Important Current Affairs 7th May 2019

Important Current Affairs 9th May 2019

• 
  Peruvian Climber died on Nepal Peak
  • Experienced Peruvian climber Richard Hidalgo was found dead on Mount Makalu.
  • The body of the 52-year-old was found in his tent at 6,600 metres (21,650 feet) by Sherpa guides who went to check after he did not wake up.
  • The guides said that it seemed he had died in his sleep.
• CBIC to organise meeting of Regional Heads
  • Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is organising a meeting of the Regional Heads of Customs Administration of Asia Pacific Region of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) in Kochi from 08th to 10th May, 2019.
  • India is hosting this meeting in its capacity as Vice Chair of the Asia Pacific region that it assumed on 1st July, 2018 for a two-year period.
• India CEO forum organised on climate change
  • India CEO Forum on Climate Change was organized by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC)on 8 May 2019.
  • The Forum consisted of high-level discussions across several sessions covering topics from India’s Nationally Determined Contributions.
  • The sessions voiced deliberations from the government on India’s international commitments to fighting climate change.
• India & Turkey to strengthen economic relation
  • India and Turkey vowed to strengthen economic relations with the aim of reaching 10 billion US dollars bilateral trade by 2020.
  • Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal held talks with Gitesh A Sarma, Secretary under the institutional mechanism of foreign office consultations.
  • Other aspects such as enhanced cultural interaction, tourism, people-to-people contacts were also discussed.
• Kalavathi: CEO of Philips Innovation Campus
  • Kalavathi G V has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Philips Innovation Campus in Bangaluru.
  • Kalavathi, currently the head of Global Customer Service and Operations for Philips’ Healthcare Informatics business, will succeed Srinivas Prasad M R.
  • Philips Innovation Campus in Bengaluru is a premier software research and development unit in Philips.
• US imposes sanctions on Iran
  • The Trump administration imposed sanctions on Iran’s iron, steel, aluminum and copper industries.
  • This comes a year after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal.
  • Trump said his announcement “puts other nations on notice that allowing Iranian steel and other metals into your ports will no longer be tolerated.”
• Obituaries
  • Renowned economist Baidyanath Mishra passed away on 8 May 2019.
  • Veteran film and TV actor Mrinal Mukherjee passed away on 8 May 2019.
• London: Base for WhatsApp payments
  • Facebook has chosen London as the centre for the global roll-out of WhatsApp pay.
  • Facebook chose London because it attracts a multicultural workforce from many of the countries.
  • Out of WhatsApp user base of 1.5 billion people, more than 200 million people are in India — the single largest market for the popular messaging platform.
• Singapore passes new law to police fake news
  • Singapore’s parliament has passed a sweeping “anti-fake news” bill.
  • It includes ability to demand corrections, order the removal of content, or block websites deemed to be propagating falsehoods contrary to the public interest.
  • Penalties for not complying with orders include steep fines and jail time.
• FAW outbreak affects over 5,000 farmer
  • An outbreak of ‘Fall Armyworm’ has affected at least 5,636 farming families in over 200 villages in Mizoram.
  • The outbreak caused by the crop pest has affected maize cultivation in 2,055 hectares in 227 villages of all the eight districts.
  • Agriculture experts said that FAW is a lepidopteran pest feeding on multiple plants (polyphagous).
• Vice-President Naidu on Vietnam visit
  • Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu will undertake a three-day official trip to Vietnam from 9 May 2019.
  • He will hold meetings with Vice-President of Vietnam Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
  • He will also meet beneficiaries of the Jaipur Foot Artificial Limb Fitment Camp organized in Vietnam under the ‘India for Humanity’ initiative
• L&T buys Mindtree shares worth ₹368 crore
  • Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro bought shares of Mindtree worth about ₹368 crore through open market transactions.
  • According to bulk deal data available with the NSE, L&T bought over 37.53 lakh shares, or 2.28% stake, worth ₹367.8 crore, with the average price being ₹979.96 per scrip.
• RBI withdraws mandate on IL&FS NPAs
  • Following the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s decision to allow banks to declare NPAs of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited and its group entities, the RBI has now withdrawn its circular.
  • The circular mandated to disclose bad loans of the IL&FS group in its notes of accounts.
  • Previously, RBI had asked banks and financial institutions to disclose the NPA.
• BharatPe launches UPI for merchants
  • BharatPe, a fintech startup enabling payments for merchants through interoperable UPI QR codes, has announced its foray into merchant services with a new app.
  • The app allows merchants to record their cash/credit (udhar) sales customer wise, request accounts receivable from customers via SMS payment links, and keep track of accounts payable to suppliers.
• India’s newest pit viper found in Arunachal
  • India now has a fifth brown pit viper but with a reddish tinge.
  • Scientiscts have described a new species of reddish-brown pit viper, a venomous snake with a unique heat-sensing system from a forest in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh.
  • The team of herpetologists was led by Ashok Captain.
• Pt. Swapan Chowdhury conferred with D. Litt
  • Noted writer Sanjib Chattopadhyay, Classical dancer Sonal Mansingh and Tabla Maestro Pt. Swapan Chowdhury were conferred with D.Litt degrees by the Rabindra Bharati University (RBU) in Kolkata on 8 May 2019.
  • The Chancellor of the University and West Bengal Governor Mr. Keshari Nath Tripathi presented the degrees.
  • Noted educationists Professor V. N. Jha delivered the convocation address.
• Sea phase of ‘Varuna’ exercise begins
  • The sea phase of the Indo-French naval exercise ‘Varuna’ began on 8 May 2019.
  • This year’s edition of the Indo-French naval exercise currently underway off the Goa coast is the largest ever undertaken by the two navies.
  • The exercise, began on May 1, will culminate on May 10 after sea phase operations.
  • The first bilateral naval exercise between India and France was held in 1983.
• Thrust to make State thalassaemia-free by 2020
  • The Thalassaemia Welfare Association (TWA) launched a campaign to spread awareness among doctors on screening pregnant women to find out if they were thalassaemia (a genetic blood disorder) carriers.
  • Revathi Raj is the honorary president of TWA.
  • This was done on the World Thalassaemia Day i.e. 8th May 2019.
• Greenfield IT park to come up in Guindy
  • Olympia Cyberspace, a unit of the Chennai-based Olympia Group, is coming up with a 1.1 million square feet greenfield IT park jointly with US Private equity fund Apollo Global, in Guindy.
  • The project will entail investments upto ₹750 crore.
  • Apollo Global, an alternate investment platform with $270 billion in assets under management, is the joint venture partner of Olympia for this project.
• Rakesh Sharma elected as IMMA Vice-President
  • Bajaj Auto Executive Director Rakesh Sharma has been elected as Vice-President of Geneva-based International Motorcycle Manufacturers Association (IMMA).
  • He is a representative of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
  • Geneva-based IMMA has membership from various manufacturers associations from across the world.