Current Affairs Update – 24th May, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Current Affairs of 24th May, 2016. These are important for the upcoming UIIC AO 2016, SBI Clerk and SBI PO 2016 Exams.

Current Affairs at a Glance – 24th May, 2016

  1. The government today announced
    the names of 13 more cities that will be developed under the Centre’s ‘Smart City Mission’ with Lucknow
    in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh topping the list, followed by Warangal in Telangana and Dharmashala
    in Himachal Pradesh.
  2. IRDAI has imposed a penalty of Rs. 35 lakh on Future Generali India Insurance Co for violating various laws including the ones
    related to payments, licensing of insurance agents and file and use policy.
  3. The World Bank will provide assistance of $100 million to the Karnataka Urban Water
    Supply Modernisation project
    .
  4. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on 22 May 2016
    launched the PEHAL
    programme for the district of Shimla.
  5. The Union Government on 20 May
    2016 constituted
    a committee of experts on defence spending
    . The 11-member committee
    will be headed
    by Lt Gen DB Shekatkar (retd)
    and
    include top military officers and civilian experts.
  6. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)
    Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani was
    on 17 May 2016 awarded with the prestigious Othmer Gold Medal for his entrepreneurial
    leadership
    by the United States
    based Chemical Heritage Foundation.
  7. Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling was on 22 May 2016 conferred with the Yugkavi
    Siddhicharan Prize by Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli
    .
  8. British director Ken Loach‘s film I, Daniel Blake on 22
    May 2016 won the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival.
  9. Renowned scientist S K Sharma on 23 May 2016 was appointed the Chairman and
    Managing Director (CMD) of Nuclear Power
    Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).
  10. United Nations (UN)
    Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 20 May 2016 announced the appointments of Mary
    Robinson of Ireland and Macharia Kamau of Kenya as his Special Envoys on El
    Nino and Climate
    .
  11. The book titled My Favourite
    Nature Stories
    authored by famous
    author Ruskin
    Bond
    was released on 19 May 2016.
    Apart from My Favourite Nature Stories, Bond also launched another book titled The World
    Outside My Window
    .
  12. The World Bank Group has launched the much anticipated Pandemic
    Emergency Finance Facility (PEF)

    a new financing mechanism to quickly mobilise funds to tackle global disease
    outbreaks and create a new insurance market for pandemic risk.

Finance/Insurance –
Lucknow tops list of 13 new smart cities

  • The government today announced
    the names of 13 more cities that will be developed under the Centre’s ‘Smart
    City Mission’ with Lucknow in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh topping the list,
    followed by Warangal in Telangana and Dharmashala in Himachal Pradesh.
  • Twenty-three cities with the
    higher rankings from as many states and Union terrritories, which failed to get
    representation in the first round of a competition held in January,
    participated in the ‘Fast Track Competition’, the result of which was announced
    by Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today.
  • Of these 23 cities, only 13 could
    qualify for the smart city projects through the fresh competition.
  • Other cities, which won this
    round, were Chandigarh, Raipur (Chhattisgarh), New Town Kolkata, Bhagalpur
    (Bihar), Panaji (Goa), Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Imphal
    (Manipur), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Agartala (Tripura) and Faridabad (Haryana).
  • The 13 cities selected in the
    Fast Track Competition have proposed a total investment of Rs 30,229 crore.
    With this, the investment proposed by 33 cities (20 cities announced in January
    and 13 cities today) under the smart city plans is now Rs 80, 789 crore.
IRDAI imposes Rs. 35 lakh penalty on Future Generali

  • IRDAI has imposed a penalty of
    Rs. 35 lakh on Future Generali India Insurance Co for violating various laws
    including the ones related to payments, licensing of insurance agents and file
    and use policy.
  • It has asked the company to remit
    the amount within a period of 15 days.
  • The company was found to be
    making payments to its intermediaries under accounting heads as support
    services, consultancy that were not reported to the Authority, it said.
  • IRDAI said it was in violation of
    Insurance Act and imposed a fine of Rs. 5 lakh for the contravention.
  • A similar penalty of Rs. 5 lakh
    was imposed for not giving a clear picture of insurance agents engaged by the
    company.
  • Further, the insurer was allowing
    agents to solicit business even after expiry of their license, IRDAI said.
World Bank assistance for Karnataka urban water project

  • The World Bank will provide
    assistance of $100 million to the Karnataka Urban Water Supply Modernisation
    project.
  • An agreement was signed between
    the Government of India and World Bank on Tuesday.
  • The objective of the project is
    to provide city-wide access to a continuous piped water supply in the eligible
    cities in Karnataka and to strengthen the service delivery arrangements at the
    city level.
India –
Himachal Pradesh launched PEHAL programme for Shimla district

  • Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister
    Virbhadra Singh on 22 May 2016 launched the PEHAL programme for the district of
    Shimla.
  • The objective of the programme is
    to identify certain thrust areas that have a direct bearing on the lives of the
    people in the district.

