Current Affairs Of May 2013

 

-Abdul Hamid became the new president of Bangladesh to replace Zillur Rahman

-Government of India revised the creamy layer criteria for of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from 4.5 lakh rupees to 6 lakh rupees. OBC reservation quota can be availed only of the annual income limit is below the creamy layer limit set by the Govt from time to time. Hence this increase will help more people in OBC category to avail the reservation in got jobs and education opportunities. The limit is increased this time to make it in tune with the increase in consumer price index.

-Govt gave its nod for establishing Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission, aimed at conserving the heritage sites associated with Mahatma Gandhi.

- ISRO announced its plan to launch of the communication launch of GSAT-14 on July. The satellite launch vehicle GSLV D5 will be used to carry this satellite to orbit.

-RoboBee, a Bee sized Robot is developed by researchers of Harvard University. It has the ability to sense and fly like a bee.

-IBM scientists released the smallest movie of the world named - A Boy and His Atom. The movement of atoms are magnified and tracked as a movie.

-India joins the Artic council as an observer. Six nations - China, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea. Singapore and India – are the new observers to the Artic council. It is a body of eight Artic countries - Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.

-India has indigenously developed vaccine against rotavirus. This will reduce the cost of vaccination dramatically.  Rotavirus is the major cause of diarrhoea deaths among children.

-Dr. Aparajita Datta, Indian biologist, is honoured with the Whitley Award 2013. It is to honour her efforts to save the endangered hornbills in Eastern Himalayas. The Whitley award is also known as Green Oscar.

-RBI has projected the GDP growth of the country for the year 2013 14 as 5.7% 

-ADB (Asian Development Bank) announced that it has plans to provide 6 billion Dollars to India over next 3 years. India is the biggest borrower of ADB

-The supreme court of India provided approval for operations to Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.

-President Pranab Mukherjee unveiled ‘Bichitra’, an online collection of Tagore’s works. This is in the occasion of Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations. 

-World’s first gun created using the 3D printer technology is successfully tested in US. 3D printing technology is envisaged as the future of manufacturing. This technology allows consumers to download designs at home and printed using 3D technology, rather than buying it from shops.

-Aajeevika, the National Rural Livelihoods Mission, will undergo significant changes since the Union Government has approved changes to the existing mission plan.

-The Central government announced its plans for setting up of an expert committee under to draw up a composite development index of individual states. It will be chaird by chief economic advisor Raghuram Rajan.

-Uttar Pradesh, country’s most populous state, accounted for the largest number of mobile subscribers in India, as per a survey. India is the world's second largest mobile phone market in terms of subscribers.

-Najib Razak is sworn in as the Prime Minister of Malaysia. He is getting a second term as the prime minister of Malaysia.

-As per the Fortune magazine, Walmart Replaced ExxonMobil and recorded Highest Revenue in 2012.

-This year’s world asthma day is observed with the theme - You Can Control Your Asthma. Every year, the first Tuesday of May is observed as the world asthma day

-Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement from the role of manager of Manchester United. Ferguson, the most successful football manager of all times, managed Manchester United for 26 years.

-India nominated Himalayan National Park and Hill forts of Rajasthan for World Heritage sites recommendations of 2013. The UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee will decide on conferring World heritage site status to these places.

-Solar Impulse, the aircraft powered by solar energy completed its first leg of journey in the US. Solar Impulse is the Swiss solar powered project aiming to circumnavigate the globe with the use of just solar power. Solar flights were successful from Switzerland to Spain in 2012.

-The government of India approved the National Cyber Security Policy.

-ESA (European Space Agency) approved Biomass, the satellite that can weigh the forests of the Earth. It is expected to be launched in 2020. He satellite can sense trunks and branches of the trees from orbit, and this data can be used in analysing carbon amount stored in forests.

-The Brazilian Roberto Azevedo is named as the head of the World Trade Organisation, WTO.

-Rajasthan Royals players S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandilia and Ankit Chavan have been arrested by the Delhi Police on charges of spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League

-Mittu Chandilya is appointed as the CEO of AirAsia India. AirAsia India is the joint venture of AirAsia and Tata Sons.

