Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Quick Gyan (QG) Section of D2G. QG is just a glimpse of what happened today all over the world.

Only For Serious Candidates : We strongly recommend you to read the Current Affairs in detail. For your convenience, we have provided quick links under the updates. Make use of it.

Always Keep Yourself Updated!!!

BANKING AND FINANCE

RBI cuts repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.5%

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut its key policy rate, the repo rate — the rate at which it lends to banks — by 25 basis points to a five-year low of 6.50 per cent while indicating a further cut in the offing.

• RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said that ensuring that current and past policy rate cuts transmit to lower lending rates was more important. What he implied was that despite the central bank lowering rates by 125 basis points since 2015, banks have reduced rates only by close to 60 basis points.
• The RBI appears keen to ensure that the benefits of a rate cut translates into lower borrowing costs for firms and individuals and also assess the prospects of the monsoon before committing to an aggressive cut in rates.
• Rajan also took a host of measures on the liquidity front, starting with the narrowing of the policy rate corridor to 0.50% from the earlier 1 percentage point, which resulted in the reverse repo rate – at which banks can park excess funds with the RBI – being reset at 6%.
• RBI also retained its GDP growth forecast at 7.6%, on the assumption of a normal monsoon and a boost to consumption through the implementation of the Seventh Pay panel recommendations.

Quick Link – RBI cuts repo rate

INDIAN AFFAIRS

World’s first sanctuary for white tigers opens in MP

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated the world’s maiden ‘White Tiger Safari‘ at Mukundpur in Satna district in the state’s Vindhya region where the feline was first discovered more than 100 years ago. The first of its kind safari has cost Rs. 50 crore and is spread over an area of 25 hectares.

• Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, Steel and Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Chief Minister Chouhan and lawmaker’s Public Relations and Energy Minister Rajendra Shukla, among others, dedicated it to the public.
• The Chief Minister inaugurated the safari amid cheers and applause from more than one lakh people.
• With its inauguration, the safari, housing three white tigers, including one male named Raghu and two females, Vindhya and Radha, is now officially open for public.
• To establish the Safari, one of the white tigers Vindhya and two bears were brought from Bhopal last year to house them at the Mukundpur Zoological Park.

Quick Link – White tigers opens in MP

India’s fastest train Gatimaan Express launched

India has launched its “fastest train” capable of running at a maximum speed of 160km (100 miles) an hour. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu flagged off the Gatimaan Express, which connects Nizamuddin station in the capital, Delhi, with the northern town of Agra. The train covered the 200 km distance in 100 minutes. Until now, India’s fastest train was the Rajdhani Express which could travel at a maximum speed of 130 km/hr. The passengers will have options of different kinds of cuisine, free wifi and on-board entertainment.

The train, painted in blue and grey with a streak of bright yellow in the middle, sputtered to a start but soon picked up speed as it crossed the Okhla railway station and from there on, completed its journey at a tearing speed, even as the 237 passengers on board settled down in their cushy seats of the spanking clean AC Chair Car coaches.

• Indian Railways is the third largest railway network in the world, but it has been in desperate need of modernisation.
• The government, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has promised to upgrade and modernise the creaking rail service, including introducing bullet trains which could reach speeds of 400 km/h.
• At present, most Indian trains average under 60 km/h.
• Some trains around the world have reached a much faster speed.

Quick Link – Gatimaan Express

Snapdeal launches donation program ‘Sunshine’

Snapdeal has partnered with 9 non governmental organisations (NGOs) to launch Snapdeal Sunshine, a platform where users can make donations to causes under education, health, sports, women empowerment, disaster relief and old age care. These organisations include Magic Bus, Akshaya Patra, Care India, Teach For India and HelpAge India, which will list required products for ongoing projects.

• At face value, it doesn’t look like Snapdeal is charging a fee for this service, but the products needed by the NGOs are from Snapdeal’s inventory and currently include cooking, education, sports, study, clothing, stationery, housing and other miscellaneous supplies.
• The products will be sent to the partner after the donation is accepted, and donors will be able to track the progress on Snapdeal.
• The company says that it launched the platform based on ‘studies indicating that Indians would like to give more to society but faced constraints like lack of visibility of end utilisation of their donations’.
• Users can donate by selecting the cause or the NGO they wish to support and its products, decide an amount for donation, process payment and Snapdeal will deliver the products to the NGO’s location.

Quick Link – Sunshine

Union Cabinet’s Latest Approvals – April First Week

Union Cabinet gives nod to MoU between India and Sweden on Technical Cooperation in the Railway Sector

The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval to Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Sweden on Technical Cooperation in the Railway Sector. It was signed between both countries on 15th February, 2016 and it will enable technical cooperation in the following areas.

• Benchmark railways Policy of development, organization, regulations and specific characteristics for each country. Exchange of knowledge, innovation, technology, technical expertise, sustainable solutions and research.
• Other cooperation projects such as, tilting coaches/trains, freight operations in cold regions, capacity allocation (time tabling) and optimisation of maintenance and improved freight/combination traffic. Continuing education program in maintenance and reliability of rail transport system for railway engineers and managers.

