NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) Bengaluru campus inaugurated by Amit Shah: Home Minister,
Amit Shah inaugurates the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) campus in
Bengaluru. According to Home Minister Amit Shah, the Narendra Modi government
has had a zero-tolerance attitude toward terrorism since the beginning. Mr Shah
remarked during the inauguration of the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID)
premises in Bengaluru that security requirements have increased dramatically in
terms of data, scope, and complexity compared to past issues. According to him,
legal and security authorities require automated, secure, and quick access to
data gathered from credible sources.
Key Points:
a)
The
government has tasked NATGRID with establishing and operating a cutting-edge
and innovative information technology infrastructure for obtaining data from
data collection agencies.
b)
The
Union Government will soon build a national database to track hawala
transactions, terrorist funding, counterfeit cash, narcotics, and bomb threats,
illicit arms smuggling, and other terrorist operations.
c)
The
Home Minister stated that intelligence and legal agencies should now be able to
fully utilise information due to the removal of impediments to essential data.
d)
There
should be a paradigm shift in the way agencies work thanks to data analytics
and information technology.
e)
C-DAC
is implementing NATGRID, according to Shah, in keeping with the Prime
Minister’s vision of a self-sufficient India.
2.
IIT Bombay and IMD signed MOU to develop user-friendly weather forecasting app: The Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay) has partnered with the Ministry of Earth
Sciences’ India Meteorological Department (IMD) to develop climate solutions
for stakeholders at the village, city, and district levels. The partnership
will aid the institute in the development of sensors and drone-based smart
monitoring systems, climate-smart agriculture technology for water and food
security, intelligent and automated early warning systems, climate and health,
smart power grid management, wind energy forecasting, and heat wave
forecasting.
Key Points:
a)
IIT
Bombay is intending to build a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Climate Services
and Solutions within the Interdisciplinary Program in Climate Studies (IDPCS),
given the country’s ambitious goal of reaching net zero by 2070.
b)
IIT
Bombay has also established the world’s first chair professorship in climate
change.
c)
The
objective of IIT Bombay is to be a thought leader in Climate Studies and to
make a difference via cutting-edge research and industrial partnerships.
3.
RPF launches Focused effort under “Operation Satark” from 5th April to 30th
April:
Railway Protection Force (RPF) has recently started “Operation Satark”. Focused
effort under “Operation Satark” was launched from 5th April to 30th April 2022
wherein 26 cases of transportation of illegal tobacco products were detected
with seizure of tobacco products worth more than Rs 44 Lakhs and arrest of 14
persons involved.
Being aware of its responsibility as the
first responder in cases of smuggling through rail, RPF took concerted action
in such cases and seized smuggled items worth about Rs. 3.18 Crores during the
period mentioned above. For taking action against illicit liquor, fake currency
circulation, illegal tobacco products, unaccounted gold or cash orprecious
items, and any other items being transported through railway network for the
purpose of tax evasion or smuggling or commission of crime or acts of terror.
Note: Railway Protection Force Founded: 27
July 1872; Railway Protection Force Headquarters: New Delhi, India; Railway
Protection Force Director-General: Sanjay Chandar.
4.
ISRO plans mission to Venus by Dec 2024: The Indian Space Research Organisation
will send a spacecraft to orbit Venus to study what lies below its surface, the
space body’s Chairperson S Somnath announced. ISRO is expecting to launch the
mission by December 2024 with an orbital manoeuvre planned for a year after
that. The orbital manoeuvre is the use of propulsion systems to change the
orbit of a spacecraft. It enables a spacecraft to enter a planet’s orbit.
In 2025, the Earth and Venus would be
aligned in a manner that it would require a minimum amount of propellant for
the spacecraft to enter the orbit of the hottest planet in the Solar System. A
similar window to conduct the mission would next be available in 2031.
Aim of the Mission: The aim of the
mission is to study Venus’ atmosphere, which is toxic and corrosive in nature
as clouds of sulfuric acid cover the planet. Several countries, including the
United States, are also planning to send missions to Venus to try and
understand how it became an inferno. Experts have suggested that Venus was once
like Earth.
Note: ISRO Founded: 15 August 1969; ISRO
Headquarters: Bengaluru; ISRO Chairman: S Somanath.
INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
FAO’s flagship released its publication “The State of the World’s Forests”: The State of the
World’s Forests 2022 explores the significance of three forest pathways for
achieving green recovery and addressing environmental crises such as climate
change and biodiversity loss, against the backdrop of the Glasgow Leaders’
Declaration on Forests and Land Use and 140 countries’ pledge to end forest
loss by 2030 and support restoration and sustainable production and
consumption.
Key Points:
a)
Stopping
deforestation and sustaining forests, repairing degraded lands and increasing
agroforestry, and managing forests responsibly and establishing green value
chains are the three interconnected pathways.
b)
Balanced,
concurrent pursuit of these paths can provide countries and their rural populations
with long-term economic and social benefits, as well as assist in fulfilling
growing global demand for materials and managing environmental issues.
c)
The
State of the World’s Forests 2022 includes evidence on the paths’ feasibility
and value, as well as the first steps that may be made to pursue them further.
d)
There
is no time to waste; immediate action is required to keep global warming below
1.5 degrees Celsius, reduce the risk of future pandemics, ensure food security
and nutrition for all, eradicate poverty, conserve the planet’s biodiversity,
and give young people hope for a better world and a better future.
Note: Headquarters of FAO: Rome, Lazio;
Director-General of FAO: Qu Dongyu; Parent organization of FAO: United Nations
Economic and Social Council
2.
