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Saturday, April 13, 2019

Current Affair 13-Apr-2019



#1 100 years of Jallianwala Bagh massacre: President Kovind, PM Modi pays tributes to victims

  • The massacre took place on 13 April 1919 when troops of the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer fired machine guns.
  • According to British government records, 379 people including men, women, and children were killed while 1,200 were wounded in the firing. Other sources place the number of dead at well over 1,000.
  • British Prime Minister Theresa May had recently said that the United Kingdom “deeply regrets” the 1919 massacre and called it a “shameful scar” on the British-Indian history.

#2 TCS Q4 results: Profit jumps 18% to Rs 8,126 crore, beats Street estimates

  • TCS’ Q4 revenue rose 8.5% year-on-year to $5.39 billion. The net profit was up 7.8% at $1.15 billion, meeting a Bloomberg estimate of 20 brokers.
  • Q4 results show TCS crossed $20 billion in annual revenue.
  • In constant currency terms, the March quarter revenue of TCS rose 12.7%, the fifth straight quarter of year-on-year double-digit revenue growth in constant currency terms for the Mumbai-based company.
G20

#3 G-20 chiefs : World economic growth to revive later this year

  • The global economy is likely to pull out of a brief growth slump later this year — with a little help from the world’s central banks and from U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators.
  • Global finance leaders gathered from the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank agree that the global economy has lost momentum this year. But they expect growth to pick up in the second half of 2019, as central bankers ease up on interest rates.
BAWA

#4 IL&FS case: Former MD & CEO Ramesh Bawa arrested

  • The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) arrested former IL&FS Financial Services (IFIN) MD & CEO, Ramesh Bawa in the case. This is the second arrest made by the investigation arm of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
  • Bawa was arrested late last night in Delhi. This, after the Supreme Court (SC) recently refused to extend relief of granting him protection from arrest.
  • Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) is an Indian infrastructure development and finance company.

#5 Singapore Open: Struggling PV Sindhu loses to Nozomi Okuhara in semis

  • PV Sindhu, a Rio Olympics silver medallist, lost 7-21, 11-21 to world no. 3 Okuhara in a lop-sided contest.
  • Sindhu had won the last two times they played each other and overall enjoyed a slight 7-6 advantage in the head-to-head record with Okuhara.
  • The 2019 Singapore Open, is a badminton tournament which takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore from 9 to 14 April 2019 and has a total purse of $355,000.

#6 India’s retail inflation rises to 2.86% in March

  • The annual retail inflation rate rose in March to 2.86 percent, from 2.57 percent in the previous month, government data showed on Friday.
  • India’s consumer prices rose at a faster pace than anticipated in March, but remained below the central bank’s target for an eighth straight month, increasing the chances for a key interest rate cut in June.
  • Inflation has fallen sharply from the peak of 12.17 percent reached in November 2013, a development that could help Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 general elections.
iip

#7 IIP growth slows to 0.1% in February

  • Industrial output growth slowed to a 20-month low of 0.1 per cent in February, mainly due to contraction in the manufacturing sector, official data showed Friday.
  • Meanwhile, IIP growth for November 2018 was revised downwards to 0.2 per cent from 0.3 per cent released earlier.
  • The previous low in IIP growth was recorded in June 2017, when factory output contracted 0.3 per cent.
GPF

#8 Chintels to invest ₹300 crore in housing project on Dwarka Expressway

  • Realty firm Chintels Group will invest over ₹300 crore over the next five years to develop a housing project at Dwarka Expressway in Gurugram.
  • Under the first phase, it constructed 120 units at a cost of ₹155 crore.
  • The company will develop 324 units in the second phase of its housing project ‘Chintels Serenity’. Chintels India MD Prashant Solomon said the project cost of the second phase is ₹307 crore.

#9 Banks need to upgrade their PoS as 2G phases out: Telecom department

  • In the wake of 2G spectrum and services being phased out, banks need to upgrade their Point of Sale (POS) machines to advanced technologies such as 3G and 4G, said a senior official of department of telecommunications
  • “POS, which right now is 2G enabled. In a couple of years, there will be no 2G in this country. There will only be 3G, 4G and beyond,” He added.

#10 Vedanta Resources raises $ 1 billion via bonds

  • Vedanta has raised USD one billion through bonds and will use the net proceeds mainly to repay debt.
  • The bonds, which were sold in two tranches, attracted interest from global investors across Europe, North America and Asia, it said.
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Friday, April 12, 2019

Daily Current Affair 12-Apr-2019


India and netherlands

#1 India, Netherlands vow to strengthen ties

  • India and the Netherlands discussed ways to strengthen bilateral political and economic ties, including boosting cooperation at the United Nations and other international fora.
  • The two countries held Foreign Office Consultations here, with the Indian side led by A Gitesh Sarma, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, and Johanna (Yoka) Brandt, Secretary General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, leading the Dutch delegation.
  • “India and the Netherlands share a multi-faceted relationship. Both countries used this opportunity to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including political, economic, commercial, scientific and cultural cooperation,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

#2 India needs policy on solar waste management, manufacturing standards

  • The government needs to bring out a policy on solar module waste management and standards for use of material for manufacturing, according to consultancy Bridge To India on Thursday.
  • “There is an urgent need to formulate appropriate quality standards for use of environmentally sustainable materials in manufacturing of modules. This will help in minimizing potentially hazardous end-of-life module waste in India,” said a BTI statement.
  • Bridge To India (BTI) Managing Director Vinay Rustagi said while the solar sector continues to grow robustly, from a mere three gigawatt (GW) in 2014 to over 28 GW currently, there is still no clarity on solar waste management in India.

#3 DoT approves merger of Tata Tele unit & Airtel, with riders

  • The telecom department has approved the merger of Tata Teleservices’ consumer mobility business with Bharti Airtel on condition the Sunil Mittalled telco furnishes bank guarantees of about ₹9,000 crore to cover spectrum charges.
  • The demand does not include payment of any license fees, a contentious topic in the sector. Historically, telcos have stymied efforts by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to recover annual dues such as spectrum usage charges and license fees on the grounds that the definition of adjusted gross revenue, on which they are based, was disputed in court.
  • For Airtel, the merger will bring in an additional 178.5 MHz of spectrum in three bands that are widely used for 4G, an area in which the Mittal-led company is expanding to keep pace with Reliance Jio Infocomm. It will add about 18 million of Tata Tele’s mobile subscribers to its over 340 million users, according to regulatory data at the end of January.
Nirmala Sitaraman

#4 Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman praises IAF’s action on Pakistan

  • Nirmala Sitharaman praised the IAF for its flawless execution of the Balakot strikes and subsequent thwarting of the Pakistani response.
  • “Nirmala Sitharaman said that the IAF has proved its mettle in Exercise Gagan Shakti, 2018 and Vayu Shakti, 2019 and the same reflected in the successfully conducted Balakot strikes and air action on February 27,“ a Ministry of Defence (MoD) statement said.
  • She added that the IAF will play a vital role in enhancing the defence manufacturing capabilities of the nation through its acquisitions in the form of Strategic Partnership Model. She added that she is aware of the critical requirements projected by the IAF and assured that as a nation we need to build those capabilities

#5 Brexit: UK and EU agree delay to 31 October

  • The new deadline – 31 October – averts the prospect of the UK having to leave the EU without a deal on Friday, as MPs are still deadlocked over a deal.
  • Theresa May, who had wanted a shorter delay, said the UK would still aim to leave the EU as soon as possible.
  • The prime minister will later make a statement on the Brussels summit to the House of Commons, while talks with the Labour Party, aimed at reaching consensus on how to handle Brexit, are set to continue.

