26 April 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Benny Antony conferred with the National IP Award 2019

Benny Antony (co-founder of Kochi-based Arjuna Natural Ltd) has been honoured with the National Intellectual Property Award for 2019 in the category of Top Individual for Patents and Commercialization.
Along with the National IP Award, the Intellectual Property Office India and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) have jointly conferred the ‘WIPO Medal for Inventors’ also to Antony.
Antony is the inventor of the world’s leading patented turmeric extract formulation “BCM-95”.
Antony has over 80 international patents to his credit.

Note:

The Indian Intellectual Property Office bestows National Intellectual Property (IP) awards to outstanding innovators, organisations and companies in the field of patents, designs, trademarks and geographical indications on World IP Day every year.

Source: The Hindu Business Line

National Affairs

2. India extends a ban on import of Chinese milk products

The Union government has extended the ban on import of milk and its products, including chocolates, from China.
Food regulator FSSAI had recommended extending the ban until all labs at ports are modernised to test the chemical.
The ban was first imposed in September 2008 and extended subsequently from time to time.
The ban was imposed on apprehensions of the presence of melamine in some milk consignments from China.
Melamine is a toxic chemical used for making plastics and fertilisers.

Source: Business Today

Banking & Financial

3. RBI gives HDFC’s proposal for holding a 9.9% stake in Bandhan Bank

The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has granted approval to HDFC Ltd for holding up to 9.9% stake in Bandhan Bank following the Gruh Finance deal.
Gruh Finance is the housing finance arm of HDFC Ltd and was taken over in January by Bandhan Bank in a share-swap deal.
The scheme is yet to get approvals from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the shareholders of Gruh Finance and Bandhan Bank.
The Gruh Finance deal will decrease the stake of Bandhan Financial Holdings Ltd in Bandhan Bank from 82% to 61%.
The share swap ratio for the merger will be 568:1000, that is 568 shares of Bandhan Bank for every 1,000 shares of Gruh Finance.

Source: The Business World

International Affairs

4. World’s first Malaria vaccine launched in Malawi

The world’s first malaria vaccine RTS known as ‘Mosquirix’ has launched in Malawi.
This vaccine has created by British Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in 1987 and after that vaccine has undergone 30 years of testing which was supported by many organizations including a non-profit organization PATH.
This pilot project aims to reach 360,000 children per year in all three countries.

Source: The Hindustan Times

5. ABU Media Summit on Climate Action and Disaster Preparedness underway in Nepal

Nepal’s Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Baskota has inaugurated the 5th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Media Summit on Climate Action and Disaster Preparedness in Kathmandu.
The theme of the two-day summit is “Media Solutions for Sustainable Future: Saving Lives, Building Resilient Communities”.
Over 200 participants including political leaders, representatives of UN agencies and NGOs, climate change and disaster management experts, scientists and media persons are attending the event.

Note

The objective of the summit is to address the issue of fully utilizing media’s potential of accelerating climate action and disaster preparedness.
It connects stakeholders to media professionals for collaboration and joint practical projects.

Source: AIR News

Appointments

6. Former Army Chief Dalbir Suhag appointed Indian envoy to Seychelles

Former Army Chief Dalbir Singh Suhag has been appointed as India's next high commissioner to the island nation ‘Seychelles’.
Seychelles is a country which is of strategic importance to India in the Indian Ocean region.
General (retired) Suhag was the Army chief from 31st July 2014, to 31st December 2016.
He was also part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka in 1987.
India is developing Assumption Island in Seychelles as a naval base to expand its footprint in the strategically-key region where China has been trying to enhance its military presence.

Note:

Seychelles is an archipelago country (115-island) in the Indian Ocean.
With a population of roughly 94,228, it has the smallest population of any sovereign African country.

Source: The Times of India

Important Dates

7. World Intellectual Property Day being observed today

The 'World Intellectual Property Day' is observed annually on 26th April to learn about the role that intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright) play in encouraging innovation and creativity.
The Day is organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
This year's theme of the day is ‘Reach for Gold: IP and Sports’.

What is WIPO?

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a self-funding agency of the United Nations (UN) with 191 members states.
Its mission is to lead the development of a balanced and effective international intellectual property (IP) system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all.

Source: UN. ORG

8. Anzac Day being observed in Kolkata today

Anzac Day is being observed every year on 25th April.
ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations.
On 25 April 2019 a wreath ‘laying ceremony’ was held for the first time in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery, Kolkata.

Note:

Anzac Day was originally devised to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the Gallipoli Campaign, their first engagement in the First World War (1914–1918).
Approximately 16,000 Indian troops fought alongside the ANZACs in Gallipoli and around 1,600 lost their lives.

Source: The Hindustan Times

9. HUDCO Celebrates its 49th Foundation Day

Dr. M. Ravi Kanth (CMD, HUDCO) has inaugurated the 49th Foundation Day celebrations of HUDCO (Housing and Urban Development Corporation) at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
The HUDCO Design Awards for innovative design solutions for disaster resistant housing, conservation of heritage, green buildings and landscape planning & design were also presented on the occasion.

Note:

HUDCO is wholly owned by the Union Government and is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.
It is mandated with building affordable housing and carrying out urban development.

Source: Hudco.org

National Affairs

10. Maruti will stop making diesel cars from April 2020

According to the country’s largest car maker Maruti, it will phase out diesel cars from its line-up from April 2020.
The reason of stopping is higher manufacturing cost on account of stricter BS6 emission norms that would make diesel vehicles significantly expensive for customers, pricing them out of the market.
For Maruti, the share of diesel variants is 23% in total sales that stood at 17.5 lakh units last fiscal.
In the just-ended 2018-19 fiscal, around 19% of total car sales were diesel (the rest being petrol), and this came down from 47% in 2012-13.
Currently, Maruti offers diesel on as many as eight models, with two of them ‘the Brezza’ and ‘S-Cross SUVs’ ‘carrying it exclusively (there’s no petrol variant currently).

Note:

It is expected that the company will stop the production of the diesel variants around the end of this year itself considering that old/unsold stock will not be allowed for retail sale from April 2020 onwards when the new, stricter BS6 emissions kick in.

Source: The Times of India

Sports

11. Shooting: India bag two gold at ISSF World Cup

India opened its medal account with gold each in 10 metres Air Rifle Mixed Team and 10 metres Air Pistol Mixed team events on the third day of ISSF World Cup in Beijing.
Young shooters 'Manu Bhaker' and 'Saurabh Chaudhary' took the top spot in the 10 metres Air Pistol Mixed Team event.
Anjum Moudgil and Divyansh Singh Panwar opened the country's gold account in the 10 metres Air Rifle Mixed Team event.
Moudgil and Panwar had to fight tooth and nail to beat another Chinese pair of Liu Ruxuan and Yang Haoran 17-15 in the 10 metres Air Rifle Mixed Team final.

Source: AIR News

12. Asian Wrestling C'ships: Divya, Manju win bronze medals

India's Divya Kakran and Manju Kumari bagged bronze medals for the country in the women's competition of the Asian Wrestling Championships in Xi'an, China.
Asian Games bronze-medallist Kakran defeated Battsetseg Soronzonbold of Mongolia via fall in the playoffs of the 68-kilogram category.
Earlier, Manju (In 59 kg) also secured a bronze medal in the day by beating Vietnam's Thi Huong Dao 11-2.

Source: AIR News