Current Affairs - May 30, 2018 Current Affairs

Software giant Microsoft has surpassed Google's parent company Alphabet in market capitalisation for the first time in three years. Microsoft has now become the third most valuable firm globally after Apple and Amazon. Microsoft had a market cap of $753 billion at the close of trading, almost $14 billion ahead of Alphabet. While Apple leads with a market cap of nearly $924 billion, Amazon is at a distant second, with nearly $783 billion.

Nepal's Finance Minister will present the first federal budget of the Himalayan nation after completing the three-tier elections held simultaneously in the year of 2017. The Government of Nepal is expected to unveil the budget of about 16 trillion for the upcoming fiscal year. The Constitution of Nepal mandates the government to unveil the budget in a joint meeting of federal parliaments.

Indian star cricketer Yuvraj Singh has been awarded the 'most inspiring icon of the year for Social Welfare". The award was given by the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival for his exemplary contribution in the field of social welfare. Yuvraj opened his foundation 'YouWeCan' that focuses on creating cancer awareness.

Gaj Yatra Gaj Yatra is an 18-month-long national campaign aimed to protect elephants, India's national heritage animal in 12 elephant range states. It was organized by the Wildlife Trust of India in collaboration with the State Forest Department. Under this campaign, an elephant mascot will be there. It was launched to the acknowledged good gesture of villagers from Garo Hills who had set aside part of their community-owned land to create village researchers.

Bhubaneswar (capital city of Odisha) becomes the fourth National data centre of National Informatics Centre (NIC) after Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune. The new cloud-enabled National Data Centre aims to offer round-the-clock operations with secure hosting for various e-governance applications of Central and State Governments and has the ability to support 35,000 virtual servers.

Indian botanist Dr. Kamaljit S. Bawa has been conferred with the prestigious Linnean Medal in Botany from the Linnean Society of London on May 24, 2018. He has been recognized for his pioneering research on the evolution of tropical plants, tropical deforestation, non-timber forest products and for decades of work on the biodiversity of forests in Central America, the Western Ghats and the Eastern Himalaya. With this, he became the first Indian to win the award ever since it was first constituted in 1888. Dr. Bawa is the President of Bengaluru-based non-profit Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE). The Linnean Medal is awarded to a biologist every year by the Linnean Society of London.

Government of India announced that Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra has been given Additional charge of DRDO. The current DRDO chief is S. Christopher and will retire after the extended one year tenure in 2018. The DRDO chief and Scientific Advisor post was held by one person until 2015 when government bifurcated these two to individual post.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, met in New Delhi and accorded approval for the procurement of equipment for the Defence Forces valued at over Rs. 6900 crore. The DAC approved procurement of Thermal Imaging (TI) Night Sights for the Rocket Launcher (RL) used by the Army and the Air Force under 'BUY (Indian) IDDM' category through established Indian Vendors.

Paraguay gets first interim woman President Alicia Pucheta for the first time in its history after outgoing leader Horacio Cartes stepped down ahead of schedule. Vice President Alicia Pucheta will complete Cartes's mandate after he resigned to become a senator. Paraguay gets first interim woman President Alicia Pucheta for the first time in its history after outgoing leader Horacio Cartes stepped down ahead of schedule. Vice President Alicia Pucheta will complete Cartes's mandate after he resigned to become a senator.

SpaceX launched two new Earth science satellites for NASA and five Iridium Next communications satellites into orbit. This ride-share mission took off on a pre-flown Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Nearly 12 minutes after take off, the rocket's second stage deployed twin satellites for NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission into a near-polar orbit.

An Agreement for IBRD Credit of USD 21.7 Million from the World Bank for the Strengthening of Public Financial Management in Rajasthan Project was signed in New Delhi. The Project size is approximately USD 31 million, of which USD 21.7 million will be financed by the World Bank, and the remaining amount will be funded out of the State Budget. The Project objective is to contribute to improved Budget execution, enhanced accountability and greater efficiency in Revenue Administration in Rajasthan.

Ibrahima Kassory Fofana took Charge as the Prime Minister of Guinea. He replaced Mamady Youla. Earlier,Ibrahima Kassory Fofana was Minister in Charge of Public Investment and relations with the private Sector. After assuming the Charge,he hadn't made major Changes in the Cabinet.He handed economy portfolio to Mamadi Camara, Guinea's ex-ambassador to South Africa,while the defence, foreign affairs and justice ministers remain unchanged.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has emerged as the International Cricketer of the Year at the CEAT Cricket Ratings awards, which were presented in Mumbai. Batsman Rohit Sharma collected the award on behalf of Kohli.

On the first leg of 3-Nation visit, PM Modi has visited Indonesia. India and Indonesia signed 15 MoUs in the fields of defence, scientific and technological cooperation, railways and health, among others. PM Modi and Indonesian President Joko Widodo in a joint statement also agreed to develop further cooperation in maritime sector for "immense stability" in the region.

Belinda Clark has been made the women's cricket representative. She replaces Clare Connor who has finished her third and final three-year term. Belinda Clark is former Australian women's team captain. Kyle Coezter has been appointed as the Associate Members representative. He succeeds Ireland's Kevin O'Brien. Kyle Coezter is the Scotland skipper. Mike Hesson has been made the Full Member team coach representative. He succeeds Darren Lehmann. Mike Hesson is the New Zealand national team coach. All the three have been appointed to the committee for an initial term of 3 years.

Justice R.K. Agrawal has been appointed as the President of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC). He has replaced Justice D.K. Jain, who retired recently.

The Indian Meteorological Department(IMD) is joining hands with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for sending extreme weather warnings. Under harsh weather conditions IMD will send alerts to the BSNL and BSNL with the help of its technology will send the alerts to the registered numbers in the Delhiregion. Under harsh weather conditions IMD will send alerts to the BSNL and BSNL with the help of its technology will send the alerts to the registered numbers in the Delhiregion. The government agencies have limits to which they can spread alerts especially for thunderstorms.

The Ministry of Women and Child and Development, Government of India has signed an MoU with Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh, in New Delhi for management of Home of Widows at Sunrakh Bangar, Vrindavan. The MoU shall be in force for a period of 2 years which may be renewed for further period on the satisfactory running of the Home.