Current Affairs Daily Digest – May 10 2019
1. Australia’s Qantas Airlines Launches World’s First-Ever ‘Zero-Waste’ Flight
Australia’s Qantas Airlines launched the world’s first-ever “zero-waste” flight .
The flight from Sydney to Adelaide marked a “significant day” for aviation, Andrew David, CEO of Qantas’ domestic division. The airline typically produces about “80 fully-laden Boeing 747 jumbos” of waste per year on its Qantas and Jetstar flights, according to a press release.
2. Indian giant Amul to sponsor Afghanistan in 2019 World Cup
Amul has been announced as the principal sponsor of the Afghanistan cricket team for the upcoming World Cup, slated to be held in England and Wales from May 30.
The logo of brand Amul will appear on the leading arm of the Afghanistan team playing jerseys as well as on the training kits throughout the showpiece event.
3. KS Radhakrishnan appointed Member of Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal
Former Supreme Court judge, Justice (Retired) KS Radhakrishnan has been appointed a member of the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal, London. He has been appointed to serve as a member of the Tribunal for a four-year term between June 1, 2019, and May 31, 2023.
Justice KS Radhakrishnan served as a judge of the Supreme Court between November 2009 and May 2014. Prior to this, he served as the Chief Justice of the Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir High Courts.
4. Indian Army to commemorate 2019 as ‘Year of next of kin’
The Indian Army is commemorating this year as the ‘Year of Next of Kin’ and plans to reach out to the next of kin of battle casualties, ex-servicemen and serving soldiers to inform them of entitled financial benefits, welfare schemes and help resolve pension related problems.
5. Singapore passes ‘fake news’ law despite fierce criticism
Singapore’s parliament passed laws to combat “fake news” that will allow authorities to order the removal of content despite fierce criticism from tech giants, the media and rights groups.
They give government ministers powers to order social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to put warnings next to posts authorities deem to be false and in extreme cases get them taken down.
6. Banks must turn towards global trade-finance instruments: RBI
Banks need to expand their global banking relationship and shift towards globally accepted trade finance instruments instead of indigenous instruments (such as letter of undertaking/ letter of credit), according to a Reserve Bank of India paper.
This, however, may push up costs, the paper added. Domestic banks largely depend on their own branches or branches/subsidiaries of other domestic banks, which have been accepting non-standardised trade instruments – LoUs and LoCs – for arranging trade credit.
7. WTO ministerial meeting of developing countries to take place on May 13-14
The World Trade Organisation, WTO, ministerial meeting of developing countries will take place on 13-14 of this month in New Delhi.
It will provide an opportunity to the Ministers to discuss various issues and the way forward. On the first day, there will be a meeting of senior officers of the participating countries. On the 2nd day, the Ministerial Meeting will be held.
Sixteen developing countries and six Least Developed Countries are participating in the meeting.
This meeting at New Delhi is an effort to bring together the developing countries and Least Developed Countries on a platform for sharing common concerns on various issues affecting the WTO and work together to address these issues.
8. Ireland becomes second country to declare climate emergency
Ireland has declared climate emergency in their country, to be the second country after Britain to do so.
An amendment to a parliamentary report declaring a climate emergency and calling on parliament to examine how the Irish government can improve its response to the issue of biodiversity loss was accepted without a vote late Thursday.
Britain’s parliament became the first in the world to declare a climate emergency, passing the largely symbolic motion on May 1.
9. Actress Dia Mirza, Alibaba chief among 17 new SDG Advocates of UN
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed 17 global figures including Indian actress Dia Mirza and Alibaba chief Jack Ma as the new advocates to drive action and solidify global political will for the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals.
The new class of Sustainable Development Goals, SDG, Advocates are influential public figures committed to raising awareness, inspiring greater ambition and pushing for faster action on the SDGs, which were adopted by world leaders on September 25, 2015.
