General Studies & Current Affairs for Bank, SSC, CLAT, Civil Services and other Competitive Exams

National News 1. Suresh Prabhu Launches Digital Initiative for Ease of Export Suresh Prabhu i. Union Commerce and Industry a...

Current Affairs- 04April -2018

National News

1. Suresh Prabhu Launches Digital Initiative for Ease of Export

Suresh Prabhu
i. Union Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu launched digital initiatives by Export Inspection Council (EIC) for ease of export at New Delhi.
ii. EIC is the official export certification body of Government of India and has launched this flagship project of Digital India Initiative to keep pace with changing dynamics of the world.
ii. Three portals have been developed to reduce transaction time and cost in a transparent manner. The portals will play an important role in the Go Green initiative by reducing paper usage and saving millions of trees.

2. HRD Ministry Releases ‘NIRF India Rankings 2018’
i. The Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr Prakash Javadekar, released the NIRF (National Institute of Ranking Framework) India Rankings 2018 in various categories on the basis of performance of Higher Educational Institutions in a programme held in New Delhi.
ii. The top 3 Overall Institutes in India are:
1. Indian Institute of Science (IISc Bengaluru),
2. Indian Institute of Technology Madras,
3. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.
iii. The top 3 Universities in India are- 
1. Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru,
2. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi,
3. Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi.

3. India-Japan-US Trilateral Talks Held in New Delhi

i. The crucial dialogue between the three leading democratic powers (viz. India, Japan and the USA) of the Indo-Pacific region was held in New Delhi.
ii. The India-Japan-US trilateral was launched in December 2011. It was elevated to ministerial level in September 2015. The last ministerial dialogue was held in New York in September 2017.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-
·                     Japan Capital- Tokyo, Currency- Japanese yen, Prime Minister- Shinzo Abe.
·                     US Capital- Washington D.C., Currency- American dollar, President- Donald Trump.

4. Trial Run of 1st India-Bangladesh Container Train Flagged Off

i. The trial run of the first container train between India and Bangladesh was flagged off from Kolkata city. 
ii. The train left for Bangladesh with 60 containers loaded with almost 1,200 tonnes of de-oiled cake, used as a raw material for animal feed.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-
·                     Bangladesh PM- Sheikh Hasina, Capital- Dhaka, Currency- Bangladeshi Taka.

5. HRD Ministry Constitutes Committee to Prevent Exam Paper Leakages

i. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has constituted a High Powered Committee to examine the entire system of conducting Class X and Class XII examination conducted by the CBSE with a view to prevent leakages.
ii. Mr Vinay Sheel Oberoi, Retd. Secretary (Higher Education), MHRD will be the Chairperson of the 7 member High Power Committee.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-
·                     Prakash Javadkar is the Present Union Minister of HRD.

Banking News

6. MoU Between Indian Army and HDFC Bank
i. An MoU was signed between the Indian Army and HDFC Bank on the Defence Salary Package. The first MoU between HDFC Bank and the Indian Army was signed in 2011 and was renewed in Mar 2015.
ii. Under the current MoU apart from other benefits the Army personnel will get free personal accident death cover and free permanent disability cover of Rs 30 lakhs, free educational cover of upto Rs 1 Lakh per year for four years for education of dependent child in case of accidental death of defence personnel and 100% processing fees waived for Car Loans and Personal Loans.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-
·                     HDFC Bank- India’s largest private bank by market capitalization
·                     HDFC Bank Chairman- Aditya Puri.
·                     Reserve Bank of India labelled HDFC Bank as ‘domestic systematically important bank’ - in other words, 'too big to fail'.
·                     General Bipin Rawat is the present Chief of Indian Army.

7. Jio Payments Bank Limited Commences Operations

i. Jio Payments Bank Limited has commenced operations as a payments bank. The Reserve Bank has issued a licence to the bank under Section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to carry on the business of payments bank in India.
ii. Reliance Industries Limited, Mumbai was one of the 11 applicants which were issued in-principle approval for setting up a payments bank.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-
·                     Telecom major Bharti Airtel was the first to begin payment bank services in November 2016.

8. IndusInd Bank Gets RBI Nod to Acquire IL&FS Arm


i. Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has received RBI's approval to buy the securities services arm of IL&FS. 
ii. In March 2017, the bank entered an agreement with Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services, the promoter shareholder of IL&FS Securities Services Ltd (ISSL), to acquire 100% stake in ISSL.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-
·                     IndusInd Bank commenced operations in 1994
·                     IndusInd Bank Chairman- R. Seshasayee, Headquarter- Mumbai, Owner- Hinduja Group.

Sports News

9. Commonwealth Games 2018 Starts at Gold Coast in Australia

i. The 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games begun in Gold Coast, Australia, with a colourful opening ceremony. 
ii. Carrara Stadium has been chosen as the venue to host the opening ceremony. These Games marked the 5th time that Australia has hosted the games. India was represented at the opening ceremony by a contingent of over 200 athletes who were led by flag-bearer P V Sindhu.  

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-
·                     Australia Capital- Canberra, Currency- Australian Dollar, Prime Minister- Malcolm Turnbull.