Daily Current Affairs and GK | 26 May 2023

Topic: Agriculture and allied sectors

1. Agriculture Insurance Company launched insurance products for the livestock, aquaculture and sericulture sectors.

• IRDAI has granted license to Agriculture Insurance Company to introduce products for the sericulture, aquaculture and livestock sectors.
• Agriculture Insurance Company has already occupied a 50 per cent market share in the crop insurance market under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bimal Yojana (PMFBY) scheme.
• Agriculture Insurance Company has a capital base of Rs 200 crores and was launched in the year 2002.
• Agriculture Insurance Company:
  • It is a government-owned-agricultural insurer headquartered in New Delhi.
  • It is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Finance.
  • It started its business operations on 1 April 2003.
  • Its main aim is to provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

2. Three Indian peacekeepers awarded the Dag Hammarskjold Medal by the United Nations on May 25.

• The three Indians include Border Security Force (BSF) personnel Head Constables Shishupal Singh and Samwali Ram Vishnoi.
• They served with the Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• The three Indians also include Shaber Taher Ali. He was employed in a civilian capacity with the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq.
• Singh and Vishnoi were among five people killed during an anti-UN protest in the Eastern city of Goma near Congo’s border with Uganda.
• While Singh hailed from Sikar, Vishnoi belonged to Barmer.
• India first participated in a U.N. peacekeeping mission in 1950.
• Dag Hammarskjold Medal is the highest honour awarded to U.N. Peacekeepers.
• It is named after Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary-General of the United Nations.
• This year marks the 75th anniversary of the U.N. Peacekeeping. The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is observed on May 29.

Topic: International News

3. A Street in Vancouver, Canada may be given the honorary name of Komagata Maru Way.

• This may be done to commemorate Komagata Maru incident in 1914.
• In 1914, Japanese ship (Komagata Maru) carting 376 passengers from India was sent away from city in British Columbia because of discriminatory laws in Canada.
• Vancouver’s Canada Place is a significant two-block section of the city.
• It is expected that Vancouver’s city council will give it a secondary name of Komagata Maru Way.
• In July 2019, a street in the town of Surrey in the Metro Vancouver region was formally given the name of Komagata Maru Way.
• A Komagata Maru Park opened in the town of Brampton in the Greater Toronto Area in June 2019.

Topic: National News

4. Ministry of Home Affairs released a new set of rules under the Special Protection Group Act, 1988 (34 of 1988).

• Central government will appoint the officers of All India Services to the SPG on deputation on the same terms and conditions as applicable to the officers of the corresponding ranks in the central government.
• The SPG will have its headquarters in New Delhi.
• Central government shall appoint its director at a level of not less than the additional director general of police from the Indian Police Service.
• Till now, it was headed by an officer of the rank of inspector general.
• Previously, the position was elevated to the rank of additional director general.
• However, there were no fixed rules for this so far.
• Other members of the SPG, excluding the All India services officers, shall be appointed on deputation for an initial period of six years.
• The members may be appointed for the second tenure with the prior approval of the central government.
• The director has powers of general superintendence, direction, command and control, supervision, training, discipline, and administration of the SPG.
• Special Protection Group (SPG):
  • It was raised in 1985. It provides proximate security to the Prime Minister of India, former Prime Minister and their immediate family members.
  • Arun Kumar Sinha is its current Director. Its motto is "Shauryam Samarpanam Surakshanam" (i.e. bravery, devotion and protection).

