Today's Current Affairs 25th May 2023

INTERNATIONAL

Bangladesh-US joint naval exercise begins in Chattogram

The Joint Bangladesh-US Naval drill Exercise ‘Tiger Shark 40’ started at BNS Nirvik in Chattogram, The objective of the exercise is to increase strategic capabilities of both the countries and to acquire mutual technical and procedural knowledge. It is being undertaken to improve the existing good relations between the armed forces of the two countries,

Special Forces of Bangladesh Army and Navy and US Special Forces participated in this training exercise held under the management of Commodore Swords Command.

NATIONAL

P M Narendra Modi flags off Uttarakhand’s first Vande Bharat Express train

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the inaugural run of Vande Bharat Express train from Dehradun to Delhi through video conferencing. This will be the first Vande Bharat to be introduced in Uttarakhand. The Prime Minster will also dedicate the newly electrified rail line sections in Uttarakhand. The state will have its entire rail route 100 percent electrified with this. Trains run by electric traction on the electrified sections will result in increase in speed of trains and enhance haulage capacity.

The ‘Kavach’ -Automatic Train Protection System, an indigenous Indian automatic train protection system, is installed in every Vande Bharat train, which boosts the train’s overall security parameter. Further, the trains are environment friendly in various ways.

SPORTS

Sreeshankar wins gold, Jeswin takes silver at International Jumping Meeting in Greece

Murali Sreeshankar and Jeswin Aldrin made it one-two for India in men’s long jump at the International Jumping Meeting, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze level event, in Kallithea, Greece,

Sreeshankar grabbed gold with a season-best of 8.18m (wind speed: +0.6m/s) in his final attempt. The 24-year-old, who won silver at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year, started with a jump of 7.94m before recording 8.17m, 8.11m, 8.04m and 8.01m in the following attempts. He had won the gold last year aswell with a best jump of 8.31m.

Jeswin finished second and grabbed silver with 7.85m (wind speed: 0.5m/s). The 21-year-old, who is the national record-holder, started with 7.81m before achieving his best in the second attempt. His next three jumps read 7.74m, 7.74m and 7.79m while the last one resulted in a foul.

Jeswin set a new national record of 8.42m at the Indian Open Jumps Championships at the Inspire Institute of Sports, Bellary, early this year in March. With that jump, he also qualified for 2023 World Athletics Championships.

SCIENCE & TEHNOLOGY

AI Supercomputer ‘AIRAWAT’ puts India among top supercomputing league

The AI Supercomputer ‘AIRAWAT’, installed at C-DAC, Pune has been ranked 75th in the world. It was declared so in the 61st edition of Top 500 Global Supercomputing List at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC 2023) in Germany. It puts India on top of AI Supercomputing nations worldwide. The system is installed under National Program on AI by Government of India.

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. The peak compute capacity (Double Precision, Rpeak) is 13 Petaflops.”

APPOINTMENS & RESIGNATIONS

Justice S Vaidyanathan appointed as acting chief justice of Madras High Court

President Droupadi Murmu appointed Justice S Vaidyanathan as the Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court, with effect from May 25, The appointment comes after the retirement of present Acting Chief Justice T Raja.

S Vaidyanathan is expected to perform the duties of Chief Justice until the Centre decides on Supreme Court Collegium's recommendation to appoint a Chief Justice for Madras HC. The SC has recommended the appointment of Bombay High Court’s Additional Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala as the Chief Justice of Madras High Court.

About: S Vaidyanathan – Justice S Vaidyanathan was born on August 17, 1962 in Coimbatore. He did his schooling at Singaram Pillai High School in Villivakkam. He received an economics degree from DG Vaishnav College in 1982 and got BL degree from Madras Law College (now known as Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College).

IMPORTANT DAYS

World thyroid day

World thyroid day is celebrated every year on 25 May and it is an annual event for all countries since thyroid disease is a global health concern and we all need to stay aware of its consequences on our bodies. It is better to stay aware and have knowledge about a health concern than neglect the symptoms and put your life in danger.

25 May was chosen as the date of the world thyroid day celebration because the European Thyroid Association (ETA) was established on this day. ETA was the first to celebrate World Thyroid Day and later the American Thyroid Association (ATA) declared its support for the day in the year 2010.

Theme - The theme for this year is 'Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately, Control It, Live Longer', to combat the low awareness rates worldwide.

About: Thyroid - Thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in the front of the neck. It makes hormones that control the way the body uses energy. These hormones affect nearly every organ in the body and control many of  body's most important functions.

SUMMIT'S & MOU's

Tamil Nadu government signs six MoUs with Singapore

Tamil Nadu government agencies and various organisations in Singapore signed six memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin and Singapore’s Minister for Transport and Minister in-charge of Trade Relations, S Iswaran.

Guidance Tamil Nadu, the investment promotion agency of the State government, and Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries have signed an MoU for research and development (R&D) initiatives, collaboration between universities, government and private players, as well as assistance in exports from companies in Tamil Nadu.

One of the MoUs regarding a proposal to open an electronics spare parts unit was signed between Guidance Tamil Nadu and Hi-P International with an investment of Rs 312 crore. The unit will potentially generate employment opportunities for over 700 persons. Another MoU was signed with the Singapore University of Technology and Design for technology transfer.

The State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) signed an MoU with Singapore-India Partnership Office (SIPO) for cooperation between the two. Another MoU was signed between SIPO and FaMe TN (Facilitating MSMEs of Tamil Nadu) and Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission (TANSIM) towards technical education and start-ups. Further, the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation signed an MoU with ITE Education Services for technology transfer and skill development.

Goa inks MoU with Uttarakhand to enhance Tourism Cooperation

The governments of Goa and Uttarakhand have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance the tourism landscape of both the states. The signing of the MoU was held in the presence of Rohan Khaunte, Minister for Tourism, IT, E&C, Printing and Stationary, Government of Goa, and Pushkar Singh Dhami.

The MoU is aimed at promoting bilateral cooperation in the travel and tourism sector and facilitating travel between the states to increase the number of tourists visiting Goa and Uttarakhand respectively. The signing of this MoU between the officials of the two states marks a significant step towards promoting tourism in Goa and Uttarakhand and showcasing India’s rich cultural diversity to the world, aligned with the ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The initiative aims to encourage people to witness and experience the rich heritage and vivid culture of India.