Current Affairs Update – 19th May, 2015

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

Finance/Industry/Banking
Banks’ IT spending to
increase by 15%: report
  • 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

  • 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 announced to
become carbon neutral 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 Infra signed MoU
with GIIC for developing Kakinada SEZ
  • 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 signed
pact with Huawei for sourcing 4G devices
  • 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.

India
Union Government
sanctioned 30 new cold storage projects
  • 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.

Importance of the
decision
  • 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.

India Meteorological
Department signed MoU with POSOCO Ltd to increase efficiency of power sector
  • 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.

Highlights of the
MoU
  • 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.

Anti-Submarine
Warfare Ship Kavaratti Launched in Kolkata

  • 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”.

India’s Dedicated
Astronomy Satellite ASTROSAT Fully Assembled
  • 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.

Awards
& Honors –
Indian-American
Harkeert Singh Saini won Prestigious Police Award in Texas, US

  • 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
Receive Prestigious Award in US
  • 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.

Sports
Himachal Pradesh to
host Paragliding World Cup 2015

  • 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.

Maria Sharapova of
Russia won the women’s single of Italian Tennis Open for third time

  • 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 named England cricketers of the year 2014-15
  • 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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