Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Daily Current Affairs 11 April 2019. These are important for the upcoming LIC AAO 2019, NHB Assistant Manager, CWC 2019 and SBI PO 2019 Exams.
Daily Current Affairs 11 April 2019
Banking and Finance
BSE, HDFC Bank tie up to strengthen startup platform
- 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 listing of startups on this BSE startup platform.
- The exchange had launched the startup platform on December 22, with an aim to encourage entrepreneurs to get listed and raise equity capital for their growth and expansion.
BoB to develop agri-digital platform ‘Baroda Kisan’, inks MoUs with 6 firms
- Public sector lender Bank of Baroda Tuesday said it will develop an agri-digital platform called ‘Baroda Kisan’ in order to provide solutions for all major agricultural requirements.
- Six companies — Skymet Weather Services, Weather Risk Management Services, BigHaat, Agrostar India, EM3 Agri Services and Poorti Agri Services — have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the bank for this project, it said.
- In a statement, the bank further said the agri-digital platform will be executed by IT Centre of Excellence (ITCoE) of Bank of Baroda in partnership with IBM India.
Government retains interest rate for General Provident Fund at 8%
- The Union government has retained the interest rate for General Provident Fund (GPF), Contributory Provident Fund and other related schemes at 8 per cent for the first quarter of current financial year.
- The interest rate on these funds was at 8 per cent in January-March quarter of 2018-19 and government kept it unchanged for April to June for 2019-20.
- The Department of Economic Affairs, in a notification, said the interest rate will be applicable on provident funds of central government employees, railways and defence forces.
- Last month, the government had retained interest rates on small savings, including National Savings Certificate and PPF for the first quarter of current fiscal.
India and states
India, Singapore joint military exercise begins
- India, Singapore joint military exercise, ‘Bold Kurukshetra 2019’ began on April 8, 2019 at Babina Cantonment, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. This is the 12th edition of the exercise.
- The three-day exercise is being conducted to develop military technology, boost maritime security and bolster the nations’ fight against terrorism.
- The exercise began after a colourful inaugural ceremony. The military forces of India and Singapore got together to participate in a joint exercise
- The Indian contingent was led by Colonel SP Singh and Singapore contingent was led by Lieutenant Colonel Tong Chong Kiat.
India becomes YouTube’s largest market
- YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki confirms in annual flagship event Brandcast that India has become YouTube’s largest and fastest growing market. This annual event of Youtube was held at Mumbai on April 9, 2019. Also, ComScore data suggests that YouTube has more than 265 million monthly active users in India.
- In the last one year, YouTube’s consumption on mobile has increased to 85%, with 60% of the watch time coming from outside the six largest metros in India.
- The country has become YouTube’s largest and fastest growing market with 265 million Indians watching the video-sharing website every month.
- Today, YouTube creators have become effective storytellers, with more than 1,200 Indian creators crossing the million subscriber-milestones, compared to five years ago, when there were only two creators.
President launches mobile app for families of martyred CRPF troops
- President Ram Nath Kovind on April 9, 2019 launched ‘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’.
- The application will act as an interface between the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) authorities and the next of kin of the slain personnel.
- 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.
FTII announces course in Film Criticism and Art of Review
- The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) on April 10, 2019 announced a course in Film Criticism and the Art of Review for the first time.
- This 20-day Course would be conducted from May 28 to June 19, 2019 in Delhi in association with Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi.
- The course meets a long-standing demand of cinema critics, film reviewers, film bloggers, research scholars, film academics and anyone who has more than ordinary interest in cinema.
- During the course, one will be provided with the tools to know how to ‘read’ a film in order to review it.
Election Commission bans release of Narendra Modi biopic during MCC period
- The Election Commission of India on April 10, 2019 banned the release of any biopic, including a film on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which was scheduled to release on April 11, the same day when the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to begin.
- The EC said in a statement that any biopic material in nature of biography subserving the purpose of any political entity or any individual entity connected to it, which has potential to disturb level playing field during the election, should not be displayed in electronic media including cinematograph during the operation of the Model Code of Conduct.
NaMo TV content must be certified: EC
- The Election Commission of India on April 9, 2019 reportedly directed the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi to ensure that the contents of NaMo TV are pre-certified by the local media certification and monitoring committee.