-Cyclone named 'Mahasen' hits Bangladesh and Myanmar.

-The Govt of India on decided to declare the year 2013 as Water Conservation Year. Several programs are planned to spread awareness on importance of water conservation.

-Govt of India approved the policy to develop aviation hubs across cities in India. An aviation hub is an airport which is used as intermediate point for transferring air travellers from origin to destination. The policy will focus on developing both aviation hubs for both global and domestic travellers.

-Govt of India approved proposal to establish National Skill Development Agency (NSDA). This initiative aims to increase employability among the youths of the country.

-National Stock Exchange (NSE) launched country’s first dedicated debt trading platform.

-This year’s National Florence Nightingale Awards were presented by the President. This award is instituted to recognise the selfless services of nurses.

-A multi-media initiative, named as ‘Bharat Nirman’ is launched by ministry of Information and broadcasting to showcase the UPA Government’s nine years in power.

-RBI directed banks to follow the Clean Note Policy which aims at providing clean currency notes to public. RBI guideline demands banks not to staple currency  notes, withdraw soiled notes from circulation and stop writing of any kind on the watermark area of currency notes.

-Govt of India signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Netherlands on technical co-operation of different fields of urban planning.

-Direct Benefit Transfer (DBTL) is launched for LPG in Aadhaar covered districts. This scheme aims at providing subsidy for LPG directly to the bank account of beneficiaries. Consumers need to link bank Aadhar details with their bank accounts for getting this benefit.

-Central Govt decided to set up the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC). The goal is to strengthen and institutionalise the mechanism for maintaining financial stability and development. This council will be headed by RBI Governor.

-A project known as Priyadarshini scheme is launched by the Minsitry of Women and child development to help women SHGs (Self Help Group)

 -Yahoo announced its plans to acquire Tumblr, the micro blogging service for 1.1 billion dollars.

-The Graamin Haat initiate of Madhya Pradesh Cottage and Village Industry Department bagged United Nations Public Service Award for year 2013. The Graamin Haat project aims at empowering the society through Women’s self-help groups.

-Former English football team captain David Beckham announced his retirement from professional football. He played for Manchester United and Real Madrid football clubs. At the time of retirement he was playing for Paris Saint-German football club.

-Standard Chartered announced that it is acquiring Morgan Stanley’s Indian private Wealth Management division.

-Shashi Kant Sharma took charge as the new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, succeeding Vinod Rai who retired after an eventful five-and-a-half years in the role. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is a constitutional authority responsible for auditing all receipts and expenditure of the Government of India and the state governments.

-World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is celebrated on 17 May 2013. The goal is to make information and communication more accessible to people living in remote areas. This year’s theme is - ICTs and improving road safety.

-World Health Organization recognised Department of Yoga Therapy and Training of Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY) as the WHO Collaborating Centre in Traditional Medicine.

-Scientists at Chinese university Zhejiang announced that they have produced the lightest material ever created, known as carbon aerogel.contract is of Rs 1100 crore.

-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is elected as a Rajyasabha member for the fifth time. He is elected from Assam.

-A new Fast patrol Vessel named as Abhinav is built by Cochin Shipyard Limited for Indian Coast Guard.

-The HR ministry has decided to set up a National Testing Agency (NTA) which will be responsible to change the present situation of multiple entrance examinations for various higher education courses.

-OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) reduced India’s growth estimate for 2013. As per its report the growth will be 5.3 per cent instead of 5.9 per cent.

-RBI decided to launch the inflation indexed bonds (IIBs). The goal is to discourage investors to use gold as an instrument to hedge against inflation. IIBs will have a maturity period of 10 years. IIBs are linked to inflation of the country. Hence if the inflation is higher, returns also will be higher. This is considered as a better option compared to gold and real estate.

-American author Lydia Davis is declared the winner of the Man Booker International Prize.

-Indian National Defence University will be set up in Gurgaon. It will be a dedicated institution for training and research of military studies.

