NSE launches Nifty Equity Savings Index for mutual funds

  • The India Index Services & Products Limited, a subsidiary of NSE, introduced Nifty Equity Savings Index.
  • It will serve as a benchmark for equity savings funds offered by mutual fund houses.
  • The Nifty Equity Savings Index is built to function as follows: a 35% exposure to Nifty 50 Total Return Index; a 30% exposure to equity arbitrage (long position in Nifty 50 Total Return Index and equivalent short position in Nifty 50 Futures Index); a 30% exposure to Nifty Short Duration Debt Index, and a 5% exposure to Nifty 1D Rate Index.
  • The index is calculated on an end-of-day basis.
  • The base date for the index is April 1, 2005 and base value is 1,000.

CSIR wins National Intellectual Property (IP) Award 2018

  • The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has bagged the National Intellectual Property (IP) Award 2018.
  • CSIR won this award in the category Top R&D Institution / Organization for Patents and Commercialization.
  • Suresh Prabhu, Hon’ble Minister, Commerce and Industry, Government of India, presented the award.
  • CSIR is ranked 9th in the world amongst the 1,207 government institutions. When considered the 5,250 institutions, CSIR ranks 75th in the world.
  • The National Intellectual Property (IP) Award is given out by Indian Intellectual Property Office, every year on the occasion of World IP Day.

DAC approves NAG missile, long range guns for Indian army

  • The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved the purchase of DRDO-designed NAG Missile System for the Army and long-range guns for the Navy.
  • The thirteen 127mm calibre guns for the Navy from BAE Systems of the United States will cost over Rs. 3,000 crore.
  • The NAG missile system will cost Rs. 524 crore. The system includes a third generation anti-tank guided missile.

Asia Pacific Regional Workshop of UNCCD held in New Delhi

  • The Environment Ministry and the UN host four-day Asia Pacific Regional Workshop to monitor and report on land degradation.
  • The workshop will enable countries to efficiently report land degradation to the UNCCD.
  • UNCCD stands for United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
  • The need for better control over land degradation is that Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD) factors cost India about 2.54% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2014-15.

PM Narendra Modi launches Van Dhan Scheme to help increase tribal income

  • The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, launched the Van Dhan Scheme.It aims to increase tribal income through value addition.
  • Narendra Modi said that Van Dhan, Jan Dhan and Gobar-Dhan Schemes had the potential to change the tribal-rural economic system.
  • The Van Dhan Vikas Kendras will provide skill upgradation and capacity building training, as well as setting up primary processing and value addition facilities.

Gujarati poet Sitanshu Yashaschandra’s ‘Vakhar’ chosen for Saraswati Samman

  • The K K Birla Foundation has announced that Gujarati poet Sitanshu Yashaschandra’s poetry collection ‘Vakhar’ has been chosen for the Saraswati Samman for 2017.
  • The selection for the award is made by a high level ‘Chayan Parishad’ (selection committee), which is presided over by former secretary general of Lok Sabha, Subhash C Kashyap.
  • Every year the award recognizes an “outstanding” literary work written in any Indian language and published during the last 10 years.
  • Gujarati poet Yashaschandra is one of the most eminent representatives of contemporary Gujarati literature. He was born in 1941 in Bhuj.
  • He has authored three books of poetry, of which ‘Vakhar’ is one. His other poetry works include ‘Odysseusnu Halesu-n’ and ‘Jatayu’.

North, South Korea commit to denuclearization in historic summit

  • North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in met in a summit on April 27th, 2018.
  • The meeting marked the first time in over a decade that the leaders of North Korea and South Korea met.
  • They signed the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification on the Korean Peninsula. This commits the two countries to a nuclear-free peninsula and talks to bring a formal end to the Korean War.

Google ranked as most trusted Internet brand in India

  • According to the TRA Brand Trust Report, Google is the most trusted Internet brand in India.Google has 1.2 trillion searches per year, according to the report.
  • Ranked second is Facebook, which has steadily been climbing the trust ladder over the years.
  • In the brand report, retailer Amazon was ranked third, with eBay coming in fourth and Flipkart slotting into sixth spot.
  • Among online taxi cab aggregators, Ola came in seventh on the list, while Uber was ranked 15th.