DAILY GK 18,20 MAY
1.
SAATHI
PORTAL TO PREVENT FRAUDS BY MISUSING MOBILE PHONES
·
Union Minister Ashwini
Vaishnaw, Ministry of Communications (MoC) launched the Sanchar Saathi portal ‘https://sancharsaathi.gov.in‘ to prevent
fraud by misusing mobile phones.
·
Developed by the
Department of Telecommunications (DoT), MoC, it is citizen-centric to empower
mobile subscribers, strengthen their security and increase awareness about
citizen-centric initiatives of the Government.
2.
INDIA
& BANGLADESH LAUNCHED A ‘50 START-UPS EXCHANGE PROGRAMME’
·
India and Bangladesh
launched a ‘50 start-ups exchange programme’, under which 50
Start-ups from Bangladesh and 50 Start-ups from India were planned to exchange
visits to each other’s countries for exploring partnerships, expanding
business relations, sharing experience and knowledge and expand youth and
entrepreneurial cooperation.
·
Under the programme, the
first group of 10 start-up companies belonging to sectors such as e-commerce,
health, transport and logistics, energy, education and skill development from
Bangladesh have made a 5-day visit to India from May 8 to 12, 2023.
·
The framework of the
programme was decided by the Prime Ministers(PM) of the two countries (i.e. PM
of India Narendra Modi and the PM of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina) during their
recent bilateral summits.
3.
BHOPAL
BECOMES FIRST INDIAN CITY TO MEASURE UNS SDGS PROCESS
·
Shivraj Singh Chouhan,
Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (MP) launched An Agenda for Action:
Sustainable Urban Transformation in Bhopal, India’s first city-level Voluntary
Local Review (VLR).
·
Through the launch,
Bhopal, the Capital of MP, has become the first city in India to join the
growing global movement on the localization of the United Nations (UN)-mandated
sustainable development goals (SDG).
·
In 2015, all 193 Member
States of the United Nations adopted “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development” (known as Agenda 2030) comprising of 17
Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets as a plan of action for people,
planet, and prosperity.
4.
UNEP
REPORT: MEASURES TO REDUCE 80% OF WORLD’S PLASTIC POLLUTION BY 2040
·
United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP)’s report
“Turning off the Tap: How the world can end plastic pollution and Create a
circular economy” states that global plastic pollution can be reduced by up
to 80% by 2040 if the companies and countries make policies and market shifts
using existing technologies.
·
The treaty negotiations, known as INC2 (second meeting of the
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee), will take place from May 29 to
June 2, 2023.
·
The report stated that 1
million plastic bottles are purchased every minute while up to 5 trillion
plastic bags are used worldwide every year.
·
Around 50% of all plastic produced is designed
for single-use purposes and around 400 million tonnes of plastic waste are
generated every year.
5.
UN
PROJECTED INDIA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH AT 6.7% IN 2024
·
According to the report
World Economic Situation and Prospects as of mid-2023, of the United Nations
(UN) released on May 16, 2023, India’s
economy, the largest in the South Asian region, is expected to grow by 5.8% in 2023 and 6.7% in 2024, supported
by resilient domestic demand.
·
The report projected the world economy to grow by 2.3% in 2023 and
2.5% in 2024.
·
Inflation is expected to
decelerate to 5.5% in 2023 as global commodity prices moderate and slower
currency depreciation reduces imported inflation.
6.
SLOVAKIA
INTERIM PM
·
Zuzana Caputova,
President of Slovakia, appointed Ludovit
Odor, a Slovak economist and former Deputy Governor of the National Bank of
Slovakia, as interim Prime Minister (PM)
of Slovakia.
·
Prior to this
appointment, Ludovit Odor served as Deputy Governor of the National Bank of
Slovakia from 2018 to 14th May 2023.
·
Slovakia Capital
Bratislava
·
Currency- Slovak Koruna
7.
WORLD
HYPERTENSION DAY 2023 – MAY 17
·
World Hypertension Day is
annually observed across the globe on May 17 to raise awareness about
hypertension, commonly known as high blood pressure, and promote its
prevention, detection and control.
·
Theme
“Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately, Control It, Live Longer”.
8.
INDIA,
THROUGH THE PRESIDENCY OF THE G20
·
The 3rd Energy
Transitions Working Group Meeting (ETWG) under India’s G20 Presidency was held
in Mumbai, Maharashtra
·
This was announced during
the official side event “Low-cost Finance for New & Emerging Energy
Technologies” organised as a part of the 3rd ETWG.
