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Important Current Affairs of 12th April

NATIONAL:

India's population grew at 1.2 percent between 2010-19: UN report.

• According to United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFP) State of World Population 2019 report, India’s population grew at an average annual rate of 1.2% between 2010 and 2019 to 1.36 billion, more than double the annual growth rate of China.

• India’s population in 2019 stood at 1.36 billion, growing from 942.2 million in 1994 and 541.5 million in 1969. China’s population grew at an average annual rate of 0.5% between 2010 and 2019.

• In comparison, China’s population stood at 1.42 billion in 2019, growing from 1.23 billion in 1994 and 803.6 million in 1969. In India, total fertility rate per woman was 5.6 in 1969, dropping to 2.3 in 2019. India also recorded an improvement in life expectancy at birth.

INTERNATIONAL:

Google unveiled new Cloud Platform, Anthos to manage apps from anywhere.

• Google has introduced a new open platform called Anthos to run and manage apps from anywhere.

• Based on the Cloud Services Platform that Google announced in 2018, Anthos lets users run applications on existing on-premise hardware investments or in the Public Cloud. Anthos will also let users manage workloads running on third-party clouds like Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure.

• Anthos is a Kubernetes-powered technology to build and manage hybrid applications, for on-premises or cloud deployments. Google also announced Anthos Migrate in beta, which auto-migrates virtual machines (VMs) from on-premises, or other clouds, directly into containers in Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) with minimal effort.

Pakistan country issues 2,200 visas for Sikh pilgrims.

• India-Pakistan Protocol visit to religious shrines of 1974.  In this perspective, Pakistan granted 2,200 visas to Sikh pilgrims from India to participate in Baisakhi celebrations from April 12 to 21.

• The Sikh pilgrims would be visiting shrines like Panja Sahib, Nankana Sahib, and Kartarpur Sahib. 

• The protocol between India and Pakistan enables a large number of pilgrims to visit the other country to observe various religious festivals or occasions every year. 

AGREEMENTS:

India, Sweden inked pact to collaborate on solutions for smart cities, clean tech.

• The India-Sweden Collaborative Industrial Research and Development Programme will work towards addressing a range of challenges around smart cities and clean technologies among others. The programme was co-funded by Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Swedish agency Vinnova. Vinnova will provide funding to Swedish participants up to 2,500,000 Swedish Krona (around Rs 1.87 crore) as grant.

• On the Indian side, conditional grant of up to 50 per cent (with a limit of Rs 1.5 crore) per project will be provided to the Indian partners. This Programme is technically and administratively managed by the Global Innovation & Technology Alliance (GITA) on behalf of DST in India and Vinnova in Sweden.

• Government, Academia, and Industry or the ‘triple helix’ - is key to the Sweden-India partnership. About Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India: It was established in May 1971, with the objective of promoting new areas of science & technology (S&T) and to play the role of a nodal department for organising, coordinating and promoting S&T activities in the country.

BANKS AND ECONOMICS:

India and Netherlands vow to strengthen bilateral political & economic ties.

• India and the Netherlands have discussed ways to strengthen bilateral political and economic ties including boosting cooperation at the United Nations and other international fora. The two countries held Foreign Office Consultations in New Delhi, with the Indian side led by A Gitesh Sarma, Secretary, West, Ministry of External Affairs, and Johanna Brandt, Secretary General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, leading the Dutch delegation. Both countries used this opportunity to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including political, economic, commercial, scientific and cultural cooperation.

PAISALO Digital Limited signed the first co-origination loan agreement SBI

• PAISALO Digital Limited signed the first co-origination loan agreement with State Bank of India (SBI). This is the first agreement of its kind in the country that State Bank of India has signed. The agreement was signed with a vision of empowering the AGRI, MSME segment and small businesses.  The loan ticket is designed at Rs.10,000 to 2 lakh. The company expects to disburse 200,000 loan applications in FY20.  PAISALO Digital Limited is a leading systemically important non-deposit taking NBFC. It is registered with the Reserve Bank of India, in operations since 1992.

• Co-origination loan agreement:

♦ This new framework seeks to bring the strengths of two sectors, that is, banks and micro-finance institutions (MFIs)/non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) together

♦ Under this framework, both a bank and an MFI/NBFC will join at each underwriting and loan level and share the loan amount at an agreed percentage with all other structures put in place

♦ It is expected that such a blending would not only increase the flow of credit to MSMEs but also bring down the cost of credit for the sector substantially.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

Shiv Das Meena to be designated as the Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC).

• He is appointed as the Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC). He assumed office as Chairman-cum-Managing Director, NBCC.

Cairn India’s CEO and CFO resign.

• Cairn India CEO Sudhir Mathur and CFO Pankaj Kalra have resigned from the firm. Ajay Dixit, who was CEO of the Aluminum and Power divisions of Vedanta, will take over from Mr.Mathur in the interim, after his exit. Mr.Mathur is the fourth CEO to quit the firm after it was acquired by Vedanta in 2011.

AWARDS:

Varanasi ranked third on the WHOs list of 15 most polluted cities.

• According to the 'Political Leaders Position and Action on Air Quality in India 2014-2019' report, released by Climate Trends, the air quality in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2014 Lok Sabha constituency, is ranked third on the WHO's (World Health Organisation) list of 15 most polluted cities in the world.

• Fourteen of the 15 most polluted cities in the world, listed by World Health Organisation (WHO) are in India, of which four are in Uttar Pradesh. Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh is the most polluted city in the world and is ranked one on the list. Faridabad in Haryana has been ranked second.

•  Delhi is ranked sixth on the list. Gaya and Patna in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, Cities of Agra, Muzaffarpur, Srinagar, Gurugram, Jaipur, Patiala and Jodhpur are also on the WHO list of most polluted cities. The air quality index (AQI) in Varanasi reached an alarming 490 in 2017 and 384 (very poor category)  in December 2018.

•  Air Quality Index (AQI) in India: As per pollution control authorities, An AQI between

♦ 0 and 50 is considered "good",

♦ 51 and 100 "satisfactory",

♦ 101 and 200 "moderate",

♦ 201 and 300 "poor",

♦ 301 and 400 "very poor", and

♦ 401 and 500 "severe".

Namami Gange got Public Water Agency of the Year award at Global Water Summit

• India's flagship programme, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) or Namami Gange  was felicitated with ‘Public Water Agency of the Year’ award by Global Water Intelligence at the Global Water Summit in London. Namami Gange Mission:

♦ The Namami Gange programme is an integrated mission for Ganga rejuvenation, and approved by the Union Government in June 2014 with budget outlay of Rs.20,000 Crore.

SPORTS:

Eni Nuraeni named as Best athletic coach in Asia 2019 by AAA.

• Indonesian Eni Nuraeni was named by Asian Athletic Association (AAA) as the best athletic coach in Asia for the short-haul run category in 2019. It was announced by the Indonesian athletic sports association (PB PASI). Eni coaches young sprinter Lalu Muhammad Zohri to win the 100m gold medal in 10.20 seconds in the 2019 Grand Prix Malaysia Open athletics championships. Earlier, Zohri won the 100m in 10.18 in the IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland in 2018.

Tags: National News, international news, Sports and Awards, Appointments, Loan Agreement, BANKS, Economics & Politics
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Important Current Affairs of 11th April

NATIONAL:

Arappor Iyakkam launched the Arappor App.

• Arappor Iyakkam launched the Arappor App, which is available free on Google Playstore, offering details of all candidates contesting in the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The app is aimed at creating awareness among the people about the candidates in their constituencies.

• This is an effort to make people aware of the choices they have before they go to vote on April 18.

• This information is based on the declaration by the candidates in their affidavits. It is expected that all voters should use this app to know the details of candidates in their constituency.

• The details include educational background, profession, annual income in the last five years, asset, liabilities, and details of criminal cases pending against them.

• The app can be downloaded on any android mobile from the link http://bit.ly/KnowYourCandidates-Arappor in both English and Tamil. It has been presented in a simple app. It will soon be updated with information on the by elections for Assembly constituencies.

Government clears procurement of 464 T-90 tanks from Russia.

• Amid increased tensions with Pakistan, the Central government has cleared the procurement of 464 T-90 tanks from Russia in a deal worth over Rs 13,500 crore.

•  Under the new deal, the tanks would be provided to the Armoured Corps of the force which will use them for deployment along the border with Pakistan.

• The deal would increase the number of T-90s in the Army to close to 2,000 along with the remaining T-72 and T-55s. The Indian Army had first purchased T-90 tanks in 2001 when 310 units were ordered.

• The Indian Army is projected to have a force of over 1,600 T-90 tanks by 2020. The army is also looking to develop new tanks under the Futuristic Main Battle Tank project. The Army also operates two regiments of the Arjun Mark 1 tanks, which are mainly used in the desert terrain due to their weight.

Dost Education win the Next Billion Edtech Prize.

• India's education technology startup 'Dost Education' has bagged a $25,000 Next Billion Edtech Prize 2019.

• Two other startups, Ubongo (Tanzania) and PraxiLabs (Egypt), also won the award. Dost Education was awarded for its ability to empower parents to take charge of their child's early education by creating short, friendly audio content that is sent to them via their mobile phones.

• Because of this app low-income families need no longer send their children to primary school behind and without a chance to catch up.

President Ram Nath Kovind launched Veer Parivar App.

