14th April 2017 Important Daily Current Affairs

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Dear Great Ambitionists, here are today's (14th April 2017) Important Current Affairs updates. Happy Reading :)

Daily Current Affairs of 14th April 2017

International Current Affairs

• Good Friday, a Christian holiday which commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary, is being observed around the world.
• The US today dropped a Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), the largest non-nuclear weapon in its arsenal, targetting Islamic State militants in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. 
  
• The MOAB, which is also known as the "mother of all bombs", is a 21,600-pound GPS-guided munition and has never been used in combat.
• Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government cooperate with its probe into the Idlib chemical attack.
• It was the eighth time during Syria's six-year civil war that Russia used its veto power to shield Assad's government. 
• Note : Bolivia joined Russia in going against the resolution, while China, Kazakhstan, and Ethiopia abstained.

National Current Affairs

• Nation pays rich tribute to Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar on his 126th Birth Anniversary.
• Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today announced that for the first time in Indian Railways' history, Habibganj station in Bhopal has been handed over to a private firm to be operated by it. 
• The station building will be developed in line with airport terminals, he added.
• Prabhu clarified that trains at the station will still be run by the Railways.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced that women do not have to change their maiden names on passport after marriage. 
• Modi announced this at the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Indian Merchant Chamber's ladies wing.
• Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath today announced that there will be no holiday in the state schools on birth anniversaries of great personalities.
• "Instead children would be taught about the great personalities and the schools will function as per routine," he said.
• Gujarat Governor OP Kohli today approved the bill proposing life term for the slaughter of cows, calves, bulls and bullocks and up to ten years imprisonment for transporting beef in the state. 
• Furthermore, the bill also proposes the vehicles used for transportation of beef shall be confiscated permanently, while the present law allows their confiscation for six months.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation the 3,300 MW Koradi Thermal Power Plant at Nagpur today.
• The much-delayed power plant will help boost the state's power utilisation and help farmers draw power at flexible hours as per their requirements.
• Modi also laid the foundation stones for the proposed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
• The advertising industry watchdog Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has come up with a set of guidelines for celebrities endorsing products. 
• “Celebrities should do due diligence to ensure that all description, claims and comparisons made in the advertisements they appear in or endorse are capable of being objectively ascertained and capable of substantiation and should not mislead or appear deceptive,” ASCI said.

Awards & Honors

• Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai today received honorary Canadian citizenship and praised the country's openness towards refugees under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 
• She is only the sixth person to receive honorary Canadian citizenship.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched BHIM-Aadhaar platform, the merchant interface of the BHIM App, that will allow people to make payments through the fingerprint scanner. 
• The service will use Aadhaar numbers linked to bank accounts, and payments will be finalised only after customers keep their finger on the merchant's biometric machine connected to the app through a smartphone.
• The Income Tax department is planning to investigate over 60,000 individuals under its second phase of 'Operation Clean Money' launched today in order to detect the flow of black money into the banks after demonetisation. 
• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that it has detected undisclosed income over ₹9,334 crore between November 9, 2016 and February 28, 2017.
• There are 10 Indian states whose Gross Domestic Product (GDP) matches with that of countries.
• The most populous state in the country Uttar Pradesh has a GDP of $553 billion, which is similar to Algeria. 
• Tamil Nadu's GDP is similar to that of the United Arab Emirates while Maharashtra's GDP of $961 billion is similar to that of Poland.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened the PCA (Prompt Corrective Action) plan for Banks which outlays the ways to deal with lenders who do not comply with the efficiency yardsticks. 
• It is done with the aim to align them with international norms. 
• PCA will have three threshold levels, breach of any one of them will lead to restriction of some normal bank activities. 
• Banks will be supervised for capital, asset quality, profitability and leverage.
• The PCA will be revised after every 3 years.

Sports Current Affairs

• 7th Junior National Hockey Championship began today at Bhopal. 
• 86 teams will take part in one month long event.

Read more Daily Current Affairs updates from here

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