Current Affairs Update – 30th May, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 30th May, 2015.

• Himachal Pradesh has emerged as first the state in the country to start Aadhaar based Payment System (ABPS) and payments amounting Rs 76.53 crore have been made through this system till date since the scheme was launched on October 2, 2014, Rural Development Minister Anil Kumar said today.
• He said that the workers and vendors whose bank accounts were Aadhaar-linked were being paid through ABPS and the wages and cost of material was being directly transferred to their latest Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.
• So far, Aadhaar numbers of 7.23 lakh active MNREGA workers had been seeded in the MNREGA out of which 5.54 lakh workers' accounts had been linked with the banks.
• He said that the roadside plantation plan for roads constructed under PMGSY had been prepared during the current financial year and approximately one lakh plants of different species such as mulberry, Jamun, Saru, Shisham, Eucalyptus, Peepal, Cedrus, Neem etc had been planted by the Public Works Department.
• The Minister said that Centre had approved labour budget for generating 258.29 lakh mandays during the current financial year.
• The Central Government imposed a cut in the labour budget this year, which resulted in liabilities amounting to Rs 87 crore to the state government.
• He said that the Centre had released Rs 119.2 crore whereas state had released its share of Rs 12.42 crore during current financial year.

• The government on Saturday approved signing of an agreement between India and Sweden to promote cooperation in the MSME sector.
• The cooperation opens up doors of new opportunities for the domestic MSME sector by way of new markets, joint ventures, sharing of best practices and technology collaborations, among others.
• The objective of the MoU is to promote cooperation between the MSMEs of the two countries.
• It provides a structured framework and enabling environment to the MSME sector in the two countries to understand each other’s strengths, markets, technologies and policies.
• The MoU also contains an agreement to enable respective MSMEs to participate in each other’s trade fairs/exhibitions and to exchange business delegations, to understand policy and explore markets so that joint ventures, tie-ups and technology transfer among others could take place.
• The agreement, however, does not contain or involve any financial, legal or political commitment on the part of either party. In no case does it attract any financial liability on the part of the government.
• The MSME Ministry has so far entered into long-term agreements for cooperation in the MSME sector with ministries or organisations of 17 countries namely, Tunisia, Romania, Rwanda, Mexico, Uzbekistan, Lesotho, Sri Lanka, Algeria, Sudan, Cote d’lvoire, Egypt, Botswana, South Korea, Mozambique, Indonesia, Vietnam and Mauritius.

• Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on 30 May 2015 inaugurated the New Bank Note Paper Line unit of 6000 metric tonne capacity at Security Paper Mill in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh.
• With opening of this, India will become self-reliant in producing Bank Note Paper for big denominations. Earlier, India was considerably dependent on import of bank note paper for currency of big denominations.
• He also flagged off the first consignment of one thousand rupees bank note paper made indigenously to Currency Note Press Nashik.
• It is part of the indigenisation of the Bank Note paper under taken by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited. The project has been completed at a cost of 495 crore rupees within the time schedule.
• The plant is capable of incorporating the advanced security features into the Bank Note paper. It is also capable of manufacturing all denominations of Bank Note paper including 1000 rupees.

• The Government today approved a pact on coastal shipping between India and Bangladesh to facilitate faster and cheaper cargo movement between both the nations.
• The benefit of this agreement is that freight charges will come down and improve the utilisation of port capabilities between the two countries, the Communication and IT Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said while briefing the media.
• It will also help in decongestion of roads, especially at the land custom stations/integrated check posts at the India-Bangladesh boarder, the statement said.
• India and Bangladesh shall render the same treatment to the other country’s vessels as it would have done to its national vessels used in international sea transportation.
• The commencement of coastal shipping between India and Bangladesh will increase bilateral trade between the two countries and lower down the cost of transportation of Exim cargo.
• India’s trade with Bangladesh has grown rapidly during the past few years and Bangladesh is now India’s largest trade partner in South Asia.
• Therefore, to reduce the cost of shipping operation, a lower but pragmatic standard of vessel known as River Sea Vessel (RSV) has been prescribed for coastal shipping and the RSV category of vessel has been agreed upon by both the countries.

• Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka, the Union Cabinet today approved signing of a pact between the two countries to prevent human trafficking and ways to reintegrate the victims with their families.
• The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Modi, has approved signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on prevention of human trafficking especially trafficking in women and children: rescue, recovery, repatriation and reintegration of victims of human trafficking.
• An official statement said the MoU will help strengthen cooperation to prevent all forms of the human trafficking, especially that of women and children and ensure the speedy investigation and prosecution of traffickers and organised crime syndicates in both the neighbouring nations.
• The pact will also ensure repatriation of victims as expeditiously as possible. After repatriation, the home country will undertake the safe and effective reintegration of the victims with their families.

• Gujarat government on Saturday appointed 1981-batch IAS, G R Aloria as the new chief secretary to the state. Aloria, who is currently serving as the additional chief secretary of Urban Development Department, succeeded the incumbent chief secretary D J Pandian, who retires from the service on May 31.
• In a notification issued on Saturday, the general administration department of the state government announced appointment of Aloria as the chief secretary to Government of Gujarat with effect from May 31, 2015.
• Aloria is the senior most bureaucrat in the state administration and had served in several key positions including heading the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited during the land acquisition for the for canal network. He was also secretary in the revenue department, which fell under Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.

