Current Affairs Update – 24th April, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important current affairs update of 24th April, 2015.

• Government has allowed retirement fund body EPFO to invest 5 per cent of its corpus in exchange traded funds which will result into an inflow of around Rs. 5,000 crore into the stock markets during this fiscal.
• Labour Ministry has notified new investment pattern for the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation which allows the body to invest 5 per cent of its funds into ETFs.
• As per estimates, the EPFO’s incremental deposits for 2014-15 would be around Rs 80,000 crore.
• During the current fiscal, the incremental deposits could be around Rs 1 lakh crore as the body had increased the monthly wage ceiling for coverage under its social security schemes to Rs 15,000 from Rs 6,500 in September last year.
• Unionists had opposed any investment in equity or equity—related instruments during the meeting of Central Board of Trustees — EPFO’s apex decision making body — on March 31.
• The Finance Ministry has been pitching to park a part of EPFO corpus in the stock market.
• It had recently notified an investment pattern for non-government provident funds to enable them to park a part of their funds in stock market.

• The Indian petrochemicals industry is likely to touch $100 billion by 2020 from $40 billion presently after having grown at around 13-14 per cent, according to a study by industry body Assocham released here on Friday.
• The study, titled ‘Indian Petrochemical Industry: An Overview’, noted that the domestic sector had been growing faster than a stagnant global growth rate of 6 per cent.
• Petrochemicals currently contribute about 30 per cent to India’s $120 billion chemical industry which is likely to grow at 11 per cent over the next few years. Globally, the contribution of petrochemicals to the chemicals sector is 40 per cent, while in India it accounts for around 25-30 per cent.
• The country’s per capita consumption of polymers, at 5.2 kg, is still in a nascent stage as compared to developed markets like the US and China which is about 30 kg. India’s total consumption of polymers is about 6.2 million tonnes (mt), around 3 per cent of global consumption of 200 mt.

• India has delivered three multi-role Cheetal helicopters along with allied equipment and spares to Afghanistan, Lok Sabha was informed today.
• Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh, in a written reply, told Lok Sabha, "The helicopters were dispatched to Afghanistan on April 9. These helicopters have been test flown and accepted by Afghanistan pilots on April 15."
• He said the three Cheetal helicopters were based on an agreement with the Ministry of External Affairs.
• Cheetals are the upgraded version of Cheetah light utility, multi-role helicopters built by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
• Cheetal helicopter is equipped with a Turbomeca TM 333-2M2 free turbine turboshaft engine. Compared to the 560 km of the Cheetah helicopter, Cheetal has a range of about 640 km.
• Cheetal also provides a higher payload capacity of 90 kg, compared to the 50 kg of Cheetah.
• The helicopters can be used for personnel transport, evacuation, reconnaissance and aerial survey. It is also capable of operating in the high-altitude areas.

• The fourteenth edition of Indo-French Naval Exercise named VARUNA-15 commenced on 23 April 2015 off the coast of Goa. The 10-day long joint naval exercise will end on 2 May 2015.
• It is aimed at further deriving mutual benefit from the experiences of the two navies and strengthening the bilateral ties between India and France.
• The French Navy is represented by Aircraft Carrier Charles de Gaulle, two destroyers Chevalier Paul and Jean de Vienne, replenishment tanker Meuse and a maritime patrol aircraft Atlantique 2. The Aircraft Carrier Charles de Gaulle is carrying its complement of fighter aircraft Rafale M, Strike Aircraft Super Etendard, E2C Hawkeye AWACS and helicopters Dauphin and Alouette 3.
• The Indian Navy is represented by Aircraft Carrier INS Viraat, destroyer INS Mumbai, stealth frigate INS Tarkash, guided missile frigate INS Gomati, replenishment tanker INS Deepak, submarine INS Shankul and a few Fast Attack Craft. Aviation assets of the Indian Navy participating in VARUNA-15 include carrier-borne fighter aircraft Sea Harriers, maritime reconnaissance aircraft P-8 I and Dornier along with integral helicopters Seaking 42B and Chetak.

