Current Affairs May 2017 - Places in NEWS

News 1 - Dubai became first city in the world to get its own Microsoft font

Dubai has become the first city in the world to get its own Microsoft font. It is the first font to be created by a city and named after it.

The font, available in three styles as 'Dubai', 'Dubai Medium' and 'Dubai Light', can be in italics, underlined and bold.

It is designed for more than 180 countries and 23 languages integrating Arabic and Latin typefaces. The font can also be downloaded from the website: www.dubaifont.com.

News 2 - India’s Second Tallest Flag Pole came up in Kolhapur

A 300-feet flag post to fly the tricolour, which would be the “second tallest” flag pole in India, was inaugurated in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. The tallest flagpost, 360-foot high (110 meters), was inaugurated on March 6 at the Indo-Pak Attari Border.

The flag post in Kolhapur was installed by Kolhapur Street Beautification Project (KSBP). The flag post was built at a cost of Rs 1.1 crore raised through donations. The flag on the post is 90 feet long and 60 feet wide.

News 3 - Two-day State Power Ministers’ Conference held in New Delhi

Two-day State Power Ministers’ Conference held in New Delhi. There was a wide consensus amongst all the Chief Ministers of States/UTs present to achieve the target of 24x7 affordable and quality power for all citizens of the country by December 2018, thereby reinforcing the Vadodara resolution.

The issues included mandatory recycling of wastewater from power plants for usage for drinking, better management of Dry Ash by encouraging setting up of cement plants in proximity of power plants for its consumption etc. The next State Power Ministers Conference would be held in Rajgir, Bihar.

News 4 - India’s first “Village of Books” inaugurated in Maharashtra

India’s first “Village of Books” was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and opened for public reading at Maharashtra’s Bhilar village.

In total, 25 premises, including residences, hostels, temples and schools will have about fifteen thousand books belonging to different genres.

Walls of each of these 25 premises, measuring a total of 11,000 square feet have been adorned with different painting signifying the theme of books available there.

An initiative of the Rajya Marathi Parishad and residents of Bhilar, this concept is modelled on Hay-on-Wye, the world famous ‘town of books’ in Wales.

News 5 - Indian heads of mission meet held in New Delhi

A 4-day conference ‘Indian Heads of Mission’ was held in New Delhi to address key foreign policy issues and challenges including India’s engagement with major powers faced by Indian envoys.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed Indian Heads of Mission meet and conference was inaugurated by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Envoys made presentations regarding their respective countries of posting.

Conclave discussed major developments such as strain in ties with Pakistan and China, major developments globally, India’s relationship with the Trump administration and ties with Russia.

News 6 - Ahmedabad to host biggest ever International Yoga Day event on June 21

Ahmedabad will host biggest ever International Yoga Day event on 21 June. About five lakh people are expected to participate in the event. Saints and spiritual leaders from Art of Living, Arya Samaj, Bramhakumaris and other organization will participate in the event.

The event is a non-political program in partnership with Gujarat Government, which will also involve various social organizations. UNESCO had inscribed Yoga as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

News 7 - Govardhan Eco Village was honored with Smart village award

Government honored ISKCON Govardhan eco village with Smart Cities India Award in the “Smart Village Award” category for adopting innovative measures of ’sustainable tourism’ in in Wada district of Maharashtra.

The project linked tourism initiatives at the Govardhan Eco village by providing basic needs to the local tribal communities in villages.

Award ceremony took place at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The Smart Cities India awards is an annual event designed to praise work of individuals, policy makers, companies, government bodies and associations for 100 smart cities development and rejuvenation of 500 cities in India.

News 8 - Start-up India Summit held in Dubai

CGI Dubai and Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi in partnership with iSPIRIT, a non-profit think tank and supported by TiE, Dubai hosted a two-day “Start-up India Summit” in UAE.

This is the first such “Start-up Summit” held in the UAE. The aim was to provide a shared platform for the Start-up eco system in both India and UAE for greater collaboration, exchange ideas, interact with academia, investors and industry and have access to funding from the venture capitalist in the UAE.

News 9 - IIT Kharagpur takes on duty to turn Varanasi into smart city

British Geological Survey and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur will together help Varanasi turn into a smart city. They will work on preservation of archaeological sites, infrastructure improvement, sustainability of water supplies, flood and drainage system management.

The project includes application of geoscientific methods (e.g. drilling, geological, geophysical, tectonics etc.

IIT Kharagpur will undergo the first major 3D subsurface urban study and planning of its kind in India. Department of Architecture & Regional Planning, IIT Kharagpur will transform the city completely so that people desires to go again and again.

News 10 - Five-Day African Development Bank’s Annual Meeting held in Gujarat

The Prime Minister declared the Five Day African development bank’s annual meeting open at an impressive ceremony in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. He gave a clarion call for further strengthening of the cooperation between India and African countries.

The President of the African Development Bank Shri Akinwumi Adesina, in his keynote, shared the Bank’s new transformation agenda encapsulated in the High 5s and underscored the need to support the Bank with the resources required to enable it accomplish its ambition programs for the good of the African continent.