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Prayas IAS Current Affairs Magazine May 2021 Week-1 PDF

 Raus IAS Focus Magazine May 2021 PDF

1)  World Bicycle Day celebrated on 3rd June

•United Nations celebrates World Bicycle Day every year on 3rd June to advance the use of the bicycle as a means of fostering sustainable development. The day aims to strengthen education for children and young people, preventing disease, promoting health, promoting tolerance, mutual understanding and respect and facilitating social inclusion and a culture of peace.

•The day was declared by the United Nations General Assembly in April 2018. World Bicycle Day is being observed every year to encourage member nations to give particular attention to the bicycle in cross-cutting development strategies and to improve road safety and integrate it into sustainable mobility and transport infrastructure planning and design. It also aims to promote the bicycle among all members of society.

2)  SCO Agreement On Mass Media Cooperation Gets India’s Retrospective Nod

•The Cabinet accorded an ex post facto approval for signing and ratifying an agreement on cooperation in the field of mass media between all member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The agreement aims to promote equal and mutually beneficial cooperation among associations in the field of mass media. The agreement, which was signed in June 2019, would provide an opportunity for the member states to share best practices and new innovations in the field of mass media.

•The main areas of cooperation in the agreement are the creation of favourable conditions for the wide and mutual distribution of information through mass media in order to further deepen the knowledge about the lives of the peoples of their states. The agreement shall promote equal and mutually beneficial cooperation among professional associations of journalists of the states in order to study the available professional experience, as well as to hold meetings, seminars and conferences.

3)  Isaac Herzog Elected as President of Israel

•Veteran Israeli politician, Isaac Herzog, has been elected as the President of the country on June 01, 2021, during the 120 members parliamentary election for 2021. The 60-year-old Herzog will be the 11th President of Israel, assuming office with effect from July 09, 2021. He will succeed Reuven Rivlin, who is set to complete his tenure in July 2021 after seven years in office.

4)  BRICS Foreign Minister meeting concluded virtually

•External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar has chaired the meeting of BRICS foreign ministers through video conferencing. Foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa participated in this meeting. In this meeting, Ministers agreed to cooperate on the pillars of political and security, economic and finance, and People to people and cultural exchanges.

5)  Lt. General Pradeep Chandran Nair takes charge as DG of Assam Rifles

•Lieutenant General Pradeep Chandran Nair, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), Yudh Seva Medal (YSM) took over as the 21st Director General of the Assam Rifles (popularly known as Sentinels of the North-East). He has rich experience of Assam Rifles and the North East, having earlier served as an Inspector General and a Company Commander in Assam Rifles, besides having commanded Assam Rifles battalions as a Brigade Commander.

6)  XraySetu Launched to Detect Covid in Rural Population via WhatsApp

•A new AI-driven platform called ‘XraySetu’ has been developed to help in the early detection of COVID 19, with the help of Chest X-ray. The solution will be beneficial for early detection especially in rural areas, where RT-PCR tests and CT-Scans are not easily available. XraySetu will operate through WhatsApp. It will identify COVID positive patients even from low-resolution Chest X-Ray images sent over Whatsapp-based Chatbot.

•The solution has been developed by ARTPARK (AI & Robotics Technology Park), a not-for-profit foundation established by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, with support from the Department of Science & Technology (DST), GOI, in collaboration with Bangalore based HealthTech startup Niramai and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

7)  China reports first human case of H10N3 bird flu

•A 41-year-old man in China’s eastern province of Jiangsu has been confirmed as the first human case of infection with the H10N3 strain of bird flu, China’s National Health Commission (NHC). The man, a resident of the city of Zhenjiang, was hospitalised on April 28 after developing a fever and other symptoms. He was diagnosed as having the H10N3 avian influenza virus.

8)  Dr Patrick Amoth of Kenya Appointed as Chair of WHO Executive Board

•Dr Patrick Amoth, the acting Director-General for Health, Ministry of Health of Kenya has been appointed as the Chairman of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive Board, for a period of one year. The announcement was made during the 149th session of the WHO Executive Board, on June 02, 2021, by the outgoing Chair Dr Harsh Vardhan.

