Current Affairs Update – 19th May, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 19th May, 2016. These are important for the upcoming UIIC AO 2016, SBI PO and SBI Clerk Mains 2016.

• The Income Tax (IT) department on
  17 May 2016 launched an electronic grievance redressal system e-nivaran to fast
  track taxpayer grievances and ensure early resolution of their complaints.
• In this regard, a separate and
  dedicated window for grievance redressal was also launched in the Income Tax
  Business Application (ITBA).

• The e-nivaran system, also named
  as Unified Grievance Management System, seeks to integrate all online and
  physical complaints gathered by the department.
• The complaints at this platform
  will be monitored by the Assessing Officer up to the supervisory officers in a
  paperless environment.
• The system not only records the
  origin of the grievance on the electronic platform it works on, but it also
  keeps tracking it till it reaches its logical conclusion for final resolution.
• It will also ensure that
  grievances related to any section or domain of the IT department is transferred
  quickly to the concerned department.

• Amazon India today forged a
  partnership with Development Commissioner Handloom of the Union Ministry of
  Textiles under which it will educate, train and enable cooperatives and weavers
  to directly sell their products on the online portal.
• The partnership allows Amazon
  India to engage with weavers in Kota in Rajasthan, Nadia in West Bengal,
  Bargarh in Odisha and Bijoynagar in Assam.
• The products will carry
  government certifications ‘India Handloom Brand’ and ‘Handloom Mark’, ensuring
  availability of quality products to shoppers across the globe, Amazon India
  said in a release here.
• The company has already deployed
  teams in the four states and conducted workshops in Kota and Bargarh,
  introducing weavers to online selling and Amazon.In’s seller services that will
  help them kickstart their online business, it said.

• British lender HSBC on Thursday
  announced a consolidation exercise under which it will almost halve its
  branches in the country to 26 as customers shift to digital alternatives for
  their banking transactions.
• The total number of branches will
  be coming down to 26 in 14 cities from 50 in 29 cities earlier, with a bulk of
  the impact in smaller centres.
• It added that the impacted
  branches account for only 10 per cent of the customer base in the country.
• The reduction in branches is due
  to customers’ adoption of digital solutions, it said.
• The consolidation exercise is the
  result of a strategic review of retail and wealth management vertical and will
  be carried out in the coming months in a phased manner, said HSBC, which has been
  present in India since 1853.

• App-based cab service provider
  Ola has launched a unique initiative for travellers arriving at the Kempegowda
  International Airport (KIA). Through this first-of- its-kind agreement.
• Ola will have a designated ‘Ola
  Zone’ at the airport where its driver-partners will be able to park their
  vehicles and offer uninterrupted service to travellers.
• The move will help users to get
  an Ola cab within less than three minutes.
• Ola has also deputed queue
  representatives to guide customers towards their cab if need be.
• The company aims to replicate
  this model at other key public utility spaces such as railways stations and bus
  stations in Bengaluru and other cities.

• Japanese firm Nomura has exited
  from its JV with LIC Mutual Fund. LIC Nomura Mutual Fund is again being
  positioned as LIC Mutual Fund — the original name it had before Nomura came in
  with 35 per cent stake in the joint venture.
• There are now two new partners in
  LIC Mutual fund – GIC Housing Finance and Corporation Bank with 11.7 per cent
  and 4 per cent stake, respectively.
• Meanwhile, the existing partner
  LIC Housing Finance has picked up another 19.3 per cent stake to reach 39.3 per
  cent in the company.
• The rest 45 per cent is owned by
  the parent firm Life Corporation of India.

• State-owned BHEL today said it
  has commissioned a 250 mw thermal unit in Maharashtra.
• The unit has been commissioned at
  Parli Thermal Power Station (TPS), located in Beed district in the Marathwada
  region of Maharashtra, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) said in a BSE
  filing.
• The project is owned by
  Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (Mahagenco). This is the eighth
  coal-based unit commissioned by BHEL at Parli TPS.
• BHEL has been a major partner in
  the power development programme of the state and has commissioned 16,000 mw of
  power generation capacity in Maharashtra, its highest in any single state.

