Current Affairs - May 14, 2019 Current Affairs

India's 3rd-largest non-life insurance provider in the private sector, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company launched a scheme termed 'Mosquito Disease Protection Policy' which will cover a person against common mosquito-borne diseases, namely, Dengue Fever, Malaria, Chikungunya, Japanese Encephalitis, Kala-azar, Lymphatic Filariasis and Zika Virus. These mosquito-borne diseases leads to financial burden due to hospitalisation or affects the No Claim Bonus of any conventional Health Insurance. The policy by HDFC ERGO will cover hospitalisation expenses. The policyholder may opt for a huge amount to be paid as a policy benefit on offering the proof of hospitalisation. The policy will also pay the beneficiary the sum insured, if in case of the policyholder dies due to the disease.

The two-day Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation began in New Delhi on May 13, 2019. The meeting will conclude on May 14. The participants include ministers from 16 developing nations and six least developed nations.

Manchester City won the English Premier League football title for a second successive year. Liverpool gained second place in the league. The Manchester City club maintained its dominance by finishing the campaign with 14 straight wins and 98 points. It clinched the title by beating host Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (or Brighton FC) with 4-1 on seasons final day. This was City's 4th Premier League title in last eight years.

LIC Mutual Fund appointed Dinesh Pangtey as the company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He joined LIC as a direct recruit officer in 1984. He was Director and CEO at LIC Group's private equity division LIC HFL AMC. He also served as Regional Manager Marketing channel in Western Zone spanning the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa. He has more than 35 years of experience across private equity, life pension, group annuation scheme and insurance sector.

State-owned Allahabad Bank announced a reduction in benchmark lending rate by 0.05 percentage points across various tenors. The marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) for a one-year loan has been reduced to 8.60% from 8.65% effective May 14. Most of the loans including housing loans are benchmarked against MCLR for one year.

The ISIS has claimed to have established its new province in India's Jammu and Kashmir, called "Wilayah of Hind". The first of its kind announcement comes after clashes between militants and security forces in Kashmir on May 10.

India's National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has recently announced for Rs. 700 crore project funds for equity investments in agriculture and rural start-ups. NABARD was used to contribute to other funds but it is for the first time when NABARD launched its own funds. This project was launched by Nabventures, an auxiliary unit of NABARD. NABARD proposed amount of Rs 500 crore with an option to retain over-subscriptions of Rs 200 crore. Company names it green-shoe option. With this initiative NABARD will assist those start-ups who are engaged in agriculture and rural areas' development.

Justice Madan Bhimrao Lokur, who retired as the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court in December 2018, has been appointed to the Supreme Court of Fiji's non-resident panel for the duration of three years. The Supreme Court of Fiji consists of the Chief Justice, who is also the President of the Supreme Court, all Justices of Appeal who are also members of the Court of Appeal and others specifically appointed as Supreme Court judges.

Around 180 member countries, except the United States, amended the 1989 Basel Convention to include plastic waste, a decision that aims to protect environment and human health from the damaging effects of harmful chemicals and waste. The decision was taken during the 14th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam & Stockholm Conventions under the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in Geneva, Switzerland. Around 1,400 representatives deliberated on this pressing environmental issue for 12 days before reaching to the conclusion. The meeting was held under the theme of "Clean Planet, Healthy People: Sound Management of Chemicals and Waste".

A group of researchers have unearthed a new 'rain loving' snake species from Mizoram in North-east India. The researchers have named the specie "Smithophis Atemporalis". The species is reported to be a non-venomous kind and strictly aquatic. The maximum recorded size of the new species is about 655 mm or 2.5 feet. The discovery is a result of more than six years of collaboration between scientists from leading Indian and international institutes.

Chinese Navy commissioned two new Type 052D guided missile destroyers in Dalian, a coastal city. They are the 19th and 20th ships in the class and are named as Tangshan and Suzhou. China, at present 20 Type 052Ds either in active service or to be launched for service soon. The destroyers are fast and warships are operated for long distances. It is used to accompany the aircraft carriers. The newly developed Type 052D destroyers are the upgrades of its previous version Type 052C.