•Mr Amoth replaces Union Health Minister, Government of India, Dr Harsh Vardhan, who completed his tenure as Chairman of WHO Executive Board on June 02, 2021. Dr Vardhan will continue to be a member of the Executive Board of WHO till 2023. The chairman’s post is held on a rotation basis for one year among regional groups.

9)  Dr Vinay K Nandicoori appointed as Director of CCMB

•Former IITian, Dr Vinay K Nandicoori, has been appointed as the Director at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, Telangana. He is a well-known molecular biologist, and a scientist at the DBT-National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi.

•Dr Nandicoori’s research interest extensively spans molecular signalling networks in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the micro-organism that causes TB. His research has found national and international relevance and recognition.

10)  Amul’s RS Sodhi elected to board of International Dairy Federation

•The International Dairy Federation (IDF) has unanimously elected R S Sodhi, managing director, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd or GCMMF that sells Amul branded products in India, to its board during the general assembly held on 1 June. He is alumni of the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA). He joined GCMMF (Amul) in the year 1982 after completing his post-graduation from IRMA.

11)  WhatsApp appoints Paresh B Lal as Grievance Officer for India

•The Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp has named Paresh B Lal as the Grievance Officer for India. WhatsApp has updated the details on its website for how to contact Mr Lal because, under the IT law, social media companies are required to display the names and other details of their grievance officers on their websites.

•The appointment is in line with the government’s new IT order that requires all the tech companies, like Google, Facebook, WhatsApp to appoint a grievance officer, nodal officer and a chief compliance officer from India. The grievance officer shall address the complaint within 24 hours and dispose of the complaint within 15 days.

12)  UN Sustainable Transport Conference will take place in China

•The second United Nations Global Sustainable Transport Conference will be held from 14-16 October 2021 in Beijing, China. It will provide an opportunity to focus attention on the opportunities, challenges and solutions towards achieving sustainable transport worldwide.

•The conference will follow up on the first Global Sustainable Transport Conference, held in 2016 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, and is expected to indicate a way forward for sustainable transport to help achieve the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

13)  Microsoft launches the first ever Asia-Pacific cybersecurity council

•The first Asia Pacific Public Sector Cyber Security Executive Council has been launched by Microsoft. It consists of policymakers and influencers from Brunei, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The council aims to accelerate public-private partnerships in cybersecurity and share threat intelligence.

•The council will meet virtually on a quarterly basis. As part of the council, government agencies and state leaders will join a forum. The forum includes Microsoft and its cybersecurity industry advisors. Encounter rates for malware and ransomware attacks are higher than average in the case of APAC. APAC means Asia-Pacic (A-sia PAC-ic).

14)  ICC Expands Men’s ODI Cricket World Cup to 14 teams

•The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that the Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2027 and 2031, will once again be a 14-team, 54-match tournament. Earlier in the 2019 World Cup, only 10 teams contested, compared to 14 teams in the 2015 World Cup.

•These 14 teams will split into two groups of seven, top three from each group will be progressing to a Super Six stage, followed by semifinals and final. ICC has also decided to expand the men’s T20 World Cup to 20 teams. The tournament will take place every two years from 2024-2030.

📰 Officials sitting on vaccine manufacturing potential need to be charged with manslaughter: Delhi HC

 What is the issue?

• In the latest estimates of economic growth (for the financial year that ended in March 2021), India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 7.3% in 2020-21.
• It is imperative, in this context, to understand the reasons for this contraction in GDP.

How could this be approached?

• There are two ways to view this contraction in GDP:

1. To look at this as an outlier - India, like most other countries, is facing a once-in-a-century pandemic
2. To look at what has been happening to the Indian economy over the last decade, and more precisely over the last 7 years

• Notably, between the early 1990s until the pandemic hit the country, India grew at an average of around 7% every year.
• So, the latest GDP data suggests that India’s economy had been steadily worsening during the current regime even before the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The “fundamentals of the economy” (a bunch of economy-wide variables showing an economy’s health) suggest this, as discussed below.

How has the GDP been?

1)  WHO names Covid-19 variants first found in India as ‘Kappa’ and ‘Delta’

•The UN health agency, World Health Organisation (WHO), has given easy-to-say labels to two variants of the Covid-19, first found in India. The two variants are B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2. The B.1.617.1 variant of the Covid 19 has been named as ‘Kappa’ while the B1.617.2 variant is named as ‘Delta.’

