The Daily Brief – 23rd April 2019

49^th annual Earth Day 2019 was observed on 22nd April 2019 with the theme Protect Our Species. The world facing the greatest rate of extinction and the rapid extinction of species in our world today is the result of human activity. In 1971, a proclamation was signed to observe international Earth Day annually on the Vernal Equinox by UN Secretary-General U Thant.

Asian Tea Alliance, a union of five tea-growing and consuming countries was launched in Guizhou in China to work towards enhancing tea trade, cultural exchanges, technology exchanges as well as globally promoting tea. The members of the alliance are the Indian Tea Association, China Tea Marketing Association, Indonesian Tea Marketing Association, Sri Lanka Tea Boardand Japan Tea Association.

The Services have lifted the Santosh Trophy, beating Punjab 1-nil in the final at Ludhiana. The Santosh Trophy is a football knock-out competition contested by the regional state associations and government institutions under the All India Football Federation (AIFF) which the Football governing body in India. Started in 1941, Santosh Trophy tournament is held every year.

The Civil Services Day 2019 was not observed on 21st April 2019 due to Lok Sabha elections. Every year April 21st is observed as Civil Services Day since it was on this day Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, addressed the first batch of civil servants in Independent India at the Metcalf House. On the occasion of the Civil Services Day, ‘Prime Minister Award for Excellence in Public Administration’ will be bestowed on the civil servants.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the worldwide Index of Cancer Preparedness (ICP) based on facts collected from 28 countries. The objective of ICP is to allow benchmarking of national efforts and identify best practice in addressing the cancer challenge. In overall ranking India comes at 19th with a score of 64.9. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), created in 1946, is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group and the world leader in global business intelligence.

Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik and World No. 1 Bajrang Punia will spearhead India’s campaign at the Asian Wrestling Championships starting in Xi’an, China on 23 April, 2019. Besides Sakshi and Bajrang, Vinesh Phogat would also be vying for top honours during the mega-event.

The London School of Economics (LSE) has announced the establishment of the Amartya Sen Chair in Inequality Studies to honour the Nobel laureate who has also served as the Professor of Economics at LSE. Amartya Sen Chair in Inequality Studies is a living embodiment of the LSE’s enduring commitment to working for the betterment of society through research, education and public engagement. Amartya Sen was awarded Noble Prize in the year 1998 for his works in Welfare Economics.