IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MAY 27th, 2018

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MAY 27th, 2018

1.   India will be the host country for this year's celebrations of World Environment Day.

a.    Important Points to Note :

b.    The World Environment Day will be celebrated on 5th June. 

c.    Theme of World Environment Day 2018 : Beat Plastic Pollution.

2.   Ireland has voted in a historic referendum to repeal the ban on abortions in the country. 

a.    Ireland, a majority Catholic country has the strictest abortion laws in Europe and the Eighth Amendment of the Irish constitution, introduced in 1983, gives equal right to life to the mother and the unborn child.

b.    Note : The pro-abortion campaign titled "Yes campaign" had gathered momentum after an Indian-origin woman, Savita Halappanavar died in 2012 after her requests to terminate a 17-week pregnancy were denied.

3.   The ASEAN India Film Festival is being held in New Delhi.

a.    This festival is being organised by Ministry of External Affairs (ASEAN Multilateral Division) as part of the series of events to commemorate 25 years of ASEAN and India relations.

b.    Around 32 films from 11 countries are being screened during the six days festival. 

c.    Tagline of ASEAN India Film Festival 2018 : ‘Friendship through Films’.

4.   India and Netherlands launched an initiative titled Clean Air India in New Delhi. 

a.    Aim of Clean Air India initiative : To curb air pollution in Indian cities by promoting partnerships between Indian start-ups and companies from Netherlands.

5.   Prime Minister Narendra Modi today inaugurated the first phase of Delhi-Meerut Expressway, India's first 14-lane highway. 

a.    After completion, the expressway will reduce travel time from Delhi to Meerut from 4-5 hours to 45 minutes.

6.   Modi also dedicated the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, India's first green and smart highway, to the nation.

a.    Built at a cost of ₹11,000 crore, the 135-km expressway is powered by solar energy and has provisions for rainwater harvesting every 500 metres. 

7.   To address issues related to security of women comprehensively amid rising concerns over women safety, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has created Women Safety Division. 

a.    The division will deal with all aspects of women safety in coordination with relevant ministries, departments and state governments.

8.   The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has set up cloud-enabled National Data Centre at Bhubaneswar, Odisha. 

a.    This Data Center will offer round-the-clock operations with secure hosting for e-governance applications of ministries and departments. 

b.    Important Note : This is 4th cloud-enabled National Data Centre of NIC after Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune,

9.   Indigenously developed Rustom-II Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will be delivered to armed forces by 2020 as per the contract. 

a.    At present, its basic system is being perfected and attempts are being made to increase its flight altitude.

b.    Its manufacturing will be done by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd.

10.               Eminent Gujarati writer and humourist Vinod Bhatt (80) passed away.

a.    The veteran writer was best known for his humour columns in Gujarati newspapers, which were popular among the masses for years.

b.    Apart from being a columnist, Bhatt had authored more than 45 books in different genres, including satire, comedy and biography.

11.    NASA astronaut Alan Bean (86), who became the 4th person to walk on the Moonin 1969, passed away.

a.    Bean was a lunar module pilot of Apollo 12, which made the second Moon landing, after Apollo 11's Buzz Aldrin and late Neil Armstrong. 

12.               Airtel Payments Bank has appointed Anubrata Biswas as its MD & CEO. 

a.    Prior to joining Airtel Payments Bank, he was the joint general manager and retail business head — South India for ICICI Bank and was responsible for managing the retail banking business across over 550 branches of the bank, the company said in a statement.

13.    Lt. Gen. Devraj Anbu has been appointed as the new Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS). 

a.    He is presently GOC-in-C (General Officer Commanding-in-Chief) Northern Command.

14.               Real Madrid defeated Liverpool 3-1 in Kiev, Ukraine to win the UEFA Champions League for the third straight year. 

15.    India opened its account with a silver and a bronze medals in the compound section of the ongoing second stage of the Archery World Cup Stage II in Antalya, Turkey.

16.    A new video campaign has been launched targeting football fans on the occasion of the World Cup 2018 next month to promote healthier and more active lives.

a.    The campaign consists of 3 videos, each tackling key health risk issues of Tobacco use, excessive salt consumption and physical inactivity.

b.    The series of videos have been produced jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO), Russia's Ministry of Health and the 2018 World Cup Russia Local Organising Committee.

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MAY 25th, 2018

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MAY 25th, 2018

1)   (25th May) is International Missing Children's Day.

a)   Emblem of International Missing Children's Day : forget-me-not flower

2)  Towel Day.

a)   This day is celebrated every year on 25 May as a tribute to the author Douglas Adams by his fans.

b)   On this day, fans openly carry a towel with them, as described in Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or share their folded animal towels to demonstrate their appreciation for the books and the author.

