Current Affairs 18th April 2019

Dear Aspirants,

The General Awareness Section plays an important role in scoring well above cut off marks in any competitive exam. The Banking Awareness and Static Awareness questions asked in the General Awareness Section are based on Current Affairs mainly. So you need to prepare well this section to score good marks. Here is the Daily GK Update to get you acquainted with the top events that made the headlines today!

National News

1. Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific 2019 Congress Held in New Delhi

Current Affairs 18th April 2019 | Daily GK Update |_3.1

i. The Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific (RCAP) 2019 Congress is being organised by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and hosted by South Delhi Municipal Corporation in New Delhi, India.

ii. The event offered a combination of high-level plenaries and technical sessions on the implementation and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and the New Urban Agenda of 2016.

International News

2. Nepal and Sri Lanka Launches Its First Satellite From USA

Current Affairs 18th April 2019 | Daily GK Update |_4.1

i. Nepal successfully launched its first satellite NepaliSat-1 into space. The satellite developed by the Nepalese scientists was launched from Virginia in the United States. It is a low orbit satellite which will be in the 400-km distance from the Earth’s surface.

ii. Sri Lanka’s first satellite ‘Raavana-1’ was also launched into space, marking Sri Lanka’s entry into the global space age.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for LIC AAO Exam:

Nepal Prime Minister: K P Sharma Oli, Capital: Kathmandu.

3. Saudi Arabia To Host G20 Summit In 2020

Current Affairs 18th April 2019 | Daily GK Update |_5.1

i. Saudi Arabia announced that it will be hosting the G20 summit in November 2020 in its capital Riyadh. This would be the first G20 summit in the Arab world.

ii. Last year’s G20 meeting was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had represented the Kingdom.

Banking/Business News

4. Fincare Small Finance Bank Awarded the Celent Model Bank 2019 Award

Current Affairs 18th April 2019 | Daily GK Update |_6.1

i. Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has partnered with M1Xchange Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) platform for MSME bill discounting.

ii. TReDS is a digital platform to support micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to get their bills financed at a competitive rate through an auction where multiple registered financiers can participate.

iii. The main purpose of TReDS platform is to facilitate smooth flow of liquidity in the system and make finance available at a competitive rate.

5. CRISIL Board Gives Nod For Transfer Of Ratings Business To New Subsidiary

Current Affairs 18th April 2019 | Daily GK Update |_7.1

i. CRISIL Ltd, a diversified global analytics company, will transfer its rating business to its proposed new wholly-owned subsidiary. The board of CRISIL gave the nod for the transfer, which is being done to comply with SEBI norms of 2018.

ii. Earlier, SEBI had modified its regulations for credit rating agencies and mandated the segregation of rating and non-ratings businesses of credit-rating agencies.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For LIC AAO Mains 2019:

CRISIL was formerly known as Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited.

6. ETMONEY Becomes India’s First Comprehensive Financial Services App To Integrate With UPI

Current Affairs 18th April 2019 | Daily GK Update |_8.1

i. ETMONEY India’s largest app for financial services has integrated with Unified Payment Interface (UPI) as a payment method. The reason for this is to double its monthly user base by the end of 2019.
ii. This integration will simplify the mutual fund payment for millions of ETMONEY users. ETMONEY is owned by Times Internet which is a part of the Times Group.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for LIC AAO Exam:

UPI is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) which facilitates inter-bank transactions.

Ranks and Reports

7. Mukesh Ambani Among TIME’s List Of 100 Most Influential People

Current Affairs 18th April 2019 | Daily GK Update |_9.1

i. The Time 100 Most Influential People 2019 list has been released, naming the world’s most influential pioneers, leaders, titans, artists, and icons of the year. Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and public-interest litigators Arundhati Katju and Menaka Guruswamy, who spearheaded a historic legal battle for LGBTQ rights in India, are the Indian names that appeared in the list.

ii. The famous names in the list include Indian-American comedian and TV host Hasan Minhaj, US President Donald Trump, Pope Francis, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistan PM Imran Khan, and iconic golfer Tiger Woods.