April 5-6th, 2018
1. Indian maritime day: 5 April
- The National Maritime Day of India is observed on 5 April every year across the country.
- On this day in 1919, navigation history was created when SS Loyalty, the first ship of The Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd., journeyed to the United Kingdom.
- The theme of the National Maritime Day in 2018 is ‘Indian Shipping – An Ocean of opportunity’.
2. “Amma” Free Wi-Fi zones launched in five cities of Tamil Nadu.
- In Tamil Nadu, the State government has launched “Amma” Free Wi-Fi zones in five cities. This initiative is named after late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
- These Wi-Fi zones will come up in 50 spots, comprising larger bus terminals, parks, and commercial complexes.
- Internet users will get 20 minutes of free internet service every day and a sum of 10 rupees per hour will be charged thereafter.
- Cashing in on the ‘Amma’ brand, the state government had earlier introduced several people-friendly schemes like Amma Water, Amma Cement, Amma Medicine besides launching the popular Amma Canteen offering food at subsidized rates.
3. RBI asks banks to stop services to those dealing in virtual currencies.
- The Reserve Bank directed all regulated entities including banks not to provide services to businesses dealing in virtual currencies like bitcoins, so as to protect consumer interest and check money laundering.
- In the first bi-monthly monetary policy review of 2018-19, RBI said virtual currencies (VCs) variously referred to as cryptocurrencies and crypto assets, raise concerns of consumer protection, market integrity, and money laundering.
4. RBI releases First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2018-19.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement of 2018-19 on April 5, 2018.
- Growth rate: 7.4 percent|Inflation target for the first half of current fiscal: 4.7-5.1 percent|Repo rate: 6 percent|Reverse repo rate: 5.75 percent|MSF: 6.25%|Bank Rate: 6.25%|CRR: 4%|SLR:19.5%.
- Static Part: Dr. Urjit Patel is the 24th Governor of RBI|Headquarters: Mumbai.
5. Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu Wins India’s First Gold at CWG 2018.
- World champion weightlifter Mirabai Chanu (48kg) secured India’s first gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
- The Indian ended with a score of 196kg (86kg+110kg). Earlier, Weightlifter Gururaja bagged India’s first medal (silver) in the 2018 Commonwealth Games with a total lift of 249 kg in the men’s 56 kg event
6. CWG 2018: Weight Lifter P. Gururaja Wins Silver.
- On the first day of competitions at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018, in Australia, India began their campaign with a Silver Medal in Weightlifting. In the 56 kilogram category, P Gururaja lifted a total weight of 249 kg to finish second in the event.
- The 25-year old Gururaja equaled his personal best. Malaysia took the Gold, while Sri Lanka settled for the Bronze.
- Static Part: Australia:- Capital- Canberra, Currency- Australian Dollar, Prime Minister- Malcolm Turnbull.
7. CWG 2018: Weightlifter Sanjita Chanu Wins India’s 2nd Gold Medal.
- Weightlifter Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu has delivered India its second gold medal of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast City, Australia by dominating the women’s 53kg event.
- The defending champion, Loa Dika Toua of Papua New Guinea, claimed silver with a total lift of 182 and bronze went to Canada’s Rachel Leblanc-Bazinet who finished with a combined effort of 181kg.
8. Himanta Biswa Sarma Elected as BAI President.
- Assam Health and Education Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma is unanimously elected the Badminton Association of India (BAI) President during its annual general body meeting in Goa.
- Ajay Kumar Singhania was elected the Secretary-General while former Tamil Nadu Badminton Association president and former Union minister Anbumani Ramadoss was elected treasurer.
- Sarma had taken over as the interim BAI President last year after the demise of Akhilesh Das Gupta. He will serve for four years.
9. SBI Life appoints Sanjeev Nautiyal as new MD & CEO.
- Sanjeev Nautiyal replaces Arijit Basu, who takes over a key role in the State Bank of India Group. Nautiyal started his career with State Bank of India in 1985 as a probationary officer in the bank’s Lucknow Circle.
- SBI Life Insurance is a joint venture life insurance company between State Bank of India and BNP Paribas Cardif. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
10. Subrata Bhattacharjee Appointed as Next Ambassador of India to Serbia.
- Subrata Bhattacharjee has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Serbia.
- He is an IFS office of 1989 batch. He is currently Joint Secretary in Ministry of External Affairs
- Static Part: Serbia:- Capital- Belgrade, Currency- Serbian dinar.
11. The Union Minister for Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal Launches UTTAM APP for Coal Quality Monitoring.
- UTTAM stands for Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal.
- The Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited (CIL) developed UTTAM, aims to provide an App for all citizens and coal consumers to monitor the process of Third Party Sampling of coal across CIL subsidiaries.
- UTTAM App ensures accountability, transparency, effectiveness, and efficiency in coal ecosystem.
- UTTAM is an example of leveraging technology to facilitate a bidirectional channel between Coal India Limited and a common citizen.
12. Flipkart Partners With MakeMyTrip to Offer Travel Services.
- Homegrown e-commerce giant Flipkart has forged a strategic partnership with online travel company MakeMyTrip to offer travel services on its platform.
