Today's Current Affairs 15th April 2023

INTERNATIONAL

US, Philippines launch largest joint military exercises

The United States and the Philippines have launched their largest joint military exercises in decades, with over 17,600 military personnel taking part in the drills. The annual drills, called Balikatan, a Tagalog term for shoulder-to-shoulder, will run until April 28 and involve live-fire exercises, including a boat-sinking rocket assault in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. The drills are seen by experts as a challenge to China's dominance in the region. "Through this exercise, the Philippine and US forces will sharpen our inter-operability, increase our proficiency and complement our capabilities through collaboration, ensuring we are prepared to respond to real-world challenges together," First US Marine Aircraft Wing commander Major-General Eric Austin said at Tuesday's opening ceremony in Manila. The US has been strengthening its alliances in the Indo-Pacific to counter China's aggressive actions in the region, including those against Taiwan.

The drills include 12,200 US military personnel, 5,400 Filipino forces, and 111 Australian soldiers. America's warships, fighter jets, Patriot missiles, HIMARS rocket launchers, and anti-tank Javelins will be showcased, according to US and Philippine military officials. The Balikatan exercises will also test the allies' capabilities in combined arms live-fire, information and intelligence sharing, communications between maneuver units, logistics operations, and amphibious operations. The exercises will include military helicopters landing on a Philippine island off the northern tip of the main island of Luzon, nearly 300 kilometers (180 miles) from Taiwan. Philippine military officials said that the exercises were aimed at bolstering the country's coastal defense and were not directed at any country.

China conducts mid-course missile interception test

China said it carried out a successful ground-based mid-course missile interception test in an apparent sign of progress in its ability to bring down weapons incoming from space.

The Defence Ministry says the operation was carried out late Friday night within Chinese territory and achieved “the desired test objective.”

The test was "defensive in nature and not targeted against any country," the ministry said, giving no other details such as whether it actually struck an object, how many interceptors were fired and where they landed.

Such systems, which consist of ground-based interceptor missiles and a huge array of radars and fire control systems, aim to bring down ballistic missiles, including ICBMs carrying nuclear or other warheads, while they are flying in space mid-course on the way to their targets.

Referred to by the US as ground-based mid-course defence, or GMD, such systems are hugely complex and expensive to build, test and maintain

US, Japan, South Korea to hold missile defence exercises

The United States, Japan and South Korea said in a joint statement they discussed the regularisation of missile defence and anti-submarine exercises to deter and respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. The announcement was made at the 13th Defence Trilateral Talks held on Friday in Washington DC to exchange assessments of the security environment on the Korean Peninsula and broader region, as well as to consult on concrete ways to deepen trilateral security cooperation,

NATIONAL

Andhra Pradesh's Jagan Mohan Reddy most wealthiest CM in India

A total of 29 of the incumbent chief ministers are crorepatis in India with Andhra Pradesh's Jagan Mohan Reddy having the highest assets totaling ₹510 crore, according to poll affidavits analyzed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The report stated that West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has the lowest total assets of about ₹15 lakh,

Out of the 30 CMs analyzed, 29 (97 percent) are crorepatis with the average assets being ₹33.96 crore for every CM, the ADR said.

The top three chief ministers in terms of assets are Andhra Pradesh's Jagan Mohan Reddy (over ₹510 crore), Arunachal Pradesh's Pema Khandu (over ₹163 crore), and Odisha's Naveen Patnaik (over ₹63 crore), according to the ADR.

The three CMs with the lowest declared assets are – West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee (over ₹15 lakh), Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan (over ₹1 crore), and Haryana's Manohar Lal (over ₹1 crore), the ADR said.

After analyzing the self-sworn poll affidavits of all the 30 current chief ministers of states and union territories, the ADR and Election Watch (NEW) said that have arrived at this conclusion.

There are 28 state chief ministers and two union territories -- Delhi and Puducherry -- also have chief ministers. The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir does not have a chief minister currently.

SPORTS

Aman Sehrawat clinches India’s first gold medal at Asian Wrestling Championships

Aman Sehrawat clinched India’s first gold medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023 in Astana, Kazakhstan. Sehrawat topped the podium in men’s 57 kg freestyle category on the penultimate day of the competition. He defeated Kyrgyzstan's Almaz Smanbekov 9-4 to win the gold medal. Aman Sehrawat’s victory in Astana ensured the men’s freestyle 57kg gold medal stayed with India for the fourth year running.

This was Aman Sehrawat’s second podium of the year. Last year, Sehrawat was the first Indian wrestler to win gold at the Under-23 world championships in Spain.

