Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the Daily Current Affairs of April 1 2018. These are important for the upcoming SBI Clerk Examination.
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Finance and Banking
Govt extends date for linking PAN, Aadhaar with accounts for indefinite period
- Government has extended the dates for indefinite period for linking Aadhaar and Permanent Account number (PAN) with bank accounts of account holders.
- According to a notification issued by the Finance Ministry, this has been done in accordance with the Supreme Court Order.
- The new date will be announced only after the final judgement of the apex court.
- The notification issued on Saturday said, “Whereas the Hon’ble Supreme Court, vide its interim order dated 13th March, 2018 in the case of Justice KS Puttaswamy.
KBA becomes first Indian academy to get Hyperledger membership
- The Kerala Blockchain Academy (KBA) of the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) has become the first Indian institution to be granted membership by Hyperledger project hosted by Linux Foundation.
- Hyperledger is an open source collaborative effort created to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies.
- With this, the city-based KBA has become an associate member along with Cambridge Centre For Alternative Finance (University of Cambridge) in Hyperledger ecosystem, which was launched in 2016 with a technical and organizational governance structure and 30 founding corporate members.
- Hyperledger aims to enable organizations to build robust, industry-specific applications, platforms and hardware systems to support their individual business transactions by creating enterprise-grade, open source distributed ledger frameworks and code bases.
- It is a global collaboration of leaders in finance, banking, internet of things (IoT), supply chain, manufacturing and technology.
UP govt to provide loan to set up 20,000 MSME units
- Uttar Pradesh Khadi and Village Industry minister Satyadeo Pachauri has said the state government would provide loan of Rs 378 crore to entrepreneurs for setting up 20,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in the state under the prime minister employment creation scheme.
- Addressing a seminar here on Sunday the minister said a study team would soon visit China and Japan to study the MSME sector in those countries and replicate their experience here for making the units in MSME sector viable.
- He said the government is giving special emphasis on setting up small and medium industries in each of the 75 district of the state.
- He said the state government would soon launch “Deen Dayal Upadhaya Village uplift’ scheme for creating job opportunities in rural areas.
India is now the world’s No 1 almond importer
- The health-conscious Indian seems to be gobbling almonds like never before, leading the country to topple China and Spain to emerge as the world’s largest consumer of the nut in recent times.
- Almond imports into India rose 7 per cent to worth $600 million (about Rs. 3,900 crore) last year against $560 million ( Rs. 3,640 crore) in 2016, according to Almond Board of California data.
- “The pace of imports has risen sharply in the last few months with the use of almond as an ingredient in many products, including health drinks, biscuits and ice-creams,” said Sudarshan Mazumdar, Regional Director, ABC.
- In the last six months, imports surged 29 per cent to 154 million pounds (one pound equals 0.45 kg). In the same period, China and Spain shipped in 138 million pounds and 119 million pounds, respectively. During the almond crop year 2016-17 (August to July), Spain topped the table, importing 210 million pounds, followed by India, with 167 million pounds, and China, with 150 million pounds.
India is world’s second largest mobile phone producer: Cellular association
- India is now the second largest mobile phone producer in the world after China, as per information shared by the Indian Cellular Association with telecom minister Manoj Sinha and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
- “ICA and FTTF (Fast Track Task Force), India has now emerged as the second largest producer of mobile handset by volume,” ICA national president Pankaj Mohindroo said in a letter to both Union ministers on March 28.
- ICA referred to data available from market research firm IHS, China’s National Bureau of Statistics and Vietnam General Statistics Office.
- According to the data shared by ICA, annual production of mobile phones in India increased from 3 million units in 2014 to 11 million units in 2017.
- India replaced Vietnam to become second largest producer of mobile phones in 2017.
- With the rise in mobile phone production, imports of devices in the country also reduced to less than half in 2017-18.
India
Chittaranjan Locomotive Works became the Largest Electric Loco Producer in the World
- Chittaranjan Locomotive Works became the largest electric loco producer in the world under single roof.
- Chittaranjan Locomotive Works graduated from being one of the premier loco production units of Indian railways to becoming the largest electric loco producer in the world under single roof.
- Shattering all previous records, CLW created history on 31.03.18 by rolling out 350th electric locomotive of the financial year 2017-18 against the target of 325 locos.
In a first, Mumbai Police to have 8 women officers as police station in-charge
- On the day Muslim women were carrying out a march against Triple Talaq, Mumbai Police announced on Twitter that they are first in the country to have eight women officers as police station in-charge.
- On Saturday, as thousands of women marched on to Mumbai’s Azad Maidan, women police force was more than visible. From all the women DCPs and lower rung staff present on ground zero it was a job well done. More so because there were reports that men could be part of the event wearing veil.
- These eight women have been appointed as senior inspectors which is the highest post at police station level in the commissionerate.
Surat becomes first district in history to have 100 per cent solar powered health centres
- Surat becomes the first district in the country to have 100 per cent solar powered Primary Health Centers (PHC). All 52 PHCs in the district are now powered by a solar system.
- With this, Surat becomes the first to set an example for the nation by developing villages that use sustainable forms of energy. This initiative will not only bring down the electricity bill by 40 per cent but also help fight global warming.
- The solarification of all PHCs in Surat locale will cut down electricity charge by 40 per cent and furthermore help battle an unnatural weather change.
- Other than PHCs, there are 572 gram panchayats in the district, out of which 150 are solar powered gram panchayats and soon other 422 panchayats will too be solar powered.
- 75 per cent of the aggregate cost of making gram panchayat solar powered is borne by the state government and remaining 25 per cent by district panchayats.
