Current Affairs: 16 May 2017

Important Days

National Dengue Day: 16 May

• National Dengue Day has been observed on 16th of May, 2016 by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India.
• The aim of this day is to control the Dengue through create awareness, initiate preventive actions and continue till transmission season is over.
• Dengue is a common viral disease spread by mosquito bite.
• It is transmitted by a mosquito called Aedes Aegypti. It occurs in two forms.
• The first form is, Classical Dengue fever also known as break bone fever because of the severe pain it develops in patients’ joints.
• The second form is Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever which is not only painful but also deadly. It usually results in abnormal bleeding from nose, gums or as blood in urine.
• ccording to National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) maximum number of cases were reported from Delhi followed by Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Gujarat , Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Telangana and other states.

National Events

PM Modi launches river conservation project in Madhya Pradesh to ensure pollution-free Narmada

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Narmada Seva Mission for the conservation of the crucial river, which is a lifeline of Madhya Pradesh.
• Narmada Seva mission plan document was prepared by the Madhya Pradesh government.
• On December 11, 2016 from Amarkantak, the origin place of the River Narmada Narmada Sewa Yatra was launched as the world’s biggest river conservation campaign with public participation.
• Narmada river captured the attention of the nation when it became the centre of a decades-long struggle to stop the raising of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. 
• Medha Patkar led the campaign that demonstrators said would displace thousands, who were not being compensated.

With 1 flight in 65 seconds, Mumbai becomes busiest single-runway airport

• GVK group-run Mumbai airport has been crowned the world’s busiest among the single-runway facilities as it overtakes London’s Gatwick airport, which handles 757 flights a day. 
• The airport operator and Mumbai air traffic controller (ATC) handle one of the difficult jobs in the world, as every 65 seconds an aircraft either takes off or touches down at the airport, that is, around 837 flights a day. 
• All leading cities like New York, London, Dubai, and Singapore have more than one airport, with multiple runways.
• The New Delhi airport has three parallel runways in use at any given time.

Adiyogi Shiva Statue Enters The Guinness Book Of World Records As World's Largest Bust

• The 112 feet tall bust of ‘Adiyogi’ Lord Shiva unveiled by PM Narendra Modi on February 24 has been declared the world’s largest bust by the Guinness Book of World Records.
• Isha Foundation led by Guru Jaggi Vasudev had set up the Adiyogi bust which now attracts thousands of people every day.
• The bust refers to source of Yoga and symbolises the 112 methods of self-transformation that the first Yogi or Adiyogi (originator of yoga) offered
• This is the second time the foundation had found itself in Guinness record books as on October 17, 2006, the foundation had entered the Guinness Book for planting millions of saplings.

Indian Railways to install 19,000 CCTV cameras at 900 stations to ensure security

• Indian Railways will install CCTV surveillance system at more than 900 stations under the Nirbhaya Fund at an approved cost of Rs500 crore to strengthen security at rail premises. 
• Tenders will be floated shortly to install about 19,000 high definition CCTV cameras at 983 stations across the country to ensure round-the-clock security to passengers including women.
• The Centre had created Nirbhaya Fund with a Rs1,000 crore corpus in its 2013 Union budget to support initiatives by the government and NGOs working towards protecting the dignity and ensuring safety of women in the country.
• The project envisages installation of cameras at platforms and waiting areas while there will be control rooms at stations to monitor CCTV footages by trained RPF personnel constantly. 
• The station master will also be given access to monitor CCTV camera footage

International Events

Amul to sponsor New Zealand cricket team for Champions trophy

• Gujarat-based dairy giant Amul will be the prime sponsor of the New Zealand cricket team in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy that starts on June 1 in England.
• The Blackcaps, who are in the same group with Australia, England and Bangladesh in the Champion’s trophy, would sport a new jersey with the Amul logo on its chest during the tournament.

Edouard Philippe named new French PM

• French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Edouard Philippe, a relatively unknown 46-year-old lawmaker, as prime minister, making good on campaign promises to repopulate French politics with new faces.
• Philippe is the mayor of the Normandy port of Le Havre, a trained lawyer and an author of political thrillers. 
• He's also a member of the mainstream-right Republicans party that was badly battered by Macron's victory in the presidential campaign.
• It is the first time in modern French political history that a president has appointed a prime minister from outside his camp without being forced to by a defeat in parliamentary elections.

Ovais Sarmad, an Indian appointed to high-level UN climate change post

• A senior Indian official has been appointed as the deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), under which the landmark Paris agreement was negotiated and adopted. 
• Ovais Sarmad, 57, was appointed to the post at the assistant secretary-general level by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,
• Sarmad will succeed Richard Kinley of Canada. 
• Sarmad holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Hyderabad’s Osmania University, and professional certification in management accountancy from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in London. 
• Sarmad currently serves as chief of staff to the director general of the International Organisation for Migration.

Banking

ICICI Bank, HDFC too cut home loan rate

• Following SBI, two leading private lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Ltd on Monday slashed interest rate by up to 0.3 percent for loans of up to Rs 30 lakh to promote affordable housing. 
• The move is in keeping with the government's vision of providing homes for all by 2022.
• New home loans rates for up to 30 lakh for women will be 8.35 percent and for other others, 8.40 percent,
• For home loans between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 75 lakh the interest remains unchanged at 8.50 percent for all borrowers. For home loans above Rs 75 lakh it is now 8.55 percent, from 8.75 percent for all,
• ICICI Bank too reduced interest rates by up to 0.3 percent for home loans up to Rs 30 lakh in its bid to boost affordable housing.
• Salaried women borrowers will get home loans at 8.35 percent and others at 8.40 percent

Sports

Deepti Sharma And Poonam Raut Become 1st Pair To Put On 300-Run Stand In Women's ODIs

• Deepti Sharma and Poonam Raut scripted history against Ireland.
• They are the first pair to put on a 300-run stand in Women's ODIs. 
• Deepti and Raut had an opening partnership of 320 before the former fell for 188.
• Deepti is the first Indian to score over 150 and now has the second highest individual score in ODIs after Belinda Clarke's 229. Raut made 109.

