CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR NIACL/GIC SBI/IBPS PO/CLERK OF APRIL 2017

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CURRENT Issue’s: ➢ Unified Payments Interface (UPI) :- is a payment system launched by National Payments Corporation of India and regulated by the Reserve Bank of India which facilitates the instant fund transfer between two bank accounts on the mobile platform. UPI is built over Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) for transferring funds using Virtual Payment Address (a unique ID provided by the bank), Account Number with IFS Code, Mobile Number with MMID (Mobile Money Identifier), Aadhaar Number, or a one-time use Virtual ID. An MPIN (Mobile banking Personal Identification number) is required to confirm each payment. Per transaction limit is Rs.1 lakh. Merchant payments, remittances, bill payments among others transactions can be performed via UPI. In total 42 banks have started Unified Payments Interface System and 33 banks have launched UPI App. ➢ 19th Commonwealth Forestry Conference (CFC) 2017 will begin today at Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun. Uttarakhand Governor Dr. K.K. Paul will inaugurate the 19th Commonwealth Forestry Conference at the FRI in Dehradun. The 5-day conference is being organized on the theme ‘Forests for Prosperity and Posterity’. ➢ The Centre has constituted National Board of Electric Mobility (NBEM) to promote electric mobility and manufacturing of electric (& hybrid) vehicles and their components. The Board will be chaired by the Shri Girish Shankar, Secretary of the Department of Heavy Industry. The NBEM will examine, formulate and propose short as well as long-term plans and contours of the mission program on electric mobility and its objectives. ➢ Phoenix India Research and Development Group launched the first bio-gas fuelled bus in Kolkata keeping a flat fare of just Rs 1. The company has tied-up with Ashok Leyland to manufacture the 54-seater bus at a cost of Rs 13 lakh approximately. The first bus will be flagged off on April 7, 2017 and will run between Ultadanga in the north and Garia in the south in Kolkata. ➢ Cab aggregator Ola has integrated with Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to simplify digital payment options for its customers. This integration will allow Ola customers to use their unique UPI IDs to pay for all their rides on the Ola platform. While making payments for the Ola rides, a customer will now have an option called ‘Pay by UPI’ along with cash, debit/credit card and Ola Money wallet option. ➢ Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas officially launched the low emission Bharat stage (BS)-IV Grade fuel in Bhubaneswar. The launch was made on the special occasion of Utkal Diwas which is the foundation day of Odisha. The launch was made in 12 cities of India. They were Varanasi, Vijayawada, Durgapur, Gorakhpur, Imphal, Bhopal, Ranchi, Madurai, Nagpur, Patna, Guwahati and Shillong. ➢ ICICI Bank and Axis Bank sold Rs.1,800 crore of loans to paper maker Ballarpur Industries Ltd to Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company. It is the first time that loans have been sold to an asset reconstruction firm. Axis Bank sold loans of Rs.1,200 crore and ICICI Bank sold loans of Rs.600 crore. ➢ The former Indian cricket team skipper MS Dhoni became an acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Gulf Oil India just for a day. He took charge of Gulf Oil India at the Mumbai head office. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was also named as the brand ambassador for Gulf Oil in the year 2011. ➢ The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the following agreements on 5th April. The list of agreements is given as followsCabinet Approves1. MoU between India and Australia on cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine Page (1)

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2. agreement on Audio Visual Co-Production between India and Bangladesh 3. MoU on Cooperation in the field of Mass Media between India and Bangladesh 4. MoU on passenger cruise services on the coastal and protocol routes between India and Bangladesh 5. Signing of MoU between India and Bangladesh in the field of judicial sector cooperation 6. MoU between India and France on Technical Cooperation in Civil Aviation 7. MoU between India and Bangladesh for fairway development of Ashuganj-Zakiganj stretch of Kushiyara river and Sirajganj-Daikhawa stretch of Jamuna river in the Indo-Bangladesh protocol route 8. Closure of Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana 9. Cabinet apprised of the MoU with Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane S.P.A. of Italy on Technical Cooperation in the Rail Sector 10. Collaboration Agreement to support the Belmont Forum Secretariat 11. Air Services Agreement between India and Georgia. Source- Press Information Bureau ➢ Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of a multi-modal terminal on River Ganga at Sahebganj in Jharkhand. The state of the art terminal, to be constructed at an estimated cost of 280 crore rupees, is an important component of the development of the National Waterway-1 from Varanasi to Haldia. ➢ The BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh decided to waive off crop loans of up to Rs 1 lakh of small and marginal farmers in the state. About 92.5% of the state’s farmers fall in the small and marginal categories. Besides, the cabinet also decided to write off Rs 5,630 crore in non-performing assets (NPAs) of 700,000 farmers.

➢ India and the UK decided to set up a 240 million pound fund to finance clean energy projects. The Green Growth Equity Fund will be a sub-fund of NIIF. India had in 2015 set up the Rs 40,000 crore National Infrastructure and Investment Fund (NIIF) to finance greenfield as well as brownfield projects. The fund will focus initial investments in India’s rapidly growing energy and renewables market.

➢ Germany is the first North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) state to launch a 'selfcontained' cyber command unit designed to shield IT and weapons systems from growing attacks. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is one of the world’s major international institutions. It is a political and military Alliance of 28 member countries from Europe and North America.

➢ Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize has become the youngest United Nations Messenger of Peace. The United Nations stated that the 19-year-old Pakistani education activist will be appointed by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on April 10, 2017, and it will help to promote girl education around the world.

➢ Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, Shripad Yesso Naik inaugurated the National Convention on World Homeopathy Day on 10 April 2017 at New Delhi. The event was organized to commemorate the 262nd birth anniversary of the founder of Homeopathy, Dr. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician, who was a great scholar, linguist and acclaimed scientist. The theme of the convention is "Enhancing Quality Research in Homeopathy through scientific evidence and rich clinical experiences". Full form of AYUSH is The Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy. World Homeopathy Day is observed on 10 April 2017. Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH is Shripad Yesso Naik. The theme of the convention is "Enhancing Quality Research in Homeopathy through scientific evidence and rich clinical experiences". Page (2)

