26-27 May 2019 - Daily Current Affairs

1. Prem Singh Golay sworn in as Sikkim Chief Minister

Today, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) President Prem Singh Golay (51-years) has sworn-in as the new Chief Minister of Sikkim.
Governor Ganga Prasad administrated the oath of office and secrecy to Mr Golay and his 11 cabinet colleagues at Palzor Stadium in Gangtok.
The cabinet ministers who took oath are Kunga Nima Lepcha, Sonam Lama, Bedu Singh Pant, Mani Kumar Sharma, Arun Kumar Upreti, Samdup Lepcha, Lok Nath Sharma, Mingma Norbu Sherpa, Karma Loday Bhutia, Bhim Hang Limboo and Sanjit Kharel.
Mr. Golay is not a member of the State Assembly at present as he did not contest the polls.
The SKM unseated the SDF government led by five-time chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling (country’s longest-serving Chief Minister).

Note:

Sikkim Legislative Assembly elections were held in Sikkim on 11th April 2019 to elect the 32 members of Legislative Assembly.
Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (founded in 2013) won a slender majority in the 32-member legislative assembly by bagging 17 seats against 15 won by Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF).

2. Arunachal CM Pema Khandu tender’s resignation to Governor

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and his Council of Ministers resigned to Governor Dr B D Mishra in Itanagar.
The Governor accepted the resignation and asked Mr Khandu and the Council of Ministers to continue until the new government is sworn in.
BJP for the first time in the state has won 41 seats, JD(U) -7, NPP- 5, IND- 2, INC - 4 and PPA -1 in the 60-member Arunachal Pradesh State Assembly.
Assembly elections were held for 57 seats as three BJP candidates were earlier declared elected unopposed.

Source: AIR News

3. Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill resigns

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill (54 years) resigned from his post after weeks of unrest in the government.
O'Neill has handed over leadership to Sir Julius Chan, who will become prime minister for the third time.
The announcement came after high-profile defections from his Government to the Opposition.
Earlier, one of Peter O'Neill's key coalition allies abandoned him and since then, the Opposition bloc has been saying it has 62 MPs in its camp, which would give it a majority in Parliament.

Note:

The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea is Papua New Guinea's head of government, consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the National Parliament.
Papua New Guinea is a country of immense cultural and biological diversity, it’s known for its beaches and coral reefs.

Source: BBC

Obituaries

4. Veteran CPI leader Joshi passes away

Veteran communist leader P.P.C. Joshi (80-years) passed away at his house in Puppalaguda after a prolonged illness.
P.P.P. Joshi worked as the general manager (GM) of Visalaandhra Publishing House, treasurer of the CPI Central Committee office and the party’s publication arm People’s Publishing House.
His penchant for publishing led him to start Prachee Publications, subsequently handed over to Nava Telangana Publications, which published several books.

Source: The Hindu

Banking and Finance

5. Standard Chartered partners with IBM to launch Trade AI Engine

Standard Chartered has officially launched the Trade AI Engine, a joint solution developed in partnership with IBM.
Trade AI Engine will enhance the client experience in trade document processing through increased operational efficiency and strengthened operational control.
Traditional documentary trade requires millions of data elements in paper-based, unstructured documents that are often issued by various companies and needs to be reviewed through a largely manual process.
With the implementation of the Trade AI Engine powered by IBM, this time-consuming and high-risk process is now significantly automated.

Source: Money Control

International Affairs

6. Trump becomes the first foreign leader to meet new Japanese emperor

US President Donald Trump has become the first foreign leader to meet Japan's Emperor Naruhito.
Emperor Naruhito ascended to the throne on May 1, opening what is called the era of "Reiwa," or "beautiful harmony."
The US President Mr Trump (four-day state visit to Japan) was treated to a welcome ceremony full of pomp and pageantry.
Trump will go to the Japanese state guest house later for meetings and joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Source: BBC

Science & Defence

7. Pakistan successfully tests ballistic missile Shaheen-II

Pakistan successfully test-fired surface-to-surface medium-range guided ballistic missile ‘Shaheen-II’.
It is a two-stage rocket with a diameter of 1.4 m, length of 17.5 m, the weight of 25 tons and a range of 1500-2000 km.
Shaheen-II is a highly capable missile that fully meets Pakistan’s strategic needs towards the maintenance of desired deterrence stability in the region.

