Current Affairs 19th May 2021| Current Affairs News

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

World AIDS Vaccine Day – Observed on May 18

• World AIDS Vaccine Day, also known as HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, is observed annually on May 18.
• The theme for World AIDS Day is “Global Solidarity”.
• HIV vaccine advocates mark the day by promoting the continued urgent need for a vaccine to prevent HIV infection and AIDS.
• There is currently no licensed HIV vaccine on the market, but multiple research projects are trying to find an effective vaccine.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Additional food grains at 5 kgs per person per month in free of cost under PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana

• In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to the poor, the Government of India has decided to allocate free-of-cost food grains @ 5 Kg per person per month to nearly 80 Crore beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) over and above NFSA foodgrains for next two months i.e. May and June 2021 on the same pattern as the earlier “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY)”.
• Under this special scheme (PMGKAY), around 80 Crore NFSA beneficiaries covered under both categories of NFSA, namely Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Householders (PHH), will be provided with an additional quota of free-of-cost foodgrains (Rice/Wheat) at a scale of 5 Kg per person per month, over and above their regular monthly entitlements under NFSA.
• Government of India will bear full expenditure of over Rs 26,000 Crore on account of cost of food grains, intrastate transportation etc. as part of Central assistance to States/UTs.

About Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana:

• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana is a food security welfare scheme announced by the Government of India in March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
• The program is operated by the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

Govt reported that compare with last year 24 per cent more wheat has been procured in Rabi Marketing Season 2021-22  

• 24% more wheat procured during current Rabi Marketing Season 2021-22.
• The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution over51 Lakh tonnes of wheat has been procuredagainst the corresponding purchase of over 300 Lakh tonnes last year.
• The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Meals and Community Distribution in a statement reported that above 373.51 Lakh a tonne of wheat has been procured from the corresponding obtain of more than 300 Lakh tonnes previous year.
• It stated, approximately 38 lakh 22 thousand  farmers have already  benefited from the  procurement functions with MSP benefit of above 73 thousand 768 crore rupees.
• Procurement of wheat in Rabi Advertising and marketing Period is continuing effortlessly in the procuring States which includes Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

Johnson & Johnson tie-up with Telangana based Biological E Ltd 

• US pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson has joined hands with Biological E Limited (Telangana-based Pharma Company) for the manufacturing of the COVID-19 vaccine.
• The company’s vaccine named Janssen COVID-19 vaccine is currently approved for use in the United States, the European Union, and other nations including Thailand and South Africa.

Telangana launches Ayushman Bharat Scheme in the state

• Telangana has issued orders to implement the Ayushman Bharat Scheme in the State.
• In the backdrop of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao deciding to join the Central government’s Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM Jana Arogya Yojana PM-JAY), the state Medical and Health Department had signed a MoU with the National Health Authority.

Punjab CM announces special development grant of Rs 10 lakh to every village achieving 100 percent vaccination

• Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singhannounced a special development grant of Rs 10 lakh to every village that achieves 100 per cent vaccination target under the State Government’s ‘Corona-Mukt Pind Abhiyan’.
• He was interacting virtually with Village Panchayats represented by more than 2,000 heads and members across over 4,000 live locations in the rural parts of the state through LED screens.

About ‘Corona-Mukt Pind Abhiyan’:

• Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, while announcing the scheme, said that there is a “need to avoid the kind of situation that was prevailing in the villages of Uttar Pradesh”.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

AgNext Technologies launches AI-based devices to test quality of the products

• A Punjab-based agency, AgNext Applied sciences, has provided you with a system based mostly on digital know-how and synthetic intelligence (AI) that mixes {hardware}, software programs and algorithms to check agricultural merchandise for high quality.
• AgNext Applied sciences, headquartered at Mohali in Punjab, has provided you with this providing at a time when testing of produce equivalent to spices have been affected because the second part of Covid has affected the supply of manpower.
• Farmers might be disgruntled as they could really feel they don’t seem to be paid the best value for the best high quality.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATION NEWS

Arvind Kumar appointed as next MD of Chennai Petroleum Corporation

• The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) has picked Arvind Kumar as managing director of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, a unit of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
• Kumar is currently an executive director at Indian Oil Corporation.
• Chennai Petroleum Corporation is one of the largest refineries in South India, with an installed refining capacity of 5 million tonnes (mt).
• Kumar was selected by the government’s head-hunter after interviewing eight candidates that included three from Indian Oil Corporation, according to PESB.

Pakistan PM appoints Moeed Yusuf as country’s NSA

• Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has appointed his Special Assistant on National Security Moeed Yusuf as the country’s National Security Adviser (NSA).
• Since December 2019, Yusuf has served as special assistant to the prime minister on national security and strategic policy planning.
• “The Prime Minister has been pleased to approve that Dr Moeed W Yusuf, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security and Strategic Policy Planning, shall function as National Security Adviser with the status of Federal Minister, with immediate effect.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Abu Dhabi Shakti Thayatt Awards announced

• Shakti Theaters Abu Dhabi has announced the Abu Dhabi Shakti Thayat Awards as part of its efforts to find and promote creative Malayalam writers.
• TK Ramakrishnan, a former Minister of Culture who has been the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Shakti Awards Committee since its formation in 1987.
• Shakti TK was established in memory of Ramakrishnan.
• Writer T Padmanabhan received the Ramakrishnan Award.
• The cultural award carries a cash prize of Rs 500,000, a sculpture and a citation.
• The following are the recipients of the Abu Dhabi Shakti Awards, which have been given since 1987 with the aim of honoring and encouraging the writers who have contributed to the growth and development of Malayalam literature.
• Award for Knowledge Literature Anil Vallathol (Ezhuthachan, a textbook), Jon Samuel (Yathastu) for the story and L.Gopikrishnan (I am my enemy) also got it.
• Poetry Award Desamangalam Ramakrishnan (Can I Meet You) e. Sandhya (because she has a mother) also shared.
• The award for children’s literature goes to Kalavoor Ravikumar’s Chinese Boy.
• The award for Drama was shared by T Pavithran (Property) and Cheramangalam Chamunni (Journals of Life).

CURRENT AFFAIRS : APPS & SERVICES

Manipur CM N Biren Singh Launches MOMA Market

• On May 14, 2021, Chief Minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh launched MOMA Market mobile application for home delivery of fresh vegetables. 
• The application can be downloaded from  www.momamarket.com and it will also be available on Google Play Store soon.
• The application was introduced by Manipur Organic Mission Agency (MOMA), Department of Horticulture and Soil Conservation, Manipur.
• Manipur Organic Mission Agency (MOMA), a unit of the state horticulture and soil conservation department launched the app.
• It is under the supervision of Chief Minister N Biren Singh to make fresh vegetables available for day to day consumption and curb the distress sales of farm produce during lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic.

About MOMA Market :

• Vegetables will be collected from different farms by Farmers Producer Companies (FPCs) working with MOMA. 
• That will be then transported to cold storage and warehouse.
• These bulk products will be disbursed to registered marketing agencies for retail packaging.
• Finally, the order placed by the consumer via MOMA Market will be delivered to door steps.

About Manipur :

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

Simorgh – Iran Develops Its Most Powerful New Supercomputer

• On May 16, 2021, Iran unveiled a new supercomputer named ‘Simorgh.
• Till date It is 100 times more powerful than the previous supercomputer of the country.
• It is built domestically by Tehran’s Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT).
• The supercomputer, which is named after a legendary Persian bird Simorgh.
• Currently It has an output potential of 0.56 petaflops.
• Simorgh will achieve one petaflop in two months.

Function areas :

• It will be used for artificial intelligence workloads, traffic and weather data, and image processing.

About Iran :

• Capital: Tehran
• Currency: Iranian rial
• President: Hassan Rouhani

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BOOKS & AUTHORS

Book Titled “Sikkim: A History of Intrigue and Alliance” Authored by Preet Mohan Singh Malik

• On May 16, 2021, A book titled  “Sikkim: A History of Intrigue and Alliance”, written by Preet Mohan Singh Malik.
• It is published by HarperCollins India.
• May 16 is celebrated as Sikkim Day.

