Daily Current Affairs May 06 2022

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

International Firefighter’s Day: 4th May

• Every year, Fire Fighters Day is celebrated on May 04 to honour the work done by firefighter professionals to protect people and property.
• The main aim of this day is to recognise and honour professional firefighters across the world.
• A tragic incident in Australia’s Linton led to the establishment of International Firefighters Day.
• This historical accident happened on December 02, 1998, which led to the taking of the lives of 5 firefighters.
• Therefore, a proposal was passed on January 04, 1999, to honour the firefighters who lost their lives on duty.

World Portuguese Language Day May 5^th

• The World Portuguese Language Day is being celebrated on May 5th in about 50 countries, with cultural activities worldwide.
• In the United States, May 5th will be officially celebrated in New York, in a joint initiative between Portugal and Brazil.
• With more than 260 million speakers worldwide, Portuguese ranks fifth among world languages in a number of native speakers, distributed on all continents.
• Portuguese is projected to be spoken in 2050 by about 400 million, and in 2100 by more than 500 million people, when the population of Angola will increase to more than 170 million and Mozambique to more than 130 million people.
• The date of May 5th was officially established in 2009 as ‘World Portuguese Language Day’ by the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) – an intergovernmental organization that has been in official partnership with UNESCO since 2000 and brings together people with the Portuguese language as one of the foundations of their specific identity – to celebrate the Portuguese language and Lusophone cultures, with the mission of bringing together the communities and countries around the world where Portuguese is spoken.

Coal Miners Day: May 4^th

• Coal Miners Day is observed annually on 4 May to highlight one of the toughest professions- those working in coal fields or mines.
• The day honours the accomplishments and sacrifices made by coal mine workers so far.
• It also remembers the horrific tragedies that these hardworking individuals experience.
• Right from the Industrial Revolution (between 1760 and 1840), coal miners played a significant role across the globe. During that time, coal was burnt to fuel stationery, locomotive engines, and heat buildings.
• In India, the coal mining business began in 1774.
• It was when the East India Company exploited the Raniganj coalfield which is located in the Asansol and Durgapur region.
• It falls along the bank of River Damodar that crosses Jharkhand and West Bengal.
• Later in 1853, steam locomotives increased the demand for coal by railways.
• Coal-rich regions in India include Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, and West Bengal as well as some central and southern parts of the country.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

India to be ‘Country of Honour’ at Cannes Marche’ Du Film:

• India will be the Official Country of Honour at the upcoming Marche’ Du Film, organised alongside the Cannes Film Festival in France.
• The festival will be organised from the 17th of May.
• This was announced by Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur during a press conference in New Delhi.
• France and India are marking 75 years of their diplomatic ties and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris and meeting with President Macron take even more significance in this context.
• It is a significant diplomatic backdrop that India has been chosen as the ‘Country of Honour’ at Marche’ Du Film at the Cannes Film Festival.
• This is the first time that such an honour is being bestowed on any country.

PM Modi hails ties with Canada at the unveiling of Sardar Patel statue:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the unveiling of a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel – the first in North America – in Canada as “a marker for relations between the two countries”.
• The bronze statue was unveiled at a programme at the Sanatan Mandir Cultural Center in the town of Markham in the Greater Toronto Area with messages from the Prime Ministers of India and Canada.
• This statue stands nine feet in height, atop a four-foot-high pedestal, and weighs approximately 1000kg

National Museum of Indian Cinema to host film festival on Satyajit Ray’s birth anniversary:

• On the 101st birth anniversary of Satyajit Ray, the National Museum of Indian Cinema, Mumbai under the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry will host a three-day film festival at various venues across India to screen films made by the legendary filmmaker.
• It will also screen films made on Satyajit Ray.
• The screening will be conducted free of cost on May 2, 3 and 4 in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Pune.
• The National Museum of Indian Cinema, Mumbai is organizing the film festival in association with the National Film Development Corporation, Films Division, National Film Archives of India and Doordarshan and supported by the Government of West Bengal and Arora Film Corporation and Friends Communication

National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) Bengaluru campus inaugurated by Amit Shah:

• Home Minister, Amit Shah inaugurates the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) campus in Bengaluru.
• Home Minister Amit Shah, that the Narendra Modi government has pursued had a zero-tolerance policy toward terrorism from day one.
• Inaugurating the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) premises at Bengaluru, Mr Shah said, security requirements have changed significantly as compared to earlier challenges in terms of data, scope, and complexity.
• There is a need for legal and security agencies to have automated, secure, and immediate access to information obtained from reliable sources.
• The government has entrusted NATGRID with the task of developing and operating a state-of-the-art and innovative information technology platform for accessing information from data collection organizations.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Bangladesh unveils a new gas field of 20 MMCFD capacity

