Weekly Updated Current Affairs for Week 13 & 14/52
WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 13 & 14/52
WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 13 & 14 /52 (01 APRIL – 14 APRIL 2018)
E-way bill for inter-state movement of goods rolled out (a) As per Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) council, nationwide electronic or e-way bill system for inter-state (Between states) movement of goods worth over Rs 50,000 was rolled out from April 1. (b) e-way bill system has been designed and developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC). (c) Karnataka is the only state to launch intra-state movement of good(moving goods within the State) (d) On april 15 the e-way Bill system for intra-state movement of goods implemented in five ststes. The five states are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Telengana and Uttar Pradesh. What are the components of GST? There are 3 taxes applicable under this system: CGST, SGST & IGST. (1) CGST: Collected by the Central Government on an intra-state sale (Eg: Within Maharashtra) (2) SGST: Collected by the State Government on an intra-state sale (Eg: Within Maharashtra) (3) IGST: Collected by the Central Government for inter-state sale (Eg: Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu) In most cases, the tax structure under the new regime will be as follows:
Transaction New Regime Old Regime
Sale within the State CGST + SGST VAT + Central Revenue will be shared equally between the Centre Excise/Service tax and the State
Sale to another State IGST Central Sales Tax + There will only be one type of tax (central) in case of Excise/Service Tax inter-state sales. The Center will then share the IGST revenue based on the destination of goods.
Illustration: (1) Let us assume that a dealer in Gujarat had sold the goods to a dealer in Punjab worth Rs. 50,000. The tax rate is 18% comprising of only IGST. (2) In such case, the dealer has to charge Rs. 9,000 as IGST. This revenue will go to the Central Government. (3) The same dealer sells goods to a consumer in Gujarat worth Rs. 50,000. The GST rate on the good is 12%. This rate comprises of CGST at 6% and SGST at 6% (4) The dealer has to collect Rs. 6,000 as Goods and Service Tax. Rs. 3,000 will go to the Central Government and Rs. 3,000 will go to the Gujarat government as the sale is within the state. India replaces Vietnam to become world’s second largest mobile phone producer (a) As per Indian Cellular Association (ICA) India has replaced Vietnam to become second largest producer of mobile phones in 2017. The top three mobile producing countries are China, India and Vietnam. (b) As per ICA data, annual production of mobile phones in India increased from 3 million units in 2014 to 11 million units in 2017. ICA National President- Pankaj Mohindroo. (c) The government has established a Fast Track Task Force (FTTF) under Ministry of Electronics and IT, which has set the target to achieve around 500 million mobile phone production in India by 2019, with an estimated value of USD 46 billion. (d) Top 3 Countries of Highest Mobile Phone Users:1-China,2-India,3-US, 4-Indonesia, 5-Brazil. West Bengal Launches Rupashree scheme for marriage of poor girls (a) West Bengal government has launched a scheme called “Rupashree”in order to provide marriage assistance to girls coming from economically weaker families with a budgetary allocation of Rs 1500 crore. (b) The scheme proposes to extend one-time financial assistance worth Rs 25,000 to the family of the girl whose annual income is up to Rs 1.5 lakh. (c) The monetary assistance will be provided at the time of marriage after the girl has attained the age of 18 years. (d) The state government had earlier introduced a scheme called Kanyashree Prakalpa, which sought to improve the status and well-being of girls. RBI bars Axis Bank from importing bullion for FY19 (a) The RBI had dropped Axis Bank the 3 rd largest private sector bank from a list of banks it has cleared to import bullion (Import of gold and silver) during the current financial year that began on April 1. 16 banks have been allowed to import the precious metals on its website. (b) Axis Bank was one of the leading importers for gold and silver among all the 19 lenders which were given the licence last year. Other banks dropped for the current fiscal include the South focused private sector lender Karur Vysya Bank and South Indian Bank. (c) The action comes a day after the central bank asked the bank to re-look at the three-year fourth term offered to Shikha Sharma as the managing director.
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(d) Previously Axis Bank appointed sharma as MD and CEO for 4th term as her tenure will end on May 31. (e) But now the bank has accepted a request from Shikha Sharma to shorten her reappointment period from June 1 to December 31, 2018. 2 April: World Autism Awareness Day (a) The World Autism Awareness Day was passed in the UN Council on November 1, 2007 and was adopted on December 18, 2007. (b) The theme of World Autism Awareness Day 2018 was 'Empowering Women and Girls with Autism'. What is Autism? (1) Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that manifests itself during the first three years of life. (2) It results from a neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain, mostly affecting children and adults in many countries, irrespective of gender, race or socio-economic status. Delhi becomes first city to roll-out BS-VI fuel (a) Delhi became the first city in the country to switch from BS-IV grade fuels to BS-VI.Delhi-NCR region on April 1, 2018 began supplying ultra-clean Bharat Stage VI grade fuel, both petrol and diesel. (b) Other cities like Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Faridabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune will also switch over to cleaner BS-VI grade fuel from January 1, 2019. However, BS- VI fuel will be rolled out in rest of the country by April 2020. (c) One of the major differences between BS-IV and BS-VI fuel is the presence of sulphur. The BS-VI fuel is expected to reduce the amount of sulphur released from 50 parts per million (ppm) to 10 ppm. (d) Moreover, the emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from diesel and petrol engines is also expected to reduce by nearly 70 per cent and 25 per cent respectively. (e) India had switched over to BS-IV grade fuel from April 1, 2017 following the directions of the court banning BS-III grade fuel. Nepal launches 'accessible' trekking trail for disabled, elderly (a) Nepal has launched its first accessible trekking trail in Pokhara city for the disabled and the elderly. (b) The 1.3-km section is a part of a 14-km long hiking path in the ridge connecting Nepal’s Sarangkot area to Naudanda. The trail offers a magnificent view of Mt. Annapurna, Fisthtail and Manaslu. (c) Nepal-President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime minister: Khadga Prasad Oli, Currency:Rupee, Capital: Kathmandu SIDBI celebrates its foundation day (a) The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) celebrated its foundation day this year on April 2, 2018. (b) It was established on April 2, 1990 through an Act of Parliament (thus, it is statutory body). It is headquartered in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. (c) An MoU was signed with The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. and two MSMEs were issued insurance policies. (d) Chairman SIDBI Dr. Kshatrapati Shivaji also launched 'Samridhhi- the virtual assistant' on banks revamped universal loan portal www.udyamimitra.in. During the day, a ‘Bankability Kit’ (brought in partnership with Bank of Baroda and IDBI Bank) was also launched. (e) SIDBI acts as the Principal Financial Institution for the Promotion, Financing and Development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector Enterprises A Manufacturing Enterprise is A Service Enterprise is an Proposed Amendment an Enterprise engaged in Enterprises which are engaged in Units Producing Goods and Manufacturing or Production or providing or rendering of Rendering Services in Processing or Preservation of Services and investment in terms of Annual Turnover Goods (finished/ Original Cost/equipment provided that the total unfinished/Raw Materials) (including land, building and Amount: where Investment in Plant and fittings) where Investment in Machinery: Equipment: Micro Does not exceed Rs. 25 lakh. Does not exceed Rs. 10 lakh. Does not exceed Rs. 5 crore. Small More than Rs. 25 lakh but does More than Rs. 10 lakhs but does not More than Rs. 5 crore not exceed Rs. 5 Crores. exceed Rs. 2 Crores. but less than Rs. 75 crore. Medium More than Rs. 5 Crore but does More than Rs. 2 Crores but does not More than Rs. 75 crore but less than not exceeds Rs. 10 cr. exceeds Rs. 5 Crores. Rs. 250 crore.
