Daily Current Affairs 8-9 April 2018

Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the Daily Current Affairs 8-9 April 2018. These are important for the upcoming SBI Clerk Examination.

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Finance and Banking

SBI to invest Rs 80 bn in hydropower project of Nepal

• The State Bank of India (SBI) will be investing a total of Rs 80 billion in the Arun III hydropower project of Nepal, which has 900 megawatts (MW) electricity production capacities.
• The SJVN, which has been awarded with the construction of the mega power project of Nepal, has made an informal agreement with the SBI to acquire the investment as loan and soon will make the formal agreement.
• With the completion of the project, Nepal will get 21.9 percent of the total electricity produced in a year i.e., 197 MW electricity with 86 crore unit for free in a year.
• Along with this, the Punjab National Bank will lend the loan for the construction of the 268 km long 400 KV transmission line via the Everest Bank which is the joint venture bank of the PNB.

Tata Communications selected as principal partner by Confederation of Indian Industry

• Tata Communications, a leading digital infrastructure provider, has been selected as the principal partner by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to help organisations in India unlock the true benefits of digital technologies.
• The newly formed CII-Tata Communications Centre for Digital Transformation will act as a catalyst to accelerate digital change for the nation by bringing the industry together to spur adoption of mobile, cloud, Internet of Everything and champion the cultivation of new talent that will drive innovation forward, a release said As the principal partner to the CII, Tata Communications brings leadership and expertise in providing customers and partners with world-class digital infrastructure and services.
• Across industries, cloud is now the default deployment model for any new enterprise application.
• Tata Communications’ IZO-offers a robust, one-stop cloud enablement platform, enabling the scale and speed businesses need in order to transform.

SEBI to auction 24 assets of Pancard Clubs at a reserve price of Rs 2,087 crore

• In order to recover over Rs 7,000 crore of investors money, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is all set to auction 24 properties of Pancard Clubs and its late chairman and MD Sudhir Moravekar, next month at a reserve price of Rs 2,087 crore.
• The market regulator, in a notice issued on Monday, said SBI Capital Markets will auction ten properties of Pancard Clubs and three properties of its late CMD on May 9.
• At least 33 properties of the firm, which allegedly duped over 50 lakh investors, were auctioned with a combined reserve price of more than Rs 800 crore between December 2017 and March 2018.
• The recent list of properties listed for sale includes a four-star hotel, resorts, land parcels, office spaces and shops in Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Sebi to take action against 14,720 entities for ‘non-genuine trades’

• SEBI will take action in a phased manner against more than 14,700 entities for non-genuine trades through illiquid stock option segment.
• According to a SEBI order on April 5, adjudication proceedings have been initiated against 567 entities involved in such trades in the first phase.
• The market regulator came across violations by 14,720 entities while it was probing 59 entities in a case related to alleged trading irregularities in stock options segment of the BSE.

India

Tripura CM launches state component of PMKVY in Agartala

• Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb launched the state component of Pradhanmantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna (PMKVY) in Agartala on April 7, 2018.
• Under the programme, the state aims to achieve the target to give training to more than 1 lakh 16,000 youths by 2020.
• Under it, those who wish to start, especially the small-scale industries, will be provided land, other assistance and security.
• The state government is also planning to promote industrialisation based on pineapple, bamboo, rubber and jackfruit.
• The programme is expected to solve the problem of unemployment prevailing in the state.

Goa government to launch app-based taxi service

• The state government of Goa has decided to launch its own app-based taxi service to few key tourist destinations of the state.
• The state-run Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) on April 9, 2018 invited taxi operators to register with the new mobile application-based transport service.
• The taxi operators who hold the license to run cabs in Goa would be eligible to register for the new transport service.
• The new service would operate from locations such as GTDC residencies and hotels across the state, the Mormugao Port Trust jetty where cruise vessels anchor, the airport and the St Monica Jetty in Panaji, besides other spots.
• The taxi operators would be required to follow the online queuing system, based on which a ride will be confirmed or assigned to them.
• The service will be operated on the lines of professional taxi services such as Uber that have a presence in other parts of the country.

Maharashtra to start free chemotherapy units for cancer patients

• The state government of Maharashtra has announced that cancer patients would be provided with free chemotherapy treatment at district hospitals. The first phase of the plan would start in June 2018.
• The plan will start with hospitals in Nagpur, Gadchiroli, Pune, Amravati, Jalgaon, Nashik, Wardha, Satara, Bhandara and Akola districts.
• The move aims to ease the travelling and lodging problems of cancer patients who come to Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel, which is one of the country’s premier cancer treatment facilities, for six-week chemotherapy course as a part of their treatment.
• Under the new plan, a physician and nurse from each of the selected district hospitals would be given training for three weeks starting from May by the Medical Oncology department of Tata Memorial Hospital.
• The initiative is expected to help the patients save their lodging and travelling expenses.
• The list of medicines required to start chemotherapy units at the selected hospitals has already been obtained from the Tata Memorial.

