Daily Current Affairs: 17 April 2015

1) James Anderson is now England's leading Test wicket-taker:

--> James Anderson became England’s highest wicket-taker in Test cricket when he claimed his 384th victim in the drawn first Test against West Indies in Antigua on 17 April 2015.

--> The 32-year-old fast bowler surpassed Ian Botham’s haul of 383 wickets in his 100th Test.

--> All-rounder Botham took 383 wickets in 102 Tests between 1977 and 1992, as well as scoring 5,200 runs at an average of 33.54.

2) Rs 2 lakh ceiling for life insurance policies sold through CSCs:

--> Life insurance policies sold through common service centres (CSCs) would have a maximum sum assured of Rs 2 lakh, according to draft regulations released by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

--> Only products that are approved for it can be sold for the CSC model.

--> Motor insurance would be allowed to exceed this limit.

3) International Paralympic Committee derecognised Paralympic Committee of India:

--> The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has suspended the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) for indefinite period.

--> The decision was taken after gross negligence and mismanagement by the PCI in organising the national championship in Ghaziabad.

--> Following the ban, the Paralympic Committee of India has been barred from participating in any event.

4) Haryana’s Ashish Jakhar sets national record in hammer throw:

--> Haryana’s Ashish Jakhar on 17 April 2015 set a national youth record in boys’ hammer throw on the second day of the 12th National Youth Athletics Championships held in Bambolim, Goa.

--> Ashish hurled the 5kg ball-and-chain to a new distance of 71.92m on his opening throw and went on to improve it further to 72.04m to stamp his class with fine rotations on the circle to set the first national record of the meet.

--> The previous national record had stood in the name of Haryana’s Sukhdev Singh (70.35m) since 2009.

5) Obama to honour Satya Nadella with 'Champion of Change' award:

-->  US President Barack Obama plans to honour Microsoft's Indian-origin CEO Satya Nadella with the 'Champions of Change' award for bringing about change within his company to support working families.

--> Under Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft recently had announced that all the suppliers doing business with Microsoft in the US will have to provide at least 15 days of paid leave to their employees who handle Microsoft work each year starting from 2016 onwards.

6) RBI allowed banks to offer differential interest rates on term deposits:

--> The Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks to offer differential interest rates on term deposits.

--> The RBI notified that term deposits of Rs 15 lakh and below must ave premature withdrawal facility.

--> For deposits above Rs 15 lakh, banks may or may not offer premature withdrawal.

--> In its sixth bi-monthly monetary policy review, in February, the central bank had decided to introduce the feature of early withdrawal facility in a term deposit as a distinguishing feature for offering differential rates of interest.

7) SC appointed Vivek Priyadarshi to head team probing IPL scandal:

--> Supreme Court on 17 April 2015 appointed Vivek Priyadarshi to head a new investigating team to further probe the IPL-6 spot-fixing and betting scandal.

--> Priyadarshi, currently a superintendent of police in the anti-corruption cell of the agency, will replace 1983-batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IPS officer B B Mishra as the head of the probe team following his retirement.

--> The committee has been entrusted the job of further investigating the IPL-6 scandal, including the allegations against the then BCCI COO Sundar Raman.

8) Oil India commissioned 54 MW wind energy project in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh:

--> Oil India, the nation's second largest state-owned oil explorer, on 17 April 2015 announced that it has commissioned a 54 MW wind energy project in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

--> The spilt capacity of project between both states is 38 MW plant located at Chandgarh in Madhya Pradesh and 16 MW plant located at Patan in Gujarat.

9) World Hemophilia Day 2015 observed:

--> World Haemophilia Day was observed globally on 17 April 2015 with theme Building a family of support.

--> The day provides an opportunity to talk to your extended family and friends, colleagues, and caregivers to raise awareness and increase support for those living with an inherited bleeding disorder.