Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2019

Notes:
As per latest report on “South Asia Economic Focus, Exports Wanted” by World Bank (WB), India’s GDP growth is expected to accelerate moderately to 7.5% in FY 20 (2019-20) and will be driven by continued investment strengthening, particularly private-improved export performance and resilient consumption. As per report, Credit growth will benefit from relatively more accommodative monetary policy amid benign inflationary conditions. Support from delayed fiscal consolidation will partially offset the effects of political uncertainty on economic activity around elections in May 2019. The real GDP growth is estimated at 7.2% in financial year FY 19 (2018-19).

Notes:
In a bid to further improve the cash position of banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently tweaked Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) norms to provide an additional 2% window to lenders. The move will harmonise the liquidity requirements of banks and release additional money for lending. The LCR indicates the proportion of highly liquid assets held by banks to ensure their ability to meet short-term obligations. In a statement on ‘Developmental and Regulatory Policies’ the RBI has extended the timeline for linking floating interest rates on personal, home, auto and MSEs loans to external benchmarks.

Notes:
The joint military exercise titled “Bold Kurukshetra-2019” was held between the Indian Army and Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) at Babina Cantonment in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh from April 8 to 11. The purpose of the exercise was to develop military technology, enhance the maritime security and bolster the nations’ fight against terrorism.

Notes:
The World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 2019 was held at the Dead Sea in Jordan on April 6 to 7. The 17th WEF meeting in the region called for united efforts to address the most pressing challenges of the area. It was themed on three major visions: generating job opportunities, empowering Arab women and promoting the most intriguing startups that have joined the region’s industry over the past years. Over 1,000 government, business and civil society leaders from more than 50 countries participated in the summit.

Notes:
India’s education technology startup ‘Dost Education’ has bagged a 25,000 Next Billion Edtech Prize 2019 for its ability to empower parents to take charge of their child’s early education by creating short, friendly audio content that is sent to them via their mobile phones. Besides India’s Dost, two other winners also receive 25,000 each included Ubongo from Tanzania and PraxiLabs from Egypt. The prize, which is run by UK-based Varkey Foundation, recognises the most innovative technology destined to have a radical impact on education in low income and emerging world countries.

Notes:
Google has introduced a new open platform called Anthos to run and manage apps from anywhere. It is based on the Cloud Services Platform and would let users run applications on existing on-premise hardware investments or in the Public Cloud. Anthos not only allows customers to deploy Google Cloud in their own data centres but also gives them the flexibility to build, run and manage their workloads within their data centre, on Google Cloud, or other cloud providers (Multi-Cloud), without making any changes. Anthos will also let users manage workloads running on third-party clouds like Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure.

Notes:
On 13th April 2019, the nation paid homage to the martyrs of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on the centenary of the incident. On this day in 1919, hundreds of innocent Indians were killed by troops under British Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, during a peaceful meeting on Baisakhi at the park in Amritsar, Punjab. Here, the civilians had assembled for a peaceful protest to condemn the arrest and deportation of two national leaders, Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew. The massacre is one of the darkest chapters of India’s freedom struggle against the British occupation. The official death toll by the British government was put at 379, but Indian figures put the toll at closer to 1,000. Even after 100 years, the British government has only regretted the massacre but stopped short of apologizing for the killing of so many innocent people.

Notes:
In Kerala, people are celebrating the Malayalam New Year “Vishu” with traditional gaiety and fervor on 15th April 2019. The word Vishu means ‘equal’ in Sanskrit, and it marks the sun’s transit to the Mesha rashi (the first astrological sign in the zodiac). The day begins with people taking Kani darshanam (or Vishu kani) soon after waking up. The elders or women in the family prepare the Vishu Kani a day before by using edible stuff like rice grains, cucumber, pumpkin, coconut, mangoes, betel leaves, flowers, coins and fruits and a metal vessel called “urali” in front of a mirror that reflects the image of their deity. A special yellow flower named Konna is a must in the Kani. Elders gift money ( kaineettam ) to younger members. They also exchange gifts with their loved ones and wear new clothes. On this day, devotees visit temples and offer their prayer to Lord Krishna, who is worshipped on this day. People also visit Sabarimala Ayyappan Temple, Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple or the Kulathupuzha Sree BaalaShastha Temple to have a ‘Vishukkani Kazhcha’viewing in the early hours of the day. And like all other festivals, Vishu is incomplete without an elaborate meal. There will a delicious meal -the Sadya which consists of different varieties of preparations.

Notes:
Director General at Life Sciences – DRDO, Dr A K Singh has been conferred with Lifetime Achievement Award-2019 during 4th APJ Abdul Kalam Innovation Conclave at Chandigarh University, Mohali. He is recognized for his rich contribution in the field of life sciences, aerospace and aeronautics. The DST scientist has more than 18 patents and has contributed in more than 57 research publications at an international and national level. The conclave was organised by the university to mark World Creativity and Innovation Day (WCID).

Notes:
Forbes has recently compiled a first-ever list of the World’s Best Bank 2019 in terms of customer services and technological advancements. The private lender, HDFC Bank, was ranked at the top of the Forbes list of Indian banks, followed by ICICI Bank, DBS, Kotak Mahindra Bank and IDFC Bank. However, India’s largest public sector bank, the State Bank of India (SBI), did not even make it to top 10 of the list and was ranked 11th by the customers.Forbes had partnered with Statista, a market research company, to measure the best banks in 23 countries. Interestingly, this survey ignored any financial performances like P&L statements and balance sheets in favour of a customer’s opinion. The survey compiled data from around 40,000 customers around the world for their opinions on their banking relationships. The banks were rated on the basis of 5 key attributes – trust, digital services, financial advice and fees.