Current Affairs Update – 20th May, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 20th May, 2016. These are important for the upcoming UIIC AO 2016, SBI PO & SBI Clerk Mains 2016 Exams.

Current Affairs at a Glance – 20th May, 2016

  1. Apple Inc on Thursday signed an MoU with a city-based engineering
    college for women, G.Narayanamma
    Institute of Technology & Science for Women
    , choosing the institution
    as a centre for excellence, the third in the world, for launching MAC lab-based
    training.
  2. India’s leading passenger vehicle
    maker, Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) has signed a Memorandum of
    Understanding (MoU) with the Chhattisgarh Transport Department
    to set
    up a new Institute of Driving & Traffic Research at Naya Raipur, the state
    capital.
  3. Telenor Financial Services, IDFC
    Bank and Dilip Shanghvi on Friday jointly announced the withdrawal of the
    ongoing efforts to form a payments bank venture in India.
  4. President Pranab Mukherjee on 19
    May 2016 inaugurated an Intelligent Operations Centre (IOC) in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
    President Mukherjee also launched a Mobile App Monitor for transformation of President’s
    Estate into a smart township
    .
  5. The Union Minister of Health and
    Family Welfare J P Nadda on 19 May 2016 launched the Centre for Environmental Health
    in New Delhi
    . The centre was launched to assess the impact of
    environment-related problems like air pollution, climate change, pesticide use
    and sanitation on health.
  6. Senior CPI(M) leader and
    politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan is set to become the next Chief Minister of
    Kerala.
  7. Former Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal has been appointed as Principle Adviser for social
    sector in Niti Aayog
    .
  8. Tsai Ing-wen sworn-in as Taiwan’s first woman president
  9. Indian journalist and Councillor Philip Abraham was on 19 May 2016 elected unanimously as the Deputy
    Mayor of Loughton town in the United Kingdom
    .
  10. An Indian-American
    biotechnologist Rupa
    Iyer
    was on 19 May 2016 awarded
    with the University of Houston’s
    Distinguished Leadership in Teaching Excellence Award
    , the highest
    teaching award of United States
    .
  11. Indian American professor Rakesh K Jain
    on 19 May 2016 received the US National Medal of Science from the US President Barack
    Obama
    .

Industry/Banking –
Apple signs MoU with Hyderabad engineering college on MAC lab

  • Apple Inc on Thursday signed an
    MoU with a city-based engineering college for women, G.Narayanamma Institute of
    Technology & Science for Women, choosing the institution as a centre for
    excellence, the third in the world, for launching MAC lab-based training.
  • Apple chief executive officer Tim
    Cook and his 10-member team spent 40 minutes at the college at Shaikpet near
    Gachibowli. As part of the MoU, Apple contributed a research-oriented App
    development MAC lab with 33 high-end Apple computers and a projector.
  • Forty-four students (four each
    from 11  branches of engineering) were
    selected, on the basis of their academic performance, for a year-long training
    programme. The students will be imparted training for eight hours a week for 10
    weeks at Apple’s new facility on Mac iOS and related future  Apps, and they will do a project for Apple
    later.

Maruti Suzuki signs MoU with Chattishgarh Transport Department for IDTR
in Raipur

  • India’s leading passenger vehicle
    maker, Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) has signed a Memorandum of
    Understanding (MoU) with the Chhattisgarh Transport Department to set up a new
    Institute of Driving & Traffic Research at Naya Raipur, the state capital.
  • The MoU was signed by O P Pal,
    Adl. Commissioner of Transport & Jt. Secretary, Government of Chhattisgarh
    and Mahesh Rajoria, Associate Vice President Driving Training, Maruti Suzuki
    India Limited. Present at the signing ceremony were Rajesh Munat, Hon’ble
    Transport Minister, xyz, Secretary (transport), Govt. of Chhattisgarh, dignitaries
    from the government and officers from Maruti Suzuki.
  • As per the MoU, Chattisgarh
    government will provide the land and infrastructure for the project, while
    Maruti Suzuki, with an experience in imparting safe driving training for over
    16 years will manage and run the facility. Maruti Suzuki will provide training
    equipment vehicles and simulators and skilled trainers.
  • The main objective of the IDTR
    will be to promote road safety in Chhattisgarh through awareness, education,
    and training amongst road users. Maruti Suzuki will conduct refresher for heavy
    motor vehicle drivers, commercial vehicle drivers and drivers of vehicles
    carrying hazardous goods at a very nominal fees. Maruti Suzuki will also
    organize road safety awareness campaigns for children.

Dilip Shanghvi, IDFC Bank, Telenor drop plans to set up payments bank

  • Telenor Financial Services , IDFC
    Bank and Dilip Shanghvi on Friday jointly announced the withdrawal of the
    ongoing efforts to form a payments bank venture in India.
  • The decision, collectively made
    by the three partners, will be communicated to Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
    Consequently, the payment bank licence will not be pursued.
  • “Telenor Financial Services
    and IDFC Bank have rich experience from offering financial services and the
    intention of the JV was to combine our expertise to launch a robust payment
    bank service in India. Following the mutual decision to withdraw these plans,
    the payment bank license will not be pursued”, Dilip Shanghvi said on
    behalf of Dilip Shanghvi Family & Associates (DSA) in an official
    statement.
  • Last September, Dilip Shanghvi as
    lead applicant along with Telenor Financial Services and IDFC Bank was granted
    in-principle licence by RBI to form a payments bank in India.
  • Over the past eight months,
    representatives of these three partners had worked together to establish
    relevant frameworks and a governance structure for the proposed joint venture
    (JV).

