Important Current Affairs of 15th May

NATIONAL:

India to co-chair 2020 CG of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery.

• India was unanimously chosen by member countries as next co-chair of Consultative Group (CG) of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) for the fiscal year 2020. This decision was taken during Consultative Group meeting of GFDRR 2019 held from 13 May- 17 May in Geneva, Switzerland. This is the first time that India has been given the opportunity of co-chairing CG meeting of GFDRR.

• The Consultative Group meeting held in Geneva was the 6th Session of GPDRR 2019. The CG Meeting 2019 was co-chaired by the European Union (EU), Africa Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, and World Bank.

GFDRR in cooperation with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and EU also organized the 4th edition of World Reconstruction Conference (WRC) on May 13-14, 2019 in Geneva.

• The participants included experts, policymakers, leaders, and practitioners from various government, international organizations, academia, private sector and NGOs from both developing and developed countries.

• India and GFDRR:

In 2015, India became a member of Consultative Group (CG) of GFDRR. At the 5th session of GFDRR held in October 2018, Indiaexpressed its interest to co-chair the meet.

• India's candidature was backed by member countries because of India's consistent progress in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and also various initiatives it has undertaken to form a coalition on disaster resilient infrastructure.

Paytm Partners With Citibank To Launch 1st Credit Card- Paytm First Card.

• Digital payments company Paytm, in association with Citibank, launched its first credit card called Paytm First Card.

Paytm First Card comes with unlimited cash back and will be accepted in India as well globally.

The card is issued by Citibank and doesn’t involve any hidden fees or charges.

India had world's highest child mortality rate in 2015: Lancet study

• India had more deaths among children under five than any other country in 2015, with large disparities in the child mortality rate between richer and poorer states, a Lancet study has found. The researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US analysed state-level Indian data on the causes of death among children under five for the years 2000-2015. They found that India made great progress during the period, reducing annual mortality among children under five from 2.5 million in 2000 to 1.2 million in 2015 - which was still the highest in the world.

BANKS AND APPOINTMENTS:

Yes Bank falls 9% after RBI appoints director in rare move.

• Shares of Yes Bank plunged up to 9% on Wednesday, falling to its lowest since November 2018. This came following the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) appointment of former Deputy Governor R Gandhi as an additional director on the private lender's board in a rare move. The appointment comes days after Yes Bank reported a fourth-quarter loss of ₹1,507 crore.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS:

RBI appointed R.Gandhi as Additional director of Yes Bank.

• The Reserve Bank of India has appointed its former Deputy Governor R. Gandhi as an additional director on the board of private sector lender Yes Bank with immediate effect. The appointment is for two years, that is till May 13, 2021.

R. Gandhi’s appointment comes against the backdrop of Yes Bank reported a loss of ₹1,507 cr for March quarter. This appointment will significantly strengthen Yes Bank's Board Composition and the Bank will immensely benefit from R. Gandhi's experience and wisdom at the Yes Bank.

• Mr.R.Gandhi:

Gandhi was RBI Deputy Governor during April 2014 and April 2017. Gandhi was the driving force for the design and implementation of  real-time gross settlement system or RTGS.

• About Yes Bank:

Founded on: 2004

Founder: Rana Kapoor, Ashok Kapur

Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra

Chairman: Brahm Dutt

MD & CEO: Rana Kapoor

Yes Bank is India's 4th largest private sector Bank.

AIFF Appoints Igor Stimac As Indian Football Team Coach.

• The Indian football team has been without a coach since the departure of Stephen Constantine in January.

• Croatia's Igor Stimac has been appointed the head coach of the Indian football team for a two-year term, the All India Football Federation announced on Wednesday.

• The official announcement was made on the Indian Football Team.

• Igor stimac:

• he was part the of the Croatia team that finished third in the 1998 World Cup, and a member of the national squad which qualified for the quarterfinals of the UEFA European Championship 1996 (Euro) in England.

• Besides, he was also a part of the Yugoslavia U-19 national team which won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 1987. 

• Stimac's major achievement was guiding Croatia to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. During his tenure as the national coach of Croatia, he handed debuts to the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Ante Rebic, Alen Halilovic, and Ivan Perisic, amongst others.

• His last assignment was with Al-Shahania Club in Qatar.

All India Football Federation:

• The All India Football Federation, also simply known as the AIFF

• is the governing body of association football in India.

• Formed in 1937, the federation was one of founding members of the Asian Football Confederation, the overseer of football in Asia.

Maj Gen Dhingra appointed 1st chief of Armed Forces Special Ops.

• Sri Lanka Civil War veteran Major General AK Dhingra has been appointed as the first Chief of the Armed Forces Special Operations Division. The formation will have Special Forces commandos from the Army's Parachute Regiment, Navy's MARCOS and Air Force's Garud Commando Force. The forces will be trained together and will be tasked in dealing with specific operations.

ARMED FORCES SPECIAL OPS DIVISION:

•  The Armed Forces Special Operations Division has been set up by the government to undertake joint operations by three services and will have elements from the Army's Parachute Regiments SF, Marine Commandos (MARCOS) of the Navy and the Garud Commandos of the Indian Air Force

Myntra-Jabong hires former YouTube exec as marketing head.

• E-commerce major Flipkart-owned fashion e-tailer Myntra-Jabong has appointed former YouTube executive Harish Narayanan as head of marketing. Narayanan will be taking over from Mithun Sundar, who currently heads revenue and marketing, and will report directly to Myntra-Jabong head Amar Nagaram. The IIM Lucknow alumnus headed B2B marketing for YouTube Asia-Pacific for over 2.5 years

DAYS:

International Day of Families is observed on 15 May.

• The International Day of Families (IDF) is observed on the 15th of May every year. The Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993. The day reflects the importance the international community attaches to families. It was first observed in 1996.

The International Day provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families. On this day, people across the world celebrate spending time with their families and reuniting with family members.

The theme for IDF 2019 is Families and Climate Action: Focus on SDG 13.

The SDG 13 targets include:

• Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning

• Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.