China's Tiangong-1 space station burns up over South Pacific (a) China's Tiangong-1 space station re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and burnt up and landded in middle of the South Pacific Ocean near world’s ‘spacecraft cemetery or graveyard’. (b) Tiangong-1 (Heavenly Palace or Celestial Palace-1) was China’s first prototype space station or space laboratory. It was placed in orbit in September 2011 as part of China’s efforts towards building its own space station. (c) It was originally planned to be decommissioned in 2013 but its mission was repeatedly extended.
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(d) China has launched Tiangong-2 spacecraft in September 2016 which was a key part of the nation's plan to have a permanently staffed space station up and running by the early 2020s. Mithali Raj wins 'Sportsperson of the Year' award (a) Indian women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj was named 'Sportsperson of the Year' at the Telangana Sports Journalists Association annual awards for 2017 in Hyderabad. (b) Best Senior Male athlete: Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth (c) Best Senior Female athlete:Indian shuttler P V Sindhu (d) Best Coach of the Year: Gopichand, who received the honour for the second time in a row. (e) Lifetime Achievement award: The honour was presented to triple Olympian and former national hockey player N Mukesh Kumar. (f) Team of the year: The award was won by Hyderabad Cricket team. (g) Outstanding achievement award: The award was presented to ace Indian gymnast B Aruna Reddy. Total subscribers under under Atal Pension Yojana crosses 97 lakh (a) As per the government, 97.05 lakh subscribers have enrolled under Atal Pension Yojana (APY) at the end of Financial Year 2017-18. It just missed the target of 1 crore set by the pension regulator PFRDA. (b) The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was launched by the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi on 09th May, 2015 and became operational from 1st June, 2015. (c) APY is available for all citizens of India in the age group of 18-40 years. (d) Under the APY, the subscribers would receive a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs. 1000 to Rs. 5000 per month from the age of 60 years, depending on their contributions. (e) Those who have joined the APY before March 31, 2016, for them the Central Government contribute 50% of the total contribution or Rs 1,000 per annum, whichever is lower for a period of 5 years from 2015-16 to 2019-20. (f) With a view to digitally empower the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) subscribers and improve the quality of service, the facility of online viewing of the statement of the transaction (e-SOT) and also the e- Permanent Retirement Account Number (e-PRAN card) have been launched in last year. India ranks 37th in global startup ecosystem in 2017: Startupblink Report (a) According to report released by global startup ecosystem map Startupblink, India was ranked 37th out of 125 countries in global startup ecosystem in 2017. (b) Top 5 Countries in Global startup ecosystem in 2017 are United States (1st), United Kingdom (2nd), Canada (3rd), Israel (4th) and Germany (5th). (c) India’s rank indicates that more has to be done in terms of ease of doing business, startup policies, and complicated tax compliance. (d) Startupblink is a global startup ecosystem map with tens of thousands of registered startups, coworking spaces, and accelerators. Turkey launches construction of first-ever nuclear plant (Turkey-Capital: Ankara, Currency: lira) (a) The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan along with Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the construction of Turkey's first-ever nuclear power plant in Mersin region, a large port city on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. (b) The total estimated cost of the power plant would be around 20 billion dollars. (c) The first stage is due to be completed by 2023, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of modern Turkey's founding. It is expected to be completed fully by 2026. RBI releases First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement 2018-19 (a) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on April 5, 2018 released its First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement 2018-19. (b) The six member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the Repo Rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.0 percent. (c) The Reverse Repo Rate under the LAF remains unchanged at 5.75 percent and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate and the Bank Rate at 6.25 percent. (d) The decision of the MPC to keep the repo rate unchanged was in accordance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation of 4 percent while supporting growth. NOTE: (1) MSF rate is the rate at which Schedule banks can borrow funds from RBI overnight, against the approved government securities. (2) This is fourth policy review in sequence in which the MPC has kept the Repo Rate unchanged. Monetary Policy Committee has kept its neutral stance unchanged. (3) Chetan Ghate, Pami Dua, Ravindra Dholakia, Viral Acharya and RBI Governor Urjit Patel voted in favour of the monetary policy decision. However, Michael Debabrata Patra voted for an increase in the policy rate of 25 basis points. (4) The RBI projected economic growth of 7.4 percent for the current fiscal year, beginning on April 1, 2018.
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(5) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) has projected India to grow at 7.4% in 2018 and 7.8% in 2019. (6) The World Bank in its twice-a-year South Asia Economic Focus report has projected growth rate of 7.3% for India in 2018 and 7.5% for 2019 and 2020. (7) The Asian Development Bank (ADB)-7.3% in FY2018-19, 7.6% in FY 2019-20 NASA's Hubble Telescope captures the most distant star ever seen (a) The Hubble Space Telescope of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has discovered the most distant star ever seen named 'Icarus'. (b) The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and European Space Agency (ESA). The telescope is managed by the NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland and the Hubble operations are conducted by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland. (c) The HST is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble. HST launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. (d) NASA- National Aeronautics and Space Administration. President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 and it became operational on October 1, 1958. Indian Army, HDFC Bank ink MoU on defence salary package (a) Indian Army has signed Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) with HDFC Bank on the Defence Salary Package. Indian Army has also signed Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) with Axis Bank on Defence Salary Package. (b) Under the both MoU, Indian Army personnel will get free personal accident death cover and free permanent total disability cover of Rs 30 lakh apart from benefits. (c) Currently Indian Army has MoUs on Defence Salary Package with 11 public and private sector banks. (d) NOTE HDFC Bank(CEO: Aditya Puri, Headquarters: Mumbai)-It is the largest bank in India by market capitalization. HDFC Bank replaces ICICI Bank to become India's largest private bank (e) Axis Bank-Axis Bank Ltd is the third largest of the private-sector banks in India. Shikha Sharma (MD & CEO), Sanjiv Misra (Chairman), Headquarters: Mumbai Russia’s call to join spy poisoning probe rejected (a) The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has rejected Russia's call for a joint investigation with Britain in the case of nerve-agent poisonings of a former Russian spy and his daughter in the United Kingdom. (b) Russia requested the session in The Hague, Netherlands, to reiterate its rejection of Britain's claim that Russia was behind the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia. (c) OPCW-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.Headquarters: The Hague, Netherlands, CEO: Ahmet Üzümcü, Formation: 29 April 1997. (d) OPCW had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. Ganga Hariteema Yojana launched in 27 districts of Uttar Pradesh (a) The Uttar Pradesh Government launched the Ganga Hariteema Yojana, also known as Ganga Greenery scheme in the 27 districts of Uttar Pradesh that are located on the bank of river Ganga. (b) Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the scheme at Allahabad. (c) Under the scheme, plantation will be carried out in one-kilometre areas from the banks of river to control the land erosion. (d) The scheme will be carried out by September 16 2018, the date that will be observed as the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 2018. I-T Dept panel to look into evasion risks posed by ‘fleeing’ super rich (a) The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has set up an 5-member committee headed by Pragya Sahay Saksena to examine the taxation aspects of high net worth individuals (HNWIs). (b) Worried over the large number of the super rich migrating to foreign countries to avoid paying taxes in the country, income-tax authorities plan to plug loopholes in the law to ensure that dues are paid. (c) Since the past few years, the Union Government has started levying higher taxes on the super rich or those earning above Rs 1 crore a year to ensure equitable taxation. (d) The current Chairperson of CBDT is Sushil Chandra. Union Government launches UTTAM App for Coal Quality Monitoring (a) Union Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal on April 5, 2018 launched the UTTAM App for Coal Quality Monitoring. (b) The word 'UTTAM' here is abbreviated as 'Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal'. (c) The app has been jointly developed by the Union Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited (CIL). The app has been designed with an aim to transform the citizens as stakeholders in the coal ecosystem. (d) CIL- Headquarters: Kolkata, CEO: Suthartha Bhattacharya
