Current Affairs

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Ana Brnabic, a graduate of the University of Hull in England, will become the first gay and first female prime minister of Serbia, following her nomination by the nation’s president, Aleksandar Vucic. She will succeed Ivica Dacic on June 2017. The role of the Prime Minister in Serbia is to direct the work of the Government, and to submit to the National Assembly the Government’s Program, including a list of proposed ministers. The resignation of the Prime Minister will cause the fall of the Government.

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The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has launched two mobile Apps namely MyFASTag and FASTag Partner in New Delhi to ensure smooth functioning of the Electronic Toll Collection system. The mobile apps will ease the process and will make it possible to buy or recharge FASTags at the click of a mobile button. Basically, MyFASTag is a consumer App that can be downloaded from the App Store for both Android and iOS systems. A consumer can purchase or recharge FASTags on this App. The app also helps to keep track of transactions and provides for online grievance redressal. While, the FASTag Partner app is for banks and agencies selling the tag. A total of 10 banks, including mobile wallets, provide FASTags.

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Gilles Simon of France has won the Tata Open Maharashtra Tennis trophy at Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune on January 6, 2018. In the summit clash, the unseeded French player humbled big-serving second seeded Kevin Anderson in straight sets 7-6, 6-2. Simon is ranked 89 in the world, while Anderson is ranked 14th. The tournament is India’s only ATP event. For the past 22 years, the tournament had been associated with the big metro cities, New Delhi hosting the inaugural edition in 1996, and Chennai becoming home to it for the next 21 years. This time, the event moved to the tier two city Pune and was rechristened Tata Open Maharashtra.

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Recently, the Ministry of Science & Technology has launched Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana to formulate and implement appropriate S&T. The scheme is initially launched on pilot basis under which the Department of Science and Technology (DST) will adopt few clusters of villages in Uttarakhand and transform them to become self-sustainable in terms of science & technology with the help of available local resources and skills. Practice of agriculture, agro-based cottage industries and animal husbandry in an eco-friendly manner will be emphasized during the implementation of the project.

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India’s total foreign exchange reserve is US$405.1434 billion with foreign exchange assets (FCA) component at US$380.0499 billion, gold reserves at US$21.1399 billion, SDRs of US$1.4796 billion and US$2.4740 billion reserve position in IMF in the week to July 20, 2018.

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Tatsiana Khaladovich is a Belarusian track and field athlete who competes in Javelin Throw. She won the 2018 Diamond League and also gold at the 2016 European Championships. Who was the winner of Discus Throw in 2018 Diamond League for women?

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The Royal Society of London has announced a list of 51 eminent scientists elected to its fellowship in the year 2019. Among these is Dr. Gagandeep Kang, who is now with the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad. With this feat, Dr. Kang has become the India’s first female scientist to be elected to the Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). She is known for her inter-disciplinary research studying the transmission, development and prevention of enteric infections and their sequelae in children in India. She has built national rotavirus and typhoid surveillance networks and conducted phase 1-3 trials of vaccines, which has supported two WHO pre-qualified vaccines.

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The first part of the Indo-French joint naval exercise – Varuna 19.1 – has started off the Goa coast from 1 to 10 May 2019. The exercise will see the participation of the French Navy’s aircraft carrier FNS Charles de Gaulle, two destroyers, FNS Forbin and FNS Provence, the frigate FNS Latouche-Treville, the tanker FNS Marne and a nuclear submarine. From the Indian side, the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, destroyer INS Mumbai, the Teg-class frigate, INS Tarkash, the Shishumar- class submarine, INS Shankul, and the Deepak- class fleet tanker, INS Deepak, are taking part in the exercise. The exercise is being conducted in two phases. The harbour phase at Goa would include cross-visits, professional interactions and discussions and sports events. The sea phase would comprise various exercises across the spectrum of maritime operations. The second part of the exercise – Varuna 19.2 – is scheduled to be held in May end in Djibouti.

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In Ukraine, comedian and political newcomer Volodymyr Zelensky has been sworn-in as the new President of war-torn country. He starred in the long-running satirical drama ‘Servant of the People’ in which his character accidentally becomes Ukraine’s president. He plays a teacher who is elected after his expletive-laden rant about corruption goes viral on social media. He ran under a political party with the same name as his show. With no previous political experience, Mr Zelensky’s campaign focused on his difference from the other candidates rather than on any concrete policy ideas. Despite this, he stormed to victory and won 73% of the vote.

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Exercise Sindhu Sudarshan was conducted by Indian Army’s Sudarshan Chakra Corps in the deserts of Rajasthan from November 28 to December 4, 2019. The integrated exercise involved the use of Mechanized Forces, Infantry, Artillery and other Force Multipliers such as drones and electronic warfare systems. The Army’s indigenous Armed Rudra Advanced Light Helicopters were employed alongside Indian Air Force Helicopters in a fully integrated and synergised manner.