Current Affairs 28th May 2019

Current Affairs 28th May 2019 - Important Points

• ICC World Cup 2019 commencing from - 30th May 2019
• Orchha Town of Madhya Pradesh added to Tentative List  by - UNESCO
• Donald Trump becomes first world leader to meet Japan’s new Emperor Naruhito on - 26th May 2019
• AKASH-1S Missile test fired by DRDO in - Balasore
  Current Affairs 28th May 2019 - Details

ICC World Cup 2019 commencing from - 30th May 2019

The ICC World Cup 2019 is scheduled to commence from 30th May 2019 at England and Wales. This will be the 12th edition of the quadrennial event with the participation of 10 nations ' teams across the world. The World Cup final will be wrapping up on 14th July.

Important Highlights

• First ICC match will be between teams of South Africa and England.
• India’s first World Cup match will going to be against South Africa at Southampton on 5th June. 
• Australia will be playing this series to defend ther title which they won for a record of 5 times.
• ICC World cup has total 48 matches with 10 teams across the world and out of these 48 matches there will be 45 group stage matches.
• India and Pakistan will be playing against each other on 16th June at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester.

Orchha Town of Madhya Pradesh added to Tentative List  by - UNESCO

The Orchha town of Madhya Pradesh has been included in tentative list of the World Heritage Sites of UNESCO. The move came after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) sent a proposal in this regard to the UNESCO last month on 15th April 2019.

More about Orchha Town

• Orchha is located in Niwari district of Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh on the banks of the river Betwa.
•  The site is around 80 km far from Madhya Pradesh’s Tikamgarh district and 15 km from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.
• The town is celebrated for its rich and old architecture of Chaturbhuj Temple, Orchha Fort Complex, and Raja Mahal among others.
• It is famous for its two elevated minarets - Saavan and Bhadon and four palaces - Jahangir Palace, Rai Praveen Mahal, Raja Mahal and Sheesh Mahal as well.
• It represents the concept of open bungalows, animal statues which depicts the culture of Bundelkhand and stone work windows.This site houses ‘Sri Ram Raja Mandir’.
• It is the only place in India where Lord Ram is worshipped as a King, not as a deity, with this dedicated temple in his name.

Donald Trump becomes first world leader to meet Japan’s new Emperor Naruhito on - 26th May 2019

US President Donald Trump  created history by becoming the first foreign leader to meet Japan’s newly crowned emperor, Emperor Naruhito at Japan's Imperial Palace on 26th May  2019.

Emperor Naruhito ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne on 1st May 2019  marking the new era beginning in the Japanese timeline -the Reiwa era. It was followed  after the abdication by his father, Emperor Akihito. Emperor Akihito, who abdicated his throne on  30th April 2019, became the first Japanese emperor to do so since 1817.

Key Highlights

• The US President and first lady Melania Trump did their formal visit to Japan with greetings with Empress Masako and Emperor Naruhito .
• Trump is on a four-day visit to Japan.He was treated to a large welcome ceremony replete with military bands and a group of school children waving US-Japanese flags upon landing.
• In the outdoor ceremony, Trump and the first lady, stood on a platform as the national anthems of both the  countries were performed. Trump was then received with a guard of honour.
• The ceremony was attended by Emperor Naruhito and the empress along with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie and other members of the imperial family.
• The US President then had a palace visit in the morning, followed by a royal banquet in the evening, hosted by the emperor.
• Trump also made a visit to the Japanese state guest house for the meetings and held discussions with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
• Trump is also expected to address troops at a US base in Japan, highlighting the military alliance between both the allies.
• While  speaking on his meeting with the emperor, Trump called it a very important event in the history of Japan.

AKASH-1S Missile test fired by DRDO in - Balasore

DRDO has successfully test fired Akash-1S surface to air defence missile system from Integrated Test
Range (ITR)  based in Balasore off the Odisha coast. This is the second successive successful missile test by DRDO in last two days.
More about Akash-1S

• Other missiles under IGDMP are Trishul, Nag, Agni, and Prithvi missiles.
• The missile system was formally inducted into the Army in May 2015 while for IAF it was in July 2015.
• Later in September 2015 the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) cleared seven additional squadrons  of the Akash missile for Indian Air Force.
• After a 2017 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, it was stated that 30% of these missiles were failed when tested and in 2017 itself the Army too agreed that missiles did not meet its operational requirements because of their higher reaction time.
•  This missile is a supersonic surface to air missile with multi-target engagement capability.
• This new missile  is an upgrade version of existing Akash missile  fitted with an indigenously developed seeker.
• The new Akash weapon system has combination of both command guidance and active terminal seeker guidance. 

Did you know?

The Akash missile is a medium range multi-target engagement capable missile that was developed as part of IGMDP (Integrated Guided-Missile  Development Programme).