IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MAY 28^th, 2019

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MAY 28^th, 2019

1.       (28th May) is Menstrual hygiene day.

a.       This is an annual awareness day which aims to break taboos and raise awareness about the importance of good menstrual hygiene management (MHM) for women and adolescent girls worldwide.

b.       Theme of Menstrual hygiene day 2018 :  “It's Time for Action”

2.      India has been elected to the Executive Board of the 1st UN-Habitat Assembly at the Plenary Session of the Assembly started yesterday in Nairobi, Kenya.

a.       The special theme for the UN-Habitat Assembly is "Innovation for Better Quality of Life in Cities and Communities".

3.      Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's birth anniversary is being celebrated today.

a.       Born on this day (28th May) in the year 1883 near Nasik in Maharashtra, Savarkar was popularly called Veer Savarkar. 

b.       He was a revolutionary who fought against the British Government.

4.      Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony will be attended by leaders from the BIMSTEC member states. 

a.       The BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) member states include Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan and India. 

b.       The invitations have also been sent to the President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov who is the current Chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, the Chief Guest at this year's Pravasi Bhartiya Divas.

c.       Note : President Ram Nath Kovind will administer the oath to PM Modi at 7 pm on May 30 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

5.      Hours after taking oath, Sikkim Chief Minister P S Tamang announced a 5-day working week for the state government employees. 

6.      Flight Lieutenant Parul Bhardwaj (Captain), Flying Officer Aman Nidhi (Co-pilot) and Flight Lieutenant Hina Jaiswal (Flight Engineer) have become India's first all women crew to fly a medium lift helicopter. 

a.       They flew a Mi-17 V5 helicopter for a Battle Inoculation Training mission.

7.      Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa today flew the 'missing man' formation in a MiG-21 aircraft to pay tributes to Squadran Leader Ajay Ahuja and other fallen heroes of the Kargil war.

a.       About Missing Man Formation : 

i)       The 'missing man' formation is an aerial salute accorded to honour the fallen comrades-in-arms. 

ii)     It is an arrow formation, with a gap between two aircraft in the formation depicting the missing man, the IAF said in a statement.

8.      The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the government to ban water purifiers where Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in water are below 500 mg per litre.

a.       The tribunal also directed to sensitise public about the ill effects of demineralised water and asked the government to make it mandatory to recover more than 60 per cent water wherever RO is permitted across the country.

b.       Note : Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a water treatment process that removes contaminants from water by using pressure to force molecules through a semipermeable membrane.

9.      Industrial body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) today announced that India's slowing growth is of serious concern, and tax and interest rates need to be cut urgently to revive the economy. 

a.       The recent signs of economic slowdown arise from slow growth in investments, subdued exports and weakening growth in consumption demand, it said. 

b.       If not addressed urgently, the repercussions would be long term, FICCI added.

10. Russia launched a nuclear-powered icebreaker today, part of an ambitious programme to renew and expand its fleet of the vessels in order to improve its ability to tap the Arctic's commercial potential.

a.       The ship, dubbed the Ural and which was floated out from a dockyard in St Petersburg, is one of a trio that when completed will be the largest and most powerful icebreakers in the world.

11. President of Oscar Academy, John Bailey today e-launched the Hindi translation of an Academy Publication, "Digital Dilemma", at a function in Delhi. 

a.       During his speech, Mr Bailey said that the translation of the Academy publication into Hindi is important in order to reach out to film fraternity in India. 

b.       He said there are many challenges thrown by the technological changes in the film storage medium and this book will help film makers in understanding and planning the storage of born-digital material.

c.       Note : The National Film Archive of India had signed an MoU with the Academy to translate the publication into Hindi so that it can benefit various stakeholders in the country. 

12. The government has constituted the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal to adjudicate whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as an unlawful association.

a.       The Tribunal is comprised of sitting Judge of Delhi High Court Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal. 

13. Professor Balram Bhargava, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was honored with the 2019 Dr Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health at the 72nd World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

a.       He won the award for his achievements as an innovator, clinician, researcher and trainer.

