Current Affairs - May 20, 2018 Current Affairs

The Aeronautical Development Agency has set the ball rolling for building the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft by extending an invitation to private players in Tamil Nadu (TN). It is the first time an indigenous military aircraft programme is seeing the involvement of private players. It is also the first time a defence plane development project is proposed to be executed outside Bengaluru.

Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar was sworn-in as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Manipur. The acting Governor of Manipur Jagdish Mukhi administered the oath of office to Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar. Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar was appointed as Chief Justice of Manipur High Court by the President of India.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has allowed the use of e-SIMs while issuing guidelines for the same. The eSIMs will be installed in the device and details of service providers can be updated in it when buying a new connection. The DoT has enhanced the number of connections per user to 18.

NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul has received a lifetime achievement award for his contributions towards promoting brand India in UK. The founder of Caparo Group of industries, Paul was recognised at a UK & Asia Business Awards ceremony, organised by World Consulting & Research Corporation. He has also served as the deputy speaker of the Lords & was appointed to the Privy Council in 2009.

The scientists used data on human activities to map locations where freshwater is changing throughout the world. This is a first-of-its-kind study that used an array of NASA satellite observations of Earth. The study was published in the journal Nature. It revealed that Earth's dry areas are getting drier due to various factors like human water management, climate change and natural cycles. Areas in northern and eastern India, the Middle East, California and Australia are some of the hotspots where freshwater levels are reducing.

The device called 'Arsenic Sensor and Removal Media' is a cost effective product. On detection of arsenic the sensor will show immediate change in color This has been created by IISER in collaboration with a private company called 'ADO Additive'. As per reports, 83 blocks in eight districts of West Bengal- Burdwan, Malda, Hooghly, Howrah, Murshidabad, Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas - were hit by arsenic contamination.

The President of United States Mr.Donald Trump nominated 61 year old Gina Haspel as the first female CIA director. She won by a 54-45 vote. She has been working for the CIA for the past 33 years under the Directorate of Operations. She will be replacing former director Mike Pompeo. She also won the Intelligence Medal of Merit, the Presidential Rank Award among others.

A 16-year-old girl from Haryana has registered her name as the youngest woman to scale the world highest peak on 17th May 2018. Born in Hisar of Haryana in north-western India, Shivangi Pathak climbed Mount Everest exploring a message that women could overcome every obstacle to achieve their goals.

The Supreme Court approved the Centre's draft Cauvery Management Scheme for smooth distribution of water among four southern riparian states. The scheme would deal with the issue of water share of the four states in different circumstances like normal and deficient water years in the Cauvery river basin. The top court had modified the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) award of 2007.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has slapped a penalty of Rs. 50 million on South Indian Bank Limited for non-compliance with the directions issued by it. The non-compliance pertains to Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms, Know Your Customer norms and treasury function. Further, the bank is also pulled up for deficiencies in its compliance function and compliance culture.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu launched the Intellectual Property (IP) mascot 'IP Nani'. The mascot was launched during a conference on the National Intellectual Property Rights Policy in New Delhi. On the same occasion, an anti-piracy video featuring the Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan was also launched. The first and foremost objective of the Policy is "IPR Awareness: Outreach and Promotion", aimed at raising awareness on IPR for school children to nurture creativity and the ability to innovate from a very young age.

The Yatra, an Indian charity that organizes 15-day train journeys around India to understand and build the India of smaller towns and villages through enterprise has won an award in London. Jagriti Yatra was among a series of worldwide charities and individuals recognized for their impact within their communities at the Asian Voice Charity Awards. Jagriti Yatra organizes 15-day train journeys, covering 800 km for 400 young change-makers across India every year. It has created some of India's foremost social entrepreneurs and pioneers of enterprise-led development that cuts across socio-economic boundaries in India.

The Zimbabwe Cricket council appointed 56 year old former Indian Cricketer Mr Lalchand Rajput as the interim head coach of Zimbabwe. He replaced Heath Streak, a former Zimbabwe pacer, who was sacked after Zimbabwe lost to qualify in March for ICC world Cup to be held next year. Rajput was the head of Indian team in ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 when India won. He has been the manager for MS Dhoni , Ravi Shastri and the Indian team during 2008 Australia CB series.

The inaugural National Para Games, on the lines of National Games for able-bodied athletes, will be held under the Khelo India Scheme in June-July 2018 in Bengaluru. The Games will be held for the age group of 16 to 40 (men and women) in 10 disciplines namely para-athletics, badminton, chess, blind judo, para powerlifting, shooting para-sport, para-swimming, table tennis, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing.

According to the 'World Health Statistics 2018' released by World Health Organisation (WHO), India saw an estimated 211 cases of tuberculosis (TB) per 1,00,000 people in 2016, Nepal and Bhutan recorded fewer number of TB cases per 1,00,000 population than India. India has pledged to eradicate tuberculosis by 2025, five years ahead of the global target set by WHO.