• Bangladesh has discovered a new gas field with the capacity to produce 20 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCFD) at the Koilastila Gas field.
• The announcement was made by the State Minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid.
• It will be possible to supply 17-19 million cubic feet of gas daily to the national grid from the newly discovered well number 6 by May 10.
• The remaining extractable gas reserves of the Lower Gas Sand Zone at Koilashtila Field are 758 billion cubic feet.

About Koilastila Gas field :

• Koilastila Gas Field is one of the five gas fields purchased from the Shell Oil company by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975 for just 4.5 million pounds.
• So far 7 wells have been drilled in the Koilastila gas field of Sylhet Gas Fields Limited (SGFL).
• The first gas field in Bangladesh was made in Sylhet in 1955.

About Bangladesh :

• President: Abdul Hamid
• Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina
• Currency: Bangladeshi taka
• Capital: Dhaka

CURRENT AFFAIRS : STATE NEWS

Telangana govt extends insurance coverage under ‘Nethanna Bima’ scheme

• Telangana state Government has announced extension of insurance coverage to handloom and power loom weavers under ‘Nethanna Bima’ (Weaver’s Insurance) Scheme.
• The State Government has issued orders to extend insurance coverage of 5 lakh rupees for weavers under the Insurance Scheme on par with farmers insurance scheme.
• During the current year, Over 29 crore rupees have been sanctioned for implementing the scheme.
• The insurance coverage will be extended to weavers in the age group of 18 to 59 years.
• The Cabinet Sub Committee had proposed to cover 55,072 handloom and powerloom and ancillary weavers in the State.
• The proposed premium is expected to be Rs.5,426 and the budget requirement would be Rs.29.88 crore.
• The insurance benefits would be extended to the family of the death of weaver or ancillary worker.

About Telangana :

• Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
• Capital: Hyderabad
• Chief minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao

JKFDC & NFDC to Organize J&K National Film Festival

• Jammu and Kashmir Film Development Council in collaboration with National Film Development Corporation and Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, is organizing the first ever National Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir from 15th to 20th June, 2022.

About the Festival :

• The Film festival will be a congregation of the best of films and music, film-makers, music artists, other allied talent and serve as a reservoir of creativity and inspiration for anyone across the world who aspire to live, love and breathe films and music.

Idea behind this film festival :

• To highlight the film, music and creative ecosystem in J&K, along with its’ natural and social beauty that Jammu and Kashmir has been blessed with, to the world.
• The National Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir for a chance to win numerous awards under three broad categories including Feature Films, Non-Feature Films and Music Videos.
• There are over 40+ awards to be given during the Film Festival Award ceremony and the winners will receive mentioned cash component as well a certificate and a medal/trophy.

About J&K :

• Capital : Srinagar, Jammu
• Lieutenant Governor : Manoj Sinha

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri Launches OBPS in Sikkim

• Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri launched the Online Building Permission System (OBPS) in sikkim.

Aim :

• To improve service delivery with lesser human interface and more accountability to get building plans passed.
• He launched during a symposium on ‘Urban Development of North Eastern States – Smart City Revolution’, organized by the Sikkim government in collaboration with the union ministry of development of north east region (DONER) as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mohatsav.
• Also the Centre has agreed to amend the funding pattern to 90:10 to expedite completion of many infrastructure projects in the region on time.
• In the Smart Cities Mission 523 projects worth Rs 13,563 crore were in various stages of development in 10 cities of the region.

Note :

• With this Sikkim became the first state in the North East to launch the OBPS.

