• Economy and Business

Kotak Mahindra Bank Becomes First Lender to Charge for UPI Use

• Kotak Mahindra Bank (Kotak) stated that it will charge customers for UPI transactions starting 1st of May 2019. For each Kotak Bank account, the first 30 UPI fund transfers will be free, after which a charge will be levied on all fund transfers from the bank account.
• This will be applicable across all platforms, including Paytm, PhonePe, Google Pay or Truecaller Pay among others.
• The bank will charge Rs 2.50 per transaction for an amount value below or equal to Rs 1,000, and Rs 5 per transaction will be levied for a payment value above Rs 1,000.

• Sports

Lewis Hamilton wins Bahrain Grand Prix 2019

• Formula One world champion British racing driver Lewis Hamilton claimed a dramatic victory for Mercedes in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
• He took advantage of Ferrari boy Charles Leclerc’s wretched misfortune.
• Leclerc came home third as the race finished behind a Safety Car.
• Bottas stayed on top in the driver’s championship, one point ahead of Hamilton.
• Valtteri Bottas won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

• Appointments

Air Marshal NS Dhillon appointed as new Strategic Forces Command chief

• Fighter pilot Air Marshal NS Dhillon has been appointed as the new Strategic Forces Command Chief.
• The Strategic Forces Command (SFC) is tasked to look after the strategic nuclear arsenal of the country and is a part of India’s Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) headed by PM Narendra Modi.
• Dhillon graduated from the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Khadakwasla in Pune and later attended Defence Services Staff College in Wellington Cantonment and National Defence College in New Delhi.

• Resignation

Google India Head Rajan Anandan Resigned

• Rajan Anandan, vice president for Google India and South East Asia, and essentially heading Google in India, is leaving the company after an eight-year stint.
• Anandan had joined Google from Microsoft India in 2010.
• Vikas Agnihotri, who is currently serving as Google’s country director for sales, will take on the interim responsibility until the company finds a new managing director.

• Resignation

Algeria’s President Bouteflika Resigns

• Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has resigned from the post with immediate effect, ceding power in the face of massive street protests against his 20-year rule.
• Bouteflika has come under mounting pressure to step down since his decision to seek a fifth term despite rarely being seen in public after suffering a stroke in 2013.

• Important Days

World Autism Awareness day being observed today

• The ‘World Autism Awareness Day’ has been observed across the world on 2nd April every year to raise awareness about people with autism throughout the world.
• The 2019 theme for the day is “Assistive Technologies, Active Participation”.
• In 2008, The United Nations General Assembly unanimously declared 2nd April as World Autism Awareness Day.

• Science and Tech

China successfully launches second generation data relay satellite

• China has successfully launched the first of its new-generation data relay satellites into orbit to provide data relay, measurement and control services for its manned spacecraft.
• The Tianlian II-01 satellite was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre.
• The Tianlian II network will be markedly more advanced in mission planning, system management and operations than the first-generation network composed of Tianlian I satellites.
• The satellite is developed by the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

• Obituaries

Noted Tamil Director J. Mahendran passes away

• Noted film director J. Mahendran (79-years) passed away following a brief hospitalization.
• He was also a part of the Blue Ocean Film and Television Academy (BOFTA) in Chennai where he heads the filmmaking and direction course.
• Mahendran has directed several memorable films including Mullum Malarum, Johnny and Nenjathai Killadhey.
• Recently, He was seen in Vijay Sethupathi’s Seethakaathi, the Rajinikanth-starrer Petta and Boomerang, starring Atharvaa Murali.

• Obituaries

Tripura BJP MLA Dilip Sarkar passes away

• BJP MLA Dilip Sarkar (61-years) passed away at a private hospital in following prolonged illness in Delhi.
• Sarkar was suffering for quite some time from liver and kidney related problems and was admitted to Apollo hospital in Delhi.
• Sarkar had won from the Badharghat seat three times on the Congress ticket and was also minister of state for PWD in the state in the Congress government in 1988.
• Sarkar had won the 2018 Assembly election from Badharghat seat on BJP ticket.

• States

Telangana Tops In eLearning Training for Field Staff

• For the second year in succession, Telangana ranks number 1 in the e-Learning training program of theDepartment of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government India.
• During the financial year 2018-19, Dr. MCR HRD Institute enrolled over 20,000 field staff in different districts of the State to impart training on 12 soft skills modules and 3 domain-specific modules on RTI, Office Procedures, and Finance & amp; Accounts, apart from Sustainable Development Goals.