Current Affairs 26th May 2017

Current Affairs 26th May 2017 - Important Points

• JDI between Germany and India on alternative medicine approved by - Union Cabinet
• Socialist Lenin Moreno sworn in as - President of Ecuador
• Setting up of AIIMS in Kamrup, Assam approved by - Union Cabinet
• Abolition of Foreign Investment Promotion Board approved by - Union Cabinet
• Two Indian peacekeepers honoured posthumously with - UN Medal
• P V Sindhu elected to Badminton World Federation Athletes’ Commission
• Cobra lily rediscovered after 84 years - In Nilgiris
• Sanjay Mitra took charge as - Defence Secretary
•  21 media websites blocked by - Egypt
• India’s first underwater rail tunnel completed on - 23rd May 2017
• Who has been appointed as Chairman of IAMAI ? - Rajan Anandan

Current Affairs 26th May 2017 - Details

Socialist Lenin Moreno sworn in as - President of Ecuador

Lenin Moreno was sworn in as the President of Ecuador following a tight electoral race in Ecuador's Presidential Elections 2017 on 24th May 2017. Engineer Jorge Glas will continue to serve as the Vice President of Ecuador. Hailing from Ecuador's Socialist Party, Moreno won 51.16 percent of the votes. While, Conservative Guillermo Lasso fetched 48.8 percent of the ballots. With this, Moreno became the first disabled individual to take office as President of Ecuador. He became paraplegic after being shot in the back during a robbery in 1998. Moreno had served as the UN Special Envoy on Disability and Accessibility earlier.

JDI between Germany and India on alternative medicine approved by - Union Cabinet

The Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) between Germany and India regarding cooperation in the field of alternative medicine on 24th May 2017.

The move aims to increase bilateral cooperation between the two nations in the traditional and alternative medicine areas. The collaborative research, training and scientific capacity building undertaken by the nations  under the declaration would contribute to enhance employment opportunities in the AYUSH sector. All the necessary funds required to conduct the research, training courses, conferences and meetings would be provided from the budget allocated to the Ministry of AYUSH and its existing plan schemes. Other than this, no additional financial implications would be involved.

Key Highlights

• India has a well-developed system of traditional medicine that holds enormous potential in the global health scenario.
• Germany also has an advanced herbal and natural medicine industry with continuous high level scientific research concentrated on traditional medicines.
• A delegation led by Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State, Ministry of AYUSH had visited Germany to participate in the 2nd European World Ayurveda Congress (EWAC) and to interact with the German authorities in October 2016.

 Setting up of AIIMS in Kamrup, Assam approved by - Union Cabinet

The Union Cabinet, presided by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for the establishment of new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Kamrup in Assam on 24th May 2017.

This institute will be set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) with the estimated cost of Rs 1123 crore. The new AIIMS will be completed in a period of 4 years from the date of the approval of Government of India. The pre-construction phase would be of 15 months, while expected construction phase would be of 30 months. The stabilization/commissioning phase would be of three months. The establishment of AIIMS at Kamrup will serve the dual purpose of providing super speciality healthcare to the population and to help creating a large pool of doctors and other health workers in the region.

Important highlights

• The new AIIMS will consist of a hospital with 750 beds and trauma center facilities.
• The medical college will be able to take 100 MBBS students per year and nursing college with an intake of 60 B.Sc. (Nursing) students per year.
• It will also comprise residential complexes and allied facilities broadly on the pattern of AIIMS, New Delhi.
• The hospital will have 22 Speciality and Super-Speciality Departments including 16 Operation Theatres.
• It will also have an AYUSH department with 30 beds to provide treatment facilities in traditional system of medicine.

Abolition of Foreign Investment Promotion Board approved by - Union Cabinet

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the proposal to phase out the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on 24th May 2017. The proposal approved requires abolishing the FIPB and allowing administrative Ministries and Departments to process applications for Foreign direct investment (FDI) requiring government approval.

Interesting Facts - 

• The work related to the processing of applications for FDI and approval of the Government thereon under the FDI Policy and FEMA, shall now be handled by the concerned Ministries in consultation with the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion(DIPP), Ministry of Commerce. 
• DIPP will also issue the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for applications processing and decision of the Government under the extant FDI policy. Currently, applications are considered by FIPB in Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) for making recommendation on FDI applications.
• But after this decision of Union Cabinet, the applications would now be handled independently by Administrative Ministries as per Sector.

Two Indian peacekeepers honoured posthumously with - UN medal

Two Indian peacekeepers, Brijesh Thapa and Ravi Kumar were among the 117 military, police and civilian personnel who were honoured with a prestigious UN medal, awarded posthumously for courage and sacrifice in the line of duty on 24th May 2017. Rifleman Brijesh Thapa served with the UN Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), Private Ravi Kumar was deployed with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Both the martyrs received the Dag Hammarskjold Medal at a solemn ceremony conducted to observe the UN Peacekeepers International Day.

Important Highlights

• Both of them laid down their lives while serving in UN peacekeeping operations in 2016.
• India's Permanent Representative, Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin to the UN received the medal on the behalf of the martyred Indian peacekeepers.
• The ceremony was presided over by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who laid a wreath to honour all of the fallen peacekeepers.
• At present, more than 96000 uniformed personnel from 124 troop and police-contributing countries serve under the UN flag.
• These people are joined by more than 15000 international and national civilian staff and nearly 1600 United Nations Volunteers.
• India provides largest cumulative troop contributor. It has provided almost 200000 troops in nearly 50 out of the 71 peacekeeping missions mandated over the past six decades, including 13 out of the current 16 missions.
• Around 168 Indian personnel have sacrificed themselves while serving in UN missions.
• At present, more than 7600 Indian military and police personnel are deployed in the UN peace operations in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Middle East, South Sudan, Sudan, Haiti, Lebanon, Liberia,and the Western Sahara.

