15th May 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

sponsored links

International Affairs

• Today (15th May) is International Day of Families.
• • The Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 and reflects the importance the international community attaches to families.
  • This day provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to families and to increase knowledge of the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.
  • 2016 Theme : Families, healthy lives and sustainable future
• The multilateral Red Flag Aerial combat exercises between US, NATO and allied forces and India Air Force (IAF) concluded in Alaska, US.
• • The 4 week long (from April 28 to May 13, 2016) aerial combat exercises was held at the Nellis Air Force Base, Alaska.
• Nigeria is hosting talks on Boko Haram with regional and Western powers, as the United Nations warned of the terrorists' ties to ISIS group and its threat to African security.
• • Leaders from Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger were among the delegates, alongside French President Francois Hollande, and high-ranking diplomats from the United States, Britain and the European Union.

National Affairs

• Rajasthan is set to become the first state to issue newspaper advertisements for the post of Vice Chancellor of state universities. 
  
• • More candidates will now be able to apply for the post leading to transparency and timely appointments. 

Business & Economy

• India has been ranked 3rd in the Attractiveness of Renewable Energy, behind the US and China, according to a report by consulting firm Ernst & Young. 
• • Note : The report included a list of 40 countries.

Science & Technology

• India successfully test fired its indigenously developed supersonic interceptor missile Prithvi-II today off the Odisha coast. 
• • The missile is capable of destroying hostile ballistic missile and will help in strengthening India's Missile Defence System. 
  • The interceptor missile is a single stage solid rocket propelled missile equipped with hi-tech computer systems and sophisticated radars.
• China today successfully launched Yaogan-30, a remote sensing satellite to carry out land surveys and disaster relief. 
• • The satellite was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwestern China’s Gobi Desert by a Long March-2D rocket. 
  • It will be used for experiments, land surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster relief.
• The Indian Space Research Organisation is going to launch a Space shuttle that is completely made in India for the first time before the onset of monsoon this year. 
• • The indigenously made Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) will be launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. 
  • Note : The reusable technology can reportedly help reduce launch costs by ten times.
• New York-based law firm BakerHostetler recently hired ROSS, 'the world's first artificially intelligent lawyer', which is powered by Watson, an IBM-developed AI system capable of processing natural language. 
• • After being asked a question, ROSS reads through the law and gathers evidence to give relevant and evidence-based answers. 
  • It also monitors the law for changes that can affect a certain case.
• The White House has launched the National Microbiome Initiative – a new initiative aimed at studying microbial communities that could aid in the development of useful applications in several areas. 
• • For the project, the government will invest over $121 million in federal money, while another $400 million will come from non-government organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
• Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has developed the fastest elevator in the world, having achieved a top-speed of 1,230 meters per minute or 20.5 meters per second. 
• • It will be installed at the 632-meter Shanghai Tower (China's tallest building). 

Awards & Honors

• Actress Celina Jaitly has been honoured by the Harvey Milk Foundation for her contribution to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) equality as a United Nations Equality Champion. 

New Appointments

• Senior audit service officer Hindupur Pradeep Rao was today appointed as Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
• Mumbai based India’s biggest exchange, NSE, had nominated Ashok Chawla as its new Chairman after obtaining a clearance from the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India.
• Former IPL spot-fixing probe head, Justice Mukul Mudgal has been appointed as the Deputy Chairman of FIFA's governance committee. 
• • Important Points to Note : 
  • • Former European Court of Justice Advocate General, Portugal's Luis Miguel Maduro will head the governance committee and the International Review Committee alongside Mudgal. 
    • Earlier Mudgal was also appointed by the Asian Football Federation in a similar role.

Sports

• Top-ranked women's doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis have clinched the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title in Rome today. 
• • This is Hingis' and Mirza's fifth title of the season and their first claycourt crown of 2016.
• Rio Olympics qualified sprinter, Sudha Singh set a new national record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase category by clocking 9 minutes and 26.55 seconds in the IAAF Diamond League race in Shanghai on Saturday. The 2010 Asian Games gold medallist broke the 9 minutes and 27.09 seconds national record timing set by another Rio Olympics qualified long-distance runner Lalita Babar.
• 18 year old Max Verstappen became the youngest driver in F1 history to win a Grand Prix as he finished first at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya today. 
• • Note : Ferrari drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel finished second and third respectively. 

sponsored links

Let's block ads! (Why?)