Current Affairs Update – 12th April, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 12 April, 2016. These are important for the upcoming SBI Clerk and NABARD Assistant Manager exam 2016.




Current Affairs at a Glance – 12th April, 2016
  1. Axis Bank, India’s third largest
    private sector lender has reduced its key lending rates by 15 basis points,
    effective from April 18, after Reserve Bank of India reduced repo rate by 25
    basis points last week. The lender is the first bank to slash its
    MCLR (Marginal Cost based Lending Rate), benchmark rate used for pricing loans
    across all tenors
    . Commercial banks moved to new loan pricing regime—MCLR—from
    April 01, 2016.
  2. India and Maldives on 11 April 2016 singed six agreements to boost
    the bilateral relations between the two countries.
  3. The UAE’s mobile communications
    and technology provider du has partnered with India’s mobility
    solutions provider Mahindra Comviva for its value added services.
  4. India
    and the US Tuesday agreed “in principle” to a logistics exchange
    agreement
    to enable both militaries to use each
    other’s assets and bases for repair and replenishment of supplies
    , an
    issue which did not find favour with the previous UPA government.
  5. The UNICEF and GITAM University signed an MoU to empower the
    adolescents and to address the adolescents’ issues in Visakhapatnam District.
  6. Bollywood Actress Aishwarya Rai
    Bachchan
    on 12 April 2016 won the
    Global Indian of the Year 2016
    award at third season of NRI of the Year
    award function held in Mumbai.
  7. Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS)
    General (retd) Joginder Jaswant Singh
    on 12 April 2016 was conferred
    the highest French civilian honour, Officier
    de l Ordre national de la Legion d Honneur
    (Officer of the Legion of
    Honour).
  8. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Global Tiger Forum (GTF) on 10 April 2016 announced that after a
    century of constant decline, global wild tiger populations have increased. According
    to the most recent data, around 3890
    tigers now exist in the wild
    , which is up by 22 percent from an
    estimated 3200 in 2010.
  9. Indus Towers, the country’s largest
    telecom tower firm, on 11 April 2016 appointed Hemant Kumar Ruia as its Chief
    Financial Officer (CFO)
    .
  10. World Homoeopathy Day was observed on 10 April 2016 and it was
    organised by India. The day commemorates the birth anniversary of Dr. Samuel
    Hahnemann, a German Physician.

Finance/Banking –
Axis Bank cuts MCLR by 15 basis points to 8.95%

  • Axis Bank, India’s third largest
    private sector lender has reduced its key lending rates by 15 basis points,
    effective from April 18, after Reserve Bank of India reduced repo rate by 25
    basis points last week.
  • The lender is the first bank to
    slash its MCLR (Marginal Cost based Lending Rate), benchmark rate used for
    pricing loans across all tenors. Commercial banks moved to new loan pricing regime—MCLR—from
    April 01, 2016.
  • Bank, in a statement said, the
    new rate for new overnight loans will be 8.95% as against old rate of 9.1%.
    With this, the overnight MCLR is now at par with State Bank of India and HDFC
    Bank. However, the other large lender ICICI Bank’s overnight MCLR rate still
    stands at 9%.

India, Maldives signed six agreements to deepen bilateral cooperation

  • India and Maldives on 11 April
    2016 singed six agreements to boost the bilateral relations between the two
    countries.
  • The agreements were inked in New
    Delhi during the two-day official visit of Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen
    Abdul Gayoom to India.

The signed Agreements/MoUs are
  • Agreement for Avoidance of Double
    Taxation of income – The Agreement seeks to avoid double taxation of income
    derived from international air transport.
  • Agreement for the Exchange of
    Information with respect to Taxes.
  • Bilateral Agreement related to
    Orbit Frequency Coordination of “South Asia Satellite” proposed at 48oE.
  • MoU for Cooperation in the area
    of conservation and restoration of ancient mosques and joint research and
    exploratory surveys in Maldives.
  • MoU on cooperation in the field
    of Tourism.
  • Action Plan for Defence
    Cooperation.

UAE’s telecom company du partners with Mahindra Comviva
  • The UAE’s mobile communications
    and technology provider du has partnered with India’s mobility solutions
    provider Mahindra Comviva for its value added services.
  • As part of the multi-year deal,
    New Delhi-based Mahindra Comviva will manage du company’s end-to-end VAS (Value
    Added Services) business for premium services offering such as SMS alerts, WAP
    services, mobile Contest, Mobile Games, OTT app aggregation among others.
  • Under VAS business management,
    Mahindra Comviva has extended services such as campaign planning, product
    management, roadmap planning, content operations and sourcing and setting up
    innovation lab along with technical assistance and monitoring. This end-to-end
    service management will further help du improve overall customer experience.

