The third edition of Indian Navy (IN) – Bangladesh Navy (BN) Bilateral Exercise ‘Bongosagar’ commenced at Port Mongla, Bangladesh on 24 May 22. The Harbour Phase of exercise is scheduled from 24-25 May which will be followed by a Sea Phase in the Northern Bay of Bengal from 26-27 May. 

• Exercise Bongosagar is aimed at developing a high degree of interoperability and joint operational skills through the conduct of a wide spectrum of maritime exercises and operations between the two navies. 
• Indian Naval Ships Kora, an indigenously built Guided Missile Corvette, and Sumedha, an indigenously built Offshore Patrol Vessel are participating in the Exercise. Bangladesh Navy is being represented by BNS Abu Ubaidah and Ali Haider, both Guided Missile Frigates.

PARAM PORUL, a state-of the art Supercomputer at NIT Tiruchirappalli dedicated to the nation under National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) – a joint initiative of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Department of Science and Technology (DST), was inaugurated on May 25, 2022 by Shri Bhaskar Bhat, Chairperson Board of Governors, Tiruchirappalli.

• This system is based on Direct Contact Liquid Cooling technology so that it can obtain high-power usage effectiveness. This helps in reducing the operational cost. The system has been equipped with a mix of GPU nodes, CPU nodes, High throughput storage, High Memory nodes, High-performance Infiniband interconnect
• All these have been equipped in this system to cater to the computing needs of various engineering and scientific applications.
• On 12th October 2020, C-DAC and NIT Tiruchirappalli signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish this 838 TeraFlops Supercomputing facility.

In the last six weeks, around eight dust storms hit Iraq. NASA’s satellites captured the images of skies turning orange. These dust storms reduce visibility, increase the risk of accidents, sent more than 1000 to hospital, give rise to respiratory problems, and severely disrupted lives.

• The dust storms are driven by northwesterly winds, also known as Shamal. These winds lift the dust from the Tigris-Euphrates basin of Syria and Iraq and transport it to the Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula.
• Dust storms strike West Asia every summer and winter. However, in recent years, the intensity and frequency of dust storms have increased.
• La Niña is a climate pattern that impacts weather phenomena globally. When there is La Niña, it will result in dry winter. The soil loses moisture and the dry sand will be easily lifted into the air, giving rise to dust storms.

The two-day National Conference of Women Legislators has been inaugurated on 26th May 2022 by President Ram Nath Kovind in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

• Arif Mohammed Khan, the governor of Kerala presided over the inaugural session at the Kerala Legislative Assembly Complex.
• This event will be drawing a large number of female legislators and parliamentarians from across the country.
• This is the first-ever such event that is being hosted by the Kerala state Assembly.
• It is in line with the central government’s Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav honouring the 75th independence anniversary of the country.
• At this conference, various sessions will be held that are based on themes vital to the country’s women legislators. The conference will also be focusing on various modern issues like gender equality, women’s rights, Under Representation of Women in Decision Making Bodies, Women’s Rights and Legal Gaps, Role of Women in India’s Freedom Struggle and Constitution and Women’s Rights.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) became India’s first Exploration and Production (E&P) company to trade domestic gas on Indian Gas Exchange (IGX).

• ONGC made its first online trade on 23rd May 2022 on India’s first automated national level Gas Exchange, IGX.
• The gas traded is from ONGC’s eastern offshore Krishna Godavari 98/2 block. 
• Trading domestic gas through IGX will help ONGC realize a higher value for gas. ONGC announced that it will enhance the quantity sold through the IGX.

To harness the potential of the metaverse, the World Economic Forum (WEF) recently announced that it is building a “Global Collaboration Village” as the virtual future of public-private cooperation. It will provide immersive spaces for stakeholders to come together and address critical global issues.

• The Global Collaboration Village will be an extension of WEFs public-private platforms and in-person meetings.
• It will provide a more comprehensive process for the world to come together to explore ideas in an immersive way.
• WEF is collaborating with Accenture and Microsoft in the “Global Collaboration Village” project.

The Indian Navy successfully tested its ship-based surface to air missile system by taking down a low flying target.

• The test was carried out from a stealth frigate deployed on the western seaboard by the force.
• Indian Navy today tweeted a video of its guided surface to air missile hitting its target accurately and congratulated the team for the incredible work.
• The video shows a guided-missile anti-submarine stealth frigate engaging a low flying target with its surface to air (SAM) system with absolute precision in the Indian waters.

The Supreme Court today appointed a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) to oversee the affairs of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the adoption of its constitution in accordance with the National Sports Code and model guidelines, led by former apex court judge AR Dave.

• The COA will include two previous members — Dr SY Qureshi, former Chief Election Commissioner, and Bhaskar Ganguly, former captain of the Indian Football Team, in addition to Retired Justice Dave, according to a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant, and PS Narasimha.
• The top court stated that the current state of affairs in the AIFF is not conducive to the federation’s legitimate governance. It instructed the CoA to assume control of the AIFF immediately and oversee the AIFF’s approval of the constitution.

Gourav Baliyan, Deepak Punia and Bipasha are among the wrestlers selected after trials at STC Sonepat and Lucknow for the Under-23 Asian Senior Free Style, Greco Roman Style and Women Wrestling Championship to be held at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan from June 19 to 26.

