Daily Current Affairs 6-7 May 2019

Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Daily Current Affairs 6-7 May 2019. These are important for the upcoming LIC AAO 2019, NHB Assistant Manager, CWC 2019 and SBI PO 2019 Exams.

Daily Current Affairs 6-7 May 2019

Banking and Economy

 

RBI directs banks to enhance housing loan limits for eligibility under priority sector lending

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed banks to enhance the housing loan limits for eligibility under priority sector lending (PSL) to Rs 35 lakh in metropolitan centres (with a population of ten lakh and above) and Rs 25 lakh in other centres.
• In order to bring the RRBs and SFBs at a level playing field with other Scheduled Commercial Banks, it has now been decided to enhance the housing loan limits for eligibility under PSL.
• Accordingly, in respect of RRBs and SFBs, housing loans to individuals up to Rs 35 lakh in metropolitan centres (with population of ten lakh and above) and Rs 25 lakh in other centres, provided the overall cost of the dwelling unit in the metropolitan centres and at other centres does not exceed Rs 45 lakh and Rs 30 lakh, respectively, will be eligible for classification under PSL.
• Earlier, loans to individuals up to Rs 28 lakh in metropolitan centres and Rs 20 lakh in other centres, were eligible to be classified under priority sector, provided that the cost of dwelling unit does not exceed Rs 35 lakh and Rs 25 lakh, respectively.

 

India, US agree to strengthen economic co-operation

• India and the United States have agreed to strengthen economic co-operation and bilateral trade by ensuring greater collaboration amongst stakeholders, including government, businesses and entrepreneurs.
• This was agreed upon during a bilateral trade meeting that was held between the two countries in New Delhi on May 6, 2019. The meeting was co-chaired by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu and US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.
• During the talks, the two leaders appreciated the strong, robust and growing bilateral ties between their countries across the entire spectrum of trade and commerce.
• They also expressed satisfaction over last year’s progress, with bilateral trade in Goods and Services registering a growth of 12.6 per cent. They also discussed various outstanding trade issues.
• The Indian Government recently extended its deadline to impose retaliatory import duties on 29 US products, including almond, walnut and pulses, till May 16.

 

Ratan Tata invests in Ola Electric Mobility

• Ratan Tata, the Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, invested in Ola Electric Mobility (OEM), the electric vehicle business of cab aggregator Ola.
• However, the details of the investment were not disclosed. Tata is also an early investor in ANI Technologies, Ola’s parent company. He had invested in ANI Technologies in July 2015.
• In March 2019, the Ola Electric Mobility had raised Rs 400 crore in a funding round led by Tiger Global and Matrix India.

 

Piramal, CPPIB in tie-up for India’s 1st renewables InvIT

• Piramal Enterprises Ltd on Tuesday said it has signed an agreement with Canada’s largest pension fund manager, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), to co-sponsor India’s first renewable energy-focused infrastructure investment trust (InvIT).
• The proposed InvIT will have an initial targeted corpus of up to $600 million with an option to scale up further, Piramal said in a regulatory filing. CPPIB and Piramal will initially allocate $360 million and $90 million, respectively, to the corpus.
• The InvIT would seek to acquire up to 1.5-2 gigawatts (GW) of stable and long-term cash-generating renewable assets, with a firm focus on diversification of clients of both solar and wind assets as well as the customers of the electricity.

 

India and states

 

Indian Navy launches fourth Scorpene class submarine ‘INS Vela’

• The Indian Navy on May 6, 2019 launched the fourth Scorpene class Submarine of Project 75 ‘INS Vela’ at the Kanhoji Angre Wet Basin of Mazagon Dock Limited at Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• The submarine will now undergo rigorous trials and tests in both harbour and sea phases before induction into the Indian Navy.
• The submarine was manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited, with the help of main collaborator Naval Group, France (formerly DCNS).

 

Rules revised for Phase-2 of FAME scheme

• Centre government has announced that Electric and hybrid vehicle (xEVs) manufacturers will have to indigenise a significant portion of components to avail benefits under a revised set of rules of the phase 2 of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme.
• Detailed localization draft guidelines have been issued by the Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) putting out a list of key components for xEV manufacturers to localise with respective deadlines to avail the scheme across all approved vehicle categories.
• Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) has listed components used in the xEVs across vehicle categories including electric two-wheelers, electric three-wheelers and e-rickshaws, four-wheelers and electric buses (eBuses).
• Electric vehicle manufacturers across the above-mentioned categories will have to localize manufacturing of wheel rims integrated with hub motor from 1 October 2019.
• The HVAC units (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) for electric cars are also scheduled for indigenization from the same date.

 

Sushma Swaraj to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting

• External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan later in May 2019.
• The meeting will also be attended by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
• The two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting will conclude on May 22, 2019, a day ahead of announcement of the Lok Sabha Election 2019 results.