• Union Government on 17 May 2016
  announced that it is working to revise the rehabilitation of bonded labour
  scheme and make it a Central Sector Scheme.
• The revised scheme was announced
  by Bandaru Dattatreya, the Minister of State (IC) labour and Employment.
• Implementation of the new rules
  will replace Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976.

• Quantum of Assistance: It
  increases the quantum of financial assistance from 20 thousand rupees to one
  lakh rupees.
• Cash Assistance may extend to two
  lakh rupees in Special Cases and to three lakh rupees in cases of extreme
  deprivation.

• Apple Inc. on 19 May 2016 opened
  a new Development Office in Hyderabad, Telangana. The office was formally
  opened by Apple’s CEO Tim Cook.
• The facility will focus on
  development of Maps for Apple products, including iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple
  Watch. This investment will accelerate Maps development and create up to 4000
  jobs.
• Apple has been continually
  updating and adding new features to Maps, including 3D views, the Flyover
  feature and tools to help customers find convenient places to shop, eat and
  explore nearby areas.
• With iOS 9 Apple added Transit,
  offering a combination of trains, subways, buses and walking, which is already
  available for more than 300 cities around the world.

• Apple Inc. on 18 May 2016
  announced establishment of a new iOS App Design and Development Accelerator in
  Bengaluru.
• The new initiative is aimed at
  supporting engineering talent and accelerating growth in India’s iOS developer
  community.
• This facility is in addition to
  the Development Office that was formally opened by Apple’s CEO Tim Cook in
  Hyderabad on 19 May 2016.

• Apple’s team will work to inspire
  and instruct developers on best practices, help them hone their skills and
  transform the design, quality and performance of their apps on the iOS platform.
• The developers will be given
  access to tools which will help them create innovative apps for customers
  around the world.
• The facility will also provide
  support and guidance on Swift, Apple’s powerful and intuitive programming
  language created to build apps for iOS, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch.
• Swift enables developers to write
  safer, more reliable code, save time and create richer app experiences.
• The facility is expected to open
  in early 2017.

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• Heavy rainfall coupled with gusty
  surface wind is likely to pound some parts of Odisha as the deep depression
  over west-central Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm ‘ROANU’ on
  Thursday.

• The deep depression over
  west-central and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal moved nearly
  north-northeastwards before intensifying into the cyclonic storm ‘ROANU’ and
  lay centred about 590 km southeast of Gopalpur, the Meteorological Centre here
  said.
• The system is likely to move
  north-northeastwards along and off the Andhra Pradesh coast in the next 24
  hours and intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm.
• Subsequently, the system is
  likely to move northeastwards along and off north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha in
  48 hours, it said.

• Uttar Pradesh government
  Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kingdom Company of
  veteran actor Sanjay Khan to establish a 1,000-acre theme park along the Agra
  Ring Road, which connects the Yamuna Expressway and the under-construction
  Lucknow-Agra Expressway.
• The MoU was signed between Uttar
  Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation and Kingdom Company in
  presence of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Sanjay Khan.
• Targetting international as well
  as domestic tourists, the theme park would showcase seven cities in different
  time periods — ancient, medieval and modern — such as Mohenjo Daro,
  Pataliputra, Gupta age, Mahabharata age and Ramayana age. Statues of freedom
  fighters would also be put up.
• Similar to Disneyland, the park
  would have a five star accommodation, shops and a place called “Swayamvar”,
  which would be used for organising marriage ceremonies.
• To be constructed with an
  investment of about Rs 10,000 crore in next 10 years, the project would be
  developed in four phases.

• The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
  (DMRC) on 18 May 2016 conducted the trial run of India’s first ever Metro train
  equipped to run in the driverless mode. The train was ceremonially flagged off
  by Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu and Delhi Chief
  Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
• The six-coach train was ferried
  to India from South Korea by sea and was brought by road to Delhi on special
  trailers. DMRC has already assembled 14 such trains and will add 3-4 trains
  every month to take the total count to 86.

