11th May CURRENT AFFAIRS IN ENGLISH

1. Shanghai Cooperation Organization Tourism Ministers’ conference in China

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism and Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Shri K. J. Alphons attended the Tourism Ministers’ conference by Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Wuhan, China held on 9th May 2018.

• At the inaugural session, the Minister said that India’s Tourism sector is fast growing and has got an emerging market for outbound travel and a tremendous potential for tourism co-operation with the SCO region.

2. Kovind becomes first President to visit Siachen in 14 years

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, visited Siachen Base Camp on May 10, 2018 and addressed the soldiers posted there.

• He also visited the Kumar Post. President Kovind is the second President of India to visit Siachen.
• The previous visit was undertaken by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in April 2004.
• This makes President Kovind the first President to travel to Siachen in 14 years.

3. Madhya Pradesh Gets India's First Smart Cities Control Centre

In a major step towards realising the centre's smart city mission (SCM), the Madhya Pradesh government has launched the country's first Integrated Control and Command Centre (ICCC) for all seven smart cities of the state in Bhopal.

• The ICCCwould enable the authorities to monitor the status of various smart civic amenities in real-time through the sensors connected to it.
• Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Satna, and Sagar are the seven smart cities under SCM in Madhya Pradesh.

4. Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu inaugurates 6th US-India Aviation Summit

The 6th US-India Aviation Summit was formally inaugurated by Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu in Mumbai.

• The biennial Summit is jointly organised by Ministry of Civil Aviation and US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).
• The summit is a technical, policy and commercial forum by the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation and the US Trade and Development Agency.

5. New monetary limits for public sector banks to report frauds to CBI

The monetary threshold for public sector banks to report frauds to different departments of the CBI for a probe has been revised, according to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).

• Frauds of minimum Rs 3 crore to Rs 25 crore, up from Rs 15 crore, have to be reported to either the CBI's Anti-Corruption Branch (in case staff involvement is prima facie evident) or to the Economic Offences Wing (if employees involvement is prima facie not evident) respectively.
• Cases of frauds involving more than Rs 25 crore and up to Rs 50 crore should be given to the CBI's Banking Security and Fraud Cell (BSFC).
• The cases of more than Rs 50 crore should be lodged with the Joint Director (Policy), CBI.

6. Mahathir Mohamad becomes Prime Minister of Malaysia

Mahathir Mohamad has been sworn in as prime minister of Malaysia again after a shock election victory, 15 years after he stood down.

• The former strongman who governed for more than two decades has become, at 92, the world's oldest elected leader.
• He came out of retirement and defected to the opposition to take on and beat former protege Najib Razak.

7. Mohit Chauhan nominated as Green Ambassador of Sikkim

The Sikkim government has nominated Bollywood singer Mohit Chauhan as the Green Ambassador of the state, an official notification said.

• The state government had earlier this year roped in AR Rahman as its ambassador to promote tourism in Sikkim.
• Sikkim is known for its rich biodiversity and abundant natural resources due to environment-friendly policies being followed by the state government for more than two decades.

8. Nirmal Singh elected JK Assembly speaker

BJP legislator and former deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh was elected as the speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.

• Singh, who is an MLA from Billawar constituency in Jammu region, was elected as the speaker by a voice vote in a one day special session of the Assembly.
• The motion to elect Singh was moved by Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Basharat Bukhari and seconded by Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta.
• Singh defeated Congress MLA from Bandipora, Usman Majeed.

9. South Western Railway bags Safety Shield pertaining to Train Operations

During the year 2017-18, South Western Railway (SWR) has registered best figures & tremendous improvements in key areas of Safety pertaining to train operations among all Zonal Railways. Recognizing the efforts of SWR undertaken for improving Safety, Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways & Coal awarded the Railway Minister’s Safety Shield for 2017-18 to South Western Railway in an annual award event.

• The number of accidents has come down in SWR from 11 in 2014-15 to 8 in 2015-16, 3 in 2016-17 to 01 in 2017-18.

10. Former Test cricketer Rajinder Pal passes away

Former Delhi cricketer Rajinder Pal, who had represented the country in one Test match, passed away at his Dehradun residence.

• A right-arm medium pacer, Rajinder Pal played his only Test match against England (then known as MCC) during the 1963-64 series at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.