Current Affairs - April 6, 2018 Current Affairs

India - Japan - United States 9th Trilateral Meeting at Joint Secretary/Director General/Assistant Secretary level was held in New Delhi on April 4, 2018. During the course of this meeting, the officials discussed practical steps to enhance cooperation in the areas of counter-proliferation; connectivity and infrastructure development, counter-terrorism; humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, maritime security and maritime domain awareness. Outcomes of the Trilateral Infrastructure Working Group that met in Washington, US in February 2018 were also reviewed. It is to be noted that the India-Japan-US trilateral was launched in December 2011 during Hillary Clinton's tenure as US Secretary of State.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was honoured with the Padma Bhushan Award by President Ram Nath Kovind at an event in Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Former Indian Cricket captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni holds the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel of Indian Army. He received the Padma Bhushan Award in his army uniform. Billiards player Pankaj Advani also received the Padma Bhushan award for his extra ordinary achievements.

The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), often called Summer Davos, will be held at Boao, a coastal town in the southern island province of Hainan from April 8 to 11 with theme 'Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity'. It is modeled after the World Economic Forum (WEF) held annually in Davos, Switzerland. It has its fixed address in Bo'ao, Hainan province, China, although the Secretariat is based in Beijing. The BFA is a non-profit organisation that hosts high-level forums for leaders from government, business, and academia in Asia and other continents to share their vision on the most pressing issues in this dynamic region and the world at large.

Himachal Pradesh Health Minister Vipin Parmar launched Mother's Absolute Affection (MAA) programme with an aim to promote breastfeeding. Objective of MAA programme is to create awareness among masses about the importance of breastfeeding. Besides community awareness generation, other components of MAA programme are strengthening inter-personal communication through ASHA workers, skilled support for breastfeeding at delivery points in public health facilities and work places. Beastfeeding helps in reducing the incidence of infant mortality and early childhood mortality and provides complete nutrition to a child.

On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation at its meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to keep the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.0%. Consequently, the Reverse Repo Rate (RRR) under the LAF remains at 5.75%, and the Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.25%. India's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth marginally upward to 6.6% from 6.5% in the first advance estimates. GDP growth in 2017-18 at 6.6 percent was lower than 7.1% in 2016-17. Retail inflation, measured by the year-on-year change in the CPI, fell from a high of 5.1% in January to 4.4% in February due to a decline in inflation in food and fuel. CPI inflation excluding food and fuel remained unchanged at 5.2% for the third consecutive month in February, after rising from its trough in June 2017.

Virat Kohli has secured 912 points and obtained the second spot. Australian former captain Steve Smith has secured the top spot with 929 points. India's Cheteshwar Pujara also retained his seventh position with 810 points. Also India's Ajinkya Rahane and Lokesh Rahul have secured 18th and 11th spots respectively. Indian test spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has obtained fifth position with 803 points in the bowlers ranking. Ravindra Jadeja has obtained second position in the all-rounders ranking. South Africa's Aiden Markram has secured ninth position in the batsmen ranking. New Zealand has surpassed Australia and secured third place in the ICC Test Team Rankings.

Weightlifter and current world champion Mirabai Chanu has clinched India's first gold medal of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Mirabai Chanu becomes the first Indian to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2018. After finishing with the best lift of 86 kg in the snatch round, the 23-year-old finished with a total score of 196 points. Chanu is competing in the 48 kg category. The 23-year-old also set Commonwealth Games records in both Snatch (86 kg) and Clean and Jerk (110 kg) categories.

P Gururaja, who hails from Udupi in Karnataka, has clinched India's first medal at the 21st Commonwealth Games 2018 at Gold Coast in Brisbane, Australia on April 5. He won the silver medal in the men's 56 kg final with a total lift of 249 kg (111 kg in snatch + 138 kg in clean and jerk). Gururaja, who is the son of a truck driver, is employed with the Indian Air Force (IAF). He recently received the Eklavya award from the Karnataka state government.

Rubique, an online marketplace for loan, credit card and insurance announced the appointment of Ajay Desai as its Chief Operating Officer (COO). Ajay Desai has 20+ years experience in banking sector. Until recently he was holding the position of Senior President and Chief Financial Inclusion Officer in Yes Bank. Rubique has taken Ajay Desai onboard to leverage his exceptional expertise in Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), financial exclusion and Financial Technology (Fintech). At Rubique, Ajay Desai will focus on deployment of technology interventions/solutions to address the credit gap.

The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS) launched "Satyagraha Se Swachhagraha" campaign in New Delhi. It is a nationwide campaign and will culminate on 10th of this month marking the 100th year of Champaran Satyagraha. The campaign commemorates Champaran Satyagraha to spread the message of Swachhata across the country.

Indian Government imposed a 10% duty on import of key smartphone components with a view to boost domestic manufacturing. Components on which 10 per cent import duty has been imposed are printed circuit board assembly, loaded or stuffed printed circuit boards (for telephones as well as mobile phones), camera module and connectors of cellular mobile phones. So far, these three components were exempted from basic customs duty (BCD). Indian Government has already imposed 15 per cent import duty on chargers, battery, speaker, microphone, headset, keypad etc. under phased manufacturing programme (PMP) aimed at boosting indigenous production of mobile phones, by providing tax relief and other incentives on components and accessories used for the devices. In context of these news, it is important to note that India has replaced Vietnam to become the second largest producer of mobile phones in 2017.

Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling announced monthly pension of 1000 rupees for farmers engaged in organic farming in the state. Sikking government has banned sale and consumption of non-organic agricultural and horticultural?products. Organic farming doesn't involve the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Sikkim is the first fully organic state in the country.

Jio Payments Bank Limited commenced operations as a payments bank. The Reserve Bank has issued a license to the bank under Section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to carry on the business of payments bank in India. Reliance Industries Limited, Mumbai was one of the 11 applicants which were issued an in-principle approval for setting up a payments bank.

Ministry of Tourism along with Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has launched "Adopt a Heritage Project". Adopt a Heritage Project aims to provide world class tourist facilities at the natural/cultural heritage sites. Main focus of the project will be to provide basic facilities like cleanliness, public convenience, drinking water, ease of access for tourists, signage etc. and advanced facilities like Souvenir shop, Cafeteria etc. The project envisions that selected public sector companies, private sector companies and individuals will create tourist facilities at heritage sites. Those entities will be named 'Monument Mitra'. They will adopt the sites under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. They will manage operations and maintenance of the adopted site initially for 5 years. The work will be reviewed at any time. The project was launched by the President on 27th September 2017 (World Tourism Day).

National maritime Day is celebrated on 5th April every year since 1964. On 5th April 1919, SS Loyalty, the first ship of the Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd started from Mumbai to the United Kingdom. This is a very important day in the history of Indian maritime sector. The theme for National maritime Day 2018 is: 'Indian Shipping - An Ocean of opportunity'. On the National maritime Day, awareness on supporting safe and environmentally strong commerce between continents is highlighted. 'Varuna' award is conferred to outstanding contributors of Indian maritime sector on this day. Also, outstanding achievers in the field of education and training are awarded on this day.

Actor Rituparna Sengupta was appointed the chairperson of Shilpi Sansad. Rituparna Sengupta replaces Supriya Devi. Supriya Devi passed away recently. Shilpi Sansad was set up by Uttam Kumar in 1968. It offers financial security to retired and experienced artistes of Bengali film industry. It provides financial assistance to artistes in times of emergency and for medical treatments.