News detail on 8 June 2021

International Day of Sport for Development and Peace 2021 April 6

The United Nations(UN)’s International Day of Sport for Development and Peace(IDSDP) is annually observed across the globe on 6th April to recognise the role of sports in communities and in individuals towards building resilience.

2021 marks the celebration of the 8th edition of the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace(IDSDP).
The theme of 2021 IDSDP is focused on – recovery from the pandemic and the importance of equity in the recovery and the need to build back better for a resilient and equitable world.

Aim of 2021 IDSDP:

• To reaffirm the place of Sports in the Recovery from the pandemic and beyond.
• To support equity, solidarity, community and team spirit in response to the pandemic.
• To Encourage healthy habits through physical activity and building emotional wellbeing.
• To inspire hope through sporting analogies.

World Health Day 2021 – April 7

The United Nations(UN)’s World Health Day is annually observed across the globe on 7th April to draw attention towards a specific health topic that concerns people across the globe to highlight the priority area of concern for the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The day is celebrated under the sponsorship of the WHO and other related organizations.
The theme of World Health Day 2021 is “Building a Fairer, Healthier World”.

International Day Of Reflection On The 1994 Genocide Against The Tutsi In Rwanda 2021 – April 7

The United Nations(UN)’s International Day Of Reflection On The 1994 Genocide Against The Tutsi In Rwanda is annually observed across the globe on 7th April to recognise the importance of combating impunity for all violations that constitute the crime of genocide.

The day recalls the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda and remembers the victims of the genocide.
7th April 2021 marks the 27th anniversary of the start of the genocide.

The commemoration of 2021 is organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) and the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation UNESCO Chair on Genocide Education, with the Permanent Delegation of Rwanda to UNESCO, in partnership with Global Action Against Mass Atrocity Crimes (GAAMAC).

World Backup Day 2021 – March 31

World Backup Day is annually observed on 31st March to remind us to protect our digital documents. The Day was originally started as the World Backup Month instituted by Maxtor, a hard drive company which was later acquired by Seagate Technology.

• The day aims to create awareness about the importance of the role of data and regular backups.
• Backup is a 2nd copy of all the important digital documents stored in a single location like an external hard drive, USB Stick or on the Cloud.

Forbes’ 35th Annual World’s Billionaires List: Jeff Bezos tops the list; Mukesh Ambani Asia’s richest person

Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon.com Inc topped the Forbes’ 35th Annual world’s Billionaires list with a net worth of 177 billion USD followed by Elon Musk CEO of SpaceX and Tesla with a net worth of 151 billion USD and French Billionaire Bernard Arnault chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE with a net worth of 150 Billion USD with 2nd and 3rd rank.

• Ranked 10, MukeshAmbani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd became Asia’s richest person, replacing Jack Ma.
• With 140 billionaires, India has the 3rd highest number of billionaires in the world.

Top 3 of Forbes’ 35th Annual World’s Billionaires List:

Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana Appointed As 48th Chief Justice Of India

On 6th April 2021, the President of India Appointed Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana, Judge of the Supreme Court, as the 48th Chief Justice of India (CJI). The notification regarding the appointment was issued by the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice.

• He will take over as the CJI from Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde on 24th April 2021. He will serve for a tenure of 16 months till 26th August 2022.

The Chief Justice of India is appointed by the President of India under clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution.

S Ramann CEO of NeSL appointed as the CMD of SIDBI

S Ramann, the Chief Executive officer(CEO) of National e-Governance Services Ltd (NeSL), has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD)of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

• He will hold the post of CMD of SIDBI for a period of 3 years from the date of his assuming charge or until further orders.

Note:
i.In December 2020, the Bank Board Bureau(BBB) headed by BhanuPratap Sharma, former Secretary of Department of Personnel and Training, has recommended S Ramann to the post of CMD of SIDBI.
ii.BBB has also recommended ShivendraTomar, Managing Director of IFCI Venture Capital Funds Ltd, a subsidiary of IFCI to the post of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer(MD&CEO) of IFCI.

BYJU’S the Edtech company acquired AESL for $1 billion

On April 5, 2021, Byju’s, India’s biggest online education startup has announced its acquisition of Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), a provider of test preparation services for $1 billion (about Rs 7,300 crore). This deal is the biggest acquisition by Byju’s until now. The objective of the acquisition: Byju’s aims to increase its presence in the test prep space as its competitors/rival Unacademy made close to six acquisitions in the test prep space and Amazon India made an entry with Amazon Academy in 2020.

CCI Approved the Proposed Combination of SAMC to acquire PAMPL, PTCPL and PRAPL

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the proposed combination which is related to the 100% acquisition of the issued and paid-up equity share capital of Principal Asset Management Private Limited (PAMPL), Principal Trustee Company Private Limited (PTCPL) and Principal Retirement Advisors Private Limited(PRAPL) by Sundaram Asset Management Company Limited(SAMC).

Harsh Vardhan launches Integrated Health Information Platform; India becomes 1st country to adopt Advanced Disease Surveillance System

On April 5, 2021, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan virtually launched the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP), an integrated Digital Platform for Disease Surveillance in India. It is an advanced version of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), which is being used currently. With the launch, India became the 1st Country in the World to adopt an Advanced Digital Disease Surveillance System.

• It is also the World’s biggest online disease surveillance platform (in terms of Geographical coverage, number of diseases covered & quantum of data generated).
• National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), World Health Organization (WHO) were associated with the development of the platform.
• The platform is in sync with the National Digital Health Mission and will help in achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of ‘Atma-NirbharSwasth Bharat’.

