Weekly Current Affairs (06th May 2019 – 11th May 2019)

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National

India will be attending the Group of 7 industrialised nations meet organised by France in Biarritz in August along with Australia, Chile, and South Africa.
Reliance Industries has acquired British toy retailer Hamleys, the energy-to-telecoms conglomerate from Hong Kong-listed C Banner International Holdings.
The five-member Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has recommended the names of Justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant to the Centre for their elevation as apex court judges.

International

Israel honoured Lt. Gen. (retd) Jack Farj Rafael (JFR) Jacob, with a plaque on the Wall of Honour at the Ammunition Hill.
In Mali, the president has named a new government after its predecessor resigned in April 2019.
Businessman & politician Laurentino Cortizo (66-year) has won Panama’s presidential election with 33.27% of the vote in support.
Stevo Pendarovski (56 years) has won the 2019 Macedonian presidential elections with 51.66% vote to become the President-elect of North Macedonia.
Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn (66-year) has been crowned with a golden-tiered headpiece, the highlight of an elaborate three-day coronation ceremony two years after he ascended the throne.
Nepali danced Bandana Nepal (18-years) dances continuously for 126 hours to set a Guinness World Records on “Longest Dancing Marathon by an Individual” at a function in Kathmandu.
Konkan Railways Corporation Ltd has signed a contract agreement with Nepal’s Department of Railways to supply two 1600 HP DEMU train sets.
Ireland has become only the second country in the world to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency.
Experienced Peruvian climber Richard Hidalgo was found dead on Mount Makalu.

Economy and Business

Mastercard will invest $1 billion in India over the next five years, with plans to make the country a global technology node for its platforms.
According to RBI data, the country’s foreign exchange reserves soared by USD 4.368 billion to USD 418.515 billion in the week to April 26.
Facebook has chosen London as the centre for the global roll-out of WhatsApp pay, before the social media giant launches its digital payments service on the mobile messaging platform in India.
BharatPe – India’s first Fintech start-up enabling payments for merchants through interoperable UPI QR codes, has announced its foray into merchant services with a new app.

Sports

The Volleyball Federation of India appointed Serbian Dragan Mihailovic as head coach of the men’s national team in a move linked to the long term goal of Olympic Games qualification. Mihailovic has more than 25 years of experience as a coach.
Ace Indian squash players Saurav Ghoshal and Joshna Chinappa won their respective Asian Individual Squash Championship titles in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
India’s Esha Singh and Akull Kumar won silver in junior mixed air pistol event in the International Shooting Competition at Hannover, Germany.
Indian giant ‘Amul’ has been announced as the principal sponsor of the Afghanistan cricket team for the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales (from 30th May to 14 July 2019).

Awards

US President Donald Trump presents the Presidential ‘Medal of Freedom’ to Golfer Tiger Woods (43-years) during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington.

Appointments

Gregor Robertson has accepted an ambassador role with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.
India’s Jagjit Pavadia has been re-elected to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for another five-year term.
Flipkart-owned fashion e-commerce platform Myntra announced that it had appointed celebrity couple Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma as its first brand ambassadors.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has hired Sanjay Ubale, head of the infrastructure and urban solutions at Tata Sons, as its policy director for India.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has appointed Hari Menon as the Country Director for India, effective from May 24.
The United Nations appointed 17 global figures including Indian actress Dia Mirza and Alibaba chief Jack Ma as the new advocates for Sustainable Development Goals.

Important Days

World Asthma Day is being celebrated every year on the first Tuesday of May to increase awareness about asthma and aims to improve the lives of people with asthma across the world.
The ‘World Red Cross Day’ is observed on 8th May annually to commemorate the birth anniversary of ‘Henry Dunant’.

Science and Tech

According to ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), India’s second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 will be launched on a day between 9 and 16 July this year.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (Space X) launched its 17th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station by using Falcon 9 rocket with Dragon Spacecraft.
National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has developed the world’s first complete parent-wise genome assembly of buffalo.
Engineers from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) have developed a microprocessor called AJIT, the first to be conceptualised, designed, developed and manufactured in India.

Defence

Rajput class destroyer ‘INS Ranjit’ was decommissioned at a solemn grand ceremony at Naval Dockyard at Visakhapatnam.
The United States Air Force (USAF) has successfully conducted the test of a laser weapons system called the Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) at the US Army’s White Sands Missile range in New Mexico.
The fourth of Indian Navy’s stealth Scorpene class Submarines of Project 75, INS Vela was launched at the Kanhoji Angre Wet Basin of Mazagon Dock Limited at Mumbai in Maharashtra.
The first Apache Helicopter AH-64E (I) formally handed over to Indian Air Force (IAF) at Boeing production facility in Mesa, Arizona, USA.

Obituaries

Renowned economist Baidyanath Mishra (99-years) passed away due to old-age related problems.
Roshan Taneja (87-years) known as the ‘pioneer of method acting’ in India passed away in Mumbai.
The Padma Bhushan awardee and ITC’s Non-Executive Chairman YC Deveshwar passed away at the age of 72.
Former billiards player, coach and administrator Derek Sippy (60-years) passed away in Mumbai.

States

‘Gujarat Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2019’ passed by Gujarat Assembly which came into force from May 1, 2019.
Justice PR Ramachandra Menon was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Chhattisgarh High Court.
The senior most judge of the Delhi High Court Justice Shripathi Ravindra Bhat was sworn in as new Chief Justice of Rajasthan High Court (36th).
BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta (1984 batch officer) will be Maharashtra’s new chief secretary.
The Chhattisgarh police for the first time has inducted women commandos in the District Reserve Guard (DRG), its frontline anti-Naxal force.

Miscellaneous

The last captive white tiger ‘Bajirao’ at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai died at the age of 18.
Pakistan’s former captain and star all-rounder Shahid Afridi released his autobiography, titled ‘Game Changer’.