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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