Current Affairs Update – 18th May, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important current affairs of 18th May, 2015.

• India and South Korea on 18 May 2015 signed seven agreements to upgrade relations to special strategic partnership level.
• The agreements were inked during the Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to South Korea. Prime Minister Modi is on a three nation visit to China (14 May to 16 May 2015), Mongolia (17 May 2015) and South Korea (18 May to 19 May 2015).

• Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income: India-South Korea Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (signed 1985) has been revised with a view to avoiding the burden of double taxation on taxpayers in the two countries.
• India-Korea Agreement on Cooperation in Audio-Visual Co-Production: The Agreement is being signed under the provisions of India-South Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA); it would enable co-production of films, animation and broadcasting programmes. The Agreement would enable opportunities for collaboration between Indian and Korean film industries, and facilitate collaboration and exchange.
• MoU for Cooperation between the National Security Council of India and South Korea: The MoU would formalize consultations between National Security Council structures of the two countries in a number of areas.
• MoU for Cooperation in the field of Electric Power Development and New Energy Industries: The MoU envisages cooperation in areas of electric power development and new energy industries such as renewable energy, smart grids and power information and technology, transmission and distribution of electric power, energy efficiency and storage system.
• MoU on Cooperation in Youth Matters: The MoU will strengthen and encourage cooperation on youth matters through participation in events and activities through exchanges, international conferences, seminars, youth camps, festivals etc.
• Framework of Cooperation in the Field of Road Transport: To be signed under the provisions of India-South Korea CEPA, the FOC envisages cooperation in areas including road policies, design and construction, road operation, road management and safety, intelligent transport systems and electronic toll collection systems.
• MoU on Cooperation in the Fields of Maritime Transport and Logistics: The MoU envisages cooperation between the two countries in the fields of maritime transport and logistics including through sharing of technologies, information and experiences, the training of seafarers, exchange of experts and port operations etc.

• HDFC Bank, the country’s second largest private lender, launched medical benefits prepaid card for corporates to disburse medical benefits to their employees.
• HDFC Bank has partnered with Apollo Hospitals for this prepaid product that allows corporates to load the specified allowance onto the card each month, which can be used by employees for medical expenditure at pan-India VISA/ MasterCard outlets, the bank said in a statement.
• The card also offers employees access to a wide range of additional benefits such as free accidental insurance of Rs. 3 lakh, complimentary ambulance services at select hospitals and offers and discounts at Apollo Network.

• Federal Bank on Monday forayed into credit card segment through the launch of co-branded credit cards in partnership with SBI Cards, a leading credit card issuer.
• In the first year, Federal Bank aims to issue as many as 1.5 lakh credit cards to its customers, Shyam Srinivasan, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, told a press conference here.
• Initially, two variants—Platinum and Gold’ N More—will be issued under the Visa platform for a specified fee.
• While the Platinum card variant will come with a fee of ₹ 2,999, the fee in the case of Gold N’ More card is ₹ 499.

• The Union Government on 17 May 2015 allocated 5000 crore rupees for the growth of Department of AYUSH (it comprises Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy).
• It also launched an independent National AYUSH Mission aimed at capacity building for the sector.
• Besides, the Union Minister of State (MoS) for AYUSH Sripad Naik in Mumbai informed that to create awareness about Ayurveda his ministry is planning to observe Ayurveda Day.
• The Union Government on 19 November 2014 approved and notified National AYUSH Mission (NAM) as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

• The Government today launched the NITI Aayog Web site with a blogs section that will have articles, field reports, work in progress and opinions by officials.
• The Government had replaced the Planning Commission with NITI Aayog on January 1. Thereafter, it had archived the website of the Commission in the first week of January.
• However, the final Web site is under construction and will be updated soon, it added.
• The portal will provide details of the constitution, functions and current activities of the NITI Aayog. The Web page will also have reports prepared by the Aayog in its initial stages.
• The Web site also has a unique feature — NITI Blogs, which will incorporate articles, field reports, work in progress, and opinions by NITI officials, it added.
• The Aayog has been mandated to serve as a policy think-tank for the central as well as state governments and has the Prime Minister as its Chairperson.

• Former Army Brigadier David Granger on 16 May 2015 was sworn in as the eighth President of Guyana.  He was sworn-in as the President after his A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) party-led coalition won the national elections.
• In the national elections held on 11 May 2015, his coalition APNU – Alliance for Change (AFC) defeated the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP). With this, it ended the 23 year old grip on power of Indo-Guyanese PPP.

• Draupadi Murmu was on Monday sworn in as the first woman Governor of Jharkhand.
• Ms. Murmu succeeds Syed Ahmed, who will take over as Manipur Governor.
• A two-time BJP MLA from Odisha, Ms. Murmu was a Minister in the Naveen Patnaik Cabinet when the Biju Janata Dal ruled the State with the support of Bharatiya Janata Party.
• She headed the BJP’s Mayurbhanj district unit in Odisha and had represented Rairangpur in the Odisha Assembly.
• Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice Virendra Singh administered the oath of office to Ms. Murmu.

• India on 18 May 2015 assumed Presidency of the 68th World Health Assembly (WHA) after 19 years. The session was presided by the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda at Geneva.
• The 68th World Health Assembly will be held from 18 May 2015 to 27 May 2015.
• The 68th World Health Assembly will deliberate on key issues of global interest including anti-microbial resistance, air pollution and health, global health emergency, preparedness and surveillance, global strategy and plan of action on public health, innovation and intellectual property, and research and development in neglected tropical diseases.

• Novak Djokovic of Serbia on 17 May 2015 won his fourth Rome Masters Tennis title. In the summit clash, Djokovic defeated Roger Federer of Switzerland 6-4, 6-3.
• With this win, Djokovic earned prize money of 628100 US dollar and 1000 Emirates ATP Rankings points.
• This was the fifth title of the season for Djokovic, the other titles are the Australian Open (defeated Andy Murray), the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (defeated Roger Federer), the Miami Open (defeated Andy Murray) and the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (defeated Tomas Berdych).

• Aruna Shanbaug, the nurse of Mumbai’s King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital, died on 18 May 2015. She died after battling with coma for past 42-years following a sexual assault by a hospital ward boy.
• 66-year old Shanbaug was sexually assaulted on 27 November 1973 by a ward boy-cum-sweeper of the hospital, Sohanlal Bharta Valmiki, after throttling her with a dog chain. Since then, she was hospitalised in KEM hospital and was cared by hospital staff.
• While hearing the Aruna Shanbaug case in March 2011, the Supreme Court of India rejected the mercy killing (euthanasia) petition for her. The petition was filed by former journalist and author Pinki Virani.

Regards



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