DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: MAY 23, 2018
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DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: MAY 23, 2018
Daily Current Affairs (May 23, 2018) 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
Maharashtra govt Introduces New Scheme for landless labourers
Maharashtra Government has introduced a new scheme to help the landless labourers among the Scheduled Castes to acquire agricultural land.
The landless among the SCs can now purchase for acres of rainfed agricultural land or two acres of irrigated land by paying only five percent of the cost. The rest up to eight lakh rupees will be born by the state government.
This is a modified scheme as the earlier Dadasaheb Gaikwad empowerment of scheduled caste landless labourers scheme was providing fifty per cent subsidy and was found inadequate and benefited only about five thousand landless labourers from SCs in the State so far.
Maharashtra
Capital: Mumbai
Chief Minister: Devendra Fadnavis
Governor: C. Vidyasagar Rao
National Convention on Rejuvenation of Krishna River held in Hyderabad
Telangana Irrigation Minister, T Harish Rao inaugurated the National Convention on “Rejuvenation of Krishna River” at the Institution of Engineers (India), Khairatabad, Hyderabad.
The convention was organised by the Indian Water Council (IWC). It will help to formulate an action plan for rejuvenation of the river and all its tributaries in the next 10 years.
It is an initiative to rejuvenate the Krishna River by involving government organisations from Krishna river basin states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana and several NGOs.
The Indian Water Council was formed in April 2018 in Rajasthan. IWC, an subsidiary of the World Water Council (WWC), plans to mobilise action against critical water issues in the country.
Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa to Visit Israel
Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa will be embarking on a four-day visit to the State of Israel.
Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) would attend a conference themed ‘Air Superiority as a Bridge to Regional Stability’, as part of 70th-anniversary celebrations of the Israel Air Force.
The conference will enable strategic dialogue between Israel’s highest leadership, innovative thinkers, and the invited Air Force Commanders.
Israel has steadily increased its footprint in the Indian defence sector and emerged as one of the largest defence partners.
Madhya Pradesh Launches ‘My MP Rojgar Portal’
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched ‘My MP Rojgar Portal’ as a part of Ham Chhu Lenge Asman’ Mukhyamantri Career Counselling programme ‘Pahal’ in Model School of Bhopal.
This portal is equipped with providing jobs to youths as per their educational qualification, skills and interest and ensuring availability of able candidates to employers as per need of their business.
The portal has been prepared by Madhya Pradesh Skill Development and Employment Generation Board under youth empowerment mission.
Madhya Pradesh
Capital: Mumbai
Chief Minister: Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Governor: Anandiben Patel
Southwestern commands conducts military exercise: Gandiv Vijay
Indian Army’s Chetan Corps of South Western Command conducted a Military Exercise named “Gandiv Vijay” in Mahajan Field firing ranges of Rajasthan.
The Gandiv Vijay exercise was conducted for two months to validate army’s operational plans.
Thousands of Soldiers underwent an intensive training and it was given how to handle a war by using modern technology, intelligence related data, etc,.
India 145th among 195 countries in healthcare access, quality
India ranks 145th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare.
According to a Lancet study, India lags behind China (48), Sri Lanka (71), Bangladesh ( 133) and Bhutan (134) while its health index was better than Nepal (149), Pakistan (154) and Afghanistan (191). The countries with the lowest scores were the Central African Republic (18.6), Somalia (19.0), Guinea-Bissau (23.4).
The Global Burden of Disease study, however, mentioned that India has seen improvements in healthcare access and quality since 1990. The study used an index to measure the quality and accessibility of healthcare, based on 32 causes of death which should be preventable with effective medical care.
Top Three countries with highest levels are:
1. Iceland
2. Norway
3. Netherland
BANKING AND ECONOMY
SoftBank confirms selling ‘entire stake’ in Flipkart to Walmart
Japan’s SoftBank has decided to sell its over 21 percent stake in e-commerce major Flipkart to US retailer Walmart for an estimated USD 4 billion. SoftBank had invested USD 2.5 billion in Flipkart last year.
It paves the way for the Walmart to acquire a 77% stake in India’s largest online retailer.
Walmart had recently announced that it will pay about USD 16 billion to buy about 77 percent stake in Flipkart. While significant shareholders in the Bengaluru-based company like Naspers, venture fund Accel Partners and eBay had agreed to sell their shares.
While SoftBank is now exiting Flipkart, it continues to be a significant investor in Flipkart’s rival Paytm Mall.
Soft Bank
CEO: Masayoshi Son
Headquarters: Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Finance ministry ties up with 40 companies loans under Mudra scheme
The Finance Ministry has tied up with 40 entities including Flipkart, Swiggy, Patanjali and Amul, for extending loans to small entrepreneurs.
Under the tie-up, it aims to identify people who can be given funds under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY). Last fiscal the government has extended Rs 2.53 lakh crore credit under the Mudra Yojana, while Rs 5.73 lakh crore has been extended in last 3 years.