About MoHUA :

• Cabinet Minister : Hardeep Singh Puri
• Minister of State : Kaushal Kishore

About Sikkim :

• Capital: Gangtok
• Governor: Ganga Prasad
• Chief minister: Prem Singh Tamang

‘Miyan ka Bada’ railway station in Rajasthan renamed to ‘Mahesh Nagar halt’

• The name of a railway station in Rajasthan’s Barmer district, Miyan ka Bada’ railway station name changed to ‘Mahesh Nagar halt’ was held in the Balotra area of Barmer district.
• The renamed station was finally inaugurated on April 30, 2022.
• The event was attended by Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture.
• Earlier in 2018, the name of the village was changed from Miyan ka Bada to Mahesh Nagar but the name of the railway station was not changed.
• Proposals to rename the station were sent to the railway ministry when the village’s name was changed.
• In 2021, the name of the railway station was changed from Mian Ka Bada to Mahesh Nagar Halt after the proper procedures were followed, but the inauguration was postponed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Earlier, the name of the following railway stations have been changed:
• Mughalsarai Junction is now Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Railway Junction
• Manduadih Railway Station is now known as Banaras Railway Station
• Robertsganj Railway Station was renamed Sonbhadra Railway Station
• Allahabad Junction is now Prayagraj Junction
• Faizabad Junction is now known as Ayodhya Cantt
• Panki Railway Station is changed to Panki Dham Railway Station
• Dandupur Railway Station is renamed Maa Barahi Devi Dham Railway Station

Government of Maharashtra ties up with IFC to strengthen medical education

• The Medical Education and Drugs Department (MEDD) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) have joined forces to prioritise healthcare projects with an emphasis on medical education under the public-private partnership (PPP) model in Maharashtra.
• MEDD and IFC recently organised an investor conference themed around strengthening medical education and tertiary healthcare in Mumbai.
• IFC will be the transaction advisor for the PPPs to develop super-specialty hospitals and medical education facilities across Maharashtra.
• IFC’s support will help drive private sector-led growth, strengthening the state’s health infrastructure and increasing the number of specialist healthcare personnel in the state.

About MEDD :

• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Secretary : Saurabh Vijay

About IFC :

• Established : July 20, 1956
• Headquarters : Washington, D.C., U.S
• Executive Vice President & CEO : Makhtar Diop
• Membership : 185 countries
• IFC is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in less developed countries.
• The IFC is a member of the World Bank Group.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

Canara Bank Partners with ASAP to launch skill loans

• Canara Bank in association with the Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP) has launched ‘skill loans’ .
• The loan was formally launched by Higher Education Minister Bindu in the presence of Canara Bank general manager and State Level Bankers’ Committee convener S. Premkumar.

About Skill Loans :

• Loans ranging from ₹5,000 to ₹5 lakh .
• It can be availed of by students pursuing skill training programmes offered by ASAP Kerala or any other Central or State government-recognised agencies that conduct National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) or National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) courses.
• The loan will be provided without any collateral and have a repayment period of 3 to 7 years.

About Canara Bank :

• Established : 1906
• Headquarters : Bangalore, Karnataka
• MD & CEO : Lingam Venkat Prabhakar
• Canara Bank is the third largest nationalised bank in India.
• It is under the ownership of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

IIFL Finance, Open Financial JV to launch India’s 1st neobank for MSMEs

• Non Banking financial company IIFL Finance Ltd and Open Financial Technologies, Asia’s largest SME focused neo-banking platform will launch IIFL Open Fintech Pvt Ltd.
• The joint venture claims to be India’s first neobank to cater to the banking and credit requirements of micro and small enterprises (MSMEs).
• The initial capital of the joint venture company will be Rs 120 crore (around $15.7 million) and the composition between IIFL Finance and Open is 51:49.

Features of Neobank :

• Neobank provides an innovative User Interface (UI) system made exclusively for small merchants, a first of its kind in India.
• It will offer an alternative experience to traditional banking by providing a simple interface for banking and integration with accounting, finance and payroll etc.
• Moreover, customers will have access to credit from IIFL Finance at one click.
• These customers will also have access to savings, insurance, payment, card and other solutions, customized for their needs.

About IIFL Finance :

• Founded : 1995
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Founder & Chairman : Nirmal Jain
• MD : R Venkataraman

About Open Financial Technologies :

• Founded : 2017
• Headquarters : Bangalore, Karnataka
• Co-founder and CEO : Anish Achuthan

RBI hikes repo rate by 40 basis points to 4.40% : RBI monetary policy committee

• From May 2-4, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) conducts a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
• During this meeting they have decided to Increase the repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 40 basis points (bps) to 4.40 percent with immediate effect from 4.00% earlier (first since August 2018 as well as the first instance of the RBI governor-headed monetary policy committee (MPC) holding an unscheduled meeting for raising interest rates.)
• Also Increase in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to 50 per cent was observed

The New various rates are as under:

• Policy Repo Rate : 4.40%
• Standing Deposit Facility (SDF)= 4.15%
• Marginal Standing Facility Rate : 4.65%
• Bank Rate : 4.65%
• CRR : 4.50%
• SLR : 18.00%
• The new increased policy rates are effective from May 21, 2022.

