Sunteți pe pagina 1din 23

2017

laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation)

Scientists from Germany have developed the worlds sharpest laser with record-breaking
precision. This precision can be useful for various applications such as optical atomic clocks,
radioastronomy, precision spectroscopy, testing the theory of relativity and carry out new
precision measurements on ultracold atoms.

The Assam government is going to raise a new Special Rhino Protection Force (SRPF) for better
protection of the one-horned rhinos in Assam.

Germany wins 2017 Confederation Cup Football title

Indian and Chinese troops are facing off once again in Sikkim at Doko-La (or Donglong, as the
Chinese call it), which lies at the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan. There have been
growing tensions between India and China.
KK Venugopal appointed as Attorney General of India

President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed senior advocate and constitutional expert K K
Venugopal (86) as the new Attorney General of India. He will be 15th Attorney General of India.
He succeeds Mukul Rohatgi as the countrys top law officer

Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio Infocomm has launched the Asia-Africa-Europe (AAE-1)
submarine cable system. It is claimed to be worlds longest 100Gbps technology-based

submarine system.

NASA launches Rocket to produce Colourful Artificial Clouds

The NASA has successfully launched Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket that created
colourful artificial clouds visible in the skies of the US. The rocket was launched from its
Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The artificial clouds are formed through the interaction of barium, strontium and cupric-oxide.
The vapour tracers will help in understanding the movement of the particles in the ionosphere. It
will help to learn more about the movement of the air currents at that altitude. The artificial
clouds or vapour tracers will help in understanding the movement of the particles in the
ionosphere. It will help to learn more about the movement of the air currents at that altitude.

Germany has legalised same-sex marriage in line with a host of other European countries.

Many European countries have a same-sex marriage law. In the countries like Norway, Sweden,
Denmark (excluding the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain,
Portugal, Luxembourg, France, the UK (except Northern Ireland and Jersey), and the Republic of
Ireland civil marriages are legally recognised. But in Austria and Italy, only civil partnerships are
permitted.

SIERRA ODC building in Coimbatore receives Worlds Second Highest Green Rating

The building is a carbon-neutral building. The building was the first to implement a technology
called Amorphous Silicon Thin Building Vortec for the first time in South India. By using this
technology, photovoltaic modules produce power at the low cost per watt. Green Buildings
Green Buildings are designed and operated to reduce the overall impact of the built environment
on human health and the natural environment. The green buildings efficiently use energy, water,
and other resources, protects occupant health, improves employee productivity, and reduces
waste, pollution and environmental degradation.

UNESCO names Sharjah as World Book Capital

UNESCO has named Sharjah as the World Book Capital for 2019. Sharjah was chosen for its
efforts to make books accessible to its entire population. Salient Highlights Sharjah was selected
to underline the efforts taken by it to make books accessible for reading to as many people as
possible, especially the marginalised populations. It has followed an innovative and inclusive
community-focused activity programme to engage people, in particular, the very large migrant
population. Sharjah is the 19th city to be named as World Book Capital by the UNESCO. The
earlier cities which were named as World Book Capital are: Madrid (2001), Alexandria (2002),
New Delhi (2003), Antwerp (2004), Montreal (2005), Turin (2006), Bogota (2007), Amsterdam
(2008), Beirut (2009), Ljubljana (2010), Buenos Aires (2011), Yerevan (2012), Bangkok (2013),
Port Harcourt (2014), Incheon (2015), Wroclaw (2016), Conakry (2017) and Athens (2018).

A bold beginning has been made with the GST rollout on june 30 midnight mega
show in Parliaments central hall, but its current form and shape remains far from
making it a win-win for all
GST-Background Goods and Services Tax is a comprehensive indirect tax which is to be levied
on the manufacture, sale and consumption of goods and services in India. This is so far the
biggest tax reform in the country. GST eliminates the cascading effect of taxes because it is
taxed at every point of business and the input credit is available in the value chain. France was
the first country to introduce GST system in 1954. More than 140 countries have implemented
the GST. The Genesis of GST occurred during the previous NDA Government under Atal Bihari
Vajpayee Government when it set up the Asim Dasgupta committee to design a model for GST.
The UPA Government took the matter further and announced in 2006 that this tax would be
introduced from April 1, 2010. However, so far it was not introduced. All the GST bills
including Constitution (101st Amendment) Act have been passed now and GST is set to come
into force from July 1, 2017. GST would replace almost all vital indirect taxes and cesses on
Goods & services in the country. Among the taxes levied by centre, GST will subsume the
following: Central Excise Duty & Service Tax, Duties of Excise (Medicinal and Toilet
Preparations), Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance), Additional Duties of
Excise (Textiles and Textile Products), Additional Duties of Customs (commonly known as
CVD), Special Additional Duty of Customs (SAD), and finally the Central Surcharges and
Cesses. Among the state taxes that would be replaced by GST include State VAT, Central Sales
Tax c. Luxury Tax, Entry Tax (all forms), Entertainment and Amusement Tax (except when
levied by the local bodies), Taxes on advertisements, Purchase Tax, Taxes on lotteries, betting
and gambling, and finally the state Surcharges and Cesses.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the centenary celebrations of Sabarmati Ashram
in Ahmedabad. The Prime Minister has also released the coin and postal stamp in the honour of
Shrimad Rajchandraji on his 150th birth anniversary at Abhay Ghat. Shrimad Rajchandraji was
the guru to Mahatma Gandhi Sabarmati Ashram Sabarmati Ashram otherwise called as Gandhi
Ashram, Harijan Ashram, or Satyagraha Ashram is located on the banks of the River Sabarmati.

NASA has reached a major milestone in developing a quieter supersonic passenger jet that is
capable of safely travelling over land.

Petya Ransomware is part of a new wave of cyber-attacks and has infected computer servers
across the world.

China has launched its most powerful naval destroyer, the Type 055, at the
Shanghai port. The naval destroyer is one among the largest warships in the world.

The Election Commission of India has joined hands with Facebook to launch nationwide voter
registration reminder aimed at reminding eligible Indian voters to register themselves on the
electoral rolls.

Odisha is set to become the first state in the country to open a blood bank for cattle.

After decades of wait, the Indian Army has finally received its first batch of bullet-proof helmets.
The helmets were manufactured by Kanpur-based MKU Industries

The worlds first ATM (automated teller machine) celebrates its 50th anniversary. In the past
five decades, ATM machines have heralded a transformation in the way people obtained and
used cash. Salient Facts The ATM machines were the brainchild of Scottish inventor Shepherd-
Barron. The first ATM was opened on June 27, 1967, by Barclays Bank in Enfield, north
London. English actor Reg Varney became the first person to withdraw cash from the first ATM
machine. At present, there are over 3 million cash machines across the globe.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has come out with draft
regulations for organic food products to ensure the authenticity of organic foods. FSSAIs
guidelines have been prepared in view of rising demand for organic food products.
The United States is set to declare China as one among the worlds worst offenders on human
trafficking

The declaration would place China in the same category as North Korea, Zimbabwe and Syria.

China will be placed in Tier 3, which will be the ranking systems lowest category.

ISROs satellite-based chips are set to alert people at unmanned rail crossings Salient Facts
Satellite-based chip systems developed by ISRO will be used to alert road users at unmanned
level crossings about approaching trains.

The HRD ministry has constituted a new nine-member panel headed by space scientist K
Kasturirangan to frame a new National Education Policy (NEP). The other members of the panel
include chosen experts and educationists from wide-ranging backgrounds. The panel includes
former IAS officer K.J. Alphonse Kanamthanam, who was instrumental in making Keralas
Kottayam and Ernakulam districts achieve 100% literacy.

Indian shooters Yashaswini Singh Deswal and Anish Bhanwala has bagged gold in the
Womens 10m Air Pistol and Mens 25m Standard Pistol competition respectively in the Junior
World Rifle/Pistol Championship held in Germany.

The world No.11 Kidambi Srikanth has sealed his second successive Super Series win by
defeating reigning Olympic champion Chen Long in the Australian Open summit

Palbinder Kaur Shergill has become the first turbaned Sikh woman to be appointed as
Canadas Supreme Court judge. The announcement was made by the minister of justice and
attorney general of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould. The appointment of Shergill as Supreme
Court Judge of Canada is considered as a milestone for the Sikh community in Canada.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has received the highest prize in United
Nations Public Service Award for the state governments Kanyashree Prakalpa (Girl Child)
scheme

Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) is the worlds biggest telescope which would facilitate
astronomers to observe the intricacies of the universe from earth. Salient Facts Thirty Metre
Telescope (TMT) is a multi- million dollar project being developed by an international
consortium of Five countries including India. The other four countries are Canada, China, Japan
and the U.S.
Department of Science and Technology has launched VAJRA (Visiting Advanced Joint
Research) Faculty scheme that enables NRIs and overseas scientific community to participate
and contribute to research and development in India.

NASA has launched worlds lightest satellite weighing only 64 grams designed by 18-year-old

boy Rifath Sharook from Tamil Nadu. The tiny satellite has been named as
KalamSat after the former President APJ Abdul Kalam. The tiny satellite was launched into
space on a sounding rocket from NASAs facility in Wallops Island. Salient Facts KalamSat is a
3-D printed satellite. This is the first time that 3-D printing technology is used to make satellites.

Union Minister for Urban Development and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, M. Venkaiah
Naidu has announced a new batch of 30 smart cities under Smart City Mission, which was
launched on June 25, 2015. Salient Highlights The newly selected cities include
Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G), rural Uttarakhand and rural Haryana have
been declared as the 4th and 5th Open Defecation Free (ODF) States of India. Already, Sikkim,
Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, have been declared ODF.

According to the World population Prospectus: The Revision released by the United Nations,
India with 1.3 billion inhabitants would surpass Chinas population of 1.4 billion by 2024, to
become the Worlds populous country. Salient Highlights Despite the drop in universal fertility
rates, the UN report expects the worlds total population to hit 9.8 billion by 2050. As per the
report, the worlds population is at present 7.6 billion up from 7.4 billion last year.

Saudi Arabias king has appointed his son Mohammed bin Salman as crown prince and heir to
the throne replacing his nephew, Mohammed bin Nayef. This also means that Prince Mohammed
bin Salman will become the kingdoms deputy prime minister while continuing as defence
minister.

Concerned over the complaints received from the public over the premium trains of Indian
Railways like Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express, Railways have decided to launch Operation
Swarn (gold). The operation is aimed at improving the services in these premium trains. The
Railways have decided to launch this operation after it received complaints from passengers
regarding the sanitation, food quality and delay in train arrivals etc.
NASA is testing the effectiveness of a flexible solar array, the Roll-Out Solar Array, or ROSA,
on space station for the very first time. ROSA is expected to one day power satellites and
spacecraft. NASA had earlier tested the ROSA technology in vacuum chambers on the Earth but
this is the first time it is testing the technology in space.

June 21st is annually celebrated as International Yoga Day since the year 2015. This year, the
3rd International Day of Yoga is being observed. The purpose of the yoga day is to promote yoga
and make it as a part of peoples daily routine. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee has
inaugurated a mass yoga demonstration to commemorate the 3rd International Day of Yoga at
Rashtrapati Bhavan. According to UN, this year Yoga Days theme is Yoga for Health

China has unveiled worlds first train that runs on a virtual track making use of sensor
technology instead of metal rails. Salient Highlights The new trains are non-polluting as they are
battery powered.

Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, Pune has become the first recipient of the Prime
Ministers Award for outstanding contribution to promotion and development of Yoga. Salient
Facts PMs Yoga Award was instituted at the 2nd International Day of Yoga celebrations at
Chandigarh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched earth observation satellite Cartosat-2
series weighing 712 kg and 30 nano-satellites using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
Salient Highlights Out of the 30 nano-satellites, 29 will be of foreign origin and one will be of
Indias.

President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed election commissioner Achal


Kumar Joti as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). He will be the 21st CEC and shall
succeed Nasim Zaidi.

The foundation stone of the countrys biggest Global Skill Park was laid in Bhopal

The objective of the Global Skill Park is to prepare skilled youths who could get jobs in private
companies as per their requirements. Besides, the youths will be able to get employment
opportunities in foreign countries. Thus, the skill park will function on the spirit of With
Industry -For Industry.
President Pranab Mukherjee has approved the promulgation of The Prevention of cruelty to
Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 by the Governor of Karnataka in pursuance
of Article 213 of Constitution. The promulgated ordinance legalises Kambala, bullock cart races
and bull runs as traditional sports involving animals and exempt them from The Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

James Webb Space Telescope


JWST, being the most powerful telescope designed and built on Earth is scheduled to be
launched in October 2018 on an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana.

James Webb Space Telescope JWST is a joint project of the NASA, the European Space Agency
and the Canadian Space Agency. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore
will conduct Webb science operations. The JWST will be the successor of 26-year-old Hubble
Space Telescope. JWST is 100 times powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope and will be the
largest telescope ever sent into space.

The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every


year on June 17 to promote public awareness to combat desertification. This years theme for
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is Our Land. Our Home. Our Future.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has inaugurated Know India Programme (KIP) for NRI
and PIO youth with a view to provide them with an exposure to the country of their origin so that
they can understand India better and more closely

Know India Programme (KIP) Know India Programme is an initiative of the Ministry of
External Affairs for the Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) between the age group of 18 to 30 years.

China is planning to send mini-ecosystems comprising of potato seeds and silkworm eggs to the
Moon by next year. The move is aimed at studying how the organisms develop in Moon. Salient
Highlights The 3-kilogramme mini-ecosystem will be developed by research teams under the
leadership of Chongqing University in China.
Indias Kidambi Srikanth has lifted the Indonesia Open Super Series
badminton title at Jakarta by defeating Japan

ISROs Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) completes 1000 earth days in orbit.

Mumbais Taj Mahal Palace hotel has acquired an image trademark under the Trademark Act
of 1999, making it is the first building in the country to acquire intellectual property rights
protection for its architectural design.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated Kochi Metro, which will be Keralas first metro
line. The Construction of the Kochi Metro which was entrusted to the DMRC has been
completed in a record four-year period. Prime Minister has inaugurated the first phase of the
metro with 13.2 km out of the total 25 km stretch. The Kochi Metro will be the countrys eighth
inter-city metro rail project. Salient Highlights Kochi Metro is Indias first integrated multi-mode
transport system. The system will also provide boat rides with water transport as a feeder service
to the rail corridor. Kochi Metro is the first public transport system that has reserved jobs for the
transgenders. The Metro has so far employed 23 transgenders in various departments. Further, a
majority of the staff in Kochi Metro will be women. Nearly 1,000 women have been selected to
work in Kochi Metro. The trains will also be driven mainly by women drivers. The first phase of
the metro with 11 stations covering 13km is the longest first phase of a metro to be inaugurated.
The Kochi Metro is the first in the country to use Communication Based Train Control
technology for maximising train frequencies and minimising errors. Each station of the Kochi
Metro will showcase a theme, such as maritime history, western ghats etc. With the help of solar
panels, the Kochi Metro plans to meet 35% of its power requirements. With this, it has become
the first metro in the country to use solar power to meet a quarter of its electricity requirement.
The project cost of Kochi Metro is Rs 5,180 crore. The Kochi Metro is the countys first fully
integrated metro. By purchasing a single ticket, commuters will be able to travel in feeder
services along road and water.

