Current Affairs Update – 21st April, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 21st April, 2015.

• Bharatiya Mahila Bank Ltd has entered into MoUs with New India Assurance Company Ltd and Life Insurance Corporation of India to provide insurance cover to its accountholders.
• The insurance covers are being provided under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Suraksha Bima Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Jeevanjyoti Bima Yojana schemes respectively.
• The insurance option is voluntary and comes at a premium of Rs. 12 for the PM Jan Suraksha Bima Yojana and Rs. 330 for the PM Jeevanjyoti Bima Yojana.
• The age eligibility under the former is 18-70 years and under the latter 18-50 years. The enrolment period under the schemes will be from June 1, 2015, to August 31, 2015.

• The 2015 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded by the Pulitzer Prize Board for work during the 2014 calendar year. Prize winners and nominated finalists were announced on April 20, 2015.
• The Pulitzer Prize  is an award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States.

• Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in Journalism: The New York Times Staff
• Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting: The Seattle Times Staff
• Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Novel: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis
• Pulitzer Prize for History Novel: Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People by Elizabeth A. Fenn
• Pulitzer Prize for Biography: The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe by David I. Kertzer
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: Digest by Gregory Pardlo
• Pulitzer Prize for General Non-fiction: The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
• Pulitzer Prize for Music: Anthracite Fields by Julia Wolfe

• Pakistan on Tuesday conferred its top civilian award ‘Nishan-e-Pakistan’ on Chinese President Xi Jinping for his outstanding contribution in promotion of relationship between the two countries.
• The ceremony was organised at the President House where President Mamnoon Hussain conferred the award on Mr. Xi.
• The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Federal Ministers, Members of National Assembly and Senate, Services Chiefs and Chinese delegation.
• Mr. Xi was given warm welcome on his arrival in the President House in a traditional buggy drawn by horses.
• He also held bilateral talks with Mr. Hussain, who later hosted a luncheon in his honour.

• Indian Railways on 21 April 2015 launched online monitoring mechanism E-Samiksha to monitor rail projects.
• It aims at monitoring implementation of various ongoing projects of Indian Railways on real-time basis including Rail Budget proposals.

• It was designed by National Informatics Centre (NIC).
• It has been developed to make it a highly interactive web-based, user-friendly and customised system.
• It will be used to monitor budget-related projects and also for monitoring the infrastructure target and board meeting follow-up.
• It will be used by Cabinet Secretariat, Prime Minister’s Office and other Ministries for monitoring progress implementation of various programmes and follow-up of meetings.

• Maharashtra Government on 20 April 2015 announced the target of 14400 MW power generation by 2019.
• The state government will produce 14400 MW electricity by 2019 by way of non-conventional methods to cut down cost and reduce carbon footprint. The non conventional source of energy is cheaper and far better as compared to conventional sources.
• Out of the 14400 MW electricity target, the state government has proposed that 75000 MW of electricity will be generated from solar energy while wind mills will generate 5000 MW of power.
• Sugar industries will help in creating 1000 MW, cogeneration will generate 200 MW, biogas will generate 300 MW and industrial waste will generate 400 MW.
• For instance, there are many sugar factories located in western Maharashtra, thus 1000 MW electricity will be generated from that region
• Also to meet the target, the power generated by private players will be purchased by the government as well.

• Since its launch for iOS in August 2012, Cleartrip has been committed to offer iOS users the best travel app experience possible on iOS devices.
• From being the first to support Passbook on iOS, to the first to redesign the app for iOS 7, and the first travel app in India to have a universal app for iPhone and iPad, the Cleartrip app for Apple Watch is another big first to add to that list.
• The idea with the Watch app is to give users the information they need, when they need it, in the most lightweight manner possible. Opening the Cleartrip app on the Apple Watch will show travellers a concise list of all their upcoming flights.
• The app can also be enabled through the Watch app on your iPhone which, in turn, can be synced with your Apple Watch.

• Egypt's ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was on Tuesday sentenced to 20 years in jail by a court here over charges related to the killing of 10 protesters when he was in power, the first ruling against the country's first freely elected leader.
• The 63-year-old former president was, however, acquitted of murder charges in the killing outside the presidential palace in December, 2012 that would have seen him face the death penalty. Besides Morsi, the criminal court sentenced 12 other top Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including senior figures Mohamed el-Beltagy and Essam el-Erian, to 20 years in jail as they stood in a soundproof glass cage inside a makeshift courtroom at the national police academy here.
• Judge Ahmed Sabry Youssef read out the ruling against him, the first in the case, but can be appealed. The sentencing was broadcast live on state television. The conviction and no strong reactions from the party show the dramatic downfall of Egypt's once-powerful Muslim Brotherhood and its leader.