About RBI :

• Founded: 1 April 1935
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• Governor: Shaktikanta Das
• Deputy Governors : Mahesh Kumar Jain, M. Rajeshwar Rao, Michael Patra and T. Rabi Shankar

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

India achieves merchandise export of 38.19 billion dollars in April:

• India has achieved a monthly value of merchandise export of 38.19 billion US dollars in April.
• It shows an increase of around 24 per cent as compared to the export registered in the same period 2021.
• The value of non-petroleum exports in April was 30.46 billion US dollars, registering a growth of 12.32 per cent in export against the corresponding period last year.
• On the other hand, the value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in April was 16 billion US dollars, registering a growth of 14.38 per cent as compared to the exports registered in the same period 2021.
• Petroleum products 113.21 per cent, electronic goods 64.04 per cent and Chemicals 26.71 per cent led the way in a high increase in exports during April.
• The trade deficit april was 20.07 billion US dollar.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Indian-origin Nand Mulchandani appointed 1st-ever chief tech officer of CIA                                               

• Nand Mulchandani is the first Indian-origin person to be appointed as the first-ever Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
• In his new role, Mulchandani will ensure the Agency is leveraging cutting-edge innovations and scanning the horizon for tomorrow’s innovations to further the CIA’s mission.

About Nand Mulchandani :

• Mulchandani has more than 25 years of experience in Silicon Valley as well as the US Department of Defense (DoD).
• Prior to joining the CIA, Mulchandani most recently served as the CTO and Acting Director of DoD’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) under the US Department of Defence.
• He also co-founded and was CEO of several successful startups such as Oblix (acquired by Oracle), Determina (acquired by VMWare), OpenDNS (acquired by Cisco), and ScaleXtreme (acquired by Citrix).

About CIA :

• Established : September 18, 1947
• Headquarters : Virginia, US
• Director : William J. Burns

IBM Chairman Arvind Krishna elected to Board of Directors of Federal Reserve Bank of New York

• IBM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arvind Krishna has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
• He has been elected as a Class B director, representing the public with due but not exclusive consideration to the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labour, and consumers.
• He will fill the vacancy in the office for the remaining portion of a three-year term ending December 31, 2023.

About Arvind Krishna :

• Krishna, who has an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and a PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• He was senior vice president of Cloud and Cognitive Software.
• He also headed IBM Research and was the general manager of IBM Systems and Technology Group’s development and manufacturing organisation.

About Federal Reserve Bank of New York :

• Established : November 16, 1914
• President & CEO : John C. Williams
• Headquarters : New York, US
• The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States.

Ex Petroleum secretary Tarun Kapoor appointed as advisor to PM

• Former Petroleum secretary Tarun Kapoor has been appointed as advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The position of PM’s adviser had fallen vacant in February, after retired IAS officer Bhaskar Khulbe’s term ended.

Other Appointments :

• Mr Hari Ranjan Rao and Atish Chandra both have been appointed as Additional Secretaries in the Prime Minister’s office.
• Radha Chauhan, has been appointed as DoPT secretary & She replaces Pradip Kumar Tripathi.

About Tarun Kapoor :

• Kapoor, a 1987-batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre.
• He was known as “Modi’s man” during the pandemic, as he worked relentlessly to design and implement the free LPG cylinders-to-households scheme.
• He also worked on another of the PM’s pet projects, development of city gas distribution networks under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) Act, 2006.
• He was joint secretary in the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy between 2011 and 2016.
• He served as vice-chairman in the Union ministries of housing and urban affairs as well as rural development between 2018 and 2021.
• On November 30, 2021, he superannuated as the secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

About Mr Hari Ranjan Rao :

• Rao, a 1994-batch lAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.
• Currently he is administrator in the Universal Services Obligation Fund, Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
• He also served as joint secretary and additional secretary in the department between 2020 and 2022.

About Atish Chandra :

• Mr Chandra is 1994 batch IAS officer from Bihar cadre.
• Chandra is chairman and managing director in the Food Corporation of India.
• He has also worked in the agriculture and food and supplies ministries as joint secretary and additional secretary respectively, between 2018 and 2022.

About Radha Chauhan :

• Radha Chauhan, a 1988-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre.
• Chauhan is the third woman IAS officer to become DoPT secretary since 1970.

