Daily GK Updates : 3rd April, 2017

­­­­NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Government launches BS-IV grade fuels:  Government has formally launched Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) grade transportation fuel across the country to keep carbon emission in check. The launch came days after the Supreme Court banned sale and registration of BS-III vehicles from 1 April, 2017. It sets target of ushering in BS-VI fuel by April 2020 by skipping BS-V fuel.  All state-run oil marketing companies will provide BS-IV-compliant fuel at their 53,500 retail fuel stations across the country.

2. PM Narendra Modi inaugurates India’s longest road tunnel in Jammu & Kashmir: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Chenani-Nashri Tunnel, country’s longest road tunnel that links Kashmir Valley with Jammu by an all-weather route. The 9-km-long tunnel passes through the lower Himalayan mountain range on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway 44. It cuts the distance between Jammu and Srinagar to around 250 km from the current 350 km.

3. Myanmar becomes 7th member of SASEC: Myanmar became the 7th member of South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program of Asian Development Bank (ADB). It was officially made member at the SASEC Finance Ministers’ meeting held in New Delhi and chaired by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

4. Government launches PowerTex India scheme for powerlooms: The Union Ministry of Textiles has launched PowerTex India, a three-year comprehensive scheme for Powerloom Sector Development. The PowerTex India scheme aims to boost common infrastructure and modernisation of the powerloom sector in the country.

5. 19th commonwealth forestry conference to begin in Uttarakhand: Today, 19th Commonwealth Forestry Conference (CFC) 2017 has been inaugurated by the Uttarakhand Governor, K.K. Paul at Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The 5-day conference is being organized on the theme ‘Forests for Prosperity and Posterity’. The international conference is being organized in association with the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and Commonwealth Forestry Association of UK.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Myanmar becomes the seventh member of SASEC: Myanmar has become the 7th member of South Asia sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It was officially made member at the SASEC Finance Ministers’ meeting held in New Delhi and chaired by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

2. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak Visits India: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on a six day visit to India was given the ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Narendra Modi visited Malaysia in November 2015.

3. Germany '1st NATO member' to launch cyber command:  Germany is the first NATO state to launch a “self-contained” cyber command unit designed to shield IT and weapons systems from growing attacks. The Bundeswehr’s Cyber and Information Space (CIR) boasts a status equal to that of the army, navy, and air force.
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced the creation of the cyber command two years ago in a bid to protect the military from mounting online attacks.
About Germany: Western European country
Capital: Berlin
Currency: Euro
President: Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Chancellor: Angela Merkel

4. 1st-ever civilian nuclear-powered submarine designed in Russia: Russian scientists are developing first ever civilian nuclear-powered submarine to conduct seismological surveys and search for natural resources under ice in the Arctic, the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects (RFARP) said.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS:

1.  P.V. Sindhu lifts India Open badminton title 2017: The Rio Olympic silver-medallist Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu (21-year) has defeated top seed Carolina Marin (Spain) in straight sets 21-19, 21-16 at the India Open badminton championship 2017 at the Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi. Sindhu had last defeated Marin in the BWF Super Series in Dubai last year. Earlier, Sindhu entered into the final after beaten Saina Nehwal (India). Carolina Marin defeated the Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) in the other semifinals.

2. Roger Federer wins Miami Open 2017: Swiss professional tennis player Roger Federer has won Miami open 2017, defeating Rafael Nadal (Spain) in the final 6–3, 6–4 at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida, United States.

It is Federer's 26th Masters 1000 singles title of his career and the 91 singles title overall.

3. Paes wins the first title of the season in Challenger tournament: Indian professional tennis player Leander Paes & Canadian Adil Shamasdin has won the first title of the season Leon Challenger Tour tennis tournament's men's doubles trophy after a straight-set win in Mexico. They defeated  Luca Margaroli (Switzerland) and Caro Zampieri (Brazil) 6-1, 6-4 in the title clash.

With this win, Paes clinched his 20th ATP Challenger title.

BUSINESS & FINANCE:

4.  Five State Banks & Bharatiya Mahila Bank merge with SBI: The five associates banks (State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore) and the Bharatiya Mahila Bank became part of the State Bank of India. Now, SBI catapulting the country's largest lender to among the top 50 banks in the world. The total customer base of the bank has reached 37 crores with a branch network of  around 24,000 and nearly 59,000 ATMs across the country. The merged entity will have a deposit base of more than 26 lakh crore rupees and advance levels of 50 lakh crore rupees.

5. Tax evasion over Rs. 5-crore will be non-bailable offense under new GST regime: A tax evasion of over five crore rupees under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime would be non-bailable offense. The union government has set a target date of 1st of July for roll-out of the GST, which will subsume central excise, service tax, VAT, and other local levies. Cognizable offense means a serious category of offenses in respect of which a police officer has the authority to make an arrest without a warrant and to start an investigation with or without the permission of a court. The Central GST (CGST) and State GST (SGST) Act have empowered the officers from Police, Railways, Customs, village officers, and any other government officers to assist CGST and SGST officers under the GST regime.

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