Current Affairs Update – 5th April, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 5 April, 2016. These are important for the upcoming SBI Clerk and NABARD Assistant Manager exam 2016.
Current Affairs at a Glance – 5th
April, 2016
  1. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi
    on 5 April 2016 launched Stand Up India Scheme to
    promote entrepreneurship among Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes and Women
    entrepreneurs
    . On this occasion, the Prime Minister also inaugurated a Kaushal Kendra (Skilling Center) under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna in Noida. It
    provides for refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of
    India (SIDBI) with an initial amount of 10000 crore rupees.
  2. In its first monetary policy
    review for the financial year 2016-17, the Reserve Bank of India announced a 25
    basis point reduction in the repo
    , or repurchase rate, which is the
    rate at which banks borrow from the central bank. The
    repo rate now stands at 6.5%, the lowest it has been since March 2011.
  3. DCB
    Bank
    on 3 April 2016 launched
    an Aadhaar-based Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) usage
    facility wherein a customer can transact using his biometric details instead of
    the PIN
    . The step is first of its kind in India.
  4. YES Bank has signed a Memorandum
    of Understanding (MoU) with T-Hub, a technology incubator set up by
    Telangana government
    , to set up a centre of excellence for startups in
    fintech space.
  5. Private lender Yes Bank
    today inked a tripartite agreement for on-lending $50 million loan from
    World Bank arm IFC to women entrepreneurs
    .
  6. India has signed an agreement
    with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for a possible $100 million

    line of credit to facilitate exports to IDB’s member countries
  7. The Union Minister of State
    (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Pratap
    Rudy on 5 April 2016 launched Transnational Skill Standards in New Delhi.
  8. Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu on 5
    April 2016 flagged off India’s fastest train, the
    Gatimaan Express from Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin station
    .
  9. Indian Air Force (IAF) will participate in Red
    Flag air exercise along with US, NATO
    and allied forces that are
    scheduled to be conducted from 28 April to 13 May 2016 in Alaska.
  10. Apollo Hospitals has
    partnered with Google
    to provide additional healthcare information to Google’s Knowledge in India.
  11. Indian Manish Sharma appointed to Panasonic’s Global Executive
    Council
  12. Tomohiko Okada
    Appointed Toshiba India Managing Director
  13. The President of India Pranab
    Mukherjee on 5 April 2016 presented the National
    Geoscience Awards – 2014
    at a function held at Rashtrapati
    Bhavan in New Delhi. For the year 2014, Prof. Ashok
    Kumar Singhvi was conferred with the highest honour National Geoscience Award
    for Excellence
    for his
    outstanding contributions in the field of sedimentary technologies.
  14. The Philippines on 4 April 2016
    launched world’s first public immunization programme for dengue fever.



Finance/Banking/Economy –
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Stand Up India Scheme

  • The Prime Minister Narendra Modi
    on 5 April 2016 launched Stand Up India Scheme to promote entrepreneurship
    among Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes and Women entrepreneurs.
  • On this occasion, the Prime
    Minister also inaugurated a Kaushal Kendra (Skilling Center) under Pradhan
    Mantri Mudra Yojna in Noida.
  • The Scheme is intended to
    facilitate at least two projects per bank branch, on an average one for each
    category of entrepreneur. It is expected to benefit at least 2.5 lakh borrowers
    within 36 months.

Highlights of the Stand Up India Scheme
  • It provides for refinance window
    through Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) with an initial
    amount of 10000 crore rupees.
  • It will create credit guarantee
    mechanism through the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC).
  • It will provide support for
    borrowers both at the pre loan stage and during operations.
  • Its focus is on handholding
    support for both SC/ST and Women borrowers.
  • The aim is to leverage
    institutional credit structure to reach out under-served sectors of the
    population by facilitating bank loans repayable up to 7 years and between 10
    lakh rupees- 100 lakh rupees for greenfield enterprises in nonfarm sector set
    up by such SC, ST and Women borrowers.
  • The loan under the scheme would
    be appropriately secured and backed by a credit guarantee through a credit
    guarantee scheme for which Department of Financial Services would be the
    settler.

RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps to 6.5%, lowest in 6 years

  • In its first monetary policy
    review for the financial year 2016-17, the Reserve Bank of India announced a 25
    basis point reduction in the repo, or repurchase rate, which is the rate at
    which banks borrow from the central bank. One basis point is one hundredth of a
    percentage point.
  • The repo rate now stands at 6.5%,
    the lowest it has been since March 2011. However, it reduced the minimum daily
    maintenance of the cash reserve ratio (CRR) from 95% of the requirement to 90%
    with effect from the fortnight beginning April 16, 2016.
  • However, the RBI cut the reverse
    repo, or the rate at which banks park excess funds with the central bank, to
    6%, narrowing the policy corridor between the repo and reverse repo by 50 bps,
    bringing the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate to 7.0%. The Bank Rate which
    is aligned to the MSF rate also stands adjusted to 7.0%. But the CRR has been
    kept unchanged at 4.0 per cent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).
  • The rate cut had been widely
    expected, although the quantum of the cut had had mixed backers. A Reuters poll
    had predicted an interest rate of 25 basis points.

India’s first Aadhaar enabled ATM launched by DCB Bank

  • DCB Bank on 3 April 2016 launched
    an Aadhaar-based Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) usage facility wherein a
    customer can transact using his biometric details instead of the PIN. The step
    is first of its kind in India.
  • The ATM will accept Aadhaar
    number and Aadhaar fingerprint (biometric) instead of ATM/Debit Card and PIN to
    dispense cash from the bank account. It is a Cardless and PIN less ATM.  The user can key-in the 12-digit Aadhaar
    number or swipe the card at an ATM to start a transaction, but at the stage of
    confirming the identity, it requires biometric details rather than the PIN.
  • This ATM is currently placed in
    pilot site at DCB Bank at Peninsula Business Park, Lower Parel, Mumbai.

Yes Bank Signs MoU With T-Hub To Set Up Center Of Excellence For
Fintech Startups
  • YES Bank has signed a Memorandum
    of Understanding (MoU) with T-Hub, a technology incubator set up by Telangana
    government, to set up a centre of excellence for startups in fintech space.
  • Under the agreement, the
    association will help create a conducive business environment and support
    system for a large number of fintech startups. Besides, YES Bank will offer its
    various products and payment gateways and open APIs (application programme
    interface) to the startup community.
  • The bank will also work with startups
    in segments such as agritech, healthcare, and ecommerce.
  • T-Hub is a public-private
    partnership initiative between Telangana government, three academic institutes
    including IIIT-H, ISB, NALSAR, and key private sector leaders. Apart from Yes
    Bank, companies like CISCO and ParadigmIT will also set up smart cities centre
    of excellence at T-Hub. They will set up a PoC of smart parking and smart
    lighting solutions while working with companies and startups in developing
    innovative solutions using IoT.

Yes Bank inks pact to ‘on-lend’ $50 million to women

  • Private lender Yes Bank today
    inked a tripartite agreement for on-lending $50 million loan from World Bank arm
    IFC to women entrepreneurs.
  • The bank will engage Goldman
    Sachs for identification and lending methodology to reach out to credit worthy
    businesswomen, the lender said in a statement.
  • The agreement will be crucial in
    supporting growth in India as it will promote job creation and also in having a
    multiplier effect, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Global Director
    (Financial Institutions Group) Marcos Brujis said.
  • The project is part of the Women
    Entrepreneurs Opportunity Facility (WEOF), a global facility dedicated to
    expanding access to capital to about 1 lakh women entrepreneurs. It was
    launched by IFC through its Banking on Women programme and ‘Goldman Sachs
    10,000 Women’ in 2014.
  • The ‘Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women’
    has also invested in the WEOF along with IFC, the statement said.

India signs $100 million draft export pact with ICD

  • India has signed an agreement
    with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for a possible $100 million line of
    credit to facilitate exports to IDB’s member countries.
  • The memorandum of understanding
    (MoU) was inked between the IDB’s private sector arm, the Islamic Corporation
    for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) and the Export-Import Bank of
    India (EXIM Bank), a specialised financial institution, wholly owned by the
    government of India to finance and facilitate foreign trade.
  • ICD’s mandate is to support
    economic development and promote the development of the private sector in its
    member countries through providing financing facilities and investments which
    are in accordance with the principles of Sharia.
  • The MoU envisages cooperation to
    explore the feasibility of extending a commercial line of credit of $100
    million to ICD with the aim of facilitating the export of goods and services
    from India to ICD’s member countries.
  • Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Kuwait
    and Qatar are among the 56-members of the IDB.

Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship launched
Transnational Skill Standards
  • The Union Minister of State
    (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Pratap
    Rudy on 5 April 2016 launched Transnational Skill Standards in New Delhi.
  • On this occasion, 2 Memorandums
    of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between National Skill Development Council
    (NSDC) and Association of Colleges (UK) and NSDC and UK Awarding Organization
    City & Guilds and Pearsons Education.
  • These MoUs were signed to enable
    sharing of best practice, staff exchange and development of new models to
    increase employer engagement and investment in skills in India.

