Current Affairs 28th May 2021| Current Affairs News

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

Menstrual Hygiene Day – Observed on May 28

• Menstrual Hygiene Day is an annual awareness day on May 28 to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene management at a global level.
• This year’s themeis ‘Action and Investment in Menstrual Hygiene and Health.’
• It was initiated by the German-based NGO WASH United in 2014.
• The objective behind this dayis to create awareness among every individual regarding the challenges and hardships girls and women face during menstruation.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Guillermo Lasso sworn in as President of Ecuador

• Conservative Guillermo Lasso assumed the presidency of Ecuador, becoming the country’s first right-wing leader in 14 years.
• The 65-year-old former banker beat left-wing economist Andres Arauz in a second-round run-off last month and succeeded the hugely unpopular Lenin Moreno.
• He inherits an oil-producing country battling economic and health crises with the coronavirus pandemic having infected almost 420,000 people and killed more than 20,000, according to an AFP count.

About Ecuador:

• Capital: Quito
• Currency: United States Dollar

Fiame Naomi Mata’afa sworn-in as first female Prime Minister of Samoa

• Mata’afa was sworn in as the country’s first female prime minister at an extraordinary ceremony in a tent outside parliament after the island nation’s long-serving ruler refused to cede power and ordered the doors of the building to be locked.
• Fiame Naomi Mata’afa took the oath of office in a marquee in the parliament’s gardens, leaving uncertainty over who controls the Pacific island nation.
• The Federated States of Micronesia became the first country to recognize her as the legitimate Prime Minister of Samoa.

About Samoa:

• Capital: Apia
• Currency: Samoan tala

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

Mohali international hockey stadium renamed as Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium

• Aftera one-year wait, the Punjab Government finally announced to rename the Mohali International Hockey Stadium, Sector 63, after triple Olympian and Padma Shri Balbir Singh Sr.
• The stadiumwill now be known as Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium.
• “Due to certain circumstances, the project got delayed.
• We had decided last year to dedicate this stadium to Balbir Singh Sr.
• His contribution towards promoting hockey is immense and unmatchable,” mentioned by Punjab Sports Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, who formally made the announcement on the first death anniversary of the legendary hockey player and coach.

About Punjab:

• Capital: Chandigarh
• Governor: V. P. Singh Badnore
• Chief minister: Captain Amarinder Singh

Uttar Pradesh govt extended Essential Services Maintenance Act in state

• The Uttar Pradesh government extended the Essential Services Maintenance Act in the state, banning strikes in all departments and corporations under it for a period of another six months.
• ESMA, as it is commonly known, gives police the right to arrest without a warrant anybody violating the Act’s provisions.
• It has been invoked after taking permission from Governor Anandiben Patel.
• Under ESMA, employees in a long list of “essential services” like post and telegraph, railway, airport and port operations are prohibited from going on strike.

About Uttar Pradesh:

• Capital: Lucknow
• Governor: Anandiben Patel
• Chief minister: Yogi Adityanath

Manipur CM launches MHIM Mobile App 

• Chief Minister N Biren Singh launched Manipur Home Isolation Management (MHIM) mobile application for home isolation patients at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat.
• The mobile app is developed by Pentabyte Technologies LLP and it can be downloaded from in.
• It will also be available on Google Play Store soon.
• The mobile app is being developed to avail real-time health data and information of Home Isolation COVID-19 patients at monitoring level.
• With this app, patients can upload their health status including pulse rate, SPo2, body temperature and blood pressure among others using fixed parameters at fixed intervals as set by the Health Department from time to time.
• The data uploaded will then be divided as critical and normal depending on the parameters and conditions set by the Health Department.

About Manipur:

• Capital: Imphal
• Governor: Najma Heptulla
• Chief minister: N. Biren Singh

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

TCS labelled as Best Big Company to work for in the UK

• Tata Consultancy Services stated it has been listed among top 25 Best Big Companies to work for in the United Kingdom and among the Best Companies in the Consultancy sector.
• The Best Big Companies list honours 25 organizations with at least 2,000 employees based on an anonymous survey that assesses employee experience across engagement, culture, work environment, leadership, well being, diversity and giving back to the community.

