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Current Affairs Daily Digest – May 16 2024

1. Indian Air Force tests “BHISHM”, a portable hospital for airdrop

The Indian Air Force tried BHISHM portable cubes for emergency airdrops. This was part of “Project BHISHM,” which aims to help up to 200 people quickly.

These cubes are strong, waterproof, and light. They can be put together in different ways, making them perfect for various emergencies.

The whole unit is made up of 72 movable parts that are easy to move by foot, bike, or even drone.

2. International Day of Light: 16th May

Physicist Theodore Maiman was the first person to use a laser successfully. This happened in 1960.

The UN held the International Day of Light in 2015 to bring more attention to light science, light-based technologies and uses.

After that, UNESCO made a decision in 2016 to celebrate it every year.

In 2018, the first International Day of Light was held.

3. National Dengue Day: 16th May

The virus that causes dengue fever is spread by the bite of a sick mosquito.

The dengue virus (DENV) is what makes it happen.

It lives in more than 100 countries around the world.

Dengue is caused by four different viruses, and it is spread by female Aedes mosquitoes. These mosquitoes also spread the Zika and yellow fever viruses.

4. Ruskin Bond Awarded Prestigious Sahitya Akademi Fellowship

In a very important event, the famous author Ruskin Bond was given the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, which is the highest honour given by India’s most prestigious literary group.

The important award was given to Bond at his home in Mussoorie by Sahitya Akademi President Madhav Kaushik and Secretary K. Sreenivasarao, in front of his son, because Bond was sick.

A Rich Literary Journey

He was born on May 19, 1934, in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh. For more than 50 years, Ruskin Bond has been a busy and important figure in the world of literature.

He has written short stories, novels, autobiographies, non-fiction, romance, and children’s books, among other types of writing. But essays and stories are still his favourite types of writing.

These books are some of his most well-known ones: Too Much Trouble, Angry River, All Roads Lead to Ganga, Once Upon a Monsoon Time, Vagrants in the Valley, and Tales of Fosterganj.

The historical book A Flight of Pigeons (Indian Rebellion of 1857) that he wrote was turned into the 1978 Hindi movie Junoon.

5. NASA Appoints New Chief for Artificial Intelligence

NASA has made David Salvagnini the Chief Artificial Intelligence (AI) Officer, which is a new job for him.

In addition to his job as Chief Data Officer, he will also do this. The selection shows that NASA wants to use AI technology in a smart way.

AI helps NASA’s work.

AI tools have been used by NASA for a long time to help with its missions and study projects.

AI helps look at data, find patterns, and create systems that can handle planes and spacecraft on their own.

Bill Nelson, the head of NASA, said, “AI has been used safely at NASA for decades, and as it grows, it can speed up discoveries.”

We need to stay ahead and follow the rules when we use AI. David’s new job is to make sure that NASA uses AI in a way that is good for everyone, both in space and on Earth.

6. Sunil Chhetri Announces Retirement from International Football

Sunil Chhetri, who has won more awards than any other Indian football player, has decided to stop playing for India in international games.

The last time he plays for his country will be in a FIFA World Cup Qualifier game against Kuwait in Kolkata on June 6.

Chhetri’s Great Adventure

The amazing journey of Chhetri began in 2002 with Mohun Bagan. His skill quickly took him to other countries, where he played for the Kansas City Wizards in the USA (2010) and Sporting CP backups in Portugal (2012).

In India, he played for East Bengal, Dempo, Mumbai City FC, and now Bengaluru FC, all of which were very good teams.

Chhetri really did well with Bengaluru, winning the I-League (2014, 2016), the ISL (2019), and the Super Cup (2018). In 2016, he even took them to the AFC Cup final.

7. PhonePe Launches UPI in Sri Lanka in Partnership with LankaPay

PhonePe and LankaPay have joined forces to bring UPI payments to Sri Lanka. This is a big step forward.

PhonePe users can now easily use UPI to pay at LankaPay QR stores thanks to this partnership. This gives them comfort and safety while travelling.

The partnership aims to make it easier for Indian tourists and business travellers to pay in Sri Lanka while also giving sellers a cheap way to do it.

Important people, like Ritesh Pai, CEO of PhonePe, Channa de Silva, CEO of LankaPay, and Nandalal Weerasinghe, Governor of the Sri Lankan Central Bank, praised the project.

8. International Day of Light 2024: Celebrating the Power of Light

UNESCO created the International Day of Light as an annual event to celebrate how important light and light-based technologies are in changing our society and many parts of our daily lives.

When and where

Every year on May 16, scientist and engineer Theodore Maiman made history by using a laser for the first time successfully.

This is celebrated as International Day of Light. The theme this year is “Light in Our Lives,” which means we should let the light show us the way. It falls on Thursday, May 16, 2024.

The International Day of Light has its roots in 2015, when the UN held the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL 2015) to bring attention to the progress made in light science and its many uses around the world.

After IYL 2015 went well, on September 19, 2016, the UNESCO Executive Board passed a motion in favour of having an International Day of Light. On May 16, 2018, the first IDL took place.