News

·         Who has been appointed as the chairperson of NBSA ?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       > Justice (retd.) A.K. Sikri

·         Former Supreme Court judge Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri has been appointed chairperson of the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA). He succeeds Justice R.V. Raveendran on the top NBSA post. Justice Sikri served as the Supreme Court judge from April 2013 to March 2019. The NBSA is a self-regulatory body that implements the ‘Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards and Guidelines’ for its member news broadcasters.

l       Who became the new chairman of ‘Chiefs of Staff Committee’ (COSC) ?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         > Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa

l      Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa on May 29, 2019 received the baton of chairman of Chief of Staff Committee from outgoing Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba who retired on May 30. The Chiefs of Staff Committee consists of Chiefs of the Indian Army, the Navy and the Air Force and the senior most member is appointed its chairman. After Admiral Lanba’s superannuation, Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa becomes the head of the COSC for being the senior most chief.

l  Who became youngest ever Lok Sabha member in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls ?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   > Chandrani Murmu

l  Chandrani Murmu became youngest-ever Lok Sabha member of India when she won the Keonjhar Lok Sabha seat (reserved for Scheduled Tribes) in Odisha on Biju Janta Dal ticket on May 23, 2019 at the age of 25 years, 11 months and seven days. She won the Keonjhar seat by a margin of 66,203 votes. Before election of Murmu as the youngest-ever Lok Sabha member in the 17th Lok Sabha, the record of the youngest-ever Lok Sabha member was held by Dushyant Chautala, who at the age of 26, represented the Hisar seat in Haryana in the 16th Lok Sabha. Murmu completed her B.Tech from SOA University in 2017.

l  Which Indian State listed the Masala bonds at London Stock Exchange ?                       

                                                                                                                                                                                               > Kerala

l      Kerala became the first sub-sovereign entity in India to access the international bond market when the state-owned Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) debuted its masala bond issue at the London Stock Exchange on May 17, 2019. The resources earned through these bonds would be channelised for funding a clutch of infrastructure development projects of KIIFB. Masala bonds are debt papers sold overseas by an Indian entity that are denominated in rupees. KIIFB has already raised   2,150 crore through the masala bonds at a fixed interest rate of 9·723% per annum.

l    Which company became India’s biggest company by revenue ?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        > Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL)

l  Reliance Industries Ltd. Toppeed state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to become India’s biggest company by revenue as RIL reported a turnover of 6·23 lakh crore in the fiscal year 2018-19 that ended on March 31, 2019. In comparison, IOC reported a turnover of 6·17 lakh crore in that period and lost the biggest Indian company tag to RIL. Mukesh Ambani-owned RIL was also the most profitable company in India with a net profit of more than double that of IOC in the fiscal year 2018-19

l             Who has become the top military officer of the NATO military alliance ?   

            General Tod D. Wolters

l     US Air Force General Tod D. Wolters was on May 3, 2019 sworn in as the top military officer of the 29-nation NATO military alliance at NATO’s military headquarters in Mons, Belgium. Former pilot Wolters replaced U.S. Army General Curtis M. Scaparrotti on this post for a term likely to run two to three years. General Wolters  will also be Commander of US force in Europe. Top military officer post of NATO is officially called ‘Supreme Allied Commander Europe’ (SACEUR) which is always held by an American military officer.

l  Who scaled Mount Everest for record 24th time ?  

  Kami Rita Sherpa

l     Kami Rita Sherpa, Veteran Nepalese mountaineer improved his own world record of climbing Mount Everest on May 21, 2019 when he scaled it for record 24th time. Kami Rita clinched the world record of climbing Everest, the highest peak of the world, for most of the time with his 22nd climb last year. He further bettered his own world record with the peak climb twice in May, this year. He scaled it 23rd time on May 15 and he again conquered the 8,848 metre peak for 24th time on May 21. He has been climbing Mount Everest since 1994. He has already scaled most of the peaks that are above the 8,000 metre altitude level, including K2, Cho Oyu, Lhotse and Annapurna.

  l     Which country has become the first country to declare ‘an environment and climate emergency’ ?

            > The United Kingdom

l  The United Kingdom became the first country in the world to declare an environment and climate emergency when the UK Parliament gave its approval to a motion for this purpose on May 01, 2019. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn tabled the motion in the Parliament. The declaration, which does not legally compel the British government to act, came after huge protests by environmental activist group ‘Extinction Rebellion’. After the British Parliament, Ireland’s Parliament also declared the climate emergency in the country on May 9.

l  Which is the first place in Asia where same sex marriage has been legalised ?

  Taiwan

l     Taiwan has become the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage when Taiwanese Parliament on May 17, 2019 gave its approval to the same-sex marriage bill. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) law makers backed the bill in the Parliament and the bill was passed in the Parliament with 66 votes in its support while 27 votes went against it. The ‘Bill’ offers same-sex couples similar legal protections for marriage in Taiwan as hetero-sexuals get.

     l     Former ISRO Chief A.S. Kiran Kumar gets the top civilian honour of—                    

 France

l  Former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar was on May 2, 2019 honoured with France’s highest Civilian Decoration Chevalier de I’order national de La Legion d’ Honneur (National order of the Legion of Honour). France’s ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler presented the honour to Mr. Kiran Kumar on behalf of French President at an award ceremony in New Delhi as an acknowledgement to his outstanding contribution in fostering historic space cooperation between India and France. Created in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, the honour is the highest civilian honour of the French government.