CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
PREFACE
Hi Readers
Basis your continuous demand for a Monthly PDF of most-trusted Current Affairs, the No.1 preparation platform OnlineTyari with 60 lakhs+ app downloads has come up the Current Affairs May 2018 PDF.
As we know Current Affairs, including related General Knowledge (GK), form a crucial component of any competitive exams including SSC, Banking, IAS|PCS and others. Now-a-days with increasing stagnancy in selecting questions from Static GK, the paper setters are harping on current affairs to increase the difficulty quotient of any paper. The lack of preparation for current affairs by the aspirants and candidates often is a main cause of their failure.
The Current Affairs May 2018 PDF covers the most important and exam-focused current affairs. The PDF has been designed basis the concept of complete Study Cycle, viz., Study ----> Revise ----> Test and thus has three parts: (i) Detailed Section-wise Current Affairs in bullet points; (ii) One Liners; and (iii) Current Affairs Questions with Explanation.
The Current Affairs PDF of May 2018 comes with one more value addition, that is, 5 Topics of the Month. These topics have been selected on the basis of their impact and will be very useful for subjective papers like IAS (Mains) Exam 2018.
Our experts have tried to put in their best efforts to make sure that the content provided remains in the mind of the candidate for a longer period of time and is perceived with its true meaning.
Copyright ©Onlinetyari.com
All rights reserved. No part or the whole of this eBook may be copied, reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted and/ or cited anywhere in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the written permission of the copyright owner. If any misconduct comes in knowledge or brought in notice, strict action will be taken.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
...... 1 Preface ...... 2 Topics of the Month ...... 10 Political Parties and Right to Information Act, 2005...... 10 Seabed Project 2030: Charting world’s ocean floor by 2030 using drones...... 12 Understanding Iran Nuclear deal and its Impact on India ...... 13 Understanding e-Commerce space in India with Flipkart-Walmart Deal ...... 16 Swachhata Survekshan 2018 ...... 17 National ...... 19 First-ever guidelines by the government on Adventure Tourism released ...... 19 TRAI proposes the use of blockchain technology to curb spam calls, texts ...... 19 Cochin International Airport world's first fully solar-energy powered airport: UNEP ...... 19 Union Home Ministry creates a Women Safety Division ...... 20 Prime Minister inaugurates Eastern Peripheral Expressway ...... 20 HRD Ministry launched ‘Samagra Siksha’ scheme ...... 21 9th Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav begins in Tehri ...... 21 Cabinet approves provision of mobile connectivity in Left Wing Extremism Areas ...... 22 National Crime records Bureau creating national registry for crimes against women ...... 22 INSV Tarini completes historic Circumnavigation ...... 23 PM dedicates Kishanganga Hydropower Station to the nation ...... 23 Green Good Deeds’ Movement Launched by India Gets Global Recognition ...... 23 “AYUSH” finds a place in English Language...... 24 SC approves draft Cauvery Management Scheme ...... 24 National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation to be established at Bhopal ...... 24 Freight Village to be developed at Nangal Chaudhary in Haryana ...... 25 National Technology Day: 11 May ...... 25 Railways to roll out smart coaches with black box and diagnostics ...... 25 CENTRE approves green licence plates for e-vehicles ...... 26 NITI Aayog, Google to help grow AI ecosystem in India ...... 26 International Children Theatre festival to be held in Kolkata ...... 26 World's first 'women's special' train completes 26 years...... 27 Task Force on Establishment of CDRI submits report ...... 27
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Chandrapur and Ballarshah most beautiful railway stations in India ...... 27 Telecom Commission allows in-flight connectivity ...... 28 International ...... 28 Malaysia plans to build the island on strategic Singapore Strait rocks ...... 28 EU tightens law on foreign temporary workers ...... 29 WHO adopts the resolution on Digital Health proposed by India ...... 30 Pakistan's Sindh province passed the bill allowing Hindu widows to remarry ...... 30 Colombia to be first Latin American country to join NATO ...... 30 Hamburg to host 2018 Global Wind Summit ...... 31 EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect ...... 31 Pakistan Parliament passes bill to merge FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...... 32 Indo-Dutch Startup Initiative: #StartUpLink Launched...... 32 India launches an international incubator for clean energy innovators at Mission Innovation (MI3) ...... 32 US disinvites China from RIMPAC exercise over South China Sea ...... 33 Paraguay become the third Country to open its embassy in Jerusalem ...... 33 Burundi votes to allow president to extend time in power ...... 34 Russia unveils world's first floating nuclear power station ...... 34 Max Thunder: US-South Korea Joint Military drill begins ...... 34 UN launches $10 billion International Finance Facility for Education ...... 34 International Nurses Day: 12 May ...... 35 India hosted 15th Asia Media Summit ...... 35 Bangladesh proposes India’s induction as OIC observer ...... 35 North Korea changes its time zone to match South ...... 36 No Nobel Prize on Literature this year: Swedish Academy ...... 36 World Press Freedom Day: 3 May ...... 36 Economy & Banking ...... 37 Ministry of Power launches web portal and App called PRAAPTI ...... 37 Air India, IndiGo included in top five cheapest airlines in World ...... 38 15th Finance Commission constitutes a High-Level Group on Health Sector ...... 38 CCI approves US $66 bn Bayer-Monsanto deal...... 39 India receives the 1st cargo of ADNOC crude oil for its Strategic Reserve ...... 39 MCX launches India’s first copper options contracts ...... 40
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
India 6th wealthiest country with total wealth of 8,230 billion US dollars ...... 40 Tata Steel Acquires 72% Stake In Bankrupt Bhushan Steel ...... 40 Union Commerce Ministry establishes Directorate General of Trade Remedies ...... 41 Parcel Cargo Express Train begins operation, connecting NE to West Coast ...... 41 BSE becomes first Indian stock exchange to get US SEC’s DOSM recognition ...... 42 Micro Irrigation Fund worth Rs 5000 crore to be set with NABARD ...... 42 Suresh Prabhu launches Intellectual Property mascot – IP Nani ...... 42 India 3rd largest solar market in world: Mercom ...... 43 Chinese state-run bank launches India-dedicated investment fund...... 43 India largest remittance-receiving country in world ...... 43 In world's largest e-commerce deal, Walmart buys 77% stake in Flipkart ...... 44 Airport capacity to be augmented under NABH Nirman Initiative ...... 44 India signs US$200 mn deal with World Bank for POSHAN Abhiyan ...... 44 GST Council sets up Two Group of Ministers to look into digital payment ...... 45 Investment limit under Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana doubled ...... 45 Continuation of "Green Revolution – Krishonnati Yojana" approved ...... 46 India projected as World’s second fastest growing country for air passenger traffic ...... 46 Science & Technology ...... 47 Scientists created First 3D-printed human corneas to treat blindness ...... 47 Ruthenium (Ru): Fourth element showing magnetism at room temperature discovered ...... 48 UAE bans import of fruits, vegetables from Kerala ...... 48 Nagpur-based NEERI come up with the idea to clean garbage in lakes ...... 49 Akshay Kumar launches ad campaign to promote twin pit toilet technology ...... 50 Delhi’s air is as bad as smoking 7.7 cigarettes a day: Sh**t! I Smoke App ...... 50 The Netherlands join International Solar Alliance (ISA) ...... 50 First Ebola vaccines given by WHO amid outbreak in Congo ...... 51 WHO publishes its first Essential Diagnostics list ...... 51 Scientists develop FingerPing system allowing users to type with gestures ...... 52 ISRO making green propellant ...... 52 Frozen Semen Station being set up in Maranga, Purnea under Rashtriya Gokul Mission ...... 52 India to see e-SIM technology for first time ...... 53 Google launches Android Things for IoT platform ...... 53 China launches new satellite to monitor air pollution ...... 54
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
CSWRI scientists comes up with new sheep insemination technique ...... 54 Anitha-SAT: Indian teen’s satellite soars in Mexico sky ...... 54 APSTAR-6C: China launches communication satellite ...... 55 NASA launches InSight mission to Mars ...... 55 GravityRAT: A malware that spies on computer ...... 56 14 of Indian cities figure in World’s 20 most polluted cities list: WHO ...... 56 Sports...... 57 CEAT Cricket Ratings awards ...... 57 Chennai Super Kings win the 11th edition of IPL ...... 58 Chinese shuttlers wins Thomas Cup title ...... 58 Japan's women clinch Uber Cup of Badminton ...... 58 Daniel Ricciardo wins F1 Monaco Grand Prix ...... 59 AB de Villiers announces retirement from all forms of cricket ...... 59 South Korea wins 5th Asian Champions Trophy ...... 59 Rafael Nadal wins Rome Open tennis title for eighth time ...... 60 India U-16 defeat Tajikistan 4-2 to win four-nation tournament in Serbia ...... 60 India tops 3rd South Asian Junior Athletics championship ...... 60 Ramit Tandon wins Abu Dhabi Open squash title ...... 61 Justin Langer appointed coach of Australian Cricket team ...... 61 Wimbledon champions' prize money hiked by £50,000 ...... 61 Hockey India names Harendra Singh as men's coach ...... 61 Salah wins writers' footballer of the year award ...... 62 State ...... 63 J&K govt submits Devika river rejuvenation project to Centre for approval ...... 63 Bengal’s Chhau mask acquires GI fame ...... 63 TN govt orders permanent closure of Sterlite copper plant ...... 64 Himachal govt launches 'Prakriti Kheti Khushhaal Kisaan Yojana' ...... 64 Telangana announces unique life insurance scheme for farmers ...... 64 PM Modi unveils projects of Rs 27,000 crore in Jharkhand ...... 65 Cabinet approves USOF scheme for provision of mobile services in Meghalaya ...... 65 Akal Takht sets up a 'Sikh Censor Board' ...... 65 Assam govt to provide pension to 16 lakh senior citizens ...... 66
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Rock theme Park with world's largest bird sculpture to be opened in Kerala ...... 66 NMCG asks DDA to expedite "Asita" project ...... 66 Maharashtra govt to rename Solapur University ...... 67 Chatra Parivahan Suraksha Yojana to be launched in Haryana ...... 67 Gujarat to launch free treatment scheme for road accident victims ...... 67 Cabinet approves setting up of a Central University in Andhra Pradesh...... 68 Prime Minister lay foundation stone for 14.2 km long Zojila Tunnel ...... 68 President gives assent to Delhi Working Journalist Amendment Act 2015 ...... 69 World’s second oldest rock is from Odisha ...... 69 President gives assent to Delhi govt’s bill to amend Minimum Wage Act ...... 69 First integrated smart cities control centre launched in Madhya pradesh...... 70 'Noon Assembly' campaign gains momentum in Delhi schools ...... 70 Odisha Official Language (Amendment) Bill passed ...... 70 Person in News ...... 72 Sudha Balkrishnan appointed first CFO of RBI ...... 72 Justice S J Vazifdar appointed as arbitrator in NSE-SGX dispute case ...... 72 India's envoy to Russia Pankaj Saran appointed Dy NSA ...... 73 Justice R K Agrawal to be next NCDRC President ...... 73 Alicia Pucheta named first woman president of Paraguay ...... 73 Ibrahim Kassory Fofana sworn-in as PM of Guinea ...... 73 Arjun Vajpai became youngest to summit six peaks over 8,000m ...... 74 Barbados Elects Mia Mottley As 1st Female Prime Minister ...... 74 Ramesh Chand Meena elected Chairperson of TRIFED ...... 74 Prof Ganeshi Lal appointed as new Governor of Odisha ...... 75 Sushant Singh Rajput to promote two major initiatives of NITI Aayog ...... 75 HD Kumaraswamy sworn-in as Karnataka Chief Minister ...... 75 Populist cleric Moqtada Sadr wins Iraq parliamentary elections ...... 76 Anil Kumar Jha appointed CMD of Coal India Ltd ...... 76 Shivangi Pathak becomes youngest Indian woman to scale Mount Everest ...... 76 Himanta Biswa Sarma elected as Vice-President of Badminton Asia Confederation ...... 77 Uttam Pacharne appointed Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi...... 77 Noted lyricist, poet, politician Balkavi Bairagi dies in MP ...... 77 US Senate confirms Gina Haspel as new CIA director ...... 77
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Susheela Jayapal becomes first South Asian to be elected in Oregon...... 78 Eminent physicist Sudarshan dead ...... 78 Pak hockey legend Mansoor Ahmed passes away in Karachi ...... 78 Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on being sworn in as the PM of Malaysia ...... 78 Carlos Alvarado sworn in as Costa Rican president ...... 79 Narendra Modi among top 10 most powerful people in the world: Forbes ...... 79 Tahir Hussain: Indian American professor gets USD 1.6M grant to protect kidneys from obesity 80 India-born girl’s heart disease project wins award in Singapore ...... 80 Sitanshu Kar takes over as DG, PIB ...... 80 Prime Minister of Gabon Emmanuel Issoze Ngondet resigns ...... 81 Subhash Chandra Khuntia appointed chairman of IRDA ...... 81 Sajid Javid: First South Asian to head UK Interior Ministry ...... 81 Awards ...... 82 Indian botanist Kamaljit Bawa to receive Linnean Medal for Botany ...... 82 Olga Tokarczuk wins Man Booker International Prize 2018...... 82 Cannes Film Festival: Japanese film 'Shoplifters' wins Palme d'Or, best film award ...... 83 DRDO Awards- 2016 & 2017 presented ...... 83 Mimi Mondal: First Indian to be nominated for Hugo Award ...... 84 Shri Shivaji to be decorated with “Railway Minister’s Medal” for Bravery ...... 84 President of India presents Visitor’s Awards 2018 ...... 84 Helen Mirren honoured with Chaplin Award ...... 85 Defence & Security ...... 86 Upgraded Pinaka rocket successfully test-fired, range now 70km ...... 86 Mount Deotibba Expedition-2018 ...... 86 India, US, Japan to start 22nd Malabar exercise in Guam ...... 87 Commissioning of Fourth Ship of Landing Craft Utility MK-IV (IN LCU L54) ...... 87 SURYA KIRAN-XIII: India-Nepal Joint Battalion Level Exercise ...... 87 Indian Navy conducts security exercise, called Prasthan ...... 88 Brahmos Missile successfully test-fired to Validate Service Life Extension ...... 88 Budget for Network for Spectrum Project for Defence Services enhanced ...... 88 Army finalises Rs 15,000 crore ammunition production project ...... 89 Dakota-DC3 VP 905 inducted into Indian Air Force ...... 89
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
India emerges as fifth largest military spenders in 2017: SIPRI ...... 89 Exercise 'Vijay Prahar' being held in Rajasthan ...... 90 Books and Authors ...... 90 Questions for Practice ...... 91 Answers with Explanation ...... 96 One Liners of the Month ...... 102 National ...... 102 Banking ...... 106 International ...... 108 Sports ...... 111 Person in News ...... 113 General Knowledge ...... 116
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
TOPICS OF THE MONTH
POLITICAL PARTIES AND RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005
UNDERSTANDING THE PRESENT CONTEXT
The Election Commission has recently said that political parties are out of the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI), Act 2005 contrary to the stance of the Central Information Commission (CIC), which in June 2013 had brought national parties under the purview of the RTI Act, 2005.
CIC’S JUNE 2013 ORDER
Earlier in June 2013, the Central Information Commission (CIC) in a decision had declared that six major political parties are ‘public authorities’ as defined in the RTI Act since they receive ‘substantial funding’ from the government.
All ‘public authorities’ fall in the ambit of the Right to Information Act and are obliged to provide information sought by citizens using RTI. These six parties for whom a specific order has been given are Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (Congress), Communist Party of India (Marxist)-CPI(M), Communist Party of India (CPI), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
RIGHT TO INFORMATION,2005
Right to Information Act 2005 mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information. It is an initiative taken by Department of Personnel and Training to provide a– RTI Portal Gateway to the citizens for quick search of information on the details of first Appellate Authorities, PIOs etc. The basic object of the RTI Act is to empower the citizens, promote transparency and accountability in the working of the Government, contain corruption, and make our democracy work for the people in real sense.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
An informed citizen is better equipped to keep necessary vigil on the instruments of governance and make the government more accountable to the governed. The Act is a big step towards making the citizens informed about the activities of the Government.
POLITICAL PARTIES: WHY THEY DON’T WANT TO BE INCLUDED?
• Political parties were not established by the constitution or an act of parliament and therefore should not be under the RTI. • Political parties are not public authorities as they are not set up under the Constitution or any law enacted by Parliament – they can’t be treated as an institution or establishment. • If political parties come under the RTI it will affect their smooth internal functioning. • Political rivals will start using RTI tool with malicious intent. • There are already provisions in the Income Tax Act, 1961, and Representation of the People Act, 1951, which demand necessary transparency regarding financial aspects of political parties. • Information about a political body is in the public domain on the website of the Election Commission.
POLITICAL PARTIES NEED TO BE INCLUDED: WHY?
• If political parties are kept out, it sets a precedent whereby other institutions can argue that they too kept out of its purview because there are too many frivolous claims, Paperwork. • Political parties occupy a very central space in democracy. People don’t vote so much for individuals as they do for parties. • Parties come out with great statements before elections(Manifesto). People vote on the basis of which party says what. Parties finally form the government. And the government’s policies are decided based on the ideologies of the political parties. • In India, it is widely accepted notion that there is corruption is political funding. • It is therefore, necessary to introduce internal democracy, financial transparency and accountability in the working of the political parties. • To ensure less influence of industrial houses on policy making: Most of the parties have almost 75% of their income from unknown sources. Generally corporate and industrial houses give them funds to change policies, give illegal clearance and to hamper their competitor’s interest. • Political parties enjoy a “stronghold” over their elected MPs and MLAs under
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Schedule 10 of the Constitution. The Schedule makes it compulsory for MPs and MLAs to abide by the directions of their parent parties. • Under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 all political parties must affirm their allegiance to the Constitution of India and such allegiance is made compulsory for the purpose of registration under sub-section (7) of Section 29A.Therefore, political parties so registered must furnish information to the public under the right of information under Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution of India. • The Law Commission of India in its 170th Report on ‘Reform of the Electoral Laws’ in May 1999 had recommended transparency in the functioning of political parties.
SEABED PROJECT 2030: CHARTING WORLD’S OCEAN FLOOR BY 2030 USING DRONES
Seabed 2030 is a collaborative project between the Nippon Foundation and General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO). It aims to bring together all available bathymetric data to produce the definitive map of the world ocean floor by 2030 and make it available to all. It builds on more than 100 years of GEBCO's history in global seafloor mapping.
HIGHLIGHTS
• The focus for data compilation and coordination activities for Seabed 2030 is carried out at four Regional Centers. • They are responsible for compiling bathymetric information and collaborating with existing mapping initiatives within their regions. • A Global Center is responsible for producing and delivering global GEBCO products. • GEBCO consists of an international group of experts who work on the development of a range of bathymetric data sets and data products, including gridded bathymetric data sets, a world map and Gazetteer of Undersea Feature Names. • They are involved in training a new generation of scientists in ocean bathymetry through the Nippon Foundation/GEBCO Training Programme.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
WHAT IS SEAFLOOR SPREADING?
Seafloor spreading is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where the new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge.
SIGNIFICANCE
• Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. When oceanic plates diverge, tensional stress causes fractures to occur in the lithosphere. • The motivating force for seafloor spreading ridges is tectonic plate pull rather than magma pressure, although there is typically significant magma activity at spreading ridges.
NIPPON FOUNDATION
The Nippon Foundation of Tokyo, Japan, is a private, non-profit grant-making organization. It was established in 1962 by Ryoichi Sasakawa, a late statesman and businessman.
UNDERSTANDING IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL AND ITS IMPACT ON INDIA
US President Donald Trump announced on May 8, 2018 that he will pull the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), of 2015 that capped over a decade of hostility between Tehran and the West over its atomic program.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
Fifteen years after the deal, restrictions on Iran’s uranium enrichment and stockpile size will end. The deal’s opponents argue it allows Iran to build a bomb after it expires, something Iran had explicitly promised in the accord not to do. In theory, Iran could have an array of advanced centrifuges ready for use, the limits on its stockpile would be gone, and it could then throw itself wholeheartedly into producing highly enriched uranium.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
WHAT IS IRAN AND P5+1 DEAL?
The Iran nuclear deal was signed between Iran and the P5 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council) plus Germany and the European Union in Vienna in July 2015. Under the 2015 nuclear deal struck by Iran and six major powers – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear program in return for relief from the US and other economic sanctions.
WHAT IRAN PROMISED TO DO?
The deal also limited the number of centrifuges Iran can run and restricted it to an older, slower model. Iran also reconfigured a heavy-water reactor so it couldn’t produce plutonium and agreed to convert its Fordo enrichment site into a research centre. It granted more access to International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors and allowed it to inspect other sites. In exchange, world powers lifted the economic sanctions that had kept Iran away from international banking and the global oil trade. It allowed Iran to make purchases of commercial aircraft and reach other business deals. It also unfroze billions of dollars Iran had overseas.
WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON INDIA?
India could face the impact of the U.S. decision on the deal as well as instituting the “highest level of economic sanctions” in several ways:
OIL PRICES
The impact on world oil prices will be the immediately visible impact of the U.S. decision. Iran is presently India’s third biggest supplier (after Iraq and Saudi Arabia), and any increase in prices will hit both inflation levels as well as the Indian rupee, which breached ₹67 to the U.S. dollar in May 2018.
CHABAHAR
India’s moves over the last few years to develop berths at the Shahid Beheshti port in Chabahar was a key part of its plans to circumvent Pakistan’s blocks on trade with Afghanistan, and the new U.S. sanctions could slow or even bring those plans to a halt depending on how strictly they are implemented. India has already committed about $85
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018 million to Chabahar development with plans for a total of $500 million on the port, while a railway line to Afghanistan could cost as much as $1.6 billion.
INTERNATIONAL NORTH SOUTH TRANSPORT CORRIDOR (INSTC)
Beyond Chabahar, India has been a founder of the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) since it was ratified in 2002. It starts from Iran and aims to cut right across Central Asia to Russia over a 7,200-km multi-mode network, cutting down transportation and time taken by trade by about 30%. Plans for INSTC sped up after the JCPOA was signed in 2015 and sanctions on Iran were lifted. New U.S. sanctions will affect these plans immediately.
SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION (SCO)
India joined the SCO along with Pakistan last year, and both will be formally admitted in June 2018, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to the Chinese city of Qingdao for the SCO summit. This year, Chinese officials say they will consider inducting Iran into the 8-member Eurasian security organisation. If the proposal is accepted by the SCO, which is led by China and Russia, India will become a member of a bloc that will be seen as anti-American, and will run counter to some of the government’s other initiatives, for eg. the Indo-Pacific quadrilateral with the U.S., Australia and Japan.
RULES-BASED ORDER
India has long been a proponent of a “rules-based order” that depends on multilateral consensus and an adherence to commitments made by countries on the international stage. By walking out of the JCPOA that was signed by the Obama administration, the U.S. government has overturned the precept that such international agreements are made by “States” not just with prevailing governments or regimes. This could also impact all agreements India is negotiating both bilaterally and multilaterally with the U.S.
CONCLUSION
Despite these Indian concerns, don’t expect public wrangling with the United States. Delhi has other strategic interests at stake with Washington, and will see private discussions with U.S. counterparts as a more effective way of safeguarding its Iran-related interests. It might even use its willingness to comply with sanctions as leverage with the United States to secure more crucial objectives. In addition, Delhi will engage with Tehran to try to mitigate
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018 the impact of the American step. It will, moreover, continue its interactions with other key oil producers, including Iraq, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and UAE, as well as discussions with fellow consumers. And Delhi will engage with Berlin, London, Paris, and other European partners to manage the fallout, giving added impetus to the Modi government’s stepped-up outreach to Europe.
UNDERSTANDING E-COMMERCE SPACE IN INDIA WITH FLIPKART- WALMART DEAL
The e-commerce landscape is changing the way people shop around the world. The two main ingredients of this rise are smartphone and internet. Online stores are heavily investing in technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, analytics and many more.
According to a report by Morgan Stanley, India had 60 million online shoppers in 2016 which is 14% of the internet user base of the country and it will rise to 50% by 2026. So more the internet penetration more the e-commerce expands.
FLIPKART-WALMART DEAL
The world’s largest retailer company Walmart on May 9 acquired the Indian e-commerce platform Flipkart at a whopping price of $16 billion. Walmart previous attempt to open retail stores in India failed and they had to be content with wholesale store.
India’s e-commerce landscape is increasing at a faster rate and a young population makes it an attractive destination for the investments. There are currently three major players in this field – Paytm, Amazon and Flipkart. It is worth to note here that no company has so far made any significant profit. The Walmart-Flipkart deal is more about perception and future.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
E-COMMERCE IN INDIA
• India has an internet user base of about 450 million as of July 2017. However, the e- commerce penetration is quite low in comparison with other countries. • 100% foreign direct investment is permitted in the marketplace model of e-commerce • FDI is not permitted in inventory-based model of e-commerce. • An e-commerce entity will not permit more than 25% of the total sales should not be done by one vendor or its group companies.
EFFECT ON PHYSICAL STORES
• The grey area in pricing is very open to interpretation, especially on the point of determining the right price, and could be an anti-market move • Retail sector still remains affected by a lot of interest groups and a solid policy change to actually reform retail remains. • However, in the long term the same retail stores will become the supplier on the e- commerce platform. The technology brings challenge but businesses do innovate.
Overall, e-commerce is the future of Indian market and the competition will certainly benefit the consumers.
SWACHHATA SURVEKSHAN 2018
The results for Swachh Survekshan 2018 have been announced and Indore in Madhya Pradesh has retained its title of being India's cleanest city. Swachh Survekshan 2018, which was the first pan Indian exercise to assess cleanliness in urban India, surveyed 4,203 cities from January 4 to March 10, 2018.
Bhopal has been ranked as India's second cleanest city for two years in a row and Chandigarh was ranked as the third cleanest city, moving up from Rank 11 in 2017.
Jharkhand has been declared the best performing state, followed by Maharashtra, in this
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018 year's Swachh Survekshan.
METHODOLOGY
Category wise assessment of Open Defection Free (ODF) progress, collection and transportation of solid waste and processing of solid waste saw their respective weightages being increased in this year Swachh Survekshan.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Cleanest State Capital: Greater Mumbai • Best city in Innovation and Best practices: Nagpur • Best city in Solid Waste Management: Navi Mumbai • India's Cleanest City Zone-Wise o North: Bhalso Punjab o East: Bundu, Jharkhand o North-East: Kakching, Manipur o South: Siddipet, Telangana o West: Panchgani, Maharashtra • Total 52 awards were given in various categories.
CONCLUSION
The Swachhta Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) in its present form can be best viewed as a “toilet training” of the Indian masses with no significant contribution to their health, or so it appears from the data on epidemics.
To improve the outreach and acceptability of the SBA it is necessary that people are clearly shown what good it can do to their health.
It is unfortunate that in the very year in which the SBA was launched, the government slashed the health budget by around 20%. It is essential to understand that swachta and health are complementary to each other and therefore a horizontal approach to link the two is vital.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
NATIONAL
FIRST-EVER GUIDELINES BY THE GOVERNMENT ON ADVENTURE TOURISM RELEASED
• The Centre for the first time issued guidelines for Adventure Tourism in India. These guidelines were launched by the Minister of State for Tourism K. J. Alphons in New Delhi on May 31, 2018. • The guidelines on Safety and Quality Norms for Adventure Tourism in India have been formulated in collaboration with the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI). • In an effort to make adventure sports safer, the set of guidelines list out the basic minimum standards required for adventure tourism activities in India. • These guidelines cover land, air and water-based activities which include mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, paragliding, kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling, river rafting and many other sports.
TRAI PROPOSES THE USE OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY TO CURB SPAM CALLS, TEXTS
• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued new draft norms to curb pesky calls and SMSes by using blockchain technology, which in turn will ensure non- repudiative and confidentiality. • The aim is to ensure that telemarketing messages are sent only to those who have subscribed to them, and that too by authorized entities. • If recommendations are accepted, the TRAI will become the first organisation to implement it. • The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is a statutory body set up by the Government of India under section 3 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997.
COCHIN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WORLD'S FIRST FULLY SOLAR-ENERGY
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
POWERED AIRPORT: UNEP
• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has recognised Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) in Kerala as the world’s first fully solar energy powered Airport. • CIAL is India’s first airport to be constructed in public-private-partnership (PPP) model in 1999. • The airport has a 12 MWp solar power plant comprising of 46,150 solar panels laid across 45 acres. It produces 50,000 to 60,000 units of electricity per day.
UNION HOME MINISTRY CREATES A WOMEN SAFETY DIVISION
• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has created a new division Women Safety Division to address women safety in a comprehensive manner. • Women Safety Division will deal with subjects like crimes against women, crime against children and elderly, SC&STs, anti-trafficking cell, all schemes under NIRBHAYA fund, National Crime Record Bureau and Crime and Criminal Tracking and Network System. • The specified action under the mission includes setting up Fast Track courts, strengthening of forensic set up and building up of national registry of sexual offenders and providing appropriate medical and rehabilitation facilities for victims. • The division will be headed by Ms Punya Salila Srivastava.
PRIME MINISTER INAUGURATES EASTERN PERIPHERAL EXPRESSWAY
• Indian PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate two expressways on May 27: Delhi Meerut Expressway and Eastern Peripheral Expressway. • The Rs. 7500 Cr Delhi Meerut Expressway will be India’s first 14 lane highway. The project will be completed by March 2019. • The 135 KM long Eastern Peripheral Expressway envisages signal free connectivity between Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Faridabad and Palwal. It will help in decongesting the national capital.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• Eastern Peripheral Expressway has been built in a record time of 17 months. It is India’s first highway to lit up by solar power.
HRD MINISTRY LAUNCHED ‘SAMAGRA SIKSHA’ SCHEME
• The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar launched the ‘SAMAGRA SHIKSHA’ - an integrated Scheme for school education extending support to States from pre-school to senior secondary levels for the first time.
MAIN HIGHLIGHTS
o The Scheme is a paradigm shift in the conceptual design of school education by treating ‘school’ holistically as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary and senior secondary levels.
o It is in line with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi dream of ‘Sabko Shiksha Achchi Shiksha’ ,
o It focuses on improving quality of education at all levels by integrating the two T’s – Teachers and Technology.
o ‘Under this scheme one million schools will get library grant of Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000 to strengthen the libraries to ensure that “Padhega Bharat Badhega Bharat”
o Sports equipment will be provided under the Samagra Shiksha, at the cost of Rs. 5000 for Primary, Rs. 10,000 for Upper Primary & up to Rs. 25,000 for SSC & HSC schools to inculcate & emphasize relevance of sports to realise the dream of “KHELEGA INDIA KHILEGA INDIA”.
9TH RASHTRIYA SANSKRITI MAHOTSAV BEGINS IN TEHRI
• Ministry of Culture is organising the 9th edition of the Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav under the Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat, in Tehri, Uttarakhand from 25th May to 27th May, 2018. • Tehri Lake Festival where one can explore the water sports, organized by the Uttarakhand Tourism every year, will be subsumed within the Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav. • The paired state for Uttarakhand under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat matrix is Karnataka, and while troupes from all over the country will be performing, special
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
emphasis is being given to Karnataka.
CABINET APPROVES PROVISION OF MOBILE CONNECTIVITY IN LEFT WING EXTREMISM AREAS
• The Cabinet Committee has approved the Home Ministry’s proposal of setting up 4,072 mobile towers, to improve the telecom network in 96 districts of the 10 Naxal affected States at a total cost of Rs 7,330 crore. • It will give impetus to the e-Governance activities in the backward and LWE affected area with the availability of digital mobile connectivity. • This is second phase of the mobile device connectivity in which there is upgradation from 2G to 4G network. • These mobile towers in Left Wing Extremism-affected areas will be set up by using the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).
UNIVERSAL SERVICE OBLIGATION (USO) FUND
The New Telecom Policy - 1999 (NTP'99) provided that the resources for meeting the Universal Service Obligation (USO) would be raised through a 'Universal Access Levy (UAL)', which would be a percentage of the revenue earned by the operators under various licenses.
RED CORRIDOR
The Red Corridor is the region in the eastern, central and the southern parts of India that experience considerable Naxalite–Maoist insurgency. It spread across 10 states.
NATIONAL CRIME RECORDS BUREAU CREATING NATIONAL REGISTRY FOR CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN
• The NCRB functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs. • The National Registry is created because of an around three-percent increase in crimes against women and a 12-percent rise in incidents of rape in 2016 as compared to 2015. • A majority of cases categorised as crimes against women were reported under “cruelty by husband or his relatives” (32.6 per cent), followed by “assault on woman
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
with intent to outrage her modesty” (25 per cent). • According to National Crime Records Bureau, the highest number of rapes have been reported from Madhya Pradesh (4,882), followed by Uttar Pradesh (4,816) and Maharashtra (4,189) in 2016.
INSV TARINI COMPLETES HISTORIC CIRCUMNAVIGATION
• Indian Naval Sailing Vessel Tarini (INSV Tarini) entered Goa harbour. • This is the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew. It was the six-member all-woman team. • The vessel was skippered by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi. • The name of expedition for circumnavigation of the globe on INSV Tarini is ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama’.
PM DEDICATES KISHANGANGA HYDROPOWER STATION TO THE NATION
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kishanganga Hydropower project on 20 May. It is located 5 KM north of Bandipore in Jammu and Kashmir and will have an installed capacity of 330 MW. • The Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plant is an $864 million dam which is a part of run of the river hydroelectric scheme that is designed to divert water from the Kishanganga river to a power plant in the Jhelum river basin. • The Kishanganga project was delayed for several years as Pakistan dragged India to the International Court of Arbitration, which ruled in India's favour in 2013. • India has said the hydropower projects underway in Jammu and Kashmir are "run-of- the-river" schemes that use the river's flow and elevation to generate electricity rather than large reservoirs, and do not contravene the treaty.
GREEN GOOD DEEDS’ MOVEMENT LAUNCHED BY INDIA GETS GLOBAL RECOGNITION
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• Green Good Deeds, the societal movement launched by Environment, Forest & Climate Change Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan to protect environment and promote good living has found acceptance by the global community. • Dr Harsh Vardhan at the ongoing 4th BRICS Environment Ministerial in Durban had urged the BRICS nations to jointly help in development of a social movement to fight for the protection and conservation of environment. • The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change had drawn up a list of over 500 Green Good Deeds and asked people to alter their behaviour to Green Good Behaviour to fulfil their Green Social Responsibility.
“AYUSH” FINDS A PLACE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
• The Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology has decided to adopt the word ‘AYUSH’ in Hindi and English languages for scientific and technical purposes. • The “AYUSH” became popular as the acronym for five traditional and complementary systems of medicine, namely Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy and successfully adopted and used in all Government communications. • The decision was proposed by the Ministry of AYUSH in this regards. • The word ‘ayush’ will have the meaning “Traditional and Non-Conventional Systems of Health Care and Healing which include Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa, Homoeopathy etc.
SC APPROVES DRAFT CAUVERY MANAGEMENT SCHEME
• The Supreme Court on May 18 approved the Centre's draft Cauvery Management Scheme for smooth distribution of water among four southern riparian states. • The apex court, in its verdict delivered on February 16, had asked the Centre to frame the Cauvery management scheme, including creation of the Cauvery Management Board, for release of water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. • The body has finally been named the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the headquarters have been shifted to New Delhi.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH REHABILITATION TO BE ESTABLISHED AT BHOPAL
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• The Union Cabinet approved the establishment of National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation (NIMHR) at Bhopal. • The estimated cumulative cost of the project is Rs. 179.54 crore in first three years. • The main objectives of the NIMHR are to provide rehabilitation services to the persons with mental illness, capacity development in the area of mental health rehabilitation, policy framing and advanced research in mental health rehabilitation. • NIMHR will be the first of its kind in the country in the area of mental health rehabilitation.
FREIGHT VILLAGE TO BE DEVELOPED AT NANGAL CHAUDHARY IN HARYANA
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the development of trunk infrastructure components for the integrated multi-modal logistics hub known as 'Freight Village' at Nangal Chaudhary in Haryana under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) Project. • The trunk infrastructure components include roads and services, building complex, water, sewage and common effluent treatment plant. The development of the Freight Village in Haryana will be on a 886.78 acres of land plot. • The project has enormous economic value which includes creation of employment, reduction in fuel costs, boosts to export etc.
NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DAY: 11 MAY
• National Technology Day is observed every year on 11th of May in India, acting as a reminder of the anniversary of Operation Shakti. • This year the theme of National Technology Day is "SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE". • On 11th May, 1998 India achieved a major technological breakthrough by successfully carrying out nuclear tests at Pokhran. • Also first, indigenous aircraft "Hansa-3" was test flown at Bangalore on this day and India also performed successful test firing of the Trishul missile on the same day. • Considering above technological achievements on a particular date i.e. 11th May, the day of 11th May was chosen to be commemorated as National Technology Day.
RAILWAYS TO ROLL OUT SMART COACHES WITH BLACK BOX AND
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
DIAGNOSTICS
• Indian Railways will soon roll out the modern train compartments equipped with black boxes and coach information and diagnostics systems. • The black boxes, a first for the railways, will have a powerful multi-dimensional communication interface to provide all kinds of information on coach condition. • The first smart coach was unveiled at the Rae Bareli Coach Factory on May 11, National Technology Day, as a pilot project. The Railways will replicate the system in many more coaches after the trial run.
CENTRE APPROVES GREEN LICENCE PLATES FOR E-VEHICLES
• To promote electric vehicles in India, the government has approved green licence plates bearing numbers in white fonts for private e-vehicles and yellow for taxis. • Aim: The purpose behind distinctive number plates is their easy identification for preferential treatment in parking, free entry in congested zones besides other proposed benefits like concessional toll. • The measure is aimed at promoting e-vehicle’s use and the government is considering exemption from permits for such vehicles. All public transport operators may also be mandated to provide 1 per cent incremental fleet from 2020 onwards.
NITI AAYOG, GOOGLE TO HELP GROW AI ECOSYSTEM IN INDIA
• With the objective to foster growth for India’s nascent artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) ecosystem, NITI Aayog and Google have come together to work on a range of initiatives to help build the AI ecosystem across the country. • A Statement of Intent (SoI) was signed to this effect by Ms. Anna Roy, Advisor, NITI Aayog and Rajan Anandan, Vice President, India and South East Asia, Google in the presence of the Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog. • Google through the NITI Aayog, will conduct hands-on training programs that aim to sensitise policymakers and technical experts in governments about relevant AI tools, and how they can be used to streamline governance.
INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN THEATRE FESTIVAL TO BE HELD IN KOLKATA
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• The International Children Theatre festival will be held in Kolkata. • Countries participating in the festival are France, Slovenia, Swaziland, Mexico, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and India. • THE festival, organised by the 'Kolkata Eso Natak Shikhi', is based on the theme "Safe Drive Save Life, Save Kid’s Life”. The festival will be held from June 17 to 21, 2018.
WORLD'S FIRST 'WOMEN'S SPECIAL' TRAIN COMPLETES 26 YEARS
• The Western Railway completed 26 years of its first 'ladies special' train. • It was on May 5, 1992 that the Western Railway introduced the train service to ferry only women passengers between Churchgate and Borivali stations.
TASK FORCE ON ESTABLISHMENT OF CDRI SUBMITS REPORT
• A task force set up by the Home Ministry to provide suggestions on disaster risk reduction presented its report to Home Minister. • The report on 'Establishing a Coalition on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)' provides a step-by-step implementation plan and analysis in order to build and operationalise a coalition. • The task force was headed by Preeti Saran, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs. • The study includes a business case for the coalition, analysis of best practices of international partnerships in disaster risk and other thematic areas lead by India, and a preliminary design of the coalition besides others. • This will help generate new knowledge for hazard risk assessment, disaster resilient technologies and mechanism for integrating risk reduction in infrastructure financing.
CHANDRAPUR AND BALLARSHAH MOST BEAUTIFUL RAILWAY STATIONS IN INDIA
• Chandrapur and Ballarshah railway stations in Maharashtra have bagged the first prize in the "most beautiful" stations category of the Indian Railways. • Madhubani and Madurai stations under East Central Railway and Southern Railway, respectively, shared the second prize. • The first prize includes a cash award of Rs 10 lakh and the second prize of Rs 5 lakh. Gandhidham (Gujarat) and Kota (Rajasthan) stations under Western Railway and
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
West Central Railway, respectively, jointly won the third prize with cash award of Rs 3 lakh.
TELECOM COMMISSION ALLOWS IN-FLIGHT CONNECTIVITY
• The Telecom Commission approved the proposal of the Department of Telecommunications for Internet and mobile communication on aircraft. • Now travellers flying through Indian airspace will be able to make phone calls and surf the Internet in the next three to four months. • Furthermore, the in-flight connectivity will be available only once the aircraft has attained an altitude of 3,000 meters. This restriction is being imposed to maintain compatibility with terrestrial networks. • The DoT will now make the necessary amendments to the relevant laws to create a separate category of licences for in-flight connectivity operators, which could be telecom service providers. • The DoT proposal, which is cleared recently, will enable not only Indian airlines but also their foreign counterparts to offer connectivity in Indian air territory.
INTERNATIONAL
MALAYSIA PLANS TO BUILD THE ISLAND ON STRATEGIC SINGAPORE
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
STRAIT ROCKS
• Malaysia’s government has planned to develop some offshore rocks which were the subject of a territorial dispute with Singapore. • The offshore rock in dispute is ‘Middle Rocks’, which already has been awarded by the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) to Malaysia in 2008. At the same time, the ICJ awarded the nearby Pedra Branca island to Singapore. • The outcrop Middle Rocks lies near the opening of the Straits of Singapore. • Singapore was once part of Malaysia but they separated acrimoniously in 1965, clouding diplomatic and economic dealings for years. Some of the frostiest years were during Mahathir’s previous tenure as prime minister between 1981 and 2003.
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (ICJ)
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).
EU TIGHTENS LAW ON FOREIGN TEMPORARY WORKERS
• European Union (EU) has tightened the laws for working conditions of foreign workers by entitling them the same level of pay as their local counterparts. • In France, the UK and Germany there have been complaints of unfair competition from cheaper eastern European labour by giving competition to local labour. • Under the new rules, firms sending workers to another EU country will have to cover their travel, board and accommodation costs - not deduct those costs from the workers' salaries. The accommodation provided will have to meet local standards. • The duration of the posting has been set at a maximum of 12 months, with a possible extension of six months. Beyond that period, a worker who stays on will have to be governed by the host country's labour rules. • The 28 EU member states now have two years to transpose the rules into national
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
law.
WHO ADOPTS THE RESOLUTION ON DIGITAL HEALTH PROPOSED BY INDIA
• The Resolution on #DigitalHealth brought out by India was adopted at the 71st World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), in Geneva (Switzerland). • The resolution paves the path for WHO to establish a global strategy on digital health identifying priority areas. • The resolution is also the first step towards mainstreaming digital interventions in health including big data and its analytics, use of deep machine learning, artificial intelligence, internet of things and other emerging disciplines like genomics.
PAKISTAN'S SINDH PROVINCE PASSED THE BILL ALLOWING HINDU WIDOWS TO REMARRY
• A landmark Bill allowing Hindu widows to remarry has been passed by the assembly of Pakistan’s Sindh Province. • The bill, titled the Sindh Hindu Marriage Act, 2016 (Amendment) Bill, 2018, was moved by Nand Kumar Goklani of Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F). • The Bill allows Hindu widows to remarry out of their own free will but only after a period of six months has lapsed after their husband’s death. • Hindu women were also granted the right to file a petition for the termination of their marriages.
COLOMBIA TO BE FIRST LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRY TO JOIN NATO
• Colombia will become the first Latin American country to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). • The NATO reached a partnership agreement with Colombia back in May 2017, just after peace was signed with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, an agreement that earned President Juan Manuel Santos a Nobel Peace Prize. • Colombia also recently joined Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO)
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 North American and European countries based on the North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949. It is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
HAMBURG TO HOST 2018 GLOBAL WIND SUMMIT
• The first edition of the Global Wind Summit will be held here from September 25-28, 2018 in Hamburg, Germany. • The organisers of the four-day event are expecting speakers from about 100 countries, including India, China, the US, Spain and Denmark. • The event will provide a platform for experts from across the globe to discuss innovative and green technologies for harnessing wind energy making. • India is fourth largest country -- after China, the US and Germany -- in terms of wind energy installation capacity at around 33 GW. • Indian government has set a target of achieving 60 GW from wind power by 2022.
