Key Points:

• Russian chess grandmaster, Yuri Averbakh who was among the world’s best players for a decade, trained world champions and was the last surviving participant in one of the greatest competitions in history, has died in Moscow at 100.
• He won the Moscow Championship in 1949 and earned the Grandmaster title in 1952. In 1954, he became the champion of the USSR. He also chaired the Chess Federation of the USSR from 1972 to 1977.

Key Points

• May 12 is observed as International Nurses’ Day across the world to honour the services of nurses. It is the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the English social reformer, statistician and founder of modern nursing.
• She was also known as Lady with the Lamp. She was the founder of modern nursing and was a British social reformer and statistician.
• The theme for this year’s Nurses’ Day is “Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Invest in Nursing and respect rights to secure global health”. Many hospitals across the world are observing International Nurses Week from May 6 to 12. As part of it, several activities, including yoga sessions and seminars are being organised.

Recently, the Supreme Court declared that State Election Commissions across the country cannot skip their constitutional obligation to conduct polls to Local Bodies every five years.

About Local Self Government:

• Local Self Government is the management of local affairs by such local bodies who have been elected by the local people.
• The local self-Government includes both rural and urban government.
• It is the third level of the government.
• There are 2 types of local government in operation – panchayatas in rural areas and Municipalities in urban areas.

Salient Features of 73rd Constitutional Amendment?

Compulsory Provisions:

• Organisation of Gram Sabhas;
• Creation of a three-tier Panchayati Raj Structure at the Zila, Block and Village levels;
• Almost all posts, at all levels to be filled by direct elections;
• Minimum age for contesting elections to the Panchayati Raj institutions be twenty one years;
• The post of Chairman at the Zila and Block levels should be filled by indirect election;
• There should be reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes in Panchayats, in proportion to their population, and for women in Panchayats up to one-third seats;
• State Election Commission to be set up in each State to conduct elections to Panchayati Raj institutions;
• The tenure of Panchayati Raj institutions is five years, if dissolved earlier, fresh elections to be held within six months;
• A State Finance Commission is set up in each State every five years.

Voluntary:

• Giving voting rights to members of the Central and State legislatures in these bodies;
• Providing reservation for backward classes; and
• The Panchayati Raj institutions should be given financial powers in relation to taxes, levy fees etc. and efforts shall be made to make Panchayats autonomous bodies

Key Points

• The Supreme Court collegium has made recommendations to five new Chief Justices of high courts.
• It is the system of appointment and transfer of judges that has evolved through judgments of the Supreme Court (SC), and not by an Act of Parliament or by a provision of the Constitution.
• The SC collegium is headed by the CJI (Chief Justice of India) and comprises four other senior most judges of the court.
• Judges of the higher judiciary are appointed only through the collegium system and the government has a role only after names have been decided by the collegium.

Key Points:

• National Technology Day is observed every year on 11th May across the country. National Technology Day has significant historical importance in India. Every year on this day, officials pay honour to India’s scientists for their achievements.
• This day is commemorated as an achievement of India’s technical advances, since on May 11, 1998, the country successfully tested nuclear weapons in Pokhran.
• The theme for National Technology Day 2022 is “Integrated Approach in Science and technology for sustainable future”.
• The theme was launched by Union Minister Jitendra Singh.

Key Points:

• World’s Largest Glass Bottom Bridge was opened in Vietnam. It is called as Vietnam’s Bach Long pedestrian bridge, which is 632m (2,073ft) long and located 150m (492ft) above a huge jungle.
• As per the reports, the Asian country has opened a glass-bottomed bridge suspended above a lush jungle. It surpasses a 526m Glass Bottom Bridge in Guangdong, China.
• The Bach Long pedestrian bridge which means ‘white dragon’ in Vietnamese. The bridge suspends above the rainforest The bridge can support up to 450 people at a time and the floor of the bridge is made from tempered glass.