• On April 9th, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) celebrated its 54th Valour Day (Shaurya Diwas). On the occasion, President Ram Nath Kovind launched 'Veer Parivar App', a mobile application for families of CRPF personnel killed in the line of duty.

• About the Veer Parivar App:

♦ The App is an interface between the CRPF authorities and the next of kin of the slain personnel. It will be installed securely on the phones of the slain personnel families and will not be available in the app stores.

♦ The app will provide assistance to the families of the martyred CRPF personnel with regard to issuance of ex gratia, pension benefits etc. The app will also provide all the necessary information regarding the welfare schemes introduced for them by the government.

♦ The App will provide assistance to the families on a real-time basis and the CRPF authorities will respond to the issues raised by the members of the families of the slain personnel. 54th Valour Day or Shaurya Diwas:

♦ The CRPF celebrates 9 April as Shaurya Diwas or Valour Day to commemorate the defence of the Sardar Post in the Rann of Kutch at the onset of the India-Pakistan War of 1965.

♦ In the intervening night of 8 and 9 April 1965, nearly 3500 men from the 51st Infantry of Pakistani Army invaded India at Sardar Post. The Pakistani Army comprised 18 Punjab battalion, 8 Frontier Rifles, and 6 Baluch battalion. Their mission was to capture the Indian territory defended by Sardar Post.

♦ The post was guarded by two battalions of CRPF, roughly 150 soldiers. Compared to the Pakistani Army, the CRPF soldiers were no match in terms of an arsenal. Additionally, the terrain was disadvantageous for the defending forces.

♦ A fight ensued in which the Pakistani Army made three attempts to overrun the post. The battle lasted for 12 hours. In the end, the Pakistani Army fled the battleground leaving behind 34 of their men dead and CRPF lost six of its brave soldiers. Ever since the day has been celebrated by the CRPF as the Valour Day or Shaurya Diwas.

INTERNATIONAL:

British Governments white paper named online harms draws focus to users (mostly childrens) safety

• British government’s ‘white paper’ which is open for public consultation termed as ‘online harms’, focuses to make online social media platforms responsible to safeguard users, especially children.

• Since all of the social media platforms use strong algorithms leading to echo-chambers, where a user is bombarded with only blinkered content (according to the user’s web-browsing) instead of multi-directional content (i.e. seeing a variety of voices and opinions), all of which can affect children’s brain; the white paper proposes the compulsory ‘duty of care’ on various social media platforms for taking reasonable steps to protect users (focusing on children) from getting harmed.

SUMMITS:

Seventeenth MENA World Economic Forum Held In Jordan.

• World Economic Forum in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) took place at Jordan’s Dead Sea. 

• The forum assembled more than 1,000 government, business and civil society leaders from more than 50 countries.

• The forum was themed on three major visions:  Generating job opportunities, Empowering Arab women and promoting the most intriguing startups that have joined the region’s industry over the past years.

• About World Economic Forum Motto: Committed to improving the state of the world Formation: January 1971; 48 years ago (as European Management Forum) Founder: Klaus Schwab Type: Nonprofit organization.

BANKS AND ECONOMICS:

Emirates Islamic became world's first Islamic bank to launch banking via WhatsApp.

• Dubai based Emirates Islamic has announced the launch of Chat Banking services for customers via WhatsApp, marking a global first in the Islamic banking sector.

• The Chat Banking solution allows customers to use features such as checking account balances and temporarily blocking or unblocking of an existing card.

•  All messages on Emirates Islamic’s verified WhatsApp Business account are encrypted, ensuring confidentiality and security.

HDFC AMC Ranks 1st In Terms Of Assets: AMFI Report.

• India’s asset management companies (AMCs) own assets under management (AUM) worth Rs24.46 trillion according to data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi). HDFC Asset Management Co.

•  Ltd claimed the top spot with an average AUM of Rs3.42 trillion, overtaking ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co. Ltd with an average AUM of at Rs3.20 trillion.

Govt retains interest rate for General Provident Fund at 8%.

• Union government retained the interest rate for General Provident Fund (GPF), Contributory Provident Fund and other related schemes at 8 per cent for the first quarter of the current financial year 2019-2020.

• The interest rate on these funds was at 8 per cent in the January-March quarter of 2018-19 and government kept it unchanged for April to June for 2019-20. 

• The Department of Economic Affairs, in a notification, the mentioned interest rate will be applicable on provident funds of central government employees, railways and defence forces. 

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

SC Collegium recommends Justice Vikram Nath as First Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh HC.

• Supreme Court Collegium recommended that Allahabad High Court judge, Justice Vikram Nath appointed as the first Chief Justice of the recently constituted Andhra Pradesh High Court at Amaravati. The office of the Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice has been lying vacant since the day of its inception.

• Justice Vikram Nath obtained his law degree in 1986. Following his enrolment in 1987 and he practised in the Allahabad High Court. He was appointed an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court in 2004.

Algeria MPs elect Abdelkader Bensalah as first new president in 20 years

• Abdelkader Bensalah was appointed president for a three-month transitional period after weeks of mass protests led to the resignation of long-serving former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on April 2.

• Algeria's newly appointed interim President Abdelkader Bensalah announced the election would be held on July 4 to vote for a new president. However, the 77-year-old Bensalah is barred under the constitution from running in the upcoming election.

Benjamin Netanyahu elected for 5th term as Israel's Prime Minister.

• Netanyahu defeated centrist ex-military chief Benny Gantz, whose nascent Blue and White party emerged as a viable alternative to Netanyahu's decade in power.

• With over 97% votes counted, Netanyahu's Likud party tied with the Blue and White party, winning 35 seats each in the 120-member Knesset.

• Netanyahu's victory came amid allegations of corruption against him and his wife. His campaign has focused heavily on his friendship with President Donald Trump and his success in cultivating new allies, such as China, India and Brazil.

Karnam Sekar to be appointed as MD, CEO of Indian Overseas Bank.

• The Central Government made important management appointments to several public sector banks. 

• According to the Department of Personnel and Training, Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Karnam Sekar as MD and CEO in Indian Overseas Bank. Karnam Sekar is currently the CEO and MD of Dena bank. 

• The new designation will be effective from July 1, 2019.

DAYS:

National Safe Motherhood Day is celebrated on April 11.

• National Safe Motherhood Day (NSMD) is observed annually on 11 April to raise awareness about the proper healthcare of women and maternity facilities to pregnant and lactating women. The theme of 2019 NSMD is "Midwives for Mothers".

• Last year’s NSMD theme was ‘Respectful Maternity Care’. This day also raise awareness for the prevention of child marriages that may be an indirect cause of maternal deaths. About National Safe Motherhood Day (NSMD):

♦ this day is an initiative of the White Ribbon Alliance India (WRAI) to provide women with various healthcare programs during pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal services.

♦ This day is first celebrated in 2003.

♦ 11 April is the anniversary day of Kasturba Gandhi's birth. Facts about Maternal Mortality according to WHO:

♦ Approximately 830 women die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.

♦ In developing countries 99% maternal deaths occurs.

SPORTS:

India bow out of 2020 Olympic Qualifying tournament.

• The Indian women’s football team bowed out on an opportunity to qualify for the third round of the 2020 Olympic qualifiers. The Indian team win to top Group A but it lead twice to play out a 3-3 draw against Myanmar to bow out of the competition.

Virat Kohli and Smriti Mandhana named the Wisden's Leading Cricketers in the World

• In the 2019 (156th) edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack published recently, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and women's cricketer Smriti Mandhana were named the Leading Cricketers in the World.

• Kohli has won the honour for an unprecedented third year in a row while it’s the first time Smriti has won the honour.

• Kohli scored 2,735 runs across the three formats in 2018 while Smriti scored 669 and 682 runs in ODIs and T20s respectively. Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan was named the Leading T20 cricketer for the second year in a row.

• Wisden's Cricketers of the Year was also awarded to four other Cricketers namely English cricketers Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Rory Burns and Tammy Beaumont, for their performances in the 2018 English summer.

Tags: Resignation, National News, international news, Sports and Awards, Appointments, Summits, Days and Date, BANKS, Economics & Politics
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Important Current Affairs of 10th April

NATIONAL:

Tata Sponge Iron Ltd. to acquire Usha Martin Ltd.

• Tata Sponge Iron Ltd. (TSIL), a Tata Steel subsidiary, has announced the completion of its acquisition of the steel business of Usha Martin Ltd. (UML). The acquisition also included UML’s steel business undertaking along with captive power plants. The acquisition also included a cash consideration of Rs.4,094 crore payable to UML (after adjustment for negative working capital and debt-like items). 

• TSIL is subject to further holdbacks of Rs.640 crore, pending transfer of some of the assets including mines and certain land parcels. Tata Steel had announced in a stock exchange disclosure on September 22, 2018, the signing of definitive agreements to buy UML’s steel business. The acquisition cost was then pegged at between Rs.4,300 and Rs.4,700 crore.

• The acquired business comprises a one million tonne per annum (mtpa) alloy-based long products making facility in Jamshedpur, an operational iron ore mine, a coal mine under development, and captive power plants. UML’s steel business has a rich mix of carbon steel and alloy steel, catering to the automotive sector as well as high-end wire-rod makers. 