EU'S GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (GDPR) COMES INTO EFFECT
• Some high-profile US news websites are temporarily unavailable in Europe after new EU data protection rules (GDPR) came into effect.
MAIN HIGHLIGHTS
o Lawmakers of European Union passed the new legislation in April 2016, according to which misusing or carelessly handling personal information will bring fines of up to 20 million euros ($23.4m; £17.5m), or 4% of a company's global turnover.
o All EU citizens now have the right to see what information companies have about them, and to have that information deleted.
o Companies must also tell all affected users about any data breach and tell the overseeing authority within 72 hours. • The GDPR was legislated following the findings that Facebook, Google, Instagram and WhatsApp have been forcing users to consent to targeted advertising to use the
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
services.
PAKISTAN PARLIAMENT PASSES BILL TO MERGE FATA AND KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA
• Pakistan’s Parliament passed a constitutional amendment bill seeking the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. • The bill seeks an amendment to Article 1 of the Constitution, which defines the country’s territory and mentions Fata as a separate entity along with other four provinces. • The restive tribal areas will now be directly governed by federal and provincial governments instead of through an agent, as had been the case since colonial times. • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (abbreviated as KP) is one of the four administrative provinces of Pakistan, located in the northwestern region of the country along the international border with Afghanistan. It was previously known as the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) until 2010
INDO-DUTCH STARTUP INITIATIVE: #STARTUPLINK LAUNCHED
• In an endeavor to further the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, Invest India and the Dutch Government jointly launched the Indo-Dutch #StartUpLink initiative. • The initiative was launched during the visit of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on May 25, 2018 at Taj West End Hotel, Bengaluru. • Invest India is the host to the Govt. of India’s initiative, ‘Startup India’ under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. • The focus area of the initiative will be on creating a Clean air India ring, which is an important link of Indo-Dutch startup.
INDIA LAUNCHES AN INTERNATIONAL INCUBATOR FOR CLEAN ENERGY INNOVATORS AT MISSION INNOVATION (MI3)
• High level delegates from 23 economies, including India, and the European Commission converged at Malmo, Sweden for the 3rd Mission Innovation Ministerial from 22-23 May, 2018. • Indian delegation was led by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• During the meeting, India announced setting up of First International Incubator for clean energy in public-private partnership at a total investment of around US $ 5 million in Delhi.
MISSION INNOVATION
On November 30, 2015, Leader of 20 countries came together to launch Mission Innovation (MI), a landmark 5-year commitment to accelerate the pace of innovation and make clean energy widely affordable and accessible worldwide. MI now comprises 23 economies and the European Commission.
US DISINVITES CHINA FROM RIMPAC EXERCISE OVER SOUTH CHINA SEA
• The United States (US) has disinvited China from an international military exercise over its militarization of islands in the South China Sea. • The biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise, known as RIMPAC, is set to occur in June 2018 and involves more than two-dozen nations. It is the largest naval drill in the world • China has deployed anti-ship missiles, surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, and electronic jammers to contested features in the Spratly Islands region of the South China Sea. China's landing of [H-6K] bomber aircraft at Woody Island has also raised tensions.
PARAGUAY BECOME THE THIRD COUNTRY TO OPEN ITS EMBASSY IN JERUSALEM
• Earlier U.S.A and Guatemala took politically sensitive move and shifted embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. • Palestinian leaders and Palestinian Liberation army has condemned this move as Palestinian leaders see East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. • Israel occupied West Bank in 6-day war of 1967 and later annexed East Jerusalem. These two along with Gaza are known as “Occupied Territories’ in international parlance. • The first use of the term 'territories occupied' was used in the U.N security council (UNSC) Resolution 242.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
BURUNDI VOTES TO ALLOW PRESIDENT TO EXTEND TIME IN POWER
• A majority of Burundi's voters agreed to amend the constitution in changes that could prolong the rule of President Pierre Nkurunziza until 2034. • That could give him another 14 years in power when his current term expires in 2020. • It is landlocked country in the African Great Lakes region of East Africa. Its capital is Bujumbura.
RUSSIA UNVEILS WORLD'S FIRST FLOATING NUCLEAR POWER STATION
• Russia on May 19 unveiled the world's first floating nuclear power station in the port of the far northern city of Murmansk where it will be loaded with nuclear fuel before heading to eastern Siberia. • Constructed by the state nuclear power firm Rosatom, the 144-by-30 metre ship holds two reactors with two 35 megawatt nuclear reactors that are similar to those used to power icebreaker ships. • It will be primarily used to power oil rigs as Russia pushes further north into the Arctic to drill for oil and gas and needs electricity in far-flung locations.
MAX THUNDER: US-SOUTH KOREA JOINT MILITARY DRILL BEGINS
• The regular US-South Korea joint military exercise known as "Max Thunder" is running for 15 days, from May 11th through the 25th, mainly at air bases in Osan, outside Seoul, and in Kunsan in the country's southwest. • The exercise began in 2009 with the aim of better coordinating the air forces of the 2 nations. Some 100 warplanes are involved, including 8 F-22 stealth fighters, which the US military has deployed to the joint drill for the first time.
UN LAUNCHES $10 BILLION INTERNATIONAL FINANCE FACILITY FOR EDUCATION
• A campaign to raise $10 billion to ensure that every child gets a secondary school education by 2030 received support from the UN chief, global and regional banks, and 11.5 million young people. • Three youth activists from India, Kenya and Sierra Leone delivered a petition signed
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
by 1.5 million of their peers to the United Nations Secretary-General that calls for more investment in education. • The $10 billion International Finance Facility for Education aims to get more than 260 million children into the classroom. • It targets some of the world’s most marginalized youth and addresses issues which are denying them access to school, such as child labour, child marriage and discrimination against girls.
INTERNATIONAL NURSES DAY: 12 MAY
• International Nurses day is being celebrated across the world every year on 12th May to mark the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. • Theme: This year the theme of the day is - NURSES A VOICE TO LEAD - HEALTH IS A HUMAN RIGHT. • On the occasion, President Ram Nath Kovind will present Florence Nightingale awards to the nursing personnel at a function in New Delhi.
INDIA HOSTED 15TH ASIA MEDIA SUMMIT
• India hosted the 15th Asia Media Summit from May 10-12, 2018 in which representatives from nearly 40 countries delved on issues related to the media sector. • India is hosting the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) Kuala Lumpur for the first time. • THE theme of the Summit is ‘Telling Our Stories Asia and More'.
BANGLADESH PROPOSES INDIA’S INDUCTION AS OIC OBSERVER
• Bangladesh has proposed restructuring of the charter of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to pave way for inclusion of non-Muslim countries like India as an "observer state". • The induction was needed so that a large number of Muslim population "do not remain untouched by the good work of OIC and "that is why, reforms and re- structuring is critical for OIC".
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
ORGANISATION OF ISLAMIC COOPERATION (OIC)
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is an international organization founded in 1969, consisting of 57-member state with 47 countries being Muslim majority states. The headquarters is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
NORTH KOREA CHANGES ITS TIME ZONE TO MATCH SOUTH
• North Korea has changed time zone to match the South after last week's inter- Korean summit. At 23:30 local time (15:00 GMT) on 4 May 2018 the country's clocks moved forward 30 minutes to midnight. • The reset is "THE FIRST PRACTICAL STEP" to speed up Korean unification. Until now, it was on Pyongyang Time, which is half an hour behind South Korea and Japan. • It introduced the extra 30 minutes in 2015 as a stand against wicked Japanese imperialists. • In 2007, Venezuela's former leader Hugo Chávez turned the clocks back by half an hour. In 2011, Samoa and Tokelau skipped an entire day - and jumped westwards across the international dateline - to align with trade partners.
NO NOBEL PRIZE ON LITERATURE THIS YEAR: SWEDISH ACADEMY
• The organisation that decides the Nobel Prize for Literature has said it will not announce an award this year, after it was engulfed in a scandal over sexual assault allegations. • Two prizes for literature will be announced next year, one for 2018 and one for 2019. • The academy says it will now announce the 2018 winner along with the 2019 winner next year. The scandal is the biggest to hit the prize since it was first awarded in 1901. • Apart from six years during the world wars, there has been only one year when the prize was not awarded. No worthy winner was found in 1935.
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY: 3 MAY
• World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO's General Conference. • Since then, 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• 2018 THEME: Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and The Rule of Law
ECONOMY & BANKING
MINISTRY OF POWER LAUNCHES WEB PORTAL AND APP CALLED PRAAPTI
• PRAAPTI App and Web portal was launched by Minister of State for Power R.K. Singh for bringing transparency in electricity payments to Generators.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• PRAAPTI stands for Payment Ratification And Analysis in Power procurement for bringing Transparency in Invoicing of generators. • This will help the stakeholders in getting month-wise and legacy data on outstanding amounts of Discoms against power purchase.
AIR INDIA, INDIGO INCLUDED IN TOP FIVE CHEAPEST AIRLINES IN WORLD
• Low-cost carriers IndiGo and Air India Express have been ranked among the top five cheapest airlines in the world in providing international connectivity. • Air India Express, the wholly-owned subsidiary of state-run carrier Air India, has been ranked second and the budget carrier IndiGo placed at the fifth position in a Global Flight Pricing Report prepared by Melbourne-based Rome2rio -- a multimodal travel planning site. • The report compared 200 major airlines across continents by the average price per kilometre with Air Asia X taking the pole position. • Air India Express, mostly connecting Gulf countries and Singapore, has an average cost of USD 0.08 per km and IndiGo USD 0.10 per km. AirAsia X at the top has an average of USD 0.07 per km.
15TH FINANCE COMMISSION CONSTITUTES A HIGH-LEVEL GROUP ON HEALTH SECTOR
• The 15th Finance Commission constitutes a High-Level Group to examine the strengths and weaknesses for enabling balanced expansion of Health Sector. • The high-level group comprises of eminent experts from across the country in Health Sector. Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS, New Delhi will be its Convenor.
THE ROLE AND FUNCTIONS
o To evaluate the existing regulatory framework in the Health sector o To examine its strength and weaknesses for enabling a balanced yet faster expansion of the health sector keeping in view India’s demographic profile;
o To suggest ways and means to optimize the use of existing financial resources
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
and
o To incentivize the state governments’ effort on fulfillment of well-defined health parameters in India; and
o To holistically examine best international practices for the health sector and seek to benchmark our frameworks to these practices for optimizing benefits keeping in mind our local issues. • The Fifteenth Finance Commission of India (XV-FC) was constituted in November 2017 under the Article 280 of the Indian Constitution. The commission's chairman is N. K. Singh, with its full-time members being Shaktikanta Das and Anoop Singh.
CCI APPROVES US $66 BN BAYER-MONSANTO DEAL
• Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the acquisition of US-based biotech major Monsanto by German chemical and pharma major Bayer AG. • Earlier in January 2018, CCI had launched a public consultation process to determine whether the billion-dollar merger deal between Bayer and Monsanto to create the world’s largest seeds and pesticide firm will have any adverse impact on competition in India.
COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA (CCI)
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 throughout India and to prevent activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India.
INDIA RECEIVES THE 1ST CARGO OF ADNOC CRUDE OIL FOR ITS STRATEGIC RESERVE
• India received the 1st cargo of UAE crude oil for filling up one of the two Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) caverns built by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd (ISPRL) at Mangalore. • The Centre has built crude oil storage facilities with total capacity of 5.33 Million
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Tonnes (MT) at three locations under phase I of the SPR programme. • Besides Mangalore (1.5 MT), the other two locations to have SPR are Vishakhapatnam (1.33 MT) and Padur (2.5 MT). • Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) signed an agreeement with the ADNOC of UAE under which ADNOC will store about 5.86 million barrels of crude oil in India's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) facility at Mangalore at its own cost. • The Agreement with ISPRL also allows ADNOC to sell part of the crude oil to Indian refineries on commercial basis while adhering to mutually agreed minimum crude storage which is for exclusive use of the Indian government.
MCX LAUNCHES INDIA’S FIRST COPPER OPTIONS CONTRACTS
• Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (MCX) has launched India’s first options contract on copper futures. • Currently, June, August and November 2018 option contracts are available for trading, with one MCX copper futures contract (1 MT) as the underlying. • Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) is an independent commodity exchange based in India. It was established in 2003 and is based in Mumbai.
INDIA 6TH WEALTHIEST COUNTRY WITH TOTAL WEALTH OF 8,230 BILLION US DOLLARS
• India has been ranked sixth in the list of wealthiest countries with total wealth of $8,230 billion, while the United States topped the chart, according to New World Wealth report. • The US is the wealthiest country with total wealth of $64,584 billion, followed by China ($24,803 billion) and Japan ($19,522 billion). • Total wealth refers to the private wealth held by all the individuals living in each country/city. It includes all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) less any liabilities. The report, however, excludes government funds from its figures.
TATA STEEL ACQUIRES 72% STAKE IN BANKRUPT BHUSHAN STEEL
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• Tata Steel, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Bamnipal Steel Limited (BNPL), has acquired a controlling stake in the debt-laden Bhushan Steel. • Tata Steel got 72.65 percent stake in Bhushan Steel. • Bhushan Steel is a listed entity having a crude steel capacity of around 5.6 million tons along with downstream facilities of cold rolled products of around 2 mtpa. • The company has its upstream facilities in Meramandali, Odisha and downstream facilities in Khopoli, Maharashtra and Sahibabad, Uttar Pradesh.
UNION COMMERCE MINISTRY ESTABLISHES DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF TRADE REMEDIES
• Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued notification for creation of Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) in Department of Commerce. • DGTR will be apex national authority for administering all trade remedial measures including anti-dumping, countervailing duties and safeguard measures. • It will bring Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied duties (DGAD), Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) and Safeguards (QR) functions into one single entity. • It will also provide trade defence support to our domestic industry and exporters in dealing with increasing instances of trade remedy investigations instituted against them by other countries.
PARCEL CARGO EXPRESS TRAIN BEGINS OPERATION, CONNECTING NE TO WEST COAST
• The Northeast Frontier Railway has started operating one lease Parcel Cargo Express Train (PCET) on fortnightly basis, connecting North-eastern part of the country to the West Coast. • The PCET has been started in line with the Government's priority to provide connectivity to the Northeast region and empowering the local industries there. • The route of this Parcel Cargo Express Train is - New Guwahati in Assam to Kalyan in Maharasthra with stoppages at New Jalpaiguri and Kalumna. • This move would enable farmers to market their products like tea, betal nuts, pineapple, jute, horticulture products, cane furniture at the retail markets in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Nagpur, and Pune.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
BSE BECOMES FIRST INDIAN STOCK EXCHANGE TO GET US SEC’S DOSM RECOGNITION
• Asia’s first stock exchange BSE received recognition as a ‘Designated Offshore Securities Market’ (DOSM) from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). • With this, BSE becomes the first stock exchange in India to receive DOSM recognition.
MICRO IRRIGATION FUND WORTH RS 5000 CRORE TO BE SET WITH NABARD
• The Union Cabinet approved a dedicated Rs 5,000-crore fund to bring more land area under micro-irrigation, as part of its objective to boost agriculture production and farmers income. • The Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF), set up under the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), seeks to provide states financial assistance on concessional rate of interest to promote micro-irrigation. • Currently, 10 million hectares is under micro-irrigation as against the potential of 70 million hectares. • The fund will facilitate states to mobilise resources for their initiatives, including additional (top up subsidy) in implementation of PMKSY-PDMC to achieve the annual target of about two million hectares per year during the remaining period of 14th Finance Commission.
SURESH PRABHU LAUNCHES INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MASCOT – IP NANI
• The Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu launched the Intellectual Property (IP) mascot – IP Nani – at the conference on National Intellectual Property Rights Policy in New Delhi. • Mascot IP Nani is a tech-savvy grandmother who helps the government and enforcement agencies in combating IP crimes with the help of her grandson “Chhotu” aka Aditya.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• The IP mascot will spread awareness about the importance of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) among people, especially children, in an interesting manner.
INDIA 3RD LARGEST SOLAR MARKET IN WORLD: MERCOM
• Mercom Communications India, reported India emerged as the third largest solar market in the world in 2017 behind China and the US. • As per the report, India set a new record with 9.6 GW of solar installations in 2017, which was more than double the 4.3 GW installed in 2016. • The robust growth boosted the country's total solar installed capacity to 19.6 GW as of December 2017. • In 2017, larger players started consolidating their positions at the top as India quickly emerged as one of the most important solar markets in the world for suppliers and vendors.
CHINESE STATE-RUN BANK LAUNCHES INDIA-DEDICATED INVESTMENT FUND
• China's largest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), has launched the country's first India-dedicated publicly offered investment fund. • The fund, named the ICBC Credit Suisse India Market Fund, will "invest in exchange- traded funds listed on more than 20 exchanges in Europe and the US that are based on the Indian market. • It will invest in the future of the Indian economy and track the distribution of the industrial structure across the Indian market.
INDIA LARGEST REMITTANCE-RECEIVING COUNTRY IN WORLD
• India was the largest remittance-receiving country in the world, with migrant workers from the country sending home USD 69 billion in 2017. • About 70 per cent of remittances sent to Asia and the Pacific come from outside the region and in particular from the Gulf States (32 per cent), North America (26 per cent) and Europe (12 per cent). • In 2017, migrant workers sent USD 256 billion to their families in the Asia-Pacific region. Remittances are particularly crucial in rural areas where poverty is the highest. Worldwide, an estimated 40 percent of the total value of remittances goes
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
to rural areas.
IN WORLD'S LARGEST E-COMMERCE DEAL, WALMART BUYS 77% STAKE IN FLIPKART
• Walmart Inc announced that it would pay $16 billion for an initial stake of approximately 77% in homegrown e-commerce company Flipkart. The deal values Flipkart at $20.8 billion. • This is one of its biggest foreign investment ever. India is one of the most attractive retail markets in the world, given its size and growth rate and this investment will help fuel ambition to deepen the connection with buyers and sellers and to create the next wave of retail in India. • With the investment, Flipkart will leverage Walmart’s omnichannel retail expertise, grocery and general merchandise supply-chain knowledge and financial strength. • While Walmart and Flipkart will leverage their combined strengths, they will maintain distinct brands and operating structures.
AIRPORT CAPACITY TO BE AUGMENTED UNDER NABH NIRMAN INITIATIVE
• The government is committed to the building of airport capacity as part of NABH (NextGen Airports for BHarat) Nirman initiative. • Improving passenger amenities, promoting cargo handling facilities and early operationalisation of 56 new airports under UDAN scheme will be the focus areas. • The Minister also accorded 'in-principle' approval to the Government of Uttar Pradesh for setting up of Noida International Greenfield Airport at the North of Jewar Village, Utta Pradesh. • MoCA had granted site clearance to the Noida International Greenfield Airport on July 6, 2017.
INDIA SIGNS US$200 MN DEAL WITH WORLD BANK FOR POSHAN ABHIYAN
• The Government of India and the World Bank today signed an additional financing of US $200 million to fund the National Nutrition Mission (POSHAN Abhiyaan) • The Project will directly contribute to the Government of India’s renewed
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
commitment to address the challenge of undernutrition under the recently announced POSHAN Abhiyaan. • This will support the Government of India achieve its goal of reducing stunting in children 0-6 years of age from 38.4% to 25% by the year 2022. • With a focus on improving the coverage and quality of ICDS nutrition services to pregnant and lactating women and children under 3 years of age, the project will include investments in improving the skills and capacities of ICDS staff and community nutrition workers.
GST COUNCIL SETS UP TWO GROUP OF MINISTERS TO LOOK INTO DIGITAL PAYMENT
• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has set up two separate groups of ministers (GoMs) to give recommendations on imposition of a cess on sugar and incentivising digital payments in the GST regime. • The first GoM shall consider the issues relating to “Incentivizing digital payments in the GST regime”. Sushil Kumar Modi, Deputy Chief Minister, Bihar, will be the Convener. • The Second GoM shall consider issues relating to “Imposition of Cess on Sugar under GST”. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Finance Minister of Assam will be the Convenor.
INVESTMENT LIMIT UNDER PRADHAN MANTRI VAYA VANDANA YOJANA DOUBLED
• The Union Cabinet approved extending the investment limit from Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh under the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY). • It also extended the last date for subscription to the scheme till March 31, 2020. The time limit was earlier supposed to end on May 4 this year. • The scheme provides an assured pension based on a guaranteed rate of return of 8 per cent per annum for 10 years.
PRADHAN MANTRI VAYA VANDANA YOJANA (PMVVY)
Government of India has announced Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana for citizen age 60 years and above. LIC of India has been given the sole privilege to operate this scheme. The Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana has been launched on 4th May 2017.The scheme shall
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018 be available for one year from date of launch.
CONTINUATION OF "GREEN REVOLUTION – KRISHONNATI YOJANA" APPROVED
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, has given its approval for the Umbrella Scheme, "Green Revolution - Krishonnati Yojana" in agriculture sector for the period from 2017-18 to 2019-20 with the Central Share of Rs. 33,269.976 crore. • The Umbrella scheme comprises of 11 Schemes/Missions. These are:
i. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) ii. National Food Security Mission (NFSM), including National Mission on Oil Seeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) iii. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) iv. Submission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE) v. Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Material (SMSP) vi. Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM) vii. Sub Mission on Plant Protection and Plan Quarantine (SMPPQ) viii. Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Census, Economics and Statistics (ISACES) ix. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Cooperation (ISAC) x. Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Marketing (ISAM) xi. National e-Governance Plan (NeGP-A)
• These schemes look to develop the agriculture and allied sector in a holistic and scientific manner to increase the income of farmers by enhancing production, productivity and better returns on produce. • The Schemes will be continued with an expenditure of Rs.33,269.976 crore for three financial years, i.e., 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20.
INDIA PROJECTED AS WORLD’S SECOND FASTEST GROWING COUNTRY FOR AIR PASSENGER TRAFFIC
• India has been projected to be the second fastest growing country in the world for air passenger traffic. • The Airports Council International (ACI) has put Vietnam at the top position with an 8.5 percent growth rate, followed by India at 7.5 percent and Iran at 7.3 percent. • China has been placed at the 8th position with 5.9 percent growth rate.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• ACI has placed the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi among the top twenty busiest airports in the world.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
SCIENTISTS CREATED FIRST 3D-PRINTED HUMAN CORNEAS TO TREAT BLINDNESS
• Scientists have created 3D printed human corneas that could solve the shortage of available eye donors and help millions of blind people gain sight again. Newcastle University in the UK, led the research. • The proof-of-concept research, published in the journal Experimental Eye Research, shows how stem cells from a healthy donor cornea were mixed together with alginate and collagen to create a solution that could be printed, a ‘bio-ink’.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• Using a simple low-cost 3D bio-printer, the bio-ink was successfully extruded in concentric circles to form the shape of a human cornea. It took less than 10 minutes to print.