Key Points:

• Lok Sabha (LS) Speaker, Om Birla has launched the one-of-its-kind literary initiative Kalam website of the Prabha Khaitan Foundation (PKF) to support and encourage vernacular literature.
• The aim of Kalam is to popularize Hindi literature and provide a platform for veteran and young authors and poets to talk about their writings and love for vernacular literature.
• Kalam started its journey back in the summer of 2015 in the cities of Jaipur and Patna and has conducted over 550 sessions spread over 40 cities in India and overseas since then.
• Kalam is in sync with the philosophy of our nation – ‘Unity in Diversity which is reflected in the tagline of Prabha Khaitan Foundation – ‘Aapne Bhasha Aapne Log’.

The Foundation is the custodian of the jewels of literary creations in the Hindi language and Kalam scripts successful sessions enriching the literary heritage of the nation. The hallmarks of Kalam, one of the prized literary verticals of Prabha Khaitan Foundation have a nationwide reach, global identity, and a niche audience

In a setback to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Bombay High Court allowed PILs challenging the construction of a cycling and jogging track around Powai Lake and said the cycle track was illegal.

About Powai Lake:

• Recognized as a wetland, the Powai Lake is located in the north-eastern suburbs of Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• The Powai Lake is an artificial man-made lake located to the north of Mumbai and southwest of Thane.
• It was formed as a result of two dams built on the Mithi River in 1891.
• The purpose was to create a reservoir for providing water supply in Mumbai.
• However, water quality degraded within a few years, and it was declared unfit for drinking. It is being used for industrial purposes.
• The Maharashtra State Angling Association (then called Bombay Presidency Angling Association), formed in 1936, currently controls and manages the lake
• In 1995, the National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) included Powai Lake among India’s 10 main lakes to be revived and improved.
• This program, launched in 2002, was implemented by BMC. As a result of this move, the condition of the lake has considerably improved

About AIM-PRIME (Program for Researchers in Innovation, Market Readiness, and Entrepreneurship)

• Recently, the AIM-PRIME (Program for Researchers in Innovation, Market Readiness, and Entrepreneurship) Playbook was launched by NITI Aayog.
• The playbook was aimed at promoting early-stage science-based, deep technology ideas to market through training and guidance over a period of 12 months using a blended learning curriculum.

Objective:

• Promoting science-based, deep technology ideas to market through training and guidance over a period of 12 months.
• Deep technology is based on tangible engineering innovation or scientific advances and discoveries. Deep Tech is often set apart by its profound enabling power, the differentiation it can create, and its potential to catalyse change.
• Candidates selected for the programme will get access to in-depth learning via a comprehensive lecture series, live team projects, exercises, and project-specific mentoring.
• They will also have access to a deep tech start-up playbook, curated video library, and plenty of peer-to-peer learning opportunities.

Launching & Implementing Agency:

• AIM has collaborated with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to launch this nationwide programme which will be implemented by Venture Centre – a non-profit technology business incubator hosted by Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research–National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL).

Beneficiaries:

1. Technology developers (early-stage deep tech start-ups, and scientists/ engineers/clinicians) with strong science-based deep tech business ideas.
2. Chief Executive Officers and Senior incubation managers of AIM Funded Atal Incubation Centers that are supporting deep tech entrepreneurs.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

• The Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India. This territory is known as A & N Islands, or ANI.
• It is located in the Indian Ocean, in the southern reaches of the Bay of Bengal, nearer to Indonesia and Thailand. This comprises of two island groups – the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands – which separates the Andaman Sea to the east from the Indian Ocean.
• These two groups are separated by the 10° N parallel, the Andamans lying to the north of this latitude, and the Nicobars to the south. The capital of this territory is the Andamanese town of Port Blair.
• Hindi and English are the official languages of the islands. Bengali is the dominant and most spoken language, with 26% of the population speaking Bengali.
• Particularly vulnerable Tribal Groups (PTGs) who have been identified in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. They are:-
• Great Andamanese of Strait Island
• Onges of Little Andaman
• Jarawas of South and Middle Andaman
• Sentinelese of Sentinel Islands
• Shompens of Great Nicobar