Current Affairs - May 5, 2018 Current Affairs

Former IRDAI member Radhakrishnan Nair has been appointed to ICICI Bank's board as an Additional (Independent) Director. His appointment will be for a period of five years and is subject to shareholder's approval. He is already an independent director of 3 subsidiaries of ICICI Bank - ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company, ICICI Prudential Trust and ICICI Securities Primary Dealership.

Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, has announced additional grants of $3 million to two Indian non-profit organisations - Central Square Foundation and The Teacher App. The grants are a part of Google.org's mission to help provide quality education access and learning for all. With a $1 million grant to The Teacher App in India, Google.org aims to provide teachers with training and resources on the concepts of math, science, language, and pedagogy. The funds are expected to scale the platform to reach 500,000 teachers in two years. With online video emerging as a popular medium of learning, Google.org will provide a $2 million grant and technical assistance from the YouTube Learning team to Central Square Foundation, a policy think tank focused on improving the quality of school education. The grant will support a minimum of 20 content creators to produce at least 200 hours of quality science, technology, engineering and Math content in Hindi and vernacular languages.

The Indian side was represented by Minister of State(Independent Charge) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, R.K Singh and Japanese side was represented by Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Mr. Hiroshige Sekosigned. In the joint statement issued at the conclusion of the meeting, both India and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral energy cooperation and work together in promoting well-functioning energy markets. It has been agreed that both countries will initiate the discussion towards development of Electric Vehicles (EVs) by collaborating with "Policy dialogue on next generation/Zero emission vehicles".

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh launched 'Go to Village' mission throughout the state of Manipur. The mission was launched on May 2 in 60 villages of all the 60 Assembly constituencies. The mission is aimed at identifying the eligible and deserving beneficiaries in every corner of the state and delivering government services at their doorstep.

An online system for grant of security clearance to international conferences, seminars and workshops organised in India was launched by the Home Ministry. The online portal "https://conference.mha.gov.in" was launched by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba. Obtaining clearances for organising a conference, issue of conference visa to foreign delegates was an offline procedure till now.

Retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) launched View Pension Passbook Service for pensioners on Umang App. Umang app UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) app aims to build common, unified platform and mobile app to facilitate single was launched part of EPFO's plan to go paperless by August this year and provide all services online. It will allow pensioners view their pension passbook on mobile phones with the help of Umang app. EPFO is already providing various e-services for its stakeholders through Umang.

Kotak Securities has unveiled 'Free Intraday Trading' facility, allowing investors to trade intra-day without paying brokerage charges. Investors can do intra-day trades across cash, future and options segments at an annual subscription of Rs. 999. Intra-day trading refers to trades in which investors buy and sell the shares within the same trading session.

According to the study "World Leaders on Facebook" released by Burson Cohn & Wolfe PM Modi is the most 'liked' world leader on Facebook. With 43.2 million likes, Prime Minister Modi is almost double of USA President Donald Trump, who has 23.1 Million likes. Modi also has the second highest number of interactions and interaction rate behind Trump.

Militaries of India & China have agreed to set up a hotline between their headquarters after the informal summit between PM Modi & President Xi in Wuhan. Hotline is regarded as a major confidence-building measure as it would enable the militaries of both countries to intensify communication to avert border tensions. India already has a hotline with Pakistan that was first used in 1991.

Former Australian cricketer Justin Langer appointed as Australian cricket team's head coach for all three formats. Langer replaces Darren Lehmann, who had stepped down after Australia's tour of South Africa amid the ball-tampering controversy. The 47-year-old, who represented Australia in 105 Tests, will begin his four-year term ahead of limited-overs series against England in June.

Indian-American Deepa Ambekar has been appointed as the interim judge to a US civil court of New York City. She has become the 2nd Indian-American woman judge in the city after Chennai-born Raja Rajeswari. In 2015, Rajeswari was sworn in as a criminal court judge and became the first India-born woman to be appointed a judge in the city. Judge Ambekar served with the New York City Council for 3 years as Senior Legislative Attorney and Counsel to the Committee on Public Safety. Prior to that, she was a Staff Attorney at the Legal Aid Society, Criminal Defense Division, and a litigation associate at a private firm.

The 12th informal meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers was held in Manila, Philippines, on the sidelines of the 51st Annual Meeting of Asian Development Bank (ADB). The meeting was attended by the Finance Ministers/Heads of Delegations from the SAARC member states. Finance Minister of Nepal Yuba Raj Khatiwada chaired the meeting. The Finance Ministers/Heads of Delegation briefed the meeting about the current status of economic progress achieved by their countries. They also appreciated ADB for its contribution in the economic growth of SAARC countries.

Indian pugilist Neeraj Goyat has been awarded the WBC Asia Boxer of the Year Award. Indian pugilist Neeraj Goyat has been awarded the WBC Asia Boxer of the Year Award. Indian pugilist Neeraj Goyat has been awarded the WBC Asia Boxer of the Year Award. Indian pugilist Neeraj Goyat has been awarded the WBC Asia Boxer of the Year Award.

NITI Aayog and IBM have signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) to develop a crop yield prediction model using Artificial Intelligence to provide real-time advisory to farmers in Aspirational Districts. The Intent was signed in presence of NITI Aayog, CEO Amitabh Kant and IBM India, MD Karan Bajwa. The partnership aims to work together towards use of technology to provide insights to farmers to improve crop productivity, soil yield, control agricultural inputs with the overarching goal of improving farmers' incomes. The first phase of the project will focus on developing the model for 10 Aspirational Districts across the States of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

England has replaced India at the top of International Cricket Council one-day rankings. England, who last topped the ODI rankings in Jan 2013, has gained 8 points & moved to 125 points. India with 122 points is at the 2nd position followed by South Africa & New Zealand. England's rise up the table is because the forgettable 2014-15 season was dropped from the latest calculations.

The 'Vibrant North East 2018', an event in which people would be made aware of central government's schemes and programmes, was held in Guwahati, Assam. Players from the agriculture, food processing, consumer affairs, civil supply, drinking water and sanitation sectors participated in the three-day event. The event is organized by Delhi-based NGO, Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD). The main purpose of the event is to disseminate information about the schemes, grants, and projects of the Central Government to ensure that they are implemented as envisaged officially.

The 4th Regional Conference on 'Futuristic, Resilient and Digital Infrastructure' was held in Bengaluru on May 4, 2018. The 2-day Conference was organized by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), andResearch and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS). The conference is a lead-up event to the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which is going to be hosted by the Government of India on 25th and 26th June 2018 in Mumbai. The Conference saw eminent delegates representing partner institutions, academia, civil society organizations and experts from various fields expressing their views on how to bring about institutional approaches for futuristic and digital infrastructure in India.