Current Affairs May 18 , 2017 –  First anti-tobacco film festival in Goa

NATIONAL

Festival of award-winning films in Goa:

    The 64th National Award Winning Films Festival 2017 will be held in Panaji from May 18 to June 14.

Winners List

Best feature film:  ‘Kaasav’ (Turtle)

Best direction in the non-feature film: ‘Aaba Aiktaay Naa?’ (Father, Are You Listening?)

14th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council held at Srinagar:

    Union finance minister Arun Jaitley to chair the 14th Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meet that discuss on tax rates on commodities and services. It is being held at the Sher-I-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) on the banks of the Dal Lake, Jammu & Kashmir.

Indian Army gets its first artillery guns “ULH”:

The Army has got its first artillery guns from BAE Systems. Two 155mm/39 caliber ultra light howitzers (ULH) will be trial firing at the Pokhran field firing range in Rajasthan. It was brought from United States.

ISRO to launch 3 Communication Satellites:

    Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch three communication satellites GSAT-19, GSAT-11 and GSAT-20 in the next 18 months to boost internet speed across the nation.

First anti-tobacco film festival in Goa:

The first Goa Anti-Tobacco Film Festival will be held on May 31, and will screen over 30 films, which is organised by “The Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG)”, the State government’s entertainment wing.

The festival will select films to spread awareness on the ill effects of tobacco use and to decrease the occurrence of oral cancer in the State.

NITI Aayog held the first “Samavesh” meeting:

An aim to bring together 32 premier educational and policy research institutions to catalyse the country’s development process, government think- tank NITI Aayog held the first Samavesh meeting at New Delhi.

The Meeting was held under the co-chairmanship of NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Principal Adviser NITI Aayog Ratan P Watal.

Banking & Business

Axis bank lower Home loan rates:

Axis Bank announced a reduction in home loans rates from 8.65 percent to 8.35 percent for the loan below Rs 30 lakhs.

European Union fines Facebook $122.4 million:

    European Union antitrust regulators said that they would fine Facebook €110 million ($122.4 million) for providing misleading information over its purchase of messaging service WhatsApp in 2014.

Ericsson joins Microsoft for global IoT services:

Aim to strengthen the global Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, Swedish communication technology firm Ericsson collaborated with Microsoft to speed up the launch of mobile network-based IoT services.

APPOINTMETNTS

Pune University gets new Vice-Chancellor:

    A geology professor and head of the Environment Sciences department Dr.Nitin Karmalkar has been appointed as the new Vice-Chancellor of the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU). Karmalkar will succeed Wasudev Gade.

AWARDS

Letterman to be awarded Mark Twain Prize:

David Letterman, who was the longest-running host of late-night TV in United States history, has been chosen to receive the Kennedy Centre’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humour, will be awarded the 20th annual prize named for the 19th century U.S. novelist.

Shrinivas Kulkarni wins Dan David Prize:

Indian scientist Shrinivas Kulkarni has won the prestigious Dan David prize for his contribution in the field of astronomy. He is a professor of astrophysics and planetary science at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

SPORTS

Sundaram Ravi named umpires for Champion Trophy 2017

    India’s Sundaram Ravi has been appointed one of the on-field umpires for the opening match of the Champions Trophy cricket beginning June 1 at Cardiff, Edgbaston, the Oval, and London.

Manpreet Singh named captain for India Hockey Team:

Manpreet Singh was named the Indian hockey captain for next month’s three Nations Invitational Tournament in Germany and the World League semi-final in England after regular skipper P R Sreejesh was ruled out due to a knee injury. The Three Nations Invitational Tournament will be played in Dusseldorf, Germany from June 1.

Historic Events of the Day

May 18 observed as “International Museum Day”

    International Museum Day (IMD) is an international day a celebration that held every year on or around 18 May, coordinated by the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

This Year theme is “Museums and Contested Histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums”

OBITUARY

Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave passes away:

Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave passed away at age of 60. Mr. Dave was appointed as Minister of State (Independent) for Environment, Forests and Climate Change last year. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh.