NATIONAL NEWS

Infrastructure Projects Worth Rs 1180 Crore in Arunachal Pradesh

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid foundation stones of various infrastructure projects worth Rs.1180 crore in Arunachal Pradesh during a public meeting at Namsai.

• He announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always given priority to the development of the North-east Region.
• The region is known for its tourism, development, good infrastructure and its diverse culture.

Foundation 100 Bedded ESIC Hospital

• On 22 May 2022, Minister of Labour and Employment, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, laid the foundation stone of 100 bedded ESIC hospital in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.
• The hospital will be built at an estimated cost of 155 Crore and will have the facilities of General Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics &Gynecology, etc.,
• ESIC will support to the medical needs of 38.26 lakhs Insured Persons and around 1.48 Crore beneficiaries.
• ESIC is providing medical benefits to 3.41 crore workers covered under the Act.
• From 393 districts in 2015, the services of ESIC have been expanded to 596 districts.

NMCG Approves 11 projects

• The 42nd meeting of the Executive Committee of National Mission for Clean Ganga was organised under the chairmanship of Shri G. Asok Kumar.

• The committee approved 11 projects during the meeting with an estimated cost of around Rs. 660 crores.

• Cleaning of Ganga's tributaries has been the prime focus of Namami Gange Programme.
• Recognizing the need for Faecal Sludge and Septage Management for effective de-centralized wastewater treatment, NMCG approved two projects of Septage Management in the meeting.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

CORPAT

• On 22 May 2022. Indian and Bangladesh Navies commenced Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) in Northern Bay of Bengal. It marks the fourth edition of the exercise.

• During the two-day exercise, the Indian Navy and Bangladesh Navy units will undertake joint patrolling along the International Maritime Boundary Line.

• The last Indian Navy- Bangladesh Navy CORPAT was conducted in October 2020.
• From the Indian Navy side, two indigenously built Ships - Kora, a guided-missile corvette and Sumedha, an offshore patrol vessel are participating in the exercise.
• Navy Ships BNS Ali Haider and BNS Abu Ubaidah from Bangladesh are taking part in the coordinated patrol exercise.
•  In addition, Maritime Patrol Aircraft of both navies will also be participating in the Coordinated Patrol.
• It has strengthened mutual understanding and enhanced interoperability between both the navies in countering transnational maritime threats at sea.

Webb - World's Most Powerful Telescope

• The James Webb Space Telescope, the world's largest and most powerful space-based observatory completed the first test to track a moving object.

• The Webb team has used an asteroid within our solar system to run engineering tests of the 'moving target' (MT) capability.

• The engineering team tested this capability on a small asteroid in the Main Belt: 6481 Tenzing.
• It was named after Tenzing Norgay, the famous Tibetan Mountain guide who was one of the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest. "
• NASA announced that Webb is currently moving through the final phases of commissioning its science instruments and as it proceeds through this phase, the mission team will test other objects moving at various speeds to verify we can study objects with the telescope that move throughout the solar system.

'Outstanding' Contribution to Advancing Global Health-WHO

• India's one million all-women ASHA workers were awarded and honoured by World Health Organization.

• The award was given for their 'outstanding' contribution to advancing global health, demonstrated leadership and commitment to regional health issues.

• They were honoured for their crucial role in linking the community with the health system and ensuring those living in rural poverty can access primary health care services, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has announced six Global Health Leaders Awards.
• Dr Tedros himself decides on the awardees for the World Health Organization Director-General's Global Health Leaders Awards.

World Economic Forum

• On 22 May 2022, the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum began at Davos in Switzerland.

• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will lead the Indian delegation at the five-day meet.

• This event will play role to reinforce country's position as an important and relevant stakeholder in shaping the global narrative, particularly as India assumes Presidency of the G-20 next year.
• Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Chief Ministers and Senior Ministers of six states - Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana will participate in the event.

BANKING

RBI to Provide Cardless Cash Withdrawal Facility

• Reserve Bank of India has directed banks and ATM operators to provide cardless cash withdrawal facilities at all ATMs.
• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has been advised to facilitate Unified Payments Interface (UPI) integration with all banks and ATM networks.
• It is to control frauds like skimming, card cloning and device tampering.
• UPI would be used for customer authorization in such transactions, settlement would be through the National Financial Switch (NFS) and ATM networks.
• According to the central bank, currently cardless cash withdrawal through ATMs is offered by a few banks.
• The on-us and off-us Interoperable Card-less Cash Withdrawal (ICCW) transactions shall be processed without levy of any charges.
• A transaction carried out at an ATM of the card-issuing bank is called an On-Us transaction. A transaction carried out at any other ATM is called an Off-Us transaction.

RBL Bank Collaborates with Amazon Pay

• RBL Bank, Amazon Pay and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced a collaboration to offer UPI payments.

• The bank has partnered with Amazon Pay to offer peer-to-peer and peer-to-merchant transactions.
• This partnership with RBL Bank will allow users to pay anyone, anywhere seamlessly and instantly through UPI, enhancing their payment experience.
• Amazon Pay would grant RBL Bank with a UPI ID with the handle @rapl from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

Volopay Partners with Visa

• Volopay payable management company, has partnered with Visa’s Fintech Fast Track Program to offer financial management solutions.
• The Fast Track Program will allow Volopay to start issuing their own Visa cards to their client businesses in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
• The partnership program was founded by Visa in order to support innovative financial services and solutions.
• Volopay is a Singapore-based company that combines business accounts, corporate cards, bill payments, expense reimbursements, credit, cashback and accounting automation into one single platform.
• Volopay is one of the few companies in the APAC region with the ability to issue its own corporate cards, making their offering a one-of-a-kind opportunity for Singaporean and Australian businesses.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Prime Minister of Australia

• Anthony Albanese was sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia.

• The 59-year-old new prime minister was sworn in at a ceremony in Government House, Canberra.
• Labor Senator Penny Wong was sworn in as foreign minister.
• Albanese and Wong will travel to Tokyo to attend Quad Leaders’ Summit, where they will meet with US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

• World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development is observed every year on 21 May.

• The day provides an opportunity to deepen the understanding of the values of cultural diversity and to advance the four goals of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

• The day highlights the significance of its diversity as an agent of inclusion for achieving peace and sustainable development.
• It is an opportunity to help communities understand the value of cultural diversity and learn how to live together in harmony.