Current Affairs Current Affairs May 2019

 Noted Kannada theatre personality, satirist and TV actor Master Hirannaiah has passed away. He was 85 years old. Narasimha Murthy hailing from Mysuru was the son of another theatre thespian K. Hirannaiah. Making his debut on the stage as a child, he went by the stage name Master Hirannaiah, a name that stuck with him forever.
Source: The Hindu

  Akihito became the first Japanese Emperor to step down from the throne in more than 200 years. His son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will ascend the Chrysanthemum throne today, beginning a new era. 30 April was the last day of the Heisei imperial era.
Source- BBC News

  In a huge diplomatic win for India, the United Nations Security Council designatedPakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist after China lifted its hold on a proposal to blacklist him under the Security Council’s Sanctions Committee. The announcement was made by India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to UN, Syed Akbaruddin. 
Source- The Hindu

  Bharti AXA General Insurance, a private non-life insurer, has tied up with financial marketplace Wishfin’s insurance arm Wishpolicy, to offer two-wheeler insurance to customers via WhatsApp.  This service option is an instant and additional customer service option for policyholders, apart from Bharti AXA General Insurance’s multiple channels, including its network of branches, customer care and contact centre, dynamic portal, and intelligent chatbot.

 Senior IAS officer Dilip Kumar was appointed as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the office of Lokpal. Kumar, a 1995-batch IAS officer of Punjab cadre, is at present joint secretary, National Human Rights Commission. He has been appointed for a period of six months on additional charge basis or till a new incumbent joins the post.
Source: Business Standard

  The Union Environment Ministry has constituted a committee to implement the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), which aims to reduce particulate matter (PM) pollution by 20%-30% in at least 102 cities by 2024. The committee will be chaired by the Secretary, Union Environment Ministry. It would be headquartered in New Delhi.
Source: The Hindu

 Markets regulator SEBI directed National Stock Exchange to pay more than Rs625 crore in the case of misuse of its co-location facility. SEBI has been probing alleged lapses in high-frequency trading offered through NSE’s co-location facility. The amount, if considered with simple interest, would come to little less than Rs1,000 crore. If it involves a compound interest, the fine could amount to around Rs1,300 crore. Besides, two former chief executive officers, Ravi Narain and Chitra Ramkrishna have been asked to disgorge 25% of respective salaries drawn during a certain period. According to the order, the exchange has also been prohibited from accessing the securities market directly or indirectly for six months.
Source- The Hindu Business Line

 Paytm has launched a recurring payment service for merchants that are working on a digital subscription model. The move will allow the subscription-based businesses to collect payments from their subscribers effortlessly. Recurring payments are an automatic payment system wherein the merchants automatically charge their customers for a specified service on a pre-arranged schedule.
Source: Business Today

  Facilities management provider UDS has acquired a majority stake in Matrix Business Services, which operates in the business assurance and background verification segment. This acquisition includes buying out the entire 19.77% stake of Kotak Mahindra Investments and 2.67% of Mahindra & Mahindra Contech and the balance 52.56% from other shareholders, mainly from all non-executive shareholders. The acquisition will help UDS expand its service offerings, as it currently manages 250 million sq. ft commercial space across India for around 700 clients with a workforce of over 46,000 employees.
Source- The Livemint

  Iraq has become India’s top crude oil supplier for the second consecutive year, meeting more than one-fifth of the country’s oil needs in the 2018-19 fiscal year. According to data collected by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Iraq sold 46.61 million tonnes of crude oil to India during April 2018 and March 2019. India provisionally imported 207.3 million tonnes of crude oil in 2018-19, down from 220.4 million tonnes in the previous financial year. Saudi Arabia has traditionally been India’s top oil source, but it was for the first time dethroned by Iraq in 2017-18 fiscal year.
Source- The Hindu Business Line


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