Current Affairs 25th May 2018

National News

1. Netherlands Becomes 64th Signatory Member of International Solar Alliance

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is in India at PM Modi's invitation held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral and international issues at the Hyderabad House.
ii. The Netherlands has become the 64th signatory member of the International Solar Alliance. PM Modi noted that the first Indo-Dutch Centre of Excellence CoE in Vegetables had started in Baramati, Maharashtra. India also welcomed the Netherlands as the Partner Country for the TechSummit in 2019.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

·                     Netherlands Capital- Amsterdam, Currency- Euro, USD.

2. HRD Ministry Launches Samagra Shiksha Scheme

Prakash Javadekar

i. Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar launched 'Samagra Shiksha scheme' for school education.
ii. An annual grant of 5,000 to 20,000 rupees will be provided for strengthening libraries in schools. The scheme will be focused on digital education.
iii. Samagra Shiksha is a program that unifies learning from the pre-school to class 12 levels and encapsulates elements of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and teacher education.

3. PM of Netherlands Inaugurates Indo-Dutch Ganga Forum

i. In New Delhi, Prime Minister of Netherlands Mark Rutte inaugurated the Indo-Dutch Ganga Forum to take forward an MoU signed between the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, and the Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment of the Netherlands in June 2017. 

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

·                     Netherlands Capital- Amsterdam, Currency- Euro, USD.

International News

4. Pakistan Hosts SCO Anti-Terror Meeting

i. The two-day conference named SCO-Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure Legal Experts (RATS) of legal experts took place in Islamabad under the framework of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which comprises China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.
ii. Pakistan hosted the meeting for the first time since it became a full member of the organization together with India nearly a year ago.


5. Mission Innovation Ministerial Meeting Held in Sweden

i. The 3rd Mission Innovation Ministerial Meeting was held at Malmo, Sweden. The Indian delegation was led by Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science, Technology and Earth Sciences.
ii. Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated Smart Grid Workshop at Copenhagen and Chaired public-private roundtable on Strategies on Decarbonisation through innovations in Smart Grids. India announced setting up of First International Incubator for clean energy in a public-private partnership at a total investment of around US $ 5 million in Delhi.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

·                     On November 30th, 2015, leader of 20 countries came together to launch Mission Innovation (MI), a landmark 5-year commitment to accelerate the pace of innovation and make clean energy widely affordable and accessible worldwide.

6. Nepal, 1st Country in South-East Asia to Eliminate Trachoma: WHO

i. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Nepal as free from Trachoma, the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness.
ii. With this, Nepal becomes the first country in WHO’s South-East Asia Region to eliminate Trachoma. Trachoma was the second leading cause of preventable blindness in Nepal in the 1980s.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

·                     Nepal Capital- Kathmandu, Currency- Nepalese rupee, President- Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister- Khadga Prasad Oli. 

7. 5th India CLMV Business Conclave Held in Cambodia

i. The Ministry of Commerce & Industry of India, along with Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia organized the 5th India-CLMV Business Conclave in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. After four rounds of the Business Conclave in India, this initiative was brought by Department of Commerce of Government of India to Cambodia, for greater participation from the region.
ii. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was the institutional partner of the event. The inaugural session of the Conclave was attended by Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce and Industry.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

·                     Cambodia Capital- Phnom Penh, Currency- Cambodian riel.

Banking News

8. SIDBI To Extend Direct Funding Facility to VLEs in CSCs

i. Common Service Centre (CSC) SPV and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) signed an MoU for providing financial support to CSCs across the country in the presence of Minister of Electronics & IT and Law & Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad.
ii. Through the MoU, the SIDBI seeks to extend financial support to the Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) of CSCs, with minimum one year of operation, under the Direct Financing Window of SIDBI.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

·                     Chairman of SIDBI- Mohammed Mustafa, Founded- 2 April 1990, Headquarter- Lucknow.

Awards

9. CSIR Bags Clarivate Analytics India Innovation Award 2018

i. Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) has been awarded the Clarivate Analytics India Innovation Award 2018 in the Government Research Organizations Category.
ii. Every year, Clarivate Analytics (formerly the IP & Science division of Thomson Reuters) recognizes the most innovative companies in India according to patent-related metrics that get to the essence of what it means to be truly innovative.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

·                     According to the SCImago Institutions Ranking World Report 2017, CSIR has been ranked 9th in the world amongst the 1207 government institutions, with an overall global ranking of 75 in the world.

Appointments

10. Airtel Payments Bank Appoints Anubrata Biswas As MD and CEO

i. Airtel Payments Bank has appointed Anubrata Biswas as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Biswas fills the position, which was lying vacant since end-December, after Shashi Arora quit the post.
ii. Prior to joining Airtel Payments Bank, he was the Joint General Manager and Retail Business Head - South India for ICICI Bank.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

·                     Airtel Payments Bank was the first payments bank to start operations in India.

Sports News

11. Tejaswini Strikes Gold at Munich Grand Prix

i. Former World Shooting Champion Tejaswini Sawant had bagged the gold in the Grand Prix in Munich, Germany. Tejaswini had won the World Championship gold in prone in 2010 in Munich. 

ii. Results of the Munich Grand Prix:

Men: 50m rifle prone: 

1. Gold- Matthew Emmons (USA),

2. Silver- Chain Singh (India),

3. Bronze- Oleh Tsarkov (Ukraine).

Women: 50m rifle prone: 

1. Gold- Tejaswini Sawant (India),

2. Silver- Anjum Moudgil (India),

3. Bronze- Olivia Hofmann (Austria).

12. WHO, Russia Launch New Campaign For Football World Cup 2018

i. A new video campaign has been launched targeting football fans on the occasion of the World Cup 2018 to promote healthier and more active lives.
ii. The series of videos have been produced jointly by World Health Organization (WHO), Russia’s Ministry of Health and the 2018 World Cup Russia Local Organising Committee.

Static/Current Takeaways Important for NABARD Grade-A Exam 2018-

·                     Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is the present Director General of WHO.

·                     WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.