Daily Current Affairs and GK | 22 and 23 May 2022

Topic: Environment and Ecology

1. Researchers found a new species of venomous snake in Meghalaya.

• A team of herpetologists has discovered a new venomous snake species named Trimeresurus mayaae or Maya’s Pit viper from Umroi Military station in the Ri-Bhoi district of Meghalaya.
• The snake has been named in honour of Col Yashpal Singh Rathee’s late mother – Maya.
• The research was published in the recent edition of PLOS One.
• It is very similar to ‘Pope’s Pit Viper’ but the colour of the eyes is different and is 750 mm long.
• The discovery of this new species will help in understanding its venom.
• In the last two decades, around 1.2 million people have lost their lives due to snakebite.

Topic: Awards and Prize

2. Wesley Morgan wins Colby award for his book ‘The Hardest Place’.

• Journalist Wesley Morgan has won the William E. Colby Award for his book ‘The Hardest Place: The American Military Adrift in Afghanistan’s Pech Valley’.
• He got this award for his military and intelligence coverage.
• Journalist Wesley Morgan had covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for The New York Times, the Washington Post and other publications.
• The author of this book has documented American Military experience in conducting counterinsurgency in the Pech Valley.
• Colby Award:
  • It is named after a former ambassador and CIA director William E. Colby.
  • It is given for contribution to the understanding of military history, intelligence operations or international affairs.
  • It comprised a cash prize of $5,000.
  • It is being presented by Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont.

Topic: Science and Technology

3. World's highest weather station installed on Mount Everest.

• The "world's highest weather station" has been installed on Mt. Everest at an altitude of 8,830 metres by a team of National Geographic Society scientists.
• The solar-powered weather monitoring system will measure various meteorological phenomena such as air temperature, wind speed and direction, air pressure, change in snow surface height, and incoming and outgoing short and longwave radiation.
• The NatGeo team was led by climate scientist Baker Perry from the Appalachian State University in the US.
• An MoU has been signed between Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology and National Geographic to operate all five Automatic Weather Stations.
• According to the agreement, the National Geographic team will fully operate the stations until 2025 before delivering the technology to the Nepal government in 2026.
• On the northern side of Everest, a Chinese team had also established an autonomous weather monitoring system at an altitude of 8,800 metres.

Topic: Sports

4. Manchester City has won Premier League for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

• Manchester City won the 2021/22 Premier League with a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa in the final game of the season.
• This season, Manchester City has played 38 league games. They have won 29, tied six, lost three games, and scored a total of 99 goals in the season.
• Manchester City: It is a football club based in Manchester. It was founded in 1880.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

5. India's AI-powered Wargame Center will be set up in New Delhi.

• The Army Training Command and Gandhinagar's Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU) have signed an MoU to establish a 'Wargame Research and Development Centre' in New Delhi.
• The project, named 'WARDEC,' will be India's first simulation-based training center that is using artificial intelligence (AI) to design virtual reality wargames.
• The Army will use the Centre to train soldiers and test plans using "metaverse-enabled gameplay."
• The RRU will work in collaboration with Tech Mahindra to develop the centre within the next three to four months.
• The RRU is a national security and policy institute under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Topic: Important Days

6. International Day for Biological Diversity 2022: 22 May

• Every year on May 22, the International Day for Biological Diversity is observed.
• It is observed to raise awareness about global biodiversity issues.
• The theme of International Day for Biological Diversity 2022 is “Building a shared future for all life."
• In December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly declared May 22 as International Day for Biological Diversity.

Topic: Defence

7. 4^th edition of Indian Navy-Bangladesh Navy Coordinated Patrol CORPAT has started in Northern Bay of Bengal on 22 May.

• Indian Navy (IN) and Bangladesh Navy (BN) units will carry out patrolling along the International Maritime Boundary Line till 23 May.
• Kora and Sumedha are taking part in the exercise. They are indigenously built ships of Indian Navy (IN).
• Kora is a guided missile corvette. Sumedha is an offshore patrol vessel.
• Bangladesh Navy Ships BNS Ali Haider and BNS Abu Ubaidah are taking part in the exercise.
• The third edition of Indian Navy (IN) and Bangladesh Navy (BN) CORPAT was conducted in October 2020.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: International Appointments

