TNPSC Current Affairs May 18, 2018

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs May 18, 2018 (18/05/2018)

 

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Topic : India’s Foreign Policy, Latest International Events, General Administration

Visit of Prime Minister of the Netherlands to India (May 24-25, 2018)

The Prime Minister of The Netherlands Mr. Mark Rutte will be on a two-day Official visit to India on 24-25 May 2018.

Rutte’s visit comes within a year of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s visit to The Netherlands last June.

This will also be PM Rutte’s second visit to India since June 2015, but the first after being re-elected as Prime Minister in 2017.

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Topic : New Appointments, Persons in News

Thanglura Darlong appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Moldova and the Republic of Albania

Shri Thanglura Darlong, (IFS: 1988), presently Ambassador of India to Romania, has been concurrently accredited as the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Moldova and the Republic of Albania, with residence in Bucharest (Romania).

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Topic : Latest Reports and Summits, General Administration, Profile of States

Swachh Survekshan 2018

The Swachh Survekshan 2018 results have been announced. It was organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), under the aegis of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), assessed 4203 Urban Local Bodies.

Performance of various cities:

Indore has emerged as the cleanest city, followed by Bhopal and Chandigarh. Indore was the cleanest city last year as well.

Jharkhand has been adjudged as the best performing state, followed by Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

Cleanest State Capital/UT: Greater Mumbai.

India’s ‘Cleanest big City’: Vijaywada (Andhra Pradesh).

India’s ‘Fastest Mover’ big City: Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh).

India’s Best City in ‘Citizens Feedback’: Kota (Rajasthan).

India’s Best City in ‘Innovation & Best Practices’: Nagpur (Maharashtra).

India’s Best City in ‘Solid Waste Management: Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra).

India’s Cleanest Medium City: Mysuru (Karnataka).

India’s ‘Fastest Mover’ Medium City: Bhiwandi (Maharashtra).

India’s Best City in ‘Citizens Feedback’: Parbhani (Maharashtra).

India’s Best City in ‘Innovation & Best Practices’: Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh).

India’s Best City in ‘Solid Waste Management: Mangalore (Karnataka).

India’s Cleanest Small City: New Delhi Municipal Council.

India’s ‘Fastest Mover’ Small City: Bhusawal (Maharashtra).

India’s Best City in ‘Citizens Feedback’: Giridih (Jharkhand).

India’s Best City in ‘Innovation & Best Practices’: Ambikapur (Jharkhand).

India’s Best City in ‘Solid Waste Management: Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh).

Previous surveys:

In 2016, Swachh Survekshan was conducted in 73 cities having a population of one million or more and capital city of States/ UTs and Mysore had bagged the award of being the cleanest city of India.

In 2017, the scope of Swachh Survekshan was enlarged to cover 434 cities having a population of one lakh or more and Capital city of states/ UTs and Indore was awarded as cleanest city of India.

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Topic: Awareness in space and Technology, Latest Diary of Events

GRACE mission

NASA’s GRACE mission has confirmed that a massive redistribution of freshwater is occurring across the Earth, with middle-latitude belts drying and the tropics and higher latitudes gaining water supplies.

What’s causing this?

A combination of the effects of climate change, vast human withdrawals of groundwater and simple natural changes are behind this.

Concern:

If this continues, it could have profound consequences leading to a situation in which some highly populous regions could struggle to find enough water in the future.

GRACE mission:

The GRACE mission was selected as the second mission under the NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Program in May 1997.

Launched in March of 2002, the GRACE mission mapped variations in Earth’s gravity field. Designed for a nominal mission lifetime of five years, GRACE operated in an extended mission phase till 2017.

GRACE is a joint partnership between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States and Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Luft und Raumfahrt (DLR) in Germany.

GRACE consists of two identical spacecraft that fly about 220 kilometers (137 miles) apart in a polar orbit 500 kilometers (310 miles) above Earth.

GRACE maps Earth’s gravity field by making accurate measurements of the distance between the two satellites, using GPS and a microwave ranging system.

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Topic : Latest Diary of Events

Cyclone sagar

Cyclone ‘Sagar’ is a tropical cyclone in Arabian Sea. It is the first cyclonic storm of the season to develop in the Indian waters.

Presently in Gulf of Aden, Cyclone Sagar is also expected to affect Somalia; Ethiopia, Djibouti.

Background:

Tropical cyclones are most common in the Arabian Sea in spring and autumn, during the transition periods between the strong southwest flow of the summer monsoon and the strong northeast flow that predominates in winter.

On average, the Arabian Peninsula is affected by a tropical cyclone every year or two.

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Topic : New Appointments, Latest Diary of Events

Yeddyurappa sworn in as CM

On 17 May 2018, he was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, his third term in the office.

About Yeddyurappa:

Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa is an Indian politician who serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly since May 2018.

He has served three times as Chief Minister of Karnataka and is the BJP state president.