12 May : Current Affairs for SSC CGL-2018 Tier-1

Pawan Kalyan unfurls world’s largest Indian flag in Telangana

• Pawan Kalyan unfurled the flag to commemorate the first war of the India’s independence that took place in 1857.
• The flag was 122 feet in length and 183 feet in width.
• The flag was prepared by an organisation called ‘Vibrants of Kalam’.
• This flag is claimed to be world’s largest Indian National Flag.

2018 SCO Tourism Ministers’ conference held in China

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Tourism Ministers’ conference was held in Wuhan, China on 9th May 2018.
• The meeting approved an action plan that will serve as a guideline for tourism cooperation between SCO member states from the year 2019 to 2020.
• It was the first meeting of SCO tourism ministers since the organization was established in 2001 in Shanghai.

May 11 : 2018 National Technology Day (NTD)

• On this day in 1998, India successfully tested its nuclear bombs in Pokhran, Rajasthan.
• The tests were conducted under the leadership of Former President Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, who was then DRDO Chief, and Dr R Chidambaran, then Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission.
• A team of more than 100 scientists, technicians and soldiers were involved in the successfully conducted tests.

China launched a ‘Gaofen-5’ to monitor Air Pollution

• China successfully launched a hyperspectral imaging satellite ‘Gaofen-5’ for comprehensive observation of the atmosphere, including air pollution which is one of the country’s major problems.
• Gaofen-5 is the first China-developed satellite that can monitor air pollution.
• It can dynamically reflect the state of air pollution in China through the monitoring of air pollutants, greenhouse gases, and aerosols. The Gaofen project began in 2010.

NSE introduces ‘managed co-location services’

• In order to facilitate small and medium-sized trading members, NSE introduced a facility of ‘managed co-location service’.
• In this facility, space will be provided to vendors along with provision for receiving market data.
• This facility enables the co-located entities to access the trade/order related data before other non-co-located entities.

Indian tea industry records highest ever production, export in FY-18

• The Indian tea industry reached the highest ever production of 1,325.05 million kg and export of 256.57 million kg during the financial year 2017-18.
• The total tea production in 2017-18 increased by 74.56 million kg or 5.96 % compared to 2016-17.
• The total quantity of tea exports during 2017-18 fiscal increased by 28.94 million kg or 12.71 % compared to 2016-17.
• The foreign exchange obtained from tea exports was $785.92 million in 2017-18. It is an increase of $95.19 million or 13.78 % over 2016-17.

Government Approves Green License Plates for E-Vehicles

• To promote electric vehicles in India, the government has approved green license plates bearing numbers in white fonts for private e-vehicles and yellow for taxis, said by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.
• The measure is aimed at promoting vehicle’s use and the government is considering an exemption from permits for such vehicles.

India’s clean energy capacity reached 70 GW: MNRE

• Ministry of New and Renewable Energy R K Singh said India’s installed clean energy capacity has already touched 70 GW and 38 GW is under implementation as per the data compiled till March 31, 2018.
• India is progressing fast in the areas of renewable energy and government is committed to meeting target of having 175 GW by 2022.

China’s Alibaba buys Pakistan e-commerce firm Daraz

• Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said it had purchased leading Pakistani online retailer Daraz, continuing its overseas expansion by gaining a foothold in the growing South Asian consumer market.
• Daraz, founded in 2012, was purchased from Rocket Internet, a Berlin-based incubator of online startups.