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➢ The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has approved 26 projects worth Rs 2,154.28 crore under the Centre’s ‘Namami Gange’ programme, aiming to reduce the river’s pollution load. As part of the projects, the NMCG will set up sewage treatment plants (STPs) and develop sewage network in four Ganga basin states: Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Delhi. It will create sewage treatment capacity of 188 million litres daily (MLD), setting up 13 new STPs in the states. The NMCG will rehabilitate three existing STPs of 596 MLDcapacity in Delhi, Haridwar (Uttarakhand) and Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh). Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. Uma Bharti is the cabinet minister for water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation. ➢ India has signed a joint declaration with Russia to promote innovation and the R&D ecosystem between the two countries. 'The declaration was signed between the Department of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation on the sidelines of the Global R&D Summit 2017. With this collaboration, there will be an effort to promote innovation and technology entrepreneurship through the development of long-term cooperation, co-innovation and direct contacts between Russian and Indian innovation clusters. PM of Russia is Dmitry Medvedev and President is Vladimir Putin. Currency of Russia is Russian ruble and Capital is Moscow. India and Russia are the member countries of BRICS. ➢ Indian-origin Asha Khemka was named 'Asian Businesswoman of the Year' at an event in Birmingham, England. Khemka was also honoured with one of the UK’s top civilian awards Dame, the female equivalent of knighthood in 2014 and has since won several accolades for her work in education in Nottingham. ➢ Samsung R&D Institute India filed the maximum number of patent applications in the IT sector in 2015-16, followed by home-grown TCS and Wipro according to Indian Patent Office survey. In the scientific and research and development organizations category, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has topped the chart. Indian Patent Office comes under the Commerce and Industry Ministry. Samsung R&D Institute of India has topped the chart of IT patent applicants. TCS and Wipro are at the second and third position. Samsung Headquarter is in Seoul, South Korea. ➢ India's largest e-commerce player Flipkart buys eBay's India business, and closing a $1.4 billion fund-raising round from Tencent, eBay and Microsoft. In exchange for an equity stake in Flipkart, eBay has agreed to make a $500 million cash investment in and sell its eBay.in business to Flipkart. Flipkart buys eBay India. CEO of Flipkart is Kalyan Krishnamurthy. Flipkart headoffice is in Bengaluru ➢ Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation M Venkaiah Naidu launched 352 projects in 53 cities in 17 States across the country with an investment of Rs 38,003-cr to build 2,03,851 affordable houses. These housing projects would be implemented by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) across the country in the first major private investment in affordable housing. Venkaiah Naidu launches 352 housing projects in 53 cities. Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation is M Venkaiah Naidu. For the first time, a major private investment in affordable housing is done by CREDAI. Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India is the full form of CREDAI. ➢

The Agriculture Ministry joined hands with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), a wing of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to geo-tag agricultural assets for their real-time monitoring and effective utilization. The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) of the Agriculture Ministry and NRSC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard.

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➢ The literary blockbuster novel 'The Underground Railroad' authored by Colson Whitehead, which depicts the journey of a young woman escaping from slavery via a fantastical train system has won the Pulitzer prize for fiction. The Pulitzer prizes are considered as the most prestigious journalism and arts awards in the U.S.A. ➢ The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given its approval for the listing of 11 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) on stock exchanges. ii. As approved, the listing of CPSEs will be through the public offer of shares up to 25 per cent of Government of India's shareholding. 1. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL)

2. IRCON International Limited

3. RITES Ltd.

4. Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) Ltd.

5. Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd. (MIDHANI)

6. North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) Ltd.

7. Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL)

8. Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) Ltd.

9. MSTC Ltd.

10. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL)

11. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Ltd.

➢ As per the announcement of government from May 1, 2017, petrol and diesel prices will change every day in sync with international rates. State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) will launch a pilot for daily price revision in five select cities which are Puducherry, Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, Udaipur in Rajasthan, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Chandigarh from May 1, 2017 stated by Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan ➢ The Survey General of India (SOI) completes 250 years. The government launched 'Nakshe mapping portal' a dedicated website allowing the access to the public to download 3,000 maps prepared by the Survey of India (SOI) but made Aadhaar mandatory for the purpose. Harsh Vardhan, minister of science and technology, stated that the motto behind making Aadhaar mandatory for using this service was to make it available only to Indians.

➢ India's first ever micro-drama festival, named Thespis, was held recently in New Delhi. The longest play of the festival ran for not more than 10 minutes and the shortest one lasted for only 42 seconds. The festival was organized by theater group 'Vriksh'. The inaugural play of the festival was titled 'Chamaeleonidae'.

➢ Haldia Port in West Bengal has topped the List in the First-Ever Ranking of Ports on Sanitation Parameters. The survey was done on the twelve major ports under the Ministry of Shipping. The exercise was undertaken during the ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’ observed from the 16th to 31st of March 2017.

➢ Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that women are free to retain their maiden names in their passports now after the marriage. Stating that he wanted women to be at the centreof the developmental schemes as the government is working in different ways to empower them through various schemes like Mudra and Ujjwala.

➢ Jharkhand Police has initiated 'Tare Zameen Par programme' to enlighten children in Naxal-affected areas in the Palamau district of Jharkhand. This programme is aimed to restore confidence in the state police force and to encourage children to lead happy lives. As a part of the programme, the state police appealed the locals to donate bags, shoes, books and clothes to improve the basic amenities of the children in the Naxalaffected areas.

➢ The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has launched a web portal for insurers that will allow them to register and sell policies online. The portal 'isnp.irda.gov.in' is also open to intermediaries in the insurance business. Page (4)

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➢ US-based tech giant Cisco launched its fifth global cyber range lab in Gurugram, Haryana with an aim to train Indian firms and government agencies on real-world cyberattacks. This is the first cyber range lab in India. The facility was inaugurated by National Cyber Security Coordinator Gulshan Rai.

➢ Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched in Nagpur, a cashless/less cash township model, developed by Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd (GNFC), across 81 townships in 12 States. These townships will deliver 2.5 lakh cashless transactions per day, translating into 9 crore cashless transactions in a year. GNFC’s township at Bharuch in Gujarat became India’s first cashless township after demonetization.

➢ Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari is arriving in New Delhi on a five-day visit to India. This will be Bhandari's first foreign trip after assuming the office in October 2015, following the promulgation of the new Constitution in Nepal. A high-level delegation comprising several ministers and MPs accompanying her.

➢ Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh launched two web applications to check corruption and keep track of government activities. The two web applications were AntiCorruption Cell and Digital Application for Review by Public And Nation (DARPAN). The two web applications would monitor all government funded projects and ensure transparency and accountability.

➢ Maharashtra has become the first state to launch a special awareness drive to ensure that transgenders in the state register as voters in greater numbers. The state branch of the Election Commission of India (ECI) launched the drive on April 15, celebrated as Third Gender Day. According to ECI officials, despite the approximate population of third genders in Maharashtra being pegged at more than 10 lakh, only about 1,700 are registered voters.