IMPORTANCE OF 3D CORNEA
As the outermost layer of the human eye, the cornea has an important role in focusing vision. Yet there is a significant shortage of corneas available to transplant, with 10 million people worldwide requiring surgery to prevent corneal blindness as a result of diseases such as trachoma, an infectious eye disorder. In addition, almost 5 million people suffer total blindness due to corneal scarring caused by burns, lacerations, abrasion or disease.
RUTHENIUM (RU): FOURTH ELEMENT SHOWING MAGNETISM AT ROOM TEMPERATURE DISCOVERED
• Scientists have discovered that the chemical element Ruthenium (Ru) is the fourth element to have unique magnetic properties at room temperature. • The discovery, led by researchers at the University of Minnesota in the US, could be used to improve sensors, devices in the computer memory and logic industry, or other devices using magnetic materials. • The use of ferromagnetism, or the basic mechanism by which certain materials (such as iron) form permanent magnets. • Only three elements on the periodic table have been found to be ferromagnetic at room temperature - iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), and nickel (Ni). • The rare earth element gadolinium (Gd) nearly misses by only 8 degrees Celsius.
UAE BANS IMPORT OF FRUITS, VEGETABLES FROM KERALA
• United Arab Emirates (UAE) banned import of fresh fruits and vegetables from Kerala in the wake of outbreak of Nipah virus (NiV) in the state. • It further said the decision is based on the information received and published on the World Health Organisation (WHO) website regarding the outbreak of NiV infection in Kerala. • Preliminary information, it added indicates that the main host of the disease is the fruit bat, where the virus is transmitted through secretions from the bat to the fruit that it feeds on or touches.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• Mangoes, dates and bananas are the bat's most preferred fruit. Brain damaging Nipah virus has leads to death of over 10 people so far in the Kerala.
NIPAH VIRUS (NIV) LEADS TO THREE DEATHS IN KOZHIKODE
Nipah Virus is an emerging infectious disease that broke out in Malaysia and Singapore in 1998 and 1999.
It first appeared in domestic pigs and has been found among several species of domestic animals including dogs, cats, goats, horses and sheep. The infection is also known to affect human beings.
The organism which causes Nipah Virus encephalitis is an RNA or Ribonucleic acid virus of the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus, and is closely related to Hendra virus.
Nipah virus infection gets its name from the village in Malaysia where the person from whom the virus was first isolated succumbed to the disease.
NAGPUR-BASED NEERI COME UP WITH THE IDEA TO CLEAN GARBAGE IN LAKES
• The Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) has come up with a novel idea to clean the garbage dumped in lakes. • The NEERI method is based on floating cycle, which gathers garbage while moving around in the water body. • The cycle is equipped with a propeller and paddle wheel at the back churns water providing aeration for the water body, thus increasing the dissolved oxygen level. • The first demonstration was given to clean the skimming debris of the Futala Lake in Nagpur. The lake is spread over 60 acres. Built by Bhosle kings of Nagpur, the lake is known for its coloured fountains.
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH INSTITUTE
The CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) is a research institute created and funded by Government of India. It was established in Nagpur in 1958 and has five zonal laboratories at Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
AKSHAY KUMAR LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE TWIN PIT TOILET TECHNOLOGY
• Akshay Kumar, launched an advertising campaign for the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) in New Delhi. The campaign focuses on promoting the twin pit toilet technology in rural India, and also features actress Bhumi Pednekar. • The twin pit toilet technology was invented in India and is the most well-suited toilet technology for rural India and is recommended by Government of India and the World Health Organization. • It is scientifically proven that:
o A pit in a standard twin-pit toilet model fills up in roughly 5 years for a 6- membered family
o The waste may then be easily re-directed to the second pit o In 6 months to 1 year, the waste in the filled pit decomposes completely o This decomposed waste is safe to handle and rich in NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) nutrients which makes it ideal for use in agriculture.
DELHI’S AIR IS AS BAD AS SMOKING 7.7 CIGARETTES A DAY: SH**T! I SMOKE APP
• Going by PM2.5 levels, the app ‘Sh**t! I Smoke’, available on Android and iOS portals for free, shows that inhaling the air in Delhi is equivalent to smoking 7.7 cigarettes a day. • The smartphone application, launched in Paris, uses location-specific data for PM2.5 — floating particulate matter, including organic and inorganic pollutants, with the diameter of lesser than 2.5 microns that can enter the respiratory system • The app uses a study by Berkeley Earth, California-based climate science analysts, to make the calculation. • The figure for Lucknow is 8, for Jaipur 7.3, for Bengaluru 0.7, for Chandigarh 6.1, for Ranchi 3.3, for Indore 3.9 and for Kolkata 3.5.
THE NETHERLANDS JOIN INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE (ISA)
• Three government-to-government agreements were signed between India and Netherland which included the Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• With this, the Netherlands became the sixty-fourth signatory member country.
INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE (ISA)
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of more than 121 countries, most of them being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. This initiative was first proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a speech during Paris Climate Change Summit in November 2015.
FIRST EBOLA VACCINES GIVEN BY WHO AMID OUTBREAK IN CONGO
• The first batch of 4,000 experimental Ebola vaccines ‘VSV-EBOV’ to combat an outbreak suspected of killing 23 people arrived in Congo’s capital Kinshasa on May 23, 2018. • The experimental vaccines shot developed by Merck will be used for the first time since it was developed two years ago. The shot is designed for use in so-called ring vaccination plans. • The outbreak of the virus in 2018 was first spotted in the Bikoro zone of Congo and it is the first outbreak since it hit the West African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in 2014.
EBOLA VIRUS DISEASE (EVD)
Ebola virus disease (EVD), also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF) or simply Ebola, is a viral hemorrhagic fever of humans and other primates caused by ebolaviruses.
It spreads by saliva (kissing or shared drinks), by touching a contaminated surface (blanket or doorknob), by animal or insect bites or stings, and by blood products (unclean needles or unscreened blood).
WHO PUBLISHES ITS FIRST ESSENTIAL DIAGNOSTICS LIST
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) published its first 'essential diagnostics list', a catalogue of tests needed to diagnose the most common conditions as well as a number of global priority diseases. • The step was taken to address the problem of people's inability to access diagnostic services, thus failing to receive the correct treatment. The WHO will update the
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
essential diagnostics list on a regular basis. • AIM: The aim is to provide a tool that can be useful to all countries, to test and treat better, but also to use health funds more efficiently by concentrating on the truly essential tests.
SCIENTISTS DEVELOP FINGERPING SYSTEM ALLOWING USERS TO TYPE WITH GESTURES
• Scientists have developed smart rings and wristbands that can allow users to type on mobile devices using hand gestures. • Using acoustic chirps emitted from a ring and received by a wristband the system is able to recognize 22 different micro finger gestures that could be programmed to various commands. • The system can accuratly recognise hand poses using the 12 bones of the fingers and digits '1' through '10' in American Sign Language (ASL). • The system is called FingerPing. Unlike other technology that requires the use of a glove or a more obtrusive wearable, this technique is limited to just a thumb ring and a watch. • The ring produces acoustic chirps that travel through the hand and are picked up by receivers on the watch.
ISRO MAKING GREEN PROPELLANT
• Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have reported progress in the development of an environment-friendly propellant to power satellites and spacecraft. • The effort is to replace the conventional hydrazine rocket fuel, a highly toxic and carcinogenic chemical, with a greener propellant for future missions. • Now, the latest in propulsion including electric, hybrid, cryogenic and nuclear power propulsion system is being developed indigenously at LPSC. • The attempt is to control the engine thrust to explore all landing modes including vertical and soft landing of launch vehicles, so that it can be reused.
FROZEN SEMEN STATION BEING SET UP IN MARANGA, PURNEA UNDER RASHTRIYA GOKUL MISSION
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• Central Government has recently launched a scheme in the name of Rashtriya Gokul Mission which will provide frozen semen for the cattle. • Frozen semen station was recently inaugurated in Maranga, Purnea by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare. • Currently, the artificial insemination is being done by CMOFED (Sudha) in Bihar. For artificial insemination, semen from high genetic merit bulls is needed. • In this, 300 high genetic merit bulls will be kept and 50 lakhs of semen dose will be produced per year. Red Sindhi, Bachaur, Gangatiri, Sahiwal breeds will also be kept.
INDIA TO SEE E-SIM TECHNOLOGY FOR FIRST TIME
• India to see eSIM technology for first time, with “e” standing for embedded. This is a chip embedded within a device. This technology means that thinner and smaller devices can connect to a mobile network. • If the eSIM is used on a wearable such as an Apple Watch or a computing device, it is easy to get your service provider to replicate your phone number on the secondary device. • India will be seeing the eSIM technology, supported by Airtel and Reliance Jio, for the first time, with the Apple Watch series 3 arriving in stores this weekend.
GOOGLE LAUNCHES ANDROID THINGS FOR IOT PLATFORM
• In an effort to better secure and control Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Google announced Android Things back in 2016 and now after eight different developer previews, the closed source OS for connected devices has finally reached version 1.0. • Google's version of Android for IoT devices aims to solve a problem that affects most of the current IoT devices on the market, developers routinely fail to update their devices. • To ensure that all Android Things devices can be updated easily, Google will only support certain pieces of hardware. • Developers will be able to manage their own Android Things devices using a cloud- based Android Things Console which will allow them to manage OS and app updates,
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
view analytics and issue test builds of their software.
Internet of Things (IOT)
The internet of things (IoT) is a computing concept that describes the idea of everyday physical objects being connected to the internet and being able to identify themselves to other devices. The term is closely identified with RFID as the method of communication, although it also may include other sensor technologies, wireless technologies or QR codes.
CHINA LAUNCHES NEW SATELLITE TO MONITOR AIR POLLUTION
• China successfully launched a hyperspectral imaging satellite for comprehensive observation of the atmosphere, including air pollution which is one of the country's major problems. • The satellite, launched as part of its high-resolution Earth observation project, was developed and produced by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation can be used for comprehensive environmental monitoring. • It has a designed life of eight years. It has the highest spectral resolution among China's remote sensing satellites. • Gaofen-5 is the first China-developed satellite that can monitor air pollution. It can dynamically reflect the state of air pollution in China through the monitoring of air pollutants, greenhouse gases, and aerosols.
CSWRI SCIENTISTS COMES UP WITH NEW SHEEP INSEMINATION TECHNIQUE
• Scientists at the Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute (CSWRI), have come up with a new laparascope-assisted insemination technique for sheep. • The minor invasive laparascopic technique involves passing a rigid fibre-optic laparoscope into the abdomen through a small incision. • The new technique would help achieve up to 60% survival in the birth of lambs and would have an immense potential for rapid multiplication of elite germplasm. This technique will be of great help in the breed improvement programmes.
ANITHA-SAT: INDIAN TEEN’S SATELLITE SOARS IN MEXICO SKY
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• Villet Oviya, a 17-year-old Plus two pass out student of R.S.K. Higher Secondary School, has developed ‘Anitha-SAT’, which was launched from Aztra Labs in Mexico City. • Anitha-SAT is a lightweight satellite, to measure the effects of air pollution and global warming. • The conical-shaped satellite, weighing just 500 grams, fitted with global positioning system and a camera, the satellite was pushed into troposphere, to a height of 15 km, in a helium balloon. • Under the supervision of the Founder of Agni Foundation Agnishwar Jayaprakash and the Chief Executive Officer of Garuda Aerospace Vimal Raj, the young innovator designed and got the satellite fabricated over a three-year period.
APSTAR-6C: CHINA LAUNCHES COMMUNICATION SATELLITE
• China on May 3 launched the Apstar-6C communications satellite, successfully inserting the 5-metric-ton spacecraft into a geostationary-transfer orbit. • It was lifted off from Long March 3B launch vehicle. • The launch was China's thirteenth of the year overall, and the fifth from Xichang, which is expected to see around 17 launches in 2018, mostly of Beidou navigation and positioning satellites. • The satellite will replace the in-orbit Apstar-6 satellite, providing high-power transponder services for video distribution, broadband internet access, and cellular backhaul.
NASA LAUNCHES INSIGHT MISSION TO MARS
• The NASA’s InSight Mars lander lifted off today on May 5 atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. • It will probe the interior of the Mars, giving us an idea of the size of the core, the mantle, the crust — and our ability then to compare that with the Earth. • InSight - Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
GRAVITYRAT: A MALWARE THAT SPIES ON COMPUTER
• GravityRAT is a malware which has been recently updated further and equipped with anti-malware capabilities. The RAT in its name stands for Remote Access Trojan. • It is designed to infiltrate the computers and steal the data of users and was first detected by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, Cert-In. • RAT enables the hackers to control the system remotely thus it becomes hard to trace. • The early signs of your system being malware with GravityRAT is operating system working slowly.
14 OF INDIAN CITIES FIGURE IN WORLD’S 20 MOST POLLUTED CITIES LIST: WHO
• The WHO global air pollution database released in Geneva, revealed that India has 14 out of the 20 most polluted cities in the world in terms of PM 2.5 concentrations, with the worst being Kanpur. • Other Indian cities that registered very high levels of PM2.5 pollutants were Faridabad, Gaya, Patna, Agra, Muzaffarpur, Srinagar, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Patiala and Jodhpur followed by Ali Subah Al-Salem in Kuwait and a few cities in China and Mongolia. • WHO estimates that around 7 million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air that penetrate deep into the lungs and cardiovascular system, causing diseases including stroke, heart disease, lung cancer etc.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
SPORTS
CEAT CRICKET RATINGS AWARDS
• CEAT Cricket Ratings awards were announced in the month of May 2018.
LIST OF AWARDEES
o International Cricketer of the Year Award: Virat Kohli o International Batsman of the Year Award: Shikhar Dhawan o International Bowler of the Year Award: Trent Boult (New Zealand) o T20 Bowler of the Year Award: Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) o U19 Player of the Year: Shubhman Gill
CEAT CRICKET RATINGS (CCR)
CEAT Cricket Ratings (CCR) was formed in 1995 in association with Professional Management Group. It is the first International Cricket Rating System to reward and recognize the performances on annual basis.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS WIN THE 11TH EDITION OF IPL
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final played at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
With this, CSK joined Mumbai Indians (MI) to have won the title for the third time. Prior to this, they won I.P.L in 2010 and 2011.
Shane Watson hit a magnificent century in the biggest game of the season. He made 117 runs. Their coach is Stephen Fleming.
CHINESE SHUTTLERS WINS THOMAS CUP TITLE
China's men took home the Thomas Cup-2018, after beating Japan 3-1 and compensate for their early exit from the previous tournament in 2016. The tournament was held in Bangkok.
THOMAS CUP
The Thomas Cup, sometimes called theq World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing 16 nations of the Badminton World Federation(BWF), the sport's global governing body.
The championships have been conducted every two years since the 1982 tournament. It was founded in 1949 by Sir George Thomas with most titles won by Indonesia (13 times).
JAPAN'S WOMEN CLINCH UBER CUP OF BADMINTON
• Japan’s women team clinched the Uber Cup by defeating the Thailand in the world’s second prestigious badminton tournament. • It ended an Uber Cup drought for Japan that stretches back to 1981 and is a major confidence boost ahead of the Olympics which they will host in two years' time.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
UBER CUP
The Uber Cup, sometimes called the World Team Championships for Women, is a major international badminton competition contested by women's national badminton teams. It was first held in 1957 and China has won it for maximum 14 number of times.
DANIEL RICCIARDO WINS F1 MONACO GRAND PRIX
• Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull won the Formula One (F1) Monaco Grand Prix. The second and third place was taken by Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton. • It was Ricciardo's second win of the season after the Chinese GP last month and seventh of his career, pushing him up to third in the title race.
AB DE VILLIERS ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM ALL FORMS OF CRICKET
• AB de Villiers announced that he has decided to retire from all forms of international cricket with immediate effect. • De Villiers has played 114 Tests, 228 ODIs and 78 T20 Internationals for South Africa. • The 34-year-old ends his international career with 9,577 ODI runs, 8,765 Test runs – averaging over 50 in both – and with 1672 runs in T20 Internationals. • He is known as Mr 360 degrees for his amazing ability to improvise and play shots to all corners of the park. • He holds the record for the fastest 50 (16-ball), 100 (31-ball) and 150 in ODI history. He is the only batsman to average 50-plus in ODIs in seven straight calendar years from 2009 to 2015. • He is one of only two batsmen to score 5,000-plus runs at 50-plus average in both Tests and ODIs — the other being Virat Kohli.
SOUTH KOREA WINS 5TH ASIAN CHAMPIONS TROPHY
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• South Korea defeated Indian women’s hockey team in the final of 5t Asian Champions Trophy. • The 5th edition of trophy was held in Donghae city, South Korea. • Asian Hockey Champions Trophy is an event held annually by the Asian Hockey Federation since 2011. It features top 6 filed hockey teams competing in a round robin format.
RAFAEL NADAL WINS ROME OPEN TENNIS TITLE FOR EIGHTH TIME
• Rafael Nadal defeated Alexander Zverev in the finals to win a record 8th time of Italian open. • He will regain the top ranking again. • The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is one of the most prestigious red clay tennis tournaments in the world after the French Open.
INDIA U-16 DEFEAT TAJIKISTAN 4-2 TO WIN FOUR-NATION TOURNAMENT IN SERBIA
• Indian colts won against Tajikistan 4-2 and emerged as champions in the four-nation Under-16 Tournament held in Serbia. • Putting up an impressive show, the Indian drew 0-0 with the hosts, defeated Jordan 2-1 before beating Tajikistan in the final. • India finished their campaign unbeaten in three matches, accumulating seven points out of a maximum nine.
INDIA TOPS 3RD SOUTH ASIAN JUNIOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIP
• India has finished on top in the South Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Colombo. • Indian athletes won nine more Gold medals, ending with a tally of 20 Gold, 22 Silver and 8 Bronze. • Host Sri Lanka finished second behind India, while Pakistan was third. Athletes from seven nations took part in the event.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• The Indian juniors will next represent the nation at the 18th Asian Junior Athletics Championships to be held in Gifu, Japan from the 7th of next month.
RAMIT TANDON WINS ABU DHABI OPEN SQUASH TITLE
• India's Ramit Tandon toppled number one seed Omar Abdel Meguid of Egypt to win the Abu Dhabi Open, his third title on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) tour. • The third seed beat the Egyptian 11-6, 6-11, 11-3, 11-2 in an exciting one-hour final. Steady has been Ramit's watchword in this tournament and world number 65 played true to his potential.
JUSTIN LANGER APPOINTED COACH OF AUSTRALIAN CRICKET TEAM
• Cricket Australia appointed former Test opener Justin Langer as the new coach of the national cricket team. • He replaced Darren Lehmann who resigned in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal. • Langer played 105 Tests from 1993 to 2007, averaging 45.27 and amassing 7,696 runs, including 23 centuries. He has previously worked as Australia's batting coach and began a successful stint in charge of Western Australia in 2012.
WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONS' PRIZE MONEY HIKED BY £50,000
• The 2018 men's and women's singles champions will receive £2.25 million, an increase of £50,000 on last year. Roger Federer and Garbine Muguruza won the men's and women's titles in 2017. • Lower-ranked players at Wimbledon will enjoy a greater uplift, with an increase of 10 percent across qualifying and the first to fourth rounds of the singles, boosting the overhaul prize money total to £34 million. • Wimbledon officials warned players they face losing prize money if they withdraw after competing with an existing injury and are not perceived to have given maximum effort. Players will now be able to claim 50 percent of their first-round prize money if they withdraw on site by the Thursday before the start of the main draw.
HOCKEY INDIA NAMES HARENDRA SINGH AS MEN'S COACH
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• Hockey India named Women's Hockey Coach Harendra Singh as Chief Coach of the Indian Men's team. He will take over the position from Dutchman Sjoerd Marijne, who will be back as the coach of the national women’s team. • Harendra, also coached the Indian men's team earlier from 2009 to 2011, Under his guidance, the Indian women's team finished an impressive fourth at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. • Harendra's most important contribution was leading the women's team to the ninth women's Asia Cup title in Japan last year.
SALAH WINS WRITERS' FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR AWARD
• Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has won the Football Writers' Footballer of the Year. • The Egyptian has enjoyed an incredible debut season at Anfield, scoring 43 times in all competitions. • Salah is only the second non-European player to scoop the FWA Prize after former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez - and the first African winner.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
STATE
J&K GOVT SUBMITS DEVIKA RIVER REJUVENATION PROJECT TO CENTRE FOR APPROVAL
• The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) government has formulated the River Devika Rejuvenation project and submitted for approval to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. • The river holds religious significance as it is revered by Hindus as the sister of river Ganga. • Also known as Devika Nagari, it originates from the hilly Suddha Mahadev temple in Udhampur district and flows down towards western Punjab (now in Pakistan) where it merges with the Ravi river.
BENGAL’S CHHAU MASK ACQUIRES GI FAME
• The Chhau mask of Purulia has been presented with the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the Geographical Indication Registry and Intellectual Property India. • Besides, the wooden mask of Kushmandi, the Patachitra, the Dokras of Bengal, and Madhurkathi (a kind of mat) have also been granted GI tag. • A GI tag connects the quality and authenticity of a given product to a particular
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
geographical origin, thereby ensuring that no one other than the authorized user can use the popular product’s name. • GI tags are given on the basis of the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. The first product to be included in the list was Darjeeling Tea.
TN GOVT ORDERS PERMANENT CLOSURE OF STERLITE COPPER PLANT
• The Tamil Nadu government ordered the closure of the Sterlite Copper factory in Thoothukudi, • The government order endorsed the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board’s directive last week to close the unit citing constitutional provisions to “protect and improve the environment,” and “in larger public interest.” • It a significant setback for the Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta which is at the centre of a violent agitation led by residents who claim the smelter has caused widespread pollution of air and water in the southern city. • Sterlite Copper is a unit of Vedanta Ltd which operates a 400,000-tonne per annum capacity plant.
