DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: May 5&6, 2019

Dear Aspirants,

Daily Current Affairs (May 5 & 6, 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

CBDT and GSTN sign pact to nab evaders, reduce black money generation:

To nab tax evaders and reduce black money generation, the income tax department CBDT and Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) signed an agreement to facilitate exchange of data between the two.

The 2 agencies are yet to decide on the procedure of information exchange for “automatic”, “spontaneous” and “request based” data.

New initiative measuring violent deaths worldwide: SIPRI

SIPRI has set up a new initiative aiming to establish the annual number of violent deaths worldwide.
SIPRI’s Global Registry of Violent Deaths (GReVD) will count deaths caused by all forms of violence and display these in an open-source database that will allow researchers, policymakers and the general public to track trends in violence at global, regional, national, provincial, city and municipal levels.

This will enable monitoring of progress on the world’s commitment to ‘significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere’ by 2030 as set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—specifically Goal 16.

e-Governance Services India ties up with IIT-Kanpur to upscale Unnat Bharat Abhiyan:

Common Service Centre’s (CSC) e-Governance Services India Limited, a special purpose vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics & IT, said it has tied up with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur to upscale ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’.

‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’ is an initiative of the Ministry of HRD. It aims to find solutions to accelerate sustainable growth in rural India. Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, IIT-Kanpur has brought together 15 leading higher education institutions from Uttar Pradesh.

INTERNATIONAL

India, Australia agree to further deepen counter-terrorism co-operation:

India and Australia have agreed to further deepen counter-terrorism co-operation through regular exchange of information and sharing of best practices on countering extremism and radicalization.
The two countries held the 11th Meeting of Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism at Canberra.

BANKING & BUSINESS

RBI imposes fines on PPIs for violating norms:

The Reserve Bank of India said that it has imposed penalties on Five Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) issuers, for violation of regulatory norms.
Penalties have been imposed on Western Union Financial Services Inc (Rs.29,66,959) and MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc (Rs.10,11,653), both US firms, for non-compliance of guidelines under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for compounding of the contravention.
The central bank said in a statement that a penalty of Rs 3.05 crore was imposed on Vodafone m-pesa and Rs 1 crore each on Mobile Payments, PhonePe, Private and GI Technology. Also, a penalty of Rs 5 lakh has been imposed on Y-Cash Software Solutions.

Huawei overtakes Apple, becomes 2nd biggest smartphone maker in the world:

Huawei Technologies Co. overtook Apple Inc. to claim the No. 2 spot in smartphones in the first quarter, moving a step closer to its avowed ambition of displacing Samsung at the top of the market.

The networking giant, shrugging off a barrage of accusations that it aids Chinese espionage (which it’s repeatedly denied), grew shipments 50 percent from a year earlier, research firm IDC estimates.

ADB Launches $5 Billion Healthy Oceans Action Plan:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched the Action Plan for Healthy Oceans and Sustainable Blue Economies for the Asia and Pacific region at the 52nd Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors in Fiji.

The action plan will support the efforts of ADB’s developing member countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 14 Life Below Water.

The Action Plan for Healthy Oceans and Sustainable Blue Economies will expand financing and technical assistance for ocean health and marine economy projects to $5 billion from 2019 to 2024, including co-financing from partners.

DPIIT Proposes Relaxing Income Tax Laws To Help Startups Raise Funds:

With a view to facilitate fundraising by startups, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has proposed relaxing the income tax laws pertaining to sale of residential properties and carrying forward of losses.
The relaxation laws are part of the ‘Startup India Vision 2024’ that’s been prepared by the DPIIT.
As part of easing regulatory requirements for startups, the DPIIT has recommended amendments in Section 54GB (capital gain on transfer of residential property not to be charged in certain cases) and Section 79 (carry forward and set off of losses in case of certain companies) of the Income Tax Act.

Vodafone Idea signs multi-million-dollar IT deal with IBM:

India’s largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd announced a five-year multi-million-dollar IT outsourcing deal with tech giant IBM. The collaboration will contribute to Vodafone Idea’s merger synergy objectives by decreasing its IT related costs.

REPORTS/RANKINGS BY VARIOUS ORGANISATIONS

London top choice for Indian investors with record investments in 2018: Report

London emerged as the top choice for Indian investors ahead of other cities such as Dubai and Singapore, with investments by Indian companies in the British capital reaching an all-time high last year, according to a new analysis.
The UK emerged as the top most country to attract Indian FDI with 52 projects, ahead of the US (51) and the UAE (32), in 2018, said London & Partners (L&P), the Mayor of London’s promotional agency.

