Daily Current Affairs for State Exams 29 May 2023

दैनिक करंट अफेयर्स 29 मई 2023

Important News: International

IPEF countries including India agree to strengthen supply chains among others

Why in news: In an effort to tackle a future supply chain crisis, strengthen supply chains for chips, medicine and other critical commodities in the event of an emergency, and reduce its dependence on a particular country, all members of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), including India, have struck a deal at a high-profile meeting held in Detroit.

1. Alongside the United States and India, the members of IPEF consist of Australia, Brunei, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
2. The initiative aims to enhance supply chain resilience and diversification through information sharing and coordinated efforts by member countries, especially when a crisis strikes.
3. The group also agreed to set up an IPEF Supply Chain Council, Supply Chain Crisis Response Network and Labour Rights Advisory Network to ensure a smooth passage for critical goods of public use and for continuous improvement of essential norms.
4. Under the supply chain-related deal, IPEF partner countries are seeking to make supply chains more resilient, robust and well-integrated through crisis response measures, cooperation for mitigation of disruptions to better ensure business continuity and improve logistics and connectivity.The negotiations are aimed at boosting investment in particularly critical sectors and increasing the production and labour role of key goods through necessary upgradation and skill development and enhancement as compared to the skill credit framework in IPEF.

 (SOURCE – THE HINDU)

Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan wins another term as president, extends rule into 3rd decade

Why in news: Erdoğan, who co-founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, has dominated Turkish politics for two decades, serving as prime minister from 2003 to 2014 and as president since then.

1. Turkey is a country that occupies a unique geographic position, lying partly in Asia and partly in Europe.
2. Turkey has a diverse geography, culture, economy and history that make it an interesting and significant country in the world.
3. It is among the larger countries of the region in terms of territory and population, and its land area is greater than that of any European state.
4. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has led Turkey for 20 years, has been announced as the winner of a run-off. He has secured 52.14% of the vote, while his opponent, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, has received 47.86%.

 (SOURCE – PIB)

Global Army conducts exercise Sudarshan Shakti along Western border

Why in news: The Sapta Shakti Command of the Indian Army conducted exercise ‘Sudarshan Shakti 2023’ along the Western borders in Rajasthan and Punjab from May 22 to 25.

1. Exercise ‘Sudarshan Shakti 2023’, was designed to validate operational plans in a network-centric environment.
2. The elements of combat power, combat support and logistic support were exercised in a synergized application under all domains of enemy threat including Grey Zone Warfare as part of high-tempo operations.
3. It aims to initiate the transformation of forces into a modern, lean and agile combat combination capable of taking advantage of new-age technologies.
4. The integrated use of force multipliers such as special forces and niche technologies covered major aspects of drones, tethered drones, loiter ammunition as well as electronic warfare.

(SOURCE – LIVEMINT)

Important News: National

Divya Kala Shakti Program

Why in news: Shri Rajesh Agarwal, Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India inaugurated the 'Divya Kala Shakti' programme at Rudraksh Sammelan and Cultural Centre in Varanasi today on May 27, 2023.

A group of people standing around an asana with flowers is automatically generated with less confidence. Around 1,600 spectators from various streams including public representatives, state administration, various NGOs, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, primary and secondary teachers, students of universities, representatives of music houses, rehabilitation professionals and stakeholders of the department witnessed an exceptional performance at the cultural programme 'Divya Kala Shakti – Testimony of Competence in Disability' organised by differently-abled children and youth.

B.Through CRC-Lucknow, an organization under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

C.After two national events held on April 18, 2019 and July 23, 2019 at Rashtrapati Bhavan and Balyogi Auditorium, the department is taking Divya Kala Shakti to the regional level under the direction of the former President.

D.In line with this direction, five regional "Divya Kala Shakti" programmes have already been organized at various locations including western region, North Eastern and southern region in Mumbai, Arunachal, Chennai, New Delhi and Guwahati.

E.A group of people on stage details is automatically generated, this time the sixth Divya Kala Shakti event was organised in the divine city of Varanasi, where around 100 artists from six states, namely West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand performed at the event.

 (SOURCE –NEWS ON AIR)

Solar Decathlon India (SDI) Design Challenge for Net-Zero Future Proof Building 2022-2023

Why in news: A total of 12 teams won the Solar Decathlon India (SDI) Design Challenge for net-zero future proof building in various categories in the third edition of the challenge held at Infosys' campus in Mysuru.

