05 April 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

Mirabai claims India's first gold of 21st CWG

India’s weightlifter Mirabai Chanu (23-year) has won the gold medal at the 21st Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
Chanu (Hailing from Manipur) won the coveted yellow metal in the 48 kg category with a total lift of 196 kg.
The silver in the event went to Marie Ranaivosova (Mauritius), while the bronze was taken by Dinusha Gomes (Sri Lanka).
She becomes the first Indian to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2018.
In 2018, she was awarded the Padma Shri.

In the 56 kilograms category, India’s Weightlifter P Gururaja (25-year) lifted a total weight of 249 kg to finish Silver Medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The gold medal went to Izahar Ahmad (Malaysia) who lifted a total weight of 261kg.
The bronze medal went to Sri Lanka’s Chaturanga Lakmal.
Gururaja (Hailing from Karnataka) is employed with the Indian Air Force.

5th April is being observed as National Maritime Day of India every year.
This day, the country renews its abiding faith in the importance of maritime zone as well as sea route for an all-round development of the nation.
In 2018, the theme of the occasion is 'Indian Shipping - An Ocean of opportunity'.
The National Maritime Day was first celebrated on 5th April 1964.
On this day in 1919, navigation history was created when the first ship of The Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd."SS Loyalty" journeyed to the United Kingdom.

Note:

India has about 7516 km (Mainland: 5422.6 km and Island Territories: 2094 km) of coastline serviced by a total of 182 ports.

The Election Commission has decided to set up 450 Sakhi Pink booths during the Karnataka Assembly elections to empower and encourage women voters.
The booths will be managed completely by female staff including presiding officer, polling officer, micro observers and security personnel.
Pink booths will be opened in areas where the female population is more than male voters.

Jodhpur court has convicted Actor Salman Khan in the 1998 black buck poaching case, but acquitted co-actors Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Tabu and Sonali Bendre.
Salman has been held guilty of killing two blackbucks in Kankani village near Jodhpur in October 1998 during the shooting of a movie.
Salman was facing charges under Section 9/51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister ‘Ranil Wickremesinghe’ (leader of the United National Party) comfortably won the no-confidence motion against him in voting held in Parliament.
In the Parliament (225-member), 122 members voted against the motion, while 76 voted in favor.
The motion was brought by the Opposition group accusing the Prime Minister’s party of involvement in the bond scam.

Note:

The prime minister is the second in the order of precedence after the president and head of the cabinet of ministers.
The prime minister would be a member of the constitutional council, national security council and the senior most member cabinet of ministers.

Sierra Leone’s opposition candidate and former military junta leader Julius Maada Bio takes his oath as the country’s new President in the capital Freetown.
Bio won Saturday's runoff vote with 51.8% of valid votes cast.
Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean, known for the white-sand beaches lining the Freetown Peninsula.

Qatar-based Doha Bank’s CEO R Seetharaman has inaugurated the first branch of Doha bank in Chennai.
Now, the total number of branches in the country to three (earlier Mumbai, Kochi).
The Chennai branch will assist the bank's growing customer base in India offering a host of services including corporate, retail, treasury, trade, finance and foreign exchange services.

Note:

Doha Bank is one of the largest commercial banks in the State of Qatar.
It has been consistently registering a strong growth during the last decade with participative leadership philosophy.

Assam Health and Education Minister ‘Himanta Biswa Sarma’ has been unanimously elected the Badminton Association of India (BAI) President for four years in the annual general body meeting in Goa.
Sarma had taken over as the interim BAI President last year after the demise of Akhilesh Das Gupta.

Note:

Badminton Association of India (BAI) is the governing body of badminton in India formed in 1934.
It has been holding national-level tournaments in India since 1936.
It is headquartered in Lucknow, India.

SBI Life Insurance has appointed Sanjeev Nautiyal (Probationary officer-1985) as its new Managing Director (MD) and Chief executive officer (CEO).
Nautiyal replaces Arijit Basu, who takes over a key role in the State Bank of India Group.
Mr. Nautiyal graduate in arts & master’s in business administration.
Nautiyal is a Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers (C.A.I.I.B).

Note:

SBI Life Insurance is a joint venture life insurance company between State Bank of India (70.1%), and BNP Paribas Cardif (26%).
BNP Paribas is a French multinational bank and financial services company with global headquarters in Paris.
Other investors are Value Line Pte. Ltd. and MacRitchie Investments Pte. Ltd., holding 1.95% of the total capital each.