• The TSIL board had already approved a plan to finance the buy through an issue of rights share up to Rs.1800 crore, external borrowings up to Rs.2500 crore and issue of non-convertible redeemable preference shares of Rs.1,000 crore. TSIL is debt-free with free cash reserves of about Rs.670 crore.

India becomes YouTube largest and fastest growing market.

• India has become YouTube’s largest and fastest growing market with 265 million Indians watching the video-sharing website every month. In the last year, YouTube’s consumption on mobile has increased to 85%, with 60% of the watch time coming from outside the six largest metros in India.

• Today, YouTube creators have become effective storytellers, with more than 1,200 Indian creators crossing the million subscriber-milestones, compared to five years ago, when there were only two creators.

Indian Railways creates record; Free WiFi at 500 rail stations in 7 days.

• Modi government’s ‘Digital India’ initiative, RailTel, which is a mini ratna CPSU (Central Public Sector Undertaking) under the Ministry of Railways has provided free high-speed WiFi service to as many as 500 stations in a short period of seven days with ‘RailWire’. RailTel has also tied up with Tata Trust for providing free WiFi at 4,791 B, C, D and E category railway stations.

•  Recently, Northern Railways’ Sahibabad station has become the 1500th railway station in India to get the free Wi-Fi facility. The free Wi-Fi project was initiated from Mumbai Central railway station.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulates Maldives President Solih for his partys landslide victory.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally called Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to congratulate him on his party’s exceptionally strong performance in the Maldives Majlis elections of 2019, in which the Maldives’ Democratic Party secured 65 of 87 seats, and won a landslide supermajority in parliament.

• He further conveyed his full confidence that the Maldives Government can deliver on their promises towards the Maldivian people in the upcoming five years, and that the Indian Government will always stand ready to be of assistance to the Maldives.

CBDT detects unaccounted cash collection racket of Rs 281 crore in Madhya Pradesh.

• Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) searches in Madhya Pradesh by Delhi Directorate of Income Tax have detected widespread and well-organised racket for the collection of unaccounted cash of about 281 crore rupees through various persons. 

• The department has also detected a trail of 20 crore rupees suspect cash allegedly being moved to the headquarters of a major political party in Delhi from the house of an important person.

• The CBDT identified neither the political party nor the senior functionary. It added that records of collection and disbursement of cash in the form of handwritten diaries, computer files and excel sheets were found and seized and it corroborates the above findings.

• The several unaccounted and benami properties at posh locations in Delhi have also been detected.

Dream11 became Indias first billion-dollar gaming Startup.

• Mumbai-based Dream11 has become India's first gaming unicorn or billion-dollar startup with an investment from Steadview Capital. Apart from Steadview Capital, Kalaari Capital, Think Investments, Multiples Equity and Tencent investments collectively put Dream11’s total evaluation beyond $1 billion.

• The investment by Hong Kong and London-based Steadview Capital comes about eight months after Dream 11 sealed a $100 million equity financing round led by Tencent, which is world's fifth-largest internet company.

India’s gold reserves increased in February.

• The World Gold Council (WGC) said that India has marginally increased its gold holding to 1.7 tonnes in February while maintaining the tenth position among countries in terms of yellow metal reserves.

• India added 1.7 tonnes in February while most other countries, except Russia and China, had their reserves unchanged in the recent past.

• As per WGC, India had total gold reserves of 608.7 tonnes in February, marginally up from the previous month’s holding of 607 tonnes.

IIT Madras ties up with GE to set up Indias first Cold Spray SMART Lab.

• American conglomerate, General Electric in association with IIT-Madras, established India’s first ‘Cold Spray’ SMART (Surface Modification and Additive Research Technologies) Laboratory in the institution thereby IIT-M became the only academic institution with High-Pressure Cold Spray(HPCS) facility in India.

• The High-Pressure Cold Spray machinery carried from Plasma Giken, Japan. GE India Technology Centre CEO Alok Nanda and IIT Madras Director Bhaskar Ramamurthi inaugurated the laboratory on 5th April 2019.

PFS in a joint venture with USICEF finances solar projects in India.

• PTC India Financial Services (PFS) an Infrastructure finance company partnered with (USICEF) the US-India Clean Energy Finance to leverage funds for solar projects in India. PFS Managing Director and CEO Pawan Singh stated that this innovative venture can contribute to achieve India’s distributed energy target of 40 GW (gigawatt) by 2022.

• Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) manages USICEF that was founded in partnership with the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, OPIC(Overseas Private Investment Corporation), IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd.) and leading U.S. Foundations in 2017.

India-Singapore Joint Military Exercise Bold Kurukshetra 2019.

• Military forces of India and Singapore to participate in a joint exercise in Babina Cantonment in Jhansi.  The three-day exercise, ‘Bold Kurukshetra–2019’, conducted to develop military technology, boost maritime security and bolster the nations’ fight against terrorism.

• The two countries signed a cooperation agreement to strengthen the defence ties between Indian Military and Singapore Armed Forces in November. About Singapore  President: Halimah Yacob Prime Minister:

• Lee Hsien Loong Deputy Prime Ministers: Teo Chee Hean Tharman  Capital: Singapore  

INTERNATIONAL:

London becomes world's 1st city to launch 24x7 pollution charge zone.

• London became the first city in the world to implement a special Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) that would charge an entry fee for older vehicles if they do not meet the emission standards.

• This move aims to reduce toxic air pollution and protect public health. The ULEZ will be operational for 24 hours and seven days a week.

• Polluting vehicles account for around 50 per cent of London's harmful Nitrogen Oxide air emissions. London's famous red bus fleet is also being updated as part of these efforts, and all 9,200 vehicles will meet or exceed ULEZ standards by October 2020.

Google launched its 1st drone delivery service in Australia.

• Wing, one of the many companies belonging to Alphabet (Google parent) made its first delivery in Canberra, Australia after getting approval from the Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).

• The drones will deliver food and drinks as well as medication directly to clients' homes. Wing was testing drone delivery in Australia since 2014 and delivered medicines, chocolate to 3,000 homes in the last 18 months.

• Wing is now preparing to launch a trial service in Helsinki, Finland.

Sri Lanka new railway line inaugurated.

• Sri Lanka has opened a new railway line connecting its coastal city of Matara and Beliatta in Hambantota.

• It was built with China’s assistance. This move will boost passenger traffic into the island nation’s deep south. It is the first to be constructed in Sri Lanka since 1948.  The new line was inaugurated on 8th April 2019 in the presence of Sri Lanka’s Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and other parliamentarians.

• About the railway line: The Matara-Beliatta railway extension is of 26.75-km length. The cost of the project was $278 million. The Matara-Beliatta railway extension includes the longest and second longest railway bridges of 1.5 km and 1.04 km, respectively.

• China's role: The railway extension was financed by the Export-Import Bank of China and the contract was awarded to the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation. China termed it as a major Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has been the major recipient of Chinese loans and investments in recent years, totalling over $8 billion. The heavy borrowing has raised concerns over Sri Lanka’s ability to repay after Colombo handed over the Hambantota port to Beijing for a 99-year lease in 2017 as a debt swap. China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): BRI is also known as the One Belt One Road (OBOR). It was first proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013. It is an ambitious programme to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks along six corridors. "Belt" refers to the overland routes for road and rail transportation, called "the Silk Road Economic Belt"; Whereas "road" refers to the sea routes or the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The aim is to strengthen infrastructure, trade, and investment links between China and some 65 other countries that account collectively for over 30 percent of global GDP, 62% of the population, and 75 percent of known energy reserves. 

BANKS AND ECONOMICS:

SBI cut interest rate on home loans up to Rs 30 lakh by 10 bps.

• India's largest lender, SBI has reduced the interest rate on housing loans of up to тВ╣30 lakh by 10 basis points to a range between 8.60% and 8.90% per annum, from existing rates of 8.70% to 9%.

• SBI also cut its benchmark lending rates by five basis points across all tenors. The one-year marginal cost of fund-based lending rate (MCLR) now stands at 8.50%, down from 8.55%. The move comes days after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut its policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 6%, in a move to boost the economy.

•  From May 1, the rates of large savings accounts (balances above тВ╣1 lakh) will get revised. Overdraft and other short-term loans will get cheaper.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

SUN Group chairman Vikramjit Sahney elected as president of ICC India.

• SUN Group Chairman Vikramjit Singh Sahney elected as the new president of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) - India. He will succeed Jawahar Vadivelu.

DAYS:

April 10: World Homoeopathy Day.

• The World Homoeopathy Day 2019 is observed across the world on April 10, 2019 to commemorate the birth anniversary of the founder of Homoeopathy, Dr. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann.

• The week following the birth date of Hahnemann, that is, 10 April - 16 April is observed as the World Homeopathic Awareness Week. This year it is 263rd birth anniversary of founder of Homoeopathy.

• About Samuel Hahnemann: Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician, a great scholar, linguist and an acclaimed scientist, is known as the Father of Homeopathy, Father of Human Pharmacology, Father of Nano Medicine and the Father of Infinite Dilution concept in Chemistry.

