24th May 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• After 17 years of construction work, Switzerland is going to open world's longest and deepest train tunnel.
• The Gotthard Base Tunnel will open for the first time on 1st June 2016, extending 57 km in length into the bowels of the earth 2,300 meters below the Gotthard massif in the Swiss Alps.
• With speeds reaching up to 250 km/hr, the travel time from one end of the tunnel to the other will take just 20 minutes.

National Affairs

• The Ministry of Urban Development announced 13 new cities to be developed under the government’s Smart-Cities project.
• These cities were shortlisted based on scores obtained in Fast Track competition conducted for 23 cities from as many States and Union Territories. 
  
• The cities include Lucknow, New Town in Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Dharamsala, Chandigarh, Faridabad, Raipur, Ranchi, Warangal, Agartala, Imphal, Port Blair and Panaji. 
• Further, the cities have proposed projects involving a total investment of ₹30,229 crore.
• The Sikkim government has banned the use and sale of disposable foam food containers like cups and plates across the state with immediate effect. 
• Reason for the ban : Such containers create huge quantities of environmentally hazardous municipal waste and occupy space in the landfill. 
• Note : Sikkim also restricted the use of mineral water bottles in government programmes.

MOUs & Agreements

• State-owned major, National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has signed a MoU with Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) to jointly explore the possibility of setting up an aluminium smelter in Iran. 
• The signing of the MoU coincides with the visit of prime minister Narendra Modi to Iran.

Business & Economy

• Saudi Arabia has joined Turkey, Indonesia and the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) as a prospective founder member of a new Islamic finance infrastructure bank.
• The four are going to contribute around $300 million each for the project, with plans calling for the establishment of two regional Islamic banks based in Istanbul and Jakarta. 

Science & Technology

• India will get an indigenously built supercomputer next year as part of the government's Rs 4,500-crore programme aimed at taking India into an elite league of nations who have made advancements in the field.
• It is being implemented jointly by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY).
• The mission aimed to enable India to leapfrog to the league of world-class computing power nations.
• The Indian Navy has commissioned indigenously built highly maneuverable Fast Attack Craft INS Tarmugli at the commissioning ceremony held in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. 
• INS Tarmugli will be based in Visakhapatnam under the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Andhra Pradesh). 
• It would be deployed for coastal patrol and surveillance operations along the East Coast of India. 

Awards & Honors

• Routes 2 Roots, a Delhi-based Non-profit organization (NGO), has been awarded prestigious Inter-cultural Innovation Award 2016. 
• The award was bestowed upon the NGO for their unique Student Exchange Program, which allowed children in schools from India and Pakistan to connect with each other. 
• The award was given by United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

New Appointments

• Renowned scientist S K Sharma was appointed the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).
• Sarbananda Sonowal sworn in as Assam’s Chief Minister.
• He will be the first BJP chief minister of Assam.
• After 15 years of Congress rule, Assam gets its first BJP government.
• He is  Assam’s 14th chief minister.

Sports

• Mohun Bagan FC has won the 2016 Indian Federation Cup football tournament title for the 14th time. 
• They have won the tournament after a gap of 8 years and last was won in 2008. 
• In the final match played at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati (Assam), they defeated Aizawl FC by 5-0 goals. 

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