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7 April 2018: World Health Day (a) World Health Day was observed across the world on April 7, 2018. The day also marks the 70th anniversary of World Health Organisation. (b) The theme of World Health Day is ‘Universal health coverage: everyone, everywhere’ and the slogan is ‘Health for All’. Internet Security Threat Report: India third most vulnerable country to cyber threats (a) According to security solutions provider Symantec’s ‘Internet Security Threat Report’ , India emerged as the third most vulnerable country in terms of risk of cyber threats, such as malware, spam and ransomware, in 2017 (b) As per the report, India continues to be second most impacted by spam and bots, third most impacted by network attacks, and fourth most impacted by ransomware (c) United States (with 26.61% global threats) was most vulnerable country to such cyber-attacks, followed by China (10.95%) in 2017. In India, 5.09% of global threats were detected. How Internet Security Threat Report was Prepared? (1) The ranking was prepared on eight related parameters which are malware, spam, phishing, bots, network attacks, web attacks, ransomware and cryptominers. (2) Out of these eight, India was second most affected country by spam, bots and was 3rd country in terms of network attacks. India was fourth in terms of top countries affected by ransomware. (3) Cryptojacking which is the process of using a computing device to mine cryptocurrency. India ranked ninth globally and second in Asia-Pacific and Japan region (APJ) in terms of cryptomining activities. India, World Bank sign 420 million project agreement to benefit farmers in Maharashtra (a) Union Government, Maharashtra Government and the World Bank on April 6, 2018 signed a USD 420 million project agreement to help small and marginal farmers in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra. (b) The USD 420 million loan from World Bank's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) will have a 6 year grace period and a maturity of 24 years. Cabinet approves rightsizing Competition Commission of India (a) The Union Cabinet chaired gave its approval for rightsizing Competition Commission of India (CCI) from one Chairperson and six Members (totalling seven) to one Chairperson and three Members (totalling four). (b) CCI is quasi-judicial statutory body established under The Competition Act, 2002. It was established in October 2003 and became fully functional in May 2009. Chairman-Devender Kumar Sikri. India becomes second largest manufacturer of crude steel (a) According to the Steel Users Federation of India (SUFI), India has overtaken Japan to become the world’s second largest producer of crude steel.China is the largest producer of crude steel in the world. (b) India’s crude steel production was up 4.4% and stood at 93.11 million tonnes (MT) for the period April 2017 to February 2018. India overtook the U.S. in 2015 to become the third largest producer of crude steel. (c) The government planned to produce 300 million tonnes of crude steel by 2030 5 April: National Maritime Day (a) The National Maritime Day (NMD) is observed every year on 5 April to commemorate the maiden voyage of the first Indian owned ship “SS Loyalty” (the first ship of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd) sailed from Bombay to London on 5th April 1919. (b) This year is it is 55th edition of NMD and theme is “Indian Ocean-An Ocean of opportunity”.The NMD is being observed annually since 1964. (c) It should be noted that World Maritime Day (WMD) is observed on September 29 EXIM Bank extends $4.5 billion loan to Bangladesh for social, infrastructure projects (a) The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) will provide loans worth about US $4.5 billion (Rs 29,200 crore) to Bangladesh for financing of various social and infrastructure projects. (b) Export–Import Bank of India is the premier export finance institution in India, established in 1982 under Export- Import Bank of India Act 1981. (c) EXIM bank-Headquarters: Mumbai, Managing Director: David Rasquinha. Global Logistics Summit 2018 held in New Delhi (a) The Global Logistics Summit (GLS-2018) was held in New Delhi from April 5-6, 2018 to improve logistics and connectivity which are vital for increasing intra-state and international trade flows. (b) The summit was organised by Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry along with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and World Bank Group. (c) The sector involves transportation, material handling, warehousing, packaging, shipping security, inventory management, and supply chain management, procurement, and customs service. (d) Government has defined logistic as multimodal logistics park comprising an Inland Container Depot (ICD) with a minimum investment of Rs.50 crore and minimum area of 10 acre. In November 2017, logistic sector was granted infrastructure status.
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RBI constitutes inter-departmental group to study launching of fiat digital currency (a) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clamped down on virtual currencies, including Bitcoin, directing all entities regulated by the central bank — mainly banks, finance companies and wallets — not to deal with or provide services to any individual or business entities dealing with or settling virtual currencies, joining the global crackdown on trading of virtual coins. (b) Simultaneously, the RBI has constituted an inter-departmental group to study and provide guidance on the feasibility to introduce a central bank digital currency. The report will be submitted by end-June 2018 (c) Fiat currency is legal tender whose value is backed by the government that issued it. Fiat Digital Currency (or Central bank digital currency) is the digital form of fiat money which is currency established as money by government regulation or law. (d) It is different from cryptocurrency or virtual currency like Bitcoin which is not legal tender and not backed by government. (e) The Bank of England was one of the first to initiate a global discussion on prospects for introduction on Fiat digital currency. To protect privacy, UIDAI introduces ‘Virtual ID’ for Aadhaar-card holders (a) Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has launched the much-awaited 'Virtual ID' which will be a random 16-digit number mapped to a person's Aadhaar number,so that the actual Aadhaar number need not be shared to authenticate identity. (b) Till now, a person had to give his/her 12-digit identity number along with other attributes (demographic and/or biometrics and/or through a one-time password) during authentication or e-KYC (know your customer) for accessing various benefits and services from service providers such as banks or telcos. (c) UIDAI had stated that it will be compulsory for all agencies that undertake authentication to accept the VID from their users from June 1, 2018. (d) The Unique Identification Authority of India has decided to enable Face Authentication with one more authentication factor — either fingerprint or iris or a One Time Password by July 1 this year for validating Aadhaar cards. (e) UIDAI has also introduced an updated 'QR(Quick Responce) code' that holds non-sensitive details like name, address, photo, and date of birth, and can be used for offline user verification without the 12-digit ID number. ICICI Bank enables NRIs to send money through social media on its Money2India app (a) ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank by consolidated assets, has announced the launch of a service to enable Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to send money to beneficiaries in India using social media apps such as WhatsApp and e-mail. (b) Named as 'Social Pay', the service is available on Money2India (M2I), the bank's app for remittances. (c) NOTE: HDFC Bank replaces ICICI Bank to become India’s largest private bank. But ICICI Bank argued that on a consolidated level (by including its other subsidiary businesses, such as mutual funds and home finance) the bank is bigger. consolidate is the combine assets, liabilities and other financial items of two or more entities into one. Jio Payments Bank begins operations (a) Mukesh Ambani-led Jio Payments Bank Limited has commenced operations as a payments bank with effect from April 3, 2018. (b) The RBI had issued licence to the bank under section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to carry on the business of payments bank in India. (c) Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was one of the 11 applicants which was issued in-principal approval for setting up a payments bank in August 2015. (d) Telecom major Bharti Airtel was the first to begin payment bank services in November 2016. (e) Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma promoted Paytm Payments Bank began operations from May 2017 last year while FINO Payments Bank Limited kicked-off in June last year. Birla group's Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank was the latest in this space. (f) While, the Department of Posts, which also got a license for a payment bank is yet to start its services formally, who is running services on pilot basis currently. (g) Payments banks can accept a restricted deposit, which is currently limited to Rs 1 lakh per customer and may be increased further. The minimum capital requirement is Rs 100 crore. 21 st Commonwealth Games 2018(4 -15 April 2018, Venue- Carrara Stadium, Gold Coast, Australia) (a) The 21st Commonwealth Games concluded on April 15, 2018 at Gold Coast, Australia. India with a final haul of 66 medals including 26 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze finished at the third place. (b) Australia stood first with 198 medals including 80 gold, 59 silver and 59 bronze followed by England with 136 medals including 45 gold, 45 silver and 46 bronze. (c) India had fielded 215 member contingent at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, which was its third largest. (d) PV Sindhu held India's flag t the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony while Legendary boxer Mary Kom was the flagbearer for the Indian delegation at the closing ceremony.
