Current Affairs 16 & 17 May 2021

We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 16 & 17 May 2021, which have unique updates of Latest Current Affairs 2021 events from all newspapers such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, PIB, Times of India, PTI, Indian Express, Business Standard and all Government official websites.

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS

PM Modi releases 8th Installment of funds to beneficiaries under PM-KISAN SchemePrime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has released the 8th installment of funds to beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme. Around ~INR 20, 667 Crore was distributed to around 9.5 Crore farmer beneficiaries in the 8 installment.

• For the 1st time, farmers in West Bengal joined the PM-KISAN Scheme, and around 7 Lakh Bengal farmers received their 1st installment.

PM-KISAN Scheme
i.It was launched by 24th February, 2019 by PM Narendra Modi at Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.
ii.It is 100% funded by the Central Government.
iii.Objective – to supplement the income of farmers by providing income support to all farmer families in India irrespective of the size of their landholdings.
iv.Financial Benefit – an amount of INR 6000 per year is provided to eligible beneficiary farmer families in 3-equal  four monthly installments of INR 2000 each.
About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare:
Union Minister –  Narendra Singh Tomar (Lok Sabha – Morena, Madhya Pradesh)
Minister of State (MoS) –  Parshottam Rupala (Rajya Sabha – Gujarat), Kailash Choudhary (Lok Sabha – Barmer, Rajasthan)
>>Read Full News

US to help India to achieve its Target of 450 GW of RE by 2030The United States (US) is set to partner with India on climate change, it will assist India to achieve its target of deploying 450 GigaWatts (GW) of Renewable Energy (RE) by 2030.

• It was stated by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
• The US will provide finance and technological assistance to India to meet its target.
• John Kerry is the 1st American climate change envoy with cabinet rank.
• India is the 3rd CO2 emitter after China, USA.

According to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), India’s CO2 emission declined by 7% (or 160 Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide) in 2020.
About United States
President – Joe Biden
Capital – Washington DC
Currency – United States Dollar (USD)

Dept. of Economic Affairs, New Development Bank Organised Seminar on ‘Social Infrastructure Financing and Use of Digital Technologies’In May 2021, the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and the New Development Bank jointly organized a virtual seminar on Social Infrastructure Financing and the use of Digital Technologies, as a part of the Economic and Financial Cooperation Agenda under the Indian BRICS Chairship 2021.
Key points about the Seminar:
i.High-level participants from both the public and private sector were engaged in the seminar.
ii.Important issues regarding the use of Digital Technologies in the 21st century and social infrastructure financing were the key focus under the seminar.
iii.About the importance of investing in social infrastructure, and the range of viable models and instruments for financing social infrastructure in the BRICS countries, were also discussed.
Points to be noted:
i.BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the group of five major emerging countries, which together represents about 42 percent of the population, 23 percent of GDP, 30 percent of the territory, and 18 percent of the global trade.
ii.Education – Russia, India, China spend around 4-4.5 percent of GDP on education while Brazil and South Africa spend about 6 percent of their GDP.
iii.Health – India’s public expenditure on health is the lowest among the BRICS nations
About Ministry of Finance:
Union Minister – Nirmala Sitharaman (Rajya Sabha MP representing Karnataka)
Minister of State (MoS) – Anurag Singh Thakur (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh)
About New Development Bank:
Establishment -2014 by BRICS countries
Headquarters – Shanghai, China
President – Marcos Prado Troyjo

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Verisk Maplecroft Report-India has 43 of the World’s 100 Most Environmentally Riskiest cities; Jakarta ToppedAccording to the ‘Environmental Risk Outlook 2021’ released by Verisk Maplecroft,  India has 43 of the World’s 100 most environmentally riskiest cities. Jakarta in Indonesia was ranked as the most riskiest city in the world, followed by Delhi & Chennai (Tamil Nadu).

• 99 of the World’s 100 riskiest cities are in Asia (43 in India and 37 in China).
• Lima, Peru is the only non-Asian city to be listed in the World’s 100 Riskiest cities.
• Glasgow, Scotland was ranked as the safety city in the report.

World’s  3 most environmentally riskiest cities

Environmental Risk Outlook 2021

• The report ranks the world’s 576 largest urban centres based on their exposure to a range of environmental and climate-related threats.
• The report is based on 9 risk indices which evaluate the liveability, investment potential and operational risk landscape of cities with a population over 1 million.
• The 2021 report is the 1st instalment in the Cities@Risk series of Verisk Maplecroft.

