Current Affairs April 2015 - Vikalp Education

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Sunday, April 26, 2015

Current Affairs - 26 April 2015

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Nepal earthquake: Rescuers dig with bare hands for survivors as death toll rises
  • Rescuers dug with their bare hands and bodies piled up in Nepal on Sunday after an earthquake devastated the heavily crowded Kathmandu valley, killing at least 1,900, and triggered a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.

    Army officer Santosh Nepal and a group of rescuers worked all night to open a passage into a collapsed building in the capital Kathmandu. They had to use pick axes because bulldozers could not get through the ancient city’s narrow streets.

    “We believe there are still people trapped inside,” he told Reuters, pointing at concrete debris and twisted reinforcement rods where a three-storey residential building once stood.
    In Everest’s worst disaster, the bodies of 17 climbers were recovered from the mountain on Sunday after being caught in avalanches, but hundreds, many injured, remain stranded on the mountain.

    With the government overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster, India flew in medical supplies and relief crews, while China sent in a 60-strong emergency team.
    Among the capital’s landmarks destroyed in the earthquake was the 60-metre (200-foot) Dharahara Tower, built in 1832 for the queen of Nepal, with a viewing balcony that had been open to visitors for the last 10 years.

Fresh 6.7 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Nepal, Tremors Across North India
  • NEW DELHI:  Fresh tremors were felt today across north and east India, a day after a quake devastated Nepal and affected parts of India. The aftershocks measured 6.7 in the Richter scale according to United States Geological Survey -- the epicenter was Kodari, around 80 km east of Kathmandu.

    Soon after, the defence ministry, which is helping with the relief and rescue operations in Nepal, suspended vehicular and air traffic there. "All movement to Kathmandu kept on hold till 16.00 (4 pm) due to fresh tremors in Nepal," tweeted a spokesperson of Defence ministry.

    The Kathmandu airport shut down as the air traffic controllers evacuated. The IndiGo, Spicejet flights that were to land in Kathmandu, had to return. Private airlines had resumed flights to Kathmandu this morning. 
    In India, besides Delhi, the tremors were also felt in Lucknow and JAipur. And in Bihar, where 35 people died in yesterday's quake, the tremors went on for several minutes.
    In Delhi and Kolkata, metro services were stopped temporarily.

    Gajendra suicide may have been a planned one, call analysis shows

    • NEW DELHI: Gajendra Singh, a farmer who allegedly committed suicide on Wednesday at an AAP rally, did not accept any call on his mobile phone that day. Also, a day before his death, Singh was in Gurgaon and Kurukshetra, the location of his numbers reveal. 
      Sources in New Delhi district police said Singh was using two mobile numbers—94143***** and 9578*****. His mobile location on April 20 reveals that he was in his village Dausa.

      Police have drawn the route map of the numbers which reveals that Singh left Dausa in a bus on April 21. He was in Gurgaon and Karnal. He changed bus in Karnal, eyewitness accounts reveal, and then reached Kurukshetra.

      He stayed at Jindal family's house. This was apparently a business visit, police have found. Jindal family had contacted him to avail his services to tie pagdi at their marriage function. They had contacted him through his website

    First liquid nanolaser developed
    • Northwestern University scientists have developed the first liquid nanoscale laser. And it's tunable in real time, meaning you can quickly and simply produce different colors, a unique and useful feature. The laser technology could lead to practical applications, such as a new form of a "lab on a chip" for medical diagnostics.

      To understand the concept, imagine a laser pointer whose color can be changed simply by changing the liquid inside it, instead of needing a different laser pointer for every desired color.

      In addition to changing color in real time, the liquid nanolaser has additional advantages over other nanolasers: it is simple to make, inexpensive to produce and operates at room temperature. Nanoscopic lasers -- first demonstrated in 2009 -- are only found in research labs today. They are, however, of great interest for advances in technology and for military applications.

      Plasmon lasers are promising nanoscale coherent sources of optical fields because they support ultra-small sizes and show ultra-fast dynamics. Although plasmon lasers have been demonstrated at different spectral ranges, from the ultraviolet to near-infrared, a systematic approach to manipulate the lasing emission wavelength in real time has not been possible.

      The main limitation is that only solid gain materials have been used in previous work on plasmon nanolasers; hence, fixed wavelengths were shown because solid materials cannot easily be modified. Odom's research team has found a way to integrate liquid gain materials with gold nanoparticle arrays to achieve nanoscale plasmon lasing that can be tuned dynamical, reversibly and in real time.

    FIIs hike stake in HDFC to record high of nearly 80%
    • The mortgage financier has also become the first listed Indian company among 30 Sensex firms to have around 80 per cent shareholding by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

      Emerging as one of the most-liked stocks by foreign funds, mortgage giant HDFC Ltd has seen overseas investors raise their stake in it to a record high of nearly 80 per cent during the quarter ended March 2015. The mortgage financier has also become the first listed Indian company among 30 Sensex firms to have around 80% shareholding by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

      Cumulative FII holdings in the company rose to 79.65% in the January-March quarter this year from 78.49% in the three months ended December last year, data from stock exchanges showed..

