25 May 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

25 May 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. PM Modi now the leader with the largest popular mandate in the world

• Narendra Modi now is the leader with the largest popular mandate in the world.
• Modi is the only world leader to win so convincingly in a hotly contested, democratic system, which carries unique equity among the global elite.
• PM of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, who recently won a tough-elections securing a record fifth term for himself, managed a 65-seat majority with the help of smaller religious parties.
• In Japan, PM Shinzo Abe is comfortably placed, but the numbers are more modest.
• The only other big number of victory recently has been Joko Widodo in Indonesia.
• The huge win for Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party was a devastating loss for the Indian National Congress party, which once dominated Indian politics and had hoped for a strong comeback after struggling in recent elections.
• In 2014, US President Obama, meeting Modi in Myanmar on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit, declared, “this man has the biggest electoral victory of all of us”.
• In 2019 that holds even more true.

Source: The Times of India

2. President dissolves 16th Lok Sabha

• President Ram Nath Kovind today dissolved the 16th Lok Sabha with immediate effect on the recommendation of the Union cabinet, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.
• A communique issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said the President dissolved the Lok Sabha after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi made such a recommendation.
• "The President has accepted the advice of the Cabinet on 24.05.2019 and signed the Order dissolving the 16th Lok Sabha," it said.
• The President also received the list of winning Lok Sabha candidates from Election Commission. The Election Commission met on Saturday to finalise the list of winning candidates to be handed over to President.
• With the handing over of the list, the process to form the 17th Lok Sabha is set in motion.
• The president had on 24 May accepted the resignation of Modi and his council of ministers but asked them to continue as caretaker until the formation of a new government.
• Narendra Modi is expected to take oath as a new prime minister next week.
• In the just-concluded parliamentary polls, the BJP scored a resounding victory, bagging 303 out of 542 seats. Its arch-rival, the Congress, was way behind at 52.

Source: Business Standard

Science & Defence

3. DRDO test fires guided bomb from Sukhoi combat jet

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully test-fired an indigenously developed 500 kg class guided bomb from a Sukhoi combat jet at Pokhran in Rajasthan.
• The test firing of the guided bomb came two days after the Indian Air Force successfully test fired the aerial version of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile from a Sukhoi jet at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Source: DD News

4. ISRO chairman flags off shipment of India's largest liquid hydrogen storage tank

• ISRO Chairman K Sivan on 22 May flagged off the shipment of India's largest liquid hydrogen storage tank at the VRV Asia Pacific's manufacturing plant at Sri City in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
• The storage capacity of the tank is 120-kilolitres. Liquid hydrogen is used as fuel for satellite launch vehicles.
• VRV Asia Pacific manufactured the storage tank with a Liquid Nitrogen (LIN) shield, in a collaborative effort with Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, under the Make in India initiative.
• VRV's unit at Sri City is one of the most technologically sophisticated manufacturing facilities of cryogenic equipment in the world.

Source: The Economic Times

5. Isro's new commercial arm NewSpace India officially inaugurated

• NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), was officially inaugurated in Bengaluru on 23 May 2019.
• It was inaugurated by Isro's honorary adviser, Dr K Kasturirangan in the presence of chairman Dr K Sivan.
• Capital - NISL is provided with an authorised share capital of Rs 100 crore and initially paid-up capital of Rs 10 crore.

Objective –

• NSIL's main objective is to scale up industry participation in Indian space programmes.
• It will be responsible for manufacturing the and production of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) through technology transfer mechanisms.

Note:

• NSIL was incorporated on March 6 2019, for commercially utilising research and development activities carried out by ISRO in the area of space
• NSIL will act as an aggregator for all space-related activities in industry and develop private entrepreneurship in space-related technologies.

Source: The Economic Times

Appointment

6. Naveen Patnaik set for the fifth term as Odisha CM

• Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) headed by incumbent Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is all set to form a government for a fifth consecutive term.
• A meeting of the newly elected BJD legislators is scheduled to be held on Saturday, and the new Cabinet is likely to be sworn-in on Monday, May 27, party officials said.
• The final Election Commission (EC) tally shows that the BJD won 112 of the 146 Assembly seats for which elections were held.
• The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bagged 23, the Congress nine, the CPI(M) one and a solitary Independent were also elected.
• Patnaik, who will take oath as Chief Minister for the fifth consecutive term, won from two Assembly segments — his old constituency Hinjili under the Aska Lok Sabha seat in southern Odisha and Bijapur under the Bargarh Lok Sabha seat in western Odisha.

