Current Affairs - April 24, 2018 Current Affairs

AU Small Finance Bank has decided to improve its business through crowd-sourcing, involving not only employees but also customers and non-customers using the mobile app named 'Kamao' (earn). AU Small Finance Bank has planned to encourage stakeholders to refer prospective customers, who want to open deposit accounts or get loans, on the app and win rewards. The app is currently undergoing beta (field) testing. If an employee, customer or non-customer give leads (prospective customer's name, contact details, and banking requirements) they will be rewarded. The sales team will work on the lead, and if it converts into business, the person who referred the prospective customer, will get a reward. The status of the lead given will be updated in the app. In case of employees, the bonus is linked to generation of leads. The the app will be launched in six months.

The Government of India celebrates April 21 every year as 'Civil Services day' as an occasion for the civil servants to rededicate themselves to the cause of citizen and renew their commitments to public service and excellence in work. This date is chosen to commemorate the day when first Home Minister of Independent India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel addressed the probationers of Administrative Services Officers in 1947 at Metcalf House, Delhi, he referred to civil servants as the 'steel frame of India'. This year, in 2018, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the two-day Civil Services Day event in New Delhi. He also released a book 'Emulating Excellence- Takeaways for Replication'.

Bhuj Mercantile Cooperative Bank has won the Banco Award for best performing cooperative bank. Bhuj Mercantile Cooperative Bank received the Banco Award from Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao at an award ceremony held recently in Hyderabad. Bhuj Mercantile Cooperative Bank was selected as the best performing cooperative bank from 1500 cooperative banks in India. Also, Bhuj Mercantile Cooperative Bank ranked in the top in Gujarat for hi-tech technology upgradation. It ranks third in the category at National level. Banco Award is presented every year to the top performing cooperative banks to recognise and encourage best practices in the cooperative banking sector. The banks for Banco Award were selected based on the bank's audited accounts for past 3 years, deposit growth, non-performing assets (NPA), net profit, customer service standards, ratings provided by RBI, staff training, Core Banking Solution (CBS), use of latest technology, e-com and ATM facilities.

Mahindra Electric and cab service Meru announced a joint electric vehicle (EV) pilot project in Hyderabad, which will be introduced soon in other cities also. A joint statement by Mahindra Electric and Meru said that under the pilot project, Meru will deploy Mahindra's eVeritos all-electric sedans. Mahindra eVerito will be available for booking in Hyderabad through Meru's mobile apps. Also, it can be boarded from the Meru Zone at Hyderabad airport. The services will be offered at the same price as provided by the Telangana government's radio taxi fares for sedans.

The 3rd edition of the Annual 5G India Congress 2018 will be held on April 20 in New Delhi. 5G Indian Congress 2018 will focus more on understanding and analysing current Network infrastructure and its developments, 5G market condition and requirements. The Indian Government has plans to roll out 5G by 2020. 5G will enable individuals, govts & companies to remain in sync in real time.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has placed Mumbai-based City Co-operative Bank under directions, owing to which, its customers will not be allowed to withdraw more than Rs. 1000 per deposit account. In addition to withdrawal restrictions, City Co-operative Bank would not be able to accept fresh deposits, disburse loans, make any investment, or borrow funds without RBI approval. In context of this news, it is important to note that City Co-operative Bank's net non-performing assets stood at 8.84 per cent of advances. However, RBI has clarified that issue of the directions should not be construed as cancellation of banking licence of City Co-operative Bank and it will continue to undertake banking business with restrictions till its financial position improves.

Three-time Oscar winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg has become the first director to gross more than $10 billion at the box office. Spielberg's latest film 'Ready Player One' has helped him achieve this milestone. Spielberg is unlikely to lose the top spot any time soon as his closest rivals - Peter Jackson, Michael Bay and James Cameron all are currently around the $6 billion figure.

Indian Space Research Organisation is gearing up to launch a slew of important satellites in the coming months. Some of these satellites are significant as they will help military keep an eye on our neighbours & safeguard our land & sea borders. ISRO will launch a dedicated satellite, Gsat-7A, for Indian Air Force & an advanced remote sensing satellite, Risat-2A, for surveillance purpose.

Iran banned the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by its banks and financial institutions. Ban has been imposed citing concerns that cryptocurrencies can be used for money-laundering and financing terrorism. Central Bank of Iran states that, this decision was taken by government's money-laundering committee in December 2017, but is now being put into effect.

Axis Bank has appointed global recruitment firm Egon Zehnder to find a successor for MD and CEO Shikha Sharma. In December 2017, the bank's board had approved the reappointment of Ms. Sharma for three years, but early this month she said that she would step down in December 2018. Axis Bank is the third largest private-sector banks in India.

Two 12-year-old football enthusiasts - Surya Varikuti and Rudresh Gaudnour - have been selected as India's representatives at the global Football For Friendship (F4F) social programme in Russia. The F4F programme, supported by Gazprom and FIFA aims at developing youth football and a healthy lifestyle, as well as promoting tolerance, open-mindedness and respect for different cultures and nationalities between children from across the globe. This year, the F4F programme has expanded to 211 countries and regions. This is the second time that Surya will join young footballers from around the world in Moscow in June. The children will be part of the 32 International Teams of Friendship and play against each other in the Gazprom F4F International Championship. Rudresh will act as the young journalist and report on all the local and global activities of the F4F programme as part of the International Children's Press Center. Surya and Rudresh will also participate in the Football for Friendship International Children's Forum in Russia, where the youngsters will get a chance to meet their peers from other countries and share their experiences.

India won 8th South Asian Judo Championship held in Lalitpur, Nepal. On the concluding day of the championship, Indian women and men won team events. Keeping the unbeaten streak, Indian women whitewashed the championship by beating host Nepal by 5-0 in the final of team events. Indian men also won the team championship. They defeated Pakistan by 3-2 in the final. Earlier Indian women grabbed all 7 gold medals in the individual category while men bagged 3 gold and 3 bronze medals. India topped the medal tally winning 10 Gold and 3 Bronze medals in the individual category. Host Nepal remained second and Pakistan got third place.

Global job site Indeed has announced its collaboration with Telangana Academy for Skill & Knowledge to support skill development of youth in Telangana. TASK was established by govt of Telangana to enable a platform b/w govt, academia & industry to enhance employability of youth. Through this MoU, Indeed will offer TASK students the chance to attend lectures & career development workshops.

To facilitate a structured dialogue for strengthening bilateral cooperation among themselves, India & Eritrea will sign a MoU on Foreign Office Consultations. India & Eritrea enjoy cordial relations in political, commercial, education and other areas. Over the years, India has provided Eritrea with capacity building assistance in legislative drafting, technical scholarships & food aid.

The United Nations (UN) has officially declared April 21 as the World Creativity and Innovation Day (WCID) to encourage people to use creativity in problem-solving. The first official WCID was celebrated on April 21, 2018. The day is marked as well positioned to encourage creative multidisciplinary thinking to help us achieve the sustainable future we want.