Features of Transnational Skill Standards
  • Aim: It was launched with the aim
    to support Make in India and Skill India initiatives and to align domestic
    skill standards with that of best practices recognized globally.
  • India-UK Partnership: These
    Transnational Skill Standards are benchmarked to United Kingdom across 82
    identified job roles.
  • India chose UK standards to
    benchmark Indian Skills standards since all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
    countries recognize UK skill certification.

Blackstone inked agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise to acquire
60% stake in Mphasis Limited
  • Blackstone India, the Indian arm
    of global private equity fund Blackstone Group on 4 April 2016 entered into a
    definitive agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise to buy a majority stake in
    Mphasis Limited.
  • Mphasis is a leading information
    technology services provider offering applications, business process
    outsourcing and infrastructure services. This deal represents the largest
    acquisition by Blackstone in India.
  • As part of the agreement,
    Blackstone will buy 60.5 percent stake in Mphasis that is currently owned by
    Hewlett Packard.
  • Blackstone will pay a purchase
    price of 430 rupees per share and based on the open offer subscription, the
    purchase price consideration will vary between 5466 crore and 7071 crore rupees.

India –
India’s fastest train Gatimaan Express flagged off

  • Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu on 5
    April 2016 flagged off India’s fastest train, the Gatimaan Express from Delhi’s
    Hazrat Nizamuddin station.
  • The train completed its maiden
    journey from Delhi to Agra in 100 minutes as compared to about 2-3 hours that
    other trains take to cover the distance.
  • The Gatimaan Express, which is
    indigenously built, will run six days a week, except Friday, in both
    directions. The train runs at a speed of 160 km per hour, covering the 184
    kilometre distance between Delhi and Agra in 105-110 minutes.
  • In October 2014, the India
    Railways applied for safety certificate from Commission of Railway Safety to
    start the service. In June 2015, the train was announced officially and numbered
    12049/50.
  • Besides, the Gatimaan Express
    provides free Wi-fi to its passengers. Also, the train will have stewards and
    hostesses on the lines of flight attendants.

Indian Air Force to participate in Red Flag exercise
  • Indian Air Force (IAF) will
    participate in Red Flag air exercise along with US, NATO and allied forces that
    are scheduled to be conducted from 28 April to 13 May 2016 in Alaska.
  • The exercise will see
    participation of 12 IAF aircraft including the Russian origin Su30 MKI, deep
    penetration Jaguars, two C17 transport plans and two mid air refuellers IL 78.
    Before reaching Alaska, the AIF aircrafts will travel through Bahrain, Egypt,
    France, Portugal and Canada.
  • It will also see over 150 IAF
    personnel in action, who will undergo some training before being sent to
    Alaska. According to an estimate, it will cost India over 100 crore rupees.

Apollo Hospitals partners with Google; launches health cards

  • Apollo Hospitals has partnered
    with Google to provide additional healthcare information to Google’s Knowledge
    in India.
  • The Health Card is standardised
    and would give information that gets presented on Google search engine. The
    health card aims to help consumers’ access information swiftly and easily.
  • The hospital chain explained when
    users’ ask Google about common health conditions, he/she would start getting
    relevant medical facts right up front.

Appointments –
Indian Manish Sharma appointed to Panasonic’s Global Executive Council

  • Japanese electronics giant
    Panasonic on 4 April 2016 appointed senior executive Manish Sharma of India to
    its global executive council. It inducted an Indian onto the coveted
    decision-making body of the 80-billion dollar company for the first time ever.
  • The global executive council of
    Panasonic is a key decision-making body that manages the firm’s business plans
    across the globe.
  • Sharma is the first Indian and
    fourth non-Japanese member of the 50-member Council headed by a global
    president.
  • Apart from him, the other
    international representatives in the executive council include three Americans
    and one European.

Tomohiko Okada Appointed Toshiba India Managing Director

  • Japanese giant Toshiba
    Corporation Monday said it has appointed Tomohiko Okada as the Managing Director
    of its India operations.
  • Okada will lead Toshiba India to
    the path of next level of growth across the group’s storage, social
    infrastructure, and energy businesses in the country, Toshiba India said in a
    statement.
  • Okada will replace Kenji Urai,
    who is moving back to Japan, it added.
  • Toshiba India’s operations
    include businesses like hydro- power systems, social infrastructure systems and
    community solution systems, semiconductors and storage solutions,
    multi-functional printers/devices and digital products and services.

