Current Affairs Today May 8 2015

[dropcap]D[/dropcap]ear Readers, We cover some important news in Bulletin Today Section, which are not covered in Daily Brief News, More Current Affairs coverage will helpful for upcoming exam.

• Read Our Current Affairs Today 
• Try Our Daily Current Affairs Quiz 

Try Our Current Affairs Quiz – May 8 2015

Brief News

• SBI Launches RuPay Platinum Debit Card
• Arvind Saxena,first RAW officer in UPSC
• Cash prize for Saina Nehwal from the ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs
• Jitu Rai crowned TOISA sportsperson of the year
• Nirmal Ganga Sahbhagita Programme
• Govt approves National Smart Grid Mission
• Indian Army and Bank of India Inked an MoU
• Indian Army team athletes emerge champions in Federation Cup

Bulletin News

Indain Affairs

Union Government, ADB signed loan agreement worth 31 Million US dollars

• The Union Government and Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 7 May 2015 signed a 31 million US dollars loan agreement to boost water availability in selected river basins in Karnataka and ensure improved water efficiency in irrigation.
• The agreement was signed by Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions), Department of Economic Affairs on behalf of the Union Government and M Teresa Kho, Country Director of ADB in India.

Prime Minister releases commemorative coin on Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday released a commemorative coin to mark the birth centenary of Swami Chinmayananda.
• Swami Chinmayananda was a renowned Hindu spiritual leader and teacher who had inspired the formation of a global nonprofit organisation called Chinmaya Mission to spread the knowledge of Advaita Vedanta.
• Swami Chinmayananda born as Balakrishna Menon on 8 May 1916 pioneered works in the field of education and social reform. He died on 3 August 1993.
• He saw the need to inculcate India’s great culture and spiritual traditions, through the English medium, among an elite class of people, who had moved away from this heritage.

International Affairs 

President Mukherjee conferred with Honorary Doctorate in Moscow

• President Pranab Mukherjee was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate in Moscow on Friday by the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Singapore PM Lee opened first museum Indian Heritage Centre in Little India

• Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong on 7 May 2015 opened first museum Indian Heritage Centre in Little India.
• The museum was dedicated to Indian history. Singapore is celebrating 50 years of its independence in 2015 as well as 50 years of diplomatic relations with India.

Pakistan helicopter crash kills foreign envoys

• An army helicopter has crashed in a mountainous part of northern Pakistan killing seven people, including the Philippine and Norwegian ambassadors.
• The diplomats flying in the ill-fated MI-17 were headed for a little advertised but extremely exciting inauguration ceremony of a ski chairlift, built in the breathtaking resort of Naltar, in northern Pakistan.
• Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was scheduled to attend the inauguration, but his aircraft turned back from Gilgit after reports of the crash.

Science & Technology 

BrahMos land-attack cruise missile successfully test-fired from Car Nicobar Islands

• India today successfully test-fired an advanced version of the BrahMos land-attack cruise missile from the Car Nicobar Islands as it revalidated the weapon’s precision strike capability.
• This launch was the 47th test-firing of the missile and follows an unsuccessful test which was conducted on April 9, 2015 when the missile had failed to hit the target.
• Features- It is capable of carrying a warhead of 300 kilogram and has top supersonic speed of Mach 2.8. It can strike a target at maximum range of 290-km.