Indian Commonwealth Day 2022
- Commonwealth Day is traditionally commemorated on the second Monday of March in most of the 54 countries of the Commonwealth, with the British queen delivering a speech on the radio. However, India and a few other countries celebrate it on May 24.
- The theme for Commonwealth Day 2022 is ‘Delivering a Common Future’
World Turtle Day 2022 observed on 23rd May
- World Turtle Day is observed on May 23 every year by American Tortoise Rescue, a nonprofit organization. The day is celebrated to raise awareness among people to protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world.
- Tortoises and turtles play an important role in the ecological design of Earth. These reptiles are known to survive and thrive across a range of diverse habitats around the globe. This year’s theme for World Turtle Day is “Shellebrate”. The theme asks “everyone to Love and Save Turtles”.
India joins US Indo-Pacific economic plan
- India joined a dozen other nations to launch the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), a US-led trade initiative meant to counter China’s aggressive expansion in the region.
- Among the 13 countries backing the initiative are Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, and the members jointly account for 40% of the global GDP.
Indian Railways and IIT Madras Partner To Develop India’s First Indigenous Hyperloop
- The Ministry of Railways has announced that it’s going to collaborate with IIT Madras for the development of a made-in-India Hyperloop system. It has also announced that it’ll be setting up a Centre for Excellence for Hyperloop technologies at the aforementioned institution.
- India has shown interest in Hyperloop tech since 2017, by then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. In fact, the ministry also held talks with US-based Hyperloop One, but nothing quite materialised.
- Hyperloop is a concept of high-speed transportation where pressurised vehicles (or pods) travel through a low-pressure tunnel allowing for movement through the atmosphere at almost no resistance, similar to air travel.
Belgium becomes first country to make quarantine compulsory for monkeypox patients
- Belgium has become the first country to make a 21-day quarantine compulsory for monkeypox patients after four cases of the disease were reported. The Belgian health authorities took this decision, Saudi Gazette reported citing Belgian media.
- Cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in the UK, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, the US, Canada and Australia, as reported by Saudi Gazette.
Jose Ramos-Horta sworn in as president of East Timor
- Former independence fighter and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Jose Ramos-Horta has been sworn in as president of East Timor (Timor-Leste) ahead of celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of independence for Asia’s youngest country.
- He defeated incumbent Francisco “Lu Olo” Guterres,
UP launches ‘Sambhav’ portal for disposal of public grievances related to energy
- Minister for energy and urban development Arvind Sharma has launched the SAMBHAV (Systemic Administration Mechanism for Bringing Happiness and Value) portal for disposal of public grievances and monitoring programmes and schemes of the two departments in Uttar Pradesh.
- The portal, www.sambhav.up.gov.in, will work as a platform for flagging grievances received from the public to officers who have been provided login IDs. The officers will have to feed their response and action taken report (ATR).
Khadi commission Chief Vinai Kumar Saxena is Delhi’s new LG
- Vinai Kumar Saxena will be the new lieutenant governor of Delhi, President Ram Nath Kovind’s office announced. The President of India has been pleased to appoint Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena to be the Lt. Governor of the National Capital Territory of Delhi with effect from the date he assumes charge of his duties.
- The President of India has accepted the resignation of Anil Baijal as Lt. Governor National Capital Territory of Delhi.
- Saxena is the current chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission
India-Jordan struck an agreement to cooperate in fertilisers sector
- A high-level group led by Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya visited Jordan in a first-of-its-kind endeavor with the goal of securing fertilizers and raw materials for the short and long term. The visit took place against the backdrop of the current global fertilizer crisis.
- Dr. Mandaviya noted that the Jordan visit was historic in terms of assuring India’s supply of phosphoric and potassium fertilizers. Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya called Jordan as India’s chosen fertilizer partner during the meetings.
India launching Project WARDEC AI-powered wargame centre
- The Army Training Command and Gandhinagar-based Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a Wargame Research and Development Centre in New Delhi. The project, dubbed ‘WARDEC’ as a prototype, will be India’s first simulation-based training centre, which will use artificial intelligence (AI) to create virtual reality wargames.
- Soldiers will put their talents to the test in the metaverse, which will combine virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to imitate their surroundings.
- The Army plans to use the gaming centre to teach military strategy to its officers.
- The Army will give data to form the backdrop of the game, according to RRU officials, so that participants have a genuine experience.
- The BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP, and SSB, in addition to the armed forces, might benefit from metaverse-enabled simulation exercises for enhanced training.
