04 May 2019 - Daily Current Affairs
1. Dr Devi Prasad Shetty honoured with PC Chandra Puraskaar 2019
- Padma Bhushan Dr Devi Prasad Shetty has been honoured with the 27th Lifetime PC Chandra Puraskaar 2019 at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre.
- Dr Shetty is India’s most reputed cardiac surgeons and humanitarian.
- Swami Suviranandaji Maharaj, the General Secretary of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and gave away the award.
Note:
- The award is a tribute to the founding father of the P. C. Chandra Group, the late Shri Purna Chandra Chandra.
Source: United News of India
2. Former ISRO Chairman awarded France’s highest civilian honour
- Mr. A S Kiran Kumar (Former ISRO chairman) was conferred with France’s highest civilian honour, Chevalier de l’Ordre national de la Legion d’Honneur.
- He was awarded for his contribution to India-France space cooperation.
- Kumar was the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from 2015 to 2018.
- Currently, He holds the Chair of the ISRO Committee on Earth Observation Satellites.
Note:
- The Ordre national de la Lgion d'Honneur (National Order of the Legion of Honour) is the highest civilian award given by the French for outstanding service to France.
- National Order of the Legion of Honour created in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte.
Source: News 18
Defence
3. Indo-French joint naval exercise Varuna 19.1 begins off Goa coast
- The first part of the Indo-French joint naval exercise, ‘Varuna 19.1’ has begun at Goa coast (from 1 to 10 May 2019).
- The exercise is being conducted in two phases.
- The harbour phase at Goa would include cross-visits, professional interactions and discussions and sports events.
- Varuna 19.2 (the second part of the exercise) is scheduled to be held in May end in Djibouti.
Source: The Hindu
International Affairs
4. The UK becomes the first parliament to declare a climate emergency
- The UK is the first national government to declare an environmental and climate emergency.
- The decision marks a renewed sense of urgency in tackling climate change.
- Eleven days of protests by the Extinction Rebellion activist group caused major disruptions in central London in recent weeks.
- There is no single definition of what that means climate emergency but many local areas say they want to be carbon-neutral by 2030.
Source: The Economic Times
National Affairs
5. IGNOU to launch a course on GST
- The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will launch an awareness programme on Goods and Services Tax (GST) from its July 2019 session.
- The program will be launched in collaboration with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
- The programme would be beneficial to people who are engaged in maintaining accounts and filing of various indirect tax returns.
- It would also benefit entrepreneurs engaged in small-scale business ventures as it gives an overview of the procedures and formalities to comply under the GST Act.
Note
- Those who have passed Class 12 are eligible for the course, which will be offered in January and July cycle of admissions.
Source: The Hindu
6. Venkaiah Naidu releases postage stamp to commemorate the 750th birth anniversary of Sri Vedanta Desikan
- Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu released a postage stamp to commemorate the 750th birth anniversary of Sri Vedanta Desikan in New Delhi.
- Mr Naidu, the textbooks must throw light on the lives of great saints and spiritual icons such as Sri Vedanta Desikan.
- Sri Vedanta Desikan was a Sri Vaishnava guru/philosopher and one of the most brilliant stalwarts of Sri Vaishnavism in the post-Ramanuja period.
- He was a poet, devotee, philosopher and master-teacher (desikan).
Source: AIR news
7. BHEL successfully commissions two units of a lift irrigation project in Telangana
- The Central Public Sector undertaking Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has successfully commissioned two motor - pump set units for the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (LIS) in Telangana.
- Under the scheme, 89 cubic metres per second of water will be lifted to a height of 106 metres from the Sripada Yellampalli reservoir to Medaram reservoir and will be used for irrigation and water supply in nearby drought-prone areas.
- In Telangana, BHEL has so far commissioned 27 pump-motor projects totalling to 753 MW.
Source: Business Standard
8. Government and IIT-Delhi to set up a Centre of Excellence for waste to wealth technologies
- The Govt of India and Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT) Delhi have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in New Delhi for setting up a Centre of Excellence for Waste to Wealth Technologies, to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
- The partnership will provide an effective platform for stakeholders to bring together integrated approaches for effective recycling, reuse and resource recovery of waste.
Source: The Times of India
9. BSNL launches ‘Bharat Fibre’ broadband Service in Kashmir Valley
- Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has become the first operator to start optical fiber-based high-speed broadband service in Pulwama with the launch of ‘Bharat Fibre’.
- under this unique revenue share model, this is the first such FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) service deployment in the (Kashmir) Valley.
- BSNL provides FTTH service with a monthly charge in the range of Rs 777-16,999 in over 160 telecom districts with a minimum speed of 2 megabit per second
- The service has been launched in a business partnership model with the local channel partner of Pulwama area, on a revenue sharing basis.
Source: Business Today
Banking and Finance
10. State Bank of India links interest rates to RBI's repo rate
- State Bank of India (SBI) has moved to a new interest rate regime on large savings account deposits as well as short-term loans.
- In March, SBI had announced that it will link its interest rate on savings account with a balance above Rs. 1 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.
- This will help in better transmission of RBI's policy rates into the banking system.
Source: Business Standard
11. LIC HFL launches Udyam Centre in Bengaluru
- LIC Housing Finance (LIC HFL) has launched ‘Udyam’, a skilling centre in Bengaluru to empower youths of the country.
- It has been launched in association with Lok Bharti Education Society, the implementing partner.
- The Centres of Excellence will provide training to marginalised youth in the BFSI, retail, and IT/ ITES sectors.
- Under UDYAM, Centres of Excellence (COE) has been started in Delhi and Bangalore and later on be expanded to other cities.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Obituaries
12. Chewbacca Actor Peter Mayhew From ‘Star Wars’ passes away
- English-American actor Peter Mayhew (74-years) passed away at his North Texas home.
- Peter Mayhew best known for portraying Chewbacca in the Star Wars film series.
- He played the character in all his live-action appearances from the 1977 original to 2015's The Force Awakens before his retirement from the role.
- Mayhew was also an active philanthropist.
Source: The Guardian
Sports
13. Kumar Sangakkara becomes first non-British MCC president
- According to MCC's President Anthony Wreford, former Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara (41-year) has been appointed as the first non-British president of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
- He will take up his one-year post 1st on October 2019.
- MCC was founded in 1787 and has been based at Lord’s, which it owns, since 1814.
- It is the guardian of the Laws of the game.
Note:
- The Laws of Cricket is a code which specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide.
- Since 1788, it has been owned and maintained by its custodian, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in London.