Department of Biotechnology (DBT) working under ministry of science and technology has recently launched human tissue mapping project called MANAV: Human Atlas Initiative. It has been launched to improve understanding on human physiology. Objective of this initiative is to map every single tissue of human body to find out deepest information and roles of tissues and cells linked to a variety of ailments. Department of Biotechnology has issued funds of Rs 13 cr to two institutions in Pune, Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) and National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS).

Lewis Hamilton won Spanish Grand Prix. He celebrated the 76th win of his Formula 1 career, third victory of 2019 and fourth in Spain following victories in 2014, 2017 and 2018. Top spot of the world championship ranking with 112 points, ahead of Valtteri Bottas who is on 105 points.

The 17th edition of India's most prestigious international motorsport event, Desert Storm Rally 2019 held in Rajasthan from May 7 to 11, 2019. The event saw the participation of 130 candidates with 34 teams in 3 categories namely Xtreme, Moto and Ndure.The category Moto was won by Adrien Metge from TVS Racing. He was followed by Hero Motorsports CS Santosh and TVS Racing's Abdul Wahid Tanveer. The Xtreme category title clinched by Aabhishek Mishra (co-driver Srikanth Gowda) while Ndure Category won by Ankur Chauhan (co-driver Prakash M).

CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the most successful wicket-keeper in the history of IPL with 132 dismissals, the team's spinner Imran Tahir won the coveted Purple Cap for taking the highest number of wickets.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has partnered with the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA) to achieve its target under REPLACE initiative of eliminating industrial trans-fat from industrially produced global food supply by 2023. Trans-fat is also called the worst form of fat in food. It is responsible for over 5,00,000 deaths from coronary heart disease each year globally. Industrially-produced trans-fats are contained in hardened vegetable fats, such as margarine and ghee, and are often present in snack food, baked foods, and fried foods. Manufacturers often use them as they have a longer shelf life than other fats. But healthier alternatives can be used that would not affect taste or cost of food.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on May 13, 2019 successfully flight tested the ABHYAS, a High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT). The flight test was conducted from the Interim Test Range, Chandipur, Odisha. The RADARS and Electro Optic Systems kept the track of the test which proved its performance in fully independent navigation mode. The test demonstrated the capability of ABHYAS to meet the mission requirement of the defence forces for a cost effective high-speed expendable aerial target. After the first experimental launch in 2012 at the Chitradurga Aeronautical Test Range, the concept of ABHYAS was proved and the pre-project details were completed on January 2013.

The sea phase of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus Maritime Security Field Training Exercise (MS FTX) in the South China Sea concluded on 13 May 2019 at RSS Singapura, also known as Changi Naval Base in Singapore. The ADMM-Plus Maritime Security Field Training Exercise was held from 30 April to 13 May. The exercise commenced on 30 April in Busan, South Korea and concluded in Singapore. It was co-organized by Singapore and South Korea as both nations currently hold co-chairmanship of ADMM-Plus Experts' Working Group on Maritime Security. This is the fourth Maritime Security Field Training Exercise (MS FTX) was conducted under the ambit of the ADMM-Plus.

Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by one run in a thrilling final in Hyderabad yesterday to become the IPL champions for the record fourth time. The CSK, who were chasing a score of 150 set by Mumbai Indians, were restricted to 148 for 7 in the stipulated 20 overs.

The International Nurses Day was celebrated globally to commemorate the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale also known as 'The Lady with the Lamp', was famous as manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War. The theme for the International Nurses Day 2019 is -'Nurses - A Voice to Lead -Health for All'. In 1860, Nightingale laid the foundation of professional nursing with the establishment of "Nightingale School of Nursing" at St Thomas' Hospital in London. It was the first secular nursing school in the world and is now part of King's College London.The Florence Nightingale Medal is the highest international distinction a nurse can achieve.