About Verisk Maplecroft
President – Matt Moshiri
Headquarters – Bath, United Kingdom
>>Read Full News

BANKING & FINANCE

ADB committed USD 3.92 billion Loan to India in 2020 – Highest Annual Lending to India Since 1986On May 14, 2021, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has committed $3.92 billion in sovereign loans for 13 projects to India in 2020, including $1.8 billion in projects to support the Government of India’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic response.

• Since the start of its lending operations in 1986, this 2020 lending was ADB’s highest-ever annual lending commitment to India.
• Note – ADB’s current sovereign portfolio in India includes 79 projects worth $14.4 billion.

Lending against COVID-19:
i.ADB also committed $356.1 million through its non-sovereign operations to India, including 3 COVID-19 support projects to contain the disease and establish social protection measures for relief to the poor and other vulnerable groups.
ii.It also approved financing to help the government improve equitable access to comprehensive primary health care in urban areas.
New projects committed in 2020:
i.Committed $500 million to build a modern, high-speed 82-kilometre Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit system corridor.
ii.Energy sector loans to strengthen distribution network in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Meghalaya and to build a 120-megawatt hydroelectric power plant in Assam.
iii.In the urban sector, ADB approved loans for sustainable urban development in secondary and smaller towns in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
About Asian Development Bank (ADB)
India was a founding member of ADB and it is being ADB’s fourth-largest shareholder and its top borrower since 2010.
Establishment -1966
Headquarters – Manila, Philippines
President – Masatsugu Asakawa
Members – 68 members (49 within Asia and the Pacific, 19 outside)
>>Read Full News

NABARD Provided Rs 1,236 crore from RIDF for Assam in FY21The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) provided a record high amount of Rs 1,236 crore from its Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) of FY21, for the Rural Connectivity Projects (Roads & Bridges) in Assam.

• Objective: To improve the sustainable agriculture practices and double the farming community’s income in Assam.

About NABARD’s different sanction to Assam:
i.For creating new infrastructure projects, NABARD has also sanctioned Rs 1150 crore to the Government of Assam during FY21 under RIDF XXVI.
Benefits under the infrastructure projects: 

• The infrastructure projects in Assam will lead to creation of 610 km length of rural roads in the state- benefitting 1255 villages around 16 lakh people.
• It also led to 2472 hectare under irrigation, augmentation of infrastructure development of 2437 elementary schools and 23,397 ha under flood protection.

ii.NABARD has sanctioned Rs 1.40 crore to grant assistance to 13 farm sector projects across, Rs 85 lakh for 36 Skill Development Programmes (focus attention to reverse migrant labourers), and Rs 85 lakh for establishment of 8 Rural Haats.
iii.NABARD provided an amount of Rs 272 crore to Assam Gramin Vikash Bank and Assam Cooperative Apex Bank Ltd. as Special Liquidity Facility (SLF) to address the liquidity constraints faced by Rural Financial Institutions (RFIs) due to Covid-19.
About National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD):
Establishment – 1982 (on the recommendations of B. Sivaramman Committee)
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Chairman – Govinda Rajulu Chintala
>>Read Full News

IDRBT Building Next Generation Digital Financial Infrastructure, NADIThe Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), an arm of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is building a next-generation Digital Financial Infrastructure named National Digital Financial Infrastructure (NADI).

• NADI will be owned by the Government of India, with NADI’s high-speed network, the government could monitor and control all financial activity, and it will also make security easier.

Features of NADI:
i.Its modern network infrastructure includes 5G/Edge Cloud with SDNs (software-defined networking) for connecting to the critical data centre infrastructure at the back-end.
ii.It could protect the network from outside elements and quickly isolate the network in the event of counter-attacks by separating financial network traffic from other traffic with clear entry points.
About Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology(IDRBT):
Establishment – It was established by the RBI in March 1996
Headquarters – Hyderabad, Telangana
Director – D. Janakiram
>>Read Full News

Microsite to Support Employees amid COVID-19 Pandemic Launched by Bank of Baroda

Indian Public sector bank, Bank of Baroda recently launched a Micro-website that will serve as an emergency networking platform for all employees amid the second wave of COVID-19.
It provides Various data, like network of plasma donors to employees and Recovered employees can also enroll themselves voluntarily as donors.
Other facilities provided in this site are,