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Following is the full list of winners: Athletics Wrestling Player’s Name Event Medal Player’s Name Event Medal Neeraj Chopra Men’s Javelin Throw Gold Rahul Aware Men’s Freestyle 57kg Gold Seema Punia Women’s Discus Throw Silver Sushil Kumar Men’s Freestyle 74kg Gold Navjeet Dhillon Women’s Discus Throw Bronze Bajrang Men’s Freestyle 65 kg Gold Squash Sumit Men’s Freestyle 125kg Gold Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Mixed Doubles Silver Pallikal Vinesh Phogat Women’s Freestyle 74kh Gold Dipika Pallikal Karthik and Women’s Doubles Silver Mausam Khatri Men’s Freestyle 97kg Silver Joshna Chinappa Babita Kumari Women’s Freestyle 53kg Silver Badminton Pooja Dhanda Women’s Freestyle 57kg Silver India Mixed Team Event Gold Somveer Men’s Freestyle 86kg Bronze Saina Nehwal Women’s Singles Gold Sakshi Malik Women’s Freestyle 62kg Bronze Satwik Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty Men’s Doubles Silver Divya Kakran Women’s Freestyle 68kg Bronze Srikanth Kidambi Men’s Singles Silver Kiran Women’s Freestyle 76kg Bronze PV Sindhu Women’s Singles Silver Shooting N Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Women’s Doubles Bronze Manu Bhaker Women's 10m Air Pistol Gold Ponnappa Jitu Rai Men's 10m Air Pistol Gold Table Tennis India Women's Table Gold Heena Sidhu Women’s 25m Pistol Gold Tennis Shreyasi Singh Women’s Double Trap Gold India Men’s Table Tennis Gold Anish Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Gold Manika Batra Women’s Singles Gold Tejaswini Sawant Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Gold Manika Batra/ Mouma Das Women’s Doubles Silver Sanjeev Rajput Men’s 25M Rapid Fire Pistol Gold Achanta Sharath and Men’s Doubles Silver Anjum Moudgil Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions Silver Gnanasekaran Sathiyan Heena Sidhu Women's 10m Air Pistol Silver Harmeet Desai and Sanil Men’s Doubles Bronze Shankar Shetty Mehuli Ghosh Women’s 10m Air Rifle Silver Manika Batra and Sathiyan Mixed Doubles Bronze Tejaswini Sawant Women’s 50m Rifle Prone Silver Gnanasekaran Ravi Kumar Men's 10m Air Rifle Bronze Achanta Sharath Men’s Singles Bronze Om Mitharval Men's 10m Air Pistol Bronze Boxing Gaurav Solanki Men’s 52kg Gold Apurvi Chandela Women’s 10m Air Rifle Bronze MC Mary Kom Women’s 45 -48 kg Gold Om Mitharval Men’s 50m Pistol Bronze Vikas Krishnan Men’s 75kg Gold Ankur Mittal Men’s Double Trap Bronze Weightlifting Amit Men’s 46 -49kg Silver Mirabai Chanu Women's 48kg Gold Manish Kaushik Men’s 60kg Silver Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu Women’s 53 kg Gold Satish Kumar Men’s 91kg Silver Sathish Sivalingam Men’s 77 kg Gold Hussamuddin Mohammad Men’s 60kg Bronze Venkat Rahul Ragala Men's 85kg Gold Manoj Kumar Men’s 69kg Bronze Punam Yadav Women's 69kg Gold Naman Tanwar Men’s 91 kg Bronze P Gururaja Men's 56kg Silver Para Powerlifting Sachin Chaudhary Men’s Heavyweight Bronze Pardeep Singh Men's 105kg Silver Deepak Lather Men's 69kg Bronze
Vikas Thakur Men's 94kg Bronze
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NOTE (1) Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu was the first gold medal winner for India, on the opening day, in the women's 48 kg category. (2) Manika Batra wins gold in table tennis women's singles, becoming the first Indian woman to do so. (3) Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian javelin thrower to claim a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. (4) Weightlifter P. Gururaja opened India’s medal account on the first competition day, claiming a silver in the men’s 56kg category. (5) The Indian mixed team badminton claimed gold for the first time in the Games' history. (6) In the women's table tennis event, the Manika Batra lead Indian team won its first ever Commonwealth gold medal by defeating Singapore. (7) Indian men’s table tennis team wins gold beating Nigeria 3-0. (8) Teenager Deepak Lather from Haryana became the youngest Indian weightlifter to claim a Commonwealth Games medal, clinching a bronze in the men’s 69kg category. (9) It was the fifth time Australia had hosted the Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games ‹ The Commonwealth Games are an international multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930.Next Commonwealth Games are to be held in England in 2022. ‹ The Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of 53 member states Santosh Trophy: Kerala emerges champion (a) Kerala beat Bengal via the tie-breaker to claim its sixth Santosh Trophy title at the Salt Lake Stadium. (b) The tournament was started in 1941 and is named after the president of the Indian Football Association (West Bengal's football association) at the time, Sir Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhary of Santosh. (c) The IFA were the ones who donated the Santosh Trophy. The runner-up trophy was known as the Kamla Gupta Trophy. Uttarakhand’s second Mega Food Park inaugurated at Udham Singh Nagar (a) Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal inagurated Uttarakhand’s second Mega Food Park- Himalayan Mega Food Park Private Ltd inaugurated at Mahuakhera Ganj in Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar district. (b) The first Mega Food Park in the state is located at Haridwar and has already become operational. (c) Recently First Mega Food Park of Maharashtra Inaugurated at Village Degaon, District Satarawas. (d) Government of India (GOI) has approved a new Central Sector Scheme – Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters) with an allocation of Rs. 6,000 crore for the period 2016-20. Under the SAMPADA scheme 42 mega food park will be constructed by 2020. (e) NOTE: To doubling the farmer income by 2022, the government has allocated Rs 1400 crore for 2018-19 fiscal and set up institutions to finance agro-processing projects. Start-ups get limited relief from angel tax a) Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), under the Union Ministry for Commerce and Industry, has finally exempted startups from ‘angel tax’. ‹ Angel investor-Individual who help new entrepreneur to start its start up in its initial stage ‹ Angel tax- The angel tax was introduced by then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in the finance bill of 2012. The measure was aimed at tackling the laundering of money through high premiums on shares. ‹ The tax is applicable on the capital raised by unlisted companies in excess of the fair market value of their shares. ‹ The law reasons that this excess amount is akin to “income from other sources” and should be taxed under Section 56 (II) of the Income Tax Act. This route has been prone to misuse for conversion of black money into white. b) DIPP said start-ups can apply to an eight-member inter-ministerial board (IMB) for tax relief if “the aggregate amount of paid-up share capital and share premium of the start-up after the proposed issue of shares does not exceed Rs 10 crore”. c) The investor, who proposes to subscribe to shares issued by a start-up, must have an average returned income of Rs 25 lakh or more for the preceding three financial years or the net worth of Rs 2 crore and above What is a “start-up”? According to a Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) notification dated 23 May 2017, an entity is considered as a “start-up”- (1) If it is incorporated as a private limited company, or registered as a partnership firm or a limited liability partnership in India; and (2) Up to 7 years from the date of incorporation (10 years in case of entities in the biotechnology sector); (3) Turnover has not exceeded Rs25 crore for any of the financial years, and (4) It is working towards innovation, development or improvement of products or processes or services, or if it is a scalable model with a high potential for employment generation or wealth creation. (5) Provided that any such entity formed by splitting up or reconstruction of a business already in existence shall not be considered a ‘start-up’.
