VINTAGE

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.