Current Affairs - Daily GK Updates 23 April 2018

National News

1. Winners of ‘1st Print Biennale India 2018’ Given Away Awards in New Delhi

i. Lalit Kala Akademi, organised the award ceremony of the '1st Print Biennale India 2018 (PBI)' in New Delhi. The Chief Guest of the programme was Ms Sujata Prasad, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Culture.

ii. Arup Kumar Kuity (Andhra Pradesh), Satya Narayana Gavara (Andhra Pradesh), Preya Bhagat (Uttar Pradesh), Purvi Parmar (Gujrat) and Sonal Varshneya (Uttar Pradesh) were given the award in the 1st PBI.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

• M.L. Srivastava is the Protem Chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi.

2. Bengal’s Digambarpur, India’s Best Gram Panchayat

i. West Bengal has once again topped in the country with Digambarpur Gram Panchayat (GP) bagging the Centre’s award for the best Gram Panchayat in the country.
ii. The survey was conducted by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. Digambarpur GP at Patharpratima block in South 24-Parganas has come up as the best out of 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats in the country.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

• West Bengal CM- Mamata Banerjee, Governor- Keshri Nath Tripathi.
• Sunderban tiger reserve and Buxa tiger reserves are situated in West Bengal.
• Hanumata Dam is in West Bengal built over Ganga River.

3. Nitish Kumar Launches 3 Books On Champaran Movement

i. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar released three books based on Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran movement of 1917.
ii. Nitish Kumar released the books titled- 'Mister M K Gandhi Ki Champaran Diary' written by Arvind Mohan, 'Champaran Andolan 1917' edited by Ashutosh Partheshwar and 'Pir Muhammad Munis: Kalam Ka Satyagrahi' collected and edited by Srikant.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

• The Champaran movement is acknowledged as the first Satyagraha movement inspired by Mahatma Gandhi.

4. AFSPA Removed From Meghalaya

i. The Union Home Ministry completely revoked the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from Meghalaya while diluting it in other regions of Arunachal Pradesh.
ii. Until September 2017, 40% of Meghalaya was under AFSPA.  It is now applicable only in 8 police stations in Arunachal, down from 16 police stations in 2017.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

• Rajnath Singh is the Home Minister of India.
• Meghalaya CM- Conrad Sangma, Governor- Ganga Prasad.
• Balphakram National Park is located in Meghalaya. 

International News

5. World Book and Copyright Day: 23 April

i. World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated globally this year on 23 April to provide the people with many ideas and plans to make them aware of the situation and condition in the World. The World Book Capital for 2018 is Athens, Greece.
ii. 23 April is a symbolic date for world literature. It is on this date in 1616 that Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

• 23 April was first proclaimed as World Book and Copyright Day by UNESCO in 1995.

Banking/Economy News

6. IOB Inks Information Utility Pact With NeSL

i. Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) entered into an agreement for information utility services with the National E-Governance Services Limited (NeSL).
ii. With this agreement, the IOB branches will be able to provide high-quality, authenticated information about debts and defaults; which will have more transparency in maintaining the list of borrowers, debtors, creditors and loan defaulters.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

• MD & CEO of IOB- R. Subramaniakumar, Headquarters- Chennai.
• The NeSL became India's first information utility (IU) for bankruptcy cases under the 'Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016' in October 2017.

7. India’s GDP to Reach $5 trillion by 2025

i. India is poised to remain the fastest growing large economy in the world, and its GDP is expected to reach $5 trillion by 2025, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has told the World Bank in the 97th meeting of the Development Committee of the World Bank in Washington, USA.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

• President of the World Bank- Jim Yong Kim.
• Headquarters of World Bank: Washington, DC.

8. TCS, 1st Indian Company With 100 Billion Dollar Market Value

i. Tata Consultancy Services has created the history as the market capitalisation of the company has hit the 100 billion dollar mark, making it the first Indian company to achieve the mark. TCS shares rose by 2% to Rs. 3476.75, pushing the market capitalisation of India's biggest outsourcer to Rs. 6,64,918 crore.
ii. TCS joined the ranks of the world’s 100 most valued organizations and now ranks 97th. The last Indian name to cross that threshold in 2007 was Reliance Industries Ltd.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

• TCS is a part of salt-to-software conglomerate Tata group.
• Natarajan Chandrasekaran is the Chairman of TCS.

Sports News

9. 8th South Asian Judo Championship Begins in Nepal

i. The 8th South Asian Judo Championship has begun in Lalitpur, Nepal. Besides host Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participating in a three-day championship.
ii. A total 102 players including 13 from India will compete for 7 gold, 7 silver and 14 bronze medals each in men’s and women’s individual categories. Indian women made a clean sweep. India won all 7 Gold Medals in women's section. 

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

• This is the fourth time Nepal is hosting South Asian Judo Championship.
• Nepal Capital- Kathmandu, Currency- Nepalese rupee, President- Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister- Khadga Prasad Oli.

10. Rafael Nadal Win 11th Monte Carlo Masters Title

i. Rafael Nadal of Spain has won the 11th Monte Carlo Masters title by defeating Japan's Kei Nishikori in final to retain the world number one ranking.
ii. He has become the first male tennis player in the Open Era to win the same title 11 times in his career with his 76th ATP Tour title. Nadal also overtook Serbia's Novak Djokovic to clinch most Masters 1000 titles (31).


11. Liverpool’s Egyptian Star Mohamed Salah Crowned PFA Player of the Year

i. Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has become the first Egyptian player to be named Professional Footballers' Association player of the year. 
ii. The 25-year-old, who was bought for £36.9 million by the English club, has already scored 41 goals this season.

Obituaries

12. World's Oldest Person Passes Away at Age of 117

i. The world's oldest person, a 117-year-old Japanese woman named Nabi Tajima had passed away. Tajima, born on Aug. 4, 1900, was the last known person born in the 19th century.
ii. She became the world's oldest person after the death of Violet Brown of Jamaica, also at the age of 117.  According to the U.S.-based Gerontology Research Group, another Japanese woman, Chiyo Miyako, is now the world's oldest person.