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CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS
International Day of Mine Awareness
- Every Year on 4 April International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action is observed to spread the awareness about the threat caused by landmines to the safety, health and lives of civilian populations and encourages state Governments to develop mine clearing programmes.
- It was first observed on 4 April, 2006.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Theme 2019 | ‘United Nations Promotes SDGs – Safe Ground – Safe Home’ |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL
South Korea to launch world’s first national 5G networks
- South Korea will launch the world’s first fully-fledged 5G mobile networks on 5th April 2019. Until now, no mobile networks have offered nationwide 5G access.
- On April 05, 2019 all three of South Korea’s mobile networks namely KT, SK Telecom and LG UPlus will go live with their 5G services.
- Japan is expected to roll out a limited deployment in 2019 before full services start in time for next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
| USEFUL INFO |
| South Korea Capital | Seoul |
| South Korea Currency | South Korean won |
| South Korea President | Moon Jae-in |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE
Telangana secured top spot in eLearning Training for Field Staff
- Telangana state has ranked number one in eLearning training by reaching to 20,000 field staff during 2018-19
- This is the second year in succession that the State got the distinction under the Department of Personal and Training (DoPT)
- Dr MCR HRD Institute enrolled over 20, 000 field staff in different districts of the State to impart training on 12 soft skills modules and three domain-specific modules on RTI, Office Procedures, and Finance & Accounts, apart from Sustainable Development Goals
- The training is being imparted to achieve the goal of‘training for all’.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Telangana Capital | Hyderabad |
| CM | Chandrasekhar Rao |
| Governor | ESL Narashiman |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE
Supreme Court quashes RBI circular on debt resolution
- The Supreme Court struck down a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular that gave defaulting companies 180 days to agree on a resolution plan with lenders or be taken to bankruptcy court to recover debt of Rs. 2,000 crore and above.
- The bench said the February 12, 2018, circular was beyond the scope of the RBI’s powers.
- The decision was taken by a two-judge bench headed by RF Nariman.
ADB cuts its India GDP growth forecast for 2019-20
- According to Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2019, Asian Development Bank (ADB) has lowered India’s growth forecast for 2019-20 to 7.2 per cent from 7.6 per cent estimated earlier
- The growth rate in FY 2020-21 likely to be 7.3 per cent.
- Recent policy measures by the government to improve the investment climate and boost private consumption and investment will help India to lift economic growth in the next two fiscal years.
- India will remain one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world this year given strong household spending and corporate fundamentals.
- Consumer price inflation is expected to rise to 4.3% in FY2020 and 4.6% in FY2021
- The current account deficit is expected to widen a bit to 2.4% of GDP in FY2020 and 2.5% of GDP in FY2021.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Asian Development Bank (ADB) |
| President | Takehiko Nakao |
| Headquarters | Mandaluyong, Philippines |
RBI to inject USD 5 bn more liquidity through 2nd dollar-rupee swap auction
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will inject long-term liquidity worth USD 5 billion into the banking system through dollar-rupee buy-sell swap for a tenure of three years on April 23, the second such auction within a month.
- The swap will be in the nature of a simple buy/sell foreign exchange swap from the Reserve Bank side. Under the swap, a bank would sell US dollars to the RBI and simultaneously agree to buy the same amount of US dollars at the end of the swap period.
- The minimum size of each bid should be USD 10 million and in multiples of USD 1 million thereafter.
First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement 2019-20
- Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to reduce the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6.0 per cent from 6.25 per cent with immediate effect
- Reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.75 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.25 per cent.
- GDP growth for 2019-20 is projected at 7.2 per cent – in the range of 6.8-7.1 per cent in H1:2019-20 and 7.3-7.4 per cent in H2
- The next meeting of the MPC is scheduled during June 3, 4 and 6, 2019.
| USEFUL INFO |
| RBI Headquarters | Mumbai |
| RBI Governor | Shaktikant Das |
| RBI Deputy Governor | BP Kanungo, N S Vishwanathan, Viral Acharya and Mahesh Kumar Jain |
| Repo Rate | 6.00% |
| Reverse Repo Rate | 5.75% |
| MSF Rate | 6.25% |
| Bank Rate | 6.25% |
| CRR | 4% |
| SLR | 19.25% |
Bank of Maharashtra gets Rs. 205 crore capital from government
- State-owned Bank of Maharashtra stated that the government has infused Rs. 205 crore into the bank in lieu of preferential allotment of shares.
- Following the allotment of shares, the shareholding of the government has increased to 87.74 per cent in the bank from 87.01 per cent earlier
- The paid-up capital of bank had increased from Rs 2,598.45 crore to Rs 2,753.17 crore
| Bank of Maharashtra Headquarters | Pune, Maharashtra |
| Bank of Maharashtra Tagline | One Family One Bank |
| Bank of Maharashtra MD & CEO | A. S. Rajeev |
WTO trims global trade growth forecast for 2019 to 2.6% from 3.7%
- The World Trade Organization forecast that the Global trade growth is expected to be lower in 2019 than it was last year.