    Added responsibility brings out best in me: Virat Kohli
    • Test captain and mainstay of Indian batting line up, across all formats, Virat Kohli is set to enter his own chain of gym and fitness centers under the brand name of CHISEL. During an official conference of the event in New Delhi, the 26-year-old spoke on a range of topics including the fittest cricketer in the Indian team, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s performance in IPL 8, leading the Test side, too much of aggression on-and-off the field etc.
      Motivation behind own fitness
       
      When I entered the Indian team, I was a bit mota (flabby). I can’t even see those old pictures of mine. In 2012, I decided to take my fitness to some different level. Because that time, I was thinking of taking my game to the next level. I realised that if I wanted to be among the best cricketers in the world, I had to work hard on my fitness, because all the best cricketers in India were so fit at that time. It was my personal decision. Then I started feeling the difference. Fitness certainly improves your skills and reactions. So I started training everyday and then it became a lifestyle. Now it becomes impossible for me not to train a single day. I am glad that I took the decision.

        PRACTICE QUESTIONS

        • 1.      The school alumni gathering put us in a ………… mood.
          (a) remniscent       
          (b) reminisent
          (c) reminiscent      
                (d) reminiscent
        • 2.      ‘God is Dead’ is a …………. Statement.
          (a) blasphemus     
          (b) blasphemous
          (c) blasphemous   
                (d) blosphemos
        • 3.      The threat of an epidemic caused great alarm and …….. .
          (a) trepidation
          (b) terpidation
          (c) trepidition
                (d) trepidattion
        • 4.      The din caused by the children howling is enough to ……… the dead.
          (a) ressurect
          (b) resurrect          
          (c) resurect           
                (d) resurecct
        • 5.      Can you ……… the car into that parking spot?
          (a) manuer
          (b) manever         
                (c) manoeuvre
                (d) maneuver
        • ANSWERS:
          1.C 2.C 3.A 4.B 5.C








        Saturday, April 25, 2015

        Current Affairs - 25 April 2015

        by , in

        Nepal earthquake: Devastation in Kathmandu
        • KATHMANDU: A massive earthquake that rocked Nepal caused major devastation in the old area of the national capital.

          According to information available, there was widespread devastation in Hanmandhoka area in the old area of Kathmandu.

          Several casualties were feared as buildings collapsed. Authorities said they were still trying to assess the situation.

          Images that were tweeted showed the extent of damage caused to the buildings. There was rubble where the buildings once stood. In at least one case, there was a long and wide crack on a metalled road.

          Initial reports indicated that telephone connectivity was snapped in and around Lamjung, which was the epicentre of the quake.

          There were reports of people with broken limbs being taken to hospital.

          Kathmandu airport is closed. Flights are reportedly being diverted to India.

          There are reports of casualties

        Farmer's suicide: Cops wonder why Delhi government showing undue interest
        • NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Friday lashed out at the magisterial inquiry started by the state government saying the latter was showing undue interest in the case. Senior officers asked why the government was not showing any concern in the 7,000 cases of suicide and unnatural deaths reported in the last one year.

          Senior cops TOI spoke to pointed out that no probe was ordered into unnatural deaths. Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said, "We don't want to discuss correspondence or letters (exchanged between the district magistrate and Delhi Police). We have powers under CrPC and Delhi Police Act to probe the case. Over 7,000 unnatural deaths were reported and around 2,000 unidentified bodies were found in the city and cremated by Delhi Police."

          Barack Obama had a historic visit to India: US

          • Washington: President Barack Obama had a historic visit to India early this year as part of his efforts to deepen America's partnership with India in the Asia Pacific region, a presidential aide has said.
            "President Obama had a good trip to India earlier this year, an historic visit, as the Chief Guest at Republic Day, where he discussed, obviously, the climate change effort, but also deepening our own relationship and partnership with India in the Asia Pacific," said Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor.
            Rhodes was speaking to reporters during a conference call ahead of the US visit of the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.
            "This of course is an area that Prime Minister Abe has also discussed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in terms of their collaboration in the region, as well," Rhodes said in response to a question.
            "So many of the different partnerships that we are forging across the region have been mutually reinforcing, and we believe can contribute to the stability and prosperity of the broader region," Rhodes said.

          India on global happiness index
          • India has not fared well in a global ranking of the happiest nations, coming in at the 117th spot out of 158 countries on the index that took into account GDP per capita, life expectancy, social support and freedom to make life choices as indicators of happiness.

            Switzerland has been named the most happiest country in the world, coming in at the number one spot on the 2015 World Happiness Report published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), which is a global initiative for the United Nations.
            The other countries in the top five are Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Canada.

            India's rank is 117, below nations like Pakistan (81), Palestine (108), Bangladesh (109), Ukraine (111) and Iraq (112). Its rank dropped six notched from the 2013 report, when it was on the 111 spot.

            "Increasingly happiness is considered a proper measure of social progress and goal of public policy," the report said, adding the happiness index describes how measurements of well- being can be used effectively to assess the progress of nations.

            It takes into account factors like GDP per capita, social support of having someone to count on in times of trouble, freedom to make life choices, healthy life expectancy, generosity and perceptions of corruption.

