IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF APRIL 4th, 2017

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF APRIL 4th, 2017

Government sets up National Board for Electric Mobility 

i. The Centre has constituted National Board of Electric Mobility (NBEM) to promote electric mobility and manufacturing of electric (& hybrid) vehicles and their components.
ii. The Board will be chaired by the Shri Girish Shankar,  Secretary of the Department of Heavy Industry. The NBEM will examine, formulate and propose short as well as long-term plans and contours of the mission program on electric mobility and its objectives.

India, Malaysia tie up for skilling, entrepreneurship development

i. The Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) has tied up with Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB), an arm of Human Resource Development Fund under Ministry of HRD, Malaysia.
ii.The tie-up was done for skill development and providing assistance to the South-East Asian country in its target of ensuring 35 per cent skilled Malaysian workforce by 2020.
iii. The first activity after signing the MoU would be to train close to 100 youth in entrepreneurship through classroom training, simulation exercises and field exposure.

First bio-gas bus in Kolkata with flat Rs1 fare

i. Phoenix India Research and Development Group launched the first bio-gas fuelled bus in Kolkata keeping a flat fare of just Rs 1.

ii. The company has tied-up with Ashok Leyland to manufacture the 54-seater bus at a cost of Rs 13 lakh approximately. The first bus will be flagged off on April 7, 2017 and will run between Ultadanga in the north and Garia in the south in Kolkata.

Malaysia agrees to set up technology park in Andhra Pradesh

i. A Malaysian company MTN has agreed to help set up a technology park in Andhra Pradesh that’s expected to attract private sector investment of $100 million in the first phase.
ii. The Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board and MIGHT (Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology) Technology Nurturing Sdn. Bhd (MTN) have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on building the park, which will cover 250 acres and focus on new technologies.
iii. Phase 1 will be spread over 100 acres to produce biodegradable packaging for the food and electronics industries.

SBI cuts lending rates by 0.15%

i. Ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy this week, the country's largest bank, State Bank of India has reduced its benchmark lending rate by 0.15%.

ii. Base rate or the minimum lending rate of the bank has been reduced from 9.25% to 9.1%. The cut in SBI's base rate was effective from 1st April 2017.

 Ola integrates with UPI to simplify payment options

i. Cab aggregator Ola has integrated with Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to simplify digital payment options for its customers.

ii. This integration will allow Ola customers to use their unique UPI IDs to pay for all their rides on the Ola platform. While making payments for the Ola rides, a customer will now have an option called ‘Pay by UPI’ along with cash, debit/credit card and Ola Money wallet option.

FIFA bans former Guatemala FA president Brayan Jimenez for life

i. FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) banned Guatemala's former football chief Brayan Jimenez for life over corruption, bribery and other offences.

ii. Jimenez was banned for life from all football-related activities at national and international level.

India ranks 3rd for third year in a row in WADA doping charts

i. India has been ranked third for the third year in a row in a doping violation report published by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for 2015 with 117 athletes from the country being punished after testing positive for banned substances.

ii. India followed Russian Federation (176 athletes) and Italy (129 athletes) at the third spot in the doping violation chart released by the WADA.

WhatsApp mulls foray into digital payments with India launch

i. WhatsApp move into digital payments in India, its biggest market that is home to 200 million of its billion plus global users, would replicate similar moves by messaging apps like Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat in China.
ii. WhatsApp is working to launch person-to-person payments in India in the next six months.

Lenin Moreno to sworn in as the Ecuador President

i. Ruling Party of Ecuador, Alianza PAIS candidate Lenin Moreno won the Ecuador’s presidential election to sworn in as the Ecuador President.
ii. He defeated conservative former banker Guillermo Lasso who demands a recount after three exit polls.

Noted scriptwriter Ajey Jhankar no more

i. Ajey Jhankar, the noted author and filmmaker passed away. He served as a Director of MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications Pvt. Ltd from January 2000.
ii. He was the writer of Marathi novel 'Sarkarnama'.

Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar passes away

i. Renowned Hindustani classical vocalist Kishori Amonkar passes away. She was 84.

ii. She was from Jaipur Gharana and received the Padma Bhushan in 1987 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2002.