With two freestyle medals India’s tally rose to 13 in the competition. The Greco-Roman wrestlers won four medals while the women’s wrestlers bagged seven.  

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

PTC India appoints 3 former IAS officers as independent directors

Power trading solutions provider PTC India has appointed three retired officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) as independent directors of the company. The company has also appointed Mahendra Kumar Gupta as a nominee director of NHPC. In a statement, PTC India informed about the appointments of Rashmi Verma, Jayant Dasgupta and Narendra Kumar as independent directors of the company with effect from Thursday. The appointments are subject to the approval of the shareholders, it stated. Rajib K Mishra, Chairman & Managing Director, PTC India, said: "We are delighted to welcome the three new independent directors having credible experience and impeccable career record."

Rashmi Verma, a former IAS officer from 1982 batch, has 36 years of experience in various sectors, including tourism and textiles.

In over 37 years of experience, Dasgupta, a 1981-batch retired IAS officer, has served as chief adviser to Bihar State Planning Board and ambassador to the World Trade Organisation. He also served as secretary, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.

Narendra Kumar, a retired IAS officer from 1988 batch, has served as Financial Commissioner, Government of NCT of Delhi, and Managing Director of Delhi State Financial & Development Corporation.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Art Day

Each year, on 15 April, World Art Day celebrations help reinforce the links between artistic creations and society, encourage greater awareness of the diversity of artistic expressions and highlight the contribution of artists to sustainable development. It is also an occasion to shine a light on arts education in schools, as culture can pave the way for inclusive and equitable education.

The World Art Day, a celebration to promote the development, diffusion and enjoyment of art, was proclaimed at the 40th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 2019.

Art - When humans use their creative skills and imagination to create something in visual form, it is called art. Some of the most popular types of art include painting, sculpting, drawing, photography, and calligraphy. These art forms can be used in professional applications, such as architecture, fashion design, wood crafts, and jewelry design. Along with visual arts, there are also the performing arts. Examples of the performing arts include dance, theater, and music.

Himachal Pradesh celebrates its 75th formation day

The 75th anniversary of the formation of Himachal Pradesh is being celebrated across the State today (15 April). This day is celebrated to glorify the State’s creation. This time the State level function will be held at Kaza in the tribal Lahul-Spiti district.

Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu is presiding over the State level function being held for the first time in 75 years in Kaza. On this occasion, the Chief Minister will hoist the national flag and inspect the parade and take the salute from the march past. Cultural teams from various districts of the State will present colourful programmes along with the presentation of Spiti’s Chham dance. During the function, the Chief Minister will also honour the people who have rendered excellent services in various fields.

It may be recalled that Himachal Pradesh came into existence on the 15th of April 1948 as a Chief Commissioner’s State. With this, Himachal Pradesh was created as a province of India. Later on the 25th of January 1950, Himachal was made a ‘C’ category State. After this, on the 1st of November, 1956, Himachal Pradesh was declared a Union Territory. In 1966, the hilly areas of Punjab were included in Himachal Pradesh. On the 18th of December 1970, Parliament passed the Himachal Pradesh Act and on the 25th of January 1971, Himachal Pradesh came into existence as a full-fledged State and became the 18th State of the country.

SUMMIT'S & MOU's

12th Session Of India-Spain Joint Commission For Economic Cooperation In New Delhi

The 12th Session of the India-Spain Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation (JCEC) took place on April 13. In New Delhi, During the meeting, the two sides discussed a range of issues related to economic cooperation between the two countries, Both sides celebrated this Golden Jubilee edition of India-Spain Joint Commission mechanism which was established in 1972. During the past 50 years, a remarkable enhancement of bilateral trade and investment has taken place. With an investment of USD 3.7 Bn, 250 Spanish Companies are active in India and 40 Indian Companies are present in Spain working in different sectors such as IT, Pharma, Renewable Energy, Automobiles, Infrastructure etc.

Ms. Xiana emphasised the importance of India-Spain relationship and the Spanish partnership in India’s development stories. Spanish side has reaffirmed the further cooperation in the various sectors including in the field of Civil Aviation such as Automation, Surveillance and NavAids, High Speed Railways, Railways networking, Signalling, Traffic management etc.

Both sides also agreed for further cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy, Shipping, Ports, Tourism, Infrastructure, Food Processing, Pharmaceuticals, Technology, Innovation, and Defence sector.

The status of various MOUs were also reviewed including those of important interest for bilateral relations such as MOUs on Migration and Mobility, Agreement on Social Security, Cyber Security etc.