General Awareness Updates – April, 2013

30th April:

• Delhi court acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
• Pakistani court imposed a lifetime ban on former President Pervez Musharraf from contesting elections in Pakistan.
• Joao Havelange has resigned as honorary president of the world governing body after being named in a report as having received bribes.
• Additional Solicitor General Haren Raval resigned from the post over his controversy by telling the Supreme Court that CBI status report on Coalgate was not shared with the government.

29th April:

• Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sends nomination of Virat Kohli and Sunil Gavaskar for Arjuna Award and Dhyanchand Award respectively to Sports Ministry.
• Syrian PM Wael al-Halqi survives bomb attack in capital Damascus.
• Goa launched a digital Krishi Card for farmers to avail benefits like subsidies and loans given by the state government.

28th April:

• Saturn positioned itself directly opposite the Sun and visible with the naked eye.
• Enrico Letta sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Italy.

27th April:

• President Pranab Mukherjee reappointed Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra for second term in the state.
• Sarabjit Singh continues to be in deep coma and on ventilator support at a hospital in Lahore after being brutally attacked by a group of prisoners.

26th April:

• Anil Goswami will replace RK Singh as new Home Secratary. He is the first bureaucrat from the J&K cadre to be appointed home secretary.
• Yash Chopra, Rajesh Khanna and Asha Bhosale will be honored with the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Academy Award.

25th April:

• A new keyboard layout named as KALQ Keyboard developed at University of St Andrews, USA for touch screen devices.
• World Malaria Day is observed.

24th April:

• Legendary Playback Singer Shamshad Begum died at her Mumbai residence at the age of 94.
• Liverpool's Luis Suarez has been banned for 10 games by the English Football Association for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic during EPL match at Anfield.
• A block housing garment factories and shops collapsed in Bangladesh, killing nearly 300 people and injuring more than a thousand.

23rd April:

• Chris Gayle set a new record for the fastest century in professional cricket by reaching 100 off 30 balls in IPL match against Pune Warrior in Bangalore. He also records the highest Twenty20 score of 175 not out.
• Manchester United won its record 20th English Premier League title.
• Police detained Sudipto Sen, the chairman of Saradha group in Jammu and Kashmir for allegedly defrauded thousands of depositors.

22nd April:

• Earth Day is observed to create awareness among the masses on environmental issues.
• Budget Session of Parliament resumes.
• Horacio Cartes has been elected as President in Paraguay.
• Union Home ministry approved 'Z' category security protection for Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani.
• Abdul Hamid, the speaker of Bangladesh's parliament has been elected as President of Bangladesh.
• Former chief justice and head of anti-rape law panel JS Verma has died in Delhi, aged 80.

21st April:

• National Civil Services Day was observed across India.
• Mathematical genius Shakuntala Devi, known world’s fastest ‘human computer’ died at a hospital in Bangalore following respiratory problems. She was 83.

20th April:

• At least 150 people and over seven thousands have died in a 6.6 magnitude earthquake which hit southwestern China's Sichuan province.
• Assam State Government implemented the Assam Right to Public Service Act 2012 in the state.
• Sachin Tendulkar's wax statue unveiled at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
• Australian all-rounder cricketer Shane Watson stepped down from the position of Vice-Captain of the Australian test Cricket team.

19th April:

• Universal Commodity Exchange (UCX) started its operations and became the country’s sixth commodity exchange to launch futures trading.
• Time magazine included Amir Khan in the list of 100 Most Influential People in the world for 2013. He is also one of the seven who were selected for a cover of their own in the prestigious magazine.

18th April:

• Islamabad High Court has ordered the arrest of Gen Pervez Musharraf over his attempt to impose house arrest on judges in March 2007.
• The main accused of German Bakery blast, Himayat Ali Baig has been given death sentence. The blasts left 17 dead and 64 wounded at the German Bakery on February 13, 2010.
• Blast at a fertilizer plant in central Texas killed 15 people, wounded more than 160 in America.
• Aruna M. Bahuguna appointed as Special Director General of the CRPF. She is the first woman to be appointed for that position.

