May 26 and 27 Current Affairs
NATIONAL
Haryana
Ateli – Phulera Section of Dedicated Freight Corridor
- Ateli – Phulera Section of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor to be Open from 15th August, 2018 which it falls in Haryana (Mahendragarh district) and Rajasthan (Jaipur district).
- The Western Corridors is being funded by Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA), while the Eastern Corridor from Mughalsarai to Ludhiana is being funded by the World Bank.
New Delhi
Narendra Modi opens Eastern Peripheral Expressway
- Prime Minister Modi on 27.05.2018 inaugurated the 135 km-long Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) connecting Kundli with Palwal in Haryana via Ghaziabad and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh which will reduce vehicular pollution in the national capital.
- The PM also unveiled the first phase of the 82 km-long Delhi-Meerut Expressway.
Tamilnadu
Heritage special train in Chennai
- The Chennai division will be operating the heritage special train in the city on three successive Sundays from May 27 to be pulled by Heritage Steam Loco EIR21 between Egmore and Kodambakkam.
INTERNATIONAL
Ireland overturns abortion ban in landslide vote
- Ireland voted by an overwhelming majority to overturn a constitutional ban on abortion in a historic referendum with 66% of the 2.1 million votes cast in this traditionally Catholic country.
Irish Prime Minister – Leo Varadkar
NATO’s first Latin American global partner
- Colombia will next week formally become the NATO’s first Latin American “global partner,”
- President – Juan Manuel Santos
- NATO lists Afghanistan, Australia, Iraq, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand and Pakistan.
Astronaut and moonwalker Alan Bean dies
- Astronaut Alan Bean, who was the fourth person to walk on the moon, passed away on 27.05.2018.
- He was the lunar module pilot on Apollo 12, which made the second moon landing in 1969.
Storm Alberto: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi declare states of emergency
- Florida, Alabama and Mississippi declared states of emergency on Saturday as Subtropical Storm Alberto drove north toward the U.S. Gulf Coast, threatening to bring heavy rainfall and flooding to the coastal states
SCIENCE
Paper-based biosensor detect ethanol
- Researchers from IIT Guwahati have developed a paper-based biosensor that can detect ethanol.
- The short response time of about 10 seconds to detect ethanol and the range of concentrations to which the response was proportional make the biosensor particularly attractive.
IISc team synthesises artificial enzyme
- Nanomaterials that can behave like human enzymes have now been successfully synthesized by a team of researchers from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
- They produced the new nanozyme — nanomaterial with enzyme-like activity — by using vanadium pentoxide nanocrystals of just 150-200 nm size.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Busking goes cashless with ‘a world first’ for London
- London has introduced ‘a world first’ contactless payment scheme for buskers in partnership with Swedish tech firm iZettle, bought this month by US payments giant PayPal.
Google’s Toronto city built ‘from the internet up’
- Toronto’s Eastern waterfront, a new digital city is being built by Sidewalk Labs – a firm owned by Google’s parent Alphabet.
MOU, AGREEMENTS & CABINET APPROVALS
China, Burkina Faso sign deal
- China and Burkina Faso signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations, days after the West African nation cut ties with Taiwan.
SUMMITS & CONFERENCES
India, Pakistan to hold maritime talks
- India and Pakistan are scheduled to hold maritime dialogue this week, a diplomatic source has confirmed.
DEFENCE
India, Russia conclude negotiations for S-400 Triumf deal
- India has concluded price negotiations with Russia for a nearly Rs 40,000 crore deal to procure S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems for the Indian Air Force.
SCHEMES
Kitchen scheme at Attappady, Kerala
- The government has given administrative sanction for Rs.6 crore for the conduct of the Annapradayini community kitchen scheme at Attappady under the Integrated Child Development Scheme.
- Pregnant women, lactating mothers, girls, and the elderly will benefit. Under Annapradayini, Kudumbasree units near Anganwadis will cook and supply food to tribespeople.
BOOKS & AUTHORS
- Biography of India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru – Tamil Nadu Congress leader A. Gopanna
APPOINTMENTS
- Barbados – Mia Mottley(first woman PM)
SPORTS
Lyles matches year’s best in 200m
- American Noah Lyles matched the fastest time in the world this year in winning the 200m in 19.69 seconds at the Prefontaine Classic IAAF Diamond League athletics meet.
Japan end 37-year drought with Uber Cup win
- Japan’s women clinched the Uber Cup(Badminton) beating Thailand 3-0 in Bangkok to regain the title.