DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: May 12 & 13, 2019

Dear Aspirants,

Daily Current Affairs (May 12 & 13, 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

WTO ministerial meeting of developing countries to begin today:

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting of developing countries will begin in New Delhi.
The meeting will provide an opportunity for the Ministers to discuss various issues and the way forward. The meeting is being held at a time when the multilateral rules-based trading system is facing serious and grave challenges.
Twelfth Ministerial Conference of the WTO to be held in Kazakhstan in June 2020.

ISRO to launch RISAT-2B from Sriharikota on May 22:

Indian Space Research Organization ISRO is scheduled to launch the nation’s latest radar imaging satellite RISAT-2B on 22nd of this month. It will be lifted off by the workhorse rocket PSLV-C46 in its 48th flight.
RISAT-2B is a modern radar imaging earth observation satellite. It will be placed in an orbit of 555 km from the earth. This will be the 72nd launch vehicle mission for ISRO from its spaceport at Sriharikota.

INTERNATIONAL

India, UK agree to boost Indo-Pacific cooperation:

India and the United Kingdom agreed to increase their collaboration in the fields of Indo-Pacific cooperation, climate change, disaster resilience, development in third world countries amongst other areas.
The two countries held Foreign Office consultations, where the Indian side was led by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and the UK side was represented by Sir Simon McDonald, Permanent Under-Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office of British Government.

India, Vietnam discuss ways to strengthen strategic partnership:

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu held talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Xuan Phuc in Hanoi.
The two leaders discussed a wide range of issues and underscored the importance of strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two nations to ensure peace and security in the region.

Vietnam

Currency: Vietnamese dong
Capital: Hanoi

Konkan Railways signs contract agreement with Nepal to supply two 1600 HP DEMU train sets:

Konkan Railways Corporation Ltd has signed a contract agreement with Nepal’s Department of Railways to supply two 1600 HP DEMU train sets. These trains will be used to operationalise railway link between Jayanagar in India and Kurtha in Nepal.
The agreement was signed in Kathmandu in the presence of Indian Ambassador Manjeev Puri and Nepal’s Secretary, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Madhusudan Adhikari. The train sets will be manufactured by the Integrated Coach Factory, Chennai.

BANKING & BUSINESS

Facebook chooses London as base to develop WhatsApp’s mobile payments service:

Facebook has selected London as the center to develop WhatsApp’s drive into the mobile payments industry. The messaging service will ramp up hiring, taking on 100 new software engineers for its payment’s platform. Most of the hires will be based in London, with additional roles in Dublin.
The reason to choose London than US City is because WhatsApp is widely used in UK and London is considered as a Hub for Fintech.

APPOINTMENTS

Subhash Chand appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the State of Eritrea:

Shri Subhash Chand, presently Deputy High Commissioner in the High Commission of India, Abuja, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the State of Eritrea.

Ajoy Mehta Appointed as Maharashtra Chief Secretary:

Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta has been appointed as Maharashtra’s new chief secretary.
Ajoy Mehta succeeds UPS Madan who has been named as the special advisor to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

AWARDS & HONOURS

IPS officer who oversaw Nirbhaya rape case receives McCain Institute Award:

IPS officer Chhaya Sharma, who led the investigation team of the infamous Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, has been awarded the 2019 McCain Institute Award for Courage and Leadership.

RANKING/ REPORTS BY VARIOUS ORGANISATIONS

UN: India, China are hot spots for illegal sand mining

India and China top a list of countries where illegal sand mining has become a major environmental problem, according to a report named ‘Sand and Sustainability: finding new solutions for environmental governance of global sand resources’ released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Actress Dia Mirza, Alibaba chief among 17 new UN advocates for sustainability:

Indian actress Dia Mirza and Alibaba chief Jack Ma are among the 17 global public figures appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as the new advocates to drive action and solidify global political will for the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Inaugural edition of world’s first women’s cricket magazine ‘CRICZONE’ hits stands:

The inaugural issue of world’s first exclusive women’s cricket magazine ‘Criczone’ was released in Jaipur with Indian team vie-captain Smriti Mandhana featuring as the cover story.
Top international cricketers like Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smiriti Mandhana alomg with overseas players like Danielle Wyatt, Sophie Devine attended the event which is held on the side lines of the inaugural women’s T20 challenge.

SPORTS

Madrid Open 2019:

The 2019 Madrid Open (sponsored by Mutua) is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain from 3 May–12 May 2019.

Here the Winners List:

Men’s Singles: Serbia Novak Djokovic

Women’s Singles: Netherlands Kiki Bertens

Men’s Doubles: Netherlands Jean-Julien Rojer / Romania Horia Tecău
Women’s Doubles: Chinese Taipei Hsieh Su-wei / Czech Republic Barbora Strýcová

Mumbai beat Chennai by one run to win record 4th IPL title:

Mumbai Indians became IPL champions for the fourth time after defeating Chennai Super Kings by one run in a thrilling final in Hyderabad.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the most successful wicket-keeper in the history of IPL by taking his dismissals tally to 132, surpassing his India teammate Dinesh Karthik.
Player of the series: Andre Russell (KKR) (510 runs and 11 wickets)
Most runs: David Warner (SRH) (692)
Most wickets : Imran Tahir (CSK) (26)

Sana Mir becomes the highest wicket-taking spinner in ODI:

Pakistan off-spinner Sana Mir has become the most successful women’s ODI spinner in history after she took her 147th wicket, highest ever by any spinner in One-day International (ODI) cricket.
Currently, Mir is placed on the third position in the ICC’s ODI bowling ranking, which is topped by Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami.

IMPORTANT EVENTS OF THE DAY

International Nurses Day 2019: May 12th

The International Nurses Day was celebrated globally on May 12th every year 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’.

OBITUARY

Neelakanta Rao Jagdale, maker of one of world’s finest whiskies, passes away at 66:

Neelakanta Rao Jagdale, Chairman & Managing Director of Amrut Distilleries, and President of Basavanagudi Acquatic Centre (BAC), died after a brief illness.
A second-generation industrialist, Jagdale’s company’s name received global recognition nine years ago when Amrut Fusion Single Malt Whisky was ranked the third finest whisky in the world by Jim Murray in his Whisky Bible.

Actor Clement von Franckenstein dies at 74:

The American President actor Clement Von Franckenstein has died at the age of 74. He played several roles in movies like Lionheart, Death Becomes Her, The Evening Star and Hail, Caesar!.

Padma Shri awardee Hiralal Yadav passes away at 93 in Varanasi:

Bhojpuri singer, Padma Shri awardee Hiralal Yadav passed away in a private hospital in Varanasi, Uttar pradesh after a prolonged illness. He was 93. He was a renowned Bhojpuri folk singer from ‘Birha’ genre, which revolves around the separation of a lover from his beloved.

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