Weekly Current Affairs 23rd May -31st May 2022

FINANCE AND BANKING

• HCL, UNLEASH to develop solutions for aquatic ecosystem conservation
  • HCL Group and UNLEASH, a global innovation programme for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), have announced a year-long collaboration to mobilise youth and develop innovative solutions to promote aquatic ecosystem conservation.
  • Specifically, the partnership will allow youth to develop solutions encompassing SDG 14 (Life below water) and SDG 15 (Life on land), and explore synergies with other SDGs as well.

• Infra projects of Rs 500cr and more to route through PM GatiShakti's NPG
  • All logistics and connectivity infrastructure projects, entailing investment of over Rs 500 crore, would now route through the network planning group (NPG) constituted under the PM GatiShakti initiative with the finance ministry issuing the necessary instructions.
  • The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has also created a national master plan digital platform.

• Maharashtra joins World Economic Forum in fight against plastic pollution
  • Maharashtra recently joined the World Economic Forum's Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) to advance regional efforts to fight plastic pollution.
  • The partnership will bring together Maharashtra's leading policy-makers, business leaders, civil society organizations and experts to formulate a state-level plan to eradicate plastic pollution.

SEBI & Financial Awareness

• SEBI allows mutual funds to float passively managed equity-linked savings schemes
  • SEBI recently allowed mutual funds to launch passively managed Equity-Linked Savings Schemes (ELSS). However, it said that mutual funds can have either an actively-managed ELSS scheme or a passively-managed one but not in both categories.
  • The passive ELSS scheme should be based on one of the indices comprising equity shares from top 250 companies in terms of market capitalisation, SEBI said in a circular.

• SEBI tweaks SOP in case of defaults by trading, clearing members
  • SEBI recently tweaked the standard operating procedure specifying steps to be taken by stock exchanges, clearing corporations and depositories for dealing with possible defaults by trading or clearing members.
  • Under the new framework, within 30 trading days from crystallization of balances, stock exchanges (SEs) or clearing corporations (CCs) will have to endeavour to settle the claims of maximum number of clients by way of interim measures under their supervision, prior to issuing show cause notice (SCN) for declaring the trading member (TM) a defaulter.

• SEBI searches 16 'suspected entities' in Axis MF front-running case
  • SEBI has conducted searches at multiple premises associated with 16 “suspected entities”, in connection with an ongoing probe in the front-running case at Axis Mutual Fund.
  • The regulator's investigation focuses on the modus operandi, involving fund managers and brokers, besides the quantum of the "ill-gotten" gains.

NABARD & Agriculture

• Govt announces import relief for edible oil
  • With retail inflation touching nearly an eight-year high of 7.79 per cent in April 2022, the government recently exempted customs duty and the agri cess on importing 2 million tonnes of soybean and sunflower oil per year.
  • The effective duty on crude palm oil, crude soybean, and sunflower till now was 5.50 per cent, which will come down to almost zero after the recent reduction.

• Post export ban, India asked to supply over 1.5 mn tonnes wheat
  • India has received requests for the supply of more than 1.5 million tonnes of wheat from several countries that need the staple to overcome shortages triggered by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
  • More than half a dozen countries have approached India for more than 1.5 million tonnes of wheat.

• Overnment wheat procurement down at 18.46 million tonnes so far in rabi year
  • The government has procured 18.46 million tonnes of wheat at a MSP value of Rs 37,192.07 crore so far in the ongoing 2022-23 rabi marketing year.
  • An all-time high of 433.44 lakh tonnes of wheat was procured in the previous marketing year.

NATIONAL

• Investment Incentive Agreement
  • The Government of India and the Government of the United States of America has signed an Investment Incentive Agreement (IIA) at Tokyo, Japan.
  • The Agreement is the legal requirement for DFC, to continue providing investment support in India. DFC or their predecessor agencies are active in India since 1974 and have so far provided investment support worth $5.8 billion of which $2.9 billion is still outstanding.

• IITs to provide mentorship to NITTTR for up-skilling teachers
  • Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan reviewed a presentation on teacher education with senior officials of Ministry of Education and faculty of IIT Madras.
  • During the discussion, Shri Pradhan suggested that IITs provide mentorship to National Institute of Technical Teachers Training & Research (NITTTR) for up-skilling teachers.

• Workshop on "Greening India Through Renewables" held in Pune
  • Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) in association with the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCAI), conducted a workshop on "Greening India Through Renewables" on May 20th 2022 in Pune, Maharashtra.
  • Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has set an ambitious target of 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030.

