Current Affairs - May 29, 2017 Current Affairs

The Indian Space Research Organisation will be launching the Heaviest Rocket called the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk-III) on 5th June 2017. It is 43 meters in height, 4 meters round and has a lift-off mass of 640 tonnes. It will help India become self-reliant for launching satellites as it would be capable of placing 4 - tonnes glass geosynchronous satellite into orbit.

Pune city police have received the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) Smart Police Award for the year 2017 for their initiatives on women and cyber security. Pune Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla received the award from BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi during a programme organised by FICCI and Vivekanand International Foundation on Homeland Security in Delhi. The city police have also launched initiatives like "Lost & Found" portal, Beat Marshal Monitoring Sapience App, and Tenant Information System.

29 May is the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is a day to remember those who served in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations. They also honour the memory of people who died in the name of peace.

India and Mauritius signed a maritime security agreement. India announced a $500 million line of credit to Mauritius as the two countries resolved to deepen ties in a range of areas including the maritime domain.

Indian ethical hacker Anand Prakash awarded with 3.25 lakh by Twitter for discovering a bug that let him tweet from any account on the microblogging platform. The bug also allowed him to post videos, photos and delete the ones already posted from any Twitter account.

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has overtaken Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) to become India's most profitable state-owned company. It was more than the Rs 17,900 crore net profit ONGC posted in the 2016-17 fiscal, making IOC the most profitable PSU. IOC posted a 70 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 19,106.40 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2017.

China has been ranked first in having most complex jurisdiction for taxation and most complicated requirements of tax in the Asia Pacific region, as per 2017 Asia Pacific Tax Complexity Survey conducted by Deloitte. India ranks only after China in the most complex tax jurisdiction in Asia-Pacific. a. The report surveyed over 300 financial and tax executives on their views of the current and anticipated tax environment of 20 jurisdictions across Asia Pacific.

India's Chadalavada Anandha Sundhararaman Bhavani Devi has become first Indian to win a Gold Medal in an International fencing tournament. In the final, she defeated Sarah Jane Hampson of Great Britain. She participated in the sabre event of the Turnoi Satellite Fencing Championship held at Reykjavik in Iceland.

Three well-known artists from Odisha to get Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards. Odissi dance Guru Ratikant Mohapatra, playwright and director Prof. Satyabrata Rout and Pala artist Laxmidhar Rout have been selected for the prestigious Central Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for the year 2016. Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. The award consists of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram (a shawl), and a Tamra Patra (a brass plaque).

Corporate Affairs Secretary Tapan Ray is appointed as the next Secretary for the Department of Economic Affairs, under the Ministry of Finance from June 1, 2017. The competent authority has approved assignment of additional charge of the post of Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, to Tapan Ray,lAS (GJ:1982), Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, on superannuation of Shaktikanta Das, IAS (TN:1980), with effect from 01.06.2017 and until further orders.

May 28 is the International Day of Action for Women's Health. In 1999, it was officially recognised by the government of South Africa. It is a day to call for action towards the improvisation of women's health. The main focus of the International Day of Action on Women's Health and the WGNRR lies on protecting the sexual and reproductive health of women.

Union Defence Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated a first-of-its-kind Aeronautical Test Range (ATR), which will be used to test the country's first unmanned aircraft, in the Chitradurga district of Karnataka. It will be the leading test centre for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) that has been using the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd airport.

Chile started the construction of the world's largest optical and infrared telescope. It was inagurated by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, and it is located at the Paranal Observatory in the Antofagasta region. 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.

The Manipur government has declared Dailong village of Tamenglong district as a Biodiversity Heritage Site of the state. It was issued by joint secretary of forest and environment, Kengoo Zuringla. Dialong village, covering an area of 11.35 sq km, has been declared as Biodiversity Heritage Site under Section 37(1) of Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

Padmalaya Nanda from Odisha will represent India at the 2017 Little Miss Universe beauty pageant competition, which is scheduled to be held in Georgia, United States from May 31. She will compete against 15 other contestants from around the world for the title of Little Miss Universe. Beside this, she will also lead India in the 2017 Little Miss World contest in Greece.

Uttarakhand Mountaineer Border Security Force (BSF) Love Raj Singh Dharmshaktu become the first Indian to summit Mount Everest a record six times. The mountaineer, a Padma Shri awardee who works as an assistant commandant with the BSF in Dehradun.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced a slew of incentives for journalists, including a Rs 10,000 monthly pension scheme, for those who are above 60 years and have completed 20 years in the profession. The announcements were made by the Chief Minister at the "Swarna Jayanti Journalists' Meet". He also announced a life insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh and a cashless mediclaim policy of Rs 500,000.