Quick Link – Union Cabinet’s Latest Approvals

ECoR becomes largest freight loading railway zone

East Coast Railway (ECoR) has emerged as the largest freight loading railway zone of Indian Railways in 2015-16.  ECoR loaded 173.49 million tonnes of freight compared to 161.91 million tonnes achieved in the corresponding period previous year and registered an increase of 7.1 per cent. On the earnings side, ECoR earned about Rs 15,978.28 crore which is 14.13 per cent more than the corresponding period of previous financial year. In coal loading, ECoR carried 79.4 rakes per day from its jurisdiction against 72.7 rakes per day in last fiscal.

• The coal loading from Talcher was 40.8 rakes per day followed by Visakhapatnam Port 8.7 rakes, Gangavaram Port 7.7 rakes, Paradeep Port 11.7 rakes, Dhamara 9.5 rakes and at other places 1.1 rakes per day during 2015-16.
• In iron ore loading, it loaded 14 rakes per day in 2015-16 – 5.2 rakes per day from iron ore belts under Khurda Road Division and 8.8 rakes day from KK Line under Waltair Division.
• Altogether East Coast Railways has carried 131.2 rakes loading per day from its jurisdiction against 122.4 rakes per day in 2014-15 financial year. These include coal, iron ore, cement, food grains, POL and other commodities.

Quick Link – ECoR

Third phase of Mission Indradhanush begins

The third phase of Health Ministry’s vaccination drive Mission Indradhanush has began. A total of 216 Districts across several States including Bihar, Gujarat, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh will be covered in this phase. Under the last two phases nearly 39 lakh children have been fully immunised. The Mission Indradhanush, depicting seven colours of the rainbow, aims to cover all those children by 2020 who are either vaccinated, or are partially vaccinated against seven vaccine preventable diseases. The diseases include diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B.

Quick Link – Mission Indradhanush

PM Narendra Modi launches Stand up India scheme for SC/ST, women

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Start Up India‘ initiative aimed at boosting entrepreneurship in India. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was also present at the event held in Noida.

• The Stand Up India initiative will promote entrepreneurship among women, SC & ST communities. It is expected to benefit a large number of such entrepreneurs, as it is intended to facilitate at least two such projects per bank branch (Scheduled Commercial Bank) on an average one for each category of an entrepreneur.
• The scheme was launched in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism and Union Minister of State for Finance among others.
• PM Modi said that his vision for ‘Stand Up India’ is to give opportunities to Dalit and poor people to being reforms in India.
• Through ‘Stand Up India’ initiative, we intend to turn job seekers into job creators, said Modi.

Quick Link – Start Up India

National Summit on Family Planning 2016 concluded in New Delhi

The National Summit on Family Planning concluded in New Delhi. The summit was held for two days with the theme New Choices, New Horizons.

Initiatives launched during the Summit 

• The new revamped logo for Family Planning media awareness campaign.
• A 360 degree information, education and communication (IEC) plan for enhanced awareness regarding various issues surrounding family planning in the country.
• The new packaging of contraceptive Nirodh.
• Techno-Managerial guidelines for injectable contraceptives.
• Mobile app for Mission Indradhanush.

Quick Link – NS on Family Planning 2016

Bihar Government imposes complete ban on alcohol

The Nitish Kumar government declared Bihar a dry State while imposing total prohibition on the sale and consumption of liquor, both country-made and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor, with immediate effect. Earlier, following an excise amendment law, the ban on country-made liquor had become effective across the State from April 1. The government will stick to the 1991 guidelines on the sale and consumption of toddy. Army cantonment areas would be exempt as they regulate sale and consumption of alcohol in their own way.

• Earlier, the Bihar government had banned sale and consumption of country-made liquor across the State from April 1 with provisions of even death penalty for those involved in trade of hooch.
• However, IMFL initially planned to be banned in the second phase, was to be sold through 655 liquor outlets opened by Bihar State Beverages Corporation Limited (BSBCL). But, when the BSBCL started opening its outlets and vends even in Patna both men and women came out on the streets in protest.
• Earlier, legislators, policemen and employees of the State Secretariat had pledged not to drink liquor and even prevent others from consumption. Parents too had given written pledges in schools that they would not drink alcohol. Bihar will suffer an annual revenue loss of about Rs. 4,000 crore following prohibition.

Quick Link – Bihar-ban on alcohol

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Vietnam Police Chief Tran Dai Quang sworn in as 9th President

Tran Dai Quang, Minister of Public Security, sworn in as the 9th President of Vietnam. Among the 481 valid votes, 452 out of the total 494 members of the unicameral house, elected Quang, as the president. A resolution approving Quang’s presidency was also backed 93.12 per cent of the NA deputies at the plenary session. Truong Tan Sang was the 8th President of Vietnam.

Before being elected as the President of Vietnam, Quang served as Minister of Public Security from 2011 to 2016. He is a member of the 12th Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam, in which he is ranked second, after General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng. He attended the People’s Police School in 1972. From 1972 to 1975, he studied at the School of Foreign Languages Department of Cultural Affairs (now the Ministry of Public Security).

