DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : May 26, 2019

Dear Aspirants,

Daily Current Affairs (May 26, 2019) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness, Static GK and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Delhi HC ruled that United Nations is not a State

The Delhi High Court has ruled that the United Nations is not a State under Article 12 of the Constitution of India and is not amenable to its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution.
Background of the case.
Justice Suresh Kumar Kait gave the decision while adjudicating a plea filed by a former UNO employee who was found guilty of misconduct. Sanjaya Bahel, convicted by a US Federal Court and sentenced to 97 months of imprisonment and two years of mandatory probation, was released and deported to India in May 2014. In his petition, he claimed that due process was not followed in his case.
He had in November 2018, written a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs seeking a grant of permission to initiate legal action against the United Nations Organization (UNO) under section 86 of Civil Procedure Code, 1908.
The provision provides that a foreign State may be sued in any Court with the consent of the Central government.
UNO not a State.
The Ministry replied that the consent of the Government of India is not required to initiate a legal suit against UNO as it is not a foreign state and is only an Internal Organization.
It said UNO and its officials enjoy immunity under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947.
It also said as per Section 2 of Article II of the Schedule of Act, 1947, UNO has immunity from every form of legal process except insofar as in any particular case it has expressly waived its immunity.

BJD wins 112 seats in Odisha, Patnaik set to be CM for 5th time in row

BJD won 112 seats out of 146 in 2019 Odisha Assembly polls, with party President Naveen Patnaik set for a fifth consecutive term as CM.
Patnaik becomes only the third CM after Sikkim’s Pawan Chamling and West Bengal’s Jyoti Basu to achieve the feat. BJP won 23 seats, Congress 9, and CPI(M) and an independent candidate won one seat each.
The Polling was held in 146 of the state’s 147 assembly seats as election in Patkura was postponed twice, first after the death of a candidate and then due to Cyclone Fani.
Naveen Patnaik is an Indian politician who is the current and 14th Chief Minister of Odisha.
He is also the president of the Biju Janata Dal, a writer has published four books.

Vedanta bags two copper blocks in Maharashtra

Mining and metals major Vedanta Ltd has been declared the final bidder for two copper mining blocks in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district.
The blocks, located in Thanewasna and Dubarpeth, are spread over 768.62 hectares and 816.29 hectares respectively.
To ensure transparency in the mineral sector, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill was passed by the Parliament in 2015.

Four new Supreme Court judges were sworn in making a strength of 31 judges

Four new Supreme Court judges were sworn in, raising the number of judges to the full sanctioned strength of 31.
Justices Aniruddha Bose, AS Bopanna, Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai and Surya Kant were administered the oath of office by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
With this, the apex court attained its approved total strength of 31 judges.
The five-member Collegium, headed by Justice Gogoi, had earlier this month overruled the Centre’s objection to the appointment of Justice Bose of the Jharkhand High Court and Justice Bopanna of the Gauhati High Court.
The Collegium had recommended the names of Justices Bose and Bopanna on April 12.
The Centre had, however, objected to their elevation citing seniority and representation of regions as the reasons.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Pacific Vanguard naval exercise began near Guam

The United States, Japan, South Korea, and Australia have kicked off first-of-its-kind naval drills near Guam on May 23.
The Pacific Vanguard exercise brings together more than 3,000 sailors from the four countries to sharpen skills and strengthen practical cooperation at sea.

Participating Naval Ships:

The Royal Australian Navy contributed two frigates to the exercise, HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Parramatta.
The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force sent destroyers JS Ariake and JS Asahi, and South Korea the Republic of Korea Navy destroyer ROKS Wang Geon.
The USS Blue Ridge, the Seventh Fleet’s flagship, will lead the operation from the U.S. side.
Also representing the U.S. are guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam, guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur, fleet replenishment oiler USNS Rappahannock, and dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd.
Aircraft from the Scorpions of Electronic Attack Squadron and the Mad Foxes of Patrol Squadron will also participate.

Adani to set up container terminal in Myanmar

Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone signed an agreement to develop and operate a container terminal at Yangon Port in Myanmar.
It will act as a network point to feed into our upcoming transshipment hub at Vizhinjam.
The proposed container terminal will be integrated with our Ports/Terminals along the east and south coast of India, unlocking synergies by offering multiple entry/exit points for the shipping lines which wish to call on this region.
The project site is located at city cluster & inner harbor of Yangon Port.
The site is ideally placed to serve the traffic from industries surrounding the city with adequate storage and good evacuation channel for the port.
The estimated cost for implementing phase I of 0.5 Mn TEUs is between the US $ 220- 230 Mn and phase II expansion to 0.8 Mn TEUs is expected to cost between the US $55-60 Mn.
The terminal will have a quay length of 635 meters with the capability to handle three vessels at a time.

Google bans 2nd largest phone maker Huawei from some Android updates

New Huawei smartphones are set to lose access to some Google apps like YouTube and Maps and the next version of Android to be launched later this year.
This comes after the US government sought to blacklist Chinese company Huawei around the world.
Google’s suspension follows a report calling for Huawei to be prevented from supplying 5G mobile networks in the UK, because its operations are “subject to influence by the Chinese state”.
Australia, which also shares intelligence with the UK, has already moved to ban Huawei as a supplier for its future 5G network.
Huawei has always insisted it is a privately held company, independent of the Chinese state, owned largely by its employees, and has worked supplying phone technology in the UK for 15 years without problems.

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI Allows Modern Currency Chests To Hike Service Charges

Reserve Bank of India announced that it will allow large modern currency chests to increase the service charges on cash deposited by non-chest bank branches from the existing rate of Rs.5 per packet of 100 pieces to a higher rate subject to a maximum of Rs.8 per packet.
For this, only a currency chest (CC) that fulfills the minimum standards will be eligible to be classified as a large modern CC.
The increased rates can be charged only after such classification by the issue office concerned.

