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  • Current Affairs 15th May 2019

    Updated : 15-May-2019

    Current Affairs 15th May 2019 - Important Points

    • Who has been appointed to Supreme Court of Fiji ? - Former SC Justice MB Lokur 
    • Who  gets McCain Institute award ? - Chhaya Sharma
    • Government extends restriction on - LTTE
    • India helps Mongolia build its first refinery on - 14th May 2019
    • India’s Smallest Orchids discovered in - Assam
    • DRDO successfully conducts Flight Test of  - ABHYAS
    • Who has been appointed ITC’s New Chairman ? - Sanjiv Puri
    • Kiki Bertens and Novak Djokovic wins Women’s & Men’s Singles Title in - Madrid Open tennis
      Current Affairs 15th May 2019 - Details

    Who has been appointed to Supreme Court of Fiji ? - Former SC Justice MB Lokur 

    Justice Madan Bhimrao Lokur, who retired as the senior judge of the Supreme Court in December 2018, has been designated to the Supreme Court of Fiji’s non-resident panel for the time duration of 3 yrs. Justice Lokur got the appointment letter for this on December 31st, 2018, a day after he got retired from the Supreme Court of India. Speaking on the same, Justice Lokur informed that he was
    asked by the Chief Justice of Fiji to be part of the Fiji Supreme Court and he acknowledged the offer.
    Important Highlights 

    • The Supreme Court of Fiji comprises of the Chief Justice, who is also the President of the
      Supreme Court, all Justices of Appeal who are also associates of the Court of Appeal and others
      specifically designated as Supreme Court judges.
    • The court has 3 sessions in single year and Justice Lokur would be attending the August session
      from August 15th-30th, 2019.
    • Fiji has formerly invited judges from other countries including Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka,
      Singapore, South Africa and Malaysia to be a part of its non-resident panel.

    Government extends restriction on - LTTE

    In its latest announcement, the Union Home Ministry stretched the restriction executed on the militant group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for its strong anti-India posture and the danger it poses to the nation.
    As per to the Indian Government, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has been surreptitiously working
    towards the creation of Tamil Eelam, a planned independent state for Tamils, and has been undertaking
    fundraising activities for the same.
    Important Highlights 

    • The Home Ministry’s announcement noted that the activities of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s
      remainder cadres and supporters who have been outlined recently in Tamil Nadu recommend that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadres forwarded to Tamil Nadu would eventually be used by the militant group for unlawful activities.
    • The announcement explained that despite the restriction, many pro- Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam administrations and entities were trying to extend support to the outfit. 
    • According to the Central Government, the actions of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam continue to impose a threat and are damaging to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India and the public order.
    • Thus, the government found that it should extend a restriction on the it and declare it as an illegal association.
    • As per to the formal notice, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leaders, operatives and supporters have been passionately opposing India’s policy on their group and the act of the State machinery in restricting their activities.

    Who  gets McCain Institute award ? - Chhaya Sharma

    Chhaya Sharma, an officer of the Indian Police Service and investigation officer of Nirbhaya rape
    case was awarded with McCain Institute Award 2019. Chhaya Sharma is working as Deputy
    Inspector General at the National Human Rights Commission of India. She was felicitated with
    McCain Institute Award for Courage and Leadership.

    Role of Chhaya Sharma in Nirbhaya Case

    • Her stellar contribution, however, has been heading the investigation of the infamous Nirbhaya
      gang-rape and murder case of December 2012 in New Delhi. 
    • As the leader of the special investigation team, she carefully supervised all parts of investigation
      of this blind case by actively taking charge of the situation, making quick decisions, guiding
      directions, assimilating data and guiding with succinct inputs, all the while co-ordinating efforts of
      various teams. 
    • During the 6 gruelling days of the manhunt across 5 Indian States, Sharma placed as a shield for
      her team of officers, protecting them from mounting media and civil society pressures, which led to
      quick nervousness of the perpetrators of that shocking crime. 
    • As the head investigator, Sharma kept the attention on meticulous documentation and collection of
      scientific signals including usage of forensic techniques for bite marks as evidence, previously
      unexplored in India.

    India helps Mongolia build its first refinery on - 14th May 2019

    India on May 14th, 2019 extended USD One billion Line of Credit to Mongolia to set-up its 1st-ever
    petrochemical refinery at Sainsh and in Dornogobi Province. 
    The line of credit will be executed with Exim Restrictionk funding. It is the biggest project
    undertaken by India under its Lines of Credit program. The support of funds was declared by
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Ulan Bator in 2015.
    Key Highlights

    • The work on petrochemical refinery formally started in June 2018 during the visit of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Mongolia.
    • The refinery will be constructed at the cost of about USD 1.25 billion, of which, USD 1 billion will be
      delivered by India as a line of credit. 
    • The volume of the refinery will be 1.5 Million Metric Tons/annum and It is believed to be accomplished by 2022.
    • Diesel and petrol will be the mainy products of the refinery, while the LPG, fuel oil and jet fuel will be formed as secondary products. These products could also be sold to China.

