Dear Friends,
Welcome to the Quick Gyan (QG) Section of D2G. QG is just a glimpse of what happened today all over the world.
Only For Serious Candidates : We strongly recommend you to read the Current Affairs in detail. For your convenience, we have provided quick links under the updates. Make use of it.
Always Keep Yourself Updated!!!
APPOINTMENTS
Jose Mourinho: Manchester United to appoint former Chelsea boss
Manchester United are set to appoint Jose Mourinho as their new manage. It is believed a deal with the 53-year-old Portuguese was agreed in principle before United’s FA Cup final win against Crystal Palace.
The Portuguese manager, who left Chelsea under a cloud in December last year, turned down an offer from Paris Saint-Germain in the hope that United would come calling – and negotiations took place in the last few days after United had missed out on fourth place in the Premier League and therefore a Champions League berth. Mourinho has already agreed a salary and has discussed possible transfer targets with the club and is likely to be presented as United’s new manager once his agent, Jorge Mendes, has finalised the finer details of the contract.
Quick Link – Jose Mourinho for Manchester United
Anurag Thakur elected as new BCCI President
Anurag Thakur has been unanimously elected as the second youngest BCCI President, while Ajay Shirke was chosen as Secretary in a smooth transition of power at a time when the world’s richest Cricket Board is sailing through choppy waters. The 41-year-old Thakur replaced Shashank Manohar who quit the position to take up the ICC chairman’s job.
The Maharashtra Cricket Association chief and business magnate Shirke expectedly filled in the Secretary’s post which was left vacant by Thakur’s resignation. Senior BCCI vice-president C K Khanna chaired the Special General Meeting (SGM) and announced Thakur’s name for the top job.
Quick Link – Anurag Thakur as BCCI President
Kiran Bedi appointed new LG of Puducherry
Former top cop and senior BJP leader Kiran Bedi has been appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, where the Congress won the assembly elections. She replaces Lieutenant-General AK Singh — who as the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar, was given additional charge of Puducherry in 2014. Ms Bedi had joined the BJP in January last year, following which she was projected as the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate in the Delhi assembly elections. But her candidature was cited as one of the reasons why the BJP lost Delhi to Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party.
Quick Link – Kiran Bedi as LG
UN appoints Mary Robinson, Macharia Kamau as special envoys for El Nino, Climate
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointments of Mary Robinson of Ireland and Macharia Kamau of Kenya as his Special Envoys on El Niño and Climate. This year’s El Niño is taking place in a world already dramatically affected by climate change. More extreme weather events are expected in the future, and these hit the poorest communities — those least responsible for climate change — first and hardest. Aid is not enough; a longer term approach is required in order to build the resilience of the most vulnerable.
Quick Link – Ban Ki-moon announced
BANKING AND FINANCE
Sebi tightens P-note norms to keep vigil on foreign investments
Tightening its norms to check any misuse of participatory notes (P-Notes) for laundering of black money, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has made it mandatory for users of these controversy-ridden overseas instruments to follow Indian anti-money laundering law and report any suspicious transactions immediately. Acting upon recommendations of the Supreme Court- appointed Special Investigation Team on black money, Sebi also tightened the due-diligence requirements for issuance and transfer of these instruments and put the onus on the original issuer for compliance to Anti-Money Laundering Regulations.
Quick Link – Sebi
INDIAN AFFAIRS
President accepts resignation of Sarbananda Sonowal from the Council of Ministers
The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has accepted the resignation of Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, from the Council of Ministers, with immediate effect. Further, as advised by the Prime Minister, the President has directed that Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State, shall be assigned the Independent charge of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, in addition to his existing portfolios.
Quick Link – President accepts resignation of Sarbananda
Nadda launches centre to assess environ impact on health
The ‘Centre for Environmental Health‘ to assess the impact of environment-related problems like air pollution, climate change, pesticide use and sanitation on health, was launched by Union Minister JP Nadda. A joint initiative of the Public Health Foundation of India and the Tata Institute of Social Science, the centre will conduct research across a range of environmental health issues, including chemical exposure, water and hygiene. Its mandate also includes capacity-building, advocacy, outreach and remedial issues.
Quick Link – Centre for Environmental Health
President inaugurates Intelligent Operations Centre in Rashtrapati Bhavan
President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates an Intelligent Operations Centre (IOC) in Rashtrapati Bhavan and launch a Mobile App ‘Monitor‘ for transformation of President’s Estate into a smart township at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
About IOC
The IOC is a software solution designed by IBM which helps collect and make sense of the rich data streaming in from several sources within the Estate to provide intelligent insights.
About Monitor
The “Monitor” mobile application is a Residents collaboration tool of the Intelligent Operation Center. This will help residents and domain (Energy, Water, Horticulture, Waste and Security) supervisors to collaborate in a smarter way for their observations.
Quick Link – Monitor
Apple Inc opens Development Office in Hyderabad
Apple Inc has opened its first development centre in India to work on Apple Maps, the company’s digital maps and navigation service. The California-based company has teamed with Noida-based RMSI to provide development expertise and software for geo-spatial services. The company’s servers will be located in the U.S. but technical and support services would be provided in Hyderabad. It will work out of an existing software hub that is part of a special economic zone.
