Current Affairs Today – May 31 2017

We are here for you to provide the important current affairs may 31 2017 which have unique updates of all daily events from all newspapers such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, PIB, Times of India, India Today, Indian Express, Business Standard, all Government official websites. Our complete current affairs helps you to get more marks in Banking, insurance, UPSC, SSC, CLAT, Railway and all other competitive Exams.

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INDIAN AFFAIRS

Delhi Police launch bicycle patrol
The Delhi Police has launched the Bicycle Patrols for better policing on 30 May 2017.
Key Notes:
i. It was launched by Union minister of Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir.
ii. In the first phase, a total of 65 high-end bicycles have been operationalised.
iii. Out of 65 bicycles, 30 were allotted for North East district, 20 for East district and 15 for Shahdara district.
iv. Bicycle patrols were launched as a part of green initiative for patrolling the parks, congested lanes, by-lanes, the cooperative societies, etc.
v. The bicycle patrols will also be introduced in the University campus areas and near schools and colleges where the police officers can have a friendly interface with the student community.
vi. Major areas of focusing of these bicycle patrols will be parks where citizens including senior citizens and women go for morning and evening walks.
New Delhi:
♦ Lt.Governor- Anil Baijal
♦ CM-Arvind Kejriwal
♦ Police commissioner- Amulya Patnaik

Jaitley inaugurates Telangana solar plant, Karna windmill
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has inaugurated a solar power plant of 16 MW capacity at the Ordinance Factory in Telangana’s Medak on 30 th May, 2017
Key Notes:
i. The solar power plant at Medak has been set up at a cost of Rs 105 crore by Bharat Electronics Limited.
ii. A9 MW capacity windmill project has installed at Dammur in Karnataka at a cost of Rs 53 crore by BEML.
iii. Jaitley has also presented an excellence awards to various defence PSUs.
iv. The excellence award in the institutional category for 2014-15 was given to
Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad.
v. The award for 2015-16 was conferred on Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bengaluru.
vi. The best performance award in exports for 2014-15 was given to Goa Shipyard Limited while
vii. The award for 2015-16 was conferred on Bharat Electronics Limited, Bengaluru.
Some more points:
♦ Capital-Hyderabad.
♦ CM-K.Chandrashekar Rao.
♦ Governor-E.S.L.Narasimhan.

Sankhyiki Bhawan, the new office of (NSSO) inaugurated in New Delhi
Sankhyiki Bhawanis the new office of (NSSO) has been inaugurated in New Delhi
Key Notes:
i. India is participating in the current phase of International Comparison Programme (ICP) with reference to 2017. 
ii.This was stated by the Minister for Statistics &Programme Implementation Shri D.V.Sadananda Gowda.
iii. With the inauguration of the new building, all the Divisions will come under one roof.
iv.It will improve coordination of various works at a very closer level and result in speedy and better output.
v. It is a global statistical initiative that supports inter-country comparisons of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and its components, using Purchasing Power Parity.
vi. Ministry of Statistics &Programme Implementation (MOSPI) will take up the price collection work in rural and urban areas shortly all over the country.

Delhi to host 3-day Indian Mobile Congress in September
Union Minister for Communications Manoj Sinha has announced that the Mobile Congress 2017 (IMC 2017) in New Delhi on 31^st of May.
Key Notes:
i. It is a 3 day programme and is scheduled from 27th to 29th September 2017.
ii. This is the first time India is all set to host its own mobile mega show.
iii. The Indian telecom market is the second-largest in the world after China.
iv. India has a total subscriber base of over 1.18 billion subscribers

Ministry of Earth Sciences to launch ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ by January 2018
M Rajeevan, Secretary of Ministry of Earth Sciences has announced that India is all set to launch ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ by January 2018.
i. ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ will improve India’s position in ocean research field.
ii. Seven premier science agencies including NIO, ISRO and DRDO will participate in this venture.
iii. This announcement was made by Mr. Rajeevan, while addressing the workshop on ‘Three decades of India acquiring Pioneer Investor Status- Achievements and way forward’, arranged by National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa.
iv. India has now designated an area of 75,000 sq km for deep sea exploration. This area has an estimated resource of about 100 million tons of strategic metals such Copper, Nickel, Cobalt besides Manganese and Iron.

