Current Affairs Daily Digest – April 25 2019
1. World’s Largest Medical Drone Delivery Service Started in Ghana
Vice President Dr Mamahudu Bawumia launched the first-ever medical drone delivery service in Ghana, and the largest such drone delivery network in the world, at Omenako, near Suhum, in the Eastern Region.
The ‘Fly-To-Save-A-Life Project’, a collaboration between the Ministry of Health and Zipline Technologies, will provide a rapid response to medical emergencies, especially in hard to reach areas, through the flying of unmanned drones to supply 12 routine and emergency services as well as 148 lifesaving medical products selected by the Ministry of Health.
2. World’s only floating nuclear power station dubbed ‘Chernobyl on ice’ launched by Russia
A floating nuclear power plant that environmental campaigners have dubbed “Chernobyl on ice” is ready to begin supplying electricity, Russia has announced.
The Akademik Lomonosov is reportedly destined to provide power for a region in Russia’s far east, although its design means it could be towed wherever there is a need for extra electricity.
3. All India Radio, Publication Division & Children’s Film Society of India given Swacchta Pakhwada Awards-2019
All India Radio, Publication Division and Children’s Film Society of India were given Swacchta Pakhwada Awards-2019 in New Delhi.
Secretary in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry Amit Khare gave away the awards. Director General of All India Radio F. Sheheryar and Director General (News) Ms. Ira Joshi received the Award for All India Radio.
Press Council of India, Press Information Bureau and BECIL were also mentioned during the award ceremony for their efforts during the Swacchta Pakhwada.
4. Government raises authorised capital of Allahabad Bank to Rs8,000 crore
State-owned Allahabad Bank said the government has increased its authorised capital by Rs5,000 crore to Rs8,000 crore.
The central government after consultation with the Reserve Bank of India has increased the authorised capital of the bank from Rs3,000 to Rs8,000 through Gazette Notification, Allahabad Bank said .
5. IIM-Bangalore becomes only Indian institute to feature in QS EMBA Rankings 2019
The Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B) has once again made a mark at the global level. The institute’s post-graduate programme in Enterprise Management (PGPEM) has secured the 12th rank in APAC listing and came 61st globally in the QS Executive MBA Rankings 2019.
It is the only Indian B-school to secure a place among the top 100 B-Schools across the world.
QS Rankings uses parameters such as leadership, executive profile, diversity, career outcomes, etc, for ranking.
These rankings mark the world’s best universities with respect to specific subjects, which in turn helps students choose their course and the university they want to pursue their degree in, wisely.
6. Army begins process to induct women as military police for the first time
In a historic first, the Army began the process to induct women in the military police, nearly two years after Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said women will be recruited as jawans.
The Army started the online registration for recruitment in the Corps of military and the last date for filing application has been fixed as June 8.
At present, women are allowed in select areas such as medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings of the Army.
The role of the military police includes policing cantonments and army establishments, preventing breach of rules and regulations by soldiers, maintaining movement of soldiers as well as logistics during peace and war and extending aid to civil police whenever required.
7. Divyansh secures India’s fourth Olympic quota in shooting
India’s Divyansh Singh Panwar secured the country’s fourth Olympic quota place in shooting by winning a silver in the ISSF World Cup in Beijing.
The 17-year-old teenager Divyansh finished second in the 10m air rifle event in the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup for pistol and rifle shooters.
This is India’s fourth 2020 Tokyo Olympic quota after Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela (10m air rifle women) and Saurabh Choudhary (10m Air Pistol men) had secured berths in the earlier World Cups and last year’s World Championship.
8. Former Dena Bank MD Karnam Sekar appointed as IOB’s new MD & CEO
Former Dena Bank MD Karnam Sekar is set to take over as the new Managing Director and CEO of Indian Overseas Bank from July 1, 2019. He will take over from R Subramaniakumar, who was instrumental in taking measures to turn around the bank, which has been reporting loses due to high NPA.
Prior to joining as officer on Special Duty and Whole Time Director of IOB in April 2019, Sekar was the MD & CEO of Dena Bank till March 31, 2019. Earlier he was the Deputy Managing Director and Chief Credit Officer in State Bank of India heading its highest Credit Committee. In SBI, he was also responsible for forumlating loan policy of the bank.
9. Bhandarkar, Helen get Deenanath Mangeshkar Award
National Award-winning filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, popular scriptwriter Salim Khan and yesteryears dancing diva Helen were honoured with the prestigious Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award at a ceremony here.
Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan, Pune, a charitable trust established and nurtured over the last 30 years by the Mangeshkar family, felicitated legends from the fields of music, drama, art and social work with the Deenanath Award and other awards on Wednesday, read a statement.
This year, the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award for music and art has been given to classical dancer Sucheta Bhide-Chapekar.
Salim, the father of superstar Salman Khan, was honoured with Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Lifetime Award. Bhandarkar got Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Special Award for his contribution to Indian cinema. Helen was conferred with Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Special Award.
Vagvilasini Award went to Vasant Abaji Dahake; the Mohan Wagh Award to Bhadrakali Productions’ “Soyare Sakal” for Best Drama of the Year. Anandmayee Puraskar was given to Pandit Suresh Talwalkar of Taalyogi Ashram. Kumar will be honoured on behalf of the “Bharat ke Veer”, an NGO which works for India’s Bravehearts under the Home Ministry.