3)  Surya Kiran-XIII, the 13th edition of India-Nepal joint military exercise will be held at Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand during 30th May to 12th June 2018. 

a)   This exercise will see participation of nearly 300 soldiers from both Indian and Nepal Army.

b)   Aim of Surya Kiran XIII : To further enhance and strengthen level of defence cooperation between the two neighbouring nations.

4)  UK's Prince William, who is second-in-line to the British throne, will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories in June.

a)   With this he will become the 1st British royal to make an official visit to Israel.

5)  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasinatoday inaugurated the Bangladesh Bhavan in West Bengal's Santiniketan in the presence of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.

a)   The bhavan, which is built at a cost of ₹25 crore, also has a museum that showcases Rabindranath Tagore's association with Bangladesh, the Liberation War of Bangladesh and Indo-Bangla relations.

6)  The Congress-JD(S) alliance today proved its majority with the support of 117 MLAs during the floor test in Karnataka Assembly, making . 

a)   This will be JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy's second term as Karnataka Chief Minister.

7)  A 2-day offshore security exercise, code named 'Exercise Prasthan', conducted by the Eastern Naval Command in the Offshore Development Area (ODA) off the coast of Mumbai.

a)   Mock drills to exercise various contingencies such as asymmetric threat (terrorist action), oil spill, casualty evacuation and fire were conducted.

b)   The exercise was aimed to evaluate surveillance capabilities of offshore rigs against unaltered intruders approaching by boat/ swimming and to evaluate capabilities of security agencies in patrolling to prevent intruders from accessing offshore rigs. 

8)  The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) launched Samagra Shiksha scheme to improve quality of school education. 

a)   Aim of Samagra Shiksha Scheme : To improve the quality of education, enhancing learning outcomes and using technology to empower children and teachers. 

b)   The scheme subsumes three existing schemes : Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shikskha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE) to treat school education holistically, from pre-school to Class XII.

9)  India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has reported a loss of Rs. 7,718 crore in the January-March quarter, hurt by higher provisions for bad loans. 

a)   The loss for the three months to March 31 was deeper than the expected Rs. 1,285 crore on average by 16 analysts, according to Thomson Reuters data.

10)   The 5th India-CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam) Business Conclave was held at Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 

a)   This conclave was jointly organised by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry along with Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia. 

b)   The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is institutional partner of the event.

11)      The 15th Finance Commission has constituted High Level Group to explore and give recommendations for a balanced expansion of the health sector.

a)   This group will evaluate existing regulatory framework in health sector and examine its strength and weaknesses for enabling balanced and faster expansion keeping in view India’s demographic profile. 

b)   It will suggest ways and means to optimize use of existing financial resources and to incentivize state governments’ effort on fulfilment of well-defined health parameters in India. 

c)   Head of this high level group : Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS, New Delhi  

12)      One of India's most decorated Generals, Lieutenant General Zorawar Chand Bakshi (97), passed away.

a)   He was awarded the second-highest military decoration, Maha Vir Chakra, for his role in capturing the strategically important Haji Pir Pass during the 1965 war with Pakistan. 

b)   Bakshi was also instrumental in capturing Akhnoor Dagger from Pakistan during 1971 war.

13)      The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Common Service Centres (CSC) Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) signed MoU for providing financial support village level entrepreneurs in CSCs. 

a)   Through the MoU, SIDBI will extend financial support to VLEs of CSCs, with minimum one year of operation, under its Direct Financing Window.

14)      Six-time Congress MLA Ramesh Kumar has been unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly after the BJP withdrew nomination for its candidate Suresh Kumar. 

15)   Power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has appointed Pravin L Agrawal as the part-time official director on its board.

16)      Arunachal Pradesh-based NGO Singchung Bugun Community Reserve (SBVCR) won the India Biodiversity Award 2018 in the “Conservation of wildlife species” category.

17)      Batsman Ed Joyce, the first-ever cricketer to play T20I cricket for two countries (Ireland and England), has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. 

18)   Chennai based Indian grandmaster of chess, Srinath Narayanan has won the Kolkata Open International Grandmasters Chess Tournament.

