Daily Current Affairs and GK | 17 and 18 April 2022

Topic: India and its neighbours

1. Mauritius PM Pravind Kumar Jugnauth started his 8-Day visit to India.

• Mauritius PM Pravind Kumar Jugnauth’s visit will strengthen economic as well as strategic sectors ties between both countries.
• He will visit Gujarat as well as Varanasi apart from his engagements in New Delhi.
• He will participate in the ground-breaking ceremony of the WHO-Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar.
• On 20 April, he will take part in the Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit in Gandhinagar.
• In January, Modi and Jugnauth inaugurated the Social Housing Project and laid the foundation stone of a Civil Service College.
• Mauritius has become a member of the Colombo Security Conclave. It is a group of India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
• India and Mauritius relationship:
  • India and Mauritius established Diplomatic relations in 1948.
  • India is one of the largest trading partners of Mauritius. 
  • Mauritius is one of the major beneficiaries of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme.

Topic: National Appointments

2. The board of directors of HDFC Bank has approved the reappointment of Renu Karnad as a non-executive director.

• Her reappointment will become effective from 3 September 2022 for a period of 5 years. She is MD of HDFC Ltd since 2010.
• Her reappointment is as a nominee director of HDFC Ltd, promoter of HDFC Bank.
• Her reappointment is subject to the approval of shareholders.
• HDFC Bank will be merged with its parent company HDFC Ltd.
• It is India’s largest private sector lender in terms of asset size.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

3. Block Level Health Melas are being organized at more than 1 lakh AB-HWCs from 18th- 22nd April.

• The Melas are being organized to create awareness about AB-HWCs and telemedicine and teleconsultations.
• Testing facilities for early diagnosis of TB, hypertension and diabetes will be available in the Melas.
• Basic health care services with drugs and diagnostics will also be provided in the melas.
• The melas will also provide facility for teleconsultation with relevant health specialists.
• The week-long programs are being organized by Union Health Ministry as part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ on the occasion of the 4th anniversary of AB-HWCs.
• Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs):
  • Government has announced setting up of 1,50,000 AB-HWCs in February 2018.
  • The first AB-HWC was inaugurated on 14th April 2018 at Jangla village in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh.
  • Against the target of 1,10,000, a total of 1,17,440 AB-HWCs are made operational across the country by the end of March 2022.

Topic: Sports

4. Sajan Prakash and Vedaant Madhavan have won gold and silver medal, respectively.

• Sajan Prakash won the medal in men's 200m butterfly event at the Danish Open swimming meet in Copenhagen, Denmark. 
• Vedaant Madhavan won the medal in the men's 1500m freestyle event at the Danish Open swimming meet in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Sajan Prakash is an Indian swimmer from Kerala. Last year, he became 1st Indian swimmer to surpass Olympic 'A' standard time, which is most difficult to achieve.
• Vedaant Madhavan is also an Indian swimmer. He won bronze medal at Latvia Open in March 2021.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Summits / Conferences / Meetings

5. Army Commanders' Conference is set to take place from 18 to 22 April 2022 in New Delhi.

• Every year in April and October, the Army Commanders' Conference is held at the apex level.
• The conference serves as an institutional platform for conceptual-level deliberations that lead to major policy decisions for the Indian Army.
• During the conference, the senior leadership of the Indian Army will analyze the operational situation and focus more on capacity development and operational preparedness plans.
• Discussions on infrastructural development in border areas, modernization through indigenization, induction of Niche tech, and influence of the Russia-Ukraine conflict are also included in the agenda.
• On April 21, 2022, the Hon'ble Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh is expected to meet with senior commanders and deliver a speech at the Conference.
• Boards of Governors meetings of the Army Welfare Education Society and the Army Group Insurance Fund will be held as part of the conference.

Topic: Sports

6. Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 official logo unveiled by Naveen Patnaik.

• At the Kalinga Hockey Stadium, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled the official logo of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023.
• The quadrennial tournament will be organized from January 13 to January 29, 2023.
• After successfully hosting the event for the first time in 2018, Hockey India and its official partner Odisha will host the prestigious event for the second time in a row.
• Bhubaneswar and Rourkela will host the 15th edition of the FIH Hockey Men's World Cup.
• India’s largest new world-class hockey stadium is being constructed in Rourkela with a seating capacity of 20,000.
• Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup tournament was started in 1971 and is held every four years.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Reports and Indices

7. As per World Bank Report, extreme poverty in India decreased by 12.3 percentage points between 2011 to 2019.

• The poverty headcount ratio or percentage of population below poverty line has decreased from 22.5% in 2011 to 10.2% in 2019.
• As per World Bank’s policy research working paper, poverty reduction was higher in rural areas than in urban India.
• During eight years from 2011 to 2019, rural poverty decreased by 14.7% while urban poverty decreased by 7.9%.
• Income growth has been higher in the case of farmers with small landholding sizes.
• Real income for farmers with the smallest landholdings has increased by 10%, while the real income of the farmers with the largest landholdings has increased by 2%.

