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INDIAN AFFAIRS
India’s first semi-high speed train ‘Gatimaan Express’ flagged off
Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the Gatimaan Express from Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin station, Gatimaan Express, India’s first high speed train, crossed its maiden trip of 188 Kms in 101 minutes.
- The train runs at a speed of 160 km per hour, covering the 184 kilometre distance between Delhi and Agra in 105-110 minutes. Gatimaan Express which is India’s first semi-high speed train.
- The Train coaches have been made at Kapurthala Railway Coach Factory in the Punjab and bio-toilets developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
NaMo ushered in “Stand Up India” scheme
In order to promote entrepreneurship, Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated the “Stand up India scheme” and a Web portal for the scheme in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
- The initiative is taken to elevate entrepreneurship among Scheduled Caste/Schedule Tribe and Women by providing loans between Rs. 10 Lakhs to Rs. 100 Lakhs.
- 5100 E-Rickshaws also distributed at the launch event by Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC) under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna scheme.
- Kaushal Vikas Kendra also inaugurated in Noida.
A Historic moment! ! UIDAI produced 100 crore Aadhaars
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) touched the historic point in a range of five and a half years by producing the 100thcrore Aadhaar.
- The first Aadhaar was issued in 2010.
- This major landmark had achieved just after the government notification of Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, benefits and services) Act, 2016 which will give statutory support to exchange of subsidies and advantages to qualified individuals having Aadhaar (UID) number.
Panama Papers: Investigation of 500 Indians as per new anti-black money law
Union Government declared that action will be taken against unlawful accounts held abroad by Indians and constituted a multi-agency group to continuously monitor information after the Report from Panama Papers which says 500 Indians being named off illegal fund holdings in abroad.
- Panamanian law firm have revealed offshore accounts linked to the world’s most prominent people hundreds of Indians have been named.
Coastal security exercise ‘Tat Suraksha’ in Andamans
The 13 the Edition of bi-annual exercise Tat Suraksha of Andaman and Nicobar Command will conduct a four-day-long coastal security exercise from April 5.
- This exercise will be 13th in the series, wherein, besides validation of standard operating procedures for coastal security of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, various drills and contingencies.
- In this exercise Police, marine police force, India Reserve Battalion (IRBn), CISF, customs, fisheries department and other agencies will be involved in the southern and northern groups of islands.
- The local populace will also be sensitized about coastal security mechanism of the islands and usage of toll-free telephone number 1093 dedicated for reporting coastal security issues.
Andaman and 20 Rupees Note:
The scenery on our red coloured 20 rupee note depicts a natural scene on the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
City Limited, India’s first SPV on smart city, started operations
Bhubaneswar which came at the top of the first batch of 20 smart cities selected by the Ministry of Urban Development also became the first to get its Special Purpose Vehicle.
- The SPV was set up as per the Smart City Mission Guidelines to enable faster execution of projects by delegating to them powers of various concerned departments and agencies.
Special purpose Vehicle:
- The SPV consists of a 16-member Board of Directors with representatives of various departments, It will have an authorised capital of 500 crore rupees,
- Of the capital of Rs. 500 crore the Government of Odisha and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation will have a share of 112.50 crore rupees each while Bhubaneswar Development Authority will contribute share capital of 250 crore rupees.
Telangana unveils new ICT Policy 2016
The government of Telangana has unveiled a new ICT policy along with four other policies to support innovation, gaming and animation, rural tech centres and growth of electronics aimed at attracting investments while facilitating job creation.
- The Policy is proposed to transform Telangana into the most preferred destination for any IT company which is planning a new facility and enable it to make it a global hub for technology entrepreneurship and innovation in the country.
- The Policy seeks to attract $3 billion investment to the State and create about 6 lakh jobs.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
UN Agencies publicized “Global Report on Urban Health”
A report titled Global report on urban health: equitable, healthier cities for sustainable development, 2016 has been released by World Health Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) showing the health in equities between the richest and poorest urban populations.
- It compared data on health from urban areas of 100 countries.
- The report was led and written by the WHO Centre for Health Development in Kobe, Japan.
BANKING & FINANCE
India signs USD 100m draft export pact with ICD
India has signed a memorandum of understanding with the 56-member Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for a possible $100 million line of credit to simplify exports to IDB’s member countries.
- The agreement was signed by Khaled Al-Aboodi, CEO of the ICD, and Tarun Sharma, regional head on behalf the EXIM Bank.
- This MoU will also be achieved through the exchange of information on trade-related matters and the identification of business opportunities for Indian companies to pursue in ICD’s member countries
RBI cuts repo rate by 25 basis points
RBI has announced the first Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2016-17. It cuts the Repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6.5% and kept the Cash Reserve Rate (CRR) unchanged.
First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2016-17
- Repo Rate : 6.50%
- Reverse Repo Rate : 6.00%
- Marginal Standing Facility Rate : 7.00%
- Bank Rate : 7.00%
- CRR : 4%
- SLR : 21.25%
BUSINESS
Xiaomi invests $25 million funding in Hungama
Xiaomi has made $25 million investment in in digital media firm, Hungama. It is the first investment made by Xiaomi in the country.