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8th Theatre Olympics concludes in Mumbai (a) The historic event of 8th Theatre Olympics concluded on April 9, 2018 in Mumbai after a glorious run of 51 days across 17 cities of India. (b) The 8th Theatre Olympics was inaugurated by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on February 17, 2018 at Red Fort in New Delhi. (c) This edition of Theatre Olympics brought together around 25000 artists under the theme 'Flag of Friendship'. PM Modi inaugurates first health centre under Ayushman Bharat Scheme in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur (a) Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first health centre under Ayushman Bharat Scheme in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur. (b) He also inaugurated the first phase of the Bastar Internet scheme under which a 40,000-km-long network of fibre optics cable would be spread across the seven districts of the tribal region. Ayushman Bharat Programs(Namocare/Modicare) NHPS Yojana 2018 (1) NHPS (Ayushman Bharat Scheme) dubbed ‘Modicare’ seeks to provide health insurance of Rs 5 Lakh to 10 crore poor and vulnerable households. It will have 50 crore beneficiaries. Under it, up to Rs 5 lakh insurance cover will be provided to each family per year in secondary and tertiary care institutions. (2) The government has allocated Rs. 2,000 crore for intial corpus of this scheme in which 40% of fund for the scheme has to come from state. (3) The premium of the insurance would be about Rs 1,100. (4) Under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, the government aims to open 1.5 lakh health and wellness centre by 2022 with an investment of Rs 1200crore. Gobar-dhan Yojana's national launch from Haryana on April 30 (a) 'Gobar-dhan Yojana', the central scheme for managing and converting cattle dung into manure and biogas, will be launched at the national level from Karnal in Haryana on April 30. (b) Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Uma Bharti and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will launch the scheme. (c) GOBAR is acronym for Galvanising Organic Bio Agro Resources. (d) The government aims to cover nearly 700 districts under the scheme in this financial year (2018-19). (e) The scheme will be hugely beneficial for country as India is home to highest cattle population in world (around 300 million in number) which produces around 3 million tonnes of dung. RBI switches back to GDP model to measure economy (a) The Reserve Bank switched back to the gross domestic product (GDP)-based measure to offer its growth estimates instated of gross value added (GVA) methodology. (b) The Government had started analysing growth estimates using GVA methodology from January 2015. (c) The government has changed the base year to 2017-18 for the calculation of GDP and Index of Industrial Production (IIP) numbers while for retail inflation the year will be revised to 2018 (d) Central Statistical Office (CSO) has started using GDP as the main measure of economic activities since January 15 this year. (e) The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) has been allocated Rs 4,859 crore in the Union Budget 2018-19. Bharat BillPay registers 75% growth in March (a) More than 31.5 million transactions have been recorded on the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) in March, up 75% from 18 million recorded in March last year. (b) Transactions worth Rs2986.15 crore were recorded in March as compared to Rs1125.51crore worth of transactions in March last year (c) National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems has received a final nod from the Reserve Bank of India in 2017 to function as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) and operate the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS). (d) The Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an RBI conceptualised system driven by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). (e) The total number of Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs) certified by NPCI now stands at 71. (f) At present, 61 banks and 10 non-bank entities function as Bharat Bill Payment operating units (BBPOUs) in the country. Non-Executive Chairman of NPCI- Biswamohan Mahapatra Madhubani railway station in Bihar gets makeover with Mithila paintings (a) Madhubani railway station got complete makeover with Mithila paintings. (b) Mithila painting is folk painting practiced in Mithila region of India (especially Bihar) and Nepal. (c) It is also known as Madhubani paintings which mean ‘forest of honey’. Walmiki and Malhar: 2 unknown languages discovered (a) Linguist from University of Hyderabad have discovered two endangered languages Walmiki and Malhar predominantly spoken in remote regions of Odisha.
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(b) It is spoken in district of Koraput of Odisha and on bordering districts of Andhra Pradesh. (c) It is spoken in a remote and isolated hamlet about 165 km away from Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Parker Solar Probe: NASA to launch Humanity’s first flight to Sun in July 2018 (a) NASA’s will launch humanity’s first mission Parker Solar Probe (PSP) to the Sun in July 31, 2018. (b) It is undergoing final preparations for its scheduled launch on board of NASA’s Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. It is NASA’s first planned robotic spacecraft to study outer corona of Sun. It has been designed and built by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. (c) It is named after solar astrophysicist Eugene Parker, first spacecraft of NASA to be named after living person. April 10: World Homoeopathy Day (a) The World Homoeopathy Day (WHD) is observed every year on April 10 to pay tribute to Germany's Dr. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann, founder and father of Homeopathy system of medicine. (b) This year it is 263rd birth anniversary of founder of Homoeopathy.On this occasion, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated scientific convention on WHD 2018 in New Delhi organised by Ministry of AYUSH. SBI to invest Rs 80 billion in Nepal's 900 MW hydro-electric project (a) The State Bank of India will be investing a total of Rs 80 billion in the Arun III hydropower project at the Arun River of Nepal, which has 900 megawatts (MW) electricity production capacities. (b) Along with this, the Punjab National Bank will lend the loan for the construction of the 268 km long 400 KV transmission line via the Everest Bank which is the joint venture bank of the PNB. (c) The construction of the mega power project will be done by SJVN. First India-Nordic summit to boost ties with 5 nations (a) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet leaders of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark & Iceland for the first India- Nordic Summit in Stockholm on April 17. (b) Modi will be the first Indian PM to visit Stockholm since 1988. Swedish Ambassador to India- Klas Molin Centre Releases Rs. 23,147 Crore under MGNREGS (a) Ministry of Rural Development has already released Rs. 23,147 crore to various States/UTs under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. (b) The funds, besides clearing all wage and payment liabilities of previous year, will also ensure smooth implementation of the scheme in the coming months of FY 2018-19. (c) In line with the commitment of Central Government towards release of funds by 10th April, 2018, the Ministry has released Rs. 14,995 crore for wages and Rs. 8,152 crore for material expenditure under MGNREGS. (d) This release includes the amount pending as liability for the work done in the last weeks of FY 2017-18. (e) It is important to mention here that the Central Government has an initial budget provision of Rs. 55,000crore in FY 2018-19. (f) The 11 year old scheme, executed under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, provides minimum 100 days of employment out of 365 days in a year to every rural household willing to do unskilled manual work. Former DoPT Secretary Bhanu Pratap Sharma appointed chairman of Bank Board Bureau (a) The government appointed former DoPT Secretary Bhanu Pratap Sharma as Chairman of the Banks Board Bureau (BBB).He replaces Vinod Rai. (b) In February 2016, the Modi government approved the proposal for setting up BBB and it started functioning from April 2016. (c) The BBB works as step towards governance reforms in Public Sector Banks (PSBs) as recommended by P.J. Nayak Committee. Index of Economic Freedom 2018: India ranks 130th (a) India ranked 130th out of 186 economies in recently released Index of Economic Freedom 2018 that measures the degree of economic freedom in the countries of the world. India with score of 54.5 jumped 13 places. (b) The index was released by top US based Think Tank, The Heritage Foundation. It ranks countries based on score ranging 0 (least free) to 100 (most free). (c) Top 5 countries are: Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, Australia AWARD of the week (1) ‘Shanti Doot’ award by Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir in Varanasi-Javed Akhtar (2) Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award for 2018-Anushka Sharma (3) Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contribution to Indian Cinema- actor Shri Vinod Khanna (4) Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award 2018 for the Best Leading Lady (Critics Award)-Aditi Rao Hydari (5) Sridevi Award at the Zee Apsara Awards-Tamannaah Bhatia (6) 1st Indian artiste to win the Best Electronica/Dance Single at the 16th Annual Independent Music Awards (IMA) in London- Anish Sood (7) J.C. Daniel Award, the Kerala government’s highest honour for lifetime contribution to Malayalam cinema-Lyricist and director Sreekumaran Thampi
