Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Daily Current Affairs 15 April 2019. These are important for the upcoming LIC AAO 2019, NHB Assistant Manager, CWC 2019 and SBI PO 2019 Exams.
Daily Current Affairs 15 April 2019
Banking and Finance
India banks’ loans jump 13.2 pct y/y in two weeks to March 29: RBI
- Loans of Indian banks jumped 13.2 percent year-on-year, in the two weeks ended March 29, while deposits rose 10 percent, the Reserve Bank of India’s weekly statistical supplement showed on Friday.
- Outstanding loans rose 2.14 trillion rupees ($30.96 billion) to 97.67 trillion rupees in the two weeks ended March 29.
- Non-food credit surged 2.25 trillion rupees to 97.26 trillion rupees, while food credit dived 110.6 billion rupees to 416.1 billion rupees.
- Bank deposits climbed 3.46 trillion rupees to 125.73 trillion rupees in the two weeks ended March 29.
CPSEs to get 12 months to monetise non-core assets, failure may restrict budgetary allocations
- Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) will get 12 months to monetise non-core assets identified by a ministerial panel headed by the finance minister, failing which the finance ministry may restrict budgetary allocations to the companies.
- The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) yesterday issued the guidelines for monetisation of non-core assets of CPSEs and immovable enemy properties, following a Cabinet decision in February.
- According to the guidelines, an inter-ministerial group chaired by the secretary of DIPAM, will identify the non-core assets of the CPSEs on its own and also on the basis of recommendations of the Niti Aayog.
- Once the Alternative Mechanism, comprising the finance minister, road transport minister and the minister of concerned administrative ministry, approves the assets for monetisation, it should be completed within 12 months from the date of approval.
Google Pay launches gold buying, partners MMTC-PAMP India
- Tech giant Google Thursday said it has partnered with bullion refiner MMTC-PAMP India to allow Google Pay users to buy and sell gold through the app, a service that is already offered by the likes of Paytm, Mobikwik and PhonePe.
- Through this partnership with India’s only LBMA accredited gold refinery, Google Pay users will be able to buy 99.99 per cent 24-karat gold, Google said in a statement.
- Google Pay users can purchase gold for any value and that will be stored on behalf of the user, by MMTC-PAMP, in secure vaults.
- The users can buy and sell this gold any time at the latest price, refreshed every few minutes, as displayed on Google Pay app.
- The announcement comes a day after the Delhi High Court asked the Reserve Bank as to how was Google Pay was facilitating financial transactions without its authorisation. The court issued notice to RBI and Google India seeking their stand on the issue.
Jet Airways crisis: Jet Airways pilots body appeal to SBI for funds, seek PM Modi’s intervention
- The National Aviator’s Guild (NAG), the Jet Airways pilots body, on April 15, 2019 appealed the State Bank of India (SBI) to release funds of Rs 1500 crore to infuse in the sinking carrier as part of a debt-restructuring plan.
- The guild also appealed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save 20,000 odd jobs at the airline.
- The airlines is currently operating just 6-7 planes per day as almost its entire fleet has been grounded due to non-payment of rentals to lessors amid looming financial crisis in the airlines.
- Even the airline’s pilots, engineers and senior staff were last paid in December 2018.
India and states
Union Cabinet approves continuation of GSLV Phase – 4 programme
- The Union Cabinet approved the continuation of the GSLV Phase – 4 programmes consisting of five GSLV flights during the period from 2021 to 2024.
- The Phase – 4 will enable the launch of two ton class of satellites for Geo-imaging, Navigation, Data Relay Communication and Space Sciences.
- The programme will meet the launch requirement of satellites for providing critical Satellite Navigation Services, Data Relay Communication for supporting the Indian Human spaceflight programme and the next interplanetary mission to Mars.
EC bars Yogi from campaigning for 72 hours, Mayawati for 48 hours from campaigning
- The Election Commission barred Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BSP chief Mayawati from election campaigning for violating Model Code of Conduct by making objectionable statements in speeches.
- Adityanath was barred for 72 hours and Mayawati has been barred for 48 hours.
- Yogi was served the notice for his remarks Ali and Bajrang Bali while addressing a rally in Meerut.
- Mayawati was issued the notice for her speech in Deoband appealing to people of a particular religion to vote in favour of SP, BSP and RLD alliance.
- The ban will be effective from April 16, 2019.
NGT forms Central Monitoring Committee to check river pollution
- The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has formed a Central Monitoring Committee to prepare and enforce a national plan to make over 350 river stretches across the country pollution free.
- The committee would comprise a representative of NITI Aayog, secretaries of Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Urban Development and Ministry of Environment, the director general of National Mission for Clean Ganga and the Chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board.
- The Chairman of CPCB will be the nodal authority for coordination.