Switzerland has ratified automatic exchange of financial account information with India and 40
other countries. This will facilitate Switzerland to share information about suspected black
money with India and other 40 nations

Indias Skipper Virat Kohli has created a record by becoming the quickest batsman to score
8000 runs in one-day international cricket beating South Africas AB de Villiers record by
seven fewer innings. Virat Kohli has managed to cross the 8000 run mark in his 175th innings
during Indias match against Bangladesh in ICC Champions Trophy semi-final

Top 5 fastest 8000 run scorers in ODIs: Virat Kohli (175 innings), AB de Villiers (182 innings),
Sourav Ganguly (200 innings), Sachin Tendulkar (210 innings), Brian Lara (211 innings)

China has launched its first X-ray space telescope to study black holes, pulsars and gamma-ray
bursts.

Israeli author David Grossman has won the Man Booker International Prize for his novel A
Horse Walks Into a Bar. David Grossman has become the first Israeli author to win the Man
Booker International Prize.

Law expert Neeru Chadha has been elected to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas
(ITLOS). With this election, she has become the first Indian women to win a crucial election to a
top UN judicial body that deals with disputes related to the law of the sea. Neeru has become the
first Indian woman to be appointed as a judge at the ITLOS.

The Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan
Petroleum has have signed the joint venture agreement to jointly set up the worlds largest
refinery and petrochemical complex in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra

Although India is worlds third largest energy consumer after US and China, the per capita
energy consumption in the country is one-fourth of the world average

Telecom giant Verizon has acquired Yahoos core business for $4.48bn (3.51m), thus ending
Yahoos two-decade long run as an independent company. Verizon is the No.1 wireless operator
in the US. Salient Highlights Verizon will combine Yahoo with AOL which was bought by it
two years ago to establish a venture called Oath. The Oath is a division in Verizons Media and
Telematics organisation.
The remainder of Yahoo which is not acquired by Verizon will change its name to Altaba Inc.

It will begin trading under the ticker symbol AABA.

Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu has launched Mission Retro-Fitment to enhance the
passenger experience by upgrading the existing fleet of coaches

Under Mission Retro-Fitment, 40,000 coaches will be refurbished and retrofitted in the next five
years.
Indian Skipper Virat Kohli has reclaimed the top spot in the recently released ICC ODI batting
rankings. He overtook South Africas AB de Villiers and Australias David Warner to reach the
number one position. In January, Kohli managed to reach the top spot but was able to stay at the
top only for just four days

Rankings: First Place: Virat Kohli (India)


Second Place: David Warner (Australia)
Third Place: AB de Villiers (South Africa)
Fouth Place: Joe Root (England)
Fifth Place: Kane Williamson (New Zealand)
Bowlers Josh Hazlewood of Australia is at the top spot in the bowlers rankings. Bhuvaneshwar
Kumar has improved his rankings by 13 places to rank 23rd. Ranks of Ravichandran Ashwin and
Ravindra Jadeja have dropped to 20 and 29 respectively.
First Place: Josh Hazlewood (Australia)
Second Place: Imran Tahir (South Africa)
Third Place: Mitchell Starc (Australia)
Fourth Place: Kagiso Rabada (South Africa)
Fifth Place: Sunil Narine (West Indies)

According to a recently released CRY Report on child labour, more than 8 lakh children
between the age group of 5 and 6 years in India are engaged in child labour. Child Rights and
You (CRY) is an NGO working towards the upliftment of underprivileged children. The
organization got established in 1979 by Rippan Kapur.

Uttar Pradesh ranks first in the number of child labourers (2,50,672 children) in the country
followed by Bihar (1,28,087 children) and Maharashtra (82,847 children).

Mens Tennis ATP Current Rankings First Rank: Andy Murray (Great Britain) Second Rank:
Rafael Nadal (Spain) Third Rank: Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland)

Project Jal Sanchay, a water conservation model which is successfully adopted in Nalanda
district of south-central Bihar, has been chosen for the national award for excellence in the
Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee programme (MGNREGP) by the
Ministry of Rural Development. The award will be conferred on June 19 at a function held at
Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. Salient Highlights Nalanda being an agriculture-oriented district
remained affected by drought-like conditions that hampered the farming activities in the district.
Though the district receives flash floods during the monsoon, the water runoff in the district was
very high so much so that the entire water got washed away in a span of 15 days. Under these
circumstances, project jal sanchay was launched

Lewis Hamilton has won Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal,
Canada.
Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu has demand for a separate time zone for the
northeastern states to improve work efficiency and save electricity in the region. According to
him, several daylight hours are getting wasted as government offices opens only at 10am and
closes as early as 4pm. Background Recently, the Gauhati High Court dismissed a public interest
litigation (PIL) seeking a separate time zone for the northeast region. A study carried out by
Bengaluru-based National Institute of Advanced Studies had concluded that separate time zone
for the northeastern region could help in saving 2.7 billion units of electricity every year. A
Planning Commission report which was published in 2006 also called for different time zones in
India to improve efficiency. A similar plea was put forward by Assam chief minister Tarun
Gogoi in 2014.

