Current Affairs Update – 8th April, 2016

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 8 April, 2016. These are important for the upcoming SBI Clerk and NABARD Assistant Manager exam 2016.

• India’s rank remained unchanged
  at 19th in 2015 in the list of top 30 merchandise exporters of the world,
  according to a WTO report.
• China continues to hold the top
  position in the list.
• However, India’s ranking among
  top importers slipped by one notch to 13th in 2015, from 12th in previous year.
  In imports, the US topped the list.
• India’s exports dipped by 17.2
  per cent to USD 267 billion last year while imports aggregated at USD 392 billion.
  In 2014, the country’s outbound and inbound shipments aggregated at USD 317
  billion and USD 460 billion respectively.
• Slowdown in the global demand hit
  India’s exports in 2015 and this year too the shipments are in the negative
  zone.
• Further, India’s rank remained
  unchanged at 8th last year among the top 30 leading exporters of commercial
  services respectively. This list was topped by the US in both exports and
  imports. In imports, India positioned 10th.
• In 2015, India’s commercial
  services exports aggregated at USD 158 billion while imports were USD 126
  billion.
• Indian government has announced a
  host of incentives with an aim to nearly double goods and services exports to
  USD 900 billion by 2019-2020.
• The report said that China
  registered the highest merchandise trade by value in 2015 with USD 2,275
  billion worth of exports.              

• Future Group in the first week of
  April 2016 acquired Rocket Internet’s online furniture platform FabFurnish for
  20 crores rupees. It is the Future Group’s first acquisition of an e-commerce
  portal.
• The all-cash transaction will see
  Future Group bring its entire portfolio of home furnishings and decor business
  under the FabFurnish brand, making it the largest home furnishings and decor
  business in the country.
• The company is known for having a
  significant prominence in Indian retail and fashion sectors, with popular
  supermarket chains like Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, lifestyle stores like Brand
  Factory.

• ITC Limited and Starwood Hotels
  & Resorts on 7 April 2016 announced that they have signed agreements to
  extend their existing partnership for 11 ITC Luxury Collection hotels and 1
  hotel under the Sheraton brand. 
• ITC and Starwood also announced 3
  upcoming ITC hotels under The Luxury Collection brand in India. The addition of
  the ITC Kohinoor in Hyderabad, ITC Narmada in Ahmedabad and ITC Royal Bengal in
  Kolkata will take the inventory up to 15 hotels, over the next 4 years.

• A statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
  will be installed in France’s Saint-Tropez town on 17 September 2016. The town
  is the birth place of Maharaja’s Army General Jean-Francois Allard.
• Henri Prevosat-Allard, Deputy
  Mayor and in-charge of tourism of Saint-Tropez on 6 April 2016 met Punjab
  Tourism Minister Sohan Singh Thandal and invited him to the installation
  ceremony of Singh’s statue in France.
• Henri Prevosat-Allard is a
  descendant of General Jean-Francois Allard, who trained Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s
  troops. Prevosat-Allard has announced the step as a mark of respect towards the
  19th century king.
• In September 2016, the Indian
  embassy in France will hold also an exhibition on the life of the king.

• Twenty-five Ministries and
  Departments of the Union Government on 31 March 2016 signed a Memorandum of
  Understanding (MoU) on IMPacting Research INnovation and Technology (IMPRINT)
  initiative.
• The MoU is aimed at avoiding
  duplication of efforts of various Ministries and Departments under the IMPRINT
  initiative.

• It is multi-disciplinary,
  multi-partner and multi-goal oriented national programme aimed at technology
  development covering all engineering disciplines, steered by all IITs and IISc.
• It aims to synergize with all the
  major initiatives of the Government of India like Make in India, Digital India,
  Skill India, Namami Gange, Skill India, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, Swachch Bharat
  Mission, etc.

• Mumbai will host the BRICS
  Friendship Cities Conclave from April 14-16. The event is being organized by
  Mumbai First, a think tank, along with the active support of the Government of
  India and Government of Maharashtra.The forum has received support from all the
  partner countries Brazil, Russia (India) China and South Africa.
• The Conclave is designed to
  facilitate meaningful dialogue between various stake holders who partake in
  shaping the renewal and development of urban areas – the public and private
  sectors, civil society, and academia.
• As many as 75 delegates comprising
  Governors, City Leaders, Urban Planners, Ministers and experts from across
  these countries will be attending the inauguration and two day conclave. The
  theme of the three day conclave is Urban Development and Future of Cities in
  BRICS countries.