SUPACE – AI driven Research Portal of Supreme Court of India

On 6th April 2021, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde launched, “Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Court’s Efficiency (SUPACE)” an Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven tool, which is 1st of its kind in the World that collects relevant facts and laws related to the case, thereby easing the research process for Judges.

• SUPACE portal is the brainchild of CJI SA Bobde, the 1st Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Committee.

Features of the SUPACE portal:

i.Efficient use of AI for collecting information related to the case, to reduce the workload of Judges.
ii.The tool can only process the data for collecting case related details, and all other decisions will be taken only by the Judge.

Note – Justice L Nageswara Rao, is the current Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Committee.
E-Courts Project was conceptualised on the basis of “National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary – 2005” submitted by the e-Committee of the Supreme Court.

Russia Testing new ‘Super Torpedo’ that can cause ‘Radioactive Tsunamis’

Russia is Testing a new ‘Super Torpedo’ namely Poseidon 2M39 Torpedo in the Arctic region. The Super Torpedo is capable of producing Radioactive Tsunamis. The Unmanned Stealth Torpedo is powered by a nuclear reactor and has a range of 10, 000 km.

• The Torpedo can reach a speed of 100 Knots (around 115 miles per hour) with a 100 MW Nuclear Reactor.
• It can carry warheads of up to 2 Megatons.
• The radioactive waves created by the torpedo would make swathes of the target coastline uninhabitable for decades.
• Russia is also testing a Hyper-sonic missile called ‘Tsirkon’, which is capable of flying at speeds of up to Mach 6-7.

Virat Kohli regains Top spot in ODI Batsman rankings; India at 8th spot in ICC WC Super League Standings

After the 2021 England vs India 3-match One Day Internationals (ODI) series in March, 2021, Indian Skipper Virat Kohli regained the No.1 Spot in International Cricket Council (ICC) ODI Men’s Batsman Rankings. With 2-1 victory in the 3-match series, India moved to 7th spot in the ICC World Cup (WC) Super League Standings.

Note – As on April 7, 2021, India ranked at 8th Spot in the ICC World Cup (WC) Super League Standings.

Key Points:
i.England retains the top spot in ICC WC Super League Standings.
ii.As on 7th April, 2021, Pakistan ranked at 2nd Position & Australia ranked at 3rd Position.
iii.Countries in the top 8 spots of the ICC WC Super League Standings will automatically qualify for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
iv.As the host of the 2023 World Cup, India has already qualified for the tournament. India’s Stands in ICC

A book titled “Exam Warriors” (Revised and Updated Edition) by PM Narendra Modi released

The new revised and updated version of book titled “ Exam Warriors” written by Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi was released with many new mantras & range of engaging activities for students as well as parents and also reaffirms the need to remain stress free before an exam.

• Exam Warriors is an initiative by PM Narendra Modi to hold and motivate aspiring students for upcoming boards.

Supreme Court-appointed 3-member Panel submits report on Agricultural Reform Laws

The 3-member committee appointed by the Supreme Court for Studying 3 Agricultural reform laws passed by Parliament has submitted its report to the Supreme Court.

• The report will be made public on the date of the next hearing of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL).
• Around 85 Farmer organisations have been consulted for the report & possible solutions for resolving the issue between the farmers & government have been outlined in the report.

i.Members of the Committee –
Pramod Kumar Joshi, Anil Ghanwat, Ashok Gulati
ii.Issues of Contention

• Various Farmer Organizations have been protesting against 3 Farm Laws stating that they are pro-corporate and could weaken the mandi system.
• On January 12, 2021, the Supreme Court had suspended the implementation of the 3 laws, it appointed a 4-member committee of experts to listen to the views of protesting farmers & views of the Central Government and make recommendations.
• The 4th member, Bhupinder Singh Mann (Farm Union Leader) had recused himself from the panel.
iii.3-Farm laws

• The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act
• The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act
• The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act

Sanjay Dhotre attends Consultation meeting of Education Ministers of E9 Countries

On April 6, 2021, Minister of State (MoS) for Education, Sanjay Dhotre attended the consulting meeting of Education Ministers of E9 Countries.

• Theme – ‘E9 Initiative: Scaling up digital learning to accelerate progress towards SDG4 (Sustainable Development Goal-4)’.
• The Consultation meeting is the 1st of a three-phased process to co-create an initiative on digital learning & skills, targeting marginalised children and youth, especially girls.

Objective

The E9 initiative aims to accelerate recovery and advance the SDG4 Agenda by focusing on three of the five priorities of the 2020 Global Education Meeting Declaration (organized by UNESCO). They are

• Support to teachers
• Investment in skills
• Narrowing of the digital divide

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar Participated in Climate & Development Ministerial Meet in Run up to COP26

On 31st March 2021, Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change(MoEF&CC) participated in the virtual climate and development ministerial meet hosted by the United Kingdom (UK) in a run-up to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties(COP26) 2021.

• The event was hosted by COP26 presidentAlok Sharma and UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab, with a focus on how to set international agenda in the run-up to COP26.

COP26: The COP26 UN climate change conference is set to take place in Scottish Event Campus, Glasgow, the United Kingdom in partnership with Italy. The conference in 2021 is set to be held from 1st to 12th November 2021.

IMF has projected India’s GDP growth to 12.5% & 6.9% in FY22 & FY23

International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its biannual World Economic Outlook report has hiked its growth projection of India for FY22 by 1% to 12.5% from 11.5% of its January 2021 estimation, due to the normalization of economic activity.

• For FY21, it estimated an 8%(-8%) contraction of the Gross Domestic Product(GDP)and for FY23 the growth forecast was revised to 6.9% from 6.8%.
• The report projected the global economy to grow at 6% in 2021 and 4.4% in 2022 as against a contraction of 3.3% (-3.3%)in 2020.

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