9th April 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for France this afternoon on the first leg of his three nations tour.
• He is on 9-day visit to France, Germany and Canada.
• Key aspects of his visit to France : Strengthening economic co-operation and boosting co-operation in high technology sector
• US President Barack Obama is on a visit to Jamaica.
• He became the first sitting US president to set foot in Jamaica since 1982.

National Affairs

• Government suspends registration of NGO Greenpeace India for six months due to its involvement in inciting anti-development campaigns.
• The Maharashtra government today relaxed norms as per which Marathi films can now be screened between 12 noon to 9 pm.
• Earlier, the government had asked the private multiplexes in the state to show Marathi movies in 6-9 pm slot.
• After today's decision, Marathi films can be screened on any one screen in multiplexes any time between 12 pm to 9 pm, depending on the demand of the producer to the exhibitor.
• In a major relief to wheat farmers affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms, the Centre today relaxed quality norms for wheat procurement in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and would ease the norms in other states after testing the grain samples.
• Unseasonal rains and hailstorms, being witnessed from February-end, have damaged rabi (winter-sown) crops in about 113 lakh hectares of area in about 14 states.
• Total cultivable area in rabi season stands at 600 lakh hectares and wheat is a major rabi crop.
• Food Minister : Ram Vilas Paswan
• Making it clear that places of worships of any religion cannot violate norms of noise pollution limits, the High Court has directed the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to submit a consolidated data of noise levels recorded at various monitoring stations in the city.

People in News

• Lahore High Court today suspended the detention order against alleged 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, and ordered his immediate release.
• Lakhvi (55) has been accused of planning the deadly terrorist attack in Mumbai in November 2008, which claimed 166 lives in the heart of India's business capital.
• Reacting strongly to the development, India said it was an “extremely disappointing development” and asked Islamabad to immediately ensure that he does not come out of jail.
• Satyam's founder Ramalinga Raju and nine others found guilty in multi-crore accounting fraud case by a CBI special court in Hyderabad.
• All ten convicts including Ramalinga Raju sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment.

Business & Economy

• Rating agency Moody's has raised the rating outlook of India from stable to positive, saying there is an increasing probability that actions by policy makers will enhance the country's economic strength and, in turn, the sovereign's financial strength over coming years.
• The ratings agency affirmed India's Baa3 rating.
• Moody’s is the first rating agency that has given India a positive outlook. 
• In a move to strengthen the last-mile delivery of goods to consumers, India's leading online retailer Flipkart has partnered with the Dabbawalas of Mumbai.
• TRAI slashes ceiling tariff for roaming.
• With this move, the Mobile calls in roaming will be cheaper by up to 23 per cent, while sending SMSes will cost up to 40 per cent less from May 1st.
• The government has allowed pharmaceutical companies to hike rates of 509 essential medicines used for treating various ailments like diabetes, hepatitis and cancer by 3.84 per cent with effect from April 1.
• The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has issued a notification for price hike of drugs in line with the wholesale price index of 2014 under Drug Price Control Order (DPCO), 2013.

New Appointments

• The President has appointed the senior-most Election Commissioner, Dr. Nasim Zaidi as the Chief Election Commissioner.
• Zaidi will assume the charge of office of the chief election commissioner with effect from April 19, after the incumbent Harishankar Brahma will retire on April 18.
• A 1976 batch IAS officer, Dr Zaidi has worked in the Civil Aviation Ministry for a long time.

Deaths

• Legendary Tamil writer D Jayakanthan (81), who charted a new course in Tamil literature with his bold and progressive works Passed Away.

• His popular novel, 'Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal', which was later made into a film, won him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1972. 
• He was also a recipient of the Jnanpith Award in 2002.

Science & Technology

• India successfully test-fired nuclear weapons capable Dhanush missile from a ship off the Odisha coast.
• The surface-to-surface Dhanush, a naval variant of India's indigenously-developed Prithvi missile, can carry a nuclear payload of 500 kg.

Sports

• In Indian Premier League, defending Champions Kolkata Knight Riders beat Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets.
• SingaporeOpen2015: Parupalli Kashyap beat Korean Son Wan Ho to storm into quarterfinals.

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