Daily GK Update- 1st May, 2022

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. World Bank approved $47 million program for India’s Mission Karmayogi program: The World Bank has approved a USD 47 million projects to support the Government of India’s Mission Karmayogi, a national program to build civil service capacity. There are nearly 18 million civil servants employed across India, with approximately two-thirds at the state government and local authority levels. The Bank’s financing aims to support the Government’s objectives of enhancing the functional and behavioural competencies of approximately four million civil servants. It will focus on three components: the development and implementation of competency frameworks; the development of an integrated learning platform; and program monitoring, evaluation, and management. About the project:

a)      The Project is aligned with the India Country Partnership Framework (CPF) FY18-22 which includes strengthening public sector institutions as one of the four areas of engagement for the World Bank in India.

b)      The project is also aligned with the World Bank’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and building shared prosperity, as building the capabilities of government officials to implement policy priorities and deliver effective services is critical to the achievement of these aims.

 

2. In Bengaluru, Prime Minister Modi introduced the Semicon India Conference 2022: The Semicon India Conference-2022 will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Bengaluru will host this three-day conference. According to a Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) statement, the three-day conference is being held to advance Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s objective of making India a leader in electronics manufacturing, semiconductor design, production, and innovation. Key Points:

a)      The conference is intended to serve as a springboard for the country’s aspiration to become a worldwide semiconductor hub and to develop the chip design and manufacturing ecosystem.

b)      This conference will feature eminent specialists from industry associations, research organisations, and academia.

c)       They will discuss policy, talent, and the government’s role and efforts in fostering a favourable growth environment for the country’s semiconductor ecosystem.

d)      Minister of State for MeitY Rajeev Chandrasekhar earlier stated that the Semicon India 2022 conference will attract the best minds from around the world from the semiconductor industry, research, and academia, and will serve as a major step toward realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making India a global hub for electronics manufacturing and semiconductor industry.

 

3. New Space India Limited and OneWeb signed for satellite launches: One Web, a Bharti group company, and New Space India Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation, have signed a satellite launch deal. The Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, is expected to launch New Space in 2022. Key Points:

a)      OneWeb’s whole in-orbit constellation of 428 satellites, or 66% of the intended total fleet, will be added to the global network to enable high-speed, low-latency connectivity.

b)      This launch contract follows a separate agreement announced in March 2022 between OneWeb and SpaceX to allow the firm to resume satellite launches.

c)       As demand for OneWeb’s broadband connectivity services continues to rise from a variety of sectors and markets, the firm has already activated service with its network above the 50th parallel and above.

d)      The upcoming launches will add to OneWeb’s total in-orbit constellation of 428 satellites, accounting for 66% of the planned total fleet, in order to build a global network that will deliver high-speed, low-latency satellite broadband services to rural and remote areas around the world, including India.

OneWeb is launching a global fleet of 648 low-earth-orbit satellites.

Note: NSIL CMD Radhakrishnan Durairaj; NSIL Director, Technical & Strategy: Arunachalam; ISRO Chairman: Sreedhara Panicker Somanath

 

4. Statehood Day 2022 of Maharashtra and Gujarat: Maharashtra and Gujarat celebrated their statehood day on 1st May 2022. On May 1st, 1960, the bilingual state of Bombay was divided into two separate states by the Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960: Maharashtra for Marathi speaking people and Gujarat for Gujarati speaking people. Gujarat was established as the 15th state of the Indian Union.

Maharashtra

a)      Capital: Mumbai

b)      Sex Ratio: 929 female per 1000 male (National: 943)

c)       Literacy: 82.34% (National: 74.04%)

d)      Arabian Sea guards the western boundary of Maharashtra, while Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are on the northern side. Chhattisgarh covers the eastern boundary of the State. Karnataka and Telangana are on its southern side.

e)      The State has been identified as the country’s powerhouse and Mumbai, its capital as the centre point of India’s financial and commercial markets.

Gujarat

a)      Capital: Gandhinagar

b)      Sex Ratio: 919 female per 1000 male (National: 943)

c)       Literacy: 78.03% (National: 74.04%)

d)      The state is bounded by the Arabian Sea in the west, Pakistan and Rajasthan in the north and north-east respectively, Madhya Pradesh in the south-east and Maharashtra in the south.

e)      Gujarat is the first state in the nation to start a separate department of ‘climate change’ to tackle the issue of global warming.

 

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Russia withdraws from UN tourism body ahead of vote on its suspension: Russia is withdrawing from the United Nation’s tourism body, the UN World Tourism Organization ahead of a vote to suspend Moscow’s membership over its military operation of Ukraine. The UNWTO announced in March that it wanted to suspend Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

It said that the decision must be approved by two-thirds of its 159 member states at a two-day extraordinary general assembly.

 

2. World Laughter Day: 1st May: World Laughter Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of every May to remind people to laugh and make those around them laugh. This year the day is celebrated on 1st May. It has been scientifically observed that laughter tends to decrease the cortisol level in the brain, which subsequently, affects positively on the body. Laughter has utmost importance when it comes to lifting the mood or tweaking the train of thought that is not heading in the right direction.

World Laughter Day History: World Laughter Day was first celebrated in Mumbai in 1998 when Dr Madan Kataria, founder of the Laughter Yoga Movement, highlighted a theory through that movement. He hypothesised that facial movements could reflect the mental state of a person. And so, slowly and gradually, parks and fields in the morning started filling up with roars of laughter. And this is how, with the advent of Laughter Yoga, was born the World Laughter Day.

