Daily Current Affairs for 6th April,2018 (English)
National:
1. National Company Law
Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) approved the sale of its tower and fibre business by
Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom). Earlier,
NCLAT prevented RCom from selling any asset without its permission, following a
legal challenge from Swedish telecoms gear maker Ericsson.Proceeds of
the sale will be deposited with the State Bank of India.
2. The Union Minister of
State for MSME Giriraj Singh launched a mobile phone application for locating
4000 Khadi stores in the country. There
are more than 8000 Khadistores in India, the rest of stores will also be
available on the store locater by the end of month. The Khadi
products are manufactured by about 7 lakh privately owned household units which
are funded through schemes like the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation
Programme (PMEGP).
International:
1. Qatar would be introducing
national service for women for the first time with immediate effect, under a
new law issued by the Gulf nation’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
The nation has also extended the time served in the military by
recruited men. While women aged over 18 will now be able to volunteer for
national service under the law, men will have to serve for a year instead of
three months. It is the first time that women have been allowed to undertake
national service, although some women already serve in the military in
administrative roles.
Science and Technology/Defence:
1.
Indian Navy conducted multi-agency humanitarian assistance and
disaster relief (HADR) exercise named ‘Chakravat’ meaning ‘cyclone’ with coordination
of Kerala Government off Kochi Coast. The exercise
saw participation of three Services, Coast Guard, State administration, State
Disaster Management Authority, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF),
Fisheries Department, Coastal Police and members of fishing community. It is
for the first time that the yearly exercise is being conducted in Kochi. The
mandate of exercise was to review response mechanism in the event of a cyclonic
storm. It was led by the Southern Naval Command at BTP Jetty of the Cochin Port.
2.
A 10-member committee to regulate online portals, including news
websites, entertainment sites and media aggregators has constituted by the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B). The committee will look to bring online information
dissemination under regulation. It will propose policy for foreign direct
investment (FDI) in this media.
3. A team of researchers have
identified certain DNA variants for a new effective treatment of the
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), the intestinal disorder. Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common
gastrointestinal disorder. More than 10 percent of the population,
particularly women, suffer from recurrent symptoms including abdominal pain,
gas, diarrhoea, and constipation.
Economy:
1.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its first bimonthly policy
review for financial year 2018-19 has decided to maintain status quo in policy
rates by keeping repo rate unchanged at 6.0%. This decision was taken by RBI’s six member Monetary Policy
Committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel.
2.
UTTAM (Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined
Coal) Application for coal quality monitoring was launched by the ministry of
coal. The app has been jointly developed by
Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited (CIL). The app has been designed for
active participation of citizens as stakeholders in the coal ecosystem. The app
aims to ensure transparency and efficiency in coal quality monitoring process
and bring coal governance closer to people. The app has been designed for
active participation of citizens as stakeholders in the coal ecosystem.
3. Central banks around world
are exploring options of introducing ‘fiat’ digital currencies in landscape of
rapidly changing payments industry with technological evolution. Fiat currency is currency that a government has declared to be
legal tender. It is different from cryptocurrency or virtual currency like
Bitcoin which is not legal tender and not backed by government. The Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) has constituted an inter-departmental group to study and
provide guidance on feasibility to introduce fiat digital currency backed by
it. It will be submitted by end-June 2018.
4. A 5-member working group
(committee) headed by Pragya Sahay Saksena, a joint secretary with Foreign Tax
& Tax Research Division of CBDT has constituted by the Central Board of
Direct Taxes (CBDT) to examine taxation
aspects related to High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) who are migrating abroad
to other jurisdictions. The working group will make recommendations for
policy decision in respect of tax risks of migrating HNWIs.
5. 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. In this regard, Exim Bank has entered into
agreement with Bangladesh Government in October 2017 to extend this line of credit
(LoC) facility on behalf of Government of India (GoI). Bangladesh will also use
this financing facility to import consultancy services from India.
6. The adoption of Indian
Accounting Standards (Ind AS) by commercial banks for year (till April 2019)
due to unpreparedness of banks to migrate to the new accounting system has
deferred by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Ind AS
is global accounting practice that lender is mandated to adopt. The practice is
on par with International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 9.
7. The Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI) has proposed concept of open architecture-based
public Wi-Fi grid to bring down the cost of internet by 90%. The Wi-Fi grid or mesh proposed by TRAI entails various
providers coming together to address aspects like services, access, payment,
and authentication. It is much needed as broadband proliferation across country.It
is important pillar of Digital India and Wi-Fi serves as cheapest option given
low cost of equipment and free spectrum.
8. Reserve Bank of India
decided to set up Data Sciences Lab to improve its forecasting, surveillance
and early warning detection abilities. The
lab will comprise experts and budding analysts, who are trained in Computer
Science, Data Analytics, Statistics, Economics, Econometrics and Finance.The
lab is likely to become operational by December 2018.
Sports:
1. Weightlifter Khumukcham
Sanjita Chanu on April 6, 2018 clinched the second Gold Medal for India by
winning in the 53 kg Women weightlifting category at the 21st Commonwealth
Games at the Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre in Gold Coast, Australia. Sanjita defeated Dika Toua of Papua New Guinea with a total
lift (snatch plus clean and jerk) of 192 kg (84 kg snatch + 108 kg clean and
Jerk). She broke the Commonwealth Games record in snatch with a lift of 84 kg.
Deaths:
1. Oscar-nominated Japanese
animation director Isao Takahata passed away on April 5, 2018.
Takahata co-founded the Studio Ghibli and was best known for his work “Grave of
the Fireflies”. Takahata's latest film 'The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
earned him an Academy nomination in 2014 for best animated feature.Born
in central Japan, Takahata started his career in animation at the Toei studio
in 1959, where he met long-term collaborator Miyazaki.
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