1) World Portuguese language day2022: 05th May
•The date of 5 May was officially established in 2009 by the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) – an intergovernmental organization that has been in official partnership with UNESCO since 2000, and which brings together peoples with the Portuguese language as one of the foundations of their specific identity – to celebrate the Portuguese language and Lusophone cultures. In 2019, the 40th session of UNESCO’s General Conference decided to proclaim 5 May of each year as “World Portuguese Language Day”.
•The Portuguese language is not only one of the most widespread languages in the world, with more than 265 million speakers spread through all continents, but it is also the most widely spoken language in the southern hemisphere. Portuguese remains, today, a major language of international communication and a language with a strong geographical projection, destined to increase.
2) International Firefighter’s Day 2022
•International Firefighter’s Day is observed every year on May 4th to pay respect to those firefighting experts who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The main aim of this day is to recognise and honour professional firefighters across the world. They keep the community and the environment safe by sacrificing their lives for the riskiest jobs.
3) Coal Miners Day 2022
•Coal Miners Day is observed on 4th May every year to honour the coal miners. The day is celebrated to highlight the contributions of coal miners in meeting our energy demands. Below, we share a bit of the history of coal mining, the current energy scenario, and the role of coal miners in India.
4) Cryptocurrencies in India: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 2022
•Ever since Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke about digital currencies in her Budget 2022-2023 speech earlier this month, the curiosity about the matter has risen by leaps and bounds.
•In the year 2018, the finance ministry had issued a statement saying that the government does not consider Cryptocurrencies to be legal tender and all measures will be taken to eliminate the usage of Cryptocurrencies. Soon after the Reserve Bank of India issued a circular stating that all banks and government entities should stop providing any kind of services to all the parties associated with Cryptocurrencies.
•In 2020, with the rise and advancement of the usage of Cryptocurrency, this circular was retracted by the Supreme Court of India allowing banks to resume their transactions with parties associated with Cryptocurrencies. NASSCOM tweeted welcoming this decision and soon there was a boost in Cryptocurrency trading in India.
5) India ranked 21st in Chainalysis 2021 Cryptocurrency Gains by Country
•According to the data released by crypto analytics firm Chainalysis, investors around the world realized total Crypto gains of $162.7 billion in 2021, compared to $32.5 billion in 2020. This is 2nd consecutive data by Chainalysis. Ethereum is the most noteworthy gainer among the crypto assets. The report highlights that Ethereum edged out Bitcoin in total realized gains globally at $76.3 billion to $74.7 billion.
6) World Press Freedom Index 2022: India ranked 150th
•Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has released the 20th World Press Freedom Index 2022, which assesses the state of journalism in 180 countries and territories. The Index highlights the disastrous effects of news and information chaos – the effects of a globalised and unregulated online information space that encourages fake news and propaganda.
7) RBI Monetary Policy: RBI hikes Repo Rate by 40 bps to 4.40 percent
•In an unscheduled meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, the central bank, however, retained the accommodative monetary policy. The sudden RBI move — the first hike after August 2018 — is expected to push up interest rates in the banking system. Equated monthly instalments (EMIs) on home, vehicle and other personal and corporate loans are likely to go up. Deposit rates, mainly fixed term rates, are also set to rise.
•All six members of the MPC unanimously voted for a rate hike while maintaining the accommodative stance. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the decision was taken in view of rising inflation, geopolitical tensions, high crude oil prices and shortage of commodities globally, which have impacted the Indian economy.
•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held between May 2-4, 2022 has decided to increase the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 40 basis points (bps) to 4.40 per cent with immediate effect from 4.00% earlier. RBI has also hiked the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to 4.50 per cent effective from May 21, 2022.
8) FAO’s flagship released its publication “The State of the World’s Forests”
•The State of the World’s Forests 2022 explores the significance of three forest pathways for achieving green recovery and addressing environmental crises such as climate change and biodiversity loss, against the backdrop of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use and 140 countries’ pledge to end forest loss by 2030 and support restoration and sustainable production and consumption.
9) Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2022: India ranked 4th
•The Times Higher Education (THE) has released the 2022 edition of its Impact Rankings. 8 Universities from India are placed in the top 300 universities in the world. The ranking is topped by Western Sydney University (Australia); followed by Arizona State University (The US), Western University (Canada). This year, a record 1,524 institutions from 110 countries participated in the rankings. Australia’s Western Sydney University secured the top position globally in the overall ranking.
10) Nand Mulchandani named as 1st-ever chief tech officer of CIA
•Indian-Origin, Nand Mulchandani has been appointed as the first-ever Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the first line of defence for the United States. Prior to this, he served as the CTO and acting director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Centre under the US Department of Defence. He served as the CEO of multiple successful startups like Oblix (acquired by Oracle), Determina, OpenDNS, and ScaleXtreme.
•Before joining the CIA, Mulchandani most recently served as the CTO and acting director of the US Department of Defense’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center.
11) Andy Jassy To Join As Next Amazon CEO On 5th July 2022
•Jeff Bezos, who established Amazon exactly 27 years ago on July 5, 1994, has stepped down as CEO, and Andy Jassy, a longtime AWS executive, has taken over as the company’s new CEO. Jassy is currently identified as President and CEO of Amazon.com, as well as a member of the Board of Directors, on the Amazon investor relations website.