Sports

CWG 2018: Indian men’s table tennis team outclasses Nigeria to win Gold

• Indian men, on Monday, replicated the achievement of the women’s table tennis team yesterday as they won the gold medal by defeating Nigeria 3-0 in the final at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Gold Coast.
• India won their second CWG Gold in the Men’s Team event — they had previously claimed the yellow metal beating Singapore 3-2 in the 2006 CWG.
• Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran won both their singles to give India a perfect start and Sathiyan then came back to team up with Harmeet Desai and won the men’s doubles of the tie to seal the Gold.
• India now have 18 medals (9 Gold, 4 Silver, 5 Bronze).

Leander Paes becomes most successful doubles player in Davis Cup

• Indian tennis’ ageless wonder Leander Paes today became the most successful doubles player in the history of Davis Cup as he combined with Rohan Bopanna to not only grab a record 43rd win but also bring the country back in the tie against China here.
• Forced to play together by AITA, 44-year-old Paes and Bopanna downed a fighting Chinese pair of Mo Xin Gong and Ze Zhang 5-7 7-6(5) 7-6(3) in the do-or-die doubles rubber of the Asia/Oceania Group I tie.
• India were trailing 0-2 after Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal suffered surprise tame defeats on Friday and needed a win in the doubles to stay alive in the tie.
• The Indian youngsters will now have to win both the reverse singles to advance to the World Group Play-offs.
• Paes, India’s Davis Cup hero for years, was tied on 42 wins with Italian great Nicola Pietrangeli for long but finally surpassed him, albeit, in a foreign land.

Commonwealth Games 2018: Manika Batra leads India to historic women table tennis gold

• Manika Batra inspired India to a historic gold medal with her stunning singles victories, fashioning an unthinkable 3-1 victory over four-time gold medallists Singapore in the final of the women’s team event at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
• World No. 58 Batra first scored the biggest of her career by humbling world number four and multiple Olympic medallist Feng Tianwei 3-2 before brushing aside 100th-ranked Yihan Zhou 3-0 to engineer a sensational win over the mighty Singapore side.
• It was mother of all upsets as prior to this final, the Singapore women’s team had never lost in the Commonwealth Games since the sport was inducted in the program way back in 2002.
• The victory tasted even sweeter as the women had returned empty handed from the Glasgow edition four years ago. It was only the second table tennis team gold for India at the Games with the men achieving the feat in the 2006 Melbourne edition.
• Earlier in the day, India had blanked England 3-0 to reach the women’s team final for the second time.

Commonwealth Games: Punam Yadav wins 5th weightlifting gold for India

• The gold rush continued in weightlifting for India as Punam Yadav added a fifth to the tally with a top finish in the 69kg category of the 21st Commonwealth Games here on Sunday.
• Yadav, a bronze-medallist in the 63kg category at the 2014 Glasgow edition, lifted a personal best of 222kg (110kg+122kg) to claim the top spot ahead of England’s Sarah Davies, who finished with 217kg (95kg+122kg). Davies went for a 128kg lift in her final clean and jerk attempt in pursuit of gold but could not complete her attempt.
• The bronze medal was won by Fiji’s Apolonia Vaivai with an effort of 216kg (100kg+116kg).

Commonwealth Games 2018: Jitu Rai wins gold, Om Mitharval bags bronze in shooting

• Indian shooting ace Jitu Rai claimed the gold medal in the men’s 10m air pistol event by creating a new games record while compatriot Om Prakash Mitharval bagged a bronze at the 21st Commonwealth Games on Monday.
• Rai, who was the silver medallist at the World Championship, shot 235.1 to comfortably finish top of the podium.
• Mitharval, who had established a new qualification record with 584, eventually finished with the bronze medal after aggregating 214.3 in the eight-man finals at the Belmont Shooting Centre.
• Australia’s Kerry Bell managed to secure the silver medal with 233.5.
• In the finals, Jitu led with 100.4 at the end of stage 1, while Mitharval was third with 98.1.

World

China bans exports of dual-use items to North Korea

• China has banned the export to North Korea of some items with potential dual-use in weapons of mass destruction.
• The Chinese Ministry of Commerce gave details of 32 materials, technologies and forms of equipment with potential use related to weapons of mass destruction, including particle accelerators and centrifuges.
• In addition, it outlined bans on items with potential dual-use in conventional weapons.
• The announcement of the export bans comes amid a tightening of exports from China to North Korea.

Appointments

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wins new term

• Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban on April 8, 2018 claimed a landslide victory in the nation’s general election.
• Orban will serve a third consecutive term in office, with his party Fidesz projected to keep its key two-thirds majority in parliament.
• Hungary’s National Election Office stated that Fidesz party has won almost half of the vote, with 93 percent of ballots counted.
• Meanwhile, leaders of the second and third-placed parties have resigned in light of the result.

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Regards

Team Exampundit