9th May CURRENT AFFAIRS IN ENGLISH

1. Beijing to hold World Robot Conference

The 2018 World Robot Conference will be held in Beijing from August 15 to 19.

• The event will see over 12,000 competing teams and 50,000 participants from more than 10 countries and regions.
• A robot competition will be held during the conference where participants will compete in five categories.

2. World Red Cross Day: 8 May

World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is an annual celebration of the principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

• World Red Cross Red Crescent Day is celebrated on 8 May each year. 
• This date is the anniversary of the birth of Henry Dunant, who was born 8 May 1828.
• He is the founder of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize.

3. India slips to 6th spot in biz optimism index

With business sentiment at the "weakest" in four years, India slipped to the 6th position globally in the business optimism index for the first quarter of this year.

• Business optimism is however at an "all-time high" globally with the index at net 61 per cent, as per Grant Thornton's quarterly global business survey.
• With a score of 89, India is at the sixth place in the index.
• The top five nations are Austria, Finland, Indonesia, the Netherlands and the US.

4. 3rd Edition of UNPCAP Inaugurated in New Delhi

The third edition of the United Nations Peacekeeping Course for African Partners (UNPCAP) was inaugurated in New Delhi to build and enhance the capacity of the African Troop Contributing Countries to the UN.

• The UNPCAP sessions will be held from May 7-25.
• The course is conducted by the Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping in India (CUNPK) in partnership with the US.
• The first and second editions of the course were held in New Delhi in 2016 and 2017, respectively.

5. CEOs of Smart Cities conference inaugurated in Bhopal

Shri Hardeep Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing & Urban Affairs has inaugurated the ‘First Apex Conference for the CEOs of Smart Cities ‘in Bhopal.

• Since its launch on 25 June 2015, the Smart Cities Mission (SCM), has been one of the most transformational urban missions.
• The two-day conference is being organised for providing a platform for cross learning and knowledge sharing among the Smart City CEOs on 8-9 May 2018.
• The conference will enable the CEOs to learn from the experiences of all city leaders to understand in greater details both successes and failures.

6. 15th Asia Media Summit to be hosted by India

The 15th Asia Media Summit (AMS) 2018 is being hosted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, jointly with the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi and Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), from 10th -12th May, 2018 in New Delhi. 

• Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Textiles, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani would be presiding as the Chief Guest over the Inaugural ceremony of the Summit on 10th May.
• The AMS 2018, an annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) Kuala Lumpur, is a prestigious summit in the Asia Pacific Region and India is hosting the event for the first time.
• The Summit, with the theme `Telling Our Stories – Asia and More’, would be organized in two parts Pre-summit workshop (8th-9th) and Summit (10th-12th).

7. NSIC Inks MoU with MSME Ministry for FY 2018-19

 

The National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) for the year 2018-19.

• The said MoU envisages provision of enhanced services by NSIC under its marketing, financial, technology and other support services schemes, for MSMEs in the country.
• The corporation projects to increase its total business by 21.30 percent from Rs. 22,258 crore in the year 2017-18 to Rs. 27,000 crore in the year 2018-19.

8. Putin appoints Medvedev as Russian prime minister

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to appoint Dmitry Medvedev as head of the government following a parliamentary approval.

• Earlier in the day, out of 430 deputies present at the State Duma, Russia's lower house of the parliament, 374 voted for Medvedev's post as prime minister and 56 voted against it.
• Medvedev, 52, who is also the chairman of the United Russia party, took office in 2012.

9. Nikol Pashinyan elected as new prime minister of Armenia

Armenia's parliament has elected opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan as the new prime minister.

• The move comes two weeks after Serzh Sargsyan resigned following widespread anti-government demonstrations.
• His protest movement began with a non-violent march on March 31, demanding that Sargsyan step down.

10. Nisha Bhalla conferred with 'WEF 2018' award

Nisha Bhalla, a 46-year-old holistic coach and consultant from Mumbai was felicitated at the recently concluded Annual Women Economic Forum 2018 Awards,

• The event was held at Vivanta by Taj, Dwarka in Delhi from April 26 to May 1.
• Nisha was presented the 'Excellent Woman of Excellence' award for her spiritual service at the event.
• Women Economic Forum is the largest global gathering of women entrepreneurs and leaders worldwide.