About TCS:

• Tata Consultancy Services is an Indian multinational information technology services and consulting company with a large campus and workforce in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
• CEO: Rajesh Gopinathan (21 Feb 2017–)
• Headquarters: Mumbai

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING NEWS

Barclays predicts India’s FY22 GDP growth at 7.7%

• Barclayshas pegged India’s economic growth for fiscal 2021-22 (FY22) – as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) – at 7.7 per cent in the bear-case scenario, if the country is hit by the third wave of the Covid pandemic going ahead.
• The economic cost, it believes, could rise by at least a further $42.6 billion, assuming another round of similar stringent lockdowns are imposed across the country for eight weeks later this year.

About Barclays:

• Barclays plc is a British multinational universal bank, in London, England.
• Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services.
• CEO: Jes Staley
• Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

Zeta becomes 14th Indian unicorn in 2021 

• Banking technology startup Zeta has raised $250 million from Japanese investment major SoftBank at a valuation of $1.45 billion, its co-founder and chief executive Bhavin Turakhia.
• Zeta has become the 14th Indian startup to cross the valuation of $1 billion in 2021.
• SoftBank has backed a slew of Indian startups, with many attaining the coveted ‘unicorn’ status with a valuation of $1 billion or more.

About ZETA:

• The 41-year-old Turakhia started coding at the age of 10, and turned entrepreneur at 18.
• He launched Zeta in 2015, after selling Direct, which he had started with his brother in 1998 for $160 million.
• The brothers had sold their stake in a slew of ventures in 2014, including Media.
• Net which was sold for $900 million.

NPCI partners with PayCore for accept contactless payments

• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has partnered with a Turkish global payment solutions company PayCore as a certified partner for RuPay Soft POS to promote contactless payments across the country.
• NPCI stated that, “This solution can be integrated into bank or aggregator acquiring systems to enable acquiring of RuPay using mobile phones enabled with NFC (near field communication-enabled) capability or add-ons”.
• Using the RuPay Soft PoS system, the merchants will be able to accept the contactless payments of up to INR 5,000 by a simple tap and pay mechanism using their smartphones.
• This system will be providing a cost-effective acceptance to the infrastructure for the retailers at a nominal cost.
• This will also help to acceptance of digital payments in millions of underserved Indian MSMEs.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATION NEWS

Biden nominates Indian American Arun Venkataraman to a key administration post

• S. President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Indian American Arun Venkataraman to a key position in his administration related to foreign commercial service.
• Venkataraman is the nominee for Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service and Assistant Secretary for Global Markets, Department of Commerce.
• While at the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), he led the development and implementation of the US-India trade policy as the Director for India, for which he received the agency’s Kelly Award for outstanding performance and extraordinary leadership.
• Before joining the USTR, Mr. Venkataraman was a legal officer at the WTO, advising the organization on a wide range of issues raised in appeals of trade disputes between countries.

Centre named three members on CBDT board

• ACC approves appointmentof Anu J Singh, J B Mohaparta and Anuja Sarangi as new members. The Government approved appointment of three members for the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). CBDT is the apex policy making body for direct taxes such as Personal Income Tax and Corporate Tax.
• Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) stated that The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Aditya Vikramand Pramod Chandra Mody as the CBDT members.
• The CBDT is headed by a chairman and can have a maximum of six members.
• Its chief, Sushil Chandra, will be in office till May 31 next year.
• Senior tax officers Shabri Bhattasali and Arbind Modi are the other CBDT members.

Andy Jassy appointed as Amazon’s CEO

• com Inc. ‘s stated in annual shareholder meeting new chief executive officer will take the reins on July 5, the 27th anniversary of the company’s incorporation, outgoing CEO Jeff Bezos.
• Andy Jassy, who now runs the Amazon Web Services cloud computing division, was named the company’s next CEO in February.
• Bezos, who founded the world’s largest online retailer in 1994, will become executive chairman and focus on new projects and initiatives.