Jet Airways Gets DGCA approval To Start Commercial Flights
- The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has granted air operator’s permit to Jet Airways. This will allow the airline to restart commercial flight operations after remaining grounded for more than three years.
- The approval comes after the airline conducted proving flights for the safety regulator between May 15 and May 17. The airline aims to start operations in the second quarter, i.e. between July and September. It will be a full-service carrier with business and economy classes.
ONGC first Indian exploration and production firm to trade domestic gas
- The state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has become the first gas producer to sell domestic gas on the Indian Gas Exchange, exchanging unidentified amounts from the KG-DWN-98/2 block off the coast of India.
- ONGC stated in a statement that it will gradually raise output. ONGC has made history by becoming India’s first exploration and production (E&P) company to trade domestic gas on the Indian Gas Exchange.
- ONGC Director (Onshore) & In-charge Marketing Anurag Sharma made the first online trade on India’s first automated national level Gas Exchange, IGX.
- The gas exchanged came from the ONGC Krishna Godavari 98/2 block, but did not identify the quantity sold.
- ONGC has geared itself to reap the benefits of the liberalization of the gas price ecosystem in 2000-21.
WHO DG’s Global Health Leaders Awards: India’s ASHA Workers Among 6 Winners
- India’s one million all-women Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers, were honoured with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General’s Global Health Leaders Award 2022 for their “crucial role” in providing direct access to healthcare facilities in rural areas and their indefatigable efforts to rein in the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
Other Recipients of the Award:
- Dr Paul Farmer was Chair of the Department of Global Health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Partners in Health.
- Dr Ahmed Hankir, a British-Lebanese psychiatrist is a Senior Research fellow at the Centre for Mental Health Research in association with Cambridge University andAcademic Clinical Fellow in Psychiatry at King’s College London in the UnitedKingdom.
- Ludmila Sofia Oliveira Varela for her work to facilitate access to sports for all providers a healthy alternative to risky behaviours among young people, and tackles the growing threat of non-communicable diseases.
- Polio workers in Afghanistan include Mohamamd Zubair Khalazai, NajibullahKosha, Shadab Yosufi, Shareefullah Hemati, Haseeba Omari, Khadija Attaee, MuniraHakimi, Robina Yosufi and Shadab.
- Yōhei Sasakawa is the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination, and Japan’s Ambassador for the Human Rights of People Affected by leprosy.
Quad Summit 2022- Issues and Initiatives
- The Quad or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is a group made of four nations, India, Japan, the US, and Australia. It is a strategic forum that features semi-regular summits, information exchange, and military drills.
- The key focus of the summit is the development of the Indo-Pacific region highlighting the threats like terrorism, disinformation, and territorial disputes.
- The Quad is going to discuss the issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic and development of the Indo-Pacific economically and threats rising across the Indo-Pacific region. This year Quad leader summit is held on the 24th of May 2022, in Tokyo.
- PM is attending the second-in-person Quad leader summit in Tokyo on 24th May 2022. He stated that Quad has gained significant popularity in the world in a short period. At the summit, he spoke about the contribution of India, to the development of the Indo-Pacific region.
Haryana won the Hockey India Sub-Junior Women’s National Championship by 2-0
- Hockey team of Haryana won the Hockey India sub-junior women’s national championship 2022 in Imphal, defeating Hockey team of Jharkhand 2-0 in the final. Uttar Pradesh Hockey team defeated Madhya Pradesh Hockey team 3-0 to finish on the third place in the Hockey India sub-junior women’s national championship 2022 in Imphal.
- Riya in the 13th minute and Sejal in the 39th minute, each scored a goal to enable Hockey team of Haryana successfully defend their title in a tense 2-0 victory.
Manchester City won 2021-22 Premier League Football championship
- Manchester City has won 2021/22 Premier League champions their fourth title success. Manchester City won over Aston Villa in the final game of the season. In Manchester City’s 38 league matches this season, they have won 29, drawn six, and lost three, scoring 99 goals in the process.
International Day of Yoga to be observed in Karnataka on June 21
- The Union Ministry of Ayush has confirmed the observance of the 8th International Day of Yoga (IDY) at Mysuru city, which is known as the cultural capital and major historic destination of Karnataka state on June 21.
- The Ministry of Ayush has written to the Chief Secretary of Karnataka P. Ravikumar regarding the matter and directed him to issue necessary directions to all the concerned to make arrangements for the successful organisation of the main event of IDY-2022. The preparations for IDY-2022 are already underway.
Read & Download Current Affairs of 21st, 22nd & 23rd May: https://blog.o2academia.org/post/21st-22nd-23rd-may
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