Current Affairs May – 23, 2017
CURRENT AFFAIRS MAY – 23, 2017
NATIONAL AFFAIRS
FREE WI-FI AT 28 KONKAN RAILWAY STATIONS:
Suresh Prabhu inaugurates internet service facilities for passengers at 28 Konkan railway stations and Promise better facilities at Kudal and Chiplun railway stations.
Konkan Railway has tied up with Syscon Joister to provide 2 Mbps peer-to-peer 24×7 free Wi-Fi at the 28 stations in line with the Union government’s Digital India Initiative.
KOZHIKODE STATION TO BECOME FIRST WOMEN AND CHILD FRIENDLY POLICE STATION:
The Kozhikode Town Station that secured the title of the first ISO 9001:2008 certified police station in Kerala in 2011 is all set to update its status further by achieving the tag of the city’s first women and child-friendly police station.
The infrastructure upgrade, police personnel at stations too will be given special training for addressing grievances of women and children in a more humane way. Resource persons designated by the UNICEF will coordinate the training programme in all the women and child-friendly stations.
PM MODI LAUNCH KANDLA PORT PROJECT IN GUJARAT:
PM Narendra Modi announced that Gujarat’s Kandla Port will be connected with Chabahar port in Iran. This is being developed with India’s participation, to boost India’s international trade.
Kandla Port will be renamed as Deendayal Port Trust to as part of Pt Deendayal Upadhyay’s centenary celebrations.
INDIAN ARMY HONOURS MAJOR GOGOI:
Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi was awarded COAS (Chief of Army Staff) commendation for sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations. The officer was awarded by Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat.
GOVERNMENT TARGET TO CONSTRUCT 12 LAKH HOUSES UNDER PMAY (URBAN):
The Central government has set a target to construct 12 lakh houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) in 2017-18. Further, targets construction of 26 lakh houses in 2018-19, 26 lakh in 2019-20, 30 lakh in 2020-21 and 29.80 lakh in 2021-22.
The government had launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) in June 2015, aiming to ensure housing for all by 2022.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
SMALLEST NATION JOINS SOLAR ALLIANCE:
The world’s smallest republic, the tiny island nation of Nauru has become the sixth country to ratify the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Framework pact initiated by the Indian and French Governments at the climate change summit held at Paris in 2015.
Five more nations, from Africa, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Somalia, Ghana and Djibouti have committed to sign the pact during the ongoing meeting of the African Development bank in India.
INDIA BECOMES NO. 2 STAINLESS STEEL MAKER:
India overtook Japan to become the second-largest producer of stainless steel in the world, behind China, in 2016, according to data released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF).
India’s stainless steel production rose 9% last year to 3.32 million tonnes, from 3 million tonnes in 2015, ISSF said at their annual conference in Tokyo.
BANKING & BUSINESS
PAYTM STARTED OPERATION OF PAYTM PAYMENT BANK:
Paytm Payments Bank opened today with 31 branches and 3,000 customer service points in the first year. It will get 400cr investment in the first two years of operation. It will Pay 4% interest on saving account.
Paytm unveiled the Paytm Payments Bank becoming the first bank to offer cashbacks on deposits.
Customers will also be offered zero charges on all online transactions and no minimum balance requirement.
Paytm Payments Bank will offer Rs. 250 cashback to customers depositing Rs. 25,000 to Payments Bank account.
CBDT HAS SIGNED TWO UNILATERAL APAS WITH INDIAN TAXPAYERS:
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has signed two unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) with Indian taxpayers as it looks to reduce litigation by providing certainty in transfer price.
The two APAs signed pertain to chip design/development of embedded software and Information technology (software development) sectors of the economy.
APPOINTMENTS
FORD NAMES JIM HACKETT AS NEW CEO:
Jim Hackett has been appointed as new CEO of Ford. Existing CEO Mark Fields replaced by Jim Hackett.
TATA SONS NAMES SAURABH AGRAWAL AS GROUP CFO
Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran appointed Saurabh Agrawal as new group Chief Financial Officer. He will join from July.
Agrawal is currently the head of strategy with the Aditya Birla Group.
AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS
DRAKE BEATS ADELE’S BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS RECORD WITH 13 WINS:
Rapper Drake grabbed a record 13 wins at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards beating Adele by one, at the event in Las Vegas including best artist.
SPORTS
NITIN TOMAR SETS NEW RECORD:
Nitin Tomar became the highest-bid player ever in the brief history of the ProKabaddi League (PKL) when the 22-year-old raider was picked up for a whopping ₹93 lakh by the new UP franchise at the Season Five auction. Nitin had been part of Puneri Paltan in the previous edition. PKL commissioner is Anupam Goswami.
MITHALI RAJ BECAME FIRST INDIAN WOMEN CRICKETER TO CAPTAIN 100 ODIS
Mithali Raj, India woman cricket team captain became the first Indian to lead the side in 100 ODIs.
GURINDERVIR SINGH AND ABHISHEK MATHEW WON GOLD MEDALS:
Gurindervir Singh (100m) and Abhishek Mathew (800m) won gold medals for India at the Asian youth athletics championship in Bangkok. India also won two bronze medals through Akshay Nain (boys’ 400m) and Seema (girls’ 3,000m).
IRENE CHEPTAI WINS TCS WORLD 10K ROAD RACE:
Irene Cheptai, from Kenya won a 10K road race international debut by winning the TCS World 10k road race to reach a target at time clocked 31:51.
HOCKEY CHANDIGARH WON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2017:
Hockey Chandigarh clinched the 7th Hockey India sub-junior boys “National championship 2017 (‘A’ Division) title” after won against Sports Authority of India in the final at Bangalore.
HISTORICAL EVENTS OF THE DAY
MAY 23 – INTERNATIONAL DAY TO END OBSTETRIC FISTULA
Obstetric fistula is one of the most serious and tragic injuries that can occur during childbirth. Hence, UN declared this day is to significantly raise awareness and intensify actions towards ending obstetric fistula.