Problems with IST for North East

There are periodical demands from people of North East region to have a separate time zone. IST
was fixed in 1906 at 82.5, or 5.30 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Although it is
not felt by most Indians, it really creates troubles for the people who live in North East. In North
East, the day starts getting brighter by 4 AM and darker by 5 PM. The adoption of separate time
zone would allow people of North East to begin early and use the time which is currently wasted.
The chaibagan time was introduced by the British over 150 years ago. It was set one hour ahead
of the Indian Standard Time (IST) for tea estates, collieries and oil industry of Assam.

In January 2014, former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi also proposed a separate time zone for the
northeastern region and suggested that chai bagan (tea garden) time could be followed in the area.

A photographer named Nilanjan Ray is believed to have spotted a rare white tiger with a pale
skin colour for the first time in the Nilgiris. The discovery has aroused interest among
conservationists and forest officials. It is yet to be ascertained whether the white tiger is a true
genetic mutant. The tiger which was spotted in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve does not seem to
be albino and was found to be whitish with golden brown patches. As per the scientists, genetic
mutation among tigers changes an amino acid responsible for the normal colour being formed,
resulting in natural polymorphism. According to the scientists, white tigers lack pheomelanin,
which is responsible for the red-yellow hue in the skin coat.
White Tigers In India,
white tigers are predominantly found in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh. In 2016, worlds first White
Tiger Safari was inaugurated at Mukundpur in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh.

The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2018 has been released. In the list,
three Indian universities have featured among the top 200 universities. Salient Highlights The
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay, IIT-Delhi and Indian Institute of Science (IISc),
Bengaluru, have featured in the top 200 global universities.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been ranked as the worlds best university
for the sixth consecutive year. The second and third place in the overall rankings has been
occupied by Stanford University and Harvard University respectively.

Unseeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia has lifted the the 2017 French Open Womens Singles
crown

Spains Rafael Nadal has defeated Swiss third-seeded Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 to win his
record 10th French Open title. This will be his fifteenth major title win. With this victory, Rafael
Nadal has become the first man or woman in the Open era to clinch a Grand Slam tournament 10
times.

Sahithi Pingali, a twelfth grader from Bengaluru will get a minor planet in Milky Way named
after her as a reward for developing an integrated mobile phone app and lake monitoring kit to
monitor pollution in water bodies.

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda has been conferred the WHO Director-
Generals Special Recognition Award for global tobacco control.

Health Secretary C K Mishra has inaugurated the Vatsalya Maatri Amrit Kosh, a National
Human Milk Bank and Lactation Counselling Centre at the Lady Hardinge Medical College
(LHMC) in New Delhi. This centre would be the largest public sector human milk bank and
lactation counselling centre available in North India

Salient Highlights

Vatsalya Maatri Amrit Kosh has been established in collaboration with the Norwegian
government, Oslo University and Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI). Vatsalya Maatri
Amrit Kosh will collect, pasteurize, test and safely store milk donated by lactating mothers and
make it available for infants in need. With the establishment of this donor human milk bank, all
newborns in and around Delhi will have access to life saving human milk irrespective of the
circumstances of their birth.

The worlds first hybrid aeroboat which has been built by an Indo-Russian joint venture has
been unveiled at a start-ups event organized by Russias state-run Skolkovo Foundation. The
aeroboat is capable of travelling on land, water, snow and sand.
Kerala State government has come out with a green protocol to make the weddings in the state
more nature-friendly. As per the protocol, plastic and other non-biodegradable articles including
disposable glasses and plates and thermocol decorations will not be permitted to be used in
wedding ceremonies.

Suchitwa Mission which is the state nodal agency for sanitation, has already launched the
initiative on a pilot basis in Kannur, Ernakulam, Kollam and Alappuzha

Sachin Tendulkar will join other global celebrities like Dravid, Beckham, Novak Djokovic,
Academy Award winning American actor Mahershala Ali, British Formula One racing driver
Lewis Hamilton and Australian actor Hugh Jackman for UNICEFs Super Dads campaign that
highlights the critical role played by fathers in childrens early development.

The initiative is aimed at celebrating fatherhood and highlights the importance of love, play,
protection and good nutrition for the healthy development of the brains of the young children.
The Super Dads initiative is a part of UNICEF

Sher Bahadur Deuba, has been elected as Nepals Prime Minister for the fourth time.

Deuba has served as Nepals prime minister for three terms from 1995 to 1997, from 2001 to
2002, and from 2004 to 2005. In 2005, during his third term he was sacked by the then King
Gyanendra Shah in 2005 over his failure to hold elections and bring Maoist rebels to
negotiations. The responsibility of conducting the local elections in the remaining four provinces
will rest upon him.

Sher Bahadur Deuba has become the 40th Prime Minister of Nepal. Last month, Maoist leader
Prachanda Kamal Dahal resigned under a power sharing deal with the Nepali Congress leader.

The National Board of Wildlife has approved Rutland Island in South Andaman to be the site
for the countrys long-range missile test facility. DRDO has been seeking the approval for the
test facility since 2012. Taking into account the strategic importance of the project for countrys
defence, the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wildlife has approved the project.

