Current Affairs - April 10, 2019 Current Affairs

Dream11 has just become a Unicorn, that is a billion-dollar startup. Few exciting developments have made Dream11 to be the India's first gaming startup to join the elite club of privately-held startups. The term "Unicorn" refers to the tech startups with the market valuation of $1 billion.

London (capital city of the UK) is the first city in the world to implement a 24-hour, seven day a week Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), inside which vehicles will have to meet tough emissions standards or face a charge. Introduction of the ULEZ aims to reduce toxic air pollution and protect public health, according to a press release from the office of Sadiq Khan, mayor of London. Vehicles are responsible for around half of harmful nitrogen oxide air emissions in the British capital.

SUN Group Chairman Vikramjit Singh Sahney elected as the new president of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) - India. He stated that the chamber would work with the government to promote India's external trade.

28 years old Malaysian golfer Arie Irawan passed away by 'apparent natural causes' in his hotel room at the Chinese resort island of Hainan. He was born on 21st August 1990 in Selangor, Malaysia.He had been competing in the PGA Tour Series-China's Sanya Championship where he missed the cut but remained at the Sheraton Sanya Resort across from Yalong Bay Golf Club.He turned professional Golfer in 2013 and won two Asian Developmental Tour events in his seven-year career.

President Ram Nath Kovind launched 'CRPF Veer Parivar' app, a mobile application for families of CRPF personnel killed in the line of duty. The app was launched after the President paid his tributes to the fallen troops at the National Police Memorial in Delhi on the occasion of the CRPF's 'Valour Day'. It will render all assistance to the families of the martyred CRPF personnel with regard to issuance of ex gratia, pensionary benefits and all information regarding the welfare schemes introduced for them by the government.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its economic growth forecasts for India by 20 basis points (bps) each from its January predictions to 7.3% for FY20 and 7.5% for the next fiscal. Citing persistent risks from the trade war, it lowered 2019 global growth forecast by 20 basis points to 3.3%, the weakest since 2009 when the subprime crisis had flared up.

April 8th is celebrated as International Romani Day. On International Roma Day 2019, the (ERCC) European Roma Rights Centre brings into limelight the grave fact about the 6 million Romani people (living in the EU, European Union) and 4 million living in the enlargement region (Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Turkey) who till date remains the most underprivileged ethnic group of Europe.Romanis, till this day and age, continue to face discrimination on grounds of race, ethnicity, health care, education, employment, public services and social services. The day was initiated during the fourth World Romani Congress of the International Romani Union (IRU) in 1990 to honour the first major international meeting of Romani representatives.

A music and poetry festival titled 'Jashn-e-Ittihaad' was held at the Jamia Milia Islamia central university in New Delhi to spread awareness about unity amongst the youth. The festival was organized by Delhi-based entertainment company Question Associates Pvt Ltd.In this event, people enjoyed the soulful Hindi and Urdu poetry, music and performances that made them feel good as well as spread awareness about unity and integrity.Some great poets like Irshad Kamil and Waseem Barelvi participated in this festival.

Google parent Alphabet has beaten Amazon to launch one of the first commercial drone delivery businesses. Alphabet made its first delivery in Canberra after getting approval from the country's civil aviation authority. Wing, the company's drone delivery arm, was testing drone delivery in Australia since 2014 and delivered medicines, chocolate to 3,000 homes in the last 18 months.

According to World Bank's Migration and Development Brief; with the Indian diaspora sending 79$ billion back to their home country, India retained its position as the world's top recipient of remittances in 2018. India followed by China: 67$ billion, Mexico: 36$ billion; Philippines: 34$ billion and Egypt: 29$ billion.

The BSE has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with HDFC Bank with an objective to strengthen the BSE Startups platform. The MoU has been signed to spread more awareness on the benefits of the listing of startups on this BSE startup platform. The exchange had launched the startup platform in December, with an aim to encourage entrepreneurs to get listed and raise equity capital for their growth and expansion.

Military forces of India and Singapore got together to participate in a joint exercise in Babina Cantonment in Jhansi. The three-day exercise, 'Bold Kurukshetra-2019', is being conducted to develop military technology, boost maritime security and bolster the nations' fight against terrorism.

Odisha cadre IAS officer, Usha Padhee, has been given additional charge as the Chairman & Managing Director of Pawan Hans Ltd, helicopter services providing company. Currently , she is serving as the Joint Secretary of Department of Civil Aviation.Usha Padhee became the first woman CMD of Pawan Hans Ltd.With this appointment, she becomes the first woman CMD of the mini ratna-I category PSU (Public sector undertakings). She also served as the Director of the Pawan Hans Ltd and Additional Director at Delhi International Airport Limited.

The Meteorological Department issued a yellow weather warning for rain in Himachal Pradesh by forecasting thunderstorm with hail in isolated places over the state.Meteorological Department has issued colour-coded warnings to alert people ahead of severe or hazardous weather.Code color yellow is the least dangerous weather warning which indicates the possibility of severe weather over the next few days that could affect people.

American conglomerate, General Electric in association with IIT Madras, established India's first 'Cold Spray' SMART (Surface Modification and Additive Research Technologies) Laboratory in the institution.And thereby IIT-M became the only academic institution with High-Pressure Cold Spray(HPCS) facility in India. The High-Pressure Cold Spray machinery has been carried from Plasma Giken, Japan. GE India Technology Centre CEO Alok Nanda and IIT Madras Director BhaskarRamamurthi inaugurated the laboratory on 5th April 2019.

The 2019 Monterrey Open aka 2019 Abierto GNP Seguros was the 11th edition of Monterrey Open, held at Monterrey in Mexico. It was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. The prize money of the tournament was $250,000. Garbine Muguruza of Spain successfully claimed back-to-back Monterrey Open title on 7th April, 2019, as Victoria Azarenka succumbed to injury in the final, the score was 6-1 3-1 at that time. Asia Muhammad & Maria Sanchez of USA has claimed womens doubles title in Monterrey Open by defeating Monique Adamczak and Jessica Moore of Australia.

The World Homoeopathy Day 2019 will be observed across the world on 10th April to commemorate the birth anniversary of the founder of Homoeopathy, Dr Christian Fredrich Samuel Hahnemann. On the occasion of the World Homoeopathy Day 2019, the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH), an autonomous research organisation under the Union Ministry of AYUSH organised a two-day convention at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi.

A new species of jumping spiders named "Habrocestum longispinum" has been spotted in Ernakulam's Illithodu forests, Kerala by the arachnologists from Kochi's Sacred Heart College, Thevara.This new species belong to the genus Habrocestum, is being found in Eurasia and Africa.The survey was funded by the Department of Science and Technology - Science and Engineering Research Board. The study has been published in the Journal of Natural History.

The World Economic Forum in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) took place at Jordan's Dead Sea. The forum assembled more than 1,000 government, business and civil society leaders from more than 50 countries. The forum was themed on three major visions: generating job opportunities, empowering Arab women and promoting the most intriguing startups that have joined the region's industry over the past years.

On 9th April 2019, 54th Valour Day of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was observed to Pay Tribute to Martyrs of police at the National Police Memorial in New Delhi. On this day, President Ram Nath Kovind launched Veer Parivar App for assistance to the next of kin of the CRPF martyrs.