Current Affairs – April 23, 2018

S.No Topic Page Number

1 Important Days 2

2 World News 3 - 4

3 National News 5 - 6

4 State News 7

5 Banking & Economy 8 - 9

6 Sports 10

7 Awards & Honours 11 - 12

8 Appointments & Resignation 13

9 Books & Authors 14

10 Science & Techonology 15 - 16

Important Days

World Book Day:

 World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day, is being celebrated across the globe on 23 Aril 2018. The event is organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and was first held in 1995.  Theme for 2018: “Reading, it’s my right!”  The World Book Capital for 2018 is Athens, Greece.

World News

India, Finland settle Nokia tax dispute under MAP

 India and Finland have reached an agreement on the dispute between Indian Income Tax Department and Finnish Telecom firm Nokia, under the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP).

 In March 2013, Indian Income Tax Department issued a tax demand of around Rs 2500 crore on Nokia India for making royalty payments made to its parent company in Finland since 2006.

 The tax liability arose as Nokia India had imported software from its head office in Finland. Nokia India showed it as purchase while Indian Income Tax department contested it as Royalty payment. Under IndiaFinland Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) Royalties attract 10 per cent tax.

 At Nokia India’s request, Finland initiated the MAP process under the DTAA in 2013. The process resulted in rectified tax liability of 1600 crore, which Nokia India paid in March 2018, thus bringing an end to the dispute.

 Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) is an alternate dispute settlement mechanism aimed at resolving outstanding disputes between multi-national companies and local tax authorities arising out of differential pricing treatment

Iran bans banks from using cryptocurrencies

 On April 23, 2018, Iran banned the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by its banks and financial institutions.

 Ban has been imposed citing concerns that cryptocurrencies can be used for money-laundering and financing terrorism.

 Central Bank of Iran states that, this decision was taken by government’s money-laundering committee in December 2017, but is now being put into effect.

Canada to host the world’s female foreign ministers

 On 22 April 2018, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland announced that, Canada will host the world’s female foreign ministers for talks ahead of this year’s UN General Assembly.

 Chrystia Freeland opened a meeting in Toronto of G7 foreign ministers with a session, co-hosted by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini.

 Along with male chief diplomats from most of the G7 major industrialized powers, female ministers from Ghana, Ecuador, Panama, Jamaica, Guatemala and Colombia participated.

 Chrystia Freeland said that, she and Federica Mogherini had decided to host talks on 21 and 22 September 2018 ahead of UN General Assembly just for female foreign ministers.

National News

Sunderban Reserve Forest to get Ramsar site status

 Sunderban Reserve Forest is likely to be declared a Ramsar Site as West Bengal State Government has given approval to its State Forest Department to apply for recognition under the Ramsar Convention.

 According to 2017 Forest Survey of India report, Indian Sunderbans, with 2114 sq. km. of mangrove forests, comprise almost 43% of the mangrove cover in India.

 Besides, it is also home to about 100 Royal Bengal tigers.

 Currently 26 sites in India are recognised as Ramsar wetland sites of international importance.

Diu Smart City becomes first to run on 100% Renewable Energy during Daytime

 Diu was importing 73% of its power from Gujarat until 2017.

 Diu has now adopted a two-pronged approach. According to that, a 9 MW solar park has been se t up in 50 hectares and solar panels have been installed on the roof tops on 79 government buildings accounting to 1.3 MW power generation annually.

 In a move to further increase the solar capacity, Diu provides a subsidy of Rs 10,000-50,000 for its residents to install 1-5KW roof top solar panels.

 Diu is saving nearly13,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually. Due to low-cost solar energy, power tariffs have been reduced in residential category by 10% in 2017 and 15% in 2018.

India to join countries having Sex Offender database

 On April 21, 2018, Union Cabinet stated that India will now maintain a database of sexual offenders to monitor and track those individuals convicted of such crimes.

 In India, the sexual offender database will be maintained by National Crime Records Bureau.

 Across the world, only eight countries viz. US, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago and the United Kingdom have sexual offender database.

 Only in US, the registry of convicted sex offenders is public, while in other seven countries it is maintained purely for the consumption of the law enforcement authorities.

 However, it has not been clarified whether, Indian database will be made public or not.

Government approved death penalty for rapists

 On 21 April 2018, the central government approved an ordinance to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to provide death penalty for the rape of children below the age of 12 years.

 This move has been made after the recent Kathua rape-and-murder case where the victim was only 8 years old and few other rape cases that followed, where the victims were minors.

 Rape of women: Minimum punishment has been increased from imprisonment of 7 years to 10 years, extendable to life imprisonment.

 Rape of a girl under 16 years of age: minimum punishment has been increased from 10 years to 20 years, extendable to imprisonment for rest of life.

 Gang rape of a girl under 16 years of age: imprisonment for rest of life of the convict.

 Rape of a girl under 12 years: minimum 20 years of imprisonment or imprisonment for rest of life or with death.

 Gang rape of a girl below 12 years: punishment will be imprisonment for rest of life or death sentence.