• The Odisha Government on 17 May
  2016 decided to launch Green Passage Scheme for orphan students.
• The scheme will ensure that the
  orphan students get free of cost higher education in the state.
• Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik
  also gave his green signal for the scheme, which would function under the
  department of higher education.

• Orphan students pursuing higher
  education from Plus-II level to post-graduation level will no longer have to
  bear the education expenses.
• As many as 16382 orphan students
  lodged in 272 institutions across the state, will be exempted of admission fee,
  tuition fees and laboratory fees for higher studies.
• They will be provided free hostel
  facilities and food.

• India on 18 May 2016 successfully
  test fired indigenously developed Prithvi-II missile from the Chandipur, off
  Odisha coast.
• As part of a user trial, the
  surface-to-surface missile was fired from a mobile launcher from launch
  complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range.
• The launch activities were
  carried out by the Strategic Force Command and monitored by the DRDO
  scientists.

• It weighs 4600 kilogram and has a
  strike range of 350 kilometer.
• It is capable of carrying 500 kg
  to 1000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engines.
• It is the first missile to be
  developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under India’s
  Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP).

• United Nations Secretary-General
  Ban Ki-moon on 18 May 2016 appointed Patricia Espinosa Cantellano of Mexico as
  Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
  Change (UNFCCC). 
• The appointment was made after
  consultation with the Conference of Parties through its Bureau.
• Espinosa Cantellano will succeed
  Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica.

• Rakesh Kumar Mishra, a noted
  expert in the study of function of genes, has been appointed as the new
  Director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) by the Council
  for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
• Mishra had joined CCMB in 2001 as
  a senior scientist after stints at the IISc, Bangalore, the University of
  Bordeaux, France, Saint Louise University, USA and the University of Geneva,
  Switzerland for post-doctoral experience.
• An MSc from Allahabad University,
  Mishra’s research interests include investigating evolutionarily conserved
  features of genome organisation, chromatin structure and epigenetic regulation
  of genes during embryonic development stages.

• The UN-Habitat on 18 May 2016
  released the new global flagship report on sustainable urban development titled
  World Cities Report 2016, Urbanization and Development: Emerging Futures.
• The report states that a New
  Urban Agenda is needed to unlock the transformative power of cities.

• The top 600 cities, with 1/5th of
  the world’s population, produce 60 percent of global GDP.
• Since the last UN conference on
  cities Habitat II in Istanbul in 1996, the center of gravity for megacities has
  shifted to developing regions.
• In 1995, there were 22 large
  cities, and 14 megacities globally; by 2015, both categories of cities had
  doubled with 79 percent of the megacities, that are located in Latin America,
  Asia and Africa.

• India is projected to add 300
  million new urban residents by 2050 and it will need to build climate-friendly
  cities to address the challenge of accommodating the needs of the growing
  population.
• India should plan to build 100
  smart cities in response to the country’s growing population and pressure on
  urban infrastructure.

• Finland-based companies Nokia
  Technologies and HMD global Oy (HMD) on 18 May 2016 signed a 10-year licensing
  agreement to market Nokia-branded phones and tablets.
• As part of this brand-licensing
  deal, Nokia will receive royalty payments from HMD for sales of Nokia-branded
  mobile products, covering both brand and intellectual property rights.
• In 2014, Nokia sold its entire
  handset business to Microsoft under a 7.2 billion US dollars deal. While the
  deal majorly covered manufacturing, sales and distribution, Nokia held on to
  its phone patents.

• The Indian 4x100m women’s relay
  team on 18 May 2016 broke the 18-year-old national record to finish in 4th
  position at the IAAF World Challenge held in Beijing, China.
• The 4x100m women relay team,
  which included Dutee Chand, Srabani Nanda, HM Jyoti and Merlin Joseph, clocked
  44.03 seconds to finish the race.
• The clocked time broke the
  18-year-old record of 44.43s created by the quartet of Saraswati Dey, Rachita
  Mistry, EB Shyla and PT Usha on 22 July 1998 in Fukuoka, Japan.

Regards

Team ExamPundit