Topic: State News/ Kerala

5. On 25 May, Kerala has been declared a complete e-governance State by CM Pinarayi Vijayan.

• It is marking a major stride in Kerala’s journey towards achieving a cent percent digital literacy.
• Strengthening e-governance in the state is part of using advanced technology to deliver government services to the people and the government aims to eliminate the digital divide in society.
• Apart from digitizing the delivery of government services to the people, total e-governance will ensure inclusion of all sections of the society.
• The government has created a single window service delivery system called e-Sevanam which integrates over 800 government services online.
• Additionally, the State IT Mission has developed a number of digitalized platforms and applications like e-office file flow.
• The delivery of key services has already been digitised, covering health, education, land revenue, documentation of properties, public distribution system and social security payments.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

6. PCIM&H ‘e-office’ and online portal launched by Union Minister for AYUSH Shri Sarbananda Sonowal.

• It was inaugurated by the Union Minister for AYUSH, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal during his visit to the Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine and Homeopathy (PCIM&H), Ghaziabad.
• This online portal has been created for sale of softcopies of Pharmacopoeia Monographs.
• The online portal will promote hassle free access to Pharmacopoeia monographs among the stakeholders from all over the world.
• PCIM&H under the Ministry of AYUSH is actively engaged in standardization and quality control of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathic (AYUSH) drugs and publishes their standards in the form of Pharmacopoeia.
• The monthly newsletters published by PCIM&H have also been released.
• The newsletter reflects the activities of PCIM&H and is also a means of providing updated information to stakeholders about new developments in quality control and standardization of AYUSH medicines.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

7. AI Supercomputer ‘AIRAWAT’ has been ranked 75^th in the world.

• It has been ranked 75th in the 61st edition of the Top 500 Global Supercomputing List at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC 2023) in Germany.
• It is installed at C-DAC, Pune. It is installed under National Program on AI by the Government of India.
• Proof of Concept (PoC) AI Research Analytics and Knowledge Dissemination Platform (AIRAWAT), which has 200 AI Petaflops Mixed Precision peak compute capacity, is currently funded by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY).
• The AIRAWAT PoC of 200 AI Petaflops integrated with PARAM Siddhi – AI of 210 AI Petaflops offers a total peak compute of 410 AI Petaflops Mixed Precision.
• It gives a sustained compute capacity of 8.5 Petaflops (Rmax) Double Precision.
• The peak compute capacity (Double Precision, Rpeak) is 13 Petaflops.
• To meet the present AI computational needs, MeitY has already planned a roadmap for increasing AIRAWAT to 1,000 AI Petaflops Mixed Precision compute capacity.
• International Supercomputing Conference 2023 was held from May 21 – 25 in Hamburg, Germany.
• Rpeak refers to the theoretical peak performance of the computer system.
• Rmax refers to maximum performance achieved by the system.

Topic: International News

8. Saudi Arabia and Canada have restored full diplomatic ties.

• They have reached an agreement to appoint new ambassadors.
• With this, a dispute between them from 2018 has come to an end.
• The decision has come after discussions between Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the APEC summit in Bangkok in November 2022.
• As part of the restoration of ties, punitive trade measures will be lifted.
• Canada will appoint Jean-Philippe Linteau as its new ambassador to Riyadh.
• The conflict between Saudi Arabia and Canada started over a tweet published by Canada's embassy in Riyadh for the immediate release of women's rights activists detained in Saudi Arabia.
• Saudi Arabia considered this tweet a violation of its sovereignty.
• This led to the expulsion of Canada's ambassador and the recall of Saudi Arabia's ambassador from Ottawa.
• The trade, flights, and scholarships between the two nations were also suspended.
• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is an inter-governmental forum. It has 21 member economies. It was started in 1989. It is headquartered in Singapore.

Topic: International News

9. World’s fourth-largest economy, Germany, entered into recession.

• The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Germany recorded its second quarterly contraction.
• As per the latest data, the output of Germany has dropped 0.3% in the first three months of the year, following a 0.5% contraction at the end of 2022.
• Household consumption and Government spending also decreased significantly.
• Investment in machinery and equipment increased by 3.2% as compared to the previous quarter. Investment in construction sector has also increased by 3.9%.
• Public spending has declined by 1.2 per cent in the first three months due to high inflation.
• The inflation rate of Germany is more than Europe’s average but below than UK's 8.7 per cent.
• Declined purchasing power, aggressive monetary policy tightening and the slowdown of the US economy have weaken economic activities.
• The European Central Bank (ECB) has raised its interest rate by 375 basis points since July.
• A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of declining output.

