Current
Affairs Daily Updates: 07 April 2018
1. Turkey hosts Critical Summit on Syria War with Russia and Iran
The
presidents of Iran, Turkey, and Russia met for their second tripartite summit
in under six months, aiming to speed the peace process for Syria and bolster
their influence in the country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted
his Russian and Iranian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani in
Ankara for a meeting that could have a critical bearing on developments in
Syria. The meeting will be the second such tripartite summit after the first
was hosted by Putin in November in the Black Sea city of Sochi.
2. 7 April: World Health Day
The
World Health Day is a global health awareness day organized globally on 7th
April. With an aim to spread awareness about health and well being, the
first-ever World Health Day was observed in 1948 by the WHO. The theme of World
Health Day is: Universal health coverage: everyone, everywhere. The slogan is
“Health for All”.
3. Panel set up to examine tax evasion risks posed by super rich
The
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has set up an internal working group to
examine the taxation aspects of high net worth individuals (HNWIs). The group
has been set up to ensure that individuals who pose a substantial tax risk pay
their dues.
4. Qatar to allow women to volunteer for national service
Qatar
would be introducing national service for women for the first time with
immediate effect, under a new law issued by the Gulf nation’s Emir Sheikh Tamim
bin Hamad Al Thani. Women aged over 18 will now be able to volunteer for
national service under the law, men will have to serve for a year instead of
three months.
5. RBI bars banks from crypto services
RBI
directed all regulated entities including banks not to provide services to
businesses dealing in virtual currencies like bitcoins, so as to protect
consumers and check money laundering. The RBI asked entities, which are already
into such services to stop providing this kind of services within three months.
The RBI has directed all payment system operators to store all data within
India.
6. FIEO and PayPal signed 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.
7. Uttarakhand second Mega Food Park inaugurated at Udham Singh Nagar
Uttarakhand’s
second Mega Food Park- Himalayan Mega Food Park Private Ltd inaugurated at
Mahuakhera Ganj in Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar district. It was inaugurated
by Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal. The first
Mega Food Park in the state is located at Haridwar. The mega food park was set
up in the area of 50.14 acres at a cost of Rs 99.96 crore. It has central
processing center (CPC).
8. Indian women hockey team won aganist Malaysia in
Gold Coast Commonwealth Games
The
Indian women's hockey team registered a comprehensive victory over Malaysia by
4-1 in their second match of Pool A. This was the first win of the Indian team
at the Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games campaign.
9. Weighlifter Sathish Sivalingam bring India's third gold medal
Wighlifter
Sathish Sivalingam won a gold medal in the 77 kg category. Its a third gold
medal for India so far after Mirabai Chanu and Sanjita Chanu in the opening two
days in the weighlifting category. After three attempts, he managed to lift a
total of 144 kg in the snatch and 179 kg in the clean and jerk in second
attempt. He defeated his contender, Jack Oliver of England by 5 kg and secured
the CWG title he won four years back in Glasgow.
10. RBI Revises Limits For Investment In Debt Instruments By FPI
The
Reserve Bank of India has revised the limits on investment in debt instruments
by foreign portfolio investors (FPI). The revision comes into effect
immediately. And, the revision is done in consultation with the Government of
India.
a)
The limit for FPI investment in Central Government securities (G-secs) is 5.5%
for 2018-2019
b)
The limit for FPI investment in state development loans (SDLs) is 2%
c)
The overall limit for FPI investment in corporate bonds is 9%
d)
The allocation of increase in G-sec limit over the two sub-categories –
‘general’ and ‘long-term’ – 50:50.
11. NCBS Team Wins Award From
American Society Of Naturalists
A
team of evolutionary biologists from city-based National Centre for Biological
Sciences (NCBS) have been awarded the 2018 Presidential Award from the American
Society of Naturalists (ASN). This is the first time researchers in Asia have
been presented with the award. ASN was founded in 1883 to study evolution,
ecology and animal behaviour, the presidential award was started in 1984.
12. Centre, Maharashtra Govt &
World Bank sign USD 420 million project
The
union govt. & Maharashtra Govt. and the World Bank have signed a USD 420
million project to help small and marginals farmers in the Marathwada and
Vidarbha region of the state. The project will help in increasing climate
resilient practices in agriculture and ensuring that farming continues to
remain a financially viable activity for them. The project will take up a
series of activities at the farm and watershed level.
13. Khadi Store Locator App
launched
The
Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Giriraj Singh
has launched a mobile application for locating 4000 Khadi stores in India. This
was informed by Vinai Kumar Saxena, Chairman KVIC in the the 9th National Board
of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) held in New Delhi. There are
more than 8000 khadi stores in India. The location of rest of the stores will
also be available on this app by the end of April.
14. 1st Van Dhan Vikas Kendra
launched by Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Union
Ministry of Tribal affairs has launched “Van Dhan Vikas Kendra” in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh.
It has been established for providing skill improvement and capacity building
training and value addition facility. This Kendra will have processing facility
for making of Tamarind brick, storage facility of Mahua flower and cleaning and
packaging of Chironji (Buchanania lanzan).
15. ICICI Bank 1st to get Swift’s
new cross-border payment service:
Global
financial messaging cooperative, SWIFT (Society for World Interbank Financial
Telecommunication System platform) announced that ICICI Bank has become its
first Indian client to go live with an improved cross-border payments service. SWIFT’s
GPI tracker enables real-time payments tracking across correspondent banks and
has a facility to track the payments instructions across the correspondent
banks globally.
16. CBDT forms Working Group to
assess tax risks of HNWIs migrating abroad
Central
Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has constituted a five-member working group to
examine the taxation aspects related to High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) who
are migrating abroad to other jurisdictions. This Working Group will be headed
by Pragya Sahay Saksena, a joint secretary with Foreign Tax & Tax Research
Division of CBDT.
17. Mithali Raj Becomes Most Capped
Player In Women’s ODIs
Indian
women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj has become the most capped player in
women’s ODI cricket after turning out for the 192nd time against England. Raj,
who is also the highest run-getter in WODIs, overtook former England captain
Charlotte Edwards, who had appeared in 191 WODIs. Indian fast bowler Jhulan
Goswami is the third-most capped WODI player.
