Daily Current Affairs and GK | 26 May 2022

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

1. BRICS Action Plan 2022-2026 has been adopted in the 7th  BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting.

• Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi participated in the 7^th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting hosted by China.
• Under the theme “Establishing a Cultural Partnership Featuring Inclusiveness and Mutual Learning among BRICS”, member countries held discussions on the expansion of cultural activities amongst BRICS countries.
• The discussion was focused on promoting cooperation on cultural digitalization, strengthening cooperation on cultural heritage protection, and advancing the building of cultural exchange platforms for BRICS countries.
• At the end of the meeting, member countries agreed on the Action Plan for Cooperation in the Field of Culture (2022–2026) among BRICS nations to further strengthen the cultural cooperation and implement the BRICS Cultural Cooperation Agreement signed in 2015.
• BRICS:
  • It is a grouping of five major emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
  • On January 1, China officially took over the BRICS chairmanship and it will host the 14th BRICS Summit in June 2022.
  • Sanjay Bhattacharyya is the current BRICS Sherpa from India.

Topic: Banking System

2. RBI cancelled licences of five NBFCs due to irregular lending practices.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled certificates of registration (CoRs) of five non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
• UMB Securities, Anashri Finvest, Chadha Finance, Alexcy Tracon and Jhuria Financial Services are the NBFCs whose CoRs were cancelled.
• The licences of NBFCs have been cancelled for violating RBI guidelines on outsourcing and Fair Practices Code in their digital lending operations.
• Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs):
  • Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) are companies registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and regulated by RBI under RBI Act, 1934.
  • NBFCs are not allowed to accept demand deposits. They are different from banks.

Topic: Space and IT

3. Inauguration of supercomputer PARAM PORUL was done at NIT Tiruchirappalli on May 25, 2022.

• PARAM PORUL is a state-of-art supercomputer at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchirappalli.
• It is dedicated to the nation under Phase 2 of National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
• Most of the components used to build this system have been manufactured and assembled within India.
• On 12 October 2020, NIT Tiruchirappalli and the Centre for Development in Advanced Computing (C-DAC) signed an MoU to set up 838 TeraFlops Supercomputing facility under NSM.
• PARAM PORUL system is based on Direct Contact Liquid Cooling technology.
• This technique provides high power usage effectiveness and reduces operational cost.
• National Supercomputing Mission (NSM):
  • It was launched in 2015. Under NSM, to date 15 supercomputers have been installed all over India with a computing capacity of 24 petaflops.
  • In 2019, the first Supercomputer “PARAM Shivay” was designed and built under NSM by C-DAC at the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi.

Topic: Important Days

4. International Missing Children's Day: 25 May

• International Missing Children's Day is celebrated every year on 25 May.
• In 1983, 25 May was declared National Missing Children’s Day by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
• On 25 May 1979, 6-year-old boy Etan Patz was kidnapped in US.
• In 2001, 25 May was recognized as International Missing Children's Day.
• World Children's Day is celebrated every year on 20 November.
• In India, Children’s Day is celebrated on 14 November on the birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru.

Topic: State News/Odisha

5. First Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) in India has been launched in Odisha.

• The OVEP designed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be integrated into the school education system of Odisha.
• Department of School and Mass Education, the Government of Odisha and the Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust are developing the programme.
• The OVEP was officially launched by Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik, IOC Member Nita Ambani and others.
• OVEP is a practical set of resources to introduce young people to Olympic values.
• Nita Ambani earlier led a delegation for India’s bid to host the IOC Session in 2023.
• India will host the IOC Session 2023 in Mumbai.

Topic: Sports

6. Shikhar Dhawan became the first batsman in IPL to hit 700 fours.

• The Punjab Kings opener made this record during the match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, which resulted in a victory for his team by five wickets.
• Dhawan has now hit 701 fours in 206 IPL matches.
• David Warner is in the second position with 577 fours and Virat Kohli is third in the list with 576 fours.
• Kohli is the highest run-scorer in IPL with 6592 runs from 221 matches at an average of 36.42.

Topic: National News

7. National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 report has been released by the Ministry of Education.

• National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2021 report has assessed the condition of the school education system by conducting a comprehensive evaluation survey of children’s learning competencies in classes III, V, VIII and X with a cycle period of three years.
• The report reflects the overall evaluation of the educational system in schools. The National Achievement Survey was last conducted in 2017.
• NAS 2021 was held on November 12, 2021 in all of India. It included Government schools, Government-Aided Schools, and Private Unaided Schools.
• In NAS 2021, over 34 lakh students from 1.18 lakh schools in 720 districts from both rural and urban areas took part.
• The aim of NAS 2021 is to assess children's progress and learning abilities as an indicator of the educational system's efficiency so that necessary steps can be taken at various levels.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Personality in News

8. Shivaji Patnaik passed away recently.

• He is lauded as founder of CPI (Marxist) in Odisha.
• He played a critical role in the founding of the CPI (M) when the Communist Party was split in 1964.
• He joined state student’s movement at the age of 17. He was three-time Member of Parliament.

