Current Affairs Update – 19th May, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 19th May, 2015.

• Indian banking and securities companies will spend 15 per cent more on IT products and services at Rs. 53,600 crore in 2015, according to Gartner, Inc, an IT research and advisory firm.
• In 2014, the amount spent was Rs. 46,600 crore. This forecast includes spending by financial institutions on internal IT (largely personnel), hardware, software, external IT services and telecommunications, Gartner said.

• Infosys became the first Indian Company to Join RE100 Renewable Energy Campaign.  The Climate Group on 18 May 2015 announced it.
• RE100 is a global platform for major companies committed to 100% renewable power.
• Infosys joined some of the world’s most influential companies such as IKEA, Swiss Re, BT, Formula E, H&M, KPN, Mars, Nestlé, Philips, among others, which are taking bold steps to create transformative change needed to drive a clean energy revolution.
• The company is already working to reduce its per capita electricity consumption by 50 per cent from its 2007-2008 levels and source all its electricity from renewable resources by 2018.

• Infosys on 18 May 2015 announced to become carbon neutral by 2018. For this it earmarked an amount of 400 crore rupees. The company announced to achieve carbon-neutrality on commuting and travel by its nearly 1.8 lakh employees and in doing so deepens its commitment to sustainability.
• The company will offset 3.74 lakh tonne of carbon dioxide attributed to employees' travel, and it will spend 70 crore rupees in 2015 on initiatives such as installing solar projects for rural electrification, biogas plants and distribution of smokeless cook-stoves in villages, besides afforestation.
• As part of its journey toward sustainability, Infosys will commission 55 MW of solar capacity, including 40 MW in Karnataka, in 2016. It will add another 110 MW of solar capacity in the coming years. It is already generating energy from 2.7 MW capacity solar panels on rooftops across its campuses in India.

• GMR Infrastructure Ltd on 18 May 2015 signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Guizhou International Investment Corporation (GIIC) for developing Kakinada Special Economic Zone (KSEZ) in Andhra Pradesh.
• The MoU was signed by Challa Prasanna, President of Kakinada SEZ (KSEZ) Pvt Ltd. It seeks to set up industrial park for Chinese high-end equipment manufacturing companies in Kakinada SEZ (KSEZ).
• In this regard, GIIC plans to set up 2000 acres industrial park. The fully developed facility by KSEZ and GIIC will in turn generate over 5000 jobs for both skilled and unskilled workers.

• Reliance Jio Infocomm, a telecom subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), on 18 May 2015 signed a pact with Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer firm Huawei for sourcing various 4th Generation (4G) devices.
• As per the pact, Huawei will supply 4G devices to Reliance Jio including smartphones, tablets and mifi dongles. This agreement will help Reliance in launching 4G service by 2015 in around 5000 towns and cities in India. It seeks to cover over 90 percent of urban India and over 2.15 lakh villages.

• Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries on 18 May 2015 sanctioned proposals for setting up 30 new cold storage chains in the country.
• The total expected grant-in-aid to be released by the Ministry is 274.9 crore rupees which would attract an investment of 470 crore rupees.
• These 30 new cold storage chains were sanctioned under the Integrated Cold Chain project. So far, 138 cold storage chains under the project have been sanctioned out of which 108 are under implementation. Out of these 52 cold storages have been completed and are operational.

• These 30 projects will help in creating a capacity of 1.12 lakh Million Tonnes (MT) of cold storage, 11.10 lakh litres per day of milk processing, 1434 MT per day of ripening chamber and 209 Reefer Vehicles.
• This decision will also help bridge the shortfall in handling capacity for at least 29-30 million tonnes (mt) of milk and dairy products, fruits and vegetables, fish and marine produce and cereals.
• It will also help in creating a Cold Chain Infrastructure to link the farmer with the consumer seamlessly and creating a Cold Chain Grid in the country.

• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences on 18 May 2015 signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Power System Operation Corporation Ltd (POSOCO) for optimum use of weather information/forecast in the power sector.
• POSOCO Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.

• All weather information provided by ESSO-IMD will be used by the Power System Operators across the India for better management of Indian Power System.
• IMD will make available current weather information for the identified stations; and forecasts at different time scales of temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction and rainfall of the identified stations/sectors.
• IMD will also provide weather warnings about likely occurrences of thunderstorm, heat wave, cold wave, rainfall, fog, etc. over various states for up to 72 hours.

