NATIONAL NEWS

First Indian state to roll out Drone in Healthcare

• Uttarakhand becomes the 1st Indian state to roll out drone in healthcare.

• Redcliffe and Skye Air partnered to launch the project.

• Redcliffe Labs, a unit of Redcliffe Lifetech in the U.S., has come up with its first commercial drone flight in the healthcare sector.
• The company has recently opened its commercial drone corridor between Uttarkashi and Dehradun.
• The main objective of the project is the Commercial utilisation of drones to bring quality healthcare to Indians in the remotest areas.
• The diagnostic service provider aims to reach at least 500 million Indians by 2027.
• This will be the first commercial drone flight in India’s healthcare sector.

Fasal Ties up with IMD

• Agritech firm Fasal has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for a research collaboration.

• The regions that are used for Research & Development include: five districts in Karnataka, five districts in Maharashtra, one district in Telangana and two districts in Andhra Pradesh.

• It is aimed at making day-to-day short-term weather forecasts accessible to farmers.
• A total of 23 radar stations of IMD and about 600 on-ground precision farming devices of Fasal will be harnessed to provide weather forecasts.

Samsung to Spend on Chips and Biotech

• Samsung Group will invest USD 356 billion in the next five years to accelerate growth in the semiconductors, biopharmaceutical and other next – generation technologies.

• 80 percent of the investments will be made in South Korea.

• Samsung Electronics is building an advanced $17 billion US chip plant in Texas.
• Samsung did not include electric vehicle batteries as a future growth engine in the announcement.

7th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting

• Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi participated in 7th BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting hosted by China virtually.

• She announced that India with its diverse cultural expression ensures to provides a platform for the BRICS countries to familiarize cultural values through exchange programmes.
• India strongly advocates a sustainable and resilient environment integrating heritage and traditional knowledge into innovative and culture-based solutions to environmental concerns.
• The Ministers adopted the BRICS Action Plan 2022-2026 to further strengthen the cultural cooperation and implement the BRICS Cultural Cooperation Agreement signed in 2015.

ONGC to Trade on Indian Gas Exchange

• On 23 May 2022, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) has become the first Exploration and Production (E&P) company in India to trade domestic gas on Indian Gas Exchange.
• The quantity sold by ONGC through the Gas Exchange will be enhanced slowly.
• The gas traded is from ONGC Krishna Godavari block.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

First Country to Make Quarantine for Monkeypox Patients

• Belgium has become the first country to make a 21-day quarantine compulsory for monkeypox patients after four cases of the disease were reported.

• Monkeypox is a disease in the same family as smallpox and symptoms include a distinct bumpy rash, a fever, sore muscles and a headache.

• The microbiologist Emmanuel Andre, who is in charge of the National Reference Lab for COVID-19 in Belgium, announced that the fourth case has been confirmed in the country.
• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become the first Gulf state to record a case of monkeypox.

BANKING

Panel to Review Customer Service Standards

• India’s central bank RBI has set up a committee to review the efficacy, adequacy, and quality of customer service in banks, NBFCs and other entities which come under it.

• The committee consists of 6 members and is headed by former RBI deputy governor BP Kanungo.
• The timeline was given for the committee to submit its report three months from the date of the first meeting.
• The panel will also review the emerging and evolving needs of the customer service landscape, especially in the context of evolving digital or electronic financial products.
• They will also suggest best practices, in customer service and grievance redressal, especially for improvement in services rendered to retail and small customers, including pensioners and senior citizens. which can be adopted globally and domestically.

SPORTS

Athletics Meet in United Kingdom

• India's Jyothi Yarraji broke the women's 100m hurdle national record for the second time.

• Jyothi, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, won the hurdles race in Loughborough International Athletics Meet in the UK.

• The 22-year-old clocked 13.11 seconds to beat her own national record of 13.23 that she had clocked on May 10 during the Cyprus International Meet in Limassol.
• Jyothi trains under Joseph Hillier at Reliance Foundation Odisha Athletics High-Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar

RANKS, INDICES & REPORTS

Travel and Tourism Development Index

• India was ranked at the 54th place in a global travel and tourism development index.

• The World Economic Forum released the Travel and Tourism Development Index which comprises 117 countries identifying key factors in enabling the sustainable and resilient growth of travel and tourism economies.
• Japan has topped the global charts, followed by the US, Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austraila, UK, Singapore and Italy occupied the top ten positions in the list.
• India secured 54th position with a score of 4.2.
• India remained on the top position within South Asia.

AWARDS & PRIZES

Iyal Award -Canada Based Tamil Literary for 2021

• Historian and professor of the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), A.R. Venkatachalapathy, has been selected for the Lifetime Achievement Award (Iyal Award), of the Canada based Tamil Literary Award for 2021.

• Iyal Award is a lifetime Achievement award which is given annually to someone who has made a very significant contribution to the growth or study of Tamil Literature.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Part-Time Chairman of IDBI Bank

• IDBI Bank Limited announced the appointment of TN Manoharan as a Part-time Chairman of the Bank for a period of 3 years.
• TN Manoharan is a Chartered Accountant by profession and has served as the President of ICAI during 2006-07 and was instrumental in charting the road map for several accounting reforms in the Indian System.
• He was the Chairman of the ICAI of Accounting Research Foundation.

Director-General of WHO

• World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been reelected for the second term.

• The World Health Assembly Member states re-elected Dr Tedros to serve a second five-year term.

• His re-election was confirmed during the 75th World Health Assembly in Geneva.
• He announced that WHO delivers on its mission to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Indian Commonwealth Day

• Indian Commonwealth Day is celebrated every on 24 May.

• It marks the development of the British Empire in India and other colonies of Britain.

• The Commonwealth Day is usually marked across the world on the second Monday in the month of March every year in most of the 54 countries of the Commonwealth.
• The theme for Commonwealth Day 2022 is ‘Delivering a Common Future’.
• It highlights how the fifty-four member countries in the Commonwealth family are ‘innovating, connecting and transforming’ to help attain goals like fighting climate change, promoting good governance and improving trade.
• Commonwealth Day, formerly known as Empire Day was established in 1902.