Current Affairs

LIST OF MOUS BETWEEN INDIA & SWEDEN-DENMARK-ICELAND

MOUs/Agreements between India and Sweden

• Joint Declaration on India-Sweden Innovation Partnership for a Sustainable Future between Ministry of Science and Technology of India and the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovaion 

MOUs/Agreements between India and Denmark

• MOU on Cooperation in the field of Sustainable and Smart Urban Development between the Ministry for Housing and Urban Affairs of India and the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs of Denmark

• MOU on Cooperation in the fields of Animal Husbandry and Dairying between Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare of India and the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark

• MOU on Food Safety Cooperation between the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration 

• MOU on Cooperation in Agricultural Research and Education between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Science, Denmark

MOUs/Agreements between India and Iceland

• MOU on the Establishment of the ICCR Chair for Hindi Language between Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the University of Iceland



India wins elections to key UN subsidiary bodies

  • The UN's Economic and Social Council held elections to a number of its subsidiary bodies on Monday.

  • The ECOSOC focusses on advancing the three dimensions of sustainable development - economic, social and environmental.

  • India topped the election to this Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations.


Ad giant WPP's shares drop 5% after CEO and founder Sir Martin Sorrell quits

  • WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell announced his resignation in a letter to staff on Saturday.
  • Sorrell spent 33 years at the helm of the business but is leaving after an internal investigation into allegations of misconduct and misuse of assets.
  • WPP shares fell 5% at the open in London but recovered slightly.
  • Analyst says Sorrell's exit could lead to a breakup of WPP.


Large aggregates of ALS-causing protein might actually help brain cells

  • UNC School of Medicine scientists add to evidence that small aggregates of SOD1 protein are the brain-cell killing culprits in ALS, but the formation of larger, more visible, and fibril-like aggregates of the same protein may protect brain cells

  • Scientists add to evidence that small aggregates of SOD1 protein are the brain-cell killing culprits in ALS, but the formation of larger, more visible, and fibril-like aggregates of the same protein may protect brain cells.


Rocket-control glitch delays launch of NASA's planet-hunting satellite

  • An 11th-hour technical glitch prompted SpaceX to postpone its planned launch on Monday of a new NASA space telescope designed to detect worlds beyond our solar system, delaying for at least 48 hours a quest to expand astronomers’ known inventory of so-called exoplanets.

  • SpaceX halted the countdown a little more than two hours before its Falcon 9 rocket had been scheduled to carry the Transit Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, into orbit from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.


Facebook likely to face a class action lawsuit for using its facial recognition on photos of its users without their permission

  • A U.S. federal judge ruled on Monday that Facebook Inc must face a class action lawsuit alleging that the social network unlawfully used a facial recognition process on photos without user permission.

  • The ruling adds to the privacy woes that have been mounting against Facebook for weeks, since it was disclosed that the personal information of millions of users was harvested by the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.



World Bank forecasts 7.3 pc growth for India this year

  • The World Bank today forecast a growth rate of 7.3 per cent for India this year and 7.5 per cent for 2019 and 2020, and noted that the country's economy has recovered from the effects of demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax.

  • "Growth is expected to accelerate from 6.7 in 2017 to 7.3 per cent in 2018 and to subsequently stabilise supported by a sustained recovery in private investment and private consumption," the World Bank said in its twice-a-year South A ..



India signs $48 mn loan pact with World Bank for Meghalaya

  • India has signed an agreement with the World Bank for a USD 48 million loan to strengthen community-led landscapes management in selected area in Meghalaya, the finance ministry said today.

  • Closing date for 'Meghalaya Community - Led Landscapes Management Project (MCLLMP)' is June 30, 2023.


Kendrick Lamar, 'Press Democrat' Claim Pulitzers. Here's The Full List Of Winners