HIMACHAL GOVT LAUNCHES 'PRAKRITI KHETI KHUSHHAAL KISAAN YOJANA'
• In order to encourage 'Zero budget Natural Farming' in the state, a new scheme 'Prakritik Kheti-Khushhal Kisan' was launched in Himachal with a budget provision of Rs. 25 crores. • The scheme launched by HP Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur would provide training, necessary equipments, bio-pesticides, bio-insecticides, etc to farmers. • The State universities would prepare the package of practices for its implementation.
TELANGANA ANNOUNCES UNIQUE LIFE INSURANCE SCHEME FOR FARMERS
• Telangana government announced a scheme to provide life insurance of up to Rs 5 lakh per farmer in the state. • Under the scheme, the state government plans to pay the entire premium every year on August 1. The total premium amount will be credited to LIC, the implementing
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
agency. • Further, irrespective of the reason for which a farmer dies, including natural reasons, the insured amount will be paid to the nominee within 10 days of the claim. • State Government is already giving Rs 8,000 per acre under Rythu Bandhu towards investment support and supplying free power round the clock.
PM MODI UNVEILS PROJECTS OF RS 27,000 CRORE IN JHARKHAND
• Prime Minister Naendra Modi during his Jharkhand visit, laid the foundation stone of the revival of the Sindri Urea plant. The plant, shut for two decades, near Dhanbad, is being revived with an investment of about 7 thousand crore rupees. • The PM also laid the foundation stone of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Deoghar, for strengthening health services in the state. It will cost 1,103 crore rupees. This 750-bedded hospital will be built on 237-acre land, which will be completed in the next four years. • PM also laid the foundation stone of 4000 MegaWatt Super thermal power plant in Patratu, Ramgarh, which is a joint venture with NTPC.
CABINET APPROVES USOF SCHEME FOR PROVISION OF MOBILE SERVICES IN MEGHALAYA
• The Union Cabinet has approved Implementation of a Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP) for the North Eastern Region (NER) in Meghalaya at a total estimated project cost of Rs. 3911 crores. • This will be funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) and approval of the enhanced cost of CTDP Project for NER for an amount of Rs. 8120.81 crore • Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan (CTDP): the CTDP entails (i) Provision of 2G+4G mobile coverage in identified uncovered areas of Meghalaya; and (ii) Provision of 2G+4G seamless mobile coverage along the National Highways in Meghalaya.
AKAL TAKHT SETS UP A 'SIKH CENSOR BOARD'
• Akal Takht constituted the Sikh Film Censor Board (SFCB) saying it is "mandatory" for filmmakers now to seek approval from it before making a movie on a subject related to Sikhs and their religion.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• The 21-member board includes Takht Damdama Sahib jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, members of the SGPC and the Delhi Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, and academicians from Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar, Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana and Punjabi University Patiala. • The move comes after a row over the release of 'Nanak Shah Fakir', a film on the first Sikh guru, in April 2018.
ASSAM GOVT TO PROVIDE PENSION TO 16 LAKH SENIOR CITIZENS
• The state government would provide pension to all senior citizens who are 60 years and above irrespective of APL (Above poverty line) or BPL (Below poverty line category. • The pensioners would get Rs. 250 per month as pension and this will be transferred through online. • The Chief Minister of Assam is Sarbananda Sonowal.
ROCK THEME PARK WITH WORLD'S LARGEST BIRD SCULPTURE TO BE OPENED IN KERALA
• The Rock theme Park called Jatayu Nature Park being built at nearby Chatatayamangalam, Kerala will be thrown open to the public on July 4, 2018. • The park situated 1000 feet above sea level and spanning 65 acres houses the world's largest bird sculpture and a state-of-the-art cable car. • The park, a tourism imitative under BOT (Build, Operate, Transfer) basis, would also have an adventure zone and helicopter flying service facility. • An amount of Rs 100 crore has been invested in the project by nearly 150 Non- Resident Keralites and Guruchandrika Builders and Properties Ltd, run by Rajiv Anchal.
NMCG ASKS DDA TO EXPEDITE "ASITA" PROJECT
• National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) reviewed the progress of the Yamuna River Front Development project Asita – the another name of river Yamuna. • It aims to restore, revive and rejuvenate its floodplains and make them accessible to the people of Delhi. Riverfront walks, a major component of the project, will enable people to develop a relationship with Yamuna, it said.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• The project envisages creating a green buffer area approximately 300 m wide along the river edge with species of riverine ecology. • Besides, a wide belt of 150 m along the peripheral roads will be developed as greenways for public amenities that will include a continuous trail of pathways and cycle tracks.
MAHARASHTRA GOVT TO RENAME SOLAPUR UNIVERSITY
• The Maharashtra government has decided to rename Solapur University as "Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Solapur Vidyapeeth". • The renaming function will be organised on May 31 to coincide with the birth anniversary of Ahilyadevi Holkar. • Ahilyabai Holkar (1725-1795) was a great ruler and the Queen of the Kingdom of Malwa. Popularly known as Rajmata Ahilyadevi Holkar and she was born in 1725 in the village of Chondi in Maharashtra, India.
CHATRA PARIVAHAN SURAKSHA YOJANA TO BE LAUNCHED IN HARYANA
• Haryana government launched an initiative Chatra Parivahan Suraksha Yojana to ensure girls safety. • Under this this Yojana, all the girls in the Haryana State will get Free Travelling Facility. • Haryana had a very low gender ratio (900:1000) till 2016. However, the sex ratio at birth (SRB) in Haryana rose to 914 girls for 1,000 boys in 2017.
GUJARAT TO LAUNCH FREE TREATMENT SCHEME FOR ROAD ACCIDENT VICTIMS
• The Gujarat government would start bearing medical expenses of up to Rs 50,000 for
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
each victim of road accident in the state for the first 48 hours. • Even people hailing from other states or citizens of other countries will get free treatment in Gujarat, regardless of their income. • The move is aimed at providing timely and better treatment and thereby minimising the loss of life due to road accidents. • The government would reimburse the amount to the hospital concerned upon submission of bills.
CABINET APPROVES SETTING UP OF A CENTRAL UNIVERSITY IN ANDHRA PRADESH
• The Union Cabinet has given its in-principle approval for establishing a Central University by the name of “CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF ANDHRA PRADESH” in Ananthapur District, Andhra Pradesh. • A provision of funds worth Rs. 450 crores has been approved for meeting the first phase expenditure towards establishment of the University. • The university would be mentored by an existing central university till its governing structure was in place. • The approval would increase access and quality of higher education and help in minimising the regional imbalances in education facilities and give effect to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act 2014.
PRIME MINISTER LAY FOUNDATION STONE FOR 14.2 KM LONG ZOJILA TUNNEL
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Zojila tunnel on 19 May 2018. • The tunnel will help check the growing influence of Pakistan and China in the Ladakh region and facilitate quick mobilisation of troops in case of any incursion from across the border. • The 14.2-km-long tunnel under the Zozila Pass, which remains inaccessible during winters due to heavy snowfall will provide all weather connectivity from Baltal in
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Kashmir to Minamarg near Gumri in Ladakh. • Once ready in the next seven years, Zojila tunnel will be India’s longest road tunnel and Asia’s longest bi-directional tunnel.
PRESIDENT GIVES ASSENT TO DELHI WORKING JOURNALIST AMENDMENT ACT 2015
• President Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to the 'Delhi Working Journalist Amendment Act 2015' which seeks to ensure "effective implementation" of the Majithia Wage Board awards. • Delhi has become ‘the first State’ to bring amendments in the law to ensure ‘effective implementation’ of the Majithia Wage Board in the country. • As per the law which is applicable to Delhi-based media organisations, contractual employees will be treated as working journalists. • The Act also empowers authorities concerned to direct payment of "compensation not exceeding five times of the amount of the wages due the newspaper employees", in case of complaints.
WORLD’S SECOND OLDEST ROCK IS FROM ODISHA
• A rock sample recovered nearly eight years ago from Champua in Odisha’s Kendujhar district has put India at the forefront of geological research in the world. • Scientists have found in the rock a grain of magmatic zircon that is an estimated 4,240 million years old • Thus, the Singhbhum rock from where the zicron was recovered is the second oldest and its zircon, the oldest magmatic zircon on earth
PRESIDENT GIVES ASSENT TO DELHI GOVT’S BILL TO AMEND MINIMUM WAGE ACT
• President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to the Delhi government's proposed Bill to amend the Minimum Wages Act.
MAIN PROVISIONS
o The employers violating labour rules in the city will now face fine ranging from
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Rs 20,000-50,000 and jail term between one to three years.
o For an unskilled worker, the minimum wages is Rs 13,350 per month while for semi-skilled, it is Rs 14,698.
o The minimum wages for skilled persons is Rs 16,182 in the national capital. • The legislation amends the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and was passed by Delhi Assembly on 10, 2017. The bill was first tabled in 2015.
FIRST INTEGRATED SMART CITIES CONTROL CENTRE LAUNCHED IN MADHYA PRADESH
• In a major step towards realising the Centre's smart city mission (SCM), the Madhya Pradesh government launched the country's first Integrated Control and Command Centre (ICCC) for all seven smart cities of the state in Bhopal. • Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Satna, and Sagar are the seven smart cities under SCM in Madhya Pradesh. • The ICCC, installed in a building in Barkheda area of the state capital, would enable the authorities to monitor the status of various smart civic amenities in real-time through the sensors connected to it.
'NOON ASSEMBLY' CAMPAIGN GAINS MOMENTUM IN DELHI SCHOOLS
• The ‘Noon Assembly’ initiative has gained momentum in Delhi with the launch of the initiative on April 9 2018. • The aim is to spread awareness about Vitamin D and its health impact for the lifelong heath of Children. • This Campaign is launched to increase the Vitamin absorption among the students, 20 mins of sunlight exposure between 1100 hrs-1300 hrs can produce 5 times more vitamin D in the skin as compared to morning assembly.
ODISHA OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (AMENDMENT) BILL PASSED
• Odisha Assembly has passed the Odisha Official Language (Amendment) Bill, 2018 making penal provisions for non-compliance and reward for extensive use of Odia. • The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India lists the official languages of the Republic of India.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• The Odisha Official Language Act, 1954 was enacted for adoption of Odia as the language to be used for all or any of the official purposes in the state. The present amendment has been made to the 1954 Act. • The penalty amount would range between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000 for the first violation and will be enhanced to Rs 2,000 to Rs 25,000 for the second one. • The state assembly also passed three other bills to enhance the daily allowances of ministers, the speaker and the deputy speaker of the state assembly.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
PERSON IN NEWS
SUDHA BALKRISHNAN APPOINTED FIRST CFO OF RBI
• Sudha Balakrishnan has been appointed the first ever chief financial officer (CFO) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). • Balakrishnan, a chartered accountant, was till recently vice president with the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL), India’s first and largest depository. • She will be in charge of the government and bank account department, which processes government transactions like payments and revenue collections such as taxes.
JUSTICE S J VAZIFDAR APPOINTED AS ARBITRATOR IN NSE-SGX DISPUTE CASE
• The Bombay High Ccourt has appointed Justice (Retd.) S.J. Vazifdar (former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court) as the arbitrator in National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) and SGX (Singapore Exchange Ltd) dispute. • The court also directed SGX not to launch its proposed Nifty-based new derivatives product till the arbitrator passes interim orders in the dispute.
WHAT IS THE DISPUTE?
Indian exchanges, in an attempt to curb migration of traders, had decided to bar overseas bourses from trading in Nifty derivatives. India Index Services and Products (IISL), an NSE subsidiary that provides index-related services, had eight days ago dragged Singapore
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Exchange Derivatives Trading to the HC to prevent it from launching “an unlicensed financial surrogate product” from June 4.
INDIA'S ENVOY TO RUSSIA PANKAJ SARAN APPOINTED DY NSA
• Senior diplomat Pankaj Saran has been appointed as Deputy National Security Advisor. • The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved Saran's appointment as the deputy NSA for a period of two years. • The 1982 batch officer of Indian Foreign Service (IFS) was in November 2015 appointed as the India's envoy to Russia. • Former chief of the Intelligence Bureau, Ajit Doval is the National Security Adviser.
JUSTICE R K AGRAWAL TO BE NEXT NCDRC PRESIDENT
• Former Supreme court Judge R K Agrawal has been appointed the President of the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Mechanism (NCDRC). • He will take over from Justice D K Jain, who completed his term on May 31, 2018. • The NCDRC, which deals with consumer rights and addresses their disputes and grievances, is a quasi-judicial commission set up in 1988 under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986.
ALICIA PUCHETA NAMED FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT OF PARAGUAY
• Paraguay will have a woman president for the first time in its history, at least temporarily, after outgoing leader Horacio Cartes stepped down ahead of schedule. • Fellow conservative Mario Abdo Benitez, elected in 22 April polls, will begin his five- year term as president of one of Latin America's poorest countries. • Paraguay is a landlocked country sandwiched between Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil. Its capital is Asuncion and currency is Paraguayan guarani.
IBRAHIM KASSORY FOFANA SWORN-IN AS PM OF GUINEA
• Guinea President Alpha Conde has named Ibrahima Kassory Fofana as the country's new prime minister. • Fofana, a Conde loyalist and former minister of investment and public-private
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
partnerships, replaces Mamady Youla, who resigned along with his government. • Guinea is a country in West Africa, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Conakry.
ARJUN VAJPAI BECAME YOUNGEST TO SUMMIT SIX PEAKS OVER 8,000M
• Indian mountaineer Arjun Vajpai has become the youngest person in the world to scale six peaks over 8,000 metres when he summited the treacherous Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. • Arun Vajpai is also the record holder of youngest person climbing Mount Everest at the age of just 16 years in 2010. • The world’s top 3 mountains in the world are; Mount Everest (8848m) located in Nepal, Mount K2 (8611m) situated on the border of Paksitan and China, Mount Kanchenjunga (8586m) located on the border of India and Nepal.
BARBADOS ELECTS MIA MOTTLEY AS 1ST FEMALE PRIME MINISTER
• The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has won the country's 2018 General Elections claiming all 30 seats in the country's House of Assembly and unseating the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), which has governed the country since 2008. • BLP political leader Mia Amor Mottley will be sworn in as Barbados' first female Prime Minister since the country gained independence from Britain in 1966. • Barbados is an eastern Caribbean island and an independent British Commonwealth nation.
RAMESH CHAND MEENA ELECTED CHAIRPERSON OF TRIFED
• The General Body meeting of Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED) was held on May 25, 2018 in which the 11th Board of Directors was reconstituted and the Office Bearers were elected unanimously. • Ramesh Chand Meena was elected as the Chairperson and Smt. Pratibha Brahma was
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
elected as the Vice Chairperson of TRIFED.
PROF GANESHI LAL APPOINTED AS NEW GOVERNOR OF ODISHA
• The President on May 25, 2018 appointed Governors to two poll-bound states, Mizoram and Odisha. • BJP leaders Kummanam Rajasekharan and Prof Ganeshi Lal will take over as Governor of Mizoram and Odisha, respectively. • Before that Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik was holding additional charge of Odisha.
SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT TO PROMOTE TWO MAJOR INITIATIVES OF NITI AAYOG
• NITI Aayog and Sushant Singh Rajput have decided to collaborate towards promoting two major initiatives of NITI Aayog, namely BHIM App and the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP). • BHIM is a mobile app developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), based on the Unified Payment Interface (UPI). It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at Digi Dhan mela at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi on 30 December 2016. • To bring disruption within the industrial space, the NITI Aayog launched the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) on International Women Day (March 8) with a mission to establish a vibrant, enabling ecosystem for women entrepreneurs across India.
HD KUMARASWAMY SWORN-IN AS KARNATAKA CHIEF MINISTER
• The Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. He was administered the oath of office by Governor Vajubhai Vala. • On the other hand, Congress leader G Parameshwara was sworn-in as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state. • This is second swearing-in ceremony in less than a week after BJP's BS Yeddyurappa
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
resigned on Saturday right before the floor test in the state assembly.
POPULIST CLERIC MOQTADA SADR WINS IRAQ PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
• A political bloc led by populist Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has won the country’s parliamentary election in Iraq. • The Saeroon Alliance led by al-Sadr has won the election by winning 54 seats out of 328 seats. • The Fatah Alliance, led by Hadi al-Amiri, took 48 seats, while the Victory Alliance, led by Washington's preferred candidate, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, won 42 seats. • Al-Sadr, who in 2008 was named as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influence people, campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, allied himself with the Communist Party and rode a wave of populist sentiment to victory.
ANIL KUMAR JHA APPOINTED CMD OF COAL INDIA LTD
• Anil Kumar Jha, chairman and managing director of subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields, will be the new chairman of Coal India. • Mahanadi Coalfields supplies almost 25% of the nation’s requirement of thermal coal and is one of the largest among all its eight coal producing subsidiaries.
SHIVANGI PATHAK BECOMES YOUNGEST INDIAN WOMAN TO SCALE MOUNT EVEREST
• India's Shivangi Pathak has become youngest women of the country to scale Mt Everest from Nepal side. • Born in Hisar of Haryana Shivangi climbed Mt Everest to spread the message that women could overcome any obstacle to achieve their goals. • Mount Everest, known in Nepali as Sagarmāthā and in Tibetan as Chomolungma, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
HIMANTA BISWA SARMA ELECTED AS VICE-PRESIDENT OF BADMINTON ASIA CONFEDERATION
• BAI President Himanta Biswa Sarma was elected as the Vice-President of Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC) during the Annual General Meeting of the continental body in Bangkok, Thailand. • Badminton Asia has seven vice presidents serving under President Anton Aditya Subowo of Indonesia. • Badminton Asia is the governing body of the sport in Asia under the flagship of the Badminton World Federation. It currently has 43 member associations, including India.
UTTAM PACHARNE APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF LALIT KALA AKADEMI
• Artist and sculptor Uttam Pacharne was appointed the chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi. Currently, he is member of the advisory committee, Kala Academy, Goa and member of advisory committee. • He is the recipient of National Lalit Kala Award 1985, Maharashtra Gaurav Puraska 1985 from Government of Maharashtra, Junior National Award 1986 and Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar 2017 from Prafulla Dahanukar Foundation.
NOTED LYRICIST, POET, POLITICIAN BALKAVI BAIRAGI DIES IN MP
• Noted Hindi film lyricist, Nandram Das Bairagi, popularly known as Balkavi Bairagi passed away recently at the age of 87. • Bairagi wrote lyrics for more than two dozen Hindi films and some like "Tu Chanda Main Chandni" from the film "Reshma aur Shera" are considered classics. • He wrote several Hindi poems, among which, "Jhar gaye paat, bisar gayi tehni" is considered a gem by many Hindi poets.
US SENATE CONFIRMS GINA HASPEL AS NEW CIA DIRECTOR
• Gina Haspel was confirmed to be the first female director of the CIA with the help of votes from a half-dozen Senate Democrats. • Haspel was confirmed in a 54-45 vote, the culmination of a roller-coaster nomination
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
that appeared to be in danger at several points after she was abruptly selected by President Donald Trump in March.
SUSHEELA JAYAPAL BECOMES FIRST SOUTH ASIAN TO BE ELECTED IN OREGON
• Indian American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal's sister, Susheela Jayapal has been elected as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Multnomah County in Oregon, the first South Asian to be elected in the western US State. • Susheela Jayapal, 55, won the District 2 seat on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners with 57 per cent of the vote, the results of which were declared last night
EMINENT PHYSICIST SUDARSHAN DEAD
• Ennackal Chandy George Sudarshan, popularly known as E.C.G. Sudarshan, who made path-breaking discoveries in the realm of quantum optics died aged 86 in Texas. • Professor Sudarshan was a faculty at the University of Texas for the past 40 years. • He has made remarkable discoveries in many fields of physics, including quantum optics, tachyons, quantum Zeno effect, non-invariance groups, positive maps of density matrices, quantum computation, etc.
PAK HOCKEY LEGEND MANSOOR AHMED PASSES AWAY IN KARACHI
• Pakistan's hockey icon Mansoor Ahmed, who had been ailing for few years, died at a hospital in Karachi on Saturday. He was 49. • Ahmed was a goalkeeper in Pakistan's national team and represented his country in more than 300 international matches. • He won a bronze medal in the 1992 Olympics and was part of the team that won the hockey World Cup in 1994 in Sydney.
DR. MAHATHIR MOHAMAD ON BEING SWORN IN AS THE PM OF
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
MALAYSIA
• Malaysia's former authoritarian leader Mahathir Mohamad, who in a stunning political comeback led opposition parties to their first election victory in six decades, has been sworn in before the country's King as prime minister. • His alliance of four parties trounced the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition of now former prime minister Najib Razak, who was once Dr Mahathir's protege but became his most bitter rival. • Official results showed that Dr Mahathir's coalition won 113 seats, one more than the number required to rule.
CARLOS ALVARADO SWORN IN AS COSTA RICAN PRESIDENT
• President Carlos Alvarado was sworn-in as the President of Costa Rica. He is the country's youngest president in modern history. • Alvarado swept to victory in April 2018 in a controversial election against conservative Protestant singer Fabricio Alvarado Munoz. • COSTA RICA is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast. San Jose is the capital of this country and Costa Rican colon is the currency used here.
NARENDRA MODI AMONG TOP 10 MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD: FORBES
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been named as one of the top 10 most powerful people in the world, in the Forbes 2018 list of 75 of the World's Most Powerful People. • The only other Indian who features on the power list is Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, whose net worth is USD 41.2 billion. Ambani has secured the 32nd spot and Microsoft's India-born CEO Satya Nadella is on 40th position. • TOP 10 LIST: Xi Jinping (China); 2 Vladimir Putin (Russia); 3 Donald Trump (United States); 4 Angela Merkel (Germany); 5 Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com); 6 Pope Francis (Roman Catholic Church); 7 Bill Gates (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation); 8 Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (Saudi Arabia); 9 Narendra Modi (India); 10 Larry Page (Google).
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
TAHIR HUSSAIN: INDIAN AMERICAN PROFESSOR GETS USD 1.6M GRANT TO PROTECT KIDNEYS FROM OBESITY
• Tahir Hussain, an Indian American professor of Pharmacology at the University of Houston, has received a grant of USD 1.6 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). • He received the grant to examine a kidney cell that could prevent damage from inflammation caused by obesity. • Hussain, originally from India and an alumnus of the Aligarh Muslim University, will study the impact of inflammation in kidneys with active AT2R as well as those with no AT2R. • Obesity is associated with low grade chronic inflammation in the body. This is the first time the receptor's role to protect kidney structure and function against injury in obese subjects will be investigated.
