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CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS
World Immunization Week
- The World Immunization Week 2019 is being observed worldwide between April 24 and April 30 to promote the importance of vaccination and immunization. The Day is initiated by the efforts of World Health Organisation.
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CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
Finance Ministry ratifies 8.65% interest on EPF for 2018-19
- The Finance Ministry has approved 8.65 per cent rate of interest on Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) for 2018-19 as decided by retirement fund body EPFO, benefitting more than 6 crore formal sector workers.
- The Department of Financial Services (DFS), a wing of Finance Ministry, has given its concurrence to Employees Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) decision to provide 8.65 per cent rate of interest for 2018-19 to its subscribers.
- The EPFO had provided a five-year low interest rate of 8.55 per cent to its subscribers for 2017-18.
ICMR launches ‘MERA India’ to eliminate malaria from India by 2030
- The Indian Council of Medical Research has launched the ‘Malaria Elimination Research Alliance (MERA) India’ – a conglomeration of partners working on malaria control – in order to prioritise, plan and scale up research to eliminate the disease from India by 2030.
- The National Vector Borne Diseases Control Program (NVBDCP) of India has developed a comprehensive framework to achieve the overarching vision of “Malaria free India by 2030”.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL
World Health Organization Issues First-Ever Screen Time Guidelines for Young Kids
- The World Health Organization has issued its first-ever guidance for how much screen time children under 5.The U.N. health agency said that kids under 5 should not spend more than one hour watching screens every day.
- That group recommends children younger than 18 months should avoid screens other than video chats.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE
RBI to introduce new Rs. 20 banknote
- The Reserve Bank of India announced it will “shortly” issue banknotes of Rs 20 denomination in the Mahatma Gandhi (new) series.
- The new Rs. 20 note will feature a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi on the front and a motif of the Ellora caves on the back, “depicting the country’s cultural heritage”,
- The RBI said the base colour of the note is greenish yellow. It will bear the signature of RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
- Dimension of the banknote will be 63 mm x 129 mm
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS
Microsoft becomes world’s third company to be worth $1 trillion
- Microsoft has reached a valuation of one trillion dollars for the first time after posting a 19pc increase in profits.
- It makes Microsoft only the third publicly-traded company in history to reach the threshold, after Apple and Amazon passed it
- Apple was the first to hit the historic mark in August, followed by Amazon, which operates cloud-computing services that compete with Microsoft
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION
Javier Perez-Tasso appointed as SWIFT Chief Executive Officer
- The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has named Javier Pérez-Tasso as its new CEO.
- He will replace the present CEO Gottfried Leibbrandt on July 01, 2019.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE
Army starts process to induct women as jawans in military police
- Opening up a new avenue for females, the Indian Army kicked off the process of inducting women as jawans by starting their online registration for recruitment in the corps of military police.
- This is being seen as a major breakthrough for women in armed forces as so far, they were being inducted only as officers and this is the first time they would be taken in as soldiers.
- Women will be inducted in a graded manner to eventually comprise 20 per cent of total Corps of Military Police and their role would range from probing crime cases to assisting the Army in field operations wherever required.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
First Marsquake detected by NASA’s InSight mission
- The American space agency’s InSight lander appears to have detected its first seismic event on Mars.
- It is the first seismic signal detected on the surface of a planetary body other than the Earth and its Moon.
- “Marsquake” could either be movement in a crack inside the planet or the shaking from a meteorite impact.
- It aims to identify multiple quakes, to help build a clearer picture of Mars’ interior structure.
Japan creates first artificial crater on asteroid
- Japanese scientists have succeeded in creating what they called the first-ever artificial crater on an asteroid, a step towards shedding light on how the solar system evolved.
- The announcement comes after the Hayabusa2 probe fired an explosive device at the Ryugu asteroid early this month to blast a crater in the surface and scoop up material, aiming to reveal more about the origins of life on Earth.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU
Wirecard Expands Partnership with India’s RBL Bank to Further Drive Financial Inclusion
- The new services are powered by India’s Aadhaar Enabled Payment Services (AEPS) to enable customer identification at the point-of-sale Wirecard, the global innovation leader in digital financial technology, announced an expanded partnership with RBL Bank to promote financial inclusion in India.
- This partnership will make digital payment and banking transactions more readily accessible to all Indian citizens, including those living in remote areas. In partnership with RBL, Wirecard will empower its retail agents, who serve as customer service representatives in various areas across the country, to enable the financially underserved to access basic payment and banking services.
- These include cash withdrawals and deposits as well as balance enquiries.
Aegon Life and MobiKwik launch a smart digital insurance product
- Aegon Life Insurance, pioneer of digital insurance in India and MobiKwik, India’s leading FinTech Company; have joined hands to launch an Rs 20 smart digital insurance product.
- The strategic partners have announced the launch of an assorted insurance product called the Aegon Life Group Term Plus Plan with both death and accidental disability benefit, available exclusively on MobiKwik App.
- One can purchase this plan by paying as little as Rs 20 in premium for a sum assured of Rs 2 lakhs which includes term insurance and accidental disability.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS
Advani wins inaugural Asian Snooker Tour title
- India’s ace cueist Pankaj Advani defeated Ehsan Heydari Nezhad of Iran 6-4 to claim the inaugural Asian Snooker Tour title.
- Advani had earlier won the second leg of the Tour in China.
- The Tour was held in three parts and played in Doha (Qatar), Jinan (China) and Bengaluru (India).
Stéphanie Frappart to become first female referee in France’s top football league
- Stephanie Frappart will become the first woman to referee a French Ligue 1 football match when Amiens host Strasbourg on Sunday (April 28).
- Stephanie Frappart, selected by FIFA for the Women’s World Cup in France, has been appointed by the FFF Refereeing Direction for the match on the 34th day of Ligue 1 between Amiens SC and RC Strasbourg.
- She will also be the only referee from France who will be officiating at the Women’s World Cup to be held there this June.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY
Terry Rawling passed away
- The editor who cut two of the most iconic movies in sci-fi history has died. Terry Rawlings, who worked as an editor with director Ridley Scott on Alien, Blade Runner, and Legend, has passed away at the age of 85