Important Current Affairs May 2017 Capsule with PDF
Awards & Honours
Paradip Port gets award o The Paradip Port Trust has been awarded by the Union Shipping Ministry for witnessing the second highest growth in traffic for FY17. o In FY17, the port has handled 88.95 MMT of cargo; a 16.5% rise. o During the year, the port’s berth-day output improved to 23139 MT with 12.24% growth and the Berth Occupancy stood at 66%. o Paradip Port is located in Odisha. President presents Dr. Ambedkar Awards o President Mukherjee presented Dr. Ambedkar National Awards for outstanding contribution to the promotion of social understanding and for upliftment of weaker sections of the society for the years 2011, 2012 and 2014 in New Delhi. o The President congratulated Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment for helping the cause. Toni Morrison honoured by Authors Guild. o The Authors Guild has honored Nobel literature laureate Toni Morrison at its 25th annual gala. o Morrison received Distinguished Service Award and praised the power of literature and the "community" of writers. o She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.
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o Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award in 1988 for Beloved. Mark Zuckerberg gets honorary degree. o Facebook Co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg received an honorary doctorate degree from Harvard, 13 years after dropping out from the University. o He dropped out of the Ivy League school to focus on Facebook. o He started Facebook in his Harvard dorm room in 2004. o Zuckerberg is the youngest commencement speaker in Harvard's history. Cartoonist wins top conservation award o Rohan Chakravarty has won this year’s WWF International President’s Award for his efforts to change attitudes towards nature. o The award is the top accolade given by WWF to recognise leadership in young conservationists who are under the age of 30 from around the world. o The award ceremony was held recently in Manado, Indonesia. o He has his own comic strip called, Green Humour. Posthumous U.N. honour for 2 Indians. o Brijesh Thapa and Ravi Kumar will be honoured with the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers to be observed on May 24. o Brijesh Thapa served with the UN Organisation Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo while Ravi Kumar was deployed with the UNIFIL. o India is the largest cumulative troop contributor, having provided almost 200,000 troops. ISRO gets Indira Gandhi Prize for 2014. o The Indian Space Research Organisation was presented with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for the year 2014.
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o The prize was presented to ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar by former Prime Minister and Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust trustee Dr. Manmohan Singh. o ISRO was selected for the prize in 2014 by a jury headed by Vice-President Hamid Ansari. Sanjeev Gupta named 'CEO of the Year'. o Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of Liberty House Group, received the title 'CEO of the Year' at the prestigious Platts Global Metals Awards in London. o He bagged the top global award for his successful acquisitions and drive to transform the steel industry in the UK, India and beyond. o Recently the Liberty Group completed the acquisition of Tata's specialty steels business. First BS Shekhawat Award to Chamling. o Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling was conferred with the first Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Lifetime Achievement Honour in Public Service by President Pranab Mukherjee. o President lauded Chamlings contribution to Sikkim and said it is emerging as a role model for other states. o Known as the 'Land of Flowers, Sikkim is gaining popularity as a fully organic state in India. Letterman wins Mark Twain Prize. o David Letterman has been named the next recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American humour, the award granted annually by the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. o He is the longest running host of late night TV. o He is the 20th humorist to receive the prize. o The Twain prize is given annually to a humorist whose impact on American society is reminiscent of Samuel Clemens. 3 | P a g e
Florence Nightingale Awards to 35 Nurses o The President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee conferred the Florence Nightingale Awards to 35 nurses from across the country on the occasion of International Nurses Day. o The awards are given to the outstanding nursing personnel employed in Central, State/UTs. Nurses working in Government, Voluntary Organizations etc. o The Awards carry Rs.50000, a certificate, a citation certificate & a Medal. Honorary Life Membership of MCC to VVS o Former India batsman VVS Laxman was awarded the honorary life membership of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). o He joined Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and other Indians in the prestigious list. o VVS Laxman has played 134 Tests and scored 8781 runs. He also played 85 One Day Internationals. Chanda Kochhar awarded o ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar has become the first Indian woman to be conferred with the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Award for Global Corporate Citizenship. o She has joined the league of former Indian recipients-- former President and space scientist APJ Abdul Kalam and IT honcho Narayana Murthy. o The award was instituted in 1998 by the prestigious Wilson Center. Mukti Bhawan Wins The Best Film Award o Mukti Bhawan has won the Best Film award at the New York Indian Film Festival. o The film, directed by Shubhashish Bhutiani and featuring Adil Husain and Lalit Behl, revolves around an interesting relationship between a father and son after the former decides to die in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi and his son is forced to join his journey. 4 | P a g e
N’Golo Kante wins award o N’Golo Kanté has been voted the 2017 Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association. o He will receive the prestigious FWA accolade, which has been awarded since 1948, at a gala dinner in London on 18 May when the association marks its 70th anniversary. o Kante is a French footballer who plays as a central midfielder for English club Chelsea and the France national team. Konkona Sen Sharma wins award o Konkona Sensharma has been named the best director for her directorial debut "A Death in the Gunj" and the best actress for "Lipstick Under My Burkha" at 2017's New York Indian Film Festival. o Onir's film "Aaba" was declared the best short film at the festival. o K Kaladharan won the best actor for Malayalam film "Ottayaal n Paatha" o The film festival took place from April 30 to May 7. Kashmiri bags Photo of the Year Award o Saqib Majeed, a freelance photographer has done Kashmir proud, pocketing the prestigious 2016 Wisden-MCC (Melbourne Cricket Council) Cricket Photograph of the Year Award. o The photograph captured boys playing cricket in the outskirts of the city. o Majeed is the first Kashmiri and second Asian after Atul Kamble to receive the prestigious award. Watson wins 1st gender-neutral MTV Award o Emma Watson has won the first gender-neutral prize at the MTV TV & Movie Awards. o The former Harry Potter star picked up the best big-screen actor gong for her role as Belle in Beauty & the Beast. o Before MTV, Grammy Awards also scrapped male and female prizes in 2011. 5 | P a g e
IIT-B Prof declared INSA Young Scientist o Assistant professor in IIT-B, Prof Vikram Vishal has won the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) medal for Young Scientist (2017). o Along with a bronze medal, Vishal will receive a cash prize of Rs 25,000. o The award is considered to be the highest recognition of promise, creativity and excellence in young scientists. 'The Black Prince' awarded at film fest o Hollywood film 'The Black Prince', featuring Satinder Sartaaj and Shabana Azmi, was awarded the Special Jury Remi Award at the Worldfest- Houston International Film Festival. o The film is a historic biopic on the poignant life story of the last king of Punjab - Maharajah Duleep Singh and is set for international release on July 21. o Film is written and directed by Hollywood filmmaker Kavi Raz K Viswanath receives Dadasahab Phalke o Eminent film director and actor Kasinathuni Viswanath received the coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the country’s highest award in cinema. o The award is given by the government for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema. o Vishwanath has directed 50 films, known for their strong content, endearing narrative, honest handling and cultural authenticity. National Awards 2017 o Akshay Kumar won the Best Actor award for Rustom, and Malayalam actor Surabhi Lakshmi, who has been named as the best actress for her role in film Minnaminungu-The Firefly. o The winner of the Most Film Friendly State was Uttar Pradesh. o Sonam Kapoor received a Special Mention from the jury for playing Neerja Bhanot in the film Neerja. 6 | P a g e
Padma bestowed with Avvaiyar award o Tamil Nadu govt honoured social worker Padma Venkataraman with the state’s “Avvaiyar Award” for 2017. o Padma, daughter of former President of India, the late R Venkataraman, was honoured for her efforts in the areas of women’s welfare and rehabilitation of leprosy-affected persons for the past 30 years. 64th National Film Awards o President Pranab Mukherjee will give way the 64th National Film Awards in New Delhi today. o The Awards had been announced Last month. Akshay Kumar has been chosen for the Best Actor Award for Hindi Movie Rustom. o Surabhi has been named as the best actress for her role in Malayalam film Minnaminungu-The Firefly.
Books and Authors
Book on Virat Kohli's winning formula o Book on Virat Kohli's consistency and winning formula has been recently released by Abhirup Bhattacharya. o The book is titled "Winning like Virat: Think & Succeed like Kohli" o The book discloses the secrets of the cricketer’s consistent form, while attempting to decode his philosophy towards life. President receives book on Mann Ki Baat o President Pranab Mukherjee has received the first copy of 2 books 'Mann Ki Baat-A Social Revolution on Radio' and 'Marching with a Billion- Analysing Narendra Modi’s Government at Mid term'. o The books were formally released by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. o The books have been written by Rajesh Jain and Uday Mahurkar respectively. 7 | P a g e
World's first philosophical novel on God o Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs has unveiled a philosophical novel on God titled "Confessions of a dying mind: The blind faith of atheism. o A young Indian IAS officer, Haulianlal Guite, has penned it. o The book billed as "the world's first philosophical novel for God". o The book is published by Bloomsbury Publishing. PM Modi releases Dr. Swaminathan's book. o PM Modi released a 2-part book series on the eminent agricultural scientist Dr. M.S. Swaminathan. o The series is titled - M.S. Swaminathan: The Quest for a world without hunger. o Praising the dedication and commitment of Prof. Swaminathan, the Prime Minister described him as a “Kisan Vaigyanik” – Farmers’ Scientist. o M. S. Swaminathan is famous for starting the Green Revolution in India. Ivanka promotes her new book o Ivanka Trump will continue to promote her new book on Twitter and Instagram. o This comes weeks after President Donald Trump’s adviser and daughter pledged not to draw publicity through a promotional tour or media appearances. o Ms. Trump raised eyebrows when she plugged the book, "Women Who Work", to her millions of followers on social media. Book on saint Ramanujar o Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami released a book on Vaishnavite saint Ramanujar, as part of his 1000th birth anniversary. o Earlier, the 1000th birth anniversary of Ramanujar was celebrated with fervour at Sriperumbudur, the birth place of the saint, from April 22 to May 2. 8 | P a g e
o PM Modi had released a stamp on Ramanujar and had invoked the saint to condemn the practice of untouchability.
Government Policies and Schemes
First deaddiction centre for women o Punjab is all set to get its first government-run women drug de-addiction centre in the state. o The 15-bedded centre, which is likely to become operational by next month, will come up in Kapurthala district. o Currently, no government facility exists in the state which is meant exclusively for women drug addicts. Govt. to rework MGNREGA workers' wages o Centre is looking to rework the baseline on basis of which the remuneration is paid to beneficiaries under the employment guarantee scheme. o Daily wage under the MNREGA has risen by just Re 1 in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and UP, by Rs 2 in Odisha and by Rs 4 in Bengal. o There is huge variation between MGNREGA wages notified by the Centre and the minimum wage of some states. Govt announces wind energy auction o The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has announced the launch of second round of wind energy auction for 1,000 MW. o UP will buy 499.9 MW, Bihar 200 MW, Jharkhand 200 MW, Delhi 100 MW and Assam and Odisha 50 MW each. o All these companies will sell power to Power Trading Companies at a rate of Rs 3.46 a kWhr. 6,000 crore scheme for food processing
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o Govt. has approved a new Rs6,000 crore central scheme ‘SAMPADA’ for the 2016-20 period with an aim to boost processing of marine and agriculture produce. o The scheme will help in generating an investment of Rs31,400 crore and facilitate handling of 334 lakh tonnes of agro-produce valuing Rs1,04,125 crore. o SAMPADA is an umbrella scheme incorporating all ongoing schemes. One IP- Two Dispensaries o “One IP- Two Dispensaries” scheme was launched by the govt on the occasion of International Labour Day. o Under this scheme, ESIC has given an option to an Insured Person (IP) to choose two dispensaries, one for self and another for family through an employer. o This will benefit all IPs, especially migrant workers who are working in other than home State. 1st state to shift financial year o Madhya Pradesh has become the first state to switch to the Jan- Dec financial year from the existing April-March cycle. o The move breaks a 150-year tradition as India started adopting the April- March financial year from 1867. o The central govt had constituted a high-level committee under former CEA Shanker Acharya to examine “desirability and feasibility” of having a new financial year.
Days and Events
World observes No Tobacco Day. o World No Tobacco Day which is observed annually on May 31.