·
The side event was
organised by the MNRE along with Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency
(IREDA), and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
·
India is hosting the
prestigious G20 (Group of Twenty) summit in 2023, as the country holds the G20
Presidency from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023.
·
The first “G20 Energy
Transition Working Group” (ETWG) Meeting under India’s G20 Presidency was held
in Bengaluru, Karnataka, from February 5-7, 2023
9.
TATA
SONS CHAIRMAN CONFERRED WITH HIGHEST FRENCH CIVILIAN HONOUR
·
Natarajan
Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, was honoured
with the Chevalier de la Légiond’Honneur
(Knight of the Legion of Honour), the highest French Civilian award, for his substantial role in developing and fostering commercial links between India and France.
·
N Chandrasekaran received
the award from Catherine Colonna, French Minister for Europe and Foreign
Affairs, who gave the award on behalf of French President Emmanuel Macron.
10.
MANOJ
SONI SWORN IN AS UPSC CHAIRMAN
·
Manoj
Soni, a former Vice-Chancellor of two
universities in Gujarat, sworn in as the Chairman of the Union Public Service
Commission (UPSC).
·
ManojSoni was already serving
as the Chairman in charge of UPSC since April 2022. He joined UPSC as a member
on June 28, 2017.
11.
NEW
DEPUTY CHIEF OF THE AIR STAFF
·
Air
Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, who was commissioned in
the fighter stream in the Indian Air Force (IAF) on 6th December 1986, took
over as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff(DCAS).
·
Prior to taking over as
the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, he served as Senior Air Staff Officer at
South Western Air Command and the Air Defence Commander of Southern Air
Command.
12.
UGC
LAUNCHES 2 NEW PORTALS: “UTSAH”
·
The University Grants
Commission (UGC) launched a new portal named “UTSAH”, short for “Undertaking Transformative Strategies and Actions in
Higher Education”, to monitor the implementation of the National Education
Policy (NEP) 2020 in Higher Education Institutes (HEIs).
·
On the same occasion, the
UGC also launched the Professors of
Practice (PoP) portal and revamped its main website.
·
UTSAH portal will
effectively track the qualitative reforms and initiatives taken by educational
institutions across India in line with NEP.
·
The UGC has developed a
portal for Professors of Practice (PoP) to facilitate institutions in
recruiting experienced professional experts in the required area.
13.
SP
HINDUJA PASSED AWAY
·
The India-born British
industrialist and Chairman of the Hinduja Group, Srichand ParmanandHinduja (SP Hinduja) passed away at the age of 87
in London, United Kingdom (UK).
·
SP Hinduja was also
serving as the chairman of the Hinduja Bank of Switzerland and Hinduja
Foundations.
·
The Hinduja Group
remained headquartered in Iran till 1979 then moved to London, UK.
14.
INTERNATIONAL
MUSEUM DAY 2023 – MAY 18
·
International Museum Day
(IMD) is annually observed across the globe on May 18 to promote the importance
of museums as cultural institutions
·
The
theme of the International Museum Day 2023
observed on 18th May 2023 is “Museums,
Sustainability and Wellbeing”.
15.
CENTER
OF WATER TECHNOLOGY AT IIT MADRAS
·
India through the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras
(Chennai, Tamil Nadu) has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the Israel
government to build an “India-Israel
Center of Water Technology” (CoWT) in Water Resource Management and Water
Technologies at IIT Madras.
·
The CoWT aims to build
human capacity to ensure the implementation of the best technologies of Israel
in a tailor-made context for the Indian requirements and pilot sustainable
technologies to ensure water security for India.
·
CoWT will build a mutual
network of knowledge exchange that will include technology, scientific
information, and literature in addition to sustainable water management
practices.
16.
SAFFMONTREAL
2023
·
“Gauri,”
a documentary based on journalist
and activist Gauri Lankesh, directed
by Kavitha Lankesh, has won the “Best
Long Documentary Award” at the 12th edition of the South Asian Film
Festival of Montréal (SAFF Montréal
2023) in Montréal, Canada.
·
The film portrays the
life of Gauri Lankesh, who was assassinated in 2017 due to her criticism of
right-wing Hindutva politics.
·
The documentary film
“Gauri” has been commissioned by Free Press Unlimited, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
17.
ARJUN
RAM MEGHWAL IS NEW LAW MINISTER
·
Arjun Ram Meghwal, has
replaced Kiren Rijiju with the independent charge as Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice in addition to
his existing portfolios of Minister of
State for Parliamentary Affairs and Minister of State for Culture.
·
Kiren
Rijiju was assigned with the portfolio of the Ministry of Earth Sciences
which was earlier handled by Union minister Jitendra Singh.
