16th April, 2022 Current Affairs

16th April, 2022 Current Affairs

NATIONAL
PM Modi inaugurates Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya in New Delhi

• Prime Minister NarendraModi has inaugurated the Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya in New Delhi on April 14. The Sangrahalaya, located at the iconic Teen Murti complex, was inaugurated as part of Azadika Amrit Mahotsav — a 75-week celebration launched to mark 75 years of Independence.
• The museum building integrates the Teen MurtiBhawan in New Delhi, designated as Block I, with the newly-constructed Block II. The total area of the two blocks is over 15,600 square metres. There are 43 galleries in the Sangrahalaya.
• The logo of the Sangrahalaya, meanwhile, shows hands holding the dharma chakra, symbolizing the nation and democracy.

Amrit Samagam inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah

• Amit Shah, Union Minister of Home Affairs and Cooperation, launched the Amrit Samagam, a summit of the country’s tourism and cultural ministers, in New Delhi. The Ministry of Culture is hosting a two-day conference, as part of the Azadika Amrit Mahotsav.
• The goal of this conference is to discuss how far the Azadika Amrit Mahotsav has progressed so far, as well as to gather best practices and ideas for methods to be used for the remainder of the celebration, particularly for impending critical initiatives.
• Union Minister for Tourism, Culture, and DONER G. Kishan Reddy launched the Utsav Portal website during the conference, a digital initiative launched by the Ministry of Tourism to showcase all events, festivals, and live darshans across India in order to promote different regions of the country as popular tourist destinations worldwide.

INTERNATIONAL
Ecuador became 1st country to give legal rights to wild animals

• Ecuador, a South American Country, became the first country in the world to give legal rights to wild animals.
• The highest court in the country has ruled in favor of the case that focused on a woolly monkey named “Estrellita” who was taken from her home to a zoo, where she passed just a week later.
• The court decided to rule in favor of Estrellita and said that her rights had been violated by the government. However, they added that the animal’s rights were also violated by the owner when she removed her from her natural habitat at a young age.
•  The Court has finally stated that animals are subject to rights protected by the rights of nature.

ECONOMY
WTO cuts global trade growth forecast to 3% in 2022

• The World Trade Organization (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.

APPOINTMENTS
Ex-IPS officer Lalpura reappointed National Commission for Minorities chief

• The central government has re-appointed retired Punjab-cadre IPS officer Iqbal Singh Lalpura as the chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities.
•  Lalpura, who was first appointed as chairman in September last year, had to resign from the post in December to contest as the BJP candidate from the Ropar assembly constituency, which he lost.
• A Sikh intellectual, who has written books on Sikh and Punjabi culture, Lalpura, was appointed BJP spokesperson in September last year.
• He had retired as deputy inspector general (DIG), Punjab Police, before joining the BJP in 2012. He served as the senior superintendent of police of Amritsar Rural, Kapurthala and Tarn Taran districts.

Harsh Vardhan Shringla named India’s G20 chief coordinator

• Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will take over next month as G20 chief coordinator, the government officially announced.
• The appointment is significant as India will assume the G20 presidency on December 1, 2022, from Indonesia, and will convene the G20 Leaders Summit for the first time in India in 2023.
• Shringla will retire on 30th April 2022, handing over charge to foreign secretary-designate V M Kwatra, who is currently India’s ambassador to Nepal. The G20 sherpa will remain to be Piyush Goyal, the Indian Commerce Minister.

About the summit:

• G20 Bali Summit 2022 is the 17th meeting of the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit which is scheduled to take place in Bali, Indonesia from November 15-16, 2022 under the Presidency of Indonesia with the overall theme of “Recover Together Recover Stronger”.

SPORTS
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.
• The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) confirmed that the opening ceremony will be held at the famous 100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground.
• Following an exclusive consultation session between the CGF, Commonwealth Games Australia (CGAus), and Victoria, the announcement was made.
• A preliminary list of 16 sports has been proposed for the Games, including Twenty20 cricket, with further sports to be added later this year.
• However, sports like shooting and wrestling, which India has excelled in in earlier editions of the sporting spectacular, are not included on the original list.
• Archery is also absent from the list.

Netherlands Won FIH Junior Women’s Hockey World Cup 2022

• The Netherlands has lifted their fourth title of FIH Junior Women’s Hockey World Cup 2022 after beating Germany at Potchefstroom, South Africa.
• The Netherlands is the most successful team. England claimed the bronze medal in the third-place match after defeating India by 3-0 in the shoot-out.
• The FIH has banned Russia from the 2022 Women’s FIH Hockey Junior World Cup due to 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• The 2023 Women’s FIH Hockey Junior World Cup will be the tenth edition and will be held in Santiago, Chile.

Published date : 16 Apr 2022 05:06PM