The companies, which have tied up with the financial services department for this, include Make My Trip, Zomato, Meru Cab, Muthoot, Edelweiss, Amazon, Ola, Amazon, Big Basket, Carz on Rent and Habib Salon.
PMMY was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 8, 2015, for providing loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises.
Justice Srikrishna to chair panel discussion on governance, data privacy
Justice BN Srikrishna, who heads the committee on framing new data protection norms for India, will chair a panel discussion on governance.
The discussion on ‘Future of Governance’ will focus on various aspects related to data privacy, an issue that has become increasingly relevant in the digital era.
According to a statement, the event is being organised as part of a series of talks on Digital Technologies and their impact on society, human psyche and economies. It is hosted by India International Centre (IIC) in collaboration with NITI Aayog and Centre for Policy Research (CPR).
First commercial flight of AP lands at Pasighat under UDAN Scheme
The air-connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh was fulfilled with flagging off of the first fixed-wing commercial aircraft from Pasighat to Guwahati by Chief Minister Pema Khandu. Under the Udan scheme eight locations in Arunachal Pradesh have been selected.
The Air India Ltd agreed to start ATR-42 services of Alliance Air to Pasighat from Gopinath Bordoloi airport at Guwahati, connecting the state with rest of the country.
RBI Slaps Rs 5-cr Penalty on South Indian Bank
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of ₹5 crore on South Indian Bank (SIB) for non-compliance with its directions on Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms, Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and treasury function.
The penalty has also been imposed on the Thrissur-headquartered private sector bank for deficiencies in its compliance function and compliance culture.
Tata Steel acquired Bhushan Steel
Bamnipal Steel Ltd (BNPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Steel, has successfully completed the acquisition of controlling stake of 72.65 per cent in Bhushan Steel Ltd (BSL).
Tata Steel Ltd had won the bid to acquire debt-laden Bhushan Steel Ltd (BSL) in an insolvency auction. The bankrupt firm was among the 12 stressed assets the RBI had referred for NCLT proceedings last year.
Country’s largest lender SBI will be the biggest beneficiary of resolution of debt-ridden Bhushan Steel.
MCX launches India’s first copper options contracts
India’s Multi Commodity Exchange has launched the country’s first copper options contracts.
Three contracts expiring in June, August and November with a lot size of 1 tonne were launched. The exchange had also launched crude oil options earlier this month.
In order to encourage active participation in the market the exchange is not levying any transactionfees on all the commodity options contracts till September 30, 2018.
Multi Commodity Exchange
Headquarters: Mumbai
CEO: Mrugank M. Paranjape
AWARDS AND HONOURS
English translation of Polish novel ‘Flights’ wins Man Booker Prize
Polish novelist Olga Tokarczuk won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for fiction Tuesday with “Flights,” a novel that charts multiple journeys in time, space and human anatomy.
The judging panel was led by writer Lisa Appignanesi. The 50,000-pound ($67,000) award is split evenly between the writer and her translator, Jennifer Croft.
“Flights” beat five other finalists, including Iraqi writer Ahmed Saadawi’s horror story “Frankenstein in Baghdad” and South Korean author Han Kang’s meditative novel “The White Book.”
SPORTS
Bala Prasath Wins Formula Junior Racing Series 2018 Championship
Local racer Bala Prasath has claimed the Formula Junior Racing Series 2018 championship. Bengaluru’s Sohil clinched the second place.
The Formula Junior Racing Series 2018 Championship, organised by MECO Motorsports, was introduced in 2016 to provide a platform to drivers coming out of the winter season to prepare for the National Championships.
Table Tennis: Sathiyan-Shetty settle for doubles silver in Thailand
The Indian duo of G Sathiyan and Sanil Shetty finished its campaign at the Thailand Open table tennis event with a silver in the men’s doubles.
In the final, they defeated Tobias Hippler and Kilian Ort of Germany.
Manchester United named most valuable football team
According to a report by accounting firm KPMG, Manchester United has topped the table in terms of overall value.
The clubs were then ranked by ‘enterprise value’ – an accounting measure used to assess how much it would cost to buy any given club or company as it includes a business’ total debt.
The Red Devils’ overall value increased five percent compared to 2017 to more than 3.2 billion euros (£2.8 billion pounds, $3.77 billion), beating Real Madrid on 2.9 billion euros and FC Barcelona on 2.8 billion euros.
OBITUARY
Pulitzer-winning author Philip Roth passed away
Author Philip Roth has passed away. Roth won the Pulitzer Prize for 1997’s “American Pastoral,”
Roth wrote more than 30 books, including the 1991 memoir “Patrimony,” which examined his complex relationship with his father and won the National Book Critics Circle Award.
American-British Historian Bernard Lewis passed away
Bernard Lewis, one of the leading orientalists on the Middle East has passed away.
He was awarded an honorary fellowship from the SOAS in honour of his distinguished career at the school. His most recent research interest was the relationship between Europe and Islam, both historically and in modern times.
IMPORTANT DAYS
World Turtle Day – May 23
The World Turtle Day is observed on May 23.
It aims to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises, and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.
