Current Affairs Daily Digest – May 2 2019
1. BSE appoints M Jayshree Vyas to board, its first independent woman Director
BSE, formerly known as the Bombay Stock Exchange, has appointed M Jayshree Vyas its first independent woman Director to its board.
Vyas is a qualified chartered accountant and had been working as the Managing Director of Shree Mahila Sewa Sahakari Bank, Ahmedabad, since 1986. She played a pivotal role in the launching of first financial literacy programme in Sewa Bank in 2001.
2. Kumar Sangakkara Named As First Non-British MCC President
Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has been appointed as the first non-British president of the Marylebone Cricket Club. Other illustrious cricketers from the past who have taken on the role of MCC president include Ted Dexter, Derek Underwood, Mike Brearley, Colin Cowdrey, Mike Gatting and Gubby Allen – all legends of English cricket. Sangakkara will be the first overseas MCC president in the organization’s 233-year history.
The wicketkeeper-batsman, whose nomination was announced by current president Anthony Wreford , will begin his one-year tenure in October.
3. Green Number Plates Made Mandatory for Electric Cars
Last year, the Indian government had announced green number plates for all electric vehicles wherein the private electric vehicles will get white lettering on a green background and commercial EVs will yellow lettering. And now the Central Government has asked the state road transport departments to make green number plates mandatory on all types of electric vehicles irrespective of them being brand new or used.
4. GST collections jump 10% to an all-time high of Rs1.13 trillion in April
Revenue from goods and services tax (GST) witnessed 10% growth from the year-ago period at ₹1.13 trillion in April, the highest ever since the implementation of the indirect tax system on 1 July 2017, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.
The rise in tax collections in April (for domestic sales in March) can also be partially attributed to the year-end phenomenon, when taxpayers pay their arrears.
Of the gross GST collection of ₹1.13 trillion, central GST (CGST) was ₹21,163 crore, while state GST (SGST) was ₹28,801 crore. Integrated GST (IGST) collections, levied on inter-state supply of goods and services, and divided between the centre and states, stood at ₹54,733 crore and ₹9,168 crore of cess was collected in April.
5. Mangaluru police gets all-women patrol unit
Mangaluru City Police has launched an all-women police patrol unit in the city.
Flagging off the ‘Rani Abbakka Force’ in Mangaluru , Sandeep Patil, Commissioner of Police, said the Karnataka police is giving utmost importance to the protection of women and children.
6. Apurvi Chandela attains world number one spot in women’s 10 m air rifle event
Indian shooting ace Apurvi Chandela attained the world number one position in the women’s 10 metres air rifle event while compatriot Anjum Moudgil rose to number two after consistent performances in recent years.
The rifle ace from Jaipur is among the five Indian shooters to have already secured 2020 Olympics quotas for the country.
Meanwhile, Moudgil attained the world number two rank in 10 metres Air Rifle after her mixed team gold at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing. Manu Bhaker is the world number 10 in 25 metres pistol women category.
Among men, Divyansh Singh Panwar’s World Cup exploits in Beijing helped him reach world number four spot in 10 metres air rifle category. Divyansh won two gold medals at Beijing — 10 metres air rifle and 10 metres air rifle mixed team – and also secured his quota at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
7. India set to launch second mission to the moon Chandrayan-2 in July, says ISRO
After being deferred several times in last one year, India’s second mission to the moon – Chandrayaan 2 is now all set to be launched in July.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) which had initially planned to launch the mission last year in April, confirmed that the all the modules for the mission would be ready in the next two months.
It would be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
The mission would land on the southern pole of the moon, which has not been explored much before by any of the countries. The landing of the craft near the lunar south pole would be historically significant as it would give ISRO the opportunity to name that site on the moon.
8. Iraq remains top oil supplier to India
Iraq has, for the second year in a row, become India’s top crude oil supplier, meeting more than a fifth of the country’s oil needs in 2018-19 fiscal year.
According to data sourced from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Iraq sold 46.61 million tonnes (mt) of crude oil to India during April 2018 and March 2019, 2% more than 45.74 mt it had supplied in 2017-18 fiscal.
India provisionally imported 207.3 mt of crude oil in 2018-19, down from 220.4 mt in the previous financial year.
9. SBI’s new interest rate plan: Large savings accounts to earn 0.25% less
India’s largest bank State Bank of India has moved to a new interest rate regime on large savings account deposits as well as short-term loans. Earlier, SBI had announced that it will link its interest rate on savings account with a balance above Rs1 lakh and short-term loans like overdraft and cash credit facility to Reserve Bank of India’s repo rate, effective 1 May 2019.
The interest rates on large SBI savings account deposits and interest rate on some short-term loans will automatically change as and when RBI changes its repo rate.
10. Kannada theatre personality Master Hirannaiah passed away
Noted Kannada theatre personality Master Hirannaiah died in the city on May 2 morning. He was 85 years old and was suffering from a liver complication.
11. Drake sets record with most wins at Billboard awards
Rapper Drake set a record with the most wins ever, taking home 12 honours at the Billboard Music Awards. The ceremony took place on Wednesday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena here with singer Kelly Clarkson as the host.
Drake surpassed singer Taylor Swift to become the top award recipient in the Billboard Music Awards history. He won 12 awards, bringing his career total to 27. Swift has won 23 Billboard Music Awards, reports billboard.com.
