DAILY GK 26 APRIL 2019


DAILY GK 26 APRIL 2019
1. STATE BANK OF INDIA LAUNCHED INDIA’S FIRST ‘GREEN CAR LOAN’
State Bank of India has launched India’s first ‘Green Car Loan’ to encourage customers to buy electric vehicles. The new scheme ‘Green Car Loan’ will offer the loan at 20 basis points lower than the interest rate on the existing car loan schemes.
SBI has already notified 100% migration to Electric Vehicles by 2030 in order to decrease carbon footprints, thus being in line with the government’s pledge of ensuring 30% EVs on road by 2030.

2. UAE BASED ETIHAD AIRWAYS BECOMES FIRST MAJOR AIRLINE TO OPERATE PLASTIC-FREE FLIGHT
Etihad Airways, UAE based flag carrier, has become the first major airline in the Gulf region to operate a flight without any single-use plastics on board. The objective is to raise awareness about pollution. Etihad Airways has pledged to reduce single-use plastic usage by 80% across the entire organization by the end of 2022.

3. RBI SELLS ENTIRE STAKE IN NHB, NABARD TO GOVERNMENT FOR INR 1,470 CRORE
The Reserve Bank of India has divested its entire stake held in National Housing Bank, and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development to the government, which now holds 100% in these entities.
The transactions were completed in February and March. RBI had 100% shareholding in NHB, which was divested for INR 1,450 crore. RBI had 72.5% stake in Nabard, out of which 71.5%, worth INR 1,430 crore was divested in October 2010 and the residual shareholding was divested in February 2019 for INR 20 crore.


4. DAWN JOURNALIST CYRIL ALMEIDA NAMED IPI’S 71ST WORLD PRESS FREEDOM HERO IN 2019
Dawn editor and Columnist Cyril Almeida from Pakistan have won the International Press Institute’s World Press Freedom Hero award in 2019. He won this award for his “critical” and “tenacious coverage” of the civil-military relations in Pakistan.
MadaMasr, an Egyptian news site, won Free Media Pioneer Award 2019 of the IPI and International Media Support. Both awards will be presented in Geneva, Switzerland on 5th June, World Intellectual Property Day 2019.

5. SALIM, HELEN AND BHANDARKAR GET DEENANATH MANGESHKAR AWARD 2019
The prestigious Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award 2019 was awarded to National Award-winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, popular scriptwriter Salim Khan and dancing diva Helen.
The event was organized by Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan charitable trust, Pune. It aims to encourage legends from the fields of music, drama, art and social work.
Complete list of Awardees:
  • Lifetime Award – Salim Khan.
  • Special Award for the contribution to Indian cinema – Madhur Bhandarkar.
  • Special Award – Helen.
  • Vagvilasini Award – VasantAbaji Dahake.
  • Mohan Wagh Award (Best Drama of the Year 2019) – SoyareSakal.
  • Anandmayee Puraskar– Pandit Suresh Talwalkar.
  • Award for music and art – Classical dancer Sucheta Bhide-Chapekar.

6. DR. BENNY ANTONY, CONFERRED WITH THE NATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AWARD
Dr. Benny Antony has been honoured with the National Intellectual Property Award, 2019 in the category of Top Individual for Patents and Commercialization. Dr. Antony has over 80 international patents to his credit.
Along with the National IP Award, the Intellectual Property Office India and the World Intellectual Property Organisation have jointly honoured Antony with the ‘WIPO Medal for Inventors’.

7. FORMER ARMY CHIEF GEN. (RETD.) DALBIR SUHAG APPOINTED AS HIGH COMMISSIONER OF INDIA IN SEYCHELLES
General (Retd.) Dalbir Singh Suhag has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Seychelles. He will soon be taking over the new position. General Suhag was the 26th Army Chief of the Indian Army from July 2014 to December 2016.

8. ASIAN ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS: INDIA FINISHES FOURTH
Asian Athletics Championships 2019 held at Doha in Qatar. It was the 23rd edition of the Championships. India ended at the fourth spot in the medals tally with 3 Gold, 7 Silver and 7 Bronze. Bahrain topped the table with 11 Gold, 7 Silver and 4 Bronze. China was second while Japan was third.
Tejinder Pal Singh Toor (Shot put), Gomathi Marimuthu(800 metres) and P. U. Chitra (1500 metres) won gold for India. India had won 29 medals – 12 Gold, 5 Silver and 12 Bronze in the last edition in Bhubaneswar in 2017, topping the medal tally for the first time.

9. WORLD MALARIA DAY OBSERVED ON 25TH APRIL
Every year on 25 April, people around the globe observe World Malaria Day to raise awareness and funds for the treatment and prevention of the disease.
The theme for the day is “Zero malaria starts with me” and it is being hosted by the World Health Organisation.