Current Affairs Updates - 5th May 2018

Current Affairs Updates - 5th May 2018

Hi Aspirants,

The Current Affairs Updates for 5th May 2018 consists of a list of Essential news from among all the Latest News headlines of Politics, National, International, Schemes, Obituary, Events, Banking and others. We hope aspirants will really like our content as it shall really be very helpful for the upcoming examinations of Bank, Rail and SSC. Infact aspirants should go through them on a regular basis and note down all the important points to revise before the examination. We will come up with the Daily One Liner and Static Note Down Points along with the Daily Current Affairs Quiz from today itself. We hope aspirants would appreciate our effort and give positive feedbacks. Also let us know if there is anything more that we can assist you with. Thanks!!

Important Days

‘Vibrant North East 2018’ observed on May 3

• The 'Vibrant North East 2018', an event in which people would be made aware of central government's schemes and programmes, will be held in Guwahati.

World Press Freedom Day is observed on 3rd may. 2018 Theme: Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and The Rule of Law

• The theme of the 2018 celebration highlights the importance of an enabling legal environment for press freedom, and gives special attention to the role of an independent judiciary in ensuring legal guarantees for press freedom and the prosecution of crimes against journalists.

New Appointments: National

Former IAS officer Subhash Chandra Khuntia is the new chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

• On Tuesday, the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Mr.Khuntia to the post of chairperson of the insurance regulator.

Justice A K Mittal appointed acting chief justice of Punjab and Haryana HC 

• Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal has been appointed as the acting chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after incumbent chief justice Shivax Jal Vazifdar demitted office at midnight upon his retirement. 

Former CEA Ashok Lahiri appointed as full-time member of Finance Commission

• He is at present the part-time member of the commission, headed by N K Singh.

Banking, Economic & Financial Affairs

ICICI Bank said its board has appointed Radhakrishnan Nair as an additional (independent) director of the bank for five years. 

• The appointment is subject to the approval of shareholders, the private sector lender said in a regulatory filing. 

According to the World Bank, India is doing “extremely well” on electrification with nearly 85% of the country’s population having access to electricity.

• Between 2010 and 2016, India providing electricity to 30 million people each year, more than any other country, the World Bank said in its latest report released this week.

Rankings & Indexes

India has slipped by three notches to 11th position in the FDI Confidence Index 2018 of global consultancy firm A T Kearney. 

• India falls by three spots, reversing its two-year streak of rising in the rankings 
• China (5), India (11), and Singapore (12) all rank lower this year, while Australia rises to 8th and New Zealand jumps to the 16th spot in only its second year on the Index. 

India entered the club of the world’s five biggest military spenders in 2017 as the government enhanced the operational capability of its armed forces in the face of tensions with China and Pakistan, according to a report from an influential think tank.

• India’s defence spending has grown in the past decade for several reasons, including a mounting salary bill for about 1.4 million serving personnel and pensions for more than 2 million veterans, projects worth billions of dollars to induct new combat jets, helicopters, warships, artillery guns and infantry weapons, and to enhance capabilities.

International Affairs

Google.org funds 3 million dollar; makes India the largest recipient of its grants 

• Google.org, the philanthropic arm of the American Internet giant has announced an grant of 3 million dollar for India to two not-for-profits working in the area of education -- The Central Square Foundation and the Teacher App. 

Pakistan Reopens Major Trade Route With Afghanistan

• Pakistan has formally reopened a major trade route with landlocked Afghanistan after nearly four years.

Application / Portal 

Mobile app Umang, a one-stop solution for many government services, is now offering details of your deposited pension, according to EPFO or Employees' Provident Fund Organisation.

• The retirement fund body offers a host of services via Umang, developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. EPFO subscribers can also view their provident fund (PF) contributions via Umang, which is currently available on Google, Apple and Windows platforms.

Agreements/ MoUs Signed

State-run Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL)  has inked a pact with the ministry of power to incur capital expenditure of Rs 25,000 crore for the current fiscal. 

• The MoU was signed by Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Secretary, Ministry of Power and I S Jha, Chairman and and Managing Director. 

The CBDT has signed its 200th unilateral advance pricing agreement (UAPA), which is aimed at promoting government's resolve of non-adversarial tax regime.

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had entered into one UAPA during April, thus taking the total count to 200.

Merger & Acquisitions

IT firm Cognizant has acquired privately-held Hedera Consulting, a move that will strengthen the former’s consulting and digital transformation capabilities for clients in Belgium and the Netherlands.

• The purchase further expands Cognizant’s consulting, business insight and digital transformation capabilities for clients in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Summit /Conference / Events

India to organise five-day cultural festival in Egypt to commemorate 157th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore

• An exhibition on the paintings of Tagore titled ‘Rabindranath Tagore: Rhythm in Colours’ will be held at the Museum of Ahmed Shawky at Giza as part of the Tagore festival.

The 4th Regional Conference on ‘Futuristic, Resilient and Digital Infrastructure’ concludes in Bengaluru 

• The 2-day Conference is a lead-up event to the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which is going to be hosted by the Government of India on 25th and 26th June 2018 in Mumbai.

Sushma Swaraj to chair interactive session on Act East Policy

• External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj will be chairing an interactive session on the Act East Policy in the national capital.

Awards & Honours: Sports

India’s Goyat is WBC Asia Boxer of the Year

• Indian Neeraj Goyat has been conferred with the WBC Asia Boxer of the Year Award. Neeraj is the current WBC Asia champion in welter weight category. 
• Since turning pro in 2011, Neeraj has won nine fights including two knockouts.

Mohamed Salah wins writers' footballer of the year award'

• The Egypt international narrowly topped the poll of the 400-strong Football Writers' Association (FWA) membership ahead of Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, the margin understood to be less than 20 votes.

Cricket Australia appointed former Test opener Justin Langer as the new coach of the national cricket team.

• He replaced Darren Lehmann who resigned in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal that rocked Australian cricket team in March.

Mary Pierce named ambassador for TCS World 10K marathon

• Former tennis star Mary Pierce has been named the International Event Ambassador for TCS World 10K 2018 Marathon. The marathon, scheduled to be held in Bengaluru for May 27, will see Pierce gracing the occasion.

Awards & Honours: Miscellaneous

M.T Vasudevan Nair Wins ONV Literary Prize For Overall Contribution To Malayalam Literature

• Jnanpith laureate M T Vasudevan Nair has won this year's annual ONV Literary Prize, instituted in memory of iconic poet late O N V Kurup, for his overall contributions to Malayalam literature.

National Film Awards highlights: President Kovind says Sridevi, Vinod Khanna will be remembered forever

• The 65th National Film Awards 2018 ceremony began at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Thursday amid controversy.

Obituary 

Guruji Ravinder Sharma passes away

• Ravinder Sharma, fondly called Guruji, the founder of Adilabad's Kala Ashram died at his house early on Sunday at the age of 65 years. He leaves behind his wife, a son and daughter.