufacture milk analyzers in India, Instrumentations Ltd and German firm KE Kauer Engineering inked an agreement for production of control valves.
• Three MoUs were signed by Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT), the release said. HMT inked pact with Switzerland-based Num Controls for manufacturing of CNC controls, systems and drives.
• It also signed pacts with FT Machine Tools, Germany, for collaborating on flow forming machines and Enit GmbH for total engineering solutions.
• India is a partner country at the Hannover Messe 2015 fair, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

• ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank tied up with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation to launch ICICI Bank Unifare Bangalore Metro card to offer debit and credit card benefits to commuters.
• Co-branded with MasterCard, the smart card uses Near Field Communication (NFC) technology and offers the commuters dual benefits of an ICICI Bank credit or debit card and BMRCL’s smart card, called Namma Metro Smart Card. “It has a unique auto recharge facility of loading Rs. 200 when the balance drops below Rs. 100. This auto recharge facility eliminates the need to wait in queues at ticket counters and vending machines,” ICICI bank said in a statement.
• Commuters can redeem reward points accumulated on their card for free metro rides, get 15 per cent discount on metro fare, 2.5 per cent fuel surcharge waiver across HPCL pumps with transaction swiped on an ICICI Merchant Services’ machine discounts on dining bills at select restaurants among others.
• Both existing and new credit or debit card customers can apply for this card, the bank said.

• ATMs and service provider NCR Corporation introduced a self-service banking channel, Android operating system - Kalpana software - an enterprise and cloud-based software platform that moves ATM software and operations to the cloud.
• The software has been designed to eliminate malware, to enable deployment of new devices and ATM services and reduce operating costs up to 40 per cent. “It is more secure than traditional ATM software because all software updates are originated and controlled at the server level,” the company said after launching it globally.
• At present, the US-based ATM provider has 47 per cent market share in India and 28 per cent share globally.
• NCR Corp expects the India ATM industry to grow over 200 per cent in the next five years. Dastur expects the number of ATMs to increase to 4.40 lakh by 2019 as against 1.93 lakh at present.

• With a pay package of USD 84.3 million (Rs 525 crore) a year, technology giant Microsoft's Indian-origin chief Satya Nadella has emerged as the top-paid CEO in the US, as per a new list.
• The Equilar 100 CEO Pay Study, an analysis of CEO salaries at the 100 largest public US companies as measured by revenue, was last year topped by Oracle's Larry Ellison, who has been now pushed by Nadella to the second position.
• Another Indian-origin CEO, Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, is ranked 19th with USD 19.08 million. Legendary investor Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway is ranked last at 100th position with a total compensation of USD 464,011 million.

• Singapore-based investment firm Temasek on 14 April 2015 acquired InnoVen Capital India, formerly known as SVB India Finance, for 300 crore rupees.
• With this acquisition, Temasek announced its entry into the venture debt segment.
• InnoVen Capital India will be independently managed with a reconstituted board of 5 members, comprising Madhabi Puri Buch, former chief executive officer of ICICI Securities, as chairperson.
• Temasek has assets under management to the tune of 177 billion US dollar as on 31 March 2014, and has actively invested across sectors like financial services, telecom, media, technology, life sciences, consumer and real estate.

• Restaurant search app Zomato has announced acquiring MaplePOS, a cloud-based point of sale product for restaurants.
• Renamed as Zomato Base, it has a functional Android-based POS system that uses custom hardware for better reliability and customization.
• It offers restaurants features such as menu and inventory management, and has a built-in payment solution to accept debit and credit card payments. With this acquisition, Zomato claimed it will be better placed to provide business-focused solutions for restaurants, which in turn, will help the company offer highly differentiated services to the end consumer.

• Online hotel bookings in the country will touch USD 1.8 billion by 2016, as more and more Indians turn to the Internet for finalising travel plans, according to Google.
• Consumer confidence to do online hotel bookings is on the rise in India, with an estimated 8.4 million Indians likely to book hotels online by 2016. The online hotel booking Industry will be worth USD 1.8 billion from the current USD 0.8 billion.
• One of the biggest factors for this sizzling growth is the convenience the Internet offers while carrying out the transaction.

• International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 14 April 2015 released World Economic Outlook (WEO) April 2015 Report. The report is titled Uneven Growth: Short-term and Long-term Factors.
• Global 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. Also the global growth rate in 2015 is broadly same as it was in 2014.

• Global growth in 2015 will be driven by a rebound in advanced economies supported by the decline in oil prices.
• In advanced economies, growth is projected to strengthen in 2015 relative to 2014, but in emerging market and developing economies it is expected to be weaker.

• India’s growth is projected to strengthen from 7.2% in 2014 to 7.5 % in 2015 and 2016.
• For the first time since 1999, India’s growth rate may eclipse China’s and there is increasing divergence in the growth paths of the two countries.
• India is trying to shift from consumption to investment led growth at a time when China is going opposite way.

• India has slipped six places to rank 89th on a global Networked Readiness Index, showing a "widespread" weakness in its potential to leverage information and communications technologies for social and economic gains.
• While Singapore has replaced Finland on the top of the 143-nation list, prepared by World Economic Forum (WEF), it has called for improvement in India's business and innovation environment, infrastructure and skills availability.
• However, India has been ranked on the top globally on a sub-index for competition and affordability.
• Overall, India was ranked 83rd last year, and even better at 68th position in 2013.
• WEF said India's weakness is widespread, falling in the bottom half of seven of the 10 pillars of the index.
• In the top 10, Singapore is followed by Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the US, the UK, Luxembourg and Japan, which has climbed an impressive six places year-on-year to 10th position.