Habibganj railway station in the suburbs of Bhopal will become countrys first railway station to
be redeveloped in a public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

The Indian Army is expected to soon open up combat positions for women. This has been stated
by Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat. The Indian Army has taken up this issue with the government.
Salient Highlights Initially, women are to be recruited for positions in military police. At present,
women are employed in select areas such as medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering
wings of the Army but are not offered combat roles due to operational concerns and logistical
issues. As of now, only a few countries such as Germany, Australia, Canada, the U.S., Britain,
Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden and Israel have allowed women in combat roles.

2017 Theme: Connecting People to Nature. According to the UN, the theme
implores us to get outdoors and into nature, to appreciate its beauty and its importance, and to
take forward the call to protect the Earth that we share.

2017 Host Country: Canada.

Shashi Shekar Vempati has been appointed as the CEO of Prasar Bharati

India has been ranked 137th in the Global Peace Index 2017,

Top 10 Peaceful Countries Iceland (1), New Zealand (2), Portugal (3), Austria (4), Denmark
(5), Czech Republic (6), Slovenia (7), Canada (8), Switzerland (9), Ireland (10).

Top 10 Least Peaceful Countries Syria (163), Afghanistan (162), Iraq (161), South
Sudan (160), Yemen (159), Somalia (158), Libya (157), Sudan and Central African Rep., both
countries placed at 155th position and Ukraine (154).

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has announced that the second Scorpene-class submarine is ready
for surface sea trials. INS Khanderi, the second Scorpene class submarine has been built at
Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in Mumbai,

INS Khanderi has been named Khanderi, after the Island fort of Maratha ruler Chhatrapati
Shivaji which played had vital role in ensuring their supremacy at sea in late 17th century.
Khanderi is also name for Tiger Shark.

The first of the series INS Kalvari is completing sea trials and will be commissioned shortly.

Countrys First Automatic Coastal Warning for Disasters to come up in Odisha

India captain Virat Kohli, former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and left-handed batsmen,
Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina are the only Indians who featured in ESPNs ranking of the 100
most famous active athletes in the world. In the list, Virat kohli has been placed in the 13th spot,
Dhoni in the 15th spot and Yuvrai and Raina in the 90th and 95th places respectively. The first
place in the list was occupied by Portuguese footballer Christiano Ronaldo followed by Lebron
James, soccer star Lionel Messi, tennis star Roger Federer, Phil Mickelson, Neymar, Usain Bolt,
Kevin Durant, Rafael Nadal and Tiger Woods in that order.

The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has launched a nation wide campaign titled
Darwaza Band to promote toilet use and freedom from open defecation across the villages of
the country. The campaign has been launched in Maharashtra in the presence of actor Amitabh
Bachchan, Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, Narendra Singh Tomar

Indias C.A Bhavani Devi has become first Indian to win a Gold Medal in an international
fencing tournament. She has won the gold medal in the sabre event of the Turnoi Satellite
Fencing Championship held at Reykjavik in Iceland.

Construction works for building Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) has commenced in Chile.
After completion, the Extremely Large Telescope will become the worlds largest optical
telescope which will be five times larger than the top observing instruments that are in use today.
The telescope will be constructed at a 3,000 meter-high mountain in the middle of the Atacama
desert. The telescope is scheduled to commence its operations in 2024.

Maharashtras chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has inaugurated Indias first multi-modal
electric vehicle project at the Nagpur Airport Complex. The pilot project will have a fleet of 200
electric vehicles including taxis, buses, e-rickshaw and autorickshaws. All these electric-powered
public transport vehicles will be fully owned by cab aggregator Ola. For the project Mahindra &
Mahindra has manufactured 100 e2o electric taxis. Similarly, vehicles have been sourced from
other manufacturers like Tata Motors, Kinetic, BYD and TVS, among others. In addition, four
electric charging station has also been built by Ola in various places of Nagpur including the
Nagpur airport.

KPS Gill, an IPS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre of the 1958 batch,
who is often credited with rooting out militancy in Punjab has passed away at the age of 82. He
was known as a super cop for his work in the fields of policing and security.

Gill led the Operation Black Thunder in May 1988 to eliminate militants hiding in the Golden
Temple. He is credited for completely eliminating the Khalistani terrorism in Punjab. Unlike
Operation Blue Star (1984), Operation Black Thunder was highly successful as little damage was
caused to the Golden Temple. Operation Black Thunder resulted in the surrender of around 67
Sikhs and the death of 43 militants.

Anurag Tripathy Appointed as Secretary of CBSE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated Indias longest river bridge the Dhola-Sadia
Bridge in Assam. He has also renamed the bridge as Bhupen Hazarika Bridge. The construction
of the bridge began in 2011. The cost of the project is about Rs 2056 crores.
Salient Features
Dhola-Sadia Bridge is a three lane bridge stretching 9.15 kilometre built over river Lohit, which
is a tributary of the Brahmaputra river.

