Daily GK Update- 18th May, 2022

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Indian Government Prohibited the Wheat Export with Immediate Effect: Indian Government has prohibited wheat exports, claiming a threat to food security, partially owing to the conflict in Ukraine and as a blistering heatwave reduced supply and pushed local prices to new highs. Despite not being one of the world’s top wheat exporters, India’s prohibition might drive global prices to new highs, putting a strain on impoverished customers in Asia and Africa. The prohibition would not last indefinitely and might be changed, authorities said during a press briefing. About the Wheat Export:

a)      Wheat prices in India have reached a record high, with certain spot markets seeing prices as high as 25,000 rupees ($320) per tonne, significantly above the government’s minimum support price of 20,150 rupees ($260).

b)      In April, rising food and energy costs brought annual retail inflation in India to an eight-year high.

c)       The wheat harvest in India has also been hampered by a world-record-breaking heat wave. Apart from poor harvests, India’s large wheat supplies — a bulwark against hunger – have been depleted by the supply of free grain to 800 million people during the COVID-19 outbreak.

d)      India’s move comes at a time when global agriculture markets are reeling from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

e)      Ukraine, a renowned global breadbasket, has seen supplies hindered, prompting the Ukrainian agricultural minister to come to Stuttgart to meet with G7 contemporaries about getting the country’s produce out. Ukraine exported 4.5 million tonnes of agricultural products every month before the Russian invasion, accounting for 13% of the world’s wheat, 15% of its corn, and half of its sunflower oil.

Reason behind India’s wheat export restriction: The Rising food and energy costs have increased India’s annual retail inflation rate to 7.79% in April, a new high. Wheat prices in India have reached new highs as a result of growing inflation, with certain spot markets reaching 25,000 rupees per tonne, much over the government’s minimum support price of 20,150 rupees.

 

2. At CFSL in Hyderabad, Amit Shah inaugurates the National Cyber Forensic Laboratory: Home Minister Amit Shah launched the National Cyber Forensic Laboratory’ (NCFL) on the premises of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Hyderabad. The NCFL plans to expedite the resolution of cybercrime cases in the country. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) approved the establishment of the NCFL for evidentiary purposes in the CFSL, Hyderabad, in December 2021. In a written response, Ajay Kumar Mishra stated that the ministry has approved the establishment of an NCFL for evidential reasons at the CFSL in Hyderabad. The unit’s ability to solve cybercrime cases in a comprehensive and coordinated manner will be enhanced further. According to current information, 28 states and union territories have established cyber forensic cum training laboratories.

Note: Minster of Home Affairs: Amit Shah; Minister of State in Ministry of Home affairs: Ajay Kumar Mishra

 

3. National Data and Analytics Platform launched by NITI Aayog: The National Data & Analytics Platform (NDAP) was launched by NITI Aayog for free public use. By making data accessible, interoperable, interactive, and available on a user-friendly platform, the platform intends to democratise access to public government data. It houses basic datasets from a variety of government departments, organises them, and provides analytics and visualisation capabilities. This public debut comes after the platform’s beta release in August 2021, which gave a small number of users access for testing and feedback.

To ensure that the datasets hosted on the platform are adapted to the needs of data users from government, academia, journalism, civil society, and the corporate sector, NDAP uses a use-case methodology. All datasets are standardised to the same schema, making it simple to combine them and do cross-sectoral analysis.

 

4. Ramgarh Vishdhari notified as India’s 52nd tiger reserve: Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav has announced that Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan has been notified as Rajasthan’s 4th and the 52nd tiger reserve of India. It will help to conserve biodiversity and bring ecotourism and development to the area. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had given in-principle approval to make Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary and adjoining areas as tiger reserves on July 5 last year.

Wild animals like Indian wolf, leopard, striped hyena, sloth bear, golden jackal, chinkara, nilgai and fox can be seen in the Ramgarh Vishdhari Tiger Reserve. According to the “Status of Tigers in India” report released in 2019, there are 2,967 tigers in 20 states across the country.

