Daily Current Affairs – May 21, 2019

2019-05-21

Daily Current Affairs – May 21, 2019

2019 Daily & Monthly Current Affairs

Important Days:

May 21 – World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development

In 2001, UNESCO adopted the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and in December 2002, the UN General Assembly, in its resolution 57/249, declared May 21 to be the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.

National Affairs:

‘Not all animals migrate by choice’ campaign launched

Ahead of the International Day of Biological Diversity celebrated on May 22, UN Environment India and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) of India launched an awareness campaign ‘Not all animals migrate by choice’ to be displayed at major airports across the country.
UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador and recently appointed Secretary-General’s SDG Advocate, Dia Mirza inaugurated the campaign

India cuts off UN panel after Jammu & Kashmir report

Reacting to a submission from the Geneva-based Human Rights Council (HRC) on the alleged violations in Jammu and Kashmir, India has informed the United Nations body that it will no longer entertain any communication with the HRC’s Special Rapporteurs

Kerala:

KITE to make physics experiments easier

Higher secondary students will now be able to undertake physics experiments in digital form, courtesy the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE).
KITE will make available a free and open source software (FOSS) and hardware ‘ExpEYES’ (Experiments for Young Engineers and Scientists) that can be connected to laptops.

Telangana:

Indonesia for ‘sister city’ agreement with Vijayawada

Wooing tourists to Jakarta located on the north-west coast of Java and the volcanic forested mountains at Bali from the Telugu States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and promoting cultural bonding and education by signing ‘sister city’ agreement with Vijayawada top Indonesia’s agenda.

Science and Technology:

Redefined units of measurement of kilogram, Kelvin, mole and ampere

General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) at BIPM has unanimously adopted the resolution to redefine four of the seven base units, the kilogram (SI unit of weight), Kelvin (SI unit of temperature), mole (SI unit of amount of substance), and ampere (SI unit of current).
The new SI is being implemented worldwide from 20th May 2019 i.e. the World Metrology Day.

Awards:

Indian peacekeeper to be honoured posthumously with UN medal

An Indian peacekeeper is among the 119 military, police and civilian personnel who will be honoured this year with a prestigious UN medal this year for courage and sacrifice in the line of duty.

Science Discoveries/ Inventions:

Western Ghats yields a new species of Amaranthus

A team of researchers from three colleges in the State and the Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, have reported a new edible plant species belonging to the genus Amaranthus from the southern Western Ghats of Kerala.

IIT Bombay fabricates wearable supercapacitor

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay have fabricated a wearable supercapacitor that can store and deliver power ranging from microwatt to milliwatt. The energy stored in the device can power GPS location-based transmitters or a 1.8 volt LED.

Defense Affairs:

8th Indo – Myanmar Coordinated Patrol

Myanmar ships UMS King TabinShweHtee and UMS Inlay would undertake a coordinated patrol with Indian Naval Ship Saryu from 20 – 28 May 19.
Started in Mar 2013, the CORPAT series has enhanced the mutual understanding and meant to address issues of terrorism, illegal fishing, drug trafficking, human trafficking, poaching and other illegal activities inimical to interest of both nations.