INDIA-BORN GIRL’S HEART DISEASE PROJECT WINS AWARD IN SINGAPORE
• An 18-year-old Chennai-born girl has won this year’s ‘A Star Talent Search award’ in Singapore for her study of genetic heart disease "hypertrophic cardiomyopathy”. • Vijayakumar Ragavi, now a Singaporean citizen, topped the list of 611 other students from secondary and tertiary institution. • She has been awarded cash prize, a sponsored trip to an overseas conference and a trophy as well as a certificate for winning the competition. • Ragavi designed a humanised hypertrophic cardiomyopathy model that recaptulates the disease phenotype. The subsequent findings set the foundation for gaining insights into disease pathology and therapeutic intervention.
SITANSHU KAR TAKES OVER AS DG, PIB
• Indian Information Services (IIS) Officer Sitanshu Ranjan Kar took over as the 27th Director General of Press Information Bureau in New Delhi. • He succeeds Frank Noronha, who superannuated on 30th April 2018. • In 1988, he became the first Indian to win the prestigious Visnews Fellowship of London.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
PRIME MINISTER OF GABON EMMANUEL ISSOZE NGONDET RESIGNS
• Gabon’s Constitutional Court ordered the prime minister Gabon Emmanuel Issoze Ngondet to resign and the lower house of parliament dissolved after legislative elections scheduled for the weekend were delayed. • The court ruled that Prime Minister Emmanuel and the National Assembly were no longer legitimate because the government failed to hold the election on time. • The upper house of parliament, the Senate, will remain in place under the court’s order. • GABON is a sovereign state on the west coast of Central Africa. The largest city and the capital of Gabon is Libreville. CFA franc is the currency used there.
SUBHASH CHANDRA KHUNTIA APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF IRDA
• Senior IAS Officer Subhash Chandra Khuntia has been appointed as Chairman of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). • The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved Khuntia's appointment for a period of three years. • The post was vacant for more than two months after TS Vijayan’s tenure came to an end on February 21.
SAJID JAVID: FIRST SOUTH ASIAN TO HEAD UK INTERIOR MINISTRY
• A South Asian will head Britain’s Home Office for the first time, Pakistani-origin MP Sajid Javid is appointed U.K.’s new Home Secretary to replace Amber Rudd. • His appointment is widely seen as a way for British Prime Minister Theresa May to curtail the backlash from the so-called Windrush scandal.
WHAT IS WINDRUSH SCANDAL?
The scandal brought to light the unfair treatment of Commonwealth citizens from Jamaica over a lack of citizenship documentation.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
AWARDS
INDIAN BOTANIST KAMALJIT BAWA TO RECEIVE LINNEAN MEDAL FOR BOTANY
• Indian botanist Kamaljit S. Bawa, president of Bengaluru-based non- profit Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), received the prestigious Linnean Medal in Botany from the Linnean Society of London on May 24. • Dr. Bawa is the first Indian to win the award ever since it was first constituted in 1888. • The scientist is being recognised for his pioneering research on the evolution of tropical plants, tropical deforestation, non-timber forest products and for his work on the biodiversity of forests in Central America, the Western Ghats and the Eastern Himalaya.
LINNEAN MEDAL
The Linnean Medal is awarded to a biologist every year by the Linnean Society of London (the world’s oldest active biological society founded in 1788 and named after famous Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus who gave us one of the systems of naming plants and animals).
The first scientist to receive the Linnean Medal was Sir Joseph D Hooker who compiled the monumental seven-volume Flora of British India, the first ever comprehensive account of India’s plants.
OLGA TOKARCZUK WINS MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2018
• Polish novelist Olga Tokarczuk won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for fiction.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• She won it for his novel FLIGHTS, a novel that charts multiple journeys in time, space and human anatomy. • With this, she became the first women for Poland to win this prestigious award. • The £50,000 ($67,000) award is split evenly between the writer and her translator, Jennifer Croft.
MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE
The Man Booker International Prize was announced in June 2004 to complement the Man Booker Prize. Sponsored by the Man Group, from 2005 until 2015 the award was given every two years to a living author of any nationality for a body of work published in English or generally available in English translation. Since 2016, the Man Booker International Prize is awarded annually for a single book, translated into English and published in the UK.
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL: JAPANESE FILM 'SHOPLIFTERS' WINS PALME D'OR, BEST FILM AWARD
• The Japanese family drama Shoplifters has received the coveted award for best film, the Palme d'Or, at the Cannes Film Festival. • Shoplifters has been hailed as a modest masterpiece from a veteran filmmaker that centres on a small-time thief who takes a young girl home to his family. After seeing scars from abuse, they decide to keep her and raise her as their own.
DRDO AWARDS- 2016 & 2017 PRESENTED
• Raksha Mantri Nirmala Sitharaman gave away the DRDO Awards- 2016 & 2017 to various DRDO scientists for their outstanding contributions, while commemorating the National Technology. • Some of DRDO Awardees are
o Dr V K Saraswat: DRDO Lifetime Achievement Award – 2017, o Dr Vasudev Kalkunte AatreDRDO : Lifetime Achievement Award – 2016, o Dr G Satheesh Reddy: Technology Leadership Award – 2016
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
MIMI MONDAL: FIRST INDIAN TO BE NOMINATED FOR HUGO AWARD
• New York-based Indian writer has become the first Indian to be nominated for this year's prestigious Hugo Awards, for the best literary works of science fiction or fantasy in the Best Related Works category. • Mondal has been nominated for her co-edited work Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E Butler. • Mimi Mondal who describes herself as 'punk Dalit girl' belongs to the most oppressed caste in the Indian caste system.
SHRI SHIVAJI TO BE DECORATED WITH “RAILWAY MINISTER’S MEDAL” FOR BRAVERY
• Shri Shivaji, Railway Protection Force Constable will be decorated with “Railway Minister’s Medal” for Bravery along with a cash award of Rs. 1 Lac. • On 23.04.2018, Shri Shivaji, RPF constable, rescued a woman from a Man trying to sexually assault her. The courage and bravery shown by him, was commendable therefore he is being awarded with Railway Minister’s Medal. • This award is given to member of the force who has either shown exceptional courage, skill or bravery exhibited conspicuous devotion to duty as a member of the Force.
PRESIDENT OF INDIA PRESENTS VISITOR’S AWARDS 2018
• The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, hosted a one-day meet of Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities on 2 May 2018 at Rashtrapati Bhavan. • He presented the Visitor’s Awards for Research in the field of Basic and Applied Science and in the field of Humanities, Arts and Social Science.
VISITOR’S AWARD FOR RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENCE:
o Prof. Sanjay K. Jain, Department of Pharmaceutical Science, Dr Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, for his contribution to the development of a drug delivery system using folic acid conjugated liposomes containing oxaliplatin for targeted delivery of colon tumors. This has the potential to reduce toxicity, dosage, regimen and cost of cancer treatment.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
o Prof. Ashis Kumar Mukherjee, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Assam, for his research leading to clarity on the molecular complexicity and toxicity of the components of the snake venom from different locales of India. This too has likely utility as a new drug for treatment of diseases.
VISITOR’S AWARD FOR RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF HUMANITIES, ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE:
o Prof. Pramod K Nayar, Department of English, School of Humanities, University of Hyderabad, Telangana, for his research and publications particularly covering the important areas of poetry for the underprivileged, memoirs and fiction, the Bhopal gas tragedy and other episodes.
VISITOR’S AWARD FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT:
o Prof. Ashwani Pareek, School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, for developing Stress Tolerant Rice of the Next Generation (STRONG). This has the potential to enhance farm incomes.
HELEN MIRREN HONOURED WITH CHAPLIN AWARD
• The Film Society of Lincoln Center honored Helen Mirren with its 45th Chaplin Award in New York. On the red carpet the veteran actress called the honor weirdly humbling. • Mirren began acting with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967, and over the past five decades has become one of the most respected and recognizable figures in multiple media.
CHAPLIN AWARD
The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Annual Gala began in 1972 and honored Charlie Chaplin, who returned to the U.S. from exile to accept the commendation. Since then, the award has been renamed for Chaplin, and has honored many of the film industry’s most notable talents.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
DEFENCE & SECURITY
UPGRADED PINAKA ROCKET SUCCESSFULLY TEST-FIRED, RANGE NOW 70KM
• An upgraded version of Pinaka rocket, with a guidance system and an enhanced range, was successfully test- fired from the Proof & Experiment Establishment (PXE) at Chandipur in Odisha. • The earlier Pinaka version, which was an unguided one, has now been upgraded into a guided version, with a navigation, guidance and control kit developed by the Research Centre, Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad. • Further, the range of the upgraded version of rocket has been increased from earlier 40 km to more than 70 km now. • The guided Pinaka was developed jointly by the Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune, the RCI, and the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad.
MOUNT DEOTIBBA EXPEDITION-2018
• All women high altitude expedition to Mount Deotibba (6001 Mtrs) which is located in Himachal Pradesh, has been organised by the Indian Navy from 28 May to 15 Jun 2018. • The expedition was flagged off by Vice Admiral AK Chawla, AVSM, NM, VSM, Chief of Personnel on 28 May 2018 from New Delhi. • Lieutenant Commander Kokila Sajwan is leading the team which comprises of 15 members including two base camp support staff. • The Service had previously launched the first successful expedition to Everest in 1965 and has been to the South & North poles in 2006 and 2008 respectively. • An ‘All Women Expedition to Mt Deotibba will act as a launch pad for scaling higher
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
peaks including Everest in near future.
INDIA, US, JAPAN TO START 22ND MALABAR EXERCISE IN GUAM
• India, United States and Japan will deploy their frontline military assets off Guam in the Western Pacific from June 6 to June 15, 2018 for wide-ranging naval manoeuvres. Guam is a U.S. island territory in Micronesia, in the Western Pacific. • It is a setback for the India-U.S.-Australia-Japan “Quad” in the Indo-Pacific, the government has decided to go ahead with 2018 ‘Malabar’ naval exercises trilaterally without including the Australian Navy.
MALABAR EXERCISE
Originally a bilateral exercise between India and the United States, Japan became a permanent partner in 2015. The annual Malabar series began in 1992. Past non-permanent participants are Australia and Singapore.
COMMISSIONING OF FOURTH SHIP OF LANDING CRAFT UTILITY MK-IV (IN LCU L54)
• Vice Admiral GS Pabby, AVSM, VSM, Chief of Materiel commissioned IN LCU L54 into the Indian Navy today at Port Blair. • IN LCU L54 is the fourth Landing Craft Utility (LCU) Mk-IV class to be inducted into the Indian Navy. • The ship has been indigenously designed and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata. • The Commissioning of L-54 is yet another manifestation of the country’s indigenous design and ship building capability.
SURYA KIRAN-XIII: INDIA-NEPAL JOINT BATTALION LEVEL EXERCISE
• Joint Military Exercise SURYA KIRAN-XIII between India and Nepal started at Pithoragarh on May 30, 2018. The exercise will run till June 12, 2018. • Exercise SURYA KIRAN is a biannual event which is conducted alternatively in Nepal and India. Exercise SURYA KIRAN with Nepal is the largest in terms of troop participation.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• The aim of this exercise is to conduct battalion level joint training with emphasis on counter terrorism operations in mountainous terrain.
INDIAN NAVY CONDUCTS SECURITY EXERCISE, CALLED PRASTHAN
• The Indian Navy on May 22, 2018 conducted a security exercise, called "Prasthan", in the Offshore Development Area (ODA) off the coast of Mumbai. • The exercise, conducted by the Headquarters Western Naval Command, is held every six months. • The exercise aims to integrate maritime stakeholders, including the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, ONGC, Port Trust, Customs, State Fisheries department and Marine Police, towards refining standard operating procedures for response to various contingencies that could occur in the ODA.
BRAHMOS MISSILE SUCCESSFULLY TEST-FIRED TO VALIDATE SERVICE LIFE EXTENSION
• As part of service life extension programme BrahMos, supersonic cruise missile was successfully test fired at Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Balasore, Odisha. • BrahMos is a joint venture between DRDO of India and Russia. • The name BrahMos is formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. • It is the world's fastest anti-ship Cruise Missile in operation. The missile travels at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0.
BUDGET FOR NETWORK FOR SPECTRUM PROJECT FOR DEFENCE SERVICES ENHANCED
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, has given its approval for enhancement of budget by Rs.11,330 crore for Network For Spectrum (NFS) project. • The project is for laying of alternate communication network for Defence Services for release of spectrum over and above Rs.13,334 crore already approved by Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure in July, 2012. • The project, being implemented by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), will be completed in a period of 24 months. • The project will also have forward linkages to other related industries such as
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
telecom equipment manufacturing and other telecommunication related services.
ARMY FINALISES RS 15,000 CRORE AMMUNITION PRODUCTION PROJECT
• After years of deliberations, the Army has finalised a mega Rs 15,000-crore project under which a range of ammunition for its critical weapons and tanks will be produced indigenously. • 11 private firms would be involved in the ambitious project, the implementation of which is being monitored by the top brass of the Army and the Defence Ministry. • The immediate aim of the closely guarded project -- said to be the biggest ever initiative for the indigenisation of ammunition -- is to create an inventory for all major weapons to enable the forces to fight a 30-day war while the long-term objective is to cut dependence on imports. • The overall cost of the project has been pegged at Rs 15,000 crore.
DAKOTA-DC3 VP 905 INDUCTED INTO INDIAN AIR FORCE
• A restored Dakota joined the Indian Air Force in an induction ceremony at Hindan air force station, more than four decades after the aircraft fleet was phased out following an illustrious service record. • The Dakota DC-3 VP 905 was formally inducted into the IAF at a grand ceremony at Hindan. The Dakota was accepted by the Chief of Air Staff from the Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar on February 13 this year. • The aircraft was bought by the MP from "scrap" and got restored in the UK. The aircraft commenced its journey from the UK on April 17 to India with a joint crew of IAF and Reflight Airworks.
INDIA EMERGES AS FIFTH LARGEST MILITARY SPENDERS IN 2017: SIPRI
• According to a recent report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
(SIPRI); India ranks at 5th in military spending, which saw an increase of 5.5% over 2016 and touched $63.9 billion. • The top 5 defence spending countries include; US, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and India. • The global military expenditure increased to $1.73 trillion- 2.2 per cent of the global GDP and 1.1 per cent over the expenditure in 2016. While the US spent $610 billion on its military, China spent $228 billion on its military needs.
EXERCISE 'VIJAY PRAHAR' BEING HELD IN RAJASTHAN
• Over 20,000 troops of the strike formations of the Army's South Western Command are engaged in the "Vijay Prahar" exercise to fine-tune the Army's jointmanship with the Indian Air Force (IAF) near Suratgarh in Rajasthan. • The aim of the exercise is to fine-tune the jointmanship with the Air Force. The IAF carried out the Gagan Shakti exercise and demonstrated its capabilities and strength.
BOOKS AND AUTHORS
The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace by Asad Durranni and AS Dulat
Across the Bench - Insight into the Indian Military Judicial System by Lt Gen Gyan Bhushan
Ranji and the Music Maker’ written by Ruskin Bond
Eleven Gods and A Billion Indians authored by Boria Majumdar
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE
1. Swamy Ramdev's company test-fired with a guidance system Patanjali has launched the and an enhanced range? country's first indigenous SIM card. a) Dhruv What is the name of this SIM? b) Pinaka a) Samruddhi c) Arjun b) Sukhad d) Nag c) Aayur 6. The Devika River was in news d) Safal recently. In which state does it lie? 2. University of Minnesota Scientists a) Jammu & Kashmir have discovered the new chemical b) Uttarakhand element, which have unique c) Uttar Pradesh magnetic properties at room d) Assam temperature. Name that element. 7. The Chhau mask recently acquired a) Pletonium (Pu) Geographical Indicator (GI). It b) Kriptonium (Ku) belongs to which of the following c) Radinium (Ra) Indian State? d) Ruthenium (Ru) a) West Bengal 3. Which Indian botanist has received b) Bihar the prestigious Linnean Medal in c) Uttar Pradesh Botany? d) Kerala a) Kamaljit Bawa 8. Which of the following has been b) James Bowie named as the first woman c) Inderjeet Singh president of Paraguay? d) CNR Rao a) Alicia Pucheta 4. Which of the following country b) Evelio Fernandez Arvalos planned to develop island in the c) Miguel A Saguier area of Middle Rocks, near the d) Mia Mottley opening of the Straits of 9. Who has been appointed the Singapore? President of the National a) Singapore Consumer Dispute Redressal b) Indonesia Mechanism (NCDRC)? c) Hong Kong a) S J Vazifdar d) Malaysia b) Pankaj Saran 5. Which of the following missile’s c) R K Agrawal upgraded version was successfully d) Sudha Balkrishnan
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
10. Who has been appointed as Deputy Airport National Security Advisor of India? b) Cochin International Airport a) M. K. Narayanan c) Rajiv Gandhi International b) Shivshankar Menon Airport c) Ajit Doval d) Indira Gandhi International d) Pankaj Saran Airport 11. Which Union Ministry launched the 16. The Mount Deotibba (6001 Mtrs), web portal and App called in news recently, is located in PRAAPTI? which India State? a) New and Renewable Energy a) Jammu and Kashmir b) Power b) Uttarakhand c) Science & Technology c) Himachal Pardesh d) Coal d) Sikkim 12. What is name of the initiative 17. Which Indian airlines is the second launched by the Union Minister for cheapest airline in the world, Human Resource Development for according to Global Flight Pricing the holistic development of school Report? education? a) Indigo a) Gurukul b) Air India Express b) Sabko Shiksha c) Jet Airways c) Samgra Shiksa d) Vistara d) Sab Pado Sab Bado 18. Which of the following team has 13. Which of the following has been won the 2018 Thomas Cup appointed the first ever chief badminton title? financial officer (CFO) of the a) Japan Reserve Bank of India (RBI)? b) China a) Sudha Balakrishnan c) Indonesia b) BP Kanungo d) England c) S S Mundra 19. Recently which Pakistan's province d) N S Vishwanathan passed bill allowing Hindu widows 14. The 22nd edition of Malabar to remarry? Exercise will be held at Guam. a) Punjab Guam is an Island Territory of b) Balochistan which of the following country? c) Sindh a) United States of America d) Khyber Pakhtuwan b) United Kingdom 20. The first edition of Global Wind c) France Summit will be held in which d) Japan country? 15. Which airport was declared as a) India world's first fully solar-energy b) USA powered airport by United Nations c) China Environment Programme (UNEP)? d) Germany a) Veer Savarkar International 21. Who has become the first female
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Prime Minister of Barbados? Greater Noida – Meerut a) Michelle Bachelet 27. The newly created Women Safety b) Dilma Rousseff Division will come under which c) Mia Amor Mottley central government ministry? d) Laura Chinchilla a) Ministry of Women and Child 22. Which Latin American country has Development become the first country to join b) Ministry of Health and Family NATO? Welfare a) Peru c) Ministry of Law and Justice b) Colombia d) Ministry of Home Affairs c) Brazil 28. Who has written the book titled d) Venezuela ''The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and 23. Who has become the youngest the Illusion of Peace''? person to summit six peaks over a) Asad Durrani & AS Dulat 8,000m? b) Asad Durrani & Boora a) Krushnaa Patil Majumdar b) Malavath Purna c) AS Dulat & Boora Majumdar c) Narendra Dhar Jayal d) Aditya Sinha & Boora Majumdar d) Arjun Vajpai 29. Which one of the following 24. Which country has won the Governor is not correctly matched prestigious Uber Cup of with his/her parent state? Badminton? a) Kummanam Rajasekharan: a) Thailand Mizoram b) Malaysia b) Prof Ganeshi Lal: Odisha c) China c) Satya Pal Malik: Bihar d) Japan d) Ramesh Chand Meena: 25. Which European Football Team has Rajasthan lifted the UEFA Champions League? 30. In which state Prime Minister a) Barcelona Narendra Modi laid the foundation b) Real Madrid stone of 4000 MW Patratu Super c) Manchester United thermal power plant? d) Manchester City a) Odisha 26. Which of the following places is b) Karnataka connected by the Eastern c) Bihar Peripheral Highway inaugurated d) Jharkhand recently? 31. Which of the following statements a) Ghaziabad – Greater Noida – with respect to EU's General Data Faridabad – Palwal Protection Regulation (GDPR) is b) Greater Noida – Faridabad – incorrect? Palwal – Meerut a) The legislation related to GDPR c) Meerut – Ghaziabad – Palwal – was passed by the European Mathura Union in April 2016. d) Gurugram – Faridabad – b) Misusing or carelessly handling
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
personal information will bring c) Jamaat-e-Islami Hind fines of up to 20 million euro. d) All India Christian Council c) All EU citizens now have the 37. Who won the prestigious Man right to see what information Booker International Prize 2018? companies have about them. a) Olga Tokarczuk for Flight d) It is not mandatory for the b) David Grossman for A Horse companies to tell all affected Walk Into a Bar users about any data breach. c) Ahmed Saadawi for Frankenstein in Baghdad d) Han Kang for The White Book 32. Which country has become the 38. Which country has won the 5th 64th signatory to the Framework Asian Champions Trophy of Agreement of the International hockey? Solar Alliance (ISA)? a) India a) Morocco b) Pakistan b) The Netherlands c) South Korea c) Canada d) Bangladesh d) Kenya 39. What is the rank of India in the list 33. What is the name of the nuclear of wealthiest countries, according test site dismantled by North Korea to World Wealth Report, 2018? on May 24, 2018? a) Fifth a) Lop Nur b) Sixth b) Punggye-Ri c) Third c) Moruroa d) Fourth d) In Ekker 34. Where was the ASEAN-India Film festival held in May 2018? a) New Delhi b) Singapore c) Bangkok 40. The Northeast Frontier Railway has d) Hanoi started operating one lease Parcel 35. What is the name of Joint Military Cargo Express Train (PCET) on Exercise between India and Nepal fortnightly basis, connecting North- held in Pithoragarh? eastern part of the country to the a) Yudh Abhyas West Coast. The cargo train will b) Indra connect which two stations? c) Hand-in-Hand a) Guwahati to Kalyan d) Surya Kiran b) Dibrugarh to Mumbai 36. Which religious organization has c) Imphal to Gandhinagar set up its own Censor Board for d) Gangtok to Kalyan filmmakers? 41. Centre has recently created a a) Digambar Jain Mahasabha national authority for administering b) Akal Takht all trade remedial measures
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