 

e-Governance Services and IIT-Kanpur agreement  to upscale Unnat Bharat Abhiyan

• e-Governance Services India Limited, an initiative of Common Service Centre’s (CSC), a special purpose vehicle under the Ministry of Electronics & IT, has tied up with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur to upscale Unnat Bharat Abhiyan.
• Unnat Bharat Abhiyan is an initiative of the Ministry of HRD. It aims to find solutions to accelerate sustainable growth in rural India. Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, IIT-Kanpur has brought together 15 leading higher education institutions from Uttar Pradesh.

 

EC allows Maharashtra government to sanction drinking water supply schemes

• The Election Commission of India has allowed the Maharashtra government to sanction and implement drinking water supply schemes and said that there should not be any undue publicity of the work for political gains.
• The state government had written to the Election Commission on April 24, seeking permission to sanction and implement drinking water supply schemes in view of the Model Code of Conduct.

 

Centre announces assistance of Rs 1,000 cr for cyclone hit Odisha

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a further release of Rs 1,000 Crore for assistance to the Fani affected state Odisha on May 06, 2019.
• Earlier Rs 341 crores had been provided to Odisha as an advance to its State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
• Prime Minister also announced Rs. 2 lakh ex-gratia each for the family member of dead in the natural disaster and Rs. 50,000 for the injured.
• Odisha informed that restoration of Power and Telecommunication infrastructure continue to remain the major priority in the Cyclone affected areas of the State.
• Around 50% power restoration has been reported while more works need to be done in Bhubaneswar and Puri. Medicines dispatched by the Centre have been received and all measures were being taken to prevent any outbreak of diseases.

 

Zero pendency court project by Delhi high court

• Delhi High Court has recently released a report that talks about the problem of increasing backlog and pendency of cases.
• Prompted by the urgent need to ensure timely justice, the Delhi High Court started a Pilot Project titled “Zero Pendency Courts” in certain subordinate courts in Delhi.
• The primary goal of the project was to study the flow of cases in the absence of backlog.
• The conclusions from this project would help in identifying benchmarks for different types of cases time lines, number of judges, case flow management rules and a host of other relevant factors.

 

World

 

NASA’s First Planetary Defense Technology to Collide with Asteroid in 2022

• NASA’s first mission to demonstrate a planetary defence technique, The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), will get one opportunity to hit small moonlet in the binary asteroid system Didymos. The asteroid poses no threat to Earth and is an ideal test target.
• NASA revealed that details about its plan to hit a small moonlet target in a double asteroid system with a spacecraft in 2022.
• The asteroid, called Didymoon or Didymos B, is a moon asteroid around 150 meters tall orbiting a larger body Didymos A, the most accessible asteroid of its size from the Earth.
• Current observations will help researchers to better understand the extent of the impact made when DART slams into its target – Didymos B – in September 2022.

 

SpaceX successfully launched cargo mission to the ISS

• SpaceX has launched a Dragon cargo capsule to orbit on May 4, 2019 to International Space Station. This mission was seventeenth routine launch of SpaceX for NASA since 2012. Cargo Dragon spacecraft was carrying 2,500 kilograms (5,500 pounds) of supplies for the astronauts on the ISS as part of the CRS-17 mission.
• About eight minutes after launch, the first stage of the rocket landed successfully on the drone ship several miles out in the Atlantic Ocean. The launch had been delayed from Thursday, May 3 after an electrical issue with the drone ship.

 

Sri Lanka lifts temporary ban on social media platforms

• Sri Lanka on May 6, 2019 lifted the temporary ban imposed on several social media platforms. The ban was imposed following a tense situation in Negombo on May 5, which led to overnight police curfew.
• The curfew was lifted as the situation in the area was brought under control. The situation was a result of a personal dispute between two groups.
• Several houses and vehicles were damaged as minority Muslims became the target of attacks. There were tensions after the Easter day attacks when one of the churches in the area was the target.
• Archbishop Malcom Cardinal Ranjith has appealed to people for calm and not to spread hate and fake news.

 

India re-elected as observer to inter-governmental forum Arctic Council

• India has been re-elected as an observer to inter-governmental forum Arctic Council. The Arctic Council promotes cooperation, coordination and interaction among Arctic states on common issues, particularly on sustainable development and environmental protection.
• In a tweet, Secretary in Ministry of Earth Sciences M Rajeevan said, at the 11th Arctic Council ministerial meeting at Rovaniemi, Finland and India re-elected as Observer of the Arctic Council. He said, India is committed to do more contributions in the Arctic Council.

 

Days

 

World Asthma Day 2019 observed globally

• The World Asthma Day was observed across the globe on May 7, 2019, the first Tuesday of May 2019. The day is observed across the world to spread awareness about Asthma and its care around the world.
• The theme of World Asthma Day 2019 was ‘STOP for Asthma’.

 

 

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