Current Affairs Daily Digest – May 6 2019
1. Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew dies aged 74
“Star Wars” actor Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the original trilogy, died on Tuesday, his family announced on his Twitter. He was 74.
2. Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinappa win Asian Championship titles
Saurav Ghosal and Joshna Chinappa won the individual titles in the Asian Squash Championship on Sunday.
Joshna Chinappa, the second seed, successfully defended her title, beating the top seed Annie Au of Hong Kong 11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 11-6 in the summit clash.
Ghosal, the top seed and finalist last year, ensured there was no slip this time when he downed the fourth seed Leo Au Chun Ming, also of Hong Kong, in straight games 11-9, 11-2, 11-8.
3. G7 environment ministers meet to discuss climate crisis
Environment ministers of the G7 nations met in France , a day ahead of the release of what is expected to be another alarming report on the state of the planet.
Ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States gathered for the two-day meeting in the northeastern city of Metz.
They were due to discuss measures to tackle deforestation, plastic pollution and the degradation of coral reefs and try to form alliances between nations to act on them.
4. e-Governance Services India ties up with IIT-Kanpur to upscale Unnat Bharat Abhiyan
Common Service Centre’s (CSC) e-Governance Services India Limited, a special purpose vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics & IT,said it has tied up with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur to upscale ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’.
‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’ is an initiative of the Ministry of HRD. It aims to find solutions to accelerate sustainable growth in rural India.
Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, IIT-Kanpur has brought together 15 leading higher education institutions from Uttar Pradesh.
These institutions have agreed to work with CSC for the development of villages under the scheme.
IIT Kanpur has adopted five villages — Hridayapur, Baikanthpur, Ishwariganj, Pratappur Hari and Saxupurva — situated on the outskirts of Kanpur for its overall development.
5. Indian Navy Launches Fourth Stealth Scorpene Class Submarine Vela in Mumbai
Scorpene class submarine Vela, equipped with modern machinery and technology to guard the seas, was launched . It will undergo a number of tests by the Indian Navy before it gets commissioned in the defence fleet, the official added.
It is the fourth submarine to be launched by the state-owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) after entering into a contract for the construction and transfer of technology for six Scorpene class submarines with French collaborator Ms Naval Group (formerly known as DCNS).
INS Vela was first commissioned on August 31, 1973 in the Indian Naval service and continued to serve for 37 years. It was the oldest submarine of the country when it was decommissioned on
6. Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi released his auto-biography, ‘Game Changer’
Pakistan’s former captain and star all-rounder Shahid Afridi recently released his autobiography, titled ‘Game Changer’.
The book, co-authored by Afridi and journalist Wajahat S Khan, details some interesting and exciting information from the cricketer’s life.
Afridi writes about a particular bad series in Australia where during his first stint as captain, Pakistan were finding it difficult to win. So, out of desperation, Afridi admits tampering with the ball.
7. Mihailovic appointed men’s volleyball coach
The Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) named Serbian Dragan Mihailovic as the head coach the Indian men’s volleyball team. Mihailovic will be joined by Pryemyslaw Gaszyoski and Valadimir Radosevic as the team’s physio trainer and physiotherapist, respectively, the VFI said.
Apart from the men’s national team, the three will also be working closely with the men’s U-23 team and other junior teams representing India, a VFI statement said.
The trio have been appointed for a period of five months and will work with the team for the Asian Championships scheduled to be held in Iran in September this year.
8. India and U.S. Hold Bilateral Trade Meeting
India and the United States held the India-U.S. Bilateral Trade meeting in New Delhi . Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Government of India and Mr. Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce, United States of America co-chaired the bilateral meeting.
India appreciated the USTrade Winds Indo-Pacific Business Forum and Missioninitiative 2019, being held at New Delhi. The forum will bring together distributors, representatives and partners and enable them to increase sales by taking part in business-to-business meetingsfrom 8-10thMay, 2019, across India.
9. 15th Finance Commission to hold meetings with RBI and Banks & Financial Institutions and Eminent Economists.
The 15th Finance Commission has scheduled a two-days visit to Mumbai to hold meetings with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and with the Banks and Financial Institutions on 8th and 9th May, 2019. The Commission will be headed by its Chairman, Shri N.K. Singh and include all its Members and senior officials.
10. World Laughter Day 2019: 5 May
World Laughter Day. World Laughter Day takes place on the first Sunday of May of every year . The first celebration was on May 10, 1998, in Mumbai, India, and was arranged by Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of the worldwide Laughter Yoga movement.
11. Microsoft Unveils Its Own Blockchain-Based Service
Joining the Blockchain bandwagon, Microsoft has unveiled fully-managed Azure Blockchain Service that would simplify the formation, management and governance so that businesses can focus on workflow logic and application development. Instead of supporting cryptocurrency transactions, Azure Blockchain Service will let businesses develop their applications on its Cloud-based platform.
Microsoft has also announced a partnership with J.P. Morgan to make “Quorum” (an enterprise-focused version of open-sourced platform Ethereum) the first ledger available in Azure Blockchain Service.
12. PM announces Rs 1000 cr assistance for cyclone-hit Odisha
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has said that Central Govt will provide manpower, machine, material and money for restoration work in cyclone FANI affected areas in Odisha.
Visiting the cyclone-affected areas today in Odisha, Prime Minister said that 1000 crore rupees financial assistance will be given to Odisha. Before the cyclone, 381 crore rupees assistance in advance was declared by the Prime Minister.
13. High-level Bangladeshi delegation visited All India Radio
A high-level Bangladeshi Delegation, headed by Secretary, Ministry of Information, Abdul Malek, visited All India Radio to work out the modalities of operationalising the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the state broadcasters of two countries earlier.
The delegation met Director General of All India Radio, AIR and DG, News Services Division, AIR and other senior officials to discuss the entire gamut of issues.