India –
India, US agree on exchanging military logistics

  • India and the US Tuesday agreed
    “in principle” to a logistics exchange agreement to enable both
    militaries to use each other’s assets and bases for repair and replenishment of
    supplies, an issue which did not find favour with the previous UPA government.
  • Ramping up bilateral defence
    ties, both sides agreed to set up a new bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue
    between officials from their respective defence and foreign affairs ministries.
  • This came as India and the US
    emphasised on freedom of navigation and need for international based order, in
    an apparent reference to China’s assertiveness in South China Sea.
  • Following the delegation-level
    talks at South Block here, both countries also decided to enhance on-going
    navy-to-navy discussions to cover submarine-related issues.
  • Both countries will also deepen
    cooperation in maritime domain awareness by finalising a ‘White Shipping’
    agreement in the near future.

UNICEF, GITAM ink MoU to better adolescents’ lives

  • The UNICEF and GITAM University
    signed an MoU to empower the adolescents and to address the adolescents’ issues
    in Visakhapatnam District.
  • Visakhapatnam has been selected
    as one of the four districts in India to deal with adolescents’ issues. The
    other districts are Purulia, West Bengal; Sibsahar District in Assam; and East
    Singhbum in Jharkhand.
  • The four states have been
    selected based on indicators related to adolescent girls and Visakhapatnam
    district was chosen as it has a high incidence of child marriage of 57.4 per
    cent and a significant number of tribal population, said UNICEF Chief Field
    Officer Ruth Leano.
  • Interacting with GITAM University
    Vice-Chancellor M.S. Prasada Rao, she informed that as part of the MoU, the
    UNICEF and the GITAM will identify, develop and sustain the best possible digital
    platforms.

Delhi government launched PoochhO Carpool app to help people during
odd-even scheme
  • Delhi government on 12 April 2016
    launched PoochhO Carpool app to help people explore carpooling options during
    the 15-day exercise during the odd-even car-rationing scheme. The second phase
    of the scheme set to begin from 15 April 2015.

Features of the App
  • Upon downloading, the users will
    have to register themselves to find carpooling options within a radius of 1 to
    5 kilometers.
  • Those having cars would be
    required to give their vehicle number. For instance, someone, who has an
    even-numbered car and wants to carpool on an odd date, can search for
    odd-numbered cars. He will immediately get a list of odd-numbered cars in the
    vicinity.

Kerala High Court banned noise-making fireworks at night in all places
of worship

  • Kerala High Court on 12 April
    2016 banned ‘noise-making’ fireworks displays between sunset and sunrise in all
    places of worship in the state. The ban order follows the Puttingal fire
    tragedy that killed more than 100 people.
  • The HC also asked the state
    government whether it thinks that ‘anti-nationals’ were involved and whether
    CBI should investigate the Kollam temple tragedy.
  • The temple tragedy happened when
    sparks from fireworks fell on a store room where even more firecrackers were
    kept.
  • The ban order was given by the
    ‘Devaswom Bench’ comprising Justices Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Anu
    Sivaraman.

B B Tandon Committee constituted to monitor government advertisements
in accordance with SC
directions
  • The Information &
    Broadcasting ministry on 11 April 2016 constituted a three-member committee to
    check violations of the Supreme Court guidelines with regard to content in
    government advertising. The committee was formed in compliance with the Supreme
    Court directions dated 13 May 2015.
  • The committee is headed by former
    Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon. Apart from Tandon, the other two
    members of the committee are Rajat Sharma, Editor-in-Chief of India TV, and Piyush
    Pandey, Executive Chairman South Asia, Ogilvy and Mather.

Sachin Tendulkar to endorse I Support Skill India campaign
  • Union Government in the second
    week of April 2016 signed Sachin Tendulkar to endorse the I Support Skill India
    campaign.
  • The step is taken in an attempt
    to reach out to the youth and build awareness on the importance of skill
    development.
  • Tendulkar was signed for the
    campaign as he resonates the best with skills. He is a true global icon and
    brand that disrupted the game of cricket through his skill sets and inspired
    generation.

Awards & Honors –
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won Global Indian of the Year 2016 award

  • Bollywood Actress Aishwarya Rai
    Bachchan on 12 April 2016 won the Global Indian of the Year 2016 award at third
    season of NRI of the Year award function held in Mumbai.
  • The NRI of the Year Award
    recognises outstanding achievements of the Indian diaspora globally. From 2016
    the awards will be woven together thematically and the debut theme is
    Contemporary Crusoes.
  • The awards are conferred to
    salute the spirit of the nimble-footed globetrotting Indians who have resided
    in any of the four regions of America, Asia Pacific, Middle East and UK.