            The US is ranked 15, followed by UK (21), Singapore (24), Saudi Arabia (35), Japan (46) and China (84).

            Afghanistan and war-torn Syria joined eight sub-Saharan countries in Africa -- Togo, Burundi, Benin, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Chad -- as the 10 least happy of 158 countries.

            The report said that the year 2015 is a "watershed" for humanity, with the pending adoption by UN member states of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September to help guide the world community towards a more inclusive and sustainable pattern of global development.

          Supreme Court seeks government response on renaming India as ‘Bharata’
          • The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the government on a petition seeking a declaration that the Republic be called ‘Bharata’ instead of ‘India.’
            A Bench led by Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu issued notice to the Centre and all the States on a public interest petition filed by social activist, Niranjan Bhatwal from Maharashtra, that the public should have an “unambigous understanding” that the country’s name is ‘Bharata.’
            It sought a clarification on the phrase — “India, that is, Bharat shall be a Union of States” — used in Article 1 of the Indian Constitution. The petitioner represented by Ajay G. Majithia and Rahul Pandey said there the word ‘India’ is not a literal translation of the word ‘Bharata.’ Besides the country, both historically and in the Scriptures, is known as ‘Bharata.’
            It said ‘India’ is a name coined during the Colonial era.
            It said that the Constituent Assembly had debated many names for the new-born Republic, and some of them were “Bharat, Hindustan, Hind and Bharatbhumi or Bharatvarsh and names of that kind”.

          Shamkir Chess: Vishy Anand beats Michael Adams, in second spot
          • Viswanathan Anand crashed through the defences of Michael Adams of England to jump to the second spot in the Shamkir Chess 2015 tournament here on Friday.
            It was sheer power and simplicity from Anand that saw him cruise to his second win in the strongest tournament of the year and the Indian ace can now train his sight to catch world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the remaining two rounds.
            Meanwhile, Carlsen defeated Vladimir Kramnik of Russia to take his tally up to 5.5 points out of a possible seven. Fabiano Caruana of Italy was the other big winner of the day, beating erstwhile leader Wesley So of USA.
            The results (seventh round): V. Anand (Ind, 4.5) bt Michael Adams (Eng, 2); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 3) drew with Anish Giri (Ned, 3); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 5.5) bt Vladimir Kramnik (Rus, 2.5); Fabiano Caruana (Ita, 4) bt Wesley So (USA, 4); Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 3.5) drew with Rauf Mamedov (Aze, 3).

              PRACTICE QUESTIONS

              • 1.The number of girls in a class in five time the number of boys. Which of the following cannot be the total number of children in the class?
                (a) 24        
                (b) 30        
                (c) 35            
                (d) 54
              • 2. Ram went to a shop to buy 50 kg of rice. He bought two varieties of rice which cost him Rs. 4.50 per kg and Rs. 5 per kg.He spent a total of Rs.240. What was the quantity of the cheaper s rice purchased by him?
                (a) 20 Kg           
                (b) 25 Kg       
                (c) 30 Kg          
                (d) None of these
              • 3.A man has Rs. 640 in the denominations of one rupee, five rupee and ten rupee notes. The number of each type of notes are equal. What is the total number of notes he has?
                (a) 60        
                (b) 150            
                (c) 90         
                (d) 120
              • 4. The average of five consecutive odd number is 61. What is the difference between the highest and lowest number?
                (a) 2         
                (b) 5                
                (c) 8           
                (d) 12
              • 5.Jayesh is twice as old as Vijay and half as old as Suresh. If the sum of Vijay’s age and Suresh’s age  is 85 years what is the age of Jayesh?
                (a) 34 years 
                (b) 36 years  
                (c) 68 years  
                (d) 24 years
              • 6. A cricketer has an average of 30 runs in 14 innings. How many runs should he score in his next innings to achieve an average of 32 runs?
                (a) 65         
                (b) 60               
                (c) 55           
                (d) 50
              • 7. What percentage of profit should be added in the cost price of an item so as to gain a profit of 33% after allowing 5% discount to the customer?
                (a) 45            
                (b) 40               
                (c) 52           
                (d) 48
              • 8. If the manufacturer gain 10%, the wholesale dealer gains 15% and the retailer gains 25%, find the cost of production of a table. The retail price of table is Rs.1265                   
                  (a)Rs. 800 
                  (b)Rs. 1000  
                  (c) Rs. 950  
                  (d) Rs. 1180
              • 9. A loss of 19% on a shirt gets converted into a profit of 17% when the selling price is increased by Rs162. What is the cost price of the shirt?
                (a) Rs. 540       
                (b)Rs. 450        
                (c) Rs.600   
                (d) Rs. 360
              • 10.In an examination 75% of the total students passed in English and 65% passed in Mathematics,while 15% failed in English as well as Mathematics. If a total of 495 candidates who passed in both exams. Find the total number of students who appeared in the exam.
                (a) 850            
                (b) 900     
                (c) 1000     
                (d) 1050
              • ANSWERS:
                1.C 2.A 3.D 4.C 5.A 6.B 7.B  8.A 9.B 10.B







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