1- New Zealand wins Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament 2015

Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament 2015

New Zealand has won the 24th edition of Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament 2015 for second time. In the final match, New Zealand defeated World Champions Australia by 3-1 goals in the penalty shoot-out. In regulation 60 minutes time, both teams had tied at 2-2 goals. Earlier, New Zealand had won the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament in 2012. It is third time Australia came as runner-ups position in tournament (1999, 2006 and 2015). India won the bronze i.e. finished third by defeating South Korea by 4-1 goals in the penalty shoot-out after both the teams were tied at 2-2 at regulation time.

About Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament

It is an annual tournament held in Malaysia and was established in 1983. Initially it was a biennial tournament but since 1998, it is played every year. Named after 9th king of Malaysia and ‘Father of Malaysian Hockey’ Sultan Azlan Shah. Australia has won the tournament for record 8 times in 1983, 1996, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2014.

2- Retired Lieutenant General Hanut Singh, a 1971 Indo-Pak war hero passes away

Retired Lieutenant General Hanut Singh || 1971 Indo-Pak war hero

Lieutenant General Hanut Singh (retd) on 12 April 2015 passed away in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. He was 82. He was a 1971 Indo-Pak war hero and one of the most famous officers of the Indian Army.

About Lt Gen Hanut Singh

In 1952, Hanut Singh was commissioned in 17 HORSE (also known as the Poona Horse) an armoured regiment of Indian Army. In 1971, as a Lieutenant Colonel he had commanded 17 HORSE regiment in the famous Battle of Basantar in Indo-Pak war. During this battle, squadron of his regiment had dashed across the heavily mined enemy areas and successfully had repulsed repeated counter attacks by Pakistan forces. During this war his regiment had destroyed a large number Pakistan tanks and had earned him the name ‘Hero of Battle of Basantar’. After his retirement in 1991, he had founded Shivbala Yogi Ashram Parisar in Dehradun. He was born on 6 July 1933 in Barmer district of Rajasthan and was a cousin of former Union Minister Jaswant Singh.

Awards- He is recipient of the Maha Vir Chakra, India’s second highest gallantry award for his personal bravery and outstanding leadership.

3- Sania Mirza becomes first Indian female tennis player ranked World No.1 in Women’s Doubles

Sania Mirza || World No.1 in Women’s Doubles

Sania Mirza on 12 April 2015 created history by becoming the first Indian female tennis player to achieve the world number one rank in doubles category. She achieved this feat after winning WTA Family Circle Cup along with her Swedish partner Martina Hingis. With this win Sania scored 470 points, making her tally to 7965 and surpassing Italy’s Sara Errani (7640) and Roberta Vinci (7640) to the number one rank in the ranking table. In WTA Family Circle Cup finals, the top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair had defeated of Casey Dellacqua and Darija Jurak by 6-0, 6-4 score. Earlier, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were only Indians who had achieved the top rank in Men’s Doubles after they had dominated men’s doubles circuit in the late 1990s. It should be noted that Sania Mirza is also first Indian female tennis player to win Grand Slam tournaments.

4- Lewis Hamilton wins Chinese Grand Prix of Formula One

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton from Britain on 12 April 2015 won Chinese Grand Prix of Formula One on the Shanghai International Circuit in China. This was his second win of the season and his fourth Chinese Grand Prix win. It was also Lewis Hamilton’s overall 35th Grand Prix win. In Chinese Grand Prix, Hamilton was followed by teammate Nico Rosberg at second place.

Other rankings

• Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel (Germany) and Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) took third and fourth places respectively.
• Williams drivers Felipe Massa (Brazil) and Valtteri Bottas (Finland) took fifth and sixth places.
• Romain Grosjean (France) of Lotus Team and Felipe Nasr (Brazil) of Sauber team took seventh and eight position.
• Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) of Red Bull Team was placed at ninth position.
• Marcus Ericsson (Swedan) of Sauber Team finished at tenth position.

5- Jitu Rai wins bronze at ISSF World Cup

Jitu Rai

Ace Indian shooter Jitu Rai on 12 April 2015 won a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Changwon, South Korea. Rai won the bronze medal after he scored 181.1 points in the final and had missed out for the gold medal shoot-out by 0.4 points. In 10m air pistol event, Jin Jongoh of South Korea won gold medal with a score of 206.0 in the gold medal shoot-out. Naung Ye Tun of Myanmar won silver medal with score of 201.0. Earlier, Apurvi Chandela had won bronze in the 10-metre air rifle event in the same tournament and became second Indian shooter after Jitu Rai to qualify for 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Jitu Rai after winning won silver in the 50m Free Pistol event in 2014 at the World Championships in Granada, Spain had qualified for the 2016 Olympics.

6- 17 Agreements signed between India and France during PM Narendra Modi’s

PM Narendra Modi || France Visit

India and France on 11 April 2015 signed 17 agreements in various fields during Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s visit to France. They were signed in presence of Indian PM and his counterpart French President Francois Hollande after they had held wide-ranging talks in Paris.

Some of key agreements signed are

• MoU between Larsen and Tubro and AREVA- It aims at improve the financial viability of the Jaitapur Nuclear plant project by reducing cost by increasing localization. It will also enable France to transfer of technology to India for development of indigenous nuclear energy industry in India.
• Pre-engineering agreements (PEA) between NPCIL and Areva- It intends to bring clarity on all technical aspects of the plant. It will help all parties including AREVA, Alstom and NPCIL to fix their price and optimise all provisions for risks (still included at this stage) in the costs of the project.
• MoU between CNES and ISRO on Megha Tropiques satellite- It extends MoU for two more years of joint project for sharing and use of data from the satellite. The satellite was launched in October 2011 on board of Indian launch vehicle PSLV.
• MOU between ISRO, CNES and ONERA– It proposes cooperation in the areas of satellite remote sensing, satellite communications and satellite meteorology and others field.
• MoU between Union Sports Ministry and French Ministry of Sports– It envisages cooperation and exchange of experiences in the fields of sports medicine and institutional cooperation.
• Railway protocol between Union Railways Ministry and French National Railways (SNCF)- It seeks to establish cooperation between Indian and French Railways for semi-high speed rail and station renovation. Other agreements signed between both nations in the fields of economy, energy, culture, tourism, conservation, Ayurveda, skill development and science and technology. 

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