15th-16th May, 2023

1. Lithuanian Ambassador to India Diana Mickeviciene welcomed the opening of a new Indian mission in Lithuania.
2. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi (AIIMS) has collaborated with World Health Organization-South-East Asia to ensure patient safety and quality control.
3. Union Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav launched the “Meri LiFE” (My life) mobile application ahead of the World Environment Day (June 5).
4. REMC Ltd, a subsidiary of RITES Ltd, has set up the National Energy Management Centre (NEMC) for Indian Railways at its office.
5. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu launched ‘Him Data Portal’ to integrate data of all government wings for the delivery of welfare schemes.
6. 4th edition of India-Indonesia Bilateral exercise Samudra Shakti-23 was conducted.
7. Defence Ministry has approved the 4th Positive Indigenisation List (PIL) for substituting imports of 928 weapons worth ₹715 crore.
8. NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program has launched a second football-stadium-sized, heavy-lift super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wānaka Airport, New Zealand, on a technology mission aimed for 100 days or more of flight in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
9. WHO launched the “Accelerating anaemia reduction: a comprehensive framework for action”.
10. Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has secured the 2nd position among 66 ministries in Data Governance Quality Index assessment for 2022-2023 Q3 (December Quarter) with score of score of 4.7 out of 5.
11. Norwegian Refugee Council and Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre have released the Global Report on Internal Displacement 2023 (GRID 2023): Internal displacement and food security.
12. Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has announced to integrate PayNearby’s newly launched meta commerce platform PayNearby Mall to enable easy availability of goods and services.
13. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated the banks to commence a ‘100 Days 100 Pays’ campaign, where they will trace and settle the top 100 unclaimed deposits of every bank in every district within 100 days.
14. Quant Mutual Fund has launched Quant Business Cycle Fund, an open-ended equity scheme.
15. According to the commerce ministry’s data, US, UAE, and Netherlands are the top 3 export destinations of India in 2022-23.
16. IRDAI has constituted a five-member expert committee for advice on matters related to mental health and insurance.
17. RBI has mandated the banks and financial institutions to shift from London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and Mumbai Interbank Forward Outright Rate (MIFOR) to Alternative Reference Rate, such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) from July 1, 2023.
18. Alia Bhatt has been appointed as global ambassador for Gucci.
19. Twitter has appointed Linda Yaccarino as CEO.
20. Karnataka cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Praveen Sood has been appointed the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for two years.
21. May 12 – International Day of Plant Health; Theme – Plant Health for Environmental Protection
22. May 13 and 14 – World Migratory Bird Day; Theme – Water
23. May 15 – International Day of Families; Theme – Demographic Trends and Families
24. Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2023 has been won by Arinze Ifeakandu (Nigeria).
25. Jayant V. Narlikar has won ASI Govind Swarup Lifetime Achievement award for Astronomy and Astrophysics for the year 2022.
26. Author and translator Musharraf Ali Farooqi (Pakistani Canadian) has won the inaugural edition of the Armory Square Prize for South Asian Literature in Translation.
27. National Technology Awards 2023 were announced by Technology Development Board (TDB) of Ministry of Science & Technology.
28. Prraneeth became Telangana’s sixth and India’s 82nd Grandmaster after winning in Baku Open 2023 against GM Hans Niemann of the US in the second last round of the championship.
29. India finished second in the overall medals tally with one gold, two silvers and one bronze at the ISSF World Cup Baku 2023.
30. Eminent singer Kalyani Kazi has passed away. She is the daughter in law of Bangladesh’s national poet.
31. ‘The Golden Years’ has been authored by Ruskin Bond.