10. Today is 131st birth anniversary of haematologist Lucy Wills
Today is the 131st birth anniversary of leading English haematologist, Lucy Wills who was the pioneer in tackling prenatal anaemia during pregnancy.
Lucy’s seminal work in India in the late 1920s and early 1930s helped identify folic acid supplementation to prevent anaemia in pregnant women.
Wills spent her life traveling the world and researching on the health of pregnant women until her death in 1964.Born in 1888, she conducted seminal work in India in 1928 on macrocytic anaemia during pregnancy.
11. India, China sign protocol for export of Indian chilli meal
India and China Thursday signed a protocol for export of Indian chilli meal to the neighbouring country, the commerce ministry said.
It was signed after a meeting of Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan and General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) Vice Minister Li Guo here. Both the sides “discussed trade-related issues of pending Indian request for clearance of agricultural products”.
Both the sides also agreed to resolve market access issues expeditiously in order to achieve the vision of the leaders of both India and China by promoting a more balanced trade.
12. Bank credit grows 13.2% in FY19
Bank credit grew by 13.2% in financial year 2018-19 as compared to 10.3% in the previous financial year, mainly aided by loans to services and retail sector.
Deposit growth also gained momentum, growing by 10% as compared to 6.7% a year ago.
13. India Ratings downgrades Yes Bank with negative outlook
Days after Icra downgraded Yes Bank, India Ratings has also lowered the lender’s long-term ratings on concerns of some of its loan exposure turning into bad loans.
India Ratings has downgraded the bank’s long-term rating to ‘IND AA-‘ with negative outlook, while reaffirming short-term rating, Yes Bank said .
Accordingly, six instruments with a total borrowing of over Rs 33,000 crore were also downgraded. Yes Bank had also reported its maiden loss of over Rs 1,506 crore in the March 2019 quarter, driven by a near 10-fold spike in provisions.
14. 5th UN Global Road Safety Week
The 5th United Nations Global Road Safety Week is being observed from May 6 to 12, 2019. It is celebrated once in two years. The theme of the Road Safety Week is ‘Leadership for Road Safety’. The goal is to generate a demand for stronger leadership for road safety worldwide to help achieve SDG and other road safety targets. Worldwide road safety is something that should consistently be spoken about to keep it fresh in people’s minds when they are out on the roads so they can remain vigilant day and night. For example, driving drunk is an offence that can be a monetary fine or even imprisonment depending on the location. If a driver is facing this then they may need a DUI attorney to state their case in court. This is why road safety is an important topic throughout the world so people can be aware of what could happen if they go against the law.
15. TCS becomes India’s most valued firm again; surpasses RIL in market-cap
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) regained the status of the country’s most valued firm in terms of market capitalisation (market-cap) , surging past Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), which slipped to the number two position.
TCS market-cap stood at Rs 8.13 trillion, more than RIL’ of Rs 7.95-trillion valuation today, as per BSE data. Over the past four days, RIL has lost 11 per cent at the bourses.
16. Apple may open first India store in Mumbai
India is set to get its first Apple Inc retail store in Mumbai. The company has finalised a list of locations for its retail store. The iPhone-maker has reportedly zeroed in on several upscale sites in the economic hub of the country. The move comes as the tech giant is trying to establish a strong presence in the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market.
17. Max Life Insurance to mark 6th of every month as Protection Day
Max Life Insurance Co Ltd , one of industry’s foremost life insurance companies, today announced that it will dedicate 6th day of every calendar month as ‘Protection Day’ towards driving awareness around the concept of financial protection.
The decision come closely along the lines of the Company’s recently launched Max Life India Protection Quotient survey conducted in association with Kantar IMRB which essentially indicated that the degree to which the Indians feel protected from financial uncertainties was abysmally low at 35.
As a part of this initiative, a wide range of initiatives will be rolled out across Max Life’s network of over 240 Max Life’s offices and a wider network of its distribution partners.