• Japan's state-of-the-art Maglev train clocked a new world speed record Tuesday in a test run near Mount Fuji, smashing through the 600 kilometre (373 miles) per hour mark, as Tokyo races to sell the technology abroad.
• The seven-car Maglev train -- short for "magnetic levitation" -- hit a top speed of 603 kilometres an hour, and managed nearly 11 seconds at over 600kph, operator Central Japan Railway said.
• The new record came less than a week after the company recorded a top speed of 590 kph, breaking its own 2003 record of 581 kph. The Maglev hovers 10 centimetres (four inches) above the tracks and is propelled by electrically charged magnets.
• About two hundred train buffs gathered to Tuesday's record-setting run, with the crowd cheering as the train broke through 600 kph per hour.

• Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli on 20 April 2015 announced to set up his chain of gyms and fitness centres with the investment of 90 crore rupees.
• The gyms will be launched under the brand name Chisel. The brand is jointly owned by Kohli, Chisel Fitness and CSE, the sister concern of Cornerstone Sport & Entertainment.
• It is to be known that India's ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni already has his fitness chain across the country. Also, Kohli co-owns Indian Super League football franchise FC Goa and also has his clothing line for youths Wrogn.
• The country's fitness industry comprising branded fitness chains and standalone gyms is pegged at around 1300 crore rupees.

• Novak Djokovic of Serbia on 20 April 2015 won his second Monte-Carlo Masters title of Tennis. In the final clash played at Monte-Carlo, Monaco, Djokovic defeated Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
• With this win, 27-year-old 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.
• This was 17th straight win for the world No.1 and a 23rd Masters Crown in total, which equals with Roger Federer for second on the titles list.

• Archana Girish Kamath and Anezka Ilcikova, the Indo-Czech Republic pair won the cadet girls’ doubles table tennis title at the French junior and cadet open on 19 April 2015 in Metz, France.
• In the title clash, Archana and Anezka 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.
• 2015 French Junior & Cadet Open, ITTF Premium Junior Circuit was held at Metz, France from 15 April to 19 April 2015.
• The Bengaluru player Archana, who is the reigning sub-junior national table tennis champion, also claimed a bronze medal in the team event after a loss in the semifinals.

• Former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar was on 20 April 2015 appointed as chief adviser of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Anti-Corruption & Security Unit (ACSU). He will have a term of one year, that is, till 2016. Kumar succeeded Ravi Sawant.
• His appointment was made during Governing Council Meeting of the Indian Premier League (IPL) chaired by IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla in New Delhi.
• Neeraj 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.

• Ninth Civil Services Day was observed across India on 21 April 2015. The day is observed by all Civil Services to re-dedicate and re-commit themselves to the cause of the people.
• To mark the Day, a two-day programme was organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances began from 20 April 2015.
• A series of Panel Discussions was organised at the Vigyan Bhawan. The Ninth Civil Services Day focuses on Minimum Government, Maximum Governance with specific sectoral emphasis on Social Sector, Housing, Employment & Skill Development and Agriculture.
• On this occasion, all officers of Central and State Governments are honoured for excellence in public administration. The Prime Minister will confer the Awards to winners of outstanding initiatives in Public Administration for the years 2012–13 and 2013-14.

• Former Governor of Assam and three-time Chief Minister of Odisha Janaki Ballabh Patnaik died on 21 April 2015 in Tirupati. He was 89.
• Born on 3 January 1927, in Rameshwar, Puri, Patnaik was a senior leader of Indian National Congress. He served Odisha as its Chief Minister from 1980 to 1989 and again from 1995 to 1999.
• He also served Assam as its Governor from 2009 to 2014.
• In 1947, he passed out with a degree in Sanskrit from the Utkal University and secured an MA degree in Political Science from the Banaras Hindu University in 1949. In 1950, he became the President of the Odisha state unit of the youth wing of the Congress. In 1980, he became the Union Minister for Tourism, Civil Aviation and Labour.

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