APPOINTMENTS

CEA included in finance panel’s advisory council:

Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian has been included in the Advisory Council of the 15th Finance Commission as its member. This commission was headed by N.K. Singh.
The Advisory Council now has 12 members after inclusion of Chief Economic Adviser Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian. Other members include Dr. D.K. Srivastava, Dr. Indira Rajaraman, Dr. Arvind Virmani, Dr. Surjit S. Bhalla, Dr. Sanjeev Gupta, Prof. Pinaki Chakraborty, Sajjid Chinoy, Neelkanth Mishra, Prachi Mishra, Dr. M. Govinda Rao, and Dr. Omkar Goswami.

Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas named India’s envoy to Senegal:

Shri Godavarthi Venkata Srinivas (IFS:1993), presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Senegal.

AWARDS & HONOURS

Myntra appoints ViratKohli, Anushka Sharma as first brand ambassadors:

Flipkart-owned fashion e-commerce platform Myntra announced that it had appointed celebrity couple Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma as its first brand ambassadors. Myntra has launched an integrated campaign called ‘Go Myntra-la-la’ to promote the brand.

PC Chandra Purashkaar 2019 conferred to Padma Bhushan Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty:

India’s most reputed cardiac surgeon and humanitarian, Dr Devi Prasad Shetty was awarded 27th P.C. Chandra Puraskaar the annual national award from the P.C. Chandra Group at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre.
Dr. Shetty also known as “The Man with Divine hands” is a true visionary. He is one of India’s top cardiac surgeons who has an experience of more than 35 years.

The Caravan’s Nileena MS wins ACJ Award for Investigative Journalism for article on coal allotment:

Journalist Nileena MS, whose story titled “Coalgate 2.0” published in The Caravan magazine, won the ACJ Award for Investigative Journalism 2018.
The award is given by the Asian College of Journalism with the support of the Media Development Foundation to recognise and encourage the best works of investigative journalism produced for Indian readers, viewers and audiences in order to promote journalism in the public interest.

SPORTS

Dragan Mihailovic to take over as head coach of Indian volleyball team:

Serbia’s Dragan Mihailovic will take over as head coach of the Indian Men’s Volleyball team by the Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) and will be joined by Pryemyslaw Gaszyoski (Poland) and Valadimir Radosevic (Serbia) as the team’s physio and physiotherapist respectively.

Archery Association of India Names Acting President to Start Election Process:

Archery Association of India named its senior vice president Sunil Sharma in accordance with Article 24 of AAI Constitution (as approved by the Supreme Court on 4th December 2017) as its acting president to start the election process. Sunil Sharma was preceded by BVP Rao.

Sharma, who is also vice president of Jammu and Kashmir Archery Association, chaired the Executive Committee meeting thereafter.

XXXVI Feliks Stamm International Boxing Tournament: Gaurav Solanki, Manish Kaushik bag gold:

Indian boxers finished with a rich haul of six medals which includes 2 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals at the XXXVI Feliks Stamm International Boxing Tournament 2019 in Warsaw, Poland.

Here the list of Indian Winners:

Event/ Category	Name	Medal
Fly (52-kg)	Gaurav Solanki	Gold
Light (60-kg)	Manish Kaushik	Gold
Bantam (56-kg)	Mohammed Hussamuddin	Silver
Light Welter (64-kg)	Ankit Khatana	Bronze
Welter (69-kg)	Mandeep Jangra	Bronze
Heavy (91-kg)	Sanjeet	Bronze

BOOKS & AUTHORS

Shahid Afridi co-authored his autobiography titled, ‘Game Changer’:

Pakistan’s former captain and star all-rounder Shahid Afridi recently released his autobiography, titled ‘Game Changer’.
The book, co-authored by Afridi and journalist Wajahat S Khan, details some interesting and exciting information from the cricketer’s life.

IMPORTANT EVENTS OF THE DAY

World Laughter Day: May 5

World Laughter Day takes place on the first Sunday of May of every year. World Laughter Day was created in 1998 by Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of the worldwide Laughter Yoga movement

OBITUARY

Noted writer, academician Maramraju Satyanarayana Rao died:

Prominent writer and academician, Maramraju Satyanarayana Rao passed away at a hospital following a cardiac arrest. He was 84. He actively participated in separate Telangana agitation in 1969.