Current Affairs..............30 April 2015 .......................

1) What is the name given to an ambitious road project proposed by the Union Govt. from Gujarat to Mizoram to be built along India’s vast West-to-East land border? – “Bharat Mala”

Explanation: According to the information disclosed by Union Roads Secretary Vijay Chhibber, “Bharat Mala” project will be a road built along India’s vast west-toeast land border, from Gujarat to Mizoram, at a cost of around Rs 14,000 crore. The government hopes to finish the project in five years. The project will start from Gujarat and Rajasthan, move to Punjab and then cover the entire string of Himalayan states – Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand – and then portions of borders of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar alongside Terai, and move to Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and right up to the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur and Mizoram. The Bharat Mala project has a strong strategic component. It’s India’s attempted answer to improve reach and connectivity in border areas, right across a large part of which lies China’s impressive road infrastructure.

2) Which South-east Asian country on 29 April 2015 undertook the controversial executions of 8 persons including 7 foreigners, an incident which drew widespread condemnation from around the world? – Indonesia

Explanation: Indonesia executed two Australians, four Nigerians, one Brazilian and one of its own citizen in the early hours of 29 April. The executions were carried out by police firing squads at Pasir Putih prison on the island of Nusa Kambangan off the southern coast of Java. All the eight persons were charged with drug trafficking. The dead included Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran (Australia), Raheem Salami, Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise, Okwudil Oyatanze and Martin Anderson (Nigeria), Rodrigo Gularte (Brazil) and Zainal Abidin (Indonesia). However, the execution of a ninth convict, Pilipino woman named Mary Jane Veloso, scheduled to happen at the same time, was unexpectedly postponed at nearly the last minute. This happened after the Philippine government requested her assistance in a human trafficking case involving a woman who surrendered to the Philippine police on 28 April. The mass execution was the second in Indonesia this year. In January 2015, five foreign drug convicts and one Indonesian convicted of murder were shot by firing squads on the island. However, international anger poured over the executions with Australia recalling its Ambassador to Indonesia. Indonesia Govt. rejected international pleas to cancel the executions, including from Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations (UN).

3) In a major achievement for ISRO, an indigenous cryogenic engine was successfully tested on 28 April 2015. This test is expected to propel India into a bigger league of nations with capability to launch satellites weighing up to five tonnes. This test was conducted from the Liquid Propulsion systems centre (LPSC) at ISRO’s propulsion complex. This complex is situated at which place? – Mahendragiri (Tamil Nadu)

Explanation: In a silent operation at the Mahendragiri test facility, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully test-fired the indigenous cryogenic engine CE-20 for 645 seconds. This marks a milestone in the country’s effort to develop a big cryogenic engine to fly the ambitious GSLV-Mark III by the end of 2016. In the absence of a proven indigenous cryogenic engine, India has been dependent on foreign space agencies like Arianne for the launch of heavy communication satellites. So far India’s GSLVs were being powered by cryogenic engines given by Russia. Of the seven such engines, ISRO has used up six. India’s first attempt with an indigenous cryogenic engine was a failure. The second flight was a success, but that engine had a much lower thrust, about seven tonnes. So the successful test of CE-20, means that India will be ready for a stage test (after integrating the engine with the upper stage) in six months.

4) Union Govt. on 27 April 2015 announced extending e-Tourist Visa scheme for 31 more countries. With this extension the scheme will be available for how many countries from 1 May 2015? – 76

Explanation: Government of India has launched e-Tourist Visa on 27 November 2014 for 45 countries from nine designated Indian Airports. This scheme was earlier known as Tourist Visa on arrival enabled by Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme. On 27 April 2014 the govt. announced its decision to extend the scheme for 31 more countries from 1 May 2015. These 31 countries are – Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Canada, Cayman Island, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominic an Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Georgia, Grenada, Haiti, HolySee (Vatican), Honduras, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Paraguay, St.Kitts & Nevis and Seychelles. With this, the total number of countries coming under the scheme will go up to 76. The scheme will be extended to more countries in a phased manner. Govt. has proposed to extend the scheme to 150 countries by the end of this financial year.

5) A Russian spacecraft loaded with cargo for the International Space Station (ISS) that was launched on 25 April 2015, went out of control and was on its way to crash into the earth’s atmosphere. What is the name of this space mission? – “Progress 59”

Explanation: The “Progress 59” cargo spacecraft (attached with the ISS programme) was launched successfully from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early on 25 April 2015. It was carrying 2721.5 kg of food, fuel and materials for scientific experiments for the crew at the International Space Station (ISS). The mission suffered a serious malfunction shortly after its launch. After it separated from the Soyuz booster rocket, Russian flight controllers were unable to confirm the health of all the spacecraft’s systems, including the deployment of its navigational antennae and docking system. Scientists expected this spacecraft to crash into the earth’s atmosphere soon and they also made it clear that it will probably burn up on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. But the failed attempt will not put the six ISS crew members at risk. The astronauts have plenty of provisions, enough to last months.

6) In a sudden development, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz on 29 April 2015 sacked his younger half brother as crown prince. Who was appointed as the new heir apparent? – Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef (the nephew of the King)

Explanation: He also appointed his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as deputy crown prince, and replaced veteran Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal with the kingdom’s Washington ambassador Adel al-Jubeir. It is worth mentioning that 78-year old King Salman acceded to the throne in January 2015 after the death of his half-brother Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. The rise of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef means that for the first time a grandson of the kingdom’s founder, King Abdul Aziz, is in line to rule.