Indian Navy launches ‘Virtual Reality Centre’ to boost warship design capabilities
- Admiral Sunil Lanba, the Chief of the Naval Staff, on April 12, 2019 inaugurated the state-of-the-art Virtual Reality Centre (VRC) at the Directorate of Naval Design (Surface Ship Group).
- From conceptualisation of design to execution of the project, everything was managed by the Directorate of Naval Design.
- This centre is expected to provide major boost to the indigenous warship design capabilities of Indian Navy. It will provide impetus to self-reliance.
Sports
Indian squad for World Cup 2019 announced: Rishabh Pant and Ambati Rayudu out
- The BCCI announced the 15-member squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, scheduled to be held from May 30 to July 14, 2019.
- The team does not include Rishabh Pant and Ambati Rayudu; while Vijay Shanker, Dinesh Karthik and KL Rahul were named in the squad.
- The Indian squad comprises – Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (WK), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mohd Shami.
Prajnesh Gunneswaran rises to career-high ranking of 80
- In tennis, continuing his good run, India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran achieved a career-high ranking of 80 in the latest ATP rankings released on Monday.
- The 29-year-old from Chennai, who broke into the top 100 in February this year, improved two places to become the sixth highest in terms of singles ranking in the history of Indian tennis.
- Prajnesh had reached the third round of Indian Wells in his maiden appearance at an ATP Masters event.
- He had also made it to the third round of an ATP 1000 Tournament for the first time in his career at the BNP Paribas Open early this year.
World
Bhutan to place bill for ratification of BBIN initiative at its upper senate
- The Bhutan government has decided to send the bill for ratification of the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) initiative for road and rail connectivity to its upper senate.
- The BBIN is a big initiative in the region, which is aimed at improving rail and road connectivity in the region.
- The agreement for the initiative – the BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement -was signed by the four member nations in June 2015.
- However, only Bangladesh, India and Nepal have implemented the agreement, Bhutan is yet to accord its ratification of the agreement.
World’s biggest aircraft successfully takes flight
- World’s largest airplane took off for the very first time on April 13, 2019. Stratolaunch has built this aircraft in eight years.
- After its successful test flight, company hopes to use the twin-fuselage, six-engine, catamaran-style aircraft to launch satellite-bearing rockets into space by 2022.
- This test flight was done at Mojave Desert, California. Stratolaunch was founded in 2011 by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
- Its first flight duration was 2.5 hours at up to 17,000 ft or 5,200 meter above the sea level.
- As part of the initial flight, the pilots evaluated aircraft performance and handling qualities before landing successfully back at the Mojave Air and Space Port.
UAE to host world’s leading Artificial Intelligence Summit
- United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host the world’s leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit -AIE from April 30 to May 1, 2019. Its aim is to empower global dialogue on the future of government, business and society.
- The inaugural ‘AI Everything’, AIE will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
- This two-day AI summit will bring together world leaders to define the underlying pillars of governance, business and society – augmenting the world’s happiness.
- It will be hosted by the UAE National Programme for Artificial Intelligence, with the support of International Telecommunication Union, ITU, and the World Intellectual Property Organisation, WIPO, and in strategic partnership with Smart Dubai.
- AIE will unravel real-world use cases across industries, and forge collaborations and partnerships, hosting over 130 influential speakers.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swears in new government
- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on April 13, 2019 sworn in a new government headed by Mohammad Shtayyeh, a long-time ally from his Fatah party.
- Mohammad Shtayyeh was administered the oath as the new Prime Minister of Palestine in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
- The new cabinet was also sworn in on the occasion. The appointment was opposed by Hamas, the Palestinian movement that governs the besieged Gaza Strip. The Islamist group viewed it as a blow to unity efforts.
Sudan’s military council removes defence minister, appoints new intelligence chief
- Sudan’s military council has removed defence minister Awad Ibn Auf from his role and appointed a new intelligence chief. The information was shared the council’s spokesperson Shams El Din Kabbashi Shinto on April 14, 201
- With the announcement, Lieutenant General Abu Bakr Mustafa will replace Salah Abdallah Mohamed Saleh, known as Salah Gosh, as chief of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service.
Reports
State of World Population Report-2019: UNFPA
- The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has recently launched its annual flagship report State of World Population-2019. Report titled “Unfinished business the pursuit of rights and choices” describe issues and information about population worldwide.
- This UNFPA report informs that India’s population grew at an average annual rate of 1.2 per cent between 2010 and 2019 to 1.36 billion.
- UNFPA report says despite global gains in securing sexual and reproductive rights over the past 50 years, many population groups are still left behind.
- Activists, advocates, public health specialists and many others have pushed relentlessly for the transformations we see around us today, but much remains to be done.
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