NASA Partners ISRO to develop Earth System Observatory
The US space agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is developing a new system called the Earth System Observatory, to mitigate efforts related to climate change and disaster mitigation. NASA has also partnered with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) which will provide NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR). NISAR will carry two radar systems to measure changes in the Earth’s surface, during one of the observatory’s first missions intended as a pathfinder.
About the Earth System Observatory:
- The Earth System Observatory will be a set of missions designed to study “designated observables” such as aerosols, clouds and weather, water supply, and the Earth’s surface and ecosystems, for an unprecedented understanding of the critical interactions between Earth’s atmosphere, land, ocean, and ice processes, which determines how the changing climate will play out at regional and local levels, on near and long-term time scales.
- Each new satellite under Earth System Observatory will be uniquely designed to create a 3D, holistic view of Earth, from bedrock to atmosphere, providing a new architecture to advanced space-borne Earth observation systems.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- 14th NASA administrator: Bill Nelson;
- Headquarters of NASA: Washington D.C., United States;
- NASA Founded: 1 October 1958.
Cheetah to be re-introduced in India from Africa in November
Cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal which was declared extinct in India in 1952, is expected to be re-introduced into the country in November this year at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Kuno, positioned within the Chambal area, unfolds over a space of over 750 sq km and has a conducive atmosphere for the cheetah.
The country’s last spotted cheetah died in Chhattisgarh in 1947 and it was declared extinct in the country in 1952. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) some years again ready a cheetah re-introduction undertaking.
The Supreme Court docket had earlier given its approval to introduce African cheetahs to an acceptable habitat in India on an experimental foundation. Officers from India might be despatched to South Africa for sensitisation and coaching in June and July these 12 months and in accordance with the plan, the transportation of the cheetahs will happen in October and November.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh: Shivraj Singh Chouhan; Governor: Anandiben Patel.
IAS VK Pandian to receive FIH President’s Award
V Karthikeyan Pandian, an IAS officer, and private secretary to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was conferred with President’s award by International Hockey Federation through the 47th FIH Congress. He was awarded for his contribution in direction of the event and promotion of hockey in Odisha.
On the closing day of the 47th FIH Congress held virtually, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced Pandian will receive the award for his contribution and services to Hockey in Odisha. Pandian also works as Secretary of the State government’s 5T Initiative (Technology, Transparency, Teamwork and Time Leading to Transformation).
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Chief Minister of Odisha: Naveen Patnaik and Governor is Ganeshi Lal.
IIT Ropar develops unique detector ‘FakeBuster’
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar and Monash University, Australia have developed a detector named ‘FakeBuster’ to identify imposters attending a virtual conference without anybody’s knowledge. It can also find out faces manipulated on social media to defame or make a joke of someone.
About the ‘FakeBuster’:
- The ‘FakeBuster’ is a deep learning-based solution that helps detect if a video is manipulated or spoofed during a video-conference meeting.
- It has been tested for its effectiveness on popular web conferencing applications – Skype and Zoom and also detecting deepfakes where faces are manipulated on social media to spread misinformation or defame persons.
- ‘FakeBuster’ can function online and offline. It uses a 3D convolutional neural network for predicting video segment-wise fakeness scores.
- ‘Deepfake’ has been extensively trained on datasets such as Deeperforensics, DFDC, VoxCeleb, and deepfake videos created using locally captured (for video conferencing scenarios) images.
- Deepfake a form of artificial intelligence which seamlessly stitches anyone in the world into a video or photo they never actually participated in.
Ayush Ministry Organises Series Of 5 Webinars On “Be With Yoga, Be At Home”
The Ministry of Ayush is organising various activities in the run-up to the International Day of Yoga, 2021. One among these is a series of five webinars that the Ministry is organising under the broad theme of “Be with Yoga, Be at Home” in collaboration with five renowned organisations of the country who will present one webinar each on a particular topic. Some renowned Organisations are:- The Art of Living, The Yoga Institute, ArhamDhyanYog, etc.
This series of five insightful webinars are aimed to remind the wider audience about the issues that have become extremely important in the present context of Covid-19. The series will seek to develop a cumulative understanding to respond to these cross-cutting issues, relying upon the collective experiential wisdom of five organisations that have their own distinctive tradition of learning and sharing.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Minister of State (IC) of the Ministry of AYUSH: Shripad Yesso Naik.
Dr Nageshwar Reddy becomes first Indian to win Rudolf V Schindler award
Padma Bhushan awardee and noted gastroenterologist Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, who is also the chairman of AIG Hospitals, has won the Rudolf V Schindler Award from the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE). Rudolf V Schindler Award is the highest category in the prestigious Crystal Awards named after Dr Schindler who is considered as “the father of gastroscopy.”
With this, Dr Reddy becomes the first Indian medical practitioner to win this award. Dr Reddy is one of the first to promote endoscopy in India and has led the charge of educating numerous endoscopists all over the world.
Cabinet Approves MoUs Signed Between ICoAl, ICSI With Foreign Countries
The Union Cabinet has granted approval to the Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) entered into by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India with various countries and organisations. The MoUs seek to facilitate mutual recognition of qualifications and a range of collaborative activities for the exchange of knowledge. The signed MoUs would help in the advancement of the goals on equity, public accountability and innovation among the beneficiaries countries.
The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICoAl) and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) have signed MoUs with foreign organisations namely Institute of Public Accountants (IPA), Australia, Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, UK (CISI), Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), UK, Institute of Certified Management Accountants, Sri Lanka and Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), UK.
