International News Affairs

• India has been ranked 137th in the Global Peace Index 2017
  • Last Year’s Rank :141st
  • Top 10 Countries in the List : 
    • Iceland
    • New Zealand
    • Portugal
    • Austria
    • Denmark
    • Czech Republic
    • Slovenia
    • Canada
    • Switzerland
    • Ireland
  • The UN Security Council has unanimously voted to expand sanctions against North Korea in response to its repeated missile tests this year.
    • The measures impose a travel ban and asset freeze on North Korean officials and state entities that deal with the country’s nuclear program.
  • Japan‘s Navy and Air Force began a 3-day military exercise with two US aircraft carriers in the Sea of Japan adding pressure on North Korea to block its ballistic missile program.
    • The exercise came just two days after the US tested its missile defence capability by intercepting a mock intercontinental ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean.
  • Danish lawmakers have repealed a 334-year-old blasphemy law that forbids public insults of a religion, such as the burning of holy books.
    • However, remarks and acts that threaten or demean certain groups of people because of their religious beliefs will still be punishable.
    • Important Note : Denmark was the only Scandinavian country with a blasphemy law.

New Appointments

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)has appointed Ganesh Kumar as Executive Director (ED) after the voluntary retirement of Chandan Sinha.
• Indian-origin Minister Leo Varadkar has been elected the Prime Minister of Ireland.
  • With this, he became the country’s youngest (38) and first openly gay Prime Minister.
• The United Nations General Assembly today picked Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak to be its next President.
  • Lajcak, who was a contender to succeed Ban Ki-moon as UN Secretary General last year, will succeed Fijian diplomat Peter Thomson.
• Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer has become the 1st Indian to be nominated as a member of the Umpires and Referees Committee (URC) by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).
  • He will serve for a term of two years which is further extendable.
• Shashi Shekar Vempati has been appointed as the CEO of Prasar Bharati.
  • He will hold the post for a period of five years.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

• Anil Ambani today announced that the merged entity of Reliance Communications and Aircel will be called Aircom.
  • Note  : RCom will hold a 50% stake in the new company.

Recent Committees in News

• Market Regulator Securities and ExchangeBoard of India (SEBI) has formed a Committee on Corporate Governance.
  • The move is aimed at improving the standards of corporate governance of listed companies.
  • The panel has been mandated to submit the report within a period of four months.
  • Head of this Committee: Uday Kotak (MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank).

MOUs & Agreements

• Samsung India has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) for setting up two new Samsung Technical Schools in Bengaluru and Jamshedpur as well as to renew the partnership for 10 existing schools being run across the country.

Science & Technology

• A Chinese malware named ‘Fireball‘ has hit 25 crore computers worldwide, infecting them with malicious code designed to change the default search engine.
  • The malware further tracks the infected computer’s web traffic on behalf of a Beijing-based digital marketing firm called Rafotech.
  • The malware also has the ability to remotely run any code on the victim’s machine.
• The ‘Stratolaunch‘ aircraft built by Microsoft Co-founder Paul Allen to launch rockets into space.
  • This is the world’s biggest aircraft with a wingspan of 385 feet
• NASA is all set to launch the world’s first ever mission devoted for studying neutron stars.
  • NASA will launch the Neutron Star Interior Composition ExploreR(NICER), aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.
• Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur has developed a wireless technology called ‘AmbuSens‘ for remote monitoring of condition of those patients who are ferried in ambulances.

Current Sports Affairs

• Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is going to launch Messi Experience Park, an Amusement park themed around him in China in 2019.