World Portuguese language Day: 5th May: The date of 5 May was officially
established in 2009 by the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) –
an intergovernmental organization that has been in official partnership with
UNESCO since 2000, and which brings together peoples with the Portuguese
language as one of the foundations of their specific identity – to celebrate
the Portuguese language and Lusophone cultures. In 2019, the 40th session of
UNESCO’s General Conference decided to proclaim 5 May of each year as “World
Portuguese Language Day”.
3.
World Hand Hygiene Day: 5th May: World Hand Hygiene Day (WHHD) is annually
observed across the globe on the 5th of May to maintain global promotion,
visibility, and sustainability of hand hygiene in health care. This year, WHO
is marking the day with the theme – Unite for safety: clean your hands, with a
focus on encouraging people to clean their hands at the right times with the
right products that will help lead to high quality safer care everywhere.
History of the day: WHO launched the
“Save Lives: Clean Your Hands” global annual campaign in 2009, which is
celebrated as World Hand Hygiene Day on 5th May to further the goal of
maintaining a global profile on the importance of hand hygiene in health care.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1.
Khelo India University Games 2021 won by JAIN University: JAIN (Deemed-to-be
University) with 20 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze medals has won the 2nd edition
of the Khelo India University Games 2021. Lovely Professional University (LPU)
with 17 golds has placed second and Punjab University placed third with 15 gold
medals. Siva Sridhar has emerged as the star swimmer by winning 11 gold. The
closing ceremony of KIUG was held at Sri Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium, Bengaluru.
Veera was the mascot of KIUG 2021.
A total of 20 games were played and
participated by 3900 students from 210 Universities in the second edition of
the Khelo India University Games. The Games introduced indigenous sporting
competitions such as Yogasana and Mallakhamba for the first time in the history
of national sports.
2.
World Snooker Championship Title 2022 won by Ronnie O’Sullivan: Ronnie O’Sullivan
(England) has won the 2022 World Snooker Championship by defeating Judd Trump
(England) against 18-13 in the finals, which were held from April 16 to May 2,
2022 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The tournament was
organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by sports betting company
Betfred. The Total prize money is 2,395,000 Euros and the Winner gets a share
of 500,000 Euros.
O’Sullivan (Aged 46) becomes the oldest
world champion in Crucible history, eclipsing Ray Reardon, who won his sixth
title aged 45 in 1978. It was Ronnie O’Sullivan’s seventh World Snooker
Championship title, previously in 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2020,
equalling Stephen Hendry’s modern-day record of seven world titles (Hendry won
all of his in the 1990s).
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
RBI Monetary Policy: RBI hikes Repo Rate by 40 bps to 4.40 percent: In an unscheduled
meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, the central bank, however, retained
the accommodative monetary policy. The sudden RBI move — the first hike after
August 2018 — is expected to push up interest rates in the banking system. All
six members of the MPC unanimously voted for a rate hike while maintaining the
accommodative stance. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the decision was taken
in view of rising inflation, geopolitical tensions, high crude oil prices and
shortage of commodities globally, which have impacted the Indian economy.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its
Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held between May 2-4, 2022 has decided
to increase the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF)
by 40 basis points (bps) to 4.40 per cent with immediate effect from 4.00%
earlier. RBI has also hiked the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to
4.50 per cent effective from May 21, 2022.
Consequently, the various rates are
as under:
a)
Policy
Repo Rate: 4.40%
b)
Standing
Deposit Facility (SDF)= 4.15%
c)
Marginal
Standing Facility Rate: 4.65%
d)
Bank
Rate: 4.65%
e)
CRR:
4.50% (Effective from May 21, 2022.)
f)
SLR:
18.00%
g)
The
Government Securities (G-Sec) market reacted negatively to the rate hike. The
price of the 10-year benchmark G-Sec crashed about Rs 1.90 intraday, with its
yield shooting up by 28 basis points.
Note: RBI 25th Governor: Shaktikanta Das;
Headquarters: Mumbai; Founded: 1 April 1935, Kolkata.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
India ranked 21st in Chainalysis 2021 Cryptocurrency Gains by Country: According to the
data released by crypto analytics firm Chainalysis, investors around the world
realized total Crypto gains of $162.7 billion in 2021, compared to $32.5
billion in 2020. This is 2nd consecutive data by Chainalysis. Ethereum is the
most noteworthy gainer among the crypto assets. The report highlights that
Ethereum edged out Bitcoin in total realized gains globally at $76.3 billion to
$74.7 billion.
Key Points:
a)
However,
India ranked lowly at 21st with realized gains of around $1.85 billion while it
is topped by the United States with an estimated realized Crypto gain of $49.95
billion.
b)
The
US is followed by the United Kingdom at 2nd with estimated realized Crypto
gains of $8.16 billion, Germany ($5.82 billion), Japan ($5.51 billion), and
China ($5.06 billion).
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1. DD
National Pet Show ‘Best Friend Forever’ Wins ENBA Award 2021: Doordarshan has
won ENBA Award 2021 for the best in-depth Hindi series for its TV series based
on pet care ‘Best Friend Forever’ at the 14th edition of the Exchange4media
News Broadcasting Awards (ENBA). The show is aired every Sunday at 7 pm and is
also available on the YouTube channel of DD National.
About the ‘Best Friend Forever’ show: Best Friend Forever is a half-an-hour weekly live phone-in show on DD National, wherein two pet experts guide people on how to take care of their pets, about their food, nutrition, routine health check-ups, vaccination and other pet-related issues. The objective of the show is to maintain a two-way communication where viewers can directly call and talk to the experts, and share their worries and experiences. From the first day, phone calls started pouring in from across the country. Apart from other age groups, youngsters and kids engage the most with the show.
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