Current Affairs – 31st May, 2022

Nearly 10,000 seafarers, of national and foreign carriers, who reach Indian ports almost every day, face problems in availing themselves of “on shore” and “short hand” leaves that they are entitled to. The Centre and the States withdrew almost all restrictions on movement imposed during the pandemic, but seafarers are one group of workers who are yet to get the benefit of these relaxations. They complain that without proper advisories, they do not get immigration and port security clearance for “on shore” leave, which is their right under the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006. An “on shore” leave is usually given for four to six hours, while a “short hand” leave is for 10 to 15 days

The security situation in Europe was undergoing massive changes. The Russian power had collapsed in its far east after the war with Japan in 1904-05.

In three weeks since the first case of monkeypox infection was confirmed on May 7 in the U.K. in a person who had just arrived from Nigeria (where the outbreak has been continuing since September 2017) the virus has spread to at least 21 countries and infected 226 people, mainly in Europe and North America.

Since China took over the BRICS chairmanship at the beginning of this year, we have worked together with BRICS partners to press ahead with cooperation in political security, economy and finance, people-to-people exchanges, public health and other realms. More than 50 important events have been held, contributing to significant progress in various cooperative fields

The recommendation of Mandal Commission (1980) to provide 27% reservation to Other Backward Classes in central services and public sector undertakings, over and above the existing 22.5% reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, was sought to be implemented by the V.P. Singh Government in 1990 and the same was assailed in the Supreme Court resulting in the historic Indra Sawhney Judgment (1992). In the judgement, a nine-judge bench presided by Chief Justice M.H. Kania upheld the constitutionality of the 27% reservation but put a ceiling of 50% unless exceptional circumstances warranting the breach, so that the constitutionally guaranteed right to equality under Article 14 would remain secured

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev announced on May 23 that their respective countries would be setting up border security and delimitation commissions, signalling a step towards resolution of a decades-long conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh Enclave.

Lower frequency signals can travel longer distances and penetrate obstacles with lesser attenuation. Electronic components (amplifiers, transmitters, receivers) operating at lower frequencies are also easier to design and manufacture. Consequently, much of the bandwidth in the lower frequencies of this spectrum has already been allocated for several applications (mobile communications currently use the spectrum from 800MHz to 2.5 GHz).

It comes from the old English ‘Wodenstag’ meaning ‘day of Woden’. In Norse mythology, Woden or Oden was the god who created the earth and the first human beings.

The Bihar government has decided to accord permission for exploration of the “country’s largest” gold reserve in the Jamui district. As per a Geological Survey of India survey, around 222.88 million tonnes of the gold reserve, including 37.6 tonnes of the mineral-rich ore, are present in the district.

Monkeypox was first reported in 1958 in laboratory monkeys and the first human case was reported in 1970 in a nine-month-old baby in the Democratic Republic of Congo.