Current Affairs Daily Digest – April 7 2019
1. UAE announces long-term visas for best 100 Arab start-ups
The UAE Government has announced granting long-term visas for the top 100 start-ups shaping the fourth industrial revolution. The 100 Arab start-ups were selected at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa, held in Jordan between 6-7th April. The Forum witnessed for the first time bringing together 100 emerging companies from the Arab region, which are working to shape the future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The start-ups will also have a chance to team up with “Area 2071” which serves as a gateway and a platform to design the future, through encouraging creativity, fostering talents as well as attracting local and global partnerships.
2. Justice Pradeep Nandrajog takes oath as new Chief Justice of Bombay High Court
Justice Pradeep Nandrajog today took oath as the new Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court . He was administered the oath by Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao at the Raj Bhavan.
Justice Nandrajog was serving as the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court since March 2017, following his transfer from the Delhi High Court.
3. Platinum Jubilee Commemoration of Battle of Kangla Tongbi
The Platinum Jubilee of the Battle of Kangla Tongbi War was commemorated on 07 Apr 2019 by Army Ordnance Corps at Kangla Tongbi War Memorial near Imphal honouring the valiant brave hearts of Ordnance Personnel of 221 Advance Ordnance Depot who made their supreme sacrifice in the line of duty during the battle of World War-II on the night of 6/ 7 April 1944.
4. Siddhartha Lal Steps Down & Vinod Dasari Appointed CEO As Royal Enfield Preps For 2030 Goal
Siddhartha Lal has given up his role of the CEO of Royal Enfield . Siddhartha Lal has appointed the Vinod Dasari to take up the position. Vinod Dasari was the CEO and MD of Ashok Leyland since 2011 and now till attempt to take Royal Enfield to the next level. Siddhartha Lal meanwhile will continue being the MD of Royal Enfield’s parent company Eicher.
5. Amazon India launches seller-funding programme for small businesses
Amazon India announced the launch of its seller-funding programme–Amazon Wings--in partnership with Ketto, a crowd-funding platform.
Through this India first initiative, Amazon looks at enabling the small businesses and entrepreneurs who are sellers on its platform, raise funds for their business expansion, product development and innovation or community development.
Amazon India sellers can use Ketto’s platform for a subsidised fee of around 50 per cent to initiate fundraisers. The e-commerce giant has partnered with Ketto to launch a dedicated microsite to feature fundraisers initiated by sellers.
6. Govt sells Rs 1,150 cr ‘enemy’ Wipro shares, state-owned firms major buyers
The government sold “enemy” shares worth Rs 1,150 crore in IT major Wipro, aiming to transfer the proceeds to its disinvestment kitty.
Enemy shares are called so as they were originally held by people who migrated to Pakistan or China and are not Indian citizens any longer.
A total of 44.4 million shares, which were held by the Custodian of Enemy Property for India, were sold at Rs 259 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange, block deal data provided by the exchange showed.
7. NTPC signs Rs 2,000 cr term loan with Canara Bank
The country’s largest power producer NTPC has signed a term loan agreement for Rs 2,000 crore with Canara Bank.
The loan facility is extended at an interest rate linked to three months MCLR of the Bank. This loan has a door to door tenure of 15 years and will be utilised to part finance the capital expenditure of the NTPC.
8. Indian Navy signs MoU with Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
The Indian Navy and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) inked a MoU to undertake joint research and development of advanced technologies for the Indian Navy. This will be a collaborative arrangement between labs of CSIR, the Indian Navy and Indian industry.
The MoU provides a formal framework for interaction between Indian Navy and CSIR. It would facilitate joint R&D activities in diverse fields of Mechanical, Electronics, Communication, Computer Science, Propulsion systems, Metallurgy and Nanotechnology.
9. RBI to set up regulatory sandbox for fintech firms
RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said the central bank will set up a regulatory sandbox, for which guidelines will be issued in two months.
The aim is to have appropriate regulatory and supervisory frameworks to ensure an orderly development of fintech, to streamline their influence into the financial system, to protect customers and safeguard the interest of all stakeholders.
10. Coal import rises 8% to 212 MT in April-February FY19
India’s coal import increased by 7.8% to 212.11 million tonnes in the April-February period of FY19. This comes at a time when the government is looking at relaxing the timeline for the 1 billion tonne coal production target it had set earlier for Coal India (CIL), which accounts for over 80% of the domestic coal output.
The country produced 196.59 million tonnes (MT) of coal in April-February period of fiscal 2017-18.
Coal imports in the month of February was at 18.31 MT (provisional) as compared to 21.15 MT (revised) in January 2019. Coking coal imports were at 2.93 MT in February 2019, down against 3.32 MT a month ago.
11. INS Kolkata, INS Shakti to take part in Chinese Navy’s anniversary celebrations
Two Indian naval ships — INS ‘Kolkata’ and ‘Shakti’ — would take part in the Chinese Navy’s 70th anniversary of celebrations later this month.
The two ships are scheduled to visit Chinese port of Qingdao from 21 to 26 April to participate in an International Fleet Review to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, an Indian Embassy press release said .
INS Kolkata is the lead ship of the Kolkata-class stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy. It lists of armaments reportedly included Brahmos supersonic anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles.
INS Shakti is tanker and supply ship.
12. Govt plans to make Andamans major tourist hub like Maldives, Mauritius
A series of development projects have been planned by the government to give a tourism boost to the picturesque Andaman and Nicobar Islands to make them a major tourist attraction like Maldives and Mauritius.
Key projects for the all-round development of the Andamans include premium tents and tree houses, mangrove interpretation centre, turtle observatory centre, island hopping facility, beach shacks and sunrise points, premium island resorts, beach promenade, nature trail and camping facility besides other infrastructure.
These projects are expected to bring in investments of more than Rs 650 crore and have in-built condition of 60 per cent local employment, a Home ministry official said.
13. NGT fines Andhra Pradesh govt Rs 100 crore over failure to stop sand mining
The National Green Tribunal has slapped an interim penalty of Rs 100 crore on the Andhra Pradesh government for inaction to prevent illegal sand mining in the state.
A bench, headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, directed the chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh to forthwith prohibit all unregulated sand mining. The green panel said it is the duty of the government to provide complete protection to the natural resources as a trustee of the public at large.
14. Sajibu Nongma Panba Cheiraoba celebrated across Manipur
Manipur celebrated Sajibu Nongma Panba Cheiraoba, the New Year of the Manipuris on Saturday.
It is celebrated on the first day of the Manipuri month, Sajibu, which falls in the month of March or April. Cheiraoba, which marks the beginning of a new cycle of life on the Meitei calendar, was widely celebrated in the state.
15. World Health Day 2019 : 7 April
April 7 of each year marks the celebration of World Health Day. From its inception at the First Health Assembly in 1948 and since taking effect in 1950, the celebration has aimed to create awareness of a specific health theme to highlight a priority area of concern for the World Health Organization.
Around 2.4 million lives are lost to treatable conditions every year in India. Coronary artery disease (8.76 million people), stroke that can lead to brain injury or disability (6.24 million people) and lower respiratory infections by viruses and bacteria (3.19 million) are the three deadliest causes of deaths in the world according to World Health Organization.
World Health Day 2019 theme:
This year’s nominated theme is Universal health coverage (UHC): everyone, everywhere. The campaign draws on two key areas of focus – providing good medical care despite economic hardships and accessibility – whenever and wherever. The essential feature of this coverage is to ensure quality health services to all communities and people
