1) Ambedkar Jayanti 2022: 14 April
•Ambedkar Jayanti ( also known as Bhim Jayanti) is celebrated on 14 April to commemorate the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar. The Day has been observed as an official public holiday throughout India since 2015. In 2022, we are marking the 131st birth anniversary of Babasaheb.
•Dr Ambedkar is known as the Father (chief architect) of the Indian Constitution. He was the first Law and Justice Minister of the country after the independence. Dr Bhim has been bestowed with the country’s highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna in 1990 posthumously.
2) World Chagas Disease Day observed on 14 April
•World Chagas Disease Day is observed on 14 April to raise public awareness and visibility among people about Chagas Disease (also called American trypanosomiasis or silent or silenced disease) and the resources needed for the prevention, control or elimination of the disease. The theme for 2022 is finding and reporting every case to defeat chagas disease.
•It is often termed a “silent and silenced disease” as the infected majority have no symptoms or extremely mild symptoms. There are approximately 6-7 million people infected with Chagas disease worldwide, with 10,000 deaths, every year. It is one of 11 official global public health campaigns marked by WHO.
3) 103 years of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
•The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. This year we commemorate the 103rd anniversary of the terror that shook the entire country to a standstill. The Jallianwalabagh garden has been converted into a memorial. And thousands of people on this day come to pay their respects to the martyred men, and women, who were killed on that fateful day for the nation.
4) WTO cuts global trade growth forecast to 3% in 2022
•The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has revised down its projection for global trade growth (in volume) for 2022 to 3 per cent. Earlier in October 2021, this was estimated at 4.7 per cent. The downward revision follows the Russia-Ukraine conflict that has impacted commodity prices, disrupted supplies and intensified geopolitical and economic uncertainty. For 2023, this merchandise trade volume growth is projected at 3.4%.
•In the longer term, the WTO said the conflict could even trigger the disintegration of the global economy into separate blocs. India’s real GDP, in such a scenario, would falter by 9% (deviation from a baseline projection), China’s by 7% and Russia’s by as much as 10%, it added.
5) UNDP Declares Grants of $2.2 Million in Climate Action for Innovators
•The UNDP and partners of the Adaptation Innovation Marketplace (AIM) have announced $2.2 million in climate action funding for 22 local innovators from 19 countries, including India. The Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator (AFCIA) window’s first round of funding will improve local climate action and speed the achievement of the Paris Agreement’s and Sustainable Development Goals’ ambitions.
6) Australia’s Victoria to Host the 2026 Commonwealth Games
•In a deviation from the conventional single host city approach, the Commonwealth Games will be held in Victoria in 2026, with the majority of events being organised by the state’s regional centres. In March 2026, the Games will be held in numerous towns and regional centres around Australia, including Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, and Gippsland, each with its own athletes’ village.