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India –
President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates Intelligent Operations Centre and
launches Mobile App Monitor

  • President Pranab Mukherjee on 19
    May 2016 inaugurated an Intelligent Operations Centre (IOC) in Rashtrapati
    Bhavan.
  • President Mukherjee also launched
    a Mobile App Monitor for transformation of President’s Estate into a smart township.

About Intelligent Operations Centre
  • The IOC is a software solution
    designed by IBM.
  • It helps collect and make sense
    of the rich data streaming in from several sources within the Estate to provide
    intelligent insights.
  • It offers integrated data visualization,
    near real-time collaboration and deep analytics that will help agencies prepare
    for problems, coordinate and manage response efforts and enhance efficiency of
    services.

JP Nadda launches Centre for Environmental Health to assess environmental
impact on health

  • The Union Minister of Health and
    Family Welfare J P Nadda on 19 May 2016 launched the Centre for Environmental
    Health in New Delhi.
  • The centre was launched to assess
    the impact of environment-related problems like air pollution, climate change,
    pesticide use and sanitation on health.

Key highlights related to Centre for Environmental Health
  • It is a joint initiative of the
    Public Health Foundation of India and the Tata Institute of Social Science.
  • The centre will conduct research
    across a range of environmental health issues, including chemical exposure,
    water and hygiene.
  • Its mandate also includes
    capacity-building, advocacy, outreach and remedial issues.
  • The research component of the
    centre is going to be an important aspect for the government to follow.

Appointments –
Pinarayi Vijayan to be next Kerala CM

  • Senior CPI(M) leader and
    politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan is set to become the next Chief Minister of
    Kerala. A decision to this effect was taken by the state committee of the party
    that met here this morning.
  • This will be formally announced
    later in the evening, sources in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) said.
  • The central leadership, it is
    learnt, has extended its concurrence with this decision.
  • Contender V.S. Achuthanandan,
    Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing assembly and himself a former chief
    minister, has been sounded on this, sources said.
  • Achuthanandan was specially
    invited to the meeting of the state committee for the purpose.
  • Pinarayi’s choice was a foregone
    conclusion after the LDF won a close to two-thirds majority in the elections.

Ex-finance secretary Ratan P Watal appointed Principal Advisory in Niti
Aayog

  • Former Finance Secretary Ratan P
    Watal has been appointed as Principle Adviser for social sector in Niti Aayog.
  • He has been appointed to the post
    for three years, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said.
  • The new appointment for Watal
    comes a fortnight after his two-month extended tenure ended in April. He was to
    retire in February. However, Watal later got a two-month extension as Finance
    Secretary.
  • Watal, a retired IAS officer of
    Andhra Pradesh cadre, had been Finance Secretary between August last year and
    April this year.

Tsai Ing-wen inaugurated as Taiwan’s first woman president

  • Taiwan has inaugurated its first
    female president.
  • Tsai Ing-wen will confront major
    challenges in her new role, including navigating what seem certain to be
    increasingly fractious relations with Beijing and rejuvenating the island’s
    flagging economy.
  • Tsai took the oath of office
    Friday at the Presidential Office Building in the capital Taipei before a
    national flag and portrait of Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China
    that relocated to Taiwan in 1949 as the communists swept to power on the
    Chinese mainland.
  • China claims Taiwan as its own
    territory and has responded to Tsai’s election by intensifying pressure on the
    island with military exercises, diplomatic moves and cross-border deportations.

Indian journalist Philip Abraham elected as Deputy Mayor in United
Kingdom
  • Indian journalist and Councillor
    Philip Abraham was on 19 May 2016 elected unanimously as the Deputy Mayor of
    Loughton town in the United Kingdom. Councillor Abraham was presented with the
    Deputy Mayor’s Badge by Carol Davis, the newly-elected mayor.
  • V K Krishna Menon was the first
    person from Kerala to become a Councillor in Britain. He was a Labour
    Councillor for the Borough of St Pancras from 1934 to 1939.

Resignations –
Cairn India MD and CEO Mayank Ashar resigns

  • Cairn India, the petroleum
    exploration arm of London-listed Vedanta Resources, on Friday announced that
    its managing director and chief executive (CEO) Mayank Ashar has resigned for
    ‘personal reasons’ with effect from June 5, 2016.
  • Ashar will be replaced by the
    company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Sudhir Mathur as acting CEO who will
    continue to work closely with the leadership team in managing the business
    under the guidance of the Board, the company said in a statement.

Awards & Honors –
Indian-American Rupa Iyer awarded with Highest Teaching Award in US

  • An Indian-American
    biotechnologist Rupa Iyer was on 19 May 2016 awarded with the University of
    Houston’s Distinguished Leadership in Teaching Excellence Award, the highest teaching
    award of United States.
  • Iyer was awarded for her
    sustained and significant contributions to education. She is an Associate Dean
    at Research and Graduate Studies at the University of Houston’s College of
    Technology.

Indian-American Rakesh K Jain received US National Medal of Science
2015 from Barack Obama

  • Indian American professor Rakesh
    K Jain on 19 May 2016 received the US National Medal of Science from the US
    President Barack Obama.
  • He received the honour along with
    16 other winners of the National Medal of Science and National Medal of
    Technology and Innovation at a White House ceremony.
  • Jain is a professor at Harvard
    Medical School and Director of the Tumour Biology Laboratory at Massachusetts
    General Hospital.
  • He was selected for the award in
    December 2015. The award function was initially scheduled for 22 January 2016
    but was postponed due to a major snow storm.

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