FOURTH WEEK OF CURRENT AFFAIRS - MAY 2022

  • Narayan Rane, Union Minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) inaugurated India’s first Centre of Excellence for Khadi (CoEK) in New Delhi, Delhi.
  • The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched the 8th edition of Swachh Survekshan 2023 (SS-2023) under Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0. It is an annual cleanliness survey with the theme of “Waste to Wealth” for garbage free cities.
  • The Government of India (GoI) aims to increase its infrastructure spending and plans to build 50 Kilometre (Km) highways every day totalling 18000 km of highways in the financial year 2022-2023(FY2023).
  • India is working on to build 10 hydropower projects with the total capacity of 6.8 gigawatts (GW) in the States of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Himachal Pradesh (HP) to fully utilise its share of water under the 1960 Indus waters treaty (IWT) with Pakistan.
  • Ministry of Ayush & Department of Biotechnology signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Mutual Collaboration.
  • Adani Group step into commissioning of India’s first wind and solar hybrid power generation plant at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
  • The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), Launches an online site to Streamline the Recognition Process of Teacher Education Programs.
  • Rajeev Chandrashekhar, launched the Pilot Project for Skilling Tribal Youth – India’s 1st Rural Tribal Technical Training Program in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
  • India hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) summit 2022 in New Delhi.
  • The World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) jointly launched the first Global Report on Assistive Technology (GReAT).
  • The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) established the “BRICS Joint Committee on Space Cooperation “, bringing a new era of cooperation in the fields of remote sensing satellite observation and data sharing.
  • The State Bank of India (SBI) has launched the personal loan product ‘Xpress Credit’ for salaried customers on its digital banking platform “YONO”.
  • India recorded Highest ever annual FDI inflow of USD 83.57bn in FY22.
  • Gautam Adani, Chairman and founder of the Adani Group, Supreme Court lawyer and public activist Karuna Nundy and Kashmiri rights activist Khurram Parvez were among the list of 100 Most Influential People of 2022 published by TIME magazine, an American news magazine.
  • Mamata Banerjee received the Bangla Academy Award for her ‘relentless literary pursuit’. The award was presented for her book “Kabita Bitan”, which pays tribute to the best writers of West Bengal and the book contains a collection of over 900 poems.
  • The 2022 International Booker Prize for Translated Fiction was awarded to ‘Tomb of Sand’ written by Geetanjali Shree and translated by Daisy Rockwell won International Booker Prize for the first Hindi Novel ‘Tomb of Sand’.
  • On May 23, 2022, Anthony Norman Albanese sworn in as 31st Prime Minister (PM) of Australia.
  • Indian Women Boxer Lovlina Borgohain elected as Chairman and a Voting Member for International Boxing Association IBA’s Athletes Committee.
  • The National Health Authority (NHA), the implementing agency of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), has launched the revamped version of Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) mobile application with new User Interface (UI) and added functionalities.
  • Inter Milan (FC Internazionale Milano) defeated Juventus, 14 times champions, for 4-2 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy and won the Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) 2021/2022 – branded as the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa 2021-2022.
  • Adani Green Energy & Andhra Pradesh Signed MoU For 60000 Crore Investments.
  • Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) & government of Andhra Pradesh (AP) for the purpose of an investment of ₹ 60,000 crores in AP. This is a part of the major investment drive of AGEL.

THIRD WEEK OF CURRENT AFFAIRS - MAY 2022

  • The Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary notified as India’s 52nd Tiger Reserve. The Ramgarh Vishdhari TR is Rajasthan’s Fourth Tiger Reserve.
  • Narendra Modi addressed a programme marking the silver jubilee celebrations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). PM Modi has also inaugurated the country’s first 5G testbed.
  • India has surpassed Germany to become the 4th largest vehicle market in the world.
  • The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) released its UNICEF Child Alert in May 2022. India has the world’s most severely wasted children under the age of five.
  • Union Minister Piyush Goyal launched the ‘India-UAE Start-Up Bridge’ at India-UAE Economic Partnership Summit 2022 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
  • Nirmala Sitharaman India’s Governor of NDB chaired the 7th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of NDB through a video conference in New Delhi, Delhi.
  • Lionel Messi, a football player from Argentina World’s Highest-Paid Athletes.
  • Ajay Piramal, Chairman of Mumbai-based Piramal Group, has received an Honorary Commander of the Order of The British Empire Award.
  • The Former Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar assumed charge as the 25th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).
  • Adani Group Set to Buy Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary ACC for $10.5 bn (around Rs 81,361 crore), from Holcim Ltd.
  • Union Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw launched the Gatishakti Sanchar Portal for Centralised Right of Way (RoW) approvals.
  • Hyderabad-based space startup Skyroot Aerospace successfully tested the Kalam-100 Engine that would be used in the third stage of the launch vehicle called Vikram 1.

