Important Current Affairs 25th May 2018
If you are appearing for any Government Recruitment Exam, it is important that you are familiar with the happenings around the world. Current Affairs is an important part of your syllabus apart from English, Quantitative Aptitude or Logical Reasoning! Thus, we bring you the Important General Awareness in PDF. Now, Banking, SSC and Insurance aspirants can read the update containing all the Important Current Affairs 25th May 2018. You can also attempt yesterday's current affairs quiz:
Current Affairs Quiz - 24th May 2018
Important Current Affairs 25th May 2018
• North Korea dismantled its nuclear test site
o North Korea has carried out demolition of its Punggye-ri nuclear test site in a series of huge explosions.
o Destruction of the nuclear testing tunnels at Punggye-ri is a tangible step toward denuclearization goal that Kim Jong-un agreed to at the 27 April Panmunjom Summit.
o North Korea permitted a group of journalists from Britain, China, Russia, South Korea and US to watch the destruction. • 1st drone-carried meteorological data monitor
o China has successfully tested its first drone-carried meteorological data monitor to undertake atmospheric observations.
o Dropsonde also known as meteorological data monitor will gather data such as temperature, humidity, and wind direction and transmit them to ground receiving devices in real time.
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o Dropsondes can be widely used in meteorological emergency, disaster & ecological monitoring. • HDFC bank to offer Digital Loans
o HDFC Bank has launched its Digital Loans against Mutual Funds in partnership with transfer agent CAM.
o Customers will be able to leverage their mutual fund portfolio to avail funds for any emergencies without liquidating their investments.
o The ticket size of the loans will range from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore at an interest rate of 10.5 -11%. • Bank credit grows 12.64%, deposits at 7.61%
o According to an RBI data, Banks’ credit grew by 12.64% year-on-year to ₹85,51,099 crore in the fortnight ended May 11, 2018.
o Banks’ deposits grew by 7.61% to ₹1,13,92,165 crore in the fortnight ended May 11, 2018, compared with ₹1,05,86,083 crore in the fortnight ended May 12, 2017.
o Bank credit is the aggregate amount of credit available to a person or business from a banking institution. • Govt appoints non-executive chairpersons
o Finance ministry has appointed non-executive chairpersons at Punjab & Sindh Bank, Dena Bank & Central Bank of India, as part of its agenda to reform public sector banks.
o Charan Singh, Anjali Bansal & Tapan Ray were appointed as non executive chairperson of Punjab & Sind Bank, Dena Bank & Central Bank of India, respectively.
o These banks have been plagued by mounting bad loans & massive losses • Collaborative programme on HIV/AIDS research
o Governments of India & Netherlands have launched a collaborative research programme on HIV/AIDS between India, Netherlands & Sweden.
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o Programme aims to harness research strengths & diverse expertise across 3 nations to develop better tools to understand HIV epidemic.
o It will enable a multitude of cross-learning opportunities in HIV/AIDS research to address unmet needs & emerging challenges. • India to host the ASEAN India Film Festival
o Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Rathore will inaugurate the ASEAN India Film Festival in New Delhi on May 25, 2018.
o It will be a platform for people of the film industry of member countries to explore areas of cooperation in domain of cinema & cultural cooperation.
o The tagline of the Festival is proposed to be ‘Friendship through Films’. • ‘Nidaan’ software for disease monitoring
o A new software, ‘Nidaan’, has been launched in Rajasthan for presumptive diagnosis and monitoring of seasonal and non-communicable diseases.
o “Nidaan” will facilitate online entries of as many as 46 diseases and healthcare services available for their treatment in different institutions.
o It is expected to help in formulation of specific action plans for control of diseases. • First national sports university in Manipur
o The Union Cabinet has approved an ordinance to set up the country's first national sports university in Manipur.
o The varsity will be spread over 325 acres in Imphal West district with a cost of Rs 524 crore.