• External links for suppliers of necessities like oxygen cylinders, Remdesivir, plasma and hospital beds are also available on this site.
• Providing contact details of various SPOCs (single point of contact) across zones for help.
• Registration facility for employees to sign up for volunteer work in their cities.
• Reaching out under the ”Need Help” section to request assistance for themselves or their families.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS        

Y Nuklu Phom Became the only Indian to win Whitley Award 2021 for “Biodiversity Peace Corridor”Y Nuklu Phom, a church worker from Nagaland, won the Whitley Award 2021 for his efforts toward creating “Biodiversity Peace Corridor”, a network of community-owned forests in Nagaland and protecting the Amur Falcon. He is the only Indian to win the prestigious award.

• The award to Y Nuklu Phom was donated by the MAVA Foundation.
• The Whitley Award is also known as the ‘Green Oscar’.

About Whitley Award:
i.The award was established by Edward Whitley OBE in 1993.
ii.The award is annually presented to the individuals from the global south by Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN).
iii.Each winner receives 40000 pound (around RS 41 lakhs) in project funding over 1 year.
About Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN):
Headquarters– London, United Kingdom
>>Read Full News

Fortune’s List of World’s 50 Greatest Leaders:NZ PM, Jacinda Ardern tops; Adar Poonawalla in Top 10Fortune Magazine released its ‘World’s 50 Greatest Leaders’ list for 2021 which is topped by New Zealand(NZ) Prime Minister(PM) Jacinda Ardern.Serum Institute of India’s CEO Adar Poonawalla is on the 10th spot and he is the only Indian among the top 10 names on the list.
Key points:
i.Jacinda Ardern is recognised for her efficiency in tackling and stopping the coronavirus surge in New Zealand.
ii.Adar Poonawalla is recognised for taking the task of bringing an end to the global pandemic by supplying COVID-19 vaccines.
iii.mRNA Pioneers have been listed second on the list.
iv.Daniel H Schulman, American business executive and president and CEO of PayPal, has been named the third Greatest Leader on the list.
v.Other names who made it to the list of top 10 of the top 50 leaders include NBA Rescuers; Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s John Nkengasong; Ping An’s Jessica Tan among others.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS          

Gunjan Shah – Appointed as New CEO of Bata India LtdIndia’s largest footwear retailer Bata India Ltd., appointed Gunjan Shah as its new chief executive officer(CEO).He will succeed Sandeep Kataria who was elevated as the global CEO of Bata Brand.
i.He has been appointed as a whole-time director of Bata for a period of five years with effect from June 21, 2021.
ii.He will take over the new position in June and will be based in Gurugram,Haryana.
iii.Before this Gunjan Shah has been working as chief commercial officer in Britannia Industries Ltd.
iv.He has also worked in Asian Paints and Motorola.
About Bata India:
Bata India is the largest footwear retailer in India with brands such as Bata, Hush Puppies, Naturalizer, Power, Marie Claire, Weinbrenner, North Star, Scholl, among others.
Incorporated:1931.
Headquarters:Gurugram,Haryana.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS        

PCHFL Received CCI Approval To Acquire DHFLPiramal Capital and Housing Finance (PCHF), a subsidiary of Piramal Enterprises (PE), received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to acquire Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. (DHFL).
Background:
In February 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the resolution plan of PE to acquire DHFL through PCHF with a total payment of around Rs 35,000 crores. Click here to know more
Key points:
i.PE also needs to obtain approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to acquire DHFL, as RBI referred DHFL to NCLT due to its 83,873 crore debt in November 2019.
Note – DHFL was the 1st finance company to be referred to NCLT by the RBI using special powers under Section 227 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code(IBC), 2016.
ii.PE reported a net profit of Rs 748 crore during the Q4FY21, compared with Rs 807 crore in Q4FY20.
About Piramal Enterprises (PE):
Chairman – Ajay Piramal
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
About Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd.(DHFL):
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Administrator– Shri R. Subramaniakumar

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Google partners with SpaceX to provide Starlink Internet ServiceGoogle Cloud is set to partner with SpaceX to provide Cloud services to help deliver high speed internet through SpaceX’s Starlink satellites.

