Current Affairs Quiz 25th May 2022 : Daily GK Update

Exp. 4th Shirui Lily Festival began in Manipur

In Manipur, the 4th Edition of State-Level Shirui Lily Festival 2022 has begun.

This annual festival is organised by the Department of Tourism, Government of Manipur with an aim to create and raise awareness of the Shirui Lily flower which is also the State Flower of Manipur.

The four-day-long festival has inaugurated by the Governor of Manipur La Ganesan and the Chief Minister N Biren Singh at Shirui Village Ground in Ukhrul district.

The festival is held around April and May as it is the blooming season of Shirui Lily. The flower is found in the Ukhrul district of Manipur only and cannot be replanted anywhere in the world.

Exp. Uttarakhand became 1st Indian state to roll out drone in healthcare

Redcliffe Labs, a unit of Redcliffe Lifetech in the U.S., has come up with its first commercial drone flight in the country’s healthcare sector.

The company has recently opened its commercial drone corridor between Uttarkashi and Dehradun.

Uttarkashi to Dehradun by road is 144 km, 6-8 hours by road and 12 hours during a landslide. But using drone technology this distance was covered in 88 minutes with one battery swap in between.

The project was a part of Redcliffe and Skye Air tie-up and in the past three months they have done 40 successful trials in North India.

Exp. Central govt launched Swachh Survekshan 2023 under SBM Urban 2.0

Union Government has launched the 8th edition of Swachh Survekshan – 2023 under Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0.

The survey would give priority to the principle of 3 Rs- Reduce, Recycle and Reuse. Swachh Survekshan- 2023 is curated towards achieving circularity in waste management.

Swachh Survekshan was introduced by MoHUA in 2016 as a competitive framework to encourage cities to improve the status of urban sanitation.

Theme 2023: ‘Waste to Wealth’

Exp. Tamil Nadu launched integrated agri-development scheme

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has launched the ‘Kalaignarin All Villages Integrated Agricultural Development Programme’ that proposes overall agriculture development in all the 15,525 village panchayats through a convergence of Union and State government schemes and externally-aided projects in five years.

In the current year, the programme will cover 1,997 village panchayats at a cost of Rs 227.06 crore and benefit over nine lakh agricultural families.

Aim: To bring 11.75 lakh hectares of land under net area cultivated in the next 10 years and increase the double-cropping area to 20 lakh hectares.

Exp. 75th World Health Assembly being held in Geneva, Switzerland

75th edition of World Health Assembly is being held in Geneva, Switzerland from 22nd to 28th May 2022. This is the first in-person Health Assembly since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Minister of Health Mansukh Mandaviya addressed at the 75th World Health Assembly in Geneva. He emphasized the need of creating a robust global supply chain to provide fair access to vaccines and medicines.

A series of strategic roundtable meetings are being held at the 75th World Health Assembly. During these meetings, the delegates of the World Health Assembly, representatives of various civil societies, partner agencies, and experts from WHO will be discussing future and current public health issues that are of global importance.

The World Health Organization’s decision-making body is the World Health Assembly. This assembly is attended by delegations representing all the member countries of WHO. It focuses on a specific health agenda that is prepared by the Executive Board.

Theme of this year’s health assembly: “Health for peace, peace for health”.

Exp. QUAD Leaders’ Summit 2022 held in Tokyo, Japan

The 2022 Quad summit started in Tokyo, Japan on 24th May 2022. The leaders of the Quad countries (Australia, India, Japan, and the United States) will participate.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Japan PM Fumio Kishida, and newly-elected Australian PM Antony Albanese participated in the Summit. This is the second in-person Quad Summit.

While addressing the Summit, PM Modi said that the Quad grouping is a force for good and is aimed at an inclusive Indo-Pacific region. He also appreciated the role of Quad in ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

QUAD Fellowship was launched at the Summit. It is a first-of-its-kind scholarship program that aims to promote people-to-people linkages between the four members of Quad.

Every year, the fellowship will sponsor 25 students from each Quad country to pursue higher studies and doctoral degrees at leading Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) universities in the United States.

Exp. TIME’s 100 most influential people 2022 list announced

TIME Magazine has recently announced its list of 100 most influential people for the year 2022. Three Indians have found their names on the list.

Supreme Court lawyer Karuna Nundy, business tycoon Gautam Adani and prominent Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez have been named among the world’s 100 most influential people of 2022 by TIME magazine.

The list has been divided into six categories: Icons, Pioneers, Titans, Artists, Leaders and Innovators. While Adani has been named under the Titans category along with the likes of Apple CEO Tim Cook and American host Oprah Winfrey, Nundy and Parvez found their place under the Leaders category along with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukraine counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Exp. Gaurav Sachdeva appointed as CEO of e-commerce venture JSW One Platform

JSW group has appointed Gaurav Sachdeva as the CEO of JSW One Platforms, an e-commerce venture of the group.