National News

1. Lithuanian Ambassador to India Diana Mickeviciene welcomed the opening of a new Indian mission in Lithuania.
   • Lithuanian Embassy launched a comic book named ‘First Lithuanian Travelers in India.’
     Source: ANI
2. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi (AIIMS) has collaborated with World Health Organization-South-East Asia to ensure patient safety and quality control.
   • A core committee for Patient Safety and Quality at AIlMS is being constituted for implementation of advanced patient safety and quality initiatives across various departments.
   • AIIMS will follow the learning curriculum proposed by WHO in collaboration with the Duke-NUS (Institute of Patient Safety &Quality -IPSQ).
     Source: LiveMint
3. Union Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav launched the “Meri LiFE” (My life) mobile application ahead of the World Environment Day (June 5).
   • Purpose – to track the progress being made on Mission LiFE
   • Users of the Meri LiFE app will be guided to participate in a series of LiFE related tasks under the 5 themes – Save Energy, Save Water, Reduce Single Use Plastic, Adopt Sustainable Food Systems and Adopt Healthy Lifestyle.
   • The Ministry has also developed two portals to track the progress in a systematic manner.
   • The Mission LiFE Portal (missionlife-moefcc.nic.in) – for public for updating their activities
   • The Meri LiFE Portal (merilife.org) – for ministries and institutions
   • Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) was launched in 2022 at Kevadia, Gujarat to bring about behaviour changes in individuals through simple easy to do actions.
   • World Environment Day 2023 is hosted by Côte d’Ivoire and supported by the Netherlands and will focus on solutions to plastic pollution.
     Source: PIB, and UNEP
4. REMC Ltd, a subsidiary of RITES Ltd, has set up the National Energy Management Centre (NEMC) for Indian Railways at its office.
   • The centre’s objective is to oversee and handle the procurement of energy for the Railways on a national level.
     Source: LiveMint

State News

1. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu launched ‘Him Data Portal’ to integrate data of all government wings for the delivery of welfare schemes.
   • It has been developed by the Indian School of Business (ISB).
     Source: The Hindu

Defence News

1. 4th edition of India-Indonesia Bilateral exercise Samudra Shakti-23 was conducted.
   • To participate in the exercise, INS Kavaratti arrived at Batam, Indonesia. An Indian Navy Dornier Maritime Patrol aircraft and Chetak helicopter is also participating.
   • The Indonesian Navy will be represented by KRI Sultan Iskandar Muda, CN 235 Maritime Patrol Aircraft and AS565 Panther Helicopter.
     Source: PIB
2. Defence Ministry has approved the 4th Positive Indigenisation List (PIL) for substituting imports of 928 weapons worth ₹715 crore.
   Source: The Hindu

International News

1. NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program has launched a second football-stadium-sized, heavy-lift super pressure balloon (SPB) from Wānaka Airport, New Zealand, on a technology mission aimed for 100 days or more of flight in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
   • The second balloon contains the Extreme Universe Space Observatory 2 (EUSO-2), a science mission from the University of Chicago.
   • It aims to detect ultra-high energy cosmic-ray particles from beyond Milkyway galaxy as they penetrate Earth’s atmosphere.
     Source: NASA
2. WHO launched the “Accelerating anaemia reduction: a comprehensive framework for action”.
   • WHO aims to achieve the global target to halve anaemia prevalence in women of reproductive age by 2025.
   • Currently, an estimated 571 million women and 269 million young children face serious health problems due to anaemia.
   • Globally, it is estimated that in 2019, 40% of all children aged 6–59 months, 37% of pregnant women and 30% of women 15–49 years of age were affected by anaemia.
   • For all population groups combined, it is estimated that nearly one quarter of the world’s population, or 1.8 billion people, suffered from some form of anaemia in 2019.

Source: WHO

Reports and Indices

1. Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has secured the 2nd position among 66 ministries in Data Governance Quality Index assessment for 2022-2023 Q3 (December Quarter) with score of score of 4.7 out of 5.
   • Purpose – To measure the maturity level of administrative data systems and their use in decision-making of various Ministries/Departments on the implementation of Central Sector Schemes and Centrally Sponsored Schemes
   • Conducted by – Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office, NITI Aayog
   • It identifies reforms to reach the frontier of seamless data exchange and its synergistic use within the ministry, while defining clear pathways to achieve these goals.
   • Themes of the index –
   • Data Generation
   • Data Quality
   • Use of Technology
   • Data Analysis
   • Use and Dissemination
   • Data Security and HR Capacity

