Supreme Court To Get 3 Serving Women Judges For 1st Time


The Supreme Court will have three serving women judges for the first time, after the Centre cleared the elevation of Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee. 
The other two judges are R Banumathi, appointed in August 2014, and Indu Malhotra, appointed in April 2018. Notably, SC will have a total of 22 male judges including two new male appointees. 

Source- Hindustan Times

NHAI Signs MoU With SBI for Long Term Unsecured Loan of Rs 25000 Crore

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) signed an MoU with the State Bank of India (SBI) for getting Long Term Unsecured Loan of Rs 25000 crore for 10 years with 3 years of moratorium on repayments. This is the SBI’s highest long-term unsecured loan to any entity. 
Moreover, this is the largest amount of loan to have been sanctioned to NHAI in one stroke by any institution. SBI offered the loan to the NHAI in response to the Expression of Interest invited by the latter from Scheduled Commercial Banks to fund Rs 25000 Crore as an unsecured loan for 10 years with 3 years of moratorium on repayments. 
Source- The Indian Express

India Elected President of Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development

AIBD India has been elected as the President of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) for a period of two years. India got elected against Iran during voting which took place at the 44th annual gathering of AIBD in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 
Director General of All India Radio F. Sheheryar was re-elected as chair of the executive board while Sri Lanka was elected as vice-chair. Broadcasters from 26 countries in the region including India are full members of the organization.
Source- AIR World Service
Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI PO/Clerk Exam 2018- 
  • AIBD, established in 1977 under the auspices of UNESCO, is a unique regional inter-governmental organisation and is mandated to achieve a vibrant and cohesive electronic media environment in the Asia-Pacific region through policy and resource development.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana Achieves 5 Core Mark

Loksabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan handed over 5 croreth LPG connection under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) to Smt Takrdiran of Delhi in the Parliament House. The 5 crore feat has been achieved in the time period of over 2 years. 
PM Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) on 1st May 2016 and it is implemented by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas through its Oil Marketing Companies i.e., IOC, BPCL and HPCL through their network of distributors across the country. In the current year, considering the huge success of the Scheme, target was revised to 8 crores with budgetary allocation of Rs 12,800 crore.
Note: Uttar Pradesh has got the maximum number of LPG connections (87 lakh) followed by West Bengal (67 lakh) and Bihar (61 lakh). 
Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

EAM Sushma Swaraj in Kyrgyzstan as part of her 3-central asian nations’ tour


External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is now in Kyrgyzstan which is the second leg of 3-central Asian nations’ visit. Before landing in Bishkek, the Minister completed a successful visit to Kazakhstan where she met the country’s top leaders to discuss ways to consolidate its strategic partnership with India in areas like trade, energy, security and information technology.
Minister Sushma Swaraj held a bilateral meeting with her Kazakh External Affairs counterpart. Sushma Swaraj expressed India’s interest to partner with Kazakhstan on several fronts. Bilateral relations between India and Kazakhstan have been strengthened by the bilateral visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kazakhstan in 2015 and his visit for SCO Summit in June 2017. 
Source- AIR World Service

World’s 1st Hindi-Speaking Robot ‘Rashmi’

Ranchi-based software developer Ranjit Srivastava is developing the world’s first Hindi-speaking humanoid robot, claimed to cost just Rs50,000 so far. 

Named Rashmi, the AI-powered robot can also speak Bhojpuri, Marathi, and English, and is equipped with facial expressions and recognition systems. He was inspired to create Rashmi after seeing Hong Kong-made humanoid ‘Sophia’ in 2016. 

Source- Hindustan Times

Fortune 500 List of World’s Largest Companies Released

Seven Indian companies have been listed in Fortune’s 500 list 2018 of world biggest corporations. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is the highest ranked company from India followed by RIL which jumped 55 places. The US-based retail company, Walmart has topped the list. 
IOC ranked 137th in 2018 with a significant jump from 168th position from 2017. RIL is the top private sector company in India. It ranked 148th in 2018 from 203rd from 2017. ONGC ranked 197th in 2018 which not even featured in 2017. SBI got 216th rank 1 place higher than 217th in 2017.
The Top 3 companies on the list are: 
1. Walmart (the USA),
2. State Grid (China),
3. Sinopec Group (China). 
Source- The Fortune

President Gives Away Outstanding Parliamentarian Awards

President Ram Nath Kovind presented the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for the years 2013-2017, in New Delhi. The Outstanding Parliamentarian Award was presented to the Best Parliamentarians from 2013 to 2017 for their remarkable contributions. 
Winners of the award are listed below:
1. Dr Najma Heptullah (for year 2013),
2. Hukum Dev Narayan (for year 2014),
3. Ghulam Nabi Azad (for year 2015),
4. Dinesh Trivedi (for year 2016),
5. Bhartruhari Mahtab (for year 2017). 
Source- DD News 

India’s GDP Growth To Rise To 7.5% This Fiscal: Morgan Stanley

India’s economy is expected to clock GDP growth of 7.5% in this financial year according to a Morgan Stanley report. The growth recovery will remain robust, supported initially by consumption and exports. In the January-March quarter, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew at the fastest pace in seven quarters at 7.7% on robust performance by manufacturing and service sectors as well as good farm output. 
In aggregate, the report expect GDP growth to pick up to 7.5% in this financial year as against 6.7% in 2017-18. The report forecasts Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation to remain slightly above the inflation target of 4% and the current account deficit below 2.5% of GDP. 
Source– The Moneycontrol

Find More News on Economy Here

Read This In Hindi

Mauritius’s SBM Gets RBI Approval For Subsidiary

First foreign lender to get nod; DBS waiting in the wings
Mauritius-based SBM Group has received Reserve Bank of India’s approval to operate in the country through a wholly-owned subsidiary route. It is the first foreign lender to receive such a licence after local incorporation was introduced in 2013.
Singapore’s DBS Bank is another lender which is awaiting final approval from the RBI to convert its 12 branches into a wholly owned subsidiary. 

Source- The Hindu

Static/Current Takeaways Important for SBI PO/Clerk Exam 2018- 
  • SBM, which has been in India since 1994, currently operates through four branches, in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ramachandrapuram.