India to be first in world to run all government ports on green energy
All 12 major domestic ports in India will soon switch to renewable energy to meet their entire power requirements. Thus India will become first in the world to run all government ports on green energy.
i. Indian Government is planning to install 150 mw of solar power and 50 mw wind power generation capacity by year 2019. The resulting 200 MW of renewable energy generation capacity will be ramped up to 500 mw in the next few years.
ii. Total initial investment in the project is expected to be Rs 500 crore.
iii. On May 30, 2017, a high-level conference attended by shipping minister Nitin Gadkari, top officials and chairmen of several port trusts was held at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai to discuss the road map of implementing the green ports project.
iv. These renewable energy projects will help in reduction of carbon emission and lead to improvement of environment around the ports.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Mumbai, Delhi, 7 other Indian cities in JLL’s global 300
Mumbai, Delhi and 7 other Indian cities have featured in the list of top 300 global cities which are the focus of commercial activity and interest. This list has been compiled by real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).
i. On Commercial Attraction Index, New York has ranked 1^st, whereas in terms of Economic Size, Tokyo has ranked 1^st.
ii. Nine Indian Cities in JLL’s Global 300 List – In Terms of Economic Size:

70th edition of World Health Assembly (WHA70) held in Geneva
70th World Health Assembly (WHA70) was held from 22^nd to 31^st May 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Highlights of WHA70:
i. Dr Margaret Chan gave her last address as Director-General of the WHO, with her tenure coming to an end.
ii. Member States of WHO, elected Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as the new Director-General of WHO.
iii. Delegates at the World Health Assembly approved the organization’s proposed programme budget of US$ 4421.5 million for the biennium, which includes a 3% (or US$ 28 million) increase in Member State assessed contributions for 2018–2019.
iv. Discussions were held on implementation of the International Health Regulations, and improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of sepsis.
v. Delegates at the World Health Assembly have reached new agreements on dementia; immunization; refugee and migrant health; substandard and falsified medical products, and the world drug problem.
vi. The World Health Assembly is the supreme decision-making body for WHO. It generally meets in Geneva in May each year, and is attended by delegations from all 194 Member States. Its main function is to determine the policies of the Organization.
Switzerland :
♦ Capital:Bern
♦  Currency: Swiss franc

BANKING & FINANCE

Asian Development Bank (ADB) & Punjab National Bank (PNB) sign $100 million loan to finance Solar Rooftop projects
On May 30, 2017, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Punjab National Bank (PNB) signed a $100 million loan agreement to finance large solar rooftop systems on industrial and commercial buildings throughout India.
Details about ADB’s Solar Rooftop Investment Program (SRIP):
i. This is the first tranche loan of the $500 million multi tranche finance facility Solar Rooftop Investment Program (SRIP) approved by ADB in 2016.
ii. This agreement has been guaranteed by the Government of India
iii. PNB will use the ADB funds to make further loans to various developers and end users to install rooftop solar systems.
iv. ADB’s $500 million Solar Rooftop Investment Program (SRIP) includes $330 million from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and $170 million from the multi donor Clean Technology Fund (CTF) administered by ADB. The first tranche loan of $100 million would be financed entirely from the CTF.

RBI to soon circulate new pink-green Re 1 notes
The Reserve Bank of India will soon circulate one rupee notes while the existing notes and coins will also continue.
Key Notes:
i. The new notes will be in Pink-Green colour with the representation of the one rupee coin on the reverse of the note.
ii. According to RBI these currency notes are legal tender as provided in The Coinage Act 2011.
iii. The new notes will bear the bilingual signature of economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das.
iv. This move comes after the government introduced new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes in November, last year as part of its demonetisation drive.
Some more points:
♦ Established-1 April,1935.
♦ Governor-Urjit Patel.
♦ Deputy Governor- BP Kanungo,SS Mundra,NS Vishwanathan & Viral Acharaya.
♦ Headquarter-Mumbai,India.

