Daily Current Affairs Updates: 11 April 2015

1) National Safe Motherhood Day observed:

--> National Safe Motherhood day was observed across India on 11 April 2015 to create awareness on proper healthcare and maternity facilities to pregnant and lactating women. 

2) Asteroid 316201 named after Malala Yousafzai:

--> Asteroid 316201 was named as ‘316201 Malala’ after the youngest Nobel laureate and girls’ education campaigner Malala Yousafzai.

--> The asteroid was named after her by Amy Mainzer, astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, United States under the International Astronomical Union rules.

--> In 2010, Mr. Mainzer had discovered the asteroid which was known as 316201. As a discoverer of the asteroid he had owned the rights to name it.

--> Asteroid 316201 Malala is located in the Main Belt between Mars and Jupiter.

--> It orbits around the Sun every 5.5 years and is more-than 2 mile wide.

3) Yuki won Karshi ITF Futures trophy:

--> Yuki Bhambri clinched the ITF Futures tournament on 11 April 2015 with a straight-set win over Dzmitry Zhyrmont and ensured his berth in the French Open qualifying event.

--> The 22-year-old player, seeded second, overcame his Belarusian third seed rival 6-2 6-4 in the final and pocketed 27 ranking points which will take him to a rank between 215 and 220.

--> French Open, the Clay Court Grand Slam will begin May 19.

4) Apurvi Chandela won Bronze in ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup:

--> Commonwealth Games gold medallist Apurvi Chandela secured her place in Rio Olympics 2016 by shooting her way to a bronze medal in the 10 metres air rifle event at the World Cup in Changwon (South Korea) on 11 April 2015.

--> Chandela became the second Indian to qualify for Olympics 2016 after pistol shooter Jitu Rai.

5) India's first IFSC becomes operational at GIFT City:

--> India's first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City in Gandhinagar district of Gujarat became operational on 11 April 2015 and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unveiled rules and regulations for this global financial hub.

--> IFSC rules allow companies incorporated outside India to raise money in foreign currencies by issuance and listing of their equity shares on stock exchanges within the IFSC, where individual and institutional investors from India and abroad, including NRIs, would be allowed to trade.

6) U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro shook hands:

--> In a landmark development, U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro held a meeting on 11 April 2015, which market the first summit between the two countries since the height of the Cold War.

--> The Obama-Castro summit meeting took place at Panama City on 11 April during the ongoing Summit of the Americas.

--> The relations between the two countries have been in the range from bad to worse since the embassies in Washington and Havana were closed in 1961.

7) Naxals killed 7 of elite force in Sukma:

--> Seven personnel of Chhattisgarh’s elite Special Task Force were killed and 10 injured in a Maoist attack on 11 April 2015 in Sukma in south Bastar, in the biggest attack on security forces this year in the state.