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o The day is observed to draw attention to widespread prevalence of tobacco use and to negative health effects. o Theme of World NO tobacco day 2017 Tobacco - A threat to development. o Health Minister JP Nadda is chosen for this year's WHO DG Special Recognition Awards for accelerating India's tobacco control initiatives. International Day of UN Peacekeepers o The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is observed on May 29 annually to honor the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace. o It was so designated by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 57/129, on December 11, 2002. o The 2017 theme is, "Investing in Peace around the world." Menstrual hygiene day. o Menstrual hygiene day is an annual awareness day observed on 28 May. o It aim to break taboos surrounding menstruation, raise awareness of the importance of good menstrual hygiene management worldwide. o It was initiated by the German-based NGO WASH United in 2014. o Theme of Menstrual hygiene day 2017 - Education about Menstruation Changes Everything. PM Modi pays tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru o PM Narendra Modi paid tributes to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on his 53rd death anniversary. o Jawarharlal Nehru remains the longest-serving prime minister of India as he remained in power for 17 years. o Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s first Prime Minister who served from 15 August 1947 to 27 May 1964. o The day he was born, November 14, is celebrated as Children’s Day. 2017 IDB celebrated. o Every year May 22 is observed as International Day for Biodiversity. 11 | P a g e
o This day is celebrated to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. o It falls within the scope of the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda's Sustainable Development Goals. o The theme for 2017 is, "Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism". National Anti Terrorism Day celebrated. o The National Anti Terrorism Day is celebrated every year on May 21 in India to raise awareness among all sections of people, about the danger of terrorism and violence. o Former PM Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a female suicide bomber on May 21,1991 while conducting election campaign in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. o He was assassinated by a suicide squad of Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam. International Museum day celebrated. o Every year since 1977 International Museum Day is organised worldwide around May 18. o This day is an occasion to raise awareness on how important museums are in the development of society. o The theme chosen for 2017 is "Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums" International Day of Families celebrated o The International Day of Families is observed on the 15th of May every year. o The Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993. o This Day provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase knowledge of the social and demographic processes affecting families.
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o Theme of International Day of Families 2017 : “Families, education and well-being”. Mother's Day Celebrated. o Mother’s Day is an annual event celebrated every year to honour and respect a mother. It is a modern time celebration which was originated in the North America in order to honour the mothers. o It falls every year on second Sunday of the month of May. This year, in India, it was celebrated on Sunday, May 14. o Theme of Mother's Day 2017 - Every Mother knows Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary o The annual hunting festival of the tribal community was observed in a 'bloodless and symbolic' manner in and around Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary for the third consecutive year o The 2017 hunting festival ‘Bishu Parv' of the tribal community was observed in Jharkhand. o To observe fest peacefully, the awareness campaign was launched by the forest department. National Technology Day o National Technology Day is being observed across India on May 11 to mark India’s technological advancements. o On this day India successfully conducted first among the five nuclear tests in Pokhran under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. o India also conducted successful test firing of the Trishul missile on the same day. o The 2017 theme is ‘Technology for inclusive & sustainable growth’. World Press Freedom Day o Every year World Press Freedom Day is celebrated on 3rd of May. o UNESCO marks this day to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold 13 | P a g e
the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. World Asthma Day Today o World Asthma Day is commemorated every year on the first Tuesday in the month of May o Its objective to increase awareness about asthma around the world. o Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the airways of the lungs that become inflamed, narrow or swell up which makes it difficult to breathe. o India ranks first with regard to the number of deaths due to lung disease. 'UP Diwas' to be celebrated on Jan 24 o The Yogi Adityanath government has decided to celebrate 'UP Diwas' on January 24, the day the erstwhile United Provinces was rechristened as Uttar Pradesh. o The United Provinces unit was renamed as Uttar Pradesh on on January 24, 1950. o The minister said the state's rich cultural heritage would be showcased through different programmes on this day.
Committees and Recommendation
Committee on Scouts and Guides o A seven-member High-Level Committee on Scouts and Guides has submitted its Final Report to Sports Minister, Vijay Goel with various recommendations. o The committee has suggested for the constitution of an Enquiry Committee to take stock of complaints and grievances and submit its report. o The committee is headed by Harsh Malhotra and established in 2016. 14 | P a g e
Committee on Desiltation of Ganga. o Chitale committee on Desiltation of Ganga has recommended a slew of measures which include Study reach wise sediment transport processes and establish annual sediment budgets to guide de-silting activities. o The committee was constituted in July 2016 to prepare guidelines for desiltation of river Ganga. o The four member committee is headed by Madhav Chitale (Expert Member of NGRBA). RBI goes for security upgrade. o RBI has constituted a high-level committee on currency storage and movement (HLCCSM) to review the existing security arrangements relating to storage, movement and processing of currency. o Reserve Bank of India has initiated an exercise of upgrading measures for secured storage and movement of currency at more than 4,000 chests across the country in view of the heightened threat perception. UP govt forms 'Maa' committees o Uttar Pradesh government has decided to form 'Maa' committees to keep an eye on mid-day meals served to students in state-run primary schools. o It will be a committee of six mothers, from all sections of society, whose students are studying in that school. o From cleanliness in kitchen, to quality of food being served to children, they will keep an eye on minute details. Mudgal elected head of FIFA Gov Comm o Justice (Retd) Mukul Mudgal was elected as head of FIFA's governance committee at the world football governing body's 67th Congress in Bahrain's capital city of Manama. o His name was proposed by the FIFA Council for the vacant position of the governance chief after Miguel Maduro was reportedly fired.
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o He was appointed deputy chairman of the governance committee in May 2016. Govt sets Up task force for emp Data o The government has set up a task force headed by NITI Aayog vice- chairman Arvind Panagariya to come up with a methodology to generate timely and reliable employment data. o The Prime Minister himself has initiated the process and has asked the task force to submit its recommendations at the earliest. o The other members are M Sathiyavathy, TCA Ananth, Pulak Ghosh & Manish Sabharwal. Khurshid to assist in triple talaq case o SC has allowed former law minister Salman Khurshid to be an amicus curiae in the ongoing Triple Talaq case. o Amicus Curiae is not a party to a lawsuit, but has a strong interest in the matter, and can submit a brief in the action to influence the court's decision. o A five-judge constitution bench of the apex court will start hearing from May 11 the petitions against Triple Talaq.
Person In News
PC to get Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Award o Actress Priyanka Chopra will be conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Award for being an international icon. o She will be given the award under the newly introduced ‘Internationally Acclaimed Actress’ category o Actor Johny Lever, Mithun Chakraborty and chairperson of CBFC are members of the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Board. o This Award is India's highest award in cinema. 16 | P a g e
1st Indian PM to visit Spain in 30 years o Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the first Indian prime minister to visit the country since 1988. o The previous Indian PM to visit Spain was Rajiv Gandhi, in 1988. o Modi will hold discussions with his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy to deepen bilateral engagement, including in the high-tech sector. o PM Modi is on a four-nation tour to boost bilateral relations and seek investment Lionel Messi wins fourth Golden Shoe. o Lionel Messi has won the European Golden Shoe for a record fourth time. o With this fourth Golden Shoe Messi has drawn level with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. o Messi has scored 37 goals this season in the Spanish league. o The award goes every season to the leading goal scorer from every top division national league in Europe. BSF officer summits Everest 6th time. o BSF officer Loveraj Singh Dharamshaktu became the first Indian mountaineer to conquer the world’s highest peak Mount Everest for a record sixth time. o He works as an assistant commandant with the Border Security Force in Dehradun. o He was awarded the Padma Shri by Government of India in 2014. o He hails from Uttarakhand and scaled the Everest first in 1998. Rout gets Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar o Satyabrata Rout has been awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar for the year 2016. o He has been awarded for developing a unique method of teaching and practising direction and design.
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o He is one of the pioneers of ‘visual theater’ in India, and has ‘Scenography: An Indian Perspective’. o The Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. Sherpa scales Mt Everest 21 times. o Kami Rita Sherpa from Nepal created history by scaling Mt. Everest for a record 21 times. o He became one of the three climbers in the world to hold the record for most of the summits on Mt Everest. o Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi Sherpa have also scaled the highest peak 21 times. o He has already climbed most of the peaks above 8,000 m including K2, Cho-oyu, Lhoste and Annapurna among others. Indian Navy civilian scales Everest. o Brijmohan Sharma has become the first civilian from the Indian Navy to summit Mount Everest. o His first attempt to conquer the Everest in 2015 was obstructed by earthquake-induced avalanche in which he was buried under heavy snow. o In 2016, He gained rookie entry in the world's toughest foot race, Badwater and earned himself the position of being the 2nd and the fastest Indian at the event. Indian-American wins NatGeo Bee contest. o 14-year-old Indian-American student,Pranay Varada has won the prestigious National Geographic Bee competition. o He was declared the winner as he won the first tie breaker question. o He will get $50,000 in scholarship. o Indian-Americans have won the National Geographic Bee competition for the last six consecutive years. Shrinivas Kulkarni wins Dan David prize. 18 | P a g e
o Indian scientist Shrinivas Kulkarni has won the prestigious Dan David prize for his contribution in the field of astronomy. o 3 Dan David prizes of 1 million dollar each are given every year in the categories of "Past", "Present" and "Future" to people around the world who have made outstanding contributions to humanity in the sciences, humanities, or through their work in civil society. Jamsenpa scales Everest for fourth time. o Anshu Jamsenpa, the Indian mountaineer from Arunachal Pradesh conquered Mount Everest for the fourth time, thus becoming the first Indian woman to achieve this feat. o She also holds the record of being the only woman in the world to have scaled the highest peak twice in a season. o She had scaled the world's highest peak twice in 2011 and once in 2013.
International Affairs
'The Square' wins top prize at Cannes. o The Swedish film 'The Square' has won the Palme d'Or, the top prize at 70th Cannes Film Festival. o The Square is a Swedish satirical drama film directed by Ruben Östlund. o The film ‘120 Beats Per Minute!' won the Grand Prix, the runner-up prize. o The 70th annual Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France. G7 summit begins in Italy. o A two day G7 summit began in Sicily’s picturesque town of Taormina, Italy o The summit will focus on issues surrounding security and growth. A tough debate is expected on issues including trade and climate change. o G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US. The EU also has representatives.
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o Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk will be representing the European Union. Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. o The 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction is being held in Cancun, Mexico. o It is the most important international forum dedicated to the disaster risk reduction agenda. o It will mark the first opportunity for the international community to review global progress on the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which was adopted in Japan in 2015. Taiwan court to recognise gay marriage. o Taiwan's constitutional court has declared that same-sex couples have the right to legally marry, o This is first such ruling in Asia. o The court gave the country's parliament a period of two years for laws to be amended to allow same-sex marriage. o Taiwan has a reputation as a beacon of liberalism in the region. Impeachment against Duterte rejected. o Philippine parliamentary panel has rejected a proposal for an impeachment motion against President Rodrigo Duterte for his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings and other crimes. o The failed proposal, filed by legislator Gary Alejano, called for Duterte's impeachement for "culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, engaging in bribery and other crimes". Emergency in Yemen over cholera outbreak o A state of emergency has been declared in the capital, Sanaa, due to a deadly outbreak of cholera. The International Committee of the Red Cross has stated that the disease killed at least 115 people and left more than 8,000 others infected across the country. 20 | P a g e
o The World Health Organization now classifies Yemen as one of the worst humanitarian emergencies in the world. Nepal votes in first local elections o Nepalese are lining up to vote for representatives in municipal and village councils for the first time in two decades. o The first phase was conducted on May 14. o Crucial local positions have been held by government-appointed representatives because elections could not be held amid a 10-year-old communist insurgency and years of delay in drafting a new constitution. Nepal joins OBOR o Nepal formally signed the One Belt One Road framework agreement, leaving India the only country in South Asia not involved in China’s ambitious economic strategy. o Nepal’s formal entry into the OBOR network will allow collaboration in construction of cross-border railways and highways etc. o Funds will be provided by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as well as the Silk Road Fund. Moon Jae-in sworn in as President o Moon Jae-in has been declared winner in South Korea’s presidential election by that country’s National Election Commission. o He replaced the ousted President Park Geun-hye, who was ejected from office in March after a corruption scandal o Moon is a 64 year old former human rights lawyer and a liberal who favors a more open policy toward North Korea. Pakistan's new envoy to India o Sohail Mahmood will be Pakistan's new High Commissioner to India and is set to take charge at the end of this month. o Mahmood, now Pakistan's Ambassador to Turkey, will succeed Abdul Basit. 21 | P a g e
o Mahmood has served in Pakistani missions in Washington, New York, Ankara and Bangkok. Macron becomes youngest French President o Emmanuel Macron has become the youngest-ever president of France, defeating far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a pivotal vote for the future of the divided country and Europe. o The victory caps an extraordinary rise for the 39-year-old former investment banker, who will become the country's youngest-ever leader. o Macron won about 65.5% while Le Pen won 33.9% votes. Jordan, US launch military exercises o Jordan and the United States kicked off annual military exercises today with about 7,400 troops from more than 20 nations taking part. o Jordan is a key recipient of US financial aid and a partner in the US-led coalition battling Islamic State group jihadists in Syria and Iraq. o This year's "Eager Lion" exercises -- the seventh so far -- are the largest and most complex. First city to get its own Microsoft font o Dubai has become the first city to get its own Microsoft-designed font. o The typeface comes in both Latin and Arabic script, and will be available in 23 languages. o Dubai's Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed al-Maktoum said he had been personally involved in "all the stages" of the development of the font. UN marks 1st World Tuna Day o The United Nations has marked the 1st World Tuna Day yesterday with calls to conserve one of the globe's most popular fish to be caught and eaten. o Tuna plays a critical role in sustainable development, food security, economic opportunity, and livelihoods of people around the world.
