Former CBI Chief Ranjit Sinha passes away
Former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Ranjit Sinha has passed away. He was a 1974-batch IPS officer of the Bihar cadre, who served as CBI Director from 3 December 2012 to 2 December 2014. Prior to being appointed as CBI Director, Sinha had headed Director General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force, the Railway Protection Force and several other senior positions in the CBI in Patna and Delhi.
Wisden Award 2021 announced
To perpetuate the 50th anniversary of the first One-Day International, five ODI cricketers of the decade have been listed in Wisden Almanack’s 2021 edition. One cricketer has been selected from each decade between 1971 and 2021, with the Indian captain been granted the award for the 2010s.
List of winners:
- India captain Virat Kohli Wisden Almanack’s ODI player of the 2010s.
- Sachin Tendulkar is the ODI Cricketer of the 1990s.
- Kapil Dev was named as the ODI Cricketer for the 1980s.
- England all-rounder Ben Stokes is ‘Leading Cricketer of the Year’.
- Australia’s Beth Mooney is ‘Leading Women’s Cricketer in the World’.
- West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard was adjudged the ‘Leading T20 Cricketer in the World’.
- Meanwhile, Jason Holder, Mohammed Rizwan, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, and Darren Stevens have been awarded the Wisden Cricketers of the Year 2021.
Renowned Radiologist Dr. Kakarla Subba Rao Passes Away
Renowned radiologist, Dr Kakarla Subba Rao, who served as the first director of Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Hyderabad, has passed away. Rao was conferred Padma Shri in 2000, by the Government of India for his contributions to the field of medicine. He was the founder president of the Telugu Association of North America (TANA), an umbrella organisation for Telugu speaking people in the United States.
PM Modi released 4 books related to Babasaheb Ambedkar
PM Narendra Modi has paid tribute to India’s first law minister and the architect of the Indian Constitution Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar on his birth anniversary and released four books based on his life. PM Modi has addressed the 95th Annual Meet and National Seminar of Vice-Chancellors of the Association of Indian Universities via video conferencing and launched four books related to Dr BR Ambedkar, written by Kishor Makwana.
The four books to be released by the prime minister are:
- Dr Ambedkar Jivan Darshan,
- Dr Ambedkar Vyakti Darshan,
- Dr Ambedkar Rashtra Darshan, and
- Dr Ambedkar Aayam Darshan.
8th Indo-Kyrgyz Special Forces Exercise ‘Khanjar’ Flags off
The 8th Indo-Kyrgyz Joint Special Forces Exercise “Khanjar” was inaugurated at the Special Forces Brigade of National Guards of the Kyrgyz Republic in Bishkek, the capital of the host Kyrgyzstan. Initiated first in 2011, the two-week-long special operations exercise focusses on high-altitude warfare, mountain warfare and counter-extremism exercises.
The Indian contingent for the exercise and felicitated their role as a bridge in promoting the shared mountain and nomadic heritage of both nations. A ceremonial parade graced the occasion along with a display of equipment’s and weapons and a visit to the training arena and barracks.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Kyrgyzstan Capital: Bishkek.
- Kyrgyzstan President: Sadyr Japarov.
- Kyrgyzstan Currency: Kyrgyzstani som.
RBL Bank Mastercard partner to offer first-of its-kind payment functionality
RBL Bank and Mastercard have announced their partnership to launch a mobile-based consumer-friendly payment solution ‘Pay by Bank App’, a first-of-its-kind payment functionality in India. RBL Bank account holders can now enjoy contactless transactions across the world through their mobile banking application both in-store and online. This functionality will be available at all Mastercard accepting merchants, worldwide that accept contactless and online payments.
About the App:
- To provide enhanced security, ‘Pay by Bank App’ ensures that Bank customer’s payment credentials are never exposed to the merchant, making the transaction completely secure.
- Customers will continue to receive the Mastercard consumer protection benefits that they currently enjoy on their debit cards.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- RBL Bank Founded: August 1943;
- RBL Bank Headquarters: Mumbai;
-
RBL Bank MD & CEO: Vishwavir Ahuja.
- Mastercard Headquarters: New York, United States.
- Mastercard President: Michael Miebach.
Suresh Raina’s memoir ‘Believe’ to release in 2021
A book titled ‘Believe – What Life and Cricket Taught Me’, the much-awaited Suresh Raina autobiography is set to hit the bookstands in May 2021. The book is Co-authored by Raina and sports author Bharat Sundaresan, the biography will be published by the prestigious publishing house, Penguin India.
The book expected to follow Raina’s lightning-fast rise in the Indian cricket team and the hardships that he encountered on the way to becoming a record-breaking batsman. The book should also help unwind the story of Raina’s early days as a budding cricketer in UP.
NASA to launch SpaceX Crew 2 on April 22
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is set to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station on World Earth Day (April 22). NASA is to launch the mission along with SpaceX. It is the second crewed operational flight of Crew Dragon Spacecraft.
The mission will transport four scientists to the International Space Station. The astronauts to travel to the International Space Station are from NASA, JAXA and ESA. JAXA is the Japanese Space Agency and ESA is European Space Agency.
About Crew Dragon
- Crew Dragon was the first space vehicle to launch humans from American soil in nine years. It was first launched in May 2020.
- It was funded through NASA’s Commercial Crew Programme. It evolved from an earlier design called Dragon 1.
- Dragon 1 was launched more than twenty times on missions to deliver cargo to the International Space Station between 2012 and 2020.
- SpaceX Crew 1 was the first time astronauts used a spaceship developed and launched by a private company. Also, it carried back astronauts to the earth.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Acting Administrator of NASA: Steve Jurczyk.
- Headquarters of NASA: Washington D.C., United States.
- NASA Founded: 1 October 1958.
- SpaceX founder & CEO: Elon Musk.
- SpaceX Founded: 2002.
- SpaceX Headquarters: California, United States of America.
Lifetime Achievement Award received by Roberto Benigni
Director Roberto Benigni will be receiving the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, which runs from September 1 to 11. The organisers confirmed the news about the two-time Oscar-winning actor-director.
The filmmaker had starred in and directed the holocaust comedy-drama film Life Is Beautiful (1997), for which he received the Academy Awards for Best Actor (the first for a non-English speaking male performance) and Best International Feature Film. He was last seen in Matteo Garrone’s live-action Pinocchio, for which he won a David di Donatello Award.
Microsoft buys AI speech tech company Nuance for $19.7 billion
Microsoft has made its second-biggest acquisition after LinkedIn. The tech giant has bought AI speech tech firm Nuance for $19.7 billion. The move will help Microsoft’s prowess in voice recognition and will give it a boost in the health care market. Nuance is known for its Dragon software which helps to transcribe speech using deep learning. In 2016, Microsoft had purchased LinkedIn for $26 billion.
About the acquisition:
- The acquisition will combine solutions and expertise to deliver new cloud and AI capabilities across healthcare and other industries, and represent the latest step in Microsoft’s industry-specific cloud strategy.
- Nuance provides the AI layer at the healthcare point of delivery and is a pioneer in the real-world application of enterprise AI.
- Nuance’s products include multiple clinical speech recognition software as a service (SaaS) offerings built on Microsoft Azure. The firm’s solutions work with core healthcare systems, and are currently used in 77% of U.S. hospitals.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Microsoft CEO: Satya Nadella;
- Microsoft Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, United States;
- Nuance CEO: Mark D. Benjamin;
- Nuance Headquarters: Massachusetts, United States;
- Nuance Founded: 1992, United States.