1. The Solar Decathlon India is an innovative platform that encourages and instills a healthy competitive spirit in youngsters by challenging them to think outside the box and use their ingenuity to design a net-zero niche. It was encouraging to see how inventive and imaginative solutions to global climate change challenges were presented at the finals
2. The Solar Decathlon India is conducted every year by the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) and the Alliance for an Energy-Efficient Economy (AEEE) under the aegis of the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), an autonomous bilateral organisation jointly funded by both the Governments (The Department of Science & Technology, Government of India and the U.S. Department of State are the respective nodal departments on the two sides).
3. The Council of Architecture (CoA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding as a knowledge partner with AEEE, who co-organises SDI, to expand outreach and the impact of Solar Decathlon India to address Climate Change.
4. This is expected to facilitate architectural educational institutions and students to participate in the competition.

 (SOURCE – HINDUSTAN TIMES)

Important News: Days

International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers

Why in news: The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002 to pay tribute to the men and women who served in UN.

A.peacekeeping operations and to honour those who lost their lives due to peacekeeping

The theme of International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers 2023 is 'Peace begins with me'. It calls upon all to join the global movement for peace, recognizing the service and sacrifice of peacekeepers in the past and present.

B.International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers: Background The General Assembly in its resolution 57/129 chose May 29 as the International Day of UN Peacekeepers because the first UN peacekeeping mission called the 'United Nations Truce Supervision Organization' or UNTSO began operations in Palestine on May 29 in 1948.

C.This year, the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is celebrating its 75th anniversary. On May 29, the Secretary-General presides over a wreath-laying ceremony and honors all peacekeepers who have lost their lives under the UN flag.

D.The event is held at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The Dag Hammarskjöld Medal is also awarded posthumously to peacekeepers who have died while serving for peace.

E.Drew attention to the various challenges faced by peacekeeping operations, including an alarming increase in violent attacks against UN peacekeepers. Lacroix highlighted the A4P+ transformation initiative, which places significant importance on enhancing the safety and security of peacekeepers.

(SOURCE – PIB)

Important News: Reports

C-DAC's AI supercomputer 'Airavat' is ranked 75th in the top 500 supercomputing list

Why in news: The AI Supercomputer ‘AIRAWAT’, installed at C-DAC, Maharashtra’s Pune has been ranked 75th in the world in the 61st edition of the 'Top 500 Global Supercomputing List' yesterday at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC 2023) in Germany.

1. India has been working in the Applied AI with focus on Natural Language Processing, Image Procession, Pattern Recognition, Agriculture, Medical Imaging, Education, Health Care, Audio assistance, Robotics and developing solutions for the strategic sectors.
2. The Proof of Concept (POC) AI Research Analytics and Knowledge Seminar Platform (AIRAVAT) of 200 AI Petaflops Mixed Precision Peak Compute capability is currently funded by MeitY and implemented by C-DAC, Pune.
3. The AIRAWAT PoC of 200 AI Petaflops integrated with PARAM Siddhi – AI of 210 AI Petaflops gives a total peak compute of 410 AI Petaflops Mixed Precision and sustained compute capacity of 8.5 Petaflops (Rmax) Double Precision.
4. NetWeb Technologies is the manufacturer of AIRAWAT and runs on the supercomputer Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS operating system. The supercomputer is powered by AMD EPYC 7742 64C 2.25 GHz processor with 81,344 cores.

(SOURCE – INDIAN EXPRESS)

Important News: Scheme

New Parliament Building of India

Why in news:  The Central Vista Redevelopment Project is a project that aims to revamp the Central Vista, India’s central administrative area located near Raisina Hill, New Delhi.

1. The area was originally designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker during British colonial rule and was retained by Government of India after independence.
2. The project also envisages the construction of a new residence for the Vice President, a new office and residence for the Prime Minister and a common central secretariat for all ministries.
3. It is designed by architect Bimal Patel and constructed by Tata Projects Ltd.
4. It has a built-up area of around 65,000 square meters and can accommodate up to 1,272 members of parliament in its two chambers: the Lok Sabha (lower house) and the Rajya Sabha (upper house).
5. Based on the theme of the national bird 'Peacock', the Lok Sabha will have a capacity of 888 seats. The Rajya Sabha hall, themed by our national flower 'Lotus', will have a seating capacity of 384 people.
6. PM met adinam (priests) who handed him the holy sceptre, 'Sengol', on the eve of the inauguration of the new Parliament building, which was planted in the new Parliament building. 'Sengol' is the most suitable and sacred place to install. And PM Modi decided to adopt Sengol as the national symbol of the Amrit period.
7. It is designed to be environmentally friendly and energy efficient, with features such as rainwater harvesting, solar panels, waste management and natural ventilation

(SOURCE – TIMES OF INDIA)