Veteran Indian Chemist C.N.R. Rao Receives 2020 International ENI Award
Noted Indian scientist and Bharat Ratna Professor, C.N.R. Rao has been felicitated with the International Eni Award 2020 (also called the Energy Frontier award). The International Eni Award is considered to be the Nobel Prize in Energy Research. He has been conferred the prize for his work on metal oxides, carbon nanotubes and other materials and two-dimensional systems.
Professor Rao will be presented the Eni Awards 2020 on 14 October 2021, during an official ceremony held at the Quirinal Palace in Rome. The Eni Award is awarded annually by the Italian oil and gas company Eni to encourage better use of energy sources and increased environmental research.
International Day of Action for Women’s Health: 28 May
The International Day of Action for Women’s Health (International Women’s Health Day) is observed every year on May 28 since 1987 to raise awareness on the issues related to women’s health and well being. Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network (LACWHN) and Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) launched the day.
Year after year, women, girls, advocates and allies have continued to take action and stand up for sexual and reproductive rights for what they are: an indivisible and inalienable part of our human rights.
Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen conferred with Spain’s top award
Indian economist and Nobel Laureate, Amartya Kumar Sen has been conferred with the ‘ 2021 Princess of Asturias Award’ by Spain in the social sciences category. Princess of Asturias Awards is annual prizes awarded by the Princess of Asturias Foundation in Spain to individuals, entities or organizations from around the world who make notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, and public affairs.
The 87-year-old Sen was selected from 41 candidates of 20 nationalities for “His research on famines and his theory of human development, welfare economics and the underlying mechanisms of poverty have contributed to the fight against injustice, inequality, disease and ignorance”. The award comprises a cash prize of 50,000 Euros along with a Joan Miro sculpture representing and symbolising the award, a diploma and insignia.
International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories
The United Nations is observing the International Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories from May 25 to 31, 2021. On December 06, 1999, the UN General Assembly called for the annual observance of the Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories. In UN Charter, a Non-Self-Governing Territory is defined as a Territory “whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government.”
The observation aims to take effective measures to safeguard and guarantee the inalienable rights of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories to their natural resources, including land, and to establish and maintain control over the future development of those resources and requested the Administering Powers to take all necessary steps to protect the property rights of the peoples of those Territories. At present, there are 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories remaining.
IFSCA constitutes an expert committee on Investment Funds
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has constituted an expert committee on Investment Funds. The Committee has been formed under the Chairmanship of Nilesh Shah, Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co. Ltd. It will holistically review the global best practices and make recommendations to IFSCA on the roadmap for the fund’s industry in the International Financial Service Centres (IFSCs).
The other members of the Committee comprises of leaders from the entire Fund Management ecosystem including from areas such as technology, distribution, legal, compliance, and operations.
About the IFSCA:
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) is based in GIFT City, Gandhinagar in Gujarat. It is a unified regulator to develop and regulate financial products, financial services and financial institutions in the International Financial Service Centres (IFSCs) in India.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma Appoints ‘Guardian Ministers’
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has appointed ‘Guardian Ministers’ to oversee the implementation of government policy decisions, administrative reforms, and other welfare schemes in all the 34 districts of the state. 13 ‘Guardian Ministers’ have been appointed for all 34 districts in Assam, for balanced, speedy and sustainable developments of these districts. The assigned ministers will be responsible for the implementation of all centrally-sponsored schemes as well as the state’s own priority programmes.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Assam Governor: Jagdish Mukhi.
Rajnath Singh launches SeHAT OPD portal
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has launched the ‘Services e-Health Assistance & Tele-consultation (SeHAT) OPD portal, through video conferencing. The main motive of the portal is to provide telemedicine services to the serving Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families.
About the Portal:
- The portal can be accessed at https://sehatopd.in/, to avail the telemedicine services
- SeHAT OPD portal is the final version with advanced safety features.
- The trial version was launched in August 2020 and more than 6,500 medical consultations have already been carried on the beta version.
Ashok Kumar, the only Indian referee to officiate in wrestling in Tokyo Olympics
Ashok Kumar will be the only referee from the country to officiate in wrestling matches of the Tokyo Olympic Games. He was named in the list of officials released by the United World Wrestling (UWW). Ashok, who will officiate in his second consecutive Olympics. He is a UWW referees’ educator as well.
TRIFED and NITI AAYOG to partner to implement the Van Dhan Yojana
TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India), Ministry of Tribal Affairs is set to partner with NITI Aayog for implementation of Van Dhan Vikas Kendra (VDVK) initiative under Van Dhan Yojna in 39 Tribal Aspirational districts identified by NITI Aayog. These include districts in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Telangana and Tripura.
About the initiative:
- Van Dhan tribal start-ups or VDVK is a programme for value addition, branding & marketing of Minor Forest Produces by establishing Van Dhan Kendras to facilitate the creation of sustainable livelihoods for the forest-based tribes.
