03 April 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

National & International Appointments

Former managing director (MD) of Intel South Asia ‘Debjani Ghosh’ is the new president of NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies).
She has replaced R.Chandrashekhar.
Debjani is the first woman President of NASSCOM.
Earlier, Debjani has been a member of NASSCOM’s Executive Council and a trustee of NASSCOM Foundation.

Know about NASSCOM

NASSCOM is the premier trade body and the chamber of commerce of the IT-BPM industries in India, with more than 2100 members.
It's member and associate member companies are broadly in the business of software industries, BPO services, e-commerce & web services, engineering services & animation and gaming.
NASSCOM is headquartered in New Delhi, India, with regional offices in the cities of Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, and Thiruvananthapuram.

American diplomat Rosemary DiCarlo has become the first woman to head UN political affairs, one of the most high-profile positions at the world body.
She will replace Jeffrey Feltman overseeing UN efforts to end conflicts worldwide.

China has increased tariffs by up to 25% on 128 U S products, from frozen pork and wine to certain fruits and nuts in response to U S duties on imports of Aluminium and Steel.
The tariffs affecting some 3 billion US Dollars of imports was to safeguard China's interests and balance losses caused by new US tariffs.
Its duties were aimed at Steel and Aluminium imports that it deemed a threat to US national security.

Eight infrastructure sectors grew by 5.3% in February, mainly helped by a robust performance of refinery products, fertilizer, and cement segments.
The eight infrastructure sectors, coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement, and electricity had grown by just 0.6% in February last year
The core sectors expanded by 6.1% in January.

Asia's largest startup ecosystem congregation ‘Huddle Kerala’ will be held at Kovalam.
It will be a platform for start-ups to pitch in their products and interact with a wide array of technology and industry leaders from around the world.
The two-day conclave being organized by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in association with Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IAMAI Startup Foundation.
The initiative is envisaged to provide a platform for start-ups to pitch their products and interact with a wide array of technology and industry leaders from around the world.

Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth (25-year) has been appointed as a Deputy Collector in the Andhra Pradesh Govt.
Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu handed over the appointment letter to him in Amravati.
Earlier, Srikanth became the second youngest sportsperson in India (after PV Sindhu) to have received the coveted Padma Shri award.
Srikanth was born in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.

The ex-wife of the former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela (81-year) passed away in a Johannesburg hospital after a long illness.
She was married to Nelson Mandela for 38 years, played a key part in the campaign to end white-minority rule.
Mandela held several government positions, including as Deputy Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology.
She served on the African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee and headed its Women's League.

Jana Small Finance Bank (formerly Janalakshmi Financial Services) has announced the commencement of its banking operations after a year of receiving final license from Reserve Bank of India(RBI).
Initially, Jana Bank will open 19 branches across 18 States and expand to 200 banking outlets, including the 25% unbanked rural branches by June 2018.
Jana Bank will also convert the majority of its MFI branches into full-fledged bank branches.
It will have over 500 banking outlets by end of 2019.

According to the Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, the Direct Tax collections for the fiscal year 2017-18 stood at 9.95 lakh crore rupees, which is 17.1 % higher than the net collection of 2016-17.
The tax collections during the fiscal year 2017-18 have exceeded the budget estimates of 9.80 lakh crore rupees.
During the last fiscal, 6.84 crore income tax returns were filed as compared to 5.43 crore returns filed in 2016-17 (growth of 26%).

According to the Commonwealth Games organizers, the new service rule of Badminton will not be used at the Gold Coast games.
The Commonwealth badminton games will get underway on Thursday.
They will be played under the old rules which mandate that the shuttle is kept above the waist height at the time of service.
In new service rule: Mandates that the shuttle be exactly at 1.15 meters above the ground at the time of service, was tried at the prestigious All England Championships in March, but it has been criticised.
The critics of the rule feel that it tilts the scale in favour of short players while putting taller ones like P V Sindhu and Axelsen at a disadvantage.