Topic: Indian Polity

9. Government has reconstituted Inter-State Council. 

• PM Modi is Chairman of the reconstituted Inter-State Council and Chief Ministers of all States and six union ministers are its members.
• Chief Ministers of all Union Territories having a legislative assembly and the administrators of UTs not having a legislative assembly are also its members.
• Ten union ministers will be the permanent invitees to the reconstituted Inter-State Council.
• The union ministers who had been made part of the council are given in the following list.

• The standing committee of the Inter-State Council has also been reconstituted. The composition of the reconstituted standing committee is given below.

• Inter-State Council is mandated with creating a strong institutional framework to promote and support cooperative federalism.
• Inter-State Council:
  • Article 263 of the Indian Constitution provides for setting up of Inter-State Council.
  • President sets up Inter-State Council and defines its duties. Article 263 also specifies certain duties of Inter-State Council.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

10. Ministry of Ayush and Department of Biotechnology signed MoU for mutual collaboration.

• The MoU has been signed to explore the possibility of cooperation, convergence and synergy.
• It will help in bringing out the expertise under one platform for evidence-based biotechnological interventions in the Ayush sector.
• With this association, innovation and research in traditional healthcare and biotechnology will get a boost.
• Biotechnological R & D and Ayush Interventions will improve quality of life and life span. It will help in decreasing morbidity related to chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and osteoarthritis.
• The emphasis will be given to the mechanistic study of Ayurveda medical science using animal models and other advanced analytical methods with data analytical tools.

Topic: International News

11. DCO and WEF launch a new initiative to promote digital FDI flow worldwide.

• The Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) announced a new initiative to boost the flow of digital foreign direct investments.
• This initiative was announced by WEF President Borge Brende, and DCO Secretary-General Deemah AlYahya.
• Both organizations will identify methods to increase digital adoption, investment in new digital activities, and investment in digital infrastructure.
• The DCO and WEF will launch Digital FDI Enabling Projects to help countries in implementing policies and to increase investment in the digital economy.
• It is estimated that 70 percent of future economic growth is set to be digital.
• Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO):
  • It was established in 2020 by seven countries.
  • Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Nigeria Oman, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are the founding members of DCO.
  • It focuses on digital economy initiatives for youth, startup entrepreneurs and women.

Topic: Defence

12. Third edition of bilateral exercise ‘Bongosagar’ commenced at Mangla port.

• Indian Navy and Bangladesh Navy are participating in the bilateral exercise ‘Bongosagar’ at Mongla Port in Bangladesh.
• The Harbour Phase of the exercise has been conducted from 24-25 May. The Sea Phase of the exercise will be held in the Northern Bay of Bengal from 26-27 May.
• The main aim of the exercise is to develop a high degree of interoperability and joint operational skills capability.
• Indian Naval Ships Kora and Sumedha are participating in the bilateral exercise.
• BNS Abu Ubaidah and Ali Haider are representing Bangladesh in the exercise.
• During the sea phase, ships from both the navies will participate in the surface warfare drills, weapon firing drills, seamanship evolutions and coordinated air operations.

Topic: Defence

13. Captain Abhilasha Barak becomes first woman Combat Helicopter Pilot.

• She has become the first woman to join Army Aviation Corps as Combat Aviator. Barak was felicitated for standing first in Pre-Army Pilot Course.
• 37 officers including Abhilasha Barak were included in the Aviation Wings at Gandhi Nagar Airfield in Nashik.
• Women are inducted as pilots in the Army Aviation Corps for the first time in 2022. Women earlier only performed ground duties in the Army Aviation Corps.
• The Army Aviation Corps formed in 1986 is a component of the Indian Army. Its main aim is to evacuate injured troops during operations or health emergencies in high altitude areas.
• Mohana Singh, Bhawana Kanth and Avani Chaturvedi are IAF’s first women fighter pilots.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/ Tamil Nadu

14. PM Modi to lay foundation stones of 11 projects worth Rs 31500 in Chennai.

• Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation five major infrastructure projects worth over 2,960 crore rupees including the 75-km long Madurai-Theni Railway Gauge Conversion Project and Railway line between Tambaram and Chengalpattu Project.
• Prime Minister will also inaugurate the 115-km long Ennore-Chengalpattu natural gas pipeline project.
• He will also inaugurate 1,152 houses built as part of the Light House Project in Chennai.
• He will also lay the foundation stone of the 262-Km long Bengaluru - Chennai Expressway and redevelopment projects of five railway stations.