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o The General Assembly established World Tuna Day in Dec to reinforce its importance to nations around the globe.
National Affairs
Delhi Police Launches Bicycle Patrols. o Delhi Police has launched a bicycle patrol scheme to increase police presence in congested areas of the city. o 65 high-end bicycles have been acquired for the same. o One of the main areas of focus of these bicycle patrols will be parks where people including senior citizens and women go for walks. o Bicycle patrols will move around in pairs and each patrol will cover a distance of 2 to 5 kms, Darwaza Band for open defecation. o Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has launched a nation wide campaign titled ‘Darwaza Band . o The aim of the campaign is to promote toilet use and freedom from open defecation across the country's villages. o The campaign will run under the Swachh Bharat Mission and is supported by World Bank. o Anushka Sharma will be seen encouraging women to stand up for this issue. Amul inks MoU with ISRO. o Amul has signed an MoU with ISRO for fodder Acreage estimation. o Under the MoU ISRO will help in identification between food crops and fodder crops at village level. o ISRO will also locate suitable areas of current fallows and cultivable wastelands at village level for green fodder cultivation.
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o The milk producer farmers of Gujarat will get benefit of fodder cultivation by using the technology Banks Board Bureau gets 2 more members. o The government has expanded the Banks Board Bureau by adding two more members. o Shubhalaxmi Panse and Pradip Shah have been inducted into the board. o The bureau is headed by former comptroller and auditor general Vinod Rai. o The body is responsible for selection of managing directors and directors of public sector banks and financial institutions. New 1 Rupee note into circulation. o RBI will soon put into circulation new notes in one rupee denomination. o The existing notes and coins will continue to be legal tender. o The colour of 1 rupee currency note shall be predominantly pink green on the obverse and reverse in combination with others. o “It will contain words ‘Bharat Sarkar’ in Devnagri above the words ‘Government of India’ with bilingual signature of Shaktikanta Das, Pune police wins FICCI smart policing. o The Pune city police have bagged the FICCI Smart Police Award for the year 2017. o 'Mahila Suraksha' project of city police won the award. o Rashmi Shukla, Commissioner of Pune Police received the award. o Initiatives like “BuddyCop” was launched to help women working in IT companies and “Damini squad” involving women police officials played a key role in tightening the security. First digital bank for sanitary pads. o Mumbai MLA Bharati Lavekar has launched India's first digital bank for sanitary pads on the occasion of World Menstrual Hygiene Day.
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o People can log in to teefoundation.in to either donate pads or money to those in need. o The needy can also access available resources on the portal. o According to the 2015-16 National Family Health Survey, 57.6% of Indian menstruating women use sanitary napkins. Biodiversity Heritage Site in Manipur. o Manipur government has declared Dailong village of Tamenglong district as a Biodiversity Heritage Site of the state. o Dialong village covers an area of 11.35 sq km. o The village has been declared as Biodiversity Heritage Site under Section 37(1) of Biological Diversity Act, 2002. o The declaration was made after the recommendation of Manipur Biodiversity Board. UGC App to fight ragging. o HRD minister Prakash Javadekar has launched an Anti-Ragging Mobile App introduced by the University Grants Commission. o This mobile app will help students register complaints to counter the menace of ragging. o Now the Students can login and register their complaints instantaneously. o The app will work on android system. Desiliting of Mettur Dam o Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurated desiliting works in Mettur Dam at Moolakadu. o Stanley Reservoir, commonly known as Mettur Dam, was built in 1934 with a storage level of 124 feet. The dam is the main source of water for 12 districts. o The desilting is unique inasmuch as it is being undertaken for the first time since 1934. Munnar: Best Destination for Romance 25 | P a g e
o Munnar has bagged the award for ‘Best Destination for Romance’ at the Lonely Planet Magazine Indian Travel Awards 2017. o P Bala Kiran, Director of Kerala Tourism received the award. o Munnar is a hill station located in the Idukki district of Kerala. o It is known for its romantic cottages, cloudy mountains, lively tea gardens, green valleys, waterfalls. Vijay Goel flags off 'Slum Yuva Daud'. o Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel flagged off the Slum Yuva Daud to mark the beginning of the Adopt Slum Campaign in New Delhi. o It was initiated by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan. o The run started from Delhi University's Shankarlal Hall and ended at the Rugby Stadium with participation of about 5000 youngsters from various slums of Delhi. 1st professional football academy in J&K o Jammu and Kashmir's first professional football academy was launched in Srinagar in a bid to boost sports in the state. o India footballer Mehrajuddin Wadoo would be the head of the academy. o Initially, the academy will train footballers in the age groups of 13, 15 and 18, and three professional coaches will be employed for the purpose. India's longest bridge named o Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the strategically important Dhola-Sadiya Bridge in Assam. o It spans the Lohit River to connect the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and is 9.15 kms in length. o The construction began in 2011 and was completed on 10 March 2017. It was built by Navayuga Engineering Company Limited. o It has been built at a cost of Rs. 2056 crores. E-clinics for J&K farmers. 26 | P a g e
o The J&K government has launched an e-clinics service for farmers with the aim to double farmers’ income by 2022. o Department of Agriculture, in collaboration with Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International has set up 15 plant clinics in Samba, Kathua and Jammu. o These clinics will help in protecting the crops from diseases, thereby, increasing productivity and income of farmers. Anti encephalitis campaign in UP. o Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has launched a campaign to eradicate the deadly encephalitis disease. o Close to 40,000 children have died of the disease in the past four decades in the region. o The campaign has been launched for 38 districts in UP. o The drive will cover over 88 lakh children for which the central government has provided one crore vaccines. Devendra Fadnavis to launch Samwad Sabha o Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will launch a 'Shivar Samwad Sabha' to reach out to farmers and address their issues. o MPs, MLAs, zilla parishad members and corporators, will engage in a dialogue with farmers to know about their issues and take their feedback on decisions taken by the government till now. o The initiative is being launched amid the rising resentment among farmers. Second most densely populated city. o Mumbai has been ranked the world's second most densely populated city with 31,700 people per sq km by the World Economic Forum. o Mumbai is also the most populous city in India and and ninth most populous agglomeration in the world. o Bangladesh's capital Dhaka topped the list with 44,500 people per sq km. 27 | P a g e
o Rajasthan's Kota has been ranked the world's seventh most densely populated city. SBI launches national hackathon. o State Bank of India has launched a national hackathon for developers, start-ups and students to come up with innovative ideas and solutions for the banking sector. o The hackathon is named 'Code For Bank'. o The hackathon will focus on the business value driven by technologies like predictive analytics, fin-tech/blockchain, digital payments, IOT, artificial intelligence, machine learning, Cabinet approves AIIMS in Kamrup, Assam. o The Union Cabinet has given its approval for establishment of new AIIMS at Kamrup, Assam. o The cost of the project will be Rs.1123 crore. o It will be set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana. o The AIIMS will consist of a hospital with a capacity of 750 beds, trauma centre facilities, a medical college which can accommodate 100 MBBS students per year. Cabinet approves abolition of FIPB. o The Union Cabinet has scrapped the 25-year-old Foreign Investment Promotion Board. o FIPB is an inter-ministerial body under the finance ministry’s Department of Economic Affairs that processes FDI proposals and makes recommendations for government approval. o FIPB was initially constituted under the Prime Minister’s Office in the wake of economic liberalisation in the early 1990s. India's first underwater tunnel finished
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o India's first underwater tunnel, which was built under the Hooghly river for establishing a metro link in Kolkata, has been completed before the deadline. o Rachna, a giant tunnel-boring machine (TBM), was deployed to dig the underwater tunnel. o The entire project is 16.6 km long, out of which 10.8 km runs under the ground. o The project connects Howrah to the west and Salt lake to the east. Swachh Bharat app launched o “Swachh Bharat App” has been launched in National Museum under Ministry of Culture by the Minister of State for Culture & Tourism Dr. Mahesh Sharma. o The main focus of the app is to involve people actively to become part of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. o The App will be monitored by the Ministry of Culture and will play an important role in cultivating the significance of cleanliness to the citizens Karnataka child marriage Bill gets nod. o President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to Prohibition of Child Marriage (Karnataka amendment) Bill, 2016. o Karnataka is among the States that record a high number of child marriages in the country. o The amended Bill seeks to ensure zero tolerance towards child marriage, granting powers to policemen and enhancing penalties for those attending wedding ceremonies of minors. IIT-KGP signs MoU with Madhya Pradesh. o IIT Kharagpur’s Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness and MP government’s ‘Rajya Anandam Sansthan’ has signed an MoU to collaborate on the development of a Happiness Index.
