Daily Current Affairs Updates – 17th May 2017

Daily Current Affairs Updates – 17th May 2017:

Daily Current affairs News Updates about the National and International events were listed here. Candidates those who are preparing for IBPS/SBI/PO/Clerk exam and all other competitive exams can use this.

DAYS TO REMEMBER:

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day 2017 observed

The 2017 World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) was observed on 17 May 2017. The theme for WTISD-17 is Big Data for Big Impact. The theme focuses on the power of Big Data for development and aims to explore how to turn imperfect, complex, often unstructured data into actionable information in a development context.

Venkaiah Naidu announces separate 24x7 DD Channel for Jharkhand

Minister for Information & Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu announced a separate 24x7 DD channel for the state of Jharkhand. The plan was announced at the review meeting of the programmes and initiatives of Ministry of I&B held at Ranchi, Jharkhand. The announcement was a part of a three-year action plan of Doordarshan put forward by the state government. The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Raghubar Das.

State : Jharkhand

Capital : Ranchi

Chief minister : Raghubar Das

Governor :Draupadi Murmu

Himachal Pradesh implements DDUGJY in two phases

In Himachal Pradesh the Deen Dayal Upadhaya Gram Jyoti Yojana is being implementing in two phases. Total 12 projects have been sanctioned with the cost of 159 Crore 12 Lakh Rupees. As per the census of 2011 the state has total 17882 inhabited villages where total rural households are 14.56 Lakh. There is no un-electrified village as of now in the state but the State Electricity Board is emphasizing on power system strengthening through Deen Dayal Upadhaya Gram Jyoti Yojana.

State : Himachal Pradesh

Capital : Shimla

Chief Minister : Virbhadra Singh

Governor : Acharya Dev Vrat

Andhra amends law to appoint PV Sindhu as elite officer

The Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Tuesday passed an amendment to its public services law to appoint Olympics silver medal-winning shuttler PV Sindhu as a Group-1 officer in the government. Certain provisions in the law had earlier prevented Sindhu's appointment as any recruitment in public service should be made through the state Public Service Commission, selection committee, or employment exchange.

State : Andhra Pradesh

Capital : Amaravati

Chief minister : N Chandrababu Naidu

Governor : E. S. L. Narasimhan.

Elephant census in Karnataka kicks off

In Karnataka, a major excercise of elephant census has been kicked off. The census exercise has been started simultaneously across all protected areas and forests identified to harbour elephant population, will begin with a study of the elephant distribution map across Karnataka. The Mysore Elephant Reserve, spread across Bhadra-Nagarahole-Bandipur-BRT Wildlife Sanctuary, Cauvery Wildlife Reserve, and Bannerghatta, covering more than 11,000 sq km harbours most of the elephants in the State.

State: Karnataka

Capital: Bangalore

CM: Siddaramaiah

Governor: Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala

‘Maa’ committee to check mid-day meal quality in UP schools

A Mother's Day gift has been given to lakhs of children in schools of Uttar Pradesh in the form of 'Maa' by forming the 'Maa Committee'. It will be a committee of six mothers, from all sections of society stated by Uttar Pradesh basic education minister Anupma Jaiswal.

State: UttarPradesh

CM: Yogi Adityanath

Governor: ShriRamNaik

Capital: Lucknow

Govt releases list of universities for free WiFi from July

Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday announced that WiFi services will be launched in 38 Central universities, starting July this year. Further, all such universities will be connected with a National Knowledge Network (NKN) for information sharing. The universities selected are DU, IGNOU, JNU, Aligarh Muslim University, Hyderabad University, Benaras Hindu University, among others.

Union Government launches Operation Clean Money portal

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 16 May 2017 launched Operation Clean Money Portal with an aim to keep a tab on dishonest citizens hiding their income from the authorities and government. It will provide comprehensive information at one place consisting of step by step guides, frequently asked questions, user guides, quick reference guides and training toolkits related to verification process.

Union Government launches EPFO’s Citizens’ Charter 2017

Union Minister of Labour & Employment Bandaru Dattatreya on 16 May 2017 launched EPFO’s Citizens’ Charter 2017 and E-Court Management System along with it.Citizens’ Charter 2017 of EPFO is an attempt to bring transparency and accountability on the part of EPFO.It will also offer social security coverage to all employees as well as implementation of policies for benefit of all stakeholders with adequate support level of social security.

Arunachal mountaineer Anshu Jamsenpa scales Mount Everest for fourth time

Anshu Jamsenpa, a native of Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh, conquered Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak on Tuesday morning for the fourth time, setting a new record. Managing Director at Dream Himalaya Adventure, Dawa S Lama said that Anshu, along with Furi Sherpa scaled the world’s highest peak successfully. A mother of two teenage children, Anshu scaled Mount Everest twice in May 2011 and again two years later. Anshu’s expedition was flagged off this year by His Holiness Dalai Lama on 2nd April from Guwahati. Anshu had started the summit expedition after 38 days of acclimatization, climbing several nearby peaks and passes and load ferry from Everest Base Camp from April 4 to May 12.

