Daily GK Update- 5th, May 2021

 

NATIONAL UPDATES:

 

1. Indian Army Launches First Solar Plant in North Sikkim: The Indian Army recently launched the first Green Solar Energy harnessing plant in Sikkim. It was launched to benefit the troops of the Indian army. The plant uses Vanadium based battery technology. It was built at an altitude of 16,000 feet. The capacity of the plant is 56 KVA. It was completed in collaboration with IIT Mumbai.

About the Vanadium: In January 2021, Vanadium was discovered in Arunachal Pradesh. This was the first discovery of Vanadium in India. India consumes 4% of global vanadium production in the world. It is found in sixty different minerals and ores that includes carnotite, vanadate, roscoelite, patronite. Vanadium is used in making steel alloys, space vehicles, nuclear reactors, etc. It is also used in making girders, piston rods. Vanadium redox batteries are used in superconducting magnets. They are also used to create reliable renewable sources of energy. The colour of Vanadium is silver. It is a transitional metal, that is, a good conductor of heat and electricity.

Note: Chief Minister of Sikkim: PS Golay; Governor of Sikkim: Ganga Prasad.

 

2. PepsiCo Foundation partners with SEEDS to set up COVID care centres: PepsiCo Foundation, the philanthropic arm of PepsiCo, said it has partnered with the not-for-profit organisation, Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society (SEEDS) to launch a community COVID-19 vaccination drive and set up COVID care centres. To focus on Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana. As part of the partnership, SEEDS will drive Covid-19 vaccinations for the community at large, set up Covid care centres equipped with beds and medical facilities, including oxygen cylinders.

Under the partnership: Over 1 lakh vaccines doses will be provided to communities, to be administered through the local healthcare system, while five COVID care centres will be set up for three months that will be equipped with beds and medical facilities, including oxygen cylinders, PepsiCo India said in a statement. Moreover, over 100 oxygen concentrators will be provided to the Central government for distribution to various government hospitals across states, it added.

 

3. Government sets food grain output target at record 307.31 million tonnes: Amid scare of Covid-19 second wave which forced the States and Union Territories to impose lockdown like curbs, the Government set a record rice production target of 104.3 million tonne for the kharif season of 2021-22 crop year (July-June). However, the overall foodgrains production target for the full 2021-22 crop year is kept at 307.31 million tonne. This includes production of 151.43 million tonnes of food grains during kharif (summer) season and 155.88 million tonnes during rabi (winter) season. Meanwhile, the government has asked five non-traditional onion growing states-Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh to increase the area sown under the crop by 9,900 hectares in the forthcoming kharif season to avoid any price rise situation.

 

4. ADB gives $1.5 billion loan to India to support covid-19 response: The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $1.5 billion loan that will support the government’s response to the covid-19 pandemic, focusing on immediate priorities such as disease containment and prevention, as well as social protection for the poor and economically vulnerable sections of the society, especially women and disadvantaged groups. Earlier, the ADB’s Board of Directors approved the loan to provide budget support to the government to counter and mitigate the adverse health and socio-economic impact of the pandemic.

 

INTERNATIONALUPDATES:

 

1. Scientists discover the smallest known black hole in the Milky Way Galaxy dubbed ‘The Unicorn’: Scientists have discovered what may be the smallest-known black hole in the Milky Way galaxy and the closest to our solar system — an object so curious that they nicknamed it ‘the Unicorn.’ The researchers said the black hole is roughly three times the mass of our sun, testing the lower limits of size for these extraordinarily dense objects that possess gravitational pulls so strong not even light can escape. A luminous star called a red giant orbits with the black hole in a so-called binary star system named V723 Mon. The black hole is located about 1,500 light years — the distance light travels in a year, 9.5 trillion km — from Earth

 

2. International Day of the Midwife: 5th May: International Day of the Midwife is observed globally on 5 May every year since 1992. This day is celebrated to recognise the work of midwives and raise awareness about the status of midwives for the essential care they provide to mothers and their newborns. The theme for 2021 International Day of the Midwife is “Follow the Data: Invest in Midwives.”

History of the day: The idea of having a day to recognize and honour midwives came out of the 1987 International Confederation of Midwives conference in the Netherlands. International Midwives’ Day was first celebrated May 5, 1991, and has been observed in more than 50 nations around the world.

Note: International Confederation of Midwives President: FrankaCadee; International Confederation of Midwives Headquarters: Hague, Netherlands.

