Current Affairs Daily Digest – May 15 2019
1. Doris Day, Hollywood actress and singer, dies aged 97
Hollywood legend Doris Day, whose films made her one of the biggest stars of all time, has died aged 97.
The singer turned actress starred in films such as Calamity Jane and Pillow Talk and had a hit in 1956 with Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be).
Her screen partnership with Rock Hudson is one of the best-known in the history of romantic movies.
2. Indian Army, Navy and Air Force hold joint exercise in Andaman and Nicobar
Indian Army, Navy and Air Force hold joint exercise Bull Strike at Teressa Island in Andaman and Nicobar.
The objective is to enhance their coordination in dealing with major security challenges which are currently facing the country and also to showcase joint operation capability of the three forces, Indian Army, Navy and Air Force and further enhance operation coordination.
The Total 170 troops from all three services participated and carried out para drop operations in a Combat Free Fall and Static Line mode.
3. BharatPe ropes in Salman Khan as brand ambassador
Merchant service and UPI payments app BharatPe Monday said it has roped in Bollywood actor Salman Khan as its brand ambassador.
The company is on an aggressive growth spree and will be launching a brand advertising campaign with Khan shortly, it said in a release.The new brand campaign with Khan will be focused towards educating merchants and users about UPI payments along with driving adoption of BharatPe app for all their business needs, it added.
4. RBI appoints R. Gandhi as additional director on Yes Bank’s board
Yes Bank disclosed in a regulatory filing that the banking regulator has appointed former RBI Deputy Governor R. Gandhi as an additional director on its board. The appointment is for a period of two years with effect from May 14, 2019, to May 13, 2021, or till further orders.
The apex bank exercised powers conferred under sub- section (1) of Section 36AB of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, to make this appointment.
5. Paytm launches cash-back driven credit card with Citi Bank
In a bid to target new credit customers and expand its monthly active user base, digital wallet major, Paytm, has launched a credit card in partnership with global payments company Citi Bank.
Called Paytm First Card, this is the first card of its kind launched in India by the American card company, which has similar exclusive partnerships across sectors in the US.
It is also the first white-label credit card of its kind to offer unlimited one per cent cash-back without restrictions that would get auto-credited to the card every month. For example, on a spend of Rs 100, a person will get an assured Rs 1 as cash-back. The company’s cash-back driven credit card comes at a time when cash-backs are drying up.
6. India’s GS Lakshmi becomes first female ICC match referee
Former India women cricketer GS Lakshmi became the first female to be appointed to the ICC International Panel of Match Referees. The 51-year-old, who first officiated as a match referee in domestic women’s cricket in 2008-09, has overseen three women’s ODI matches and as many women’s T20I games.
7. Croatian World Cupper Igor Stimac appointed head coach of Indian football team
Croatian World Cupper Igor Stimac was appointed head coach of the Indian football team for a two-year term. The national team has been without a coach since the departure of Stephen Constantine in January, following the creditable show at the AFC Asian Cup.
The appointment was made by the All India Football Federation’s Executive Committee. The 51-year-old Stimac, who was part of Croatia’s 1998 World Cup squad that finished third in France, comes with an experience of over 18 years in coaching, structuring and developing football and players back home and internationally.
8. Hockey India names 18-Member Indian junior men’s hockey team for 8-Nation U-21 Spain tour
Hockey India named the 18-member Indian junior men’s team for the eight-Nation Under-21 Tournament in Spain, commencing on 10th of next month.
The teams which will vie for top honours include the Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, hosts Spain and India.The Indian junior men’s team will be captained by Mandeep Mor, while Suman Beck will be his deputy.
9. Navy’s first full-fledged SSB opened at Kolkata
The Indian Navy’s first full-fledged Services Selection Board (SSB) was inaugurated by Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba at Diamond Harbour near Kolkata.
The SSB (Kolkata) is located at a place that was previously occupied by a Naval Coastal Battery, a Navy statement said. This is the fifth SSB of the Indian Navy and will cater for selection of both permanent and short service commission (SSC) officers. The other boards are located in Bhopal, Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam and Coimbatore.
This SSB will boost the induction of officers, both men and women, into the Indian Navy. Its location will reduce the travel time and effort for candidates from northern and northeastern parts of the country.