➢ Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu launched India's First Train With Glass Ceiling, LED Lights And Rotable Seats in 'Vistadome' Coaches. He has flagged off the train with Vistadome coaches between Visakhapatnam and Araku through video conferencing from Rail Sadan in Bhubaneswar. He Inaugurated the Life Line Express at Sindhudurg, Maharashtra of Konkan Railway.

➢ The UP government changed the name of Gorakhpur and Agra Airports as well as the name of the department of welfare of the differently abled. The Gorakhpur Airforce Station has been renamed as Mahayogi Goraknath Airport after the founder of the Nath monastic movement. The Agra Airport will be renamed after Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay airport. The Department of Disabled Welfare will now be known as 'Divyang Jan Vikas Empowerment'.

➢ Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami dedicated the Indian Navy’s indigenously designed ‘P15A Guided Missile Destroyer’, INS Chennai to the city Chennai. INS Chennai is commanded by captain C. R. Praveen Nair and has 45 officers. The ship was commissioned by ex-Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar in 2016. It is one of the most potent warships to have been constructed in India.

➢ The 2017 BRICS Film Festival will be held in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province from June 23 to 27, 2017. There will be 30 films from BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) screened during the festival. The first BRICS Film Festival was held in New Delhi, India, in September 2016.

➢ Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma were the only two Indians to make it to an annual list of ‘100 most influential people in the world’ 2017, released by the Time magazine. The list features pioneers, artists, titans, leaders and icons Page (5)

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from around the world honored for “the power of their inventions, the scale of their ambitions, the genius of their solutions to problems that no one before them could solve.”

➢ The 14th Edition of United Nations International Day of Vesak 2017 will be hosted by Sri Lanka from 12-14 May 2017. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the chief guest for UN Vesak Day. He will inaugurate UN Vesak Day in Colombo on May 12, 2017. Vesak Day is regarded by all Buddhist traditions as the anniversary of the birth of the Buddha. The theme of this edition is ‘Buddhist teachings for social justice and sustainable world peace’.

➢ The United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) has awarded its Peace Prize to Giuseppina Nicolini, the mayor of the Italian island of Lampedusa, for her commitment to saving the lives of migrants and refugees, media reported.

➢ The Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd (GNFC) won the prestigious Golden Peacock Award 2017 in the category of Innovative Product/Service for pioneering a cashless township transformation model. The Golden Peacock Awards were established by the Institute of Directors (IOD) in India in 1991. Rajiv Kumar Gupta, the managing director of the GNFC, was given the award at a ceremony at the 27th World Congress at the Dubai Global Convention.

➢ India is set to host the 18th World Road Meeting (WRM 2017) on November 13, 2017 according to the International Road Federation (IRF). The WRM is the biggest global platform for road engineers, safety and transport experts and companies engaged in road safety products. The theme of this year's edition is 'Safe Roads and Smart Mobility: The Engines of Economic Growth'. The WRM is held every four years.

➢ The 2nd quarterly review meeting on the Swachh Iconic Places (SIP), Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation under Swachh Bharat Mission, was held recently at Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, in Jammu & Kashmir. On this occasion, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar announced 10 new Iconic places to be taken under the Phase II of Swachh Iconic Places initiative. These ten new iconic places which are to be brought to a higher standard of swachhta and visitors’ amenities are1. Gangotri

2. Yamunotri

3. Mahakaleshwar Temple, Ujjain

4. Char Minar, Hyderabad

5. Church and Convent of St. Francis of Assissi, Goa

6. Adi Shankaracharya’s abode Kaladi in Ernakulam

7. Gomateshwar in Shravanbelgola

8. Baijnath Dham, Devghar

9. Gaya Tirth in Bihar and

10. Somnath temple in Gujarat.

➢ A village in Maharashtra famous for its strawberries is soon going offer more - rare Marathi books and magazines. From May 4, Bhilar will become India’s first ‘book village’ where tourists and locals can come and read books, magazines, newspapers stacked at 25 premises. Near the popular the British-era hill station of Mahabaleshwar, Bhilar already attracts a large number of tourists, who come to taste the locally produced strawberries. Bhilar, which has a population of about 10,000, and nearby areas produce around 100 tons of strawberry every year, earning them Rs 50 crore. And 90% of the village’s population is involved in strawberry farming.

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➢ Kerala has organized the country's first transgender one-day athletic meet at Thiruvananthapuram in which 132 participants from 12 districts participated. Kerala Sports Minister A. C. Moideen has inaugurated the event at the Central Stadium. Member of Parliament A Sampath and Member Legislative Assembly V S Sivakumar were also present during the inaugural function. The non-playing members of the transgender community along with participants joined in the march past. One hundred thirty-two participants from 12 districts participated in the meet. There was no participant from Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts. Six events were held in the competition- 100 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters running; 100x 4 relay race, high jump and shot put.

➢ Internationally renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik from Odisha won the jury prize gold medal at the 10th Moscow Sand art Championship. The competition was held between 22nd and 28th April at Kolomenskoye, Moscow in Russia. The theme for the competition was "The world around us". Pattnaik was the Indian representative in the competition, where twentyfive sculptors from different countries participated.

APPOINTMENTS:POST

SR.NO

NAME

Department/Company

APPOINTMENTS by GOVERMENT Bodies 01)

Vanaja N. Sarna

chairman

02)

Justice Indira Banerjee

Chief Justice

03)

Geetha Johri

04)

Raman Roy

Director General of Police (DGP) Chairman

05)

Rishad Premji

Vice Chairman

06)

Sanjeev Kishore

07)

Smita Sandhane

General Manager at Kudgi Super thermal Power Project, Karnataka. Managing Director

08)

Bhimaraya Metri

Director

09)

MD and CEO

10)

Mahabaleshwara Mavinakudige Subrahmanya Vinay Shah

11)

T Krishnakumar

Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Director of mortgage loan arm Hindustan Coca-Cola Bottling (HCCB) operations.

Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). Madras High Court Gujarat National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) National Thermal Power Corporation

Saraswat Bank, Mumbai, Maharashtra Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Trichy Karnataka Bank Ltd. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) Coca-Cola Company

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BANKING AWARENESS: ➢

From April 1, the associate banks which will be merging with State Bank of India will sport the lender's signage and logo, with its iconic keyhole set against the background of inky blue. On the design, “SBI” legend will be seen in white colour and will be written in a new font called Effra. As per the Reserve Bank of India, all branches of the associate banks will function as branches of SBI from April 1, 2017. With The merger, State Bank of India will enter the league of Top 50 Global Banks with a balance sheet size of Rs. 41 trillion.

