Today's Current Affairs 5th May 2023

INTERNATIONAL

Michael Douglas to be honoured with Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival 2023

Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas is set to receive the highest honourary award, the Palme d'Or, at this year's 76th Cannes Film Festival. The veteran actor will be felicitated for his contribution to cinema and successful career that spanned over five decades.

He is a 78-year-old actor well known for films like Fatal Attraction (1987), Wall Street (1987), Basic Instinct (1992), etc.

In a statement, the organisers said that the festival will pay a special tribute to the 78-year-old during the opening ceremony, scheduled for May 16. As part of the tribute, a previously unreleased documentary, titled 'Michael Douglas, The Prodigal Son', will be shown on the festival site for two days - from May 14 to May 16.

NATIONAL

Andhra Pradesh CM lays foundation stone of Vizag Tech Park

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy laid the foundation stone for Rs 21,844 crore Vizag Tech Park in Visakhapatnam, a subsidiary of Adani Group company which will house 300 mega watt (MW) data centres. Adani Group managing director Rajesh Adani and Karan Adani among others were present at the venue.

Coming up on a 190-acre parcel of land, the IT park will house 200 MW integrated data centre at Madhurwada and another 100 MW one at Kapuluppada at an outlay of ₹ 14,634 crore and ₹ 7,210 crore respectively.

According to the Chief Minister, the tech park would provide direct employment to 39,815 people in a phased manner over seven years and indirect employment to 10,610 more.

IT business parks, skill development centres and recreation facilities will be part of the tech park, which will bolster internet speeds and improve connectivity, said Mr Reddy and added that it will contribute to the overall development of the area.

Further, the Chief Minister noted that the tech park will propel Vizag into a tier-1 city, which will also deploy renewable sources of energy to power it up.

Logo, mascot of Khelo India University Games 2022 launched in Lucknow

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched the Logo, jersey, mascot, torch and anthem of the Khelo India University Games (KIUG) 2022 in Lucknow today. The 3rd edition of the Khelo India University Games will take place from May 23 to June 3. The opening ceremony is scheduled for May 25 at the Babu Banarasi Das University in Lucknow.

Speaking on the occasion, Anurag Singh Thakur said that Uttar Pradesh is moving forward in every field today. He said, Prime Minister’s idea of making India a sports superpower will be fulfilled and Uttar Pradesh will play major role in this.

UP is organising the biggest Khelo India University games from May 23 to June 3. More than 4700 athletes from 200 universities across the country will participate in 21 sports disciplines in this event.

Mr,Yogi Adityanath said that Uttar Pradesh government is developing one stadium in every district and one mini stadium at block level. Work of developing sports ground and open gym in every ward and gram panchayat is also going on in the state.

Nityanand Rai inaugurates Dawki land port in Meghalaya

Union Minister Nityanand Rai inaugurated the Dawki Land Port in Meghalaya’s West Jaintia Hills district to promote trade and commerce between India and Bangladesh.

The Dawki Land Port is located in West Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya, 55 km from the district headquarters, Jowai, and about 84 km from Meghalaya’s capital Shillong. The corresponding Land Port in Bangladesh is Tamabil, located in the Sylhet district.

The Dawki Land port will serve as a vital trade and transportation hub between India and Bangladesh and will facilitate the movement of goods, people, and vehicles across the border. It will also facilitate passenger movement across the border.

The Union Minister of State also visited the Meghalaya Frontier of BSF and interacted with field commanders and troops on the ground.

BSG Inspector General Pradip Kumar briefed the minister about the area of responsibility of the Meghalaya frontier and discussed the various challenges on the Indo-Bangladesh international border and measures being taken to control trans-border crime.

APPOINTMENS & RESIGNATIONS

PM Prasad set to become next Coal India CMD

After getting the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) nod, Polavarapu Mallikharjuna Prasad is set to be elevated as chairman and managing director of Coal India Limited. Prasad is currently posted as chairman cum managing director of Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) based in Ranchi.

According to the Public Enterprises Selection Board, Prasad was among seven candidates shortlisted and interviewed for the post. Among the other candidates also included executives from various companies,

A mining engineer from Osmania university, Prasad took over as the CCL CMD on September 1, 2020, and has more than three decades of experience in the mining sector. He is credited for the diversion of Nallah at Hingula opencast area to unlock coal reserve of 26 million tonnes (MT) in FY15 and the commencement of a new railway siding at the Talcher Coalfields.

Prasad also took over as the CMD of Bharat Coking Coal (BCCL) in August 2019. Both CCL and BCCL are subsidiaries of CIL.

Prasad will take over the baton from serving CMD Pramod Agrawal, whose term ends on June 30, 2023. Agrawal is a Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer, who took over the charge of CMD of the mining behemoth from Anil Kumar Jha in January 2020. He is the third officer from the Indian Administrative Service to hold the top post at CIL.

IMPORTANT DAYS

Buddha Purnima

Buddha Purnima, also known as Vesak or Buddha Jayanti, is one of the most important festivals in the Buddhist calendar. It is celebrated on the full moon day of the month of Vaisakha, The day marks the birth of Lord Gautam Buddha, who was born as Prince Siddhartha Gautam in Lumbini (now in present-day Nepal) around 563 BC.

In Bihar, Buddha Purnima is being celebrated with religious fervour and gaiety. The main function has been organized at Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment under the pious Bodhi tree. Buddhist monks and devotees of different countries including Japan, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia have come to Bodhgaya to celebrate Buddha Purnima. A special prayer was organized under the Bodhi tree this morning in which monks of various countries participated. They prayed for world peace.

World Portuguese Language Day

The date of 5 May was officially established in 2009 by the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) - an intergovernmental organization that has been in official partnership with UNESCO since 2000, and which brings together peoples with the Portuguese language as one of the foundations of their specific identity - to celebrate the Portuguese language and Lusophone cultures. In 2019, the 40th session of UNESCO's General Conference decided to proclaim 5 May of each year as "World Portuguese Language Day".

The Portuguese language is not only one of the most widespread languages in the world, with more than 265 million speakers spread through all continents, but it is also the most widely spoken language in the southern hemisphere. Portuguese remains, today, a major language of international communication and a language with a strong geographical projection, destined to increase.

With over 265 million speakers across the globe, the Portuguese language is among the most prevalent languages in the world. It is the most commonly spoken language in the southern hemisphere.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

Cashfree Payments partners with YES Bank to offer international payment collection

Cashfree Payments and YES Bank have partnered to offer ‘Global Collections’, an international collection service for exporters, who are account holders of YES Bank.

Under this partnership, the bank’s account holders will be able to collect payments in over 30 foreign currencies using the Global Collections service. The funds so received can then be converted into rupee and settled into their local bank account in India within one business day.

In addition to having dedicated facilities in four currencies (USD, GBP, EUR and CAD), the product also enables global collections in over 30 currencies up to the equivalent of $10,000 in line with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Online Payment Gateway Service Providers (OPGSP) guidelines.

Exporters will be able to share their payment collection details with their buyers over email, SMS or WhatsApp, and the buyers will be able to make payments using local rails like Automated Clearing House (ACH), Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), etc.