About the Book :

• The Book Combines the unique history of the erstwhile kingdom of Sikkim with the intriguing story of how it became India’s 22nd state in his new book.
• It also deals with the relationship between the Lepchas (Rongpas) – the original inhabitants – and the Bhutias 

Objective of the Book :

• To clarify and establish the primacy of strategic issues that lay behind India”s decision to accept the demand that Sikkim be merged with India.

About Sikkim :

• Capital: Gangtok
• Governor: Ganga Prasad
• Chief minister: Prem Singh Tamang

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS

Kobe Bryant inducted Basketball Hall Of Fame Class 2020

• On May 15, 2021, Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers legend, was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2020.
• The five-time NBA champion Bryant, along with his 13-year old daughter Gianna and seven family friends, died in a helicopter crash at the age of 41 in January 2020.

The Class of 2020 :

1.Tim Duncan (Player),

2. Kevin Garnett (Player),
3. Eddie Sutton (Coach),
4. Rudy Tomjanovich (Coach),
5. Tamika Catchings (Player),
6. Kim Mulkey (Coach),
7. Barbara Stevens (Coach),
8. Patrick Baumann (Contributor).

About Kobe Bryant :

• Kobe Bryant was an American professional basketball player with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
• Bryant was a 12-time member of the All-Defensive Team, 15-time member All-NBA Team, and an 18-time All-Star.
• He was the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2008, and a two-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

About National Basketball Association (NBA) :

• Current champion: Los Angeles Lakers
• Founded: 6 June 1946, United States

CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES

Former President of Indian Medical Association & Padma Shri Awardee Doctor KK Aggarwal Passes Away

• On May 17, 2021, Former President of the Indian Medical Association & Renowned cardiologist Dr KK Aggarwal Passed away.
• He was 62.

About Doctor KK Aggarwal :

• Dr Aggarwal was an eminent physician and cardiologist.
• He is the head of the Heart Care Foundation of India.

Achievements :

• He received the Dr BC Roy Award in 2005.
• For his contributions to the field of medicine, he was honored with India’s fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri in 2010.

Folklorist & Renowned Tamil writer Ki Rajanarayanan Passes away

• On May 17, 2021, Veteran Tamil writer & Folklorist Ki. Rajanarayanan passed away.
• He was 98.

About Ki Rajanarayanan :

• He was popularly known as Ki Ra.
• He was Known as the pioneer of ‘Karisal Literature.
• Rajanarayanan served as Professor of Folklore Department in Pondicherry University in the 1980s.
• He was an eminent writer of short stories, novels, folklores and essays.
• He has published over 30 books.

Achievements :

• For his novel ‘Gopallapurathu Makkal Ki Ra won the Sakitya Akademi award in 1991.

Former Union Minister & Veteran BJP leader Chaman Lal Gupta passes away 

• On May 18, 2021, The former Union Minister and Veteran leader of Bharatiya Janata Party Chaman Lal Gupta passed away.
• He was 87.

About Chaman Lal Gupta :

• He had an illustrious political career spanning over five decades
• He began with becoming a member of the J&K Legislative Assembly in 1972.
• He was elected to the 11th Lok Sabha from Jammu’s Udhampur Constituency in 1996.
• He was again re-elected to the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha in 1998 and 1999.
• He was the Union Minister of State, Civil Aviation Ministry between October 13, 1999, and September 1, 2001, Union Minister of State (independent charge), Food Processing Industries Ministry (September 1, 2001, to June 30, 2002), and the Union Minister of State for the Defence (July 1, 2002, to 2004).
• He was also an author of three books in Hindi.
• He was the two-time J&K BJP President

Daily CA On May 18 :