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o Happiness Index will be developed for measuring the well-being of people of the state. o IIT-KGP will develop the index and analyse data collected by the state government to assess the level of happiness. Piyush Goyal launches 'SEVA' App. o Union Minister Piyush Goyal launched the Saral Eindhan Vitaran Application. o It is a part of ‘Digital India’ initiative, which is aimed at increasing the Consumer Connect and Transparency and Accountability in Coal dispatch. o The application has been developed by Coal India. o It will also provide summary of quantity of coal dispatched for a given day, month, and yearly updates as well. New award category in MAMI fim festival o Jio MAMI Film Festival has announced a new award category for digital content for this year’s festival to be held from 12th-18th October. o This Award will encourage young talent to break the boundaries of their creative prowess and take Indian cinema to new and greater heights, especially in the digital space. o The winners receive a prize of Rs. 2.5 lakh. Michael Porter to give lecture o Renowned Harvard Business School economist Michael E Porter will deliver the third lecture of government think-tank Niti Aayog’s ‘Transforming India’ series on May 25. o The theme of Porter’s lecture is “Competitiveness of Nations and States: New Insights”. o The lecture which will revolve around the idea of productivity and competitiveness of Indian regions will be addressed to the government. Free Wi-Fi at 28 railway stations
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o Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu inaugurated free Wi-Fi facility at 28 Railway Stations of Konkan Railway from Kudal Railway Station in Maharashtra. o Indian Railways has tied by with SYSCON/JOISTER for providing 2 Mbps peer-to-peer 24 hrs Free Wi-Fi bandwidth. o Konkan Railway always believes in providing better passenger amenities to its passengers for their comfortable journey. GM squad to curb open defecation. o Maharashtra govt. has decided to form squads in a bid to curb open defecation across the state and bring about change in the mindset of people indulging in this practice. o "Good Morning" Teams will not only monitor areas where this practice is still prevalent, but also check whether residents have access to toilets. o Team will comprise representatives from local bodies, self-help groups, NGOs. Haryana launches e-textbook portal. o Haryana govt. launched e-textbook portal for school students that will allow students to download school books instantly. o As of now, 26 textbooks of classes IX to XII have been uploaded on the portal and these can be easily converted into audio files. o The portal also provides a facility to highlight certain portions of the e- textbooks making it easier for students to study. 4 Slab Service Tax Structure o The GST Council headed by finance Minister Jaitley has finalised a 4 slab service tax structure at the rates of 5, 12, 18 and 28% as against the single rate of 15% levied on all taxable services. o Healthcare and education will be exempt from the GST on services. o Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asserted that the net effect of the GST will not be inflationary. 31 | P a g e
NITI Aayog holds first Samavesh meeting o In pursuance of the Prime Ministers call for a New India 2022, the first meeting of the National Steering Group and other knowledge partners was held in NITI Aayog in New Delhi. o A total of 32 premier educational and policy research institutes participated in the event where many MoUs were signed. o As part of Samavesh initiative, a new link on NITIs website was launched. First Tejas train to run on May 22. o The Tejas, India's first technologically advanced train will commence its journey from May 22. o Developed by Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, the first rake was on display in Delhi on May 19. o It has 19 coaches and runs at a speed of 200 km/hr. o It has facilities like USB charger, automatic doors and other upgrades. o It will run from Mumbai to Goa. IARI in Assam. o Government has decided to set up the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in Assam of worth Rs. 155 crore to promote agri education and realize second green revolution in the northeastern region. o The first IARI was set up in the national capital way back in 1967. The Modi government announced plans to set up four such institutes. Visakhapatnam has the cleanest station. o In a report released by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu Visakhapatnam railway station in Andhra Pradesh was rated the cleanest station among the 75 busiest stations in the country. o According to the report Visakhapatnam railway station is the cleanest followed by Secunderabad, Jammu, Vijayawada railway stations while Darbhanga station in Bihar was rated as the dirtiest station. Govt approves Maternity Benefit Program. 32 | P a g e
o The government has given approval to Pan-India implementation of Maternity Benefit Program which now has been extended to all districts of the country. o It will provide compensation for the wage loss in terms of cash incentives so that the women can take adequate rest before & after delivery & not be deprived of proper nutrition. o Women will receive cash benefits of Rs 5000 in 3 installments. Kerala govt to distribute sanitary pads. o To ensure 'menstrual hygiene' among girls, the `She Pad' scheme for school students across Kerala was announced by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. o The scheme intends to provide sanitary napkins for girl students in all government schools. o Approximate expenditure for implementation of the project will come to ₹30 crore for five years. Plastic park to come up in Panipat. o Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister, Mr Ananth Kumar announced to open 2 new CIPET centres in Haryana, a plastic park at Panipat on an area of 75 acres at an estimated cost of Rs 1,500 crore and a pharmaceutical park at Karnal. o Ananth Kumar said 9 CIPET centres were in the pipeline in Medak, Jaipur, Jammu and Kashmir, Haridwar, Baghalpur, Varanasi, Agartala, Mumbai and Ranchi. Kerala tops in public affairs index o Kerala has secured first rank and Bihar has ranked last on this year’s Public Affairs Index (PAI), compiled on basis of a survey by Public Affairs Centre o The survey was based on 10 themes, 26 focus subjects and 82 indicators.
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o Kerala, Assam and Madhya Pradesh secured top three ranks in implementation of social protection policies. Logo for vehicles driven by deaf people o Telangana has introduced a logo for identifying vehicles driven by persons with hearing impairment and has become the first state in the country to do so. o The logo was designed by Hyderabad-based graphic designer Manikanta Annapragada, who incidentally is the first person to obtain a driving license in the ‘hearing impaired’ category. o The logo was chosen from 8 designs submitted by Manikanta EC launches National Contact Centre o The Election Commission has added another feather to its cap with the launch of National Contact Centre with a toll-free No. 1800111950. o Now any citizen from any part of the country can call on the toll-free in English or Hindi with any query or complaint at any time of the day. o The National Contact Centre is operated on a National Grievance Redressal System Software. Ahmedabad to host International Yoga Day o Ahmedabad will host biggest ever International Yoga Day event on the 21st of June. o The event will be held on GMDC grounds with over 5 lakh people attending the event. o An international day for yoga was declared unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 11 December 2014. o It was first celebrated in 2015. Project LOTUS o Work has begun for cleaning of Barapullah Drain under the Project LOcal Treatment of Urban Sewage Streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUS HR) in New Delhi. 34 | P a g e
o The project is an Indo-Netherlands joint project funded by Department of Biotechnology(DBT), Govt of India and NWO/STW, The Govt of Netherlands. o The project aims to demonstrate a novel waste water management approach. Kochi Metro Appoints Transgenders o Kochi Metro will employ 23 members from the transgender community. This is the first time a government owned company has formally appointed members of the transgender community. o These 23 workers will be a part of the 530 Kudumbasree workers to be employed at 11 stations. o All of the workers have been appointed after written test and interview. BJP calls for abandoning 'Darbar Move' o The BJP called for abandoning bi-annual practice of ‘darbar move’ wherein the Jammu and Kashmir government functions six months each in the two capital – Srinagar and Jammu. o This move may trigger a major controversy in the state. o The practice was adopted because of the special circumstance prevailing at that time when means of communication were limited. Elphinstone renamed 'Prabhadevi' station o The famed Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and headquarters of the Central Railway has been renamed by adding 'Maharaj. o Western Railway's Elphinstone Road station has been rechristened as 'Prabhadevi' station. o The new name 'Prabhadevi' is dedicated to Goddess Prabhavati Devi, whose 12th century idol is installed in the modern temple, now over three centuries old. Odisha to introduce boat ambulances
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o Odisha will introduce boat ambulance service in four districts where people face difficulties in getting health service. o he boat ambulance service will be available in the districts of Koraput, Malkangiri, Kendrapara and Kalahandi. o People in these areas face problems in availing 108 ambulance service due to intervening large water bodies. Centenary of Bharat Sevashram Sangha o Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the centenary celebrations of Bharat Sevashram Sangha being organized at Shillong. o Bharat Sevashram Sangha is a vast network of volunteers across the globe dedicated to helping people in distress. o It was founded in 1917 by the Acharya Srimat Swami Pranavanandaji Maharaj. Odisha communities notified as SCs o Odisha’s Sualgiri and Swalgiri communities have been notified as Scheduled Castes. o The SC category status will entitle these communities to reservation in government jobs and admission in educational institutions, besides some other financial benefits. o Some of the major schemes for the scheduled castes include scholarships and fellowships, concessional loans and hostel facilities.
Business and Economy
India to grow at 7.2% in 2017-18 o As per a recent report by the World Bank, India's economy will grow 7.2% in 2017-18.
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o For 2017-18, the bank has projected GDP growth of 7.2% and for 2019-20, a growth of 7.7%, riding on strong fundamentals, reform momentum and improving investment scenario. o It was 6.8% in 2016-17. Swiggy raises ₹517 crore funding. o Food delivery startup Swiggy has raised $80 million in Series E funding led by Naspers. o As a result of Naspers’ investments, its head of Indian investments will take a seat on the Swiggy board of directors. o Swiggy has over 12,000 restaurants on its delivery platform and delivers meals within 37 minutes of an order. o Earlier this month, Naspers had invested $425 million to Delivery Hero. Apple opens Official Store in Singapore o Apple has opened its first store in Southeast Asia at Singapore’s upmarket shopping district. o Located on the affluent Orchard Road, the new shop – easily distinguished by its iconic glass façade – is expected to be one of the most popular Apple stores in the world. o Apart from Singapore it has shops located in Hong Kong, China and Japan in Asia. Fairfax sells stake in ICICI Lombard o Fairfax has sold 12.18% stake in ICICI Lombard General Insurance to three investors, namely, Red Bloom Investment Ltd, Tamarind Capital Pte. Ltd and IIFL Special Opportunities Fund. o The company is valued at Rs 20300 cr as per the deal. o Upon completion of the transaction, the share ownership in the company of ICICI Bank Limited and Fairfax will be approximately 63.31% & 22.13%, respectively. BoB to raise Rs. 9000 cr 37 | P a g e
o Bank of Baroda plans to raise Rs 9000 crore through various instruments, including follow-on public offer, to fund growth during this fiscal. o The board approved raising of additional capital funds up to Rs 9000 crore up to March 31, 2018, comprising of Rs 6000 crore by way of equity capital and Rs 3000 crore by way of additional tier I capital instruments. o Bonds will be issued in tranche. IOC becomes India's most profitable PSU. o Indian Oil Corp has overtaken Oil and Natural Gas Corp to become India's most profitable state owned company. o IOC posted 70% jump in net profit to Rs 19,106.40 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2017. o While ONGC posted Rs 17,900 crore net profit, making IOC the most profitable PSU o Reliance Industries retained the crown of being India's most profitable company for 3rd year in a row. RBI allows co-op banks to issue PPIs. o RBI has allowed co-operative banks, who are permitted to install ATMs and issue debit cards, to also issue prepaid payment instruments PPIs like mobile wallets. o RBI laid down strict norms and conditions to be followed by co-operative banks before permitting them to issue wallets for utility bill payments and other activities up to a limit of Rs 10000. RIL leads Indian firms on Forbes list. o Reliance Industries is the highest ranked Indian firm in Forbes magazine's 'Global 2000' list for 2017. o 58 Indian companies featured this year. o RIL ranked 106th and was followed by SBI which ranked 244. o HDFC, ICICI, Axis and Kotak Mahindra are among the top 20 Indian companies in the list. 38 | P a g e
o Ranking is based on a mix of 4 metrics - Sales, Profits, Assets and Market value. Twitter introduces Direct Message Card. o Twitter has announced launch of new customizable Direct Message Card that businesses can use to promote and share bots and other customer experiences built in Direct Messages. o It will help businesses capture attention with engaging image or video creatives. o It also include up to 4 customizable call-to-action buttons. o Each button takes user into a specific experience within Direct Messages. Paytm Bank appoints 3 new board members. o Paytm has formed a five-member board for its payments bank. o PV Bhaskar, Ash Lilani and GS Sundararajan have joined the board as independent directors. o Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma will act as a non-executive chairman, and Paytm Payments Bank CEO Renu Satti will also serve as a director on the bank’s board. o Paytm has become the 3rd entity to launch a payments bank in the country. Paytm launches payments bank. o Paytm unveiled the Paytm Payments Bank becoming the first bank to offer cashbacks on deposits. o For savings accounts, interest of 4% per annum will be offered . It will also offer current accounts to its millions of merchants. o There will be zero charges on all online transactions and no minimum balance requirement. o The first physical branch of Paytm's Payments Bank will be in Noida. Federal Bank launches 'Selfie'.
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o Federal Bank has launched a new trading platform called “Selfie” for customers. o The platform is Designed and managed by Geojit. o It will allow users absolute control over their investments with timely research inputs to make sound investment decisions. o It also provides an advanced charting platform that enables users to trade directly from charts. Project Sangam o Microsoft will tap into the growing demand for skilled workforce in information technology and telecom sector and the need to reskill the existing professionals. o As part of project ‘Sangam’ Microsoft India on Monday signed an MoU with the Telecom Sector Skill Council to improve skills of telecom executives. o Project Sangam is a cloud hosted platform that leverages Azure services & LinkedIn. African Development Bank Meet o Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 52nd Annual Meeting of African Development Bank (AfDB) at Gandhinagar in Gujarat. o The five-day event will see 2,800 delegates arriving from Africa and elsewhere. o India joined the African Development Bank (AfDB) in 1983. India to invest in world's biggest IPO o India on May 22 sais its state refiners could become cornerstone investors in Saudi Aramco when it floats its shares next year. o 3 Indian refiners were planning to build a new refining complex with a 60 million tonnes capacity a year on the country's west coast with the help of Aramco.
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o Aramco plans to list around 5% of its stocks on multiple exchanges and raise about $2 trillion. Cochin Port Trust bags two awards o Cochin Port Trust has received two Best Performance Awards from Ministry of Shipping for the highest growth in operating surplus and also for achieving third highest growth in cargo traffic among the major ports in the year 2016-17. o It has registered an operating profit of Rs 127.7 cr during 2016-17 as against Rs 70.89 cr during 2015-16. o The Port handled 25.01 MMT cargo in 2016-17. Karnataka Bank, LIC ink pact o Karnataka Bank Ltd has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India for selling life insurance products of LIC. o LIC is the largest insurer of the country with a death claim settlement ratio of over 99.90%. o The bank will be able to provide vast choice of life insurance products to its customers across all its 769 branches with this MoU. Digital Service Innovator of the Year. o Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio has received TM Forum’s ‘Digital Service Innovator of the Year Award’ 2017. o Reliance Jio got this award by acquiring 90 million customers in four months. o Digital Service Innovator of the Year Award is given to the company or organisation which has made the most significant and innovative contribution to advancing the digital revolution in society. Best Places to Work in India. o E-commerce giant Flipkart has topped LinkedIn's list of the top companies to work in India second time in a row. 41 | P a g e
o Flipkart was followed by Amazon, KPMG India while Oracle was at the bottom of the list. o The list of desirable employers is based on actions taken by over 500 million members including job applications, engagement, and employee retention. Ola launches Progressive Web App. o It is a lightweight mobile website that offers users, especially in smaller towns and cities, an app-like experience on simple smartphones. o PWA will overcome technological barriers and will enable the use of the Ola platform across hundreds of cities in India. o Ola becomes the first ride hailing app in the APAC region to use PWA technology BSNL signs MoU with Facebook & MobiKwik o BSNL has inked agreements with Facebook and MobiKwik as its looks to popularise the internet and its value added services among customers. o Under the MoU with Facebook BSNL will provide connectivity for the Facebook's Express Wi-Fi Program. o Under another MoU, BSNL will work Mobikwik to co-create a BSNL mobile wallet to facilitate payment for its products and services. Govt launches 'Clean Money' portal. o Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has launched the 'Operation Clean Money' portal that aims to create a tax-compliant society. o This portal will create awareness about black money and also to help those those who want to come clean on demonetisation cash deposits. o It will also enable transparent Tax Administration by sharing status reports. Paytm to start payments bank operations. o Paytm is all set to commence its payments bank operations from May 23, having received the final approval from the Reserve Bank of India. 42 | P a g e
o The company will transfer its wallet business which has over 218 million mobile wallet users, to the newly incorporated Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL). o Payments banks can accept deposits from individuals and small businesses up to Rs 1 lakh per account. RBI tells banks to Follow CERT-In advice o The The Reserve Bank of India has asked banks to follow the instructions of government organisation CERT-In to prevent attack by ransomware, ‘WannaCry’, which has impacted various IT networks in over 150 countries. o Indian Computer Emergency Response Team has come out with a list of dos and don’ts and a webcast on how to protect networks from the global ransomware attack. India ranks 26 in World Bank power list. o India has climbed up to twenty sixth position in World Bank's electricity accessibility ranking in the current year from 99th spot in 2014. o Power Minister Piyush Goyal asserted that by 2019 government would be able to provide electricity to every household. o Piyush Goyal also said that the government was closely working with the states to see that electricity was made available on tap. Home loan product ‘Griha Siddhi’ o LIC Housing Finance has come up with a new home loan product ‘Griha Siddhi’ to match State Bank of India’s recent move to cut interest rate on homes loans in the affordable housing segment by up to 25 basis points. o A special segment for women borrowers for loans up to Rs 25 lakh at an interest rate of 8.35% per annum. For other borrowers, the interest rate will be 8.4%. 8 banks to manage SBI Life's IPO
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o SBI Life Insurance Co Ltd is set to hire 8 banks including Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas to manage its up to $1 billion initial public offering of shares. o The life insurance arm of top Indian lender State Bank of India will hire 5 local banks - Axis Capital, ICICI Securities, JM Financial, Kotak and SBI Capital Markets. o SBI Life now plans to offer a 12% stake in the IPO. Snapdeal to merge with Flipkart o SnapDeal is finally ready to merge with Flipkart. o The deal valuing Snapdeal at around $1 billion, a steep fall from its peak of $6.5 billion last year, signals the biggest consolidation in the sector and fierce competition between Amazon and Flipkart. o The transaction is through, sources in the know confirmed, and an announcement could come anytime within the next 72 hours. 47th Indian Labour Conference o Providing social security cover to the entire workforce will likely be the central theme of the 47th Indian Labour Conference to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this year. o The Standing Labour Committee, chaired by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, will meet on May 11 to decide the agenda. o The central trade unions have proposed discussing universal social security cover DIPAM launches online investor platform o Keen on creating more awareness about the forthcoming disinvestment issues, the Finance Ministry has set up an Investor Facilitation Platform that will provide information about stocks of public sector units. o It will be maintained by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management.
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o Developed and maintained by PRIME Database, all users will be authorised by DIPAM. Oracle launches cloud computing service o Oracle has launched its cloud computing service for India, which aims to support the government's GST rollout in July and plans to open data centres in the country. o Oracle's ERP solution aims to provide support for GST Network integration, statutory reporting, payment processing, among others. o In the GST regime, companies will have to upgrade their ERP systems. Natco Pharma launches blood cancer drug o Natco Pharma has launched a generic version of pomalidomide capsules, used in treatment of a type of blood cancer, in India. o Pomalidomide is used to treat myeloma, a type of blood cancer. o Natco Pharma said it will market generic pomalidomide capsules under its brand name POMALID in India. Techmagnate acquires BlogX o Techmagnate, India's leading Digital Marketing Agency acquired BlogX, India's largest blog conference where bloggers and content managers connect. o The first BlogX event took place in July 2016 in New Delhi. o Techmagnate is a full-fledged Digital Marketing agency that specializes in SEO, PPC, Content Marketing, Social Media etc. and BlogX is India’s leading blog conference. Jharkhand govt to tie up with Oracle o The Jharkhand government has signed a MoU with Oracle to enhance delivery of services to citizens as well as make the State more attractive for startups. o Oracle’s cloud services will be used to support the State by providing transparent governance. 45 | P a g e
o A smart city will also be constructed in Ranchi. Jharkhand announces Jan-Dec FY o Jharkhand has decided to become the second state in the country to reschedule its financial year from January to December. o In 2017 Jharkhand was also the first state to table its budget in January. o In the earlier system, it commenced from April 1 and ended on March 31. o Madhya Pradesh was first state to adopt the new financial year. 1st insurance in India to be sold by PoS o The country's first, and perhaps the simplest life insurance product that can be bought at a point of sale (PoS) has finally been launched. o Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance has recently launched PoS Saral Nivesh- the first product to be approved by the IRDA guidelines on point of sale- life insurance products. o The sum assured in PoS Saral Nivesh ranges from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh. App to avoid queue At SBI Branches o State Bank of India is offering a virtual queue ticket or "e-token" service through its newly-launched app No Queue. o The app enables customers to avail select banking services at its select branches without having to stand in queues. o The mobile-based virtual queuing app can be downloaded free of cost from Google Play and Apple app stores. Dubai most visited by Indians o India has topped the list of Dubai's 100 tourist source markets for the second time, with a total of 1.8 million visitors last year. o The Annual Visitor Report 2016 was released by Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) during this year's Arabian Travel Market. o Saudi Arabia (1.6 million) and the UK (1.2 million) were other prominent names on the list. 46 | P a g e
LafargeHolcim to merge with Ambuja, ACC o LafargeHolcim has initiated a process that could lead to the union of its Indian operations ACC and Ambuja Cement. o The merger has been on the cards since 2013, when LafargeHolcim opted for a major consolidation of its shareholding in India. o LafargeHolcim currently owns 63.62% of Ambuja Cement. o The combined capacity will help LafargeHolcim inch closer to rival UltraTech Cement. Reliance, SAP launch 'SARAL GST' o Reliance has signed a MoU with enterprise application software major SAP SE to launch 'SARAL GST solution for taxpayers. o The new offering will enable taxpayers to be GST compliant and smoothly access the government's GST System, once GST is rolled out from July 1. o The company said SARAL GST will leverage the expertise of Reliance as GST Suvidha Provider & SAP as Application Service Provider
Science and Tech
A new cure for hepatitis C o Drugs that prevent entry of the Hepatitis C virus into the host cells are equally effective as other drugs. o These drugs, called entry inhibitors, when combined with drugs that prevent the multiplication of the virus inside the host cell. o The report was published by Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. Judy Malware infects Android users o A new malware named ‘Judy’ has found in over 41 apps on the Google Play Store, and it has infected between 8.5 million to 36.5 million users. o This is according to a report from security research firm Check Point, which discovered the malware and alerted Google. 47 | P a g e
o The search giant has started removing these infected apps from the Play Store. World's first robot police officer. o Dubai has recruited world's first robot police officer at the 4th Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference. o This robot is known as robocop. It is around 5-foot tall and weighs a 100kg. o It can not only identify hand gestures from a distance of up to 1.5 m, but can also detect people's emotions and facial expressions. o The robot will patrol shopping malls and other tourist attractions. Most expensive imaging satellite. o NASA and ISRO will jointly develop and launch the world's biggest and most expensive earth imaging satellite, costing $1.5 billion. o The satellite has been named NISAR - NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar. o This is two frequency RADAR, it is an L-band 24 centimetre RADAR and S-band 13 centimetre. o S-band is being built by ISRO and L-band by NASA. India's first womb transplant conducted. o Doctors at a Pune hospital successfully conducted India's first womb transplant by transferring a woman's uterus to her 21-year-old daughter, who was unable to conceive a child. o The surgeons retrieved the uterus using a laparoscopic technique, which shortened the duration of the procedure from normal 12 hours to 9. o Hospital has been preparing for womb transplants over past few months. WannaCry hits lakhs of systems in India o The WannaCry ransomware is estimated to have hit lakhs of computers in India. Kaspersky Labs found India to be among the worst hit by the
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malware, IT security firm QuickHeal said over 48,000 systems were infected. o According to Quick Heal, Kolkata was the worst hit city followed by Maharashtra and Gujarat. o WannaCry has hit computers globally, asking victims to cough up $300 to be unfreezed. Pneumonia vaccine launched o India has decided to introduce pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the Universal Immunisation Programme. o The vaccine will provide protection against 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria which results in pneumonia. o The whole of Himachal Pradesh as well as 6 districts of Uttar Pradesh and 17 districts of Bihar will be covered under the 1st phase of the immunisation programme. ‘Ransomware’ attack hits 99 countries o A large-scale cyberattack has spread across 99 countries, including the UK, US, China, Russia, Spain, Italy and India. o It has been dubbed ‘WannaCry’. o Unknown hackers apparently launched ‘ransomware’ attacks, which basically encrypt files and demands a Bitcoin payment to regain access. India to replace Maitri station o What's so unique about the pin code 403001? It is the pin code you would use to write a letter to India's permanent research station Maitri in Antarctica. o It has been revealed that it will be replaced after by a new station in the next three to four years. o Maitri is India's second permanent research station in Antarctica as part of the Indian Antarctic Programme. o It was constructed in 1989. 49 | P a g e
India’s First Bio Refinery in Pune o Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated India’s First Integrated Bio‐ refinery for Renewable Fuels & Chemicals for producing ethanol from a variety of biomass. o The plant is situated at Rahu in Pune district of Maharashtra. The demonstration plant has been built by Praj industries. o The plant is capable of producing 1 million litres of ethanol per annum. Scientists create world's fastest camera o Lund University, Sweden has created a camera that can film at a rate equivalent to five trillion images per second. o It uses an innovative algorithm that exposes chemical reactions and biological processes to laser flashes instead of light. o It is called FRAME (Frequency Recognition Algorithm for Multiple Exposures). eVIN Project o The eVIN Project of the Health Ministry has been lauded as the best practise in immunisation. o Representatives from Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand are on a visit to India to study the project. o eVIN (Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network) is an indigenously developed technology system in India that digitizes vaccine related information. Express Wi-Fi by Facebook o Facebook has launched its “Express Wi-Fi” commercially in India and the service is now available via 700 hotspots across four states of Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Meghalaya.
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o For the expansion of service, Facebook has announced a partnership with Bharti Airtel for setting up an additional 20000 hotspots covering millions of Indians over the next few months. World's Largest Space Telescope Tested o The James Webb Space Telescope is on the road again. After passing its final test at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. o Webb is slated to launch in 2018, when it will become the world's largest telescope to fly to space. o Webb will probe the cosmos from a spot in space called Lagrange Point 2, located directly behind Earth from the sun's perspective.
Art and Culture
Personal Character emoji for Tubelight. o Salman Khan's upcoming film "Tubelight" has become Bollywood's first film ever to have its personal character emoji. o The emoji appears when the users tweet with #TubelightKiEid, which is a mini caricature of Salman standing in attention and saluting with his brown shoes hanging around his neck. o Kabir Khan is the director of Tubelight. Baahubali first to gross 1000 crores o 'Baahubali 2: The Conclusion' has become the first Indian movie to earn Rs 1000 crore worldwide. o Going by the latest figures, the film has minted Rs 800 crore at the Indian box office and Rs 200 crore at the overseas market. o The movie collected $13.1 million in US and beat previous record-holder 'Dangal's $12.4 million total haul in the territory.