Other Three Tiger Reserves:

Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR) in Sawai Madhopur

Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) in Alwar

Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR) in Kota.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the Shilanyas ceremony: On the invitation of Nepal’s Prime Minister, Shri Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi conducted an official visit to Lumbini, Nepal, coinciding with the auspicious event of Vaishakha Buddha Purnima. This was Shri Narendra Modi’s fifth visit to Nepal as Prime Minister, and his first to Lumbini. Key Points:

a)      Both Prime Ministers paid a visit to the Mayadevi temple, which houses Lord Buddha’s birthplace. The Prime Ministers paid donations and attended Buddhist ceremonies and prayers at the temple.

b)      The Prime Ministers lighted lamps and paid a visit to the Ashoka Pillar, which contains the first epigraphic proof of Lumbini being the birthplace of Lord Buddha. They also watered the holy Bodhi tree that Prime Minister Modi presented to Nepal during his 2014 visit.

c)       Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Shri Sher Bahadur Deuba both attended the event “Shilanyas” ceremony for the construction of the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage on an International Buddhist Confederation site in Lumbini (IBC).

d)      The Lumbini Development Trust gave the property to the IBC in November 2021. The Prime Ministers also unveiled a model of the Buddhist centre, which is planned as a Net-Zero compliant world-class facility with prayer halls, meditation centres, libraries, exhibition halls, cafeterias, and other amenities open to Buddhist pilgrims and tourists from around the world. It will be the first building in Nepal to attain Net Zero Emission with Radiant Cooling technology and water bodies, with a built-up area of 6300 square metres. The project is estimated to cost Rs 9846.46 lakhs.

 

2. British Mountaineer Kenton Cool becomes first foreigner to scale Everest 16 times: A British climber Kenton Cool has scaled the world’s highest mountain for the 16th time becoming the first foreign climber to make the most Mt Everest summits. Kenton also holds a record of the first British mountaineer who climbed Mt Nuptse, Mt Everest and Mt Lhotse in a season in 2013. Last year, Kenton had made it to the top of Mt Lhotse in less than 29 hours after scaling the world’s highest peak. Previously, American climber Dave Hahn has climbed Mt Everest 15 times.

 

3. International Museum Day: 18th May: International Museum Day (IMD) is celebrated every year on 18 May. This day is observed to highlight the importance of museums in any culture. Museums are an important means of cultural exchange, enrichment of cultures and development of mutual understanding, cooperation and peace among peoples. This year, the theme for International Museum Day is ‘The Power of Museums’. As per ICOM’s website, the theme focuses on exploring the power of museums to achieve sustainability, to innovate on digitalisation and accessibility, and the power of community building through education.

International Museum Day History: The idea of having an International Museum Day first surfaced during a meeting called ‘Crusade for Museums,’ organised by ICOM in 1951. However, the resolution for International Museum Day was adopted during ICOM General Assembly in Moscow, in 1977. On this day since 1997, every year all the museums of the world are invited to participate and promote the role of museums in the world by organizing several activities that are focused on the theme.

 

4. World AIDS Vaccine Day Or HIV Vaccine Awareness Day: 18th May: World AIDS Vaccine Day is also known as HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD) is annually observed across the globe on the 18th of May to create awareness and provide information about Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and its immunisation.

History of the day: World AIDS Vaccine Day was conceptualised by the speech of former United States President Bill Clinton on 18th May 1997, at the Morgan State University, Maryland, the United States of America (USA). The first-ever World AIDS Vaccine Day or HIV Vaccine Awareness Day was observed on 18th May 1998, as a commemoration of U.S. President Bill Clinton’s 1997 declaration.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Highlights of the 2021 Summer Deaflympics: The 24th edition of 2021 Summer Deaflympics i.e. Caxias 2021, officially called the XXIV Summer Deaflympic Games, was an international multi-sport event held at Festa da Uva, Caxias do Sul, Brazil. The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) is the main governing body responsible for the organisation of the Deaflympics and other World Deaf Championships. The Motto of the event is “Sports comes from the our hearts”. The mascot of the Deaflympics is the Ring-tailed Coati – Nino, meaning priceless, worthy of appreciation, cheerful, happy, very lucky, and auspicious. A total number of 226 events across 18 sports were held with a participation of 2,349 athletes representing 71 nations.

