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AWARDS AND HONOURS
| NAME OF THE AWARD | AWARD WINNER | KEY POINTS TO NOTE |
| Annual Whitley Awards/Green Oscar | Sanjay Gubbi | For his work to protect Karnataka’s tiger corridors |
| Dan David prize | Shrinivas Kulkarni | For his contribution in the field of astronomy |
| National Geographic Bee contest | Pranay Varada | Indian-American student |
| Whitley Awards
Or Green Oscars |
Sanjay Gubbi
Purnima Barman |
For their works in the field of animal and bird conservation in India. |
| Prestigious Dan David prize | Shrinivas Kulkarni | |
| 2014 Indira Gandhi Peace Prize | ISRO | ISRO chairman Kiran Kumar received the award |
| Intel science award in US | Prashant Ranganathan | For his project on biodegradation of pesticides |
| Bengal’s highest civilian award | Thespian Soumitra Chatterjee
Y.C. Deveshwar |
|
| CEO of the Year’ award in UK | Sanjeev Gupta | He is Britain’s Indian-origin steel tycoon |
APPOINTMENTS
| NAME | DEPT/FIELD |
| Harsh Vardhan | Environment Minister |
| Renu Satti | Payments Bank CEO |
| Hassan Rouhani | Iran President |
INDIAN AFFAIRS
- ‘Operation Clean Money’, a programme to bring illegal wealth on books ‘Operation Clean Money’, a programme to bring illegal wealth on books to demonetise higher denomination currency has increased movement towards digitization.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched the Narmada Seva Mission for the conservation of the crucial river, which is a lifeline of Madhya Pradesh.
- The Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) has successfully created the country’s first smart grid project, which will generate power from renewable sources of energy
- State-owned telecom operator BSNL has inked a clutch of agreements with Facebook and MobiKwik as its looks to popularise the internet and its value added services among customers.
- Delhi government has launched a fully air-conditioned bus stand. The fully air-conditioned bus stand has been launched at Latpat Nagar
- The Visakhapatnam railway station is the cleanest, followed by Secunderabad, among the 75 busiest stations in the country.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate India’s longest river bridge in Assam on May 26.
- A semi-mechanised car park, the first of its kind in Jammu and Kashmir, was inaugurated by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti who hoped the facility would ease traffic congestion in and around Lal Chowk.
- GI (Consulate General of India) Dubai and Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi in partnership with iSPIRIT, a nonprofit think tank will host a two-day “Start-up India Summit” in UAE on 23rd and 24th of May 2017.
- The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, released a two-part book series on the eminent agricultural scientist Dr. M.S. Swaminathan. The series is titled – M.S.
- Swaminathan: The Quest for a world without hunger.
- Students can now download school books instantly from the e-textbook portal of the Haryana School Education Board which was launched.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said Gujarat’s Kandla Port in will soon be connected with Chabahar port in Iran, which is being developed with India’s participation, to boost India’s international trade.
- Minister for Information & Broadcasting Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu has announced a separate 24×7 DD channel for the state of Jharkhand.
- Minister for Information & Broadcasting Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu has announced a separate 24×7 DD channel for the state of Jharkhand.
CABINET APPROVALS
- The Union Cabinet has given ex-post facto approval to Pan-India implementation of Maternity Benefit Program which now has been extended to all districts of the country w.e.f. 01.01.2017.
- The Union Cabinet has given its approval for amendment in Section 2 and Section 3 of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 (PPE Act, 1971)
- The Union has approved the introduction of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites Remains (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in the Parliament.
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the setting up of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (lARI) in Assam.
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a restructuring plan for Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd. (HOCL), a loss making and sick Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals.
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a restructuring plan for Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd. (HOCL), a loss making and sick Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals.
BANKING AND FINANCE
- The world’s largest private equity fund, backed by Japan’s Softbank Group and Saudi Arabia’s main sovereign wealth fund, said it had raised over $93 billion to invest in technology sectors such as artificial intelligence and robotics.
- Karnataka Bank Ltd has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India for selling life insurance products of LIC.
BUSINESS NEWS
- Brand finance in its 2017 report that lists India’s 100 most valuable brands has named Tata Group as the most valuable brand in India at an estimated brand value of $13.1 billion.
- Forbes magazine has named Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani as the topmost among its “Global Game Changers” who are transforming their industries and changing the lives of billions around the world.
ECONOMY AFFAIRS
- The government has released new-look index of industrial production (IIP) and the wholesale price index (WPI) , which have been built on the new series of data.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
- Newly sworn-in French President Emmanuel Macron named Edouard Philippe, the 46-year-old Mayor of Le Havre city, as his Prime Minister.