14. John Bailey, President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on Sunday attended the 56th Maharashtra State Film Awards in Mumbai as chief guest. 

a.       This is the first time a president of the body that awards Oscars has attended an Indian awards ceremony, the event's organisers said.

15. Sri Lanka has signed a tripartite agreement with India and Japan for development of eastern terminal of Colombo port. 

a.       As per the agreement, Sri Lanka Port Authority (SLPA) will hold 51 per cent majority stake in the port development while Japan and India will have combined stake of 49 per cent.

16. Bengaluru-based Ola's newly-formed company Ola Electric has appointed former Vodafone Group CEO Arun Sarin as an independent director on its board. 

a.       Sarin also currently serves on the boards of Cisco Systems, Accenture, Charles Schwab and ANI Technologies (Ola's parent company). 

17. Maldives former President Mohamed Nasheed has been nominated as speaker of new parliament or Majlis which held its first sitting today.

18. Justice Ajay Kumar Mittal has been sworn in as the Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court. 

a.       Governor  Tathagata Roy administered him the oath of office in a ceremony at Raj Bhavan, Shillong today.

19. Indian shooter Rahi Sarnobat won the Gold in 25m Pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Munich. 

a.       With this, the 28-year-old also sealed a quota place for India in the event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

20. India's 17-year-old shooter Saurabh Chaudhary broke his own junior and senior world record to win his second World Cup gold medal. 

a.       Saurabh won 10m Air Pistol event with 246.3 points, breaking his own senior record of 245 points and junior record of 245.5 points. 

b.       Saurabh had booked a quota for 2020 Olympics during his maiden World Cup in February.

21. Forward Neymar has been stripped of Brazil national team captaincy, with his PSG teammate Dani Alves being named the new captain by the country's football federation. 

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MAY 26^th, 2019

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MAY 26^th, 2019

1.     India and Japan are in advanced talks with Sri Lanka to build a container terminal at the port in Colombo

a.      The terminal would come up next to a Chinese terminal built as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. 

b.     Sri Lanka will control 51% of the project with India and Japan jointly controlling the rest.

2.     Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill today resigned from his post after weeks of unrest in the government.

a.      The announcement came after high-profile defections from his Government to the Opposition. 

b.     O'Neill has handed over leadership to Sir Julius Chan, who will become prime minister for the 3rd time.

3.     Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced his new cabinet and the nation's new ambassadors to the United States and the United Nations.

a.      Morrison announced a new-look cabinet, including a record seven women and the first indigenous minister in Australian history, promising that it would focus on service delivery for Australians.

4.     Citizens across 21 European nations are voting today for new representatives at the European Parliament in the last leg of four day poll.

a.      7 nations of the 28-member bloc have already voted. 

b.     The European parliamentary election is the 2nd largest democratic exercise in the world. 

c.      Current European lawmakers' terms end on 1st July and the new parliament will take their seats in Strasbourg the following day.

5.     Ireland has voted by an overwhelming majority to relax its constitutional restriction on divorce.

a.      The step is the latest in a series of reforms to modernise the charter of the once-devoutly Catholic nation. 

b.     Results today showed that some 82 per cent of voters cast their ballots in favour of removing a provision requiring couples to live separately for four out of the previous five years before dissolving their marriage.

c.      Note : At present, Irish divorce law is regarded as among the most restrictive in Europe. 

6.     NDA leader Narendra Modi met President Ram Nath Kovind today and staked claim to form new government. 

a.      President appointed Modi to the office of Prime Minister and asked him to advise about the names of others to be appointed members of the Union Council of Ministers. 

b.     The swearing-in ceremony is likely to take place on May 30.

c.      Modi will take oath as the Prime Minister for a second straight term at 7 pm on May 30 (Thursday). 

d.     The members of Union Council of Ministers will also be sworn in along with Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

e.      Note : The BJP-led NDA won 353 out of 542 Lok Sabha seats that were contested in the elections.

7.     Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik will be sworn in as Odisha Chief Ministeron May 29 for a fifth consecutive term. 

a.      Note : The BJD won 112 of the 146 Assembly seats for which elections were held.

