Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 11 May 2015

::National:

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated a festival of Indian Culture in Russia ‘Namaste India’ in Moscow on 10th May.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said Indian culture and its heritage of art, music and cinema have enjoyed love and appreciation across Russia over centuries. In India too, there is enormous warmth and regard for Russian culture as showcased in its ballet, literature and traditions. Russia’s Gerasim Lebedev, who was arguably the first European Indologist, pioneered the Bengali theatre 220 years ago in Kolkata.

South Africa’s main Opposition party the Democratic Alliance elected Mmusi Maimane as its first black leader, a major step in its efforts to challenge the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
Mr. Maimane (34) was raised in the township of Soweto heartland of the anti-apartheid struggle and joined the Democratic Alliance (DA) only in 2009.

Rejoice came for Czech Republic Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, as won the Madrid Open women single title after defeating Svetlana Kuzentsova.
Earlier she has defeated Serena Williams in the semifinal, which was far too good for Kuznetsova, who looked heavy legged after spending more than 11 hours on court to reach the final.
The world No. 4 only recently returned to action after a six week break after admitting to being physically and mentally exhausted by the travails of the tour.

Ramkumar Ramanathan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth won the prestigious T.K. Ramanathan award at the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association annual day function held at SDAT-Nungambakkam Stadium here on Friday. Both received Rs. 15,000 each.
While Ramkumar — with good performances on the ATP and ITF circuits — reached a world ranking of 226, Vijay’s good display in the 2015 Aircel Chennai Open — he qualified for the main draw — and two back-to-back ITF titles in Tiruchi and Chennai, improved his rankings to 397.

Outgoing chairman of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, senior Congress leader K V Thomas, has been renominated to the post for a second term. PAC is one of the most important finance committees along with the Committee on Estimates and the Committee on Public Undertakings.
Since 1967, the post of the PAC Chairman has been held by a senior member of the main Opposition party. The key committee examines CAG reports after they are tabled in Parliament.
The PAC, constituted every year, may consist of not more than 22 members 15 from Lok Sabha and not more than seven members from Rajya Sabha. Members from Lok Sabha have to be elected to the panel while the representatives from Rajya Sabha are nominated. A minister cannot be a member.
Interestingly, the chair of the Committee on Estimates has always been held by a member of the ruling party and is currently occupied by BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi. Joshi was the Chairman of the PAC in the last Lok Sabha.