Current Affairs One - Liner : 30th April 2024

• National:
• The first true copy of the painting ‘Indulekha’ by the legendary artist Raja Ravi Varma was unveiled at the Kilimanoor Palace, where the eminent artist was born in 1848. This event took place on the occasion of his 176th birth anniversary celebrations.

• According to a study by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), the Indian Ocean has warmed by 1.2°C from 1950-2020 and is projected to heat up further by 1.7°C–3.8°C from 2020–2100. The heat content of the ocean is increasing at an alarming rate, leading to a rise in sea levels and a predicted increase in the frequency of extreme dipole events.
• Banking:
• REC Limited, a leading NBFC under the Ministry of Power in India, secured a Green Loan of JPY 60.536 billion on April 26, 2024. This loan, guaranteed by the Italian Export Credit Agency SACE, will finance eligible green projects in India. The loan sets a benchmark for similar green financing transactions in the Indian public sector.
• Cred launched a new service called ‘Scan and Pay’ on April 25, 2024. This service allows users to make offline payments directly from their bank accounts using any QR code. It also introduces versatile payment terminals for merchants and ensures rewards for each transaction.
• The State Bank of India (SBI) partnered with HCLSoftware on April 26, 2024. The partnership involves using the HCL Unica platform to digitally transform SBI’s customer interaction framework, enabling hyper-personalized communication and enhancing customer engagement and experience, while ensuring data privacy and security.
• Economy:
• The National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) projected India’s GDP growth at 7.1% for FY25 on April 26, 2024. This is slightly higher than the projections by other international organizations like the ADB, Fitch Ratings, IMF, S&P Global Ratings, and Morgan Stanley.
• Apps & Portals:
• The Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) launched the Integrated Pensioners’ Portal of Bank of India on 26th April 2024. The portal provides services like pension slip, status of submission of Life Certificate, Due and Drawn statement, and Form-16. This is part of an ongoing effort to digitalize pension services and enhance the welfare of pensioners.
• Sports:
• Indian squash player Velavan Senthilkumar won his eighth Professional Squash Association (PSA) tour title at the Batch Open Challenger event in Paris on April 29, 2024. He defeated French player Melvil Scianimanico in straight games, scoring 11-6, 11-9, 11-6.
• Important Days:
• International Jazz Day, celebrated on April 30th, is a day declared by UNESCO to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people globally. The idea was proposed by jazz pianist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock. The day is marked with concerts, jam sessions, workshops, and more, culminating in an All-Star Global Concert.
• Appointments:
• Dr. Krishna M Ella, co-founder and executive Chairman of Bharat Biotech, took over as the President of the Indian Vaccine Manufacturers Association (IVMA) on April 29, 2024. His term will last for two years, until 2026. He succeeded Adar C Poonawala, who held the post from 2019 to 2024.
• Professors A Ganesh Kumar and Debasis Kundu were appointed as members of the National Statistical Commission (NSC) on April 27, 2024. A Ganesh Kumar is a professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research in Mumbai, and Debasis Kundu is a professor at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
• Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Mohammed Ishaq Dar, was appointed as the country’s Deputy Prime Minister on April 29, 2024. The appointment was made by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during their visit to Saudi Arabia.
• Sarvadanand Barnwal, an Indian Statistical Service (ISS) officer of the 2010 batch, has been appointed as Director in the Department of Land Resources. The appointment was made on Friday, April 26, 2024, through an order issued by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT).
• Awards & Honours:
• Sana, the AI news anchor developed by the India Today Group, won the 2024 Global Media Award by the International News Media Association (INMA) for leading the transformation of the newsroom with AI technology. The award was announced on April 27, 2024
• Obituaries:
• V Sreenivasa Prasad, a veteran BJP MP from Karnataka and former Union Minister, passed away on April 29, 2024. He was 76 years old and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Bengaluru.

Questions:

Q.1 Who won the eighth Professional Squash Association (PSA) tour title at the Batch Open Challenger event in Paris on April 29, 2024?
a. Melvil Scianimanico
b. Saurav Ghosal
c. Velavan Senthilkumar
d. Ramit Tandon
Q.2 Who were appointed as members of the National Statistical Commission (NSC) on April 27, 2024?
a. A Ganesh Kumar and Debasis Kundu
b. A Ganesh Kumar and Ravi Kumar
c. Debasis Kundu and Ravi Kumar
d. None of the above