INTERNATIONAL

• Indian aid reaches Sri Lanka port
  • An Indian ship carrying urgent relief supplies like rice, life-saving medicines and milk powder for the people of crisis-hit Sri Lanka arrived in Colombo.
  • Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay handed over to Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris the consignment which consists of 9,000 metric tonne (MT) of rice, 50 MT of milk powder and more than 25 MT of drugs and other medical supplies.

• A flying museum in honour of Diego Maradona
  • A flying museum,“Tango D10S” plane, in honor of soccer great Diego Maradona is set to take to the skies in Argentina Ahead Of FIFA World Cup 2022.
  • The plane’s exterior is adorned with images of Maradona — who died in 2020 of a heart attack at the age of 60 after having brain surgery — including one where he wears the Argentina jersey and kisses the World Cup trophy he lifted in 1986.
  • Inside the plane, there are memorabilia items that belonged to Maradona.

• Former Louvre Director Charged In Antique Trafficking Case
  • Former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez, who led the world’s largest and most-visited museum,Louvre, from 2013 until last year, has been charged in connection with the trafficking of antiquities from the Middle East.
  • Martinez was indicted with complicity of “gang fraud and laundering“ of antiquities smuggled from Egypt and then purchased by the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which opened in 2017.

STATES

• New L-G of Delhi
  • Vinai Kumar Saxena, Chairman of Khadi and Village Industries Commission, has been appointed the new Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) of Delhi.
  • Mr. Saxena is one of the members of the national committee to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. This committee is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  • Former Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal had recently resigned.

• Sheikh Abdullah’s image removed from medals
  • The J&K administration decided to replace the embossed image of the first PM of erstwhile State –Sheikh Abdullah from the police medals with the national emblem.
  • Other side inscribed with the J&K State Emblem shall be inscribed as ‘J&K Police Medal for Gallantry’ and ‘J&K Police Medal for Meritorious Service’.

• Appointments of rights panel chief, Lokayukta in West Bengal
  • West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced appointments of:
  • Former Calcutta HC CJ Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya as the chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission.
  • Retired HC judge Asim Kumar Roy as the Lokayukta
  • Retired IPS officer Virendra and retired IAS officer Naveen Prakash as Information Commissioners.

REPORTS AND INDEXES

• ILO Monitor on the “World of work” Report, 9th Editon
  • According to the ILO report released financial turbulence, potential debt distress and global supply chain disruption points at a growing risk of a further deterioration in hours worked in 2022, as well as a broader impact on global labour markets in the months to come.
  • According to the ILO report high-income countries experienced a recovery in hours worked while low- and lower-middle-income economies suffered setbacks in the first quarter of the year with a 3.6% and

• India drops to 54th place on tourism development Index
  • The World Economic Forum has released the Travel and Tourism Development Index that assesses 117 economies, identifying key factors in enabling the sustainable and resilient growth of travel and tourism economies.
  • India has been ranked at the 54th place in a global travel and tourism development index, down from 46th in 2019, but still remained on the top within South Asia.

• National Achievement Survey 2021 report
  • The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education has released the National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 report.
  • The report assesses the health of school education system in the country by conducting comprehensive evaluation survey of children’s learning competencies at grades third, fifth, eight and 10 with a cycle period of three years.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• PARAM PORUL Supercomputer inaugurated at NIT, Tiruchirappalli
  • PARAM PORUL, a state-of the art Supercomputer at NIT Tiruchirappalli dedicated to the nation under National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) - a joint initiative of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Department of Science and Technology (DST), was inaugurated on May 25, 2022.
  • A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between NIT Tiruchirappalli and Centre for Development in Advanced Computing (C-DAC) on 12th October 2020 to establish this 838

• IISc develops device to improve data security
  • A team at the Department of Electrical Communication Engineering (ECE), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has developed a true random number generator (TRNG).
  • It can improve data encryption and provide improved security for sensitive digital data such as credit card details, passwords and other personal information.

• Rare bacteria discovered in Antarctica
  • A bacteria, Pseudomonas, have been discovered in Antarctica ,by the Scientists from the University of Chile, with genes that give them natural antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance and have the potential to spread out of the polar regions.

DEFENCE

• Navy Bilateral EX Bongosagar Commences
  • The third edition of Indian Navy (IN) – Bangladesh Navy (BN) Bilateral Exercise ‘Bongosagar’ commenced at Port Mongla, Bangladesh on 24 May 2022.
  • The Harbour Phase of exercise is scheduled from 24-25 May which will be followed by a Sea Phase in the Northern Bay of Bengal from 26-27 May.
  • Exercise Bongosagar is aimed at developing a high degree of interoperability and joint operational skills through the conduct of a wide spectrum of maritime exercises and operations between the two navies.