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The State Bank of India, the country's largest lender has started functioning as unified entity from 01st April 2017 post merger of its five associate banks, besides Bharatiya Mahila Bank. The five associate banks merged with the SBI are State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore. With the merger, the SBI joins the league of top 50 banks globally in terms of assets. The total customer base of the bank reaches 37 crore with a branch network of around 24,000 and nearly 59,000 ATMs across the country. The merged entity now has a deposit base of more than Rs 26 lakh-crore and advances level of Rs 18.50 lakh crore.

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Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Ltd becomes the seventh entity to receive a final licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a payments bank. Except Vodafone M-Pesa Ltd, all payment bank licence holders have received the final approval. Among payment bank licence holders, two entities namely Airtel Payments Bank and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) have started operations so far. While Airtel is offering 7.25% interest on its savings account, IPPB is offering three types of accounts where interest rates will vary from 4.5-5.5%.

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Ratnakar Bank limited (RBL) Bank announced the opening of its Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) Banking Unit (IBU) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). The leading private sector bank had received an in-principle approval from RBI for setting up IBU in November 2016.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to slash clearance time for National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) in an attempt to enhance the efficiency of the electronic payment system and add to customer convenience. The NEFT settlement cycle will be reduced from hourly batches to half hourly batches, the RBI stated in the first bi-monthly monetary policy for 2017-18. 11 additional settlement batches will be introduced at 8.30 am onwards, taking the total number of half hourly settlement batches during the day to 23. RBI also stated the starting batch at 8 am and closing batch at 7 pm shall remain the same and the return discipline will also remain the same as per the existing practice.

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The Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks to invest in Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), a move that will help revive the cash-starved infrastructure sector. Banks are allowed to invest in equity-linked mutual funds, venture capital funds (VCFs) and equities to the extent of 20% of their Net Owned Fund (NOF).

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The Reserve Bank has appointed Malvika Sinha as Executive Director following the appointment of B P Kanungo as Deputy Governor. As Executive Director, she will look after foreign exchange department, department of government and bank accounts and internal debt management wing, RBI stated in a release.

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The Bank Boards Bureau (BBB) has evolved a Governance, Reward and Accountability Framework (GRAF) for public sector banks to ensure that they have the ability to compete successfully with private sector banks, small finance and payments banks, foreign banks Page (8)

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and non-banking finance companies. The framework is guided by the latest global benchmarking on governance practices provided by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervisions guidelines on corporate governance principles for banks released in July 2015.

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The Reserve Bank has allowed Aditya Birla Group firm Grasim Industries to raise the foreign shareholding to 49% from the existing limit of 30%. RBI has notified that foreign institutional Investors/foreign portfolio investors can now invest the paid-up capital of Grasim Industries Ltd under the Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS).

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Dr. (Ms.) Mukulita Vijayawargiya took charge as Whole Time Member of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) in New Delhi. He will look after the fields like Administrative Law Wing, Information Technology, Limited Insolvency Examination, National Insolvency Examination, Finance Accounts and Communication.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a new set of enabling provisions titled 'Revised Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework' to resolve the problem of banks mounting non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans. The new set of provisions, effective from April 1, 2017 override the existing PCA framework and are based on the financials of each bank as of March 2017. Under the revised framework, if a bank crosses the third level of risk threshold (where a bank’s common equity tier I capital falls below the threshold of 3.625 per cent by 3.125 per cent, or more) it will either be amalgamated or merged, or taken over by another entity.

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State Bank of India (SBI) surpassed oil exploration major Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to become most valued public sector undertaking (PSU) stock in terms of market capitalization (m-cap) in intra-day trade.

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The Reserve Bank of India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan. The MoU was signed by Mr. Phajo Dorjee, Deputy Governor on behalf of Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan and Mr. S S Mundra, Deputy Governor on behalf of Reserve Bank of India.

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The ICICI Bank Data Centre in Hyderabad has achieved the distinction of becoming the country's first Platinum rated project under IGBC (Indian Green Building Council) Green Data Centre Rating System. Prem C Jain, Chairman, IGBC presented IGBC plaque to Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank at a programme organized on recently in Hyderabad. IGBC Green Data Centre Rating System would facilitate in providing tremendous tangible and intangible benefits. Tangible benefits include 20 to 25 percent reduction in Power Usage Effectiveness, 25 to 30 percent reduction in water consumption. Intangible benefits include enhanced air quality, excellent daylighting, health, and well-being of the staff operating such facility.

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The RBI permitted banks to invest up to 10% of the unit capital of a Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) or Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs). The banks’ exposure to REITs/InvITs will be within the overall ceiling of 20% of the net worth permitted for direct investments in shares, convertible bonds/ debentures, units of equity-oriented mutual funds and Venture Capital Funds (VCFs).

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AU Financiers India, a non-banking finance company (NBFC), has converted itself into a small finance bank by the name AU Small Finance Bank. As an NBFC, AU had a network of 300 branches spread across 10 States namely Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Goa.

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SCIENCE &TECHNOLOGY: ➢

TAL Manufacturing Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors has launched India’s first industrial-articulated robot and it goes by the name “BRABO”. ii. The robot is indigenously developed for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in India. This is the first time that an industrial robot has been conceptualized, designed and manufactured in India.

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Mongolia launched its first satellite named Mongol Sat-I, part of its efforts to make use of new technology to diversify its resource-dependent economy. It is 1227 Megahertz satellite. The satellite was launched in partnership with Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS). The Satellite helps with space research, map making and preparing for natural disaster.

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Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has announced Video gaming as full sports at the 2022 Asian Games which is scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China from 10-25 September 2022. OCA has entered into the collaboration with Alisports, a unit of China's Alibaba Group. It will also be a demonstration sport at the 2018 Asian Games in Palembang, Indonesia.

MOBILE APPLICATION’s: ➢

The government has launched two mobile apps, echallan and mParivahan, that provide access to various services and information, and enable citizens to report any traffic violation or road accident. 'eChallan' is an integrated enforcement solution to manage traffic violations. 'mParivahan' is an empowering app for the citizen which provides access to various services, information and utilities related to the transport sector.

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Kotak Mahindra Bank has launched the '811 banking app' which is part of the lender's vision to double customer base in 18 months. Customers will be able to open an account on the 811 banking app with zero balance. Only Aadhaar and PAN card would be required to open 811 account which would provide access to over 100 features on mobile. The account offers up to 6 percent interest rate on savings deposits.

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The Madhya Pradesh government has launched an app named ‘MP e-nagarpalika’ to provide various municipal services online. The mobile app was launched by state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. This app would offer 378 services like online payment of property tax, seeking building permission, birth/ marriage/death certificates etc. It will also register complaints related to garbage, water, streetlights etc. Online payment gateway would be available on this app. This mobile app would encourage the cashless transaction.