P V Sindhu elected to Badminton World Federation Athletes’ Commission

Olympics silver medallist P V Sindhu on 24 May 2017 became the second Indian to be inducted in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Athletes' Commission. Before Sindhu, Saina Nehwal was inducted to the Commission. Sindhu emerged the highest voted player in the BWF Athletes' Commission election that took place on the sidelines of the Sudirman Cup in Gold Coast, Australia. 

More about P V Sindhu

• Born on 5th July 1995, Pusarla Venkata Sindhu is an Indian professional badminton player.
• She ranks world no 4 in the BWF World Ranking at present.
• She became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
• She is one of the two Indian badminton players to ever win an Olympic medal and other is Saina Nehwal.
• She topped the ballot with 129 votes and will be joined by Marc Zweibler of Germany and Kristy Gilmour of Scotland for a four-year term.
• The trio will be joined by Lithuania's Akvile Stapusaityte, who will be serving a two-year period after replacing China's Tan Yuanting, who retired after serving just two years on the panel.

Cobra lily rediscovered after 84 years - In Nilgiris

The rare Arisaema translucens, more commonly known as the cobra lily was recently rediscovered in the western Nilgiris after 84 years. Nature enthusiasts K M Prabhu Kumar and Tarun Chhabra made this discovery. News of the discovery was published in a journal on botanical taxonomy Phytotaxa in May 2017.

Key Highlights

• Only a few hundred cobra lily plants are left in the wild and they can be found only in a small area measuring less than 10 square km in the Nilgiris.
• The plant features a distinctive translucent spathe. This species is probably the only member of the Arisaema family to have a translucent spathe.
• E. Barnes last collected it in 1932 and described by C.E.C Fischer in 1933.
• Prized for their beauty around the world, cobra lilies are at even higher risk of extinction from the commercial trade in exotic plants.
• Cobra lilies have vanished in the past decades along with the disappearance of the shola tree patches in which they were found.
• The rediscovery of the plant highlights the importance of preserving whatever is left of shola tree patches, even inside plantations and tea fields.
• Based on its small population and distribution, the Arisaema translucens could be considered ‘critically endangered.’

Sanjay Mitra took charge as - Defence Secretary

Sanjay Mitra took charge as the Defence Secretary on 25th May 2017. He is a 1982 batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre. His appointment as the new Defence Secretary was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on 10th May 2017. He will have the tenure of fixed two-years.

More about Sanjay Mitra

• He served as the Road and Transport Secretary earlier.
• Mitra has served as the Chief Secretary in West Bengal.
• He also served as Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office of Manmohan Singh from November 2004 to July 2011.
• He is a post-graduate in Physics and Economics and did his Mason Fellowship at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, US, in 1995-96.

 21 media websites blocked by - Egypt

Egypt has blocked 21 media websites including the main website of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news channel for allegedly supporting terrorism, as per reports by one of the country’s local news agencies. According to sources, the blocked websites also include some Egypt-focused websites hosted abroad.There are claims from the Egyptian government that Qatar finance the websites.

Important Details

• Al-Jazeera is accused of supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood movement, which is blamed for causing violence after the military ousted them from power in 2013.
• Also pro- Brotherhood channel based in Turkey, Al-Sharq and The Huffington Post's Arabi, Mada Masr, have been blocked.
• Qatar however, defended itself by saying that their news agency was hacked and the report quoting the emir was forged.

India’s first underwater rail tunnel completed on - 23rd May 2017

India’s first underwater rail tunnel, that was being constructed  under the Hooghly river for establishing metro link between Howrah and Kolkata, got completed on 23rd May 2017, ahead of the scheduled time. For the tunnel construction, a giant tunnel-boring machine (TBM) named 'Rachna' was deployed to dig the underwater tunnel that will run a length of 502 metres under the river. The machine was bought from Herrenknecht AG plant in Schwanau in Germany. The deadline to complete this underwater tunnel was of July 2017. Afcons Transtonnelstroy and Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation Ltd jointly constructed it

Key highlights of the East West Metro Project

• The entire project is 16.6 km long, out of that 10.8 km runs under the ground. 
• Out of this 10.8 km, 502 metres is under the water. 
• The project connects Salt lake to the east and Howrah to the west.
• The stretch of 16.6 km will have 12 stations, six of which will be underground, while the remaining six stations will be on elevated tracks. 
• The total project costed around Rs 5000 crore. 
• The final commissioning of the project is expected by December 2019 afterwards it will be operational.

Who has been appointed as Chairman of IAMAI ? - Rajan Anandan

Rajan Anandan, Google India's Managing Director was appointed as the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on 25th May 2017. IAMAI is country’s leading association of digital companies. It has a membership of nearly 300 Indian and overseas companies and has its offices in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru and Delhi.

More about Rajan Anandan

• He did his MSc from Stanford University and a BSc from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• He worked as a principal partner with McKinsey & Company in Chicago between 1992 and 2003.
• He joined Dell Inc as Vice-President later and was also the Executive Assistant to Michael Dell till 2004.
• Anandan joined Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd to head its sales and marketing operations in September 2008. 
• He had joined Google India as Vice-President of Sales and Operations in 2011.
• Anandan is also one of the top angel investors and has invested in several internet, mobile and software startups including ZipGo, Lucideus, Omnify, POPxo, Sheroes and Unacademy.