10. IndusInd Bank adds 2% on NCLT nod for merger with BFIL
Shares of IndusInd Bank added nearly 2 percent intraday on April 24 after National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) reportedly approved merger with Bharat Financial Inclusion (BFIL).
According to a report, the merger will be completed within 2-4 weeks.
Post-merger, BFIL will become a subsidiary of the private lender.
The share of the bank touched its 52-week high of Rs 2,037.90 and 52-week low of Rs 1,333.90 on August 3, 2018 and October 31, 2018, respectively.
11. Etihad becomes first major airline to fly plastic-free
The UAE’s flag carrier Etihad Airways has become the first airline in the Gulf region to operate a flight without any single-use plastics on board, in a bid to raise awareness about pollution on Earth Day. According to the Abu Dhabi-based national airline of the UAE, the flight EY484 landed in Brisbane on April 22, Earth Day.
The milestone flight is part of Etihad’s pledge to reduce single-use plastic usage by 80 per cent not just in-flight, but across the entire organisation by the end of 2022, the airline said in a statement.
12. Pakistan’s Cyril Almeida Named IPI’s World Press Freedom Hero for Exposing Country’s Militant Links
The International Press Institute (IPI) named Cyril Almeida, an assistant editor and columnist at Pakistani daily ‘Dawn’ who is currently facing sedition charges in the country, as the recipient of its 71st World Press Freedom Hero award.
13. Benny Antony won National Intellectual Property Award
Benny Antony, Joint Managing Director, the Kochi-based Arjuna Natural Ltd, has been conferred with the National Intellectual Property Award for 2019 in the category of Top Individual for Patents and Commercialization. He is the inventor of BCM-95, the world’s leading patented turmeric extract formulation, with over 80 international patents to his credit.
Antony was also conferred with the ‘WIPO Medal for Inventors’ jointly by Intellectual Property Office India and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
National Intellectual Property (IP) awards:
The Indian Intellectual Property Office bestows National Intellectual Property (IP) awards to outstanding innovators, organisations and companies in the field of patents, designs, trademarks and geographical indications on the occasion of World IP Day every year.
14. Ex-army chief Dalbir Singh Suhag appointed India high commissioner to Seychelles
The government announced the appointment of former army chief Dalbir Singh Suhag as India’s next high commissioner to Seychelles. The appointment could bring him face to face with former army chief V.K. Singh, presently minister of state for external affairs but whom Suhag had once accused of trying to stall his promotion when Singh was army chief.
15. World Intellectual Property Day
World Intellectual Property Day is observed annually on 26 April.[1] The event was established by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2000 to “raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks and designs impact on daily life” and “to celebrate creativity, and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of societies across the globe”.
WIPD-2019 Theme is “Reach Gold-Intellectual Property (IP) And Sports“.
16. ABU Media Summit on Climate Action and Disaster Preparedness underway in Nepal
5th Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Media Summit on Climate Action and Disaster Preparedness began in Kathmandu .
The theme of the two-day summit is “Media Solutions for Sustainable Future: Saving Lives, Building Resilient Communities”.
Nepal’s Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gokul Prasad Baskota inaugurated the summit. The basic aim of the summit is to address the issue of fully utilizing media’s potential of accelerating climate action and disaster preparedness and connect stakeholders to media professionals for collaboration and joint practical projects.
17. Badminton: Indian shuttlers knocked out of Asia C’ships in China
In Badminton, Saina Nehwal, P.V. Sindhu and Sameer Verma have been knocked out after losing their quarterfinals of the Asia Championships being held in Wuhan, China .
In the women’s singles, Saina lost 13-21, 23-21, 16-21 to third seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.
Sindhu went down 19-21, 9-21 against world number 17 China’s Cai Yanyan.
In the men’s singles, Sameer Verma lost 10-21, 12-21 to China’s Shi Yuqi.
18. One of the largest diamonds ever found in Botswana
One of the world’s largest diamonds weighing a whopping 1,758 carats has been found in Botswana, a mining company said.
A Canadian company running the Karowe diamond mine in central east Botswana said the retrieved stone was one of the largest diamonds ever to have been unearthed and the largest ever in the southern African nation, reports Xinhua news agency.
The huge diamond that was retrieved weighed nearly 352 grams and measured 83mm x 62mm x 46mm.
19. Amit Panghal wins gold at Asian Boxing Championships
Asian Games champion Amit Panghal (52 kg) gave India its first gold medal at the ongoing Asian Boxing Championships here on Friday.
Panghal, who had won the Asian Games gold medal last year, defeated Korea’s Kim Inkyu in a unanimous decision, thereby clinching his second gold of the year. The 2017 Asian Championships silver medallist had earlier decimated China’s Jianguan Hu 4-1 to march into the summit clash.
20. OPPO becomes Wimbledon’s first sponsor from Asia
China’s smartphone maker OPPO has become the first official smartphone partner of Wimbledon tennis championships, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) announced.
OPPO, based in South China’s Shenzhen, signed a five-year deal with AELTC at the Champions Room of the world’s most famous tennis tournament, the Xinhua news agency reported.
The partnership represents the Chinese company’s first move into tennis after it has become the official mobile phone partner to FC Barcelona and the International Cricket Council (ICC).
