Daily Current Affairs Updates– 30th March 2017

Daily Current Affairs Updates– 30th March 2017:

Daily Current affairs News Updates about the National and International events were listed here. Candidates those who are preparing for IBPS/SBI/PO/Clerk exam and all other competitive exams can use this.

Parliament passes Finance Bill 2017 without amendments :

Parliament has passed the Finance Bill 2017 after the Lok Sabha rejected all five amendments moved to it by the Rajya Sabha. The bill seeks to give effect to the financial proposals of the Central Government for the financial year 2017-18.

The amendments of the Upper House included curbing more powers to tax officials and a cap on donation by companies to political parties.Replying to the debate on the amendments proposed by the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jailtey said,the amendments cannot be accepted by the government saying there is no logic behind them.

Regional aviation routes & airlines announced by govt under Udan scheme :

Government today announced regional aviation routes and airlines after the first round of bidding under UDAN. Announcing this, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathy Raju said, all flights in first round will become active within 4-6 months. He said, UDAN will have a positive effect on the economy in terms of employment and investment. 128 Regional Connectivity Schemes have been awarded in this round. UDAN network will cover the whole country, giving a major economic boost to hinterland areas.

Ministry : Ministry for Civil Aviation

Head : Ashok Gajapathy Raju

Constituency : Vizianagaram

High speed rail wire Wi-Fi facility inaugurated in National Rail museum :

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today inaugurated high speed rail wire Wi-Fi facility in National Rail museum today. Dedicating the facility to public, the minister said, the free Wi-Fi service built over the fiber network of Rail Tel is designed to offer High- Speed Broadband like experience to users.

On this occasion, Mr. Prabhu also launched a book " Indian Railways- The Weaving of a National Tapestry". The book has been authored by Bibek Debroy, Sanjay and Vidya Krishnamurthi. Mr. Debroy, member of the NITI Ayog, addressed the gathering said, the book touches the unexplored nuggets of Indian railways.

Ministry : Railway Ministry

Head : Suresh Prabhu

Constituency : Andhra Pradesh

Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 passed as law by President :

President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017. Women employees will now get paid maternity leave of 26 weeks. The 26-week maternity leave is effective from the date of publication in the official gazette, which is 28th of March. The amended law is not applicable retrospectively and its benefit can be availed by women who proceeded on maternity leave on or after 28 March this year.

Govt staff of Chhattisgarh to get benefit of 7th pay commission from April :

In Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Raman Singh yesterday announced to implement 7th pay commission recommendation for the benefit of more than 2.5 lakh government officers and employees in the state.

Replying to the debate on the budget appropriation bill in the assembly, CM said the government staff would get the benefit of 7th pay commission from April this year. The chief minister said his government has also decided to provide rice free of cost to all “Divyang”-physically challenged persons.

State : Chhattisgarh

Capital : Ranchi

CM : Raman Singh

Governor : Balram Das Tandon

Maharashtra Govt imposed Non bailable case for overcharging medicines :

Maharashtra Government has said, non bailable case will be registered for overcharging medicines and medical equipments in the state. Maharashtra Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Girish Bapat informed State Legislative council today that state government has taken action against hospitals, involved in such practices. He said, some big hospitals have also been fined.

State : Maharashtra

Capital : Mumbai

CM : Devendra Fadnavis

Governor : C Vidyasagar Rao

3 new states Kerala, Tripura and Arunachal joins in UDAY scvheme :

Kerala, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh have joined the Centre’s power distribution company debt relief scheme, Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojna. With this, 26 states have joined the scheme.

The government estimates that Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura will gain net benefits of approximately ₹4,178 crore, ₹309 crore and ₹810 crore respectively. Since the state discoms have relatively lower loses, these benefits will accrue from reducing transmission losses and demand side management by the discoms.

INTERNATIONAL:

3rd G20 Framework Working Group meet concluded in Varanasi :

The third meeting of the G20 Framework Working Group concluded on 29 March 2017 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The meet witnessed discussions on the current global economic conjecture as well as deliberations on the policy options that countries can pursue to counter the challenges.

The focus of the meeting was to deliberate on the inclusive growth agenda of the G20 and formulation of a framework for country specific inclusive growth policies. In the two-day meeting, officials from more than 30 countries discussed the growth strategy to raise the world GDP by 2 per cent till 2018.

Letter to trigger Brexit from EU got signed by British PM Theresa May :

British Prime Minister Theresa May on 28 March 2017 signed the letter that will trigger Britain's exit from the European Union (EU). The formal notification that seeks to leave EU was signed by May at 10 Downing Street office.

The letter is an official notification to other 27 European Union members that Britain has invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. This letter was delivered to European Council President Donald Tusk by British ambassador to the EU Sir Tim Barrow on 29 March 2017.

Country : United Kingdom

Capital : London

Prime minister : Theresa May

Currency : Pound sterling

BANKING NEWS:

Kotak Mahindra Bank launched purely digital saving account named ‘811’:

Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank on Wednesday announced a strategy to double its existing customer base to 16 million in the next 18 months. A key component of this strategy would be a purely digitally-enabled savings account feature, which the bank calls ‘811’ in a nod to the government’s November 8 decision to demonetise high-value currency notes and push for a less-cash economy.

At the end of December, the bank had R34,691 crore in savings accounts and R20,406 crore in current accounts. Uday Kotak, executive vice chairman and managing director, said the new product, which will be available as a feature on the bank’s existing mobile application, will cost the bank 80-90% less in terms of customer acquisition than its regular accounts.

