GK Snapshots on 11 May 2021

Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War 2021 – May 8-9

The United Nations(UN) annually mark May 8th-9th as the Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War to create awareness about the misfortune of war and to pay tribute to all the victims of World War II(WWII).

The year 2021 marks the 76th anniversary of the end of World War II.

• The member states of the UN annually observed either one or both days to pay tribute to the victims of WWII.

• The day also recognises the efforts of the UN towards settling disputes through peaceful means and ensuring that international peace and security are not endangered.

India & Indonesian Navies conduct ‘PASSEX’ in the Arabian Sea

The Indian and Indonesian Navies conducted Passage Exercise (PASSEX) in the Southern Arabian sea. The main aim of the exercise was to improve interoperability and understanding between the Navy units of two countries.

i.From the Indian Navy, INS Sharda, an Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) with a Chetak helicopter participated in the exercise.

ii.From the Indonesian Navy, KRI Sultan Hasanudin, a 90m Corvette took part in the exercise.

virtually participates in the 3rd Arctic Science Ministerial 2021

Union Minister for Earth India Science Dr Harsh Vardhan virtually represented India in the 3rd Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM3) 2021 held in Tokyo, Japan from May 8-9, 2021, it was jointly organized by Iceland & Japan. The ASM3 2021 is the 1st meeting to be held in Asia.

• The theme for 2021 is ‘Knowledge for a Sustainable Arctic’.

• ASM is a global platform for discussing research and cooperation in the Arctic region, it is an event initiated by the Arctic Council, a high-level intergovernmental forum.

• The previous editions of ASM were held in the United States (US) in 2016 & Germany in 2018.

PM Modi participates in the India-European Union Leaders Meeting 2021

Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi virtually participated in the India-European Union (EU) Leaders Meeting 2021 which was held in a hybrid format on 8th May 2021 in Porto, Portugal. It is the 1st time that the EU has hosted a meeting with India in the EU+27 format.

i.The Meeting was hosted by Prime Minister of Portugal, Mr Antonio Costa (Portugal holds the Presidency of the Council of EU for the year 2021).

ii.India participated in the meeting virtually, while the Leaders of the 27 EU Member States met in person in Porto-Portugal.

iii.India was invited to a meeting by President of EU Council Charles Michel.

iv.Discussions were held on 3 key areas – Foreign policy and security, COVID-19, climate and environment, and trade, connectivity and technology.

v.During the meeting, the two sides adopted/signed key initiatives. They are

Portugal Opened ‘516 Arouca’ – Pedestrian Suspension Bridge

Portugal opened the Pedestrian suspension bridge named ‘516 Arouca’ in Northern Portugal. The 516-meter long bridge is built in the Arouca Geopark, which is suspended at 175 metres above the Paiva River. The bridge was built by the Institute for Research and Technological Development for Construction, Energy, Environment and Sustainability as a tourist attraction for the Arouca region.

• At present this is the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in Europe which surpassed the 494-metre Charles Kuonen Bridge in Switzerland (completed in 2017).

• Note – Baglung Parbat Footbridge in Nepal with 567-metre is the world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge.

Reliance Retail Became the World’s 2nd Fastest-Growing Retailer – Deloitte
In the “2021 Ranking of Global retail powerhouses” by Deloitte, millionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ltd has been ranked the 2nd fastest-growing retailer in the world, which is 1 rank down from its 2020 rank (In 2020 it was ranked 1st).

Note – South Korea’s Coupang is the World’s 1st Fastest-Growing Retailers. List of Global Powers:

• In the report of the list of Global Powers, Retailing Reliance Retail Ltd was ranked 53rd (ranked 56th in 2020’s list) and it was the only Indian entry in the global list of 250 retailers.

• In the list of Global Powers of Retailing and World’s Fastest Retailers, Reliance Retail took place consecutively for the 4th time.

Himanta Biswa Sarma Becomes 15th Chief Minister of Assam

On May 10, 2021,Himanta Biswa Sarma was sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam. He has replaced Sarbananda Sonowal. Both the candidates are from BJP(Bharatiya Janata Party).