- Special focus will be on these aspirational districts, where the tribal population is more than 50%.
- Through this partnership, NITI Aayog will support TRIFED in the concept of convergence (a collaboration between State & Central Governments, Development partners) for the VDVK Mission with Article 275 (1), DMF (District Mineral Foundations), and Scheduled Tribe Component (STC) of different ministries.
Van Dhan Yojna or Van Dhan Scheme
- It was launched on 14th April 2018 and is implemented by TRIFED. Van Dhan startups help for the socio-economic development of the tribal population of the country to set up the Van Dhan Kendra.
- It is a component of the ‘Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP’.
- The idea is to set up tribal community-owned Van Dhan Vikas Kendra Clusters (VDVKCs) in predominantly forested tribal districts.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Minister of Tribal Affairs: Arjun Munda.
- NITI Aayog Formed: 1 January 2015.
- NITI Aayog Headquarters: New Delhi.
- NITI Aayog Chairperson: Narendra Modi.
Jagjit Pavadia elected as president of Vienna based INCB
Jagjit Pavadia, the former Narcotics Commissioner of India and a retired officer of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs), has been elected president of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). She is the first Indian to be heading the Vienna-based organization and the second woman to hold this office.
The Board will pay particular attention to the timely supply of and access to controlled drugs during emergency situations. It will also continue its work on the development of guidelines for the control and monitoring of cannabis and cannabis-related substances. INCB monitors the compliance of UN Member States with the three international drug control conventions and the functioning of the international drug control system.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- International Narcotics Control Board Headquarters: Vienna, Austria;
- International Narcotics Control Board President: Cornelis P. de Joncheere;
- International Narcotics Control Board Founded: 1968.
Aashritha V Olety is India’s 1st woman flight test engineer
Squadron Leader, Aashritha V Olety is the first and only woman in the IAF qualified for the role, and as a flight test engineer, she will be responsible for evaluating aircraft and airborne systems before their induction into the armed forces. Aashritha V Olety, a native of Karnataka, has graduated as part of the 43rd Flight Test Course.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Air Chief Marshal: Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria.
- Indian Airforce founded: 8 October 1932.
- Indian Airforce Headquarters: New Delhi.
ICICI Bank has collaborated with NPCI to link its ‘Pockets’ digital wallet to the UPI
ICICI Bank has announced the launch of a unique facility of linking a UPI (Unified Payments Interface) ID to its digital wallet ’Pockets’, marking a departure from the current practice that demands such IDs be linked with a savings bank account. This initiative enables users to undertake small value everyday transactions directly from their ‘Pockets’ wallet. Further, customers who already have a UPI ID, will get a new ID when they log on to the ‘Pockets’ app.
This initiative enables users to undertake small value everyday transactions directly from their ‘Pockets’ wallet using UPI in a safe and secure manner. It helps them to streamline the number of transactions being undertaken daily from their savings account and thus de-clutter their savings account statement of multiple entries. Further, it expands the convenient usage of UPI to young adults like college students, who may not have a savings account.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- ICICI Bank Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.
- ICICI Bank MD & CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi.
- ICICI Bank Tagline: Hum Hai Na, Khayal Apka.
Author And Art Curator Alka Raghuvanshi Passes Away
Author And Art Curator Alka Raghuvanshi passed away. She was India’s first trained art curator, having trained at the Goldsmiths College, London and the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford. She has curated and designed over 25 major exhibitions many of which travelled to other parts of the country and the world.
A new book to raise funds for child rights amid pandemic
Aditya Gupta, a Delhi-based entrepreneur and mountaineer aim to raise Rs 1 crore for COVID-19 relief from the sale proceeds of his recently released book “7 Lessons from Everest – Expedition Learnings from Life and Business”. The coffee-table book, with 350 stunning images spread over 250 pages, is written by Aditya Gupta.
The book narrates the author’s experience of scaling Mt Everest at the age of 50 in 2019 and shares the virtues of “preparation, passion, perseverance, mental toughness, and resilience”. The proceeds from the book will be given to NGO Child Rights and You (CRY).
Kerala’s new Smart Kitchen Scheme
Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan has announced a secretary-level committee will formulate guidelines and recommendations on implementation of the “Smart Kitchen Scheme” in state to fulfil commitments of the Left Democratic Front (LDF). It aims to account and reduce the workload of women’s domestic labour. Smart Kitchen Scheme will be launched by July 10, 2021.
Under the scheme, women of state will be given loan to refurbish their kitchen. Loan will be provided with a low-interest rate in instalment schemes. Scheme seeks to reduce workload of women’s domestic labour.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Kerala CM: Pinarayi Vijayan.
- Kerala Governor: Arif Mohammad Khan.
