VISION

1)  International Day of Human Space Flight observed globally on 12 April

•The International Day of Human Space Flight is observed globally on April 12 every year. The UN General Assembly passed a resolution on April 7, 2011, had declared April 12 to be celebrated as International Day of Human Space Flight.

2)  National Safe Motherhood Day: 11 April

•National Safe Motherhood Day is observed on April 11 every year. National Safe Motherhood Day is an initiative of the White Ribbon Alliance India (WRAI), to enforce that women must have availability and adequate access to care during pregnancy childbirth and postnatal services. The day also marks the birth anniversary of Kasturba Gandhi, the wife of the father of Nation Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi.

3)  India-Netherlands Virtual Summit

•Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mr Mark Rutte, held a Virtual Summit. During the India- Netherlands virtual Summit, the two leaders reviewed the existing bilateral engagements and also exchanged views on further expanding and diversifying the relationship in trade and economy, water management, agriculture sector, smart cities, science & technology, healthcare and space.

4)  Ramesh Pokhriyal launches implementation plan ‘SARTHAQ’

•Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal chaired a high-level meeting on the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 and released an implementation plan for school education called ‘Students’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement through Quality Education (SARTHAQ)’.

5)  Indian Business Tycoon Yusuffali MA Gets Top Civilian Award In UAE

•Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has honoured Indian-origin businessman Yusuffali MA and 11 other individuals with Abu Dhabi’s top civilian award for their noble and charitable contributions to the community. The prestigious award was given to Mr Yusuffali, who was born in Kerala, for his outstanding contribution to Abu Dhabi’s business, industry and support to various philanthropic initiatives.

•Mr Yusuffali, the Chairman and Managing Director of Abu Dhabi-based LuLu Group which operates hypermarkets and retail companies in many countries, was honoured on Friday by the Crown Prince.

6)  Singapore becomes first country to ratify mega free trade agreement ‘RCEP’

•Singapore ratified the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, the world’s largest free trade agreement, led by China. In doing so, Singapore became the first among 15 participating countries to ratify RCEP. The RCEP must first be ratified by at least six ASEAN and three non-ASEAN member states to come into effect. Once implemented, RCEP would be the world’s largest free trade agreement, covering around one-third of the world’s population and about 30% of the world’s economy.

7)  Kiren Rijiju inaugurates Khelo India State Centre of Excellence in Srinagar

•Union Minister for Sports & Youth Affairs, Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the Khelo India State Centre of Excellence (KISCE) for Rowing discipline at the Jammu & Kashmir Sports Council Water Sports Academy at the Nehru Park in the world-famous Dal Lake in Srinagar. This is one of the two KISCEs from Jammu & Kashmir. The other being the Maulana Azad Stadium for Fencing discipline in Jammu.

•There are currently 24 KISCEs across 23 States and Union Territories and each of them focuses on Olympics sports discipline. This is an ongoing endeavour to scale up existing centres from the States and Union Territories to the world standard level keeping in mind the big picture of getting India to excel at the Olympics.

8)  United Arab Emirates names its first female astronaut

•The United Arab Emirates named the next two astronauts in its space programme on 10th April, including the country’s first female astronaut. Noura al-Matroushi is the UAE’s first female astronaut. The announcement gave no biographical information about her or her male counterpart, Mohammed al-Mulla.

•Al-Matroushi works as an engineer at the Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Co. Al-Mulla serves as a pilot with Dubai police and heads their training division. The two are set to head to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, for training. In 2019, Hazzaa Al-Mansoori became the UAE’s first astronaut. He spent a week on the International Space Station.

📰 Visually impaired struggle with NCERT e-textbooks

NEXT IAS Interview Guide Book CSE 2020 PDF

Vision IAS Monthly Current Affairs February 2021 [Hindi Medium] PDF

 Why in news?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently visited India, to make preparations for the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the annual summit.

What are the highlights?

