VINTAGE: IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF APRIL 1ST, 2017

Najib's visit, from 30th March 2017 to 4th April 2017, is aimed at taking forward the close political and economic ties between the two countries.

India, world’s 3rd largest energy consumer has joined International Energy Association (IAE) as associate member.

With India as a associate member, IEA now formally covers 70% of the world’s energy consumption, thus increasing its relevance.
India now will also have a greater say in global energy issues.

The ban, which was proposed by the Department for Equality between Women and Men and the Fight Against Discrimination, includes any image deemed to defame an ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex or age.

On this day in the year 1936, the Odisha state was formed as a separate province.
Important Details about Odisha :
Capital : Bhubaneswar
Official Language : Odia
Chief Minister : Naveen Patnaik
Governor : S. C. Jamir

The Cabinet On 1st April decided to link issue of driving licences and vehicle registration to Aadhaar as part of the amendments approved under the Motor Vehicles Bill.

The bill further proposes higher penalties for traffic offences, including fine and three-year jail for parents of minors caught driving and causing fatal accidents.
Note : Aadhaar was earlier made mandatory for filing I-T returns.

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan On 1st April announced that his government will introduce a bill to award the death penalty to rapists.
The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has bannedemployees in state universities and colleges from going on a strike till June 30.

The period was reportedly chosen keeping in mind the busy academic calendar in the next three months.
Any university employee taking part in a strike can now be sent to jail for up to six months.

The Uttarakhand High Court On 1st April declared the "rivers, streams, rivulets, lakes, air, meadows, dales, jungles, forests wetlands, grasslands, springs, and waterfalls" in the state as living entities.

This means these natural resources now have the right to be legally protected if anyone harms them.
Note : Earlier, the court had granted the same status to the Ganga and Yamuna rivers.

The applications under Right to Information (RTI) Act can be filed orally, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh announced On 1st April.

Section 6 (1) of the Act has a provision to make the request orally if it cannot be made in writing.
Note : RTI Act empowers citizens to seek time-bound response from government on queries related to governance matters.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was selected for the US India Business Council Award of ‘Transformative Chief Minister’.

He will receive the award at the second annual West Coast Summit to be held in Menlo Park, California in May 2017.
Note : Electronics and IT Secretary Aruna Sundararajan was also selected Transformative Leadership Award.

Gilbert Baker (65), an openly gay American activist who created the rainbow flag representing gay rights, died On 1st April.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was established on this day (1s April) in the year 1935 in Calcutta as a shareholder's bank.
RBI, which was nationalised in 1949, issued its first notes in 1938 bearing the portrait of King George VI.
However, the bank continued to act as the Central Bank for Burma (now Myanmar) till 1947 and Pakistan till 1948.

The RBI has decided to set up a separate enforcement department to oversee possible breaches of rules and take punitive actions against those who violate them.

The department will develop a broad policy for enforcement and initiate action against the regulated entities for violation consistent with such policy.
It will serve as a centralised wing to deal with banks only for enforcement action.

Five associate banks and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank merged with theState Bank of India (SBI) On 1st April.

This move will make the country's largest lender among the top 50 banks in the world.
With this, the total customer base of the bank will reach 37 crore.
Further, the bank will have a branch network of around 24,000 and nearly 59,000 ATMs.

President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the Finance Bill 2017, and the provisions of the bill will come into effect from On 1st April.

This will give effect to provisions like ban on cash transactions above ₹2 lakh.
Further, this marks the first time the annual Budget and taxation proposals have come into effect from the financial year's first day.

Israel's Security Cabinet On 1st April approved the establishment of its first new Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank in two decades.

The settlement will be used to house around 40 families whose homes were cleared from an unauthorised settlement outpost.
Palestinian officials have condemned the move and called on the international community to intervene.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio On 1st April announced that it has extended the time period for users to enrol under its Prime membership programme till April 15, 2017.
Note : March 31 was supposed to be the last day for Prime membership subscription.

The government has announced that people who made cumulative deposits of₹2 lakh or more between November 9 and December 30, 2016, will have to mention it in income tax returns for 2017-18.

It also unveiled a simpler income tax return form which has a separate section for such deposits. Further, providing Aadhaar in I-T returns has been made mandatory.

Japan has committed an Official Development Assistance (ODA) of 371 billion yen (about Rs 21,590 crore) for various infrastructure projects, including the dedicated freight corridor, in India for the FY 2016-2017.

The total commitment of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) ODA during two financial years 2015-16 and 2016-17 is 761.40 billion yen, which is 43.50% of the total target for five years.

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