Daily news 4 April 2018

National News

1. Suresh Prabhu Launches Digital Initiative for Ease of Export

i. Union Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu launched digital initiatives by Export Inspection Council (EIC) for ease of export at New Delhi.
ii. EIC is the official export certification body of Government of India and has launched this flagship project of Digital India Initiative to keep pace with changing dynamics of the world.
iii. Three portals have been developed to reduce transaction time and cost in a transparent manner. The portals will play an important role in the Go Green initiative by reducing paper usage and saving millions of trees.

2. HRD Ministry Releases ‘NIRF India Rankings 2018’

i. The Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr Prakash Javadekar, released the NIRF (National Institute of Ranking Framework) India Rankings 2018 in various categories on the basis of performance of Higher Educational Institutions in a programme held in New Delhi.
ii. The top 3 Overall Institutes in India are:
1. Indian Institute of Science (IISc Bengaluru),
2. Indian Institute of Technology Madras,
3. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.
iii. The top 3 Universities in India are- 
1. Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru,
2. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi,
3. Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi.

3. India-Japan-US Trilateral Talks Held in New Delhi

i. The crucial dialogue between the three leading democratic powers (viz. India, Japan and the USA) of the Indo-Pacific region was held in New Delhi.
ii. The India-Japan-US trilateral was launched in December 2011. It was elevated to ministerial level in September 2015. The last ministerial dialogue was held in New York in September 2017.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

Japan Capital- Tokyo, Currency- Japanese yen, Prime Minister- Shinzo Abe.

US Capital- Washington D.C., Currency- American dollar, President- Donald Trump.



4. Trial Run of 1st India-Bangladesh Container Train Flagged Off

i. The trial run of the first container train between India and Bangladesh was flagged off from Kolkata city. 
ii. The train left for Bangladesh with 60 containers loaded with almost 1,200 tonnes of de-oiled cake, used as a raw material for animal feed.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

Bangladesh PM- Sheikh Hasina, Capital- Dhaka, Currency- Bangladeshi Taka.

5. HRD Ministry Constitutes Committee to Prevent Exam Paper Leakages

i. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has constituted a High Powered Committee to examine the entire system of conducting Class X and Class XII examination conducted by the CBSE with a view to prevent leakages.
ii. Mr Vinay Sheel Oberoi, Retd. Secretary (Higher Education), MHRD will be the Chairperson of the 7 member High Power Committee.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

Prakash Javadkar is the Present Union Minister of HRD.

Banking News

6. MoU Between Indian Army and HDFC Bank

i. An MoU was signed between the Indian Army and HDFC Bank on the Defence Salary Package. The first MoU between HDFC Bank and the Indian Army was signed in 2011 and was renewed in Mar 2015.
ii. Under the current MoU apart from other benefits the Army personnel will get free personal accident death cover and free permanent disability cover of Rs 30 lakhs, free educational cover of upto Rs 1 Lakh per year for four years for education of dependent child in case of accidental death of defence personnel and 100% processing fees waived for Car Loans and Personal Loans. 

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

HDFC Bank- India’s largest private bank by market capitalization

HDFC Bank Chairman- Aditya Puri.





Reserve Bank of India labelled HDFC Bank as ‘domestic systematically important bank’ - in other words, 'too big to fail'.





General Bipin Rawat is the present Chief of Indian Army.



7. Jio Payments Bank Limited Commences Operations

i. Jio Payments Bank Limited has commenced operations as a payments bank. The Reserve Bank has issued a licence to the bank under Section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to carry on the business of payments bank in India.
ii. Reliance Industries Limited, Mumbai was one of the 11 applicants which were issued in-principle approval for setting up a payments bank.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

Telecom major Bharti Airtel was the first to begin payment bank services in November 2016.

