Daily Current Affairs, 04th April 2018

1)  HRD Ministry Constitutes Committee To Prevent Exam Paper Leakages

•The Ministry of Human Resource Development has constituted a High Powered Committee to examine the entire system of conducting Class X and Class XII examination conducted by the CBSE with a view to prevent leakages.

•Mr Vinay Sheel Oberoi, Retd. Secretary (Higher Education), MHRD will be the Chairperson of the 7 member High Power Committee.

2)  HRD Ministry Releases ‘NIRF India Rankings 2018’

•The Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr Prakash Javadekar, released the NIRF (National Institute of Ranking Framework) India Rankings 2018 in various categories on the basis of performance of Higher Educational Institutions in a programme held in New Delhi.

•The top 3 Overall Institutes in India are:

1. Indian Institute of Science (IISc Bengaluru),

2. Indian Institute of Technology Madras,

3. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.

•Minister of State Human Resource Development, Dr. Satya Pal Singh released the report on the NIRF Rankings during the event. 69 top institutions in 9 categories were given awards at the event. The Ministry emphasised on the initiatives like GIAN, RUSA, SWAYAM, SWAYAM Prabha, TEQUIP III, Smart India Hackathon, that are in direction to further boost the Quality, Research and Innovation in education.

•The top 3 Universities in India are- 

1. Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru,

2. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi,

3. Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi.

3)  Trial Run Of 1st India-Bangladesh Container Train Flagged Off

•The trial run of the first container train between India and Bangladesh was flagged off from Kolkata city. The train left for Bangladesh with 60 containers loaded with almost 1,200 tonnes of de-oiled cake, used as a raw material for animal feed.

•Currently, the trade between India and Bangladesh is largely road-based. It takes almost a month for an Indian truck to reach Bangladesh through the congested Petrapole-Benapole border, with customs clearance alone taking nearly 25 days. The train is also likely to resolve the capacity constraints of sea and land routes.

4)  Suresh Prabhu Launches Digital Initiative For Ease Of Export

•Union Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu launched digital initiatives by Export Inspection Council (EIC) for ease of export at New Delhi. EIC is the official export certification body of Government of India and has launched this flagship project of Digital India Initiative to keep pace with changing dynamics of the world.

•In order to continue the vision for credible inspection and certification, three portals have been developed to reduce transaction time and cost in a transparent manner. The portals will play an important role in the Go Green initiative by reducing paper usage and saving millions of trees.

5)  India-Japan-US Trilateral Talks Held In New Delhi

•The crucial dialogue between the three leading democratic powers (viz. India, Japan and the USA) of the Indo-Pacific region was held in New Delhi. It comes a fortnight ahead of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Florida.

•The India-Japan-US trilateral was launched in December 2011. It was elevated to ministerial level in September 2015. The last ministerial dialogue was held in New York in September 2017.

6)  Commonwealth Games 2018 Starts At Gold Coast In Australia

•The 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games will begin in Gold Coast, Australia, with a colourful opening ceremony. This will be a momentous day for the city as the biggest event in its history begins.

•Carrara Stadium has been chosen as the venue to host the opening ceremony. These Games will mark the 5th time that Australia has hosted the games. India will be represented at the opening ceremony by a contingent of over 200 athletes who will be led by flag-bearer P V Sindhu.