Current Affairs Today 13th April 2019 | Current Affairs News

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Daily Current Affairs PDF of 13th April 2019

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

WORLD ALLERGY WEEK

• World Allergy Week (7-13 April), an annual World Allergy Organization initiative to raise awareness of, and advocate for, better management and prevention of allergies and related diseases such as asthma.
• With 9 out of 10 people on the planet breathing polluted air, known to both cause and exacerbate allergies, this is an important initiative.

USEFUL INFO
Theme 2019	The Global Problem of Food Allergy

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

Hong Kong’s stock market overtakes Japan to be world’s third largest

• The city’s equity market has overtaken Japan to be the world’s third largest in value, behind only the U.S and mainland China, courtesy of a rebound in Hong Kong stocks after their worst year since 2011.
• Hong Kong’s market cap was $5.78 trillion as of Tuesday, compared with $5.76 trillion for Japan, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

Gargi Kaul appointed Secretary, Defence Finance

• The Centre has appointed Gargi Kaul, officer of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS), as Secretary, Defence Finance.
• Kaul was earlier Financial Advisor, Defence Services in the Defence Ministry.

Najma Akhtar becomes Jamia Millia Islamia’s first woman vice chancellor

• National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration Professor Najma Akhtar was appointed Vice Chancellor of New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia, becoming the first woman to head the 99-year-old university.
• Akhtar is the head of the Department of Training and Capacity Building in Education at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration in New Delhi. She has been appointed Jamia vice chancellor for five years.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: FESTIVAL

Baisakhi harvest festival

• The festival of harvest Baisakhi is being celebrated with traditional enthusiasm in the northern part of the country.
• Baisakhi is celebrated with much fanfare in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
• Traditional folk dances are performed on this day.
• Baisakhi also commemorates the formation of Khalsa Panth by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Russia honours PM Modi with highest civilian award

• Russia has conferred Indian PM Narendra Modi with the country’s highest civilian award.
• The Indian Prime Minister has been honoured with the Order of Saint Andrew The Apostle for exceptional services in promoting special & privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India.

USEFUL INFO
Russia’s Capital	Moscow
Currency	Russian Rouble
President	Vladimir Putin

India to be Guest of Honour country at ADIBF 2019

• UAE has announced that India will be the Guest of Honour country at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, ADIBF 2019, to be held from 24th to 30th of this month.
• The fair aims to highlight the UAE’s rich heritage, showcasing its authenticity and modernity, as well as its cultural and literary output.
• India’s participation in the fair is expected to attract significant increase in the number of visitors with various events and activities which will be held throughout the entire duration of ADIBF.
• The Indian Pavilion will host Indian writers, authors and literary scholars who will serve as ambassadors for the literature and art of their country.

GIC India CMD Alice G. Vaidyan wins ETPrime ‘Woman CEO of the Year’ award

• Alice G. Vaidyan, Chairman and Managing Director, General Insurance Corporation of India received ‘CEO of the Year’ award at the inaugural edition of ETPrime Women Leadership Awards (ETPWLA) in Mumbai.
• Hailing the virtues of leadership and success, ETPWLA is here to set a benchmark of success for women in business and inspire a million others to come forward and wield the baton of excellence.
• The awards recognise women leaders who have helped create a new and lasting template for leadership.

‘Dost Education’ an Indian startup wins National Billion Edtech Prize 2019

• UK-based company Varkey foundation announced Next Billion Edtech prize 2019 and an Indian startup is one amongst three winners. ‘Dost Education,’ a USA based startup run by two Indian ladies Sindhuja Jeyabal and Sneha Seth has bagged $25000 as the prize money.
• The two other winners, who are going home with the same prize money are Tanzania based company Ubongo and Praxilabs from Egypt.
• The event took place at Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF) in UK.

2 West Bengal government schemes win UN awards

• Two schemes of the West Bengal government for skill development and distribution of bi-cycles to students have won the prestigious World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) awards of the United Nations.
• The schemes are “Utkarsh Bangla” and “Sabooj Sathi”.
• The “Utkarsh Bangla” project aims at creating a pool of skilled candidates who are industry ready, while under the “Sabooj Sathi” scheme, bi-cycles are distributed to students between class IX and XII studying in government run and government aided schools and madrashas of the state.

USEFUL INFO
West Bengal Capital	Kolkata
CM	Mamata Banerjee
Governor	Keshari Nath Tripathi

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MERGER AND ACQUISITION

PayU acquires digital financial security firm Wibmo for USD 70 mn

• Digital payments facilitator PayU has acquired US-based financial technology firm Wibmo for USD 70 million (about Rs 484 crore), that will help the company scale-up its business.
• Under the agreement, PayU and Wibmo businesses will continue to run separately.
• Wibmo, a digital payment security and mobile payment technologies firm, will continue to operate and serve all of its clients as a wholly-owned subsidiary of PayU.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING

HDFC Bank ranked No. 1 in India by Forbes

• HDFC Bank has been at the forefront in leveraging technology to give its 43 million customers a superior banking experience.
• Apart from HDFC Bank, it was another private-owned lender ICICI Bank which took the second spot in Forbes list for India. At third rank was DBS, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank and IDFC Bank taking fourth and fifth spot.
• Banks like Syndicate Bank, PNB, Allahabad Bank, Vijaya Bank and Axis Bank were also in top 10.

USEFUL INFO
HDFC Bank CEO	Aditya Puri
Headquarters	Mumbai
Tagline	We Understand Your World

As per Air Quality in India 2014-2019’ report, Kanpur ranked 1st as the most polluted city

• The quality of air in Varanasi, Prime Minister Modi’s 2014 Lok Sabha constituency, is positioned 3rd on the WHO’s (World Health Organisation) list of 15 most polluted cities in the world, by the ‘Political Leaders Position and Action on Air Quality in India 2014-2019’ report, released by Climate Trends. Kanpur (in Uttar Pradesh) is the most polluted city in the world and is positioned 1 on the list.
• 14 of the 15 most polluted cities in the world (mentioned by World Health Organisation (WHO) are in India. Out of them, 4 are in Uttar Pradesh.
• WHO’s report states that Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh is witnessing a rise in the number of people suffering from allergies and respiratory problems due to huge amount of construction in the city.Faridabad in Haryana is in 2nd position after Kanpur.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE

VRC launched to boost indigenous warship design capabilities

• A new state-of-the-art, Virtual Reality Centre (VRC) to provide a major boost to indigenous warship design capabilities of the Navy was inaugurated by Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba in New Delhi.
• The VRC at the the Directorate of Naval Design (Surface Ship Group), seeks to also provide impetus to ‘self-reliance and greater fillip’ to warship construction under the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Indian government.