Daily Current Affairs, 15th April 2018

1)  PNB Launches Products To Mark Foundation Day

•State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) launched new products such as pre-approved credit card and UPI solution to mark its 124th foundation day.

•Besides, the bank announced its UPI partnership with the expense management app WALNUT that comes embedded with features such as bill reminders, bill-split and instant paperless loans.

2)  NPCIL & NSDC Signed A MoU

•Aiming to contribute towards the economic and sustainable development of communities, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) signed an MoU with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to provide skill training to 500 youth and women at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu.

•The skill development project will be executed by NSDC through its approved training partners near Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), the single largest nuclear power station in India, situated in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

3)  CWG 2018: Saina Nehwal Wins Historic 2nd CWG Gold

•Shuttler Saina Nehwal defeated world number three PV Sindhu in the first-ever all-Indian women's singles final at the Commonwealth Games.

•With this, Nehwal claimed her second Commonwealth Games singles gold medal after having won it at the 2010 Delhi Games. Nehwal is the only Indian female badminton player to win singles gold in Commonwealth Games history.

4)  Indian competitors end their campaign at 21st CWG with 26 Gold, 20 Silver & 20 Bronze medals

•Indian competitors have ended their campaign at the 21st Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, with 26 Gold, 20 Silver and as many Bronze medals. 

•On the final day today, India won seven medals which include one Gold, Four Silver and two Bronze. The lone Gold came in women's singles badminton, in which star shuttlers P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal were pitted against each other in the final. 

•In a match that started on equal footing, Saina's aggression and intensity quite literally wilted her compatriot. Saina won the high-pressure match in straight games 21-18, 23-21 that lasted an hour. 

•Saina had earlier claimed the singles Gold in the 2010 Delhi Games also.

•However, in men's singles final, world No.1 Srikanth let slip a strong start to lose in three games to Malaysian icon Lee Chong Wei, who claimed his third individual gold in Commonwealth Games. 

•Srikanth settled for the Silver. In Men's doubles also, Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty claimed a Silver losing to English pair of Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge. 

•Another Silver came in squash competition when the duo of Dipika Pallikal Karthik and Joshna Chinappa lost to Joelle King and Landers-Murphy of New Zealand in women's doubles final.

•The two Bronze medals were won in Table Tennis. In an all-India affair, Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran beat Achanta Sharath Kamal and Mouma Das in three games in the mixed doubles match. In Men's singles, Achanta Sharat Kamal defeated Samuel Walker of England for the second Bronze. 

•In the overall analysis, the Indian contingent will return with 66 medals, just two medals more than the total of 64 they won in the last Games held in 2014 at Glasgow. But the Gold medal tally of 26 this time is significantly higher than the figure of 15 won in the last edition. 

•Eleven days after spectacular opening, the Games conclude with the Closing Ceremony which is expected to be a fitting tribute to the remarkable athletic feats, extraordinary teamwork and community participation. Veteran Boxer M C Mary Kom, who claimed a Gold on debut at the Commonwealth Games, is to be India's flag-bearer at the closing ceremony.