Quick Link – Quang sworn in as 9th President

World’s first public dengue vaccination programme launched in Philippines

The world’s first public dengue vaccination programme was launched in the Philippines as nurses began injecting the first batch of a million children with a French drug to combat the sometimes deadly disease.

• Hundreds of fourth-graders at a public school in metropolitan Manila’s Marikina city were given the first of three shots of Dengvaxia.
• The Philippines had the highest dengue incidence in the WHO’s Western Pacific region from 2013 to 2015, recording 200,415 cases last year, according to the Department of Health.
• The government is spending 3.5 billion pesos ($98 million) to administer the free vaccines, which it bought at a discounted cost of 3,000 pesos ($85) for three doses for each child.
• Dengvaxia, developed by the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur, obtained its first license in Mexico in December 2015 for use in individuals aged 9 to 45.

Quick Link – World’s first public dengue vaccination

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Google launches Android Auto in India

Android Auto, Google’s in-car operating system, is now available in eighteen new countries, including Brazil and India. It is launched in Puerto Rico. This is Android Auto’s biggest international roll out so far and increases the number of countries it is available in from 11 to 29.

• Three of them—Brazil, India, and Russia—are among the fastest growing auto markets in the world (though of course not all cars purchased there will be compatible with Android Auto).
• Android Auto, which lets users connect their smartphones and control apps from their cars’ screens, launched in late 2014. Its main rival is Apple CarPlay.
• Google’s Android Auto allows users to connect their smartphones, and thus provides access to apps like Google Maps.
• Medium of connectivity includes Google Now voice assistant, steering-mounted controls, and dashboard touchscreen controls. Interestingly, the system locks the user’s phone in order to minimize distraction for the driver.

Quick Link – Android Auto

HP unveils world’s thinnest laptop

Personal computers and printing major HP Inc launched eight new personal products including the world’s thinnest laptop at 10.4 mm thickness, a calling device and a business notebook. According to the company ‘Spectre’ is the world’s thinnest laptop and has a battery life of up to nine and a half hours. The new calling device, HP Elite x3, is built-for-business mobile device and runs on Windows 10.

• HP Elite x3 bridges phablet, laptop and desktop to enable users to run key productivity apps across these different experiences seamlessly.
• The third product launched by the company HP EliteBook Folio is the thinnest and lightest business notebook with 12.4 mm thickness and weighs under 1 kg. It will come with a starting price of Rs. 1.30 lakh.
• Other products launched are additions to HP’s existing series notebook Envy, hybrid Elite X2 and EliteBook G3 Notebooks series.
• Hybrid Elite x2 1012 is priced starting Rs. 84,599.

Quick Link – Thinnest laptop

New planet with triple-star system found

Scientists have discovered a rare triple-star system with a gas giant planet similar in size to Jupiter. Researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in US found that a binary system once thought to be a single star was actually a pair of stars orbiting one another, and are a part of the triple-star system.

• Known planets with three stars appearing in their sky are rare—the new discovery is just the fourth and the closest one yet, allowing for a better look than has been possible, researchers said.
• The main star is also brighter than the other stars that serve as suns for their planets, making it easier to study both the star and the planet.
• In the new system KELT-4Ab, a gas giant planet, similar in size to Jupiter takes approximately three days to make its way around the star KELT-A, which serves as its sun.
• The other two stars, named KELT-B and C, are much farther away and orbit one another over the course of approximately 30 years.

Quick Link – Triple-star system

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Future Group acquires FabFurnish

• Future Group will retain FabFurnish’s brand name and will be using this platform to sell products from its home and furnishing business brand HomeTown.
• FabFurnish’s management team and about 100 employees are likely to join the Future Group.
• Gurgaon-based firm FabFurnish was founded in 2012 by Mehul Agrawal, Vikram Chopra and Vaibhav Aggrawal. The company has, so far, raised over $30 million from Rocket Internet and Kinnevik.

Quick Link – FabFurnish

 OBITUARY

Renowned Jazz saxophonist Gato Barbieri passes away

Latin Jazz saxophonist Leandro “Gato” Barbieri, who composed the Grammy-winning music for the steamy Marlon Brando film Last Tango in Paris and recorded dozens of albums over a career spanning more than seven decades, has died at age 83.

• The Argentine-born musician recorded some 35 albums between 1967 and 1982, when he stopped consistently making new records.
• He toured regularly and went on to record four more albums, including 1997’s smooth jazz “Que Pasa,” which reached No. 2 on Billboard’s contemporary jazz charts.
• Though in poor health, Barbieri, still sporting his trademark black fedora hat, had been performing monthly at the Blue Note jazz club in New York, since 2013. He last performed at the club on Nov. 23.
• Last year, Barbieri received a Latin Grammy lifetime achievement award for a career that covered “virtually the entire jazz landscape.” Barbieri won a Grammy for best instrumental composition in 1973 for his music for “Last Tango In Paris,” the controversial erotic drama starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider that earned two Oscar nominations.

Quick Link – Barbieri passes away

Thank you 🙂 🙂 🙂