DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: APRIL 24, 2019

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Daily Current Affairs (April 24, 2019) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness, Static GK and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

Daily Current Affairs – April 2019

NATIONAL

CBSE to allow visual aids for disabled kids from 2020:

• The CBSE students, from 2020, will be allowed to use magnifying glasses and portable video magnifiers during the Class X final examination.
• Alternative-type questions will be provided in lieu of questions having visual inputs for visually impaired candidates in social science.
• The CBSE affiliated schools have been directed to ensure that premises are disabled friendly by 2020 with all the educational institutions, including hostels, libraries and laboratories to have barrier-free access. Also the schools have been directed not to deny admission to children with special needs in mainstream education.

High-level revamp: Anti-hijack panel to now include PMO brass

• The government has revamped its high-level anti-hijack panel to include top officials the Prime Minister’s Office, especially National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who will be empowered to coordinate any immediate military response. 
• This freshly reconstituted panel called the Committee of Secretaries on Aircraft Hijack (COSAH) will also have Nripendra Mishra, principal secretary to the prime minister and P K Mishra, additional principal secretary as its members.
• However, the panel will continue to be headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha despite presence of senior PMO officials.

Deposits in Jan Dhan accounts fast inching towards Rs 1 lakh crore mark:

• The total deposits in bank accounts opened under the Jan Dhan scheme, which was launched about five years ago by the Modi-government, are set to cross Rs.1 lakh crore soon.
• The total balance in the Jan Dhan accounts, which has been steadily rising, was at Rs.97,665.66 crore as on April 3, as per the latest government data.
• The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched on August 28, 2014 with an aim to provide universal access to banking facilities to all households. The overdraft limit was also doubled to Rs.10,000.

INTERNATIONAL

Israel to name Golan town after Trump:

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he intends to name a new settlement in the Golan Heights after US President Donald Trump to honour his recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the strategic plateau.
• Israel has also stated that in appreciation of the U.S. president, it intends to name a proposed train station near Jerusalem’s Western Wall after him.

Indonesia Releases Special Ramayana Themed Stamp to Mark 70 Years of Diplomatic Ties with India:

• Indonesia released a special commemorative stamp on the theme of Ramayana to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of its diplomatic ties with India.
• The stamp, designed by renowned Indonesian sculptor Padmashri Bapak Nyoman Nuarta, featured a scene from Ramayana in which Jatayu valiantly fought to save Sita.
• A specially signed version of the stamp will be on display at the Philately Museum in Jakarta.

Russia Successfully Tests World’s First Floating Nuclear Power Plant:

• Russia has successfully tested the World’s First Floating Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Akademik Lomonosov, a subsidiary of Rosatom nuclear corporation said.
• The floating nuclear power plant’s two reactors were successfully brought up to 100% capacity on March 31. Reactors of the floating atomic block were launched in November 2018.

BANKING & BUSINESS

BEML, Syndicate Bank sign MoU, to book ₹100 cr-biz:

• Public sector BEML (Bharat Earth Movers Limited), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for financing earth moving and construction equipment manufactured by BEML with Syndicate Bank.
• Syndicate Bank and BEML expect to book business worth ₹100 crore, by March 2020 under this window.
• Under the MoU, BEML will nominate Syndicate Bank as a preferred financer. Financing equipments of BEML will be covered under the ‘Special’ scheme of the bank.

RBI has $43 billion in excess reserves, says BofAML:

• A panel named by India’s central bank to study its capital structure is likely to identify excess reserves of up to ₹ 3 lakh crore ($43 billion), or 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
• The Bimal Jalan committee on the appropriate capital reserves for RBI was likely to identify this excess buffer. The committee was set up in December-end with a 6-member panel headed by former RBI governor Jalan.
• Indranil Sen Gupta, chief India economist at BofAML said that RBI maintains higher contingency reserves as a percentage of its total book compared to its peers in Brazil, Russia and South Africa, thus a lower cap will bring in more funds.