including anti-dumping, 47. The President Ram Nath Kovind countervailing duties and released Rs 1,000 and Rs 10 safeguard measures. What is the commemorative coins on the name of the newly created occasion of authority? a) Pushkar mela a) Directorate General of Trade b) Nabakalebar festival Remedies c) Baisakhi b) Commerce Redressal Authority d) Madhavpur Mela c) Dispute Settlement Authority 48. Which three countries have opened d) Directorate of Trade Remedies their embassies in Jerusalem? 42. Which company has acquired the a) Armenia – Guatemala – bankrupt Bhusan Steel? Colombia a) Tata Steel b) Guatemala – Paraguay - USA b) JSW Steel c) USA – Guatemala – Nicaragua c) Manaksia Steel d) Australia – USA – Nicaragua – d) SAIL Japan 43. Who has become the youngest 49. In which state, a 'Freight Village' Indian woman to scale Mount will be developed under the Delhi Everest? Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) a) Nughsi Malik project? b) Malavath poora a) Haryana c) Shivangi Pathak b) Uttar Pradesh d) Aruna Sinha c) Assam 44. Where is the head-office of the d) Maharashtra newly created Cauvery Water 50. In which city will be the National Management Authority? Institute of Mental Health a) Bangalore Rehabilitation (NIMHR) set up? b) Chennai a) Ahmedabad c) Delhi b) Mumbai d) Thiruvananthapuram c) Bhopal 45. Name the person confirmed to be d) New Delhi the first female director of the CIA. 51. What is DUBRAJ? a) Gina Haspel a) A mutant wheat variety b) Bill Naito b) A mutant rice variety c) Yuki Shimoda c) A mutant mustard variety d) Karl Yoneda d) A mutant pulse variety 46. Which state launched free 52. Who among the following treatment scheme for road personality was conferred with accident victims? Swara Mauli award? a) Maharashtra a) Lata Mangeshkar b) Gujarat b) Arijit Singh c) Rajasthan c) Shreya Ghosal d) Uttar Pradesh d) Asha Bhonsle
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
ANSWERS WITH EXPLANATION
1. 2. (a) 5. (d) Explanation: On May 28, 2018, Explanation: Malaysia government Ramdev's company has launched the planned to develop some offshore country's first indigenous ‘Samruddhi’ rocks which were the subject of a SIM card. At present, this SIM card will territorial dispute with Singapore. The be available to employees of Patanjali International Court of Justice (ICJ) Ayurveda Company only. In a few awarded the outcrop, known as months it will be launched for the Middle Rocks, near the opening of the general public throughout the country. Straits of Singapore, to Malaysia in 2008. At the same time, the 3. (d) Netherlands-based court ruled the Explanation: Scientists have nearby Pedra Branca island belonged discovered that the chemical element to Singapore. ruthenium (Ru) is the fourth element to have unique magnetic properties at 6. (b) room temperature. The discovery led Explanation: An upgraded version of by researchers at the University of Pinaka rocket, with a guidance system Minnesota in the US, could be used to and an enhanced range, was improve sensors, devices in the successfully test-fired from the Proof computer memory and logic industry, & Experiment Establishment or other devices using magnetic (PXE) at Chandipur in Odisha. materials. 7. (a) 4. (a) Explanation: The Jammu and Kashmir Explanation: Indian botanist Kamaljit government has submitted a detailed S. Bawa, president of Bengaluru-based report of the Rs 189 crore Devika river non-profit Ashoka Trust for Research rejuvenation project to the Centre for in Ecology and the Environment approval. Also known as Devika (ATREE), received the prestigious Nagari, it originates from the hilly Linnean Medal in Botany from the Suddha Mahadev temple in Udhampur Linnean Society of London on May 24. district and flows down towards Dr. Bawa is the first Indian to win the western Punjab (now in Pakistan) award ever since it was first where it merges with the Ravi river. constituted in 1888. 8. (a)
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Explanation: The Chhau mask of Generators. Purulia, the wooden mask of Kushmandi, the Patachitra, the Dokras 13. (c) of Bengal, and Madhurkathi (a kind of Explanation: The Union Minister for mat) have been presented with the Human Resource Development, Shri Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the Prakash Javadekar launched the Geographical Indication Registry and Samagra Shiksha - an integrated Intellectual Property India. Scheme for school education extending support to States from pre- 9. (a) school to senior secondary levels for Explanation: Alicia Pucheta was named the first time in New Delhi. as first woman president of Paraguay, at least temporarily, after outgoing 14. (a) leader Horacio Cartes stepped down Explanation: Sudha Balakrishnan has ahead of schedule. been appointed the first ever chief financial officer (CFO) of the Reserve 10. (c) Bank of India (RBI). Explanation: Former Supreme court Judge R K Agrawal has been appointed 15. (a) the President of the National Explanation: Guam is a U.S. island Consumer Dispute Redressal territory in Micronesia, in the Western Mechanism (NCDRC). The NCDRC, Pacific. It was in news as India, Japan which deals with consumer rights and and United States (US) have started addresses their disputes and the 22nd edition of Malabar Exercise grievances, is a quasi-judicial from May 25, 2018. commission set up in 1988 under the 16. (b) Consumer Protection Act of 1986. Explanation: The United Nations 11. (d) Environment Programme (UNEP) has Explanation: Senior diplomat Pankaj recognised Cochin International Saran has been appointed as Deputy Airport Ltd (CIAL) in Kerala as the National Security Advisor. Presently, world’s first fully solar energy powered he is serving as India’s ambassador to Airport. Russia. 17. (c) 12. (b) Explanation: All women high altitude Explanation: PRAAPTI (Payment expedition to Mount Deotibba (6001 Ratification And Analysis in Power Mtrs) which is located in Himachal procurement for bringing Pradesh, has been organised by the Transparency in Invoicing of Indian Navy from 28 May to 15 Jun generators) App and Web portal was 2018. launched by Minister of State for 18. (b) Power, R.K. Singh for bringing Explanation: Air India Express, the transparency in electricity payments to wholly-owned subsidiary of state-run
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
carrier Air India, has been ranked 24. (d) second and the budget carrier IndiGo Explanation: Indian mountaineer Arjun placed at the fifth position in a Global Vajpai has become the youngest Flight Pricing Report prepared by person in the world to scale six peaks Melbourne-based Rome2rio -- a over 8,000 metres when he summited multimodal travel planning site. the treacherous Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. 19. (b) Arun Vajpai is also the record holder of Explanation: China's men took home youngest person climbing Mount the Thomas Cup-2018 after beating Everest at the age of just 16 years in Japan 3-1 and compensate for their 2010. early exit from the previous tournament in 2016. 25. (d) Explanation: Japan’s women team 20. (c) clinched the Uber Cup by defeating the Explanation: Pakistan’s Sindh Province Thailand in the world’s second passed the landmark bill that allows prestigious badminton tournament. Hindu widows to remarry out of their own free will but only after a period of 26. (b) six months has lapsed after their Explanation: Real Madrid has claimed husband’s death. the Champions Trophy for the third consecutive year. Real Madrid 21. (d) defeated English side Liverpool FC by Explanation: The first edition of the 3-1 in the final. The final match was Global Wind Summit will be held here held in Ukraine’s capital Kiev. from September 25-28, 2018 in Hamburg, Germany. 27. (a) Explanation: Indian PM Narendra Modi 22. (c) will inaugurate two expressways on Explanation: The Barbados Labour May 27: Delhi Meerut Expressway and Party (BLP) has won the country's 2018 Eastern Peripheral Expressway. The General Elections claiming all 30 seats 135 KM long Eastern Peripheral in the country's House of Assembly Expressway envisages signal free and unseating the Democratic Labour connectivity between Ghaziabad, Party (DLP), which has governed the Greater Noida, Faridabad and Palwal. It country since 2008. Mia Amor Mottley will help in decongesting the national has become the first female Prime capital. Minister of Barbados. 28. (d) 23. (b) Explanation: The Ministry of Home Explanation: Colombia will become the Affairs (MHA) has created a new first Latin American country to join the division Women Safety Division to North Atlantic Treaty Organization address women safety in a (NATO).
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
comprehensive manner. Narendra Modi during Paris Climate Change Summit in November 2015. 29. (a) Explanation: The book titled ''The Spy 34. (b) Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Explanation: North Korea appeared to Peace'' was released in May 2018. The destroy at least three nuclear tunnels, book has been written jointly by observation buildings, a metal foundry former chief of Pakistani intelligence and living quarters at its Punggye-ri agency ISI Asad Durrani, former RAW nuclear test site, in a process observed chief AS Dulat and journalist Aditya by invited international journalists. Sinha. 35. (a) 30. (d) Explanation: Union minister Explanation: The President appointed Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore Governors to two poll-bound states, inaugurated the 'ASEAN India Film Mizoram and Odisha. BJP leaders Festival' on May 25, 2018 in New Delhi. Kummanam Rajasekharan and Prof Around 32 films from 11 countries Ganeshi Lal will take over as Governor would be screened during the five-day of Mizoram and Odisha, respectively. festival. The Governor of Rajasthan is Kalyan Singh. 36. (d) Explanation: The Thirteenth edition of 31. (d) Joint Military Exercise SURYA KIRAN- Explanation: The Prime Minister XIII between India and Nepal began in Narendra Modi on his visit to Pithoragarh on 30 May. It will end on Jharkhand laid the foundation stone of 12 June 2018. 4000 MW Super thermal power plant in Patratu, Ramgarh, which is a joint 37. (b) venture with NTPC. Explanation: Akal Takht constituted the Sikh Film Censor Board (SFCB) 32. (d) saying it is "mandatory" for filmmakers Explanation: Option (d) is incorrect now to seek approval from it before because companies must also tell all making a movie on a subject related to affected users about any data breach Sikhs and their religion. and tell the overseeing authority within 72 hours. 38. (a) Explanation: Polish novelist Olga 33. (b) Tokarczuk won the prestigious Man Explanation: The Netherlands became Booker International Prize for fiction the sixty-fourth signatory member for her novel Flights, a novel that country to the International Solar charts multiple journeys in time, space Alliance (ISA). The ISA is an alliance of and human anatomy. The more than 121 countries and was first £50,000 ($67,000) award is proposed by Indian Prime Minister split evenly between the writer and
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
her translator, Jennifer Croft. 43. (a) Explanation: Tata Steel, through its 39. (c) wholly-owned subsidiary Bamnipal Explanation: South Korea defeated Steel Limited (BNPL), has acquired a Indian women’s hockey team in the controlling stake in the debt-laden final of 5t Asian Champions Trophy. Bhushan Steel. Tata Steel got 72.65 The 5th edition of trophy was held in percent stake in Bhushan Steel. Donghae city, South Korea. 44. (c) 40. (b) Explanation: India's Shivangi Pathak Explanation: India has been ranked has become youngest women of the sixth in the list of wealthiest countries country to scale Mt Everest from Nepal with total wealth of $8,230 billion, side. while the United States topped the chart, according to New World Wealth 45. (c) report. The US is the wealthiest Explanation: The body has finally been country with total wealth of $64,584 named the Cauvery Water billion, followed by China ($24,803 Management Authority and the billion) and Japan ($19,522 billion). headquarters have been shifted to New Delhi. 41. (a) Explanation: The Northeast Frontier 46. (a) Railway has started operating one Explanation: Gina Haspel was lease Parcel Cargo Express Train confirmed to be the first female (PCET) on fortnightly basis, connecting director of the CIA with the help of North-eastern part of the country to votes from a half-dozen Senate the West Coast. The route of this Democrats. Parcel Cargo Express Train is - New Guwahati in Assam to Kalyan in 47. (b) Maharasthra with stoppages at New Explanation: The Gujarat government Jalpaiguri and Kalumna. would start bearing medical expenses of up to Rs 50,000 for each victim of 42. (a) road accident in the state for the first Explanation: Union Ministry of 48 hours. Commerce and Industry issued notification for creation of Directorate 48. (b) General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) in Explanation: This festival is symbolic Department of Commerce. DGTR will recreation of wooden forms of the be apex national authority for four deities at Jagannath Temple, Puri. administering all trade remedial Naba means new and the Kalebar is measures including anti-dumping, body. In Jagannath cult, there is a countervailing duties and safeguard periodical renewal of the wooden measures. forms of Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshana.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
49. (b) illness, capacity development in the Explanation: Guatemala and Paraguay area of mental health rehabilitation, inaugurated their Israel embassy in policy framing and advanced research Jerusalem, becoming the first two in mental health rehabilitation. countries to follow in the footsteps of the United States. 52. (b) Explanation: President inaugurated a 50. (a) mutant variety of DUBRAJ rice Explanation: The Cabinet Committee developed by BARC in Mumbai. on Economic Affairs approved the President also inaugurated an development of trunk infrastructure integrated centre for crisis components for the integrated multi- management (ICCM) at the iconic modal logistics hub known as 'Freight Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Village' at Nangal Chaudhary in Mumbai that will help the nation Haryana under the Delhi-Mumbai respond more effectively to chemical, Industrial Corridor Project. biological, radiological and nuclear emergencies. 51. (c) Explanation: The Union Cabinet 53. (a) Chaired by Prime Minister Shri Explanation: Melody queen Lata Narendra Modi has approved the Mangeshkar was honoured with the establishment of National Institute of Swara Mauli title by Shankarcharya Mental Health Rehabilitation (NIMHR) Vidyanarsimha Bharati Swami. She was at Bhopal. The main objectives of the conferred with the award at her NIMHR are to provide rehabilitation residence Prabhu Kunj at Peddar Road services to the persons with mental in south Mumbai.
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
ONE LINERS OF THE MONTH
NATIONAL
• This Union Ministry has created a Ministry – Samagra Siksha division for women safety – Home • At this place the 9th Rashtriya Ministry Sanskriti Mahotsav began on May • The 135-km Eastern Peripheral 25, 2018 – Tehri (Uttarakhand) Expressway inaugurated by Prime • The name of India-Nepal Joint Minister Narendra Modi will Nepal exercise that will begin on connect Ghaziabad with – Palwal May 30 in Pitthoragarh – SURYA • The only 14-lane expressway KIRAN-XIII inaugurated by Prime Minister • This institute has bagged the Narendra Modi on May 27, 2018 is – Clarivate Analytics India Innovation Delhi-Meerut Expressway Award 2018 – Council of Scientific • This state government has and Industrial Research (CSIR) announced a unique life insurance • The Nari Shakti Puraskar 2017 was scheme for farmers providing Rs 5 presented by Minister for Women lakh as insurance cover - Telangana and Child Development to the all- • The Patratu Super Thermal Power women crew of – INSV Tarini Project was unveiled by Prime • These many mobile towers will be Minister Narendra Modi in this set up in 10 Left Wing Extremism state – Jharkhand (LWE)-affected states in the • The fourth ship of landing craft second phase to improve e- utility (LCU) MK-IV was governance – 4072 commissioned by the Indian Navy • Union Cabinet approved the in – Port Blair Universal Services Obligation Fund • Name of the scheme for the (USOF) scheme for provision of holistic development of school mobile services in this state – education launched by HRD Meghalaya
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• This Act protects the interests of ‘Sabhyata Dwar’ to attract tourism farmers, considering them as – Bihar weaker of the two parties entering • India received the first cargo of oil into a contract – Model Contract from this country’s national oil Farming Act, 2018 company for its Mangalore • NITI Aayog has tied up with this Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Swedish company to benefit India – United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and • This supersonic missile was robotics – ABB India successfully test-fired by DRDO at • Akal Takht, the highest temporal the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at seat of the Sikhs, has set up this 21- Chandipur, Odisha for life service member board to censor films – extension – BrahMos Sikh Film Censor Board (SFCB) • This agency under Ministry of • The name of the security exercise Home Affairs will be creating a conducted by Indian Navy off the registry for crimes against women Western Coast in Mumbai – – National Crime Records Bureau Prasthan (NCRB) • This state government has decided • The name of the Indian Navy ship to provide monthly pension of Rs with all-women crew that 250 to its senior citizens – Assam completed the historic • The Jatayu Nature Park housing the circumnavigation in 8 months – world’s largest bird sculpture is INSV Tarini located in this state – Kerala • This Commodity Exchange • Rajasthan Government launched launched India’s first copper this software for disease options contract - Multi monitoring – Nidaan Commodity Exchange • The rank of India in the Healthcare • The Commission for Scientific and Access and Quality (HAQ) Index Technical Terminology has decided presented in Global Burden of to adopt this word in Hindi and Disease study – 154 English languages for scientific and • These three north-eastern states technical purposes – AYUSH are protesting against the • The draft related to management Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 of this river was approved by the – Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Supreme Court – Cauvery River Nagaland • The researchers of this institute • This state’s chief minister have developed a device to detect inaugurated the 32-meter and remove arsenic from water –
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Indian Institute of Science • The first ever executive committee Education and Research (IISER) meeting of South Asia Wildlife • The state launched free treatment enforcement network was held in – scheme for road accident victims – Kolkata Gujarat • The Centre submitted before the • The first ever all woman post office Supreme Court the draft Cauvery Kendra has started its operations in management scheme, to ensure – Phagwara smooth distribution of water • The city has been ranked India’s between Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, first cleanest city as per the latest Kerala and – Puducherry survey report – Swachh • Four north Indian states and one Survekshan 2018 – Indore Union Territory signed a pact with • The Union Cabinet approved the National Health Mission to setting up of a new All India implement - Ayushman Bharat Institute of Medical Sciences scheme (AIIMS) in - Jharkhand's Deoghar • E-way has been rolled out recently • Cabinet approves setting up of a in Rajasthan and – Assam Central University in - Andhra • Global Extension of Services 2018 Pradesh inaugurated in – Mumbai • National Institute of Mental Health • This organization is making green Rehabilitation, first of its kind in propellant- ISRO the country in the area of mental • This city hosted the first –ever joint health rehabilitation has been set conference of Indian customs and up in – Bhopal department of India posts – New • The Cabinet Committee on Delhi Economic Affairs approved the • The International Children Theatre development of trunk festival will be held in June 2018 at infrastructure components for the – Kolkata integrated multi-modal logistics • 'Noon Assembly' campaign gains hub known as 'Freight Village' in – momentum in schools of - Delhi Haryana • The 19th edition of TOONZ • Micro Irrigation Fund worth Rs Animation Masters Summit 2018 5000 crore to be set with – was held in – Kerala NABARD • The Supreme Court struck down • President inaugurated a mutant the amendment which allows variety of DUBRAJ rice developed former chief ministers of the state by BARC in – Mumbai to retain government
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
accommodation even after Judicial System released recently - demitting office to - Uttar Pradesh Across the Bench - Insight into the legislation Indian Military Judicial System • NITI Aayog has signed SoI • This Indian Naval Ship, has been (statement of intent) to help grow deployed to undertake joint EEZ AI ecosystem in India with – Google surveillance of Maldives – INS • The First organized census of Indus Sumedha Dolphin will be out in - Punjab • Rythu Bandhu Scheme for farmers • President Ram Nath Kovind has is launched in - Telangana given his assent to the Delhi • Under the ‘Adopt a heritage’ a government's proposed Bill to corporate house has signed MoU amend the - Minimum Wages Act to maintain historic site Red Fort – • First integrated smart cities control Dalmia Bharat ltd. centre has been launched in – • Shriui Lily festival 2018 was Madhya Pradesh celebrated in this state – Manipur • The state to start 31 government • The Government kicks off a Pilot colleges for girl – Harayana Scheme on competitive basis for 3 • World’s second oldest rock has (three) years for Procurement of been found from - Odisha Aggregate Power of - 2500 MW • India’s Ranking in Asia-Pacific On • Govt. has launched the Gobardhan Power Index - 4th Scheme in – Haryana • This UT has become the first to • The city hosted the 2018 bring amendments in the law to international Buddhist conference - ensure "effective implementation" Lumbini of the Majithia Wage Board in the • President of India presented country – Delhi Visitor’s Awards 2018 at - New • The Supreme Court on directed the Delhi National Highways Authority of • This scheme has been approved in India (NHAI) to throw open the agriculture sector beyond 12th Five Eastern Peripheral Expressway for Year Plan for the period from 2017- the public by - May 31 18 to 2019-20 - Krishonnati Yojana • The theme for the National • Chandrapur and Ballarshah railway technology Day 2018 is - Science stations have bagged the first prize Technology for a sustainable in the "most beautiful" stations Future category of the Indian Railways in – • The Book first of its kind that Maharashtra delves into the depths of Military • According to the latest report of
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
World Anti Doping Agency, India • NITI Aayog signed a Statement of ranked at the – 6th position Intent to develop a crop yield • According to a recent report by prediction model using Artificial Stockholm International Peace Intelligence with – IBM Research Institute (SIPRI); India • The Airport in northeast India has ranked in military spending at - 5th obtained license for commercial Position operation – Pakyong Airport • This state has become the first • The aircraft has been inducted into Indian state to provide Digitally- Indian Air Force recently - Dakota- signed land record receipts – DC3 VP 905 Maharashtra • Exercise 'Vijay Prahar' is being held • Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is in – Rajasthan chairing the 27th GST Council • City to host the 15th Prasavi Meeting in - New Delhi Bhartiya Divas - Varanasi
BANKING
• The RBI has directed that only • This bank has signed a pact with companies with a proven track Common Service Centres (CSC) to record will be allowed to invest in – provide financial support to village Overseas subsidiaries level entrepreneurs – SIDBI • The oil ministry plans to amend the • The first company in India to Petroleum & Natural Gas Rules of receive a payments bank license this year to include shale in the from the Reserve Bank of India definition of petroleum – 1959 (RBI) – Airtel Payments Bank • In these two states the E-Way bill • Small Industries Development Bank for inter-state transportation of of India (SIDBI) is a development goods was rolled out on May 25, financial institution in India 2018 – Maharashtra, Manipur headquartered at – Lucknow • The rank of India in competitive • Competition Commission of India rankings released by International (CCI) approved US $66 billion Institute of Management acquisition of US biotech major Development (IMD) – 44th rank Monsanto by this German pharma • Airtel Payments Bank appointed company – Bayer AG this person as its Managing • This State-run insurance company Director and Chief Executiv Officer has ventured into the ship (CEO) – Anubrata Biswas insurance business by offering the
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
