Current Affairs Updates - 21st April 2018

Current Affairs Updates - 21st  April 2018

Current Affairs Updates - 21st  April 2018 has some of the important news headlines including Yes Bank's opening at Singapore and London, Bangalore as the top city and some other news from obituary. These are mentioned under different sections of National, International, Obituary, Schemes and Awards. These are very important for the upcoming examinations of IBPS PO, IBPS CLERK, SSC CGL and SSC CHSL. Here we have listed all the news in bullet points along with proper examples given. You may also like Daily Current Affairs Quiz and Static GK and Note Down Points.

New Appointments: National

Tata Sons has appointed long-time group employee Nupur Mallick as its new Group Chief Human Resource Officer, reporting to Chairman N Chandrasekaran.

• Currently, Mallick is director, Human Resources (HR) for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in the UK and Ireland, Tata Sons said in a statement.

New Appointments: International

The US Senate narrowly confirmed President Donald Trump's pick to head the space agency NASA, over objections from Democrats who warned he lacked a technical background.

• Jim Bridenstine, a congressman from Oklahoma, US Navy veteran and former pilot, was confirmed on a 50-49 vote, and will become the 13th administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration seven months after Trump named him to lead the agency.

Committees in News

India forms committee to reform higher defence planning

• The committee is expected to drive the country’s military and national security strategy, draft capability development plans and guide and accelerate defence equipment acquisitions.

Banking, Economic & Financial Affairs

Private sector lender Yes Bank said has received Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) approval to open two representative offices in London and Singapore.

• This is a significant development in the overall augmentation of Yes Bank's business model and will help in further diversification and expansion of financial services to the NRI diaspora

India has 19 crore adults without a bank account despite the success of the ambitious Jan Dhan Yojana, making it the world’s second largest unbanked population after that of China, the World Bank.

• According to the latest Global Findex Database released by the World Bank on the sidelines of the annual Spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, 11% of the world’s unbanked adults are in India.

Rankings & Indexes

Bangalore emerges as top city for office expansion

• Multinational companies hold a positive view towards expanding their Asia Pacific office portfolio over the next two years, and India remains one of the most preferred markets

Maruti Suzuki India's(MSI) entry level hatchback Alto retained its status as the best selling passenger vehicle in India in 2017-18, leading the company's dominance with seven of its models featuring in the top ten list. 

• According to data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Hyundai Motor India Ltd's (HMIL) three models made it to the list. 

National Affairs

Chhattisgarh to Distribute Free Smartphones to Over 50 Lakh People Ahead of Assembly Polls

• The Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CHiPS) has started the preparation for the distribution of phones, as per the announcement made by Chief Minister Raman Singh last year to reduce the digital divide, said the official from state Publicity department.

International Affairs

Swaziland king renames country 'the Kingdom of eSwatini'

• There are not many people in the world who are able to change the name of a nation. But King Mswati can - he is one of the world's few absolute monarchs.

Syria returns Légion d'honneur award to France

• Syria has returned to France the prestigious Légion d'honneur presented to President Bashar al-Assad, saying he would not wear the award of a country that was a "slave" to America.

Cuba's first non-Castro President in 40 years takes power

• Cuba's new President, Miguel Diaz-Canel, began his term with a promise to defend the socialist revolution led by the Castro brothers since 1959, giving a sober speech that also emphasized the need to modernize the island's economy.

Schemes / Programme

Taking a techno-savvy approach, the Gujarat police unveiled the Pocket Cop project, which will enable quicker verification of passport applicants, and search of accused persons, among others.

• The project was inaugurated by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in Gandhinagar. Under the project, smartphones with data connectivity will be given to 4,900 police personnel, including every police station in-charge, investigating officer, PCR van, and those involved in passport verification.

State-run Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited (GNFC) started its socio-economic Neem Project, inaugurated by Union Minister Smriti Irani Kathaura – Jagdishpur in Amethi District 

• GNFC intends to collect 8,000 to 10,000 MT Neem seeds from the State. It is estimated to provide additional income of Rs 12-15 crore for over one lakh rural woman from 2,500 villages in the State.

Agreements/ MoUs Signed

India to invest more than 1 billion pounds in UK

• India will invest more than 1 billion pounds in the UK that will create or safeguard 5,750 British jobs, as part of a new partnership forged during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit as the two sides signed a wide range of MoUs, agreements and initiatives across technology, trade and investment.

India, Eritrea to sign MoU on Foreign Office Consultations

• Aiming to facilitate a structured dialogue for strengthening bilateral corporation among themselves, India and Eritrea will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Foreign Office Consultations on April 20. 

Standard Chartered Bank has announced an alliance with Zoho, a software products company, to offer solutions to enhance corporate banking experience. 

• The bank’s business account holders can now pay their suppliers and automate reconciliation right from Zoho Books, Zoho’s cloud accounting software.

Summit /Conference / Events

Nexgen Conferences, one of India's leading conferences and B2B event organizers, has announced that the third edition of the Annual 5G India Congress 2018 will be held on April 20 at Le Meridian Hotel

• The summit will see key telecom industry professionals, stakeholders, thought leaders, and analysts having discussions on key strategies and on figuring out a road map for deploying 5G network.

Awards & Honours: Sports

• Daniel Ricciardo wins Chinese Grand Prix

Awards & Honours: Miscellaneous

BCCL chairman gets lifetime contribution to media award

• Indu Jain, chairman of Bennett, Coleman & Co, India’s largest media house, which publishes newspapers and magazines, including The Times of India, said that it was important to ensure that government schemes were effectively implemented for all-round development of India’s economy. 

The 45-year-old filmmaker took to Twitter to make the announcement, where he shared his photograph holding a 'Madame Tussauds' briefcase in his hand and with his palm imprint in wax in another one.

• Karan Johar says becoming the first director from India to have his wax statue featured at the legendary Madame Tussauds was a great honour for him.

Three-time Oscar winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg has created history by becoming the first director whose films have globally taken in over 10 billion dollar.

• 'The Lord of the Rings' filmmaker, Peter Jackson, and 'Transformers' Michael Bay are the next two highest grossing directors.

Other Sports & Award Related News

Son of Dreams was unveiled as official Mascot of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 

• Born in China on August 8, 2015, Son of Dreams' magical horns give him the power to see in the future, envisioning plays and moves before they actually happen.

The Indian Olympic Association decided to bid for the 2026 Youth Olympics as well as the 2032 Summer Olympics, receiving appreciation from the visiting International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.

• In a press conference addressed with Bach here, IOA President Narinder Batra said, "We are bidding for three events, 2026 Youth Olympics, 2030 Asian Games and 2032 Olympics. We don't know whether they will come to India or not. Let us see how fierce the competition is."

Obituary 

Veteran journalist TVR Shenoy passes away

• Veteran journalist and columnist TVR Shenoy passed away at Manipal Hospital in Mangaluru on Tuesday. He was 77.

Former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajinder Sachar passes away

• Noted human rights activist and former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajinder Singh Sachar today passed away in the capital at the age of 94.