Daily Current affairs - May 14th and 15th, 2017 for all competitive exams
The International Day of Families is
observed on the 15th of May every year.
- The
theme of 2017 is “Families,
education and well-being”.
- This
year’s observance focuses on the role of families and family-oriented
policies in promoting education and overall well-being of their
members.
Public
affairs index 2017 released
Public affairs
index (PAI) for the year 2017 has been released. The PAI aims to rank the
states of India objectively in the field of governance based on various focus
subjects and indicators and is an initiative of the Public Affairs Committee
(PAC).
- The
survey was based on 10 themes, 26 focus subjects and 82 indicators. The
report was based on a wide range of themes such as essential
infrastructure, support to human development, social protection, women and
children, crime, law and order, delivery of justice, environment,
transparency and accountability, fiscal management and economic freedom.
- The
PAC is a not-for-profit think-tank focussed on good governance, which was
established in 1994.
- For
the second year running, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have maintained their
positions as the states with the best governance in the country. They are
followed by Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka.
- Punjab
is the best performer among all States in the category of essential
infrastructure. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat secured second,
third and fourth positions, respectively.
- In
human development, Kerala, Maharshtra, and Punjab are top of the table
while Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Assam are the worst performers.
- Kerala,
Assam and Madhya Pradesh secured top three ranks in implementation of
social protection policies
- In
the category of women and children, Kerala topped the list followed by
Odisha and Karnataka while Jharkhand, Haryana and Maharashtra are poor
performers.
- Tamil
Nadu secured first rank in maintaining law and order, delivery of justice
and environment categories and secured last rank in transparency and
accountability in the administration.
- Telangana
is the best performer in fiscal management while its neighbour Andhra
Pradesh is the poor performer and secured last rank.
- In
the category of economic freedom, Gujarat secured top rank while Bihar
secured the last rank.
Pneumonia
vaccine to be part of immunisation drive
India has
rolled out the long-awaited anti-pneumonia vaccine as part of the government’s
Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). The vaccine will protect children
against severe forms of pneumococcal disease, such as pneumonia and meningitis.
- The
three-dose pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) will be rolled out in
Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, six districts of Uttar Pradesh and 17 districts
of Bihar as a part of the first phase. The vaccine will give protection
against 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria which cause pneumonia disease.
- Pneumococcal
disease is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths in children
under five years of age globally and in India.
Alert
sounded on malware
The IT
Ministry has reached out to key stakeholders like RBI, National Payments
Corporation of India, NIC and UIDAI (Aadhaar) to advise them to protect their
systems against ‘WannaCry’ ransomware to ensure that the
digital payments ecosystem in the country is protected.
- The
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has also instructed
cyber security unit CERT-In to gather information of ‘WannaCry’ ransomware
that has wreaked havoc across sectors like healthcare and
telecommunications in more than 100 countries.
Rs.
11,000 cr. to be spent on roads in Naxal-hit areas
The Centre
will soon begin work on a Rs. 11,000-crore project to provide road connectivity
to 44 Naxal-affected districts, including Sukma in Chhattisgarh, which had
recently witnessed one of the deadliest Maoist attacks.
- The
project will be implemented under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak
Yojana in the districts that are critical from a security and
communication point of view.
- Under
the project, there will be construction or upgradation of 5,411 km of
roads and 126 bridges.
- Odisha,
Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra are the other
States that will be covered under the scheme.
- PMGSY was launched on 25th December 2000 as a fully funded
Centrally Sponsored Scheme to provide all weather road connectivity in
rural areas of the country.
India-UK agree on MoU in urban transport sector
India and the UK agreed to sign an MoU in
the urban transport sector for cooperation in policy planning, technology
transfer and institutional organisation.
- Union
Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari was on a
three-day visit, finalised the bilateral cooperation arrangement
between the Transport for London (TfL) and the India's Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways to cover a wide range of transport mobility
solutions and associated activities in urban environments.
Telangana hosted first Videsh Sampark
- Telangana hosted
the first outreach program of the Ministry of External
Affairs ‘Videsh Sampark’ to engage the State governments in creating
awareness about various programmes of the Ministry.
- It
was inaugurated by the Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. V.K.
Singh.
- Also,
Telangana has become the first state in the country where the
pilot ‘e-Sanad’ project for online attestation of documents, was
rolled out.