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PERSON IN NEWS Appointment M Sathiyavathy Labour Secretary M Sathiyavathy took charge as member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). UPSC has been established under Article 315 of the Constitution of India.The chairman and members of the Commission hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. Article 316 of Constitution deals with appointment and term of office of members. Ban Ki-moon Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was elected as Chairman of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) replacing Japan’s Yasuo Fukuda. Former governor of People’s Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan was appointed vice-chairman. Both the appointments took place during second session of annual Boao Forum, known as “Asian Davos” underway in China’s Hainan province. BFA is modelled on annual World Economic Forum (WEF) held annually in Davos, Switzerland. Rosemary DiCarlo Former American diplomat Rosemary DiCarlo was appointed as the Head of UN Political Affairs, one of the most high-profile positions of the United Nations (UN). With this appointment, DiCarlo became the first woman to head this position. DiCarlo will succeed Jeffrey Feltman. Kamaladevi Google Doodle on April 3, 2018 honoured Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay – an activist, social Chattopadhyay reformer and freedom fighter, to celebrate her 115th birth anniversary. The doodle highlighted Chattopadhyay's contribution to handicrafts, handlooms, and theatre. Vinay Sheel Oberoi The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on April 4, 2018 constituted a High Powered Committee to examine the entire system of conducting Class X and Class XII examinations, conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).Vinay Sheel Oberoi, retired Secretary of Higher Education, MHRD, will be the Chairperson of the 7 member High Power Committee. NOTE-CBSE- Central Board of Secondary Education, Chairperson: Dr Gursimran Dhillon Ranil Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on April 4, 2018 comfortably defeated the no- Wickremesinghe confidence motion moved by the joint opposition against him, securing the majority support in the 225-member Parliament. Himanta Biswa Himanta Biswa Sarma has been elected as the President of the Badminton Association of India Sarma (BAI) for the next four years after winning the election during the federation’s annual general body meeting. Nirmala Sitharaman Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is in Russia to attend the 7th Moscow Conference on International Security. This is her first visit to Russia in her capacity as the Defence Minister. Debjani Ghosh Debjani Ghosh, former managing director of Intel South Asia, is the new president of NASSCOM(The National Association of Software an d Services Companies ) Rajesh Ranjan The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appointed senior IPS officer Rajesh Ranjan as Director General of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). Balram Bhargava The Union Government has appointed AIIMS professor Balram Bhargava as Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Secretary of the Department of Health Research. He will have tenure of three years or until attainment of age of 60 years. OBIUITARY Efrain Rios Montt Former military dictator Efrain Rios Montt, who ruled Guatemala between 1982 and 1983 and was accused of genocide, passed away on April 1, 2018. Note: Guatemala-Capital: Guatemala City, Currency: quetzal CM R K Dorendra Former Manipur Chief Minister R K Dorendra Singh passed away at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital in Imphal. One liner of the week 1. Multi Modal Logistics Park at Balli Station near Madgaon in Goa was recently inaugurated. 2. A team of researchers have recently discovered a new plant species named 'Fimbristylis agasthyamalaensis' in Ponmudi hills within the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot. 3. The Indian Air Force conducts one of its biggest war exercises 'Gaganshakti' from April 8 to April 22. For the first time, indigenously manufactured Tejas LCA fighter jets will participate in the exercise. 4. 6 April: International Day of Sport for Development and Peace 5. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched a unique initiative ‘Project Dhoop’ to encourage schools to shift their morning assembly to around noon-time, mainly between 11 am to 1 pm, to ensure maximum absorption of Vitamin D in students through natural sunlight
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6. The Indo-Korean joint anti-piracy exercise 'SAHYOG- HYEOBLYEOG 2018' was conducted on April 5, 2018 off the Chennai coast. Director General of Indian Coast Guard -Rajendra Singh 7. Indian Navy conducted multi-agency humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise named ‘Chakravat’ meaning ‘cyclone’ with coordination of Kerala Government off Kochi Coast. 8. Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted Exercise Gaganshakti 2018, biggest air combat exercise along Pakistan, China borders. 9. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Malaysia concluded joint military exercise “Desert Tiger 5” aimed at sharing expertise and enhancing joint military actions in Dubai, UAE. 10. Himachal Pradesh Government launched Mother’s Absolute Affection (MAA) programme to promote breastfeeding 11. IndusInd Bank has become the first lender to start using WhatsApp enterprise solution to provide basic banking services to customers. 12. Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has received RBI’s approval to buy the securities services arm of IL&FS((Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services). 13. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed monetary penalty worth Rs. 3 crore on IDBI Bank for not complying with the outlined norms related to reporting of bad loans. 14. Amazon Business announced the expansion of its Global Selling programme by launching B2B selling for Indian exporters. 15. Mumbai, also known as the financial capital of India, has added another feather to its cap, becoming the first city of the country to have as many as eight women police station in-charges. 16. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has approved establishment of the first multipurpose “Van Dhan Vikas Kendra” on the pilot basis for establishment in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh. 17. The Centre, Maharashtra Government and World Bank signed a 420 million dollar project to help small and marginals farmers in the Marathwada and Vidarbha region of the State. 18. The fifth Indo-Kyrgyzstan joint training exercise KHANJAR V culminated after a Joint Tactical Validation Exercise and a closing ceremony held at Counter Insurgency Jungle Warfare School, Vairengte, Mizoram. 19. The state government of Maharashtra has announced that cancer patients would be provided with free chemotherapy treatment at district hospitals. 20. The state government of Goa has decided to launch its own app-based taxi service to few key tourist destinations of the state. 21. Tamil Nadu Government launched bi-lingual ‘Uzhavan’ (farmer) mobile application in a bid to use technology for benefit of farmers. 22. The two-day Assam Spring Festival was held at Manas National Park. 23. India has agreed to build strategic railway link between Raxaul in Bihar and Kathmandu in Nepal to facilitate people-to-people (P2P) contact and bulk movement of goods. 24. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has placed 11 public sector banks (PSBs) out of 21 State-owned banks under its Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework. 