1- Information and Broadcasting Ministry receives ISO 9001:2008 certification

Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) on 22 April 2015 received an ISO 9001:2008 certification from the British Standards Institute (BSI). The ISO certification was granted to Ministry in respect of various permissions and licences issued by it for the broadcasting and print media and films. These licences or permissions include for satellite Television channels, multi-system operators, teleports, community radio stations and DTH services. It also includes publication of Indian editions of technical and scientific and foreign magazines of news and current affairs, facsimile editions of foreign newspapers and permission for foreign film producers. The Ministry has undertaken this initiative in order to bring in more transparency and efficiency in the processes related in granting of various permissions and licenses to the eligible applicants. In this regard, the Ministry has put in place a well-defined procedure and measures in order to ensure quality of services offered to the customers on the basis of ISO 9001:2008. It will also ensure delivery of services by the Ministry in a qualitative manner.

2- MoU signed between NRL & BPC to export petroleum products through IBFPL pipeline

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) to export petroleum products to Bangladesh. It was signed by General Manager (Planning and Development) of BPC, Mustafa Qudrat-I-Elahi and NRL’s General Manager (Marketing and Business Development) Bruno Ekka in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The MoU seeks to provide cooperation in export of petroleum products from NRL’s marketing terminal in Siliguri, West Bengal to BPC’s depot at Parbatipur in Bangladesh. The petroleum products will be exported through the proposed Indo-Bangla Friendship Pipeline (IBFPL) of 130 km length and capacity of one Million Metric Tonne Per Annum (MMTPA). The IBFPL pipeline will be implemented through a joint venture (JV) company formed by NRL and Bangladesh Petroleum.

3- MakeMyTrip acquires travel startup website Mygola.com

Online travel services provider MakeMyTrip.com has acquired Mygola, a startup travel guide firm. The acquisition was done through MakeMyTrip’s Innovation Fund, which invests in early-stage or start-up companies in the travel technology space. With this acquisition, MakeMyTrip will get a greater foothold in the mobile space as Mygola’s entire team has joined them. Mygola was founded by IIT Mumbai batchmates Anshuman Bapna and Prateek Sharma in 2009. Since its formation it had raised capital from Helion Ventures, Blumberg Capital and 500Startups, among other angel investors. Presently, Mygol’s app is present in 16 cities across the world and has up to 5,000 installs on the Google Playstore i.e. on Android Operating System. It should be noted it is MakeMyTrip’s seventh overall acquisition and third of an Indian company. MakeMyTrip.com was founded in 2000 by Deep Kalra.

4- Japan’s Maglev train makes new world speed record

Maglev train

Japan’s state-of-the-art Magnetic levitation technology (Maglev) train has clocked a new world speed record smashing through the 603 kilometre per hour mark in a test run near Mount Fuji. The new record has surpassed its previous record of 581 kilometre per hour which was set in 2003. Central Japan Railway Company owns this fastest passenger train and is planning to have a train in service in 2027 on the 286-km route between Tokyo and the central city of Nagoya. Japan had launched its first bullet train named Shinkansen in 1964. Currently, Japan has the World’s most sophisticated rail network. By successfully testing these new train technologies, Japan is seeking to sell its Shinkansen Bullet and Maglev train systems to other countries.

How Maglev train works?

Maglev train hovers 10 centimetres above the tracks and is propelled by electrically charged magnets which lift and moves train carriages above the rail tracks. This train travels along a guideway using magnets to create both lift and propulsion. This lift and propulsion reduces friction and allow it to attain higher speeds compared to conventional wheeled trains.

5- Xi Jinping conferred with Nishan-e-Pakistan award

Pakistan Government on 21 April 2015 conferred Nishan-e-Pakistan, top civilian award on Chinese President Xi Jinping. He was bestowed with this award for his outstanding contribution in promotion of relationship between the two countries by Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain.

About Nishan-e-Pakistan

The Nishan-e-Pakistan (Order of Pakistan) is the highest of civilian award and decoration given by the Pakistan Government. The award is awarded to a person for his highest degree of service to the country and nation of Pakistan. It is conferred on them for their merit and distinguished services to the country, foreign relations and international community. Established on 19 March 1957. Former Prime Minister of India Morarji Desai is only Indian to receive this award. He was awarded this award in 1990.

6- Renowned historian Christopher Alan Bayly  passes away

Christopher Alan Bayly

Sir Christopher Alan Bayly, a renowned historian passed away on 20 April 2015 in Chicago, United States. He was 70. As a historian he was specialised in global, Indian and British Imperial history. His works were based on the 18th and 19th century India and British imperial. It also had included the study British imperial in India that led the transformation on colonialism and pre-modern societies and structures. He was also Professor of History at University of Cambridge, Queen Mary University of London and University of Chicago.  He was Vivekananda Professor at the University of Chicago during 2014-15. Honour- He was Knighted in 2007 for his contribution to historical scholarship.

Some of his famous books are Local Roots of Indian Politics: Allahabad, 1880-1920 (1975). Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1780-1870 (1983). Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire (1988). Imperial Meridian: The British Empire and the World, 1780-1830 (1989). Empire and Information: Intelligence Gathering and Social Communication in India, 1780-1870 (1996). 

7- 2015 Pulitzer Prize Winners

2015 Pulitzer Prize

All the Light We Cannot See, a novel based on Second World War by author Anthony Doerr has won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. While, The New York Times has won two prestigious Pulitzer prizes for coverage of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

List of 2015 Pulitzer Prize Winners

Books, Drama and Music

• Fiction- All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
• Drama – Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis
• History – Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People by Elizabeth A. Fenn.
• Biography – The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe by David I. Kertzer.
• Poetry – Digest by Gregory Pardlo. General Nonfiction- The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert.
• Music – Anthracite Fields by Julia Wolfe.

Journalism

• Public Service- The Post and Courier, Charleston.
• Breaking News Reporting- The Seattle Times Staff.
• Investigative Reporting- Eric Lipton of New York Times and Wall Street Journal Staff.
• Explanatory Reporting- Zachary R. Mider of Bloomberg News.
• Local Reporting- Rob Kuznia, Rebecca Kimitch and Frank Suraci of the Daily Breeze.
• National Reporting- Carol D. Leonnig of Washington Post.
• International Reporting- New York Times Staff.
• Feature Writing- Diana Marcum of the Los Angeles Times.
• Commentary- Lisa Falkenberg of the Houston Chronicle. Criticism- Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles
• Times. Editorial Writing- Kathleen Kingsbury of Boston Globe.
• Editorial Cartooning- Adam Zyglis of Buffalo News.
• Breaking News Photography- St. Louis Post-Dispatch Photography Staff.
• Feature Photography- Daniel Berehulak, freelance photographer of New York Times.

8- Earth Day is being observed on 22 April

Earth day is being observed on the 22nd April every year. This day seeks to build support for environmental protection around the world. This year’s theme for the day is ‘It’s Our Turn to Lead’ and is 45th anniversary of Earth Day. On this day more than one billion people participate in Earth Day campaigns every year from all around the globe of all nationalities, faiths and backgrounds.

Background

The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970. Since then it is being observed in more than 192 countries. The concept of observing Earth Day was formally proposed by John McConnell at a UNESCO conference on Environment in 1969 as a global holiday. Later in 1971, a proclamation was signed to observe international Earth Day annually on the Vernal Equinox by UN Secretary-General U Thant.

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#Current Affairs  JANUARY , FEBRUARY ,  MARCH – Date-wise  |  2015

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