•The naming of these variants do not aim at replacing the existing scientific names of these #SARSCoV2 Variants of Concern (VOCs) & Interest (VOIs), but is aimed at helping the public discussion about VOI/VOC.

2)  OECD estimate growth cut of India to 9.9% FY22

•The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has cut India’s growth projection to 9.9 % for Financial Year 2022. In March, it estimated growth to 12.6%. The rate was cut witnessing covid cases lockdowns which have threatened to stall the nascent economic recovery of India. As per OECD, “pandemic can be contained quickly but GDP (gross domestic product) growth will still be about 10% in 2021-22 and 8% in 2022-23.

3)  Justice A.K. Mishra to head NHRC

•Former Supreme Court judge Arun Kumar Mishra will be the new chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) after a high-powered recommendation committee proposed his name.  The selection panel consisted of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Harivansh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge.

•Former Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Mahesh Mittal Kumar, and former Director of Intelligence Bureau, Rajiv Jain, had also been recommended by the high-powered panel as members of the NHRC but the official notification is yet to be out until the filing of this report.

4)  SBI Economists Revises GDP Growth Estimate in FY22 to 7.9%

•SBI economists, in its research report “Ecowrap”, has sharply cut the GDP growth estimates for the Indian economy to 7.9 per cent in FY22, compared to an earlier projection of 10.4 per cent. This is the lowest growth rate estimate for India among all analysts.

•The key factor for revision in the growth estimate is the impact of the second wave of COVID-19 infections. The SBI economists project a “W-shaped” recovery in FY22, with two troughs, instead of the earlier anticipated “V-shaped” recovery.

5)  Centre for World University Rankings 2021-22 announced

•Centre for World University Rankings 2021-22 has announced, 19,788 institutions were ranked, and those that placed at the top made the global 2000 list. Harvard University has topped the ranking globally followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of Cambridge, and Oxford University respectively.

•As many as 68 Indian institutes have made it to the list of the top 2000 higher education institutes across the world, as per the Centre for World University Rankings (CWUR) 2021-22. The Indian pack is led by the IIM-Ahmedabad which has bagged 415th rank followed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) at 459th rank.

6)  IIT-Ropar Develops ‘AmbiTAG’ India’s First Indigenous Temperature Data Logger

•Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar (IIT Ropar) in Punjab has developed a first-of-its-kind IoT device, “AmbiTag” that records real-time ambient temperature during the transportation of perishable products, vaccines and even body organs and blood. That recorded temperature further helps to know whether that particular item transported from anywhere in the world is still usable or perished because of temperature variation. This information is particularly critical for vaccines including the Covid-19 vaccine, organs and blood transportation.

1)  World Milk Day celebrated on 01st June

•The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations celebrates World Milk Day every year on 01st June to recognize the importance of milk as a global food, and to celebrate the dairy sector. It aims to encourage people to talk about the advantages of dairy with regards to health including nutrition, accessibility and affordability.

•This year, our theme will focus on Sustainability in the dairy sector with messages around the environment, nutrition and socio-economics. In doing so we will re-introduce dairy farming to the world.

2)  Madhya Pradesh Government launches ‘Ankur’ scheme

•In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan government has launched a scheme named ‘Ankur’ under which citizens will be awarded for planting trees during monsoon. Citizens taking part in this initiative will be given the Pranvayu Award, to ensure public participation in the programme.

3)  WHO honours Dr Harsh Vardhan for efforts in tobacco control

•World Health Organisation (WHO) has awarded Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan with `WHO Director-General Special Recognition Award` for his accomplishments in the area of tobacco control. Every year, WHO recognises individuals or organisations in each of the six WHO Regions for their accomplishments in the area of tobacco control.

•This recognition takes the form of the WHO Director-General Special Recognition Award and World No Tobacco Day Awards. Dr Harsh Vardhan leadership was instrumental in the 2019 national legislation to ban E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.

4)  IFFCO introduces world’s first ‘Nano Urea’ for farmers across world

•Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has introduced the world’s first Nano Urea Liquid for farmers across the world. According to an official statement issued by IFFCO, the world’s first Nano Urea Liquid was introduced in its 50th annual general body meeting held in the online-offline mode in India.