Indias Ravichandran Ashwin has won the international cricketer of the Year Award at the
CEAT Cricket Rating (CCR) International awards 2017

The two organizations Afcons Transtonnelstroy and Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation Ltd
(KMCRL) involved in implementing the East West Metro have completed boring the Indias
first underwater tunnel under the Hooghly river to link Howrah and Kolkata. The length of
Kolkatas East West Metro is 16.6 km long. Out of which a length of 502 metres is under the
Hooghly river

British actor Roger Moore, who played the much famed secret agent James
Bond, has passed away at the age of 89. Roger Moore has acted as James Bond in seven films for
12 years between 1973 and 1985. His famous films include Live and Let Die and A View to a
Kill.
Airlander 10, the worlds largest aircraft has successfully completed a test
flight by flying for a total of 180 minutes in Cardington, UK.

Every year May 23 is celebrated as the World Turtle Day as an


annual observance aimed at protecting turtles and tortoises and their rapidly disappearing
habitats across the world.

IAS officer Haulianlal Guite has recently published a philosophical novel for God titled
Confessions of a dying mind: the blind faith of atheism. The book was unveiled by Union
Minister Kiren Rijiju at august gathering of Civil Services Officers Institute in New Delhi. The
book is touted as the worlds first philosophical novel for God.

NASA has named a new bacteria discovered on the filters of the International Space Station, ISS,
as Solibacillus kalamii to honour the late president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. The genus is
Solibacillus and the species name is kalamii

Durand Cup is Indias oldest football tournament and is among the oldest in the
world. It is named after its founder Sir Mortimer Durand, who served as Foreign Secretary in
charge of India from 1884 to 1894. The first Durand Cup tournament was held in 1888

IFA Shield is second oldest football competition of India organized by Indian Football
Association and in existence since 1893

Every year, May 22 is observed as International Day for Biodiversity or World Biodiversity Day.

Prashant Ranganathan has emerged winner in the worlds largest pre-college science
competition in the environment engineering category for his work on biodegradation of
pesticides. Prashant is among the 20 high schools students from various parts of the country who
participated in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in the US.
Hassan Rouhani has been re-elected as the President of Iran. He was elected as
president for his first term in 2013. He won 2013 elections by pledging to end Irans isolation
and improve civil rights at home.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released a two-part book series written by the
eminent agricultural scientist Dr. M.S. Swaminathan. The series is titled M.S. Swaminathan:
The Quest for a world without hunger.

Climate Change: Antarctica is Turning Green

According to a new study conducted by a team of scientists from the University of Exeter in the
UK, plant life on Antarctica is growing rapidly due to climate change. The scientists have
observed a sharp increase in biological activity in Antarctica in the last 50 years

A team of scientists from the United States have discovered a possible cure for
Ebola viruses. They have discovered the first natural human antibodies that are capable of
neutralizing and protecting animals against all three major disease-causing ebola viruses. The
findings could lead to the discovery of first effective ebolavirus therapies and vaccines. Scientists
have discovered the broadly neutralizing antibodies from the blood of a survivor of the 2013-16
Ebola outbreak. Scientists have also pinpointed the human gene which is expected to be the
source of the immune cells that produce these antibodies. These antibodies could emerge as a
single therapy to treat all Ebola viruses.

Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. It was first
identified in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of Congo in a village near the Ebola River,
from which it takes its name. It is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the
human population through human-to-human transmission. Fruit bats are natural host of this
virus. It spreads through contact with body fluids of inflected persons such as blood, urine and
saliva

Sanjay Gubbi of Karnataka and Purnima Barman of Assam have won the prestigious Whitley
Award for their contributions in wildlife conservation. Whitley awards are popularly known as
Green Oscars.

Indian scientist Shrinivas Kulkarni has won the prestigious Dan David prize as a recognition for
his contributions made in the field of astronomy. Shrinivas Kulkarni, a professor of astrophysics
and planetary science at California
Tata Group Named Countrys Most Valuable Brand in Brand Finance List

Brand finance in its 2017 report that lists Indias 100 most valuable brands has named Tata
Group as the most valuable brand in India at an estimated brand value of $13.1 billion. Brand
Finance is a global brand valuation and strategy consultancy firm.

Tata Group has managed to top the list despite its brand value declining 4% from $13.7 billion in
2016. As per the report, the total brand value of Indias top 100 brands have surged 15% in 2017
compared to the global average of 11%. Overall 68 of Indias 100 most valuable brands have
registered growth in value this year.

Telecom operator Airtel at an estimated valuation of $7.7 billion has been ranked second in the
list followed by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) with $6.8 billion.

IT firm Infosys and State Bank of India have been ranked fourth and fifth in the list with an
estimated value of $6.2 billion and $5.5 billion respectively.

Anshu Jamsenpa, a native of Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh has scripted


history by becoming the first Indian woman to scale Mount Everest for the fourth time. Anshu
Jamsenpa who is a mother of two children had already had ascaled Mount Everest twice in a
season that too taking only a gap of 10 days between the two climbs. She scaled the highest peak
twice in May 2011. She again conquered the peak on May 18, 2013. Anshu began her summit
expedition after 38 days of acclimatization and scaling several nearby peaks and passes. Anshu
Jamsenpa also plans to scale Mount Everest again in this season to create a new record for
becoming the first woman to do a double twice.