Note:

The Shaheen-II is designed and developed by the NESCOM and the National Defence Complex (NDC) of Pakistan.
The Shaheen missile series is named after a falcon that lives in the mountains of Pakistan.

Source: The Hindu

Honour & Awards

8. Bong Joon Ho's 'Parasite' strikes gold at Cannes this year

South Korean director Bong Joon Ho's "Parasite" bagged the Palme d'Or at the closing ceremony of 72nd Cannes Film Festival in France.
Belgium's Dardenne brothers won the best director award for their story of a radicalised Muslim youth "Young Ahmed".
British actress Emily Beecham won the best actress award for psychological chiller "Little Joe".
Antonio Banderas named the best actor for his role of a filmmaker in Pedro Almodovar's self-reflexive "Pain and Glory".
The Jury Prize was shared by two films -- French-Malian Ladj Ly's "Les Miserables" and the Brazilian entry "Bacurau", directed by Kleber Mendonce Filho and Juliano Dornelles.

Source: AIR News

Sports

9. Apurvi Chandela bags gold medal in 10m Air Rifle in ISSF World Cup

India’s Apurvi Chandela has won the gold medal in women’s 10 m Air Rifle competition at the year's third International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle and Pistol tournament in Munich, Germany.
She shot a score of 251 in the final to outshine Wang Luyao of China.
This was Apurvi’s second ISSF world cup gold of the year followed by a world record score in New Delhi (in Feb 2019).
Indian Elavenil Valarivan missed out on a bronze medal to Xu Hong of China by just 0.1 points and finished fourth.

Note:

The 2019 ISSF World Cup is the annual edition of the ISSF World Cup in the Olympic shooting events, governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation.

Source: AIR News

10. China beat Japan to win the 2019 Sudirman Cup

China has won the badminton world mixed-team championship, Sudirman Cup 2019 (16th edition) in Nanning, China.
They beat Japan in men's doubles, women's singles and men's singles to clinch the title for an 11th time.
In the latest Men' singles match Shi Yuqi stunned world champion Kento Momota 15-21, 21-5,21-11.
Japan have never won the Sudirman Cup.

Note:

The 2019 Sudirman Cup is the biennial international badminton championship contested by the mixed national teams of the member associations of Badminton World Federation (BWF), since its inception in 1989.

Source: AIR news

11. Men's compound team win bronze in Archery World Cup

The men's compound team of Rajat Chauhan, Abhishek Verma and Aman Saini earned India a solitary bronze medal in the Archery World Cup Stage III at Antalya in Turkey.
The trio put up a solid performance to edge out higher seeded Russian team of Anton Bulaev, Alexander Dambaev and Pavel Krylov 235-230 in the bronze medal play-off.
The Women's compound team of Jyoti Surekha Vennam, Muskan Kirar and Swati Dudhwal lost to Great Britain's Layla Annison, Ella Gibson and Lucy Mason by two points in the contention for a bronze medal.
Indian archers have failed to make it count in the recurve section, finishing without a medal.
The third stage of the World Cup is the last meet before the World Championships in the Netherlands.

Source: AIR News

12. India's Mahesh Mangaonkar wins Sekisui Open

In squash, India's Mahesh Mangaonkar triumphed for the second time in the Sekisui Open in Kriens, Switerzland.
Top-seeded Mahesh beat third seed Bernat Jaume (Spain) in four games 11-9, 3-11, 11-5, 11-5 to win his 8th PSA title.

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