David Barnea named as Israel’s Next Mossad Chief

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that David Barnea will be the next head of Israel’s Mossad espionage agency.
• Barnea’s appointment was cleared following consultations among the prime minister, Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit and the outgoing Mossad chief, Yossi Cohen.
• On December 15, Netanyahu gave notice of Barnea’s appointment to replace Cohen, who will be stepping down on June 1 after five and a half years at the helm of the Mossad.

About Israel:

• Capital: Jerusalem
• Currency: Israeli Shekel
• Prime minister: Benjamin Netanyahu
• President: Reuven Rivlin

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Prof CNR Rao bags Eni Award 2020 for renewable energy research

• Raohas received International Eni Award 2020 for research into renewable energy sources and energy storage, also called the Energy Frontier award.
• This is considered to be the Nobel Prizein Energy Research. Professor Rao has been working on hydrogen energy as the only energy source for the benefit of all mankind.
• The Energy Frontiers award has been conferred for his work on metal oxides, carbon nanotubes, and other materials and two-dimensional systems.
• Professor Rao has been working on hydrogen energy as the only source of energy for the benefit of all mankind.

 IAS VK Pandian bags FIH President’s Award 

• Private Secretary to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and IAS, V Karthikeyan Pandian was named as a recipient of the prestigious FIH (International Hockey Federation) President’s Award.
• Karthikeyan was awarded for his contribution towards the development and promotion of hockey in Odisha.
• Pandian was instrumental in successfully organizing the men’s Hockey World Cup and other international hockey events in the state capital Bhubaneswar.

 Spice Health bags Gold Stevie Award 2021

• SpiceHealth, a healthcare company founded by the promoters of SpiceJet, has won the Gold Award at the 2021 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards for ‘Most Valuable Medical Innovation’ under coronavirus disease (Covid-19) response category.
• This award is based on the average scores of more than 100 global professionals for more than 900 nominations from organizations and over three months of judging.
• The Stevie Awards are widely considered to be the world’s premier business awards, conferring recognition for achievement in programs such as The International Business Awards for 19 years.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU’s AND AGREEMENTS

WHO and Switzerland signed an agreement to launch first WHO BioHub Facility

• The World Health Organization (WHO) and Switzerland May 25, 2021 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch a BioHub facility for pathogen storage, sharing and analysis.
• The move is significant in the view of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the need to underline the importance of sharing pathogen information to assess risks and launch countermeasures.
• The BioHub will enable member states to share biological materials with and via the BioHub under pre-agreed conditions, including biosafety, biosecurity, and other applicable regulations. 
• This will ensure timeliness and predictability in response activities.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

India to launch mobile tech platform for UN peacekeepers             

• India has announced it will launch a mobile tech platform UNITE AWARE’ for the United Nations Peacekeepers.
• It will be launched during India’s United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Presidency term in August 2021.
• India, in partnership with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Operational Support, has been working to develop the mobile tech platform 

Purpose :

• To improve their safety and security in the line of duty.

About UNITE AWARE :

• UNITY AWARE  helps increase situational awareness and provides terrain-related information to peacekeepers.
• India has contributed US$1.64 million towards this project.

Note :

• India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador : K Nagaraj Naidu

About Department of Peacekeeping Operations :

• Founded: March 1992
• Head: Jean-Pierre Lacroix
• Headquarters location: New York,, United States

Union Defence Minister launches online medical service SeHAT OPD for armed forces personnel    

• On May 27, 2021, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched an online portal called ‘Services e-Health Assistance & Tele-consultation’ or ‘SeHAT’ OPD.
• The services can be availed by registering on the website https://sehatopd.in/.

Purpose :

• It will provide health services to armed forces personnel, veterans and their families.

Significance : 

• The portal will help reduce the load on hospitals and patients will be able to get contactless consultations in an easy and effective manner.
• The defence minister also discussed about the anti-Covid oral drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a leading laboratory of the DRDO, in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), Hyderabad.

