8th May CURRENT AFFAIRS IN ENGLISH

1. Putin sworn in for another six years in office Russia

Vladimir Putin was sworn in for another six years as Russian president. Putin swore to serve the Russian people, safeguard their rights and freedoms, and defend Russian sovereignty.

• Putin was inaugurated for his fourth term as president

2. India ranks 4th in Asia-Pacific on power index

India has ranked fourth out of 25 nations in the Asia-Pacific region on an index that measures their overall power. The Lowy Institute Asia Power Index measures power across 25 countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region.

3. The Government of India signed a loan deal worth $ 200 million with the World Bank

The Government of India signed a loan deal worth $ 200 million with the World Bank for the National Nutrition Mission (POSHAN Abhiyaan). The loan would help the Government of India in achieving its goal of reducing stunting in children 0-6 years of age from 38.4% to 25% by the year 2022.

• The POSHAN (PM’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) Abhiyaan was launched by the Prime Minister on 8th March 2018 at Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan.
• A large component of POSHAN Abhiyaan involves gradual scaling-up of the interventions supported by the ongoing World Bank assisted Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP) to all districts in the country over a 3-year period. The loan approved today will support the first phase scale up to 315 districts across all states and union territories (UTs).

4. NITI Aayog and Google sign SoI to help grow AI ecosystem in India

Aiming to foster growth for India’s nascent artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) ecosystem, NITI Aayog and Google have come together to work on a range of initiatives to help build the AI ecosystem across the country.

• A Statement of Intent (SoI) was signed to this effect by Ms. Anna Roy, Advisor, NITI Aayog and Shri Rajan Anandan, Vice President, India and South East Asia, Google in the presence of the Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog.
• The NITI Aayog has been entrusted to setup a national programme to conduct research and development in frontier technologies such as AI. In furtherance of this mandate, NITI Aayog has been developing India’s national strategy on AI along with the National Data and Analytics Portal to enable the wide deployment and use of AI.

5. Valedictory function of 30th NHCC held Panaji

Valedictory function of the 30th Naval Higher Command Course (NHCC) was held at the Naval War College, INS Mandovi, Verem.

• The Naval War College is a premier training institution of the Indian Navy and one of the three War College of the Indian Armed Forces.

6 China to organise film festival in Kolkata in July

China will organise a film festival at Kolkata's Nandan in July this year. "A week-long film festival will be organised at Nandan, the film and cultural centre in Kolkata, in which seven Chinese films will be screened".

7. Hyderabad Metro introduces exclusive coach for women

The Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) has introduced a special Coach exclusively for women in Metro train.

• The special coach was inaugurated by HMRL Managing Director N V S Reddy and L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited MD and CEO K V B Reddy.

8. SWIFT India Regional Conference 2018 –

The event currently underway in Mumbai.

• The SWIFT India and Subcontinents Regional Conference 2018 aims to explore key issues in the nation’s financial market development, with a specific focus on innovation, digitisation, and minimizing the digital gap

9. FIFA to hold eClub World Cup in Paris

 

This year’s FIFA eClub World Cup will be held at the AMP Studios in Paris, France from May 19 to 20. FIFA eWorld Cup, virtual football's equivalent of the FIFA World Cup.