Current Affairs National

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be administered the oath of office for his second term along with his new council of ministers on 30th May. President Ram Nath Kovind will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the prime minister and other members of the Union Council of Ministers at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Modi is the first BJP leader who has been elected for the second time after completionof his five-year tenure. From BJP, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was also elected as a prime minister for two consecutive terms, but his first stint had lasted only for one year and seven months.
Source- The Economic Times

  Over 25 state governments may have to pay environment compensation of Rs one crore each for not submitting their respective action plans on systematic disposal of plastic waste to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) as the April 30 deadline set by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has passed by. The states had to submit action plans by April 30 to the CPCB, failing which they would have to pay the pollution body a compensation at the rate of Rs one crore per month, as per the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order.
Source- The Hindu Business Line

  As per Election Commission of India, the 2019 Lok Sabha elections witnessed a voter turnout of 67.10% (interim), which is the highest ever voter turnout in the history of general elections. The previous highest voter turnout of 66.44% was recorded in 2014. The seven-phase 2019 elections began on April 11 and concluded on May 19, with counting scheduled for Thursday.
Source- The Livemint

  India is unanimously chosen as co-chair of the Consultative Group (CG) of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) for the fiscal year 2020. The decision was taken during the CG meeting of GFDRR held in Geneva, Switzerland, on the margins of the 6th Session of the GPDRR 2019. The CG Meeting was co-chaired by Africa Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, the European Union (EU) and World Bank. Additionally, GFDRR in cooperation with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the European Union had also organized the 4th edition of the World Reconstruction Conference (WRC). This is the first time that the country has been afforded the opportunity of co-chairing the CG meeting of GFDRR.
Important Abbreviations: 
  • GFDRR: Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery
  • ACP: Africa Caribbean and Pacific
  • UNDRR: UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
  • WRC: World Reconstruction Conference.
  • Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

     India was re-elected as Observer to the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum. The decision was taken during the 11th Arctic Council ministerial meeting at Rovaniemi, Finland. The Council also appointed the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as a new Observer. India successfully got the Observer status in 2013 during the Kiruna Ministerial meeting held in Sweden.
    Source- The Livemint

      The Indian Council of Medical Research has launched the ‘Malaria Elimination Research Alliance (MERA) India which is a conglomeration of partners working on malaria control in order to eliminate the disease from India by 2030. The National Vector Borne Diseases Control Program (NVBDCP) of India has also developed a comprehensive framework to achieve the target of “Malaria free India by 2030”.
    Source: Deccan Herald

      The Indian Army has started the process of inducting women as jawans by starting their online registration for recruitment in the corps of military police. They were being inducted only as officers and this is the first time they would be taken in as soldiers. Women will be inducted in a graded manner to eventually comprise 20% of the total Corps of Military Police and their role will range from probing crime cases to assisting the army in field operations wherever required.
    Source: India Today

      Professor Gagandeep Kang has become the first Indian female scientist to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in the UK fellowship’s 358-year-history. The 56-year-old is the Executive Director of Translational Health Science and Technology Institute at Faridabad. Other notable FRS inducted in 2019 include Fields Medal-winning mathematicians Akshay Venkatesh and Manjul Bhargava.
    Source: The Times of India

      India’s first exotic Bird Park ‘Essel World Bird Park’ was launched by EsselWorld Leisure Pvt. Ltd, the entertainment arm of the $6-billion Essel Group in Mumbai. The Park is spread over 1.4 acres of land and surrounded by flora and fauna. It is home to over 500 exotic birds from more than 60 species of flying, terrestrial and aquatic birds and has 200 species of special plants and trees for the birds.
    Source: The Hindu

      The Guwahati Railway Station has become the first ever railway station in the Indian Railways to get an ISO certification from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for “providing passenger amenities in a clean and green environment.” Many types of ISO certification exist and the one received by Guwahati Railway Station is ISO-14001, which is for Environment Management System as per international norms which were upgraded in 2015. Thus, the station’s certificate reads ISO 14001: 2015. 
    Source- The News Nation


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