Current Affairs - April 30, 2018 Current Affairs

Sanjeev Nautiyal has been appointed as CEO of SBI Life.

Maharashtra State Government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the British Council to strengthen educational and cultural cooperation. British Council is United Kingdom's (UK's) international culture and educational arm. It has completed 70 years in India. As per the terms of the MoU, British Council would be training 30000 teachers in the English language in Maharashtra. In the past, British Council already trained more than 100000 teachers, benefitting around five million learners. The training of 30000 teachers will be funded by Tata Trusts, the philanthropic arm of Tata group.

Swedish-Swiss multinational giant ABB announced commissioning of India's first industrial solar microgrid at its factory in Vadodara, Gujarat. Microgrid is a localized electricity source which can function autonomously as well as by connecting and being synced with the traditional centralized electrical grid (macrogrid). Microgrids with integrated battery energy storage is primarily setup to ensure continuity of work during planned and unplanned power outages. ABB's Mircrogrid (having rooftop photovoltaic field and battery-energy storage system) at its factory in Vadodara will harness the solar energy and will thus help in meeting the growing electricity needs. ABB's Mircrogrid (having rooftop photovoltaic field and battery-energy storage system) at its factory in Vadodara will harness the solar energy and will thus help in meeting the growing electricity needs.

NITI Aayog and ITC signed a letter of intent (LoI) in this regard on April 26, 2018. This collaboration will be for a period of four years till April 2022 under which, both the entities will strive to increase net returns from farming through reduction in costs of production and increasing productivity of major crops. One of the key activities to be undertaken for accomplishing this objective is to disseminate sustainable agricultural practices and templates for seasonal planning at gram panchayat level. ITC expects to impart training to over 2 lakh lead farmers in 25 districts a part of the partnership.

All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) set up India's first Virtual Bronchoscopy Navigation (VBN), an advanced facility for diagnosis and treatment of small tumour-like spots in lungs. The VBN system was installed in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Sleep Disorders at AIIMS. Apart from India only few countries like China, Singapore besides the US and Europe own this facility. Using VBN system samples can be collected from small lung lesions with extreme precision and safety by using a bronchoscope. The machine uses the CT scan image of a patient to produce a 3D view of the windpipe. After that a bronchoscope can be passed through the windpipe to reach the abnormal areas. This will reduce the risk of puncturing the lung.

Rajiv Kumar Nagpal was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Narinder Chauhan was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Czech Republic. Narinder Chauhan is an Indian Foreign Service Officer (IFS) of the batch 1985. She is at present the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Serbia. She has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Czech Republic. She will take up this new assignment soon.

Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir has been shortlisted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's excellence award for promoting digital payments and cashless economy. Digital payments facility has been implemented at 670 places throughout the Budgam district, under the supervision of District authorities. The places cover 372 ration shops, 285 fertilizer shops and 13 Revenue (Tehsil) offices in Budgam. The district administration has trained local residents at Common Services Centers (CSC) to execute the digital payments system successfully.

India-Nepal Inter Governmental Committee (IGC) meeting on Trade, Transit and Cooperation to Control Unauthorised Trade was held in Kathmandu, Nepal on 26th and 27th April, 2018. Indian side to this meeting was led by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia.Discussions at this meeting focused on adopting measures to further strengthen trade and investment ties between India and Nepal. The IGC meetings serves as a regular platform to review implementation of past trade and transit agreements between India and Nepal and discuss new measures to boost bilateral trade and investment. IGC also takes up issues relating to bilateral trade, transit facilities provided by India to Nepal to facilitate trade with third countries and Indian investment in Nepal.

Krishan Kumar was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Norway. Krishan Kumar is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Officer of the 1984 batch. He is at present the Ambassador of India to the Czech Republic. He has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Norway. He will take up this assignment shortly.

IRA 2.0 has been developed by HDFC Bank in collaboration with Invento Makerspaces and Senseforth Technologies. Through voice based navigation, IRA will interact with customers, answer bank-related queries, frequently asked questions and will guide them inside the branch. The first version of IRA, which was launched in January 2017 at HDFC Bank's Kamala Mills Branch in Mumbai and is currently stationed at its Palarivattom branch in Kochi, Kerala.

International Dance Day was founded in 1982 by the Dance Committee of ITI (International Theatre Institute). International Dance Day is celebrated every year on 29th April, which marks the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre, the creator of modern ballet. Every year a an International Dance Day Message from an outstanding choreographer or dancer is circulated all over the world.

The World Day for Safety and Health at Work was observed all over the world on 28th April to promote safe, healthy and decent work. It has been observed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) since 2003. The theme for World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2018 is: Occupational safety health (OSH) vulnerability of young workers.

One97 Communications Limited, the owner of Paytm, announced the launch of Paytm Tap Card, its offline payments solution to provide easy payments solutions for non-internet customers. The Tap Card utilises Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to enable safe and convenient digital payments, totally offline at Paytm-issued, NFC PoS terminals, within a second. In order to make payments, users can add money from their Paytm account by scanning the QR code on the Tap Card and by authenticating it at any add value machines (AVM). This will be a solution that also addresses network-related issues at the consumer's or merchant's side. Paytm is tying up with events, educational institutes and corporates in the first phase to ensure quick digital payments using the Tap card.

A first of its kind Israeli Modern Art Exhibition was inaugurated in New Delhi. This exhibition titled 'To the End of Land' was organised by National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi in collaboration with the Embassy of Israel in India and the Petach Tikva Museum of Art, Israel. It was organised to mark the occasion of 25 years of diplomatic relations between India and Israel. The exhibition is a collection of contemporary art creations of 19 Israeli artists, including the internationally acclaimed Shahar Marcus who also performed at the exhibition opening. The innovative modern art pieces and installations at the exhibition focus on connection of human beings with land, territory, locality and identity.