The Daily Brief – 9th May 2019

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1. The World Red Cross Day or the World Red Crescent Day is annually observed across the globe on May 8th. It commemorates the birth anniversary of Henri Dunant, the founder of Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Its celebration marks the efforts taken by the Red Cross and the ICRC to reduce suffering of people and enable them to lead a dignified life. The theme for the World Red Cross Day 2019 was “#Love”. The Red Cross is the world’s largest humanitarian organization and to this date, it has won the Nobel Peace Prize on three occasions – 1917, 1944 and 1963.
2. The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to put an end to the local adverse lists, also known as “Black Lists” of Indian-origin people, which are maintained by Indian missions and posts abroad. These lists contain names of Indian-origin people who have taken asylum abroad under plea of alleged persecution in India. Most of the asylum seekers in these black lists happened to be Sikhs.
3. The 5th UN Global Road Safety Week is being held from 6th May to 12th May 2019 with the theme for this year being “Leadership for road safety”. The Safety Week and its campaigns are coordinated by the UN Road Safety Collaboration, chaired by the World Health Organization. WHO had launched action through an ongoing campaign “Save Lives – #SpeakUp”, which operates on the principles of ‘Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020’. The Decade seeks to prevent road traffic injuries and deaths, by providing an opportunity for the civil society to demand a strong leadership for road safety.
4. On the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritya (Teej), the annual spring festival of Jains and Hindus, the world renowned and much awaited chardham yatra began in Uttarakhand. The four pilgrim destinations – Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath – are collectively called Chardham and are located in the great Himalayas in Uttarakhand.

   

5. Tiger Woods was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, USA’s highest civilian honour by the US President Donald Trump. Woods became the fourth and youngest professional golfer to receive the medal, which was first established to honour extraordinary civilian accomplishments related to World War II. Currently, Tiger Woods ranks second in both major championships and Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) Tour wins.
6. A feature movie on the life and works of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of People’s Republic of Bangladesh, will be jointly produced by India and Bangladesh. Additionally, a documentary on the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 will be produced as well. Prasar Bharati, India’s state broadcaster, will co-produce the film.
7. A genetic study was carried out by scientists for the first time on the people residing on the Lakshadweep Islands. The study was conducted by a team of researchers at the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research’s (CSIR) Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB). The islands covered in this study were those of Kadmat, Andorth, Chetlat, Agatti, Kalpeni, Bitra, Kiltan and Minicoy. A close genetic link of the islanders was found with the people from Maldives, Sri Lanka and India.
8. World Thalassaemia Day is observed every year globally on 8th May. The theme for this year was “Universal access to quality thalassaemia healthcare services: Building bridges with and for patient.” The objective of observing the day is to raise awareness about the genetic disease, its prevention and measures to avoid its transmission among people throughout the world.
9. Around 115 peacekeepers from 43 different nations were paid tribute for their sacrifices at the line of duty by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Two Indians named Jitender Kumar and Shikha Garg were also honoured as they had lost their lives in peace keeping services.
10. Team Caeli emerged as the first runner-up in Microsoft’s Imagine Cup World Championship final held in Seattle, USA. The team comprising of three Indian students – Bharat Sundal, Aakash Bhadana and Vasu Kaushik – won the second spot for developing “Caeli”, the world’s first smart automated anti-pollution and drug delivery mask.
11. India was re-elected as an Observer to the intergovernmental forum Arctic Council at the 11th Arctic Council ministerial meeting held at Rovaniemi in Finland. The Arctic Council was established in 1996, with headquarters in Tromso, Norway and comprises of eight member nations. The Council is a high level intergovernmental forum which address issues faced by Arctic States (Russia, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Canada and US), its indigenous people and its other inhabitants.

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