He has transitioned from his role at JSW Ventures where he led venture capital investments for the fund.

In his role as the CEO of JSW One Platforms, Sachdeva will aim to create a nimble organization backed by the credibility and scale of JSW Group that will ease buying and selling of steel and other products for manufacturing and construction MSMEs in the country.

JSW One Platforms has been established with the vision to leverage our manufacturing and distribution strength in steel, cement and paints businesses to build a technology-enabled one-stop solution for the manufacturing and construction segments.

Exp. Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus re-elected as Director-General of WHO for 2nd term

World Health Organization has re-appointed Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as Director-General of WHO for the second term with effect from 16th August 2022.

His re-election was confirmed during the 75th World Health Assembly in Geneva. He was the sole candidate. Dr Tedros was first elected in 2017.

Before joining the WHO, Dr Tedros was served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and as Minister of Health in Ethiopia.

Exp. TN Manoharan appointed as Part-Time Chairman of IDBI Bank

T N Manoharan has been appointed as a part-time Chairman of the IDBI Bank for a tenure of 3 years with effect from 9th May 2022, as approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

M R Kumar will no longer continue to be the non-executive non-whole time Chairman of the bank with effect from 8th May 2022.

In terms of the Articles of Association of the bank, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has nominated Raj Kumar, Managing Director of LIC as LIC nominee director on the board of the bank.

Kumar’s appointment is being separately processed under Section 161 (3) of the Companies Act, 2013. As of March 2022, LIC holds 49.24% shares of IDBI Bank.

Exp. Rajesh Bhushan appointed as chairperson of Committee B at 75th World Health Assembly

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has been appointed as the chairperson of the Committee B at the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA).

The Committee B primarily discusses administrative and financial matters of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Each year, the World Health Assembly has a long and complex list of health challenges and responses to review and the Assembly functions through two committees — A and B.

Exp. A Gopalakrishnan won VASVIK industrial research award for the year 2020

Director of the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) A Gopalakrishnan has received the VASVIK (Vividhlaxi Audyogik Samshodhan Vikas Kendra) Industrial Research Award in the category of Agricultural Sciences and Technology for the year 2020.

The award includes a cash prize of 1.51 lakh and a citation. The VASVIK research award is given to scientists and researchers who have demonstrated excellence in eight categories each year.

Exp. India’s ASHA workers among 6 recipients of WHO Global Health Leaders’ award

ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers received the Global Health Leaders Award-2022 in the backdrop of the 75th World Health Assembly.

World Health Organization (WHO) said that ASHA workers were honoured for their key role in linking the community with health care, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. They were one of the six recipients of the award.

ASHA workers are community health workers, who connect the marginalized communities to India’s health care system. The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) first established the role of ASHA workers in 2005.

The other five recipients are:

Eight volunteer polio workers who were shot and killed by gunmen in Afghanistan in February this year.

Dr. Paul Farmer for his contribution to providing services for marginalized people.

Dr. Ahmed Hankir for his anti-stigma program that blends storytelling with psychiatry.

Volleyball player Ludmila Sofia Oliveira Varela for facilitating access to sports as an alternative to risky behavior in youth.

Yohei Sasakawa for his global fight against leprosy and the associated stigma.

Exp. BCCI signed up NFT partner for Women’s T20 Challenge

The Indian cricket board has embraced the idea of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). The Indian cricket board has unveiled cricket metaverse company FanCraze as its official associate partner for the Women’s T20 Challenge.

FanCraze is also the ICC partner alongside being on board with West Indies cricket.

The women’s T20 challenge will feature three team (the Supernovas, Trailblazers and Velocity) and will compete at Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium.

NFTs are digital assets connected to a sound bite, picture, or video clip, and their ownership is verified via blockchain technology.

Exp. 25 May: World Thyroid Awareness Day

World Thyroid Day is observed on May 25 to promote awareness and understanding of thyroid diseases, their symptoms, prevention, and treatments.

The day came into existence in 2008 on a proposal by the European Thyroid Association (ETA).

Thyroid Awareness Week will be observed between May 22 and 28. Thyroid Federation international has announced the theme for Thyroid Awareness Week, “It’s not you. It’s your thyroid.”

May 25 was officially adopted as World Thyroid Day during the Annual General Meeting prior to the European Thyroid Association (ETA) congress in September 2007. The date of May 25 also marks the anniversary of ETA’s foundation in 1965.

Exp. 25-31 May: International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories

United Nations is observing “International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories” from May 25 to 31.

On December 06, 1999, the UN General Assembly called for the annual observance of the Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories. In UN Charter, a Non-Self-Governing Territory is defined as a Territory “whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government.”

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/54/91 on 6th December 1999 and decided the annually observe the International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories starting from May 25. The week was first observed in 2000.