SUPER 6 CURRENT AFFAIRS- 12TH MAY 2017

1) PM Modi to visit Sri Lanka today

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on the two-day visit to Sri Lanka which is a sign of “strong relationship” between the two countries and brings to the fore the shared heritage of Buddhism.

•During his two-day visit, he will participate in the International Vesak Day celebrations, the biggest festival of Buddhists, inaugurate a hospital built with Indian assistance and address the Indian-origin Tamil community, besides attending some other programs.

2) Bengaluru ranked 20th in world's most affordable tech city Index

•Bengaluru has been named the world’s most affordable tech city in the new Savills Tech Cities Index 2017. The Indian technology hub is the most affordable out of 22 cities that were graded on different parameters.

•Overall, Bengaluru ranks 20th among tech cities in the world while Austin topped the list, followed by San Francisco and New York. But when it comes to the cost of living index, Bengaluru tops the charts with a weekly residential rent for tech employees and household.

•The average house rent in Bengaluru, the only Indian city to make it to the list, is Rs 15,250, while in San Francisco, it is Rs 50,000. Bengaluru is cheaper than Cape Town, Santiago, Buenos Aires and Berlin, according to the Savills Tech Cities Index. 

3) Nitin Gadkari launches NHAI's Masala Bond in UK

•Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari launched the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Masala Bond at the London Stock Exchange, UK. The NHAI witnessed an overwhelming response from a wide range of investors, some of them were first-timers to participate in a Masala Bond market.

•The initially benchmarked issue of Rs. 1,500 crore was upsized to Rs. 3,000 crore at a price yielding 7.30 percent annually in view of the highly positive response from the investor market. The transaction marks the largest ever in the five-year issuance and the largest inaugural transaction in Masala Bond market. 

4) Sanjay Mitra appointed as Defence Secretary

•The government has named Road Transport and Highways Secretary Sanjay Mitra as its new defence secretary in a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle.

•Mitra will take over as the secretary after the present incumbent, G Mohan Kumar, completes his tenure on May 24,2017 an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) decided Mitra would till then function as an Officer on Special Duty in the defence ministry.

5) Justice Mukul Mudgal elected head of FIFA Governance Committee

•Justice (Retd.) Mukul Mudgal was elected as head of International Federation of Association Football (FIFA’s) governance committee at the world football governing body’s 67th Congress in Bahrain’s capital city of Manama.

•Justice Mudgal’s name was proposed by the FIFA Council for the vacant position of the governance chief after Miguel Maduro was reportedly ‘fired’ for his role in blocking Russian World Cup official Vitaly Mutko from retaining his seat on ruling council.

6) Chanda Kochhar receives Woodrow Wilson Award

•ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar has become the first Indian woman to be conferred with the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Award for Global Corporate Citizenship.

•She received the annual award which was instituted in 1998 by the prestigious Wilson Center to felicitate individuals whose actions and accomplishments either in their careers or through service.