 

3. World Hand Hygiene Day: 5th May: Every year, the World Hand Hygiene Day is observed on May 5. The day is organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness among people across the globe about the importance of hand hygiene in warding off many serious infections. The theme for 2021 is ‘Seconds Save Lives: Clean Your Hands’. The day recognizes hand washing as one of the most effective actions that can be taken to avoid a huge range of infections including the COVID-19 virus.

Note: Director-General of the World Health Organization: TedrosAdhanom; Headquarters of WHO: Geneva, Switzerland.

OTHER UPDATES:

 

SPORTS

 

1. Asian Boxing Championship moved from India to UAE due to Covid-19 crisis: The Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) has moved the Asian boxing championships from New Delhi to Dubai due to the worsening pandemic situation in the country. The continental event, which was earlier postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, will be co-hosted by the UAE Boxing Association and the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) from May 21 to June 1, which is one day more than the original schedule.

 

2. Mark Selby becomes World Snooker Champion: In Snooker, English professional player Mark Selby has become the World Snooker Champion for the fourth time. He won the Championship title after defeating fellow mate Shaun Murphy by 18-15 victory at a professional snooker tournament that took place from 17 April to 3 May 2021 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Prior to this, Selby won the Championship title in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021.

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

 

1. SBI allocates Rs 71 cr for fight against coronavirus: The country’s largest lender SBI announced allocating Rs 71 crore towards the fight against COVID-19, a part of which will be used to set up a makeshift 1,000-bed hospital for the treatment of patients in some of the worst-affected states. The state-owned lender has allocated Rs 30 crore for a makeshift hospital while Rs 21 crore will be used to support initiatives such as procurement of life-saving healthcare equipment, oxygen supply to hospitals, Covid-care centres, ambulances, PPE kits, masks as well as food relief efforts.

Besides, Rs 10 crore will be used to supplement government’s effort in genome sequencing, and Rs 10 crore will be earmarked to collaborate with on-ground NGOs to address the community needs.

 

2. Labour Min hikes maximum sum assured payable under EDLI scheme to Rs 7 lakh: The labour ministry has implemented a decision of retirement fund body EPFO’s trustees to hike the maximum sum assured payable under the Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976 to Rs 7 lakh from the existing Rs 6 lakh. The CBT had also decided to continue payment of minimum sum assured of Rs 2.5 lakh under the scheme beyond February 14, 2020. This amendment was aimed at providing additional succour to families and dependents of members of the scheme in case of their unfortunate death while in service.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

 

1. Goldman Sachs lowers GDP growth forecast for India in FY22 to 11.1%: Wall Street brokerage, Goldman Sachs has cut the GDP growth rate estimate for the Indian economy to 11.1 per cent in fiscal year FY22 (April 01, 2021, to March 31, 2022), due to increasing intensities of lockdowns by states to check the spread of coronavirus infections. Goldman Sachs has also revised the 2021 Calendar Year growth forecast to 9.7 per cent, from the previous estimate of 10.5 per cent.

 

DEFENCE

 

1. Armed Forces Launches Op “CO-JEET” for Mental Health Of COVID Patients: The armed forces have launched operation “CO-JEET” to aid anti-COVID-19 efforts, like strengthening the medical system in India and oxygen supply chains. Along with these, CO-JEET also take measures to ensure the mental wellbeing of people. Apart from medical therapy, patients necessitate the assurance that “they will be fine” and at times that is all they need to gain back self-confidence and courage.

Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Medical) Kanitkar is the third woman to become a three-star general in the armed forces. Vice Admiral Dr. Punita Arora & Air Marshal PadmavathyBandopadhyay are the 1st & 2nd.

Under the CO-JEET plan, personnel of the three wings of the armed forces have been pressed into service to help restore oxygen supply chains, set up COVID beds and provide help to the civilian administration in its fight to control the outspread of the virus. The operation also attempts to provide additional beds across the country for mixed COVID-19 management.

 

OBITUARIES

 

1. Director and Cinematographer KV Anand passes away: Tamil director-cinematographer KV Anand passed away in Chennai due to Covid-19 related complications. He was 54. Starting his career as a photojournalist, Anand later moved to the movie world as a cinematographer and then as a movie director. Anand made his movie debut as a cinematographer in the Malayalam movie ThenmaavinKombath for which he had won a national award.

 

2. Aeronautical Scientist Manas Bihari Verma Passes Away: The Indian aeronautical scientist, Manas Bihari Verma, who played an instrumental role in the development of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) – Tejas, has passed away. He worked as a scientist at the Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) for 35 years in the aeronautical stream. He was given the responsibility for the design of the Tejas aircraft mechanical system, where he led the team responsible for the full-scale engineering development of the Tejas aircraft in the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA). The noted scientist has conferred the Padma Sri civilian honour in 2018.