• Indian wrestlers were selected for the Under-23 Senior Asian Wrestling Championship to be held in Bishkek city of Kyrgyzstan. The team was selected after trial in 3 freestyle and 5 weight categories of Greco Roman at Sai Sonipat. Wherein women wrestlers have been selected in Sai Lucknow.
• 7 wrestlers in freestyle and 5 weight categories in Greco Roman had already been selected. Wrestlers were selected in the remaining 5 weights of Greco Roman and 3 weights of freestyle at Sai Sonipat on Wednesday. Now the entire team going to Kyrgyzstan has been announced.
• In Sai Sonepat, Assistant Secretary of the Sangh Vinod Tomar, Joint Secretary Jaiprakash and Treasurer SP Deshwal along with Greco Roman Chief Coach Hargobind Singh and Freestyle Chief Coach Jagminder Singh were present.

  Other wrestlers are

  Aman in 57 kg in freestyle, Udit in 61 kg, Sujit in 65 kg, Karan in 70 kg, Naveen in 74 kg, Vicky in 92 kg, Deepak in 97 kg, 125 Mohit will participate in the kilo. At the same time, Ajay in 55 kg, Saurabh in 60 kg, Neeraj in 63 kg, Gaurav Duhan in 67 kg, Deepak in 72 kg, Sajjan in 77 kg, Rohit Dahiya in 82 kg, Sunil Malik in 87 kg, Deepanshu and was selected for entry in 130 kg. In the trials held in Lucknow Sai, Neelam in 50 kg, last in 53 kg, Jyoti in 55 kg, Pushpa in 57 kg, Mansi in 59 kg, Bhateri in 62 kg, Radhika in 65 kg, Arju in 68 kg, in 72 kg. Ritika and Bipasha got selected in 76 kg.

Captain Abhilasha Barak becomes the first woman officer to join Army Aviation Corps as Combat Aviator after successful completion of training. Captain Abhilasha Barak has been awarded the Coveted Wings along with 36 Army Pilots by Director General and Colonel Commandant Army Aviation.

• Captain Abhilasha Barak is the daughter of Colonel (Retired) S Om Singh. 
• She was commissioned into the Indian Army’s Army Air Defence Corps in In September 2018.
• According to the Indian Army, 15 women officers wanted to join the Army Aviation but after the Pilot Aptitude Battery test and Medical were held only two were selected.
•  Till now, women were only given the posts of ground duty and traffic control in the Aviation Department, but Captain Barak will be taking over the responsibility of being the first woman pilot.

The biggest drone festival is being celebrated in India named the Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022 on 27th May 2022. The festival is being held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi and it will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• The Prime Minister will also be interacting with Kisan drone pilots and with start-ups in the drone exhibition centre and will be witnessing the open-air drone demonstrations.
• Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022, is a two-day event that is being held on 27th and 28th May 2022.
• In this event, more than 1,600 delegates comprising foreign diplomats, government officials, central armed police forces, armed forces, private companies, PSUs, drone start-ups etc. will be participating.

Recently, the Supreme Court passed an order recognizing sex work as a “profession” and said that its practitioners across the country are entitled to equal protection as well as dignity under the law of the nation. 

Under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court (SC) invoked its special powers. Under Article 142, the SC is given discretionary powers and the apex court can exercise its jurisdiction and pass such order or decree whenever necessary for providing complete justice in any matter. In the year 2020, sex workers had been recognized by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) as informal workers.

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, the National Health Authority has introduced a revised Ayushman Bharat Health Account, ABHA mobile application to manage health records. The ABHA app, formerly known as the NDHM Health Records app, is available for download from the Google Play Store and has already received over four lakh downloads, according to the Union Health Ministry.

ABHA App Key Points:

• Existing ABHA app users can also update to the most recent version of the app.
• The ABHA mobile application allows users to create an ABHA address, which is a simple username that can be linked to the 14-digit ABHA number created at random.
• Users can also link their health records created at an Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission-compliant health institution and access them on their smartphones using the mobile application.
• After an individual’s approval, the programme also allows self-uploading of physical health records as well as exchange of digital health documents such as diagnostic reports, prescriptions, and CoWIN vaccination certificates.

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Wednesday (25 May) chaired the meeting of the 40th edition of PRAGATI, the ICT based multi-modal platform for 'Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation,' involving Centre and State governments.

• Nine agenda items were taken for review in the meeting, including eight projects and one programme having a cumulative cost of over Rs 59,900 crore.
• Prime Minister Modi also discussed the ‘National Broadband Mission’ programme at the meeting. States and agencies were asked to use the centralised Gati Shakti Sanchar Portal to ensure that Right of Way (RoW) applications were processed quickly.

India will seek certain “carve-outs” to ensure special and differential treatment for developing countries that are not quite engaged in distant water fishing in the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 12th Ministerial Conference to be held between June 12-15 at Geneva.

• India also wants a 25-year exemption for these countries from overfishing subsidy prohibition so that they have some policy space to develop their vastly-underdeveloped distant water fishing segment.
• At the same time, it suggests big subsidisers abolish their dole-outs for fishing in areas beyond their exclusive economic zones (200 nautical miles) within these 25 years, which will then set the stage for developing nations to follow suit.