• As part of the partnership, SpaceX will install Starlink terminals (ground stations) at Google data centres across the world.
• The Starlink Terminals will help in delivering high-speed broadband internet through Google Cloud.
• The service will be available to enterprise customers before the end of 2021.
• The Starlink-Google partnership also involves delivery of data, cloud services, and applications to remote areas of the world.

About Google
CEO – Sundar Pichai
Headquarters – California, US
About SpaceX
CEO – Elon Musk
Headquarters – California, USA
>>Read Full News

‘Defence National OPD’ Launched on e-Sanjeevani PortalOn 14th May, 2021, ‘Defence National OPD’ was launched in e-Sanjeevani Portal. Earlier, ‘Defence National OPD’ was launched as ‘Ex-Defence OPD’ on 07 May 2021 in a phased manner in 3 States(Uttar Pradesh ,Rajasthan ,Uttarakhand).

• Objective-It facilitates free online medical consultation to all citizens of India, as well as provides for online prescription of medicines.

Working of ‘Defence National OPD’:

Through the ‘Defence National OPD’ in e-Sanjeevani Portal, veteran defence doctors will answer the queries of the citizen & will provide free online consultation services.

Need for ‘Defence National OPD’:

Since, India has limited medical resourced, this initiative will go a long way in obtaining necessary medical advice and consultation in the safe environment of patients’ homes, avoiding unnecessary visits to hospitals and increasing the risk of getting infected with COVID and overburdening the limited health resources.

Key Points:
i.e-Sanjeevani Portal is developed by the C-DAC, Mohali under the aegis of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW), Govt of India.
ii.It was launched as “Ex-Defence OPD” by Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and Surgeon Vice Admiral Rajat Datta, Director General of Armed Forces Medical Services.
iii.It is available on www.esanjeevaniopd.in.
iv.As of today, more than 1000 patients have been provided online consultation by 85 veteran defence doctors by providing their services on the portal.

China launches Yaogan – Remote Sensing Satellites into orbitChina successfully launched the Yaogan-30 (08) remote sensing satellites into orbit using the Long March 2C rocket, lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China. It was China’s 13th launch of 2021 & 369th mission of the Long March rocket series.

• The 3 satellites launched in the mission will be used for electromagnetic environment surveys and other technology tests.
• ‘Tianqi-12’ – a small satellite for Internet of Things (IoT) data connectivity built by Beijing based firm  ‘Guodian Gaoke’ was also launched.
• Yaogan satellites are basically Chinese military reconnaissance satellites.

i.On April 30, 2021 China launched  ‘Yaogan-34’ optical remote sensing satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gobi Desert, China.
ii.China is aiming to launch at least 40 times in 2021.
China’s rocket debris falls in Indian Ocean
The debris from China’s Long March-5B Y2 rocket, fell in the Indian Ocean near Maldives.

• On April 29, 2021, China National Space Administration (CNSA) launched the Core Module ‘Tianhe’ for its new permanent space station aboard the Long March-5B Y2 rocket.

About China National Space Administration (CNSA)
Administrator – Zhang Kejian
Headquarters – Beijing, China
>>Read Full News

Zhurong : China’s 1st Mars Rover Lands on the Utopia Planitia, MarsOn May 14, 2021, the Chinese Spacecraft Tianwen 1 carrying rover Zhurong landed on Utopia Planitia region, Mars successfully.This makes China only the second country after the US to send a rover to the surface of the Red Planet.
Key points:
i.The lander that carried the Zhurong rover touched down the Martian surface successfully and it landed in the Utopia Planitia region.
ii.However, when the lander entered the Martian atmosphere, the spacecraft endured “Seven Minutes of Terror” as that of the Mars Perseverance rover of NASA.
iii.The rover, which weighs 240 kilograms, can last three Martian months, about 92 days on Earth.
About China:
Capital – Beijing
Currency – Renminbi
President – Xi Jinping
>>Read Full News

New Shepard: Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin Sets 1st Space Tourism Flight in July 2021

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s rocket company, Blue Origin, announced the first flight that aboard its New Shepard rocket, and crew capsule which is designed to carry up to 6 tourists per flight, beyond an invisible line, known as the Karman line, which separates Earth from space.

• The first flight is scheduled to take place in July 20,2021 and one seat was auctioned off to the highest bidder.
• Note – The space tourism rocket was named after Alan Shepard – the second man and the first American to travel into space.