• He was administered the oath by Governor Jagdish Mukhi.

About Himanta Biswa Sarma:

i.He has served three terms as an MLA in Assam belonging to Indian National Congress. He was elected from Jalukbari in 2001 and was re-elected in 2006 and 2011.

ii.In May 2016, he won Jalukbari constituency for the fourth consecutive term and was sworn in as Cabinet Minister and has been allotted portfolios like Finance, Health & Family Welfare, Education, Planning & Development, Tourism, Pension & Public Grievances

iii.On 23 April 2017, he was elected as President of Badminton Association of India.

iv.He has also been the president of the Assam Badminton Association and the president of the Assam Cricket Association.

CCI Approved the 100% Acquisition of Ingram Micro Inc. by Imola Acquisition Corporation

Imola Acquisition Corporation received approval from Competition Commission of India (CCI) to acquire 100% shareholding and sole control of Ingram Micro Inc. with its parent companies GCL Investment Management Inc., GCL Investment Holding Inc., and its direct and indirect subsidiaries
Key points:
i.Imola Acquisition Corporation is an entity incorporated recently by Platinum Equity Group.

ii.The Platinum Equity Group provides services and solutions such as information technology(IT), telecommunications, logistics, metal services, manufacturing, and distribution to customers.
iii.Ingram Micro is an IT company that specialises in technology distribution and logistics, cloud solutions, and e-commerce supply chain services.

Bryocrumia malabarica: New Species of Bryophyte Discovered in Kerala; Named After Malabar

A team of botanists led by Manju C Nair discovered a new species of bryophyte in the Malabar Wildlife sanctuary along the Western Ghats in Kerala. The new species is named “Bryocrumia malabarica” of the genus Bryocrumia, and is named after the Malabar region where it was spotted.

• This is the 2nd species identified under the genus Bryocrumia, which was thought to be monotypic, represented by just one species (Bryocrumia vivicolor).

• This is the 12th species of bryophytes described from Kerala.

• The findings are published in the journal Acta Botanica Hungarica

Formula One: Lewis Hamilton wins Spanish Grand Prix 2021

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton (Britain) won the Spanish Grand Prix 2021 for the 6th time (5th consecutive victory). The Spanish GP was held at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmela, Spain. The victory is also his 98th F1 Race Win (highest-ever in F1).

• Lewis Hamilton also became the 1st Formula One driver to seal 100 pole positions (1st position in the starting grid when the race is starting).

• Red Bull Racing Honda’s Max Verstappen (Netherlands) finished 2nd followed by Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas (Finland).

• The F1 Championships are organised by Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).

Tennis-2021 Madrid Open: Alexander Zverev won Men’s Singles, Aryna Sabalenka won Women’s Singles

Germany’s Alexander Zverev defeated Matteo Berrettini of Italy to win the Men’s Singles Title of the 2021 Madrid Open (19th Edition on ATP). This is the 2nd Madrid Open Title (previous one – 2018) & 4th Masters 1000 Title for Alexander Zverev.

• In the Women’s Singles Category, Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka defeated World No.1 Ashleigh Barty (Australia) to clinch her maiden Madrid Open Title. The 2021 Madrid Open is the 20th edition of the Tournament in WTA .

• The 2021 Madrid Open was held from 30th April 2021 – 9th May 2021 at Manzanares Park Tennis Center (also known as Manolo Santana Stadium), Madrid, Spain.

• The Madrid Open is a Clay-court event.

Doubles Category

Men’s – Horacio Zeballos (Argentina) & Marcel Granollers (Spain) defeated Croatian Pair of Nikola Mektic & Mate Pavic to win the Men’s Doubles Title of the 2021 Madrid Open.

