4th October 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Today (4th October 2016) is World Animal Day.
• This is  is an international day of action for animal rights and welfare celebrated annually on October 4, the feast day of Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.
• Theme of the year 2016 : I care about animals

MOUs & Agreements

• India and Singapore today signed three agreements, following delegation-level talks headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. 

• Two of the agreements were in the area of skill development and one in industrial property.
• Note : The Singapore PM is in India on a five-day bilateral visit.

National Affairs

• Jharkhand has become the first state in the country to implement Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in Kerosene Scheme. 
• The scheme is being implemented in four identified districts of the state from 1st of October 2017. 
• These districts are Chatra, Hazaribagh, Khunti and Jamtara. 
• The Karnataka Assembly today passed a resolution unanimously to release 10,000 cusecs Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu to help the latter state's farmers meet their crops and drinking requirements. 
• This came after the Supreme Court's warning to Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu by 2 pm on Tuesday or else it would face 'wrath of the law'. 

New Appointments

• Data analytics startup Mu Sigma's Founder Dhiraj Rajaram has taken over as the CEO from his estranged wife Ambiga Subramanian and bought back the shares held by her. 
• Subramanian will continue to be a board member in a non-executive capacity. 
• Actor and BJP leader Roopa Ganguly, who had played the role of mythological character Draupadi in the hit television series Mahabharat, was today nominated to the Rajya Sabha. 
• Ganguly was nominated by President Pranab Mukherjee to the seat vacated by cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who resigned recently following differences with the BJP leadership.

Science & Technology

• India's latest communication satellite GSAT-18 will be launched on October 5, 2016 from Kourou, French Guiana.

General Knowledge

• The World's first artificial satellite Sputnik I, launched by USSR 59 years ago on this day (4th October) in the year 1957, was about the size of a beach ball, measuring 58 centimetres in diameter. 
• Carrying a radio transmitter, the satellite transmitted a signal to Earth for 23 days. 

Awards & Honors

• The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics are shared by British trio of physicists working in US universities. 
• The prize goes to David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz.
• Film-maker and elephant researcher Prajna Chowta has been appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite (Knight in the National Order of Merit) by the French government. 
• She has been conferred with the France’s one of the highest civilian recognitions in recognition of a life devoted to caring for wild Asian elephants.

Business & Economy

• The Reserve bank of India has reduced the key policy rate or the repo rate by 25 bps to 6.25 per cent in the fourth bimonthly policy review announced on Tuesday.
• This is the first rate decision made by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the bank, which is headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel and comprises six members.
• New Changes in Policy Rates :
• Repo Rate - 6.25% earlier it was 6.50 %
• Reverse Repo Rate - 5.75 % earlier it was 6.00%
• MSF -  6.75% earlier it was 7.00%
• Bank Rate - 6.75 % earlier it was 7.00%
• The Pound today dipped around 0.6% to $1.276 in early trading, hitting its lowest level since June 1985. 
• The currency traded around 15% weaker than before the 'Brexit' vote. 
• The pound earlier hit a three-year low against the euro. 
• This came after UK Prime Minister Theresa May set a March deadline for exiting the European Union.
• The State bank of India has became the first Indian bank to open a branch in Myanmar's capital Yangon.
• This is SBI's 54th foreign branch and extends its presence in 37 countries through 198 offices.

Read more Daily Current Affairs updates from here

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