Ex-Army Chief General JJ Singh conferred highest French civilian honour
  • Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS)
    General (retd) Joginder Jaswant Singh on 12 April 2016 was conferred the
    highest French civilian honour, Officier de l Ordre national de la Legion d
    Honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honour).
  • It is the highest civilian award
    given by the French Republic for outstanding service to France, regardless of
    the nationality of the recipients. Singh was conferred the honour by French
    Ambassador to India Francois Richier.
  • He was chosen for the honour in
    recognition of his stellar role in modernising the Indian Army. His initiations
    led to robust exchanges between the Indian and French armies, which in turn
    created enduring ties and promotion of mutual understanding between the two
    countries.

President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Padma Awards 2016

  • President Pranab Mukherjee
    presented remaining of the Padma Awards on 12 April 2016 at a Civil Investiture
    Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He conferred 5 Padma Vibhushan, 11 Padma
    Bhushan and 40 Padma Shri awards.
  • The Union Government announced
    Padma awards 2016 for 112 eminent persons on 26 January 2016 among them 56
    members received the awards on 28 March 2016 while remaining 56 members who
    received the awards are:

Padma Vibhushan
  1. Dr Vasudeva Kalkunte Aatre
  2. Dr Girija Devi
  3. Rajanikanth
  4. Ramoji Rao
  5. Dr V Shanta

Padma Bhusan
  1. Ravindra Chandra Bhargava
  2. Robert Dean Blackwill
  3. Indu Jain
  4. Udit Narayan Jha
  5. Heinam Kanhailal
  6. Sania Mirza
  7. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad
  8. Dayanada Saraswati (Posthumus)
  9. Ram Vanji Sutar
  10. NS Ramanuja Tatacharya
  11. Swami Tejomayananda

Padma Shri
Some of the prominent
personalities among the other 40 who received Padma Shri Awards include:
  1. Priyanka Chopra
  2. Salman Khan
  3. SS Rajamouli (Director of
    Bahubali)
  4. Veena Tandon

World –
Global Tiger population grew by 22% in a Century: WWF and GTF

  • The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and
    the Global Tiger Forum (GTF) on 10 April 2016 announced that after a century of
    constant decline, global wild tiger populations have increased.
  • According to the most recent data,
    around 3890 tigers now exist in the wild, which is up by 22 percent from an
    estimated 3200 in 2010.
  • This rise in the number of tigers
    can be attributed to increase in tiger population in tiger survey countries,
    namely India, Russia, Nepal, and Bhutan and enhanced protection of the specie
    through use of latest technology.

Tiger population in different countries
  1. India: 2226
  2. Russia: 433
  3. Indonesia: 371
  4. Malaysia: 250

Royal Mail of British issued set of stamps to mark 400th death
anniversary of William Shakespeare

  • Royal Mail of British on 12 April
    2016 honoured playwright William Shakespeare by issuing a set of special
    postage stamps to mark the 400th anniversary of his death. They will be sold at
    8000 post offices across Britain.
  • It published ten first class
    stamps featuring famous phrases from the playwright’s repertoire to mark the
    impact of his writing on the present day.
  • The stamps are the latest of many
    commemoration items and events to remember Shakespeare who was born in 1564 to
    become an actor, poet and playwright as well as a businessman. Shakespeare is
    believed to have died on his birthday 23 April 1616 in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Appointed –
Hemant Kumar Ruia appointed CFO of Indus Towers

  • Indus Towers, the country’s
    largest telecom tower firm, on 11 April 2016 appointed Hemant Kumar Ruia as its
    Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
  • Before joining Indus Towers, Ruia
    worked as CFO at the Reliance Retail Ltd. At Reliance, he played the role of
    business partner across various brands with Reliance Retail – Reliance Fresh,
    Digital, Jewellery, Trends, Footwear and Reliance Markets.
  • Ruia started his career with
    Larsen & Toubro and has since worked with ICI India Ltd and Reckitt
    Benkiser India. He also served as the CFO of Agro Tech Food Ltd, a subsidiary
    of ConAgra Foods Inc, for over seven years.

Days –
World Homoeopathy Day observed

  • World Homoeopathy Day was
    observed on 10 April 2016 and it was organised by India. The day commemorates
    the birth anniversary of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, a German Physician.
  • Hahnemann discovered the
    principles of Homeopathy two centuries ago and developed it as a gentle healing
    system of medicine.
  • The day is observed by the Liga
    Medicorum Homoeopathica Internationalis (LMHI), the international professional
    body of Homeopaths and every year it designates a country to host the day.




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This post was last modified on July 20, 2019 10:16 am