International News Affairs
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi today left for Colombo, Sri Lanka to attendInternational Vesak Day (Buddha Jayanti) celebrations from 12th to 14th May 2017.
- The Vatican is celebrating the big-bang theory.
- The Vatican Observatory has invited leading scientists and cosmologists to talk black holes, gravitational waves and space-time singularities as it honors the late Jesuit cosmologist considered one of the fathers of the idea that the universe began with a gigantic explosion.
- The May 9-12 conference aims to help correct the notion that the Roman Catholic Church was hostile to science.
- The 2017 Moscow Victory Day Parade was recently took place in Red Square in Moscow.
- Russia observed this parade to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany (Soviet Union’s triumph over Hitler) in 1945.
- In a show of strength, over 10,000 Russian troops marched with ballistic missiles, armoured tanks, and new aircraft systems to mark the day.
National News Affairs
- Today (11th May) is observed as the National Technology Day to commemorate India’s technological achievements, including the initiation of ‘Operation Shakti’ (Pokhran-II) at the Indian Army’s Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan in 1998.
- Following Operation Shakti, erstwhile Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee then declared India a full-fledged nuclear state, making it the sixth country to join the “nuclear club”.
- National Technology Day 2017 Theme: ‘Technology for inclusive and sustainable growth’.
- India’s leading overseas education consultant Edwise is organising the World Education Fairacross 12 cities from May 13 to 28.
- A 5-judge benchheaded by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar has begun hearing petitions challenging the practice of Triple Talaq.
- Important Note :
- These five judges are from 5 different communities, namely,
- J S Khehar (Sikh)
- Kurian Joseph (Christian)
- R F Nariman (Parsi)
- U U Lalit (Hindu)
- Abdul Nazeer (Muslim)
- Kochi Metro is going to employ 23 members from the Transgender community.
- Note : This is the 1st time a government owned company has formally appointed members of the transgender community.
- These five judges are from 5 different communities, namely,
- Important Note :
Banking, Business & Economic Affairs
- Bengaluru has topped the list of most affordable tech cities in the world followed by Cape Town and Santiago, according to the Savills Tech Cities Index.
- Paytm has signed a non-exclusive term sheet to acquire Snapdeal-owned payments platform FreeCharge.
- Note : The term sheet being non-exclusive means that Snapdeal will be able to propose FreeCharge to other potential buyers as well.
- Indian Railways is going to acquire End of Train Telemetry (EoTT) systems, to do away with the need of guards stationed in the last coach of trains.
- The systems will be used to establish communication between the driver and the last wagon, ensuring that the train is running with all wagons.
People in News
- Canadian singer and songwriter Justin Bieber on Wednesday performed at his first ever concert in India at Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium, where he waved the Indian flag towards the end of the concert.
- The 23-year-old singer performed his songs including ‘Baby’ and ‘Cold Water’.
New Appointments
- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of 1982 West Bengal cadre IAS officer Sanjay Mitra as the next Defence Secretary.
- Prior to this appointment, Mitra was the secretary in the ministry of road transport and highways.
- French cosmetics company L’Oréal Parishas named Val Garland as its Global Makeup Director.
Current Sports Affairs
Indian wrestler Harpreet Singh (80kg) has won Bronze medal in Greco- Roman category at Asian Wrestling Championship.