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CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS
World Day for Safety and Health at Work
- This day is observed on 28 April every year by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) since 2003. This day marks how to improve occupational safety, health and looks for continuing these efforts through several changes like technology, demographics, climate change etc.
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| Theme 2019 | Safety and Health and the future of work |
World Veterinary Day
- World Veterinary Day is observed on 28 April globally to raise awareness in the public about the important roles veterinarian’s plays. This day is created by the World organisation for Animal Health and the World Veterinary Association.
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| Theme 2019 | Value of Vaccination |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
Government hikes customs duty on wheat to 40%
- The government has hiked the customs duty on wheat to 40 percent from 30 percent to curb imports and protect the domestic industry.
- The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has hiked the basic customs duty (BCD) on wheat to 40 percent.
- In May last year, the government had hiked BCD on wheat to 30 percent from 20 percent.
- The country’s wheat production this season might cross 100 million tonnes, an all-time high. The output stood at record 99.70 million tonnes in the 2017-18 crop year (July-June).
CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL
Beijing Hosts Second Belt and Road Forum
- The second edition of Belt and Road Forum (BRF) was held in Beijing, China from April 25th to April 27th, 2019 in which 37 heads-of-state and 159 countries had participated along with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterresand International Monetary Chief (IMF) Christine Lagarde.
- The theme of this event was“Belt and Road Cooperation: Shaping a Brighter Shared Future”.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE
RBI extends deadline for legal entity identification
- The RBI extended the deadline for Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) codes for participation in non-derivative markets. Now, the deadline for entities with net worth of over 1,000 crore to get the code is December 31, 2019, against the earlier deadline of April 30 this year.
- This is also the deadline for those with net worth between 200 crore and Rs. 1,000 crore, while for entities with net worth of less than Rs. 200 crore, the deadline has been extended to March 31, 2020.
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| RBI Headquarters | Mumbai |
| RBI Governor | Shaktikant Das |
| RBI Deputy Governor | BP Kanungo, N S Vishwanathan, Viral Acharya and Mahesh Kumar Jain |
RBI extends ombudsman scheme to non-deposit taking NBFCs
- Reserve Bank of India has announced to extend the ambit of Ombudsman scheme for NBFCs to all eligible non-deposit taking NBFCs as well. The scheme which lays down rules for redressal mechanism in cases of customer complaints was earlier applicable only to deposit-taking NBFCs.
- All Non-Deposit Taking Non-Banking Financial Companies having customer interface, with assets size of Rupees 100 crore or above will come within the ambit, and shall comply with the provisions of the Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies.
- The scheme still excludes various NBFC groups such as Infrastructure Finance Companies (NBFC-IFC), Core Investment Company (CIC), Infrastructure Debt Fund-Non-Banking Financial Company (IDF-NBFC) and also NBFCs under liquidation.
Sebi fixes minimum net worth for clearing corporations at IFSC
- The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has prescribed that all recognised clearing corporations in International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), need to maintain Rs. 50 crore net worth in the form of liquid assets on commencement of operations.
- SEBIhas announced that the minimum Net worth Requirements for Clearing Corporations in International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) over a period of three years from the commencement of operations should be at least Rs 100 Crore. This has been reduced from Rs. 300 crore earlier.
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| Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) |
| SEBI Headquarters | Mumbai |
| SEBI Chairman | Ajay Tyagi |
Canara Bank, Canara HSBC OBC Life launch ‘Webassurance’
- Public sector lender Canara Bank and its life insurance partner Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance announced the launch of ’Webassurance’.
- Four life insurance products of Canara HSBC OBC Life would be made available to customers of Canara Bank, covering the key needs of child future, savings and investments, retirement planning and protection.
- Canara HSBC OBC Life is jointly owned by two public sector banks Canara Bank (51 per cent) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (23 per cent) and HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings (26 per cent), the Asian insurance arm of banking and financial services groups HSBC.
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| Canara Bank CEO | Karnam Sekar |
| Tagline | Together We Can |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru |
IRDAI forms panel to review microinsurance framework
- The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has set up a committee to review the regulatory framework on microinsurance and recommend measures to increase the demand for such products.
- With IRDAI Executive Director Suresh Mathur as the chairman, the 13-member panel has been tasked with suggesting product designs with customer-friendly underwriting, including easy premium payment methods and simple claims settlement procedures.
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| IRDAI- Regulatory and Development Authority of India |
| Chairperson | Subhash Chandra Khuntia |
| IRDAI Headquarters | Hyderabad |
HDFC Bank and Max Bupa launch AnyTimeHealth machines to distribute health insurance products
- HDFC Bank and Max Bupa (insurance company) have launched a ‘‘AnyTimeHealth (ATH)’ machines.
- ATH machine is completely automated, technology-based model which allows customers to avail health assessment and buy a policy instantly, without any manual intervention.
- In the phase-1, 15-20 ATH machines will be installed at HDFC Bank branches across multiple cities.