Source: The Hindu

7. Shailesh Tinaikar to Head UN Peacekeeping Operations In South Sudan

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed a decorated Indian Army officer as the new Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.
• Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar, 57, will succeed Lieutenant General Frank Kamanzi of Rwanda who completes his assignment on May 26.
• The announcement was made by the UN chief on 24 May 2019.

Note:

• Tinaikar graduated from the Indian Military Academy in 1983 and is currently serving as the Commandant of the Infantry School since July 2018.
• The UN mission in South Sudan, a country born in July 2011, has 19,400 personnel deployed with it as of March 2019.

Source: Business Standard

8. British PM Theresa May announces resignation, to step down on 7 June

• British Prime Minister Theresa May announces resignation from her post. She will resign on 7 June.
• Her announcement triggers the start of a contest to replace her as Conservative leader and Prime Minister.
• Ms May failed to win over her ministers with a revised strategy to withdraw Britain from the European Union.
• May's departure will deepen the Brexit crisis as a new leader is likely to want a more decisive split, raising the chances of a confrontation with the European Union and a snap parliamentary election.

Source: DD News

Banking & Economy

9. Corporation Bank launches ‘Corp SME Suvidha’ for MSMEs

• Corporation Bank has launched ‘Corp SME Suvidha’, a product for GST-registered MSMEs.
• The product has been designed as part of the bank's efforts to provide the best products to the MSME sector.
• PV Bharathi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank, launched the product in Mangaluru.

Source: The Hindu

10. RBI to purchase govt securities under OMO

• The Reserve Bank of India said that it will conduct an auction on June 13 to purchase government securities under Open Market Operation (OMO) for ₹15,000 crore to infuse durable liquidity.
• In the current financial year so far, it conducted OMO purchase of five government securities on two occasions — on May 2 and May 16 — infusing ₹12,500 crore in each auction.
• The total amount of government securities offered by market participants was ₹27,426 crore (face value) on May 2 and was ₹29,479 crore on May 16.

Source: The Hindu Businessline

11. India on US watch list for currency practices

• The US has added India to its monitoring list for currency practices and macroeconomic policies, alleging undervaluation in its currency.
• The semi-annual report on the US’ trade partners’ macroeconomic and foreign exchange policies, monitors any unfair currency practices.
• The monitoring list comprises China, Japan, Korea, Germany and Switzerland. India is the latest addition in the report published last month.

Source: The Economic Times

12. Public sector banks recover Rs 1.2 lakh cr from bad loans in 2018-19

• According to the report, Public sector banks (PSBs) have recovered close to Rs 1.2 lakh crore from stressed assets during the fiscal ended March, primarily helped by resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
• During the first half of the previous fiscal, banks recovered Rs 60,713 crore from bad loans.
• "Due to non-resolution of some big accounts referred under NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal), PSBs could not achieve the resolution target of Rs 1.80 lakh crore.
• Banks recovered close to Rs 55,000 crore from the NCLT resolution, the official said.

Source: The Economic Times

Summit & Conference

13. 17th Investiture Ceremony of BSF held in New Delhi

• Border Security Force Investiture Ceremony and Rustomji Memorial Lecture 2019 was organized at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on 22 May 2019.
• National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has stated that technology will play a pivotal role in guarding the borders in days to come as security challenges are increasing day by day.
• Lauding the BSF, the National Security Advisor said, it is not only the biggest border guarding force of the world but has also left its mark on standards of high professionalism.

Source: DD News

14. 2019 Urban 20 Mayors Summit to take place in Tokyo

• The second Urban 20 (U20) Mayors Summit was held in Tokyo, Japan ahead of G20 Osaka Summit.
• It had seen the participation of Mayors of 35 major cities from across the world.
• In this summit, mayors and city governors from 30 cities with 126 million people adopted 2019 Urban 20 Tokyo Mayors Summit Communique.

Themes of Mayoral Sessions:

• Climate Action
• Circular Economy
• Social Inclusion and Integration
• Sustainable Economic Growth
• Gender Equality

Note:

• The G20 Osaka Summit will be held from June 28 to 29, 2019 in Japan.

Source: The Diplomat

15. Fifth Smart Cities India Expo held in New Delhi

• The fifth Smart Cities India 2019 expo, including Transport India, Solar India, Buildings India and Water India expos, was held in New Delhi.
• It was inaugurated by Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra on 22 May 2019.
• The expo was organised by India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) and Exhibitions India Group, the event builds upon Government of India’s ‘Smart Cities Mission’ through a display of a vast array of products and solutions relevant to building smart cities in India.

Source: UNI