Daily GK Updates - 16th April, 2017

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Sale of whiteners, thinners to minors banned in Delhi: Juvenile Justice Board on Saturday ordered the Delhi government to issue a notification to ban the sale of whiteners, thinners and vulcanised solutions to children below the age of 18 years to check drug abuse. The board further asked the government to assign one de-addiction centre per district, observing that the existing centres in the national capital region are overcrowded.

2. Union Government launches Aadhaar Seeding Application: Bandaru Dattatreya, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment launched Aadhaar Seeding Application. The Application aims efficient service delivery and widening the reach of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) benefits. The Application was launched at the 217th special meeting of the Central Board of Employees Provident Fund (CBEPF/EPFO) in New Delhi.

3. Cab safety measures for women included in new Taxi Policy Guidelines: The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has recommended the safety measures concerning safety of women commuters availing of cab services. These measures have been recommended by the Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, WCD Minister, to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping (MoRTH). The Union WCD Minister has launched a hashtag, #HelpMeWCD, where any woman or child facing harassment/ violence can directly report their cases by tweeting.

4. MoU between NSFDC & Development Commissioner (Handlooms) signed: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC) and the Development Commissioner (Handlooms) in New Delhi. The MoU was signed between the NSFDC under the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and Development and Commissioner (Handlooms) under the Union Ministry of Textiles.The objective of this MoU is to help Scheduled Caste weavers and their families by promoting the production and marketing of high value, quality handlooms products at Block level Cluster in various States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Odisha.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. US successfully tests new nuclear gravity bomb: The US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has announced that it along with the US Air Force successfully field-tested a modernised gravity nuclear bomb B61-12 on March 14 at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada. The test was intended to evaluate the weapon's "non-nuclear functions" and the aircraft's capability to deliver the weapon, NNSA said.

OTHER UPDATES:

BANKING, FINANCE & ECONOMY:

1. Mukulita Vijayawargiya takes charge as Whole Time Member of IBBI: Mukulita Vijayawargiya  took charge as Whole Time Member of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) in New Delhi. Vijayawargiya will look after Administrative Law Wing of IBBI. She will also look after Information Technology, Limited Insolvency Examination, National Insolvency Examination, Finance and Accounts and Communication.

2. RBI issues new framework for bad loans: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a new set of enabling provisions titled ‘Revised Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework’ to resolve the problem of banks mounting non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans. Under the revised framework, if a bank crosses the third level of risk threshold (where a bank’s common equity tier I capital falls below the threshold of 3.625 per cent by 3.125 per cent, or more) it will either be amalgamated or merged, or taken over by another entity.

3. Department of Post and SBI tie-up: They have tied up to promote SBI buddy e-wallet and POS machines through Post Office counters.

OBITUARIES:

4. Pioneering HIV/AIDS researcher Mark Wainberg passes away: Mark A. Wainberg was a Canadian HIV/AIDS researcher and HIV/AIDS activist. He was the Director of the McGill University AIDS Centre at the Montreal Jewish General Hospital and Professor of Medicine and of Microbiology at McGill University. 

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