Asian Wrestling: Silver for Sumit as India finish with 10 medals

• Sumit picked up a silver in the 125kg category to help India finish their Asian Wrestling Championship campaign here with an impressive haul of 10 medals
• India thus finished with 10 medals — a gold, five silver and four bronze

Madrid Open: Rafael Nadal beats Dominic Thiem to win fifth title

• Rafael Nadal beat Dominic Thiem 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 to win his fifth Madrid Open title and move into the world's top four.
• The Spaniard has now won three straight titles, after his Barcelona Open and Monte Carlo Masters victories, while his record on clay this year is 15-0.
• He broke world number seven Thiem early in the second set to set up the win.
• Nadal will be confirmed as the new world number four, replacing 18-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, when the new rankings
• Nadal, who beat defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, has now won his 30th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, tying the all-time record with Serbia's Djokovic.

Lewis Hamilton wins spectacular Spanish Grand Prix

• Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position to cut Sebastian Vettel's overall lead in the Formula One championship to six points with a quarter of the season completed.
• The Mercedes driver's 55th career win was hard-fought and tense. 
• Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel finished second.

Awards & Achievements

Pawan Kumar Chamling conferred with first BS Shekhawat award by President

• Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling was conferred with the first Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Lifetime Achievement Honour in Public Service by President Pranab Mukherjee
• The award was conferred during the first Bhairon Singh Shekhawat memorial lecture delivered by the President.
• Chamling, who was first elected to power in 1994 and has continued to be chief minister for 22 years, lauded former vice-president Shekhawat as a visionary leader who cared for his people.

IIT team gets award for startup

• A team of Indian Institute of Techonology (IIT) Delhi researchers was awarded the startups national award 2017 by the technology development board for creating a technology that protects against air pollutants and minimises the risk of respiratory diseases.
• The team includes faculty members professor Manjeet Jassal and professor Ashwini K Agrawal, alumni Sanjeev Jain, Prateek Sharma, Tushar Vyas and a student Jatin Kewlani. 
• The device -'Nasofilters' -is a Nano-respiratory filter, which is ready for commercialisation and can protect against the finest particulate pollutants.

Noida RWA federation awarded best welfare body

• The Federation of Noida Residents Welfare Association (FONRWA) was awarded with Navratan Legend award for the year 2017
• The award, which was given by Rajya Sabha MP R K Sinha and conferred by Navratan Foundation, a local NGO working in the field of culture, environment and women empowerment, was conferred on FONRWA for actively raising various citizen issues at concerned forums and resolving different public grievance issues for the welfare of Noida residents.
• The award was conferred on RWA federation for its exemplary work in the city of Noida. "FONRWA has been proactively raising important issues of the citizens of the city at concerned forums and has done commendable work in resolving many public grievances,

INSA Young Scientist Award for Hyd-based Professor

• Aravind Kumar Rengan, Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology – Hyderabad has been awarded the prestigious Indian National Science Academy (INSA) medal in the Young Scientist category for 2017.
• He is being recognised for having devised a novel way of nano delivery using liposomes and gold nano particles. 
• This is useful for both imaging and therapeutics.
• His research work was published in the journal of NANOSCALE (Impact factor 7.76) and ACS NANO LETTERS (Impact Factor: 13.78) both being prestigious journals in nanotechnology. 
• Dr Aravind’s entire bio-engineering research work was carried out in India, bringing credits to our country in the International arena.
• Since 1974, INSA annually presents the Young Scientist Award to distinguish young scientists who have made notable research contributions in science and technology. 
• The INSA Young Scientist Medal award carries a bronze medal and a cash prize of Rs 25,000. There are some other incentives attached with this award as well. 
• The INSA Young Scientists Award is considered to be the highest recognition of promise, creativity and excellence in a young scientist

Science & Technology

Indian Teen From Tamil Nadu Develops The World’s Smallest Satellite For NASA

• An 18-year-old boy from Tamil Nadu has created the world's smallest satellite, naming it 'KalamSat'.
• Developed by Riftah Sharook, who hails from Tamil Nadu's Pallapatti town, KalamSat weighs only 64 grams and is named after former President APJ Abdul Kalam
• Sharook's satellite will be launched by NASA on June 21 from Wallops Island.
• KalamSat was selected through a competition, 'Cubes in Space,' which was jointly organised by NASA and an organisation, 'I Doodle Learning.'
• The main role of the satellite will be to demonstrate the performance of 3-D printed carbon fibre.
• Sharook is known to have build the satellite from scratch and his project was funded by an organisation called 'Space Kidz India'.

Books & Authors

Vice President launched India’s Indira: A Centennial Tribute'

• President Pranab Mukherjee has received the first copy of book “India’s Indira: A Centennial Tribute” in New Delhi.
• Mukherjee has also written a chapter in the book, which was released by vice-president M Hamid Ansari.
• Senior leader Anand Sharma has edited the book.