Mukesh Ambani in Forbes Global Game Changers List 2017

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has been featured in the Forbes Global Game Changers List for 2017. "The oil and gas tycoon entered India's telecom market offering fast internet at dirt-cheap prices and gained 10 crore customers in six months," wrote Forbes. The list also includes Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel and Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Dattatreya to participate in G20 Labour Ministers' meet at Germany

Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatraya will participate in the two-day G20 Labour and Employment Ministers' Meet to be held in Germany from tomorrow. He will be leading the Indian delegation to the G20 Ministers' Meet at Bad Neuenahr, Germany, which is the Chair for the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers' for the year 2017.

Hyderabad Int'l Airport south India's 1st to go 100% LED-lit

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad is set to become south India's first airport to go 100% LED-lit. With the entire Taxiway Edge Lights converted from halogen lamps to energy efficient LEDs, the authorities claimed that 75% work on the project has been completed. Of the 26,000 conventional lamps at RGIA, over 19,500 have been converted into LED.

IT Department Launches Operation Clean Money

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.The Operation Clean Money’ portal has been designed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Initial phase of the operation involves identification of around 18 lakh persons who have made large deposits or purchases between 9th November to 30th December 2016, which do not appear to be in line with the tax payer’s profile.

India imposes anti-dumping duty on glasses and Chinese radiators

India has imposed anti-dumping duty on certain types of glasses from Iran and aluminium radiators from China in order to protect the domestic industry from cheap imports. While an anti-dumping duty of about USD 55.59 per tonne has been imposed on clear float glass, duty of about USD 22.89 has been slammed on imports of aluminium radiators.

INTERNATIONAL

Nepalese woman breaks world record for most Everest summits

A 44-year-old Nepalese mountaineer Lhakpa Sherpa has broken her own world record for the most Everest summits by a woman after scaling the world's tallest peak for the eighth time. She bettered her own record of scaling Mt Everest seven times.

India, Palestine sign five agreements for cooperation in different sectors

India and Palestine on 16 May 2017 signed 5 agreements for cooperation in different areas including agriculture, health and Information Technology. The Agreements were exchanged after delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas in New Delhi. The two leaders reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations, regional and international issues.

One Belt, One Road Summit concludes: Key takeaways

The One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Summit or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) concluded on 15 May 2017 in Beijing, China. The Summit, which commenced on 14 May 2017, showcased its plans to build a network of trade routes under the One Belt, One Road initiative. As of now, 68 countries and international organisations have signed belt and road agreements with China.

BANKING NEWS

HDFC Life inks distribution tie-up with Catholic Syrian Bank

HDFC Life has entered into a banc assurance tie-up with ‘Catholic Syrian Bank’ to distribute its individual life insurance products to the private lender’s customers. Now, HDFC Life will offer its leading range of individual life insurance, health, and pension products to the Catholic Syrian Bank’s customer over a period of time.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY NEWS:

India’s GDP projected to grow 7.4% in 2017-18: FICCI survey

In a survey conducted during March and April 2017, FICCI predicted India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth will be around 7.4% for fiscal 2017-18, with a minimum and maximum level of 7% and 7.6% respectively. ii. Agricultural sector is estimated to clock 3.5% growth in 2017-18, the pick-up in overall GDP growth will also be supported by an improvement in industry and services sector growth. The industry and services sector are expected to grow by 6.9% and 8.4% respectively in 2017-18.

PFRDA-CRISIL Report: India Ageing Gradually with Every 5th Person to be in 60sby 2050

As per the PFRDA-CRISIL report titled, Financial security for India’s elderly – The imperatives, India will begin ageing gradually and transform from ‘young’ to a ‘greying’ with every 5th Indian to be in 60s in contrast to every 12th person at present. By 2050, persons above the age of 60 would increase from the present 8.9% of the population to 19.4 %. Also, by 2050, the population of people above 80 is likely to increase from 0.9% to 2.8%. As of 2015, almost 90% of the population was below the age of 60 years and the proportion of working age population stood at 44% .

AWARDS AND HONOURS :

Pawan Kumar Chamling conferred with first BS Shekhawat award

Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling was conferred with the first Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Lifetime Achievement Honour in Public Service by President Pranab Mukherjee. The award was conferred during the first Bhairon Singh Shekhawat memorial lecture delivered by the President

IIT-Hyderabad professor bags INSA Young Scientist award

Assistant Professor in Department of Biomedical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology – Hyderabad (IIT-H) Aravind Kumar Rengan has been awarded the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) medal in the Young Scientist category for 2017. The INSA Young Scientist Medal award carries a bronze medal and a cash prize of Rs25,000.

Renowned biologist Purnima Devi Barman nominated for Whitley Awards

Renowned wildlife biologist, Dr Purnima Devi Barman, in May 2017 was nominated for the prestigious Whitley Awards. Barman has been nominated for her relentless efforts and campaigns for the conservation of the Greater Adjutant Stork locally known as Haargila in Assam.

SPORTS NEWS:

Anas breaks 400m national record, qualifies for world c'ship

Sprinter Muhammed Anas broke the 400-metre national record at the Indian Grand Prix in New Delhi on Monday to qualify for the upcoming World Championships in London in August. The 22-year-old clocked 45.32 seconds, within the London qualification time of 45.50 seconds, to better former sprinter KM Binu's previous national record of 45.48 seconds, clocked during the 2004 Athens Olympics.