-The International Day for Biological Diversity is observed on May 22. This year’s theme is Water and Biodiversity.

-India and United Kingdom signed MoU on Cooperation in Health sector.

-Anti-Terrorism Day is observed in 21 May 2013, the anniversary of martyrdom of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

-Year 2014 is declared as the friendship year to promote understanding between India and China

-Pratibha Ray received the 47th Jnanpith Award for the year 2011 from President Pranab Mukherjee. She is the fourth Oriya writer to receive this award.

-ISRO Navigation Centre (INC) which is established at Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) complex near Bangalore is inaugurated. It is part of IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System), an independent navigation satellite system.

-The 80-Year-Old Japanese Mountaineer Yuichiro Miura became oldest man to climb Mount Everest.

-The Union Govt of India approved Malayalam as a classical language. Kannada, Tamil and Telugu languages are already declared as classical languages.

-Professor Ramdarash Mishra is awarded Vyas Samman for the year 2011. Dr Narendra Kohli received Vyas samman for the year 2012.

-UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India), the authority responsible for providing Aadhaar cards has inaugurated three Aadhar enabled services - e-KYC, OTP authentication and Iris authentication. All these services help to provide authentication of individuals to different agencies, in case of requirement. 

-Nicobar Islands is designated as a world biosphere reserve by UNESCO.

-Mumbai Indians became champions in Indian Premier League 2013 by defeating Chennai Super Kings.

-India has decided to strengthen its co-operation with Saudi Arabia on counter-terrorism activities.

-The Govt of India plans for a green energy corridor project, which aims at providing electricity from renewable sources with conventional power stations in the national power grid. The Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd will be working on this project. Germany will be providing technical assistance for this project.

-RBI imposed several restrictions to banks and NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Companies) for proving gold loans. These restrictions are aimed at reducing the demand and the inbound shipments of gold to the country.

-66th Cannes Film Festival ended with French-Tunisian filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiche winning the prestigious Palme d'Or award for his film “Blue is the Warmest Colour”-The nation the New Air Force Station at Thanjavur is dedicated to the country by the defence minister A K Antony

-Mr S K Roy is appointed as the managing director of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India.

-The Indian telecom sector is currently the second largest telephone network in the world. China has the largest telephone network in the world.

-India plans to launch its navigational satellite on June 12. Apart from navigation services, it will also help in disaster and fleet management. The satellite will be known as Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System-1A.  The satellite can provide navigation services similar to GPS (Global Positioning System).

-TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) won a six-year contract from the Department of Posts (DoP). The contract is aimed at end-to-end IT modernization programme of India Post. 

-Sarabjit Singh, the Indian prisoner in Pakistani jail, is murdered by fellow Jail inmates in Lahore.

-South Korea rebuilds its 600 year old cultural heritage gate Namdaemun, also known as National Treasure Number One. It was destroyed by an arsonist in 2008.

-DataWind claimed that it has completed the supply of 100,000 tablets. Datawind is the manufacturer of the low cost Akash tablets. Govt aimed to provide low cost devices for students to access internet for educational purposes through the Akash project.

-IMF (International Monetary Fund) mentioned that providing subsidy as direct cash transfer using Aadhar will save 0.5% of India’s GDP.

-Japan’s Mount Fuji got the approval from ICOMOS as the UNESCO World Heritage site. ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) approval is the pre-condition for UNESCO world heritage site declaration. UNESCO meet on June 2013 is supposed to officially announce Mount Fuji as the world heritage site.

-The Union Cabinet approved the National Urban Health Mission for five years. The goal of National Health Mission is to reduce infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate and increase universal access to reproductive health care.

-Zhongxing-11, the new Chinese satellite is successfully launched. It will help in communication and broadcasting area in Asia Pacific regions.

-Ireland’s government passed the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill. The bill states when life-saving abortions can be performed. The law in Ireland does not allow abortion, and this bill gives specific exceptions and clarity to the law. The bill was proposed in the context of the death of an Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar in 2012, due to pregnancy related issues.