• International Museum Day is an international day held annually on or around 18 May, coordinated by the International Council of Museums. The theme for IMD 2021 is ‘The Future of Museums – Recover and Reimagine’.
• MyGovhas launched the Innovation Challenge to create an app that will enable individuals to learn simple sentences of any Indian language and acquire working knowledge of a language.
• New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden topped Fortune’s list of the world’s 50 greatest leaders and Adar Poonawalla too made it to the list. CEO of Serum Institute of India, Poonawalla is the only Indian among the top 10 names on the list.
• Bihar government launched‘HIT Covid App’ to ensure regular monitoring and tracking of those Civic-19 patients, who are in home isolation across the state.
• Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd (SUD LIFE) announced the appointment of Abhay Tewari as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Company e.f 15th May 2021.
• Jainwill lead digital strategy, execution and adoption across the company. Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) has appointed Reema Jain as its Chief Digital Officer. She joins the telecom operator from Unilever, where she was the head of IT.
• Nuklu Phom theonly person from India to win the prestigious #WhitleyAwards 2021 for his work;
• Tribal Affairs Ministryand Microsoft have signed a MoU for digital transformation of Tribal Schools such as Eklavya Model Residential Schools and Ashram Schools.
• Drug firm Eli Lillysaid it has signed a voluntary licensing agreement with Natco Pharma to further expedite the availability of baricitinib for COVID-19 patients in India.
• On May 17, 2021, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched the first batch of drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose drug to treat Covid-19 patients. It has been developed by DRDO’s Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.
• On May 15, 2021, Chinese spacecraft successfully landed the first Mars rover Zhurong  on the surface of Mars. China is the second country after the US to send a rover to the surface of the Red Planet.
• The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi, would be starting it’s virtual summer workshops for children and adults from May 17. It will be held from 17th May to till June 13, 2021
• On May 16, 2021,In tennis, Rafael Nadal beat world number one Novak Djokovic by 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 to win a 10th Italian Open title.
• Notable astronomy communicator and director of the Nehru Planetarium, Nandivada Rathnasree Passed away.
• On May 16, 2021, Former Saurashtra pacer and BCCI match referee Rajendrasinh Jadeja Passed away.

Daily CA On May 19 :

• World AIDS Vaccine Day, also known as HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, is observed annually on May 18. The theme for World AIDS Day is “Global Solidarity”.
• The Government of India has decided to allocate free-of-cost food grains @ 5 Kg per person per month to nearly 80 Crore beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) over and above NFSA foodgrains for next two months i.e. May and June 2021 on the same pattern as the earlier “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY)”.
• 24% more wheat procured during current Rabi Marketing Season 2021-22. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution over51 Lakh tonnes of wheat has been procuredagainst the corresponding purchase of over 300 Lakh tonnes last year.
• US pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson has joined hands with Biological E Limited (Telangana-based Pharma Company) for the manufacturing of the COVID-19 vaccine.
• Telangana has issued orders to implement the Ayushman Bharat Scheme in the State.
• Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singhannounced a special development grant of Rs 10 lakh to every village that achieves 100 per cent vaccination target under the State Government’s ‘Corona-Mukt Pind Abhiyan’.
• A Punjab-based agency, AgNext Applied sciences, has provided you with a system based mostly on digital know-how and synthetic intelligence (AI) that mixes {hardware}, software programs and algorithms to check agricultural merchandise for high quality.
• The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) has picked Arvind Kumar as managing director of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, a unit of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
• Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has appointed his Special Assistant on National Security Moeed Yusuf as the country’s National Security Adviser (NSA).
• Shakti Theaters Abu Dhabi has announced the Abu Dhabi Shakti Thayat Awards as part of its efforts to find and promote creative Malayalam writers.
• On May 14, 2021, Chief Minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh launched MOMA Market mobile application for home delivery of fresh vegetables. The application can be downloaded from  www.momamarket.com and it will also be available on Google Play Store soon.
• On May 16, 2021, Iran unveiled a new supercomputer named ‘Simorgh. Till date It is 100 times more powerful than the previous supercomputer of the country. It is built domestically by Tehran’s Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT).
• On May 16, 2021, A book titled  “Sikkim: A History of Intrigue and Alliance”, written by Preet Mohan Singh Malik. It is published by HarperCollins India
• On May 15, 2021, Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers legend, was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2020.
• On May 17, 2021, Former President of the Indian Medical Association & Renowned cardiologist Dr KK Aggarwal Passed away.
• On May 17, 2021, Veteran Tamil writer & Folklorist Ki. Rajanarayanan passed away.
• On May 18, 2021, The former Union Minister and Veteran leader of Bharatiya Janata Party Chaman Lal Gupta passed away.