#6 SpaceX lands all three Falcon Heavy rocket boosters for the first time ever

  • Following the second launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, all three of the rocket’s booster cores successfully landed back on Earth. The two outer cores of the rocket touched down on SpaceX’s two concrete landing pads at Cape Canaveral, Florida near the site of the launch. The center core touched down on one of the company’s drone ships in the Atlantic Ocean.
  • This version is made to optimize reusability, making it easier for SpaceX to land the vehicles and then turn them around quickly for future flights.
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Thursday, April 11, 2019

Current Affair 11-April-2019

Netanyahu

#1 Netanyahu set for fifth term as Israel’s leader

  • Benjamin Netanyahu was on course to secure a record fifth term as Israeli Prime Minister after his main election rival conceded defeat on Wednesday evening.
  • Likud tied with Blue and White, gaining 35 seats each. But Netanyahu’s path back to power is clearer, combining seats won by two ultra-orthodox religious parties, which both polled well, with those of smaller right-wing groups.
  • Israel’s President, Reuven Rivlin, will decide who will form the next government after consultations with the heads of the political parties that secured enough seats in the Knesset. The President is likely to announce his decision in about a week.





#2 Kohli has been named as the Leading Cricketer in the World: Wisden 2019

  • Kohli, who will lead India’s World Cup campaign in England later this year, has been named as the Leading Cricketer in the World for an unprecedented third year in a row.
  • He has also achieved one of the few accolades to have eluded him in his career so far, by being named as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year, the oldest individual award in the sport.
  • Kohli, however, was the sport’s dominant figure in 2018, making 2735 international runs at 68.37 across all formats, more than 700 more than his nearest challenger, England’s Joe Root.

#3 Lok Sabha Election 2019 Phase 1 Voting Started

  • 1st phase voting covers 91 Lok sabha seats across 18 states and 2 union territories.
  • Voting for 543 seats will be held in seven phases starting from April 11 to May 19 and counting will be done on May 23,2019

#4 SC Collegium Recommends Appointment of Justice Vikram Nath As Andhra Pradesh CJ

  • Office of the Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court which has recently been constituted as separate High Court for the State of Andhra Pradesh, has been lying vacant right from the day of its inception. Therefore, appointment to that office is required to be made.
  • Mr. Justice Vikram Nath is the senior-most Judge from Allahabad High Court and is functioning in that High Court since his elevation. Having regard to all relevant factors, the Collegium finds Mr. Justice Vikram Nath suitable in all respects for being appointed as Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The Collegium resolves to recommend accordingly.

#5 Tata Trusts, Microsoft join hands to support handloom weaving community

  • Tata Trusts and Microsoft India Wednesday inked a pact to to jointly rejuvenate handloom clusters in the eastern and north-eastern parts of the country.Therefore, appointment to that office is required to be made.
  • As part of the collaboration, Tata Trusts and Microsoft will leverage each other’s strengths to provide business and communication skills, design education and digital literacy to handloom weavers so that they may build a sustainable future.

#6 Namami Gange gets global recognition at world summit

  • The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was awarded the distinction of “Public Water Agency of the Year” by Global Water Intelligence at the Global Water Summit in London on April 9, according to a release issued by the NMCG. The Global Water Awards are presented at the Global Water Summit, the major business conference for the water industry worldwide.
  • The awards recognise excellence across the international water industry and reward those initiatives in the water, waste water, and desalination sectors, which bring remarkable improvements in the lives of people, according to NMCG, which is under the Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

#7 NGT makes polluters pay nearly double so far this year than whole of 2018

  • The National Green Tribunal (NGT) seems to have stepped on the peddle: through April 7, 2019 it has slapped penalties worth almost double the fines it sought in the whole of 2018. This includes the big-ticket Rs 500 crore fine on major carmaker Volkswagen. Governments weren’t spared either.
  • Between this January and April 7 the NGT slapped penalties close to Rs 873 crore under the ‘polluter pays’ principle. For the entire 2018, the tribunal had imposed penalties of Rs 477 crore under the principle.
GPF

#8 General provident fund interest rate retained at 8% for April-June quarter

  • The central government on Wednesday retained the interest rate for General Provident Fund (GPF) and other similar funds at 8 per cent for the April-June quarter, which is in line with that of Public Provident Fund (PPF).
  • The interest rate on GPF was fixed at 8 per cent during the quarter ended March, 2019.
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