Sports
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Fastest batsman to score 7000 runs. o South African opener Hashim Amla has become the fastest batsman to score 7000 runs in ODI cricket. o He reached this milestone in his 150th innings. o He also holds the record for fastest to reach 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, and 6000 ODI runs. o The record for the fastest 7000 ODI runs was earlier held by Virat Kohli. Borussia wins German Cup. o Borussia Dortmund won the 2017 German Cup beating Frankfurt 2-1. o It is the fourth title of Borussia Dortmund. o Dortmund had already earned automatic qualification for the group stage of the 2017 UEFA Champions League through position in the Bundesliga. o It is one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Sebastian Vettel wins Monaco Grand Prix. o Sebastian Vettel won Monaco Grand Prix to extend his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton to 25 points. o Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen finished 2nd while Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo clinched the third spot. o Lewis Hamilton finished seventh after a difficult race from 13th on the grid. o Sebastian Vettel is from Germany and drives for Ferrari. He is a four time F1 World Champion. World Table Tennis Championships o The 2017 World Table Tennis Championships is being held in Düsseldorf, Germany, from 29 May to 5 June 2017. o Top-ranked Indian in the world, Achanta Sharath Kamal will lead the 8- member Indian squad.
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o The decision to host the event in Düsseldorf was announced by the ITTF in April 2015. It s the 54th edition of the competition, and the 7th time that it has been staged in Germany. Premier Futsal semifinal & final o Premier Futsal will host the two semifinals and the grand finale of the event's second season in Dubai, making it the second Indian sporting event to go global after IPL. o In order to host the three marquee matches, it has collaborated with Dubai Sports Council. o Premier Futsal is an Indian franchise -based league takes place across Chennai and Goa in India from July 15 to July 24. Arsenal wins FA Cup. o Arsenal defeated Chelsea 2-1 to win the FA Cup title. o This was Arsenal's 13th FA Cup title, the most by any team and 20th appearance in an FA Cup final. o Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey scored in the 4th and the 79th minute respectively. o Arsène Wenger is the Manager of Arsenal FC International Cricketer of the Year o India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has won the coveted International Cricketer of the Year award at the CEAT Cricket Rating International awards 2017. o Ashwin played a crucial role during the home season, where India won 10 of their 13 Tests played against Nz, Eng,Bangladesh and Australia. o Ashwin has taken 99 wickets in the past 12 months. o Ashwin had to miss IPL 2017 due to hernia injury. 1st Amputee to swim across Red Sea. o Egyptian swimmer Omar Hegazy has become the first amputee to swim across Red Sea’s 20 kilometer Aqaba Gulf from Egypt to Jordan. 53 | P a g e
o Hegazy, a 26 year-old banker who lost his left leg in a motorcycle accident. o Aqaba Gulf is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea. Its coastline is divided between four countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Sweden wins ice hockey world title. o Sweden won the 2017 Ice Hockey World Championship by defeating Canada in a dramatic penalty shootout. o Sweden were twice on target in the shootout, while the Canadians failed to score. o It is Sweden's 10th world title. o Sweden won the gold while Canadians had to settle for silver. Russia by defeating Finland was able to clinch to bronze medal. India win all 10 gold medals in TT o India won all 10 gold medals on offer at the South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships at Mount Lavinia near Colombo, Sri Lanka. o In Junior Boys, India first beat Pakistan and followed it up with another identical win over the hosts Sri Lanka. o In the junior girls category, India won gold medals as well. o In all India won 14 medals. Mumbai Indians win IPL 2017. o Mumbai Indians defeated Rising Pune Supergiant by 1 run to win their third Indian Premier League title. o Krunal Pandya was named Man of the match. o The final was played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. o This was the 10th session of Indian Premier League. Vaishali wins gold in Blitz Championship o India's R Vaishali won the women's title with eight points from nine rounds in the Asian Continental Blitz Chess Championship. o PM Modi congratulatesd R. Vaishali for winning Gold at Asian Continental Blitz Chess Championship via Twitter. 54 | P a g e
o Her compatriot Padmini Rout finished third with seven points. o The Asian Continental Blitz Chess Championship is being hosted by China. Real Madrid win La Liga title. o Real Madrid defeated Malaga 2-0 to clinch their record 33rd La Liga title and their first after a five-year gap. o Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the second minute to take his league tally to 25, before Karim Benzema's 55th-minute strike. o Coach of Real Madrid - Zinedine Zidane Elina Svitolina wins Italian Open. o Ukraine's Elina Svitolina has won the Italian Open tennis title by defeating Simona Halep in finals. o Svitolina advanced to her maiden Rome final when Spanish semi-final opponent Garbine Muguruza, the French Open champion, retired injured as she trailed 4-1. o For Svitolina, it was her fourth title of the season after wins in Taipei, Dubai and Istanbul. Bengaluru FC wins 38th Federation Cup. o Bengaluru FC beat Mohun Bagan 2-0 to win the 38th Federation Cup football tournament. o With the win, Bengaluru also sealed a berth for next year’s Asian Football Confederation Cup. o With the win, Bengaluru FC became the eighth team to have won more than one Federation Cup title. o The 37th Federation Cup football tournament was won by Mohun Bagan. Indian archers claim gold at World Cup. o India’s compound men’s archery team consisting of Abhishek Verma, Chinna Raju Srither and Amanjeet Singh defeated Colombia In the penultimate day of the archery World Cup stage 1 championship in Shanghai. 55 | P a g e
o In semifinal, India got the better of the US while India edge out Iran in the quarterfinals. India beat Vietnam in the first round. o The women’s team however did not finish on the podium. First 300 Run Stand In Women's ODIs o Indian women's cricket team openers Deepti Sharma and Poonam Raut have become the first pair in women's ODIs to share a 300-plus stand for any wicket. o The duo achieved this feat against Ireland during the 8th match of the quadrangular ODI series in South Africa. Sharma and Raut put up 320 runs in 45.3 overs for the first wicket. o Captain of Indian women's Cricket team - Mithali Raj Ramit Tandon wins maiden PSA title o US based Indian squash player Ramit Tandon has won his maiden professional title in the SYS Open. o Ramit defeated Kush Kumar 11-3, 11 -2, 11-3 in the final. o This was Tandon's third appearance in a Professional Squash Association final. Rafael Nadal wins 5th Madrid Open title o Rafael Nadal beat Dominic Thiem 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 to win his fifth Madrid Open title and move into the world's top four. o For the 14-times Grand Slam Winner, it was also the 72nd tournament win of his career. o Rafael Nadal is from Spain. He is widely regarded as the greatest clay- court player in history. He has been titled "The King of Clay" Lewis Hamilton wins Spanish Grand Prix o Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position to cut Sebastian Vettel's overall lead in the Formula One championship to six points.
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o Despite having lead at the start Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel finished at second position. o This is Hamilton's 55th career win. o Lewis Hamilton is British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team. Arjun Maini first Indian to win GP3 race o Arjun Maini has become the first Indian to win a GP3 series race, an F1 support race, after registering a win in Barcelona. o He drives for Switzerland-based Jenzer Motorsport. Bajrang wins first gold medal for India o Bajrang Punia provided India its first gold medal on the penultimate day of the Asian Wrestling Championship. o He defeated South Korea’s Seunghui Lee in the men’s 65 kg freestyle category. o Wrestler Sarita settled for a silver medal. She lost to Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan in the final of women's 58 kg category. NBA opens its first academy in India o The National Basketball Association has opened its first academy in India. o An elite basketball training center at Jaypee Greens Integrated Sports Complex in Greater Noida was officially thrown open for the upcoming male and female talent of the country. o 21 elite male prospects, who were selected following a three-month nationwide talent search, will receive scholarships and training. Jhulan Goswami - highest wicket taker o Jhulan Goswami has become the highest wicket-taker in one-day internationals. o She has so far taken 181 wickets in 153 matches and has broken the world record held by Australia fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick who has taken 180 wickets. 57 | P a g e
o Jhulan Goswami also has 40 wickets in 10 Tests and 50 wickets in 60 Twenty20 Internationals. Ridley to be mascot of Asian Athletics o The logo and mascot of the Asian Athletics Championships scheduled to be held at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar from July 6 to 9 has been released. o The sea turtle, Olive Ridley was declared the mascot of the Championship, besides the logo depicts an athlete crossing the finishing line with tourist attractions of Odisha. o 700 athletes from nearly 45 countries would participate the event. Britain wins Sultan Azlan Shah Cup o Great Britain beat reigning champions Australia 4-3 in Malaysia to win the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. o This makes them the first British winners since England in 1984. o India on the other hand settled for Bronze medal. Chinappa wins Asian squash title o Joshna Chinappa has scripted history by becoming the first Indian to clinch the Asian Squash title with a thrilling win over compatriot Dipika Pallikal. o In the men's final, however, Saurav Ghosal went down fighting against No.1 seed Max Lee to finish second best. o Both Chinappa and Pallikal train together at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai.
Polity
Kharge is new PAC chairman
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o Mallikarjun Kharge, has become the chairman of the 22-member (15 from Lok sabha and 7 from Rajya Sabha) Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, replacing K V Thomas. o The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is a committee of selected members of Parliament, constituted by the Parliament of India, for the auditing of the revenue and the expenditure of the Government of India.
Environment
2 Indian activists wins Green Oscars. o Two Indian activists Sanjay Gubbi and Purnima Barman won the annual Whitley Awards, dubbed as the 'Green Oscars', for their works in the field of animal and bird conservation in India. o Sanjay Gubbi won the award for his work to protect Karnataka's tiger corridors, and Purnima Barman for creating an all-female network to save the Greater Adjutant stork and its wetland habitat in Assam. Rajnath to inaugurate meeting of NPDRR o Home Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the second meeting of National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in New Delhi. o It is a National Platform which promotes participatory decision making in disaster management and strengthens federal policy of the country. o The theme of the meeting is Disaster Risk Reduction for Sustainable Development: Making India resilient by 2030. PM Modi to launch Narmada Seva Mission o Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the Narmada Seva Mission for the conservation of the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh. o The Yatra for Narmada river conservation, started in December last year from Amarkantak, will conclude today after covering a distance of more than 3000 kilometres and passing through over 1,100 villages and towns. 59 | P a g e
o Narmada is known as The Lifeline of Madhya Pradesh. Narmada recognized living entity o The Madhya Pradesh government passed a resolution granting river Narmada the status of a living entity and committed itself to the protection of its legal rights. o A month ago, the Uttarakhand High Court had declared Ganga, Yamuna and their tributaries living entities with the status of a legal person. o The move is done to protect the river and the biodiversity. Maharashtra First State to Launch AWS o In Maharashtra, as an effective measure towards understanding weather cycles and crop patterns that would benefit farmers, Automated Weather Stations or AWS, will be set up. o State has collaborated with Skymet Weather Private Ltd, a private weather forecasting firm, for the project Mahavedh under which a network of AWS will be launched. o 2,065 such stations will come up in the state on PPP 1 lakh fine for dumping e-waste in Ganga o The National Green Tribunal has announced that anyone found dumping electronic waste (e-waste) on the banks of river Ramganga would have to pay Rs one lakh as environment compensation. o Huge quantity of hazardous e-waste generated from various industries in powder form is being disposed on the bank of river Ramganga in Moradabad. o The compensation would vary from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Indore cleanest city, Bhopal second o India's cleanest city is Indore in Madhya Pradesh and the runner up, Bhopal, is also from the same state.
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o The government's "Swachh Survekshan 2017", which has assessed cities based on lakh of votes from 73 cities, also says the dirtiest city is in Uttar Pradesh - Gonda. o The third best is the coastal port city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. o Surat is placed fourth and Mysuru fifth.