• India and the European Union (EU) today forged a new digital partnership and discussed potential for collaboration in the fields of technology and innovation besides cooperation to create smart cities.
• The first India-EU Strategic Dialogue Series, organised by UK-based policy platform India Inc. Alongside key players like Microsoft and McKinsey, focussed on 'Delivering Smart Communities' as part of the Narendra Modi government's Digital India drive.
• The Digital India Roundtable, supported by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Germany-based IT solutions entity SAP, focussed on the potential of India-EU collaboration in the field of technology and innovation as well as in creating smart cities.

• Canada today agreed to supply 3,000 metric tonnes of uranium to energy-hungry India from this year under a USD 254 million five-year deal to power Indian reactors as the two countries decided to set in motion a new strategic partnership.
• The agreement for uranium supply, which came two years after protracted negotiations following the 2013 civil nuclear deal between India and Canada, was signed after comprehensive talks Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper.
• Cameco Corporation will supply 3,000 metric tonnes of uranium over five years to India at an estimated cost of USD 254 million and the supply will start from this year, a top official said.
• Canada is the third country to supply uranium to India after Russia and Kazakhstan. The supplies will be under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

• The 5th meeting of SAARC Health Ministers was held on 8 April 2015 in New Delhi. The meet ended with the adoption of Delhi Declaration on Public Health Challenges.
• The declaration focuses on issues common to member nations of South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). These issues include universal health coverage, improving health regulatory systems, preparedness for emerging and re-emerging diseases and the challenges posed by antimicrobial resistance and non-communicable diseases.

• Agreed to strengthen cooperation on mutually agreed agreements for prevention and control of infectious diseases and for sharing of information in accordance with international health regulations
• Agreed to strengthen capacities for surveillance and monitoring of disease, rapid response and expanding diagnostic facilities
• Resolved to strengthen cooperation to promote availability and effective coverage of affordable vaccines including pentavalent vaccine and to also strengthen our response to make SAARC region polio free
• Agreed to take appropriate coordinated action which may be required to be adopted by the Member States for prevention and control of Hepatitis which is a major public health issue in the region;

• The term Normandy Group was in news because the fifth meeting of the foreign ministers of the group members was held on 13 April 2015 in Berlin, the capital of Germany.
• Normandy Group or Normandy Quartet is a group of four countries including Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine.
• The group was formed to facilitate a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing conflict between the Ukraine Army and pro-Russia forces in the Donbass region of Ukraine.
• It was formed on 6 June 2014 after an informal meeting of the four heads of state on the sidelines of commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of D Day in Normandy, France.
• From time to time, the group reviews the progress in implementing the truce pact, which came into force on 15 February 2015. The pact was reached in the Belarusian city of Minsk between pro-Russia forces and Ukraine to end the conflict.

• Researchers at Stanford University created a smartphone battery that charges in only one minute. The project was published on 6 April 2015. Stanford University chemistry professor Hongjie Dai is the lead researcher of the project.
• The battery invented is the first high-performance aluminum battery which is fast-charging, long-lasting and inexpensive.
• The researchers placed the aluminum anode, a graphite cathode and an ionic liquid electrolyte inside of a polymer-coated pouch. The electrolyte is essentially a salt that is liquid at room temperature so it is safe.

• Senior diplomat Mohan Kumar, currently India's top envoy to Bahrain, has been appointed the next Ambassador to France to succeed Arun Kumar.
• A 1981-batch IFS officer, Mohan Kumar is expected to take up his assignment shortly, External Affairs Ministry said today.
• The official announcement for Mohan Kumar's appointment comes six days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to France.
• Arun Kumar has been appointed the country's Ambassador to the US, replacing S Jaishankar.
• Incidentally, before becoming Ambassador to Bahrain in 2010, Mohan Kumar served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Paris for three years.

• Meenakshi Madan Rai on 15 April 2015 was sworn in as the first lady judge of the Sikkim High Court. Her oath of the office was administered by the Governor Srinivas Patil at Ashirwad Hall at Raj Bhavan in Gangtok.
• Rai is also the third High Court judge who hails from the small border state.
• This appointment of Rai as the judge of the Sikkim High Court has helped the state to get its full strength of three judges after a gap of about one year.

• Vice President Hamid Ansari today released a book which is a collection of thoughts and ideas of 33 Indian diplomats during their years in foreign service.
• India and the World – Through the eyes of Indian Diplomats has been edited by diplomat Surendra Kumar-founded Indo-American Friendship Association in 2010.
• "The book has been very rightly described as a bouquet of 33 Flowers as it is a fair description of experiences of 33 distinguished diplomats and what has happened over the years since the foreign service began," the Vice President said.
• Commending the editor of the book, he hoped it will be read by young entrants in this service and the public at large.
• The work representing three generations, those who joined in 1950s, 1960s and in 1970s.

• Renowned Assamese filmmaker and actor Bidyut Chakraborty breathed his last today in a private nursing home in Guwahati after brief illness.
• He directed several Assamese movies including Raag-Biraag, Goon Goon Gaane Gaane, Dwaar. Chakraborty even won Indira Gandhi national award for Raag Biraag.
• Apart from direction, Chakraborty acted in several Assamese movies and serials.
• Assam film fraternity and civil society organizations has condoled the demise of Chakraborty. Last tributes are being paid to the departed soul by people from all walks of life.

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