About MoPNG :

• Cabinet Minister : Hardeep Singh Puri
• Minister of State : Rameswar Teli
• Secretary : M. M. Kutty

CURRENT AFFAIRS : MOU & AGREEMENTS

Ayana Renewable collaborates with Greenstat Hydrogen India to Develop Green Hydrogen Projects in India

• The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund’s (NIIF) Ayana Renewable Power (Ayana) and Norway-based Greenstat ASA’s subsidiary Greenstat Hydrogen India, have entered into a joint development agreement for development of green hydrogen projects powered by renewable energy in India.
• An initial pilot project will be launched in Karnataka.

About the Partnership :

• Under this partnership, the companies will develop large scale green hydrogen solutions, to provide long term supply of green hydrogen to industrial and commercial customers in India.
• The partnership supports the National Hydrogen Mission with an aim to make India a global hub for production and export of green hydrogen.

About Ayana :

• Founded : 2018
• Headquarters : Bangalore, Karnataka
• MD & CEO : Shivanand Nimbargi
• It is one of the largest renewable energy companies in India.
• It is a majority owned company of the NIIF.
• Ayana develops utility-scale solar, wind and RE hybrid projects across India to build cost-effective capacity.

About Greenstat Hydrogen India :

• Founded : 2013
• Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi, India
• Chairman : Sturle Pedersen

CURRENT AFFAIRS : DEFENCE NEWS

ICG commissions 2nd ALH Mk III Squadron in Kochi

• Indian Coast Guard chief VS Pathania commissioned its second Air Squadron, 845 Squadron (CG), at the Coast Guard Air Enclave at Nedumbassery in Kochi.
• The Squadron, led by Commandant Kunal Naik has nine officers and 35 men.
• The second squadron of these choppers will further boost the security of the western seaboard and enhance India’s search and rescue capability.
• The first ALH Mk-III squadron of the Coast Guard is in Bhubaneswar.

About ALH Mk-III helicopters :

• The indigenously developed ALH Mk-III helicopters feature an array of state-of-the-art sensors which add up to maritime prowess of Coast Guard.
• The multifaceted helicopters sport advanced communication systems, automatic identification system, search-and-rescue homer and automatic flight control system and are fitted with modern surveillance radar/electro-optical equipment

About ICG :

• Established : 1 February 1977 by the Coast Guard Act, 1978
• It operates under the Ministry of Defence.
• Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi
• Director General : Virender Singh Pathania

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

IIT Hyderabad demonstrates extreme massive MIMO technology

• Researchers from IIT Hyderabad (IITH) have demonstrated extreme massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology that is being considered for deployment of 5G and next generation 6G networks.
• Extreme massive MIMO refers to next-generation technology that uses very large antenna arrays.
• The IITH developed an experimental research prototype with the aim to discover achievable performance limits.
• It can be used for sending multiple data signals simultaneously on the same channels, making optimum use of spectrum, which is becoming an increasingly scarce resource.
• Massive MIMO involves deployment of MIMO on a larger scale, in the interest of greater network coverage and data carrying capacity.
• The antennas required for the technology are smaller in size than conventional telecom equipment, reducing the physical footprint of telecom infrastructure.
• The first set of pilots conducted using 192 antennas and 48 radio frequency chains showed that up to 24-36 users could be served in the same spectrum.
• This is a 3-fold improvement over the state-of-the-art 5G massive MIMO technology, designed to support 12 simultaneous users.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : RANKING & INDEX

2022 World Press Freedom Index : India slips to 150th position, Norway Tops

• According to the Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, which published its 2022 World Press Freedom Index India’s ranking has fallen down to 150th position with a score of 41 from last year’s 142nd rank out of 180 countries.
• The index published on World Press Freedom Day 2022 (ie May 03, 2022) assesses the level of freedom available to the media in 180 countries and territories.

Best performing countries :

1. Norway – 92.65
2. Denmark – 90.27
3. Sweden – 88.84
4. Estonia – 88.83
5. Finland – 88.42

• The ranking of India’s neighbours, except that of Nepal, have also slid down, with the index placing Pakistan at 157th position, Sri Lanka 146th, Bangladesh 162nd and Maynmar at 176th position.
• Bhutan is ranked at 33rd position within a score of 76.46 , the best among India’s neighbouring countries.
• Russia was placed at 155th position, down from 150th last year, while China climbed up by two positions with the Reporters Without Borders placing it at 175th position.
• Meanwhile North Korea is the worst-ranked country in the world with a score of 92.

