Daily GK Update- 25th, May 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. DRDO develops Covid-19 antibody detection kit ‘DIPCOVAN’: India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a Covid-19 antibody detection kit. The DIPCOVAN kit can detect both spikes as well as nucleocapsid proteins of Coronavirus with a high sensitivity of 97%. It has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research and has been developed by the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences lab of DRDO in association with Delhi’s Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt Ltd.

About the DIPCOVAN: DIPCOVAN is intended for the qualitative detection of IgG antibodies in human serum or plasma, targeting SARS-CoV-2 related antigens. It offers a significantly faster turnaround time of just 75 minutes to conduct the test without any cross-reactivity with other diseases. The kit has a shelf life of 18 months.

Note: Chairman DRDO: Dr G Satheesh Reddy; DRDO Headquarters: New Delhi; DRDO Established: 1958.

 

2. Cyclone Yaas to hit West Bengal, Odisha: A category 5 cyclonic storm has been forecasted to make its landfall along the coastline of West Bengal and Odisha between May 26-27. Once formed, the cyclone will be named ‘Yaas’. Yaas will be as deadly as Amphan which was also formed in the Bay of Bengal in May last year. Yaas, named by Oman as such, refers to a Jasmine-like tree that has a good fragrance.

A rotational list of the names of cyclones is maintained by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), with the names specific for each tropical zone. If a cyclone is especially deadly then its name is never used and is replaced by another name. The list has a total of 169 names at present which will be used on a rotational basis.

Note: World Meteorological Organisation Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland; World Meteorological Organisation Founded: 23 March 1950; World Meteorological Organisation President: David Grimes.

 

3. A book title “Nehru, Tibet and China” authored by Avtar Singh Bhasin: A book has titled “Nehru, Tibet and China” authored by Avtar Singh Bhasin. The book based on years of meticulous archival research, this book in fascinating detail, analyses the events from 1949 to the Indo-China war in 1962 and its aftermath to explore the answers to these burning questions.

 

4. Indian Commonwealth Day: 24th May: Commonwealth Day is celebrated on the second Monday in the month of March every year. However, in India, another Commonwealth Day is also celebrated on May 24. Also known as Empire Day, Commonwealth Day commemorates the formation of the British Empire in India and other colonies of Britain. This year the theme for Commonwealth Day is: Delivering a Common Future. The aim of this theme is to highlight how the 54 Commonwealth countries are innovating, connecting and transforming to help achieve essential goals like tackling climate change, promoting good governance, achieving gender equality.

History of the day: It was not until after the death of Queen Victoria, who passed away on January 22, 1901, that Empire Day was first celebrated. The first Empire Day was celebrated on May 24, 1902, which was the Queen’s birthday. Many schools across the British Empire were celebrating it even before it was officially recognised as an annual event.

 

INTERNATIONALUPDATES:

 

1. Asia’s richest and second richest persons are now Indians: Billionaire Gautam Adani has edged past Chinese tycoon ZhongShanshan to become the second-richest Asian, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. China’s Zhong was the richest Asian till February when he lost the crown to MukeshAmbani, India’s richest person and chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd. However, while Ambani lost $175.5 million this year, Adani’s wealth surged by $32.7 billion to touch $66.5 billion, against Zhong’s $63.6 billion. Ambani’s total wealth now stands at $76.5 billion, making him the 13th richest in the world, followed by Adani at 14th.

Bloomberg Billionaires Index on May 21, 2021:

 

Rank	Name	Net Worth	Country
1	Jeff Bezos	$189B	US
2	Elon Musk	$163B	US
3	Bernard Arnault	$162B	France
4	Bill Gates	$142B	US
5	Mark Zuckerberg	$119B	US
6	Warren Buffet	$108B	US
7	Larry Page	$106B	US
8	Sergey Brin	$102B	US
9	Larry Ellison	$91.2B	US
10	Steve Ballmer	$89.2B	US
11	Francoise Bettercourt Meyers	$87.2B	France
12	Amancio Ortega	$82.4B	Spain
13	MukeshAmbani	$76.3B	India
14	Gautam Adani	$67.6B	India
15	ZhongShanshan	$65.6B	China

 

2. World Thyroid Day: 25th May: World Thyroid Day is observed globally on 25 May every year. The main purpose of the WTD is to aware of the importance of Thyroid and the prevention and treatment of thyroid diseases. This day is established in 2008 as a part of the campaign led by the European Thyroid Association (ETA) and the American Thyroid Association (ATA) followed by the Latin American Thyroid Society (LATS) and Asia Oceania Thyroid Association (AOTA) to commemorate the patients with Thyroid diseases and doctors and physicians who treat them.

What is Thyroid: The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in the throat that produces T3 (Thyroxine) and T4 (Triiodothyronine) and maintained by the Thyroid-stimulating hormone(TSH). It regulates the metabolism of the body and abnormalities in this may cause dysfunctioning body systems. The decrease in thyroid hormone causes hypothyroidism (sudden weight gain) and the increase in thyroid hormone causes hyperthyroidism. Maintaining proper iodine level in the diet and limiting the usage of raw goitrogenic vegetables will help in avoiding thyroid diseases.

 

3. International Missing Children’s Day: 25th May: International Missing Children’s Day is observed globally on 25th May every year. This day is observed for missing children who have found their way home, remember those that are victims of crime, and continue efforts to seek out those that are still missing. 25 May is now widely referred to as Missing Children’s Day, with the forget-me-not flower as its emblem.