- The local media certification committees are formed at district and state levels during polls and their key role is to clear political campaign and advertisements.
EC issues notice to Telangana CM over MCC violation
- The Election Commission has issued a notice to Telangana Rashtra Samithi, TRS President and Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrashekhar Rao for violating the model code of Conduct.
- In a statement, the poll body said, the Commission received a complaint from Viswa Hindu Parishad stating that Rao tried to secure votes by passing derogatory remarks against Hindus while addressing an election rally at Karimnagar on March 17.
- It said, prima facie, it is of the opinion that Rao has violated the provisions of Model Code of Conduct by making such a statement which has the potential of disturbing harmony.
Appointments
Vikram Nath appointed as first chief justice of new Andhra Pradesh HC
- Senior judge of Allahabad high court, Justice Vikram Nath, was on Wednesday appointed as the first Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court.
- A collegium of Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and judges S A Bobde and N V Ramana recommended the name of Justice Nath as the chief justice of the AP High Court.
- Fifty-six-year-old Justice Nath, who obtained a law degree in 1986, enrolled himself as a practising lawyer in Allahabad in March 1987. He was appointed an additional judge of the Allahabad High Court in 2004 and was elevated to the post of a permanent judge in 2006.
Gargi Kaul appointed Secretary, Defence Finance
- In a bureaucratic reshuffle, the Centre has appointed Gargi Kaul, a 1984-batch officer of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS), as Secretary, Defence Finance.
- Kaul was earlier Financial Advisor, Defence Services in the Defence Ministry.
- In an order issued on Tuesday, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed Sumeet Jerath, earlier Special Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), as Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat.
- The government also appointed Prem Kumar Kataria as Additional Secretary in the Textiles Ministry, Anil Kumar Jha as Additional Secretary in the Revenue Department and S.K.G. Rahate as Additional Secretary in the Power Ministry.
World
Climate Change Clouds the Future Of Children In Bangladesh: UNICEF Report
- UNICEF has recently released a report on situation of Children of Bangladesh that they are facing due to climate change.
- The report titled, “A Gathering Storm: Climate Change Clouds the Future of Children in Bangladesh” informs that in total, an estimated 19.4 million children, spread across 20 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts, are exposed to the most detrimental and hazardous consequences of short- or longer-term climate change.
- UNICEF Report shows that Bangladesh’s 64 Districts are exposed to the greatest risk from climate change-related disasters, such as cyclone, flood, flash flood, drought etc. As seen in the map, the coastline facing the Bay of Bengal and several more remote inland areas are particularly vulnerable.
Scientists to release landmark image of black hole
- A team of international scientists is likely to unveil the landmark photo of a black hole captured through the Event Horizon Telescope project.
- A few news conferences have been set in Washington, Brussels, Santiago, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo to reveal the “groundbreaking result” from the ‘Event Horizon Telescope’ (EHT) project. The EHT project began in 2012 to observe the immediate environment of a black hole using a global network of telescopes.
- The project targeted two supermassive black holes residing at the center of different galaxies.
Scientists found new state of matter, solid and liquid at the same time
- Scientists have found a new state of physical matter recently which is solid and liquid at the same time. According to the findings published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences atoms can exist as both solid and liquid simultaneously.
- Findings reveal that when applying high pressures and temperatures to potassium, a simple metal; it creates a state in which most of the element’s atoms form a solid lattice structure.
- Researchers have found, however, that some elements can, when subjected to extreme conditions, take on the properties of both solid and liquid states. Researchers have shown that this unusual but stable state is part solid and part liquid.
Sports
India bow out of 2020 Olympic Qualifying tournament
- In Football, Indian women’s team bowed out of the 2020 Olympic Qualifying tournament in Mandalay on April 9, 2019 on goal difference despite a 3-3 draw against Myanmar eves.
- Both India and Myanmar were on six points from two games but Myanmar enjoyed a better goal difference of (8) compared to (4) of India.
- India had begun their campaign with a victory against Indonesia 2-0 and thrashed Nepal 3-1 in the second game.
Obituaries
Former Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani passes away
- Kerala Congress (M) chairman and former state Finance Minister K M Mani, who had been one of the leading figures of Kerala politics for nearly five decades, passed away at a private hospital in Kerala on April 10, 2019.
- Hundreds of people, including leaders of various political parties, visited the hospital and paid their homage to the departed leader.
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