• Army gets first woman combat pilot
  • Captain Abhilasha Barak has become the first woman to join the Army Aviation Corps as combat aviator.
  • Capt. Barak hails from Haryana and was commissioned into the Army Air Defence Corps in September 2018.

• Launch of ‘NIRDESHAK’ (YARD 3026)
  • ‘Nirdeshak’, the second of the four Survey Vessels (Large) (SVL) Project being built by GRSE in collaboration with L&T shipbuilding for Indian Navy was launched on 26 May 22 at Kattupalli, Chennai.
  • The ship has taken its name from erstwhile Nirdeshak which was also an Indian Naval Survey ship and was decommissioned after 32 years of glorious service in Dec 2014.

• MoD signs contract with BDL for procurement of ASTRA Mk I
  • On May 31, 2022, Ministry of Defence signed a contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for supply of ASTRA MK-I Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Air to Air Missile (AAM) and associated equipment for the Indian Air Force & Indian Navy at a cost of Rs 2,971 crore.
  • ASTRA MK-I BVR AAM has been Indigenously Designed & Developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

EVENTS

• 8th International Day of Yoga
  • The main event of 8th International Day of Yoga (IDY-2022) demonstration will be held at Mysuru in Karnataka on 21st June 2022.
  • The earlier mega countdown events were organised at Shivdol (50th Day Countdown on May 2) and Red Fort (75th Day Countdown on April 7).

• Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate India's biggest Drone Festival, Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022,a two day event being held on 27th and 28th May,at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
  • In Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 the main focus will be on the interaction with kisan drone pilots, witnessing open-air drone demonstrations and the interaction with startups in the drone exhibition centre.

• Mumbai International Film Festival begins
  • The 17th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short Fiction, and Animation films (MIFF-2022) began at the Nehru Centre, Worli in Mumbai on 29th May, 2022.
  • To promote wider participation, MIFF 2022 has been organized in hybrid mode, and online viewing of films is free for all those who register.
  • Bangladesh has been chosen as the ‘Country of Focus’ this year In commemoration of it’s 50 years of Independence.

AWARDS AND REWARDS

• Global Health Leaders Award 2022
  • WHO’s Global Health Leaders Award 2022 were announced which recognises leadership, contribution to the advance of global health and commitment to regional health issues.
  • The country’s frontline health workers or ASHAs (accredited social health activists) were one of the six recipients of the WHO’s Global Health Leaders Award 2022.
  • Those honoured include eight volunteer polio workers who were shot dead by armed gunmen in Afghanistan in February 2022, as well as Ludmila Sofia Oliveira Varela, a youth sports advocate from Cabo Verde.

• World’s Children’s Prize (WCP) Child Rights Hero ceremony
  • Ashok Dyalchand, who has been campaigning against child marriages and for girls’ rights in India for more than four decades, was conferred with the prestigious Honorary Award at the World’s Children’s Prize (WCP) Child Rights Hero ceremony held in Sweden on May 23.
  • Dr. Dyalchand, a crusader for the rights of adolescent women through his Aurangabad-based Institute of Health Management Pachod, was, along with Ghana’s James Kofi Annan and Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai among the eight nominees for the prestigious WCP Child Rights Hero of the Decade award given by the World’s Children’s Prize Foundation.

• International Panorama Golden Award
  • Tirupati-based writer K.V. Raghupathi has been chosen for the International Panorama Golden Award for his book, The Mountain is Calling, published in 2019 by the White Falcon Publishing.
  • Mr. Raghupathi, an English professor who retired from the Central University of Tamil Nadu, Tiruvarur, has been writing since the 1980s.

SPORTS

• OVEP launched in Odisha
  • The Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was launched in Odisha by the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, in collaboration with the Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust (ABFT).
  • It will be a values-based curriculum, to be implemented initially in 90 schools of Rourkela and Bhubaneswar, catering to about 32,000 children.

• International jumping meet
  • M. Sreeshankar won the gold with 8.31m at the International jumping meet in Kallithea, Athens,Greece.
  • Sweden’s Montler took the silver with 8.27 and France’s Jules Pommery the bronze with 8.17m.

• Lovlina Borgohain elected to IBA post
  • Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain has been elected as the chair and a voting member on the Board of Directors for the Athletes’ Committee.