- China and Vietnam will manage and properly control their maritime disputes, avoiding actions to complicate or widen them, so as to maintain peace in the South China Sea
- India and Palestine have exchanged five agreements for cooperation in different sectors including agriculture, information technology and health.
- African country Botswana is considering the use of India-manufactured Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with the voter verifiable paper audit trail for its 2019 general elections.
- Amnesty International has launched a new global campaign Brave to fight against what it said was a growing wave of attacks against those defending human rights.
- The Japanese government has approved a one-off bill allowing ageing Emperor Akihito to step down from the Chrysanthemum Throne, in the first such abdication in two centuries.
- Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order banning smoking in public across the second-most populous country in south-east Asia, creating one of the region’s strictest anti-tobacco laws.
- The bilateral trade between India and Africa is expected to touch $100 billion by 2018, according to said Akinwumi A. Adesina, president, African Development Bank (AfDB).
- West Asia and Europe, Australia and USA have been emerging as the new market for mangoes grown in the state, Karnataka Mango Development and Marketing Corporation managing director Kadire Gowda said.
- African country Botswana is considering the use of India-manufactured Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with the voter verifiable paper audit trail for its 2019 general elections.
- Amnesty International has launched a new global campaign Brave to fight against what it said was a growing wave of attacks against those defending human rights.
- The Japanese government has approved a one-off bill allowing ageing Emperor Akihito to step down from the Chrysanthemum Throne, in the first such abdication in two centuries.
- Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order banning smoking in public across the second-most populous country in south-east Asia, creating one of the region’s strictest anti-tobacco laws.
- The bilateral trade between India and Africa is expected to touch $100 billion by 2018, according to said Akinwumi A. Adesina, president, African Development Bank (AfDB).
- West Asia and Europe, Australia and USA have been emerging as the new market for mangoes grown in the state, Karnataka Mango Development and Marketing Corporation managing director Kadire Gowda said.
- The world’s smallest republic, the tiny island nation of Nauru — has become the sixth country to ratify the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Framework pact.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
- India plans to launch next month its most powerful rocket that is capable of transporting a heavier 4-tonne communications satellite and described as a “game-changer” in the first of its kind space mission.
- When the US’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) launches the world’s smallest satellite KalamSat on June 21. KalamSat’, named after India’s nuclear scientist and former President, APJ Abdul Kalam, will be launched from a Nasa facility in Wallops Island.
- SpaceX has launched a communications satellite for Inmarsat, marking its first launch for the London-based mobile broadband company.
- INS Sharda is deployed for anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden since 06 Apr 17. The vessel had reported an incident of attempted piracy by two suspicious mother vessels alongwith 7-8 skiffs.
- The tiny hologram, which can be seen without 3D glasses, was created by an Australian-Chinese team from RMIT University in Melbourne.
- Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) have developed a respiratory filter which not only restricts entry of up to 95 per cent dust and air pollutants but is also the cheapest naso filter available.
- Orkut’s creator Büyükkökten has launched a new social network called Hello, which is available on mobile only.
- Chinese navy ships are visiting Myanmar and will conduct communications, search and rescue, and other joint exercises with the Myanmar navy.
- SIMBEX is an acronym for Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercises is aimed to increase interoperability between the RSN and IN as well as develop common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations.
- Scientists at NASA have named a new organism discovered by them after the much-loved APJ Abdul Kalam.
- NASA, ISRO to jointly make most expensive imaging satellite are jointly making a satellite called NISAR that will monitor the Earth like never before.
SPORTS
| WINNER | TITLE | SPORT/ VENUE |
| Alexander Zverev | Italian Open title | Germany |
| Bengaluru FC | Federation Cup | Football |
| Mumbai Indians | IPL 2017 |
OBITUARY
| NAME OF THE PERSON | FIELD |
| Anil Madhav Dave | Environment Minister |
| Reema Lagoo | Veteran film and TV actor |
| Roger Ailes | Fox News co-founder |
OBSERVED DAYS IN FEBRUARY
| DATE OBSERVED | DAY OBSERVED | THEME |
| May 17 | International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia | Love Makes a Family |
| May 17 | World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) | Big Data for Big Impact |
| May 21 | World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development | World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development |
| Anti Terrorism Day | The memory of former Indian PM Mr Rajiv Gandhi who passed away on this day | |
| May 22 | International Day for Biodiversity | Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism |
See Aslo – Current Affairs Weekly Updates – May Week I