Quick Link – Development centre
India lauded for Medicines with the Red Line campaign on antibiotics
India’s Red Line campaign to curb over-the-counter use of antibiotics is finding recognition, and could be adopted on a world scale. India’s idea of putting a red line on antibiotic packages to curb their over-the-counter sale is now being cited as a model that can be used globally to counter the rising threat of superbugs.
India’s Red Line campaign, launched in February this year, began marking prescription-only antibiotics with a red line to curb their irrational use and create awareness on the dangers of taking antibiotics without being prescribed. The report says laws prevent sale of antibiotics and other anti-microbials over-the-counter, but these may be weakly enforced in some countries and non-existent in many.
Quick Link – Red Line campaign
Virbhadra Singh launches PEHAL in Shimla
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh launched ‘PEHAL’ – a vision document of the Shimla District administration for raising education standards. During the launch of the programme which took place at the historic Ridge Maidan, Deputy Commissioner Rohan Chand Thakur said that the aim of the programme is to identify certain thrust areas which have a direct bearing on the lives of the people at grassroots.
The five areas identified under PEHAL are Primary Education, Forest Rights, Health and Sanitation, Campaign against drugs and skill development and Women Empowerment. The district authorities have already begun works on all these areas with a distinct strategy. The programme is also an attempt to integrate the various stakeholders in the development story of the district.
Quick Link – PEHAL
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
US President on a visit to Vietnam, Japan
United States President Barack Obama is on a visit to Vietnam and Japan. This is Obama’s first visit to Vietnam as an American president. In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Obama will stress improving relations with a dynamic and rapidly emerging country.
Four decades after a war with Vietnam that deeply divided opinion in America, Obama aims to boost defense and economic ties with the country’s communist rulers while also prodding them on human rights. His visit has been preceded by a debate in Washington over whether Obama should use the three-day visit starting Monday to roll back an arms embargo on Hanoi, one of the last vestiges of wartime animosity.
Quick Link – Obama’s visit to Vietnam, Japan
Senate approves $1.1 billion to fight Zika virus
The Senate has advanced $1.1 billion in emergency funding to combat the Zika virus, but remained at odds with the House over how much money should be directed to tackle the public health threat. The two chambers would have to reach agreement on a spending level before they can send it to President Barack Obama, who in February requested $1.9 billion. The White House has called the House measure “woefully inadequate” and has threatened to veto it.
The Senate will enter negotiations with the House with a strong hand: a bipartisan 68-30 vote in favor of the emergency funds to battle Zika, a virus that has been spreading rapidly through the Americas, with more than 100 confirmed cases in the U.S. state of Florida. However, the conservative group Heritage Action is lobbying against any Zika funding bill that is not paid for with an equal amount of spending cuts.
Quick Link – Zika virus
Binali Yildirim set to beTurkey’s new prime minister
Turkey’s Transport Minister Binali Yildirim emerged as the likely new leader of the ruling AK Party and therefore the next prime minister, cementing President Tayyip Erdogan’s hold on government as he seeks to extend his powers.
Yildirim, 60, and a close ally of Erdogan for two decades, will be the sole candidate for the AKP leadership at a special party congress on Sunday, AKP spokesman Omer Celik told a news conference after a meeting of the party’s executive board.
Quick Link – Yildirim set to prime minister
FOREIGN RELATIONS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for Iran
Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Iran on a two-day official visit, during which the trilateral agreement between India , Iran and Afghanistan to develop the Chabahar port in that Gulf nation will be signed. Modi will be accorded an official welcome in Tehran on Monday following which he will hold talks with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani .
Connectivity, energy security and bilateral trade are on top of Modi’s agenda during his visit which comes a little over a month and a half of his trip to Saudi Arabia. The prime minister will also inaugurate an Indian cultural festival in Iran.
Quick Link – Modi leaves for Iran
US House Approves Move to Bolster Defence Ties with India
The US House of Representatives has approved a bipartisan legislation to bolster defence ties with India and bring the country at par with other NATO allies in terms of sale of defence equipment and technology transfer. The amendment (Enhancing Defence and Security Co-operation with India) was sponsored by Holding and Ami Bera (House India caucus chairs) as well as the chair and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs, Committee Ed Royce and Elliot Engel.
Quick Link – Defence Ties with India
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
India to flight test reusable launch vehicle technology
India will use a mini-rocket with a booster to fly a winged reusable launch vehicle (RLV) into lower earth orbit on May 23 for demonstrating the technology its space agency developed. The state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has designed and built the 1.7-tonne RLV-TD as a flying testbed to evaluate technologies developed to reduce the cost of launching rockets for carrying satellites into the earth’s polar and geo-stationary orbits.
The experimental launch will be from ISRO’s spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km northeast of Chennai off the Bay of Bengal coast. Rockets for launching satellites and space exploration are made at the space agency’s VSSC at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
Quick Link – RLV
OBITUARY
Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour killed, Afghans confirm
Afghanistan’s spy agency has confirmed that Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour has been killed, after the US targeted him in a drone strike. The drone targeted his vehicle in a remote area of south-west Pakistan, near the Afghan border. US Secretary of State John Kerry said Mansour had posed “a continuing, imminent threat to US personnel”.
Mansour assumed the leadership in July 2015, replacing Taliban founder and spiritual head Mullah Mohammad Omar. The Afghan National Security Directorate (NDS) said that Mansour had been killed in the Dalbandi area of Balochistan province – the first official confirmation of the killing of the Taliban leader.
Quick Link – Mullah Akhtar Mansour killed
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