International News Affairs

• Today is World Milk Day
  • This day was initiated on 1st June 2001 by the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) of the United Nations to celebrate all aspects of milk as a global food.
  • Important Note:Don’t be confused this day with National Milk Day. National Milk Day is different. We observe National Milk Day on 26th November to celebrate the birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese Kurien.
• Today (1st June) isGlobal Day of Parents.
  • This is a United Nations (UN) observance to honor parents and their commitment to children worldwide.
• Iceland has been named the World’s Most Peaceful Country, topping the Global Peace Indexfor the tenth consecutive year.
  • New Zealand stood at 2nd position and 3rd place was occupied by
  • Syria has been named the least peaceful country, followed by Afghanistan and Iraq.
  • Important Note: India is ranked 137 out of 163 (last year’s rank 141).
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today attended the 18th India-Russia annual Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin at St Petersburg.
  • He  also attended the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
  • Modi and Putin held wide-ranging talks on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interests, including ways to boost energy and trade ties.

National News Affairs

• Responding to an RTI query on Subhash Chandra Bose, the Central government has announced that Netaji died in a plane crash in 1945.
  • The Ministry of Home Affairs further clarified that man named Gumnamibaba or Bhagwanji, who was rumoured to be Bose reportedly living incognito in Uttar Pradesh till 1985, was not the nationalist leader himself.

Science & Technology

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is launching an unmanned spacecraft named ‘Parker Solar Probe‘ to the Sun on 31st July 2018.
  • The mission to “touch” the Sun would reach within 60 lakh km of the solar surface, eight times closer than any man-made object before.
  • The mission would study why Corona, Sun’s outer atmosphere (17 lakh ºC) is hotter than the surface (5,500 ºC).

Awards & Honours

• India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the 3rd most followed leader on Twitter in the world with over 3 crore 58 thousand followers, according to Twiplomacy Study 2017.
  • While Pope Francis is the most followed world leader with over 3.37 crore followers across his nine language accounts, US President Donald Trump is ranked second with 3.01 crore followers.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

• The new₹1 note, which will be printed with a new design, is the only note to be printed by the Central government and not the RBI.
  • It will have ‘Bharat Sarkar’ on its masthead.
  • The notes will also have signatures of Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das and Rajiv Mehrishi, who was the Finance Secretary in 2015, when printing started.
• Telangana has launched a digital wallet namedT-Wallet for people to make public and private financial transactions.
  • The service has been launched as “anytime anywhere digital payment option for everyone”.
  • Note : This is first such initiative by any state government in the country.

Current Sports Affairs

• The ICC Champions Trophy 2017 began in London today with hosts England facing Bangladesh in the Opening match.
  • India to play their first match with Pakistan on Sunday.
  • The final of the Champions Trophy will be played on the 18th of June.
• Top 10 in ESPN’s 100 most famous active athletes in the world :
  • Christiano Ronaldo
  • Lebron James
  • Lionel Messi
  • Roger Federer
  • Phil Mickelson
  • Neymar
  • Usain Bolt
  • Kevin Durant
  • Rafael Nadal
  • Tiger Woods
  • Indians in the List :
    • Virat Kohli(13th)
    • Mahendra Singh Dhoni (15th)
    • Yuvraj Singh(90th)
    • Suresh Raina (95th)

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 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.
• 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.

National News Affairs

• PM Narendra Modi today inaugurated India’s longest bridge, the Dhola-Sadiya bridge, in Assam.
  • The 9.15-km-long bridge located over the Brahmaputra replaced Mumbai’s Bandra-Worli Sea Link as India’s longest bridge.
  • It will reduce Assam-Arunachal Pradesh travel time by four hours, and also boost defence along the border.
  • Note : Modi announced that the bridge will be named after Dr Bhupen Hazarika, a noted playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet, and filmmaker from Assam.
• The Ministry of Environment and Forests have come up with new regulations that bans the sale of cattle for slaughter.
  • The rules have been notified under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960.
  • Note : Slaughter of cows are banned in most parts of the country except parts of the north-east India and Kerala. The new rules will be implemented in the next three months.
• As the Aadhaar ID for cattle process begins in Gujarat to prevent cow slaughter, a team of technicians in the state has started implanting GPS-enabled microchips in the animal’s ears.
  • The microchips will have details such as the animal’s age, breed, milk yield, owner’s name, cow’s identification number, date of birth, health records, and migration status.
• The government has renamed the Matritva Sahyog Yojana, a scheme launched in 2010 by the Congress for pregnant and lactating mothers, as ‘Pradhan Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojana‘.
  • Note : While the Centre dropped ‘Indira Gandhi’ prefix from the scheme after coming to power in 2014, it added ‘Pradhan Mantri’ to it now, claiming that the earlier name did not ring a bell.
• I & B Minister M Venkaiah Naidu announces setting up of 24×7 satellite channel of Doordarshan for the state of Chhattisgarh.
  • Govt of India is going to distribute 10,000 DD Free Dish DTH Set Top Boxes in remote & tribal areas of Chhattisgarh.
  • The minister also announced setting up of3 new FM transmitters in Chhattisgarh, one each in Bastar, Surguja & Rajnandgaon.