17th April:

• A blast near the BJP office in Malleshwaram, Bangalore left 16 people injured including eight policemen.
• Telugu writer Dr Ravuri Bharadwaja selected for the prestigious Jnanpith award for the year 2012.

16th April:

• Two bomb explosions around 2.45pm killing three people and injuring over 140 in popular Boston Marathon.
• A massive 7.9 Richter scale earthquake struck southeast Iran near the border with Pakistan, which killed at least 40 people in Iran and 35 in Pakistan.
• Gold price in India hit the lowest level in more than 18 months reaching 25,270 rupees per 10 gram.

15th April:

• President on a three day visit to North-East India.
• India celebrates Bihu, Pongal and Vaisakhi in different parts of the country.
• Adam Johnson announced as the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his book “The Orphan Master’s Son”.
• Nicolas Maduro was elected as the new President of Venezuela

14th April:

• Famous Industrialist, Known as the country's 'takeover specialist' Rama Prasad Goenka passed away in Kolkata. He was the Chairman Emeritus of the RPG Group, a multi-sector Indian industrial conglomerate.
• Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on week long visit to USA and Canada, working on a series of steps to attract at least $20 billion in new investment in India.

12th April:

• The Supreme Court reject a plea for commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment for Delhi bomb blast accused terrorist Deviderpal Singh Bhullar. President of India already reject the plea.
• Veteran Bollywood actor Pran, 92 has been honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. The award consists of the Swara Kamal medal, a shawl and a cash prize.

11th April:

• Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, PJ Kurien elected as the Chairman of the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD)on the 73rd Executive Committee Meeting of AFPPD at Bangkok.

10th April:

• Sahara group chief Subrata Roy appeared before SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), which had summoned Sahara in refund case of an estimated Rs 24,000 crore.
• Delhi court ordered to re-investigated 1984 anti-Sikh riots against Congress leader and former Union minister Jagdish Tytler for his role, dismissing CBI closure report of 2009 that had given a clean chit to Tytler.

9th April:

• A magnitude 6.1 earthquake killed at least 37 and injured hundreds more in southern Iran.
• Five U.N. peacekeepers from India working for the U.N. mission in South Sudan were killed in an ambush by attackers in the state of Jonglei.

8th April:

• Britain's 'Iron Lady' and only woman prime minister, Margaret Thatcher died following a stroke at the age of 87. She led her Conservative Party for 11 years and held office from May 1979 to November 1990.

7th April:

• India test fired Nuke-capable ballistic missile Agni-II successfully from a defence base off the Odisha coast.

6th April:

• Arvind Kejriwal breaks 15-day-long fast on the issue of water and electricity in Delhi.
• Annamalai University VC M. Ramanathan suspended for financial irregularities.
• Suicide attack in a Iraqi city of Baqouba kills 25 in a political rally.

5th April:

• Executive Co-Chairman of Infosys S Gopalakrishnan has been elected as the President of the industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
• President Pranab Mukherjee presented Padma Awards to 108 personalities. Cricketer Rahul Dravid, woman boxer MC Mary Kom and late Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna was conferred the Padma Bhushan Award in a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

4th April:

• 72 dead and over 36 injured as under-construction building collapse in Thane, Mumbai.

3rd April:

• President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the anti-rape bill. This law has the provision of life term and death sentence for rape convicts.

2nd April:

• The Lokayukta  Aayog Bill, 2013 passed in the Gujarat assembly.
• IPL6 opening ceremony held at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium. This time 9 teams will participate.

1st April:

• Supreme Court denied an India patent request by Novartis AG cancer drug.
• Sports Ministry asks NADA (National Anti-Doping Agency) to test Vijender for the reported use of the recreational drug heroin.
• G. V. Prasad appointment as new Chairman of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and Satish Reddy as Vice-Chairman.