India’s growth to accelerate to 7.5% this fiscal: Moody’s
According to the Moody India’s economic growth will accelerate to 7.5 per cent in current fiscal and will help in achieving the 8 per cent of GDP growth rate in about four years.
Key notes:
i. According to Moody’s the economy will grow 7.5 per cent in fiscal year 2017 (2017-18) and 7.7 per cent in fiscal year 2018 (2018-19).
ii. Indian economy grew 7.1 per cent in 2016-17 fiscal.
iii. The inflation rate will rise to around 5 per cent by the end of this year.
iv. GDP will grow at 6.6 per cent in 2017 and falling to 6.3 per cent in 2018.
About Moody’s
♦ Founded in 1909
♦ Founder: John Moody
♦ Headquarters :New York City, United States

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Author Jhumpa Lahiri wins 2017 PEN/Malamud  award
Author Jhumpa Lahiri wins PEN/Malamud Award 2017.PEN/Faulkner Foundation has announced that Professor of Creative Writing Jhumpa Lahiri is the recipient of the 2017 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story.
i. Jhumpa Lahiri received the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for Interpreter of Maladies, her debut story collection that explores issues of love and identity among immigrants and cultural transplants.
ii. Her most recent books include In Other Words (Knopf, 2016) and a translation of Domenico Starnone’s novel, Lacci, entitled Ties (Europa Editions, 2017).

Tata Motors awarded for contribution to Skill India
Tata Motors was awarded ‘HR Innovation of the Year’ for its significant contribution to skill development in the automotive sector at the Asia-Pacific Excellence Awards on May 30, 2017
Key Notes:
i. The programme was held in Hong Kong.
ii. The major aim is to make the Indian automotive industry globally competitive; the skill development program by Tata Motors.
iii. It will address the automotive skill challenges; the company focuses on skilling school drop-outs and youth especially women, while enhancing global employability.
iv. Tata Motors is working towards promoting gender diversity in auto manufacturing and service sectors.
v. Tata Motors are designed and implemented in line with the Global Skill Qualification framework and Occupational Standards.
Some more points:
♦ Founded-1945
♦ Headquarter-Mumbai ,India.
♦ Chairman-Natrajan Chandrasekaran.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

George Kurian appointed as Vice-Chairperson Of National Commission for Minorities
George Kurian has been appointed as vice-chairman of National Commission for Minorities on 30^th  May, 2017
Key Notes:
i. He is a renowned social and educational activist from Kerala.
ii. Other members of the Commission are Sulekha Kumbhare, Sunil Singhi and Vada Dasturji Khurshed Kaikobad Dastoor.
iii. The government had appointed noted social activist and former national general secretary of the BJP Minority Morcha, Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi as Commission’s chairman.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Pentagon successfully tests ICBM defense system for first time
On May 31, 2017, US military conducted a successful missile defence test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
i. Firstly an ICBM-type missile was fired from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands toward the waters at south of Alaska.
ii. Thereafter, a rocket was fired from the Ground-based Midcourse Defence (GMD) system from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California which deployed an ‘exo-atmospheric kill vehicle’ that smashed into the ICBM-type missile and thereby destroyed it completely.

Scientists at IIT Kharagpur Develop New Technology to Manufacture Biofuel
Scientists at IIT Kharagpur have developed with a new technology known as ‘soil-to-soil’ manufacturing technology.
Key Notes:
i. It is used for manufacturing cheaper, quicker and pollution-free. The technology is in the process of being patented.
ii. The new technology will help in manufacturing Biofuel. Biofuels are fuels which are in some way derived from biomass.
iii. The term covers solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases and also denotes Biodiesel, Bio alcohol and bio-gasoline.
iv. The new technology makes use of natural resources to extract gaseous and liquid biofuel and then converts the wastes into bio fertilizer.
v. The process requires chemical treatment that results in polluting the environment.
vi. The Project is funded by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Department of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
vii. The scientists used corn, sugarcane plants, the waste part of paddy straw, bamboo, banana plant, pineapple and cotton plants, kans grass (kasshphool), castor plant etc to produce biofuel.
viii. It is estimated that the biofuel business in India will touch Rs. 50,000 crore by 2022.

