TNPSC Current Affairs May 8-14, 2016
(Weekly Current Affairs in English)
CURRENT AFFAIRS: WORLD
1. Delhi No Longer the World's Most Polluted City: WHO
- World Health Organization has said that India is home to four of the five cities in the world with the worst air pollution. The dirtiest air was recorded at Zabol in Iran, which suffers from months of dust storms in the summer.
- The next four are all Indian cities - Gwalior, Allahabad, Patna and Raipur. From the No. 1 position in 2014, India's capital New Delhi is the ninth worst city, measured by the amount of particulate matter under 2.5 micro grams found in every cubic meter of air.
- An Indian-American woman elementary teacher from Texas has been honored by US President Barack Obama at the White House for her excellent work in the field of education.
- Revathi Balakrishnan, a gifted teacher at Patsy Sommer Elementary School, was also named 2016 'Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year'. O
- riginally from Chennai, Balakrishnan was a systems analyst with Liberty Mutual, managing databases and programming for about 12 years before becoming a teacher.
- The Kenyan government has decided to close World's biggest refugee camp in Dadaab. An estimated 3,28,000 refugees mostly from Somalia are staying in Dadaab camp.
- The UN has urged Kenya to reconsider its decision to close Dadaab camp. US Secretary of State John Kerry said, he was concerned by the decision to close the camps.
- Brazil President Dilma Rousseff to face trial after the Senate votes to impeach and suspend her;Rousseff accused of illegally manipulating finances to hide a growing public deficit;Rousseff says victim of a great injustice.
- Member countries to cooperate on ICT initiatives to trace missing children, on the lines of Track child and Khoya paya.
- The three day historic meeting of South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC) ended in New Delhi today with a stepped up commitment to promote child rights and safety and security of children in the SAARC region.
- Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Pakistan launched the construction of an electricity power grid today to link the four nations to a jointly operated power supply and promote regional stability, security and prosperity.
- Officials say the so-called CASA-1000 project comprises the development, financing, construction, ownership and operation of a 750-kilometer high voltage direct current transmission system between Tajikistan and Pakistan via Afghanistan.
- Motiur Rahman Nizami had been convicted of genocide, rape and torture. Nizami had led Bangladesh's largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami.
- He is the fourth leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party to have been executed since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set up a war crimes tribunal to look into abuses during the independence war.
- Nizami was the fifth and highest-ranked opposition leader to be executed since December 2013 for war crimes.
- The Google has acquired business technology startup Synergyse founded by an Indian-origin entrepreneur Varun Malhotra.
- With this acquisition, Synergyse will be joining the Google Apps team and help it to accelerate its mission and build Google Apps. Synergyse was launched in 2013 with an aim to teach users how to use Google Applications.
- The United Nations has launched UN Zika Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) to finance critical unfunded priorities in the response to the Zika outbreak.
- The fund was launched by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York, United States.
- India is Ranked ninth in 2015 Crony-Capitalism Index with crony sector wealth accounting for 3.4 % of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
- The index was based on new study by The Economist which had used data from a list of the world’s billionaires and their worth published by Forbes.
- Sadiq Khan of the British Labour party has been elected the new Mayor of London. Sadiq Khan became London’s first Muslim mayor. Sadikh Khan is the son of bus driver, immigrants from Pakistan who settled in London in the 1960s.
- A 22-year-old Indian artist, Anjali Chandrashekar, a New York-based designer and "artivist", won the third prize in UN Poster for Peace contest presented by the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (ODA) to raise awareness of the need for Nuclear Disarmament.
- Titled 'Cutting Barriers through Peace', the poster features a peace dove slicing through a nuclear weapon.
13. PM Narendra Modi, Sri Lankan President Release Simhastha Declaration
- The Prime Minister along with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena have released ‘Simhastha Declaration’ at Ninora village in Ujjain on May 13, 2016.
- Both leaders addressed the concluding session of the three day International Vichar Mahakumbh held on side-lines of the month-long Simhastha mela.
- Railways has constituted a new directorate named as Non-Fare Revenue Directorate (NFR) to increase revenue by 10 % to 20 % from non-tariff sources like advertising and commercial exploitation of vacant rail land.
- The public transporter has also set up another directorate to focus on areas like speed enhancement as part of the Mission Raftaar announced in the budget. The Mobility Directorate will address various factors affecting train movement at enhanced speeds in a focused manne
- The National Florence Nightingale Awards were given away by the President Pranab Mukherjee to thirty-five nursing personnel at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan on the occasion of International Nurses Day. The Award carries a cash award of 50 thousand rupees, a certificate, a citation and a medal.
- The International Nurses Day is celebrated all over the world on 12th May every year to commemorate Florence Nightingale's birthday.
- President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday conferred the National Technology Awards on National Technology Day.
- At a function in Vigyan Bhavan, the President awarded Bangalore's Racil Chemicals, Coimbatore's Aitom Electric and Tejas Network again from Bangalore with awards for the year 2016.
