Current
Affairs Daily Updates: 06 April 2018
1. Julius Maada Bio
wins Presidential election of Sierra Leone
Julius Maada Bio has been
elected as the new president of Sierra Leone. He beat incumbent Samura Kamara,
who secured 48.19% of the vote. Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa, on
the Atlantic Ocean.
2. Sahyog- Hyeoblyeog
2018: Indian, Korean Coast Guards hold Joint Exercise
Indo-Korean joint
anti-piracy, search and rescue exercise ‘Sahyog- Hyeoblyeog 2018’ was conducted
off the Chennai coast, in Tamil Nadu. The Korean Coast Guard ship ‘Bodaro’ took
part in the exercise.
3. Government
constitutes committee to regulate news portals
The Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting (I&B) has constituted 10-member committee to regulate
online portals, including news websites, entertainment sites and media
aggregators.
4. SBI Life appoints
Sanjeev Nautiyal as New MD & CEO
SBI Life Insurance
appointed Sanjeev Nautiyal as its new Managing Director and CEO. He replaces
Arijit Basu, who takes over a key role in the State Bank of India Group.
5. India win South
East Asian Women Handball C’ship
India defeated Bangladesh
by 27-10 in a one-sided match to win the fifth South East Asian Women Handball
Championship at K.D. Singh Babu Stadium in Lucknow.
6. RBI constitutes
inter-departmental group to study launching of fiat digital currency
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has constituted an inter-departmental group to study and provide guidance
on feasibility to introduce fiat digital currency backed by it. It will be
submitted by end-June 2018. Fiat currency is currency that a government has
declared to be legal tender.
7. CBDT Forms Working Group to Assess Tax Risks of Migrating
HNIs
A five-member committee
has been formed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to look into the
tax implications of the migrating high net worth individuals (HNIs). The group
formed on the recommendations of CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra constitutes
Pragya Saxena, joint secretary, foreign tax and tax research (FT&TR) as the
chairperson. The other members are Ms Pragya Sahay Saxena, Mr Amitav, ADG-I, Mr
Zakir Thomas, Mr. Rajesh Bhoot and Mr Navneet Manohar.
8. Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli On 3-Day Visit To
India
Nepal Prime Minister K P
Sharma Oli began his three-day visit to India. According to the External
Affairs Ministry, the visit will provide an opportunity to review wide-ranging
cooperative partnership and to progress it further. PM Oli will also visit G B
Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. He
will also engage with the business community as well as the Nepalese diaspora
in India.
9. Coal Ministry Launches UTTAM App For Quality Monitoring
The Union Minister for
Railways and Coal Shri Piyush Goyal launched UTTAM App for Coal Quality
Monitoring. UTTAM stands for – Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment
of Mined Coal. The Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited (CIL) developed
UTTAM. It aims to provide an App for all citizens and coal consumers to monitor
the process of Third Party Sampling of coal across CIL subsidiaries. The
salient features of UTTAM APP are Sampling Coverage, Subsidiary wise quality
parameters, Complaints pertaining to quality of Coal and Imports of coal.
10. Global Logistics Summit Held In New Delhi
It was organized by the
Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, along with FICCI
(Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry) and the World Bank
Group. The Summit acts as a platform to hold discussions with global experts,
academics, government officials and private sector and industry
representatives. According to the Union Minister for Commerce & Industry
and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, 56 new airports will be ready for operation
in the next few years.
11. Agreement Between NPCIL and EDF of France
Nuclear Power Corporation
of India Limited (NPCIL) and Electricite de France (EDF) of France have signed
an Industrial Way Forward Agreement for implementation of six nuclear power
reactor units at Jaitapur, Maharashtra with a total capacity of about 10,000
MW. The Evolutionary Pressurized Reactors (EPRs) are evolutionary reactors,
whose design has evolved from “KONVOI’ and “N4’ reactors which have been in
operation in Germany and France respectively for about two decades.
12. FIEO and PayPal Inks MoU
Digital payments company
PayPal and the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) signed an
agreement for the promotion of outbound shipments among small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) leveraging the partners' expertise and technology products. As
part of the agreement, PayPal will work with FIEO to educate SMEs on how to
leverage global opportunities, help them receive money in a safe and timely
manner with PayPal products. FIEO contributes to more than 70% of India's
exports.
13. National Maritime Day: 5 April
The 55th edition of
National Maritime Day was celebrated all over India. NMD is celebrated on 5th
April every year since 1964. The theme for National Maritime Day 2018 is:
‘Indian Shipping – An Ocean of opportunity’.
