Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 12 April, 2016. These are important for the upcoming SBI Clerk and NABARD Assistant Manager exam 2016.
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Current Affairs at a Glance – 12th April, 2016
- Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector lender has reduced its key lending rates by 15 basis points, effective from April 18, after Reserve Bank of India reduced repo rate by 25 basis points last week. The lender is the first bank to slash its MCLR (Marginal Cost based Lending Rate), benchmark rate used for pricing loans across all tenors. Commercial banks moved to new loan pricing regime—MCLR—from April 01, 2016.
- India and Maldiveson 11 April 2016 singed six agreements to boost the bilateral relations between the two countries.
- The UAE’s mobile communications and technology provider du has partnered with India’s mobility solutions provider MahindraComviva for its value added services.
- India and the US Tuesday agreed "in principle" to a logistics exchange agreementto enable both militaries to use each other's assets and bases for repair and replenishment of supplies, an issue which did not find favour with the previous UPA government.
- The UNICEF and GITAM University signed an MoU to empower the adolescents and to address the adolescents’ issues in Visakhapatnam District.
- Bollywood Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchanon 12 April 2016 won the Global Indian of the Year 2016 award at third season of NRI of the Year award function held in Mumbai.
- Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General (retd) Joginder Jaswant Singh on 12 April 2016 was conferred the highestFrench civilian honour, Officier de l Ordre national de la Legion d Honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honour).
- The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Global Tiger Forum (GTF) on 10 April 2016 announced that after a century of constant decline, global wild tiger populations have increased. According to the most recent data, around 3890 tigers now exist in the wild, which is up by 22 percent from an estimated 3200 in 2010.
- IndusTowers, the country's largest telecom tower firm, on 11 April 2016 appointed Hemant Kumar Ruia as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
- World Homoeopathy Daywas observed on 10 April 2016 and it was organised by India. The day commemorates the birth anniversary of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, a German Physician.
Finance/Banking –
Axis Bank cuts MCLR by 15 basis points to 8.95%
- Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector lender has reduced its key lending rates by 15 basis points, effective from April 18, after Reserve Bank of India reduced repo rate by 25 basis points last week.
- The lender is the first bank to slash its MCLR (Marginal Cost based Lending Rate), benchmark rate used for pricing loans across all tenors. Commercial banks moved to new loan pricing regime—MCLR—from April 01, 2016.
- Bank, in a statement said, the new rate for new overnight loans will be 8.95% as against old rate of 9.1%. With this, the overnight MCLR is now at par with State Bank of India and HDFC Bank. However, the other large lender ICICI Bank's overnight MCLR rate still stands at 9%.
India, Maldives signed six agreements to deepen bilateral cooperation
- India and Maldives on 11 April 2016 singed six agreements to boost the bilateral relations between the two countries.
- The agreements were inked in New Delhi during the two-day official visit of Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom to India.
The signed Agreements/MoUs are
- Agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation of income - The Agreement seeks to avoid double taxation of income derived from international air transport.
- Agreement for the Exchange of Information with respect to Taxes.
- Bilateral Agreement related to Orbit Frequency Coordination of "South Asia Satellite” proposed at 48oE.
- MoU for Cooperation in the area of conservation and restoration of ancient mosques and joint research and exploratory surveys in Maldives.
- MoU on cooperation in the field of Tourism.
- Action Plan for Defence Cooperation.
UAE’s telecom company du partners with Mahindra Comviva
- The UAE’s mobile communications and technology provider du has partnered with India’s mobility solutions provider Mahindra Comviva for its value added services.
- As part of the multi-year deal, New Delhi-based Mahindra Comviva will manage du company’s end-to-end VAS (Value Added Services) business for premium services offering such as SMS alerts, WAP services, mobile Contest, Mobile Games, OTT app aggregation among others.
- Under VAS business management, Mahindra Comviva has extended services such as campaign planning, product management, roadmap planning, content operations and sourcing and setting up innovation lab along with technical assistance and monitoring. This end-to-end service management will further help du improve overall customer experience.
India –
India, US agree on exchanging military logistics
- India and the US Tuesday agreed "in principle" to a logistics exchange agreement to enable both militaries to use each other's assets and bases for repair and replenishment of supplies, an issue which did not find favour with the previous UPA government.