• National Panchayati Raj Day was observed across India on 24 April 2015. The day is observed to mark the passing of the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 that came into force with effect from 24 April 1993.
• The Amendment institutionalized Panchayati Raj through the Village, Intermediate and District levels Panchayats. This registers a defining moment in the history of decentralization of political power to the grassroots level.
• On the day, the best performing Gram Panchayats and Gram Sabhas were honoured with Panchayat Sashaktikaran Award 2015 and Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Award 2015.
• Besides, the Prime Minster Naredra Modi also addressed a national conference to highlight the steps taken by the government for real devolution of administrative and financial powers.

• The World Happiness Report 2015 was released on 23 April 2015. The report was published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) an initiative under the United Nations.
• India ranked 117 out of 158 nations in the list.
• The report was topped by Switzerland followed by Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Canada. The World Happiness Report examined 158 countries and is aimed at influencing government policy.
• Togo, Burundi, Benin and Rwanda, with civil-war wracked Syria, were least happy.
• The study based its rankings on data from the Gallup World Poll and takes into account variables such as real GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, corruption levels and social freedoms.
• The SDSN is comprised of people from academia, government and the private sector and was first launched in 2012.

• China and Pakistan on 21 April 2015 signed an agreement on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan worth 46 billion US dollars. The agreement was signed by China's President Xi Jinping and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
• As part of the agreement, China will provide up to 37 billion US dollar in investment for energy projects to generate 16400 MW of power. Concessional loans will cover nearly 10 billion US dollar of infrastructure projects.
• China's government and banks, including China Development Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, will lend to Chinese companies, which will invest in projects as commercial ventures.
• The planned Chinese spending exceeds that of the United States, which has given 31 billion US dollars to Pakistan since 2002.

• Jordan's 20-year-old crown prince today called for measures to prevent the world's youth from being "lured into the dark world" of Islamic extremists as he became the youngest person ever to chair a Security Council meeting.
• Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah presided over the debate on the role of youth in countering violent extremism during Jordan's monthly presidency of the 15-member council.
• Jordan will host an international conference in August to encourage young peacemakers to confront extremism and terrorism, he said.
• The eldest son of King Abdullah II argued that young people must be empowered through education, job opportunities and "a decent living," and said social media can serve as a tool.
• Jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq have recruited thousands of disenfranchised young people into their ranks from Europe and the Arab world.

• The US Senate confirmed Loretta Lynch as the nation's first black female attorney general today, installing an aggressive counter-terrorism prosecutor as the top law enforcement official for President Barack Obama's final 21 months in office.
• Lynch was confirmed in a 56-43 vote -- with 10 Republicans crossing the political aisle to lend their support -- following weeks of gridlock after her confirmation process was dragged into a bitter partisan battle over abortion.
• She takes over from outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder, whom Republicans had criticized as being a rubber stamp for Obama's policies.
• Lynch's confirmation brought to an end a months-long process that Democrats noted took longer than the confirmation of the seven previous attorneys general combined.

• The Indian government has finally recognised motor sports as a sport by including governing body FMSCI in the list of sports ministry-backed National Sports Federations (NSF).
• The development comes at a rather quiet period for Indian motorsports and at a time when efforts are being made to bring Formula 1 back to the country after the Grand Prix was dropped owing to tax and bureaucratic hurdles.
• The ministry has included motor sports in its latest revision of sports disciplines, albeit in the 'Others' category, meaning no financial assistance will be provided to the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).
• However, the government support to FMSCI does not help the F1 Indian Grand Prix much as getting the race back is primarily down to promoters Jaypee Group and its commercial rights holder Formula One Management (FOM).
• Vicky Chandhok, former FMSCI president and currently its member representing Madras Motor Sports Club, welcomed the government's move after years of wait.

• A 22-year-old Indian-origin soldier with Israeli army has been awarded the President's Medal of Excellence for his outstanding service.
• Adiel Yosef, who immigrated to Israel from Mumbai four years ago, got the award for serving in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
• Following an exemplary service record in the combat unit, including his participation in Israel's war in Gaza last year, the Indian Jewish soldier is now all set to join the officer's course for which he was recently accepted.
• President's Medal of Excellence is awarded every year based on recommendations from commanders of various IDF units for the significant service and outstanding contribution to the Israeli army and the State of Israel.

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