27 April 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Pakistan’s ‘Dawn’ journalist Cyril Almeida named IPI’s World Press Freedom Hero

The International Press Institute has declared Cyril Almeida (Dawn editor and columnist in Pakistan) the recipient of its 71^st World Press Freedom Hero award.
The institute lauded Almeida for his ‘tenacious coverage of the Pakistani state’s patronage of militant groups’.
In 2016, the government imposed a travel ban on Almeida after he reported on an “extraordinary verbal confrontation” between the country’s civilian government and military.
The awards will be presented in a ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland on 5^th June 2019.
Almeida is a Rhodes scholar with a law degree from Oxford University.
He had a short stint as a lawyer before he joined journalism.

Note:

The World Press Freedom Hero award honours journalists who have made significant contributions to the promotion of press freedom.

Source: Aljazeera

2. Salim, Helen and Bhandarkar get Deenanath Mangeshkar Award 2019

The prestigious Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award 2019 was awarded to Madhur Bhandarkar (National Award-winning filmmaker), Salim Khan (scriptwriter) and Helen (dancing diva).
This year, the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award for music and art has been given to classical dancer Sucheta Bhide-Chapekar.
Anandmayee Puraskar was given to Pandit Suresh Talwalkar of Taalyogi Ashram.
The event was organized by Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan charitable trust, Pune.

Note:

Pt. Deenanath Mangeshkar was a well-known Marathi theatre actor, a renowned Natya Sangeet musician and a Hindustani classical vocalist.
He is also the father of well-known singers Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Meena Khadikar and Usha Mangeshkar as well as composer Hridaynath Mangeshkar.

Source: The Times of India

International Affairs

3. Sri Lanka suspends visa on arrival programme after serial blasts

According to Sri Lankan tourism ministry, Sri Lankan Govt. suspended plans to grant visas on arrival to citizens of 39 countries after the recent bombings in which 359 people were killed.
Sri Lankan government did not want the facility to be misused as investigations found foreign links to the attacks on Easter.
Last month, Sri Lanka had announced the plan to allow visa-free entry to tourists from 39 countries, including European Union members, Australia and the United States, during the low season from 1^st May (not include China and India).

Source: The Hindustan Times

4. UAE based Etihad Airways becomes the first major airline to operate the plastic-free flight

UAE based flag carrier ’Etihad Airways’ has become the first major airline in the Gulf region to operate a flight without any single-use plastics on board.
The objective is to raise awareness about pollution on Earth Day.
The flight named
The first flight named ‘EY484’ (without use of plastics) landed in Brisbane, Australia.
Etihad Airways has pledged to reduce single-use plastic usage by 80% across the entire organization by the end of 2022.

Banking and Finance

5. Aegon Life Insurance has collaborated with MobiKwik to launch a smart digital insurance product

Digital financial services company ‘Mobikwik’ collaborated with Aegon Life Insurance (pioneer of digital insurance in India) to launch a Rs 20 smart digital insurance product.
The main objective for this initiative is to improve the insurance penetration in India (currently at 3.7%) that is to drive financial inclusion for the masses.
The company has created 3 variants of the amount assured between Rs. 1 lakh, Rs.1.5 lakh and Rs. 2 lakhs at no extra cost.
The policy can be availed at a premium of Rs 20, Rs 30 and Rs 40 respectively depending on the protection amount and this is issued instantly.
The insurance product launched is termed as the Aegon Life Group Term Plus Plan.

Note:

User can purchase this plan by paying Rs 20 in premium for a sum assured of Rs 2 lakhs which includes both term insurance and accidental disability.

6. Kotak Bank launches Debit Card-Based e-mandate On NPCI’s API Platform

Kotak Mahindra Bank has launched the first debit card-based authentication solution on NPCI’s (National Payments Corporation of India) e-Mandate (electronic mandate) API (Application Program Interface) platform.
With this, it has become the first ever Destination Bank to go live with both Net Banking and Debit Card-based e-mandate authentication.
The objective of this initiative is to enable Kotak customers to create electronic mandates, similar to the former e-NACH with Aadhaar + OTP via both debit card and net banking provision.