Under the PEHAL, 5 focus areas
were identified by the district administration for development. They are –
  1. Primary
    Education
  2. Forest Rights
  3. Health and
    Sanitation
  4. Campaign
    against drugs and skill development
  5. Women
    Empowerment

Features of PEHAL programme

  • PRERNA: It is the primary
    education component of the programme. The objective is to identify gaps in
    primary education and make teachers responsible focusing on them. 100 primary schools
    across the district were identified under the programme.
  • Forest rights: The focus will be
    on two aspects -educating people on forest rights and administrative measures
    to settle all issues in relation to community rights of traditional forest dwellers
    in the district.
  • Health and sanitation: Community
    Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) and awareness campaigns will be conducted to stress
    the linkage between sanitation and health.
  • Skill Development: As part of the
    livelihood mission, major initiatives will be undertaken to impart skills that
    include basic masonry, electrical work, home appliances, plumber courses, etc.
  • Women empowerment: Various
    stakeholders, including the line departments, Panchayath Raj Institutions,
    Mahila and Yuvak Mandals will be involved in implementing the programme.
Union Government constituted DB Shekatkar Committee on defence spending

  • The Union Government on 20 May
    2016 constituted a committee of experts on defence spending.
  • The 11-member committee will be
    headed by Lt Gen DB Shekatkar (retd) and include top military officers and
    civilian experts.
  • The committee will recommend
    measures to enhance the combat capabilities of the over 13-lakh strong armed
    forces.
  • It will also focus on
    re-balanceing the overall defence expenditure in view of the escalating salary
    and pension bills. It was mandated to submit the report in three months.
INS Tarmugli commissioned into Indian Navy

  • Fast Attack Craft INS Tarmugli
    was on 23 May 2016 commissioned into Indian Navy today by Vice Admiral HCS
    Bisht, AVSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command at Naval
    Dockyard, Visakhapatnam.
  • INS Tarmugli will be based in
    Visakhapatnam under the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Andhra Pradesh) and will be
    deployed for coastal patrol and surveillance operations along the East Coast of
    India.
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Awards & Honors –
Mukesh Ambani awarded with Othmer Gold Medal for Entrepreneurial
Leadership

  • Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)
    Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani was on 17 May 2016 awarded with
    the prestigious Othmer Gold Medal for his entrepreneurial leadership by the
    United States based Chemical Heritage Foundation.
  • Ambani was presented the award by
    Carsten Reinhardt, President & CEO of Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF)
    during the occasion of the Heritage Day of CHF at Philadelphia, United States
    of America.
  • He was awarded for his
    entrepreneurial leadership that has resulted in:
  • Expansion of India’s petroleum
    refining industry
  • Creation of the Jamnagar Refinery
    in Gujarat – the largest grassroots petroleum refinery in the world
  • Path-breaking initiatives in oil
    and gas exploration.
Sikkim CM Pawan Chamling conferred with Nepal’s Yugkavi Siddhicharan
Prize

  • Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan
    Chamling was on 22 May 2016 conferred with the Yugkavi Siddhicharan Prize by
    Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli.
  • The prestigious literary prize
    was bestowed upon him for his commendable contributions in promoting Nepali
    literature in India.
  • The prize was presented on the
    occasion of 105th birth anniversary of the late poet Siddhicharan Shrestha. It
    carries a certificate of appreciation and a sum of 100000 Nepali Rupees.
Director Ken Loach’s film I, Daniel Blake wins 2016 Palme d’Or

  • British director Ken Loach’s film
    I, Daniel Blake on 22 May 2016 won the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival.
  • It was Loach’s second award for
    best picture at the festival after 2006’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley.
  • Loach is an English film and
    television director.
  • He is known for his naturalistic,
    social realist directing style and for his socialist ideals.
  • His 1969 film Kes was voted the
    7th greatest British film of the 20th century in a poll by the British Film
    Institute.
  • As of 2016, Jane Campion is the
    only female director to have won the Palme d’Or for The Piano.
Appointments –
S K Sharma appointed CMD of Nuclear Power Corporation of India

  • Renowned scientist S K Sharma on
    23 May 2016 was appointed the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Nuclear
    Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).
  • Sharma will be responsible for
    design, construction, commissioning and operation of nuclear power reactors. He
    has been appointed to the new post for a period of five years.
  • At present, Sharma is working as
    Distinguished Scientist and Director (Operations) in NPCIL.
Rakesh Kumar Mishra appointed Director of Centre for Cellular and
Molecular Biology

  • Rakesh Kumar Mishra on 19 May
    2016 was appointed the new Director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular
    Biology (CCMB) by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Who is Rakesh Kumar Mishra?

