Daily Current Affairs 17th & 18th May, 2020

Daily Current Affairs 17 & 18 May 2020 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Andhra Pradesh forms high-power committee to probe Vizag gas leak
The Andhra Pradesh government constituted a five-member High-Power Committee to probe into the causes behind the leakage of styrene gas from the LG Polymer plant at RR Venkatapuram in Visakhapatnam, which claimed 12 lives, and take stock of the recovery steps being initiated. It will be submitting its final report within one month.

• The committee headed by Neeraj Kumar Prasad, Special Chief Secretary (EFS and T department) and have Karikal Valaven, Special Chief Secretary (Industries), Vinay Chand (Visakhapatnam district collector), RK Meena (Visakhapatnam Commissioner of Police) as members and Vivek Yadav (Member Secretary, AP Pollution Control Board) as member convenor.

Govt allocates Rs 40,000 cr more for MGNREGS
The government announced an additional Rs 40,000 crore allocation for the rural employment guarantee scheme to help provide jobs to migrant workers returning home.

• Announcing fifth and final tranche of the economic stimulus package, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the allocation for MGNREGS is being increased by Rs 40,000 crore over and above the Rs 61,000 cr budgeted earlier.
• Also, public expenditure on health will be increased, she said without giving details. Investments in grassroot health institutions to be ramped up.
• Also, one earmarked TV channel per class from 1 to 12 (one class, one channel) will be part of this

BANKING & FINANCE

Centre, WB govt, AIIB sign agreement for USD 145 million project to improve irrigation in West Bengal
Government of India, West Bengal Government and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, AIIB signed a loan agreement for a 145 million dollar project to improve irrigation services and flood management in the Damodar Valley Command Area in West Bengal.

• The West Bengal Major Irrigation and Flood Management Project will benefit about 27 lakh farmers from five districts of the state with better irrigation services and improved protection against annual flooding

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

NRAI partners with DotPe to build tech platform for online payments and ordering
 National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) has partnered with fintech start-up DotPe to build its own tech platform.

• This platform enables them with online payments for digital ordering, bill settlements, and contactless dining. DotPe will provide us with a tech solution.

APPOINTMENTS

HDFC’s Zubair Iqbal becomes new MD of J&K Bank
The Jammu and Kashmir administration approved the appointment of senior vice president of HDFC Bank Zubair Iqbal as the new managing director of Jammu and Kashmir Bank.

• R K Chibber will continue as the bank’s chairman for the next three years.
• Iqbal will have a three-year tenure.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

IIT Gandhinagar ‘develops’ interactive dashboard to help contain COVID-19 community infection post lockdown
Researchers at IIT Gandhinagar have developed an interactive COVID-19 dashboard called “MIR AHD Covid-19 Dashboard”  that they say can help administrators, hospitals as well as public in planning optimised testing for the novel coronavirus, and containing community infection in various post-lockdown scenarios

• The dashboard integrates the complex social and transportation patterns with state-of-the-art epidemic spread models, in addition to testing and quarantining rates, and contact tracing rates.

Centre launches online dashboard to monitor movement of migrant workers
The Centre has asked the States to use online portal National Migrant Information System (NMIS) for capturing the information on movement of migrants and for better inter-State co-ordination.

• To capture the information regarding movement of migrants and facilitate the smooth movement of stranded persons across States, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has developed an online Dashboard- NMIS  on the existing NDMA-GIS portal.
• The portal will maintain a central repository and help the sending as well as receiving State and district to ask for and give their acceptance in an online format seamlessly.

OBITUARIES

Iran’s OPEC governor Kazempour Ardebili passes away
Iran’s governor to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Kazempour Ardebili has passed away after suffering a brain hemorrhage and falling into a coma.He was 68.

• He had since 2013 served as Iran’s representative to OPEC – the oil organization that accounts for about a third of world supply – and was seen as a key aide to Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh.
• In the early 1990s, Kazempour Ardebili was Iran’s ambassador to Japan and then was appointed as the OPEC governor.
• In the 1980s, he served as the country’s deputy foreign minister and deputy oil minister.

Modern Family’ actor Fred Willard passes away at 86
Veteran actor-comedian Fred Willard, best known for his performance in Everybody Loves Raymond and Modern Family, has died at the age of 86.

• Willard, who was known for his deadpan cameos, was nominated four times for Emmy Awards — three of them (in 2003, 2004 and 2005) for playing Hank on Everybody Loves Raymond and the fourth in 2010 for his recurring role as Frank Dunphy, the father of Ty Burrell’s Phil Dunphy, on Modern Family.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Telecommunication Day
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is celebrated every May 17  to celebrate the power of telecommunication and its importance in building relationships across cultures around the world.

• The theme this year is: Connect 2030: ICTs for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

World Hypertension Day
World Hypertension Day is observed on May 17 every year to help raise awareness about high blood pressure, how it can be prevented and managed.

• The theme of World Hypertension Day 2020 is “Measure Your Blood Pressure, Control It, Live Longer.” 

Click here to read Daily Current Affairs