IIT Kharagpur collaborates to turn Varanasi into
smart city
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
Kharagpur has collaborated with the British Geological Survey to
turn Varanasi into a smart city.
- 3D
geological modeling of the geology under Varanasi will be prepared to help
improve the building of new transport and service infrastructure.
- It
would be the first major 3D subsurface urban study and planning of its
kind in India.
Aquatic
animal diseases revisited
The national
surveillance programme for aquatic animal diseases in India, one of the largest
fish disease surveillance programme implemented in the country, is all set to
begin a new phase.
- A
road map proposed for taking the surveillance programme to the next level
includes developing disease-free zones and targeted active surveillance
for fish pathogens in India.
- The
programme is led by the ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic
Resources (ICAR-NBFGR).
- The
programme includes monitoring of the disease status of susceptible
populations and would provide a general picture of prevalence of diseases
in the country.
India ranks 26 in World Bank’s electricity
accessibility list
India moved up to the 26th spot in the global
electricity accessibility rankings of the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business
index 2016.
- India
was at the 99th position in 2014, it jumped 73 ranks in 2016. The
compounded annual growth in electricity prices in 2014-16 stood at 3.27%
compared to 5.97% in 2004-14.
Palestine President arrives on 4-day visit to India
President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas arrived
in India on a four-day State visit.
- The
visit of President Mahmoud Abbas will provide an opportunity for reviewing
the entire gamut of bilateral relations, regional and international
issues.
Ebola resurfaces in Democratic Republic of Congo
The World Health Organization has declared an
Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Africa.
- While
this outbreak will be worrying for communities in this remote part of the
DRC, health workers say the country is experienced in fighting the virus.
Experts say an experimental vaccine could be used if needed.
- More
than 11,000 people died in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2015,
mainly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The last outbreak in the DRC
was in 2014 and killed more than 40 people. The region affected lies 1,300
km north-east of Kinshasa, close to the border with the Central African
Republic.
- Ebola
virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a
severe, often fatal illness in humans.
Xi
evokes Panchsheel as India skips meet
Despite
India’s decision to skip the two-day Belt and Road Forum (BRF), the once
special relationship between New Delhi and Beijing echoed during the opening
session of the conclave.
- Chinese
President Xi Jinping proposed five principles of peaceful co-existence or
Panchsheel — the brainchild of China, India and Myanmar in the 1950s — as
the mantra for advancing the Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI), and as a
vehicle for achieving sustainable globalisation.
- India’s
had decided to boycott the BRF, as a mark of protest against the
infringement of its sovereignty by the China- Pakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC) that passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
RBI puts restriction on Uco Bank's business
Reserve Bank of India has put restriction
on Kolkata-based PSU UCO Bank’s lending and branch expansion plans as
the state-run lender made net losses for the two successive fiscal amid severe
stress on asset quality.
- RBI
has initiated 'Prompt Corrective Action' (PCA) framework on
UCO bank on account of high bad loans and negative return
of assets.
- UCO has become the second lender to face business restrictions after IDBI Bank.
ISKCON's Govardhan Eco Village wins Smart Village
Award
Govardhan Eco Village, set up by
the ISKCON in adjoining Thane district, has won a Smart Village
award for being a sustainable project in rural Maharashtra.
- The award, "Smart Village," has been instituted by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO).
India win 1 gold, 5 silver & 4 bronze in Asian
Wrestling Championship
India finished their Asian Wrestling
Championship campaign on a resounding note with Sumit winning a
silver medal in the 125 kg category on the concluding day of the
continental event held in New Delhi.
- Bajrang Punia defeated
Lee Seung-chul of Korea to win the gold medal in the men’s 65 kg
freestyle category at the Asian Wrestling Championship.
- The Indian
wrestlers overall bagged 10 medals comprising a gold, five silver,
and four bronze.
Rafael Nadal wins 5th Madrid Open title
Rafael Nadal beat Dominic Thiem to
win his fifth Madrid Open title held in Spain and move into the
world's top four.
- In
Madrid he battled past a determined Dominic Thiem of Austria to win the
crown in straight sets 7-6, 6-4.
- For
the 14-times Grand Slam Winner, it was also the 72nd tournament win of his
career.