Eminent Sculptor, Rajya Sabha Member, Padma Awardee Raghunath Mohapatra Passed Away

Eminent sculptor , Rajya Sabha member and Padma Awardee Raghunath Mohapatra passed away due to covid-19 in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha.He was born on 24th March 1943 in Puri,Odisha.
About Raghunath Mohapatra:
i.In 2018,Raghunath Mohapatra was nominated by President Ram Nath Kovind as the first person from Odisha to the Rajya Sabha.
ii.He was awarded India’s second highest civilian award Padma Vibhushan in 2013 for his contribution to the field of stone sculpture.
iii.He had also won Padma Bhushan award in 2001 and Padma Shri award in 1976 for his contribution to the field of stone sculpture.
iv.At the age of 22 he had won the National award for Sculpture in 1964
v.He was also nominated by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India as a Member of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in 2000.

Olympic gold medallist and former Indian hockey coach MK Kaushik passed away

Former India hockey player and coach Maharaj Krishan Kaushik(M K Kaushik) passed away at the age of 66 after battling COVID-19 in New Delhi.He was born on 2nd May 1955.He was the member of the Indian Hockey team that won the Gold medal in 1980 Olympics held in Moscow,Russia

About MK Kaushik:
i.MK Kaushik was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1998 for his role as a sportsman and the Dronacharya award in 2002 for his contribution as a coach.
ii.He had coached both the senior men and women’s teams. Under his coaching, India men’s team won a gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
iii.Also, Indian women’s team had won a bronze medal at the Doha Asian Games in 2006 under his coaching.
iv.Apart from sports,he also wrote the book The Golden Boot.
v.He was also involved in the development of the 2007 Bollywood film Chak De India which was based on Hockey

Asian Games Gold Medallist, Footballer – Fortunato Franco Passed away

On May 10, 2021, Former India international footballer, Fortunato Franco, passed away in Goa. He was a part of the 1962 Asian Games gold medal-winning football team in Jakarta. He was born in 1937 in Goa.

• He was a part of the 1960 Rome Olympics squad (but didn’t get a game).

• He made 26 appearances for India, including the 1962 Asian Cup, also played at the Merdeka Cup in 1964 (winning silver) and 1965 (winning bronze).

• At the domestic level, Franco played for Tata Football Club in Mumbai. He worked in that company’s public relations department for four decades before retiring in 1999.

Paul Pickering Authored a Book Titled “Elephant”

The British Novelist Paul Pickering has authored a new book titled “Elephant”.The book is to be published by Salt Publishing.

• This book is about the love story between Natasha and the man in Paris and it explores the interface between fact and fiction.

• The elephant culturally symbolises India more than any other country. According to the author, his book ‘Elephant’ is an affirmation of ‘I am my voice’. And my voice is as big as an elephant, which in turn is as big as creation.

About the Author
i.Paul Pickering is the author of six novels, Wild about Harry, Perfect English, The Blue Gate of Babylon, Charlie Peace, The Leopard’s Wife and Over the Rainbow.
ii.The Blue Gate of Babylon was a New York Times notable book of the year.

iii.Often compared to Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh, Pickering was chosen as one of the top ten young British novelists by bookseller WH Smith and has been long-listed for the Booker Prize three times.

iv.Apart from short stories and poetry, he has also written several plays, film scripts and columns for The Times and Sunday Times.

“Life in the Clock Tower Valley” Debut Novel of Journalist Shakoor Rather

Delhi-based Kashmiri journalist Shakoor Rather has authored his debut novel titled “Life in the Clock Tower Valley”. The novel travels between the past, present and future of Kashmir. The book was published by Speaking Tiger Books.
 

About the book:
i.The Book provides an insider’s view of everyday life and emotions in Kashmir valley through various love stories.
ii.The book focuses on the emotions and hardships of the common people of Kashmir and the conflicts and military presence in the region.
iii.The book also features historical and political information about Kashmir along with its environmental issues.

Assam became the 1st Indian state to adopt an Online flood reporting system

On May 8, 2021, Jishnu Barua, Chief Secretary, Assam launched a real-time Digital – Flood Reporting and Information Management System (FRIMS). With this launch, Assam became the 1st state in India to adopt an online flood reporting system.

• FRIMS was developed jointly by Assam State Disaster Management Agency(ASDMA) and United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF).

• Objective: To capture critical impact indicators during floods as the state is facing a deluge (severe flood) every year.

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