Daily Current Affairs for 7th April 2018 ( English)
Important Days:
1.
April 7 - World Health Day (WHD) is observed every year to mark anniversary of founding of World
Health Organization (WHO) on this day in 1948. The theme for year 2018 is
“Universal Health Coverage: Health For All’.
National:
1.
The Indian Railways has inducted three 09-3x Dynamic Tamping
Express machines for improved mechanised Track Maintenance. It is latest high output integrated tamping machine having
multiple functions, so far being carried out by different machines. It can
measure pre and post track geometry, correct track to required geometry tamp
three sleepers simultaneously, stabilize and measure post tamping track parameters
under load to ensure quality of work done. These machines have been
manufactured in India under Make in Inida initiative with imported components.
Indian Railways is planning to induct 42 more such machines in its maintenance
fleet over next 3 years. This advanced technology simulator is presently only
available in five countries including India.
2. Maharashtra Government
have signed US $420 million loan agreement with World Bank for Project for
Climate Resilient Agriculture to help small and marginal farmers in Marathwada
and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra. The project
aims to help in increasing climate resilient practices in agriculture and
ensuring that farming continues to remain a financially viable activity for
them. It will be implemented in rural areas largely dependent upon rain fed
agriculture. It will take up series of activities at farm and watershed level. The
loan will be provided from World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (IBRD). It will have maturity of 24 years and grace period of 6
years. This project is expected to benefit over 7 million people that are
spread over area of 3.0 million hectares and cover 5142 villages across 15 most
climate vulnerable districts of Maharashtra.
3. The imports of hormone
oxytocin to stop its misuse in livestock industry, where it causes hormonal
imbalances and shortens the lives of milch animals has banned by the union
govt. It has asked customs officials to step up vigilance against those likely
to try and smuggle oxytocin into India. Oxytocin,
often called love hormone, is released naturally in human bonding activities
such as sex, childbirth and breastfeeding. It is uterine stimulant
hormone, prescribed for initiation of uterine contractions and induction of
labour in women as well as stimulation of contractions during labour.
Science and Technology / Defence:
1.
Gaganshakti 2018, biggest air combat exercise along Pakistan,
China borders between April 10 to 23, 2018 is going to conduct by Indian Air
Force (IAF). The exercise is aimed at
coordinating operations, maintenance and administrative responses to achieve
stated objectives of IAF, in case of any contingency. Though it is IAF centric
exercise, it will also be executed keeping in mind “Joint Operational Doctrine”
so that requirements of other services are also met.
2.
IRSO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) was successfully launched
the RH-300 MKII sounding rocket from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station
in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala under Sounding Rocket Experiment (SOUREX) programme
for atmospheric studies. The objective of
experiment is to measure neutral wind in dynamo region (80-120 km) of equatorial
ionosphere using indigenously developed Electron Den sity and Neutral Wind
Probe (ENWi). It will also perform cross-validation using an independent Tri
Methyl Aluminium (TMA) release technique. It was overall 21st launch of RH300
sounding rocket.
3.
The fourth of eight Mark IV LCU vessels – L54, built by Garden
Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE), Kolkata was formally handed
over to Indian Navy at GRSE, Kolkata. L54 is 62.8
meters long and 11 meters wide and has 90% indigenous content. It is fitted
with 2 MTU 16V 4000 M 53 marine Diesel Engines each fitted with one Fixed Pitch
Propeller generating 2 X 1840 KW power. It is fitted with 2 X CRN-91 indigenous
30mm Guns, 4 X MMG and 2 X HMG to provide artillery fire support during attack
missions. The first ship of Mark IV LCU vessels INS LCU 51 was commissioned
into Indian Navy in 2016. Moreover, two more LCU ships L52 & L53 have been
already delivered to Indian Navy. The Mark IV LCU vessels are a further
improved version of the Mark III LCU vessels presently being used by the Indian
Navy.
4.
