Daily Current Affairs 4th April, 2018

Daily Current Affairs 4 April 2018 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Suresh Prabhu Launches Digital Initiative for Ease of Export

Union Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu launched digital initiatives by Export Inspection Council (EIC) for ease of export at New Delhi.

• EIC is the official export certification body of Government of India and has launched this flagship project of Digital India Initiative to keep pace with changing dynamics of the world.
• Three portals have been developed to reduce transaction time and cost in a transparent manner. The portals will play an important role in the Go Green initiative by reducing paper usage and saving millions of trees.

HRD Ministry forms panel to study CBSE exam process

In the backdrop of the Class 12 economics question paper leak, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has set up a seven-member committee to examine the board’s examination process.

• The committee headed by former HRD Secretary Vinay Sheel Oberoi will examine the conduct of Class 10 and Class 12 examinations by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in order to prevent leak of question papers and revisit all aspects related to security checks built into the system to ensure question papers reach examinees without tampering.

BANKING & FINANCE

Indian Army, HDFC Bank ink MoU on defence salary package

A Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) tailor-made to suit the requirements of serving soldiers, pensioners and families, was signed between the Indian Army and HDFC Bank on the defence salary package.

• Under the current MoU apart from other benefits, the Army personnel will get free personal accident death cover and free permanent disability cover of Rs 30 lakhs, free educational cover of upto Rs 1 Lakh per year for four years for education of dependent child in case of accidental death of defence personnel and 100% processing fees waived for Car Loans and Personal Loans.

India’s first blockchain implementation goes live

Three trade receivable discounting systems (TReDS)—digital invoice discounting platforms—approved so far by the RBI have jointly implemented a blockchain solution, which is expected to help reduce frauds in bills discounting or receivable financing.

• The platforms—RXIL, A.TReDS and M1xchange—had been set up to bring together buyers, sellers and financiers for discounting the MSME invoices and provide them with timely funding.
• This is billed as India’s first live blockchain implementation in the enterprise financial segment.
• US-based MonetaGo has designed and implemented the production solution.

Bank of Baroda slapped with Rs 9 crore fine over remittance scam

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has slapped Rs 9 crore penalty on Bank of Baroda for “failing” to adhere to anti-money laundering norms, and not having an effective system to report suspicious transactions linked to the Rs 6,000 crore scam in its Delhi-based branch.

ICICI Bank launches social media-based remittance service for NRIs

ICICI Bank has launched a cross-border remittance facility that can be used by NRIs for sending money to their friends and family in India through social media like WhatsApp and e-mail.

• Christened ‘Social Pay’, a sender needs to register on the remittance service application Money2India to transfer money to someone in India.
• This new facility will allow NRIs to send money conveniently to their friends and family, to whom they occasionally remit money, like on special occasions like festivals and birthdays.

IndusInd Bank gets RBI nod to acquire IL&FS arm

Private sector lender IndusInd Bank has received RBI’s approval to buy the securities services arm of IL&FS. 

• In March 2017, the bank entered an agreement with Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services, the promoter shareholder of IL&FS Securities Services Ltd (ISSL), to acquire 100 per cent stake in ISSL.

BUSINESS

Amazon India launches B2B global selling programme

After conducting a seven-month-long pilot in India, Amazon Business announced the expansion of its Global Selling programme by launching B2B selling for Indian exporters.

• With this, B2B sellers, manufacturers and exporters in India will be able to reach business customers — ranging from sole proprietors to Fortune 500 enterprises — across Amazon’s international marketplaces in the US, the UK, Germany, France and Japan.

SPORTS

Commonwealth Games 2018 Starts at Gold Coast in Australia

The 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games begun in Gold Coast, Australia, with a colourful opening ceremony.  Carrara Stadium has been chosen as the venue to host the opening ceremony.

• These Games marked the 5th time that Australia has hosted the games. India was represented at the opening ceremony by a contingent of over 200 athletes who were led by flag-bearer P V Sindhu.

APPOINTMENTS

Himanta Sarma elected as President of Badminton Association of India

Himanta Biswa Sarma has been elected as the President of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) for the next four years after winning the election during the federation’s annual general body meeting.

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