 It has been declared that investigation of a rape case has to be mandatorily completed within 2 months.

 Trial of a rape case has to be completed in 2 months. Time limit of 6 months has been mentioned for disposal of appeals in rape cases.

State News

DCW Chief Swati Maliwal Ends 10 Day long Hunger Strike

 Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Swati Maliwal on Sunday ended her 10-day long hunger strike after President Ram Nath Kovind approved an Ordinance to award death penalty to those convicted of raping girls below 12 years.

 The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance provides for stringent punishment of a jail term of minimum 20 years or life imprisonment or death for rape of a girl under 12 years.

Tech Mahindra opens cyber security centre in Andhra Pradesh

 IT major Tech Mahindra has established Andhra Pradesh Cyber Security Operations Centre (APCSOC) in Vijayawada which is equipped with predictive threat analytics capabilities.

 The Andhra Pradesh Cyber Security Operations Centre (APCSOC), first of its kind in India, will leverage Tech Mahindra’s global expertise in cyber security and risk management for a robust government security framework.

Banking & Economy

Deposits in Jan Dhan account cross Rs 80000 crore

 According to Union Finance Ministry data, total deposits in Jan Dhan accounts crossed Rs. 80000 crore mark as on April 11, 2018.

 Deposits in Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts shot up during the demonetisation period starting from November 8, 2016.

 The impact was so phenomenal that deposits in PMJDY accounts touched Rs. 74000 crore mark in the later part of November 2016 from Rs 45300 in the beginning of November 2016

Paytm Payments Bank registers 100M KYC wallets

 On April 23, 2018, Paytm Payments Bank announced that it now has over 100 million KYC wallets.

 Paytm stated that it was able to accomplish this feat on account of a constant campaigning highlighting about the benefits of the Know Your Customer (KYC) system.

 Besides, it also introduced Paytm KYC centers and ‘Paytm-Ka-ATM’ outlets to offer localised support.

 All customers who complete full KYC, get a choice to open a zero-balance account with Paytm Payments Bank.

BoI inks pact with NeSL to share data under insolvency rules

 On April 23, 2018, Bank of India (BoI) entered into an agreement with National e- Governance Services

 Limited (NeSL) for utilizing its Information Utility Services envisaged under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

 State-owned NeSL is the first Information Utility entity registered with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) under the aegis of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

 Information utility is an information network which procures and stores financial data like borrowings, default and security interests of various entities. It enables lenders in making decisions on credit transactions.

 BoI will now avail NeSL service to expedite corporate insolvency resolution process.

Mahindra Electric ties up with Meru for e-vehicle project

 A joint statement by Mahindra Electric and Meru said that under the pilot project, Meru will deploy Mahindra’s eVeritos all-electric sedans.

 Mahindra eVerito will be available for booking in Hyderabad through Meru’s mobile apps. Also, it can be boarded from the Meru Zone at Hyderabad airport.

 The services will be offered at the same price as provided by the Telangana government’s radio taxi fares for sedans.

India receives $69 billion remittances in 2017; retains top slot

 On 23 April 2018, the World Bank said that, India has retained its position as the top remittances receiving country with its people who have immigrated to various countries sending nearly USD 69 billion back home in 2017.

 Remittances to India increased sharply by 9.9 per cent to USD 69 billion in 2017. It reversed the previous year’s decrease, but was still short of USD 70.4 billion received in 2014.

 In 2015, India received remittance of USD 68.91 billion. It reduced to USD 62.74 billion in 2016.

 The World Bank has said in a report that, payments from immigrants back to their home countries reached a new record in 2017 but the costs of transferring funds also have increased.

 The report stated that, the recovery in remittances was driven by growth in Europe, Russia, and the United States.

 The increase in remittances was also helped by higher oil prices and a strengthening of the euro and ruble.

Sports News

Indian women make a clean sweep at 8th South Asian Judo Championship in Nepal

 On 21 April 2018, (first day of championship) Indian women made a clean sweep and won all 4 gold medals.

 India’s L. Sushila Devi won the first gold medal for India in minus 48 kg category. She defeated Humaira

 Ashiq of Pakistan in the final.

 India’s Kalpana Devi Thoudam also won gold in minus 52 kg. She beat Maryam of Pakistan.

 In minus 57 kg category India’s A. Anita Chanu won gold medal by defeating Lila Adhikari of Nepal.

 India’s H. Sunibala Devi defeated Phupu Lhamu Khatri of Nepal in minus 63 kg category and won gold medal.

 In men’s section Pakistan won two gold and Nepal secured one gold medal. India won two bronze medals.

India bags 10 gold medals in South Asian Judo C’ships

 India has bagged a total of 10 gold medals in the ongoing South Asian Judo Championship, being held in Lalitpur (Kathmandu), Nepal.

 Out of the total 14 gold medals, India won 7 gold medals contested under women-single categories and the remaining 3 under men-single categories.