‘Sahyog-Hyeoblyeog 2018’- India, South Korea joint anti-piracy,
search and rescue exercise was conducted in Bay of Bengal off the Chennai coast
in Tamil Nadu. The exercise was conducted
between Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Korean Coast Guard (KCG) as part of
proposed establishment of MoU between them to improve maritime security in
Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The exercise aimed at developing working level
co-operation and enhanced inter-operability between coast guards of both countries
in fields of maritime search and rescue.
5.
As per a report
by Open Signal( London based company), Patna has ranked No.1 among 20
largest cities in India in terms of 4G availability. It is placed ahead of cities like Delhi, Mumbai and
even Bengaluru, which is considered a tech hub of India.
Economy:
1.
A nationwide GOBARdhan Yojna, a central government scheme will
be launched by the union govt from
Karnal district of Haryana by end of April 2018. GOBAR is acronym for Galvanising Organic Bio Agro Resources. The
government aims to cover nearly 700 districts under the scheme in this
financial year (2018-19). The scheme focuses on managing and converting cattle
dung and solid waste from farms and fields to useful compost, biogas and
bio-CNG. It will also help in keeping villages clean and generate energy while
increasing income of farmers and cattle herders.
2. The Global Logistics
Summit (GLS-2018) organised by Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce
& Industry along with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce &
Industry (FICCI) and World Bank Group to improve logistics and connectivity
which are vital for increasing intra-state and international trade flows was
held in New Delhi from April 5-6, 2018. The sector
involves transportation, material handling, warehousing, packaging, shipping
security, inventory management, and supply chain management, procurement, and
customs service. India spends around 14.4% of its GDP on logistics and
transportation sector. It provided platform to hold discussions for global
experts, academics, government officials and private sector and industry
representatives.
3.
ICICI Bank (India’s largest private sector lender) became first
Indian bank to go live on SWIFT’s (Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunication
System) Global Payment Innovation (GPI), an improved cross-border payments
service. It improves customer experience by increasing
speed, transparency and automatically provides status updates to all GPI banks
involved in any GPI payment chain. It allows banks to confirm when payment has
been completed. SWFIT GPI was launched in May 2017 to help banks to track their
global transactions at all times, keeping full vigil on payments activity.
4.
NITI Aayog is planning to build National Data & Analytics Platform (NDAP) to
host and analyse huge amount of data which shall be helpful for citizens to
understand spend patterns of the government, consumption trends and the success
of various government policies. The Objective
behind developing this platform is to increase transparency in government
functioning by giving citizens access to this data. NDAP will use artificial intelligence (AI)
for in-depth analysis. Cost of
developing NDAP could between Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore and would
entirely be funded by NITI Aayog. NDAP will be developed through
public-private partnership on design, build, operate and transfer basis.
5.
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB)
has launched three ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT)-based customer
service initiatives on a pilot
basis at one of its branch in Chennai, Tamil Nadu as part of its ‘Customer
First’ initiative. First initiative is a sound pressure
level meter placed at the branch
service counter with a configured average decibel level. Whenever the sound at
this counter crosses the average threshold, the system sends an alert to
the branch manager as well as the designated official at the regional
office, on a real-time basis. Second initiative is to provided a tablet
containing a web responsive application to customers visiting the branch.
Visiting customers can submit their feedback through this
application which also has ‘Happy’ and ‘Unhappy’ emoticons. The feedback will be monitored by a
team of dedicated customer service representatives. Third initiative is
a ‘Missed Call Feedback’ system wherein customers can give a missed call on the dedicated
mobile numbers in case of grievances.
Appointments/Resignations:
1. Rakesh Kumar Vats has been
given the additional charge of chairman of NPPA (National Pharmaceutical
Pricing Authority) with immediate effect. He replaces Bhupendra Singh as
Chairman of NPPA. Bhupendra Singh has been appointed as chairperson of National
Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention under the Cabinet Secretariat.
Awards and Honours :
1. Chhattisgarh won the ‘State of the Year’ Award under the
‘business leader’ category at the India Business Leader Awards (IBLA) in New
Delhi . The India Business Leader Awards (IBLA)
was organised by CNBC-TV18 channel. Chhattisgarh was awarded for
remarkable increase in business and services activities in various sectors.
Announcement !
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