17. Padma awards for Rajnikanth, Sania Mirza
- President Pranab Mukherjee presented Padma awards to 56 eminent personalities in a Civil Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan on 10.05.2016, Tuesday. While Padma Vibhushan has been conferred on 10 persons including a posthumous award for Dhirubhai Ambani.
- Padma Bhushan has been conferred on 29 persons including a posthumous award late Swami Dayanand Sarawasati and Padma Shri on 112 persons.
- Padma Awards one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
- The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, viz. art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
- In Haryana, Parkash Singh committee, headed by former DGP of Uttar Pradesh retired IPS Officer Parkash Singh today submitted its report on Jat Quota agitation to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal. Prakash Singh Committee submits report to Haryana government
- Polling will be held for a total of 57 seats representing 15 states. The Election Commission has fixed the 24th of May as the date of filing of nominations.
- Voting will be held on the 11th of June and the result will be declared the same day.
- The highest number of vacancies are being created in Uttar Pradesh numbering 11, Bihar will have 5 vacant seats, 6 seats each are becoming available for contest in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
- For the first time in its history, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to undertake the maiden launch of its very own version of a 'space shuttle', a fully made-in-India effort.
- Very soon and if all goes well possibly before the monsoon sets in, India's space port at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh will witness the launch of the indigenously made Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD).
- After launch, it will be glided back onto a virtual runway in the Bay of Bengal. This flight will test the capability of the vehicle to survive a re-entry at speeds higher than that of sound, so it is called a Hyper Sonic Experiment (HEX).
- A sleek winged body almost the weight and size of a Sports Utility vehicle (SUV) is being given final touches at Sriharikota.
- Scientists at ISRO believe that they could reduce the cost of launching the vehicle into space by as much as 10 times if the reusable technology succeeds.
- K Sivan, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, says, these are just the first baby steps towards a big leap.
- The 'Income Declaration Scheme' or four month window for declaration of domestic black money will commence from 1st of next month.It will remain in force till 30th of September.
- The scheme is part of Finance Act, 2016 which seeks to provide an opportunity to all persons who have not declared their income correctly in previous years to come forward and declare their undisclosed incomes.
- Under this scheme, the declared income would be taxed at the rate of 30 per cent plus 'Krishi Kalyan' cess of 25 per cent on taxes payable and a penalty at the rate of 25 per cent of the taxes payable.
- Growth in the country's industrial production slowed to 0.1 % in March this year, due to poor performance of the manufacturing and mining sectors, and a sharp fall in capital goods output.
- The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was apprised of a General Framework Agreement (GFA) on Renewable Energy Cooperation between India and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
- The GFA was signed, in New Delhi on 11th February this year during the state visit of Crown Prince of UAE.
- The President of India on 11th May, 2016 revoked the Proclamation issued under the Article 356 of the Constitution on 27th March, 2016 in relation to the State of Uttarakhand.
- The Uttar Pradesh government has given its nod to develop nearly 200-km long bicycle highway from Agra to the lion safari in Etawah to encourage eco-tourism in the vicinity of the Taj Mahal.
- Starting from eastern gate of the Taj Mahal, it will cover areas such as Raja Bhoj ki Haveli, Bateshwarnath Temple, Mela Kothi Jarar, Naugava ka Quila and other rural areas to reach lion safari in Etawah.
- Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue banknotes of 1000 rupees denominations with inset letter 'R' in both the number panels. In a release, RBI said that the banknotes will also have on the obverse, all the other security features, including ascending size of numerals, bleed lines and enlarged identification mark.
- It added that the banknotes bearing signature of RBI Governor Raghuram G Rajan, will also have the year of printing '2016' printed on the reverse. It also added that All the banknotes in the denomination of 1000 rupees issued by RBI in the past, would continue to be legal tender.
- Twenty-two-year-old Tina Dabi from Delhi has topped the prestigious Civil Services Exams 2015.
- In the second position is Athar Aamir Ul Shafi Khan from Jammu and Kashmir. Jasmeet Singh Sandhu, who is also from Delhi, has secured the third position. This time, 1,078 candidates were recommended for the appointment.
- Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba has been appointed as next Chief of the Naval Staff. He will be 23rd chief of Indian Navy and 21st as an Indian.
- He will assume the charge on 31 May 2016 and shall have full three-year-term in office till 31 May 2019. He will succeed incumbent Navy Chief Admiral Robin K. Dhowan, who will superannuate from the post on 31 May 2016.
- The Central Government launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) for providing free of cost LPG (Cooking Gas) connections to women from BPL Households. It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Maldepur Morh, Ballia in Uttar Pradesh.
- The Supreme Court has appointed a 3 member high-powered committee headed by former Chief Justice of India (CJI) RM Lodha to oversee the functions of the Medical Council of India (MCI).
- The Union Government has launched National LED programme. Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA).
- It was launched by Union Minister for State (IC) for Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
- Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are among five states that recorded the highest number of road mishaps for the second consecutive year but Uttar Pradesh has reported the highest number of fatalities in 2015, provisional data compiled by the Transport Research Wing (TRW) of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways indicates.