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MAY 24th, 2018

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MAY 24th, 2018

1.   India has jumped one spot to 44th this year in Global competitive rankings released by Switzerland-based IMD World Competitiveness Center. 

a.    Top 5 in the list :

o    United States

o    Hong Kong 

o    Singapore

o    Netherlands 

o    Switzerland 

2. The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Nepal for having eliminated trachoma, a contagious bacterial infection of the eye. 

a. It makes Nepal first country in WHO’s South-East Asia Region to defeat trachoma, world’s leading infectious cause of blindness. 

3.   The United States has "disinvited" China from the 'world's largest international maritime exercise' Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) over China's continued militarisation of the disputed South China Sea, according to the Pentagon. 

a.    Note : The RIMPAC Exercise is held every two years in Hawaii and involves more than 20 countries from across the world, including India.

4.   Palestine has become the 193rd nation to join the Chemical Weapons Convention.

a.    The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is an arms control treaty that outlaws the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and their precursors.

b.    It is administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), an intergovernmental organization based in The Hague, The Netherlands.

c.    Note : India joined this convention on 29th April 1997.

5.   Pakistan hosted its 1st ever Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) legal experts meeting in Islamabad. 

a.    The three day meeting saw participation of legal advisors from eight SCO member states including China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan as well as representatives of the SCO-RATS executive committee.

6.   Uttar Pradesh government is planning to change the name of Allahabad to 'Prayagraj' before Kumbh Mela in the city next year. 

a.    The new name derives from a place in the city called Prayag, where three rivers flowing across the state meet.

7.   The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has ordered the closure of the Sterlite Copper plant in Tuticorin amid ongoing protests by locals.

8.   The union Cabinet has approved implementation of Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) Project for North Eastern Region (NER) in Meghalaya to improve mobile services.

a.    The project has provision of 2G and 4G mobile coverage in identified uncovered areas of Meghalaya and seamless mobile coverage along National Highways in state. 

b.    It will be funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).  

9.   Late actress Sridevi was posthumously conferred with the BRICS Business Forum Leadership Award for Lifetime Achievement in Indian Cinema. 

10.               The Cabinet has approved promulgation of an ordinance to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

a.    The code proposes to classify home buyers as financial creditors at par with lenders to help them quickly get refunds from defaulting companies.

11.    Venezuela's envoy to India Augusto Montiel has announced that the South American country is willing to accept oil payments from India in rupees.

a.    Venezuela will use that money to buy medicines and food from India.

12.               Governments of India, Netherlands and Sweden launched first-of-its-kind collaborative research programme on HIV/AIDS. 

a.    It is aimed at harnessing complementary research strengths and diverse expertise across three nations to catalyze development of better tools to understand and address burgeoning global epidemic of HIV.

13.    North Korea today completed dismantling its Punggye-ri nuclear test site in a ceremony attended by journalists. 

a.    North Korea had conducted all of its six nuclear tests at the site, as a result of which it had partially collapsed and was reportedly rendered unusable. 

b.    The move comes in line with North Korea's pledge to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula.

14.               The researchers of IIT-Kanpur have signed a ₹15-crore MoU with VTOL Aviation India to develop Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) craft prototypes, potentially to be used as flying taxis.  

15.    NITI Aayog and ABB India have signed a Statement of Intent to support the Indian government realize its ambitious vision of ‘Make in India’ through advanced manufacturing technologies that incorporate the latest developments in robotics and artificial intelligence.

16.               The government has appointed non-executive chairpersons for three state-run banks based on the suggestions of Banks Board Bureau. They are :

a.    Charan Singh - Punjab & Sind Bank

b.    Anjali Bansal - Dena Bank

c.    Tapan Ray - Central Bank of India

17.    Arsenal Football Club has appointed former Spanish football player Unai Emery as its new manager.

a.    He has replaced Arsène Wenger who recently stepped down after 22 years with the club. 

18.    Former Supreme Court judge CK Prasad has been appointed the Chairperson of the Press Council of India (PCI) for a second term.

a.    He was appointed to the post in November 2014 after Justice Markanday Katju stepped down.

19.               South African cricketer AB de Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket with immediate effect. 

a.    He is currently holding the number two spot in the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen. 

b.    He won the ICC ODI Player of the Year for a record three times.

c.    He holds the records for scoring the fastest fifty, hundred and 150 in ODIs.

20.    Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been named as the World's Most Famous Athlete for the third straight year in ESPN's annual rankings. 

a.    NBA star LeBron James stood at 2nd spot followed by Lionel Messi.

b.    Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli rose to 11th spot from 13th last year.

21.    The Union Cabinet has approved an ordinance to set up India’s first national sports university in in Imphal (west), Manipur.