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| HDFC Bank CEO | Aditya Puri |
| Headquarters | Mumbai |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS
Ex-South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis receives Ikhamanga Award
- Ex-South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis has been honoured with the Order of Ikhamanga in the Silver Division.
- The national honour is bestowed by the President of South Africa on citizens who have made significant contributions to arts, literature, music, journalism, culture and sports.
- Kallis has been rewarded for his successful cricketing career – the former Protea played 166 Tests, 328 ODIs and 25 T20Is, returning 62 hundreds and 577 wickets.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU
Indian Army signs MoU with NHPC for construction of tunnels on China, Pakistan borders
- Indian Army signed an MoU with National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (NHPC) to construct tunnels on borders with China and Pakistan for storage of ammunition and other war-related equipment.
- Under the pilot project, three tunnels will be built on China border while one will be built along the Line of Control with Pakistan.
- It is difficult to move heavy equipment in the mountainous region bordering China due to lack of infrastructure development, the tunnel will strengthen the defensive capabilities of the Army as well as protect the ammunition and other stored equipment from the air-strikes and detection by the enemy satellite.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS
Valterri Bottas wins F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Valtteri Bottas won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to retake the Formula One world championship lead from teammate Lewis Hamilton after a stunning fourth successive one-two finish for Mercedes held at Baku.
- Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari was a distant third.
Lionel Messi Becomes 1st Barcelona Player to Win 10 La Liga Titles
- Barcelona successfully defended its Spanish La Liga crown after beating Levante 1-0, courtesy of the magical Lionel Messi.
- It’s the fourth title Barcelona has won in the past five years and it kept alive hopes of a prestigious treble this season.
Australia’s Claire Polosak set to become first woman umpire to stand in men’s ODI
- Australia’s Claire Polosak will create history as the first woman umpire ever to stand in a men’s One-Day International when she takes the field in the final of the ICC World Cricket League Division 2.
- She has also performed well in ICC events, standing in the semifinal of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2018 between England and India and four matches at the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, reflecting her rapid rise to success.
Bhullar wins outstanding achievement as player award
- Arjuna awardee and star Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar won the outstanding achievement as a player award at the fourth edition of the annual India Golf Industry Association (GIA) awards at the Delhi Golf Club.
- The GIA awards were held along with the 8th India Golf & Turf Expo (IGTE), South Asia’s largest golf trade show.
- Vijay Divecha and Nonita Lal Qureshi were awarded for their contribution to golf coaching.
ISSF World Cup: Abhishek Verma Wins Gold In 10m Air Pistol
- India topped the standings at the International Shooting Sport Federation, ISSF World Cup on the final day in Beijing, bagging four medals comprising 3 Gold and a Silver.
- Indian shooter Abhishek Verma on Saturday won the gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol event at the ISSF World Cup being held in Beijing.
- Abhishek Verma’s brilliant performance in the Shooting World Cup Final also secured a fifth Olympic quota for India. Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela (10m air rifle women), Saurabh Choudhary and Divyansh Panwar had earlier secured India four Olympic spots.
- Abhishek Verma topped the charts in the final.
13 boxers assured of medals at 2019 Asian Boxing Championships
- The ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships was held in Bangkok, Thailand from April 17-28, 2019.
- This was the first time when both the Women’s and Men’s Championship took place simultaneously at the Asian Championships.
- India ended the event with 13 medals which included 2 gold, four silver and seven bronze medals.
- Pooja Rani and Amit Panghal won Gold.
Sharath Kamal wins sportsperson of year award
- Ace table tennis player A Sharath Kamal was honoured with the Sportsperson of the Year Award at the annual awards and scholarships function organised by the Tamil Nadu Sports Journalists’ Association (TNSJA) and the India Cements.
- Legendary Indian tennis player Vijay Amritraj, former India leg-spinner V V Kumar and Asian Games gold medallist (200m) R Gnanasekaran were felicitated with the India Cements-TNSJA Lifetime Achievement awards.
- Coach of the year : R B RAMESH (chess coach)
- India Cements -TNSJA Team of the year 2018-19 : Tamil Nadu Women’s Football team.
- India Cements -TNSJA Young Achiever of the year 2018-19 : P M Tabitha( athlete)
- India Cements -TNSJA Young Achiever of the year 2018-19 : D.Gukesh (world’s second youngest Grand Master).
CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY
Former Ethiopian president Negasso Gidada passed away
- Former Ethiopian president Negasso Gidada has died in Germany where he was undergoing medical treatment for an unspecified illness.
- Negasso, who was 75, was president between 1995 and 2001 and was the first head of state after Ethiopia adopted a new constitution transforming the country into a federal state
‘Pele of Asia’ Former Indian footballer Pungam Kannan dies
- Former India footballer Pungam Kannan, who was facing acute financial crisis, died following prolonged illness.
- He was 80. Kannan played 14 matches for India and suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this month.