 

3. International Labour Day: 1st May: International Labour Day is observed globally on 1st May every year. It is also known as International Worker’s Day and May Day. The day is celebrated to spread awareness about Labour’s rights and mark their achievements. The day aims to pay tribute to workers’ sacrifices in achieving economic and social rights all over the world.

History of International Labour Day: This all started in 1886 when on 1st May when people in the United States of America started a strike to fix the working duration to a maximum of 8 hours per day. Soon, there was a bomb blast that took place on 4th May in Haymarket Square of Chicago in which many people died and many others were severely injured. With respect to those who died in the incident, the socialist pan-national organization started on 1st May as International Labour Day which also promoted labour welfare throughout the world.

In India, the first Labour Day or May Day was celebrated in Madras (now known as Chennai) by the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan on May 1, 1923. It was also the first time when the Red Flag which symbolises Labour Day was used in India for the first time. In Hindi, Labour Day is also known as Kamgar Din or Antarrashtriya Shramik Diwas, Kamgar Divas in Marathi and Uzhaipalar Naal in Tamil.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Ravi Dahiya completes hat-trick of gold medals at Asian Wrestling Championships: Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Kumar Dahiya became the first Indian male wrestler to win 3 gold medals at the Asian Championships when he finished on the top step of the podium in the 57kg category in Mongolia. Ravi Kumar Dahiya won the gold medal bout in the men’s 57kg freestyle category, beating Kazakhstan’s Rakhat Kalzhan on technical superiority. Ravi had won gold at the 2020 edition of the Asian Wrestling Championships in Delhi and in Almaty last year.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. ICICI Bank launched India’s ‘open-for-all’ digital ecosystem for MSMEs: ICICI Bank has launched India’s first ‘open-for-all’ comprehensive digital ecosystem for all Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, which can also be used by the customers of other banks. Anyone can use the benefits of digital solutions on the InstaBIZ app. MSMEs customers of other banks can avail of a host of services by logging in as a ‘Guest’ in the app. It provides sanctions of instant and paperless overdraft facility up to Rs 25 lakh through ‘InstaOD Plus’.

The benefits of the new digital ecosystem can be availed by downloading the latest version of the InstaBIZ app, a super app for businesses. The app is available on Google Play, Apple App Store and at the bank’s Corporate Internet Banking (CIB) platform. The ecosystem offers the facility of digital and instant current account opening through video KYC.

Note: ICICI Bank Headquarters: Vadodara; ICICI Bank MD & CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi; ICICI Bank Chairperson: Girish Chandra Chaturvedi; ICICI Bank Tagline: Hum Hai Na, Khayal Apka.

 

2. RBI: India among worst-hit in pandemic, economy will recover in 13 years: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report said India was one of the worst-hit nations during the Covid-19 pandemic and that it will take up to 13 years for India to fully recover from the scars of the Covid-19 pandemic. India suffered among the biggest pandemic induced losses in the world in terms of output, lives and livelihoods, which may take years to recover. Economic activity has barely recovered to pre-COVID levels even after two years.

According to the report:

a)      The pre-COVID trend growth rate works out to 6.6 per cent (CAGR for 2012-13 to 2019-20) and excluding the slowdown years it works out to 7.1 per cent (CAGR for 2012-13 to 2016-17).

b)      Taking the actual growth rate of (-) 6.6 per cent for 2020-21, 8.9 per cent for 2021-22 and assuming a growth rate of 7.2 per cent for 2022-23, and 7.5 per cent beyond that, India is expected to overcome COVID-19 losses in 2034-35.

c)       The RBI report further added that the pandemic is a watershed moment and the ongoing structural changes catalysed by the pandemic can potentially alter the growth trajectory in the medium-term.

d)      Sustained thrust on capital expenditure by the government, push to digitalisation and growing opportunities for new investment in areas like e-commerce, start-ups, renewables and supply chain logistics could in turn, contribute to step up the trend growth while closing the formal-informal gap in the economy.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Former SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar joined Indifi Technologies as advisor: Online lending platform, Indifi Technologies has appointed former chairman of SBI, Rajnish Kumar as an advisor. Presently, he sits on the boards of HSBC Asia Pacific, L&T Infotech, Hero MotoCorp and BharatPe. As an advisor, he will engage with the management on the company’s growth strategy and provide guidance in the financial services sector. In this capacity, Kumar will engage with the management on the company’s growth strategy and provide guidance in the financial services sector.

 

2. Air Asia to merge by Tata Group with Air India 2022: The Tata Group has been attempting to improve Air India’s performance since its takeover in January 2022. That includes its on-time performance. The Tata’s most recent job is to consolidate their aviation operations. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has already been notified of Air India’s intention to merge with AirAsia India. Key Points:

a)      In December 2020, Tata increased its stake in AirAsia India to 67 percent.

b)      AirAsia India, which began operating in June 2014, provides scheduled passenger, cargo, and charter flight services throughout the country.

c)       It does not operate on a global scale.

d)      In January of this year, Tata acquired Air India and Air India Express. It made a bid of Rs 18,000 crore, which included a cash payment of Rs 2,700 crore and the assumption of the carrier’s debt of Rs 15,300 crore.

e)      Vistara Airlines is also owned by the Tata group, although it has opted out of the merger plan so far.

f)        Singapore Airlines, a joint venture partner in Vistara, may not want a stake in the combined Air India because it competes with the Indian carrier on foreign routes, according to sources.

g)      Tata Group, which includes Air India, Vistara, and AirAsia, has a combined market share of 9%, making it the second-largest domestic airline business behind IndiGo.