27th May CURRENT AFFAIRS IN ENGLISH

1. Columbia formally joins NATO

One year after reaching partnership deal through a peace agreement with South America, Columbia has has formally joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 North American and European countries based on the North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949.

2. Prime Minister lays foundation stone for Patratu Super Thermal Power Project

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the 2400MW first phase of NTPC's Patratu Super Thermal Power Project in Jharkhand.

• The project is a 74: 26 Joint Venture between Government of Jharkhand (GoJ) and Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd. (PVUN), a subsidiary company of NTPC establishing a total capacity expansion of 4,000MW.
• Envisioning the brighter future for India's 19th State, NTPC’s PVUNL is set to develop the project in two phases: 2,400 MW (3x800MW) in Phase-I and 1,600 MW (2x800 MW) in Phase-II.

3. Ravi Shankar Prasad to inaugurates cloud enabled Data Centre at Bhubaneswar

National Informatics Centre has set up a new state-of-the-art cloud enabled National Data Centre at Bhubaneswar.

• The data center was inaugurated by Union Minister of Electronics & IT and Law & Justice, Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad in Bhubaneswar.
• It will offer 24*7 operations with secure hosting for e-Governance applications of the Government and its departments.

4. Manipur Becomes First State in Northeast to Have Solar Toilet

Manipur has become the first state in the Northeast and the third state in India to have solar toilets.

• The solar panel, connected to the toilets, absorb the heat to generate power and are also efficient to transform waste material.

5. HDFC Bank launches digital loans against mutual funds

In a first in India, HDFC Bank has launched its Digital Loan against Mutual Funds (LAMF).

• Customers can now pledge mutual fund assets online and get overdraft limit set in their account in under 3 minutes.
• Customers can now avail of this product through the HDFC Bank website in 3 easy steps.
• The bank has collaborated with CAMS, a transfer agent for mutual funds to create a seamless customer experience.

6. Yes Bank empaneled as ‘Settlement Bank’ by National Stock Exchange

Yes Bank, India’s fourth largest private sector bank, has received approval from National Stock Exchange (NSE), India’s largest stock exchange to be empaneled as ‘Settlement Bank’ for National Securities Clearing Corporation Limited (NSCCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of NSE.

• Yes Bank will provide comprehensive settlement and clearing services suitable to the members by leveraging its technology platform.
• The services will include electronic funds transfer facilities and 'anywhere' banking.
• Yes Bank is already an empaneled ‘Clearing Bank’ for the BSE, NCDEX and MCX.

7. NITI Aayog signs on Sushant Singh Rajput to promote the WEP

NITI Aayog announced the signing of a Statement of Intent (SoI) with noted media personality and entrepreneur Shri Sushant Singh Rajput, to collaborate and support  NITI’s flagship initiative, the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP).

• The agreement was signed in the presence of Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog by Ms Anna Roy, Adviser (Industry), NITI Aayog and Shri Sushant Singh Rajput.
• He would also be supporting NITI Aayog in promoting the Women Transforming India Awards 2018, the theme for which is ‘Women and Entrepreneurship’ and whose nominations are currently ongoing. 

8. TRIFED elects new Board of Directors

The General Body meeting of Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED) was held on 25th May 2018 in which the 11th Board of Directors was reconstituted and the Office Bearers were elected unanimously.

• Shri Ramesh Chand Meena was elected as the Chairperson and Smt. Pratibha Brahma was elected as the Vice Chairperson of TRIFED.