• The fourth and last anti-submarine warfare ship being made for the Indian Navy was launched in Kolkata on Tuesday, adding a feather to the cap of domestic manufacturing for the naval forces.
• Kavaratti, the corvette which is 90 per cent indigenous, was launched at a glittering ceremony.
• Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh lauded the contribution made by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (GRSE), Kolkata, in meeting the growing requirements of the navy.
• Chief of Naval Staff Admiral RK Dhowan acknowledged the excellent work done by the yard for contributing towards achieving the Indian Navy's dream of transforming itself from a "Buyers Navy" to "Builders Navy".

• Scheduled to be launched later this year, ASTROSAT, the first dedicated Indian astronomy mission aimed at studying distant celestial objects is now fully assembled, ISRO said today.
• According to ISRO, the mission is capable of performing observations in Ultraviolet (UV), optical, low and high energy X-ray wavebands at the same time.
• The satellite is planned to be launched during the second half of 2015 by PSLV C-34 to a 650 km near equatorial orbit around the Earth.
• It is significant to note that ASTROSAT is the first mission to be operated as a space observatory by ISRO.
• The space research organisation said ASTROSAT carries four X-ray payloads, one UV telescope and a charge particle monitor.

• Harkeert Singh Saini, an Indian-American policeman in third week of May 2015 won the prestigious Top Civilian Supervisor of the Year. He was awarded for his efficient services to the Houston Police department in the state of Texas of United States.
• Saini who hails from Hoshiarpur district of Punjab received his award from Houston Mayor Anise Parker and Police Chief Charles A McClelland. He is a graduate from Deshbandu College in New Delhi.
• 44-year-old Saini shifted to Houston in 1998 and joined its police department in March 2000. During his 15-year service in Houston Police Department he was subsequently promoted as an office supervisor.

• Six Indian-Americans and a British-Indian were among nearly 100 individuals who were presented prestigious 2015 Ellis Island Medals of Honor in the US for their contributions to America.
• Indian-American winners include Meera Gandhi, founder of The Giving Back Foundation, Rajdeep K Dhami, Chad P Gehani, Rahul M Jindal, S Mona Sinha, chairperson of the Asian Women's Leadership University (AWLU) Project, and K V Kumar.
• Baroness Sandip Verma, member of the House of Lords, and a former junior minister at the Department of Energy and Climate Change in the UK, also received the award presented recently in New York.
• Gandhi's The Giving Back Foundation is geared towards alleviating illness, poverty and suffering while also addressing education issues which affect women and children around the world.
• Gehani, former president of the New York State Dental Association, lives in Queens, New York.
• In November 2006 Gehani was honored by the New York State Dental Foundation with the Foundation of Excellence in Community Service Award.
• The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is an American award founded by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations which pays homage to the immigrant experience and the contribution made to America by immigrants and their children.
• The medals are awarded to native-born and naturalized US citizens.

• Himachal Pradesh will host the Paragliding World Cup from 23 October to 31 October 2015 at Bir Billing in Kangra valley. The world cup will be held under the aegis of Para-gliding World Cup Association, France.
• This is for the first time that India will be hosting the Paragliding World Cup which will see participation from over 50 countries.
• The state was chosen to host the World Cup after it successfully conducted the paragliding pre-World Cup-2013.

• Russian Maria Sharapova on 17 May 2015 won the women’s singles of Italian Open for the third time.  She defeated Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro by 4-6 7-5 6-1. The Italian Open title was held in Rome, Italy.
• The men’s singles of the Italian Open (also called Rome Masters) was won by Novak Djokovic of Serbia.
• The Italian Open is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open. The men's competition of the Open is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, and the women's competition is a Premier 5 event on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour.

• Joe Root and Charlotte Edwards on 18 May 2015 were named as England men’s and women’s cricketers of the year 2014-15 respectively.
• Root who was recently appointed vice-captain of England's Test team was named as the cricketer of the year for scoring 1135 test runs at an average of 95 including four scores of 149 and above. His top test score of the season was of 200 not out against Sri Lanka at Lord’s. He also made three one-day international centuries.
• Charlotte Edwards, the women’s captain won the award for consecutive second year. She was chosen for averaging above 75 in ODIs and nearly 60 in Twenty20 internationals in the season. Under her leadership, England secured ODI series victories against India and New Zealand, alongside T20 series wins against South Africa and New Zealand.

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