Guwahati Railway Station first to get ISO certification in India
- The Guwahati Railway Station has become the first ever railway station in the Indian Railways to get an ISO certification from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for “providing passenger amenities in a clean and green environment.”
- The station also has amenities such as High-class reserve (VIP) lounge, waiting rooms, AC and non-AC retiring rooms, food courts and sanitation facilities.
NIRF Rankings 2019
- Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT) Madras, has bagged top honours in National Institutional Rankings Framework (NIRF) 2019 and the very first edition of Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA).
- The ranking was released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)
- IIT Madras also emerged as the ‘Top innovative Institution’ in the country in the maiden edition of the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA), launched by the Innovation Cell of MHRD in 2018
- ARIIA aims at systematically ranking education institutions and universities primarily on innovation-related indicators.
London to implement 24x7 pollution charge zone
- London on Monday (local time) became the first city in the world to implement a special Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) that would charge an entry fee for older vehicles if they do not meet the emission standards.
- In an attempt to reduce air pollution and protect public health, the ULEZ will be operational for 24 hours and seven days a week
India negotiating with Netherlands to amend bilateral tax treaty
- India is negotiating with the Netherlands to amend the bilateral tax treaty, especially on matters of capital gains taxation
- Under India’s ‘agreement for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with Netherlands’, investments by Dutch firms get exemption from capital gains when shares in Indian companies are sold.
- The treaty says sale of unlisted shares of an Indian company are taxable in India only under very limited circumstances.
- The treaty allows taxation of capital gains in India when 10% or more of an Indian firms’ shares are sold to an Indian resident, but this comes with a big exception—such capital gains may be taxed in Netherlands if the sale is part of a corporate restructuring.
SEBI Approves Rs 10,000 crore ‘Airport Fund’
- Markets regulator SEBI has approved an ‘Airport’ specific fund.
- ‘Taking Off To The Future Airport Fund’, which can raise a capital of up to Rs 10,000 crore ($1.5 billion), has been approved by SEBI as a ‘Category II Alternative Investment Fund’ (AIF).
- In India, Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) are defined in Regulation 2(1) (b) of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012.
- It refers to any privately pooled investment fund, (whether from Indian or foreign sources), in the form of a trust or a company or a body corporate or a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP). Hence, in India, AIFs are private funds which are otherwise not coming under the jurisdiction of any regulatory agency in India.
Categories of Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs)
- Category I: Mainly invests in start-ups, SME's or any other sector which Govt. considers economically and socially viable.
- Category II: These include Alternative Investment Funds such as private equity funds or debt funds for which no specific incentives or concessions are given by the government or any other Regulator
- Category III: Alternative Investment Funds such as hedge funds or funds which trade with a view to make short term returns or such other funds which are open-ended and for which no specific incentives or concessions are given by the government or any other Regulator.
SBI and PAISALO to enable MSME segment
- PAISALO Digital Limited with a vision of empowering the AGRI, MSME segment and small businesses signed the first co-origination loan agreement with State Bank of India.
- This will introduce a platform for the last mile customer, the loan ticket is designed at Rs 10,000 to Rs 2 lakh.
World Bank's Migration and Development Brief
- India has retained its top spot on remittances with its diaspora sending a whopping USD 80 billion back home according to the latest edition of the World Bank's Migration and Development Brief.
- India is followed by China (USD 67 billion), Mexico and the Philippines (USD 34 billion each) and Egypt (USD 26 billion)
RBI issues norms for banks to set up currency chests
- The Reserve Bank of India has released new guidelines for banks to set up new currency chests, specifying minimum standards for setting up new currency chests.
- An RBI Committee on Currency Movement (CCM) chaired by executive director DK Mohanty had recommended that the RBI should encourage banks to open large currency chests (CCs) with modern facilities and Chest Balance Limit (CBL) of at least Rs1,000 crore.
- A strong room/vault of at least 1,500 sq ft
- Processing capacity of 6,60,000 pieces of banknotes per day (2,10,000 pieces for those situated in the hilly/inaccessible places);
- Amenability to adoption of automation and adaptability to implement IT solutions;
- CBL of Rs10 billion, subject to ground realities and reasonable restrictions, at the discretion of the Reserve Bank; and
Defence
- A three-day joint military exercise between India and Singapore named ‘Bold Kurukshetra–2019’commenced in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.
- ‘Veer Parivar App’, a mobile application for families of CRPF personnel killed in the line of duty has been launched on the occasion of the 54th Shaurya Diwas observed on April 9, 2019
Sports
- Indian captain Virat Kohli was named the ‘Leading Cricketer in the World’ for the third time in a row in 2019’s edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. Smriti Mandhana was the Leading Cricketer in the women’s game for the year
- Meena Kumari Maisnam clinched gold medal under 54 kg at the Cologne Boxing World Cup 2019 held in Germany
Appointment
| Justice Pradeep Nandrajog | Chief Justice of Bombay high Court |
| Graham Reid | Chief Coach for the Indian Hockey Team |
| Karnam Sekar | MD and CEO of Indian Overseas Bank |
| Bibhu Kalyan Nayak | First Indian to be appointed Chair of International Hockey Federation (FIH) Health and Safety Committee. |
Important Days
| World Homeopathy Day | April 10 |
| International Day of Human Space Flight | April 12 |
Awards and Honours
- Russia has conferred Indian PM Narendra Modi with the country's Highest Civilian award – Order of Saint Andrew The Apostle.
- Digital Sukoon founder, Sudhanshu Kumar was honoured with the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Nobel Award by International Human Rights Council
- Telugu poet K Siva Reddy is to be conferred the Saraswati Samman 2018, for his collection of poems titled Pakkaki Ottigilite
Miscellaneous
- The Union government has developed a crowdsourcing mobile app for accessing real-time consumer feedback on quality and availability of power from across the country in a bid to ensure uninterrupted power supply. The app named Jagruk (aware), developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), will have an automatic mode in which the power supply data will be collected during the charging of the phone.
- Google has introduced a new open platform called "Anthos" to run and manage apps from anywhere
- India’s first-of-its-kind ‘Voter Park’ has been inaugurated in Gurugram, to raise voter awareness instructing people about the electoral process.
- Bharti Airtel in collaboration with FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) launched a mobile app, My Circle, to help women in case they face any problem or a panic situation.
- The world’s largest aircraft – Stratolaunch aircraft took off over the Mojave Desert in California.
- HDFC Bank has been ranked at the first position in the Forbes’ first-ever list of the World's Best Bank 2019 in India in terms of customer services and technological advancements. HDFC was followed by ICICI and DBS Bank. SBI was ranked at the 11th position.
