19 April 2019 - Daily Current Affairs
1. World Liver Day being observed today
- The World Liver day is observed on the 19th April every year to spread awareness about the second largest organ ‘liver’ in the body.
- The theme of World Liver Day 2019 is 'Love Your Liver and Live Longer’.
- Liver diseases can be caused by hepatitis A, B, C, alcohol, and drugs.
- According to WHO (World Health Organization), liver diseases are the 10th most common cause of death in India.
Note:
- The liver is the second largest and the most complex organ in the body (first-brain).
- In humans, it is in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, below the diaphragm.
Banking and Finance
2. ICICI Bank launches insta car, two-wheeler loans
- ICICI Bank has announced the launch of insta car and two-wheeler loans that will provide existing customers final sanction letters instantly.
- The first service, called 'Insta Auto Loan', enables over two million pre-approved customers to avail the final sanction letter of a car loan instantly and digitally up to Rs 20 lakh for a tenure of up to seven years.
- The second initiative, named 'Insta Two-Wheeler Loan', offers over 12 million pre-approved customers the facility to get instant sanction of loan up to Rs 2 lakh for a tenure of up to three years.
- Both the plans will offer 100 per cent of the on-road price of vehicle.
Source: PTI
3. BoM Joins M1Xchange TReDS Platform for MSME Bill Discounting
- Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has partnered with M1Xchange Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) platform for MSME bill discounting.
- TReDS is a digital platform to support micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to get their bills financed at a competitive rate through an auction where multiple registered financiers can participate.
- Mynd Solutions is a technology management firm which runs the TReDS platform of M1Xchange. The main purpose of TReDS platform is to facilitate smooth flow of liquidity in the system and make finance available at a competitive rate.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
4. Canara Bank becomes the first public sector bank in India to meet RBI’s EMV mandate
- ACI Worldwide announced that Canara Bank has successfully rolled out major new functionality to support EMV card acquiring across its ATM network and Aadhaar Authentication.
- Canara Bank is the first public sector bank to shift to EMV chip and PIN for card present transactions across the country’s vast ATM network.
- Canara Bank has nearly 6,300 branches and a network of more than 10,000 ATMs.
- ACI has played a central role in driving EMV rollouts across numerous countries over the years
Note:
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had mandated all banks to migrate the magnetic strip based ATM/Debit cards to EMV chip-and-PIN payment cards by 31st December 2018.
5. Fincare Small Finance Bank Awarded the Celent Model Bank 2019 Award
- Fincare Small Finance Bank (SFB) has been awarded the prestigious Celent Model Bank 2019 Award in the category of Financial Inclusion, for 'Redesigning Lending to Reach Small Businesses'.
- Fincare Small Finance Bank serves the banking needs of banking-savvy consumers across metro, urban and semi-urban markets.
- The award recognizes LAP (Loans Against Property) D.Lite, a tab-based solution designed and developed in-house by Fincare SFB for origination and instant underwriting of loans against property targeted at micro and small enterprises.
Note:
- Fincare Small Finance Bank commenced banking operations on the 21st of July, 2017, after receiving the final license from the RBI under Section 22 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
- As of March 2019, Fincare SFB serves, over 15 lakh customers in 12 States and 1 Union Territory.
Source: Business Standard
6. IMF & World Bank launches “Learning Coin” to Educate Staff about Blockchain
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have launched their own private blockchain and digital currency network to familiarize staff with the concepts of cryptographic assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
- The new pseudo-token has been named as “Learning Coin” (no real value), purpose to teach relevant individuals within the organizations about blockchain.
- Staff members will earn the tokens by successfully clearing training goals.
- These coins will only be accessible within the organizations and will not be able to buy real-world goods and services.
Honours & Awards
7. Mukesh Ambani among TIME’s list of 100 Most Influential People of 2019
- TIME magazine has released the Time 100 Most Influential People 2019 list.
- According to TIME magazine, Three Indians Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries Chairman), Arundhati Katju (public-interest litigators) and Menaka Guruswamy (fought for the LGBTQ+ rights) has been named in the list.
- The list includes Indian-American comedian and TV host Hasan Minhaj, US President Donald Trump, Pope Francis, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, iconic golfer Tiger Woods and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Source: The Economic Times
International Affairs
8. Google Opens its First African AI lab in Ghana
- Google has opened its first African artificial intelligence (AI) centre in Accra, Ghana.
- The research laboratory will host software engineers and research scientists to work on projects dedicated to next-generation technology.
- The centre engages directly with African universities by providing grants and PhD scholarships to students interested in AI.
- Google also supports graduate programs in machine intelligence at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Rwanda.
Note:
- AI can be applied in sectors such as agriculture, health, and education, and Moustapha Cisse, the research scientist heading up Google's AI efforts in Africa.
Source: Economic Times
National Affairs
9. Indo-Pacific Wing Set up in the Foreign Office
- The Ministry of External Affairs has set up an Indo-Pacific Wing in the foreign office.
- This new division is intended to give a coherent architecture to the policy, which was articulated by the PM Modi at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2018.
- Currently, this division will be headed by joint secretary Vikram Doraiswam
- The Indo-Pacific division is intended to give a coherent architecture to the Indo-Pacific policy articulated by PM Narendra Modi at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2018.
10. TikTok no longer available on Google and Apple stores
- Google and Apple have removed the Chinese internet firm Bytedance’s social media app TikTok in India from the Play Store and App Store following directions of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to do so.
- Earlier, Madras High Court that had directed the Centre to ban TikTok app over concerns about access to pornographic content through it.
- People who already have the app downloaded in their devices will be able to continue using it on their smartphones.
Note:
- TikTok is an iOS and Android media app for creating and sharing short videos.
- The application allows users to create short music videos of 3–15 seconds and short looping videos of 3–60 seconds.
- It is a leading short video platform in Asia, the United States, and other parts of the world.
Source: The Economic Times
11. Second Edition of Indian Navy-Vietnam Peoples' Navy Bilateral Exercise concludes
- The Indian Navy held the 2nd edition of the bilateral maritime exercise between the Indian Navy and Vietnam Peoples’ Navy at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam.
- The exercise was undertaken as a part of the ongoing Overseas Deployment of Eastern Fleet ships to South East Asian countries.
- INS Kolkata under the command of Captain Aditya Hara and INS Shakti under the command of Captain Sriram Amur participated in the exercise.
Source: India.gov.in
Sports
12. Mithali Raj named Goodwill Ambassador of team India at the Street Child Cricket World Cup
- Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj has been named the goodwill ambassador of ‘Team India’ at the Street Child Cricket World Cup (SCCWC).
- She joins in supporting the team alongside Saurav Ganguly and Rajasthan Royals.
- The Street Child Cricket World Cup (SCCWC) 2019 is the first cricket world cup for street-connected children.
- The tournament is being organised by UK based organisation Street Child United (SCU).
Source: The Economic Times
