Current Affairs Daily Updates: 14th and 15th May 2017

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Current Affairs Daily Updates: 14th and 15th May 2017
APPOINTMENTS
SAFE appoints BSE CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan as its new chairman
  • Ashishkumar Chauhan, the managing director and chief executive officer of BSE is appointed as the new chairman of South Asian Federation of Exchanges (SAFE).
  • SAFE is a forum of 28 member countries created with the objective of development of capital markets and collectively share, exchange and promote technologies.
  • The forum includes countries from the Saarc regions, Bangladesh, Maldives, Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and other countries like UAE and Mauritius.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
The President Confers Florence Nightingale Awards to 35 Nurses
  • The President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee conferred the Florence Nightingale Awards to 35 nurses across the country on the occasion of International Nurses Day at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.
  • Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Shri J P Nadda presided the function.
  • The Florence Nightingale awards are given to the outstanding nursing personnel employed in Central, State/Union Territories.
  • The Florence Nightingale Awards carries Rs.50,000/- cash, a certificate, a citation certificate and a Medal.
ISKCONs Govardhan Eco Village wins Smart Village Award
  • Govardhan Eco Village, set up by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in adjoining Thane district, won a Smart Village award for being a sustainable project in rural Maharashtra.
  • The village of Wada taluka is located 108km north of Mumbai at the foothills of the Sahyadri mountains.
  • The award, "Smart Village," instituted by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), which also gives awards in other categories.
BANKING AFFAIRS
SBI setting up separate Amaravati circle for AP
  • The SBI has bifurcated or separated its operations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and is in the process of setting up a circle exclusively for Andhra Pradesh, which will be known as the Amaravati circle.
  • Mani Palvesan, the Chief General Manager, told that a separate administrative unit had started functioning in Amaravati from April 24 but it would take a little more time to complete the formalities before notifying it as the Amravati circle.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
IIT Kharagpur collaborates with British Geological Survey 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.
  • Three dimensional geological modelling of the geology under Varanasi will be prepared to help improve the building of new transport and service infrastructure.
  • Further, the preservation of archaeological sites and the management of flooding hazards and the sustainability of water supplies would also be undertaken.
BOOKS AND AUTHORS
Book titled “India’s Indira: A Centennial Tribute” launched
  • President Pranab Mukherjee has received the first copy of book “India’s Indira: A Centennial Tribute” in New Delhi.
  • Mukherjee has also written a chapter in the book, which was released by vice-president M Hamid Ansari.
  • Senior leader Anand Sharma has edited the book.
Hero - A biography of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar: By Devendra Prabhudesai
  • Hero - A biography of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has been released recently. It is written by sports journalist Devendra Prabhudesai .
  • This book encloses the rich history of Indian cricket along with the enthralling story of a champion in the making.
DEATHS
Former Puducherry Chief Minister Ramassamy passes away
  • Former Puducherry Chief Minister S Ramassamy died at his residence after a brief illness.He was 80.
  • He was Home Minister in the DMK-CPI coalition ministry from 1969 to 1973.
  • He became Chief Minister in 1974 heading the AIADMK-CPI coalition ministry for a brief period.
  • He was also the Chief Minister in the AIADMK government in 1977, which lasted in office for a little over one year.
IMPORTANT DAYS OBSERVED
May – 15: International Day of Families
  • The International Day of Families is observed on the 15th of May every year.
  • The Theme of 2017 International Day of Families - “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.
  • The day also aims to discuss the importance of ‘knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development’.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Arrives on 4-Day Visit to India
  • President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas arrived in India on a four-day State visit to India.
  • President Abbas will visit Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Noida to create cooperation between Palestine - India Techno Park being built by India in Palestine and Indian IT industry.
  • Memorandum of Understanding MoUs on cooperation in various sectors is also expected to be signed during the visit.
  • In July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Israel, the first Indian Prime Minister to travel to the Israel Country.
India and UK to sign MoU to increase efficiency of urban transport system
  • India and the United Kingdom agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral cooperation between the Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Britain's Transport for London (TFL) in the urban transport sector for cooperation in policy planning, technology transfer and institutional organisation.
  • The decision was taken on a three-day visit Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping.
  • Under the proposed MOU, the TFL will share with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways its expertise on the mobility and efficiency of the transport system and methodologies to facilitate the planning and delivery of mobility solutions including ticketing, passenger information, major project financing, infrastructure maintenance strategies and behavioural change and public transport promotion.
India jumps 73 spots to 26 rank in World Bank’s electricity accessibility list
  • India has climbed up to twenty sixth position in World Bank’s electricity accessibility ranking in the current year from 99th spot in 2014, power minister Piyush Goyal has said.
  • Elaborating on energy access to all, the minister said at the Vienna Energy Forum, held on May 11, everyone was actually impressed about India that has actually led the global efforts by its action to address the challenge of the planet change.
  • The government’s rural electrification programme is proceeding swiftly, with over 13,000 villages electrified out of a total of 18,452 and is on track for completion within the targeted 1,000 days.