• About CCRH: Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH) in India organises the scientific convention on the World Homeopathy Day to pay tributes to Dr. Hahnemann on his birth anniversary. The council has so far accomplished over 168 clinical researches, 40 basic researches, standardization studies of 348 drugs, proving of 112 drugs and clinical verification of 106 drugs. On the occasion, the AYUSH Awards will be conferred for Life Time Achievement, Best Teacher, Young Scientist and Best Research paper with an aim to recognise exemplary work in the field of Homoeopathy. About Homeopathy: Homeopathy as system of medicine was developed by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in Germany in 1796. It is a natural approach to the treatment of the sick. This medical system based on the belief that the body can cure itself. Homeopathy uses animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic substances in its preparations and labels them in Latin or faux-Latin vocabulary. It is world’s second most widely used system of treatment.

AWARDS:

AIMA Managing India Awards 2019 to Azim Premji, Mahendra Mohan Gupta and 9 others.

• The All India Management Association (AIMA) Managing India Awards 2019 was held on April 08, 2019 at Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi. Mahendra Mohan Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Jagran Prakashan Ltd and Editorial Director, Dainik Jagran, was awarded under Lifetime Contribution to Media category.

• Complete Winners List:

1. Lifetime Contribution Award: Azim H Premji (Chairman, Wipro Ltd)

2. Outstanding Institution Builder: Prathap C Reddy (Founder-Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group)

3. Corporate Citizen Award: Devi Prasad Shetty (Founder & Chairman Narayana Hrudalaya)

4. Entrepreneur of the year: Sanjiv Bajaj (Managing Director, Bajaj Finserv Ltd)

5. Business Leader of the Year: Sanjiv Mehta (Chairman & Managing Director, Hindustan Unilever Ltd)

6. Lifetime Contribution to Media: Mahendra Mohan Gupta (Chairman & Managing Director, Jagran Prakashan Ltd and Editorial Director, Dainik Jagran)

7. Outstanding Contribution to Media: Uday Shankar (President, 21st Century Fox, Asia and Chairman and CEO, Star India)

8. Indian MNC of the Year: Pawan Goenka (Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Managing Director and Member of the Group Executive Board)

9. MNC in India of the Year: T Krishnakumar (Coca-Cola India, President  & CEO, India & Southwest Asia)

10. Outstanding PSU of the Year: Sanjiv Singh (Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd)

11. Director of the Year: Rajkumar Hirani (Director, Producer, Writer & Editor - Sanju Movie)

SPORTS:

Spain Garbine Muguruza claimed Monterrey Open title.

• Garbine Muguruza of Spain successfully claimed back-to-back Monterrey Open title 2019 as Victoria Azarenka succumbed to injury in the final.

•  Asia Muhammad & Maria Sanchez claimed women's doubles title in Monterrey Open. The Monterrey Open is a professional women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts.

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Important Current Affairs of 9th April

NATIONAL:

Around 5,000 Naga Konyak women dance set a Guinness World Record in Nagaland

• In an attempt to set a new Guinness World Records in the category of ‘largest traditional Konyak dance display,’ around 5,000 Konyak community women, all decked up in colorful traditional attire, danced to the tune of a ceremonial song at Nagaland, coinciding with the Aoleang festival.

• The theme of this year’s Aoleang, also called Mini Hornbill festival, was ‘Empowering women for cultural heritage.

INS Shakti, INS Kolkata to take part in Chinese Navys 70th anniversary celebrations.

• The two ships are scheduled to visit Chinese port of Qingdao from 21 to 26 April to participate in an International Fleet Review to celebrate the 70th anniversary of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy.

• INS Kolkata is the lead ship of the Kolkata-class stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy. INS Shakti is tanker and supply ship. Over 60 countries would join the commemorative event for the PLA Navy’s 70th founding anniversary on April 23.

Adani Power receives LoI to acquire KWPCL.

• Adani Power received a letter of intent (LoI) to acquire debt-laden Korba West Power Company Ltd. (KWPCL). 

• The committee of creditors of KWPCL, a company undergoing insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, has approved the resolution plan submitted by Adani Power.  KWPCL owns and operates a 600 megawatt thermal power plant in Raigarh district in Chhattisgarh.

Biannual Army Commanders Conference began in New Delhi.

• The biannual Army Commanders’ Conference began in New Delhi for the planning and execution process of the Indian Army.

• Some issues like the management of the extant security dynamics, mitigation of future security threats were discussed in this conference.

• Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered her opening address at the conference and the Chief of the Army Staff chaired the conference. About Defence Ministry Formed: 1776; 243 years ago  Headquarters: Cabinet Secretariat Raisina Hill, New Delhi.

Guwahati Railway station first to get ISO certification in India.

• The Guwahati Railway Station has become the first ever railway station in the Indian Railways to get an ISO certification from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for ‘providing passenger amenities in a clean and green environment.

• ’ ISO certification received by Guwahati Railway Station is ISO-14001, which is for Environment Management System as per international norms which were upgraded in 2015. Thus, the station’s certificate reads ISO 14001: 2015.

INTERNATIONAL:

Israel to go to polls to elect new parliament.

• Israel will go to polls to elect a new parliament. Fourteen main parties are competing for 120 seats in the Knesset or parliament. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is running for his fifth term in office. 

• His main challenger is Benny Gantz, a former chief of staff for Israeli military who is a newcomer to politics. The main Voters will cast their ballots for a party, not a candidate.

BANKS AND ECONOMICS:

RBI issues norms for banks to set up currency chests.

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rolled out with guidelines for banks to set up new currency chests, which include the minimum area of 1,500 square feet for the strong room. 

• The new chests should have a processing capacity of 6.6 lakh pieces of banknotes per day. It added that for those situated in the hilly/ inaccessible places, capacity should be 2.1 lakh pieces of banknotes per day.

HDFC Bank to rise up to Rs.50, 000 crore by issuing bonds.

• Private lender HDFC Bank said it is planning to raise up to Rs.50,000 crore this fiscal by issuing bonds on private placement basis.

•  It will raise funds by issuing perpetual debt instruments [part of additional tier I capital], tier II capital bonds and long-term bonds [financing of infrastructure and affordable housing] up to a total amount of Rs.50,000 crore in the period of next 12 months through private placement mode. The bank would consider the proposal on April 20.

World Bank estimates India’s GDP to expand 7.5 percent in FY20.

• The World Bank expects India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to accelerate to 7.5% in fiscal year 2019-20. This would be driven by continued investment strengthening, particularly private-improved export performance and resilient consumption. Industrial growth accelerated to 7.9 per cent, making up for a deceleration in services. Agriculture growth was robust at four per cent. The real GDP growth is estimated at 7.2 per cent in FY18/19.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

Kirstjen Nielsen resigns as Homeland Security Secretary.

• Kirstjen Nielsen, Homeland Security Secretary, resigned her position on 7th April. Ms.Nielsen will, however, stay on until April 10.

• Kevin McAleenan, the current U.S. Customs, and Border Protection Commissioner will take charge as Acting Homeland Security Secretary.

•  Ms. Nielson, who has had a rocky working relationship with President Donald Trump, handed in her resignation at a time when there were growing signs of division within the administration over how to handle the swelling numbers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

AWARDS:

Presidents Certificate of Honor and Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman Awards Conferred

• Vice President Venkaiah Naidu conferred President’s Certificate of Honour and Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman Awards at New Delhi. 

• The award of the Certificate of Honour was introduced in the year 1958 to honour the scholars of Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian Languages.

• Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman Distinction is conferred on persons in recognition of their substantial contribution in the field of Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Pali, Prakrit, Classical Odiya, Classical Kannada, Classical Telugu and Classical Malayalam.

SPORTS:

Rawat has been qualified for 2020 Olympics.

• Indian swimmer Kushagra Rawat has been qualified for 2020 Olympics, Tokyo. It was after he achieved the B standard of the 800m freestyle event at the Speedo Thailand Age Group Championships in Bangkok.

Graham Reid appointed as chief coach of India men's hockey team.

• Reid was part of the silver-medal winning Australian team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Reid's appointment till the end of 2020 was ratified after Hockey India received necessary clearance from the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

• India had been without a chief coach since Harendra Singh was sacked after last year's World Cup Reid will be in charge of the team during their next international assignment -- tour to Australia in May 2019.

Isaak Hayik, 73, set a new record as world’s oldest soccer player.

• A 73-year-old Israeli Isaak Hayik set a new world record as the world’s oldest person to play in a professional soccer match. The previous record holder was 53 years old Uruguayan Robert Carmona who was played a professional match in 2015.

Malaysia Open Badminton 2019: Lin Dan clinched title in Mens Single’s category.

• Chinese badminton ace Lin Dan clinched the Malaysia Open 2019 title against countryman Chen Long to claim his first major title in two years. The 2019 Malaysia Open, officially the CELCOM AXIATA Malaysia Open 2019, is a badminton tournament which takes place at Axiata Arena in Malaysia from 2 to 7 April 2019 and has a total purse of $700,000.

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Important Current Affairs 8th April 2019

BANKS AND ECONOMICS:

NTPC signs with Canara Bank to raise Rs.2000 crore.

• National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), the State-run power giant, has signed a term-loan agreement with Canara Bank to raise Rs 2,000 crore. The agreement would be used to part finance its capital expenditure. The loan has a door to door tenure of 15 years and will be utilised to part finance the capital expenditure of the NTPC.

SEBI agrees to crore Airport Specific Fund worth Rs. 10,000 crore.

• SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) approved an ‘airport’ specific fund. The name of the fund is ‘Taking Off To the Future Airport Fund’.

• It can raise a capital amounting to 1.5$bn (Rs. 10,000 crores). The ‘Sponsor and Investment Manager’ of the fund is based in Chennai and is termed as ‘Taking Off To The Future Investment Management LLP’.

