CURRENT AFFAIRS OF 21st MAY, 2023

CURRENT AFFAIRS OF 21^st MAY, 2023

1. United Nations’ World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, also known as Diversity Day, is annually celebrated on 21 May to enhance the potential of culture as a means of achieving prosperity, sustainable development and peaceful global coexistence.
2. International Tea Day is an annually observed on 21 May to celebrate the long history and cultural significance of tea around the world and to raise awareness of the importance of tea in fighting hunger and poverty, as well as the sustainable production and consumption of tea.
3. National Anti-Terrorism Day is annually observed across India on 21 May to commemorate the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated on this day in 1991 at Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.
4. Tata Group-owned AirAsia India successfully operated the country’s first commercial flight using a blend containing sustainable aviation fuel made in India.
5. Madhya Pradesh secured first place in the ‘Best State’ category in the 4^th National Water Awards-2022, followed by Odisha in second place and Andhra Pradesh and Bihar in joint third place.
6. India launched ‘Operation Karuna’ to provide assistance to cyclone Mocha-hit Myanmar.
7. A 5,000-year-old tree, nicknamed ‘Great Grandfather’ located in the Alerce Costero National Park in Chile, has been officially recognized as the oldest in the world.  
8. The honorable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, unveiled the bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Hiroshima, Japan on 20 May, 2023.
9. NASA has selected Jeff Bezos’s company, Blue Origin, to construct a spacecraft for sending astronauts to and from the surface of the Moon.
10. On 19 May 2023, Reserve Bank of India notified the withdrawal of Rs. 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation and directed banks to stop issuing this banknote with immediate effect.
11. Russian Tennis player Daniil Medvedev won the men’s Singles title at the 2023 Italian Open by defeating Holger Rune of Denmark in the final.
12. State-owned power giant NTPC’s arm NTPC Green Energy Ltd and HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd have signed a pact to collaborate in renewable energy and generation of green hydrogen.
13. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on 19 May 2023, approved the first Good Governance Regulations of the country.
14. On the occasion of World Telecom day on 17 May, Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan launched Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) test bed project for conformance, certification and interoperability testing of O-RAN-based solutions at a function in New Delhi.
15. The Union Cabinet, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the Chartered Accountants of the Maldives (CA Maldives).
16. Rattan Lal Kataria, former Union Minister and BJP MP from Ambala passed away on 18 May, 2023 at the age of 71.