• Twitter Inc. named Hugh Johnston
  and Martha Lane Fox to its board, adding a consumer products heavyweight and a
  British technology entrepreneur as it struggles to gain traction with a wider
  global audience.
• Johnston, chief financial officer
  at PepsiCo Inc., was named to the audit committee, Twitter said in a regulatory
  filing Friday. Fox is a member of the U.K. House of Lords and the co-founder of
  Lastminute.com, a travel and leisure website.
• Twitter has vowed to bolster its
  board and take other steps to improve its performance amid signs of a slowdown.
  The social media company added no new users in the fourth quarter, underscoring
  the urgency of making the service palatable to a wider audience than its
  foundation of journalists, celebrities and politicians.

• Hashim Thaci, the leader of the
  Democratic Party of Kosovo, was on 7 April 2016 sworn-in as President of
  Kosovo. The sworn-in ceremony at the Kosovo Assembly was boycotted by
  Opposition parties.
• Thaci, who succeeded Atifete
  Jahjaga, was elected for the post on 26 February 2016 in the absence of nearly
  all opposition lawmakers who had earlier tried to disrupt the voting with tear
  gas.
• After taking the oath, Thaci
  said, his goals were Kosovo’s integration into NATO and European Union, and the
  continuation of the process of normalizing relations with Serbia.

• Justice (retd) Permod Kohli in
  the first week of April 2016 took over as the Chairman of Central
  Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
• Kohli succeeded Justice Syed
  Rafat Alam and will be in the office for a period of 5 years or till attaining
  the age of 68 years, whichever is earlier.

• National Assembly (Parliament) of
  Vietnam on 6 April 2016 approved Nguyen Xuan Phuc as the country’s eighth Prime
  Minister. In a formal vote, 446 of the 490 members in the National Assembly
  voted to install Phuc as the head of government.
• Phuc, 61, succeeded Nguyen Tan
  Dung who was removed from office on 6 April 2016. Dung had served a maximum two
  terms in office and is no longer part of the Communist Party’s top brass.
• Punc, who served the country as
  its Deputy Prime Minister for five years, had served central province of Quang
  Nam as its governor. His selection to the post was procedural as he was the
  only candidate chosen by the Communist Party’s Congress at its January 2016
  session.

• Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
  Kejriwal on 8 April 2016 launched the book The Kiss of Life: How a superhero
  and my son defeated cancer in New Delhi. 
  Emraan Hashmi co-authored the book with author Bilal Siddiqi.
• The book has been published by
  Penguin Books India in three languages. 
• The book narrates the story of
  Emraan’s life when his family dealt with the horrific struggle as his
  six-year-old son Ayaan battled his way through cancer.

• A State in Denial – Pakistan’s
  Misguided and Dangerous Crusade authored by veteran journalist BG Verghese was
  re-released on 28 March 2016. It was re-released during a discussion organised
  by the India International Centre, New Delhi.
• The book explores a subject of
  immense global significance of Pakistan and its relations with remaining World
  including India.
• The author give a brisk overview
  of the events that came to define post-Independence Pakistan include the battle
  for Kashmir; the integration of Karat and Hyderabad into India; the creation of
  Bangladesh.

• Based in Durham, Atom Bank has
  become the first of a number of aspiring digital-only banks to start offering
  products. It has no branches or vast call centres. All contact is via an app,
  through which customers are able to talk to a 30-strong service team.
• Its first products are a one-year
  fixed saver offering an interest rate of 2% and a two-year savings product with
  a 2.2% rate, but if you want to put your money away you need to have signed up
  already. New customers will need to register and wait to sign up.

• International Roma Day was
  celebrated on 8 April 2016 across Organization for Security and Co-operation in
  Europe (OSCE).
• On this day the Roma from all
  over the world pay respect to the Roma victims during the World War II. The day
  celebrates Romani culture and raises awareness of the issues facing Romani
  people.

• American country music legend
  Merle Haggard died of pneumonia at his home in Northern California on 6 April
  2016, the day was his 79th birthday.
• Born on 6 April 1937 in
  California, Haggard along with Buck Owens and his band the Strangers is
  credited to define the Bakersfield sound, country music with a distinctive
  twang and lack of sophisticated production.
• Haggard wrote songs, sang and
  played fiddle and guitar, usually singing about American pride and outlaws.

Regards

Team ExamPundit

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