• Gigi George leads the management and operation of ‘Sponsor and Investment Manager’ A minimum capital contribution of Rs. 3500 crore and a maximum of Rs. 7000 crore is targeted by the fund. On SEBI: The regulator for the securities market in India is the Securities and Exchange Board of India(SEBI)(established in 1988).

• On 12th May 1992, it became it became an autonomous body by the Government of India. Through the SEBI Act, 1992, SEBI was given statutory powers on 30 January 1992. On 10th January 2017, Ajay Tyagi was appointed as the chairman of SEBI by replacing U.K. Sinha.

MOUS:

Indian Navy signs MoU with CSIR for advanced technologies.

• The Indian Navy signed MoU with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to undertake joint research and development of advanced technologies for the Indian Navy.

• This will be a collaborative arrangement between labs of CSIR, the Indian Navy and Indian industry. The MoU provides a formal framework for interaction between the Indian Navy and CSIR.

DAYS:

National Handloom Week observed from 7th April to 14th April.

• It is a celebration of the country’s 5,000-year old tradition of hand weaving cloths.

• On this occasion, a book named ‘The Indian textile Sourcebook’ authored by Avalon Fotheringham and published by Thames and Hudson will be launched on 9th April.

• In 2018, the National Handloom Week was observed during December month. The National Handloom Day is observed on 7th August every year across India. It was on this day that the Swadeshi Movement was launched in 1905.

• The First National handloom day was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on August 7, 2015 in Chennai.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

Algerias Parliament to meet to name an interim successor.

• Algeria’s Parliament is set to meet on 9th April to name an interim successor to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika after mass protests pushed the ailing leader from power.

•  Algeria’s Constitution stipulates that the Speaker of the upper house of Parliament, currently Abdelkader Bensalah, 77, should take the presidential reins.

• He is to serve for up to 90 days, during which a presidential election must be organized.

Praful Patel becomes 1st Indian to be elected as member of FIFA Executive Council

• Praful Patel is the current president of All India Football Federation (AIFF). He got 38 out of 46 votes. His membership in the council will be for four years, from 2019 to 2023.

• Patel was accompanied by AIFF general secretary Kushal Das and senior vice-president Subrata Datta. FIFA Council member election was held during the 29th Asian Football Confederations (AFC) Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

INTERNATIONAL:

USD 1.7 trillion needed per year to build disaster-resilient infrastructure in Asia: ADB report

• As per a recent ADB report titled 'Asian Development Outlook 2019: Strengthening Disaster Resilience’, Developing economies across Asia are among the most vulnerable to natural disasters and have suffered damages estimated at 644 billion dollars since 2000.

• Of these, weather-related hazards caused the greatest share at 507 billion dollars (or 79 per cent) while geophysical hazards accounted for the remaining 137 billion dollars (or 21 per cent).

• To build disaster-resilient infrastructure, investment needs in developing Asia are estimated at 26 trillion dollars from 2016 to 2030, or 1.7 trillion dollars per year, including necessary investments in climate-change mitigation and adaptation.

NATIONAL:

L&Ts Proposal to Acquire Majority Stake in Mindtree approved by Competition Commission of India.

• Larsen and Toubro (L&T) received the approval to acquire up to 66.15 per cent stake in the Bangalore-based IT services firm Mindtree from Competition Commission of India (CCI). Around Rs 10,800 crore was the estimated total deal value.

A new seller-funding programme named Amazon Wings was launched by Amazon India.

• A new seller-funding programme named ‘Amazon Wings’  launched by Amazon India to help the small businesses and entrepreneurs to raise funds through the crowd funding platform.

• Amazon India sellers can use the Ketto’s platform for a subsidized fee which is around 50 percent to initiate fundraisers. With this initiative, the small businesses and entrepreneurs of this platform can raise the funds for their business expansion, product development, and foster innovation or community development.

•  They launched a dedicated microsite to feature fundraisers initiated by sellers by which they can raise small ticket funds starting from as little as Rs 50,000 by means of crowd-funding through multiple individuals.

Chennai Central has been renamed as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr M G Ramachandran Chennai Central after Dr. MG Ramachandran.

• Chennai Central railway station renamed by the Tamil Nadu State Government as Puratchi Thalaivar Dr MG Ramachandran Central Railway Station after late Chief Minister Dr. MG Ramachandran.

• Neeraj Sharma, Railway Executive Board Director notified that the change of name would be possible provided there should not be any inaugural event as a result of the election code of conduct. About Dr. MG Ramachandran Dr. Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 Jan 1917-24 Dec 1987) as MG Ramachandran or ‘Makkal Thilagam’ (since he was a popular figure) was a veteran filmmaker, actor and politician. 

• He served for 10 years as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (1977-1987). MG Ramachandran’s autobiography was posthumously published in 2003 (in two volunes) under the title ‘Naan Yaen Piranthaen (Why I was Born)’. His policies focused on economic growth and social welfare.

•  He brought in many educational reforms, banned liquor, upgraded the mid-day meal scheme and worked for the preservation for the state’s cultural heritage. For his immense contribution to public service, M G Ramachandran was posthumously honoured with Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award, by the Government of India in 1988.

AWARDS:

Tata Steel won 'Global Slag Company of the Year' award.

• The award has been presented to Tata Steel for its innovative practices in development of new applications for Steel by-products (Slag). The award was given at the 14th Global Slag Conference and Exhibition 2019, held recently in Aachen, Germany. The conference is one of the largest global annual slag event, attended by major steelmakers, steel mill service providers & associated companies.

AWARDS:

ESPN India Multi-Sport Awards 2018 announced, PV Sindhu and Neeraj conferred with Sportsperson of year award

• Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu and star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra were named as female and male sportsperson of the year in the ESPN India Multi-Sport Awards for their achievements in 2018. 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal won the award for the ‘Comeback of the Year’ after bagging the bronze at the 2018 Asian Games.

• ESPN Multi-Sport awards 2018 recognised achievements across 11 categories. Other Winners of the Award are:

♦ Coach of the Year - Jaspal Rana (shooting)

♦ Emerging Sportsperson of the Year - Saurabh Chaudhary (shooting)

♦ Team of the Year - Women’s team (table tennis)

♦ Match of the Year - Amit Panghal vs Hasanboy Dusmatov (boxing)

♦ Differently-abled athlete of the Year - Ekta Bhyan (para-athletics)

♦ Moment of the Year - Women’s 4x400m relay

♦ Lifetime Achievement Award - Pradip Kumar Banerjee (football).

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Important Current Affairs of 6th April

BANKS AND ECONOMICS:

Lakshmi Vilas Bank approves merger with India bulls Housing.

• The board of Lakshmi Vilas Bank approved a share swap acquisition by housing finance firm Indiabulls Housing Finance.

• The merged entity, Indiabulls Lakshmi Vilas Bank, will be among the top eight private banks by size and profitability. The merger will need the approval of the Reserve Bank of India and other regulators.

• As per the share swap ratio for the merger, for every 100 shares of Lakshmi Vilas Bank shareholders will get 14 shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance.

SPORTS:

Belgium retained top spot in the latest FIFA world football rankings.

• Belgium continues to dominate the charts with 1737 points. The top three positions are unchanged with World Cup winner France in second spot ahead of Brazil, in third. England rose above Croatia, to reach No 4 this month. Indian football team gained two places to rise to 101 in the FIFA rankings.

Indian women's Football team faces Nepal in Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 match.

• In Football, Indian women's team faces Nepal in their Olympic Qualifiers Round 2 match in Mandalay, Myanmar today. The match will begin at 2 PM Indian time. The two teams will be up against each other for the third time since February.

INTERNATIONAL:

Panel to be set up to oversee Essar Steels operations.

• Essar Steel's Committee of Creditors (COC) has set up a monitoring committee to oversee the operations of the steel firm and ensure a smooth transition to ArcelorMittal, the successful resolution applicant. 

• The monitoring committee is headed by resolution professional Satish Gupta and has four members from the lenders and three from ArcelorMittal. The lenders, SBI, IDBI Bank, ICICI and Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company, have their representatives as members of the monitoring committee.

•  The development comes after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) asked the COC to set up a monitoring committee to oversee the operations of the steel firm and smooth transition to ArcelorMittal.

NATIONAL:

Phayeng Village of Manipur becomes India’s first carbon-positive settlement

• A village is given the Carbon-Positive Tag if it sequesters more carbon than it emits, slowing the accumulation of greenhouse gases and mitigating the effects of climate change.

• As part of the carbon-positive village project, Phayeng will receive a grant of Rs10 crore in phases to facilitate afforestation in the catchment of river Maklang that flows along the village.

• Phayeng is a scheduled caste village of the Chakpa community in Imphal West district and its conservation efforts are mainly linked to the belief that the forest is a sacred grove. It is surrounded by three densely forested hillocks with fruit trees at center and a stream flowing through it.

NIIF and Roadis to set up platform for up to USD 2 billion in road projects.

• The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and global transport infrastructure operator Roadis are to jointly set up a platform to invest up to $2 billion of equity in road projects in India. The platform would target toll-operate-transfer models and acquisitions of existing road concessions.  Roadis is a fully owned subsidiary of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board which is one of Canada's largest pension funds.

