Daily Current Affairs: 17 May 2015

1) PM Narendra Modi inaugurated ICICI Bank's first Chinese branch in Shanghai:

--> Private sector lender ICICI Bank on 16 May 2015 opened its first branch in China, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

--> Based in Shanghai, China's biggest city and a major global financial hub, the new branch would begin with 17 banking professionals handling different functions including corporate banking, operations, finance and treasury.

--> On the last day of his three-day visit to China, the Prime Minister inaugurated the branch in the presence of ICICI Bank's MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar.

--> ICICI Bank with presence in 17 countries, earlier had a representative office in China, which it had opened over 10 years ago in 2003.

2) Mohamed Morsi sentenced to death by Egyptian court:

--> An Egyptian court has sentenced the ousted president Mohamed Morsi to death for his part in a mass jailbreak in 2011.

--> Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, was ousted by the military in July 2013 after days of mass street protests by Egyptians demanding that he be removed because of his divisive policies.

--> In May 2014, Morsi’s successor, the former military chief Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, secured a landslide victory in Egypt’s presidential elections.

3) Government allocated Rs 5000 crore for development of AYUSH:

--> Government has allocated Rs 5,000 crore for the growth of Department of AYUSH and launched an independent National AYUSH Mission aimed at capacity building for the sector.

--> The government has not only created the new portfolio AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) but has also allocated Rs 5,000 crore for the same, Union Minister of State for AYUSH Sripad Naik said.

4) Vikas Gowda won bronze in Shanghai IAAF Diamond League:

--> Indian discus thrower Vikas Gowda won a bronze medal in the second leg of the prestigious IAAF Diamond League series on 17 May 2015.

--> National record holder Gowda, the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Asian Games silver medal winner, will pocket $4000 for the third-place finish, besides earning one Diamond League point.

5) Infosys to open first overseas campus in China:

--> Indian technology major Infosys on 17 May 2015 announced establishing its first overseas centre outside India in China with an investment of about $120 million to tap in the burgeoning Chinese market.

--> An MOU in this regard was signed between Infosys and the local Chinese provincial government at the India-China Business Forum, which was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

--> The centre, first to be established by Infosys outside India will be ready by next year.

6) Fiscal deficit was 4% of GDP in FY15, says FinMin:

--> The central government's fiscal deficit for 2014-15 was four per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), according to provisional figures released by the finance ministry on 17 May 2015.

--> The revised estimate presented in late February had put it at 4.1 per cent.

7) China won the 2015 Sudirman Cup (for Badminton):

--> China won their sixth consecutive Sudirman Cup on 17 May 2015, defeating Japan, which had reached the badminton tournament's finals for the first time.

--> China swept Japan 3-0 in a series of tightly contested matches during the final day of the event.

8) Novak Djokovic won Rome Masters Tennis title:

--> World no 1 Novak Djokovic from Serbia has won his fourth Rome Masters Tennis Men’s single title.

--> In the final match, he defeated world no 2 Roger Federer from Switzerland with score of 6-4, 6-3.

--> With this win, Djokovic earned 1000 Emirates ATP ranking points.

--> Maria Sharapova wom women's singles event.

9) Narendra Modi becomes first Indian PM to visit Mongolia:

--> Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16 May 2015 landed in Ulan Bator in the Mongolian capital in the first-ever visit by an Indian prime minister.

--> Modi arrived in Ulan Bator from Shanghai in the second leg of his three-nation visit.