Lists –
UN Agencies released Global Report on Urban Health 2016
  • The World Health Organisation
    (WHO) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) on 31
    March 2016 jointly released a report titled Global report on urban health:
    equitable, healthier cities for sustainable development, 2016.
  • The report updates the 2010 joint
    WHO/UN-Habitat global report – Hidden Cities: Unmasking and Overcoming Urban
    Health Inequities – with the latest evidence on urban health inequity patterns
    and their social, economic and environmental determinants.
  • The report further documents
    opportunities for joint action to realize the goals enshrined in the
    Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 by achieving universal urban health coverage.

Highlights of Global Report on Urban Health 2016
  • National level wealth does not
    always determine conditions for health at the city level.
  • Megacities in low and
    middle-income countries (LMICs) have worse conditions for health than smaller
    cities.
  • India’s urban population is
    projected to increase from 380 million (33 percent) in 2014 to 600 million
    (about 40 percent) by 2031.
  • 15–19-year-old migrant girls in
    both rural and urban areas are less likely to deliver in a medical institution
    than non-migrants of the same age.
  • Chennai stood at the 2nd place in
    world in terms of reported traffic fatalities per 1 lakh inhabitants. While
    Fortaleza (Brazil) stood at the top with 27.2 fatalities, death toll in Chennai
    was pegged at 26.6.

Aon Hewitt released list of India’s Best Employer 2016
  • The global human resource firm
    Aon Hewitt on 31 March 2016 released its list of India’s Best Employer 2016.
  • A total of 113 organisations
    representing 12 key industries, cumulatively employing approximately 950000
    employees, participated in the 2016 Aon Best Employers India study.
  • In the list released by Aon,
    Reliance Capital Asset Management is the only asset management company to be
    named as one of the best employers in India in the Aon list for 2016.

The companies included in the Aon list for India’s Best Employers
2016 are:
  1. AAPC India Hotel Management
    (Accor Hotels)
  2. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance
    Co. Bajaj Finance
  3. Becton Dickinson India
  4. Bharti Infratel
  5. Blue Dart Express
  6. DHL Express India
  7. Godrej Consumer Products
  8. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Global
    Soft
  9. InterGlobe Aviation(IndiGo)
  10. Lupin
  11. Metro Cash and Carry India
  12. Reliance Capital Asset Management
    (subsidiary of Reliance Capital)
  13. Saint-Gobain India – Gyproc
    Business
  14. Starwood Hotels & Resorts
    India
  15. Tata AIA Life Insurance Company
  16. Tata Autocomp Systems
  17. Tata Chemicals
  18. Tata Communications
  19. The Oberoi Group
  20. Whirlpool of India
  21. WNS Global Service

The AGS Health, the SKS
Microfinance and the Yash Technologies were named in the Emerging Best
Employers of India for the years 2016.
Awards & Honors –
President Pranab Mukherjee presented National Geoscience Awards 2014

  • The President of India Pranab
    Mukherjee on 5 April 2016 presented the National Geoscience Awards – 2014 at a
    function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
  • The annual awards are presented
    to honour individuals and team of scientists for their outstanding
    contributions in the field of fundamental or applied Geosciences, Mining and
    Allied areas.
  • For the year 2014, Prof. Ashok
    Kumar Singhvi was conferred with the highest honour National Geoscience Award
    for Excellence for his outstanding contributions in the field of sedimentary
    technologies.
  • Along with him, 32 other
    geoscientists were being given the awards in 13 disciplines including Mining
    Technology, Basic Geosciences, Geo-Information System, etc.

World –
World’s first mass dengue vaccination programme launched in Philippines
  • The Philippines on 4 April 2016
    launched world’s first public immunization programme for dengue fever.
  • The programme seeks to administer
    the world’s first licensed vaccine against a mosquito-borne disease to a
    million school children.
  • The fourth-grade students at a
    public school in metropolitan Manila’s Marikina city were given the first of
    three shots of Dengvaxia.
  • The Philippines had the highest
    dengue incidence in the WHO’s Western Pacific region from 2013 to 2015,
    recording 200415 cases in 2015.

Obituaries –
Grammy Winner jazz saxophonist Gato Barbieri died
  • Jazz saxophonist Gato Barbieri
    passed away on 2 April 2016 in New York, the USA. He was 83.
  • Barbieri came in the limelight
    during the free jazz movement in the 1960s. Latin jazz recordings of the 1970s
    earned him immense fame.



Regards

Team ExamPundit

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