10. MoU signed for Plantation of Rudraksh Trees in Uttarakhand
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between National Mission for Clean Ganga, HCL Foundation and INTACH for taking up a project of Plantation of Rudraksh Trees in Uttarakhand as a part of CSR initiative under the Namami Gange Programme.
While the project aims at planting 10 thousand Rudraksh trees in the catchment area of river Ganga in Uttarakhand in association with local community and other stakeholders, it will also help in generating income for people residing in those areas.
The tripartite MoU was signed by representative from HCL Foundation, INTACH and Executive Director (Finance) from National Mission for Clean Ganga NMCG Mr Rozy Agarwal in the presence of Director-General NMCG Rajiv Ranjan Mishra and Executive Director (Projects) G. Ashok Kumar.
11. China blocks all language editions of Wikipedia
China has broadened its block of online encyclopedia Wikipedia to include all language editions.
According to a report by the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), China started blocking all language editions of Wikipedia last month.
Previously, most editions of Wikipedia — besides the Chinese language version, which was reportedly blocked in 2015 — were available. China’s online censorship apparatus — dubbed the ‘Great Firewall’ — blocks a large number of foreign sites in the country, such as Google, Facebook and The New York Times. Topics that are deemed too sensitive are also scrubbed.
12. India Pavilion Inaugurated at Cannes
The India Pavilion at Cannes Film Festival 2019 was inaugurated today by Shri Amit Khare, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Mr. Jerome Paillard, Executive Director, Marche Du Film, Cannes Film Market; Mr. Prasoon Joshi, Chairman, CBFC and Ms. Rima Das, National Award winning Indian Filmmaker were also present on the occasion.
A special IFFI poster marking its Golden Jubilee Edition was also released, along with a comprehensive Film Guide to showcase the importance of the film ecosystem and government incentives to shoot in India.
13. Workshop on Artificial Bio Organs held in Visakhapatnam
In order to strengthen Indo-Australian Cooperation and achieve development of 3D printing industry in both the countries, Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone (AMTZ) has recently organized a one-day workshop on Organ Bio Printing at the Kalam Convention Center, AMTZ Campus in Visakhapatnam.
The workshop explored 3D printing, an innovative technology that covers all medical disciplines and offers new opportunities in diagnostics and therapy. From diagnostic visualization to surgical planning, patient-specific models provide an added value for patients and physicians.
14. India To Host Part Of International Army Games For First Time In August
In a first, India will host a part of an international military sports event in Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer over nine days in August, in a bid to promote bonhomie among the participating countries, senior officials of Army said Tuesday. It is also for the first time that an Indian team will participate in this competition, they said.
International Army Games, organised by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, have been taking place since 2015. Nearly 32 countries participate in the event.
In 2019, it is proposed that the International Army Games will have 32 disciplines to be hosted by 10 countries — Russia, India, China, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Iran, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, they said.
15. Ola launches Ola Money SBI Credit Card
In a move to enrich the customer experience of millions of the homegrown ride hailing platform’s users, Ola has partnered the state-run SBI cards to launch Ola Money SBI Credit Card for the country’s first such co-branding initiative in the segment.
The card, which is powered by Visa, will be without any joining fees and provide seamless, flexible and convenient payments to the car hailing platform’s customers.
Ola is targeting 10 million Ola Money-SBI Credit Cards to be issued by 2022.
16. Helo becomes team sponsor of Indian Wheelchair Cricket
Helo, India’s social media platform, has announced its partnership with the Indian Wheelchair Cricket Association as the team sponsor for Team India during the Asia Cup 2019, which is scheduled from May 15 in Nepal. This association makes Helo the first social media app to host and promote Indian Wheelchair Cricket on its platform.
As part of the association, Helo will now be the official digital media partner for the team during the tournament.
17. HDFC ties up with India Mortgage Guarantee Corp
Housing finance major HDFC Limited has partnered with the India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) to offer a mortgage-guaranteed home loan product.
The partnership aims to make it possible for HDFC to further penetrate the home loan market and access an enlarged customer base, helping them to own a home of their choice, HDFC said. This product will help HDFC to offer more loan to a home loan customer on an enhanced eligibility as it also helps customers to avail loans beyond their retirement period.
18. International Day of Families : May 15
The International Day of Families is observed on the 15th of May every year. Activities include workshops and conferences, radio and television programmes, newspaper articles and cultural programmes highlighting relevant themes.
2019 Theme: “Families and Climate Action: Focus on SDG 13.
