VINTAGE: IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF APRIL, 6th 2017

The Reserve Bank of India has released the first Bi-monthly Monetary policy of the new financial year (2017-18). GDP growth has hiked to 7.4% from 6.7%. Rates in the newly released Monetary policy are as follows-

Repo Rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) unchanged at 6.25%.
The Reverse Repo Rate (RRR) under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) has been hiked to 6% from 5.75%.
The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate are at 6.50% decline from 6.75%.
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) remains unchanged at 4% and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) also remains unchanged at 20.50%.
Cabinet approvals on 5th April 2017
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the following agreements on 5th April.The list of agreements is given as follows-

MoU between India and Australia on cooperation in the field of Health and Medicine
agreement on Audio Visual Co-Production between India and Bangladesh
MoU on Cooperation in the field of Mass Media between India and Bangladesh

PM to lay foundation stone of a multi-modal terminal on River Ganga in Jharkhand

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of a multi-modal terminal on River Ganga at Sahebganj in Jharkhand.
The state of the art terminal, to be constructed at an estimated cost of 280 crore rupees, is an important component of the development of the National Waterway-1 from Varanasi to Haldia.

6 April was declared as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) by the UN General Assembly.
On the occasion of the 2017 International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP), the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) launches the digital campaign #WePlayTogether to encourage organizations and individuals.

Haryana government has decided to provide a one-time grant of Rs 21,000 to all those families whose third girl child was born after August 24, 2015, under the 'Aapki Beti, Hamari Beti' scheme.
Under the scheme, the eligible families will receive the amount irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, income and number of sons.

The BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh decided to waive off crop loans of up to Rs 1 lakh of small and marginal farmers in the state.
About 92.5% of the state’s farmers fall in the small and marginal categories. Besides, the cabinet also decided to write off Rs 5,630 crore in non-performing assets (NPAs) of 700,000 farmers.

Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Ltd becomes the seventh entity to receive a final licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a payments bank. Except Vodafone M-Pesa Ltd, all payment bank licence holders have received the final approval.
Among payment bank licence holders, two entities namely Airtel Payments Bank and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) have started operations so far. While Airtel is offering 7.25% interest on its savings account, IPPB is offering three types of accounts where interest rates will vary from 4.5-5.5%.

IDBI Bank has reduced interest rates, ranging from 50 to 75 basis points, on retail term deposits (RTD) with effect from April 5, 2017.
Following the rate cut, the highest interest rate that the bank now offers is 6.40% (earlier 6.90%) on deposits of one-two years maturity.

India and the UK decided to set up a 240 million pound fund to finance clean energy projects.
The Green Growth Equity Fund will be a sub-fund of NIIF. India had in 2015 set up the Rs 40,000 crore National Infrastructure and Investment Fund (NIIF) to finance greenfield as well as brownfield projects.
The fund will focus initial investments in India’s rapidly growing energy and renewables market.

India's travel and tourism sector ranks 7th in the world in terms of its total contribution to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a new report of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), 2016.
The USA topped the list followed by China and Germany at the second and third positions, respectively.

The Manila-headquartered Asian Development Bank (ADB) lends a $175 million loan to the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.
The project will improve the capacity and efficiency of interstate transmission networks, particularly in transmitting the electricity generated from the new solar parks to the national grid.

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) appointed Raman Roy (Managing Director of Quatrro Global Services) as its chairman for 2017-2018.
Rishad Premji (Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), Wipro Limited) has been appointed Vice Chairman. Raman Roy has replaced Mr. CP Gurnani.

The Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry has emerged as the highest paying industry in India with an average annual cost to company (CTC) of Rs. 11.3 lakh across all levels and functions according to Randstad survey, 2017.
Randstad is a Dutch multinational human resource consulting firm headquartered in Diemen, Netherland. Randstad is the world's second-largest HR service provider.

India, the world’s biggest sugar consumer, will allow imports of 500,000 tonnes of duty-free raw sugar, as a drought has cut output below consumption levels for the first time in seven years. Duty-free imports would be allowed until 12 June, 2017.

NTPC has appointed Sanjeev Kishore as Group General Manager at Kudgi Super thermal Power Project, Karnataka. Kishore joined the services of NTPC in 1984 and has served in various capacities of NTPC projects.

Bitcoin has finally gained the recognition of a mainstream currency along the lines of other fiat currencies.
The privilege follows the implementation of a new law in Japan which categorizes Bitcoin as a legal payment option within the country.

India’s Virat Kohli was named Wisden’s Leading Cricketer in the World for 2016.
Kohli had also won the prestigious ‘Polly Umrigar award’ presented to the ‘International Cricketer of the Year’ at the BCCI Annual Awards.
Kohli was additionally declared Wisden India Almanack’s Cricketer of the Year for the second time in its 2017 edition.

Pages