Daily Current affairs - May 25th, 2017 for all competitive exams
Every year, 25 May is now widely known as Missing Children’s Day,
with the forget-me-not flower as its emblem. In 2001, 25 May was first formally
recognized as International Missing Children’s Day (IMCD)
- In
1983, U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 25th “National Missing Children’s Day.”
- The forget-me-not flower is the symbol of International Missing Children's
Day.
Cabinet
approves setting up of new AIIMS in Kamrup, Assam
The Union
Cabinet has given its approval for establishment of new AIIMS at Kamrup (North Guwahati
Revenue circle). The cost of the project is Rs.1123 crore and it will be set up
under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
- The
establishment of new AIIMS is aimed at serving the dual purpose of
providing super speciality health care to the population while also help
create a large pool of doctors and other health workers in this region
that can be available for primary and secondary level institutions /
facilities being created under National Health Mission (NHM).
- The
Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY)
was announced in 2003 with objectives of correcting regional imbalances in
the availability of affordable/ reliable tertiary healthcare services and
also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.
Cabinet
approves phasing out Foreign Investment Promotion Board
The Union
Cabinet has given its approval to the phasing out of Foreign Investment
Promotion Board (FIPB). The proposal entails abolishing the FIPB and allowing
administrative Ministries/Departments to process applications for FDI requiring
government approval.
- The
move will provide ease of doing business and will help in promoting the
principle of Maximum Governance and Minimum Government.
Preference
to ‘Make in India’ in Government procurements
The Union
Cabinet has approved a policy for providing preference to ‘Make in India’ in
government procurements.
- The
policy will be implemented through an Order pursuant to Rule 153(iii) of
the General Financial Rules, 2017 to provide purchase preference (linked
with local content) in Government procurements.
- Under
the policy, preference in Government procurement will be given to local
suppliers. Local suppliers are those whose goods or services meet
prescribed minimum thresholds (ordinarily 50%) for local content. Local
content is essentially domestic value addition.
Joint
Declaration of Intent between Germany and India regarding cooperation in the
sector of alternative medicine
The Union
Cabinet has approved the Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) between Germany and
India regarding cooperation in the sector of alternative medicine.
- The financial resources necessary to conduct research, training courses, conferences / meetings will be met from the existing allocated budget and existing plan schemes of Ministry of AYUSH.
Govt launches ‘eSanad’ for online document verification
The Human Resource Development Ministry and
the External Affairs Ministry launched an online verification
portal 'e-sanad' to make the document verification process easier for
students who planning to study abroad.
- 'e-Sanad' is an initiative of the Ministry of External
Affairs (MEA), in association with two other ministries with the help
of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
- CBSE becomes the first Board to partner with MEA for
e-Sanad.
Fresh move to impeach Justice Nagarjuna Reddy
Over 60 members of the Rajya Sabha, cutting
across party lines, have submitted a motion seeking initiation of impeachment
proceedings against Justice C.V. Nagarjuna Reddy of the High Court for Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana.
- This
is the second attempt by members of the upper house of Parliament to
remove Justice Nagarjuna Reddy after the first one made by 61 MPs on
December 5 last year failed after 19 signatories withdrew.
- Allegations
against the judge include interfering in the judicial process in several
cases; and caste slurs including death threats against a Dalit Junior
Civil Judge Sanku Rama Krishna.
J&K security agencies want ban on social media to continue
Security agencies are advocating continuation of
the ban on the social media in Kashmir claiming “it has yielded results on the
ground”, as the one-month suspension ends on May 26.
- The
government invoked the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 last month to direct all
telecom service providers to block social media sites, including Facebook,
Twitter and WhatsApp along with video sharing site YouTube. The move came
in the wake of growing street protests in the Valley this year.
IIT-Kharagpur signs MoU with Madhya Pradesh for
measuring Happiness Index
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
Kharagpur's Rekhi Centre of Excellence for the Science of Happiness has
signed an MoU with Madhya Pradesh government to collaborate
on the development of a Happiness Index for measuring the well-being of the
people of the state.
- The MoU was signed with MP government's 'Rajya Anandam Sansthan' (Department of Happiness) in the presence of MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and IIT-KGP Director Prof P P Chakrabarti at Bhopal recently.
