Daily GK Updates - 19th May, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1. DoT panel submits report on scope of 5G trials, experimental: The 5G committee led by Abhay Karandikar (Director IIT Kanpur) has submitted its recommendations to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on what should be the quantum, duration, and price of the spectrum for trial in India. The DoT is in process of examining the recommendations on the fifth-generation or 5G technology trials in the country, in addition to the committee views for the next auction which would be tabled before the Digital Communication Commission (DCC).

2. FB is partnering with tech start-up incubator T-Hub: Facebook is partnering with tech start-up incubator T-Hub to launch the 2nd edition of the India Innovation Hub Accelerator program. It aims at supporting start-ups that are focused on building products and services using AI in the domains of gender equality, decent work, and economic opportunity, innovation infrastructure, climate change, and peace and justice. The start-ups selected for the program would receive support to scale their efforts and improve their products and services, to better tackle fundamental challenges facing the region. Facebook would provide technical support, mentorship, and training on the use of Facebook products and tools, and access to dozens of experts within the company

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1. Australian PM Scott Morrison wins federal elections: In Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Liberal-National Coalition won the federal elections. Prime Minister Morrison has declared victory after his coalition defied opinion polls and secured a surprise win over the opposition Labor Party. 

2. Amazon Returns to Restaurant Delivery with Massive Investment in Deliveroo: Amazon with an aim to expand its market and strengthen its delivery services partnered with U.K. Food-Delivery Startup Deliveroo. Amazon is the biggest investor in Deliveroo's latest round of fundraising, which in total raised $575m (£450m). The backing from Amazon gives Deliveroo a boost against rivals such as JustEat and Uber Eats. The delivery company aims at “investing heavily in expanding the company’s tech team” at its U.K. Headquarters in the City of London

3. Doubts raised over Pakistan's battle against terror financing at APG meet in China: A 10-member delegation of Pakistan, led by Finance Secretary Mohammad Younas Dagha, attended the two-day meeting of the Asia-Pacific Group (APG) of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The meeting took place in the Chinese city of Guangzhou. The APG submits FATF its analysis of the compliance report submitted by Pakistan which will become the basis for the FATF to decide whether to exclude Pakistan from its grey list or not.

4. Three day Asia Pacific naval and maritime event, IMDEX ASIA 2019 Singapore: Two warships, INS Kolkata and INS Shakti, are participating in IMDEX as also several Indian engineering and shipbuilding firms, including the Larsen & Toubro and the BrahMos aerospace corporation. After IMDEX, the Indian ships along with a Navy P-8I long-range maritime surveillance aircraft will participate in the 26th edition of the Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) scheduled from May 16 to 22. SIMBEX is the longest uninterrupted naval exercise that India has with any other country.

OTHER UPDATES:

SPORTS

1. 2nd India Open International Boxing Tournament to be held in Guwahati: The Second India Open International Boxing tournament will be held in Guwahati . India will field a strong contingent of 38 men and 37 women in the tournament including Mary Kom in 51-kilogram category. The competition will be held in a total of 18 categories, 10 in men and 8 in women. The gold medalist will get 2500 US dollar and Silver medalist will earn 1000 US dollar.

2. Rafael Nadal and Karolina Pliskova wins Italian Open men’s and women’s single respectively: Czech fourth seed Karolina Pliskova swept past Britain's Johanna Konta 6-3, 6-4 to win the WTA Italian Open in Rome. Rafael Nadal posts a win against Novak Djokovic to earn his ninth WTA Italian Open title with a 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 victory over the world No. 1 in Rome.

BANKING AND FINANCE

1. Bharatpe launches India's first UPI "Bahi Khata" for merchants: BharatPe - India's first Fintech start-up enabling payments for merchants through interoperable UPI QR codes, has announced its foray into merchant services with a new app. The app allows merchants to record their cash/credit (Udhar) sales customer wise, request accounts receivable from customers via SMS payment links, and keep track of accounts payable to suppliers, among other services. Some of the prominent features on BharatPe's app for merchants include UPI Khata (Ledger), Managing Supplier Bills, Cashback, Settlements and Refer and Earn. 

2. Kerala has become the first Indian state to tap into the masala bond market: Kerala government has opened masala bond trading on the London Stock Exchange by ringing the iconic bell. The state-owned Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) started its ‘masala bond’ issue of Rs 2,150 crore on the bourses. The idea of masala bonds was reportedly put forward by state finance minister Thomas Issac in order to raise funds to rebuild infrastructure in the state which recently saw devastating floods. The bond is guaranteed by the Kerala government. After the bond issue debut, Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board became the first sub-sovereign entity in India to tap the offshore rupee international bond market.

3. IDBI’s pilot scheme for fin tech NBFCs to boost digital lending towards SME’s: To give a fillip to digital lending, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has put together a pilot scheme to extend financial assistance of up to ₹10 crore to new-age fintech non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) engaged in financing small businesses and other income-generating activities. SIDBI has set the exposure cap for lending to a single new-age fintech NBFC at 30 percent of NOF of the new-age fintech NBFC, subject to a maximum cap of ₹10 crore. As per the scheme, new-age fintech NBFCs should hold in trust the underlying securities/ receivables on behalf of SIDBI. SIDBI will charge a minimum upfront fee of 0.075 percent to 0.25 percent of the sanctioned assistance, plus applicable taxes.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

1. Nancy Pelosi: receives JFK Profile in Courage Award: The USA’s House of Representatives (lower house of US) Speaker Nancy Pelosi was honoured with 2019 John F Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. Pelosi has served in House of Representatives since 1987. She was recognized for putting national interest above her party’s interest, or her efforts to pass former President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care law (Obama Care) and also for helping Democrats reclaim control of U.S. House during 2018 elections. The award was presented at John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

About Award:  It is an an annual award that was created in 1989 by members of President J.F. Kennedy’s family. It seeks to honor J.F. Kennedy and to recognize and celebrate quality of political courage which he admired most. The award recognizes a public official (or officials) at local, federal or state level whose actions speaks of qualities of politically courageous leadership.