International News Affairs
- Today (29th May 2017) is International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.
- The day was established to:
- Honour the memory of the UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives in the cause of peace;
- Pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication and courage.
- Theme of International Day of UN Peacekeepers 2017 : “Investing in Peace around the world”
- The day was established to:
- The Russian parliament‘s lower house has passed anAnti-Suicide bill to combat the Blue Whale suicide challenge, which has caused over 100 teen deaths in the country.
- The bill proposes a maximum punishment of six years in jail for driving children towards suicide.
- However, the bill mandates that criminal cases against suspects can be stopped if they cease their activities.
- What is Blue Whale suicide Challenge ?
- The Blue Whale suicide game is believed to be an online social media group which is encouraging people to kill themselves.
- A group administrator assigns daily tasks to members, which they have to complete over 50 days.
- The horrific tasks include self-harming, watching horror movies and waking up at unusual hours.
- On the 50th day, the controlling manipulators behind the game reportedly instruct the youngsters to commit suicide.
National News Affairs
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi today started off on his journey to 4 countries in a tourlasting six days.
- The 4 Countries he is visiting are :
- Germany
- Spain
- Russia
- France
- He will reach Germany today, where he’ll meet Chancellor Angela Merkel.
- He will head to Spain on Tuesday evening, after which he’ll be in Russia from Wednesday to Friday.
- Lastly, he’ll be in France till Saturday.
- Aime of this Tour : To strengthen bilateral ties.
- The 4 Countries he is visiting are :
- HRD minister Prakash Javadekar today launched an Anti-Ragging Mobile App introduced by the University Grants Commission (UGC) at New Delhi.
- This app will work on android system and students can log in and register their complaints instantaneously.
- Accordingly, all concerned will be informed and action will be initiated immediately.
Banking, Business & Economic Affairs
- Kazakhstan, the world’s biggest uranium producer, will start producing nuclear fuel for Chinese power plants in 2019 through a joint venture set up by the two countries.
- The first stage of the joint venture will produce about 200 tonnes of ready-to-use nuclear fuel assemblies a year, using technologies and equipment supplied by France.
Science & Technology
- The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will commence the operation of India’s own ‘GPS’or positioning system, Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS), in early 2018.
- This would make India part of an elite group of countries that have their own positioning system.
- The ISRO has spent ₹1,420 crore on building and setting up seven IRNSS satellites in space.
- A malware named ‘Judy‘ has attacked over 3.65 crore Android users through simple fashion and cooking game apps on Google Play Store, according to security firm Check Point.
- Once these apps are installed, the malware uses the infected phone to click on certain Google Ads to increase the attacker’s revenue.
- North Korea today test-fired a short-range ballistic missile that flew 450 kilometres before landing in Japanese waters.
- This was North Korea’s third missile launch in last three weeks, with previous two launches being medium to long range missiles.
- The launch comes a day after state news agency reported that leader Kim Jong Un supervised test of new anti-aircraft weapon system.
Awards & Honours
- Visual theatre pioneer Satyabrata Rout has been awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskarfor the year 2016.
- He has been awarded for developing a unique method of teaching and practicing direction and design achieved from his experience working with eminent theatre practitioners and scholars.
- The Swedish film ‘The Square‘, directed by Ruben Östlund won the Palme d’Or, the top prize at Cannes Film Festival.
- The film ‘120 Beats Per Minute!’ won the Grand Prix, the runner-up prize.
- Further, the Best Actor prize was awarded to Joaquin Phoenix for ‘You Were Never Really Here’ while Diane Kruger won Best Actress for ‘In the Fade’.
Current Sports Affairs
- World Table Tennis Championships begin in Dusseldorf, Germany today with the Qualification matches.
- This is the 54th edition of the competition, and hosted by Germany for the seventh time.
- Top-ranked Indian in the world, Achanta Sharath Kamal will lead the 8-member Indian squad.
The team also includes Soumyajit Ghosh, Harmeet Desai, reigning national champion Madhurika Patkar, Manika Batra and Mouma Das.