Current Affairs - May 18, 2017 Current Affairs

India and Tajikistan signing an Agreement to provide a legal framework for sharing of information and intelligence between the Customs authorities of the two countries and help in the proper application of Customs law. It was approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It also gave its approval for the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.

An Earth-Like Planet called Proxima B orbiting the closest neighbouring Star, Proxima Centauri. It is about 4.2 light years (25 trillion miles) away from Earth likely to have liquid water and also support alien life. The planet Proxima B was discovered in August last year 2016r, and is thought to be of similar size to Earth, creating the possibility that it could have an 'Earth-like' atmosphere.

The Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) has successfully created the country's first smart grid project, which will generate power from renewable sources of energy. It will be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee. The smart grid will be synchronised to generate power from solar, wind and vegetable waste resources, depending on the weather conditions and availability of waste products.

The Uttar Pradesh legislature passed the UP Goods and Service Tax (GST) Bill 2017. Four key GST legislations - the Central GST Act, the Integrated GST Act, the GST (Compensation to States) Act and the Union Territory GST Act - were passed by Parliament.

According to the survey of Quality Council of India, Visakhapatnam railway station in Andhra Pradesh was rated the cleanest station among the 75 busiest stations in the country, followed by Secunderabad, Jammu, Vijayawada and Anand Vihar railway stations. The Darbhanga station in Bihar was rated as the dirtiest.

As per Brand Finance, a global brand valuation and strategy consultancy firm Tata Group is the most valuable brand in India by the value declining 4%from $13.7 billion in 2016. elecom operator Airtel at an estimated valuation of $7.7 billion ranked second in the list.

The Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank has enabled end to end trade financing for one of its clients by utilising the blockchain technology thereby reducing the time taken for a letter of credit (LC) to few hours from 20 to 30 days. The time involved in completing the process deprives exporters from from utilising their sale proceeds efficiently. In a first of its kind transaction in India, Kotak partnered with Deloitte and used the blockchain technology to complete LC transactions.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a new coal linkage policy to ensure an adequate supply of the fuel to power plants through a reverse auction. It will help in ensuring fuel supplies to the power plants in an organised manner.

The Indian scientist Shrinivas Kulkarni has won the prestigious Dan David prize for his contribution in the field of astronomy. He is a professor of astrophysics and planetary science at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. He is a pioneer and leading figure in time-domain astrophysics across the electromagnetic spectrum who built and conducted the Palomar Transient Factory.

The Jammu and Kashmir government is hosting the 14th Goods & Services Tax (GST) Council meeting in the capital Srinagar and it was headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The State General Administration Department has appointed 69 Kashmir Administrative Service officers (KAS) as liaison officers for the meeting.

India's first Aquatic Rainbow Technology Park (ARTP) will be set up in Chennai, Tamilnadu. The park, an ultra-modern exclusive facility for ornamental fish equipped with multi-species hatchery and live feed culture units, will fulfil a major requirement of the industry for mass production of high value aquarium fish. Fisheries College and Research Institute, Ponneri, will develop the facility.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) signed the agreements with Facebook and MobiKwik in order to popularise the internet and its value added services among its customers. As per the terms of the agreement signed with Facebook, BSNL will facilitate connectivity for Facebook's "Express Wi-Fi Program".

The private sector lender Yes Bank today announced the appointment of computer hardware company Intel's executive Debjani Ghosh as an additional director on its board. She has been associated with Intel since 1996 and has held positions including country head and managing director for South Asia.

Indian climber Debasish Biswas and a woman climber from New Zealand were the first to successfully climb Mt Lhotse. Mt Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain in the world. The first three highest mountain ranges are Mt Everest, K2 and Kangchenjunga.

Dr. Purnima Devi Barman, wildlife biologist and conservationist of Assam, nominated for the prestigious Whitley Awards also known as the Green Oscars. She has been nominated from among 166 researchers from 66 countries for this award.