Dr. Nasim Zaidi appointed as Chief Election Commissioner of India
(i) President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 9 April 2015 appointed Dr. Nasim Zaidi as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
(ii) He will assume the charge of office of the CEC with effect from 19 April 2015.
(iii) Zaidi is the 20th CEC of India and will succeed Harishankar Brahma who will demit his office on 18 April 2015.
(iv) He will have tenure up to July 2017 when he attains the age of 65, the upper age limit under the Constitution for holding the post.
(v) Zaidi is the senior-most Election Commissioner after Harishankar Brahma and he was appointed as CEC following the convention in which the senior-most EC is appointed as the CEC.
(i) The University of Cape Town (UCT) of South Africa on 8 April 2015 voted to remove a statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes from the campus.
(ii) The statue had become a focus of student protests.
(iii) The decision of removal of the monument was taken by the UCT’s Council, the institutions highest decision-making body.
(iv) It announced that the monument will be taken down from the campus on 9 April 2015 and stored for safe keeping.
(v) The decision of Council follows weeks of protest and debate over the statue. The matter was known as the Rhodes Must Fall debate.
Jnanapith awardee Tamil writer Jayakanthan died
(i) Tamil novelist, short story writer and literary critic Jayakanthan died in Chennai on 8 April 2015. He was 81. He is survived now by wife, two daughters and a son.
(ii) Jayakanthan writings were mainly focused against social injustices and economic inequality in the society.
(iii) His writings earned him Sahitya Akademi Award in 1972, Jnanpith in 2002 and Padma Bhushan in 2009.
(iv) He started writing from around 1953 in Tamil magazines such as Saraswathi, Thamarai, Grama Uzhiyan and Anantha Vikatan and went on to author about 40 novels and novellas along with several short stories, poems, and articles.
SEBI raised the limit for currency derivatives trades to 15 million US dollar
(i) Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 8 April 2015 raised the transaction limit in exchange traded currency derivatives to 15 million US dollars for both foreign and domestic investors without having any underlying exposure.
(ii) Earlier, the limit was 10 million dollars. SEBI issued the circular after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 1 April 2015 notified the revision.
(iii) The capital market regulator, SEBI in a circular said that the Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) and domestic clients can take position (long and short) in foreign currency up to 15 million US Dollars or equivalent per exchange.
Sumit Mazumder elected as President of Confederation of Indian Industry for the year 2015-16
(i) Sumit Mazumder on 7 April 2015 was elected as the President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the year 2015-16. He succeeded Ajay Shriram.
(ii) He is the Chairman and Managing Director of the TIL Limited, India’s largest manufacturer of material handling equipment.
(iii) Mazumder is also the Executive Chairman of TIPL (Tractors India Pvt. Ltd.) which is a distributor for Caterpillar, USA, in India, Nepal and Bhutan for earthmoving, construction, mining equipment and power systems.
Visit Kerala 2015 campaign launched to promote Kerala tourism
(i) Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge) Dr. Mahesh Sharma on 8 April 2015 launched Visit Kerala 2015 campaign to promote Kerala tourism.
(ii) The campaign is an initiative of Kerala Government to promote state-specific tourism products including Ayurveda, Responsible Tourism and Spice route.
(iii) Under the campaign various innovative programmes and schemes will be launched in India and abroad to attract domestic and foreign tourists.
RBI notified hike in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in Insurance Sector to 49 percent
(i) The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) on 8 March 2015 notified hike in FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) limit in Insurance Sector to 49 percent from the present 26 percent.
(ii) As per the notification, FDI up to 26 percent will be under automatic route and beyond 26 percent and up to 49 percent will be allowed with the approval of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
(iii) The RBI notification is in tune with March 2015 decision of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) regarding operationalisation of increased FDI limit in the insurance sector.
(i) Noted singer EM Hanifa whose voice transcended religious lines died on 8 April 2015 at Chennai. He was 97.
(ii) He is survived by two sons and four daughters.
(iii) Hanifa was known for his song Iraivanidam Kaiyenthungal (look up to God he never says no) was an evergreen liked by all crossing across religious barriers.
Rajasthan and Vedanta Group signed a MoU to improve 3056 Anganwadi Centres in five districts
(i) State Government of Rajasthan and Hindustan Zinc, a Vedanta group company on 8 April 2015 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve 3056 anganwadi centres in five districts.
(ii) The selected five districts are Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, Rajsamand and Ajmer.
As per the MoU signed
• About one thousand centres will be converted into model anganwadis in 5 years, that is, 200 anganwadis a year would be converted into model Anganwadis.
• The centres will be renovated and provided with uniform, child-friendly toilets, water filters, play materials, story painting on inside wall and others
• They will get new utensils and smokeless stoves in the kitchen.
Union Cabinet gave nod for release of additional installment of DA and DR
(i) The Union Cabinet on 7 April 2015 gave its approval to release an additional installment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners at the rate of six percent increase over the existing rate of 107 percent.
(ii) With this decision, Central Government employees as well as pensioners are entitled for DA or DR at the rate of 113 percent of the basic pay with effect from 1 January 2015.
(iii) This pay rise will benefit 48 lakh government employees and 55 lakh pensioners.
(iv) The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula based on the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission.
Liu Xiang, former Olympic 110m hurdles champion, retired
(i) Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang retired on 7 April 2015. Xiang, the first man from China to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field, announced his retirement due to injury.
(ii) He sporting career was affected by an Achilles problem, which made him to pull out at 2008 Beijing Olympics. The injury also made him crash out from the 2012 London Olympics.
(iii) He won the Gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics in the 110m hurdles track event. For this Olympic gold he equaled the then world record of 12.91.
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