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May 20, 2015

20th May 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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National Affairs
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met the surviving members of India's first successful expedition to Mt. Everest
    • The Golden Jubilee of Indian's first successful ascent on Mt Everest, which was led by Captain (Retired) M S Kohli exactly 50 years ago, on May 20th, 1965, is being celebrated from May 19 to May 21 by the Indian Mountaineering Federation.
    • Members of this team had successfully scaled Mt. Everest for the first time.
    • The expedition team had nineteen members, including ten Indian Army mountaineers.
    • The Prime Minister also met the next of kin of the deceased members of the expedition.
    • The Prime Minister also released the book titled "The Great Himalayan Climb" on the occasion.
  • Escalating his confrontation with the AAP government, Lt Governor Najeeb Jung today cancelled all appointments made by it in the last four days, asserting he was the sole authority in matters of ordering transfer and posting of bureaucrats.
    • Note : The appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary last week had triggered a full-blown war between the AAP government and Jung with Kejriwal alleging that the LG was trying to take over the administration.
    • Each side has since appointed some officials in senior positions which were declared void by the other.
  • The govt has announced that 7.5cr people subscribed to Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana in a week.
    • After the success of these schemes, the Govt is planning to announce a new scheme for senior citizens which will be funded through the unclaimed money lying with Banks and other financial institutions.
Awards & Honors
  • Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai has won the prestigious Man Booker International
    Prize for 2015.
    • His novels Satantango (Sátántangó) (1985) and The Melancholy of Resistance (Az ellenállás melankóliája) (1989) have been turned into feature films by Hungarian film director Béla Tarr.
    • The biennial Man Booker International prize is worth 60,000 pounds and is intended to honor a living author for his or her body of work, either written in English or available in English translation.
Deaths
  • Veteran TV actress Sudha Shivpuri (77) passed away.
    • She became a household name after essaying the role of 'Baa' in TV show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.
Business & Economy
  • A mid-year update of the UN World Economic Situation and Prospects report says India's economic growth is to surpass China's in 2015-16.
    • According to the report, Indian GDP is expected to zoom by 7.7 per cent in 2016 which will help accelerate economic growth in South Asia. 
    • It will overtake China, which is projected to grow by 7 per cent in 2015 and 6.8 per cent next year. 
  • The government has announced a new scheme offering tax-free interest on any gold that individuals and institutions deposit with banks as part of its strategy to monetise the huge stock of gold in the country, worth around Rs.60 lakh crore.
    • The minimum amount of gold that has to be deposited is as low as 30 grammes while the interest earned on the value of the gold would be exempt from income tax as well as capital gains tax.
Science & Technology
  • The Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) of Japan has signed off on the basic safety of the third reactor of the Ikata nuclear power plant on Shikoku island. 
    • The 890 MW reactor, commissioned in 1994, is operated by Shikoku Electric, and accounted for nearly 40% of the company's power supply before its shut down in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in March 2011. 
    • Ikata-3 will also require operational checks and the consent of local authorities to get NRA's final sign off and to restart.
New Appointments
  • Controversial BJP leader from West Bengal Tathagata Roy was sworn in as Tripura Governor.
    • He has been a controversial figure (particularly for his anti-Muslim tweets) but he has said he will stop since his new office demands it.
  • Senior BJP leader V Shanmuganathan was sworn-in as the Governor of Meghalaya.
    • Meghalaya was without a permanent governor for over four months.
    • Keshari Nath Tripathi, the West Bengal governor, had been taking the charge since the former incumbent K K Paul was removed from the post in January this year.
Sports
  • The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for India's tour to Bangladesh.
    • With this, Offspinner Harbhajan Singh makes a comeback into the Test squad after two long years.
    • Here is the squad for India's tour to Bangladesh:
      • Test: Virat Kohli(C), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ashwin Ravichandran, Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma.
      • ODIs: MS Dhoni (C), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravichandran Ashwin , Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Stuart Binny, Dhawal Kulkarni.
Read more Daily Current Affairs updates from here

Note : The current affairs of 21st, 22nd and 23rd May 2015 will be available soon.... 

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