Defense
INS Ganga to retire. o Indian Navy frigate INS Ganga will be placed in non-operational followed by decommissioning, after 32 years of service. o INS Ganga is a Godavari-class guided-missile frigate of the Indian Navy. o It was built in Mumbai by Mazagon Dock Limited. o INS Ganga is also affiliated to the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) of the Indian Army. Aeronautical test range in Karnataka o Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has inaugurated the newly built Aeronautical Test Range of the Defence Research & Development Organisation at Chellakere, Chitradurga in Karnataka. o The 28 km strategic ATR is expected to facilitate conditions for research, which is expected to enrich the human resource required in the field of aeronautical testing. o It has been built at a cost of Rs. 1300 crore. Defence buys model comes into force. o The government’s ambitious Strategic Partnership model for promoting Indian private industry participation in defence manufacturing has come into effect.
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o The guidelines of the policy were cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) of the Defence Ministry last week and put up for noting by the Cabinet. o It will encourage, "Make in India" regarding defence equipments. IAI signs $630 million deal with India. o The Israel Aerospace Industries has signed a $630 million deal with the Indian state-owned aerospace and defense company Bharat Electronics Limited. o As part of the deal, the IAI will provide BEL with the naval version of the aerial defense system Barak 8 for four Indian Navy ships. o The deal was part of the "Make in India" initiative, BEL will be used as the main contractor for the project. Joint HADR Exercise Commences. o The Annual Joint Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Exercise involving multiple agencies commenced at Naval Station Karwar. o Named as KARAVALI KARUNYA, the exercise involves both professional exchange and actual disaster response mechanisms which is set on a Tsunami disaster scenario. o It also included setting up of Internally Displaced People camp and static display. Air Marshal Pradhan appointed as DCIDS. o Air Marshal PN Pradhan took over as Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Operations). o He was closely associated with the induction and operationalisation of Embraer-135, BBJ and C-130 fleets in the IAF. o For his distinguished service of an exceptionally high order he was awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 Jan 2014. SIMBEX-17 commenced in South China Sea.
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o 24th bilateral exercise involving Indian Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy has commenced in South China Sea. o This edition of the bilateral exercise aims at increasing the interoperability among the two navies as well as developing a common understanding among the two navies for maritime security operations. o Exercise would be conducted into 2 phases the Harbour Phase and the Sea Phase. BSF begins operation 'Garam Hawa'. o BSF has started operation Garam Hawa in the western sector in Rajasthan, under which vigil along the international border with Pakistan has been stepped up. o The operation is being conducted as chances of infiltration across the border increase during intense heatwave conditions. o Full Form of BSF - Border Security Forces Indian Navy signs MoU with SAC. o Indian Navy and the Space Application Centre have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Data Sharing and Scientific cooperation in the field of Meteorology and Oceanology. o The pact provides for creation of a common platform for sharing expertise achieved by SAC with the Navy in a number of areas, including satellite data acquisition technology. Tejas Test Fires Air-to-Air Missile o Tejas has successfully test fired Derby Air-to-Air Beyond Visual Range missile in RADAR guided mode. o The objective was to assess the Derby integration with aircraft systems on- board Tejas including the aircraft avionics, fire-control radar, launchers and Missile Weapon Delivery System and evaluate its performance. o The test was carried out in Chandipur, Odisha. India, Singapore Naval Exercise 63 | P a g e
o The Indian Navy will join the Singapore Navy next week in carrying out a mega maritime exercise in the Indian Ocean. o The exercise is called SIMBEX. o Held since 1994, this year would be the 24th edition of the annual maritime exercise between the two countries. Home min to inaugurate two mobile apps o Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated two important mobile applications MHA Grievances Redressal App and BSFMyApp in New Delhi. o All the Paramilitary Force jawans and BSF personnel will be able to raise their problems on BSFMyApp. o These problems will be settled at the level of the Force and Ministry. It is being tried that this app can not be hacked. India, Australia to hold naval exercise o India and Australia will hold their second bilateral naval exercise next month off the coast of Western Australia. o The first-ever such exercise, called AUSINDEX, was held in September, 2015 in the Bay of Bengal. o The first exercise was held in Bay of Bengal. Doctrine of “SAMADHAN’ o Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh carried out a review of the Left Wing Extremism situation in the ten LWE affected States. o He enunciated an operational strategy ‘SAMADHAN’ to fight Left Wing Extremism. o Suggestions were made to include aerial support, more deployment of forces etc to contain maoist terror. 29th CORPAT exercise o The 29th India–Indonesia CORPAT has commenced at Port Blair under the aegis of Andaman and Nicobar Command. 64 | P a g e
o The bilateral exercise is scheduled to be held from 9th to 25th May. o CORPAT is a bilateral maritime exercise held between India and Indonesia under the broad ambit of strategic partnership since 2002. Naval ships decommissioned o Indian Naval Ships Karwar and Kakinada were on May 9 decommissioned at a ceremony held at the naval dockyard, in the presence of Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba. o INS Karwar was acquired on July 14, 1986 and INS Kakinada on December 23, 1986 from erstwhile USSR. o Both ships operated in Vishakhapatnam till 2013. ‘Mission Sukma’ o Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh outlined 'Mission Sukma', which suggests use of air power to target Naxal leadership, along with continuous development work to eradicate the Left-wing extremism. o He strongly advocated targeting interior areas, hitting naxal leaders, occupying new areas etc to eradicate maoist terror. o A record 135 Naxals were killed last year. Tendulkar welcomes INS Tarkash to London o Sachin Tendulkar welcomed an Indian naval frigate as it docked on the river Thames in London on Monday. o INS Tarkash, a state-of-the art stealth ship, is in the UK for naval exercises and to mark UK India Year of Culture 2017. o INS Tarkash, under the command of Captain Rituraj Sahu, set sail from Mumbai last month and will remain docked in London until next week. 4-point plan to improve Sino-India ties o China has proposed a four-point initiative to overcome differences and deepen relations with India. o First point is to start negotiation on a Treaty of Friendly Cooperation. o Second is to restart negotiation of China-India Free Trade Agreement. 65 | P a g e
o Third is to strive for an early harvest on the border issue. o Fourth is to actively explore the feasibility of aligning OBOR and Act East Policy. AFSPA declared in Assam o The Centre has declared the entire Assam as a "disturbed" area under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act -- the AFSPA -- for three more months, citing various violent activities by insurgent groups ULFA, NDFB and others. o The ministry said there were 75 incidents of violence in Assam in 2016 in which 33 people, including four security personnel, were killed and 14 others were abducted. Biggest combing operation in Kashmir o The security forces have launched a massive cordon and combing operation in south Kashmir’s Shopian district following the recent militant attacks on policemen and banking facilities. o This is the first time in 15 years that the combing operation of this magnitude has been conducted by the security forces. o The objective behind the operation is to bring the situation in Kashmir under control. Anti-missile system THAAD in South Korea o The Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system, which was deployed last week in South Korea, is "operational". o THAAD has the ability to "intercept missiles" from North Korea and "defend" the South. o The missile system has been strongly opposed by regional nations such as China and Russia as it breaks strategic balance in the region.
India and World
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World’s third largest aviation market. o India has emerged as the third largest aviation market in the world with a passenger traffic of over 10 crore reported for 2016-17. o Average or median air fares fell by 18% during 2016-17 and scheduled domestic flight movements rose from 7 lakh in 2014 to 8.2 lakh in 2016. o There are currently 496 aircraft in operation with domestic airlines. o US is currently world's largest aviation market. Indira Jaising to lead UN probe. o UN has appointed an Indian human rights lawyer and 2 other experts to lead a probe into alleged rape, torture, and killings by security forces against Rohingya Muslims. o The mission will be led by Supreme Court advocate Indira Jaising. o Jaising drafted India’s first domestic violence act, allowing women to bring civil and criminal suits against attackers for the first time. India's own GPS NavIC to be operational. o India's very own desi Global Positioning System is operational and is set to hit the market for public use in early 2018. o The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System with an operational name of NavIC is currently being tested for its accuracy. o India needed a constellation of seven satellites in space to complete its IRNSS. o With NavIC India has joined likes of US, Russia and EU. India and Fiji Sign MoU o India and Fiji has signed an MoU on defence cooperation. o The MoU envisaged cooperation on defence industry, military training, humanitarian assistance & disaster management. o The two defence Ministers discussed expanded defence partnership in maritime security between both the countries. o Naval cooperation was identified as an area of promise. 67 | P a g e
Prasar Bharati signs MoU with SNRT. o Prasar Bharati has got into an agreement with Moroccos Societe Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de Television. o The MoU has been signed to step up cooperation in the broadcasting sector. o The MoU was signed during the the fifth India Morocco Joint Commission Meeting. o The MoU was signed by Kheya Bhattacharya, Ambassador of India, on behalf of Prasar Bharati and Faycal Laraichi, CEO of SNRT INS Kirch reaches Colombo Port. o INS Kirch with relief materials for people affected by floods in Sri Lanka has reached Colombo Port. o 2 more Indian ships INS Jalashwan and INS Shardul will be reaching Sri Lanka to help deal with flooding in island's western and southern regions. o Death toll from floods and string of landslides has climbed to 100. o PM Modi has assured that India stands with Sri Lanka in this hour of need. $500 mn assistance to Mauritius by India o India has announced a $500 million line of credit to Mauritius. o India and Mauritius signed as many as four agreements including a pact on maritime security. o Both countries agreed that productive management of conventional and non-conventional threats in the Indian Ocean is vital for economic opportunities. o This is Jugnauth's first abroad visit since taking over as PM of Mauritius. Indo-Thailand Siam Bharat 17. o Indo-Thailand Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Table Top Exercise 2017 was recently held at Chiang Mai,Thailand.
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o The exercise was carried out between the Indian Air Force and Royal Thailand Air Force. o 11 member IAF contingent was led by Group Captain Sucharu Rai VM. o The objective is to enhance interoperability between both the Air Forces, while conducting combined air operations. India retains world's highest FDI crown. o India has retained its top rank of being the world’s premier greenfield FDI investment destination for the second consecutive year. o FDI by capital investment saw an increase of 2% to USD 62.3 billion in 809 projects during 2016 in India. o China has overtaken the US to become the second biggest country for FDI. o Globally, the real estate sector has claimed the top spot for capital investment. Japan to Build War Museum in Manipur. o Japan’s Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu said that Japan will build a war museum at Maibam Lokpa Ching in Manipur’s Bishenpur district. o Maibam Lokpa Ching is a historical place where the British and the Japanese fought during the Second World War. o Japanese ambassador sought cooperation from the people in locating mortal remains of about 70,000 Japanese soldiers in Imphal and Nagaland. India ranks 154th on healthcare index. o India has ranked 154th among 195 countries on healthcare index in Lancet medical journal’s report titled ‘Global Burden of Disease’ o India’s neighbouring countries like China, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh have outperformed India in the rankings. o India performed worse than expected in tuberculosis, diabetes, rheumatic heart diseases and chronic kidney disease. Meetings of AfDB to be held in Gujarat. 69 | P a g e
o The 52nd Annual Meeting of the African Development bank (AfDB) will be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat from 22nd to 26th of this month. o This is the first time that the Annual Meetings of AfDB are being held in India. o Mr. Arun Jaitley, is India’s Governor to AfDB and would be conducting the meetings as the Chair. o The next meeting of AfDB is scheduled to be held in Busan, South Korea in 2018. Indian Army to get 2 M777 Howitzers. o India received the first artillery guns after the 1980s Bofors scandal as two of the 145 M777 ultra light artillery guns ordered from the US arrived ahead of schedule. o The guns will be tested at the Pokhran field firing range in Rajasthan. o India has struck a government-to-government deal for 145 howitzers with the US at a cost of around USD 700 million. Agreement between India and Tajikistan. o An Agreement between India and Tajikistan on cooperation and sharing of intelligence in the area of Customs has been approved by Union Cabinet. o The agreement will help in the availability of relevant information for the prevention and investigation of Customs offences. o It is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries. India’s ‘Ujala’ to light up homes in UK. o India has taken a new initiative to supply cheap LED bulbs for the citizens of London in the United Kingdom. o Ujala is one of the largest efficiency programmes and being run by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd, an energy services company promoted by Indian state-run power majors.
