Current
Affairs Daily Updates: 01 and 02 April 2018
1. Government appoints
Vineet Joshi as first DG of National Testing Agency
Government has appointed
former chairman of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Vineet Joshi, as
the first Director-General (DG) of the National Testing Agency (NTA). He is
1992-batch IAS officer of the Manipur cadre.
2. India becomes
World’s second largest mobile phone producer
India has replaced
Vietnam to become second largest producer of mobile phones in 2017. Currently,
China stands at number one in mobile production around the world. The top three
mobile producing countries are China, India and Vietnam.
3. Mithali Raj
adjudged ‘Sportsperson of the year’
Indian women’s cricket
team captain Mithali Raj was adjudged ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ while ace
shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and P V Sindhu bagged the best senior male and female
athletes at the Telangana Sports Journalists Association annual awards for 2017
in Hyderabad.
4. Kotak becomes first
bank to roll out AI-run voicebot
Kotak Mahindra Bank has
launched the country’s first artificial intelligence-powered voicebot in the
banking sector. Keya uses automatic speech recognition, natural language
understanding and text-to-speech technology.
5. JKCA appoints
Irfan Pathan as coach-cum-mentor
The Jammu and Kashmir
Cricket Association (JKCA) appointed former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan as
the coach-cum-mentor of its senior state side for the 2018-19 season.
6. Kerala lifts their
sixth Santosh Trophy
Kerala have lifted their
sixth Santosh Trophy Football title. In a thrilling final at the Salt Lake
Stadium in Kolkata, they beat defending champions and 32-time winners Bengal
via penalty shootout.
7. Sloane Stephens
beat Latvian Jelena Ostapenko to win Miami title
US tennis player Sloane
Stephens beat Latvian Jelena Ostapenko 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 to win her first Miami
Open title. She is currently holding World No 12 position.
8. Allahabad Bank
cuts lending rates
Allahabad Bank has
reduced the base rate and benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) by 45 basis
points each. The Bank has slashed base rate to 9.15% from 9.60%. BPLR has been
brought down to 13.40% from 13.85%.
9. USA and South Korea
begin Joint Military Exercise- ‘Foal Eagle’
The United States and
South Korea began their joint military training exercise named ‘Foal Eagle’.
More than 11,500 U.S. troops and nearly 300,000 South Korean forces will take
part in the four-week exercises. Foal Eagle, the largest annual joint military exercise
in South Korea, usually runs about two months.
10. Delhi becomes
first city to roll-out BS-VI fuel
In order to combat the
rising levels of air pollution, the Delhi-NCR region began supplying
ultra-clean Bharat Stage VI grade fuel, both petrol and diesel. With this,
Delhi became the first city in the country to switch from BS-IV grade fuels to
BS-VI. BS-VI fuel is equivalent to fuel meeting Euro-VI emission norms.
11. Former Guatemala
dictator Efrain Rios Montt passes away
Former military dictator
Efrain Rios Montt, who ruled Guatemala between 1982 and 1983 and was accused of
genocide, passed away on April 1, 2018. He was 91.
12. 02 April: World
Autism Awareness Day
The United Nations
General Assembly unanimously declared 2 April as World Autism Awareness Day. It
is observed to highlight the need to help improve the quality of life of those
with autism so they can lead full and meaningful lives as an integral part of society.
The theme for WAAD 2018 is “Empowering Women and Girls with Autism”.
13. Miami Open 2018-
complete list of winners
The Miami Open, sometimes
known as the Miami Masters, is an annual tennis tournament for men and women
currently held in Florida, the USA.
Here is the complete
list of Miami Open 2018 Title:
14. New head of BCCI’s
Anti-Corruption Unit
BCCI has appointed former
Rajasthan Director General of Police Ajit Singh as the head of its
Anti-Corruption Unit. He will replace former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj
Kumar.
15. U.P. CM
inaugurates India’s Longest Elevated Road in Ghaziabad
Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated a 10.30-km-long elevated road, touted to
be the longest of its kind in the country, connecting UP Gate and Rajnagar
Extension, Ghaziabad. The road will make it easier to commute between Delhi and
Ghaziabad.
