Daily Current Affairs - 25th May 2013

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International Affairs

• African leaders Saturday commemorated 50 years since the founding of a continental organization that would become the modern African Union. At AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, the organization’s leaders celebrated the achievements of the past and called for greater solidarity among nations going forward.  
• Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo has been extradited to the United States to face money laundering charges. The ailing former leader is accused of laundering $70 million in Guatemalan funds through US banks.
• China and the US have signed an MOU agreeing to share audit and accounting records of concerned companies, marking an important step in cross-border coordination to prevent frauds by Chinese firms listed in US.
• China's urban and rural pension insurance programme now covers 486 million people, an official with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said today.
• Japan's premier  Shinzo Abe today backed the development of a major industrial zone near Yangon on a visit to Myanmar aimed at deepening economic ties with the former junta-ruled nation.

National Affairs

• Former President A P J  AbdulKalam conferred with US-based National Space Society's (NSS) Wernher von Braun Memorial Award in San Diego.
• Indian Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh has taken a decision to relax the rules for recruitment for orphan youth which will help them to join the force.
• Veteran Tamil playback singer T M Soundararajan passed away at his residence in Chennai today following a brief illness. He was 91 yrs old.
• BJP today announced the name of former Himachal Pradesh minister Jairam Thakur for the upcoming Mandi Parliamentary bye-election.
• Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal announced 24-hour uninterrupted power supply to border and sub-mountainous Kandi areas on the urban pattern. He took this decission by keeping in view hardships faced by the inhabitants of border and sub-mountainous Kandi areas due to erratic power supply.
• Punjab Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal today announced that a diarrhoea prevention week will be observed from May 27 till June 1 across the state. 
• To provide quality training to teachers, the government today has approved setting up of block institutes of teachers education in 196 districts during the current Five Year Plan. These institutes will be opened in SC, ST and minority- concentrated districts, the HRD ministry said in a statement.
• Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah inducted S R Patil Member of legislative Council into his Ministriy taking the strength of cabinet to 30
• Odisha government proposes to increase the number of seats in colleges in rural areas by 15% to help local students
• The Centre has cleared a proposal to grant the famous Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand the status of a tiger reserve.
• Central University of Kerala at Kasargod set up a chair in the name of  MahatmaAyyankali, one of the greatest social reformer.
• Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) roped in IIM-Ahmedabad to train senior executives under Leadership Development Programme.

Science and Technology

• Scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have found that a small molecule released in the spinal cord in mice triggers a process that is later experienced in the brain as the sensation of itch.

Sports

• In the wake of latest controversies related to spot fixing case in cricket and revelations of role of underworld in leveraging ban in sports betting, FICCI has once again re-initiated its call for regulating sports betting in India.
• Indian U-17's mixed doubles pair Chirag Sen-Kuhoo Garg enter semi-finals at Jober Open Badminton Championship in Indonesia.
• MumbaiIndians beat RajasthanRoyals by 4 wickets, to clash with ChennaiSuperKings in the finals on Sunday.
• GurunathMeiyappan, son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinivasan and owner of ChennaiSuperKings, arrested in Mumbai. CSK seem to be a team in turmoil after its CEO's arrest.

Rose M