Topic: State News/ Rajasthan

10. Rajasthan CM launched ‘Jungle Safari’ at Jaisamand Wildlife Sanctuary.

• Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot virtually inaugurated ‘Jungle Safari’ at Jaisamand Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Leopards, sloth bears, chinkara, wild boar, and the number of birds are found in this Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Ashok Gehlot also addressed the inaugural function of the Peace and Non-violence Cell offices in all districts.
• Peace and non-violence are the basis of culture, harmony, and brotherhood.
• Rajasthan is the only state where Peace and Non-Violence Department exist.
• Jaisamand Wildlife Sanctuary:
  • It is situated in the Udaipur district of Rajasthan.
  • It is on the bank of Debar Lake, the second-largest artificial lake in Asia.
  • It was established in 1957 and has an area of 160 sq km.

Topic: State News / Arunachal Pradesh

11. Arunachal Pradesh will set up Institute for Transforming Arunachal for the development of the state.

• Institute for Transforming Arunachal (ITA) will be set up by Arunachal Pradesh government with the help of NITI Aayog to take the development of the state to the next level.
• Chief Minister Pema Khandu gave this information in a social media post.
• On 24 May, they held a meeting in Itanagar to discuss setting up of ITA.
• The Institute for Transforming Arunachal Pradesh will be instrumental in the transformation of the state, helping various departments to take forward development activities and bring forward their own capabilities.
• The institute will help in developing an ecosystem for knowledge enhancement.
• CM said that the government is looking for ways to build a strong database with the family as a unit. It will help in the timely and accurate disbursement of social security benefits.
• This would further boost the livelihood of the people and provide hassle free access to various services.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Awards and Prizes

12. Skoch SILVER Award 2023 presented to Department of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Chandigarh.

• This award has been given to this department for e-governance in computerized medical records of cattle treatment by the department.
• This is the first project of its kind in the country.
• This web-based application software caters to the veterinary department of five government veterinary hospitals and nine animal husbandry sub-centres in Chandigarh.
• The main objective of this application is to provide facility to the animal parents to register their animals online for services like treatment, vaccination and artificial insemination.
• It also includes maintaining all records of veterinary hospitals and sub-centres like OPD, stock books, daily drug expenditure, and artificial insemination.
• SKOCH Award:
  • It was established in 2003.
  • It is the highest civilian honour of the country presented by an independent organization.

Topic: International News

13. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced his candidacy for the 2024 US Presidential Elections.

• Florida Governor Ron DeSantis entered into the race for US president. He filed his candidacy documentation with the Federal Election Commission.
• Ron DeSantis is considered a strong opponent of Donald Trump. He is considered the strongest candidate among the Republican Party.
• The Republican nominee will face Biden on the general election ballot in November 2024.
• Ron DeSantis framed himself as a get-it-done executive, who stood against the COVID policies of the federal government.
• Ron DeSantis’s formal campaign launched on Twitter gets affected due to a technical glitch.
• President of the United States:
  • He/ She is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America
  • The term of President is Four years.
  • Candidates from each political party campaign throughout the country to win the favour of their party members.

Topic: Space and IT

14. Microsoft launched a multilingual chatbot, Jugalbandi, for rural India.

• Jugalbandi, a multilingual chatbot powered by generative AI, has been designed to serve rural areas of India.
• It has been developed in collaboration with AI4Bharat and IIT Madras.
• The main objective of the collaboration is to break language barriers and provide technology-driven solutions through the Bhashini initiative.
• Its main aim is to provide personalized assistance by understanding user queries in multiple languages.
• Jugalbandi is a combination of AI models from AI4Bharat and Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service which will enable seamless conversations between users and the chatbot.
• Jugalbandi will provide information regarding numerous government schemes and welfare programs. It will especially help those people who are unable to read, write, or understand English.
• It will reduce the need to visit government service centres and minimize the inconvenience of retrieving missing documents.
• Jugalbandi will cover 22 official languages and around 20,000 government programs.
• AI startup OpenNyAI is also involved in the development of this chatbot.