➢ Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh launched the website and app named 'Bharat Ke Veer', to facilitate the monetary contribution to the kin of soldier personnel killed in action. The Home Minister launched the website on the occasion of the 'Shaurya Diwas', which was organized to facilitate the CRPF with bravery awards and medals. This website is technically supported by National Informatics Centre (NIC) and powered by State Bank of India. The amount so donated will be credited to the account of ‘Next of Kin’ of those Central Armed Police Force/Central Para Military Force soldiers. Actor Akshay Kumar was the Guest of Honour during the function. Rajnath Singh launched Akshay Kumar’s portal ‘Bharat Ke Veer’. Akshay Kumar was recently awarded as the Best Actor for Rustam in 64th National Award. 'Bharat Ke Veer' portal is a facility for the monetary contribution to the kin of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel killed in action. ➢ A fleet of pink patrol vehicles to attend to the distress calls from women and an exclusive police mobile phone distress application have been introduced in Bengaluru as part of an Page (10)

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effort to improve the safety and security of women in the city. The pink patrol cars called the 'Pink Hoysalas' and the Suraksha mobile phone app were unveiled by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The app has been developed by the Bengaluru city police IT team and can be downloaded on Android and iOS phones. ➢ Human Resource and Development Minister Prakash Javadekar launched the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) portal and mobile app in New Delhi. The portal is onestop for States’ Higher Education Plans, the decision of the States’ Higher Education Councils and details of the resources. The mobile application will ensure that all projects under RUSA are tracked for 24x7. ➢ An android App 'Solar Calculator' for the computation of solar energy potential has been developed by Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO, Ahmedabad at the behest of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India. It is a very useful tool for installation of PV solar panels for tapping solar energy. The App provides monthly/yearly solar potential (in kWh/m2) and minimum/maximum temperature at any location.

MOU’s/AGREEMENT’s: ➢ The Indian Army has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M). The objective of the agreement is to identify and enhance the critical technological areas that can be enhanced in the armed forces. ➢ Axis Bank has tied up with Wells Fargo (the third largest American bank by assets) to offer real-time remittances from the Indian diaspora to their relatives back home. Under the arrangement between the two banks, any member of the Indian diaspora with an account with the Wells Fargo will be able to transfer money to their relatives back home and there will be no transaction fee applicable to the money transfers from the USA. But the relative or the beneficiary in India will need to have an account with Axis Bank. ➢ A Malaysian company MTN has agreed to help set up a technology park in Andhra Pradesh that’s expected to attract private sector investment of $100 million in the first phase. The Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board and MIGHT (Malaysian IndustryGovernment Group for High Technology) Technology Nurturing Sdn. Bhd (MTN) have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on building the park, which will cover 250 acres and focus on new technologies. Phase 1 will be spread over 100 acres to produce biodegradable packaging for the food and electronics industries. ➢ Mizoram has become the 27th State to join the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY). Mizoram signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the scheme on March 31 for operational improvement of the State’s Power Distribution Department. According to government estimates, the State will derive an overall net benefit of approximately Rs. 198 crore by opting to participate in UDAY, by way of cheaper funds, reduction in AT&C and transmission losses. Kerala, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh have also recently joined the Centre’s power distribution company debt relief scheme, Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojna (UDAY). ➢ Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is on a 6-day visit to India. Two countries sign seven agreements including air services agreement and MoUs in education and sports. The pacts were signed after delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Malaysian Prime Minister Mohammed Najib Razak at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. This is Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's third visit to India since 2009. ➢ The Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) has tied up with Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB), an arm of Human Resource Development Fund under Ministry of HRD, Malaysia. The tie-up was done for skill development and providing Page (11)

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assistance to the South-East Asian country in its target of ensuring 35 per cent skilled Malaysian workforce by 2020. The first activity after signing the MoU would be to train close to 100 youth in entrepreneurship through classroom training, simulation exercises and field exposure. ➢ India and Israel signed a mega defense deals worth over 2 billion dollars for advanced surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, to further tighten the bilateral strategic partnership ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel in July, 2017. The SAM systems are designed to destroy hostile aircraft, missiles and drones at a range of 70-km. The major deal was for the joint project between the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for the Barak-8 medium-range SAM systems for the Indian Army.

➢ Nokia and Airtel along with state-owned network BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd) have announced that they have partnered to set up 5G internet speed in India to introduce a fast internet ecosystem in the country. An MOU has been signed between the companies. The aim of the partnerships is to upgrade the existing 4G network in India to make way for better 5G services in the country.

➢ Uttar Pradesh government and the Centre have signed an MoU for the 'Power for All' scheme in the state. The aim of this scheme is to ensure 24-hour quality power supply in the state by October 2018 and electric connection to every house and agriculture field by 2019. The project will cost above rupees 40 thousand crore out of which 20 thousand crore will be spent till 2018.

➢ The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to help develop lowcost lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

➢ Tata Power has signed an agreement with Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (AVVNL) for electricity distribution in Ajmer for 20 years. Tata Power has formed a Special Purpose Company (SPC), TP Ajmer Distribution Ltd. The SPC will be operating and maintaining the distribution network in the Ajmer city and would also be responsible for managing the billing and collections.

➢ The Reserve Bank of India signed an MoU)on “Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information” with Bank of Guyana. Earlier, RBI has signed 40 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and one Statement of Co-operation.

➢ India and South Korea have signed an Inter-governmental MoU for Defence Industry cooperation between their shipbuilding yards. The Indian side was represented by Secretary of Defence Production A K Gupta and South Korea was represented by his counterpart Chang Miyung Jin, in New Delhi. India has nominated Hindustan Shipyard at Vishakhapatnam whereas South Korea is yet to nominate its shipyard.

➢ In a bid to expand the green cover, the Maharashtra government recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Railways, under which trees will be planted on the land adjacent to the railway tracks in the state.

➢ India and Sri Lanka have signed an MoU on economic co-operation. ii. The agreement was exchanged in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe in New Delhi.

➢ India and Cyprus have signed four agreements after delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. The areas in which the MoUs have been exchanged are Air Services, Agriculture, Merchant Shipping and Culture Education. Page (12)

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DEATH’s:➢

Ajey Jhankar, the noted author and filmmaker passed away. He served as a Director of MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications Pvt. Ltd from January 2000. He was the writer of Marathi novel 'Sarkarnama'.

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Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar passes away. She was 84. She was from Jaipur Gharana and received the Padma Bhushan in 1987 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2002.

