Current Affairs Updates - 16th May 2018

Current Affairs Updates - 16th May 2018

Today we have brought to you a new set of Current Affairs Updates for 16th May 2018. We hope all of you are preparing well for the exams such as IBPS PO, RRB, Railway ALP, Railway Group D, IBPS CLERK, SSC CGL and SSC CHSL. A lot of candidates face problem while preparing for Current Affairs so we are here to help all of you to pick out only those which are relevant to your Competitive Examinations. We hope readers will go through these in details and will also follow the Daily Current Affairs Quiz to have a check on their level of preparation.

Banking, Economic & Financial Affairs

The retail inflation accelerated to 4.58% in April from 4.28% in March while wholesale price inflation climbed to a four month high of 3.18% in April compared with a 2.47% rise in March.

• The Reserve Bank of India is expected to keep rates steady following higher inflation in its June 6 policy review though its stance may turn hawkish.

India's GDP is expected to grow by 7.7 per cent in January-March, up from 7.2 per cent in the preceding quarter, says a Nomura report.

• According to the Japanese financial services major, despite the moderation in March, industrial production growth averaged 6.2 per cent in the January-March period, up from 5.9 per cent in Q4 (October-December).

SEBI  proposed that listed companies have to disclose any delay or expected delay in payment related to their debt securities within 24 hours from occurrence of such an event.

• The proposal comes against the backdrop of various instances regarding non-compliance with listing norms by issuers of non-convertible debt securities (NCDs) or non-convertible redeemable preference shares (NCRPS).

National Affairs

Cabinet reshuffle: Piyush Goyal to take over finance ministry, Smriti Irani moved out of I&B

• He will hold the portfolio till Arun Jaitley recovers. Jaitley underwent a successful kidney transplant on Sunday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

FIH Mobile, the investment subsidiary of Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest contract manufacturing giant, has written off an additional 40 million dollar of its 200 million dollar bet on Gurgaon-based online marketplace Snapdeal.

• The latest write down comes about nine months after the Hong Kong-listed unit of the Apple iPhone manufacturer announced that it had undertaken an impairment loss of 160 million dollar.

Assam and Rajasthan are set to roll out e-way bill for intra-state movement of goods from this week

• As per the decision of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, e-way bill system for inter-state movement of goods was rolled out across the nation from April 1. For intra-state, it was decided to be rolled out in a phased manner -- after the system stabilized -- with four to five states coming on board every week.

International Affairs

North Korea pledges to dismantle nuclear site in May ceremony

• North Korea says it will begin dismantling its nuclear test site in less than two weeks in a ceremony attended by foreign journalists.

China aims to deliver world's largest amphibious aircraft by 2022

• Code-named Kunlong, the plane (AG600) is designed to be the world's largest amphibious aircraft, which will mainly be used for maritime rescue, fighting forest fires and marine monitoring, according to its state-owned manufacturer, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).

Defence & Railway News

Indian Army Women Officers’ Mountaineering Expedition to Mt. Bhagirathi-II (6512 metres) consisting of nine women officers, was flagged off by Director General of Military Training on 14 May 2018.

• The expedition will be conducted from 14 May to 11 Jun 18. The team also plans to set a new world record of practicing Yoga at 21000 ft on the occasion of Yoga Day 2018.

Lieutenant General Sukhdeep Sangwan has taken over the charge as the Director General of Assam Rifles (DGAR)

• Lt Gen Sangwan has taken over as the 20th Director General of the Force which is popularly called as Sentinels of the North East, stated the spokesperson at DGAR, Shillong.

Schemes / Programme

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a comprehensive plan to eliminate industrially-produced artificial trans fats from the global food supply by 2023.

• The global health body estimates that every year, trans fat intake leads to over 5,00,000 deaths worldwide from cardiovascular diseases.

IIM-Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) has launched a Bharat Inclusion Initiative to build knowledge and foster innovation and entrepreneurial activity across areas such as financial inclusion, livelihood, education and health.

• Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM Ahmedabad helps entrepreneurs turn ideas into viable businesses.

Government announces national wind-solar hybrid policy

• With an aim to boost renewable power generation, the government today announced a national wind-solar hybrid policy, which seeks to promote new projects as well as hybridisation of the existing ones.

Environment ministry launches programme to train 5.5L skilled workers by 2021

• The Union Environment Ministry launched its full-fledged Green Skill Development Programme(GSDP) on May 14 that aims to train over 5.5 lakh workers in environment and forest sectors in the country through 30 courses by 2021.

Agreements/ MoUs Signed

The four states and the Union Territory of Chandigarh inked MoUs with the Union Health Ministry for the implementation of Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Swasthya Suraksha Mission.

• The states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Uttarakhand agreed on Monday to implement the ambitious national health protection mission, which aims to provide an annual coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family.

Merger & Acquisitions

Telecom major Bharti Airtel Ltd.completed the merger of the Indian arm of Telenor Communications with itself.

• The deal will enable Airtel to further bolster its spectrum footprint in these seven circles, with the addition of 43.4 MHz spectrum in the 1800 MHz band – widely known as 2G spectrum, but it is now being used for 4G services as well.

Summit /Conference / Events

President Ram Nath Kovind will inaugurate the Global Exhibition on Services-2018 in Mumbai.

• He will also launch 12 champion sectors in services. 25 Indian states and around 100 countries are expected to participate in Global Exhibition on Services, this year, with 625 exhibitors and 500 overseas delegates.

High Level Committee chaired by Union Home Minister approves Central assistance of Rs 1,161.17 crores to states of Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Rajasthan and UT of Lakshadweep

• The HLC approved assistance of Rs 480.87 crore in respect of state of Assam. The HLC also approved assistance from NDRF amounting to Rs 84.60 crore for the state of Himachal Pradesh, Rs 67.40 crore for the state of Sikkim, Rs 2.16 crore for the UT of Lakshadweep and Rs 526.14 crore for the state of Rajasthan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold an informal summit with Russsian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on May 21

• The declaration of the informal summit follows days after Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held bilateral talks with Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

Awards & Honours: Sports

Indian shooter Heena Sidhu clinched the gold medal while compatriot P Shri Nivetha settled for bronze in the women's 10m air pistol at the International Shooting Competitions of Hannover (ISCH) ahead of next week's ISSF Munich World Cup.

• Heena was in a rollicking form in the final where she was tied with France's Mathilde Lamolle on 239.8 points. She won the tie to win the gold ahead of Mathilde. While Shri Nivetha finished on 219.2.

Awards & Honours: Miscellaneous

Sulabh International founder awarded Nikkei Asia Prize

• The founder of Sulabh International, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, has been honoured with the Nikkei Asia Prize in Japan for his contribution to Asia's development.

Lata Mangeshkar conferred with Swara Mauli award

• Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar  was honoured with the Swara Mauli title by spiritual guru Vidya Narsimha Bharati Swami last evening here.

Obituary

Renowned Physicist EC George Sudarshan Dies At 86

• The cremation of eminent Indian-American theoretical physicist, EC George Sudarshan who died on Sunday in Austin, Texas will be held on Thursday