   Source: PIB

2. Norwegian Refugee Council and Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre have released the Global Report on Internal Displacement 2023 (GRID 2023): Internal displacement and food security.
   • The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) around the world reached 71.1 million as of the end of 2022, an increase of 20% from the previous year.
   • The number of disaster displacements increased by nearly 40% compared to the previous year, reaching 32.6 million.
   • Conflict and violence triggered 28.3 million internal displacements worldwide.
     Source: Reliefweb

Banking and Economy

1. Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has announced to integrate PayNearby’s newly launched meta commerce platform PayNearby Mall to enable easy availability of goods and services.
   Source: Economic Times
2. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated the banks to commence a ‘100 Days 100 Pays’ campaign, where they will trace and settle the top 100 unclaimed deposits of every bank in every district within 100 days.
   • The banks will commence the campaign for return of unclaimed deposits from June 1.
   • The banks will reduce the quantum of unclaimed deposits in the banking system and return such deposits to their rightful owners/claimants.
     Source: Hindu Business Line
3. Quant Mutual Fund has launched Quant Business Cycle Fund, an open-ended equity scheme.
   • The scheme aims to invest with a focus on riding business cycles through allocation between sectors and stocks at different stages of business cycles.
   • The performance of the scheme will be benchmarked against NSE 500 TRI.
     Source: Economic Times
4. According to the commerce ministry’s data, US, UAE, and Netherlands are the top 3 export destinations of India in 2022-23.
   • The Netherlands has taken over major destinations such as the UK, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Germany.
     Source: Economic Times

5. IRDAI has constituted a five-member expert committee for advice on matters related to mental health and insurance.
   • Chairperson – National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) Director Pratima Murthy
   • The committee will be providing advice and inputs on existing coverage and those to be offered for mental illnesses.
     Source: The Hindu
6. RBI has mandated the banks and financial institutions to shift from London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and Mumbai Interbank Forward Outright Rate (MIFOR) to Alternative Reference Rate, such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) from July 1, 2023.
   Source: Indian Express

Appointments

1. Alia Bhatt has been appointed as global ambassador for Gucci.
   Source: Indian Express
2. Twitter has appointed Linda Yaccarino as CEO.
   Source: NDTV

3. Karnataka cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Praveen Sood has been appointed the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for two years.
   Source: Indian Express

Important Days

1. May 12 – International Day of Plant Health; Theme – Plant Health for Environmental Protection
   Source: News18
2. May 13 and 14 – World Migratory Bird Day; Theme – Water
   Source: UNEP
3. May 15 – International Day of Families; Theme – Demographic Trends and Families
   Source: UN

Awards

1. Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2023 has been won by Arinze Ifeakandu (Nigeria).
   Source: Swansea University
2. Jayant V. Narlikar has won ASI Govind Swarup Lifetime Achievement award for Astronomy and Astrophysics for the year 2022.
   Source: Astronomical Society of India
3. Author and translator Musharraf Ali Farooqi (Pakistani Canadian) has won the inaugural edition of the Armory Square Prize for South Asian Literature in Translation.
   • He translated Siddique Alam’s The Kettledrum and Other Stories from Urdu to English.
   • US-based Armory Square Ventures is the sponsor of the award.
     Source: Indian Express
4. National Technology Awards 2023 were announced by Technology Development Board (TDB) of Ministry of Science & Technology.
   • The categories of awards are Main, MSME, Startup, Translational Research and Technology Business Incubator.
   • A total of 11 winners are there in 2023.

Source: PIB

Sports

1. Prraneeth became Telangana’s sixth and India’s 82nd Grandmaster after winning in Baku Open 2023 against GM Hans Niemann of the US in the second last round of the championship.
   Source: The Hindu
2. India finished second in the overall medals tally with one gold, two silvers and one bronze at the ISSF World Cup Baku 2023.
   • Gold winners – Sarabjot Singh and Divya TS in 10m air pistol mixed team event
   • China finished at the first rank.
     Source: Olympics.com

Miscellaneous

1. Eminent singer Kalyani Kazi has passed away. She is the daughter in law of Bangladesh’s national poet.
   Source: Business Standard
2. ‘The Golden Years’ has been authored by Ruskin Bond.
   Source: Times of India

Start Quiz of 15th-16th May 2023 on Mobile

Start Quiz of 15th-16th May 2023 on Desktop