4th April 2019 Daily Current Affairs - PDF Download

Daily Current Affairs of 4th April 2019

International Current Affairs

Today (4th April) is United Nations' Mine Awareness Day (International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action).
- On 8 December 2005, the UN General Assembly declared that 4 April of each year shall be observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
- Theme of the year 2019 : "United Nations Promotes SDGs – Safe Ground – Safe Home"
The 7th Foreign Office consultations between India and Italy were held in New Delhi today.
- The Indian side was led by Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs, A. Gitesh Sarma.
- The Italian side was led by Director General of Global Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Luca Sabbatucci.
- These consultations provided an opportunity to review the follow-up actions taken after the visit of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in October last year as well as the entire range of bilateral relations, including political, defence, scientific, economic and commercial ties.
- They also exchanged views on regional and multilateral issues, including cooperation in the United Nations and other international organizations.

National Current Affairs

Madras High Court has issued an interim direction to the Centre to prohibit the download of Chinese mobile application TikTok, stating it hosts inappropriate content, including pornography, which is available for access to children.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was partially removed from 3 of 9 districts of Arunachal Pradesh but would remain in force in the areas bordering Myanmar.
- Important Points to Note :
- - Arunachal Pradesh had inherited AFSPA since the day of its formation.
  - AFSPA enacted by Parliament in 1958 and was applied to the entire State of Assam and the Union Territory of Manipur.
  - After Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland came into being, the Act was appropriately adapted to apply to these states as well.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut its Repo rate under liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) (the rate at which it lends to banks) by 25 basis points to 6%, with immediate effect.
- Note : This is the second consecutive rate cut from RBI under new Governor Shaktikanta Das, after a rate cut in February.
Saudi Arabia is going to provide $1 billion to Iraq to build a sports city.
The Indian government has permitted poultry producers and starch manufacturers to import up to 1 lakh tonnes of corn at a lower import duty of 15%.
- This comes amid a shortage of the poultry feed in the country due to droughts, pest infestations and significant reduction in cultivable area.
- The country otherwise imposes a 60% import tax on the grain.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today lowered India’s growth by 40 basis points to 7.2 per cent in fiscal year 2019-20.
- Still, it will be fastest growing economy in the world.
- The growth rate in FY 2020-21 likely to be 7.3 per cent.

MOUs & Agreements

India has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Consultancy Service (NABCONS) for setting up the India-Africa Institute of Agriculture and Rural Development (IAIARD) in Malawi, a landlocked country in southeastern Africa.

Science & Technology

Indian Army's Combat Engineers of 'Sahas aur Yogyata' Regiment of 'Fire and Fury Corps' have built the longest cable suspension bridge over Indus river in Leh in a record 40 days.
- The 260-foot-long 'Maitri Bridge' was inaugurated by local war veterans on April 1.
- The bridge is "dedicated to Indians to commemorate 20th year of Kargil Vijay Diwas," Army said.
South Korea is going to launch the world's 1st fully-fledged 5G mobile networks tomorrow.
- The superfast communications heralded by fifth-generation wireless technology will bring smartphones near-instantaneous connectivity - 20 times faster than the existing 4G.

Awards & Honors

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has awarded Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Zayed Medal.
- The medal, the UAE's highest civilian honour awarded to kings, presidents and heads of states, was conferred upon Modi for boosting relations between the Emirates and India.
Filmmaker Karan Johar today unveiled his wax figure at the Madame Tussauds museum in Singapore, making him the 1st Indian filmmaker with a statue at the museum.

New Appointments

Cash-strapped IL&FS has appointed C S Rajan, who is a Director on the IL&FS board, as the group's Managing Director.
- He has taken over the position from Vineet Nayyar, who continues to serve as the group's Executive Vice Chairman.
Former actress Mayoori Kango, who made her Bollywood debut with 1995 film 'Naseem' and acted in films like 'Papa Kahte Hain', 'Betaabi' among others, has joined Google India as its industry head – agency business.
- Before Google, she was working as the Managing Director at Performics.
Chicago has created history by electing an African-American woman as its mayor for the first time.
- Lori Lightfoot, a 56-year-old former federal prosecutor and practicing lawyer who has never before held elected office, won the city's mayoral race by a huge margin.
- She will also be Chicago's first openly gay mayor.

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