Awards & Honours

Winners of Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2018 Dadahaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2018, honouring individuals from the entertainment industry for their outstanding contribution towards the growth and development of cinema and/or television were presented on April 21, 2018

Category Winner

Best actor (male) Shahid Kapoor

Best actor people’s choice award Ranveer Singh

Entertainer of the year Kartik Aryan

Best actress (critics) Aditi Rao Hydari

Path breaking producer of the year Anushka Sharma and Karnesh Sharma

Best director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari

Outstanding performance male Raj Kumar Rao, Rana Daggubati

Outstanding performance female Tamannahh Bhatia, Kriti Sanon

Promising face of the year Aahana Kumra

Best actor (male) Marathi Vaibhav Tatwawaadi

Best actor (female) Marathi Pooja Sawant

Best fashion designer of the year Sanjukta Dutta

Socially conscious performance of the year Rani Mukherjee

Best comic role Tusshar Kapoor

Entertaining performance in reality show Bigg Boss Hina Khan

Best actress drama award Jennifer Winget

Best actor (male) Television Karan Patel

Best reality show judge Shilpa Shetty

Best talk show host Karan Johar

Best lyricist Manoj Muntashir

Best performance in a short film Divya Khosla Kumar

Iconic contribution towards music Hans Raj Hans

Comic performer of the year Sumona Chakraborty

Versatile singer Rani Hazarika

Social and business entrepreneur of the year Jaya Misra

Best Couple of the Year Prince Narula and Yuvika Chaudhary

Break Through Artist Of The Yea Vikas Gupta

People’s Choice Award Rohan Mehra, Lopamudra Raut

Style Influencer of the Year Karan Singh Grover

Appointments & Resignation

Suresh Kumar assumes additional charge as Coal India CMD

 On 23 April 2018, Suresh Kumar took the additional charge as chairman and managing director of Coal India Ltd.

 Suresh Kumar is an additional secretary with the Coal Ministry. He has replaced Gopal Singh as chairman and managing director of Coal India Ltd.

 Gopal Singh had succeeded Sutirtha Bhattacharya who retired from the post of Coal India CMD on 31 August 2017.

Tata Sons appoints ex-foreign secretary Jaishankar as global corporate affairs head

 On 23 April 2018, former Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar was appointed as the new president of Tata Sons’ global corporate affairs.

 As president of Tata Sons’ global corporate affairs S. Jaishankar will be responsible for the group’s global corporate affairs, international strategy development, and functioning of the company’s international offices.

 He will report to Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran. He had joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1977.

 He has served as High Commissioner to Singapore, Ambassador to China and the United States. He was India’s foreign secretary from January 2015 to January 2018.

Abdo Benitez elected Paraguay President

 Paraguay’s ruling Colorado Party candidate Mario Abdo Benitez has won the presidential election, data released by the country’s election tribunal showed.

Books & Authors

All Doors Opened’ autobiography of Inder Sharma launched

 Padma Shri (Late) Inder Sharma’s autobiography ‘All Doors Opened’ was released on April 23rd in the presence of Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.

 The Second Book reading session of ‘Archives Reads’ was organised by NAI with Author & Prof Deepak Kumar, former Professor, JNU reading from his latest publication “Trishanku Nation – Memory, Self and Society in Contemporary India”.

 Speaking on the occasion, Director General, National Archives of India (NAI), Shri Pritam Singh, said that the rich archives available with NAI is a treat for students, researchers, historians and authors.

 He said this book reading series would help inculcate archival awareness among the masses, to bring prominent historians closer to the young readers.

Science & Techonology

Researchers develop potent molecule to treat chikungunya

 The antiviral activity of Pep-I molecule was very high. Nearly 99% reduction in chikungunya virus was seen when 5 microMolar of Pep-I was used.

 At present, there are no drugs to treat chikungunya and no vaccine to prevent it.

 Earlier through structure-based studies of chikungunya virus-specific nsP2 protease, researchers had identified two small molecules: Pep-I and Pep-II, which showed inhibitory activity.

 Already, Protease inhibitors have been used successfully against HIV and hepatitis C virus.  In the recent study, researchers have found that one of the two molecules — Pep-I, has superior antiviral activity against chikungunya virus.

 It was found to bind to the protein of the virus (nsP2 protease) and prevent the virus from replicating. The study has been published in the journal Biochimie

Scientists identify four bacterial strains to remove sulphur from fossil fuels

 Sulphur is one of the major pollutants released during the combustion of fossil fuels. The research was carried out by scientists from CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (CSIR-IMMT) in Bhubaneswar.

 They used four bacterial strains: Rhodococcus rhodochrous, Arthrobacter sulfureou, and Gordonia Rubropertinita and Rhodococcus erythropolis.

 These bacterial strains use dibenzothiophene (an organic sulphur compound which is a major contaminant of fossil fuel) as an energy source. This eliminates the sulphur content.

 The bacteria were grown in a medium provided with dibenzothiophene and other nutrients necessary for growth.

 It was observed that the four bacteria were able to use almost 99% of the sulphur compound in just 10 days.

 A paper regarding this was published in the journal PLOS ONE. This process is eco-friendly and economical.