Daily Current Affairs 8 April 2019

Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Daily Current Affairs 8 April 2019. These are important for the upcoming LIC AAO 2019, NHB Assistant Manager, CWC 2019 and SBI PO 2019 Exams.

Daily Current Affairs 8 April 2019

Reports

ADB publishes Asian Development Outlook 2019
  • Asian Development Bank (ADB) has published its ‘Asian Development Outlook 2019’ report on April 3, 2019.
  • Growth in developing Asia is projected to soften to 5.7% in 2019 and 5.6% in 2020. Excluding Asia’s high-income newly industrialized economies, growth is expected to slip from 6.4% in 2018 to 6.2% in 2019 and 6.1% in 2020.
  • As per the ADB report, since oil prices rose and Asian currencies depreciated, inflation edged up last year but remained low by historical standards. In light of stable commodity prices, inflation is anticipated to remain subdued at 2.5% in both 2019 and 2020.
  • ADB has cut India’s growth forecast to 7.2% for 2019-20 because of a slower-than-expected pickup in investment demand.
  • The growth rate in Financial Year 2020-21 is likely to be 7.3%.
  • Growth in India is forecast to pick up a bit to 7.2% in 2019and 7.3% in 2020 on recovery in agriculture and stronger domestic demand, with reform having strengthened the health of banks and corporations, and as the implementation of a value-added tax makes domestic firms and products more competitive.
  • The inflation is expected to average around 4% in the first half of FY2019, and therefore the Reserve Bank would have some room for lowering policy rates further increasing credit.

India and states

Health Ministry forms a Human Chain towards Universal Health Care
  • The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare along with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on April 4, 2019 formed a Solidarity Human Chain as part of the ‘World Health Day 2019’ celebrations to reaffirm their commitment towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
  • The theme of World Health Day 2019 is ‘Universal Health Coverage: Everyone, Everywhere’.
  • On the same occasion, the Government announced that so far, more than 17,000 Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) are operational across the country under the Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
  • These centres are providing services for non-communicable diseases in addition to existing services for reproductive and child health, communicable diseases etc.

Indian Army discovers wreckage of World War II aircraft
  • The Indian Army has discovered the wreckage of a World War II vintage US Air Force aircraft in Arunachal Pradesh’s Roing district.
  • The wreckage was discovered by a 12- member Indian Army patrol along with a police representative on March 30, 2019. The developments were shared by the army on April 4.
  • The Indian Army had sent a special patrol to locate the debris, which was covered by thick undergrowth and buried under five feet of snow.
  • The debris was located in a remote location, 30 kms from Roing. It was uncovered on the basis of the information received by the police from local trekkers of Lower Dibang district.

Indian Navy signs MoU with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
  • The Indian Navy and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on April 5, 2019 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to undertake joint research and development of advanced technologies for the Indian Navy.
  • The MoU was signed by Vice Admiral GS Pabby, Chief of Materiel of Indian Navy and Shekhar C Mande, Secretary at Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and Director General, CSIR.
  • It was signed in the presence of Directors of Seven CSIR Labs, Flag Officers and Heads of Directorates of Indian Navy and eminent scientists from distinguished CSIR Labs.

Commander of Qatar Emiri Naval Forces, Abdulla Hassan M A Al-Sulaiti visited India
  • Staff Major General (Navy) Abdulla Hassan M A Al-Sulaiti, Commander of the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces (QENF) visited India during April 2-5, 2019 along with a three member Qatar Navy delegation.
  • The visit was aimed at consolidating bilateral naval relations between India and Qatar to explore new avenues for naval cooperation.
  • During his visit, Commander held bilateral discussions with Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff and other senior officials of the Indian Navy.

7th Foreign Office consultations between India and Italy held
  • The 7th Foreign Office consultations between India and Italy were held in New Delhi on April 4, 2019.
  • The Indian side was led by A. Gitesh Sarma, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs. The Italian side was led by Director General of Global Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Luca Sabbatucci.
  • The consultations provided an opportunity to review the follow-up actions taken after the visit of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in October 2018.

