Daily Current Affairs 5th May, 2018

Daily Current Affairs 5 May 2018 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Patanjali ranked as most trusted FMCG brand in India

Patanjali Ayurved Limited has been ranked as India’s most trusted Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) brand in the TRA’s Brand Trust Report 2018. In overall brand ranking Patanjali is at 13^th rank.

• Top Brand- Samsung
• Top BFSI- SBI (21 rank)

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas to become biennial event from 2019

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas will now be celebrated every alternate year. There will be some theme-based sessions conducted in which the Ministry of External Affairs will invite about 12 people including both the nationals and the non-resident Indians.

• The 15th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2019 will be held during 21-23 Janury 2019 at Varanasi.

Delhi to host six-day Festival of Bharat

Delhi will host a six-day-long Festival of Bharat between May 9 and May 14 as a 21st century tribute to the majesty and depth of India’s civilization.

• The event will be held at the Scheduled between 9th May and 14th May at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).

Pak girl becomes ambassador for ‘Swachh Jamui Swasth Jamui’

Triggering a controversy, a Pakistani girl featured as the “brand ambassador” on the cover page of a booklet meant to promote ‘Swachh Jamui Swasth Jamui’ initiative in Bihar’s Jamui district.

• It was also revealed that the girl was being promoted as the face of UNICEF in Pakistan for education.

Gadkari announces Rs 5,500 cr for Hyderabad regional ring road

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced sanctioning of Rs 5,500 crore for laying regional ring road around Hyderabad. (363 km)

• The minister also announced Rs 1,700 crore for Telangana under Central Road Fund (CRF).

HRD Ministry launches online professional development of 1.5 million faculty

Human Resource Development Ministry has launched a major and unique initiative of online professional development of 1.5 million higher education faculty using the MOOCs platform SWAYAM.

• In the first phase, 75 discipline-specific National Resource Centres (NRC) have been identified. They are tasked to prepare online training material with focus on latest developments in the discipline, new and emerging trends, pedagogical improvements and methodologies for transacting revised curriculum.

Go to Village’ mission launched in Manipur

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh launched ‘Go to Village’ mission throughout the state from Konuma ground.

• The mission is aimed at identifying the eligible and deserving beneficiaries in every corner of the state and delivering government services at their doorstep.
• The mission was launched on Tuesday in 60 villages of all the 60 Assembly constituencies.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Pyongyang aligns time zone with Seoul

North Korea moved its clock forward 30 minutes, aligning its time zone with South Korea, a move aimed at promoting the two countries’ reconciliation.

• North Korea pushed back its standard time by 30 minutes in August 2015, claiming the move was aimed at removing the vestige of Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Sri Lanka, India hold 29th International Maritime Boundary line meeting

The 29th International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) meeting between India and Sri Lanka was held onboard Indian Naval Ship ‘Sumithra’ at the Indo-Sri Lanka Maritime Boundary Line off Kankasanthurai on Thursday.

India ranked 11th in the AT Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index for 2018

India has slipped three notches to the 11th position in the AT Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index for 2018. The US remained in the top position for investment intentions with Canada rising to the second position while Germany fell to the third.

BANKING & ECONOMY

ADB projects India’s growth at 7.3% in 2018

Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao noted that India’s growth in 2018 would pick up to 7.3 percent.

• The ADB, in its Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2018 report released in April, had claimed that the Indian economy is set to expand by 7.3 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2018 and 7.6 percent in the next fiscal i.e FY 2019. Also developing Asia grew by 6.1 percent in 2017, and we expect growth will be 6 percent in 2018.

Centre permits partial withdrawal to NPS subscribers

The pension fund regulator PFRDA today said that NPS subscribers now have the option to partially withdraw funds from their accounts for pursuing higher education or setting up a new business.

• The board also decided to increasing the cap on equity investment in ‘active choice’ category to 75 per cent from current 50 per cent for private sector subscribers of NPS. However, the option of increasing investment in equity will be available to subscribers till the age of 50 years.
• The PFRDA board also approved a proposal on changing the investment grade rating from ‘AA’ to ‘A’ for corporate bonds. The change is subject to a cap on investments in ‘A’ rated bonds to be not more than 10 per cent of the overall corporate bond portfolio of the pension funds.

SEBI extends trade timing for derivatives

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has allowed stock exchanges to extend the trading session for futures and options (F&O) segment from the current 3.30 p.m. to 11.55 in the night beginning October 1, 2018.

• With a view to enable integration of trading of various segments of securities market at the level of exchanges, it has been decided to permit stock exchanges to set their trading hours in the equity derivatives segment between 9 a.m. and 11.55 p.m. similar to the trading hours for commodity derivatives segment which are presently fixed between 10 a.m. and 11:55 p.m.

SPORTS

Sports initiative ‘Star Khel Mahakumbh’ launched at Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh

A sports initiative ‘Star Khel Mahakumbh’ was launched at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh today in the presence of 1,500 athletes. The athletes will compete in volleyball, basketball, cricket, football, kabaddi and athletics.

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