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Current Affairs 25 May 2023
1. India's AI supercomputer 'AIRAWAT' ranked 75th in Global Supercomputing list
- 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.”
2. Maharashtra CM launches 'Shasan Aplya Dari' Initiative
- Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde launched the
'Shasan Aplya Dari' (government at your doorstep) initiative, aimed at providing benefits of government schemes at one place. - Shinde launched the scheme at an event in his home district Satara. District administrations have been asked to organise two-day camps as part of the initiative. The objective of the scheme is to take the government to the doorstep of the common people so that they can take benefits of various schemes without any hassle.
Foot Notes:
About Maharashtra:
Capital: Mumbai
Governor: Ramesh Bais
Chief Minister: Eknath Shinde
3. Kerala To Become Fully E-Governed State
- Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declares the state as
fully ‘e-governed' where delivery of government services would be digitised, transparent and fast. The declaration of Kerala as India's 'total e-governed state' would be a major step in the southern state's journey towards a knowledge based society and economy, besides achieving cent per cent digital literacy, a government release said. - The achievement would enable online delivery of a whole range of government services by leveraging state-of-the-art technology and platforms to build a single window service delivery mechanism called e-Sevanam which integrates more than 800 government services online.
Foot Notes:
About Kerala:
Capital: Thiruvananthapuram
Chief Minister: Pinarayi Vijayan
Governor: Arif Mohammed Khan
4. GRSE launched GRSE Accelerated Innovation Nurturing Scheme (GAINS) 2023 in Kolkata
- Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd, one of
India’s premier defence shipyards and a Category 1 Mini Ratna Company, has embarked on a mission to identify and encourage the development of innovative solutions towards technological advances in shipbuilding by Startups. - As part of this drive, the Company launched GRSE Accelerated Innovation Nurturing Scheme – 2023 or “GAINS 2023” in Kolkata on 22nd May 2023 leverage the eco-system that addresses present and emerging challenges in the ship design and construction industry.
5. Union Ayush Minister Shri Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated PCIM&H ‘e-office’ and online portal
- Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister for Ayush and Ports,
Shipping and Waterways, visited Pharmacopoeia Commission for Medicine and Homeopathy of India (PCIM&H), Ghaziabad and inaugurated the “e-Office portal of PCIM&H” and the “online portal”. The online portal is for the sale of electronic copies of pharmacopoeia monographs. - The Minister has inspected the laboratories viz. Pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, microbiology, herbal garden and raw drug storage of ASU&H drugs. The Pharmacopoeia Commission for Indian Medicine & Homeopathy (PCIM&H) of the Ministry of Ayush is actively engaged in the standardization and quality control of Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathic (ASU&H) medicines and is publishing the standards in the form of pharmacopoeias.
6. Ministry of Civil Aviation launches UDAN 5.1
- The Ministry of Civil Aviation in India has launched UDAN 5.1
on 24 May, a special edition of the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme, with a special focus on helicopter routes. - For the first time under Regional Connectivity Scheme RCS-UDAN, this round is designed specifically for helicopter routes. There will be an increase in the scope of operations for the operators, which will now also allow routes where one of the origin or destination points is in the priority zone. The airfare ceiling has been reduced by 25% to make flying in helicopters more affordable for passengers.
7. Microsoft unveils multilingual Jugalbandi AI chatbot to help users access govt schemes with ease
- Microsoft has unveiled a new WhatsApp chatbot called
Jugalbandi, designed for farmers and other users living in rural India. Unlike other existing chatbots, Microsoft notes that Jugalbandi bot leverages ChatGPT-like generative AI technology to help users get better responses beyond India's 22 officially recognised languages. - The WhatsApp chatbot is still at the nascent stages of development, though the company hopes that it could one day offer all Indians "easy access to information in local language through a mobile phone", instead of having to head to the local community service centre and stand in long queues. The bot currently supports limited Indian languages, but it is being trained with new languages through multiple collaborations.
Foot Notes:
About Microsoft:
Founded: 4 April 1975
Headquarters: Washington, United States
CEO: Satya Nadella
8. Indian Prime Minister Modi strikes new agreements on migration and green hydrogen in Australia
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck new agreements
with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on migration and green hydrogen, while raising concerns about attacks on Hindu temples in Sydney. - Prime Minister Modi emphasized that the India-Australia relationship is built upon mutual trust and confidence. During their constructive discussions, both leaders focused on enhancing strategic cooperation in the mining and critical minerals sector. The talks centered around taking the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries to new heights. In a friendly gesture, Prime Minister Modi extended an invitation to Prime Minister Albanese and all Australian cricket fans to visit India for the upcoming Cricket World Cup this year.
9. Indian Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar wins gold at International Jumping Meeting in Greece
- Indian Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar won gold while
compatriot Jeswin Aldrin finished bagged silver at the International Jumping Meeting 2023 at Kallithea in Greece on 24th May. Jeswin Aldrin claimed silver with an effort of 7.85m. - Kerala's Murali Sreesankar won the gold medal in the International Jumping Meet with a jump of 8.31 metres. Sreeshankar, who has played in the Tokyo Olympics, holds the national record of 8.36 metres. Sweden's Tobias Montaller won the silver with a jump of 8.27m, while France's Jules Pommery won the bronze. This was Murali Sreesankar's third competition of the year and also won the third gold medal.
10. Hari Buddha Magar conquered Mount Everest with artificial legs
- Hari Budha Magar, a double-amputee ex-British Gurkha
soldier from Nepal, scaled Mount Everest with prosthetic legs. - Magar acknowledged the collective effort that made his achievement possible, including support from the Government of Nepal and people around the world. He joined the British Gurkhas in 1999 at the age of 19. Magar lost both his legs when he stepped on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by the Taliban during a mission in Afghanistan in 2010.
Foot Notes:
About Nepal:
Capital : Kathmandu
Prime Minister : Pushpa Kamal Dahal
President : Ram Chandra Paudel
Currency : Nepalese Rupee
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