ISRO loses contact with GSAT-6A, efforts are on to re-establish communication
- After the GSAT-6A satellite launch on March 29, ISRO had been a little quiet on further information about its progress. It confirmed on Sunday that it had lost contact with the satellite and were doing their best to fix the communication channels.
- The Indian Space Research Organisation said in a statement that on March 31, the satellites second orbit raising operation was successfully carried out by the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) Engine firing for about 53 minutes.
- The satellite was then on course for the third and final firing with a normal operating configuration, when communication was suddenly lost.
- Suspicions arose when ISRO didnt update any information regarding its second orbit-raising operation on March 31. The update before that spoke of the success of the first orbit raising operation on March 30.
- This was the ISRO Chairman K Sivans first mission since he took the helm of the space agency in January 2018.
- Around 400 scientists and engineers were called in to help with the launch at the Satish Dhawan Space Center, located on the coast near Chennai.
Jharkhand starts elephant bulletin ‘Hamar Haathi, Hamar Saathi’ on radio to check man-animal conflict
- The warning and the information is from a unique three-minute broadcast on an FM radio channel that the Jharkhand forest department started to check growing man-elephant conflicts in the state.
- This special elephant bulletin — called Hamar Haathi, Hamar Saathi or My Elephant, My Friend, was aired at 4.30pm on Sunday.
- The radio jockey informed listeners about the locations where herds of elephants have been spotted and the direction in which they might be headed. The jockey advised the listeners to be vigilant.
- Jharkhand along with Chhattisgarh and Odisha is home to 10% of the country’s elephant population, and account for approximately 65% of human casualties in conflicts with wild herds or stray bulls.
- The forest department’s record says 277 people were killed by elephants in Jharkhand in the past five years, including 56 in 2017. Casualties on the other side is rising too as 40 elephants were killed in five years, including 13 in 2017.
Appointments
Deepika Padukone appointed brand ambassador for Tetley Green Tea
- Tata Global Beverages on Wednesday announced the appointment of Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone as its brand ambassador for Tetley Green Tea.
- The brand was earlier endorsed by Kareena Kapoor who came on board in 2014. The company has rolled out a new campaign, made by advertising agency Mullen Lintas, featuring Padukone giving in to temptations in day to day situations.
- While she cannot say no to her favourite food, the ad pitches Tetley Green Tea as a solution which cleanses from within leaving her feeling refreshed and active.
- Tetley tea comes in three categories—green tea, long leaf green tea and super charged green tea—and offers a wide variety of flavours. It competes with brands such as HUL-owned brand Lipton Green Tea which is being endorsed by film actor Shraddha Kapoor.
Sports
Kerala beat defending Champions Bengal to win Hero Santosh Trophy
- Kerala defeated defending Champions Bengal 4-2 on penalties after the full-time scoreline read 2-2 to win the 72nd Hero Santosh Trophy at the Vivekananda Yuvabharati Krirangan in the city on Sunday.
- Jithin MS scored in the 19th minute for Kerala while Jiten Murmu drew level in the 68th minute.
- In extra time, Vibin Thomas first found the net in the 117th minute after Rajon Burman was sent off. Tirthankar scored late into injury time for Bengal to take the game to penalties where Kerala emerged eventual victors.
- Bengal had a horrific start when Ankit Mukherjee and Nabi Hussain Khan failed from the twelve-yard spot as Midhun pulled off two saves on the trot. Tirthankar and Sanchayan Samadder’s efforts went in vain as Rahul V Raj, Jithin Gopalan and Jestin George beat Majumder with ease.
- Surprisingly, Bengal captain and striker Jiten Murmu assumed goalkeeping duties for the final kick. But, Seesan S converted with aplomb, helping Kerala land their sixth overall title and a first since the 2004-05 season.
Indian Army men win Snow world Championship
- Organised for the first time in the 14000 ft high Chansal Pass of Shimla district, Indian Army men won the three-day International Snow world championship ended here on Sunday.
- Himachal Pradesh Education Minister Suresh Bharadwaj handed over the first prize Rs 80,000 and trophy to Bahadur Chhetri.
- Second prize Rs 40,000 and Trophy was given to Kulvinder Sharma and third prize of Rs 20, 000 received by Thakur Bhadur.
- Including four nations, about 51 participants from US, Germany, Nepal and India took part in the event and 21 qualified for the final round.
Books
Book devoted friendship with Dev Anand released
- ‘Dev Saab- A journey with the legend Dev Anand’, devoted to friendship with the legendary actor Dev Anand, was launched here on Saturday.
- The book launch by Suneil Anand, son of Dev Anand, and author Vijay Kumar saw a pouring in of crowds coming to pay tribute to the legend.
- The event was attended by his close ones witnessed remarkable moments of Dev Anand’s journey.
Days
Odisha Day or Utkal Diwas celebrated in Odisha
- The Indian state of Odisha came into being on April 1, 1936, around a decade before India achieved independence from the British colonisation.
- The state was established as a separate British India province and the day is celebrated as Orissa Day to encourage the remembrance of the same and foster a spirit of unity among all the citizens of the state.
- In ancient India, Orissa was the core of the Kalinga Kingdom.
- In 250 BC, it was conquered by King Ashoka, which resulted in the state flourishing for almost a century under the rule of the Mauryan Dynasty.
- Thereafter, many great temples in Puri, Bhubaneshwar and Konarak were built under the Hindu dynasties such as that of KIng Harshas. King Narasimha Dev built the Sun Temple at Konark.
- In 1576, coastal Orissa fell to the Mughal Empire. Parts of the coast were taken over by the Marathas in the mid 1700s.
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