Daily Current affairs - May 29th, 2017 for all competitive exams
29 May is celebrated as the International Day of
United Nations Peacekeepers.
- The day was established to Honour the memory of the UN
peacekeepers who have lost their lives in the cause of peace and pay
tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in
UN peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism,
dedication and courage.
- The theme for the 2017 International Day of UN Peacekeepers is “Investing in Peace Around the World".
Twitter handle set up for GST
As GST implementation date nears, the Revenue Department on
Sunday started a new twitter handle to answer industry queries related to the
new indirect tax regime.
- Traders and industry can ask questions on the twitter handle ‘@askGST_GoI’ and officials from Central Board of
Excise and Customs will answer them.
Defence Minister inaugurates DRDO’s Aeronautical Test Range in
Karnataka
Union Defence and Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley inaugurated the Defence Research and Development
Organisation’s (DRDO)’s new Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in
Karnataka.
- The ATR is a facility under the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) which works on a range of UAVs (unmanned air vehicles). It will be an integrated test center for the DRDO’s cluster of aeronautical laboratories, most of them based in Bengaluru.
Move for a TGI policy in local bodies
Kerala attempts to ensure rights of transgenders are implemented at all levels
Kerala attempts to ensure rights of transgenders are implemented at all levels
- Taking forward State policy that has given transgenders
visibility and acceptance, a roundtable will see Kerala’s Lesbian
Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Intersex (LGBTQI) community push for
integration of their rights in the local self government framework.
- The Research Unit on Local Self-Government at the Centre for
Development Studies (CDS) in Thiruvananthapuram will host a roundtable on
May 29, to finalise a note seeking to create “Human Diversity-Friendly
Local Self-Governments.”
- Kerala, which passed a Transgender Policy in November 2015, has also drafted a bill that seeks to decriminalise consensual homosexual acts by amending Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
Vadodara creates Guinness record for most people sweeping
street
Vadodara, which was declared the 10th cleanest city in the
country made a new Guinness world record for the maximum number of
people sweeping a single venue.
- About 5,058 residents of the city came together to achieve
the feat at the venue which was a bridge that connected Akota, an
urban area.
- The large-scale event saw about 50,000 people in attendance as they cheered and rendered their support to the participants. The event was organised as a tribute
DGCA to get powers to impose penalties
The government plans to provide the Directorate General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA) with powers to impose penalties for violations by
airlines, pilots, crew members and other entities.
- The proposal, which has been in the works for some time, will
give more leeway for the regulator in taking action against erring
entities. The Civil Aviation Ministry has already started work to amend
the Aircraft Act, 1934.
- At present, the DGCA has the penal power to cancel the licence of an airline in case of a “very harsh violation”. The watchdog can also debar or suspend pilots and engineers. However, it cannot impose any monetary penalty.
Country’s first underwater metro tunnel nears completion
The tunnelling work under the Hooghly river, the first such
under-river project in the country, to provide metro connectivity between
Howrah and Kolkata is slated to be completed next week.
- The tunnel will be a crucial link for the Railway’s 16.6-km-long
East-West Metro project in Kolkata.
- The 520-metre twin tunnel, one east-bound and the other west-bound, is built 30 metre below the riverbed.
BSF officer summits Mount Everest a record 6th time, 1st
Indian to clinch feat
Uttarakhand Mountaineer Love Raj Singh
Dharmshaktu has become the first Indian to summit Mount
Everest a record six times.
- Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, the premier institute of mountaineering under the ministry of defence in Uttarkashi, has confirmed that Dharmshaktu is the first Indian to summit the peak six times.
Pune city police receive FICCI Smart Policing Award 2017
The Pune city police have received the Federation
of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) Smart Police Award
for the year 2017.
- Pune Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla received the award
from BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi during a program organized by FICCI and
Vivekanand International Foundation on Homeland Security in Delhi.
- The program focused on the use of modern technology for countering internal security issues.
Dailong village in Manipur declared Biodiversity Heritage Site
The Manipur government has declared Dailong
village of Tamenglong district as a Biodiversity Heritage Site of the
state. Dailong village, covering an area of 11.35 sq km, has been declared
as Biodiversity Heritage Site under Section 37(1) of Biological Diversity Act,
2002.