FIEO inks pact with Welingkar Institute of Management to support startups in exports:

• Exporters’ body Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has inked an agreement with Mumbai-based Prin. L N Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research to support startups engaged in the export sector.
• Under the memorandum of understanding signed with the institute, the FIEO has launched a post graduate programme in Foreign Trade Management (PGP-FTM) at Mumbai.
• The move is aimed at attracting new entrepreneurs in exports and bridge the gap of availability of qualified skilled manpower in Exim trade.

Govt raises authorised capital of Allahabad Bank to Rs 8,000 cr:

• State-owned Allahabad Bank the government has increased its authorised capital by Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 8,000 crore.
• The increase in authorised capital will help enable the bank to raise further fund up to a maximum ceiling of Rs 8,000 crore.

TCS modernizes more than 1.5 lakh post offices in India:

• India’s largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has helped modernize a network of more than 1.5 lakh post offices in the country, making this the largest distributed e-postal network in the world.
• The deal between TCS and India Post was struck in 2013. The Mumbai-based company had received a multi-year contract of more than Rs.1,100 crore from the Department of Posts for an end-to-end IT modernisation project.
• The project entailed equipping India Posts with modern tech and systems for seamless and effective services.

RANKINGS/REPORTS BY VARIOUS ORGANISATIONS

Indian Economy Shrank 31% Due To Global Warming: Stanford study

• Global warming has caused the Indian economy to be 31 percent smaller than it would otherwise have been, according to a Stanford study which shows how earth’s temperature changes have increased inequalities.
• The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the “National Academy of Sciences”, showed that growing concentrations of greenhouse gases in earth’s atmosphere since 1960s have enriched cooler countries like Norway and Sweden, while dragging down economic growth in warmer countries such as India and Nigeria.
• The study also shows that from 1961 to 2010, global warming has decreased the wealth per person of the world’s poorest countries by 17-30 percent.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

ASSOCHAM Secretary General U K Varma resigns:

• Uday Kumar Varma, a former bureaucrat who took over as the Secretary General of ASSOCHAM in August last year, has resigned from the post.
• Currently, ASSOCHAM’S Deputy Secretary-General Saurabh Sanyal is discharging the duties of secretary general.

Michelin-star chef Vikas Khanna named IAAC brand ambassador:

• Michelin-star chef Vikas Khanna has been named brand ambassador of a leading cultural organisation Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) which will organise the annual New York Indian Film Festival next month that showcases the celebrity chef’s film ‘The Last Color’ and Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer ‘Photograph’.
• The IAAC will present the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), North America’s longest-running and most prestigious Indian film festival from May 7 to 12. Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan has accepted to join the IAAC board.

AWARDS & HONOURS

All India Radio, Publication Division & Children’s Film Society of India given Swacchta Pakhwada Awards-2019:

• All India Radio, Publication Division and Children’s Film Society of India were given Swacchta Pakhwada Awards-2019 in New Delhi.
• Secretary in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry Amit Khare gave away the awards. Director General of All India Radio F. Sheheryar and Director General (News) Ms. Ira Joshi received the Award for All India Radio.

SPORTS

Bajrang Punia Wins India’s 1st Gold Medal at Asian Wrestling Championships:

• World No.1 Bajrang Punia won India’s first gold medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2019 in Xi’an, China.
• Bajrang was fighting in the 65kg category and beat Sayatbek Okassov of Kazakhstan to bag the top honours.
• Praveen Rana had to settle for silver in the 79kg category after he lost to Bahman Mohammad Teymouri of Iran.
• Satyavrat Kadian, on the other hand, bagged a bronze medal in the 97kg category.

IMPORTANT EVENTS OF THE DAY

National Panchayati Raj Day: April 24

• National Panchayati Raj Day (National Local Self-Government day) is the national day of Panchayati Raj System in India celebrated by Ministry of Panchayati Raj on 24 April annually.
• Then Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh declared the first National Panchayati Raj Day on 24th April 2010.

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