Current Affairs April 4 – IIM was inaugurated in Trichy

National Affairs

Kolkata’s First Bio-Gas Fuel Bus To Charge Rupee 1 As Fare For All

A city based Phoenix India company has claimed to have launched the first bio-gas fuelled bus in Kolkata keeping a flat fare of just Re 1. All buses will have a flat fare of Re 1 irrespective of the distance, Current Affairs : April – 3even in excess of 40 km.

Presently, the lowest fare in a Kolkata bus is Rs. 6. The first bus will run a distance of 17 km between Ultadanga and Garia in the southern fringes of the city and Phoenix India will run the bio-gas service from its Corporate Social Responsibility fund.

IIM was inaugurated in Trichy

The first phase of newly built campus of the Indian Institute of Management was officially inaugurated in Trichy by Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar. The campus of IIM spreads over 175 acre. IIM-T is the eleventh IIM established by the Government of India. The solar panels were also installed for energy conservation

Andhra Pradesh, second to set up Department of Happiness Index

Andhra Pradesh became the second state in the country next to Madhya Pradesh to set up a department for measuring happiness index.

CM. Chandrababu Naidu created a separate ministry to monitor the improvement, development and growth rate of happiness. To support the initiative, recently the officials were organizing ‘Happy Sundays’ in different cities and towns of the state.

INTERNATIONAL

UK-India holds talks on bilateral trade, investments

British Finance Minister Philip Hammond will hold discussions with his Indian counterpart Arun Jaitley to promote trade and investments between the two countries. Hammond is visiting India to participate in the UK–India Economic and Financial Dialogue.

According to the British High Commission, the ninth UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) is hosted by the Indian Finance Minister. Hammond will also visit Mumbai where he would meet Indian FinTech start-ups at Barclays RISE, as well as the Chairman of Mahindra group.

Banking & Business

SBI cuts base rate by 15 bps, keeps MCLR unchanged

Country’s largest lender State Bank of India cut its base rate steeply by 15 basis points to 9.1 per cent. The new rates are effective from April 1st.  According to estimates, only 30-40% of total floating rate loans are linked to MCLR while the rest are still linked to the base rate.

Rs.200 Notes Soon To Hit The Market

The RBI is planning to introduce banknotes of Rs.200 denomination. The introduction of Rs.2000 note was seen as self-destructive and skeptics and have expressed the need for lower denomination banknotes. If introduced, Rs.200 will be the second new denomination to be introduced after Rs.2000 notes.

Govt exceeds FY17 tax collection target at Rs 17.10 lakh cr

The government has exceeded the tax collection estimates for 2016-17 fiscal at Rs 17.10 lakh crore. The revised estimates (RE) provided in Budget on February 1 had projected tax collections of Rs 16.97 lakh crore.

The Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said, “Total net tax revenue grows at 18 per cent to Rs 17.10 lakh crore, highest in last 6 years”.

India ranks 3rd for third year in a row in WADA doping charts

India has been ranked third for the 3^rd 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) and Italy (129) at third spot in the doping violation chart released by the WADA, the same position as in the reports of 2013 and 2014.

Science & Technology

A 3700 year old Egyptian pyramid discovered

3700 years remain of pyramid which dates back to the 13^th dynasty have been excavated by the Egyptian team. The remains of the pyramid were located in Cairo. The pyramid is believed to be ancient Egypt’s first attempt to build a smooth-sided pyramid.

Historic Events of the Day

International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action

The UN General Assembly declared that 4th April of each year as the “International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action”. It is observed to foster the establishment and development of national mine-action capacities in countries where mines and explosive remnants of war constitute a serious threat to the safety, health and lives of the population.

Theme of 2017: “Needs driven. People Centred”

SPORTS

FIFA bans Guatemala’s ex-chief for life

FIFA  banned Guatemala’s former football chief Brayan Jimenez for life over corruption, bribery and other offences, making him the latest former executive thrown out of the sport in disgrace. He accepts bribes worth several hundred thousand dollars in exchange for media and marketing rights for key matches.

OBITUARY

Legendary Singer Kishori Amonkar passes away

Hindustani classical singer Kishori Amonkar passed away at the age of 84. She was the innovator of the “Jaipur Gharana”, a community of musicians with a distinctive musical style was considered to be among the foremost Hindustani singers.