8. IndusInd Bank Gets RBI Nod to Acquire IL&FS Arm

i. Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has received RBI's approval to buy the securities services arm of IL&FS. 
ii. In March 2017, the bank entered an agreement with Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services, the promoter shareholder of IL&FS Securities Services Ltd (ISSL), to acquire 100% stake in ISSL.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

IndusInd Bank commenced operations in 1994

IndusInd Bank Chairman- R. Seshasayee, Headquarter- Mumbai, Owner- Hinduja Group.

Sports News

9. Commonwealth Games 2018 Starts at Gold Coast in Australia

i. The 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games begun in Gold Coast, Australia, with a colourful opening ceremony. 
ii. Carrara Stadium has been chosen as the venue to host the opening ceremony. These Games marked the 5th time that Australia has hosted the games. India was represented at the opening ceremony by a contingent of over 200 athletes who were led by flag-bearer P V Sindhu.  

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

Australia Capital- Canberra, Currency- Australian Dollar, Prime Minister- Malcolm Turnbull

Daily news 6 April 2018

National News

1. Nepal PM K P Sharma Oli on 3-day Visit to India

i. Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli has begun his three-day visit to India. According to the External Affairs Ministry, the visit will provide an opportunity to review wide-ranging cooperative partnership and to progress it further.
ii. PM Oli will also visit G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

Nepal Capital- Kathmandu, Currency- Nepalese rupee, President- Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister- Khadga Prasad Oli.

2. National Maritime Day: 5 April

i. The 55th edition of National Maritime Day was celebrated all over India. NMD is celebrated on 5th April every year since 1964.
ii. The theme for National Maritime Day 2018 is: ‘Indian Shipping – An Ocean of opportunity’. 

3. Coal Ministry Launches UTTAM App For Quality Monitoring

i. The Union Minister for Railways and Coal Shri Piyush Goyal launched UTTAM App for Coal Quality Monitoring. UTTAM stands for – Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal.
ii. The Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited (CIL) developed UTTAM. It aims to
provide an App for all citizens and coal consumers to monitor the process of Third Party Sampling of coal across CIL subsidiaries.

4. Global Logistics Summit Held in New Delhi

i. The Global Logistics Summit was held in New Delhi. It was organised by the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, along with FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry) and the World Bank Group.
ii. According to the Union Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, 56 new airports will be ready for operation in the next few years.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

World Bank President- Jim Yong Kim, Headquarter- Washington DC.

5. Delhi-Pathankot Flight Under UDAN Scheme Inaugurated

i. Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated first flight from Delhi to Pathankot (Punjab), at a ceremony held at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. 
ii. The Pathankot airport has been opened by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to improve regional connectivity as per the UDAN Scheme. Pathankot in Punjab state is the 21st airport in the country, which got operational for passengers.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

UDAN is a Regional Connectivity Scheme stands for Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagarik.

Under UDAN, air connectivity is provided to unserved and underserved airports at a subsidized fare.





The Chairman of Airports Authority of India is Guruprasad Mohapatra.



6. India 3rd Most Vulnerable Country to Cyber Threats

i. India emerged as the third most vulnerable country in terms of risk of cyber threats, such as malware, spam and ransomware, in 2017, according to a report by security solutions provider Symantec.
ii. In 2017, 5.09% of global threats detected were in India. The U.S. (26.61%) was most vulnerable to such attacks, followed by China (10.95%), according to ‘Internet Security Threat Report’.

7. Sahyog- Hyeoblyeog 2018: Indian, Korean Coast Guards Hold Joint Exercise

i. Indo-Korean joint anti-piracy, search and rescue exercise ‘Sahyog- Hyeoblyeog 2018’ was conducted off the Chennai coast, in Tamil Nadu. The Korean Coast Guard ship ‘Bodaro’ took part in the exercise.
ii. Indian Coast Guard deployed a Dornier aircraft to carry out a sea-air coordinated search along with ICG Shaurya, Rani Abbakka, C-423, C-431 in the exercise.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

Director General of Indian Coast Guard is Rajendra Singh and Commissioner of Korean Coast Guard is General Park Kyung.

