Daily Current affairs - May 21st and 22nd, 2017 for all competitive exams
All over India, May
21st is observed as Anti-Terrorism Day in the memory of former
Indian PM Mr Rajiv Gandhi who passed away on this day.
- On this day in the year 1991, former India’s PM
Rajiv Gandhi was killed brutally by terrorist attacks. Rajiv Gandhi,
the former Prime Minister of India, while conducting an election campaign
in Sriperumbudur (located near Chennai) in Tamil Nadu was assassinated by
a suicide bomber on 21 May 1991.
Now, digital marksheets for
ICSE, ISC candidates
ICSE and ISC candidates will now be able to have
digital versions of their marksheets and certificates.
- All they have to do now is to open an account with
http://digilocker.gov.in, give their mobile number and follow the steps
thereafter.
India’s high
speed First Tejas Express introduced
Indian
Railways has introduced India’s first high speed, air-conditioned Tejas Express
between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai and Karmali.
- Tejas Express is a state of the
art train capable of running at the speed of 200 kmph with ultra modern
amenities run between Mumbai and Karmali.
Jamsenpa scripts history, scales Everest twice in 5 days
Climber Anshu Jamsenpa on Sunday scripted history
by scaling Mount Everest twice within five days.
- Ms. Jamsenpa, a mother of two, had conquered the
world’s highest peak for the fourth time on May 16 last.
- Ms. Jamsenpa, along with Nepali climber Furi Sherpa,
scaled the peak at 8 a.m. On Sunday. She set the world record for becoming
the first woman climber to reach the top of Mount Everest twice within
five days. She is also the first Indian woman to reach the top of the
mountain for the fifth time.
Action plan
for Pampa conservation
A seven-point
action plan for the conservation of pampa has been chalked out. The document,
named Pampa Declaration, delineates a comprehensive plan to be implemented with
the active involvement and support of the government and the public.
- The salient features of the
declaration include bestowing living entity status to river Pampa; the
constitution of a River Management Board for the governance of the river;
documentation of livelihood along the river basin; publication of periodic
status report of flood plains and wetlands and formation of tributaries,
micro watersheds, and ponds linked to the river every five years.
- Pampa is the third longest river
in Kerala after Periyar and Bharathappuzha and the longest river in the
erstwhile princely state of Travancore.
Cochin Port Trust bags two awards
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.
- The awards were received from Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari by P Raveendran, Chairman and A V Ramana, Deputy Chairman, Cochin Port Trust at a function held at Goa Port Trust.
Iran’s
presidential election:
Hassan Rouhani
has been re-elected as the President of Iran. He was elected as president for
his first term in 2013.
- He won 2013 elections by pledging
to end Iran’s isolation and improve civil rights at home.
Indian-origin Minister may become Irish PM
An Indian-origin doctor and Ireland’s first
openly gay minister has emerged as the frontrunner in the prime ministerial
race.
- Leo Varadkar, 38, the son of an Indian father and Irish mother, has won support for his leadership bid from several senior Ministers
North Korea fires mid-range missile
North Korea fired a medium-range missile on May
21. The latest ballistics test by a country speeding up its development of
nuclear weapons and missiles.
- The rocket was fired from an area near the North Korean county of Pukchang, in South Phyongan Province, and flew eastward about 500 km
NASA names bacteria after Abdul Kalam
Scientists at NASA have named a new organism
discovered by them after the much-loved A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
- The name of the bacterium is Solibacillus kalamii, the species name is after Dr. Abdul Kalam and genus name is Solibacillus which is a spore-forming bacteria.
Softbank-Saudi tech fund raises $93 billion
The world’s largest private equity fund, backed
by Japan’s Softbank Group and Saudi Arabia’s main sovereign wealth fund had
raised over $93 billion to invest in technology sectors such as artificial
intelligence and robotics.
- The next stage of the Information Revolution is under way, and building the businesses that will make this possible will require unprecedented large-scale, long-term investment.
Sinor withdraws resignation from BBB
H.N. Sinor, the veteran banker who resigned from
the Bank Board Bureau (BBB) on May 12 as a non-official member, decided to
‘re-engage’ with the bureau.
- The BBB has also decided to appoint two ‘alternate' experts,’ former Allahabad Bank chairman and managing director S. Panse and Pradip Shah, former managing director of rating agency Crisil.
Tata Sons appoints Saurabh Agrawal as Group CFO
Tata Sons has appointed Saurabh
Agrawal, an investment banker who was formerly with the Aditya Birla Group, as
its Group Chief Financial Officer. He will join the company from July
2017.
- Agrawal, among India’s most successful investment bankers, brings with him over two decades of experience in the capital markets.
Deveshwar, Soumitra Chatterjee conferred Bengal's
highest civilian award
Thespian Soumitra Chatterjee and Y.C.
Deveshwar were conferred the Banga Samman, West Bengal's highest
civilian award, by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
- The Banga Samman awards were instituted in 2011, after Banerjee came to power. Celebrated artistes, singers, sportspersons, filmmakers, intellectuals have been honoured with these awards in the past.
India's Prashant Ranganathan wins top intel
International science award in US
An Indian boy has won the world’s largest
pre-college science competition, The Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) in the US in the environmental engineering
category for his project on biodegradation of pesticides.
- The name of his project was ‘Biodegradation of Chlorpyrifos using native bacteria’ which was based on the theme that farmers should not use pesticides.
Alexander Zverev win Italian Open title by
defeating Novak Djokovic
Alexander Zverev defeated the world no. 2
ranking player Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 to win the Italian Open, 2017.
The final was held in Rome, Italy.
- The 20-year-old Zverev became the youngest player to
win a Masters 1000 event since Djokovic won in Miami a decade ago at
19.
- The Italian Open women's Singles Title 2017 was won by Ukraine's Elina Svitolina.
Mumbai Indians win IPL title for the third time
In Cricket, Mumbai Indians lifted the 10th Indian
Premier League trophy for the third time, as they recorded a scintillating
1-run win against Rising Pune Supergiant in the title clash at Hyderabad during
final.
- Mumbai successfully defended a total of 129 and restricted Pune to 128/6 to lift their third IPL trophy. Krunal Pandya from Mumbai Indians was named the man of the match.
Indian men claim compound gold
The Indian men’s compound archery team won the
gold medal at the World Cup Stage-I, beating Colombia in the final.
- The Indians grabbed a slender lead in the opening set by clinching it 58-57 and built on it in the next three to emerge triumphant.
Bengaluru FC wins Federation Cup
The Bengaluru FC defeated Mohun Bagan
(2-0) to lift 38th Federation Cup football tournament at the Barabati Stadium
in Cuttack, Odisha.
- In the tightly contested tussle befitting a final, BFC overcame a bit of hard luck to ride on C.K. Vineeth’s extra-time brace and bag the prestigious title despite the unavailability of two of key players, Sunil Chhetri and Cameron Watson.