ENVIRONMENT

Five Deeps Expedition measures Extreme Depths of World’s 5 OceansThe Five Deeps Expedition has measured the extreme depths  of the World’s 5 Oceans – Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic & Southern ocean (also known as Antarctic ocean).

• The Challenger Deep (10, 924 m) in Mariana Trench in Pacific Ocean remains the Deepest Trench in the world.
• The 2nd Deepest Trench in the world is the Horizon Deep (10, 816 m) in the Tonga Trench, Pacific Ocean.

Ocean & Deepest Points

• Atlantic Ocean – Brownson Deep (8, 378 m) in Puerto Rico Trench
• Southern Ocean (Antarctic ocean) – Factorian Deep (7, 432 m) in South Sandwich Trench
• Indian Ocean – Unnamed Deep (7, 187 m) in Java Trench
• Pacific Ocean – Challenger Deep (10, 924 m) in Mariana Trench (deepest trench in the world).
• Arctic Ocean – Molloy Hole (5, 551 m)

Five Deeps Expedition

• American undersea explorer Victor Lance Vescovo of the US launched the Five Deeps Expedition in 2018.
• The Five Deeps Expedition was the first to reach the deepest point in each of the Earth’s five oceans.

>>Read Full News

SPORTS

AICF Launched ‘Checkmate Covid Initiative’ to Help Chess Community Against COVID-19

The All India Chess Federation (AICF) launched the ‘Checkmate Covid Initiative’ to support the chess community affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The initiative was launched at the virtual event in the presence of Arkady Dvorkovich, president of FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs – International Chess Federation), Viswanathan Anand, 5 time world Champion, World Rapid Chess Champion Koneru Humpy, Sanjay Kapoor, president of AICF and Bharat Singh Chauhan, Secretary of AICF.
Under the initiative AICF will provide

• financial assistance to registered players, arbiters, organisers, coaches and retired players.
• Assistance for vaccination for players travelling abroad for tournaments.
• Medical, home quarantine support and financial assistance for members who are in need of hospitalisation.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Day of Families 2021 – 15 MayThe International Day of Families is annually observed across the globe on 15th May to promote the awareness of the issues related to families and to educate the social, economic and demographic processes affecting families.
The theme of International Day of Families 2021 is “Families and New Technologies”.
The theme focuses on the impacts of the new technologies on the well-being of families.
Background:
i.The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/47/237 in 1993, and proclaimed the 15th May of every year as the International Day of Families.
ii.The first International Day of Families was observed on 15th May 1994. 
>>Read Full News

STATE NEWS

Malerkotla becomes 23rd District of PunjabAmarinder Singh Chief Minister of Punjab announced Malerkotla as the 23rd district of Punjab. The district was created by carving the only Muslim majority town from Sangrur district.

• The formation of the new district was announced during the state level event on Eid-ul-Fitr.
• The district Malerkotla includes the subdivisions of Malerkotla and Ahmedgarh and the sub-tehsil of Amargarh.

About Punjab:
Wildlife Sanctuary– Bir Moti Bagh Wildlife Sanctuary, Bir Aishwan Wildlife Sanctuary, Bir Dosanjh Wildlife Sanctuary, Bir Bhadson Wildlife Sanctuary
Zoological park- Mohendra Chaudhry Zoological Park
>>Read Full News

Manipur CM Biren Singh Launched Moma Market Mobile App For Vegetable Delivery N Biren Singh, Chief Minister (CM) of Manipur launched the MOMA Market Mobile application to solve the issues of home delivery of fresh vegetables. The application was introduced by the Manipur Organic Mission Agency (MOMA), Department of Horticulture and Soil Conservation, Manipur.
The application can be downloaded from www.momamarket.com.
Objective: 
To ensure the availability of fresh vegetables for day to day consumption and reduce the distress sale of farm produce during the pandemic.
Key Points:
i.MOMA is assigned to channelize the farm producers to consumers through home delivery.
ii.Under this initiative the vegetables from various farms will be collected by the Farmers Producer Companies (FPCs) working with MOMA.
iii.The collected farm produce will be disbursed to the registered marketing agencies.
About Manipur:
Airport– Imphal Airport
Lakes– Waithou Lake, Loktak Lake, Zeilad lake, Lousi Lake.

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