International News Affairs
- Today (2nd Sunday of May) is Mother’s Day.
- Mother’s Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society.
- Theme of Mother’s Day 2017 : “Every Mother knows”
- UJALA (UK Joins Affordable LEDs for All), the world’s largest efficient lighting programme, was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Piyush Goyal in London today.
- This programme aims to increase LED penetration in UK.
- Voting has begun today in Nepal’s first local-level polls in two decades, a landmark moment in the country’s transition to democracy.
- At least 49 lakh people are eligible to vote in the election in which nearly 50,000 candidates are contesting for the position of Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Ward Chairman and Ward Member in 283 municipalities.
- Two warships of the Indian Navy today reached Malaysia on a 6-day visit to step up maritime cooperation, including effectively containing piracy in the Indian Ocean region.
National News Affairs
- As per recently released Public Affairs Index (PAI) 2017,Kerala has been declared as the State with the best governance in the country for a second straight year.
- The index judged the states on important themes such as infrastructure, social protection, law and order, and environment, among others.
- Top 5 in the List :
- Kerala
- Tamil Nadu
- Gujarat
- Himachal Pradesh
- Karnataka
- PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate India’s longest river bridge, the 15-km-longDhola-Sadiya bridge near the China border, on 26th May 2017.
- Situated over the Brahmaputra river at an aerial distance of around 100 km from the Chinese border, the bridge can withstand the weight of a 60-tonne battle tank.
- Note: The Bridge’s construction began in 2011 at a cost of Rs. 950 crore.
- The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to form ‘Maa’ committeesto keep an eye on mid-day meals served to students in state-run primary schools.
- Each ‘Maa’ committee will have six mothers, from all sections of society, whose students are studying in that school.
New Appointments
- Emmanuel Macron today sworn-in as the President of France.
- With this, 39 year old Macron has become youngest President of France.
- He takes over from François Hollande, whose five-year term was plagued by high unemployment figures.
Banking, Business & Economic Affairs
- The Income Tax Department has launched a facility allowing people to correct errors in their PAN and Aadhaar details.
- The links for corrections are available on gov.in, the department’s e-filing website.
MOUs & Agreements
- The US and China have signed a 10-point trade dealthat opens the Chinese market to US credit rating agencies and lifts China’s ban on US beef imports and shipments of liquefied natural gas.
Current Sports Affairs
- Wrestler Bajrang Punia won the Gold medal in the men’s 65 kg final at the Asian Wrestling Championships, defeating South Korea’s Lee Seung-chul in Delhi today.
- Note : This is India’s first gold at the tournament, after Olympians Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat won silver medals earlier.
- Ramudri Someswara Rao has won a Gold medal in the men’s 200-metre T44 event at the 2017 World Para Athletics Grand Prix in China today.
- Indian para-athlete Hokato Sema won a bronze medal in the shot put event.
- Indian dairy cooperative Amul will sponsor the New Zealand cricket team for the upcoming Champions Trophy in England.
- Note: Amul had earlier sponsored Netherlands in the 2011 Cricket World Cup.