- Ramping up bilateral defence ties, both sides agreed to set up a new bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue between officials from their respective defence and foreign affairs ministries.
- This came as India and the US emphasised on freedom of navigation and need for international based order, in an apparent reference to China's assertiveness in South China Sea.
- Following the delegation-level talks at South Block here, both countries also decided to enhance on-going navy-to-navy discussions to cover submarine-related issues.
- Both countries will also deepen cooperation in maritime domain awareness by finalising a 'White Shipping' agreement in the near future.
UNICEF, GITAM ink MoU to better adolescents’ lives
- The UNICEF and GITAM University signed an MoU to empower the adolescents and to address the adolescents’ issues in Visakhapatnam District.
- Visakhapatnam has been selected as one of the four districts in India to deal with adolescents’ issues. The other districts are Purulia, West Bengal; Sibsahar District in Assam; and East Singhbum in Jharkhand.
- The four states have been selected based on indicators related to adolescent girls and Visakhapatnam district was chosen as it has a high incidence of child marriage of 57.4 per cent and a significant number of tribal population, said UNICEF Chief Field Officer Ruth Leano.
- Interacting with GITAM University Vice-Chancellor M.S. Prasada Rao, she informed that as part of the MoU, the UNICEF and the GITAM will identify, develop and sustain the best possible digital platforms.
Delhi government launched PoochhO Carpool app to help people during odd-even scheme
- Delhi government on 12 April 2016 launched PoochhO Carpool app to help people explore carpooling options during the 15-day exercise during the odd-even car-rationing scheme. The second phase of the scheme set to begin from 15 April 2015.
Features of the App
- Upon downloading, the users will have to register themselves to find carpooling options within a radius of 1 to 5 kilometers.
- Those having cars would be required to give their vehicle number. For instance, someone, who has an even-numbered car and wants to carpool on an odd date, can search for odd-numbered cars. He will immediately get a list of odd-numbered cars in the vicinity.
Kerala High Court banned noise-making fireworks at night in all places of worship
- Kerala High Court on 12 April 2016 banned ‘noise-making’ fireworks displays between sunset and sunrise in all places of worship in the state. The ban order follows the Puttingal fire tragedy that killed more than 100 people.
- The HC also asked the state government whether it thinks that 'anti-nationals' were involved and whether CBI should investigate the Kollam temple tragedy.
- The temple tragedy happened when sparks from fireworks fell on a store room where even more firecrackers were kept.
- The ban order was given by the 'Devaswom Bench' comprising Justices Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Anu Sivaraman.
B B Tandon Committee constituted to monitor government advertisements in accordance with SCdirections
- The Information & Broadcasting ministry on 11 April 2016 constituted a three-member committee to check violations of the Supreme Court guidelines with regard to content in government advertising. The committee was formed in compliance with the Supreme Court directions dated 13 May 2015.
- The committee is headed by former Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon. Apart from Tandon, the other two members of the committee are Rajat Sharma, Editor-in-Chief of India TV, and Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman South Asia, Ogilvy and Mather.
Sachin Tendulkar to endorse I Support Skill India campaign
- Union Government in the second week of April 2016 signed Sachin Tendulkar to endorse the I Support Skill India campaign.
- The step is taken in an attempt to reach out to the youth and build awareness on the importance of skill development.
- Tendulkar was signed for the campaign as he resonates the best with skills. He is a true global icon and brand that disrupted the game of cricket through his skill sets and inspired generation.
Awards & Honors –
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won Global Indian of the Year 2016 award
- Bollywood Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on 12 April 2016 won the Global Indian of the Year 2016 award at third season of NRI of the Year award function held in Mumbai.
- The NRI of the Year Award recognises outstanding achievements of the Indian diaspora globally. From 2016 the awards will be woven together thematically and the debut theme is Contemporary Crusoes.
- The awards are conferred to salute the spirit of the nimble-footed globetrotting Indians who have resided in any of the four regions of America, Asia Pacific, Middle East and UK.
