DAILY GK: 29-31 MAY
1. ‘GATISAKTHI’ TRAINS – INDIA’S 1ST
SEMI-HIGH SPEED FREIGHT TRAINS
• Indian
Railways announced its plan of introducing India’s 1st Semi-High Speed Freight
Trains by December 2022.
• The
trains mocked as ‘Gati Shakti’ trains are capable of operating at a speed of
160 km/hour carrying 16-coach is based on the
Vande Bharat platform, and currently being manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.
• Indian
Railways is set to increase its capacity in freight transportation to 45% in
2030, from the current 27%.
• At
present, the overall target is set to 25 such freight trains, with 2 of them to
be delivered by ICF in December 2022.
• As
of now, 74 new ‘Gati-Shakti Multi-Modal
Cargo Terminal (GCT) locations’ across India (with 20 from South India) were
identified by the Indian Railways under the ‘Gati-Shakti Multi Model Cargo
Terminal’ policy.
2. KUWAIT TO BUILD WORLD’S LARGEST
PETROLEUM RESEARCH CENTRE
• Kuwait
is set to build the world’s largest petroleum research centre in al-Ahmadi,
south of Kuwait City by the end of 2022. The estimated cost of the projects is
around USD 120 million.
3. RBI REDUCES MINIMUM NETWORTH NORM FOR
NON-BANK BBPOU TO RS 25CR
• The
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) eased norms for non-bank entities to set up BBPOU (Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units) by
reducing the net-worth requirement to Rs 25 crore from Rs 100 crore.
• Bharat
Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an interoperable platform for bill payments.
• Users
of BBPS enjoy benefits like standardised bill payment experience, centralised
customer grievance redressal mechanism and prescribed customer convenience fee.
4. 2022 WILLIAM E. COLBY AWARD
• William
E. Colby Military Writers’ Award 2022 for
military and intelligence writing went to Canadian born author and
journalist Wesley Francis Morgan. H
• e
was conferred with this award for his work The
Hardest Place: The American Military Adrift in Afghanistan’s PechValley.
• The
Colby award is given by Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont for major
contributions to the understanding of military history, intelligence operations
or international affairs.
5. WORLD HUNGER DAY 2022 OBSERVED ON 28TH
MAY
• Every
year, 28th of May is observed across the globe as World Hunger Day, to
highlight the importance of ending hunger.
• World
Hunger Day 2022 is observed under the broader theme — #EndHunger #YouthEndingHunger.
• As
per the ‘Global Report on Food Crises 2022’ released by Global Network Against
Food Crises (GNAFC), Over 193 million people in 53 countries or territories
experienced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse levels in 2021.
6. HUNGARY BECAME NEW MEMBER OF ISA
• PeterSzijjarto,
Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, paid an official visit to
India
• The
India-Hungary Business Forum 2022 was inaugurated in New Delhi (Delhi
• Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) signed in which Hungary became the newest member of the
International Solar Alliance (ISA).
• Hungary President – Katalin Novák
,Prime Minister – Viktor Orban ,Capital – Budapest
7. WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM ANNUAL MEETING -
DAVOS, SWITZERLAND
• The
52nd Annual World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting was held in Davos-Klosters,
Graubunden, Switzerland on the theme
‘Working Together, Restoring Trust’.
• In
accordance with the ‘Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: The Geopolitical
Business’, Indian companies have emerged as the most trusted by the domestic
population, followed by China, Canada, the United States (US) and the United
Kingdom (UK).
• The
Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) and WEF signed an agreement to launch a
new initiative to boost flows of digital foreign direct investments globally.
• WEF Headquarter – Geneva, Switzerland
8. US OVERTAKES CHINA AS INDIA’S LARGEST
TRADING PARTNER IN FY22
• The
United States (US) has surpassed China to become India’s top trading partner in
2021-22, showing the growth of India-US economic ties.
• According
to data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, bilateral trade between the
United States and India reached USD 119.42 billion in 2021-22, up from USD
80.51 billion in 2020-21.