Airlander
10, World’s Largest Aircraft, Completes Test Flight:
The world’s
largest aircraft has successfully completed a test flight, bringing the massive
helium-filled airship one step closer to commercial use.
- The
hybrid aircraft dubbed the Airlander 10 combines technology from
airplanes, helicopters and airships.
- It
is designed to fly at altitudes of 6,100 meters for up to five days when
manned. With a length of 92 metres, it is the largest aircraft currently
flying.
Modi to be on four-nation tour from May 29 to June 3
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Germany,
Spain, Russia and France between May 29 and June 3.
- The
External Affairs Ministry has announced that he will hold bilateral talks
with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin,
Spanish Prime MinisterMariano Rajoy and French President Emmanuel Macron.
U.S. proposes cut in aid to Pak.
The Trump administration has proposed that the
military aid to Pakistan in 2018 be reduced to $100 million from $265 million
in 2017.
- Pakistan
will be among several countries that will be affected if cuts in military
aid to partners proposed by the White House is passed by Congress.
- The
$100 million under foreign military funding is to help Pakistan buy
military hardware. With other programmes added, total assistance proposed
for Pakistan next year amounts to $344 million, which is also a
substantial reduction.
- Israel,
Egypt and Jordan will not face any cuts in military grants. Israel will
receive $3.1 billion, Egypt $1.3 billion and Jordan $350 million,
respectively.
TRAI defends decision to impose penalty on 3 firms
TRAI had recommended a fine of Rs. 1,050 crore
each for Bharti and Vodafone, and of Rs. 950 crore for Idea for violating their
agreement and denial of interconnection to Reliance Jio. DoT had sought
clarifications on several points, including the provision of law under which
the amount was recommended.
- Non-compliance
of terms and conditions of the licence under the TRAI Act, 1997 warrants
recommendations for the revocation of the licence.
Centre may expand UDAN’s wingspan
The Centre has proposed widening the scope of its
UDAN scheme for regional connectivity by making more flight operations eligible
for a host of concessions, including viability gap funding.
- All
routes which do not have flight services at present may become part of the
Scheme.
- If
there is no flight between two destinations even though both the airports
have flight operations on separate routes, then it will be an unserved
route falling under the regional connectivity scheme (RCS).
- The
Government may also allow flights between airports less than 150
kilometres of distance from each other, for instance, Bengaluru-Mysuru
route, to be eligible to fall under the UDAN scheme.
SBI
launches national hackathon:
State Bank of
India (SBI) has launched a national hackathon for developers, start-ups and
students to come up with innovative ideas and solutions for the banking sector.
- The
hackathon, named ‘Code For Bank’, will focus on the business value driven
by technologies like predictive analytics, fin-tech/blockchain, digital
payments, IOT, artificial intelligence, machine learning, BOTS and robotic
process automation.
WHO
elects Ethiopia’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as its new director general:
Ethiopia’s
former health minister has been elected to serve as the next director-general
of the World Health Organization — the first African picked to lead the global
health agency.
- Appointment:
The World Health Assembly is the legislative and supreme body of WHO.
Based in Geneva, it typically meets yearly in May. It appoints the
Director-General every five years.
Socialist Lenin Moreno sworn in as Ecuador
president
Lenin Moreno was sworn in as Ecuador's president
following a tight electoral race that the former vice president won on promises
of maintaining the social programs of his leftist predecessor, Rafael
Correa.
- The
64-year-old Moreno, a socialist, last month won a runoff vote in the
oil-exporting country, bucking a shift to the right in South America as
leftist governments struggle to maintain support.
New Book on Virat Kohli's Winning Formula Revealed
by Abhirup Bhattacharya
A new book “Winning like Virat: Think &
Succeed like Kohli” by Abhirup Bhattacharya, unravels the secrets of
the cricketer’s consistent form, while attempting to decode his philosophy
towards life.
- In the book, the writer etches Virat’s success
curve by using statistics that chart his performances and anecdotes
from his predecessors and contemporaries in the game.
P V Sindhu Elected to Badminton World Federation
Athletes' Commission
Olympic silver medalist P.V.
Sindhu became a member of the BWF Athletes' Commission after voting closed
for the four places on the representative body.
- The 21-year-old Indian topped the ballot with 129 votes as she led a trio of women onto the BWF Athletes' Commission. She will serve for four years term.