Indian mission, Vedanta adopt UJALA scheme in UK
  • The Indian High Commission in London and metals tycoon Anil Agarwal led Vedanta Group will be among the first to adopt India’s UJALA scheme of replacing all their old lamps with energy-saving LED bulbs in the UK.
  • Minister of state for power, coal and renewable energy Piyush Goyal presented them with their first set of LED bulbs during the launch of the Energy Efficiency Services Limited’s (EESL) expansion plans in the UK, which have been branded as ‘UK Joins Affordable LEDs for All’ (UJALA).
  • The National LED programme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2015.
  • Under this scheme, consumer can buy five LED bulbs at the rate of Rs 20 each by showing monthly electricity bills or ID cards.
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
Union Health minister launches Pneumonia vaccine
  • Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda launched new Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine(PCV) for Pneumonia at Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College Hospital in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh.
  • The vaccine is a part of government’s Universal Immunization Programme (UIP).
  • In India, more than 1 lakh children die of pneumonia every year.
  • The vaccine will provide protection against 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria which results in pneumonia.
  • This is the twelfth disease for which the Health Ministry launched a vaccine.
Kerala tops, Bihar last in public affairs index
  • Two South Indian States Kerala and Tamil Nadu have secured first and second rankings for the second year in a row in 2017 public affairs index (PAI) in governance in States
  • Poll-bound Gujarat gained two positions rising from five in 2016 to three.
  • Karnataka slipped from third position in 2016 to fourth in 2017 while Maharashtra stood fifth (4th in 2016) in governance indicators.
  • There was no change in the last four positions among large States. Like in the previous year, Bihar (18th), Jharkhand (17th), Odisha (16th) and Assam (15th) are at the bottom of the table in PAI, a latest survey of think-tank Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Bengaluru, has revealed.
PM Narendra Modi launches river conservation project in Madhya Pradesh to ensure pollution-free Narmada
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched river conservation project Narmada Seva Mission in Madhya Pradesh.
  • The prime minister will release a roadmap for the conservation of the Narmada, the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh, at Amarkantak.
  • The program gives the conclusion of 'Namami Devi Narmade Sewa yatra' launched on December 11, 2016.
  • The yatra covering a distance of 3,344 km and passing through over 1,100 villages and towns.
PM Modi to inaugurate Asia’s longest bridge in Assam
  • Asia's longest bridge on Brahmaputra, which will reduce travel time between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh by four hours, will be opened for public on May 26 coinciding with Modi government's three years in power.
  • 9.15km long Dhola-Sadiya bridge, capable of withstanding the weight of a 60-tonne battle tank, will improve the movement of civilian and military vehicles to strategic locations up to Anini in Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Anini is barely 100km from China border.
Union Ministry announces Implementation of the expanded India-Chile PTA
  • India and Chile will implement a bilateral expanded Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) from May 16, 2017.
  • India-Chile PTA which was signed on 6th September 2016.
  • The original PTA had a limited number of tariff lines, wherein both sides had extended tariff concessions to each other.
  • The expanded PTA has a wider coverage of tariff concessions which covers around 96 percent of bilateral trade.
  • Currently, Chile is the fourth largest trading partner of India in LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) region after Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates 2nd meeting of NPDRR in New Delhi
  • Home Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the second meeting of National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) in New Delhi.
  • The NPDRR is a multi-stakeholders National Platform which promotes participatory decision making in disaster management and strengthens federal policy of the country.
  • The theme of the meeting is Disaster Risk Reduction for Sustainable Development: Making India resilient by 2030.
  • The meeting will be attended by over one thousand distinguished guests including Union Ministers, State Ministers, Heads of specialised disaster management agencies and representatives from private sector organisations.
SPORTS AFFAIRS
Bajrang wins first gold medal for India at at Asian Wrestling Championship 2017
  • Bajrang Punia won a first gold medal for India in men's 65kg freestyle category at the Asian Wrestling Championship.
  • He defeated South Korea’s, Seunghui Lee.
  • Sarita Mann from India lost to Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan in the final of women's 58kg category.
  • Sarita got a silver medal.
  • The Indian wrestlers overall bagged 10 medals comprising a gold, five silver, and four bronze.
Rafael Nadal wins 5th Madrid Open title
  • Rafael Nadal won fifth Madrid Open title after his Barcelona Open and Monte Carlo Masters titles.
  • He defeated Dominic Thiem.
  • He has won 14 times the Grand Slam titles.
Arjun Maini becomes First Indian to Win a GP3 Race
  • Arjun Maini, the first Indian driver to win a GP3 race at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
  • The GP3 Series is a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Miche.
  • This victory has moved Arjun Maini into third place in the driver’s championship standings after the completion of the first round of the eight-round GP3 series.
  • Nirei Fukuzumi of Japan leads the championship standings with 29 points,
  • Alessio Lorandi of Italy is in the second position with 25 points.
Lewis Hamilton Wins Spanish Grand Prix 2017
  • Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix title from pole position in the Formula One championship.
  • Spanish Grand Prix is a Formula One motor race which is one of the oldest of its kind in the world.
  • Totally He has won 55 Grand Prix.
  • Hamilton also received the distinction of becoming the first black driver to race.
  • He is a three-time Formula One World Champion.