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 1 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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 8 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.