01 April 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

01 April 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. ISRO launches observation satellite EMISAT today

• 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.
• The main satellite EMISAT and the 28 customer satellites will be ed into two different orbits.
• The foreign satellites include 24 from the United States, two from Lithuania and one each from Switzerland and Spain.
• An ISRO release says EMISAT (weighing 436 kg) is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement, developed for monitoring radar network by India.
• Indian Institute of Space Science (IISc) and the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation are the other two institutions that will have their devices on the experimental platform.

Source: AIR News

Important Dates

2. Odisha celebrating 84th foundation day today

• Today, Odisha is celebrating 84^th foundation day also known as ‘Utkal Divas’.
• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has greeted the people of Odisha on the auspicious occasion of Odisha Day.
• Odisha is the 9th largest state by area and the 11th largest by population.
• To commemorate the sacrifices of people for the formation of Odisha province in 1936, programmes are being organised at various places across the State.

Note:

• in 1936, Odisha was the first State to be formed on linguistic basis
• Earlier, Odisha was part of Bihar.

Source: Odisha tv

Banking and Finance

3. RBI sets NBFC-MFIs' average base rate at 9.21% for Apr-Jun

• 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.
• The applicable average base rate to be charged by Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC).
• The regulator in February 2014 had issued directions to NBFC-MFIs regarding pricing of credit.
• RBI comes out with the average of the base rates of the five largest commercial banks for the purpose of arriving at the interest rates to be charged by NBFC-MFIs to its borrowers in the ensuing quarter.

Source: Business Standard

4. Govt. extends PAN-Aadhaar linking deadline to 30^th September

• The Union government has announced that the deadline for the linking of Aadhaar with PAN has been extended to 30^th September 2019.
• Those looking to file their income tax returns on or after 1^st April 2019 will still have to quote their PAN while doing so.
• This is the sixth time the government has extended the Aadhaar-PAN linking deadline.

Source: The Hindu

5. Vijaya Bank, Dena Bank merge with Bank of Baroda today

• 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.
• According to BoB chief PS Jayakumar, the new unified entity will work for the success of the amalgamation by effective execution of all the activities to build a stronger organisation and collectively deliver more to the stakeholders than that of the sum of individual entities.
• All customers of Dena Bank, which is under prompt corrective action (PCA) framework of the RBI, will have renewed access to credit facilities immediately.
• This is the second merger of state-run banks in recent years in the banking sector after State Bank had merged five of its associate banks from April 2017.

Note:

• The branches of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank will function as Bank of Baroda outlets from April following the amalgamation.
• Post-amalgamation, the bank will have a 22% market share in Gujarat and 8-10 per cent market share in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Source: Times of India

Appointments

6. Zuzana Caputova becomes Slovakia's first female President

• Anti-corruption activist 'Zuzana Caputova' has been confirmed as the first female President of Slovakia.
• She defeated Maros Sefcovic, a candidate nominated by Slovakia's ruling party.
• According to Xinhua News Agency reported, Caputova received 58.40% of votes, while Sefcovic got 41.59% of votes,

Source: BBC News

7. Vijay Chandok appointed as MD & CEO Of ICICI Securities

• Vijay Chandok (Executive Director of ICICI Bank) will be the MD and CEO of its subsidiary ICICI Securities with effect from 7^th May 2019.
• He will succeed Shilpa Naval Kumar.
• Mr Chandok holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) and master’s degree in Management Studies from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai (NMIMS).

Note:

• ICICI Securities Limited provides institutional and retail broking, merchant banking, and advisory services to corporates, financial institutions, high net-worth individuals, and retail investors in India.
• It operates through three segments: Investment & Trading, Broking & Commission, and Advisory Services.

Source: Economic Times

Honours & Awards

8. Dr Rajendra Joshi conferred with ‘Pravasi Bhartiya Samman’

• Scientist Dr Rajendra Joshi has been conferred with the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman Award by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind.
• Swiss-based NRI Dr Rajendra Joshi is the RUJ Group's founder and chairman.
• The Indian Ambassador to Switzerland Sibi George handed over the award citation signed by the President to Dr Joshi at his residence in Switzerland.

Note:

• The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman is an award constituted by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India to honour exceptional and meritorious contribution in their chosen field/profession.

Source: Hindu Business Line

Obituaries

9. Veteran Journalist Prafulla Rajguru passes away

• Veteran journalist and academician Prafulla Rajguru (82-years) passed away.
• Rajguru had retired (in 1997) as the head of the department of English from DCB Girls College in Jorhat.
• Rajguru authored four books and was a member of several social organizations like the Asom Sahitya Sabha.

Source: Business Standard

10. Tesla builds its 'largest energy storage system in Asia'

• 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.
• It was Launched in partnership with Kintetsu, a railway operator in Japan’s Osaka.
• The 42 Powerpack battery system will also help reduce energy demand on the Osaka grid during peak hours.
• Tesla stated that 7 megawatt-hours (MWh) system is its largest energy storage project in Asia and the fourth largest in the greater Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
• The system contains 16 individual battery pods, each with an isolated DC-DC converter.

Source: Hindustan Times

11. President Ram Nath Kovind visits the Pablo Neruda Museum in Chile

• President Ram Nath Kovind visited Pablo Neruda Museum at Santiago in Chile.
• During his three day visit to Chile, The President also meet Indian business community and interact with the Indian community.
• Mr. kovind will also interact with the young scientist at the University of Chile.
• Mr. Kovind is on a three-nation visit to Croatia, Bolivia and Chile from March 25th to April 4th.

Source: Business-standard.

Sports

12. Kidambi Srikanth loses in India Open final

• India’s Kidambi Srikanth lost in straight games 7-21, 20-22 to former world champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open badminton tournament in New Delhi.
• It was Srikanth's first final in a BWF world tour event in 17 months.
• Thai badminton player Ratchanok Intanon has won the women's singles in India Open.

Note:

• The 2019 India Open was a badminton tournament took place at K. D. Jadhav Indoor Hall in India (26th to 31st March 2019)

Source: Deccan Herald

13. South Korea defeat India in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup final

• South Korea lifted the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournament defeating India in a shootout (4-2) at Ipoh in Malaysia.
• Hosts Malaysia defeated Canada 4-2 and secured the 3rd place.
• Asian Games Gold medalist Japan stood at 5th place, defeating Poland 6-1.

Note:

• The ‘Sultan Azlan Shah Cup’ is an annual international men's field hockey tournament held in Malaysia.
• The tournament became an annual event after 1998.
• The tournament is named after the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia, Sultan Azlan Shah.

Source: The Times Of India

14. Roger Federer lifts Men's Singles trophy of Miami Open 2019

• 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.
• It was Federer's 4th Miami title and 28th Masters 1000 title.
• Now, Federer (101-title) is behind only America’s Jimmy Connors with 109 career singles titles.

Note:

• The 2019 Miami Open is a professional men and women's tennis tournament being played on outdoor hard courts.
• It was the 34th edition of the Miami Open and of the Premier Mandatory category on the 2019 WTA Tour.

The complete list of Miami Open 2019 Title:

Category	Winner	Runner Up
Men's Singles	Roger Federer (Switzerland)	John Isner (USA)
Women's Singles	Ashleigh Barty (Australian)	Karolína Pliskova (Czech Republic)
Men's Doubles	Mike Bryan & Bob Bryan (USA)	Wesley Koolhof (Netherlands) & Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece)
Women's Doubles	Elise Mertens (Belgium) & Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus)	Samantha Stosur (Australia) & Zhang Shuai (China)

 Source: AIR News