ENVIRONMENT

Super-Earth’ found 21 light years away may host alien life
‘Super-Earth’ found 21 light years away may host alien life
Scientists at Astrophysics Institute in the Canary Islands have found a planet which may be habitable and can host liquid water .
Key Notes:
i. Scientists have discovered a potentially habitable Earth-like planet.
ii. It is only 21 light years away, and is one of the least massive known “Super-Earths”.
iii. Scientists from Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) in Canary Islands found that the planet, with a mass between two and three times the Earth, resides at the edge of the habitable zone of its host star GJ625 (Gliese 625).
iv. Researchers used the radial velocity technique that involves measuring the changes in the position and velocity when the star and a planet rotate around their common centre of gravity.
v. This is the sixth super-Earth closest to our solar system in the habitability zone of its star.
vi. The red dwarf is among the 100 stars closest to the Sun.
vii. The planets take about 14 days to complete one orbit around its star, on a very close one.

SPORTS

Kohli and Dhoni amongst four Indian cricketers on ESPN World Fame 100
Indian cricketers Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni  Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, have featured in this year’s ESPN World Fame 100 list.
i. Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo topped this year’s ESPN World Fame 100 Rankings
ii. Virat Kohli ranked 13th, which marks a drop from his previous year rank at 8^th . M S Dhoni’s too slipped by one spot to 15^th from last year’s 14^th

OBITUARY

MP, Veteran Filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao Dies at 75
Dasari Narayana Rao is a well-known filmmaker and producer has died. He was 75 years old.
Key Notes:
i. Rao has celebrated his 75th birthday on May 4 this year.
ii. Rao was a Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh and served as the Union Minister of State for Coal between 2004-2006 and in his second term from 2006-2008.
ii. Rao is known for his work predominantly in Telugu cinema.
iii. He holds a record in the Limca Book of Records for directing the maximum number of films.
iv. His most famous films are Tandra Paparayudu (1986),
Meghasandesam (1983) and Kaante Koothurne Kanu (2000)

Paravathamma Rajkumar passes away after prolonged illness
Noted film producer and wife of Kannada thespian Rajkumar, Paravathamma Rajkumar passed away after a prolonged illness on May 31, 2017 in Bengaluru. She was 78.
i. Under the banners Vajreshwari Combines and Poornima Enterprises, Parvathamma produced about 80 movies, featuring her husband Rajkumar and their sons.
ii. Blockbuster movies produced by her include “Trimurthy”, “Haalu Jenu”, “Kaviratna Kalidasa” and “Jeevana Chaitra” starring Rajkumar.
iii. As a mark of respect to the departed, Kannada film industry remain shut on May 31, 2017.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World No-Tobacco Day – May 31, 2017
World No-Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed every year across the world on 31 May.
Key Notes:
i. This day highlights the health risks associated with consumption all forms of tobacco.
ii. The theme for World No Tobacco Day 2017 is “Tobacco – a threat to development”.
iii. The day commemorates about the tobacco industry poses to the sustainable development of all countries, including the health and economic well-being of their citizens.
iv. It supports for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.
v. In 1988, World Health Assembly of WHO had passed a resolution calling for the celebration of World No Tobacco Day, every year on May 31.
WHO honours Health Minister Nadda with Award
Union Health Minister J P Nadda is set to get the World Health Organization’s (WHO) award for outstanding global leadership in tobacco control.
♦ Mr Abdullah Nazim Ibrahim, Minister of Health for Bhutan, Mr Tandin Wangchuk, A Member of Parliament from Bangladesh, Mr Saber Hossain Chowdhury, The Chief Executive Officer of Thai Health Promotion Foundation, Dr Supreda Adulyanon are among the others selected for the award.

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