o The proposal to set up the national sports university in Manipur was initially announced by PM Modi, while Rs 100 crore funds for it were allocated in the 2014-15 budget. • Biodiversity award for Arunachal reserve
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o An NGO, Singchung Bugun Community Reserve, won the India Biodiversity Award 2018 in the category of ‘Conservation of wildlife species’
o The NGO bagged the prize for its unique endeavor & contributions towards conserving the rare wildlife resources of that area.
o The prize was presented by Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change & was conferred by National Biodiversity Authority. • Nepal: First country to eliminate Trachoma
o Nepal became the 1st country in south-east Asia to eliminate Trachoma.
o Trachoma is a kind of chlamydial infection that happens due to unclean water supply & lack of hygiene and spreads through contact with nose, throat or eye of infected person.
o Nepal government took important measures like providing incentives to districts & local communities to build latrines in order to improve sanitation • INSV Tarini Team gets Nari Shakti Puraskar
o Nari Shakti Puraskar 2017 was presented to INSV Tarini Team in Delhi by Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Minister of Women & Child Development.
o Team comprising of 6 Lady Officers, led by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi from Indian Navy received the award from the Minister.
o Tarini is a part of Navika Sagar Parikrama, a unique project of Indian Navy which promotes ocean sailing activities in the Navy. • Chandramauli appointed as Chairman of PCI
o Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad, who was the former Supreme Court Judge has been appointed as the Chairman of the Press Council of India (PCI) for the second time.
o The decision was taken by a committee of three members, headed by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.
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o Justice Prasad had taken over from Justice Markanday Katju in November, 2014. • India, Nepal to conduct a military exercise
o Armies of both the nations, India and Nepal will conduct a 2-week long military exercise ‘Surya Kiran’ in Uttarakhand.
o The focus of the exercise will be to enhance cooperation in conducting counter-terrorism operations in mountainous terrain.
o Around 300 soldiers from both the nations will be participating in this exercise. • MCX launches India’s first silver options
o India’s Multi Commodity Exchange has launched the country’s first silver options contracts.
o Five contracts expiring in June, August, November, February and April with a lot size of 30 kg were launched.
o India is the world’s biggest consumer of silver, which is mainly used for jewellery making in the county.
o The exchange had recently launched crude oil and copper options. • New Vice Chief of Army Staff
o Lt. Gen. Devraj Anbu has been appointed as the new Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS).
o He is presently GOC-in-C (General Officer Commanding-in-Chief) Northern Command.
o He will replace Lt. Gen. Sarath Chand who retires on May 31.
o Lt. Gen. Anbu is expected to be replaced by Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh who was the Director General Military Operations (DGMO) at the time of surgical strikes. • Samagra Shiksha scheme for school education
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o HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar has launched Samagra Shiksha scheme for school education from pre-school to senior secondary levels.
o The scheme focuses on improving quality of education, enhancing learning outcomes & using technology to empower children & teachers.
o The scheme will enhance the use of digital technology in education through smart classroom & digital boards. • Niti Aayog ropes in Sushant Singh Rajput
o Actor Sushant Singh Rajput will promote 2 major initiatives of NITI Aayog - BHIM app & the Women Entrepreneurship Platform.
o BHIM is a payment app that lets users make simple and quick transactions using Unified Payments Interface.
o Women Entrepreneurship Platform is a unified access portal which brings together women from different parts of India to realize their entrepreneurial aspirations. • UNICEF launched data visualisation app
o UNICEF has launched a 'data visualisation app' which provides a user- friendly visual representation of complex analytics of the education scenario in the country.
o The app has been made with technical inputs from UNICEF, in collaboration with NIEPA and NCERT.
o UNICEF aims to provide humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries. • Anubrata Biswas appointed as MD & CEO
o Airtel Payments Bank has announced the appointment of Anubrata Biswas as its Managing Director & CEO.
o Anubrata will be responsible for driving Airtel Payments Bank's mission of taking convenient and innovative digital banking services to the doorstep of every Indian.
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o Airtel Payments Bank was the first payments bank to start operations in India.
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