Indian Navy to acquire 6 lethal submarines under Project-75 India at Rs 50,000 crore.

• Under Project 75-India, the Navy wants to build six conventional diesel-electric submarines which would be almost 50 per cent bigger than the under-construction Scorpene class submarines being built at the Mazagon Dockyards Limited in Mumbai. The submarines should have the ability to carry and launch 18 heavyweight torpedoes in the sea.

• For the Indian Navy, the Project 75I-class submarine is follow-on of the Project 75 Kalvari-class submarines. The submarines will be equipped with heavy-duty firepower as it wants the boats to have at least 12 Land Attack Cruise Missiles (LACM) along with Anti-Ship cruise missiles (ASCM).

Paytm Money Receives SEBI Approval To Start Stock Broking Services.

• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) given approval to Paytm Money the investment and wealth management platform of the mobile payments company to start offering booking services. It had applied for the licence in October 2018. Paytm Money also received membership of NSE and BSE.

APPOINTMENTS:

Vikram Kirloskar appointed as CIIs president.

• Vikram Kirloskar, CMD of Kirloskar Systems Ltd., and vice-chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor has assumed office as President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2019-20.

• He takes over from Rakesh Bharti Mittal, vice-chairman, Bharti Enterprises.  Uday Kotak, founder and MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, is the president-designate of CII for 2019-20. T.V. Narendran, CEO  & MD of Tata Steel Limited, takes over as CII vice-president for 2019-20.

Nasscom appoints Keshav Murugesh as CEO.

• IT industry body Nasscom has appointed WNS Global Services Group CEO Keshav Murugesh as its chairman for 2019-20. He takes over from his previous role as vice-chairman of Nasscom. He succeeds Rishad Premji (Wipro chief strategy officer and board member). Nasscom has appointed Infosys COO U.B. Pravin Rao as its vice-chairman for 2019-20.

Amal Clooney is appointed as the U.K.s special envoy on media freedom

• Amal Clooney has been appointed as the U.K.’s special envoy on media freedom. The appointment comes as the U.K.

• Prepares to host an international conference this July in the wake of attacks on journalists across the world.  Ms.Clooney will chair a panel of legal experts who will work to support countries to repeal outdated and draconian laws and strengthen legal mechanisms to protect journalists.

•  Among the steps that could be taken by the panel include making proposals to countries around national laws that don’t comply with international standards, particularly around issues such as blasphemy and stringent anti-defamation rules. 

• The panel will also prepare mechanisms that could be used internationally to raise the cost of non-compliance with international standards, such as advising on sanctions regime that could be put in place relating to regimes that abused journalists.

American David Malpass selected as the new President of the World Bank

• David Malpass is currently US Treasury Department's Under Secretary for International Affairs. He was a senior economic adviser to US President Donald Trump during his 2016 election campaign. The 63-year-old, nominated by Trump, was the only candidate for the job. Malpass succeeds Jim Yong-kim, who stepped down on February 1 to join an investment firm. Kristalina Georgieva, chief executive officer of the bank, has been acting as the interim President.

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Important Current Affairs of 2nd April

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

Eicher Motors Ltd. Vinod K.Dasari as the CEO of Royal Enfield.

• Eicher Motors Ltd. has appointed Vinod K. Dasari as the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Enfield. He will also join the board of Eicher Motors as executive director with immediate effect.

• He stepped down as MD and CEO of Ashok Leyland on March 31. He takes over from Siddhartha Lal, who will continue as the MD of Eicher Motors.  The company also plans to invest Rs.700 crore in capital expenditure for 2019-20. The planned expenditure will include completion of construction work of the Technology Centre, Phase-2 of the Vallam Vadagal plant in Tamil Nadu and towards the development of new platforms and products.

SPORTS:

Indian Badminton Tournament 2019 was held in New Delhi.

• The Indian Badminton Tournament 2019 was held at K. D. Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi from 26 to 31 March 2019 and had a total purse of $350,000. Champions of Indian Open Badminton 2019:

♦ Men's Singles: Viktor Axelsen (Denmark)

♦ Women's Singles: Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand)

♦ Men's Doubles: Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin (Chinese Taipei)

 ♦ Women's Doubles: Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu (Indonesia)

♦ Mixed Doubles: Wang Yilü and Huang Dongping (China) India's Srikanth Kidambi lost to Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 7-21, 20-22 in the men's singles summit clash.

India finish with 16 gold medals at Asian Airgun Championships.

• Indian shooters claimed five gold medals on the final day of the Asian Airgun Championships to sign off with a total of 25 medals in Taoyuan, Taipei.  India finished with 16 gold, five silver and four bronze medals.

• The next assignment for Indian shooters is scheduled at Al Ain, the United Arab Emirates where the International Shooting Sport Federation Shotgun World Cup stage. India finish with 16 gold medals at Asian Airgun Championships.

Manu Sawhney took over as ICC Chief Executive with immediate effect.

• India-born Manu Sawhney, the ex-CEO of Singapore Sports Hub and ex-Managing Director of ESPN Star Sports, has been working alongside the outgoing Chief Executive David Richardson for last six weeks to ensure a smooth transition. Richardson will remain with the International Cricket Council (ICC) until July to oversee the delivery of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.

Lewis Hamilton won Bahrain Grand Prix 2019.

• Lewis Hamilton won Bahrain Grand Prix 2019 title  He defeated Valtteri Bottas of Finland who secured the second position.  Charles Leclerc was finished with the third position and becoming Ferrari’s youngest ever race winner at the age of 21. About Bahrain Grand Prix 2019 First race took place at the Bahrain International Circuit on 4 April 2004. Number of times held: 15 First held:2004 Most wins (drivers): Germany Sebastian Vettel  Most wins (constructors): Italy Ferrari

NATIONAL:

Hump-backed Mahseer, a large freshwater fish added in 'Critically Endangered' list.

• Hump-backed Mahseer, also called the tiger of the water and found only in the Cauvery river basin (including Kerala’s Pambar, Kabini and Bhavani rivers) - is now “Critically Endangered”, as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

• There are about 16 species of mahseer in India. Maximum length  of fish will be 150 cm and a weight of 90 kg. The fish is considered as one of the 229 species from recent Red List which updated in November 2018. The threat status of 12 other Indian species, including great hornbills, has increased.

Odisha celebrated 84th foundation day on April 1, 2019.

• The day is also known as ‘Utkal Divas.’ Odisha was the first State to be formed on linguistic basis in 1936. Earlier, Odisha was part of Bihar.

India’s defense satellite EMISAT successfully launched by ISRO.

• The Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO, launched India’s latest satellite EMISAT and 28 other smaller satellites of international customers this morning with textbook precision.

•  The ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network at Bengaluru has assumed control of EMISAT satellite after its successful launch.

• The national space agency’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV-C45, carrying the payloads on board, lifted off from its spaceport, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota at 09:27 am. In a little over 17 minutes, the primary payload EMISAT was ed by the rocket at an altitude of 754 km, as planned.  In the coming days, the satellite will be brought to its final operational configuration.

Centre to set up Terror Monitoring Group (TMG) in J&K.

• The Union Home Ministry has announced setting up of a Terror Monitoring Group (TMG) to ensure synergised and concerted action against terror financing and terror-related activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

• TMG will act against all registered cases related to terror, terror financing and terror-related activities and bring them to a logical conclusion. It will identify all key persons including leaders of the organisations who are involved in supporting terrorism in any form and take concerted action against them.

• It will investigate the networks of various channels being used to fund terror and terror-related activities and take action to stop the flow of such funds.

• The seven-member TMG constitutes of members:

1. Headed by: Jammu and Kashmir additional director general of police (ADGP)

2. Intelligence Bureau (IB)

3. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

4. National Investigation Agency (NIA)

5. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)

6. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC)

7. Jammu and Kashmir police inspector-general

INTERNATIONALS:

China launched 2nd Generation data relay satellite, Tianlian II-01.

• The Tianlian II-01 satellite was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China's Sichuan Province. This is the first of China's second-generation data-tracking and relay satellites, which will provide services like data relay, measurement and control, and transmission to manned spacecraft, satellites, carrier rockets and non-spacecraft users.

Japan names new imperial era, set to begin on May 1, as 'Reiwa'.

• 'Reiwa' will be the name for the new era when Prince Naruhito succeeds his father Emperor Akihito, whose abdication on April 30 will end the 31-year 'Heisei' era (Since 1989). While 'Rei' means "good" and "beautiful" as well as "order" or "command", 'Wa' means "peace" or "harmony".

BANKS AND ECONOMICS:

Reserve Bank of India to inject USD 5 billion more liquidity into banking system

• Reserve Bank of India injects long-term liquidity worth USD 5 billion into the banking system through a dollar-rupee buy-sell swap for a tenure of three years on April 23, the second such auction within a month.

•  Earlier on March 26, the central bank had bought USD 5 billion through similar swap auction in a bid to ease liquidity ahead of elections. "In order to meet the durable liquidity needs of the system, the RBI has decided to inject Rupee liquidity for a longer duration through long-term foreign exchange Buy/Sell swap in terms of its extant Liquidity Management Framework,"

Bank of Baroda becomes 2nd largest PSU, 3rd largest bank in India.

• Bank of Baroda (BoB) became the second largest public sector undertaking (PSU) bank after merging Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank into itself as part of the first three-way amalgamation. BoB is now the third-largest bank after State Bank of India (SBI) and HDFC Bank. Following the merger, the number of PSBs has come down to 18.