International News

8. Turkey Hosts Critical Summit on Syria War With Russia and Iran

i. The presidents of Iran, Turkey and Russia met for their second tripartite summit in under six months, aiming to speed the peace process for Syria and bolster their influence in the country.
ii. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted his Russian and Iranian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani in Ankara for a meeting that could have a critical bearing on developments in Syria.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

Iran Capital- Tehran, Currency- Iranian Rial.

Turkey Capital- Ankara, Currency- Turkish lira.





Russia Capital- Moscow, Currency- Russian ruble.



9. India and Azerbaijan Ink 2 Agreements

i. India and Azerbaijan have inked two documents for the visa waiver for diplomatic, official and service passports holders and cooperation between diplomatic training institutes.
ii. The agreements were signed during the ongoing visit of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to that country. Ms Swaraj is there to be part of 18th NAM Ministerial Conference in Baku.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

President of Azerbaijan- Ilham Aliyev, Capital- Baku, Currency- Azerbaijani manat.

Business News

10. FIEO and PayPal Inks MoU

i. Digital payments company PayPal and the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) signed an agreement for the promotion of outbound shipments among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) leveraging the partners' expertise and technology products.
ii. As part of the agreement, PayPal will work with FIEO to educate SMEs on how to
leverage global opportunities, help them receive money in a safe and timely manner with PayPal products. FIEO contributes to more than 70% of India's exports.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) headquarters in New Delhi.

Ganesh Kumar Gupta is the President of FIEO.

Sports News

11. CWG 2018: Weightlifter Sanjita Chanu Wins India’s 2nd Gold Medal

i. Weightlifter Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu has delivered India its second gold medal of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast City, Australia by dominating the women’s 53kg event.
ii. The defending champion, Loa Dika Toua of Papua New Guinea, claimed silver with a total lift of 182 and bronze went to Canada’s Rachel Leblanc-Bazinet who finished with a combined effort of 181kg.

12. CWG 2018- Deepak Lather Becomes Youngest Weightlifter to Win Medal

i. Teenager Deepak Lather became the youngest Indian (18 Yrs old) weightlifter to claim a Commonwealth Games medal, clinching a bronze in the men’s 69kg category. 
ii. He held the 62kg category national record at 15. 

13. Mithali Raj Becomes Most Capped Player in Women's ODIs

i. Indian women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj has become the most capped player in women's ODI cricket after turning out for the 192nd time against England.
ii. Raj, who is also the highest run-getter in WODIs, overtook former England captain Charlotte Edwards, who had appeared in 191 WODIs. Indian fast bowler Jhulan Goswami is the third-most capped WODI player.

Daily news 5 april 2018

National News

1. Important Cabinet Approvals- 04th April 2018

i. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given the following set of approvals. The important Cabinet Approvals are given as follows-
ii. The Cabinet has approved-
1. Cooperation Arrangement between India and Afghanistan for cooperation in the field of food safety and related areas,
2. MoU between India and Iran on the establishment of an expert group on trade remedy measures
Find More Cabinet Approvals Here

2. Cabinet Approves Protection of Human Rights (Amendments) Bill, 2018 

i. The Union Cabinet has given its approval to the Protection of Human Rights (Amendments) Bill, 2018 for better protection and promotion of human rights in the country.
ii. Salient Features of the Bill are as follows:

It proposes to include “National Commission for Protection of Child Rights” as deemed Member of the Commission;

It proposes to add a woman Member in the composition of the Commission;





It proposes to enlarge the scope of eligibility and scope of selection of Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission as well as the State Human Rights Commission; and





It proposes to incorporate a mechanism to look after the cases of human rights violation in the Union Territories.

International News

3. EAM Sushma Swaraj on 3-Day Visit to Azerbaijan

i. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has begun her three-day visit to Azerbaijan to participate in the Mid-Term Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Baku. 
ii. Ms Swaraj held bilateral consultations with the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov. 

