KERALA
Kerala’s health minister K K Shailaja tops state’s margins
This round of assembly elections had many firsts, not the least among them being Mamata Banerjee emerging as the first female CM of a major state to win a third successive term in office. While she did that in part by completely decimating the Left and Congress – a blank slate for them in Bengal being another first – the Left chalked up its own first by winning a second successive term in Kerala and that too with an even bigger win than five years ago, 99 seats compared to 91.
In a year in which Covid has hogged the headlines, it is telling that health minister K K Shailaja or Shailaja Teacher as she is popularly known, had the highest margin in Kerala of nearly 61,000 votes with CM Pinarayi Vijayan (incidentally the oldest of the CMs in this round) a distant second on this count.
INTERNATIONAL
ASEAN Initiative on the State of Myanmar
The Government of India currently welcomed the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Initiative on Myanmar.
The ASEAN launched a five-point announcement on the Myanmar crisis. Under the statement, the ASEAN countries have demanded “Immediate Cessation of Violence”. The 5 points of the initiative are as follows:
Issue: The military of Myanmar brushed aside the Government headed via Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
Criticisms: The five-point consensus used to be created between the ASEAN international locations and the modern army leader who seized power. There have been huge protests in the united states of America considering the navy coup. The consensus is being criticised that ASEAN is encouraging a navy coup. Also, the consensus did not mention a timeline. It also not noted the political prisoners in Myanmar.
Report on Trends in Global Military Expenditure
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) uneviled its report on developments in international army expenditure in 2020.
The five biggest spenders in 2020, which collectively accounted for 62 per cent of world military expenditure, had been the United States, China, India, Russia and the United Kingdom.
The world’s pinnacle military spenders saw their military spending go up compared to 2019, even all through a pandemic year.
The US spent a complete of $778 billion, China spent $252 billion and India’s navy expenditure used to be $72.9 billion.
In total, the global navy expenditure rose to $1981 billion last year, and amplify of 2.6 per cent in real phrases from 2019.
World Press Freedom Day is on 3rd May
May 3 is World Press Freedom Day to celebrate the basic principles of press freedom and defend the media from the attacks on its independence every year.
World Press Freedom Day is also known as World Press Day. This day also pays tribute to the reporters who lost their lives.
The UN General Assembly announced the news on May 3 to spread people’s awareness of the importance of press freedom in terms of its functions, information provision, and significance and awaken the government to fulfil its responsibility to uphold and respect the right to freedom of speech.
NATIONAL
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) joins Network for Greening the Financial System- NGFS
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently joined the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). By joining the system, the Reserve Bank of India will learn from the financial sector and contribute to global climate risk management. Ultimately, Apex Bank will work with its global partners to support the transition to a sustainable economy.
The system is made up of 83 different central banks. There are 75 participants and 13 observers among them.
The system’s main goal is to increase and accelerate green finance.
It was revealed in 2017 at the One Planet Summit in Paris.
Launch of Operation Samudra Setu
The Indian Navy has initiated Operation Samudra Setu-II to support the ongoing national mission to meet the country’s oxygen needs.
In support of India’s battle against COVID-19, mission-deployed Indian Naval Warships will ship liquid Oxygen-filled cryogenic containers and related medical equipment.
Two ships, the INS Kolkata and the INS Talwar have arrived in Bahrain’s port of Manama to embark and transport 40MT of liquid oxygen to Mumbai.
The INS Jalashwa and INS Airavat are on their way to Bangkok and Singapore, respectively, for similar missions.
As part of the Vande Bharat Mission, the Indian Navy conducted Operation Samudra Setu last year, repatriating approximately 4,000 stranded and distressed Indian people from the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Iran.
New Framework for Implementation Of The SVAMITVA Scheme
To commemorate the nationwide roll-out of the SVAMITVA Scheme, Union Minister for Panchayati Raj released a new system for its implementation. It lays out a comprehensive road map and set of guidelines for the different States in terms of the Scheme’s goals, coverage, various components involved, year-by-year funding pattern, survey approach and methodology, stakeholders involved and their positions and responsibilities, monitoring and assessment, and deliverables.
It was nationally launched by the Prime Minister on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day on April 24, 2021, following the successful completion of the Scheme’s pilot phase in nine states.
The Goal is to provide property rights to residents of rural populated areas in India through the use of drone surveys and CORS Networks, which provide mapping precision of 5 centimetres.