Daily GK Updates - 10th April, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Guwahati Railway Station first to get ISO Certification in India :  The Guwahati Railway Station (in Assam) has become the first ever railway station in the Indian Railways to get an ISO certification (ISO-14001) from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for “providing passenger amenities in a clean and green environment.” Guwahati Railway Station is ISO-14001, which is for Environment Management System as per international norms which were upgraded in 2015.In April 2017, Guwahati railway station became the first railway station to run entirely on solar power.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. 10th April: World Homoeopathy Day :  The World Homoeopathy Day 2019 is being observed across the world on 10th April to commemorate the birth anniversary (264th) of the founder of Homoeopathy (Dr Christian Fredrich Samuel Hahnemann). On this occasion, The Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy(CCRH) has organised a two-day convention at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi. Homoeopathy is a system of medicine (the second most widely used system) was developed by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in Germany in 1796.

2.  17th MENA World Economic Forum held in Jordan :  The World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 2019 took place in Jordan.The 17th WEF meeting in the region called for united efforts to address the most pressing challenges of the area. The forum assembled more than 1,000 government, business and civil society leaders from more than 50 countries.

OTHER UPDATES:

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:

1. IMF Cuts India GDP Growth Forecast To 7.3% For 2019 :  According to The International Monetary Fund (IMF) report, India’s economy projected to grow at 7.3% in 2019 and 7.5% in 2020. In 2018, India's growth rate was 7.1% as against China's 6.6 per cent. All the estimates are 0.2 percentage points less than its previous assessment in January.

BANKING/FINANCE:

1. SBI cuts interest rates on home loans :  The State Bank of India (SBI) has re-priced home loans up to Rs 30 lakh by 10 basis points. Accordingly, the interest rate on housing loans of such size will now be in the range of 8.6 to 8.9 per cent. The bank has also lowered its lending rates by a nominal five basis points across all tenors.In a statement, the SBI said the new one-year marginal cost of funds-based lending rate is down to 8.50 per cent now from 8.55 per cent. This is the first reduction by SBI in over 17 months.

2. Karnam Sekar to take over as MD, CEO of Indian Overseas Bank from July 1 :  According to Union Government, Karnam Sekar (MD and CEO of the erstwhile Dena Bank) will take over as MD and CEO of Indian Overseas Bank from 1st July 2019.He will work as officer on special duty and whole-time director with IOB till the end of June this year. R A Sankara Narayanan (former MD and CEO of Vijaya Bank) will move to Canara Bank in the same position.

SPORTS:

1. Graham Reid appointed new Indian men's hockey team chief coach :  Former Australian field hockey player Graham Reid (54-years) has been appointed as the men's national team chief coach till the end of 2020. Graham Reid was a member of the team that won the silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He was ratified after Hockey India received necessary clearance from the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

2. Vikramjit Sahney elected as President of ICC India :  Vikramjit Singh Sahney has been elected as the new president of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) India. He is the Chairman of SUN Group. ICC India is one of the most active chapters of the ICC, the world's apex business organisation.

3. Shot putter Manpreet banned for dope flunk :  Asian champion shot putter Manpreet Kaur (29-years) has been banned for four years by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for flunking four dope tests in 2017. According to an order of the anti-doping disciplinary panel (ADDP) of the NADA, the period of suspension would begin from 20th July 2017. She has the option of filing an appeal before the Anti-Doping Appeal Panel. She had set the national record of 18.86m at Jinhua.