Current Affairs - May 3, 2019 Current Affairs

The official Twitter account of the Indian Army's Additional Directorate General of Public Information tweeted that an Indian Army mountaineering expedition team has sited mysterious footprints of mythical himalayan beast "Yeti" measuring 32x15 inches (81 centimeters by 38 centimeters) close to Makalu Base Camp,located in North-Eastern Himalayas on 09 April 2019. The yeti also known as Abominable Snowman or Asian Bigfoot is a giant ape-like creature often figures in South Asian folklore. Yetis are believed to weigh anywhere between 91 to 181 kilograms with a height of above 6 feet.

IT industry body, The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has entered a strategic partnership with GE Healthcare. The objective is to bring digital healthcare solutions to the market. NASSCOM has announced this partnership through its Centre of Excellence-Internet of Things (CoE-IoT). This partnership will also help to flourish the health-tech start-up ecosystem in the country which further help in co-creating solutions for real-world healthcare challenges in the areas of digital applications for early detection, productivity solutions and remote and connected care among others.

To commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on 2 October 2019, the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to Government of India and Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in a move to come together and to bring best of science and technology to implement waste management by setting up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to Wealth Technologies in India. The waste to wealth mission project has been approved under Prime Minister's Science Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC). The GoI and IIT-Delhi partnership will provide an effective platform for stakeholders to bring together integrated approaches for effective recycle, reuse and resource recovery of waste.

The United Nations (UN) established World Tuna Day on May 2 to raise awareness about the importance of tuna and to promote more sustainable fishing practices. It was observed for the first time in 2017.

Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has been named as the next President of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), becoming the first non-British President of the club. Sangakkara will take up the post on October 1 and will serve for a period of one year. In 2012, Sangakkara was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the Club.

Ministry of Defence (MoD) is expecting to raise a Defence Cyber Agency (DCA) by May to tackle non-civilian cyber issues arise from China and Pakistan, including safeguarding critical infrastructure. Rear Admiral Mohit Gupta, Senior Navy officer will be the first head of this agency, headquartered in New Delhi.As per the clearance given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, two more agencies are under construction namely, Defence Space Agency and Special Forces Agency.The Special Forces agency would be headed by a Major General rank officer of the Army and is likely to come up at Agra.

PayPal India used Google Smart Lock and launched its OneTouch experience in India. OneTouch feature permits Indian consumers to register their android device with PayPal and stay logged into PayPal for further PayPal purchases on that device, thus removing the issue of repeated log-ins and enabling a seamless payments experience. The integration with Google Smart Lock will offer a hassle-free payment procedure as well as maintain security to prevent fraud. India becomes the first market where the feature of Google Smart Lock has been integrated.

BSE, formerly known as the Bombay Stock Exchange, has appointed its first independent woman director Jayshree Vyas. BSE already has two non-executive women directors namely Usha Sangwan and Rajeshree Sabnavis on its Board. Vyas is a professionally-qualified chartered accountant, working as the managing director of Shree Mahila Sewa Sahakari Bank, Ahmedabad, since 1986. She helped in launching the first financial literacy programme in Sewa Bank in 2001.

India's largest bank State Bank of India has moved to a new interest rate regime on large savings account deposits as well as short-term loans. Earlier, SBI had announced that it will link its interest rate on savings account with a balance above Rs1 lakh and short-term loans like overdraft and cash credit facility to Reserve Bank of India's repo rate, effective 1 May 2019. The interest rates on large SBI savings account deposits and interest rate on some short-term loans will automatically change as and when RBI changes its repo rate. This will help in better transmission of RBI's policy rates into the banking system.

President of India, Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Kerala High Court judge, Justice Parappillil Ramakrishnan Nair Ramachandra Menon (P.R. Ramachandra Menon) as Chief Justice Of Chhattisgarh High Court while exercising his powers conferred by clause (A) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India. At the same time, Bombay High Court judge Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka elevated as the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court and Justice Shripathi Ravindra, a judge of the Delhi High Court was named as the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court.

LIC Housing Finance (LIC HFL) has launched 'Udyam', a skilling center in Bengaluru. It was launched in association with Lok Bharti Education Society, the implementing partner. The Centres of Excellence will provide training to marginalised youth in the BFSI, retail, and IT/ ITES sectors.

The Dredging Corporation of India Limited (DCIL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Water & Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) Limited, a mini-ratna PSU under Ministry of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation. The objective is to jointly recognize suitable future projects and carry out geo-technical investigation and engineering consultancy in the fields like water resources, power and infrastructure, port and harbour dredging. The other areas which can be included in joint projects are shallow water dredging, beach nourishment, lake rehabilitation, flood management, erosion control, river morphology etc.

The UK parliament became the first national legislative body in the world to declare a climate change emergency. The motion was approved without a vote and registers the views of the House of Commons without compelling the government to act on any particular policy proposal. It also calls for the government to work towards carbon neutrality before 2050 and for ministers to draft proposals within the next 6 months to restore the country's environment and create a "zero waste economy".

'Bharat Fibre', the state-owned telecom firm, BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) became the 1st operator to start optical fibre-based high-speed broadband service in Pulwama. The Bharat Fibre services with reliable and high-speed internet are provided on the optical fibre by FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) service up to the customer premises. The service was launched by BSNL Chief General Manager of Jammu and Kashmir Circle, Rana Ashok Kumar Singh, in the presence of Srinagar General Manager Telecom District Zafar Iqbal and BSNL's channel partner, Mir Nazir. The Internet services generally remain unaffected even during the vagaries of weather.

Rapper Drake set a record with the most wins ever, taking home 12 honours at the Billboard Music Awards. Drake surpassed singer Taylor Swift to become the top award recipient in the Billboard Music Awards history. He won 12 awards, bringing his career total to 27. Swift has won 23 Billboard Music Awards. Drake won the top artist and top Billboard 200 album, among others.

The Netherlands has emerged as the third largest foreign direct investor in India during 2017-18, with investments pegged at about $2.67 billion across sectors. The Netherlands was also the second largest destination for foreign investment by Indian companies, after Singapore, with investments worth $12.8 billion in 2017.

Maharashtra Day is celebrated every year on 1st May to mark the Maratha speaking region that was founded on 1st May 1960. This year, the state government of Maharashtra organized the main function in Mumbai and celebrated this red-letter day at Shivaji Park, central Mumbai. Most educational institutions like schools, colleges, offices remain closed on this day.

World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) is celebrated all over the world on the 3rd of May. The theme for WPFD 2019 is "Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation". World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993.

The Central government has asked the state transport departments to make it mandatory for all EVs to use the green number plates, irrespective of the year in which they were bought. The new mandate is supposed to help provide preferential treatment to the vehicles with no carbon emissions, like parking, free entry in congested areas as well as a concessional toll on highways.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has constituted a committee to implement the National Clean Air Program (NCAP). The objective is to reduce the PM (particulate matter) 2.5 and PM 10 concentration by 20% to 30% in at least 102 cities by 2024. The committee will be headed by the Secretary, Union Environment Ministry. The headquarters of the committee will be in New Delhi.The other members of the committee will be Joint Secretary (Thermal), Ministry of Power; Director General, The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) and Professor Sachidananda Tripathi, IIT Kanpur.The 102 cities, across 23 states and Union Territories will be identified by the Central Pollution Control Board (CBCB). The selection criteria will be based on their ambit air quality data between 2011 and 2015. The NCAP is envisioned as a five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year. There would be a review every five years.