Topic: Personality in News

8. Noted producer-actor Manju Singh and Philanthropist Bilquis Edhi passed away recently.

• Manju Singh is known for shows like Swaraj, Ek Kahani and Show Time.
• She highlighted social and cultural issues with the help of her shows as a producer such as Adhikar and Samyaktva: True Insight.
• One of the most active philanthropists in Pakistan, Bilquis Edhi was a professional nurse.
• Bilquis Edhi used to head the Edhi Foundation. She won 1986 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service.
• She also won Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice in the year 2015.

Topic: State News/ Maharashtra

9. Maharashtra Government developed a migration tracking system (MTS) to keep track of migrant workers.

• It is the first of its kind project in the country. It will track the movement of seasonal migrant workers through individual unique identity numbers.
• Maharashtra has become the first state to develop an app for tracking and providing ICDS facilities to workers during their seasonal migration.
• The app is the brainchild of Chandrapur district CEO Mittali Sethi. The Anganwadi workers have to first register the migrating workers from their areas on the MTS website app.
• Maharashtra's women and child development (WCD) department launched it as a pilot project in six districts in 2021.
• The Migration tracking system (MTS) has been launched to maintain the continuity of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).
• It will help in providing many ICDS services like nutrition supply, immunization and health check-up, etc. to migrant beneficiaries.
• The state government will also collect data on inter-districts and interstate migration of workers.

Topic: National News

10. India’s first Skill India International Centre has been launched at Skill Development Institute (SDI) in Bhubaneswar.

• Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has launched India’s first Skill India International Centre at Skill Development Institute (SDI) in Bhubaneswar.
• He also launched WorldSkills Academy and National Academy for Skill Teachers.
• Skill India International Centre will provide high-quality training to youth. It will organize training sessions as per the demand of international employers.
• It will provide offer training of trainers, corporate training, upskilling and trade testing facilities.
• It will identify emerging trends in teaching and Skill delivery and it will create a pool of vocational education and training (TVET) teaching staff.
• A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between National Skill Development Corporation International (NSDCI) and Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA) to promote the international workforce mobility of skilled and certified workers.

Topic: State News/ Gujarat

11. PM Modi inaugurated a 108 ft statue of Lord Hanuman in Morbi, Gujarat.

• On the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the statue of Lord Hanuman through video conferencing.
• The statue has been set up in the west at the Ashram of Bapu Keshvanand Ji in Morbi.
• The statue has been launched as part of the Hanuman Ji Chaar Dhaam Project. It is the second of four statues being set up in the four directions across the nation.
• The first statue was set up in the north in Shimla in 2010.
• Work on the statue in the south at Rameswaram is in progress.
• The Prime Minister said that if we look at brass from Jamnagar, engineering from Rajkot and clock industry of Morbi, it gives a feeling of ‘Mini Japan’.
• Ramlila, traditional performance of the Ramayana, was included in the List of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages in 2008.

Topic: Important Days

12. World Hemophilia Day 2022: 17 April

• World Hemophilia Day was started by the World Federation of Hemophilia (WHF) and is annually observed on 17^th April.
• The day was first celebrated in 1989 and 17^th April was selected to mark the birth anniversary of Frank Schnabel, the founder of WHF.
• The day aims at raising awareness about hemophilia and other bleeding disorders.
• World Hemophilia Day 2022 Theme: "Access for All: Partnership. Policy. Progress"
• Hemophilia is a genetic bleeding disorder in which clotting of blood does not occur properly which can lead to spontaneous bleeding. The gene for hemophilia is carried on the X chromosome. There are two main types of Hemophilia- Hemophilia A (occurs due to low amounts of clotting factor VIII) and Hemophilia B (occurs due to low levels of clotting factor IX).

Topic: Important Days

13. World Heritage Day 2022/ International Day for the Monuments and Sites: 18 April

• The International Day for Monuments and Sites, also known as World Heritage Day, is celebrated annually on 18^th April.
• The day aims to promote awareness about rich cultural heritage and the efforts required to protect and conserve them.
• The day was proposed by ICOMOS in 1982 and the UNESCO’s General Conference approved it.
• World Heritage Day 2022 theme: "Heritage and Climate"

Topic: Awards and Prizes

14. UDAN Scheme selected for PM’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2020.

• The flagship scheme of Ministry of Civil Aviation – UDAN-‘Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik’ has been selected for the award under the category- Innovation (General)- Central.
• The award will be given on Civil Services Day i.e. 21 April.
• UDAN is a regional connectivity scheme that aims at providing last mile connectivity. It was launched in 2016. In 5 years, 415 UDAN routes have connected 66 underserved and unserved airports.
• Ministry is planning to construct 100 new airports by 2024 in India with 1,000 new routes under UDAN RCS scheme by the year 2026.
• Recently, Ministry of Civil Aviation tableau was named the best central ministry tableau for Republic Day 2022. Its central theme was Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik).
• Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration:
  • The award was instituted in 2006. It was restructured in 2014 for recognizing the performance of District Collectors in Priority Programs, Innovations and Aspirational Districts.
  • In 2020, it was again restructured to recognize the performance of District Collectors towards the economic development of the District.
  • In 2021, the objective of the award is to recognize and reward extraordinary and innovative work performed by various districts and organisations of state and central government.
  • The focus is on good governance, qualitative achievement and last mile connectivity along with quantitative achievement.
  • The winners are given a trophy, scroll and an incentive of Rs. 10 lakhs.