April 21st, 2018

1. EAM Sushma Swaraj left for China on a 4-Day visit to SCO Meet.
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  • External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has left for China to participate in a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
  • Ms. Swaraj will hold talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. This will be Ms. Swaraj’s first meeting with Wang after he was elevated last month to be the state councilor.
  •  The visit will further enhance political trust between the two countries and is aimed at elevating the China-India strategic cooperation partnership.
  • Static Part: China:- Capital- Beijing, Currency- Renminbi, President- Xi Jinping.

2. Cabinet approves an ordinance to award death penalty to those convicted of raping children up to 12 years of age.
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  • The Union Cabinet approved an ordinance to allow courts to award death penalty to those convicted of raping children up to 12 years of age.
  • The criminal law amendment ordinance seeks to amend the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Evidence Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to introduce a new provision to sentence convicts of such crimes with punishment of death.
  • The move comes against the backdrop of the alleged rape and murder of girls in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua and Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district.
  • The rape of a minor in Gujarat’s Surat district had also outraged the nation.The ordinance will now be sent to the President for his approval.

3. Swedish DJ Avicii top electronic dance music artist dies at 28.
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  • Swedish DJ Avicii, one of the world’s biggest dance music stars, has died in Oman at the age of 28.
  • Tim Bergling better was known by his stage name Avicii was a Swedish musician, DJ, remixer and record producer.
  • Avicii’s club anthems include Wake Me Up, Levels, and recently, Lonely Together with Rita Ora.
  • Static Part: Oman:- Capital: Muscat|Currency: Omani rial.

4. IOC presents a memento to Abhinav Bindra, Vijender Singh.
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  • International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach during his second visit to India presented a memento to Indian Olympic gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra and bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh.
  • On this occasion, Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Dhruv Batra, Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) President HE Sheikh Ahmad Al Sabah were also present.

5. Bengaluru FC wins Super Cup Football tournament in Odisha.
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  • Bengaluru FC has won the inaugural edition of Super Cup Football tournament.
  • In the final at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, they defeated Kolkata football giants East Bengal by a convincing margin of 4-1.
  • Sunil Chhetri has scored maximum two goals for his team and bagged the Man of the Match title and his team-mate Nicolas Fedor was adjudged Player of the Tournament.
  • Static Part: Odisha:- Chief Minister- Naveen Patnaik|Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik has given the additional charge of Odisha after SC Jamir completed his five-year tenure.

6. Vice President inaugurates 2-day event of 12th Civil Services Day.
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  • The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that translating “legislative intent” into “programmatic content” and demonstrating to the common citizens what “Surajya” actually looks like in day to day administration, the civil services have an enormous opportunity.
  • On the occasion, the Vice President released a book titled “Emulating Excellence -Takeaways for Replication”.
  • Addressing the session, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh said that the main objective of the Civil Services Day is to acknowledge and recognise the good work done by the civil servants.

7. World Creativity and Innovation Day: April 21.
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  • World Creativity and Innovation Day are celebrated on April 21 of every year. This day is created to honor the creative and Innovative skills of people around the world.
  • Creativity and Innovation Day became a World Creativity and Innovation Week starting from April 15 to 21. Leonardo da Vinci’s birth anniversary 15th April marks the beginning of the Creativity and Innovation week every year.
  • This day is celebrated in more than 46 countries from the year 2002. People in businesses, schools etc take part in this day.
  • Leonardo da Vinci is “universal genius” or “Renaissance Man”, who is exceptionally good in both arts and sciences.

8. Vijay Goel Launches Central Project Monitoring Unit for e-Vidhan Project.
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  • Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel inaugurated the new office of Central Project Monitoring Unit for the e-Vidhan project of the Government at the Parliament House Annexe.
  • e-Vidhan is a part of the broader Digital India Programme of the Government and is likely to contribute to the cleanliness and environment by reducing the use of papers to a great extent.

9. Miguel Diaz-Canel named Cuba’s new president.
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  • Miguel Díaz-Canel was officially named as the new leader of Cuba after a secret vote in the country’s National Assembly.
  • It’s the first time in nearly six decades that Cuba is being led by a man not named Castro.
  • Diaz-Canel, 57, was selected by a vote of 603-1 as the unopposed candidate to replace Raul Castro, 86.
  • Static Part: Cuba:- Capital: Havana| Currency: Cuban peso.

10. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised its “Know Your Customer”(KYC) guidelines.
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  • RBI said the KYC norms have been revised following the government’s decision to update the ‘Prevention of Money Laundering’ (PML) rules in June last year.
  • Recently, RBI made linking of national biometric ID Aadhaar to bank accounts mandatory. However, it said this will be subject to the final decision of the Supreme Court on making of Aadhaar mandatory.
  • Till now, an Officially Valid Document (OVD) for address proof together with Permanent Account Number (PAN) issued by the Income Tax department and a recent passport size photograph were the key KYC documents.
  • But in the amended Customer Due Diligence (CDD) procedure, the Aadhaar number, the PAN or Form No. 60 need to be obtained from an individual who is eligible for applying for the biometric ID.
  • The RBI made an exception in case of residents of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam or Meghalaya. In their cases, a certified copy of an OVD and one recent photograph will be sufficient in case they do not submit Aadhaar or proof of application of enrolment for Aadhaar.
  • Static Part: RBI:- Governor- Urjit Patel |Policy Repo Rate‎: ‎6.00% |Reverse Repo Rate‎: ‎5.75%|Bank Rate‎: ‎6.25% |Marginal Standing Facility(MSF) Rate‎: ‎6.25%|Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR): 4%|Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR): 19.5%.