Daily Current Affairs for 4th April 2018 ( English)
Important days:
1. April 4- International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in
Mine Action was observed all over the world to
create awareness about the threat of mines, unexploded grenades and other
explosive hazards that prevents the return of normalcy in areas affected by
armed conflicts with the theme 2018 is Advancing Protection, Peace and Development.
National:
1.
National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2018 or NIRF-3
released by Ministry of Human Resource Development. This year it is third edition NIRF survey and was released as
part of India Rankings 2018 for the Educational Institutions. The Indian
Institute of Sciences, Bengaluru topped the list of Overall Rankings followed
by IIT Madras at 2nd position, IIT Bombay at 3rd, IIT Delhi at 4th and IIT
Kharagpur at fifth position. IISC Bangaluru also topped the University
rankings, followed by Jawaharlal Nehru University and Benares Hindu
University at second and third position, respectively. Indian Institute
of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) was adjudged best engineering college and Indian
Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) the best management institution.
Delhi University’s Miranda House was adjudged best college, AIIMS-Delhi as best
medical college and NLSIU-Bengaluru as best law school in country.
2. Mother’s Absolute Affection (MAA) programme with an aim to promote
breastfeeding was launched by Himachal Pradesh Health Minister Vipin Parmar on March 4, 2018. The main
objective is to create
awareness among masses about the importance of breastfeeding. Beastfeeding
helps in reducing the incidence of infant mortality and early childhood
mortality and provides complete nutrition to a child.
International:
1.
The Union Cabinet has given its ex post facto approval to MoU between
India and Iran on establishment of an expert group on trade remedy measures. The MoU will promote cooperation between two countries in area
of trade remedies.
2. India, Japan and the
United States participated in the ninth trilateral meeting in New Delhi on
April 4, 2018. The meeting was held in the
backdrop of the ongoing trade war between China and the USA that erupted after
both sides imposed tariffs on each other’s goods. The main
focus of this 'Trilateral Infrastructure Working Group' was on connectivity,
counter-terrorism and other regional and global issues.
3. The construction of Turkey's
first-ever nuclear power plant in Mersin region, a large port city on the
Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey was inaugurated by the President of
Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan along with Russian President Vladimir Putin on
April 3, 2018. 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. Once completed the power station will
contribute around 10 percent to the electricity needs of Turkey, which is
significant as the nation has few energy resources of its own.
Science& Technology/Defence:
1.
ASPIRE (Advanced Supersonic Parachute Inflation Research
Experiment) to test supersonic parachute
that will help its space exploration missions to land on Mars was successfully
conducted by NASA. The parachute was launched aboard of sounding rocket from
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in US. It was tested in sky, mimicking
conditions of entering red planet. The test of ASPIRE was meant to mimic
conditions that spacecraft will experience during red planet entry, descent and
landing (EDL).
2.
A MoU was signed between Indian Army with HDFC Bank on the
Defence Salary Package. This MoU will benefit
large number of serving and retired Indian Army personnel who are having their accounts
with HDFC bank. It will also provide them an opportunity to access modern banking
facilities.
3. The Hubble Space Telescope
of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has discovered the
most distant star ever seen named 'Icarus'. This
huge blue star is located over halfway across the universe. It took nine
billion years for the Icarus' light to reach the Earth. The star was
named as 'Icarus' after the Greek
mythological character who flew too near the Sun on wings of feathers and wax
that melted.
Economy:
1.
SEBI (The Securities Exchange Board of India) has relaxed
algorithm trading norms at commodity derivatives exchanges. It has raised limit of trading using algorithm trading process
up to 100 orders per second by user from the existing limit of 20 orders per second.
The decision was taken after receiving representations from exchanges along
with views of SEBI’s subcommittee- Commodity Derivatives Advisory Committe.
2.
The eight core infrastructure sectors grew by 5.3% in February
2018 released by Ministry of Commerce and Industry. In India, there are eight core sectors comprising of coal,
crude oil, natural gas, petroleum refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement
and electricity.
3. The GST Council delegated its powers to an IT Grievance
Redressal Committee to approve and recommend the steps to be taken to redress
the grievance and provide relief to the taxpayer on April 4, 2018. The relief could be in the nature of allowing
filing of any Form or Return prescribed in law or amending any Form or Return
already filed. However, this mechanism will not be available to the
individual taxpayer who face problems like poor internet connectivity or
failure of power supply.
4. The digital initiatives by
Export Inspection Council (EIC) for ease of export were launched by the Union
Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu on April 03,
2018. In order to continue the vision for
credible inspection and certification and to strengthen the confidence on
Indian produce, three portals have been developed to reduce transaction time
and cost in a transparent manner.
5. Jio Payments Bank Limited
has commenced operations as a payments bank with effect from April 3, 2018. Jio Payments Bank is
a 70:30 joint venture between Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries
and the State Bank of India (SBI). In November 2016, Airtel Payment Bank became the first entity to
commence operations as Payments Bank. Paytm Payments Bank and Fino
Payments Bank commenced operations in 2017.India Post Payments Bank,
which also got a license for a payment bank is yet to start its full-fledged
operations in a formal way.
6. IndusInd Bank announced
that it has launched a pilot WhatsApp
enterprise solution to communicate with its customers. The customers
of IndusInd Bank will now be able to check balance, obtain mini statement, check reward points as well as
update of Aadhaar through WhatsApp. There will be a two-way
communication with replies to customer messages seeking basic banking
services.
Appointments/Resignations:
1. Himanta Biswa Sarma elected as President of Badminton
Association of India (BAI) for the next 4 years. Himanta Biswa
Sarma is a Cabinet Minister in Assam. He took charge as the interim President
of BAI in 2017 following the death of former BAI president Akhilesh Das Gupta.
Former Tamil Nadu Badminton Association president and Lok Sabha MP from
Dharmapuri constituency, Dr.
Anbumani Ramadoss was elected as the treasurer uncontested. Ajay Singhania of Haryana
Badminton Association was elected as General Secretary of BAI.Maharashtra Badminton Association
President, Arun Lakhani,
was elected as the Senior Vice-President unopposed. Omar Rashid, Secretary of Assam
Badminton Association was elected unopposed as the Secretary (events).
Awards/ Honours:
1.
Study Khazana, an e-portal, was awarded “For best emerging
online Education Portal in North India” at the ‘World Education Summit and
Award 2018’ at New Delhi.
Study Khazana helps education-deprived aspirants get access to quality
education irrespective of geographical boundaries and it encourages open
knowledge movement. Actress Sharmila Tagore presented the award to Sana
Baqai, the Founder of Study Khazana.
Sports:
1. The 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games will begin on April
4, 2018 in Gold Coast, Australia, with a colourful opening ceremony. Carrara Stadium will host the opening ceremony
which is expected to showcase Australia's diversity and culture. This
year, the Games will mark the 5th time that Australia has hosted the games. India
will be represented at the opening ceremony by a contingent of over 200
athletes who will be led by flag-bearer P V Sindhu, the Olympic Silver medalist. The
mascot is “Borobi” and the motto is “Share the dream”.
Announcement !
கருத்துரையிடுக
கருத்துரையிடுக