Current Affairs - April 20, 2018 Current Affairs

Saudi Arabia has opened its first movie theater in 35 yrs, with "Black Panther" the first movie shown publicly in the kingdom in decades. Movie was shown at a new cinema theater built by AMC Entertainment in King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh. The kingdom banned cinemas in early 1980s under pressure from Islamists as Saudi society turned towards a particularly severe form of religion

India won six elections to UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) bodies. By winning these elections, India won places on the executive boards of four UN bodies, three commissions and a committee. In election for the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Committee, within the Asia-Pacific group, India got the highest number of votes (46). The NGO committee scrutinises the NGOs applying for consultative status with ECOSOC. It is an important body as it has the power to recommend or block them. India will serve a four-year term on this committee starting January 2019.

Karan Johar has become the first Indian filmmaker to have his wax statue at the Madame Tussauds museum in London. His wax figure will not just be launched in one city but will simultaneously head out on tour across Asia. Since his debut as a director in 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', Karan has managed a career that goes well beyond just filmmaking.

Indian scientists have formulated world's first ayurvedic drug to cure dengue, which is likely to be available in the market by 2019. The first Ayurvedic drug to cure Dengue has been made with seven herbal ingredients which are in use in Ayurveda system of medicine. Pilot studies of this drug (in highly concentrated liquid form) which have proved the clinical safety and efficacy of the drug were already conducted by Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), an autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR's), regional research centre in Belgaum in Karnataka. Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial (a medical study involving human participants) of the tablet form of this drug is going on in the medical colleges of Belgaum and Kolar in Karnataka.

World Heritage Day was observed on 18th April of every year it is also known as International Day For Monuments and Sites. The International Day for Monuments and Sites was proposed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) on 18th April 1982. It was approved by the General Assembly of UNESCO in 1983. This day is celebrated to create awareness on the cultural heritage of humanity, their vulnerability and efforts needed to protect and conserve them. India has 36 world heritage sites approved by the UNESCO. This is the sixth highest in the world. Italy has the most number of heritage sites in the world with 53 sites. It is followed by China with 52 sites. Theme for World Heritage Day 2018: Heritage for Generations.

Kerala will host the India Skills Kerala 2018 - in Kochi from April 28 to 30, as part of the World Skills India 2018. The event is aimed at identifying and training talents to get medals at the World Skills Competition Kazan 2019. The proposed India Skills Kerala 2018 is an avenue provided to the youngsters in the State to showcase their vocational skills.

Senior journalist T K Rajalakshmi has been elected the new president of the Indian Women's Press Corps (IWPC), while Jyoti Malhotra and Shobhna Jain were declared vice-presidents of the media body. The IWPC, which was launched in 1994, is a reputed association of women journalists. It was set up to support women journalist in their professional work, in enhancing their knowledge and skills and to provide a forum for networking. The purpose of the organisation is to create a robust media network by making women's voices and bylines more visible.

Communications and Railways Minister Manoj Sinha said that, the government aims to empower 1.55 lakh post offices after integration with 650 Payments Banks to offer digital services including financial inclusion. The Payments Banks will offer direct benefit transfer (DBT) to a large number of people. ndia Post Payments Bank (IPPB) launched its pilot services in Raipur and Ranchi in January 2017. He also launched Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for a New India or Darpan program with a budget of Rs 1,300 crore, under the IT modernisation initiative to enable digital transactions and online postal services in 1.29 branch post offices in rural regions of India.

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Communications, Manoj Sinha launched DARPAN-PLI App, which will help in collection of premium for Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) policies at Branch Post Offices anywhere in India. In context of this news, DARPAN refers to DIGITAL ADVANCEMENT OF RURAL POST OFFICE FOR A NEW INDIA (DARPAN) Project, a project launched by Department of Posts as a part of its IT Modernisation plan, aimed at connecting all 1.29 lakh Rural Branch Post Offices in the country, to enable them to do online Postal and Financial Transactions. The DARPAN-PLI App will not only help in collection of premium for PLI and RPLI policies at Branch Post Offices, but will also enable indexing of maturity claims in respect of PLI and RPLI policies at Branch Post Office itself. This app is a part of Department of Posts endeavour to go digital which will help in providing better after-sales service to customers of PLI and RPLI, particularly to those living in rural areas of India.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has launched its newest planet-hunting spacecraft, Transit Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) from Cape Canaveral in Florida on a mission to find thousands of new worlds beyond our Solar System. The mission will survey a great swathe of stars, hoping to catch the dips in brightness that occur when orbiting planets traverse their faces. TESS's goal is to compile a catalogue that other telescopes can then focus in on for more detailed analysis. The mission's Principal investigator from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, George Ricker said, TESS is equipped with four very sensitive cameras that will enable it to monitor nearly the entire sky.

World Liver Day is commemorated on 19th April every year to build awareness and understanding how important the liver is for our body. This year, the theme of World Liver Day 2018 is 'Riding New Waves in Liver Diagnosis, Staging & Treatment'. According to WHO, liver diseases are the 10th most common cause of death in India.

Madhya Pradesh has been announced as the Most Film Friendly State for its efforts towards easing filming in the state. MP has offered excellent on ground support, filmic infrastructure, an informative website and incentives for filmmaking. The jury for selecting the Most Film Friendly State Award 2017 was chaired by acclaimed filmmaker Ramesh Sippy.

According to the TRA Brand Trust Report 2018, the State Bank of India was the most-trusted bank (both public and private sector) in the country and ICICI Bank topped the chart among the private ones. This year, State Bank of India tops the chart of BFSI (Banking and Financial Services Institutions) super-category despite seeing a dip in its overall brand trust index ranking. The leader among the private banks is ICICI Bank, rising nine ranks in the overall ranking, it ranked 38th overall in 2018. Fraud-hit PSB Punjab National Bank ranks sixth among the public sector banks (PSB) and is 297th in the overall ranking, according to the survey.

Son of Dreams was unveiled as official Mascot of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China. The selection of Son of Dreams as China 2019's Official Mascot was the culmination of a unique process by FIBA. The mascot finalists were Chinese dragon ('Son of Dream'), a Siberian tiger ('Speed Tiger') and a lion ('Qiu Qiu'). For the first time, there are 32-team in FIBA Basketball World Cup. The tournament will take place in eight Chinese cities from August 31 until September 15.

India & UK have signed 10 agreements in several sectors including cyber-relationship, rejuvenation of Ganga & skill development. The two countries have agreed to an overarching cyber-relationship framework that enables development of a common & shared understanding of the international cyber activity. Both the nations also signed MoU on Skill Development, Vocational education and Training.