Daily Current Affairs: 29 April 2015

1) Government approved Rs 1,000 minimum monthly Pension via EPFO:

--> Government on 29 April 2015 decided to continue its Rs 1,000 minimum monthly pension scheme in perpetuity, a move which would benefit over 20 lakh pensioners under social security scheme run by EPFO.

--> The scheme was initially effective only till last month.

--> Retirement fund body EPFO had suspended the Rs 1,000 minimum monthly pension scheme from April 1.

--> The scheme was launched with effect from September 2014, hiking the pension amount to a flat Rs 1,000 per month for those who were getting lower amount earlier.

2) Flipkart acquired mobile marketing firm Appiterate:

--> E-commerce giant Flipkart has announced the acquisition of Appiterate, a mobile engagement and marketing automation company based out of Delhi.

--> Appiterate helps ecommerce companies target consumers better and increase sales by using push notifications and inapp messages.

3) PNB first bank to roll out Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme:

--> The Punjab National Bank has started opening Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme accounts, the first bank to do so after the scheme was formally launched in January 2014.

--> According to a statement from the bank, the scheme is available at 1,604 PNB branches across India.

--> No other bank has rolled out the scheme till now, even though RBI had sent a circular to the heads of 28 commercial banks spelling out the operational guidelines of the Sukanya scheme.

4) BCCI banned Sunil Narine from bowling offbreaks:

--> Sunil Narine, the West Indies player has been barred from bowling off-spinners in all matches organised by the BCCI, including the ongoing IPL.

--> Kolkata Knight Riders’ ace spinner Narine underwent a biomechanical analysis in Chennai after being reported for a suspected illegal action again during the IPL tie against Sun Risers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam on April 22.

--> After reviewing the footage of the game and analysis in Chennai, the BCCI has decided to ban his off-spinners.

5) Veteran Marathi film and stage actress Bimba Modak passed away:

--> Eminent Marathi film and stage actress, Shanta alias Bimba Modak of yesteryear passed away on 28 April 2015 in Pune.

--> Modak, had entered into the film industry during the time when it was considered as taboo for women to work in cinema.

--> Her debut film was Chul aani Mul in 1946, which was directed by noted playwright and writer Vishram Bedekar.

6) Two Indians won Whitley Awards for wildlife conservation:

--> Two Indians have been awarded with the prestigious Whitley Awards for their contribution to wildlife conservation.

--> Dr Ananda Kumar, a conservationist from India, was awarded the prize, in honour of his work using innovative communication systems to enable human-elephant coexistence in southern India.

--> Another winner of the Whitley Award, dubbed 'Green Oscar' is Dr Pramod Patil.

--> He has been awarded for his work to protect the iconic great Indian bustard in the Thar Desert. 

7) Seychelles becomes 161st member of World Trade Organisation:

--> Seychelles, an archipelago of 90000 inhabitants became the 161st member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

--> It is one of the smallest nations among the WTO members.

--> This approval by WTO ended Seychelles 20-year long wait to become a member of WTO since it had applied for WTO membership in May 1995.