8.     BJD's Chandrani Murmu, a 25-year-old mechanical engineer who won Odisha's reserved Keonjhar seat by defeating two-time BJP MP Ananta Nayak, will become the youngest member in Lok Sabha history. 

a.      She will replace JJP founder Dushyant Chautala, who had become the youngest parliamentarian at 26 after being elected to 16th Lok Sabha from Hisar.

9.     Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and his Council of Ministers tendered their resignation to Governor Dr. BD Mishra.

a.      The Governor has accepted the resignation and asked Mr. Khandu and the Council of Ministers to continue till the new Government is sworn in.

b.     BJP for the first time in the state has won 41 seats in the 60 member state assembly. 

c.      The tenure of the existing 9th Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly ends on June 1.

10.                       New Space India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was officially inaugurated in Bengaluru. 

a.      It was inaugurated by ISRO's Honorary Adviser, Dr K Kasturirangan in the presence of Chairman Dr K Sivan.

b.     The main objective of NSIL is to scale up industry participation in Indian space programmes.

c.      NSIL was incorporated for commercially utilising research and development activities carried out by ISRO in the area of space with an authorised share capital of Rs 100 crore and initial paid up capital of Rs 10 crore.

d.     It will act as an aggregator for all space related activities in industry and develop private entrepreneurship in space related technologies.

11. The SD Association has barred the world's second-largest smartphone manufacturer Huawei, effectively banning it from using official SD or microSD card support in all future devices. 

a.      This comes over US' ban on China's Huawei over alleged espionage concerns.

12. The  National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) today unveiled the calendar for the "Artemis" program that will return astronauts to the Moon for the 1st time in half a century, including 8 scheduled launches and a mini-station in lunar orbit by 2024. 

a.      The original lunar missions were named for Apollo -- Artemis was his twin sister in Greek mythology, and the goddess of hunting, wilderness and the Moon. 

b.     Artemis 1 will be an uncrewed mission around the Moon planned for 2020.

c.      Next will come Artemis 2, which will orbit Earth’s satellite with a crew around 2022; followed finally by Artemis 3 that will put astronauts on lunar soil in 2024, including the first woman.

13.                       South Korean director Bong Joon Ho’s movie ‘Parasite’, has bagged the Palme d’Or at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.  

a.      Note : With this, Bong Joon Ho became the 2nd Asian director in succession to win the Palme d’Or, after Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, who won last year for the film Shoplifters.

14. Noted Nazrul Researcher of Bangladesh Dr. Tapan Bagchi will receive this year's Nazrul award given by the West Bengal government.

15.                       The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has decided to merge Central Statistics Office (CSO) and National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) to form a National Statistical Office (NSO) in a major restructuring move. 

a.      Note : While NSSO comes out with sample surveys on consumption, expenditure, employment and unemployment, the CSO releases data on GDP, inflation and IIP.

16.                       Sikkim Governor Ganga Prasad has invited the Sikkim Karantikari Morcha (SKM) President and leader of latislative party Prem Singh Golay to form the New Government in the state.

a.      Prem Singh Golay will take oath as New Chief Minister of Sikkim along with his council of ministers at Palzor Stadium in Gangtok at 10 AM tomorrow.

17. Cyril Ramaphosa was sworn in for a 5-year term as South Africa’s Presidentyesterday. 

a.      Head of the African National Congress Ramaphosa was officially elected as President by Parliament during its first sitting following the sixth general elections. 

18.                       French Open Tennis, the 2nd Grand Slam of the season, began in Paris today.  

a.      This is the 123rd edition of the tournament. 

b.     The prize money for this tournament is €42,661,000. 

19. China won the badminton world mixed-team championship, Sudirman Cup 2019 in Nanning today. 

a.      They beat Japan in men's doubles, women's singles and men's singles to clinch the title for an 11th time.

20. In Squash, India's Mahesh Mangaonkar triumphed for the second time in the Sekisui Open in Kriens, Switerzland. 

a.      Three years back he had won it the first time.

b.     Sekisui Open is a Challenger tour event of the Professional Squash Association (PSA), the world body which governs the sports. 