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o PM Modi's idea is to become leader in reducing global carbon intensity through efficient and sustainable energy use. India ranked second in REA index. o India has overtaken the US to become the second most attractive country after China for renewable energy investment, according to a report by EY. o India has added more than 10 gw of solar capacity in the last three years. o India’s plan is to build 175 gigawatts in renewable energy generation by 2022 and have renewable energy account for 40% of installed capacity by 2040. World's smallest satellite for NASA. o Rifath Sharook, an 18-year-old student from Tamil Nadu, has developed the world's smallest and lightest satellite. He is all set to break a global space record by launching the lightest satellite in the world, weighing a mere 64 grams. o The satellite is made using reinforced carbon fibre polymer, is named 'KalamSat', after former President APJ Abdul Kalam. PM Modi to visit Sri Lanka on May 11 o Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Sri Lanka on May 11 to attend the biggest Buddhist festival, 'Vesak Day'. o Vesak, the most important day in the Buddhist calendar, marks commemoration of Lord Buddha's birth, enlightenment and passing away. o Modi is also likely to visit Kandy in the Central Province which is famous for production of Ceylon Tea.
Resignations and Appointments
Flipkart's Chief Operating Officer quits
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o Flipkart's Chief Operating Officer Nitin Seth has quit the e-commerce startup citing personal reasons. o He joined Flipkart last year and was in charge of Flipkart's logistics unit Ekart, o He was former managing director and country head of investment firm Fidelity International in India. o He had joined Flipkart as chief people officer by replacing Mekin Maheshwari. Heptulla appointed new Jamia Chancellor. o Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla has been appointed as the chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia. o She is going to replace Lt Gen (Retd) MA Zaki. o She is a five-time member of the Rajya Sabha. o She has also served as the Deputy Chairman of the House for sixteen years. Rizvi takes charge of Chairman of NCM. o Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi assumed charge of the Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities. o He is a graduate in Arts and served as Chairman of U.P Minority Finance Development Corporation Ltd. o NCM was set up under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 to look into complaints from members of 5 religious communities - Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians. IFA appoints Rakesh Kapur as Chairman. o Rakesh Kapur has been elected as the Chairman of the International Fertilizer Association at the recent IFA’s Annual Conference held in Marrakech, Morocco. o He is the third Indian to hold this position in IFA’s 90 years’ history.
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o IFA is the global Fertilizer Association having about 500 Members Worldwide representing 68 countries. o IFA has been actively involved in sustainable agriculture. Rakesh Sarna resigns as Taj Group CEO. o Rakesh Sarna, the MD and CEO of Indian Hotels, which runs the Taj group of hotels has resigned from the company citing personal reasons. o Sarna was one of the high profile recruitments from outside the Tata group made by Cyrus Mistry in September 2014. o Sarna was reportedly facing sexual harassment charges by a former female employee. o He served 3 years as MD and CEO of the company. Krishnamurthy takes up additional charge o Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy has taken additional charge of the Human Resources amid merger talks with Snapdeal. o He took over the HR function from chief operating officer Nitin Seth. o He will also directly oversee the finance function and CFO Sriram Venkataraman will report to him. o Flipkart faced serious HR challenges last year when a flurry of senior executives quit the firm. Ray to be next Economic Affair Secretary o According to Appointments Committee of the Cabinet Tapan Ray will take up the additional charge of the post of Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs. o He will replace Shaktikanta Das whose tenure was extended by government by 3 months. o Tapan Ray is a 1982 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre. o He has held various positions at the Centre in power, textiles and defence ministries . India's Ambassador to Philippines. 73 | P a g e
o Jaideep Mazumdar has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Philippines. o He is presently Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. o He is 1989 batch IFS officer and is expected to take up the assignment shortly. Rajan Anandan appointed IAMAI Chairman. o Google’s vice-president for South East Asia and India, Rajan Anandan has been appointed new chairman of Internet and Mobile Association of India. o He succeeded Kunal Shah. Deep Kalra has taken over as vice-chairman from music app Saavn co-founder and president Vinodh Bhat. o The tenure of the new council is for two years. Tripathy appointed as CBSE secretary. o Anurag Tripathy has been appointed as the secretary of the Central Board of Secondary Education. o He has been appointed to the post for a period of five years. o Tripathy is a 1998 batch officer of Indian Railway personnel Service. o The CBSE is a Board of Education for public and private schools, under the Union Government of India. Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigns. o He was elected as the 39th prime minister of Nepal after forging alliance with the Nepali Congress. o He had reached an understanding with Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba that he would step down as Prime Minister and hand over the leadership to him after nine months. o Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba will replace him. Tedros to be new Director General of WHO o Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus from Ethiopia will be the next Director General of the World Health Organization. o He will be the first African to head up the UN agency. 74 | P a g e
o He replaces Margaret Chan, who will step down from her 10-year post at the end of June. o Headquarters of WHO - Geneva, Switzerland. Djokovic appoints Agassi as new coach. o World number two Novak Djokovic has appointed former world number one Andre Agassi as his new coach. o Agassi will join Djokovic ahead of the French Open. o Recently Djokovic split with longtime coach Marian Vajda and 2 other team members. o Djokovic has been in poor form ever since winning French Open last year with a win-loss record of 20-5 this year with no titles since winning in Doha in Jan. Satti to be CEO of Paytm Payments Bank. o Paytm has appointed Renu Satti as the CEO of Paytm Payments Bank. Satti currently is the vice president of business at Paytm. o She will replace Shinjini Kumar, a former central banker and senior executive at PwC, who was named as Paytm Payments Bank CEO last year. o Paytm Payments Bank Ltd has received the final licence from the RBI and would commence its operations on May 23, 2017 Ovais Sarmad to join UNFCCC. o U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed Ovais Sarmad to join the UNFCCC as the Deputy Executive Secretary. o His appointment comes at a crucial time when most of the countries have ratified the Paris Climate Agreement and the US President, Donald Trump, has threatened to scrap the pact. o He currently serves as the chief of staff to the DG of International Organization for Migration. Macron appoints Philippe as PM of France
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o French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Edouard Philippe as France's new prime minister making his first major political decision a day after being formally installed as the country’s leader. o The prime minister, who presides over government, will be instrumental in rallying support to help Macron form a parliamentary majority in next elections. o President of France - Emmanuel Macron India’ambassador to France appointed o Vinay Mohan Kwatra, currently a joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, has been appointed as the next ambassador to France. o He succeeded Mohan Kumar, who is retiring. o He has worked in International Labour Organisation and World Health Organisation and has served in Indian diplomatic missions in China and the US. Amitabh Bachchan appointed ambassador o Amitabh Bachchan, a Hepatitis B conqueror, was appointed the WHO goodwill ambassador for the Hepatitis awareness programme in southeast Asia region. o It is estimated that around 325 million across the world suffer from the disease. o As an ambassador, Amitabh Bachchan will participate in public awareness programmes to scale up prevention measures, early diagnosis and treatment. Mark Lowcock, new UN humanitarian chief o UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed British humanitarian expert Mark Lowcock as the UN Humanitarian Chief. o He will replace Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O'Brien in September.
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o Lowcock is currently the top civil servant in the British Government's Department for International Development. V K Saraswat appointed JNU Chancellor o V K Saraswat, was appointed as Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University on May 11. o He succeeds former ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan, who completed his term on March 30 this year. o Apart from being a member of the JNU court, he will be the competent authority to sanction leave to the vice-chancellor. He, however, will play little role in the day-today administration of the university. Sanjay Mitra named Defence Secretary o The Centre has appointed Sanjay Mitra as the Defence Secretary to take charge later this month. o Mitra, currently secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, has been posted as an officer on special duty in Defence Ministry until incumbent G Mohan Kumar’s tenure ends on May 24. o He served as joint secretary in the PMO under Manmohan Singh before being made West Bengal chief secretary. Taranjeet Singh to head Twitter India o Twitter has elevated Taranjeet Singh as its Country Director for India. Singh was earlier leading the charge for sales and marketing support for Twitter’s advertisers in India. o Before joining Twitter, Singh was sales director, South Asia for BBC Advertising. Prior to BBC, he held various positions at Outlook Publishing. o Twitter has 319 million users worldwide. Govt appoints MDs, CEOs of seven banks o The government on May 5 appointed heads of various banks.
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o Punjab National Bank MD Usha Ananthasubramanian has been shifted to Kolkata-based Allahabad Bank and head of Bank of India Melwyn Rego moved to Syndicate Bank. o According to experts, the changes were made in these two public sector banks after a similar rejig at IDBI Bank because of non-performance in tackling non-performing assets. New ICSSR chairman o The HRD Ministry appointed Braj Bihari Kumar, the 76-year-old editor of quarterly journals Dialogue and Chintan Srijan, as the new chairman of the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). o Kumar succeeds economist S K Thorat, who was heading the council since April 2011. o He has been appointed for a term of three years. Lianzuala takes over as CGA o Anthony Lianzuala took over as the new Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in place of Archana Nigam, who superannuated on April 30. o Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in Ministry of Finance heads the organisation and is responsible for administering this system. Shobana Kamineni is new CII president o Shobana Kamineni is appointed as the new president of the CII. o The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is an association of Indian businesses which works to create an environment conducive to the growth of industry in the country. o CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry- managed organization, playing a proactive role in India's development process. Andhra CM Naidu bags USIBC award o Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu has been selected for the 'Transformative Chief Minister Award'. 78 | P a g e
o He has been chosen in recognition for his role in advancing the US-India partnership at the state level. o US-India Business Council (USIBC) said in Washington that the award would be presented on 8th of this month at the USIBC West Coast Summit in the Silicon Valley.
Obituaries
Manuel Noriega passes away. o Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega passed away at the age of 83 o He was a Panamanian politician and military officer. o He was military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989 and was ousted as Panama’s dictator by an American invasion in 1989. o Noriega worked with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and tracked money laundering in Panama’s banks and terrorist activities. KPS Gill passes away. o One of India’s most celebrated cops and Former Punjab DGP KPS Gill passed away at the age of 82 after suffering a cardiac arrest. o He received a Padma Shri award in 1989 for his work in the civil service. o He has been called a "supercop" for his work in Punjab, where he served twice as DGP. o Gill’s major successes included commanding Operation Black Thunder in 1988. Roger Moore passes away. o British actor Roger Moore passes away at 89. o He was best known for his role as James Bond in films such as "Live and Let Die" and "The Spy Who Loved Me. o Sir Roger was appointed as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1991. o He passed away in Switzerland after a brief battle with cancer. 79 | P a g e
Chris Cornell passes away. o Chris Cornell, best known as the lead singer of the bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, has died at age 52. o He's also known for performing the theme song of 2006 James bond film 'Casino Royale'. o He was Golden Globe nominated singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer and lyricist. Anil Madhav Dave passes away. o Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave passed away at the age of 60. He complained of uneasiness and was rushed to AIIMS where he passed away. o He was appointed as MOS (independent charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change last year and was elected to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh. o He is well known for his work on river Narmada. Reema Lagoo passes away. o Veteran film and theater actress Reema Lagoo passed away in Mumbai at the age of 59 following cardiac arrest. o She had won four Filmfare awards for the best supporting actress. o She was known for acting in films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kal Ho Naa Ho, and TV serials such as Tu Tu Main Main. I Rammohan Rao passes away o I Rammohan Rao, former Principal Information Officer who had served as a media adviser to four prime ministers, passed away today at the age of 83. o Rao started his career with the Information Service in the 50s. o He served as media adviser to four former Prime Ministers - Rajiv Gandhi, V.P. Singh, Chandrashekhar and P.V. Narasimha Rao. Ustad Raees Khan passes away 80 | P a g e
o Renowned Pakistani sitarist Ustad Raees Khan passed away on Saturday. o Apart from performing at a number of concerts solo, Khan collaborated with legendary shehnai player Ustad Bismillah Khan on stage. o He also played sitar for film music composers. o Born in Indore in Madhya Pradesh in 1939 into a family of musicians, he began playing sitar at a young age. Seth, 1st woman judge of Delhi HC dies o Justice Leila Seth, the first woman judge of Delhi High Court who played a major role in the making of the tough anti-rape law five years ago has died. o Justice Seth also became the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. o She was part of a committee set up to suggest amendments to the criminal law to deal with heinous crimes like rape after the December 16, 2012 case. 'Oldest human' dies o The Indonesian man who claimed to be 146 years old - the longest living human ever - has died in his village in Central Java. o According to his papers, Sodimedjo, also known as Mbah Ghoto (grandpa Ghoto), was born in December 1870. o But Indonesia only started recording births in 1900 - and there have been mistakes before.
Important Current Affairs April 2017
Important Current Affairs March 2017
Important Current Affairs February 2017
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