An Earth Like Planet called Proxima B orbiting the closest neighboring Star, Proxima Centauri,
which is about 4.2 light years away is expected to have liquid water and the potential to support
alien life. The planet Proxima B was discovered in the last year

Income Tax Department (ITD) has initiated Operation Clean Money to investigate tax evaders.
As a part of the operation, the government has launched a website on Operation Clean Money
operation.
Scientists from University of Cambridge, UK have discovered the smallest star in the universe. It
has been named as EBLM J0555-57Ab. The star was identified by SuperWASP, a planet-finding
experiment run by several universities. It was detected when it passed in front of its larger parent
star, forming an eclipsing stellar binary system.

SuperWASP is the UKs leading extra-solar planet detection programme. It is run by a


consortium of eight academic institutions. It consists of two robotic observatories

A state-of-the-art, indigenously developed S-band doppler weather radar (DWR) of India


Meteorological Department (IMD) was commissioned at Palluruthy in West Kochi, Kerala. It
has been manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) based on the indigenous technology
provided by ISRO

Doppler effect: It is an increase (or decrease) in the frequency of sound, light, or other waves as
the source and observer move towards (or away from) each other.

The Union Cabinet has approved establishment of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
set up a regional centre International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), a global rice research
institute. It will be named as IRRI South Asia Regional Centre (ISARC) and will be set up at
campus of National Seed Research and Training Centre (NSRTC) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed nationwide blanket ban on the use of kite
strings (manja), made of nylon or any synthetic material on the grounds that it poses a threat to
animals and humans.

According to recently released OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2017-2026, India will be the
worlds largest milk producer by 2026 and will account for the biggest increase in wheat
production globally.

Rajasthan has become the first State in the country to lay down the minimum educational
qualifications for contesting elections to village cooperative societies and various other
cooperative bodies. In this regard, state government has amended State Cooperative Societies
Rules, 2003.

Karnataka Government has constituted a nine-member committee to study the possibility of


designing a separate state flag and providing it a statutory standing.

Tamil Nadu has reported its first case of Zika virus in a 27-year-old man from a village in
Krishnagiri district. RT-PCR test conducted on patients blood, urine and throat samples were
found to be positive for Zika. This is second case Zika reported in India. Earlier in May 2017, the
World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the first cases of Zika in in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

11 July: World Population Day

2017 theme: Family Planning- Empowering People, Developing Nations.

Okinoshima Island, Japans men-only island was declared as a UNESCO world heritage site.
The island will be the 17th set of Japanese cultural assets to be granted this status and overall
21st in the list. The island is part of the prefectures Munakata region. It is located in south-west
Japan between the main island of Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula in the Sea of Japan (East
Sea). It still follow strict taboos from ancient times, including the controversial ban on women
from entering the island

The 600-year-old Walled City of Ahmedabad was declared World Heritage City by the World
Heritage Committee (WHC) of UNESCO after it met in Karlow, Poland. It is first Indian city get
the honour. The Walled City of Ahmedabad is located on the eastern banks of Sabarmati river.

The United Nations has adopted a historic global treaty banning nuclear weapons. The treaty was
adopted by a vote of 122 members in favour. The Netherlands was the only country who voted
against the treaty. Singapore abstained from voting.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee acting on a proposal brought by Palestine has put the
West Bank city of Hebron on its list of world heritage in danger. This has made Israel angry and
has triggered a new Israeli-Palestinian spat at the international body.

Hebron

Hebron is cited as one of the oldest cities in the world. The city is very old dating from the
Chalcolithic period or more than 3,000 years BC. The Old City of Hebron has sites that are holy
to both Jews and Muslims, known as either the Tomb of the Patriarchs or the al-Ibrahimi
mosque. The city which is the largest city in the West Bank is home to more than 200,000
Palestinians and a few hundred Israeli settlers.

Israel

Israel has rejected the Hebron resolution saying that the resolutions reference to the city as
Islamic denies thousands of years of Jewish connection with the city. Israel believes that Hebron
is the birthplace of the Jewish people. The religious site at the Hebron was originally built by the
Jewish King Herod, which was later added to by the Muslim caliphs. Israel has accused the UN
for adopting anti-Israel bias at all issues concerning it. In May, UNESCO had passed a separate
resolution on Jerusalem condemning Israel.
West Bengal State government has made Bengali mandatory in all schools, including private
English medium schools

French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Edouard Philippe as the new prime minister
of France

The 19-year-old Motorsports Indian driver Arjun Maini, who drives for Jenzer Motorsport, has
become the first Indian to win a GP3 Series (a feeder series to GP2) race at the Circuit de
Catalunya in Barcelona.

Minister for Health and Family Welfare J P Nadda has launched new Pneumococcal Conjugate
Vaccine, PCV, for Pneumonia at Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College Hospital in Mandi district
of Himachal Pradesh.

World Health Organization (WHO) has appointed Amitabh Bachchan as its Goodwill
Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region.

May 11: National Technology Day

The day is being commemorated to celebrate the anniversary of first of the five tests of
Operation Shakti (Pokhran-II) nuclear test, held on 11 May 1998 in Pokhran, Rajasthan

Prime Minister Modi will travel to Sri Lanka to attend the Buddhist festival Vesak Day
(Buddha Jayanti) that commemorates birth, enlighten and death of Buddha

may 10 71

S-ar putea să vă placă și