- The declaration was made after the recommendation of Manipur Biodiversity Board, the state government has stated in the notification.
China launches satellite navigation positioning system
China launched a national satellite
navigation and positioning system which will provide positioning
service to transportation, emergency medical rescue and city planning and
management. It is the largest in the country and boasts the widest
coverage.
- The system consists of 2,700 base stations, a national
database centre and 30 provincial level database centers.
- The system, featuring faster speed, higher accuracy and wider coverage, will be compatible with other satellite navigation systems, such as the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and Global Position System (GPS).
G7 summit
The leaders of the United States, Canada,
Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan – countries collectively known as the
Group of Seven (G7) – recently held a two-day summit in Taormina, Italy. The
bloc meets annually to discuss a wide range of issues, including global
economy, security and energy – and this year will be no exception.
- The leaders issued a collective statement at the close of the
talks, saying that they have committed to “strengthening our collective
energy security and ensuring open, transparent, liquid, and secure global
markets for energy resources and technologies.”
- The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal bloc of industrialised democracies. Its current members make up nearly 50% of the world economy, and represent more than 60% of net global wealth.
ISRO set to launch monster rocket into space
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to
launch its most powerful launch vehicle, Geosynchronous Satellite Launch
Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III into space.
- ISRO will be launching the GSLV Mark III, earlier named Launch Vehicle Mark (LVM)-3, a heavy launch capability launcher, on June 5, 2017 from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
BSNL plans satphone services
BSNL plans to extend its satellite phone services for all
citizens in two years.
- It will work at any corner of the country and remain immune to breakdown of mobile services during natural calamities.
IOC overtakes ONGC to become India's most profitable PSU
Indian Oil Corporation has overtaken Oil and Natural Gas
Corporation (ONGC) to become India’s most profitable state-owned company.
- IOC, which has for decades been India’s biggest company by
turnover, posted a 70 per cent jump in net profit to Rs. 19,106.40 crore
in the financial year ended March 31, 2017.
- Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries retained the crown of being India’s most profitable private company for the third year in a row, posting a net Rs. 29,901 crore in financial year 2016-17. Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest software services exporter, with a net profit of Rs. 26,357 crore was the second most profitable private company in the country.
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Govinda
Bhat
Yakshagana artiste Surikumeri K. Govinda Bhat has
been chosen for the Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 2016. He is among
the nine artistes chosen for the award in theatre category.
- The Sangeet Natak Akademi – India’s national academy for
music, dance and drama – is the first National Academy of the arts set-up
by the Republic of India. It was created by a resolution of Government of
India.
- The Akademi Awards are the highest national recognition conferred on eminent artistes.
Satyabrata Rout gets Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar
Satyabrata Rout, a professor from the Department of
Theatre Arts, S N School of Arts and Communication, University of
Hyderabad (UoH) has been awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar for
the year 2016.
- He is one of the pioneers of ‘visual theater’ in India, and has ‘Scenography: An Indian Perspective’.
Priyanka Chopra bags Dadasaheb Phalke Award
Actress Priyanka Chopra will be honoured with
the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Award for being an international
icon. 'Internationally Acclaimed Actress' category at a ceremony.
- The board of trustees for Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards include Johny Lever, Pahlaj Nihalani, Mithun Chakraborty and TP Agrawal. The award ceremony will be held on June 1, 2017 in Mumbai.
Army chief commences 4-day tour to Myanmar
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday began a four-day
visit to Myanmar, during which he will meet the country’s iconic leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and hold talks with military leadership to further ramp up defence
and security cooperation between the two countries.
Sudirman Cup 2017: South Korea beat China to clinch the title
after 14 years
South Korea won Badminton's Sudirman Cup for the first time
in 14 years with 3-2 victory over 10-time champions China at Australia's Gold
Coast.
- Before 2017, South Korea won the Sudirman Cup in 1991 and 1993, fought back from 2-1 down in the final to claim victory.