About International Missing Children’s Day: The day was proclaimed in 1983, by U.S. President Ronald Reagan. In 2001, 25 May was the first formally recognized as International Missing Children’s Day (IMCD), to a joint effort on the part of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), Missing Children Europe and therefore the European Commission.

Note:  ICMEC Headquarters: Alexandria, Virginia, US; Chairman of ICMEC: Dr Franz B. Humer.

 

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Sreejesh appointed FIH Athletes’ Committee member: Star India hockey team goalkeeper PR Sreejesh was re-appointed as a member of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Athletes’ Committee during the virtual meeting of the world body’s Executive Board. He has been a member of the panel since 2017. The experienced Sreejesh, who has led the Indian team in the past, was one of the four new members appointed by the EB which met two days before the 47th FIH Congress, which will also be held online.

The EB confirmed the appointment of four new members for the Athletes’ Committee. SreejeshParattu (IND), Marlena Rybacha (POL), Mohamed Mea (RSA) and Matt Swann (AUS) are now joining the Committee. Steve Horgan (USA), the new chair of the FIH Rules Committee, succeeding David Collier.

About the FIH Athletes Committee: The FIH Athletes Committee consists of current and former players who make recommendations to the FIH Executive Board, FIH Committees, Advisory Panels and other bodies on behalf of all athletes for the development of various resources and initiatives required for the growth of players and the sport.

Note: FIH Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland; FIH Founded: 7 January 1924, Paris, France; FIH CEO: Thierry Weil.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. RBI to transfer Rs. 99,122 crore surplus to Central Government for FY21: The Reserve Bank of India will transfer Rs 99,122 crore surplus to the Central Government for the accounting period of nine months ended March 31, 2021 (July 2020-March 2021). The Contingency Risk Buffer will remain at 5.50%. This year RBI has changed its Accounting year from July-June to April-March to coincide with the accounting year of Government. As a result, the accounting year 2020-21 of RBI has only 9 months. It must be noted that every year, RBI transfers its entire surplus which it has earned as profit to Central Government.

 

2. SBI and HyperVerge Partner for AI-powered Online Account Opening: HyperVerge announced its partnership with SBI, with one of its flagship products, the Video Banking solution, which aims to achieve a 10x improvement in the number of account openings per day per agent. The new service will offer a quick and completely paperless experience to customers with minimal ID documents. Assisted by AI engines with an accuracy of 99.5%, HyperVerge’s Video Banking solution enables SBI to provide convenient digital banking services to millions of Indians. Last year, the Reserve Bank of India (equivalent to the Federal Reserve) allowed banks to adopt the Video Customer Identification Process (V-CIP). This measure has proven to be prophetic given the rising Covid-19 cases.About this new technology:

(1) The technology developed by the Palo Alto headquartered company is critical at this hour since it helps financial institutions deliver uninterrupted services, and save the cost and time spent on manual processing.

(2) For comparison, manual checks by an agent can take up to 25 minutes, while HyperVerge’s solution completes the entire process within 5 minutes.

(3) The Video Banking solution can be supported on multiple platforms.

(4) Additionally, the solution performs pre-qualifier checks on customer details, schedules video calls with high throughput and performs AI-driven Liveness, OCR, and Facematch checks. This technology has long-term implications for an organization’s efficiency.

Note: SBI Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara; SBI Headquarters: Mumbai; SBI Founded: 1 July 1955.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Microsoft to retire iconic Internet Explorer on 15 June 2022: Tech-giant Microsoft has decided to retire its iconic Internet Explorer (IE) browser, with effect from 15 June 2022, after more than 25 years of its launch. The Internet Explorer (IE) browser was launched in 1995. Microsoft recommends its users shift to Microsoft Edge (2015) before June 15, 2022, for a faster, more secure and more modern browsing experience.

About Microsoft Edge: Microsoft Edge has in-built Internet Explorer mode (IE mode), so users can access legacy Internet Explorer-based websites and applications straight from Microsoft Edge.

History of Internet Explorer: Internet Explorer was once the most widely used web browser, with 95 per cent usage share by 2003. However, its usage share declined since the launch of Firefox (2004) and Google Chrome (2008), as well as the growing popularity of mobile operating systems such as Android and iOS that do not support Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) is the eleventh and final version of the Internet Explorer web browser officially released on October 17, 2013.

Note: Microsoft CEO: Satya Nadella; Microsoft Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, United States.

 

AWARDS AND HONOURS

 

1. Naturalist Jane Goodall wins 2021 Templeton prize for life’s work: The naturalist Jane Goodall has been announced as the 2021 winner of the Templeton Prize in recognition of her life’s work on animal intelligence and humanity. Goodall built her global reputation on her groundbreaking studies of chimpanzees in Tanzania in the 1960s.

The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, “whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton’s philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest questions of the universe and humankind’s place and purpose within it.”

Note: Templeton Prize Instituted: 1973; Presented by: John Templeton Foundation; Reward(s): £1.1 million; Currently held by: Francis Collins; Awarded for: Outstanding contributions in affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Indian boxing’s first Dronacharya awardee coach O P Bhardwaj passes away: Indian boxing’s first Dronacharya awardee coach, O P Bhardwaj has passed away. He has bestowed the highest national honour in coaching jointly with BhalchandraBhaskar Bhagwat (wrestling) & O M Nambiar (athletics) when it was introduced in 1985. Bhardwaj was India’s national boxing coach from 1968 to 1989 & also served as a national selector. He was the first chief instructor for the sport at the National Institute of Sports India in Patiala.