5)  NATO Conduct Steadfast Defender 21 war Games

•North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is organising “Steadfast Defender 21 war games” military exercises in Europe as tensions with Russia increases. These war games are being organised with the aim of simulating the response of a 30-nation military organisation for the attack on any one of its members. It seeks to test the ability of NATO to deploy troops from America.

•Top NATO brass insists that the military exercises, involving some 9,000 troops from 20 nations, are not aimed at Russia specifically, but they focus on the Black Sea region, where Russia stands accused of blocking the free navigation of ships.

6)  A book title ‘Savarkar: A contested Legacy (1924-1966) authored by Vikram Sampath

•Decorated historian and author Vikram Sampath has come out with the second and concluding volume of the book on the life and works of Veer Savarkar titled “Savarkar: A contested Legacy (1924-1966)”. The book will hit the stands on July 26, 2021, under the publication of Penguin Random House India.

•The first volume, “Savarkar: Echoes from a Forgotten Past” was released in 2019 and covered Savarkar”s life from his birth in 1883 to his conditional release from prison in 1924. The second volume will bring to light the life and works of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, from 1924 to 1966, the year he died.

7)  Ravi Shahtri’s Debut Book Titled ‘Stargazing: The Players in My Life’

•Cricket all-rounder, commentator and coach, Ravi Shastri is now making his publishing debut, as he has penned a book titled ‘Stargazing: The Players in My Life’. The book is being published by HarperCollins India. It is been co-authored by Ayaz Memon. It is expected to be released on June 25, 2021. In the book, Shastri has written about some 60 extraordinary talents he has met from across the world who have inspired him.

8)  IIT Guwahati researchers design “smart windows” to cut carbon emissions

•IIT Guwahati researchers have developed a “Smart Window” material that can effectively control the amount of heat and light passing through it in response to an applied voltage. This material can help in developing automatic climate control systems in buildings. Such materials can help develop efficient automatic climate control systems in buildings, the scientists claimed. This study was recently published in the journal- ‘Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells.

•However, achieving such a target is made easier by innovation by Debabrata Sikdar, an assistant professor at IIT’s Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, and his research student Ashish Kumar Chowdhary.

9)  Tata Steel’s T.V. Narendran takes over as CII president

•Tata Steel Ltd chief executive officer and managing director, T.V. Narendran has taken over as president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2021-22. He takes over the leadership of the industry body from Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd managing director and chief executive officer Uday Kotak, who has completed his term.

•Narendran, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, has been associated with the CII for many years. He was the chairman of CII eastern region during 2016-17 and has led the industry body’s national committees on leadership and human resources, besides being chairman of CII Jharkhand.

10)  CBDT member JB Mohapatra gets additional charge of chairman

•The Finance Ministry Jagannath Bidyadhar Mohapatra, Member, CBDT, has been given the additional charge of chairman of the direct taxes board for three months. The extended tenure of the incumbent chairman Pramod Chandra Mody ended on May 31.

•In February, he was given a third extension till May 31. Last week, the government had appointed three new members to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the administrative and policy-making body for the Income Tax Department.

11)  RBI cancels licence of Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank

•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the licence of Pune-based Shivajirao Bhosale Sahakari Bank. The bank ceases to carry on banking business, with effect from the close of business on May 31. The bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects. As such, it does not comply with the provision of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

•The RBI observed that the bank with its present financial position would be unable to pay its present depositors in full. The bank was placed under RBI Directions from the close of business on May 4, 2019.

•With the cancellation of licence and commencement of liquidation proceedings, the process of paying the depositors of the bank as per the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC). Act, 1961, will be set in motion. As per the data submitted by the bank, more than 98 per cent of the depositors will receive full amounts of their deposits from DICGC.

12)  Utah Jazz’s Jordan Clarkson wins 2021 Sixth Man of the Year

•Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson has won the 2020-21 Kia NBA Sixth Man Award for his contributions in a reserve role. This is the first Sixth Man honour for Clarkson, who becomes the first player to win the annual award with the Jazz.

•Clarkson becomes the first player in Jazz franchise history to win the award and was presented the trophy by his teammate and fellow Sixth Man of the Year Finalist Joe Ingles. Clarkson received 65 first-place votes and earned 407 total points from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.

📰 China’s coercive population measures serve as warning for India: Experts