  • Mishra is a noted expert in the
    study of function of genes.
  • He had joined CCMB in 2001 as a
    senior scientist after stints at the IISc, Bangalore, the University of
    Bordeaux, France, Saint Louise University, USA and the University of Geneva,
    Switzerland for post-doctoral experience.
Farook Mahmood elected president of FIABCI

  • Farook Mahmood, Chairman and
    Managing Director of Silverline Realty, a Bengaluru-based real estate broking
    firm, has been elected president of FIABCI.
  • FIABCI is an international real
    estate federation and is a business network of real estate professionals
    worldwide. It has members in 65 countries, including 100 professional
    associations, 65 academic institutions and 3,000 individual members from all
    professions of the real estate sector.
  • He was elected FIABCI World
    President for 2017-18 in Panama. Farook Mahmood is a graduate in Real Estate
    Management and started off with the real estate division in his family’s
    Furniture House Agency.
  • He is also active with the FIABCI
    World Council of Brokers, and was serving its Vice-President.
  • FIABCI is the most representative
    organisation of the real estate industry in the world and holds special
    consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United
    Nations.
UN appoints Mary Robinson and Macharia Kamau Special Envoys on El Nino
and Climate

  • United Nations (UN)
    Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 20 May 2016 announced the appointments of Mary
    Robinson of Ireland and Macharia Kamau of Kenya as his Special Envoys on El
    Nino and Climate.
  • The El Nino weather phenomenon,
    which occurs every two to seven years, affects rainfall patterns and causes
    both drought and flooding.
  • The United Nations Special Envoys
    will provide the leadership required to tackle these challenges, raising the
    profile and sounding the alarm.
Books & Authors –
My Favourite Nature Stories authored by Ruskin Bond released

  • The book titled My Favourite
    Nature Stories authored by famous author Ruskin Bond was released on 19 May
    2016.
  • In the book, Bond details various
    encounters with the natural world. He offers detailed explanation why he has
    such an overwhelming love for nature.
  • Apart from My Favourite Nature
    Stories, Bond also launched another book titled The World Outside My Window. In
    this book, he writes about some of the most interesting insects, birds, trees
    and flowers he has observed.
  • Both the books were brought out
    by Rupa Publications to celebrate Ruskin Bond’s 82nd birthday.
World –
World Bank group launches Pandemic Emergency Finance Facility

  • The World Bank Group has launched
    the much anticipated Pandemic Emergency Finance Facility (PEF) — a new
    financing mechanism to quickly mobilise funds to tackle global disease
    outbreaks and create a new insurance market for pandemic risk.
  • PEF is expected to bring the much
    needed coordination and speed for future global disease outbreak response
    efforts.
  • The PEF facility launch
    announcement came few days ahead of the May 26-27 Summit of Group of Seven
    Leaders in Ise-Shima, Japan. G7 leaders had urged the World Bank Group to
    develop the initiative during their May 2015 summit in Schloss-Elmau, Germany.
  • Japan — which holds the G7
    Presidency — became the first donor to the PEF initiative and committed $ 50
    million.
Sports –
Mohun Bagan beats Aizawl FC 5-0 to lift 14th Federation Cup title

  • Mohun Bagan on 21 May 2016
    clinched the Federation Cup title for the 14th time. In the final played at the
    Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, Bagan defated Aizwal FC 5-0.
  • Bagan won this tournament after a
    gap of 8 years (in 2008), when it defeated Dempo 1-0.
  • The first half of the match went
    goalless. In the second half, Mizo striker Jeje Lalpekhlua netted two goals,
    while the other three goals were scored by Sony Norde, Dhanachandra Singh and
    Bikramjit Singh.
Pankaj Advani wins 2016 Asian 6-Red snooker title

  • India’s ace cueist Pankaj Advani
    on 22 May 2016 won the Asian 6-Red snooker title. To win this tile for the
    first time, he defeated top-seeded Malaysian Keen Hoh Moh 7-5 in the finals
    held in Abu Dhabi.
  • To reach the finals, he defeated
    Aditya Mehta, an Indian player, 6-1 in a semi final match.
  • With this win, Advani became the
    first in the world to hold both world and continental titles in 6-Red snooker
    at the same time.
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