- TRW’s provisional data for 2015 showed an increase of 4.6 per cent in nationwide road mishap fatalities, from 1,39,671 in 2014 to 1,46,133 deaths in 2015.
- In 2015, Tamil Nadu reported the highest number of road accidents followed by Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. These states contributed 29.66 per cent of total accidents and also the highest number of injuries at 2,75,873.
- Karnataka Government has decided to go ahead with the establishment of Asia’s first Rice Technology Park at Gangavati in Koppal district.
- Apart from it state government has decided to set up a Maize Technology Park at Ranebennur in Haveri district.
- The Lok Sabha passed the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015 for the establishment of funds under the public accounts of Centre and each State towards compensatory afforestation.
- It also provides for additional afforestation and penal compensatory afforestation to regulate collected funds.
- The Central Government has announced that currently 34 Indian satellites are operational in the space.
- It was announced by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.
- The single emergency number ‘112’ will be operational throughout India from January 1, 2017 to help people reach immediate services of police, ambulance and fire department. In this regard, Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad approved the provision of a single number for various emergency services.
- The Parliament has passed Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016. The Bill amends the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. The amendment Bill was first passed in the Lok Sabha in March 2016 and later in the Rajya Sabha in May 2016.
- The Gujarat Government has accorded Minority Status to the Jain community in the state. In this regard state government has issued a Government Resolution (GR) giving minority status to the Jain community.
- President Pranab Mukherjee has conferred 63rd National Film Awards for the year 2015 in various categories at the function held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
- The Lok Sabha has unanimously passed Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2015 by a voice vote. The code seeks to ensure time-bound settlement of insolvency, faster turnaround of businesses and create a unified database of serial defaulters.
- The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) on co-operation concerning currency swap agreement.
- The Decision in this regard was taken at the Union Cabinet Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. The Agreement was signed in February, 2016 during the official state visit of Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to India
- The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 came into force on 1 May 2016. In this regard, Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) had notified 69 of the total 92 sections of the Act to bring it into force from 1 May 2016.
43. Mark Selby won 2016 World Snooker Championship
- Ace snooker player Mark Selby from England has won the 2016 World Championship title of Snooker. In the final match played in Sheffield, Selby defeated China’s Ding Junhui by 18-14 score.
- Seven Indian Badminton players have officially earned the qualification for the forthcoming Rio Olympics scheduled to be held in August 2016 in Brazil.
- They are Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, K. Srikanth, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy.
- Indian shooters have won three gold medals and one bronze on the opening day of the ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) Junior World Cup held in Suhl, Germany.
- Indian shooters won two gold medals in the team events of men’s 25m standard pistol and women’s 50m rifle prone competitions respectively.
- The men’s team comprised of Rituraj Singh, Shivam Shukla and Arjun Das. The women team comprised of Gaayathri Nithyanadam, Sonika and Ayushi Podder.
- Two Indian women wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik have qualified for 2016 Rio Olympics scheduled to be held in August 2016.
- Pakistan has won the third edition of the Asian Kabaddi Championship 2016 (Circle Style) by defeating India. In the final match held at Pakistan Ordinance Factory Sports Complex in Wah Cantonment, Pakistan defeated India by 50-31 points.
- This is Pakistan’s second successive win in the Asian Kabaddi title as they had won it in 2012.
- Leicester City FC was win the championship of the of English Premier League title for 2015-16 season without playing as nearest challenger Tottenham Hotspur FC.
- This is the first time in the Leicester City FC’s 132-year history it became the champion of the England.
- Indian women’s team has won silver medal in the recurve team final of Archery World Cup held at the Yuanshen Stadium in Shanghai, China. Women’s team comprised of Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi Laishram and Laxmirani Majhi.
- Indian boxing star Vijender Singh's rampaging winning streak remained intact as he carved out a sixth successive knockout victory by battering Poland's Andrzej Soldra.
- Fighting the first eight-round contest of his fledgling pro career, Vijender completed yet another dominating win barely a minute into the third round.
- Former India captain Anil Kumble has been re-appointed ICC Cricket Committee chairman for a second term of three years while his one-time team-mate Rahul Dravid was named member of the top panel.
- Former BCCI President Shashank Manohar has been elected unopposed as the first independent Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
- Hockey India has recommended Women's Hockey Team captain Ritu Rani, VR Raghunath and Dharamvir Singh for the Arjuna Award. Hockey India said in a statement that the players have been recommended as they have done India proud by earning several accolades internationally.
- Hockey India has also recommended Sylvanus Dung Dung for the Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award. Veteran Coach C. R Kumar has been recommended for the Dronacharya Award.
- Wrestlers Ravinder Khatri and Babita Kumari have secured Rio Olympic berths. Khatri was awarded the berth in the Greco-Roman 85 kg category after Kenzheev Zhanarbek of Kyrgystan failed the dope test at the Asian Olympic qualifier.
- Babita also booked a ticket to Rio after Sumiya Erdenechimeg failed the test in 53kg freestyle division.The qualification of the two grapplers took India's quota to Rio from Wrestling to eight.Rio Games begin on the 5th of August.