Current Affairs 24th May 2018

National News

1. Netherlands PM Mark Rutte Arrives in India

i. Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Netherlands Mark Rutte has arrived in India for a two-day official visit. Rutte is scheduled to meet a Business Delegation at Hotel Taj Diplomatic and then participate in the Clean Ganga Event.
ii. Prime Minister Narendra Nodi met with Mark Rutte at Hyderabad House. Rutte will also attend a CEO roundtable conference at the Hyderabad House.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

·                     Netherlands Capital- Amsterdam, Currency- Euro, USD.

2. Prime Minister Modi Chairs 26th Pragati Interaction

i. Prime Minister had chaired twenty-sixth interaction through PRAGATI. He Reviewed progress of handling and grievance redressal related to post offices and railways.

ii. The Cabinet under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi also discussed a number of other issues besides financial matters.

3. India-Nepal Joint Military Exercise SURYA KIRAN To Be Held In Uttarakhand

i. Joint Military Exercise SURYA KIRAN-XIII between India and Nepal will be conducted at Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand.
ii. Exercise SURYA KIRAN is a biannual event which is conducted alternatively in Nepal and India.  The aim of this exercise is to conduct battalion level joint training with emphasis on counter-terrorism operations in mountainous terrain.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

·                     General Bipin Rawat is the present chief of Army Staff.

·                     Nepal Capital- Kathmandu, Currency- Nepalese rupee, President- Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister- Khadga Prasad Oli. 

4. Sushant Singh Rajput to Promote 2 Major Initiatives of NITI Aayog

i. NITI Aayog and Sushant Singh Rajput have decided to collaborate towards promoting two major initiatives of NITI Aayog, promotion of BHIM and the Women Entrepreneurship Platform.
ii. Mr Rajput had entered into an agreement with NITI Aayog. The agreement would be signed by Shri Rajput with Ms Anna Roy, Adviser, NITI Aayog in the presence of Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog.

5. Smart Cities India 2018 Expo Underway in New Delhi

i. A three-day Smart Cities India 2018 Expo, began in New Delhi. The mega event, consisting five expos is being held with a vision to help develop attractive and safe cities that evoke pride, passion and a sense of belonging among citizens.
ii. The five expos are Building India Expo, Solar India Expo, Transport India Expo, Smart Cities India Expo and Water India Expo. Over 300 exhibitors from different countries are participating in the 4th edition of this event.

6. NITI Aayog, ABB India Sign Pact to Benefit India From AI, Robotics

i. NITI Aayog and ABB India have signed a pact to help the country derive the benefits of latest technologies including robotics and artificial intelligence. The Statement of Intent to work together to realise the ambitious make in India vision of the government was signed in the presence of NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.
ii. NITI Aayog and ABB will work with government ministries, solicit feedback for areas critical to them and discuss solutions using industrial automation, and digitalization technologies.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

·                     NITI- National Institution for Transforming India.

·                     NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman- Rajiv Kumar, CEO- Amitabh Kant.

Business News

7. MobiKwik Launches UPI On Platform, Offers Own VPA Handle

i. Leading digital financial services platform, MobiKwik, announced the launch of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on its platform via its own Virtual payment address (VPA) handle @ikwik. 
ii. MobiKwik is the first in the industry to offer UPI access to a huge base of three million merchants on its app.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

·                     Bipin Preet Singh is the founder and CEO of Gurugam-Headquartered MobiKwik.

Awards

8. Nari Shakti Puraskar 2017 Presented to INSV Tarini Team

Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi

i. Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi presented the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar 2017 to the members of the INSV Tarini team in New Delhi. The Six-member all-women team led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi have received the Puraskar from the Minister.
ii. The crew of the Indian Navy Sailing Vessel 'Tarini' is a part of the Indian Navy’s unique project 'Navika SagarParikrama'.

Ranks and Reports

9. India Stands 44th In Competitive Rankings, USA Tops: Report

i. India rose one place to 44th this year in the global competitive rankings out of 63 countries that were ranked by the IMD World Competitiveness Center.
ii.  China bagged the 13th rank in 2018 as compared to the 18th rank in 2016.

iii. The top 3 most competitive economies in the world are:

1. The USA,

2. Hong Kong, 

3. Singapore, 

10. India 145th In Healthcare Access, Quality, Iceland Tops: Lancet Report

i. India ranks 145th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare, according to a Lancet study. In 2016, India’s healthcare access and quality scored at 41.2 (up from 24.7 in 1990).
ii. The top 3 countries with the highest levels of healthcare access and quality in 2016:
1. Iceland (97.1 points),
2. Norway (96.6),
3. The Netherlands (96.1).
iii. The countries with the lowest scores:
1. The Central African Republic (18.6),
2. Somalia (19.0),
3. Guinea-Bissau (23.4).