Zeta becomes 14th Indian unicorn this year after SoftBank funding
Banking technology startup, Zeta has raised $250 million from Japanese investment major SoftBank at a valuation of $1.45 billion. Zeta has become the 14th Indian startup to cross the valuation of $1 billion in 2021. SoftBank’s Vision Fund II was the source of the investment. The company’s value has increased by more than threefold as a result of SoftBank’s investment.
The company operates in North America, Latin America, United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. At present Zeta works with 10 banks and 25 startups including HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, Sodexo RBL Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, and SBM Bank India, across eight countries. With Zeta, financial institutions can leverage a modern, cloud-native platform and improve speed to market, agility, cost to income ratio and user experience.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Zeta Founded: April 2015;
- Zeta Headquarters: Bangalore, India;
- Zeta Founders: Bhavin Turakhia, Ramki Gaddipati.
1971 war hero Col Panjab Singh passes away
Colonel Panjab Singh, a hero of the Battle of Poonch during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, was cremated with full military honours under pandemic protocols after he passed away. The retired officer, who was awarded the Vir Chakra, the third highest war-time gallantry award, died of post-Covid complications.
Panjab Singh was born on 15 February 1942, the colonel was commissioned into the 6th Battalion, The Sikh Regiment on16 December 1967. He went on to command the prestigious battalion from 12 October 1986 to 29 July 1990.
Ecuador’s Lasso sworn in as first right-wing leader in 14 years
Guillermo Lasso, a conservative, assumed the presidency of Ecuador and has become the first right-wing leader in 14 years in Ecuador. The 65-year-old former banker beat left-wing economist Andres Arauz in a second-round run-off last month and succeeds the hugely unpopular Lenin Moreno.
Guillermo Alberto is a banker, businessman, writer and politician who recently became the 47th president of Ecuador. He is the first centre-right president in two decades.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Ecuador Capital: Quito;
- Ecuador Currency: United States Dollar.
Freedom fighter HS Doreswamy passes away
Freedom fighter H S Doreswamy, who recently recovered from Covid-19, passed away. He was born in Bengaluru on April 10, 1918, Harohalli Srinivasaiah Doreswamy, is known for his participation in the Quit India movement and Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan movement. He was also a familiar figure in civil society movements in Karnataka as he had campaigned to revive lakes in Bengaluru.
India to launch mobile tech platform ‘UNITE AWARE’ for UN peacekeepers
India will launch ‘UNITE AWARE’, a mobile tech platform for the United Nations Peacekeepers to improve their safety and security in the line of duty. It will be launched during India’s United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Presidency term in August 2021 (Presidency of the UNSC Council is held by each of the members in turn for one month).
About the UNITED AWARE
- UNITED AWARE will increase the situational awareness of the peacekeepers by providing terrain-related information.
- India has spent USD 1.64 million on the project and is developing it in partnership with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and Department of Operational Support.
- The information about the platform was shared by India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu during his virtual address to UNSC Open Debate ‘Peacekeeping Operations: Improving safety and security of peacekeepers.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- UN’s Secretary-General for Peace Operations: Jean-Pierre Lacroix;
- UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations Headquarters: New York, USA.
Andy Jassy will become Amazon’s CEO on July 5th
Andy Jassy will officially become the CEO of Amazon on July 5th, the company announced at a shareholder meeting. Amazon announced that Jassy, who is the current CEO of Amazon Web Services (AWS), would replace Jeff Bezos as CEO of the entire company in February.
Bezos will become executive chair of Amazon’s board. Jassy joined the company in the late ’90s and was tasked with exploring what would become AWS around 2003.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Amazon.com Inc Founded: 5 July 1994.
- Amazon.com Inc Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States.
Neena Gupta announces autobiography “Sach Kahun Toh”
Bollywood actor Neena Gupta is all set to launch her autobiography “Sach Kahun Toh”, publisher Penguin Random House India. she wrote the book in 2020 during the lockdown. The book addresses issues like casting couch, film industry politics, and also talks about what it takes for a young actor to survive without a godfather or guide.
From her time at the National School of Drama (NSD) to moving to Bombay (Mumbai) in the 80s and her single parenthood, the book will share Gupta’s life story in the most “unapologetically honest” manner. “She details the big milestones in her life, her unconventional pregnancy and single parenthood, and successful second innings in Bollywood.
Equitas Small Finance Bank offers online process for NRI account opening
Equitas Small Finance Bank has now become the first Small Finance Bank to offer its NRI customer segment the ease of account opening online. The company will also be the only one in the Small Finance Bank sector to have Virtual Relationship Managers based on time zones. The online process of account opening for NRIs can be done via smartphone or computer connected to the Internet.
How to open an account?
- The applicants will have a span of 90 days to courier documents after account opening. With this pioneering move, Equitas Small Finance Bank is seamlessly increasing opportunities for its NRI account holders to manage their investments, deposits and the income earned in India.
- The Equitas Net Banking would also facilitate investment in mutual funds and Portfolio Management Services for the NRI account holders.
- Through Banking alliances, Equitas Bank also offers online and offline remittance facilities to its NRI customers at the best exchange rates thereby making it easier and beneficial to transfer their overseas earnings to India seamlessly.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Equitas Small Finance Bank MD & CEO Vasudevan P N;
- Equitas Small Finance Bank Headquarters: Chennai;
- Equitas Small Finance Bank Founded: 2016.