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

President of Azerbaijan- Ilham Aliyev, Capital- Baku, Currency- Azerbaijani manat.

4. Russia Starts Building Turkey's 1st Nuclear Power Plant

i. The Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK) was awarded a construction licence for Akkuyu NPP, Turkey's first nuclear power plant, which is being built in Mersin province, in southern Turkey. JSC Akkuyu Nuklear is the Russian-owned company which is responsible for the project.
ii. The USD20 billion project to build the four-unit, 4800 MWe plant is part of Erdogan's '2023 Vision' marking 100 years since the founding of modern Turkey and is intended to reduce the country's dependence on energy imports. 

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

Turkey Capital- Ankara, Currency- Turkish lira, President- Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Economy/Business News

5. 1st Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement Released by RBI

i. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.0%.
ii. Consequently, the Reverse Repo Rate (RRR) under the LAF remains at 5.75%, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.25%. India’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth marginally upward to 6.6% from 6.5% in the first advance estimates. 
iii. Retail inflation, measured by the year-on-year change in the CPI, fell from a high of 5.1% in January to 4.4% in February due to a decline in inflation in food and fuel. CPI inflation excluding food and fuel remained unchanged at 5.2%.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for Syndicate Bank PO 2018 Exam-

Dr Urjit Patel is the 24th Governor of RBI.

RBI Headquarters in Mumbai.



6. Flipkart Partners With MakeMyTrip to Offer Travel Services

i. Homegrown e-commerce giant Flipkart has forged a strategic partnership with online travel company MakeMyTrip to offer travel services on its platform.
ii. Additionally, the services of MakeMyTrip's other brands, Goibibo and redBus, will be available to Flipkart consumers as part of the deal.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

Flipkart CEO- Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Headquarters- Bengaluru.

Appointments

7. Subrata Bhattacharjee Appointed as Next Ambassador of India to Serbia

i. Subrata Bhattacharjee has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Serbia.
ii. He is an IFS poffice of 1989 batch. He is currently Joint Secretary in Ministry of External Affairs

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

Serbia Capital- Belgrade, Currency- Serbian dinar.

8. SBI Life Appoints Sanjeev Nautiyal As New MD & CEO

i. SBI Life Insurance has appointed Sanjeev Nautiyal as its new Managing Director and CEO. He replaces Arijit Basu, who takes over a key role in the State Bank of India Group.
ii. Nautiyal started his career with State Bank of India in 1985 as a probationary officer in the bank’s Lucknow Circle.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

SBI Life Insurance is a joint venture life insurance company between State Bank of India and and BNP Paribas Cardif.

It headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra.



9. Himanta Biswa Sarma Elected BAI President

i. Assam Health and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was unanimously elected the Badminton Association of India (BAI) President during its annual general body meeting in Goa.
ii. Ajay Kumar Singhania was elected the Secretary General of BAI. Mr Sarma had taken over as the interim BAI President in 2017 after the demise of Akhilesh Das Gupta. He will serve for four years.

Sports News

10. CWG 2018: Mirabai Chanu Wins India’s First Gold Medal

i. Weightlifter and current world champion Mirabai Chanu has clinched India’s first gold medal of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Mirabai Chanu becomes the first Indian to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2018.
ii. After finishing with the best lift of 86 kg in the snatch round, the 23-year-old finished with a total score of 196 points. She competed in the 48 kg category.

11. CWG 2018: Weight Lifter P. Gururaja Wins Silver

i. On the first day of competitions at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018, in Australia, India began their campaign with a Silver Medal in Weightlifting. In the 56 kilogram category, P Gururaja lifted a total weight of 249 kg to finish second in the event.
ii. The 25-year old Gururaja equalled his personal best. Malaysia took the Gold, while Sri Lanka settled for the Bronze.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

Australia Capital- Canberra, Currency- Australian Dollar, Prime Minister- Malcolm Turnbull