Note : 

• Union Minister of Defence : Rajnath Singh
• Minister of State : Shripad Yesso Naik
• Chief of Defence Staff : General Bipin Rawat
• Army Chief : General MM Naravane
• Navy Chief : Admiral Karambir Singh 

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS

2021 ATP lyon open Title : Stefanos tsitsipas wins      

• 2021 ATP lyon open Title World No.5 Stefanos tsitsipas defeated Briton Cameron Norrie to win the Single Title.
• It was held at Velodrome Georges Preveral, Lyon, France from May 17,2021 to May 23, 2021.
• It is Stefanos tsitsipas’s seventh ATP title 

About ATP :

• ATP : Association of Tennis Professionals
• The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men’s professional tennis circuits.
• Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
• Chairperson: Andrea Gaudenzi
• CEO: Massimo Calvelli
• Founded: September 1972
• Founders: Cliff Drysdale, Jack Kramer, Donald Dell

2021 Geneva Open Tennis : Men’s Single Title Casper Ruud Wins                  

• Casper Ruud won the Men’s Single Title of the 2021 Geneva Open Tennis (18th edition) held in Tennis Club de Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland, from May 16, 2021, to May 22, 2021.
• He defeated Denis Shapovalov of Canada 7-6 (6), 6-4 for his second ATP Tour title.
• Victory in Geneva means the Norwegian world No 21 is going to be among the top 16 seeds at French Open.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES

Freedom fighter HS Doreswamy passes away    

• On May 26, 2021, Eminent Gandhian and freedom fighter HS Doreswamy passed away,
• He was 103.

About HS Doreswamy :

• Born on April 10, 1918, Bangalore.
• He took part in the Quit India movement and was jailed for 14 months from 1943 to 1944.
• He was also a journalist and ran a newspaper called Paura Vani, which voiced the aspirations of an independent India.

Achievements :

• In 2017, He Conferred the Gandhi Seva Award for providing outstanding service to impoverished sections of the society by the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
• In 2018, He also Awarded the Basava Puraskara by the Government of Karnataka through the release of 2018 national awardees list.
• In 2019, Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards for Lifetime Achievement.

Daily CA On May 27 :

• Union Minister of state (IC) for Ayush Shri Kiren Rijiju will launch the Ayush Clinical Case Repository (ACCR) portal and the third version of Ayush Sanjivani App in a virtual event.
• The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment being the nodal ministry for Transgender Welfare has decided to provide a subsistence allowance of Rs.1500 to each Transgender person as immediate support to meet their basic requirements.
• A comprehensive portal on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities by companies in Karnataka, `Akanksha,’ was launched by chief minister B S Yediyurappa in Bengaluru.
• com Inc said that it is buying MGM, the fabled US movie studio home to the James Bond franchise, for 8.45 billion US Dollars.
• US-based helicopter transport services provider Blade’s Indian subsidiary announced the launch of medical emergency services across the country, amid an increasing demand for air ambulance services in the wake of the pandemic.
• ICICI Bankofficially revealed the debut of a one-of-a-kind feature that allows users to link their UPI (Unified Payments Interface) IDs to their digital wallet ’Pockets’.
• Karnataka Bank Ltd has appointed Balakrishna Alse S, former Executive Director of Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), as Additional Director (Non-Executive, Independent) at its board meeting.
• The Reserve Bank of India’s Innovation Hub (RBIH) appointed Rajesh Bansal as its chief executive officer.
• Indian economist and Nobel Laureate Amartya Kumar Sen has been conferred with Spain’s top Princess of Asturias Award in the social sciences category, the Spanish prize foundation announced.
• The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration is sending its first mobile robot VIPER to the moon in 2023.
• A massive chunk of iceberg named A-76 has broken off Antarctica. It Becomes the largest iceberg in the world. It was first spotted by a British Antarctic Survey researcher. It was then confirmed by the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC) using images from the Sentinel-1A satellite.
• Aditya Gupta, a Delhi-based entrepreneur and mountaineer authored a book titled 7 Lessons from Everest Expedition Learnings from Life and Business.
• On May 25, 2021, The Mohali International Hockey Stadium was renamed after the legendary Balbir Singh Sr on the occasion of his first death anniversary.
• Germany’s World Cup-winner midfielder Sami Khedira announced his retirement.
• On May 23,2021, Vir Chakra awardee Panjab Singh passed away.