    India’s Smallest Orchids discovered in - Assam

    Lecanorchis taiwaniana, the parasitic bloom is a type of orchid which was accidentally revealed in Assam by Assam’s forest officer’s named Jatindra Sarma, who is also the Member Secretary of State Medicinal Plants Board.
    Important Findings
    The orchid species is previously known in Japan, Taiwan, and Laos. This is the 1st time it is discovered in
    India.
    Its unearthing was printed in Japanese Journal of Botany with labelled as new record for the flora in
    India.
    Characteristics
    Lecanorchis taiwaniana is a myco-heterotroph, which means it is 1 of 2 known types of parasitic plants
    which have arestrictiondoned photosynthesis. As it got nutrients and its energy from fungus, it may be of herbal significance.
    It is a variant of a Japanese orchid. It is India’s one of smallest botanically listed orchids in terms of size and  duration of bloom.

    DRDO successfully conducts Flight Test of  - ABHYAS

    The Defence Research and Development Organisation accomplished effectively flight test of “ABHYAS”, a High-speed Expendable Aerial Target. The test was done from Interim Test Range, at Balasore in
    Chandipur, Odisha.
    Important Highlights of Test
    The test flight was chased by various Radars and Electro Optic Systems.
    Test demonstrated its performance in fully autonomous waypoint navigation mode. The system
    performance was according to the simulations carried out.
    Importance the test trail verified the capability of ABHYAS to meet needs of mission for a cost effective
    High-speed Expendable Aerial Target.
    More about ABHYAS

    • ABHYAS is a high-speed expendable aerial target, which bids a realistic threat scenario for practice of weapon systems. It is fabricated for autonomous flying that assist of an autopilot mode.
    • It is outlined on an in-line small gas turbine engine. For its guidance and navigation it utilises indigenously developed Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems based navigation system.
    • It has a Luneburg lens in the nose cone which progresses the radar cross-section of target for weapons practice.
    • It has an Acoustic Miss Distance Indicator, a multi-role scoring system for gunnery training and weapons assessment, to specify the distance it missed.

    Who has been appointed ITC’s New Chairman ? - Sanjiv Puri

    India Tobacco Company Group’s current MD Sanjiv Puri was promoted as new Chairman and MD of
    company. His employment comes after noted industry leader and erstwhile India Tobacco Company
    Chairman Yogi C. Deveshwar died on 11th May 2019.
    India Tobacco Company is India’s largest cigarette company. It was recognized in 1910 and is HQ in
    Kolkata, West Bengal. It has expanded presence in various business include Cigarettes, Packaging,
    Hotels, Agri-Business, Paperboards and Specialty Papers, Packaged Foods and Confectionery, IT, Branded Apparel, and other FMCG products.
    Did you know?
    YC.Deveshwar had stepped down from India Tobacco Company’s executive role in 2017 but continued
    non-executive chairman of firm. He was India Tobacco Company’s longest serving Chairman and corporate leader.
    Later in 2017, as part of succession planning in group, the India Tobacco Company group fragmented the role of group’s Executive Chairman between Chairman and CEO. Y.C.Deveshwar then mentored the
    executive management headed by Sanjiv Puri.
    More about Sanjiv Puri
    He is an alumnus of the IIT, Kanpur and Wharton School of Business and joined India Tobacco Company in 1986.
    Since 2015 he was a Director on the board of organisation.
    In February 2017 he was designated CEO, assuming independent charge of executive leadership of India Tobacco Company.

    Kiki Bertens and Novak Djokovic wins Women’s & Men’s Singles Title in - Madrid Open tennis

    Kiki Bertens of Netherlands defeats Simona Halep of Romania in finals to secure women’s singles title in Madrid Open tennis.
    Similarly, the World number 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeats Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece to secure
    men’s singles title in Madrid Open tennis.
    Important Highlights

    • Kiki Bertens secured with surprise 6-4, 6-4 win over Simona Halep. With this achievement, she became 1stfemale ever to secure Madrid singles title championship without losing a set.
    • Kiki jumped to 4th in world rankings which is her career’s best till now. With this she became the highest-positioned Dutchwoman ever by jumping to World No Four.
    • A victory would have permitted the 3rd-ranked Simona to regain her world’s no 1 ranking.
    • On the same way, Novak Djokovic beated Stefanos Tsitsipas in final with 6-3, 6-4 to secure men’s singles title in Mutua Madrid Open. He now has 33 trophies at the leading level.
    • With this victory, he now grasps a tie with Rafael Nadal’s record of 33 ATP Masters 1000 titles.
    • This is also Djokovic’s 200th victory against a Top-10 opponent. The 31 years old Djokovic has never lost a championship match in Madrid and he now possesses 74 tour-level trophies.
    • With this title he now has secured the Madrid Open for a 3rd time. He has previously secured Madrid Open in 2011 and 2016.
    • He will grasp all 4 Grand Slam titles to his name if he secures the 2nd French Open title planned to be organised in June 2019.