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Carme Chacon, the first female defense minister of Spain and a prominent socialist party leader, has died aged 46. Before taking charge of the defense ministry, she had previously been the minister of housing and a national lawmaker.

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Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Girish Chandra Saxena has passed away at the age of 90. Saxena was an Indian Police Service officer of the 1950 batch from the Uttar Pradesh cadre. He served two terms as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir. He also served as the head of Research and Analysis Wing from 1983 to 1986.

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Emma Morano, an Italian woman believed to have been the oldest person alive and the last survivor of the 19th century died at the age of 117. Morano, born on November 29, 1899, died at her home in Verbania, northern Italy.

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Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and former Andhra Pradesh minister Devineni Rajashekhar had died due to cardiac arrest in Hyderabad. He was made the Education Minister in NTR Cabinet in 1994. He was elected to AP assembly from Kankipadu in 1983 and retained the seat in 1985, 1989, and 1994.

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Veteran Journalist Nora Chopra passed away at 64 due to multi-organ failure. A senior journalist and columnist, Smt. Chopra was widely admired and respected for her journalistic skills.

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Veteran actor Vinod Khanna passed away in Mumbai. He was an active politician, and Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur, Punjab. The actor debuted in 1968 with 'Man Ka Meet'. He received the Filmfare award in the best supporting actor category for Haath Ki Safaai (1974), and in 1999 he received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.

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American Director Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning director behind classics like The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia, died in New York. He was 73 years old. The cause was esophageal cancer and complications from heart disease.

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SPORT’s:➢ Kenya's Joyciline Jepkosgei has broken the world half marathon record as well as the 10km and 15km marks at the Prague Half Marathon on the way to winning the IAAF Gold Label Road Race in one hour, four minutes and 52 seconds. The 23-year-old, who was competing in just her fifth half marathon, clocked splits of 30:05 and 45:37 to improve the 10km and 15km world records. Defending champion Violah Jepchumba of Kenya finished second in 65:22, with Fancy Chemutai third. ➢ Olympic silver-medallist P.V. Sindhu has defeated Carolina Marin (Spain) in straight sets 21-19, 21-16 in 47 minutes at the India Open badminton championship 2017 in New Delhi. This was the second Superseries title win for Sindhu. The Indian shuttler has shown character in the tournament and she entered the final after beaten Saina Nehwal and Sung ji-Hyun. ➢ Roger Federer (Switzerland) defeated Rafael Nadal (Spain) to win Miami Open 2017 Singles title. Miami Open 2017 was held in Florida, USA. A fourth straight win over Nadal was his longest winning streak in their 13-year professional rivalry which makes Federer the oldest winner of the Miami Open. The victory was Federer’s 26th ATP Masters 1000 title, only Novak Djokovic with 30 and Rafael Nadal with 28 have won more titles than Federer. The other winners in Miami Open 2017 are as follows1. Women's Singles- Johanna Konta (United Kingdom) 2. Men's Doubles- Łukasz Kubot (Poland)/ Marcelo Melo (Brazil) 3. Women's Doubles- Gabriela Dabrowski (Canada) / Xu Yifan (China) ➢ India’s Virat Kohli was named Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the World for 2016. ii. Kohli had also won the prestigious ‘Polly Umrigar award’ presented to the ‘International Cricketer of the Year’ at the BCCI Annual Awards. iii. Kohli was additionally declared Wisden India Almanack’s Cricketer of the Year for the second time in its 2017 edition. ➢ Rio Olympics silver medallist P V Sindhu jumped three places to achieve a career-best world number two ranking in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings. The 21-year-old shuttler from Hyderabad became only the second Indian woman after Saina Nehwal to break into the top-five of the world rankings by earning 75759 points. ➢ Mercedes' British Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton defeated Ferrari's four-time Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel to lift his fifth title at the Chinese Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton has won his fifth title at the Chinese Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton is British formula One racer. Hamilton beat Vettel by 0.186 seconds for his second pole in two races.

➢ Indian boxer K Shyam Kumar won a gold medal in the 49- kilogram category at the Thailand International Tournament in Bangkok. He clinched the medal without even stepping inside the ring for his summit clash as Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan was unable to play the match due to his injury.

➢ Sai Praneeth has won the title match of Men's singles at Singapore Open Badminton beating his compatriot Kidambi Srikanth. This was the first time that two Indians featured in a men’s singles Superseries final and India became only the fourth country to have both players in a Super series final. The other three are China, Denmark and Indonesia.

➢ Sixteen-time world champion Pankaj Advani has won his sixth Asian Billiards title and seventh overall Asian championship. The ace cueist defeated his

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compatriot Sourav Kothari 6-3 in an entertaining final of the Asian Billiards Championship in Chandigarh.

➢ National Badminton coach Pullela Gopichand's daughter Gayatri Pullela has bagged both the singles and doubles crown at the Pembangunan Jaya Raya Junior Grand Prix in Jakarta. Gayatri eked out a hard-fought win over her doubles partner Samiya Farooqui to win the girls U-15 singles title. She later teamed up with Samiya to clinch the U15 doubles title with a straight-game 21-17, 21-15 win over Indonesian pair of Kelly Larissa and Shelandry Vyola.

➢ Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) won the Bahrain Grand Prix 2017 by defeating Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). It was Sebastian's 3rd victory in Bahrain and 44th of his career. Sebastian Vettel belongs to Germany.

➢ Bangalore-based Sagar Baheti has become the first visually impaired Indian runner to complete the historic Boston Marathon, the world's oldest and the hardest marathon to qualify for. Baheti completed the approximately 42.16 km distance in just over four hours.

➢ Rafael Nadal has won the Men's Singles title of Monte Carlo Masters Tennis tournament 2017. He defeated Albert Vinolas at a summit clash in Monaco. With this Rafael claimed a record 10th Monte Carlo Masters title. Earlier, India's Rohan Bopanna and his Uruguayan partner Pablo Cuevas lifted the men's doubles crown at the Monte Carlo Masters after win over Spain's Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez in Monaco.

➢ Jehan Daruvala, in his rookie season at the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, is already making waves. The 18-year-old product of Force India Academy, became the first Indian to take pole in the F3 European series, securing the top spot on the starting grid for Race 1 of the second round of the championship in Monza, Italy. However, he was unable to translate that into a race victory, and finished the hard-fought race in second place, behind his Carlin Racing teammate Lando Norris of the UK. Daruvala took pole during the qualifying session for Race 1 at the famed Monza Grand Prix circuit in thrilling fashion. The Carlin Racing driver was on his hot lap when curtains fell on the qualifying session with British racer Callum Illot (Prema Powerteam) in the lead.

