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CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL
Saudi government raises India’s Haj quota to 2 lakh
- Saudi Arabia has issued a formal order increasing the Haj quota of India to two lakhs from one lakh seventy five-thousand
- In February this year, the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that Indian Haj quota would be increased by 25 thousand to two lakhs. This is the third hike in three consecutive years.
- As many as 2,340 Indian Muslim women will go for the pilgrimage without male companion or Mehram
- This is the third hike in three consecutive years. In 2017, the quota was increased by 35,000 while last year, it was raised by 5,000 to take the number to 1,75,000
| USEFUL INFO |
| Capital | Riyadh |
| Currency | Saudi riyal |
| Crown Prince | Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE
Bank of Baroda, Srei Equipment Finance tie up for infra equipment loans
- Srei Equipment Finance Ltd (SEFL) and India’s second largest state-run lender Bank of Baroda have entered into a co-lending arrangement for infrastructure equipment. The offerings would include both business to business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C) propositions
- The partnership will allow Kolkata-based Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd’s equipment finance arm and Bank of Baroda to collaborate and widen their respective customer base.
- As part of the arrangement, the companies will use iQuippo, a digital marketplace for origination of loans, collection of loan dues, and auction and valuation of equipment
| USEFUL INFO |
| Bank of Baroda CEO | P. S. Jayakumar |
| Bank of Baroda Headquarters | Vadodara |
| Bank of Baroda Tagline | India’s International Bank |
Exim Bank funds projects worth USD 267 millionn in Rawanda
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated that Exim Bank has provided soft loans of USD 266.60 million to Rwanda for various projects.
- The funding, done in three separate tranches to Rawanda, is to support agricultural projects, development of special economic zones (SEZs) and for financing road project in the African nation
- According to the agreements, Exim Bank will provide USD 100 million for financing the development of two SEZs and expansion of the Kigali SEZ in Rwanda.
- USD 100 million for financing three agriculture project schemes — Warufu Multipurpose Project, Mugesera Irrigation Project and Nyamukana Irrigation Project.
- USD 66.60 million will be funded for the Base-Butaro-Kidaho Road Project.
| USEFUL INFO |
| Rwanda Capital | Kigali |
| Currency | Rwandan franc |
| President | Paul Kagame |
| EXIM bank of India CEO | David Rasquinha |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS
Cholamandalam MS General Insurance gets ISO 31000:2018 certification
- Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited has been certified with ISO 31000
- ISO 31000:2018 is an international risk management standard. The standard provides guidelines, principles, framework, and a process for managing risk. It can be used by any organization regardless of its size, activity or sector.
- The Certificate is valid for a period of 3 years from April 07, 2019, to April 06, 2022.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION
Kaushik Shaparia appointed as Deutsche Bank India CEO
- Deutsche Bank appointed Kaushik Shaparia as the chief executive officer for India to succeed Ravneet Gill. Gill left the bank to head private lender YES Bank earlier this year. Shaparia’s appointment will be effective from May 2019
- Shaparia served as Asia Pacific Head of Corporate Banking Coverage within Institutional and Treasury Coverage, as well as Global Head of Subsidiary Coverage and has a 30-year experience at the bank
| USEFUL INFO |
| Deutsche Bank CEO | Christian Sewing |
| Headquarters | Frankfurt, Germany |
Suhel Ajaz Khan appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Lebanon
- Suhel Ajaz Khan has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Lebanon
- Khan a 1997 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, was presently working as Deputy Chief of Mission in the Embassy of India, Riyadh
| USEFUL INFO |
| Lebanon Capital | Beirut |
| Currency | Lebanese pound |
| President | Michel Aoun |
CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING
India ranked 140 in World Press Freedom Index 2019
- India has dropped two places on a global press freedom index to be ranked 140th out of 180 countries in the annual report released by Reporters Without Borders
- The World Press Freedom Index 2019 topped by Norway
- Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), or Reporters Without Borders, is a non-profit organisation that works to document and combat attacks on journalists around the world.
- At the bottom of the Index, both Vietnam (176th) and China (177th) have fallen one place and Turkmenistan (down two at 180th) is now last, replacing North Korea (up one at 179th).
CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS
Indian peacekeepers awarded Medal of Honour under UNMISS
- A total of 150 Indian peacekeepers serving with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) have received medals of honour for their dedicated service and sacrifice
- India is one of the top troop contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions. More than 200,000 military and police have served over the past 70 years and 168 Indian military personnel have lost their lives under the UN flag.
- India is the second largest contributor of peacekeepers to UNMISS with more than 2,400 military and police personnel currently deployed the mission.
- UNMISS stated that the Indian Horizontal Mobility Engineering Company serving with the mission completed the renovation of 145 km of roadway connecting Bentiu and Leer easing the way for the delivery humanitarian aid, trade and inter-communal dialogue.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
NASA astronaut to set record for longest spaceflight by a woman
- NASA astronaut Christina Koch is going to have her mission on the International Space Station (ISS) extended to 328 days. This would set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman.
- Koch arrived at the space station on March 14 and now is scheduled to remain in orbit until February 2020. She will eclipse the record of 288 days set by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson in 2016-17
- The longest single spaceflight by a NASA astronaut is 340 days, set by former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly during his one-year mission in 2015-16.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHORS
Book on Jallianwala Bagh poem Khooni Vaisakhi released in UAE
- The book containing English translation of the Punjabi poem, ‘Khooni Vaisakhi’ was launched in UAE
- The poem was translated by Suri whose grandfather revolutionary poet and novelist Nanak Singh, a Jallianwala Bagh survivor, wrote it after witnessing first-hand the events of April 13, 1919, when British troops fired upon crowds of protestors peacefully demonstrating against the Rowlatt Act of the British Raj
CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS
Bajrang regains top spot in world wrestling rankings
- India’s Bajrang Punia has regained the world number one spot in the men’s 65-kilogram freestyle category rankings.
- The rankings were released by United World Wrestling
- He won Gold in the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games as well as a silver in the World Championships last year, secured 58 points ahead of Akhmed Chakaev of Russia
CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES
NASA’s 1st female astronaut candidate, Jerrie Cobb passed away
- America’s first female astronaut candidate, pilot Jerrie Cobb, has passed away
- In 1961, Cobb became the first woman to pass astronaut testing. Altogether, 13 women passed the arduous physical testing and became known as the Mercury 13
- None of the Mercury 13 ever reached space. Cobb served for decades as a humanitarian aid pilot in the Amazon jungle