•  The consolidated bank will have over 9,500 branches, 13,400 ATMs, 85,000 employees to serve 12 crore customers. The bank will have a business mix of Rs 15 lakh crore of balance sheet, with deposits and advances of Rs 8.75 lakh crore and Rs 6.25 lakh crore, respectively. Post-amalgamation, the bank will have a 22 per cent market share in Gujarat and 8-10 per cent market share in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Reliance Mutual Fund partnering with Google becomes the first Indian company to launch voice-based financial transactions

• Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management (RNAM) joined hands with Google to enable the customers of Reliance Mutual Fund to carry out voice-based financial transactions. RNAM becomes the first company in India, to provide a conversational interface that would help customers regarding funds transactions.

About RNAM 

♦ It is a joint venture between Anil Ambani-led Reliance Capital and Japan’s Nippon Life Insurance Co Ltd.

♦ CEO Sundeep Sikka

♦ Founded: 1995

DAYS:

World Autism Awareness Day is observed on 2nd April.

• World Autism Awareness Day is an internationally recognized day observed on 2nd April every year. The aim is to encourage member states of the United Nations to take measures to raise awareness about people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) throughout the world.

• The theme for 2019 is "Assistive Technologies, Active Participation". It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). World Autism Awareness Day was passed in council on 1 November 2007 and adopted on 18 December 2007. It was proposed by the United Nations representative from Qatar, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, Consort of His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar, and supported by all member states.

• World Autism Day is one of only seven official health-specific UN Days. The day itself brings individual autism organizations together all around the world to aid in things like research, diagnoses, treatment, and overall acceptance for those affected by this developmental disorder.

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Important Current Affairs 1st April 2019

BANKS AND ECONOMICS:

KIIFB raised Rs.2,150 crore via masala bonds.

• Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), a State government agency, said it has raised Rs.2,150 crore through its masala bond issue.

• This is not just the first-ever offshore capital market issuance from a State-level entity from India but also the largest dual currency issue by a sub-sovereign backed entity from emerging markets and Asia. The issue saw strong participation from investors.

RBI announced branches of Vijaya, Dena Bank to function as BoB outlets.

• Reserve Bank of India said that the branches of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will function as Bank of Baroda (BoB) outlets from April 1. This is after the amalgamation of the two lenders with Bank of Baroda (BoB).

•  The merger will be effective from April 1, 2019. Customers, including depositors of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank, will be treated as customers of BoB with effect from April 1.

INTERNATIONAL:

Russia has opened a helicopter training centre in Venezuela.

• Rosoboron export, Russia’s arms export company, has opened a training Centre for military helicopter pilots in Venezuela after Moscow flew in troops and equipment. The export wing of Russia’s arms corporation said that the helicopter training centre opened with Russian and Venezuelan specialists participating.

• The Centre that trains pilots to fly Russian-built Mil helicopters was built on the basis of a contract between Rosoboronexport and state-run Venezuelan Military Industrial Company Cavim. The announcement came after two Russian military planes landed a week ago at the main airport outside Caracas and offloaded equipment and troops. The military specialists are apparently helping to fix a malfunctioning Russian S-300 ground-to-air missile system.

Tesla Builds Its Largest Energy Storage System In Asia.

• Tesla developed its ‘largest power storage system in Asia’ at Osaka train station in Japan to reduce energy demand and provide emergency backup power to trains in Japan.  It was Launched in partnership with Kintetsu, a railway operator in Japan’s Osaka. About Tesla CEO: Elon Musk  Owner: Elon Musk Production output: 245,162 vehicles (2018) Founders: Elon Musk, Martin Eberhard, JB Straubel, Marc Tarpenning, Ian Wright 

GRSE becomes 'first' Indian shipyard to deliver 100 warships.

• Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) became the "first Indian shipyard" to build and deliver 100 warships. GRSE Chairman and Managing Director, Rear Admiral (Retd) V K Saxena, formally handed over the 100th warship -- 'IN LCU L-56' -- to the Indian Navy.

• In the last 59 years, the company has built around 780 platforms, including 100 warships to the Indian Navy, the Coast Guard, and the Mauritius Coast Guard. About GRSE: GRSE - Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers Ltd. It is one of India's leading shipyards. Located in: Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded: 1884.

NATIONAL:

Centre turned down Bengals request for paramilitary forces.

• The Ministry of Home Affairs has turned down Mamata Banerjee government’s plea to retain 35 companies of Central forces, adding up to over 3,000 paramilitary personnel posted in areas that were earlier dominated by the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist.

• The State government has since then written to the Ministry to reconsider the decision, noting that the move might re-ignite the Maoist problems in the region. In its reply, the Ministry had informed the State of its decision to pull out the 35 companies of Central forces and deploy them on election duty in other parts of West Bengal.

In a first, Meghalaya polling booths to get ballot papers in braille.

• For the first time in Meghalaya, braille-enabled ballot papers will be made available at all polling booths.  The ballot paper pasted on the EVMs will have the names and symbol of candidates in braille alphabets. The move will facilitate more than 800 visually impaired electorates to vote by a secret ballot.

ISRO opens its 1st visitors gallery to watch rocket launches.

• In a first, The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) opened a visitors' gallery with 5,000 capacity at Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota island. The gallery has a clear line of sight to two launch pads and large screens to explain launcher and satellite features. This comes as ISRO is launching defence satellite EMISAT along with 28 foreign satellites on April 1, 2019.

AWARDS AND HONOUR:

Dr Rajendra Joshi Conferred With Pravasi Bharatiya Samman.

• NRI scientist Dr Rajendra Joshi conferred with the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Award by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind.  The Indian Ambassador to Switzerland Sibi George handed over the award citation signed by the President to Dr Joshi at his residence in Switzerland.

SPORTS:

Roger Federer won Miami Open 2019 title.

• Switzerland’s Roger Federer defeats USA’s John Isner in straight sets to lift his 101st career title at the Miami Open 2019. Federer is now behind only America’s Jimmy Connors with 109 career singles titles. 

• Roger Federer has lifted his fourth title at the Miami Open. It is Swiss player’s 28th Masters’ title and the 101st overall for a player who has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles.

South Korea won Azlan Shah Cup by defeating India.

• India has lost to South Korea in the final of Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournament at Ipoh in Malaysia. South Korea lifted the title, defeating India in a shoot out 4-2. Hosts Malaysia defeated Canada 4-2 and secured the 3rd place.

• Asian games Gold medalist Japan stood at 5th place, defeating Poland 6-1.

APPOINTMENTS:

ECI apppointed Viswajeet as Intelligence Chief for AP.

• The Election Commission of India appointed Additional Director-General of Police Kumar Viswajeet as Intelligence Chief for Andhra Pradesh. A 1994 batch IPS officer, Mr. Viswajeet, is presently Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Level Police Recruitment Board (APSLPRB).

• He will take charge immediately. The top post fell vacant with the Election Commission transferring former Intelligence DG, A.B. Venkateswara Rao. The Intelligence wing plays a key role in guiding the police and the election authorities on mobilisation of forces in critical and cut-off villages.

Mahesh Singh is appointed the Flag Officer Commanding Karnataka Naval Area.

• National Defence Academy, Rear Admiral Mahesh Singh takes charge as the Flag Officer Commanding Karnataka Naval Area. Mahesh Singh is a post graduate from Defence Services Staff College and he headed Navigation and Direction School at Kochi and the Maritime Warfare Centre at Vishakhapatnam. He was a commissioned into the Indian Navy in January 1987.

Air Marshal NS Dhillon to be designated as new Strategic Forces Command (SFC) Chief.

• Fighter pilot Air Marshal Navkaranjit Singh Dhillon has been appointed as the new Strategic Forces Command Chief.  He will succeed in Jasbir Walia. He was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on December 1981. He has experience as a Commanding officer in MiG-21 Sqn and as a Chief Operating Officer of a premier flying base.

Executive Director of ICICI, Vijay Chandok appointed as MD and CEO of ICICI Securities 4.

• Executive Director of ICICI Bank, Vijay Chandhok appointed as MD and CEO of ICICI Securities, a subsidiary of ICICI bank. He will succeed Shilpa Naval Kumar. He joined the ICICI Group in 1993. At present, he is on the boards of ICICI Bank UK PLC and ICICI Bank Canada and is the Chairman of ICICI Investment Management Company.

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Important Current Affairs 31st March 2019

INTERNATIONAL:

Red Cross to aid Venezuela in two weeks.

• The Red Cross announced that it is to aid Venezuela in two weeks. It also said it would not allow any political “interference” in the operation.

• Francesco Rocca, head of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent said that the organisation would begin distributing aid that President Nicolás Maduro has to date refused to allow into the country, leaving it stockpiled since mid-February on the borders with Colombia and Brazil.

European Parliament bans single use plastic products.

• The European Parliament approved ban on single-use plastic products such as the straws, cutlery and cotton buds that are clogging the world's oceans.

• The law on single-use plastic ban sets a target to gather 90% of plastic for recycling by 2029 and mandates the production of plastic bottles with 25% recycled material by 2025 and 30% by 2030.

• The law also insists on polluters pay principle insisting polluters to pay the costs of a clean-up.  Single-use plastics, or disposable plastics, are used only once before they are thrown away or recycled.