Science & Technology

• American aerospace corporation Rocket Lab has become the first company to successfully launch an orbital-class rocket into space from a private launching facility.
  • The test flight from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula was also the first rocket launch for the country.
  • The firm launched 17-metre ‘Electron‘ rocket, which harbours 3D-printed engines and can carry 150-225 kg payload into a 500-km orbit.
• Iran has built a 3rd underground ballistic missile production factory and vowed to keep developing its missile program.
  • The development is likely to increase tensions between Iran and the US, which has accused Iran of sponsoring militant groups and posing a threat to countries in the Middle East.

General Knowledge

• The Tanggula Railway Station (Tibet) holds the Guinness World Record for being the highest railway station in the world, as it is 5,068 metres above sea level.

New Appointments

• The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has appointed Anurag Tripathy, a 1998 batch officer of Indian Railway personnel Service (IRPS) as the new Secretary of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
  • He will hold the post for a period of five years.
• Socialist Lenin Moreno was sworn in as Ecuador’s President 
  • Note : He won April’s presidential election, beating conservative Guillermo Lasso.
• The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has appointed Google India managing director and angel investor Rajan Anandan as its new Chairman.
  • He is going to relace Kunal Shah (FreeCharge co-founder and chairman).
  • Deep Kalra (Chairman and Group CEO of MakeMyTrip), is the new vice-chairman of the association.
• India’s Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu became one of the members of the BWF Athletes’ Commission.
  • Note : She has been elected for four years and will join Saina Nehwal as the member of the players’ representative body.
• United States senate has confirmed Amul Thapar as a Judge to the Cincinnati-based Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
  • With this appointment he has become only the second Indian-American judge of an appeals court.
  • Note ; In 2013, Srnivasan became the first Indian to get appointed to the DC circuit court of appeals by President Barak Obama.

Deaths

• Former DGP of Punjab KPS Gill(82), who is credited with wiping out militancy in the state, passed away today.
  • Dubbed “supercop” by the media for his crackdown on Khalistani terrorists, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour, in 1989 for his work in the civil service.

Banking, Business & Economic Affairs

• Digital currency Bitcoin, whose value surged this month, is now worth almost double an ounce of gold, with a single coin priced at about $2,500 (₹1.61 lakh).
  • In just five days, Bitcoin rose to over 40% and has gone up by 88% so far this month.
  • Note : Bitcoin surpassed the price of gold for the first time in March.

Books & Authors

• Two books based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popular radio show ‘Mann Ki Baat’ have been launched today by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan at Rashtrapati Bhawan’s Darbar Hall. They are,
  • ‘Mann Ki Baat: A Social Revolution on Radio’ :
    • This book was compiled by Rajesh Jain.
    • This is a compilation of the prime minister’s addresses to the nation on radio every month under the programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’.
    • It contains a comprehensive, qualitative and academic analysis of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ — the themes, the choice of topics, the salient features.
  • ‘Marching With A Billion Dreams’ :
    • This book is written by eminent journalist Uday Mahurkar.
    • This book analyses the monumental changes that Modi has brought on multiple fronts as the prime minister on India’s governance landscape by ushering in an unprecedented culture of transparency to create a level playing field so necessary in a developing country.
  • President Pranab Mukherjee received the first copies of these book.