• Exports to the United States soared to
USD 76.11 billion in 2021-22, up from USD 51.62 billion in 2020-21,
• Imports increased to USD 43.31 billion
in 2021-22, up from USD 29 billion the 2020-21 fiscal year.
• The
US is one of the few countries with whom India enjoys a trade surplus. India had a trade surplus of USD 32.8 billion with
the US in 2021-22.
• In
2021-22, the UAE) is India’s third largest trading partner with USD 72.9
billion. It is followed by Saudi Arabia (USD 42.85 billion) as 4th, Iraq (USD
34.33 billion) as 5th, & Singapore (USD 30 billion) as its 6th largest
trading partner.
9. 7TH FORBES 30 UNDER 30 ASIA LIST 2022
• Forbes
magazine has released the 7th edition of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia List 2022,
featuring 10 categories each honouring 30 individuals under the age of 30.
• India
tops the list in terms of the number of entries with 61, followed by Singapore
(34)
• The
average age of the 2022 list is 26.8 and the youngest honouree on the list is
14-year old Japanese Olympics skateboarding gold-medalist MomijiNishiya.
• Categories
in the 30 Under 30 Asia list 2022 are The Arts (Art & Style, Food &
Drink); Entertainment & Sports; Finance & Venture Capital; Media,
Marketing & Advertising; Retail & Ecommerce; Enterprise Technology;
Industry, Manufacturing & Energy; Healthcare & Science; Social Impact;
and Consumer Technology.
• Trinetra
Haldar Gummaraju, is one of India’s first openly transgender doctors who
advocates the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.
10. IMMUNISATION CHAMPION AWARD BY UNICEF
• Radio
Jockey Umar Nisar (RJ Umar) from South Kashmir, has been awarded the ’01 Best
Content Award’ and the Immunization Champion award by United Nations
International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) at the annual Radio4Child 2022
Awards in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• The
Radio4Child felicitated radio professionals from private FM and All India Radio
from across the country for their commendable work during the COVID-19 pandemic
as well as for routine vaccination.
11. RUSSIA SUCCESSFULLY TEST-FIRES ZIRCON
HYPERSONIC MISSILE
• Russia
had successfully test fired its Zircon Hypersonic Cruise Missile, from the
Admiral Gorshkov frigate of the Northern fleet in the Barents Sea of Arctic
Ocean.
• The
missile hits the sea target in the White Sea, travelling 1,000 kilometres (540
nautical miles).
• The Hypersonic missile has capacity to travel more than five times the speed of
Sound and manoeuvre in mid-flight, making it harder to track and intercept
than traditional projectiles.
12. INS GOMATI DECOMMISSIONED
• The
Indian Navy Ship (INS) Gomati was decommissioned from the naval dockyard at
Mumbai,Maharashtra.
• The
ship is the third of the Godavari class guided-missile frigates and is the
oldest warrior of the Western Fleet.
• The
warship was inducted on April 16, 1988
• INS
Gomati would be displayed in an open-air museum on the picturesque banks of
river Gomati in Lucknow, where many of its combat systems would be displayed as
military and war relics.
13. MONACO F1 GRAND PRIX 2022
• The
Red Bull racing driver Sergio Perez (Mexican) has won the Formula 1 (F1) Grand
Prix (GP) De Monaco 2022 with 25 points, held at Circuit de Monaco, Monaco,
Europe.
• With
this victory, Sergio Pérez becomes the first Mexican to win the Monaco Grand
Prix, and the first North American to win it since Gilles Villeneuve in 1981.
14. INTERNATIONAL DAY OF UNITED NATIONS
PEACEKEEPERS 2022 – MAY 29
• The
United Nations(UN)’s International Day of UN Peacekeepers is annually observed
across the globe on 29th May to pay tribute to the uniformed and civilian
personnel who contributed to the work of the UN.
• The
day also aims to honour around 4200 peacekeepers who lost their lives in the
line of duty under the UN since 1948.
• The theme of International Day of UN
Peacekeepers 2022 is “People. Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships”.