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MAY 25^th, 2019

              IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF MAY 25^th, 2019

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

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

2.     Today is 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.     US president Donald Trump embarked on a 4-day visit to Japan amid trade war with China and renewed challenges from North Korea. 

a.      During his meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump will likely to discuss trade and military during his visit.

b.     Note : US President will be first state guest of Japan after the enthronement of its new emperor Naruhito early this month.

4.     The Indian delegation is participating in the 2nd Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Mass Media Forum at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan.

a.      A delegation from Information and Broadcasting Ministry are representing India at the Forum. 

b.     The 4-day Forum was inaugurated by President of Kyrgyz Republic, S. Jeenbekoyesterday.

c.      Aim of this Forum : To strengthen the exchange and cooperation in the field of mass media amongst SCO countries.

5.     Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the 1st leader since Indira Gandhi to return to power with a single-party majority in Lok Sabha. 

a.      His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has secured 303 out of the 542 Lok Sabha seats that were contested. 

b.     Note : In 1971, Indira Gandhi led the Congress to victory with a full majority after having done the same in 1967.

6.     A total of 65,14,558 voters opted for NOTA (None-Of-The-Above) option, in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. 

a.      In 2014, as many as 60,02,942 voters had opted for NOTA. 

b.     The highest percentage of NOTA was recorded in the state of Bihar with 2% voters (8,17,139) opting for it. 

c.      In Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats, 7,25,079 voters opted for NOTA.

7.     Union government has banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and its manifestations with immediate effect.

a.      In its notifications, Home Ministry said,  the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and its formations like Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen India or Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Hindustan and their manifestations have committed acts and promoted acts of terrorism and have been engaged in radicalisation and recruitment of youth for terrorist activities in India.

8.     The Task force set up to draft a new direct tax law to replace the existing Income Tax Act has been given 2-month extension till July 31 to submit its report.

a.      The task force was scheduled to submit the report by May 31, but Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has extended the last date for submission of report by direct tax panel till July 31.

b.     The task force was assigned to draft direct tax laws in line with the norms prevalent in other countries, incorporating international best practices, and keeping in mind the economic needs of the country.

c.      The Finance Ministry in November last year appointed Akhilesh Ranjan, Member (Legislation), CBDT, as convenor of the task force after the retirement of Arbind Modi. 

d.     Other members of the task force are :

i)      Girish Ahuja (chartered accountant)

ii)    Rajiv Memani (Chairman and Regional Managing Partner of EY)

iii) Mukesh Patel (Practicing Tax Advocate)

iv) Mansi Kedia (Consultant, ICRIER) 

v)    G C Srivastava (retired IRS and Advocate).

9.     Indian Air Force (IAF) formidable workhorse, the Russian made AN-32 aircraft was today formally fleet certified to fly on blended aviation fuel containing up to ten per cent of indigenous bio-jet fuel. 

a.      The approval certificate was received at the aero-engine test facilities at Chandigarh by Air Commodore Sanjiv Ghuratia.

10.                       UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Lt Gen Shailesh Tinaikar, a decorated Indian Army officer as the new Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

a.      He is going to replace Lieutenant General Frank Kamanzi of Rwanda who completes his assignment tomorrow.

11.                       Sportspersons in the 17th Lok Sabha elections

a.      Cricketer Gautam Gambhir (BJP) has won East Delhi Lok Sabha seat.

b.     Olympian Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (BJP) won Jaipur Rural seat for the second straight time by defeating CWG gold medallist, Congress' Krishna Poonia.

c.      Olympic medallist boxer Vijender Singh (Congress) lost the South Delhi seat after getting only 13.6% of the votes.

12. India bags a total of 57 Medals (12 Gold, 18 Silver and 27 Bronze) at India Open International Boxing tournament in Guwahati.

a.      6-time world champion M C Mary Kom, Shiva Thapa, L Sarita Devi and Naman Tanwar won gold in their respective finals. 

b.     This was Mary's second gold in the tournament, having won in 48 kg last year in the capital.