Bank : Kotak Mahindra Bank

Headquarters: Mumbai

MD : Uday Kotak

Canara Bank reduces base rate by 10 bps :

Canara Bank to revise its base rate with effect from April 1. The bank plans to reduced its base rate by 10 basis points to 9.40 per cent from 9.50 per annum. All rupee loans and advances linked to base rate will accordingly carry reduced rate of interest, by 10 basis points.

Bank : Canara Bank

Headquarters: Karnataka

CEO:Rakesh Sharma

Slogan : Together We Can

Kotak Bank likely to buyout M&M Financial Services

Kotak Mahindra Bank on Tuesday said it planned to raise capital selling shares triggering speculation that it may raise as much as Rs. 10,000 crores for a possible buyout of a non-banking finance company, which may be Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd.

While the bank did not disclose the details of the fund raising plan, traders speculated that founder Uday Kotak may be keen to buy the NBFC founded by his friend and business associate Anand Mahindra. Kotak Mahindra Bank may announce buying out Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services in part cash and part stock deal,” said an investment banker based out of Mumbai.

Bank : Kotak Mahindra Bank

Headquarters: Mumbai

MD : Uday Kotak

Axis Bank ties up with Wells Fargo for inward remittances :

Axis Bank has tied up with Wells Fargo, the third largest American bank by assets, to offer real time remittances from the Indian diaspora to their relatives back home. Under the arrangement between the two banks, any member of the Indian diaspora with an account with the Wells Fargo will be able to transfer money to their relatives back home and there will be no transaction fee applicable to the money transfers from USA. But the relative or the beneficiary in India will need to have an account with Axis Bank.

Bank : Axis Bank

Headquarters: Mumbai

CEO:Shikha Sharma

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY NEWS :

Third party premium for motor vehicles hiked up to 41% : IRDAI

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has increased rates by up to 41 per cent across various categories of vehicles. The new premium rates applicable for fiscal 2017-18 was notified by the regulator on Tuesday.

The quantum of increase varies widely depending on the category of vehicles, such as two-wheelers, private cars, goods carrying vehicles (both public and private), motorised three-wheelers, and trailers. In an exposure draft issued on March 3, the IRDAI had proposed an increase of up to 50 per cent for certain categories of vehicles. The final order has, however, capped the maximum increase at 41 per cent.

Organisation : Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India

Headquarters : Hyderabad, Telangana

Chairman : T.S. Vijayan

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

SpaceX poised to launch first recycled rocket :

SpaceX is poised to launch its first recycled rocket today, using a booster that sent food and supplies to the astronauts living at the International Space Station in April. The goal of the launch, scheduled for 6:27 pm from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is to send a communications satellite for Luxembourg-based company SES into a distant orbit.

Standing at the NASA launchpad, the white Falcon 9 rocket contains a tall, column-like portion known as the first stage, or booster, that propelled the unmanned Dragon cargo ship to space last year, then returned to an upright landing on an ocean platform.

AWARDS AND HONOURS:

Portugal local Airport to be named after Cristiano Ronaldo in his honour :

The local airport in Cristiano Ronaldo's native Madeira Islands in Portugal was named after the 32-year-old Real Madrid forward on Wednesday. The Real Madrid striker was joined by Portugal's President and the Prime Minister, who unveiled a commemorative plaque outside the terminal entrance, above a bust of Ronaldo. The airport has been renamed to Aeroporto Cristiano Ronaldo.

Bob Dylan to receive Nobel prize in Stockholm :

Music icon Bob Dylan will finally receive his Nobel Literature Prize this weekend at a meeting with the Swedish Academy in Stockholm. It was announced today that according to Dylan's wishes, only Bob Dylan and members of the Academy would attend.

No media will be allowed to cover the meeting, and the famously-reclusive Dylan will only give a lecture required of him in a taped version at a later date. The 75-year-old kept silent for weeks after he was announced as the Nobel literature laureate in October, and snubbed a ceremony in December to receive the prize.

SPORTS NEWS:

Tamil Nadu wins Deodhar Trophy and becomes 1st state to win all BCCI senior trophies :

Tamil Nadu defeated India 'B' by 42 runs in the final to clinch the Deodhar Trophy and have become the first state to win all BCCI senior trophies after winning the Deodhar Trophy on Wednesday. The state, which won the Ranji Trophy in 1987-88, also won the Vijay Hazare Trophy this year, making them five-time winners in the tournament. Tamil Nadu won the Irani Cup in 1988-89 and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2007-08.

Trophy : Deodhar Trophy

Sports : Cricket

Srinath Narayanan turn into India’s 46th chess Grandmaster :

Srinath Narayanan from Chennai has become India's 46th chess Grandmaster after defeating Spanish Grandmaster David Anton Guijarro at the Sharjah Masters on Wednesday. The 23-year-old crossed the 2500-mark on the FIDE rankings and has already secured five GM norms. Notably, Narayanan had become India's youngest FIDE rated chess player in 2002 when he was just eight years old.

1 world silver, 2 Olympic silver medals stripped off from Turkey's Abeylegesse :

Turkish runner Elvan Abeylegesse was today stripped of two Olympic silver medals and one world silver after a re-analysis of an in-competition doping test dating back to 2007. The Ethiopian-born middle and long-distance runner tested positive on August 25, 2007, after winning silver at the 2007 World Athletics Championships in Osaka.

Track and field's world governing body, the IAAF, said in a statement Wednesday that her results from August 25, 2007, to August 25, 2009, have been removed.