• They are not usually biodegradable and goes into a landfill where it is buried or it gets into the water and finds its way into the ocean. They degrade into tiny particles after many years.

•  In this process of degradation, they release toxic chemicals which make their way into our food and water supply.

NATIONAL:

IAE report says rate of emission of CO2 increased in India.

• The International Energy Agency (IEA) report on Carbon dioxide emissions said that India emitted 2,299 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2018. The rate of growth of carbon dioxide emission in India was higher than that of the United States and China which are the two biggest emitters in the world.

• India's emissions carbon dioxide witnessed an increase of 4.8% rise from 2018. This increase in the emission of carbon dioxide was attributed to coal consumption.  China, the United States, and India accounted for nearly 70% of the rise in energy demand. India's per capita emissions were about 40% of the global average and contributed 7% to the global carbon dioxide burden whereas the largest emitter the United States was responsible for 14%.

• India has pledged to reduce the emissions intensity of its economy by 2030. But India's energy intensity improvement declined 3% from last year even as its renewable energy installations increased 10.6% from last year. As per estimates, India requires at least $2.5 trillion (Rs 150 trillion approx.) to implement its climate pledge which is around 71% of the combined required spending for all developing countries pledges.

Laurus Labs Limited partners with Global Funds.

• Laurus Labs Limited, Hyderabad-based pharma, has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Global Fund for a period of 3.5 years.

• The agreement gives Laurus Labs volume commitments for drugs from the Global Fund for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

• Global Fund has been created to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. It was created in 2002 to raise, manage and invest the world's money to respond to three of the deadliest infectious diseases the world has ever known. The aim of Global Fund is to defeat AIDS, TB and malaria which are all preventable and treatable.

Indian Army inducted 4 indigenous Dhanush Howitzer guns.

• Indian Army inducted 4 indigenous Dhanush Howitzer guns. The induction of Dhanush Howitzer guns gives major fire-power boost to the Indian Armed Forces. Dhanush Howitzers Long Range Artillery Guns are the first ever indigenous 155 mm x 45 calibre long-range artillery guns.

• Dhanush Long Range Artillery Guns are equipped with inertial navigation-based sighting system, auto-laying facility, on-board ballistic computation and an advanced day and night direct firing system. The self-propulsion unit on Dhanush allows the gun to negotiate and deploy itself in mountainous terrains with ease. Dhanush is also electronically upgraded to enhance firing accuracies, laying speeds of the existing gun and to provide compatibility with various kinds of ammunition as well.

Ministry for Health added new ruled to the Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules

• The Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare have added new ruled to the Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019 with an aim to promote clinical research in the country. The new rules reduce the time for approving applications to 30 days for drugs manufactured in India and 90 days for those developed outside the country

•  The new rules state that in case of no communication from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), the application will be deemed to have been approved. The new rules will ensure patient safety, as they would be enlisted for trials with informed consent and the ethics committee will monitor the trials and decide on the amount of compensation in cases of adverse events.

• The rules also waive off the requirement of a local clinical trial if the drug is approved and marketed in countries specified by the DCGI with the approval of government from time to time and certain other conditions.  The new rules aim to promote clinical research in India by providing for a predictable, transparent and effective regulation for clinical trials and by ensuring faster accessibility of new drugs to the Indian population.

Centre leaves interest rate on Small Saving Schemes unchanged.

• The Ministry of Finance has announced that it will keep the interest rate unchanged on small savings schemes for the three-month period beginning April 1.

• The announcement covers small-saving schemes such as:

 ♦ Post Office Saving Accounts 

♦ Post Office Time Deposits 

♦ National Saving Certificates (NSC)

♦ Public Provident Fund (PPF)

♦ Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP)

♦ Sukanya Samriddhi The unchanged interest rate means the NSC (5 years) and the PPF (15 years) will fetch 8% interest, while money deposited in KVP will double in little over nine years. At the same time, if one is parking money in a fixed deposit with a maturity of five years with the State Bank of India, he/she will get 6.85%. Senior citizens will get half a percent more: 7.35%.

GAIL and BHEL signed to development of Solar Power Projects.

• State-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd has signed MoU with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) for cooperation in the development of solar power projects.

• It aims at building a closer strategic partnership between the two Maharashtra PSUs for jointly pursuing commercial solar power projects through participation in tariff / Viability Gap Funding (VGF) based competitive bidding process.

SPORTS:

Justice D.K. Jain to be the Ethics Officer of the Indian cricket board.

• Supreme Court-appointed BCCI Ombudsman Justice D.K.Jain (retd) has been appointed to serve as the Ethics Officer of the Indian cricket board on an ad-hoc basis. According to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), provisions in its constitution require an Ethics Officer to be appointed to determine and decide issues related to conflict of interest.

BANKS AND ECONOMICS:

Centre to infuse Rs.5,042 crore into BoB.

• The Finance Ministry has decided to infuse Rs.5,042 crore into state-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) ahead of the merger of two other public sector lenders Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with BoB. The merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda would be effective from April 1.

PNB sells 13.01 percent stake in Housing Finance Arm for Rs.1851.60 crore

• State-owned lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) had sold stake in its housing finance arm, PNB Housing Finance (PNBHF) to General Atlantic Group and VardePartners for Rs 1,851 crore at Rs.850 per share.

• Both VardePartners and General Atlantic Group will buy 1.089 crore shares each at Rs 850 per share in the housing finance company from Punjab National Bank. After the transaction, Punjab National Bank will continue to hold a strategic stake of 19.78% in the housing finance company and will remain the promoter and strategic shareholder of the company.

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Important Current Affairs of 30th March

INTERNATIONAL:

New method to purify water used in oil refinement.

• Scientists, including one of Indian origin, have developed a process to remove nearly all traces of oil in produced water -- a byproduct from the oil refinery and extraction process. About 2.5 billion gallons of produced water is generated each day in the US.

• Handling that water is a major challenge in the oil refinery industry, particularly because it is deemed unusable for household and commercial use because of remaining contaminants. Researchers at Purdue University in the US have developed a process to remove nearly all traces of oil in produced water.

MOUS AND MEMORANDOM:

India & Bolivia Sign 8 MoUs In Various Fields Including Culture, Mining, Space.

• President Ram Nath Kovind conferred with the highest State honour of Bolivia, “Condor de Los Andes en el Grado de Gran Collar” during his visit to Bolivia. President of Bolivia Evo Morales awarded him the Honour at a function held in Santa Cruz.

• On the second day of President’s three-day visit to Bolivia, India and Bolivia signed eight MoUs in the fields of culture, Visa waiver arrangement for diplomats, exchange between diplomatic academies, mining, space, traditional medicine, establishment of Centre of Excellence in IT and Bi-Oceanic Railway project.

• India offered a 100 million US Dollar Line of Credit to Bolivia for financing development projects. Both countries also agreed on the need for reform of the UN Security Council to make it reflective of contemporary realities. President is in Bolivia on the 2nd leg of his 3 nation tour.

NATIONAL:

Adani Becomes 1st Indian Port Operator To Record 200 MMT Cargo Movement:

• Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) that it has recorded cargo movement of more than 200 million metric tonnes (MMT) at nine ports along the east and west coasts, becoming the first Indian port operator to achieve the milestone. "Our projections were to reach this milestone by 2020 but we could achieve it ahead of schedule, courtesy the tech-driven operational efficiency and enhanced asset utilisation.

IIT Kharagpur, Wipro Partner For Research In 5G and AI.

• Wipro Limited (Bengaluru Based), a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur), signed an MoU to collaborate on high-impact, industry-focused applied research in the areas of 5G and AI. Research outcomes from this partnership will be leveraged by Wipro to develop solutions for its customers, across industry verticals.

ECI appoints Special Central Police Observer for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

• Election Commission of India has appointed Shree K K Sharma (IPS 1982 Retd DG Border Security Force) as the Central Police Observer for the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Chief Electoral Officer of Assam Mukesh Sahu launched a new initiative called the Enajori in Guwahati

• Chief Electoral Officer of Assam Mukesh Sahu launched a new initiative called ‘the Enajori’ at Janata Bhawan, Dispur in Guwahati for persons with disabilities with an aim that ‘No Voter to be Left behind’. The initiative to make Lok Sabha Elections accessible to Persons with Disability (PwD) voters is a joint initiative of Assam CEO and Social Welfare Department.

Hyper local connectivity app Bhonga initiated in Mumbai.

• A hyper-local connectivity app called “Bhonga” developed by Mumbai-based Company Linkus Infratech, to connect users to their neighborhood people in the city even without an Internet connection. “Bhonga” is a Marathi word which means megaphone or loudspeaker.

• This app automatically provides the lists the user living within the radius of one kilometre. The app supports voice notes as well as photos. Anyone can open their phone and send a message that is delivered to other users in the neighborhood, wherever they are.

PFC has been named as the Indias second largest Govt-owned Financial Firm after SBI

• After acquiring a majority stake in REC Ltd (formerly Rural Electrification Corporation Limited), center backed Power Finance Corporation (PFC) become India’s second largest Govt-owned Financial Firm after State Bank of India (SBI), based on market capitalization. PFC has bought the 52.63% controlling stake in REC through Rs 14,500 crore deal with Union government.

• The REC’ shares were acquired at Rs139.50 per equity share price. 70% of the deal was financed through cash inflows and the balance through debt

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