US Announces Decision to Leave Open Skies Surveillance Treaty
The US will withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty, a major accord that permits unarmed aerial surveillance flights over 34 participating countries, citing repeated Russian violations of its terms.
India is not a member of this treaty that came into force on January 1, 2002. Most of the participating countries are in North America Europe and Central Asia.
The Open Skies Treaty allows each state-party to carry out short-notice, unarmed, reconnaissance flights over the others'' territories to collect data on military forces and activities.
President Donald Trump blamed Russia''s non-compliance with the treaty for such a decision by the United States.
India-Bangladesh Sign Inland Water Transit and Trade Protocol
Tripura got its first ever international waterway as five new protocol routes were announced between India and its eastern neighbour Bangladesh, with Chief Minister Biplab Deb expressing hope that the state will emerge as 'gateway of Northeast' in future by tapping into bilateral connectivity and trade potential.
Sonamura-Daudkandi route on Tripura's River Gomti and Rajshahi-Dhulian-Rajshahi routes were added to the list of Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) routes signed between the High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das and Bangladesh Shipping Secretary Md. Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury in Dhaka.
The Protocol on Transit and Trade (PTT) through inland waterways was first signed between People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Republic of India in 1972.
Palaeontologists have found the fossils of a new megaraptor in Patagonia, in the south of Argentina.
Megaraptors were large carnivorous dinosaurs with long arms and claws measuring up to 35cm (14in) in length.
They also had powerful legs and long tails which made them more agile than the Tyrannosaurus rex and allowed them to catch smaller herbivorous dinosaurs.
The new megaraptor is one of the last of its group, before dinosaurs became extinct.
ONGC, NTPC Sign MOU to Set Up Joint Venture for Renewable Energy Business
India's top oil and gas producer ONGC and country's biggest electricity generator NTPC have signed a preliminary agreement to set up a joint venture company for renewable energy projects.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and NTPC Ltd entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on May 21, 2020 in New Delhi to formalize this arrangement.
The MoU will enable both companies to achieve their respective targets in renewable energy business.
Researchers in Australia claim they have recorded the fastest ever internet data speed.
A team from Monash, Swinburne and RMIT universities logged a data speed of 44.2 terabits per second (Tbps).
At that speed, users could download more than 1,000 high-definition movies in less than a second.
According to Ofcom, the average UK broadband speed currently is around 64 megabits per second (Mbps) - a fraction of that recorded in the recent study.
President Ram Nath Kovind Accepted Credentials from Ambassadors and High Commissioners of Seven Countries
In a first, the new envoys of seven countries presented their credentials to President Ramnath Kovind via video conference.
They were from North Korea, Senegal, Trinidad and Tobago, Mauritius, Australia, Côte d'Ivoire and Rwanda.
The move comes amid the current novel coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than five million people worldwide since it first emerged in China in December 2019.
State Includes 2,092 Villages in Western Ghats Eco-Sensitive Area
The Maharashtra government included more villages in its proposed final Western Ghats eco-sensitive area (ESA) notification, but has excluded previously identified villages falling in crucial wildlife corridors, sanctuary buffer areas and near tiger reserves.
The state's final proposal requests the Centre to include 2,092 of 2,133 villages or 15,359 sq km of the originally proposed 17,340 sq km, thereby excluding 11.4% of the draft ESA area.
Declaring an area as ESA means putting restriction on mining, quarrying, thermal power plants, setting up of industries and construction to ensure buffer areas of a protected zone, in this case, the Western Ghats, remains protected.
Govt Releases Rs 170 Crore as MGNREGA Wages
Ahead of Eid ul Fitr, the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has disbursed Rs 170 crore into the accounts of beneficiaries under MGNREGA.
The department has disbursed around Rs 183 crore to benefit the poor which have been otherwise rendered jobless due to the prevailing lockdown.
Since April 20, 2020, the Department has taken up more than 14000 development projects under MGNREGA which include 1670 water conservation and irrigation works, 4000 rural infrastructure works and 8300 PMAYG houses generating as many as Rs 5.28 lakh person-days in J&K.
The singer Mory Kanté, who helped bring African music to world audiences with hits like Yéké Yéké, has died in Guinea.
Kanté was known as a distinguished player of kora - a west African harp. His song Yéké Yéké became a huge hit in the late 1980s and was widely remixed.
World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
May 21 is observed as the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
Marked by the UN, it celebrates the richness of the world's cultures and highlights the role of intercultural dialogue for achieving peace.
E-Conclave for Defence MSMEs Held
On May 21, 2020, the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired the E-Conclave of Defence MSME (Micro Small and Medium Enterprises).
The theme of the E-conclave was 'Business Continuity for MSMEs in Defence and Aerospace Sector' and more than 800 defence MSMEs participated.
International Day for Biological Diversity
The International Day for Biological Diversity is a United Nations–sanctioned international day for the promotion of biodiversity issues. It is currently held on May 22.
The International Day for Biological Diversity falls within the scope of the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda's Sustainable Development Goals.
The theme for the year 2020 was "Our solutions are in nature" which emphasizes hope, solidarity and the importance of working together at all levels to build a future of life in harmony with nature.
IIT Guwahati Finds New Ways to Prevent Memory Loss Due to Alzheimer's
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati's (IIT-G) researchers have discovered new ways that can help prevent or reduce short-term memory losses associated with the Alzheimers disease.
The research team explored new ways to prevent the accumulation of neurotoxic molecules in the brain that are associated with short-term memory loss due to Alzheimer's disease.
They reported some methods such as the application of low-voltage electric field and the use of 'trojan peptides' to arrest aggregation of neurotoxic molecules in the brain.
The idea of using 'Trojan peptide' comes from mythological "Trojan Horse" used as subterfuge by the Greeks in the battle of 'Troy'.
UGC Directed To Use The 82 Undergraduate And 42 Postgraduate MOOC Available On ''Swayam''
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed universities and colleges to use the 82 undergraduate and 42 postgraduate Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) available on the HRD Ministry''s ''Swayam'' platform for credit transfer.
According to an official statement, Swayam (Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) is a platform developed by the HRD Ministry to achieve the three cardinal principles of education policy — access, equity and quality.
SCTIMST Launched Agappe Chitra Magna
The commercial launch of, Agappe Chitra Magna, a magnetic nanoparticle-based RNA extraction kit for use during testing for detection of COVID-19 developed by Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) - Trivandrum, an Institute of National Importance of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) along with Agappe Diagnostics Ltd, an in vitro diagnostics manufacturing company based in Cochin was organized.
The launch programme is being organized by SCTIMST in collaboration with Agappe Diagnostics Ltd at the Biomedical Technology Wing of SCTIMST.
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