Reserve Bank of India

RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikant Das,
Headquarters: Mumbai,
Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Sony to stop selling its smartphones in India

Japanese technology giant Sony has revealed it will stop selling its smartphones in several countries including India.
Sony added it presently considers Japan, Europe, Taiwan and Hong Kong as the “focus regions” — to drive profit for the smartphone business.
Sony reported an operating loss of 97.1 billion yen ($879.45 million) in the year ended March.
Samsung with shipment of 71.9 million units, Huawei with 59.1 million, Apple with 36.4 million, Xiaomi with 25 million, Vivo with 23.2 million and Oppo with 23.1 million are the top smartphone brands in the first quarter of 2019.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Bengaluru based Doctor Hema Divakar gets ‘Global Asian of the Year’ Award for Contribution to Women’s Healthcare Ecosystem

Bengaluru based doctor Hema Divakar received the ‘Global Asian of the Year 2018-19’ Award for women services and contribution towards Women’s Healthcare Ecosystem.
Dr. Hema was conferred the award at the Asian Business & Social Forum 2019 under the ‘In Service of the Society and the Nation’ category from UAE’s Trade Promotion Director Mohammed Naser Hamdan A1 Zaabi.

About Asian Awards

Country: United Kingdom
Awarded for : Honouring Asian Excellence
Presented by: Paul Sagoo
First awarded: 2010

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

British PM Theresa May Announces Resignation

British Prime Minister Theresa May announces resignation from her post.
She will resign on 7 June.
Her announcement triggers the start of a contest to replace her as Conservative leader and Prime Minister.

About United Kingdom

Capital: London
Currency: Pound sterling

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

WhatsApp to put ads on Status in 2020, confirms Facebook

WhatsApp Status will start displaying ads from 2020, the messaging platform’s parent firm Facebook has confirmed.
It added its already monetized WhatsApp Business app will get richer messaging formats, including viewing text alongside image or PDF in a single message.
Notably, WhatsApp Co-founders Brian Acton and Jan Koum had left after disagreements with Facebook over monetizing it.

About Whatsapp Messenger

Founded: February 24, 2009; 10 years ago
Headquarters: Mountain View, California, United States
Founder: Jan Koum, Brian Acton

One billion year old fungi is found to be earths oldest fungus

Microfossils of a globular spore connected to a T-shaped filament excavated in an Arctic region of northwestern Canada represent the oldest-known fungus.
This discovery sheds light on the origins of an important branch in earth’s tree of life.
Scientists said that the multicellular fungus that they named Ourasphaira Giralda, a forerunner to an immensely diverse group that today includes the likes of mushrooms, yeasts, and molds, lived in an estuary environment about 900 million to 1 billion years ago.
Until now, the oldest-known fungus fossil was one about 410 million years old from Scotland.
The microscopic fossils, contained in shale rock from the Northwest Territories of Canada, date back to the Proterozoic era, before the advent of complex life forms. The study was published in Nature.

SpaceX successfully launches, deploys 60 internet satellites

SpaceX sent a packed rocket of 60 satellites into space.
The launch was “the heaviest payload a Falcon 9 rocket has ever launched.
The satellites represent the company’s ambitious plan to build an interconnected satellite network to beam high-speed internet to anywhere on the planet.
The Falcon 9 rocket launched from the company’s pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX deployed the 60 Starlink satellites in a “very low Earth orbit” of 440 kilometers above the surface.
The full Starlink network would consist of 11,943 satellites flying close to the planet, closer than the International Space Station.

SPORTS NEWS

BCCI Elections to be held on October 22

The Committee of Administrators(CoA) announced that the much-awaited elections for a new body of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will be held on October 22.
The CoA was appointed by the Supreme Court in January 2017 to oversee the sweeping reforms recommended by the Lodha panel. The deadline to hold state elections was set at September 14.
The Supreme Court had, in January 17, sacked BCCI president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke, and asked other office-bearers who don’t meet the qualifications set by the court to be on the board to demit office or stand disqualified.

ICC Rankings: Shakib becomes No.1 ranked ODI all-rounder ahead of World Cup

Senior Bangladesh cricketer Shakib Al Hasan jumped to the top of the latest MRF Tyres ICC ODI rankings for all-rounders, which doesn’t feature a single Indian in the top-10 chart.
He grabbed the top spot just ahead of the ODI World Cup after showcasing fine form during the tri-nation series in Ireland, which Bangladesh famously won to claim their first title in a multi-nation tournament.
In the three matches of the series, Shakib totalled 140 runs, including two unbeaten half-centuries and also picked up two wickets. Shakib now has 359 points, 20 clear of Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, the previous holder of the top ranking, who has now slipped to No.2.
Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi completes the top three, with 319 points.
Pakistan are the only other team to have two players in the top 10, with Imad Wasim at No.4 and Mohammad Hafeez claiming the seventh spot.
India’s Kedar Jadhav, who is part of India’s World Cup team and is recovering from a shoulder injury, is the best-placed Indian at joint 12th spot. Hardik Pandya completes the top 20 list.

OBITUARIES

Filmmaker and Film Historian Vijaya Mulay Passed Away

Vijaya Mulay is best known for her 1974 film Ek Anek Aur Ekta, which won the National Film Award for Best Educational Film.
Mulay founded the Delhi Film Society in 1959, and later on became a joint secretary of the Federation of Film Societies.
In 2002, Vijaya Mulay was honoured with the prestigious V Shantaram Award for her work in documentary filmmaking.

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