25. IIT-trained Australian scientist of Indian origin Veena Sahajwalla has launched world’s first microfactory that can transform components from electronic waste items into valuable materials for re-use. 26. The Maharashtra state government has introduced free chemotherapy facility in 10 districts from June. 27. The Haryana state government has decided to provide support of Rs 500 per month to tuberculosis patients in an effort to eliminate the infectious disease by 2025. 28. Kerala state government is planning to launch a community radio at Kuttanad, also known as the `rice bowl’ of Kerala, to keep them abreast of the latest developments in the sector. 29. The Central government has banned the import of Oxytocin a type of hormone causes hormonal imbalances and shortens the lives of milch animals. 30. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has signed an agreement with the Ministry of External Affairs for development of the Kalay Airport as a green airport in Myanmar. 31. The state government will soon constitute a Happiness Commission to promote “happiness” in state-Andhra Pradesh 32. Google paid tribute to him ith a special Doodle to mark his 114th birth anniversary-K.L. Saigal 33. World’s largest solar park with capacity of 5000MW, will be set up at-Dholera,Gujrat. 34. Till March 2018 total bio-toilets installed in Railways coaches-1,25,000 35. The 2018 Asia Cup, that was earlier scheduled to be held in India shifted to-United Arab Emirates. 36. India’s first women-only mobile news channel launched by UC Browser 37. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has decided to celebrate Ujjwala Diwas-April 20, 2018 38. The country allows women to join army for first time- Qatar NOTE: Qatar-Capital: Doha,Currency:riyal, Emir:Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani
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WEEKLY OBJECTIVE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS ON CURRENT AFFAIRS: FOR WEEK 13 & 14 /52 (1 st April– 14 April 2018) 1. 'Tiangong-1' space lab which is set to hit the Earth soon, belongs to which country? (1) Japan (2) China (3) South Korea (4) Taiwan (5) Thailand 2. ISRO recently lost its contact with the ______, India’s most powerful communication satellite, in less than 48 hours after it was launched. (1) GSAT-6A (2) GSAT-19 (3) GSAT-5P (4) INSAT-4B (5)INSAT-4CR 3. Consider the following statements: (1) The Uniform System of e-way Bill for inter-State movement of goods will come into force from April 1, 2018. (2) The e-way bill will be mandatory for inter-state transportation of goods with a value of Rs. 20,000 and above. (3) Under the new system, every transporter will have to carry a system-generated bill to move goods from one place to another. Which of the above statement/s is/are false regarding the E-way bill? (1) Only (2) (2) Only (1) (3) Both (1) and (3) (4) Both (2) and (3) (5)Allof the above 4. Who has been appointed by BCCI as the head of its Anti-Corruption Unit. (1) Neeraj Kumar (2) Ajit Singh (3)BS Bassi (4)Manish Shanker Sharma (5)Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat 5. CV Rajendran, who passed away recently, was a renowned (1) Lawyer (2) Politician (3) Cricketer (4) Director (5) Businessman 6. Which city has become the first city in the country to switch from BS-IV grade fuels to BS-VI. 1.Agra 2.Mumbai 3.Bengaluru 4.New Delhi 5.Varanasi 7. Which country did India replace to become the second largest producer of mobile phones in 2017? 1.U.S. 2.Japan 3.South Korea 4.Vietnam 5.Taiwan 8. Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association has appointed which Indian cricketer as the coach-cum-mentor of its senior state side for 2018-19 season? 1.Mohammad Kaif 2.Irfan Pathan 3.Zaheer Khan 4.Gautam Gambhir 5.Mohammad Azharuddin 9. Who was the winner of Miami Open 2018? 1.Jelena Ostapenko 2.Garbine Muguruza 3.Victoria Azarenka 4.Sloane Stephens 5.Angelique Kerber 10. India’s longest elevated road "Hindon Elevated Road" is located in which state? 1.Uttar Pradesh 2.Assam 3.Maharashtra 4.West Bengal 5.Jammu and Kashmir 11. Which country successfully tested its latest intercontinental ballistic missile 'SARMAT'? 1.India 2.Pakistan 3.Bangladesh 4.Canada 5. Russia 12. Name the bank that has launched India's first artificial intelligence-powered voice-bot 'Keya'. 1.HDFC Bank 2.ICICI Bank 3.Axis Bank 4.Kotak Mahindra Bank 5. SBI 13. Chief Minister of which state has announced raising the retirement age of state govt employees to 62 years from current 60 years? 1.Uttar Pradesh 2.Bihar 3.Madhya Pradesh 4.Rajasthan 5.Karnataka 14. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) decided to double the investment limit by angel funds in venture capital undertakings to 1. 2 crore 2. 6 crore 3. 8 crore 4. 10 crore 5. 12 crore 15. Read the following statements:- 1. The Centre has allowed states to set up their own insurance companies for implementing Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). 2. Launched in April 2016, PMFBY provides comprehensive crop insurance from pre-sowing to post-harvest against non-preventable natural risks. 3. Presently, five public sector insurers and 13 private insurance companies are empanelled for implementation of the scheme. Which of the above statement/statements is/are true? 1. Only 1 2. Only 2 3. Only 3 4. All of the above 5. None of the above 16. World Autism Awareness Day is an internationally recognized day on ______every year. 1.April 1 2.April 2 3.April 5 4.April 10 5.April 12 17. Which state government has rolled out a scheme, 'Rupashree', which provides one-time financial support to the marriages of poor women? 1. Assam 2. Bihar 3. West Bengal 4. Uttar Pradesh 5. Tamil Nadu 18. The 5th Indo-Kyrgyzstan joint training exercise ‘Khanjar V’ culminated on March 29 with a ‘Joint Tactical Validation Exercise’ in ______. 1. Mizoram 2. Manipur 3. Meghalaya 4. Nagaland 5. Assam
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19. Which airport has been adjudged as India's cleanest airport? 1. Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport 2.Raja Bhoj Airport 3. IGI Airport 4. Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport 5. Mangalore International Airport 20. Who is the new President of Nasscom? 1. R Chandrashekhar 2. Raman Roy 3. Dewang Mehta 4. Debjani Ghosh 5. Nandan Nilekani 21. P. Gururaja has won Silver medal at 21st Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast.P. Gururaja asociated with which sports? 1. Weightlifter 2. Boxer 3. Runner 4. Skater 5. shot-putter 22. Which among the following app launched by ICICI bank for remittances service? 1. PhonePe 2. Money2India 3. Tez 4. Happay 5. MobiKwik 23. The government will set up an IT-Grievance Redressal Mechanism to address the difficulties faced by taxpayers owing to technical glitches on the ______. 1. National Portal of India 2. GST Portal 3. National Government Services Portal 4. E-market Portal 5. Aadhar Portal 24. Taylah Robertson of Australia who became the first medalist of the 21st Commonwealth Games is related to which game? 1. Long Jump 2. Boxing 3. Gymnastics 4. Pole Vault 5. Badminton 25. Which bank got RBI nod to acquire Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS)? 1. ICICI Bank 2. IndusInd Bank 3. SBI 4. Axis Bank 5. Canara Bank 26. The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) will establish a technology data bank for which of the following? 1. ASEAN 2. SAARC 3. OPEC 4. SCO 5. BIMSTEC 27. Who is the new President of the Badminton Association of India? 1. Injeti Srinivas 2. Adille Sumariwalla 3. Himanta Biswa Sarma 4. Akhilesh Das Gupta 5. Ajay Singh 28. Which State Government has banned the sale of non-organic agricultural products? 1. Maharashtra 2. Sikkim 3. Himachal Pradesh 4. Punjab 5. Haryana 29. Which among the following was the first to begin payment bank services? 1. Jio 2. Idea 3. Vodafone 4. Paytm 5. Airtel 30. The trial run of the first which type of train to run between Kolkata and Dhaka was flagged off on 3rd April. 1. Crude Oil 2. Goods 3. Container 4. Passenger 5. Milk 31. Which of the following railway stations in Bihar has got complete makeover with Mithila paintings? 1) Patna railway station 2) Madhubani railway station 3) Kahalgaon railway station 4) Nalanda railway station 5) Katihar railway station 32. Which state govt has recently signed a $420 million project with the union govt and the World Bank to help small and marginal farmers in the Marathwada and Vidarbha region of the state? 1) Gujarat 2) Rajasthan 3) Maharashtra 4) Uttarakhand 5) Telangana 33. The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), often called Summer Davos, held recently at Boao in Hainan province of China. What is the capital city of Hainan? 1) Haikou 2) Kunming 3) Nanjing 4) Harbin 5) Fuzhou 34. Who has been appointed a whole-time member of market regulator SEBI? 1) Subrata Bhattacharjee 2) Arijit Basu 3) Akhilesh Das Gupta 4) Abhilasha Kumari 5) Santosh Kumar Mohanty 35. The central board of direct taxes (CBDT) has constituted a working group to examine taxation aspects related to HNWIs. Who will be heading the working group? 1) Navneet Manohar 2) Pragya Sahay Saksena 3) Rajesh Bhoot 4) Zakir Thomas 5) None of these 36. Manu Bhaker has recently grabbed the gold medal at the 21st Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. She is an Indian 1) Wrestler 2) Gymnast 3) Shooter 4) Boxer 5) Swimmer 37. Which state govt has launched a mobile application named ‘Uzhavan’ (farmer)? 1) Telangana 2) Maharashtra 3) Karnataka 4) Tamil Nadu 5) Kerala 38. The union govt has launched an app christened as ‘UTTAM App’ for coal quality monitoring. The word ‘UTTAM’ is abbreviated as 1) Unlocking Transfer by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal 2) Unlocking Trust by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal 3) Unlocking Trade by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal 4) Unlocking Transition by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal
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WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 13 & 14/52
5) Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal 39. The World Health Day is observed on Apr 07, 2018 with the slogan 1) Health for World 2) Health for All 3) Health for Society 4) Health for Everyone 5) Health for Living 40. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recently proposed a concept of open architecture-based public Wi-Fi grid to bring down the cost of internet by 90%. Who is the present chairman of TRAI? 1) Gopal Vittal 2) T.S.Vijayan 3) Ram Sewak Sharma 4) Ajay Tyagi 5) Rahul Khullar 41. Who became the youngest Indian weightlifter to win medal at Commonwealth Games (CWG)? 1) Deepak Lather 2) Vikram Malhotra 3) Saraswati Rout 4) P Gururaja 5) None of these 42. RBI has recently deferred adoption of Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) by commercial banks till 1) Nov 2018 2) Dec 2018 3) Apr 2019 4) Mar 2019 5) Jan 2019 43. Indian Navy has organised the joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise ‘Chakravath 2018’ with which state govt? 1) Tamil Nadu 2) Karnataka 3) Odisha 4) Kerala 5) Telangana 44. As said in the Asian Development Outlook (ADO), 2018, by the Asian Development Bank, India’s economic growth will be what per cent in 2018-19? 1) 6.9 per cent 2) 7.1 per cent 3) 7.3 per cent 4) 7.6 per cent 5) 7.8 per cent 45. What is India’s position in the annual Index of Economic Freedom 2018 released by American think-tank the Heritage Foundation? 1) 122th 2) 130th 3) 143rd 4) 147 th 5) 153rd 46. Which of the following countries recently announced to scrap the quota system in govt services after across the country protests? 1) Sri Lanka 2) Nepal 3) Bhutan 4) Pakistan 5) Bangladesh 47. The RBI has tightened reporting norms for the Liberalised Remittance Scheme under which an individual can transfer up to ______abroad in a year. 1) USD 1,50,000 2) USD 2,00,000 3) USD 2,50,000 4) USD 3,00,000 5) USD 5,00,000 48. Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said that the govt will achieve the target of constructing ______houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin by 31 Mar 2019. 1) one crore 2) two crore 3) three crore 4) four crore 5) five crore 49. India (with sales of 5,60,806 units in Jan-Feb 2018) has become the fourth-largest passenger vehicle market globally. The largest market is 1) France 2) Brazil 3) Japan 4) US 5) China 50. India’s most powerful locomotive (12,000 horsepower) was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi recently. The loco has been assembled in 1) Varanasi 2) Gonda 3) Marhowra 4) Madhepura 5) Chittaranjan 51. Which of the following banks has announced the launch of its UK subsidiary with an initial capital commitment of 225 mn pounds? 1) PNB 2) Bank of Baroda 3) ICICI Bank 4) SBI 5) Axis Bank 52. India has become the world’s second largest importer of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). The world’s largest importer of LPG is 1) US 2) Japan 3) China 4) Indonesia 5) Malaysia 53. Shikha Sharma, the longest serving woman CEO in the financial sector, will step down in Dec 2018 as the MD and CEO of 1) ICICI Bank 2) HDFC Bank 3) Axis Bank 4) YES Bank 5) IDBI Bank 54. The RBI has hiked the foreign portfolio investors investment limit in Central govt securities from 5 per cent of outstanding stock now to what per cent in FY 2019? 1) 5.5 per cent 2) 6 per cent 3) 6.5 per cent 4) 7 per cent 5) 7.5 per cent 55. Which state has topped in 4G connectivity according to a report by a wireless coverage mapping company, OpenSignal? 1) Bengaluru 2) Mumbai 3) Patna 4) Delhi 5) Chennai 56. Which of the following banks has become the first Indian bank to go live on SWIFT’s GPI service? 1) SBI 2) ICICI Bank 3) Indian Overseas Bank 4) Axis Bank 5) Kotak Mahindra Bank 57. Which state govt has recently launched the ‘Gobardhan Yojana’ to provide for the sale of organic manure and cow urine? 1) Haryana 2) Punjab 3) Bihar 4) Jharkhand 5) Assam 58. Indian Army has signed a Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) with which of the following banks on Defence Salary Package? 1) City Bank 2) Axis Bank 3) ICICI Bank 4) HDFC Bank 5) SBI
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WEEKLY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR WEEK 13 & 14/52
59. Which Indian university has been adjudged as overall best university in 2018 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) India Rankings? 1) Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 2) Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc), Bengaluru 3) Anna University, Chennai 4) Univ of Hyd, Hyderabad 5) Jawaharlal University, Delhi 60. The World Menstrual Hygiene Day is observed every year on 1) Apr 15 2) Apr 28 3) May 28 4) May 30 5) Mar 28 61. PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the first health centre under Ayushman Bharat Scheme recently in Bijapur in 1) Chhattisgarh 2) Jharkhand 3) Madhya Pradesh 4) Maharashtra 5) Uttar Pradesh 62. The 127th birth anniversary of who among the following was observed on 14 Apr? 1) Jyotirao Phule 2) Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar 3) Swami Vivekanand 4) Bal Gangadhar Tilak 5) Raja Ram Mohan Roy 63. Who among the following has been given the 49th Dadasaheb Phalke Award, Indian cinema’s highest honour, posthumously? 1) Shashi Kapoor 2) Rajesh Khanna 3) Sridevi 4) Vinod Mehra 5) Vinod Khanna 64. Who among the following has been appointed chairman of the central panel of the 65th National Film Awards? 1) Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury 2) P Sheshadri 3) Rahul Rawail 4) Gautami Tadimalla 5) Shekhar Kapur A record amount of Rs 71, 633.45 cr was digitally transacted/routed through the PFMS portal on a single day recently. Letter ‘F’ in the term PFMS stands for 1) Financial 2) Facility 3) Favour 4) Forwarding 5) Fulfillment 65. The eight infrastructure (core) sectors grew by what per cent in Feb 2018? 1) 3.2 per cent 2) 3.6 per cent 3) 4.1 per cent 4) 5.3 per cent 5) 5.6 per cent 66. The RBI recently dropped which of the following banks from a list of banks it has cleared to import gold and silver in the current financial? 1) ICICI Bank 2) HDFC Bam 3) SBI 4) Axis Bank 5) Bank of Baroda 67. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was re-elected as the President of which of the following countries? 1) Greece 2) Turkey 3) Egypt 4) Libya 5) Syria 68. NABARD has introduced a new Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) Framework for RRBs asking them to frame self corrective norms to check deterioration in their financial position. The PCA will be invoked in case of breach on which of the following parameters? 1) Capital to risk-weighted assets (CRAR) 2) Non Performing Assets (NPA) 3) Return on Assests (ROA) 4) All of These 5) All of These 69. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was founded in which year? 1) 1895 2) 1985 3) 1972 4) 1965 5) 1963 70. In a move to provide independent identity to transgender population of the country for obtaining PAN number, the government of India has decided to amend which of the following PAN Application form? 1) Form 49A 2) Form 49B 3) Form 49AA 4) Both A & C 5) All of These ANSWER KEYS TO WEEKLY OBJECTIVE MCQs ON CURRENT AFFAIRS: FOR WEEK 13 & 14 /52 (1 st April– 14 April 2018) 1 1 15 4 29 5 43 4 57 1 2 1 16 2 30 3 44 3 58 4 3 1 17 3 31 2 45 2 59 2 4 2 18 1 32 3 46 5 60 3 5 4 19 5 33 1 47 3 61 1 6 4 20 4 34 5 48 1 62 2 7 4 21 1 35 2 49 5 63 5 8 2 22 2 36 3 50 4 64 5 9 4 23 2 37 4 51 4 65 1 10 1 24 2 38 5 52 3 66 4 11 5 25 2 39 2 53 3 67 3 12 4 26 1 40 3 54 1 68 4 13 3 27 3 41 1 55 3 69 1 14 4 28 2 42 3 56 2 70 4
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