Daily CA On May 28 :

• Menstrual Hygiene Day is an annual awareness day on May 28 to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene management at a global level. Themeof 2021 is ‘Action and Investment in Menstrual Hygiene and Health.
• Conservative Guillermo Lasso assumed the presidency of Ecuador, becoming the country’s first right-wing leader in 14 years.
• Mata’afa was sworn in as the country’s first female prime minister at an extraordinary ceremony in a tent outside parliament after the island nation’s long-serving ruler refused to cede power and ordered the doors of the building to be locked.
• The Punjab Government finally announced to renamethe Mohali International Hockey Stadium, Sector 63, after triple Olympian and Padma Shri Balbir Singh Sr. The stadium will now be known as Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium.
• The Uttar Pradesh government extended the Essential Services Maintenance Act in the state, banning strikes in all departments and corporations under it for a period of another six months.
• Chief Minister N Biren Singh launched Manipur Home Isolation Management (MHIM) mobile application for home isolation patients at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat.
• Tata Consultancy Services stated it has been listed among top 25 Best Big Companiesto work for in the United Kingdom and among the Best Companies in the Consultancy sector.
• Barclayshas pegged India’s economic growth for fiscal 2021-22 (FY22) – as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) – at 7.7 per cent in the bear-case scenario, if the country is hit by the third wave of the Covid pandemic going ahead.
• Banking technology startup Zeta has raised $250 million from Japanese investment major SoftBank at a valuation of $1.45 billion, its co-founder and chief executive Bhavin Turakhia.
• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has partnered with a Turkish global payment solutions company PayCore as a certified partner for RuPay Soft POS to promote contactless payments across the country.
• S. President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Indian American Arun Venkataraman to a key position in his administration related to foreign commercial service.
• ACC approves appointmentof Anu J Singh, J B Mohaparta and Anuja Sarangi as new members. The Government approved appointment of three members for the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). CBDT is the apex policy making body for direct taxes such as Personal Income Tax and Corporate Tax.
• com Inc. ‘s stated in annual shareholder meeting new chief executive officer will take the reins on July 5, the 27th anniversary of the company’s incorporation, outgoing CEO Jeff Bezos.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that David Barnea will be the next head of Israel’s Mossad espionage agency.
• Raohas received International Eni Award 2020 for research into renewable energy sources and energy storage, also called the Energy Frontier award.
• Private Secretary to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and IAS, V Karthikeyan Pandian was named as a recipient of the prestigious FIH (International Hockey Federation) President’s Award.
• SpiceHealth, a healthcare company founded by the promoters of SpiceJet, has won the Gold Award at the 2021 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards for ‘Most Valuable Medical Innovation’ under coronavirus disease (Covid-19) response category.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) and Switzerland May 25, 2021 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch a BioHub facility for pathogen storage, sharing and analysis.
• India has announced it will launch a mobile tech platform UNITE AWARE’ for the United Nations Peacekeepers. It will be launched during India’s United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Presidency term in August 2021.
• On May 27, 2021, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched an online portal called ‘Services e-Health Assistance & Tele-consultation’ or ‘SeHAT’ OPD. The services can be availed by registering on the website https://sehatopd.in/.
• 2021 ATP lyon open Title World No.5 Stefanos tsitsipas defeated Briton Cameron Norrie to win the Single Title. It was held at Velodrome Georges Preveral, Lyon, France from May 17,2021 to May 23, 2021.
• Casper Ruud won the Men’s Single Title of the 2021 Geneva Open Tennis (18th edition) held in Tennis Club de Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland, from May 16, 2021, to May 22, 2021.
• On May 26, 2021, Eminent Gandhian and freedom fighter HS Doreswamy passed away,