24 May 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

24 May 2018 - Daily Current Affairs

Netherlands PM Mark Rutte arrives in India on a two-day visit

• The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mr. Mark Rutte arrived in New Delhi on a two-day visit to India.
• The visit aims to boost the economic and political co-operation between the two countries.
• India and the Netherlands have a bilateral trade of 5.39 billion dollars.
• The Netherlands is the 5th largest investor in India.

Rajasthan launches ‘Nidaan’ software for disease monitoring

• The Rajasthan Govt. has launched a new software, ‘Nidaan’ for presumptive diagnosis and monitoring of seasonal and non-communicable diseases as well as the trends of ailments found in specific areas.
• It is expected to help in the formulation of specific action plans for control of diseases.
• “Nidaan” will facilitate online entries of as many as 46 diseases and healthcare services available for their treatment in different institutions.

India moves one notch up to 44th rank in IMD's competitiveness rankings

• In the annual rankings compiled by International Institute for Management Development (IMD), India has moved to the 44th place (one notch higher) in terms of competitiveness.
• The US became the most competitive economy globally driven by its strength in economic performance and infrastructure, followed by Hong Kong (2^nd place) and Singapore (3^rd place).
• This year India ranked the 12th most competitive economy out of the 14 Asian countries on the list.
• According to the report, digital literacy and adequate bandwidth in rural areas and mobilization of resources for infrastructure development needs are few more key areas where the government needs to concentrate.

Cabinet approves USOF to provide mobile connectivity in LWE areas

• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Modi has approved Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) supported scheme to provide mobile services at 4,072 tower locations in Left Wing Extremism affected areas.
• The network will be used by the security personnel deployed in the Naxal affected areas.
• The Cabinet also gave its approval for the Implementation of a Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North Eastern Region in Meghalaya.

NITI Aayog & ABB India sign pact to benefit India from AI, robotics

• NITI Aayog and ABB India have signed a pact to help the country derive the benefits of latest technologies including robotics and artificial intelligence.
• They will work with government ministries, solicit feedback for areas critical to them and discuss solutions using industrial automation, and digitalization technologies.
• The initiative also covers the fast-growing segment of electric mobility.
• This collaboration is meant to lead to actionable insights and focused plans that will help India become a center for advanced manufacturing.

Note: The first workshop for senior government officials under this collaboration would be organized in Bengaluru.

Telecom subscriber base again crosses 1.2 bn mark in March

• According to monthly subscriber report of TRAI, Telecom subscriber base in the country crossed 1.2 billion marks, with mobile service companies recording a net addition of over 26 million customers in March 2018.
• The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,179 million at the end of February 2018 to over 1,206 million at the end of March 2018.
• The monthly growth rate stood at 2.24 percent.
• The overall teledensity in the country reached to 92.84 with the urban teledensity of 165.90 and rural teledensity at 59.05 at the end of March.

More than 31.56 crores account opened so far under PMJDY

• The union Government claimed that more than 31.56 crore accounts have been opened so far under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).
• According to the Finance Ministry, 59% of Jan Dhan Accounts have been opened in the rural areas whereas 53% of accounts belong to women.
• The balance in the accounts on 2nd May 2018 was 81,3017 crores rupees.

Obituaries

Veteran actor Hemu Adhikari passes away

• Veteran film and theatre actor Dr. Hemu Adhikari (81-years) passed away due to a lung ailment in Mumbai.
• He was known for his cameo in Rajkumar Hirani's 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai' (2006).
• He acted in Sai Paranjpe’s ‘Katha’ and Marathi films like ‘Dhyaas Parya’ and ‘Harishchandrachi Factory’.

Arts and Culture

India to host the ASEAN India Film Festival in Delhi

• The Directorate of Film Festival & the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organizing the 6-days ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) India Film Festival in Delhi (25th to 30th May 2018).
• The Union Minister Col Rajyavardhan Rathore will inaugurate the Film Festival in Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi.
• The tagline of the Festival is proposed to be ‘Friendship through Films’.
• Jassari Movie Sinjar will be the opening film for the festival.
• 32 films from 11 countries will be displayed during the festival.

Note: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising ten Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam).

National Appointments

HD Kumaraswamy takes oath as Karnataka chief minister

• Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala administers the oath to the JD(S)-Congress coalition government head ‘HD Kumaraswamy’ (58-year) as chief minister of the state at a ceremony held outside the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.
• Congress Leader G. Parameshwara was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister.
• Mr. HD Kumaraswamy has 15 days to prove his majority in the assembly.
• Earlier, Kumaraswamy (son of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda) had served as the chief minister of the state from (Feb 2006 to Oct 2007).

Elected members:

• BJP - 104 seats
• Congress- 78 seats
• JD(S) - 37 seats
• Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) -1,
• Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party- 1
• Independent candidate -1

Sports

AB de Villiers announces retirement from all forms of international cricket

• Former South African captain AB de Villiers has retired from all forms of international cricket with immediate effect.
• De Villiers finishes his career with a staggering 20,014 international runs (Test - 8765 runs), (ODIs-9577) and (T20Is-1672).