Source: The Hindu Business Line

7. Bimal Jalan panel on RBI's capital size to submit the report by June

A high-level panel led by former RBI governor Bimal Jalan, set up to decide the appropriate capital reserves that the central bank should maintain, is likely to submit its report by June.
The six-member Jalan panel was appointed on December 26, 2018, to review the Economic Capital Framework for the RBI.
The committee was to submit its report in 90 days from the first day of its meeting, which was held on January 8.
The panel has got an extension beyond its three-month term.

Science & Defence

8. NASA's InSight detects first likely 'quake' on Mars

US space agency NASA's robotic Mars InSight lander has recorded a likely marsquake for the first time ever.
The faint seismic signal, detected by the lander's Seismic instrument, was recorded on 6^th April this year.
This is the first recorded trembling that appears to have come from inside the planet, as opposed to being caused by forces above the surface, such as wind.
Scientists still are examining the data to determine the exact cause of the signal.

Source: AIR News

National Affairs

9. Red Alert for Tamil Nadu as Cyclone Fani may land on 30th April

Meteorological department in Chennai issues a warning that a low-pressure system south of the ‘Bay of Bengal’ would turn into a cyclonic storm which has been named ‘Fani’
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a ‘red alert’ in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for 30^th April and 1^st May 2019.
Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea during these days, while locals have been urged to refrain from night travels where landslides are a possibility.
A 'yellow alert' has been issued for Ernakulam, Idukki, Thrissur and Malappuram on 29th April 2019.

Note:

In November 2018, Cyclone Gaja made landfall in Nagapattinam’s Vedaranyam block and killed around 46 people.

Source: News18

Obituaries

10. Mark Medoff, the writer of 'Children of a Lesser God' passes away

Mark Medoff (79-years) passed away in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Medoff wrote 30 plays and is best known for the groundbreaking Children of a Lesser God, the story of a young deaf woman and her love affair with her speech teacher.
Matlin won an Oscar for her portrayal of Sarah.

Note:

Mark Medoff was born on 18 March 1940, in Mount Carmel.
Medoff grew up in Florida where he earned his bachelor's degree in English from the University of Miami. Medoff earned a master’s degree at Stanford University in 1966.

Sports

11. Jhulan Goswami wins CSJS award for best sportsperson of 2018

Former captain of India national women’s cricket team ‘Jhulan Goswami’ awarded the “Sportsperson of the Year” at the Calcutta Sports Journalists’ club (CSJC) in Kolkata, West Bengal.
Sukumar Samajpati (former India winger) and Sambaran Banerjee (Bengal’s Ranji Trophy winning captain) honoured ‘Lifetime Achievement’ awards.

State awards:

Tanusree Sarkar (Best cricketer); Pritam Kotal(Best footballer) ; Lily Das(Best athlete);Utsab Chatterjee(Best chess player); Krittwika Sinha Roy (Best TT player).

Source: The Hindustan Times

12. India bag one gold, two silver medals at Asian Boxing C'ships

India bagged one gold and two silver medals at the Asian Boxing Championships in Bangkok.
Boxer Amit Panghal picked up his second successive gold medal of the year in the 52-kilogram category.
Panghal defeated Korea's Kim Inkyu Korea.
National champion Deepak Singh and Kavinder Singh Bisht in 56 kg category signed off with silver medals after close losses.
Deepak lost to Mirzahmedov of Uzbekistan while Bisht was also defeated by an Uzbek.

Source: AIR News

13. Pankaj Advani wins inaugural Asian Snooker Tour title

India's Pankaj Advani defeated Ehsan Heydari Nezhad of Iran 6-4 to claim the inaugural Asian Snooker Tour title.
The Indian had earlier defeated Aung Phyo of Myanmar in the semifinal.
Advani had earlier won the second leg of the Tour in China.