YOJNAO/SCHEME’s:➢ The Government has launched PowerTex India, a comprehensive scheme for power loom sector development, simultaneously at over 45 locations in the country. The Union Textiles Minister, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani Launched the scheme in Bhiwandi, Thane district, Maharashtra. The scheme will especially benefit small powerloom weavers. The Minister and CMs interacted with various states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and others through video conference, as PowerTex India scheme was launched nationwide.

➢ Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated phase-I of the Link-II pipeline canal of the ambitious Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI) Yojana in Botad district of Gujarat. This will be the second milestone in the Rs 12,000 crore project to pump Narmada water in 115 dams of arid Saurashtra region after the PM dedicated to public phase-I of the Link-I canal in August 2016.

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RANK’s:➢ India has been ranked third for the third year in a row in a doping violation report published by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for 2015 with 117 athletes from the country being punished after testing positive for banned substances. India followed Russian Federation (176 athletes) and Italy (129 athletes) at the third spot in the doping violation chart released by the WADA. ➢ India's travel and tourism sector ranks 7th in the world in terms of its total contribution to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a new report of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), 2016. The USA topped the list followed by China and Germany at the second and third positions, respectively. ➢ India has jumped 12 places to 40th rank globally in total 136 countries in Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report 2017 by World Economic Forum. Spain is ranked at the top in the list. The traditional strong travel and tourism destinations, including Japan (4th), the United Kingdom (5th), the United States (6th), Australia (7th), Italy (8th), Canada (9th) and Switzerland (10th), have also made it to the top 10. ➢ India has jumped one spot to 8th rank in the 2017 A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index. USA has topped A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index for the fifth year in a row. The top 5 countries in A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index 2017 are: 1. USA

2. Germany 3. China

4. UK

5. Canada

BOOK’s:➢ i. A book on Draupadi named 'the Flaming Tresses of Draupadi' written by senior Congress Leader M Veerappa Moily was released by President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. The book is an English translation by D A Shankar of Moily’s original work in Kannada.

AWARD’s:➢ American singer and song writer Bob Dylan has finally accepted his Nobel Prize for literature, more than three months after the awards ceremony. The academy, which awards the coveted prize, ended prolonged speculation as to whether the 75-year-old troubadour would use a concert stopover in Stockholm to accept the gold medal and diploma awarded to him. They were handed to Dylan at a "private ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden" attended by 12 academy members and Sara Danius, the academy's permanent secretary.

➢ For the first time since Nagaland officially gained recognition as a state, a state Police Officer Atu Zumvu has been awarded one of the nations' military honour, ‘Shaurya Chakra' award at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Nagaland attained statehood in 1963 and since then this is the first time a police officer from the state has been honored with this award.

➢ The sixth prestigious M.S. Swaminathan Award for contribution in the field of agriculture given to R.R. Hanchinal, Chairperson of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Authority, the government of India. He received the award for his contributions and sustained support to the areas of crop improvement for hot and very hot dry environments, seed production technology and intellectual protection rights in plant varieties.

➢ Central Hindi Institute Director N.K. Pandey announced the names of writers from different categories for the prestigious Hindi Sevi Samman Awards. The awardees will receive Rs 5 Page (16)

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lakh each, a citation and a shawl from President Pranab Mukherjee at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in May 2017.

➢ The Ganesh Shankar Vidhyarthi Award for Hindi journalism will be awarded to Rahul Dev and Baldev Bhai Sharma. Professor S. Shesharatnam (Andhra Pradesh), M. Govind Rajan (Tamil Nadu), Harmahendra Singh Bedi (Punjab) and H. Subadani Devi (Manipur) have been selected from non-Hindi speaking states for their contribution to the Hindi language.

➢ Foreign Hindi writers selected for the award are Professor Fujii Takeshi (Japan) and Professor Gabriela Nik Ilieva (New York) while the Non-Resident Indians (NRI) who get the awards are Pushpita Avasthi (Netherlands) and Padmesh Gupt (London).

➢ An Indian environmental engineer Trupti Jain has won 2017 prestigious ‘Cartier Women’s Initiative Award’ for providing women working on farms with water management solutions and protecting small farmers against droughts and flash flood. ii. She, was one among the six winners chosen for the Asia-Pacific laureate from a pool of nearly 1,900 applicants from over 120 countries and were selected by an independent international jury.

➢ The 64th National Film Awards were announced in which the Directorate of Film Festivals presents its annual National Film Awards to honor the best films of 2016 in the Indian cinema. The awards ceremony will be held on 3 May 2017 in India. Here is the list of Winners of all categories. Here is the list of 64th National Film Award winner: Feature Films Awards

AWARD

WINNER

AWARD

WINNER

Best Actor

Akshay Kumar (Rustom)

Best Director

Rajesh Mapuskar (Ventilator)

Best Actress

Surabhi Lakshmi (Minnaminungu)

Best Film on Social Issues

'Pink'

Best Supporting Actor

Manoj Joshi (Dashkriya)

Best Supporting Actress

Zaira Wasim (Dangal)

Best Debut Film of a Director

Deep Chaudari (Alifa)

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment

'Sathamanam Bhavathi'

Best Stunt Choreography

Peter Hein (Pulimurugan)

Best Children's Film

'Dhanak' (Hindi)

Best Child Artist

Adhish Praveen (Kunju Daivam), Saj (Noor Islam), Manohara (Railway Children)

Best Male Playback Singer

Sundara Iyer (Joker)

Best Female Playback Singer

Iman Chakraborty (Praktan)

Best Screenplay (original)

Syam Pushkaran (Maheshinte Prathikaaram)

Best Screenplay (adapted)

Sanjay Krishnaji Patel (Dashakriya)

Best Editing

Rameshwar S. Bhagat (Ventilator)

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Best Special Effect Award

'Shivaay'

Sound Designer

Jayadevan (Kaadu Pookkunna Neram)

Best Production Design

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Best Costume Designer

Sachin (Cycle)

Best Environmental film including agriculture

The Tiger Who Crossed The Line

Best Make-up Artist

MK Ramakrishna

Best Music Direction

Babu Padmanabha (Allama)

➢ Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) a defence public sector has received the Hindustan PSU Award under the category ‘Fastest Growing Organisation – Miniratna’. Umesh Chandra, Executive Director, received the award on behalf of the company. The award was presented by Nitin Gadkari a Union Minister of State for Road Transport.