West Bengal treats only 49 percent wastewater before dumping it in Ganga: NGT
  • The National Green Tribunal has directed the West Bengal state government to submit a quarterly report on the issue of solid waste management.
  • According to the green panel, the state only treats 49 percent of the wastewater before dumping it into the Ganga River.
  • The ruling was made by a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel.
  • The bench noted that about 90 percent of municipal solid waste generated in Bengal is being dumped in the open every day in violation of statutory pollution laws.

Appointments

Praful Patel becomes first Indian to be elected as member of FIFA Executive Council
  • Praful Patel, the President of All India Football Federation has become the first Indian to be elected as a member of the FIFA Executive Council.
  • He received 38 out of 46 votes.
  • The election was held during the 29th Asian Football Confederations Congress in Kuala Lumpur on April 5, 2019. Patel’s term in the council will be for a period of four years, from 2019 to 2023.

David Malpass named new World Bank president
  • Senior US Treasury official David Malpass was on April 6, 2019 unanimously chosen as the new President of the World Bank.
  • The announcement came as expected just prior to next week’s joint spring meetings of the World Bank and the IMF.
  • The selection was made by the World Bank’s board of directors after an open and transparent nomination process in which citizens of all membership countries were potentially eligible.

Vikram Kirloskar takes charge as CII President
  • Vikram Kirloskar on April 6, 2019 took charge as the new President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
  • Kirloskar is the Chairman and Managing Director of Kirloskar Systems Ltd and Vice Chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor.
  • He succeeds Rakesh Bharti Mittal, who is the Vice Chairman of Bharti Enterprises.

Awards

Actor Shah Rukh Khan received honorary doctorate from The University of Law, London
  • Shah Rukh Khan received honorary doctorate in Philanthropy from The University of Law, London.
  • The actor received the merit during a graduation ceremony of more than 350 students held at the Barbican in London on April 4, 2019.
  • He has earlier been honoured with honorary doctorates from The University of Bedfordshire and The University of Edinburgh.

World

Hayabusa-2 successfully drops explosive on asteroid
  • Japan’s spacecraft Hayabusa-2 recently dropped an explosive on an asteroid to make a crater.
  • It’s aim was to make a crater on asteroid. Also, this spacecraft will collect its underground samples to find possible clues to the origin of the solar system.
  • Japanese space agency released the information that crater mission was the riskiest for Hayabusa2, as it had to immediately get away so it won’t get hit by flying shards from the blast.

South Korea declares national disaster after massive blaze engulfs 5 cities
  • The South Korean government declared a state of national disaster after the massive blaze engulfed five cities and counties along the northeastern coast.
  • Over thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate the cities overnight.
  • The fire broke from a transformer spark near a resort in the town of Goseong and spread to the nearby mountains, affected by strong wind.
  • The flame rapidly spread to nearby mountainous regions including the Inje county and the cities of Sokcho, Donghae and Gangneung in Gangwon province.

Chinese scientists discover death switch mechanism in plants
  • The Chinese scientists have discovered a possible death switch mechanism in plant’s immune system that triggers infected cells to self-destruct, thus limiting the spread of the disease and keeping other parts of the plant healthy.
  • The study findings were published in a journal called ‘Science’.

Sports

FIFA rankings: Belgium tops, India gets 101st rank
  • FIFA has released world football rankings on April, 04 2019. India rose two points and gets 101st rank while Belgium tops the list.
  • FIFA said in its report, there were 150 games played across the globe during the international period, things remain tight at the top of the FIFA World Ranking as the top three remained unchanged.
  • In current FIFA rankings India gained two spots, but couldn’t found a space in top 100. As per latest FIFA rankings India is on 101st position while 18th in the Asia.

 

Days

 

World Health Day observed
  • World Health Day was observed on 7 April, 2019.
  • The theme of World Health Day 2019 is ‘Universal Health Coverage: Everyone, Everywhere’.

International Day of Sport for Development and Peace observed
  • International Day of Sport for Development and Peace was observed on 6 April, 2019.
  • The theme of 2019 International Day of Sport for Development and Peace was “Sports for the SDGs”.

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