VISION

📰 DRDO hands over 75 large oxygen cylinders for use in Delhi

Insights IAS Prelims 2021 Exclusive Agriculture PDF

 GS SCORE Fact Files:  Act and Policies PDF

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 Why in news?

• Protests against the military coup in Myanmar have assumed new dimensions.
• Some “ethnic armed organisations” (EAOs) are mounting their own resistance against the junta (a military or political group that rules a country after taking power by force.)

What are the recent tensions?

• The generals are hitting back the EAOs with airstrikes, a sign that they are ready to use the most brutal means to crush opposition.
• The Myanmar military bombed villages on its border with Thailand.
• It carried this out in retaliation for the loss of one of its outposts in the southeastern Karen (now renamed Kayin) state that the Karen National Union (KNU) had seized earlier.
• The air strikes sent hundreds of Karen, one of Myanmar’s many ethnic minority groups, scattering across the border.
• Some 24,000 Karen people have been displaced in fighting in the past one month.
• Another area of tension is in the north, in Kachin state bordering China and forming a trijunction with India.
• Aerial bombardment has been going on here for days since the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) attacked two police outposts and a military base.
• Some 5,000 people are displaced with this.
• In Myanmar’s western Chin state, which borders Mizoram, 15 soldiers were killed in two separate incidents.
• This was claimed by a new ethnic armed militia called the Chinland Defence Force (CDF).
• Impact - The resistance by the EAOs seems to have taken the Myanmar army by surprise.
• In all, 21 EAOs, and several more militias, are active in the border states of Myanmar.
• Many of them have been waging armed resistance against the state for decades now.

What is the unfulfilled Federation dream of Myanmar?

Rau’s IAS Prelims Compass 2021 Indian Polity PDF

1)  Ayushman Bharat Diwas: April 30

•Every year, the Ayushman Bharat Diwas is celebrated on April 30 in India. The Ayushman Bharat Diwas is celebrated to achieve twin missions. They are to promote health and wellness to the poor and also to provide insurance benefits to them. The day aims to promote affordable medical facilities in remote areas of the country based on the Socio-Economic Caste Census database. It will also promote health and wellness and provide insurance benefits to the poor.

2)  International Jazz Day: 30 April

•The International Jazz Day is celebrated on 30 April every year to highlight the importance of jazz and its diplomatic role in uniting people in all corners of the globe. The 2021 celebration marks the 10th Anniversary of International Jazz Day. The day was created on the idea of jazz pianist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock.

3)  NATO military exercises launched in Albania

•North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has launched joint military exercises “DEFENDER-Europe 21” in Albania with thousands of military forces from the United States and other countries in the first such large-scale drills since World War II in the Western Balkans. Albania is playing a critical part in the DEFENDER-Europe 21 exercise with Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore operations taking place.

4)  Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurates India’s first 3D printed house at IIT-M

•The Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman virtually inaugurated the first 3D printed house in India at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M). The concept of this 3D printed house was conceived by former IIT-M alumni. The single-storey home has been built in just five days over an area of about 600 sq. ft using ‘Concrete 3D Printing” technology.

•The house is by IIT-Madras based start-up ‘TVASTA Manufacturing Solutions’, within the campus, in association with Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Centre for Innovation in Shelter. The 3D Printed House would help to meet the deadline of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of the ‘housing for all’ scheme by 2022.

5)  RBI joins network for greening financial system

•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has joined the Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) as a member. The central bank joined the NGFS on April 23, 2021. Green finance assumed significance in the context of climate change. The RBI expects to benefit from the membership of NGFS by learning from and contributing to global efforts on green finance, which has assumed significance in the context of climate change.

•Launched at the Paris One Planet Summit on December 12, 2017, the NGFS is a group of central banks and supervisors willing to share best practices and contribute to the development of environment and climate risk management in the financial sector, while mobilising mainstream finance to support the transition towards a sustainable economy.

6)  Niraj Bajaj named Bajaj Auto Chairman

•Bajaj Auto has announced the appointment of Neeraj Bajaj as its new Chairman of the Board with effect from May 1, 2021. The automaker has also announced Rahul Bajaj as its Chairman Emeritus. This will be taken up at the ensuing annual general meeting for the approval of the shareholders.

•Rahul Bajaj, Non-executive Chairman of the Company, having been at the helm of the Company since 1972 and the Group for five decades, considering his age, has tendered his resignation as a non-executive director and Chairman of the Company with effect from close of business hours on 30 April 2021.

7)  ICICI Bank launches Digital banking Platform ‘Merchant Stack’

•The ICICI Bank has announced the launch of a digital and contactless banking platform, especially for retail merchants. The service, called ‘Merchant Stack’, is targeted at the over 2 crore retail merchants in the country, covering grocers, supermarkets, large retail store chains, online businesses and large e-commerce firms.

8)  TV Somanathan named finance secretary by ACC

•The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of T V Somanathan as the new Finance Secretary. He will replace Ajay Bhushan Pandey who superannuated in February 2021. Somanathan, a 1987 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, was currently serving as the Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance.

•Earlier, he has served as a joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office. Somanathan was awarded the Gold Medal for the Best IAS trainee of his cohort. He holds a PhD in Economics from Calcutta University and is a chartered accountant, chartered management accountant and chartered secretary.