25th May Current Affairs: Appointments 1. Exit polls suggested candy tycoon Petro Poroshenko won Ukraines presidential election in the first round, a ballot that took place amid weeks of fighting in eastern regions where pro-Russia separatists have seized govt buildings and battled govt troops. • The rebels had vowed to block the ballot in the east and less than 20 percent of the polling stations were open there. But nationwide, about 60 percent of the electorate turned out. 2. An Indian management scholar Jitendra Vir Singh on 25 May 2014 was appointed as the Dean of the School of Business and Management at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). • The appointment was based on an open and competitive worldwide search. He will take the charge on 1 September 2014. Awards 1. The Turkish drama Winter Sleep won the top honor at the 67th Cannes Film Festival CANNES, France. • Cannes Film Festival president: Gilles Jacob. Cannes Film Festival prizes: • Palme dOr: Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Winter Sleep • Grand Prix (runner-up): Alice Rohrwacher, The Wonders (Le Meraviglie) • Jury Prize (tie): Xavier Dolan, Mommy; and Jean-Luc Goddard, Goodbye to Language • Best Actress: Julianne Moore, Maps to the Stars • Best Actor: Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner • Best Director: Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher • Best Screenplay: Andrey Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin, Leviathan • Camera dOr: Marie Amachoukeli, Claire Burger and Samuel Theis, Party Girl. Books – Writers 1. Shekhar Gupta, the editor-in-chief of The Indian Express, released a book called,The Book entitled Anticipating India - The Best of National Interest . • The book has captured India’s political territory and trends of Shekhar Gupta’s 900-odd columns spread through 19 years Economy 1. With 5.98billion USD FDI from Singapore, it replaced Mauritius to become the number one source of FDI into India. • The total FDI flows from Singapore accounted for about 25 per cent of FDI inflows in 2013-14. • Overall FDI into India grew by 8 percent year-on-year to 24.3 billion US dollar in 2013-14. • As per the data, India attracted 5.98 billion US dollar FDI from Singapore in 2013-14 while Mauritius invested only 4.85 billion US dollar in India in 2013-14. • India needs about 1 trillion US dollar foreign investment by March 2017 to overhaul infrastructure such as ports, airports and highways and boost growth. • Singapore (1), Mauritius (2), UK (3), Netherlands (4), Japan (5) are top five sources of FDI into India 2. Indian Stock Market entered trillion dollar club in May 2014. • In terms of m-cap, Indian stock market became the tenth largest in the world leaving behind Australia and South Korea. • Indian stock market now form 2.2 per cent of the world market cap compared with 1.8 per cent at the beginning of the year 2014. • On the contrary, China, Indias biggest emerging market rival, has fallen 4.30 per cent year-to-date, while Canada has risen by 7.10 per cent (highest). International 1. More than one in 10 new Army recruits is boy soldiers of just 16 years old, according to the latest figures released by the Ministry of Defence. • Despite mounting pressure internationally, with UN bodies such as Unicef, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and the UN Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict all in favour of the recruitment age being raised to 18, the MoD continues to take on 16-year-olds. 2. Separatists in eastern Ukraine declared martial law as preliminary results showed billionaire Petro Poroshenko as the winner of the weekend presidential election with almost 54 per cent of the vote. • Denis Pushilin, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, declared martial law in interviews with Russian media and on his official Twitter account. 3. Egyptians were choosing a new president in an election that comes nearly a year after the military’s ouster of the nation’s first freely elected president, the Islamist Mohammed Morsy. • The man, who removed Mr. Morsy, retired military chief Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, is practically assured of a victory in the vote. • Capital of Egypt: Cairo. • Currency of Egypt: Egyptian pound. National 1. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) began drilling its first-ever well in the Palar basin for oil and gas under way at Chinnapuliyur village near Gummidipoondi, about 55 km from Chennai. The exploratory well is to be drilled to a depth of 2,000metres in four months. Persons in news 1. Malavath Poorna, a 13-years and 11-month old girl of Andhra Pradesh on 25 May 2014 became the youngest woman to climb the Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world. • In this expedition, Poorna was accompanied by Sadhanapalli Anand Kumar, a 16-year old from the same state. Anand became the first Dalit to conquer the tallest peak. Sports 1. The Japanese womens national team claimed their second major title in three years with a defeat of Australia. • Japan were crowned Womens Asian champions for the first time following a hard-fought 1-0 win over defending champions Australia in the final of the 2014 AFC Womens Asian Cup. 2. Japan clinched its first Thomas Cup badminton title Sunday as it beat Malaysia 3-2 in a hard-fought final. • Takuma Uedas wins over Daren Liew sealed the win for Japan, which had made the final for the first time. • The Thomas Cup or Men’s World Team Championships was first staged in 1948-49 and the Uber Cup or Women’s World Team Championships for the first time in 1956-57. Since 1984, both the events are held biennially. 3. Defending champion China beat Japan to clinch its 13th Uber Cup womens badminton title. • The result left China with its 13th title significantly eighth from the last nine editions from 16 successive finals. • India wins Bronze in the competition. 4. Nico Rosberg has won the Monaco Grand Prix for the second year in a row after leading from the front. • His Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton seemed frustrated throughout the race and although at times he was within a second of the leader, he ultimately faded in the later laps. 5. Real Madrid beats Atletico Madrid 4-1 to win UEFA Champions League title. • Carlo Ancelotti won a fifth title, Real Madrid CF set a scoring record, Cristiano Ronaldo set two and Lisbon saw the UEFA Champions League finals first extra-time goals. 6. The winners of this years Indian Premier League7 title would pocket Rs 15 crore while the losing finalists would take home Rs 10 crore, according to Cricket Board sources. • In addition to the top two finishers, the two teams that fail to progress to the Bangalore final from the playoffs would be richer by Rs 7.5 crore each. Surveys 1. Singapore became the top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India. Singapore replaced Mauritius to become the number one source of FDI. • This was revealed by the FDI data for March 2014 of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under the Union Ministry of Commerce Industry and Textiles. • Top ten countries investing in India: 1. Singapore 2. Mauritius 3. United Kingdom 4. Netherlands 5. Japan 6. Germany 7. U.S.A 8. Cyprus 9. Switzerland 10. France.
Posted on: Wed, 28 May 2014 03:03:16 +0000
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