- Additionally, the services of MakeMyTrip’s other brands, Goibibo and redBus, will be available to Flipkart consumers as part of the deal.
- Static Part: Flipkart:- CEO- Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Headquarters- Bengaluru.
13. International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action: 4 April.
- This day is observed to create awareness about the threat of mines, unexploded grenades and other explosive hazards all over the world.
- The theme for International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action 2018 is ‘Advancing Protection, Peace, and Development.’
14. The trial run of first India-Bangladesh container train flagged off from Kolkata.
- The train left for Bangladesh with 60 containers loaded with almost 1,200 tonnes of de-oiled cake, used as a raw material for animal feed.
- It will pass through Sealdah, Naihati, Ranaghat, and Gede in India and Darsana and Ishurdi in Bangladesh before reaching Bangabandhu West station, 117 kilometers off capital city of Dhaka.
15. Qatar-based Doha Bank sets up the first branch in Chennai.
- Doha Bank has set up the first branch in the Chennai taking the total number of branches in the country to three, a top official said.
- Doha Bank currently has a branch in Mumbai, Kochi, and Chennai, respectively.
- The Chennai branch will assist the bank’s growing customer base in India offering a host of services including corporate, retail, treasury, trade, finance and foreign exchange services.
16. Mithali Raj Becomes Most Capped Player in Women’s ODIs.
- Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj has become the most capped player in women’s ODI cricket after turning out for the 192nd time against England.
- Raj, who is also the highest run-getter in WODIs, overtook former England captain Charlotte Edwards, who had appeared in 191 WODIs. Indian fast bowler Jhulan Goswami is the third-most capped Women’s ODI player.
17. ‘7th Edition of the Moscow Conference on International Security’ to be attended by Nirmala Sitharaman.
- Defense Ministry Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, who is on a three-day visit to Russia to attend ‘VII Moscow Conference on International Security’ from 03 to 05 April 2018, addressed the II Plenary Session.
- The Conference on the theme titled ‘Global Security in a Polycentric World’ covering aspects related to current global defense, security and strategic scenario in the Russian capital.
18. India Ratings and Research have revised its FY19 GDP growth forecast to 7.4% from 7.1% earlier.
- From the production side, higher growth in agriculture (expectation of normal rainfall and assumption of even rainfall distribution over space and time) and industrial sectors is expected to push the overall economic growth. From the expenditure side, the boost is expected to come from both private and government expenditure coupled with green shoots emerging in investment spending.
- As per the report, FY19 growth will continue to be driven by consumption and associated sectors such as automobiles, cargo handled at major ports.
19. India pips Japan to become second largest crude steel manufacturer.
- In a major achievement, India has overtaken Japan to become the world’s second-largest producer of crude steel in February, according to the Steel Users Federation of India (SUFI).
- At present, China is the largest producer of crude steel in the world, accounting for more than 50% of the production.
- India overtook the U.S. in 2015 to become the third largest producer of crude steel.
20. India wins South East Asian Women Handball C’ship.
- India defeated Bangladesh by 27-10 in a one-sided match to win the fifth South East Asian Women Handball Championship at K.D. Singh Babu Stadium in Lucknow.
- A total of five countries participated in the tournament.
- While Nepal finished as runner-ups in the five-country tournament, Bangladesh settled for the third spot and a bronze medal.
21. RBI to set up data sciences lab.
- Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to set up Data Sciences Lab to improve its forecasting, surveillance and early warning detection abilities which will aid policy formulation.
- The lab will constitute of experts and budding analysts, internal as well as lateral, who are trained inter alia in Computer Science, Data Analytics, Statistics, Economics, Econometrics and/or Finance.
22. ICICI Bank launches social media-based remittance service for NRIs.
- Leading private lender ICICI Bank announced the launch of a service that enables Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to send money to a beneficiary in India using social media platforms like WhatsApp and e-mail.
- Christened ‘Social Pay’, this first-of-its-kind service is available on Money2India (M2I), the bank’s app for remittances. This new facility will enable NRIs to send money conveniently to their friends and family.
23. The Indian Coast Guard and the Korea Coast Guard hold a joint exercise off Chennai.
- The joint exercise, named Sahyog – Hyeoblyeog 2018 is part of a proposed establishment of a MoU between the two Coast Guards to improve maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region.
- Korea Coast Guard and India Coast Guard are looking at joint search and rescue exercise and friendly visits to the ports as part of efforts to strengthen the bilateral ties. The main aim is to strengthen the relations between the countries.”
- Korean Coast Guard ship Badaro 3011, commanded by Superintendent Oh Taeog, arrived at the Chennai port.
24. Actor Salman Khan convicted in Blackbuck Poaching Case.
- A Jodhpur court has convicted actor Salman Khan in the blackbuck poaching case and acquitted other actors Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Tabu and Sonali Bendre in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case.
- Salman Khan found guilty of killing two blackbucks in kankani village in Jodhpur during the Shooting of a movie.
25. Malayalam actor Kollam Ajith passes away.
- Malayalam actor Kollam Ajith died at a hospital in Kerala’s Kochi. He was 56.
- He acted in over 500 movies and well-known for his villain roles in Mollywood.
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