Daily Current Affairs, 04th April 2019

1) International Mine Awareness Day: 4 April

•International Mine Awareness Day (IMAD) is organized across the world on 4th of April to foster the establishment and development of national mine-action capacities in countries. The Theme for IMAD 2019 is “United Nations Promotes SDGs – Safe Ground – Safe Home”. 

•On 8 December 2005, the General Assembly declared that 4 April of each year shall be observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

2) Chicago Creates History, Elects Lori Lightfoot As 1st Black-Woman Mayor

•Chicago has created history by electing an African-American woman as its mayor for the first time. Lori Lightfoot, a 56-year-old former federal prosecutor and practicing lawyer won the city’s mayoral race by a huge margin. Lightfoot will take over office from Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

•Lightfoot’s primary proposals include increasing access to affordable housing, creating an office of public safety to reduce crime and reform policing, and pushing through a real estate transfer tax to help combat homelessness.

3) Vikram Patel Awarded The Prestigious John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award

•The Gairdner Foundation announced the 2019 Canada Gairdner Award laureates, recognizing Goa and Boston-based Vikram Patel, Ph.D., F. Med. Sci., for his research career raising the global profile of mental health problems.

•Prof Patel has been awarded 2019, John Dirks, Canada Gairdner Global Health Awardfor his world-leading research in global mental health, generating knowledge on the burden and determinants of mental health problems in low-and-middle-income countries.

4) UAE Honours PM Modi With Highest Civilian Award Zayed Medal

•The UAE honoured PM Narendra Modi with the prestigious Zayed Medal for giving a “big boost’ to bilateral strategic ties. President of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan conferred PM Modi with the award, the highest decoration awarded to kings, presidents, and heads of states.

5) 1st Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement Released: Repo Rate Reduced to 6%

•On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at its meeting today decided to:

1.Reduce the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points to 6.0% from 6.25% with immediate effect.

2.Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.75%, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.25%. 

3.GDP growth for 2019-20 is projected at 7.2%.

•The MPC also decided to maintain the neutral monetary policy stance. These decisions are in consonance with the objective of achieving the medium-term target for consumer price index (CPI) inflation of 4%. The next meeting of the MPC is scheduled during June 3, 4 and 6, 2019.

6) RBI Sets Limits For Ways and Means Advances

•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in consultation with the government of India has set the limits for Ways and Means Advances (WMA) for the first half of the financial year 2019-20 (April 2019 to September 2019) at Rs 75000 crore. The Reserve Bank may trigger fresh floatation of market loans when the Government of India utilizes 75% of the WMA limit.

7) WhatsApp Launches Tip Line To Curb Fake News

•WhatsApp launched an India-focused fact-checking feature to combat fake news and rumours starting with the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.

•Developed in collaboration with India-based media skilling startup PROTO, the tip line feature will help create a database of rumours to study misinformation during elections as part of a research project commissioned and assisted by WhatsApp.