CURRENT AFFAIRS DESTINATION FOR UPSC & STATE CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATIONS
Dame Hilary Mantel, author of the best-selling Wolf Hall trilogy, has died aged 70. Key points She won the Booker Prize twice, for 2009’s Wolf Hall, the first in the Thomas Cromwell series, and its 2012 sequel Bring Up the Bodies. Wolf Hall was a fictional account of Thomas Cromwell’s rise to power in the court of Henry VIII. The third and final book in the series, The Mirror and Read More …
India has won a UN award for its “India Hypertension Control Initiative, IHCI which is a large-scale hypertension intervention under National Health Mission. The IHCI has been recognized for its exceptional work within India’s existing primary healthcare system. The IHCI has won the ‘2022 UN Interagency Task Force and WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care Award’ at the UN General Assembly side event held in New York, USA on Read More …
The Ramon Magsaysay Award is presented in formal ceremonies in Manila, Philippines on August 31st, the birth anniversary of the former Philippine President whose ideals inspired the Award’s creation in 1957. The Ramon Magsaysay Award was conceived to honor greatness of spirit shown in service to the peoples of Asia—regardless of race, gender, or religion. It has been learnt that the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation had zeroed in on the Read More …
Annabelle M Rayson -a student from Canada has received the prestigious 2022 Stockholm Junior Water Prize for her research on how to treat and prevent harmful algae blooms. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden announced the winner during a ceremony at World Water Week in Stockholm. World Water Week is a conference on global water issues, which started on August 23, 2022 and continued till September 1. Stockholm Junior Water is an Read More …
North-Eastern state Nagaland got its second Railway station on Dhansari-Shokhuvi railway line after a gap of more than 100 years, since Dimapur station was opened in 1903. Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio officially flagged off the first passenger train service- the Donyi Polo Express from Shokhuvi Railway station on August 26. Shokhuvi Railway station is part of the Dimapur-Zubza Railway project. The railway station is an alternative train route for Read More …
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on August 25, 2022 appointed Samir V. Kamat as Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development and Chairman, Defence Research and Development Organisation. Incumbent chairman G. Satheesh Reddy has been made the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister. Mr. Kamat will retain his post till the age of 60 or further orders. He has obtained B. Tech. (Hons) in Metallurgical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur Read More …
Former German chancellor Angela Merkel has been awarded the 2022 Felix Houphouet-Boigny Unesco Peace Prize for her efforts to welcome refugees. According to UNESCO, all the members of the jury were touched by her courageous decision in 2015 to welcome more than 1.2 million refugees, notably from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea. This is the legacy she leaves. In the summer of 2015, as refugees were streaming into Europe, Merkel Read More …
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India, instituted the annual National Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Awards to recognize companies that have made positive impact on the society through their innovative & sustainable CSR initiatives. These awards are the apex national level recognition by the Government of India. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) received Corporate Awards for Excellence in CSR in the sub-category of CSR Spend equal and above Rs. Read More …
Marina Tabassum- a renowned Bangladeshi architect, researcher and educator has become the first person from the global south and first south Asian to win the prestigious Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Lifetime Achievement Award. Key highlights She was awarded for presenting an inspiring example of work with local communities that can have a positive impact across the globe even under the most adverse conditions. Marina Tabssum’s unique practice touches on the Read More …
In exercise of the power conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President has appointed Shri Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, Judge of the Supreme Court as the Chief Justice of India. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit will take over as the 49th Chief Justice of India on 27th August 2022. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit was appointed as Judge of the Supreme Court of India on August 2014 Read More …
The Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet has cleared the name of N. Kalaiselvi, as the Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). In its 80-year history, the CSI gets its first woman Director-General. N. Kalaiselvi was Director of the CSIR-Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI), Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu. She will now lead the network of 38 laboratories and nearly 4,500 scientists, and has been appointed Read More …
Indian national Indermit Gill has been appointed as World Bank’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics. His appointment was announced by World Bank President David Malpass. Mr Gill will succeed American economist Carmen Reinhart in the role and his appointment will be effective September 1, 2022. Mr Gill is currently Vice President for Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions, where he led work on macroeconomics, debt, trade, poverty, Read More …
Indian-origin Gita Gopinath became the first woman and second Indian to feature on the ‘wall of former chief economists’ of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The first Indian to achieve the honour was Raghuram Rajan who was Chief Economist and Director of Research of IMF between 2003 and 2006. Gopinath was appointed as IMF Chief Economist in October 2018 and was later promoted as the IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director Read More …
Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska, chair of Number Theory at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, was named as one of four recipients of the 2022 Fields Medal. Other winners The other winners were French mathematician Hugo Duminil-Copin of the University of Geneva; Korean-American June Huh of Princeton; and Briton James Maynard of the University of Oxford. About Maryna Viazovska 37 years old Viazovska is only the second female Read More …
Indian origin T Raja Kumar has taken over as President of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the world’s anti-terrorism financing agency. He has more than 35 years of leadership and operational experience in Singapore’s home ministry and police force. Raja Kumar succeeds Dr Marcus Pleyer as the chief of the FATF and will serve a two-year-term. Raja Kumar forged a stronger collaborative relationship with key counterparts in the safety and Read More …