About  World Press Freedom Index :

• The index highlights the degree of freedom that journalists, news organisations and netizens have in each country, and the government’s efforts to respect such freedom.
• Five new indicators are now used to compile the World Press Freedom Index & these are the political context, legal framework, economic context, sociocultural context, and security.

About Reporters sans frontieres :

• Founded: 1985
• Headquarters: Paris, France
• Director General: Christophe Deloire

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

Real Madrid clinch 35th Spanish League title:

• Real Madrid clinched a record-extending 35th Spanish league title after its reserve squad comfortably defeated Espanyol 4-0
• Rodrygo scored twice and Marco Asensio and substitute Karim Benzema added a goal each to give Madrid its second league title in three seasons, and third in six years.
• The victory gave Madrid an insurmountable lead with four rounds to go.
• It was 17 points in front of Sevilla, which drew with Cádiz 1-1, and 18 points ahead of Barcelona, which hosts Mallorca.
• With the title, Carlo Ancelotti became the first coach to lift trophies in the top five European leagues.
• The Italian manager won with AC Milan in Serie A, Chelsea in the English Premier League, Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1, and Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

Daily CA On May 06 :

• Every year, Fire Fighters Day is celebrated on May 04 to honour the work done by firefighter professionals to protect people and property.
• The World Portuguese Language Day is being celebrated on May 5th in about 50 countries, with cultural activities worldwide.
• Coal Miners Day is observed annually on 4 May to highlight one of the toughest professions- those working in coal fields or mines.
• India will be the Official Country of Honour at the upcoming Marche’ Du Film, organised alongside the Cannes Film Festival in France.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the unveiling of a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel – the first in North America – in Canada as “a marker for relations between the two countries”.
• On the 101st birth anniversary of Satyajit Ray, the National Museum of Indian Cinema, Mumbai under the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry will host a three-day film festival at various venues across India to screen films made by the legendary filmmaker.
• Home Minister, Amit Shah inaugurates the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) campus in Bengaluru.
• Bangladesh has discovered a new gas field with the capacity to produce 20 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCFD) at the Koilastila Gas field.
• Telangana state Government has announced extension of insurance coverage to handloom and power loom weavers under ‘Nethanna Bima’ (Weaver’s Insurance) Scheme.
• Jammu and Kashmir Film Development Council in collaboration with National Film Development Corporation and Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, is organizing the first ever National Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir from 15th to 20th June, 2022.
• Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri launched the Online Building Permission System (OBPS) in sikkim.
• The name of a railway station in Rajasthan’s Barmer district, Miyan ka Bada’ railway station name changed to ‘Mahesh Nagar halt’ was held in the Balotra area of Barmer district.
• The Medical Education and Drugs Department (MEDD) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) have joined forces to prioritise healthcare projects with an emphasis on medical education under the public-private partnership (PPP) model in Maharashtra.
• Canara Bank in association with the Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP) has launched ‘skill loans’ .
• Non Banking financial company IIFL Finance Ltd and Open Financial Technologies, Asia’s largest SME focused neo-banking platform will launch IIFL Open Fintech Pvt Ltd.

• From May 2-4, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) conducts a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, During this meeting they has decided, to Increase the repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 40 basis points (bps) to 4.40 percent with immediate effect from 4.00% earlier & also Increase the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to 4.50 per cent.

• India has achieved a monthly value of merchandise export of 38.19 billion US dollars in April.

• Nand Mulchandani is the first Indian-origin person to be appointed as the first-ever Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
• IBM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arvind Krishna has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
• Former Petroleum secretary Tarun Kapoor has been appointed as advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund’s (NIIF) Ayana Renewable Power (Ayana) and Norway-based Greenstat ASA’s subsidiary Greenstat Hydrogen India, have entered into a joint development agreement for development of green hydrogen projects powered by renewable energy in India.
• Indian Coast Guard chief VS Pathania commissioned its second Air Squadron, 845 Squadron (CG), at the Coast Guard Air Enclave at Nedumbassery in Kochi.
• Researchers from IIT Hyderabad (IITH) have demonstrated extreme massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology that is being considered for deployment of 5G and next generation 6G networks.
• According to the Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, which published its 2022 World Press Freedom Index India’s ranking has fallen down to 150th position with a score of 41 from last year’s 142nd rank out of 180 countries.

• Real Madrid clinched a record-extending 35th Spanish league title after its reserve squad comfortably defeated Espanyol 4-0