protection and indemnity (P&I) • RBI slapped Rs 5 crore penalty on cover to Indian registered vessels – this bank for non-compliance with New India Assurance Co its directions on now Your • The founder of the New India Customer (KYC) norms – South Assurance Co in 1919 is – Sir Dorabji Indian Bank Tata • This Indian corporate giant has • The BRICS New Development Bank acquired 72% stake in Bankrupt (NDB) is planning to launch its Bhushan Steel – Tata Steel Americas Regional Office in this • This department has been country in 2018 – Brazil established by the Union • The current president of the BRICS Commerce Ministry – Directorate New Development Bank (NDB) is – General of Trade Remedies KV Kamath • The first Parcel Cargo Express Train • To cater to the needs of the MSME (PECT) connecting northeast segment in the National Capital region to Western Coast Region, Bank of Baroda (BoB) commenced its operation from this launched its first ‘Integrated SME place – Guwahati Loan Factory’ in – Gurugram • This becomes first Indian stock • The Confederation of Indian exchange to get US SEC’s DOSM Industry - Indian Banks’ Association recognition – BSE (CII-IBA) Financial Conditions Index • The bank has launched Agenda for Q1 (April-June) FY 2018-19 has 25×25, which pledges to create a fallen to - 51.2 synergetic startup environment for • Moody’s Investors Service has budding women entrepreneurs in downgraded the local and foreign India – Yes Bank currency deposit ratings of this • China's largest bank, has launched Public-Sector Bank to Ba1/NP from the country's first India-dedicated Baa3/P-3 – Punjab National Bank publicly offered investment fund - • The Managing Director and CEO of The Industrial and Commercial Bank of Baroda is – PS Jayakumar Bank of China (ICBC) • The Bank of Baroda was founded • The Bank has been recently barred by Maharaja H. H. Sir Sayajirao by RBI from giving fresh loans – Gaekwad III in the year – 1908 (20 Allahabad Bank July) • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has • The Punjab National Bank (PNB) initiated prompt corrective action was founded by Dyal Singh Majithia against this public sector lender in the year – 1894 recently in view of high non-
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
performing loans – Dena Bank Executive Officer of kotak • The Indian regulatory Body has Mahindra Bank – Uday kotak allowed stock exchanges to extend • The bank has launched IRA 2.0, its timing of equity derivatives trading interactive humanoid at the till 11:55 pm with effect from Koramangala Branch in Bengaluru October 1, 2018 - Securities and – HDFC Bank Exchange Board of India • He has been appointed to ICICI • India signed US$200 million deal for Bank’s board as an Additional POSHAN Abhiyan with - World (Independent) Director - Bank Radhakrishnan Nair • He has taken charge as Chairman • The bank has launched special of the Insurance Regulatory and reading app for visually impaired – Development Authority of India Standard Chartered Bank (IRDAI)- Subhash C. Khuntia • The Reserve Bank has asked all • As per the IMF report India to have listed companies to provide fastest-growing major economy in information on FPI investments to 2018, with a growth rate of - 7.4 per depositories before - May 15 cent • Bandhan Bank received banking • The Govt. of India has entered into licence by Reserve Bank of India in - a legal agreement to accelerate 2014 research towards early • The instant credit facilitating development for startup ePayLater has partnered biopharmaceuticals – World Bank with this private sector lender Bank • The bank has got the approval to to introduce instant credit through hike borrowing limit – Axis Bank the BHIM UPI - IDFC Bank • He has been re-designated as • He has been appointed ICICI Bank Managing Director and Chief independent director - Radhakrishnan Nair
INTERNATIONAL
• The researchers of this University Atlantic Treaty Organisation have developed a new blood test (NATO) – Colombia to detect liver damage in minutes – • This German city will host the 2018 University College London Global Wind Summit in September • This country became the first Latin 2018 – Hamburg American country to join North • This country became the 64th
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
country to join Internal Solar spacecraft will track Earth’s water Alliance (ISA) – The Netherlands cycle over its five-year mission – • This law of European Union will GRACE-FO force companies to be more • The name of the project that will attentive to how they handle chart world’s ocean floor by 2030 customer data – General Data using drones, ships and explorers – Protection Regulation (GDPR) Seabed Project 2030 • The bill to merge Federally • This country has lodged a Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) complaint against the tariffs with this region was passed by the imposed on steel and aluminium by Pakistan Parliament – Khyber the United States (US) – India Pakhtunkhwa • This country has adopted a bill to • The 5th India-CLMV Business freeze export and import with the Conclave was held in the capital hostile countries – Russia city of Cambodia - Phnom Penh • The first Ebola vaccine was • The United States (US) cancelled administered by the World Health the June 12 Summit with North Organisation (WHO) in this country Korea to be held at this place – – Congo Singapore • This country has topped the • North Korea dismantled its nuclear Healthcare Access and Quality testing site on May 24, 2018 in front (HAQ) Index presented in Global of journalist – Puggye-re Burden of Disease study – • The United States of America Switzerland (USA) has disinvited China from • The theme for International Day for this multi-nation exercise over Biological Diversity (IDB) 2018 South China Sea issue - RIMPAC observed in May 22 is - Celebrating Exercise 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity • The name of the Indo-Dutch • The third country to open its initiative to be launched on May 25, embassy in Jerusalem after the US 2018 in Bengaluru for the Startup and Guatemala is – Paraguay sector – #Startuplink • The voters of this African continent • India launched an international country voted to extend the limit incubator for clean energy of President’s power until 2034 – innovators at the 3rd edition of Burundi Mission Innovation (MI) held in this • This country saw the worst airline country – Sweden crash in decades leaving 100 dead – • The successful launch of this this Cuba
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• Deep Depression intensified into a (ADNOC) Group flagged off first Cyclonic Storm "SAGAR" over - Gulf consignment of 2 million barrels of of Aden ADNOC crude for - Mangalore • After US this country has opened Cavern its embassy in Jerusalem – • The country to host the 15th Asia Guatemala Media Summit – India • The organization has Publishes Its • This US state Surpasses UK to 1st Essential Diagnostics List – Become World's 5th Largest WHO Economy – California • The regular US-South Korea joint • This country has proposed India’s military exercise is running for 15 induction as Organisation of Islamic days known as - Max Thunder Cooperation observer – • The United States has formally Bangladesh opened its embassy in – Jerusalem • Anitha-SAT, a lightweight satellite, • India has released grant for river to measure the effects of air training & construction of pollution and global warming, embankments in – Nepal developed by a 17 yr. old student is • The country has emerged as the launched from - Mexico third largest solar market in the • This nation has announced its world in 2017 – India withdrawal from the 2015 landmark • The country to host the 2018 nuclear deal with Iran – US meeting of the BIMSTEC sub group • This country will host the 15th Asia on prevention of illicit Trafficking Media Summit from May 10-12, 2018 on Narcotic drugs and precursor – India chemicals – Nepal • With a score of 89, the country is at • India have agreed to expand their the sixth place in the business partnership for socio-economic optimism index – India development with – Nepal • The technology company has • First home-built aircraft carrier launches Android Things for IoT begins sea trials in this country – platform - Google China • The retail company has purchased • This is the largest remittance- 77% stake in Flipkart worth $16 receiving country in the world – billion – Walmart India • India have signed two agreements • Union Petroleum Dharmendra on exemption of Visas for holders Pradhan and UAE Minister of State of Diplomatic and Official Passports & Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and in the field of Agriculture with
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
– Panama • Country to host the Multi nation • The country has successfully counter-terrorism exercise Peace launched new satellite to monitor Mission 2018 - Russia Air pollution - China • An 18-year-old Chennai-born girl • PM Narendra Modi, has laid the has won this year’s A Star Talent Foundation stone of Arun III Hydro- Search award in – Singapore electric project in – Nepal • The theme of the World Press • India and Peru signed an Freedom Day 2018 - Keeping Power agreement in the field of in Check: Media, Justice and The Renewable Energy at – Lima Rule of Law • The theme of International Nurses • The country has changed its time Day 2018 - Nurses A Voice to Lead - zone, in order to sync with the Health is a Human right southern half – North Korea • The aerospace company has • The Swedish Academy has decided launched most powerful Falcon 9 that No Nobel Prize will be rocket – Space X announced this year for – • Researchers recorded world’s Literature oldest spider – a 43-year-old • 12th informal meeting of SAARC arachnid in – Australia Finance Ministers was held in – • The country has pledged half a Manila billion dollars to restore Great • As per the Harvard study, this Barrier Reef – Australia country has topped the list of • The country has been projected as fastest growing economies for the second fastest growing country coming decade - India in the world for air passenger • The 9th India Japan Energy traffic – India Dialogue was held in - New Delhi • India-South Africa Business Summit • Emmanuel Issozet Ngondet 2018 was held in – Johannesburg resigned, he is the Prime Minister • This institute has been honoured of – Gabon with the with Vaisakh Samman • India-China Border trade resumes Prasasti Patra, by Prime Minister through - Nathu La Narendra Modi - Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies
SPORTS
• This football club from Spain won the Champions League by
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
defeating Liverpool – Real Madrid • He has won the France's player of • The women badminton team of the year – Neymar this country won the 2018 Uber • The player has replaced Rafa Nadal Cup – Japan as number one in ATP rankings - • India bagged a Silver and a Bronze Roger Federer in the Archery World Cup Stage II • The team has won against being held in this country – Turkey Tajikistan 4-2 and emerged as • This cricketer is one of the two champions in the four-nation cricketers who has an average of Under-16 Tournament held in more than 50 in both Tests and Serbia – India One Day Internationals (ODIs) – AB • He has won his third Masters title de Villiers by beating Dominic Thiem in the • This footballer won the European final of the Madrid Open- Golden Shoe Award for the fifth Alexander Zverev time – Lionel Messi • The country has finished on top in • He has been named as the the South Asian Junior Athletics President of Hockey India – Championships in Colombo – India Rajinder Singh • This Indian player has won the Abu • This IPL team reached the final for Dhabi Open Squash title – Ramit the record seventh time – Chennai Tondon Super Kings • This team has lifted third Premier • She won the women’s singles title League trophy in seven seasons – of the Rome tennis Open (also Manchester City called Italian Open) – Elena • She has clinched silver Medal in the Svitolena 10 mtr Air rifle mixed Team Event in • Thomas cup Badminton the Grand Pix of Liberation tournament started in this country International Competition – Pooja – Thailand Ghatkar • Chennaiyin FC's head coach has • India U-16 football team registers 2- been honoured with a special 1 win against - Jordan achievement award - John Gregory • He broke John McEnroe’s 34-year • He has won the 2018 Formula 1 record by winning his 50th Spanish Grand Prix tournament – consecutive set on clay at the Lewis Hamilton Madrid Open - Rafael Nadal • She has won gold at Hanover • This player has been recommended International Shooting for Khel Ratna award – Neeraj Competitions –Anjali Bhagwat Chopra
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• She has won gold medal in the • He has won Azerbaijan Grand Prix 40kg on 1st day of Asian Cadet 2018 - Lewis Hamilton Judo Championships - Rohini S • New Coach appointed for the Mohite Australian cricket team - Justin • This academy is to host Basketball Langer Without Borders Asia 2018 - NBA • The Indian Shuttler, who has Academy climbed to the third spot in the • She has won a silver medal in the latest rankings as per the the sabre event of the Tournoi World report released by the Badminton Cup Satellite Fencing World Federation - Srikanth Championship in Reykjavik - Kidambi Bhavani Devi • The IAAF will scrap morning • He has clinched his first ever sessions at the 2019 World singles title on the ATP Challenger Athletics Championships in – Doha circuit – Prajnesh • A Sports initiative 'Star Khel • He has lifted the 11th Barcelona Mahakumbh' launched at – Open tennis title – Rafael Nadal Dharamshala • He has won gold at Belgrade • He has been named as the new International Boxing - Sumit coach for the India’s Men hockey Sangwan team – Harendra Singh • The football club has won this • The football player who has won season's Spanish La Liga title after the Football Writers' Footballer of beating Deportivo La Coruna – the Year - Mohamed Salah Barcelona FC • He has claimed No.1 spot in 10m air • Wimbledon champions' prize pistol rankings of ISSF - Shahzar money has been hiked by - £50,000 Rizvi
PERSON IN NEWS
• This veteran actress from film Mottley Pakeezah recently died at the age • This person was elected as the of 57 – Geeta Kapoor chairperson of Tribal Cooperative • He became the youngest person to Marketing Development summit six peaks over 8000-m – Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED) - Arjun Vajpai Ramesh Chand Meena • She was elected as the first female • This person has been appointed as Prime Minister of Barbados – Mia the new Governor of Odisha – Prof
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Ganeshi Lal York Police Department – • This person has been appointed as Gurusoch Kaur the new Governor of Mizoram - • He was sworn-in as the Chief Kummanam Rajasekharan Minister of Karnataka – HD • The book titled "The Spy Kumaraswamy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the • He was sworn-in as the Deputy Illusion of Peace" has been Chief Minister of Karnataka – G authored by – AS Dulat and Assad Parmeshwara Durrani • This author from Poland won the • This Bollywood actor has been Man Booker International Prize roped in by the NITI Aayog for the 2018 for the novel ‘Flights’ – Olga promotion of its BHIM app and Tokarczuk Women Entrepreneurship Platform • He has won the Top Male artist (WEP) – Sushant Singh Rajput award at the Billboard Music • The 15th Finance Commission Award 2018 – Ed Sheeran constituted a High-Level Group on • The name of the commander of all- Health Sector under the women crew onboard INSV Tarini chairmanship of – Dr. Randeep that completed its historic Guleria circumnavigation – Lt Commander • He was elected as the Speaker of Vertika Joshi Karnataka Legislative Assembly - • She has won the Top Female artist Ramesh Kumar award at the Billboard Music • This person has been appointed as Award 2018 – Taylor Swift the Director General of West • She is the first African American Bengal Police – Virendra female to win the Icon Award at • The Prime Minister of the the Billboard Music Award 2018 – Netherlands who will be visiting Janet Jackson India from May 25, 2018 – Mark • This person has been appointed as Rutte Secretary of Department of • The Pulitzer-winning author who Investment and Public Asset died at age of 85 – Philip Roth Management (DIPAM) – Atanu • This veteran actor who played a Chakraborty memorable role in “Lage Raho • This person has been appointed as Munnabhai” died recently at the the Chairman and Managing age of 81 – Hemu Adhikari Director of Coal India Limited (CIL) • She is the first Indian woman to – Anil Kumar Jha become a police officer in New • She became the youngest Indian
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
woman to scale the world’s highest scaled Mount Everest on 14 May mountain Mt Everest – Shivangi 2018, completing his quest to climb Pathak the highest peaks on all seven • He is appointed as the Chairman of continents in record time - Steve Lalit Kala Akademi - Uttam Plain Pacharne • He has been assigned as the • He is elected as Vice-President of independent charge as Minister of Badminton Asia Confederation - State in the Ministry of Information Himanta Biswa Sarma and Broadcasting - Rajyavardhan • The Noted lyricist, poet, politician Singh Rathore Balkavi Bairagi who died recently in • She has been conferred with Swara MP - Balkavi Bairagi Mauli award – Lata Mangeshkar • The person confirmed to be the • He has been conferred with the first female director of the CIA - 11th KISS Humanitarian Award 2018- Gina Haspel Muhammad Yunus • He has sworn in as the new CM of • The sitting BJP MLA, from Karnataka -B.S. Yeddyurappa Jayanagar in Karnataka has passed • The first South Asian to be elected away recently – B.N Vijay Kumar in Oregon - Susheela Jayapal • The well-known Gandhian Freedom • He has been appointed as the fighter and writer passed away eminent jurist in the high profile recently in Chattisgarh – Keyur lokpal selection committee – Bhusan Mukul Rohatgi • Indian-American woman appointed • He became the first double as interim civil court judge in US – amputee to climb Mt Everest - Xia Deepa Ambedkar Boyu • Oscars Academy expelled him, the • He has been chosen for the 2018 expulsion comes more than 40 RedInk award for lifetime years after he was accused of achievement in journalism William raping a 13-year-old girl – Roman Mark Tuly Polanski • He has been elected unopposed as • He has sworn in as the acting ICC chairman for second term – governor of Manipur – Jagdish Shankar Manohar Mukhi • Eminent physicist passed away • Noted Malayalam novelist passed recently at the age of 86 years - away at the age of 80 - Kottayam George Sudarshan Pushpanath • The Australian mountaineer who • The noted scholar and the first
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Finance Minister in the left front • He has become India's Longest- govt. in West Bengal passed away Serving Chief Minister – Pawan recently - Ashok Mitra Charmling • Chennai based transgender has • A Gujarati poet has been chosen won the 2018 Miss Koovagam for the Saraswati Samman – beauty pageant Title - Mubina Sitanshu Yashchandra • She has been honoured with • He has been appointed as the new Chaplin Award 2018 - Helen Mirren DG of PIB – Sitnashu Ranjan Kar • Saudi Aramco has appointed first • He has been appointed as the woman to board of directors - Lynn chairman of IRDA - Subhash Elsenhans Chandra Khuntia • The singing legend has been • The renowned sculpture and honoured with the 26th PC Chandra mentor of artist has passed away - Puraskaar 2018 – Asha Bhonsle Telangana
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
• The North Atlantic Treaty Shipbuilders and Engineers Organisation (NATO) was founded • This Article of Indian Constitution on April4, 1949 with its says that there shall be a Governor headquarter at – Brussels of State – Article 153 (Belgium) • The Tribal Cooperative Marketing • This country is the world’s fourth Development Federation of India largest wind power generator – (TRIFED) came into existence in India this year – 1987 • The Uber Cup, also called the • The International Solar Alliance World Team Championships for (ISA) was first proposed by Indian Women, was first held in this year – Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a 1956-57 speech during Paris Climate Change • The capital of Barbados, an eastern Summit in – November 2015 Caribbean island and an • The Operation Blackboard to independent British supply the bare minimum crucial Commonwealth nation, is – facilities to all primary schools in Bridgetown the country was started in this year • The country’s indigenous landing – 1987 craft utility (LCU) series ships are • “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat” was manufactured at – Garden Reach announced by Prime Minister
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Narendra Modi on October 31 in Russian Parliament is – Duma this year – 2015 • Every year National Dengue Day is • The ‘M’ denotes this country in the observed on – 16 May CLMV group of countries – • This foundation funds the Global Myanmar Burden of Disease Study (GBD) - • This state was the first state to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation implement the e-way bill system • In this year the Man Booker for the inter-state transportation of International Prize was announced goods – Karnataka first to complement the Man • This person is heading the 15th Booker Prize – 2004 (June) Finance Commission constituted • Under this Act, the Competition under the Article 280 of the Indian Commission of India (CCI) was Constitution – NK Singh formed as a fair trade regulator – • The BHIM app developed by Competition Act, 2002 National Payments Corporation of • The Convention of Biological India (NPCI) was on – December Diversity (CBD) came into force on 30, 2016 December 29 in this year – 1993 • The term given to 10 Left-Wing • The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, Extremism (LWE) affected states is 2016 was introduced in the Lok – Red Corridor Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act • The National Telecom Policy of this of this year – 1955 year provided for setting up • The Billboard Music Awards (BBM) Universal Services Obligation Fund were first presented in this year – (USOF) by levying a “Universal 1990 Access Levy” on telecom • The ancient name of Patna, the company’s revenue – 1999 capital of Bihar, is – Pataliputra • This year budget announcement of • This UN Security Council (UNSC) Union Finance Ministry Arun Jaitley resolution mentions the ‘Occupied provided for creation of a “Model Territories’ applied to West Bank, Contract Farming Act” – 2017-18 East Jerusalem and Gaza – • The Mission was launched by Resolution 242 leaders of 20 countries on • BrahMos missile is the result of November 30 in this year – 2015 collaboration between DRDO of • He is the current chairman of the India and Military Industrial Central Board of Film Certification Consortium NPO Mashinostroyenia (CBFC) – Prasoon Joshi of this country – Russia • The name of lower house of • The President and capital of
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
Burundi is - Pierre Nkurunziza and and Information Society Day Bujumbura • Every year 15 May is observed • The President and capital of South across the world as the – American country Paraguay is - International Day of Families Horacio Cartes and Asuncion • Defence Research and • The current Director General of Development Organisation (DRDO) National Crime Records Bureau came into existence in -1958 (NCRB) is – Ish Kumar • The first vocalist to be conferred • He heads the 15th Finance with the Swara Mauli award - MS Commission constituted to chalk Subbulakshmi out devolution of finances from • This year (2018) 6th May is Centre to States – Nand Kishore observed as the – World Laughter Singh Day • The world’s highest peak Mt • The 2018 World cartoonist day was Everest in Nepal is known as – observed on – 5th May Sagarmatha • It is the most populated place in • In this year the Department of Central America. Guatemala City is Disinvestment was renamed as the capital of this country – Department of Investment and Guatemala Public Asset Management (DIPAM) • Every year 8th May is observed as – 2016 the - World Red Cross Red • The debt-laden Bhushan Steel Crescent Day Limited acquired by Tata Steel is • Every year 7th May is observed as the largest manufacturer of this the – World Athletics Day steel in India - Auto-grade steel • San Jose is the capital of - Costa • AYUSH” is a popular acronym for Rica five traditional and complementary • The Birth anniversary of Asia’s first systems of medicine, namely – laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore is Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, celebrated in india every year on – Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy 9th May • The Indian Institutes of Science • Every year 11th May is observed as Education and Research (IISER) the - National Technology Day were created under the National • Every year 12th May is being Institutes of Technology observed as the – International (Amendment) Bill of – 2010 Nurses Day • Every year 17th May is 0bserved as • Name of the capital and largest city the – World Telecommunication in Iceland- Reykjavik
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY 2018
• Every year 01 May is observed as • The most important document the International Labour Day, it is which establishes the ownership of also known as – May Day the land, and is primarily used by • Oil Company with world's second- farmers – 7/12 Receipts largest proven crude oil reserves – • SAARC - the regional Saudi Aramco intergovernmental organization • Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana and geopolitical union of nations in Yojana was introduced in -2017 South Asia was founded in – 1985 • Schedule to the Constitution of • Manila is the capital of – India lists the official languages of Philippines the Republic of India – Eighth • The largest city and the capital of • World Press Freedom Day is being Gabon is - Libreville observed every year on – 3 May