8. Anthony Albanese took oath as Prime Minister of Australia on 23 May 2022.

• Albanese is a labour party leader. Scott Morrison is the name of the outgoing Prime Minister of Australia.
• Malaysian-born Penny Wong was sworn in as foreign minister. Wong is Australia's first Foreign Minister who was born overseas.
• Richard Marles was sworn in as deputy prime minister of Australia.
• Australia:
  • It is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and other smaller islands.
  • It shares maritime borders with East Timor, Indonesia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the islands of New Caledonia.
  • Currency: Australian dollar

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Sports

9. Haryana wins 12^th Hockey India Sub-Junior Women's National Championship 2022 in Imphal.

• Haryana won the Hockey India Sub-Junior Women's National Championship by defeating Jharkhand by 2-0.
• Riya in the 13th minute and Sejal in the 39th minute scored a one-one goal in the final match.
• Uttar Pradesh secured third place by defeating Madhya Pradesh by 3-0.
• In the semi-final, Jharkhand defeated Uttar Pradesh by 2-1.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

10. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh launched BioRRAP Portal for Biotech researchers and Start-Ups.

• The “Biological Research Regulatory Approval Portal” (BioRRAP) will help in getting all regulatory approval required for biological research and development activity.
• “Biological Research Regulatory Approval Portal” (BioRRAP) will promote Ease of Doing Science and Scientific research and Ease of Start-ups in India.
• It will bring accountability, transparency and efficacy in the functioning of government agencies.
• The government is aiming to make India a Global Bio-manufacturing Hub and get a place in the top five countries of the world by 2025.
• Around 2,700 biotech start-ups and more than 2,500 biotech companies are working in India.
• At present, India is among the top 12 destinations for biotechnology globally and the 3rd largest biotechnology destination in the Asia Pacific region.
• The contribution of the bio-economy to the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is also increasing steadily and has increased from 1.7 per cent in 2017 to 2.7 per cent in 2020.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Important Days

11. Anti-Terrorism Day: 21 May

• Every year 21st May is observed as Anti-Terrorism Day.
• It is celebrated to spread the message of peace and humanity and to promote unity among the people.
• Its main objective is to keep away youth from Terrorism or any kind of violence.
• It is also observed to mark the death anniversary of the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed in a terrorist attack in 1991.
• He was assassinated by the LTTE terrorists during an election campaign in Tamil Nadu.
• Recently, Supreme Court has given order for the release of A G Perarivalan, one of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

Topic: Personality in News

12. Government to celebrate the 250^th birth anniversary of Raja Ram Mohan Roy from 22nd May 2022 to 22^nd May 2023.

• The inaugural ceremony of the 250th Birth Anniversary celebration will take place at Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library Foundation in Kolkata.
• On 22nd May, a statue of Raja Ram Mohan Roy will be unveiled by the Minister of Culture Shri G. Kishan Reddy.
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy:
  • He was born on 22 May 1774 in the Radhanagar village of Hoogly district.
  • He is considered as the pioneer of the modern Indian Renaissance.
  • He founded the Brahmo Samaj at Kolkata in 1828.
  • The title of ‘Raja’ was given to him by the Mughal Emperor, Akbar II.
  • He raised his voice against the Sati system, polygamy, caste rigidity, and child marriage.
  • He set up Hindu College at Calcutta in 1817.

Topic: Banking System

13. RBI to pay Rs 30,307 crore as dividend to government for FY22.

• The Central Board of Directors of RBI, headed by Governor Shaktikanta Das, has approved to pay Rs 30,307 crore as a dividend to the government for FY22.
• It is much lower than the RBI dividend of Rs 99,122 cr of 2021.
• In the current fiscal, the government had estimated a receipt of Rs 73,948 crore as dividend revenue from the central bank and public sector financial institutions.
• The Reserve Bank of India will maintain the Contingency Risk Buffer at 5.50 per cent.
• The Central Board of Directors of RBI reviewed the current economic situation and discussed the working of the Reserve Bank during the year April 2021 to March 2022.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

14. Subhash Ola, an innovator from Rajasthan, wins first prize in Amazon Sambhav Entrepreneurship Challenge 2022.

• Subhash Ola’s enterprise “Geniusenergy Critical Innovation Private Limited” has won the Start-up of the Year award.
• Subhash Ola has developed a technology for saving energy in boilers by recycling steam.
• The technology was first developed to make khoya and other milk products but later used in textile, milk and food, pharma, plywood, paper mills, leather industries etc.
• This technology is used with the existing boiler infrastructure of the particular industry. The closed-circuit design of the technology will reduce additional water requirements.
• Geniusenergy Critical Innovation was incubated by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF).
• In 2015, Subhash Ola was honoured with the 8^th Biennial National Grassroots Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge Award.