Journalism

  • Public Service: jointly awarded to The New York Times, for reporting led by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, and The New Yorker, for reporting by Ronan Farrow. 
    "For explosive, impactful journalism that exposed powerful and wealthy sexual predators — including allegations against one of Hollywood's most influential producers — bringing them to account for long-suppressed claims of coercion, brutality and victim-silencing, thus spurring a worldwide reckoning about sexual abuse of women."
  • Breaking News Reporting: The staff of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
    "For lucid and tenacious coverage of historic wildfires that ravaged the city of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, and for expertly utilizing an array of tools, including photography, video and social media platforms to bring clarity to its readers in real time and in subsequent in-depth reporting for investigative reporting."
  • Investigative Reporting: The staff of The Washington Post.
    "For purposeful and relentless reporting that changed the course of a Senate race in Alabama, revealing a candidate's alleged past sexual harassment of teenage girls and subsequent efforts to undermine the journalism that exposed it."
  • Explanatory Reporting: Jointly awarded to the staffs of the Arizona Republicand the USA Today Network.
    "For vivid and timely reporting that masterfully combined text, video, podcasts and virtual reality to examine from multiple perspectives the difficulties and unintended consequences of fulfilling President Trump's pledge to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico."
  • Local Reporting: The staff of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
    "For a riveting and insightful narrative and video documenting seven days of greater Cincinnati's heroin epidemic revealing how the deadly addiction has ravaged families and communities."
  • National Reporting: Jointly awarded to the staffs of The New York Times and The Washington Post.
    "For deeply sourced, relentlessly reported coverage in the public interest that dramatically furthered the nation's understanding of Russian interference in the 2016 election and its connections to the Trump campaign. The president-elect's transition team and his eventual administration."
  • International Reporting: Claire Baldwin, Andrew R.C. Marshall and Manuel Mogato of Reuters.
    "For relentless reporting that exposed the brutal killing campaign behind Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs."
  • Feature Writing: Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah for GQ.
    "For an unforgettable portrait of murderer Dylann Roof, using a unique and powerful mix of reportage, first-person reflection and analysis of historical and cultural forces behind his killing of nine people inside Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C."
  • Commentary: John Archibald of the Alabama Media Group.
    "For lyrical and courageous commentary that is rooted in Alabama but has a national resonance, in scrutinizing corrupt politicians, championing the rights of women and calling out hypocrisy for criticism."
  • Criticism: Jerry Saltz of New York Magazine.
    "For a robust body of work that conveyed a canny and often daring perspective on visual arts in America, encompassing the personal, the political, the pure and the profane."
  • Editorial Writing: Andie Dominick of The Des Moines Register. 
    "For examining in a clear, indignant voice free of cliché or sentimentality, the damaging consequences for poor Iowa residents of privatizing the state's administration of Medicaid."
  • Editorial Cartooning: Jake Halpern and Michael Sloan for The New York Times.
    "For an emotionally powerful series told in graphic narrative form that chronicled the daily struggles of a real-life family of refugees and its fear of deportation."
  • Breaking News Photography: Ryan Kelly of The Daily Progress in Charlottesville, Va. 
    "For a chilling image that reflected the photographer's reflexes and concentration, in capturing the moment of impact of a car during a racially charged protests in Charlottesville, Va."
  • Feature Photography: The photography staff of Reuters.
    "For shocking photos that expose the world to the violence Rohingya refugees face in fleeing Myanmar."
  • Letters, Drama and Music

    • Fiction: Less, Andrew Sean Greer.
      "For a generous book, musical in its prose and expansive in its structure and range, about growing older and the essential nature of love."
    • Drama: Cost of Living, by Martyna Majok.
      "An honest, original work that invites audiences to examine diverse perspectives of privilege and human connection through two pairs of mismatched individuals: a former trucker and his recently paralyzed ex-wife, and an arrogant young man with cerebral palsy and his new caregiver."
    • History: The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea, by Jack E. Davis.
      "An important environmental history of the Gulf of Mexico that brings critical attention to the Earth's 10th largest body of water and one of the planet's most diverse and productive marine ecosystems."
    • Biography: Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, by Caroline Fraser.
      "A deeply resourced and elegantly written portrait of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of The Little House on the Prairie series, that describes how Wilder transfers transformed her family's story of poverty, failure and struggle into an uplifting tale of self-reliance, familial love and perseverance."
    • Poetry: Half-light, by Frank Bidart.
      "A volume of unyielding ambition and remarkable scope that mixes long, dramatic poems with short, elliptical lyrics, building on classical mythology and reinventing forms of desire that defy societal norms."
    • General Nonfiction: Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America, by James Forman Jr.
      "An examination of the historical roots of contemporary criminal justice in the United States, based on vast experience and deep knowledge of the legal system, and its often devastating consequences for citizens and communities of color."
    • Music: DAMN., by Kendrick Lamar.
      "A virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life."


UK Could Launch Retaliatory Cyber Attack on Russia if Infrastructure Targeted: Sunday Times

  • LONDON (REUTERS) - Britain would consider launching a cyber attack against Russia in retaliation if Russia targeted British national infrastructure, the Sunday Times reported, citing unnamed security sources.

  • Britain's relations with Russia are at a historic low, after it blamed Russia for a nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England, prompting mass expulsions of diplomats.

  • Russia has denied involvement, and on Saturday also condemned strikes against Syria by Western powers, which Britain took part in.