Latest Current Affairs – September 04 & 05 2018
1. Dr Arif Alvi elected 13th President of Pakistan
Dr Arif ur Rehman Alvi was elected the 13th President of Pakistan after a vote in the Parliament and provincial assemblies. Alvi, a dentist by profession, was a founding member of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. The 69-year-old is expected to assume office on September 9 after incumbent President Mamnoon Hussain’s term ends.
2. Amazon hits $1 trillion market capitalisation after Apple
World’s richest man Jeff Bezos-led e-commerce major Amazon became the second publicly traded US company to hit $1 trillion in market capitalisation after Apple. Amazon stock needed to hit a price of $2,050.27 to reach the $1 trillion mark. Amazon stock has more than doubled in the last 12 months and has gained more than 70% in 2018.
3. South Africa enters recession for 1st time since 2009
South Africa entered recession for the first time since 2009 in the second quarter. Its economy contracted by 0.7% in the second quarter, led by declines in the agricultural, transport and retail sectors. The country’s currency rand stretched losses against the dollar to more than 2% and government bonds fell after the data was released.
4. World’s first lion cubs born via artificial insemination
In a first, a lioness has given birth to a male and a female cub via artificial insemination in South Africa. Scientists harvested a male lion’s sperm, which was placed inside the lioness and she gave birth to two healthy cubs 3.5 months later. Scientists said the research is a breakthrough for saving endangered species like tiger and snow leopard.
5. TCS becomes 2nd Indian firm to cross ?8 trillion market cap
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) became only the second Indian company to cross ?8 trillion in market capitalisation after Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries. TCS share price rose 1.7% to a record high of ?2,091 on the BSE, pushing the company’s market capitalisation to ?8.01 trillion. The TCS stock has surged 54.6% so far this year.
6. ISRO planning its first satellite control base at North Pole
ISRO is reportedly planning to set up a satellite ground control station at the North Pole for a “14-orbit coverage” to efficiently download data from India’s Earth-observing satellites. ISRO already has two ground stations, IMGEOS at Telangana’s Shadnagar built in 2011, and AGEOS in Antarctica. The space agency would also install a second antenna in AGEOS to aid the project.
7. Sunil Mehta elected as New chairman of Indian Bank’s Association for 2018-19
Sunil Mehta serves as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Punjab National Bank. Dina Bandhu Mohapatra, Managing Director & CEO, Bank of India, was elected as the body’s Deputy Chairman. Shyam Srinivasan, Managing Director & CEO, Federal Bank and Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, State Bank of India, continue to be Deputy Chairmen.
8. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi inaugurates the first luxury cruise ‘Alaknanda’ in Varanasi
The five-star luxury cruise, a 30-metre double-decked modern line, is a startup venture of Varanasi based Nordic Cruiseline. It will run between Assi Ghat and Panchganga Ghat for a two-hour ride of around 12 km in the morning and evening.
9. NASA seeks ideas to convert Carbon dioxide to an useful compound
NASA has announced a public competition seeking novel solutions to turn Carbon dioxide into useful compounds. The challenge is open to all. This is to find a solution that might help future astronauts exploring Mars as the Martin atmosphere has abundant CO2 .
The competition will be conducted in two phases. During Phase 1, teams must submit a design and description of a conversion system that includes details of the physical-chemical approaches to convert carbon dioxide into glucose. And NASA will award up to five teams USD 50,000 each. Phase 2 will carry a prize purse of up to USD 750,000, for a total challenge prize of USD 1 million.
10. Ukraine launched joint military exercises with the U.S. and other NATO countries
Ukraine has launched joint military exercises with the U.S. and a string of other NATO countries. The annual Rapid Trident military exercises are to happen in the western Ukrainian village of Starychi until September 15, involve some 2,200 soldiers from 14 countries. This is because of the rise in tension with Russia remains high over the Kremlin-backed insurgency in the country’s east.
The event will start a week before Russia holds its biggest military exercises, Vostok 2018, since the Cold War, with the participation of China and Mongolia.
11. India along with 23 other nations Participates in tsunami mock drill
The exercise, known as ‘IOWave18’, is being organized by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, which coordinated the setting up of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWMS) in the aftermath of December 2004 tsunami.
12. India and Cyprus signed MoUs on curbing money laundering
India and Cyprus signed two Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on combating money laundering and cooperation in the field of environment. The MoU was signed between Financial Intelligence Unit, India, and Unit for Combating Money Laundering of Cyprus.
Mr.Kovind and Mr.Anastasiades held discussions on issues of mutual interest, including promotion of business collaboration in the fields of IT and IT-enabled services, tourism, shipping and renewable energy.
13. Mark Read appointed as WPP CEO in place of Martin Sorrell
Mark Read takes over the position from Martin Sorrell, who resigned from WPP 33 years following allegations of personal misconduct and misuse of company assets. WPP plc is a British multinational advertising and public relations company with its main management office in London, England, and its executive office in Dublin, Ireland.
14. Smriti Irani inaugurated ‘digital village’ in Amethi
Union textiles minister Smriti Irani inaugurated a ‘digital village’ in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, the parliamentary constituency of Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Under the digital village project, there would be 206 programmes available for the people including a Wi-Fi Chaupal, LED bulb manufacturing, a unit to make sanitary pads and PM digital literacy initiative.
15. India to make its own F-16 fighter jets
Maryland-based Lockheed Martin, an American security and aerospace giant, announced that the wings of its F-16 fighter jets will be produced in India. For this project, the Lockheed Martin Corporation has entered into an agreement with Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL).
This move is to boost the Centre’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. To make this project successful Lockheed has offered to move its entire F-16 manufacturing base to India. India is yet to make a decision on it.
16. TRANSTAN made Aadhaar mandatory for organ transplant
Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu (TRANSTAN) has made Aadhaar mandatory for Indian patients to register in the Tamil Nadu Network for Organ Sharing. While foreigners are asked to submit a No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the respective Embassies. Earlier, for Indian patients any identity proof, including voter’s ID, was acceptable.
The move is a measure to streamline the deceased donor transplant programme and to confirm that they have come to the State for organ transplantation. TRANSTAN has brought in a single unique ID for a patient, irrespective of the number of organs he or she registers for. It is expected that this will avoid confusion so that the hospitals cannot modify patient’s details except the activation and inactivation of patients.
17. Conference on E-Mobility in Indian Railways held in New Delhi
The main aim is to discuss strategies for future of mobility in India and to make Indian Railways more efficient, greener and a preferred mode of transport. It acted as a common platform for project developers and other stakeholders. Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha was the chief guest of the conference.
18. Indian Navy beats 22 other teams to win KAKADU Cup 2018 in Australia
Kakadu Cup 2018 was organised by the Australian Navy as part of its multi-nation maritime exercise. INS Sahyadri had participated in the Kakadu Cup 2018 which involved swimming, running, crossing water and land obstacles. The name KAKADU is derived from Kakadu National Park, a protected area in the northern territory of Australia, 171 km south-east of Darwin.
19. International Women Entrepreneurs Summit 2018 held In Nepal
The theme of the 3-day event is “Equality begins with Economic Empowerment”. The main objective of the summit is to bring together achievers, women business leaders, professionals, international service providers, resource organizations, experts, government representatives and other stakeholders with a focus on innovative economic transformation through discussions and collaborations.
20. International Aviation Summit Held In New Delhi
The seminar has been jointly organized by the Airports Authority of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation and International Air Transport Association (IATA). Vision 2035 plans to build 100 new airports across India in the next 10-15 years with an investment of USD 60 billion and address the major issues concerning aviation industry such as airport infrastructure, Currrtaxation and use of technology.
