VISION

1)  World Hunger Day observed on 28 May

•World Hunger Day is observed globally on 28 May every year. The objective of this day is to raise awareness about more than 820 million people living in chronic hunger worldwide. It is observed since 2011 to not only spread awareness about the malaise of chronic hunger but also to solve hunger and poverty through sustainable undertakings.

•The initiative recognizes the dire need to save nearly a quarter of a billion lives from malnourishment and chronic hunger. The need to provide outreach globally during the pandemic for the distribution of food is seen as paramount to save those who have been vulnerable even in pre-pandemic times.

2)  International Day of Action for Women’s Health: 28 May

•The International Day of Action for Women’s Health (International Women’s Health Day) is observed every year on May 28 since 1987 to raise awareness on the issues related to women’s health and well being. Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network (LACWHN) and Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) launched the day.

•Year after year, women, girls, advocates and allies have continued to take action and stand up for sexual and reproductive rights for what they are: an indivisible and inalienable part of our human rights.

3)  International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories

•The United Nations is observing the International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories from May 25 to 31, 2021. On December 06, 1999, the UN General Assembly called for the annual observance of the Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories. In UN Charter, a Non-Self-Governing Territory is defined as a Territory “whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government.”

•The observation aims to take effective measures to safeguard and guarantee the inalienable rights of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories to their natural resources, including land, and to establish and maintain control over the future development of those resources and requested the Administering Powers to take all necessary steps to protect the property rights of the peoples of those Territories. At present, there are 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories remaining.

4)  Kerala’s new Smart Kitchen Scheme

•Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan has announced a secretary-level committee will formulate guidelines and recommendations on implementation of the “Smart Kitchen Scheme” in state to fulfil commitments of the Left Democratic Front (LDF). It aims to account and reduce the workload of women’s domestic labour. Smart Kitchen Scheme will be launched by July 10, 2021.

•Under the scheme, women of state will be given loan to refurbish their kitchen. Loan will be provided with a low-interest rate in instalment schemes. Scheme seeks to reduce workload of women’s domestic labour.

5)  Rajnath Singh launches SeHAT OPD portal

•Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has launched the ‘Services e-Health Assistance & Tele-consultation (SeHAT) OPD portal, through video conferencing. The main motive of the portal is to provide telemedicine services to the serving Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families.

6)  IFSCA constitutes an expert committee on Investment Funds

•The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has constituted an expert committee on Investment Funds. The Committee has been formed under the Chairmanship of Nilesh Shah, Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co. Ltd. It will holistically review the global best practices and make recommendations to IFSCA on the roadmap for the fund’s industry in the International Financial Service Centres (IFSCs).

•The other members of the Committee comprises of leaders from the entire Fund Management ecosystem including from areas such as technology, distribution, legal, compliance, and operations.

7)  Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma Appoints ‘Guardian Ministers’

•Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has appointed ‘Guardian Ministers’ to oversee the implementation of government policy decisions, administrative reforms, and other welfare schemes in all the 34 districts of the state. 13 ‘Guardian Ministers’ have been appointed for all 34 districts in Assam, for balanced, speedy and sustainable developments of these districts. The assigned ministers will be responsible for the implementation of all centrally-sponsored schemes as well as the state’s own priority programmes.

8)  TRIFED and NITI AAYOG to partner to implement the Van Dhan Yojana

•TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India), Ministry of Tribal Affairs is set to partner with NITI Aayog for implementation of Van Dhan Vikas Kendra (VDVK) initiative under Van Dhan Yojna in 39 Tribal Aspirational districts identified by NITI Aayog. These include districts in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Telangana and Tripura.

9)  Jagjit Pavadia elected as president of Vienna based INCB

•Jagjit Pavadia, the former Narcotics Commissioner of India and a retired officer of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs), has been elected president of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). She is the first Indian to be heading the Vienna-based organization and the second woman to hold this office.

•The Board will pay particular attention to the timely supply of and access to controlled drugs during emergency situations. It will also continue its work on the development of guidelines for the control and monitoring of cannabis and cannabis-related substances. INCB monitors the compliance of UN Member States with the three international drug control conventions and the functioning of the international drug control system.

10)  Aashritha V Olety is India’s 1st woman flight test engineer

•Squadron Leader, Aashritha V Olety is the first and only woman in the IAF qualified for the role, and as a flight test engineer, she will be responsible for evaluating aircraft and airborne systems before their induction into the armed forces. Aashritha V Olety, a native of Karnataka, has graduated as part of the 43rd Flight Test Course.

11)  A new book to raise funds for child rights amid pandemic

•Aditya Gupta, a Delhi-based entrepreneur and mountaineer aim to raise Rs 1 crore for COVID-19 relief from the sale proceeds of his recently released book “7 Lessons from Everest – Expedition Learnings from Life and Business”. The coffee-table book, with 350 stunning images spread over 250 pages, is written by Aditya Gupta.

•The book narrates the author’s experience of scaling Mt Everest at the age of 50 in 2019 and shares the virtues of “preparation, passion, perseverance, mental toughness, and resilience”. The proceeds from the book will be given to NGO Child Rights and You (CRY).

12)  Ashok Kumar, the only Indian referee to officiate in wrestling in Tokyo Olympics

•Ashok Kumar will be the only referee from the country to officiate in wrestling matches of the Tokyo Olympic Games. He was named in the list of officials released by the United World Wrestling (UWW). Ashok, who will officiate in his second consecutive Olympics. He is a UWW referees’ educator as well.

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📰 Twitter defaming India, defying laws, says government

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1)  Cabinet Approves MoUs Signed Between ICoAl, ICSI With Foreign Countries

•The Union Cabinet has granted approval to the Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) entered into by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India with various countries and organisations. The MoUs seek to facilitate mutual recognition of qualifications and a range of collaborative activities for the exchange of knowledge. The signed MoUs would help in the advancement of the goals on equity, public accountability and innovation among the beneficiaries countries.

•The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICoAl) and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) have signed MoUs with foreign organisations namely Institute of Public Accountants (IPA), Australia, Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, UK (CISI), Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), UK, Institute of Certified Management Accountants, Sri Lanka and Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), UK.

2)  Ayush Ministry Organises Series Of 5 Webinars On “Be With Yoga, Be At Home”

•The Ministry of Ayush is organising various activities in the run-up to the International Day of Yoga, 2021. One among these is a series of five webinars that the Ministry is organising under the broad theme of “Be with Yoga, Be at Home” in collaboration with five renowned organisations of the country who will present one webinar each on a particular topic. Some renowned Organisations are:- The Art of Living, The Yoga Institute, ArhamDhyanYog, etc.

•This series of five insightful webinars are aimed to remind the wider audience about the issues that have become extremely important in the present context of Covid-19. The series will seek to develop a cumulative understanding to respond to these cross-cutting issues, relying upon the collective experiential wisdom of five organisations that have their own distinctive tradition of learning and sharing.

3)  NASA Partners ISRO to develop Earth System Observatory

•The US space agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is developing a new system called the Earth System Observatory, to mitigate efforts related to climate change and disaster mitigation. NASA has also partnered with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) which will provide NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR). NISAR will carry two radar systems to measure changes in the Earth’s surface, during one of the observatory’s first missions intended as a pathfinder.

4)  Cheetah to be re-introduced in India from Africa in November

•Cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal which was declared extinct in India in 1952, is expected to be re-introduced into the country in November this year at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Kuno, positioned within the Chambal area, unfolds over a space of over 750 sq km and has a conducive atmosphere for the cheetah.

•The country’s last spotted cheetah died in Chhattisgarh in 1947 and it was declared extinct in the country in 1952. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) some years again ready a cheetah re-introduction undertaking.

•The Supreme Court docket had earlier given its approval to introduce African cheetahs to an acceptable habitat in India on an experimental foundation. Officers from India might be despatched to South Africa for sensitisation and coaching in June and July these 12 months and in accordance with the plan, the transportation of the cheetahs will happen in October and November.

5)  Dr Nageshwar Reddy becomes first Indian to win Rudolf V Schindler award

•Padma Bhushan awardee and noted gastroenterologist Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, who is also the chairman of AIG Hospitals, has won the Rudolf V Schindler Award from the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE). Rudolf V Schindler Award is the highest category in the prestigious Crystal Awards named after Dr Schindler who is considered as “the father of gastroscopy.”

•With this, Dr Reddy becomes the first Indian medical practitioner to win this award. Dr Reddy is one of the first to promote endoscopy in India and has led the charge of educating numerous endoscopists all over the world.

6)  Zeta becomes 14th Indian unicorn this year after SoftBank funding

•Banking technology startup, Zeta has raised $250 million from Japanese investment major SoftBank at a valuation of $1.45 billion. Zeta has become the 14th Indian startup to cross the valuation of $1 billion in 2021. SoftBank’s Vision Fund II was the source of the investment. The company’s value has increased by more than threefold as a result of SoftBank’s investment.

•The company operates in North America, Latin America, United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. At present Zeta works with 10 banks and 25 startups including HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, Sodexo RBL Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, and SBM Bank India, across eight countries. With Zeta, financial institutions can leverage a modern, cloud-native platform and improve speed to market, agility, cost to income ratio and user experience.

7)  IAS VK Pandian to receive FIH President’s Award

•V Karthikeyan Pandian, an IAS officer, and private secretary to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was conferred with President’s award by International Hockey Federation through the 47th FIH Congress. He was awarded for his contribution in direction of the event and promotion of hockey in Odisha.

•On the closing day of the 47th FIH Congress held virtually, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced Pandian will receive the award for his contribution and services to Hockey in Odisha. Pandian also works as Secretary of the State government’s 5T Initiative (Technology, Transparency, Teamwork and Time Leading to Transformation).

8)  IIT Ropar develops unique detector ‘FakeBuster’

•Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar and Monash University, Australia have developed a detector named ‘FakeBuster’ to identify imposters attending a virtual conference without anybody’s knowledge. It can also find out faces manipulated on social media to defame or make a joke of someone.

9)  Phil Mickelson wins 2021 PGA Championship

•American professional golfer, Phil Mickelson has created history by winning the 2021 PGA Championship, at the age of 50. With this victory, Mickelson became the oldest player to win a major title in the history of the PGA Tour. This is his sixth major title.

•Mickelson has now broken the record of being the oldest major championship winner in history at the age of 50 years, 11 months, and 7 days. This record was previously held by American Julius Boros when he captured the 1968 PGA Championship at age 48, 4 months and 18 days.

📰 Cyclone Yaas makes landfall in Balasore, triggers heavy damage

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