 

Total Medal Tally:

Rank	Country	Total
1	Ukraine	138 (Gold- 62, Silver- 38, Bronze- 38)
2	USA	55 (Gold- 20, Silver- 11, Bronze- 24)
3	Iran	40 (Gold- 14, Silver- 12, Bronze-14)
9	India	17 (Gold- 8, Silver- 1, Bronze- 8)

 

Medals Won by India:

 

Athlete	Event	Medal
Dhanush Srikanth	Men’s 10m air rifle	Gold
Abhinav Deshwal	Men’s 10m air pistol	Gold
Dhanush Srikanth & Priyesha Deshmukh	Mixed team 10m air rifle	Gold
Badminton Team	Mixed team badminton	Gold
Jerlin Jayaratchagan	Women’s singles badminton	Gold
Diksha Dagar	Women’s golf	Gold
Jerlin Jayaratchagan & Abhinav Sharma	Mixed doubles badminton	Gold
Sumit Dahiya	Men’s freestyle 97kg	Gold
Prithvi Sekhar & Dhananjay Dubey	Men’s doubles tennis	Silver
Shourya Saini	Men’s 10m air rifle	Bronze
Vedika Sharma Women’s	10m air pistol	Bronze
Abhinav Sharma	Men’s singles badminton	Bronze
Prithvi Sekhar	Men’s singles tennis	Bronze
Prithvi Sekhar & Jafreen Shaik	Mixed doubles tennis	Bronze
Virender Singh	Men’s freestyle 74kg	Bronze
Amit Krishan	Men’s freestyle 86kg	Bronze

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. Sitikantha Pattanaik and Rajiv Ranjan, named executive directors by the RBI: Rajiv Ranjan and Sitikantha Pattanaik have been named executive directors by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Rajiv Ranjan was Adviser-in-Charge of the Monetary Policy Department and Secretary to the Monetary Policy Committee before being appointed to executive director. Pattanaik was an adviser at the Department of Economic and Policy Research before being appointed to ED. Rajiv Ranjan will oversee the Monetary Policy Department as Executive Director, while Pattanaik will oversee the Department of Economic and Policy Research (DEPR).

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Adani Group to buy Ambuja Cements, ACC for $10.5 bn: Adani Group which belongs to Gautam Adani is set to acquire swiss multinational company Holcim’s stake in Indian companies Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary ACC for $10.5 bn (around Rs 81,361 crore), including the open offers. The value for the Holcim stake and open offer consideration makes this the largest ever acquisition by Adani and India’s largest-ever Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) transaction in the infrastructure and materials space. “Our move into the cement business is yet another validation of our belief in our nation’s growth story

Holcim, through its subsidiaries, holds 63.19 per cent in Ambuja Cements and 54.53 per cent in ACC (of which 50.05 per cent is held through Ambuja Cements). Deutsche Bank, BarCap and Standard Chartered were financiers to the deal. Deutsche Bank was the financial adviser to Adani Group.

 

2. India overtakes Germany to become 4th largest vehicle market: According to the report released by Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d’Automobiles (OICA), India has surpassed Germany to become 4th largest vehicle market in the world. The 1st was occupied by China, followed by the US and Japan. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, India sold 3,759,398 vehicles in 2021 as compared to 2,973,319 vehicles in Germany. This is almost 26 per cent of growth and the only country to register double-digit growth among the top 5 countries.

Key points of the report:

a)      India is expected to become the third-largest Vehicle market by 2025, However, it requires India to surpass Japan which sold 4,448,340 units in 2021.

b)      The personal mobility space is around 33 vehicles per 1,000 which is one of the lowest compared to the developed market.

c)       The topmost position is secured by China however the automobile sales remained stagnant. Similarly, the United States of America (USA) too reported 4 per cent growth. Thirdly, Japan holds the 3rd position however it shrunk compared to both 2020 and 2019.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Cameroonian activist wins Wangari Maathai Forest Champions’ Award 2022: Cameroon Activist, Cécile Ndjebet has won the 2022 Wangari Maathai Forest Champions Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to preserving forests and improving the lives of people who depend on them. This award celebrates Cécile Ndjebet’s energy and dedication over three decades to promoting women’s rights to land and forests. She has actively shown that women’s participation in forest governance and preservation is fundamental to achieving sustainable forest management.

About the Award: The award was presented by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), which is chaired by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the award was conferred at a ceremony during the XV World Forestry Congress in Seoul, the Republic of Korea.