➢ The English translation of writer Perumal Murugan’s novel Mathorubhagan (One Part Woman) has won the Sahitya Akademi’s award for translation in English 2016. The translation was done by Aniruddhan Vasudevan and the book was published by Penguin.

➢ Veteran actress Moushumi Chatterjee has received the lifetime achievement award, at the 80th Bengal Film Journalists' Association (BFJA) awards. The BFJA, the oldest association of film scribes in the country was founded in 1937. Bengali film actor Prosenjit Chatterjee was given the best actor award for his role in "Sankhachil", while Rituparna Sengupta was given the best actress crown for her role in "Rajkahini" along with Paoli Dam for "Natoker Moto" (2015).

➢ Bollywood film "Newton" has won the best film honor at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The lead actor of the film is Raj Kumar Rao. Amit Masurkar-directed "Newton", is a political satire. It had its world premiere at the 67th Berlin Film Festival where it won the International Federation of Art Cinemas (CICAE) award in its Forum segment.

➢ SSP Chawrasia and Aditi Ashok were among the winners at the second Golf Industry Association (GIA) Awards 2017. Aditi, who finished second in the Ladies European Tour (LET) order of merit in 2016 bagged Outstanding Achievement as a Player award. Chawrasia, who successfully defended his Indian Open title in 2017, bagged the Award for the Men's Player of the Year. Ali Sher, the Delhi Golf Club caddy-turned-pro-golfer, was feted for an Outstanding Playing Career. Ali Sher won the Indian Open back in 1991 and was honored with an Arjuna Award in the same year.

➢ Srishti Kaur was crowned Miss Teen Universe 2017 after beating 25 contestants from around the world at the annual beauty pageant. The event was held in Managua, the capital of Central American country Nicaragua. She also won the prize for best national costume. Samantha Pierre from Canada and Ary Trava from Mexico were the runners-up in the event. The pageant is organized by the Miss Universe organization for teens aged 15 to 19. It takes place once in a year.

➢ India’s fifth largest private sector Bank, the YES BANK has won the prestigious ‘Golden Peacock Innovative Product/Service Award 2017’ (in Financial sector Banking). It received the prize for its innovative mobile technology product, SIMsePAY at the Dubai Global Convention 2017.

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➢ Odisha’s capital city, Bhubaneswar has become, the first Indian city that has won Pierre L’enfant Planning Excellence and Achievement Awards-2017. This award is instituted by the American Planning Association. Smart City Bhubaneswar received this award for good and advanced town planning and engaging its residents in the planning process.

INAUGURATION’s ➢ Internationally renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik from Odisha won the jury prize gold medal at the 10th Moscow Sand art Championship. The competition was held between 22nd and 28th April at Kolomenskoye, Moscow in Russia. The theme for the competition was "The world around us". Pattnaik was the Indian representative in the competition, where twentyfive sculptors from different countries participated. ➢

Built by Pawan Hans Limited, a Public-Sector Undertaking of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, India’s first heliport has been inaugurated in north Delhi’s Rohini. Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju inaugurated the heliport. Pawan Hans Ltd Chairman and Managing Director B P Sharma stated that the heliport has come up at an investment of Rs 100 crore. The heliport has a terminal building having capacity of 150 passengers, four hangars with parking capacity of 16 helicopters and nine parking bays.

➢ The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the first NIMCARE World Health Day Summit 2017 on April 7, 2017, in New Delhi. The slogan of the first NIMCARE World Health Day Summit was 'Unite for a Healthy Mind’. In the Summit special emphasis was given to people suffering from the problem of Depression.

➢ The 3rd edition of International Conference and Exhibition on Steel Industry 'India Steel 2017' was held at Mumbai Exhibition center in Mumbai from 19th-21st April 2017. It was inaugurated by Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh. First of its Kind exhibitioncum-conference was organized by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCO) along with Union Ministry of Steel.

➢ Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated three welfare initiatives of the Department of Justice. The services launched are1. Pro-bono legal services- Through the Pro bono legal services, lawyers who want to provide legal services free of cost can register themselves on a web-based platform. 2. Tele-law service- It aims to connect marginalized communities with lawyers through video conferencing facilities, to be set up at Common Service Centres (CSCs). 3. Nyaya Mitra Project- It aims to reduce pendency in lower courts, with a special focus on cases which are more than ten years old.

ABBRIVATION’s:NBEM SASEC BFJA RUSA

CSS

National Board of Electric Mobility South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Bengal Film Journalists' Association Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan centrally sponsored schemes

CREDAI

Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India

RKVY DNA

The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna Deoxyribonucleic acid

NIIF

National Infrastructure and Investment Fund

WRM MACIC AEOI TDSAT

SOI UNHCR NRSC

World Road Meeting Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal Survey of India UN High Commissioner for Refugees National Remote Sensing Centre

CSFB

Capital Small Finance Bank

DRDO

Defence Research and Development Organization

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If you Want to fly…. We Provide wings…… LaCONES IAI LGY

Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species Israel Aerospace Industries Lucky Grahak Yojna

Cell: 93757 01110 / 93280 01110 IBU GIFT City NBA

Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) Banking Unit Gujarat International Finance Tec-City National Basketball Association

IMPORTANT DAY’s:Day

Events

Day

Events

APRIL 2 April

World Autism Awareness Day

4 April

5 April 10 April 17 April 21 April

National Maritime Day World Homeopathy Day World Hemophilia Day Civil Services Day Women’s Political Empowerment Day

7 April 11 April 18 April 22 April

International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance World Health Day National Safe Motherhood Day World Heritage Day International Mother Earth Day

25 April

World Malaria Day

World Intellectual Property Day

28 April

World Day for Safety and Health at Work

24 April 26 April

➢ 6 April was declared as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) by the UN General Assembly. On the occasion of the 2017 International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP), the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) launches the digital campaign #WePlayTogether to encourage organizations and individuals. ➢ World Health Day is celebrated on 7th of April every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization. The theme of 2017 World Health Day is 'Depression: Let's Talk'. ➢ Every year on 18 April, ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) celebrates the International Day for Monuments and Sites (also called as World Heritage day). The theme for 2017 is “Cultural Heritage & Sustainable Tourism". ➢ The World Earth Day is being observed all over the world on 22 April with the message to protect the environment. The campaign theme for 2017 is 'Environmental and Climate Literacy'. The first Earth Day celebrations took place in 1970. ➢ World Book and Copyright Day (WBCD) is being observed on 23rd April 2017. The day seeks to raise awareness about the importance of reading and promote publishing and the protection of copyright around the globe. The event is organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Conakry, the capital of Guinea has been designated World Book Capital 2017.

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