General - Current Affairs for May, 2015

The Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information and Broadcasting Shri Arun Jaitley inaugurated the New Bank Note Paper Line of 6000 MT capacity at Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh on 30th May’15.

Dilawar Singh of Haryana pipped local hero Mohammad Akbar Khan to win 'Pedal for Kashmir' cycling competition, held along the banks of picturesque Dal Lake in Srinagar on 31st May’15. Singh took the title while Khan came runner up, followed by another local cyclist
Mohammad Adil Teli.

On 26th May 2015 Manabi Bandopadhyay became the first transgender principal of Krishnagar Women's College in Nadia district, West Bengal. She will join her new job from 9 June 2015.

In one of its kind recognition received by any state of the country, the WHO on 27th May’’15 lauded the efforts of the state against use of tobacco. Punjab was the first state to impose complete ban on sale of loose Cigarettes, loose tobacco, flavoured and scented tobacco e-Cigarettes in the state.

The Republic of Ireland has voted overwhelmingly to legalise same-sex marriage in a historic referendum. More than 62% voted in favour of amending the country's constitution to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.

The decision was taken keeping in view the security and safety of commuters, especially women. The GPS devices will be available from Driving Licence Appointment and Payment System (DIMTS).

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (UP) Akhilesh Yadav inaugurated the UP Film Bandhus’s Website and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up a film city.

The court's judgement came on 22nd May’15 in a case relating to the arrest of a man by Kerala Police's special squad suspecting him of being a Maoist. The court said, though the political ideology of Maoists would not synchronise with our constitutional polity, being a Maoist is no crime.

The operations were conducted with active support from the government of Uttar Pradesh, Yamuna Expressway Authority, toll authorities of JP Infratech and Civil Police.

The Government is planning to increase the total number of the Jan-Aushadhi stores to 3,000, and at these stores essential medicines will be provided at 40 to 60 percent lower rates.

To make playing easier for all, the state government has ordered opening up of several stadiums and sports complexes. Apart from this, it has also been decided that academies or clubs or individuals will have access to government schools for sports promotion.

Army, Air Force and BSF will conduct joint operations to learn and practice combating future threats. The Golden Arrow Division along with participating units and integrated elements of Vajra Corps and Western Command will be put through a realistic war like scenario.

The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states. The session was presided by the Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda.

The 66-year-old was looked after by nurses of Asia's largest public healthcare facility, the BMC-run KEM Hospital.

With these cards, a customer can transact by just tapping or waving it against the reader of the point-of-sale machine.

It was on this day in 1975 that this erstwhile Kingdom joined the Indian Union as its 22nd State following the 38th Constitution amendment.

On 15th May’15 the Ministry said, it has invited proposals from reputed companies to participate in the competitive bidding process for implementation and maintenance of the Nationwide Emergency Response System. It was felt that various emergency call numbers like Police, Fire and Ambulance could be integrated into one to not only act as receivers of emergency calls but also as responders in a very quick time. The project will also integrate all smart communication facilities like calls, SMS and online chat platforms into one.

The work to set up museum at Panchkula would commence within next 3 to 4 months, the work on museum at Rakhigarhi would be taken up within a month. A state-level museum at a cost of Rs 5 crore will also be set up at Rakhigarhi village in Hisar district to display various items excavated at Rakhigarhi which is the biggest site of Harappan civilization in the South-east Asia.

According to safety experts an Amtrak train derailed in Philadelphia, killing at least seven people, was travelling at twice the speed limit.

The National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) is the apex National Centre of research and development in Solar Energy under administrative control of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Government of India. It coordinates solar energy research & technology related work in the country under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM).

Picasso's 'Women of Algiers' has become the most expensive painting to sell at auction, going for 179.3 million dollar at Christie's in New York. The previous world record for a painting sold at auction was 142.4 million dollar for British painter Francis Bacon's Three Studies of Lucian Freud.

In Liberia no new cases of Ebola were reported in past 42 days which is twice the number of days the virus requires to incubate.

The online portal to be launched soon by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, will help in the verification process during registrations or while applying for loans from banks.

Justice K G Balakrishnan had joined the Commission as its chief on the June 7, 2010 after his retirement as the Chief Justice of India.NHRC member Justice Cyriac Joseph has been authorised by President Pranab Mukherjee to act as the Chairperson of the Commission with effect from 12th May’15 until the appointment of a new Chairperson.

The commissioning of INS Sardar Patel would enable it to qualitatively augment its infrastructure and organisational effectiveness in Gujarat, which would improve coordination and synergy with other maritime agencies of the government.

In terms of vehicle density, Chennai tops the list with 2093 followed by Pune with 1260, Mumbai with 1014, Hyderabad with 723, Kolkata with 355 and Delhi with 245. The reason for this is Delhi's enormous advantage in road length. Compared to 1800 km in Chennai and Pune, 2000 km in Mumbai and a mere 1400 km in Kolkata, Delhi boasts around 30,000 km of road length.

The Circular stated "It encourages people to honk every time you pass a truck or tempo. It sends an extremely wrong message to the people".