Current Affairs for the year of 2025 - 2024

NASA scientists located 39 unreported and major human-made sources of toxic sulfur dioxide emissions. They used a new satellite-based method to locate the sources of toxic emissions. The study was published in The Nature Geoscience journal on 30 May 2016. NASA scientists of Environment and Climate Change,...

The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) in the last week of July 2016 announced that India Meteorological Department (IMD) will use supercomputer to forecast India’s annual summer monsoon. The forecast made by a supercomputer will be based on a dynamical monsoon model. It will be operational...

The Tamil Nadu Assembly on 1 August 2016 unanimously passed a resolution to rename the Madras High Court as the Tamil Nadu High Court. The resolution on the matter was moved by Chief Minister J Jayalalitha as most of the High Courts established after the formation of new states based on linguistic lines...

Noted Kannada writer D Javare Gowda, popularly known as De Ja Gow, passed away on 30 May 2016 following a cardiac arrest in a private hospital at Mysuru. He was 101. He is survived by a daughter, a son and grandchildren. He was a disciple of Kannada doyen and poet lauret K V Puttappa. About D Javare...

The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers 2016 was observed on 29 May 2016 with the theme Honouring Our Heroes. The day offers a chance to pay tribute to the Blue Helmets’ invaluable contribution to the work of the Organization and to honour more than 3400 peacekeepers who have lost...

Sanjay Bangar was on 26 May 2016 appointed as the head coach of Indian Cricket team for Zimbabwe tour. Before this appointment he worked as assistant coach (batting) for the team at the World T20 Cup in March and April 2016, under team director Ravi Shastri. Besides his appointment BCCI also appointed...

The State Bank of India (SBI) was on 16 June 2016 named in the Hall of Shame list of 158 banking institutions that have invested billions of dollars in companies making cluster bombs. The list was prepared by Dutch campaign group PAX Worldwide Investments in Cluster Munitions report. State Bank of India...

India and Morocco on 31 May 2016 launched the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IMCCI) in Rabat, Morocco. The chamber was jointly launched by visiting Vice President Hamid Ansari and Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane. The IMCCI was launched to accelerate the pace of economic...

Bharti Enterprises founder and Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal on 26 May 2016 received 2016 Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award. He was one of the five recipients of the year. the others include Mary Callahan, CEO of J.P. Morgan Asset Management; Alan F. Horn, chairman of the Walt Disney Studios;...

South Korean Novelist Han Kang has been awarded the Man Booker International Prize for his Novel “The Vegetarian” which deals with a woman’s rejection of Human Brutality and giving up of eating meat. Han Kang succeeds over Nobel Laureate Orhanpamuk and Best Seller Elena Ferrante and...

Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22 June 2016 approved the sale of all available spectrum in the country. This is the largest-ever spectrum auction in the country. The move could fetch 5.5 lakh crore rupees for the exchequer, going by the reserve price. This amount is five times...

The Union Government on 20 May 2016 constituted a committee of experts on defence spending. The 11-member committee will be headed by Lt Gen DB Shekatkar (retd) and include top military officers and civilian experts. The committee will recommend measures to enhance the combat capabilities of the over...

Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), at the University of Warwick, which was founded by renowned Indian-origin Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, on 7 June 2016 was bestowed the Regius Professorship in Manufacturing by Queen Elizabeth II. Who is Kumar Bhattacharyya? • Lord Bhattacharyya is an Indian...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9 June 2016 concluded five-nation visit to Afghanistan, Qatar, Switzerland, the US and Mexico. During the five-day tour between 4 June and 8 June 2016, Modi met with Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani; Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani; President of Swiss federation,...

The Union Cabinet on 1 June 2016 approved the proposal for Extension of Corridor-1 of Chennai Metro Rail Phase-I Project from Washermanpet to Wimconagar. It covers a length of 9.051 km at a total cost of 3770 crore rupees. Highlights of the Proposal • The project will be executed by the existing...

Quantum communication satellite was in news in the last week of May 2016 as China planned to launch its first experimental satellite in July 2016 according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). With this, China will become the first country in the world to send encoded information from space that...

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Supremo Jayalalithaa was sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 23 May 2016. Governor Dr K Rosaiah administered the oath of office and secrecy for her at the Centenary Auditorium, Madras University. This is Jayalalithaa’s second consecutive...

The Union Cabinet on 1 June 2016 gave its ex-post facto approval to the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India (DGCA) and the French Civil Aviation Authority. The MoU was signed to implement Technical Cooperation Programme for promotion...

Hasan Latheef, lawyer of Maldives’ former President Mohamed Nasheed, claimed on 23 May 2016 that Britain has granted political refugee status to the ousted former president. Nasheed was granted permission in January 2016 to leave for the U.K. by the Maldivian Government to undergo a spinal surgery....

Guwahati on 6 June 2016 became first city in the country to have its own ‘city animal’ with Kamrup metropolitan district administration declaring Gangetic River Dolphin as its mascot. Gangetic River Dolphin is locally known as ‘Sihu’ and fewer than 2000 such animals remain...

Kolkata’s football club East Bengal on 26 July 2016 announced that the 2016 Bharat Gaurav Award, also known as Pride of India Award, will be conferred on legendary athlete Milkha Singh. Singh will be honoured with the prestigious award on the East Bengal Foundation Day (1 August 2016). Along...

Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on 5 May 2016 dedicated to the nation a high speed Wi-Fi hotspot at the three Railway Stations. These stations are Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, Kachiguda in Telangana and Raipur in Chhattisgarh. The Wi-Fi facility for the visitors and rail users of these...

Brazilian researchers on 21 July 2016 announced that they have found another species of mosquito, which is able to transmit the Zika virus to humans. The scientists found the presence of the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito infected by the Zika virus in three out of 80 groups of mosquitoes analysed up...

World Bank Group on 21 May 2016 launched the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) to protect poorest countries against deadly pandemics. The PEF is an innovative and fast-disbursing global financing mechanism. It will accelerate both global and national responses to future outbreaks with pandemic...

Virginia Raggi, a leading member of the populist anti-corruption Five Star Movement (M5S), on 20 June 2016 was elected as Rome’s first female mayor. She is also the first candidate from that party, M5S to be elected to Rome's mayoralty. Raggi, who will turn 38 in July 2016, is also the youngest...

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members and partners on 6 June 2016 launched Anaconda-16 Exercise, the biggest ever joint military exercise in Poland. The drill is part of NATO's exercise program and is being held just weeks before NATO's summit in Warsaw that is expected to decide that...

The finding of the first of its kind survey conducted at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai were released by the Research Team of L.N.Welingkar Institute of Management (WE School) in May 2016 at Mumbai Customs House. The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) engaged a WE School...

To commemorate the 2nd International Day of Yoga, Andhra Pradesh Postal circle on 21 June 2016 released “Information booklet, Stamps on Yoga” and “12 stamps on Suryanamaskarams”. The booklet contains illustrations and description of 24 yoga asana (postures). It also provides...

World Blood Donors Day (WBDD) 2016 was observed on 14 June 2016. The theme of the 2016 World Blood Donor Day campaign is Blood connects us all. The theme highlights the common bond that all people share in their blood. The slogan for 2016 WBDD is Share life, give blood. The slogan focuses on voluntary...

The USA Women’s Senior National Team on 12 June 2016 won gold at the FINA Women Water Polo World League Super Final. The team defeated Spain 13-9 in the championship match in Shanghai, China. The victory marks the United States’ third straight FINA World League Super Final title and 10th...