• On the bilateral front, both sides appeared to make progress on strategic cooperation, cooperation in energy, nuclear and space sectors.
• Also mentioned was the talk on a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
• Discussions also involved more agreements on military-technical cooperation for the joint production of India-made Russian weapons.
• Mr. Lavrov highlighted that Russia was the only partner supplying India “cutting-edge military technology”.
• Neither side referred to the upcoming delivery of the $5 billion S-400 missile defence system directly.
• However, they reaffirmed their commitment to their defence partnership.
• Affirmations included those on avenues for more investment in connectivity.
• This included the International North-South Transport Corridor and the Chennai-Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor.

What were the conflicting areas?

PIB + YOJANA + KURUKSHETRA Current Affairs Compilation March 2021: APTI PLUS(IAS GYAN) PDF

GS SCORE Geography Mapping River 2020-2021 PDF

1)  World Homeopathy Day: 10 April

•World Homeopathy Day is celebrated every year on April 10 to spread awareness about homoeopathy and its contribution to the world of medicine. The day marks the birth anniversary of German physician Dr Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann, who is considered the founder of the system of alternative medicine called Homeopathy. The year 2021 marks the 266th birthday of Hahnemann.

2)  India gifts Rs 100 crore patrol vessel “PS Zoroaster” to Seychelles

•India formally handed over Rs 100 crore patrol vessel “PS Zoroaster” to Seychelles during the virtual summit between Indian PM Narendra Modi and Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan. The PS Zoroaster is the fourth made-in-India patrol boat developed for Seychelles since 2005. The other vessels gifted by India include PS Topaz (2005), PS Constant (2014), Patrol Boat Hermes (2016).

3)  Nirmala Sitharaman attends 103rd Development Committee Meeting of World Bank-IMF

•Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the 103rd Meeting of the Development Committee Plenary, via video conferencing. During the meeting, she shared the measures taken to combat COVID-19 including social support measures for the poor and vulnerable, and relief measures for firms in statutory and regulatory compliance matters.

4)  Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal launches “NanoSniffer”

•The Union Education Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched the world’s first Microsensor based Explosive Trace Detector (ETD) called “NanoSniffer”. The ETD has been developed by NanoSniff Technologies, an IIT Bombay incubated startup. It is being marketed by Vehant Technologies, a spin-off from a former IIT Delhi incubated startup Kritikal Solutions.

5)  Tika Utsav: COVID-19 Vaccination Drive

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently appealed to the Chief Ministers of the States to organise “Tika Utsav”. Tika Utsav is a vaccine festival. It is to be held between April 11, 2021, and April 14, 2021. The main objective of the festival is to vaccinate as many people as possible. It will also focus on zero wastage of the COVID-19 vaccine.

6)  Niger President Bazoum Names Mahamadou as New Prime Minister

•Niger President Mohamed Bazoum appointed Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou to head his new cabinet as the country’s new prime minister. He was previously served as a minister in charge of the finance and mining portfolios. He was the chief of staff to former President Mahamadou Issoufou between 2015 and 2021. He was sworn as Niger’s first democratic transition of power since independence in 1960.

7)  Indian Army Officer Bharat Pannu Breaks 2 Guinness World Records

•Indian Army’s Lieutenant Colonel, Bharat Pannu has earned two Guinness World Records for his fastest solo cycling feats from October 2020. The first record was created when Lt Col Pannu cycled from Leh to Manali (472 km distance) on October 10, 2020, in just 35 hours and 25 minutes.

•Lt Col Pannu created a second record when he cycled the 5,942-km-long ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ route, which connects Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, in 14 days, 23 hours and 52 minutes.

8)  Dutee Chand selected for inaugural Chhattisgarh Veerni Award

•Indian sprinter, Dutee Chand has been chosen for the inaugural edition of the Chhattisgarh Veerni Award, by the Chhattisgarh state government. The award, which recognises the contribution of Indian women in different fields, including sports, will be given virtually on April 14, 2021.

•The Odisha sprinter became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the World University Games held in Italy in 2019. She is a silver-medalist in 100 and 200 metres at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. Apart from this, Dutee holds the national record of 11.22 secs in 100m.