SECOND WEEK OF CURRENT AFFAIRS - MAY 2022

  1. Rajasthan became the first state in India to surpass 10 GigaWatt (GW) or 10,506 MegaWatt (MW) of cumulative large-scale solar installations out of total 49,346 MW of Solar power. Rajasthan has a total of 32.5 GW of installed power capacity, with renewables contributing 55 percent of energy generation, followed by thermal energy at 43 percent and nuclear energy for the remaining 2 percent. 
  2. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) complete seven years of providing social security net on 9 may, 2022. The schemes were launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9th May 2015 to provide affordable insurance and security to people from the unorganized section pf the country. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana provide access to low-cost life or accidental insurance cover to the people, and the Atal Pension Yojana provides an opportunity for saving in the present to get a regular pension in old age.
  3. 3. RailTel, a mini- Ratna Public Sector Undertaking under Ministry of railway launched the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) scheme, providing access to its Public WiFi services across 100 railway stations in India having 2,384 WiFi hotspots in 22 states.
  4. A new UK India Industry Taskforce launched an industry-led joint commission to increase cross-industry collaboration and push the UK-India free trade agreement (FTA) over the line. This taskforce is a part of MoU to provide a critical forum for discussion to ensure the FTA benefit the businesses of both nations (United Kingdom & India). The FTA deal is expected to be signed by October 2022.
  5. Government-run oil marketing companies – Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) have signed a long- term purchase agreement (LTPA) for upcoming five dedicated ethanol plants across India.
  • The first set of Tripartite-cum-Escrow Agreement (TPA) was signed among oil marketing companies (OMCs), project proponents and Banks of the respective ethanol plant projects of Micromax Biofuels Private Limited, Bihar, Eastern India Biofuels Private Limited, Bihar, Muzaffarpur Bio Fuels Private Limited, Bihar, KP Biofuels Private Limited, Madhya Pradesh and Visag Biofuels Private Limited, Madhya Pradesh.
  1.  South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) became the first in Asia to join NATO’s cyber defence group (North Atlantic Treaty Organization Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence-NATO CCDCOE).
  • NATO CCDCOE has 32 countries as its official members which includes 27 NATO member countries and five (5 ) non-NATO states as contributing participants. This step by South Korea comes after North Korea used Chinese technology to breach South Korea’s Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) in 2021.
  1. India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Madagascar’s official ORTM (Office de la Radio et de la Television) for cooperation and co-production of programmes, training and exchange of personnel. This Mou was signed by Indian Ambassador Abhay Kumar and Director General of ORTM Jean Yves.
  • According to the MoU, Madagascar National Television (TVM) will broadcast programmes from internal productions of Prasar Bharati in the fields of culture, education, science, entertainment, sports among others.
  1. Padma Shri Awardee and Sanskrit scholar Bhagirath Prasad Tripathi, better known as Vagish Shastri died on May 11, 2022 at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He was born on 15 July 1935 in the Khurai town of Sagar District, Madhya Pradesh.
  • Shastri had invented a unique technique of teaching Sanskrit grammar called ‘Vagyoga’, a mnemonic method to understand the soul of words.
  • He received the fourth highest civilian award – Padma Shri in 2018 for his contributions in the field of Literature and Education.
  1. World red Cross Day also known as Red Crescent Day is celebrated on May 8 every year to honor the International Red cross and Red Crescent Movement founder Henry Dunant, who was born on 8 May, 1828. The theme of 2022 World Red cross and red crescent day is “Be Human Kind”.

FIRST WEEK OF CURRENT AFFAIRS - MAY 2022

  • National Behaviour Change Communication Framework for Garbage-Free Cities Launched by Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0.
  • INS Gharial Delivers Critical Medical Aid to Sri Lanka Under Mission SAGAR IX
  • India’s First Greenfield Grain-Based Ethanol Production Plant Inaugurated in Bihar
  • The Maharashtra Department of Prisons initiated India’s 1st-of-its-kind loan scheme namely ‘Jivhala’ for inmates serving sentences in jails across the state for more than 3 years.
  • On May 01, 2022, the Indian Badminton Player Pusarla Venkata (PV) Sindhu won the bronze medal in Women’s Singles at the 39th edition of 2022 Badminton Asia Championships at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex in Manila, Philippines.
  • The Govt of India has launched the National Open Access Registry (NOAR) website, a move closer to promoting open access in the power sector.
  • The Indian Space Research Organisation as part of its Human Spaceflight (Gaganyaan) mission has finalised the launch of the first uncrewed mission or G1
  • The Alternative Mechanism, empowered by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the highest bid of Star9 Mobility Private Limited, quoting Rs 211.14 crore
  • Priyanka Mohite has become the first Indian woman to scale five peaks above 8,000 metres (m) after she climbed the third highest mountain in the world Mount Kanchenjunga (8,586 m)