21st April 2015 Daily Current Affairs Updates

1) MakeMyTrip acquired travel startup Mygola:
--> Online travel company MakeMyTrip on 21 April 2015 announced that it has acquired certain assets of Mygola.com and the entire Mygola team has joined MakeMyTrip.
--> The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
--> The acquisition was done through MakeMyTrip’s Innovation Fund, which invests in early-stage or start-up companies in the travel technology space. 

2) Japan's maglev train clocked new world speed record — 603 km/hr:
--> Japan’s 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.

3) Pakistan conferred Nishan-e-Pakistan award on Chinese president Xi Jinping:
--> Pakistan on 21 April 2015 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.
--> The Nishan-e-Pakistan is Pakistan's highest civil award given by the government for the highest degree of service to the country.
--> The award was established in March 1957.
--> Nelson Mandela, Queen Elizabeth II, Morarji Desai and Dwight Eisenhower are among the recepients of the award.

4) Cambridge historian Chris Bayly passes away:
--> Christopher Alan Bayly, one of the foremost historians of nineteenth century and a member of the influential Cambridge school of historiography passed away on 20 April 2015.
--> 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.

5) E-Samiksha launched to monitor rail projects online:
--> With an aim of monitoring implementation of various ongoing projects including Rail Budget proposals, railways on 21 April 2015 launched E-Samiksha, an online monitoring mechanism.
--> It was launched by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in New Delhi.

6) Former Odisha Chief Minister JB Patnaik passed away:
--> Former Governor of Assam and three-time Chief Minister of Odisha Janaki Ballav Patnaik passed away on 21 April 2015.
--> Patnaik had served as CM of Odisha for three times and was in office from 1980 to 1989 and again from 1995 to 1999.

7) Ninth Civil Services Day observed:
--> 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.
--> The Ninth Civil Services Day focuses on Minimum Government, Maximum Governance with specific sectoral emphasis on Social Sector, Housing, Employment & Skill Development and Agriculture.

8) Zimbabwe will become first Test nation to visit Pakistan since 2009:
--> The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed that Zimbabwe will be the first Test team to tour Pakistan since 2009, but remained unclear about the venues for the limited over series.
--> No Test team has toured Pakistan since March, 2009 when militants attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

9) I-T Department won Prime Minister's award in Public Administration:
--> The Income Tax Department was on 21 April 2015 awarded 'Prime Minister's award for excellence in Public Administration' for 'Easy Tax Compliance through Quality Service'.

--> The award was presented to the department by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Civil Services day.

No comments:

Post a Comment