Weekly Current Affairs ( 01st April – 06th April )
National
• The Union government has announced that the deadline for the linking of Aadhaar with PAN has been extended to 30th September 2019.
International
• Anti-corruption activist ‘Zuzana Caputova’ has been confirmed as the first female President of Slovakia.
• Japan’s government has unveiled an era name, “Reiwa,” for soon-to-be Emperor Naruhito, who will succeed the Chrysanthemum throne on 1st May.
• Chicago has created history by electing an African-American woman as its mayor for the first time.
• China deployed its latest guided missile destroyer and frigate in the fleet of naval ships participating in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and Somalian coast in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
• Nepal-India Franchise Investment Expo and Conclave will be held in Kathmandu from 15th to 16th May 2019.
Economy and Business
• Today, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank merged with Bank of Baroda (BoB) to create the third-largest lender of the country after State Bank of India and HDFC Bank.
• Tesla has developed its ‘largest power storage system in Asia’ at Osaka train station in Japan to reduce energy demand and provide emergency backup power to trains in Japan.
• The Reserve Bank set the average base rate to be charged from borrowers by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and micro-finance institutions (MFIs) at 9.21% for the first quarter of the next fiscal (April-June).
• 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.
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has given approval to Paytm Money to start offering broking services.
Sports
• Switzerland’s Roger Federer has won Miami open 2019, defeating American John Isner (defending champion) in the final 6-1, 6-4 at Dolphins’ NFL stadium in Miami.
• Manu Sawhney took over as the International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
• South Korea defeated India in the penalty shootout in the final of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2019.
• Formula One world champion British racing driver Lewis Hamilton claimed a dramatic victory for Mercedes in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
• The Kho-Kho Federation of India (KKFI) has launched a franchise-based league for the sport named ‘Ultimate Kho-Kho’.
Appointments / Resignation
• Executive Director of ICICI Bank, Vijay Chandok has been appointed as MD and CEO of ICICI Securities, a subsidiary of ICICI bank.
• Fighter pilot Air Marshal NS Dhillon has been appointed as the new Strategic Forces Command Chief.
• 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.
• 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.
• Eicher Motors Ltd. has appointed ‘Vinod K. Dasari’ as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Royal Enfield.
Important Days
• Earth Hour 2019 was celebrated in 188 countries worldwide
• 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.
• In India, the National Maritime Day is celebrated every year on April 5.
• International Day of Sport for Development and Peace is observed on 6 April.
Science and Tech
• Today, The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched 29 satellites including the primary payload EMISAT from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India.
• 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.
• Starting May 2019, ISRO plans to send up at least eight earth observation (EO) satellites of varied hues and at the rate of almost one a month.
• In a first, scientists claim they’ve found an organism dubbed ‘corallicolid’ that can produce chlorophyll but doesn’t engage in photosynthesis.
• Scientists have invented a vacuum-assisted toilet that is about half as loud as the regular airplane commode.
Defence
• Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) became the ‘first Indian shipyard’ to build and deliver 100 warships.
• The Indian Army has successfully built the longest suspension bridge ‘Matiri Bridge’ over the Indus River in the Leh-Ladakh region.
• The US approved the sale of 24 multi-role MH-60 Romeo Seahawk helicopters to India at an estimated cost of 2.4 billion US dollars.
• To meet the growing needs of Indian Naval ships, a new 10-tonne bollard pull tug ‘Bahadur’ was inducted into service at the naval ship repair yard (NSRY) on 4 April 2019.
• Army’s Western Command chief inaugurated Rinzin Dwar, the entrance to Pirthi Military station, named after a slain Army officer, in Shimla district.
Obituaries
• Noted film director J. Mahendran (79-years) passed away following a brief hospitalization.
• BJP MLA Dilip Sarkar (61-years) passed away at a private hospital in following prolonged illness in Delhi.
• Viharidas Gopaldas Patel, noted economist and ‘Father of Entrepreneurship Movement’ in India, passed away on 4 April after a brief illness.
• Noted Tamil Scholar and orator Silamboli Su. Chellappan died on 6 April 2019.
States
• 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.
• Lawyer-turned-model Sana Dua would be the brand ambassador of the Jammu and Kashmir election department for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
• The Chennai Central railway station has been renamed as Dr. MG Ramachandran Chennai Central railway station.
Miscellaneous
• Kandhamal haldi (turmeric) produced by the tribal farmers in Odisha’s Kandhamal district received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
• The Indian Publishing company, Garuda Prakashan Private Limited, launched its book ‘Saffron Swords- Centuries of Indic Resistance to Invaders’.
• Tata Projects has received order worth USD 321 million (around ₹2,182 crore) from Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL).
Agreements
• India signed an agreement with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Consultancy Service, NABCONS for setting up India-Africa Institute of Agriculture and Rural Development (IAIARD) in Malawi.
• Reliance Jio Digital Services Limited (RJDSL) entered into an agreement with Haptik Infotech Pvt. Ltd., for Rs. 700 crores.
• India and Brazil have sealed a treaty for repatriation of convicted prisoners so that they can serve their remaining jail term in their own country.
• The Indian Navy and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) inked an MoU on 5 April 2019.