- It will start integrating Hungama’s content services, including themes and ringtones into its platforms
About Hungama:
- Hungama has 65 million monthly active consumers. It has partnerships with over 700 content creators, and offers over 8,000 movies in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi and six other Indian regional languages on its platform.
- Hungama Play will shortly add 1,500 hours of TV content in Indian languages and English
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Pranab Mukherjee presents National Geoscience Awards 2014
President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the National Geoscience Awards 2014 at a function to be held at RashtrapatiBhavan in New Delhi.
- All the Awardees were bestowed for their achievements in various areas for the year 2014.
- 33 geoscientists received the National Geoscience Awards (NGA 2014) tomorrow which includes one Award for Excellence, one Young Scientist Award and 19 individual and / or team awards in 16 fields of geosciences.
Viswanathan Anand to be feted with Hridaynath Award
Chess maestro Viswanathan Anand will be honoured with the Hridaynath Award, which felicitates and recognises successful individuals across the country from various walks of life.
- The honour will presented with a cash award of Rs 2 lakh and a memento.
- The Five time World champion will receive the prize from the Maharashtra governor C Vidyasagar Rao.
ViswanathanAnand:
- Anand is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former world champion. He became India’s first grandmaster in 1988.
- He was awarded Arjuna Award as an outstanding sports person in chess in 1985by the government.
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS
Indian Manish Sharma appointed to Panasonic’s Global Executive Council
Manish Sharma has appointed as the president and CEO of Panasonic’s India and South Asia operations of Japanese electronics giant Panasonic. He was earlier MD of Indian operations.
- The global executive council of Panasonic is a key decision-making body that gives shape to the company’s business plans across the world.
- Panasonic inducting an Indian onto the coveted decision-making body for the first time ever.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
ISRO, NASA to jointly launch satellite to study earthquakes and their patterns
In ISRO and NASA are jointly operated mission NISAR a satellite that helps studying earthquake and its patterns will be launched.
- The satellite is called NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR and is designed to make observations and measurements of ecosystem disturbance, ice-sheet collapse, and natural hazards such as tsunami, volcanoes and landslides.
Philippines instigated World’s maiden Public Immunization for Dengue
The world’s first licensed vaccine “Dengvaxia” against a mosquito-borne disease “dengue” has been launched by Philippines. As per WHO, this chronic disease infects 390 million people a year globally. It is the first public immunization program for dengue fever to administer to a million school children.
- According to the department of health, Philippines had the highest dengue incidence recording 200,415 cases in 2015.
- The Philippine government is spending 5 billion pesos ($98 million) to regulate the free vaccines.
Ola introduce e-rickshaws on its platform
India’s smartest app based cab company Ola has introduced electric rickshaws on its platform.It was launched in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the ‘Start-up India’ event held in Noida
Aim: To providing mobility to its users smaller towns and cities.
- A total of 5,100 Ola e-rickshaws will be launched in partnership with Bhartiya Micro Credit (BMC) and will be deployed across Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad.
- The first Ola e-rickshaw shall be booked on the Ola mobile application
New planet with triple-star system found
The US Researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics have discovered a rare triple-star system with a gas giant planet that is similar in size to Jupiter.
- In the new system KELT-4Ab, a gas giant planet, takes approximately three days to make its way around the star KELT-A, which serves as its sun.
- “The other two stars, named KELT-B and C, are much farther away and orbit one another over the course of approximately 30 years.
SPORTS
Waqar Younis Resigns as Pakistan Cricket Coach & Sarfraz Ahmed replaces Shahid Afridi as Pakistan’s T20 captain
Pakistan’s head coach Waqar Younis resigned from his position after his team exit from the World Twenty20 tournament. He took on the job for the second time in 2014, having previously held the post in 2010-11
- At the same time Shahid Afridi stepped down as Pakistan’s T20 captain. He was appointed to his post in 2014.
- He will be replaced by Sarfraz Ahmed
OBITUARY
Jazz saxophonist ‘Gato’ Barbieri dies at 83′
Latin Jazz saxophonist Leandro “Gato” Barbieri has died at age 83
- The Argentine-born musician recorded some 35 albums between 1967 and 1982, when he stopped consistently making new records. He toured regularly and went on to record four more albums, including 1997’s smooth jazz “Que Pasa,” which reached No. 2 on Billboard’s contemporary jazz charts.
Awards
- Barbieri won a Grammy for best instrumental composition in 1973 for his music for “Last Tango In Paris“
- Last year, Barbieri received a Latin Grammy lifetime achievement award for a career that covered “virtually the entire jazz landscape.”
IMPORTANT DAYS
National Maritime Day – April 5
The 53rd National Maritime Day is observed today with the theme of “Ease of doing business in the maritime sector”.
- The National Maritime Day is celebrated every year on 5th April in commemoration of the maiden voyage of the first Indian Vessel ‘S. S. Loyalty’ owned by M/s. Scindia Steam Navigation Company from Mumbai to London on 5th April 1919.