- The WTO had in its preliminary estimates predicted a 3.7 percent expansion of trade for this year, but has revised that down to 2.6 percent, marking a decline on the three-percent growth recorded in 2018.
- In its forecast report in September 2018, the WTO had lowered the global 2018 and 2019 trade growth to 3.9 and 3.7 percent, respectively.
| USEFUL INFO |
| World Trade Organization |
| WTO Headquarters | Geneva, Switzerland |
| WTO Director General | Roberto Azevêdo |
| Member | 164 |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION
UN chief appoints Nicholas Koumjian as investigation head for Myanmar
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Nicholas Koumjian of the US as head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar
- Koumjian will be the first head of the Myanmar mechanism, which was established by the Human Rights Council on September 27, 2018
- Koumjian brings to this position over 35 years of experience as prosecutor, including almost 20 years of experience in the field of international criminal justice.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMIT AND CONFERENCE
India to organize NuGen Mobility summit 2019 in November
- India’s International center for Automotive Technology (ICAT) will organize a NuGen Mobility summit 2019 in November.
- The summit would be held at Manesar, falling in the national capital region (NCR) of Indian capital – New Delhi from November 27 to 29.
- The objective of the summit is to share new ideas, learnings, global experiences, innovations and future technology trends for faster adoption, assimilation and development of advanced automotive technologies for a smarter and greener future.
- This event will help in building a platform for bringing together all stakeholders in the automotive industry to understand global advancements in technologies.
4th Session of India-Ukraine working group on Trade and Economic Cooperation held in New Delhi
The 4th Meeting of India-Ukraine Working Group on Trade and Economic Cooperation (IU-WGTEC), under the India-Ukraine Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical, Industrial and Cultural Cooperation was held in New Delhi.
- Cooperation in Enhancing the Bilateral Trade
- Cooperation in the field of Small and Medium Entrepreneurship
- Cooperation in Leather, Tobacco, Gems and Jewellery and Tea Sectors
- Cooperation in the field of Technical Regulation (Standardization, Metrology, Certification, Conformity Assessment)
- Cooperation in the field of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and Investment
- Granting Ukraine Market Economy Status within the framework of anti-dumping investigations
- Cooperation in the field of Energy Sector
- Cooperation in the field of Finance and Banking
- Cooperation in Tourism
CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE
US approves sale of 24 MH 60 Romeo Seahawk helicopters to India for $2.4 bn
- The US has approved the sale of 24 multi-role MH-60R Seahawk maritime helicopters to India at an estimated cost of USD 2.6 billion.
- These choppers are considered as the world’s most advanced maritime helicopter.
- It will provide the Indian defence forces with the capability to perform anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare missions.
- MH-60 Romeo Seahawk helicopters have been designed and manufactured by Lockheed Martin for hunting submarines as well as knocking out ships and conducting search-and-rescue operations at sea.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS
Vikram Patel awarded the prestigious John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award
- Prof Vikram Patel has been awarded 2019 John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award for his world-leading research in global mental health, generating knowledge on the burden and determinants of mental health problems in low-and-middle-income countries and pioneering approaches for the prevention and treatment of mental health in low-resource settings.
- Laureates receive a $100,000 cash honorarium and will be formally presented with their awards on October 24, 2019, at the annual Canada Gairdner Awards Gala in Toronto.
Pawan Munjal felicitated by Asian Tour for contribution to golf in Asia
- Dr Pawan Munjal, Chairman of Hero MotoCorp – the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters – was felicitated by the Asian Tour with a Special Achievement Award for his contributions to Asian Golf.
- He is a keen sports enthusiast, and it is thanks to his own personal commitment that Hero MotoCorp has been associated with various disciplines of sports including Golf, Cricket, Field Hockey and Football for over two decades now.
- At the ceremony, leading Indian golfer Shiv Kapur presented a special salver to Dr Munjal.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU
ICC to join hands with Interpol to tackle corruption in sport
- The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sought closer working relations with the Interpol to widen the scope of its fight against corruption in the sport.
- The idea is to ensure that players are better educated about the corruptors and Interpol’s vast network would be helpful in this.
| USEFUL INFO |
| ICC Headquarters | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| Chairperson | Shashank Manohar |
| CEO | Dave Richardson |
| Interpol headquarters | Lyon, France |
Tata Power, Indraprastha Gas ink pact for rooftop solar projects
- Tata Power has signed a pact with Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL) for setting up rooftop solar projects in the country.
- Tata Power is India’s largest integrated power utility, IGL is country’s largest CNG distribution company.
- The pact signed between Tata Power and IGL is for green energy solutions including rooftop solar projects, various integrated services including setting up of commercial scale EV charging/battery swapping stations