• Veena Jain was on 29 May 2015 appointed as Director General (news) in Doordarshan. She succeeded senior Indian Information Service (IIS) officer Akshay Rout. Her appointment was approved by the Union Ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B).
• Jain will also hold the charge as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) and will oversee the ministry's new media wing and social media cell. She will report to the ministry for all purposes.
• She is currently posted as Additional Director General in the News Services Division of All India Radio (AIR). Earlier, she has also served as director of Publications Division of AIR.

• Alok Kumar and Jitendra Kumar have been appointed as advisers in NITI Aayog for five years as part of a minor bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the government today.
• Alok is a 1993 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre while Jitendra (1987 batch) is Indian Forest Service officer of Uttarakhand cadre.
• Also, Anna Roy has been appointed as Joint Secretary (JS) in the Department of Financial Services, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said.
• Roy, a 1992 batch officer of Indian Economic Service, will have tenure till October 31, 2017. She is working as a Director in the same department.
• IAS officer Sanjay Prasad has been appointed as Joint Secretary in Department of Science and Technology for five-year term, it said.
• Jitendra Kumar Sinha, a 1996 batch IAS officer of Manipur Tripura cadre, is new Joint Secretary in Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region. He will hold the charge for five years, the order said.
• Md Shahbaz Ali, Indian Post and Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service officer, has been appointed as Managing Director (JS-level) in National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation under the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
• Rajiv Kumar, an Indian Forest Service officer, has been appointed as JS in Department of Electronics and Information Technology. Jagmohan Gupta, a 1987 batch officer of Indian Railway Accounts Service, is new Joint Secretary and Financial Adviser in Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, it said.
• Venugopal Reddy Gaddam, officer of Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers, has been made JS in Ministry of Labour and Employment for five years, the order said.
• Navneet Soni, a 1988 batch officer of Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax cadre), has been appointed as Member Secretary (Joint Secretary level) in National Monuments Authority under the Culture Ministry, it said.

• Sepp Blatter was re-elected as FIFA president for a fifth term on Friday, chosen to lead world soccer despite separate U.S. and Swiss criminal investigations into corruption.
• The 209 FIFA member federations gave the 79-year-old Blatter another four-year term after Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan conceded defeat after losing 133-73 in the first round.
• Prince Ali’s promise of a clean break from FIFA’s tarnished recent history was rejected despite the worst scandal in the organization’s 111-year history.
• Senior FIFA officials were among seven men arrested at the request of American federal prosecutors investigating bribery, money-laundering and wire fraud. The 2018 and 2022 World Cups awarded to Russia and Qatar, respectively are the focus of a separate Swiss federal probe of suspected financial wrongdoing.
• Last November, Blatter and FIFA filed a criminal complaint with the Swiss attorney general’s office against non-Swiss nationals.

• Google has announced that it is working with iconic US jean maker Levi Strauss to make clothing from specially woven fabric with touch-screen control capabilities.
• The Internet titan used its annual developers conference in San Francisco to reveal its so-called Project Jacquard and to spotlight Levi Strauss as its first partner.
• Named after a Frenchman who invented a type of loom, Project Jacquard is in the hands of a small Google team called Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP), which is different from the Google (x) lab that develops big-vision innovations such as self-driving cars.
• Project Jacquard makes it possible to weave touch and gesture interactivity into any textile using standard, industrial looms, according to Google.
• Anything involving fabric, from suits or dresses to furniture or carpet, could potentially have computer touch-pad style control capabilities woven.

• The accused mastermind behind the Silk Road underground website was sentenced on Friday to life in prison for orchestrating a scheme that enabled more than $200 million of anonymous online drug sales using the digital currency bitcoin.
• Ross Ulbricht, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan after a federal jury in February found him guilty of charges including distributing drugs through the Internet and conspiring to commit computer hacking and money laundering.
• Silk Road operated for more than two years, allowing users to anonymously buy drugs and other illicit goods and generating over $214 million in sales in the process, prosecutors said.
• They said Ulbricht ran Silk Road under the alias Dread Pirate Roberts, a reference to a character in the 1987 movie The Princess Bride.
• The website relied on the Tor network, which lets users communicate anonymously, and accepted bitcoin as payment, which prosecutors said allowed users to conceal their identities and locations.

• Ahmedabad: A City in the World authored by Amrita Shah was released 28 May 2015. The book is a biography of India's seventh-largest city Ahmedabad and its all too frequent complicity in communal violence.
• The author in the book has described the six-hundred year old former textile town in Kaka-style development and sketches Mahatma Gandhi and his struggle against British rule.

• The book Super Economies: America, India, China & The Future Of The World written by Raghav Bahl published in May 2015. He is an Indian businessman best known for his ownership of several television channels, including TV18.
• The book explains the vastly changed nature of the world since the Cold War and predicts what will be the likely changes in the 21st century.

• The international Day of United Nations Peacekeepers was observed on 29 May 2015 with the theme Together for Peace.
• To mark the occasion, various events were organised across the globe to commemorate all brave men and women who have contributed towards establishing peace and security in the war torn countries and ravaged societies across the world.

• Super 30 founder and mathematician Anand Kumar on 29 May 2015 was honoured by Legislature of British Columbia in Canada at Toronto University for his pioneering work in the field of education.
• The Speaker Linda Reid honoured Kumar with a memento and also appreciated his endeavour at a proposal initiated by Marc Dalton, an MLA. The 42-year-old Kumar was honoured for his rare achievements for the students from India's underprivileged sections.
• Kumar was invited by the British Columbia Government in recognition of his work through globally acclaimed Super 30, which has mentors 30 students mostly from the underprivileged sections of the society for IITs free of cost for the last 14 years.

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