Ex-Army Chief General JJ Singh conferred highest French civilian honour
- Former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General (retd) Joginder Jaswant Singh on 12 April 2016 was conferred the highest French civilian honour, Officier de l Ordre national de la Legion d Honneur (Officer of the Legion of Honour).
- It is the highest civilian award given by the French Republic for outstanding service to France, regardless of the nationality of the recipients. Singh was conferred the honour by French Ambassador to India Francois Richier.
- He was chosen for the honour in recognition of his stellar role in modernising the Indian Army. His initiations led to robust exchanges between the Indian and French armies, which in turn created enduring ties and promotion of mutual understanding between the two countries.
President Pranab Mukherjee conferred Padma Awards 2016
- President Pranab Mukherjee presented remaining of the Padma Awards on 12 April 2016 at a Civil Investiture Ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He conferred 5 Padma Vibhushan, 11 Padma Bhushan and 40 Padma Shri awards.
- The Union Government announced Padma awards 2016 for 112 eminent persons on 26 January 2016 among them 56 members received the awards on 28 March 2016 while remaining 56 members who received the awards are:
Padma Vibhushan
- Dr Vasudeva Kalkunte Aatre
- Dr Girija Devi
- Rajanikanth
- Ramoji Rao
- Dr V Shanta
Padma Bhusan
- Ravindra Chandra Bhargava
- Robert Dean Blackwill
- Indu Jain
- Udit Narayan Jha
- Heinam Kanhailal
- Sania Mirza
- Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad
- Dayanada Saraswati (Posthumus)
- Ram Vanji Sutar
- NS Ramanuja Tatacharya
- Swami Tejomayananda
Padma Shri
Some of the prominent personalities among the other 40 who received Padma Shri Awards include:
- Priyanka Chopra
- Salman Khan
- SS Rajamouli (Director of Bahubali)
- Veena Tandon
World –
Global Tiger population grew by 22% in a Century: WWF and GTF
- The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Global Tiger Forum (GTF) on 10 April 2016 announced that after a century of constant decline, global wild tiger populations have increased.
- According to the most recent data, around 3890 tigers now exist in the wild, which is up by 22 percent from an estimated 3200 in 2010.
- This rise in the number of tigers can be attributed to increase in tiger population in tiger survey countries, namely India, Russia, Nepal, and Bhutan and enhanced protection of the specie through use of latest technology.
Tiger population in different countries
- India: 2226
- Russia: 433
- Indonesia: 371
- Malaysia: 250
Royal Mail of British issued set of stamps to mark 400th death anniversary of William Shakespeare
- Royal Mail of British on 12 April 2016 honoured playwright William Shakespeare by issuing a set of special postage stamps to mark the 400th anniversary of his death. They will be sold at 8000 post offices across Britain.
- It published ten first class stamps featuring famous phrases from the playwright’s repertoire to mark the impact of his writing on the present day.
- The stamps are the latest of many commemoration items and events to remember Shakespeare who was born in 1564 to become an actor, poet and playwright as well as a businessman. Shakespeare is believed to have died on his birthday 23 April 1616 in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Appointed –
Hemant Kumar Ruia appointed CFO of Indus Towers
- Indus Towers, the country's largest telecom tower firm, on 11 April 2016 appointed Hemant Kumar Ruia as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
- Before joining Indus Towers, Ruia worked as CFO at the Reliance Retail Ltd. At Reliance, he played the role of business partner across various brands with Reliance Retail - Reliance Fresh, Digital, Jewellery, Trends, Footwear and Reliance Markets.
- Ruia started his career with Larsen & Toubro and has since worked with ICI India Ltd and Reckitt Benkiser India. He also served as the CFO of Agro Tech Food Ltd, a subsidiary of ConAgra Foods Inc, for over seven years.
Days –
World Homoeopathy Day observed
- World Homoeopathy Day was observed on 10 April 2016 and it was organised by India. The day commemorates the birth anniversary of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, a German Physician.
- Hahnemann discovered the principles of Homeopathy two centuries ago and developed it as a gentle healing system of medicine.
- The day is observed by the Liga Medicorum Homoeopathica Internationalis (LMHI), the international professional body of Homeopaths and every year it designates a country to host the day.
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Team ExamPundit