May 3rd Week 2021 Current Affairs Online Test English

Explanation

• In 2004, the UN General Assembly declared 8–9 May as a time of remembrance and reconciliation for those who lost their lives during the Second World War. UNGA conducts solemn meeting with its member countries, to pay tribute to all victims of the war. US describes the war as “one of the most epic struggles for freedom and liberation in history,” with 40 million civilians and 20 million soldiers dead.

Explanation

• China has recently announced that is set to create “a line of separation” at the Mt Everest summit. This is expected to prevent climbers from the Chinese side from being infected by those climbing the summit from Nepal. Earlier, a number of Covid–19 cases were diagnosed among those climbing the mountain from Nepal.

Explanation

• Nine countries—Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia established a platform for political consultation and cooperation within NATO. Named as Bucharest Nine, or B9, it is also regarded as the “voice of the Eastern Flank” in the NATO alliance. Recently, in the B9 summit, US President Joseph R Biden addressed the countries in virtual format.

Explanation

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched an Asia Pacific Tax Hub. This will create an open platform to improve knowledge sharing, and strengthen coordination on tax policy among ADB, its members, and development partners.
• The hub will mobilise regional and international resources to strengthen domestic resource mobilization and international tax cooperation in ADB’s developing member countries.

Explanation

• Legendary Communist leader Smt. K.R. Gouri of Kerala passed away recently due to age related ailments. She was 102–year–old.
• She is often referred to as the ‘Iron Lady’ in Kerala politics and was a member of the world’s first democratically elected Communist government cabinet led by Communist legend E M S Nampoothiripad in 1957.

Explanation

• The report titled “Renewable Energy Market Update 2021” has been recently released by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The report gives a forecast on new global renewable power capacity additions for 2021 and 2022.
• The IEA is an intergovernmental organisation headquartered at Paris, France. It was formed in 1974, under the framework of OECD.

Explanation

• Conservationist, Broadcaster and historian Sir David Attenborough has been named as the People’s Advocate for the COP 26 of UN climate change summit to be held under the UK Presidency, in partnership with Italy. The summit is to be held this year in Glasgow. He has been assigned the task to highlight the actions decision makers will need to take ahead of and at COP26 and to integrate all the climate related agendas of the participating nations.

Explanation

• The Central government has relaxed income tax norms for the Covid hospitals, nursing home and Covid care centres for receiving cash of ₹2 lakh or above from the patients. The Ministry of Finance issued notification announcing relaxation in Section 269ST of the Income Tax Act. The exemption for cash payment receipt is for the period of 1st April 2021 to 31st May 2021.

Explanation

Padmakumar M Nair of State Bank of India (SBI) will be the Chief executive officer of National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL). NARCL, also called as the ‘bad’ bank, is expected to be operational in June 2021. It is a proposed entity for taking over bad loans of lenders, predominantly public sector banks.

Explanation

• Haryana conducted a three–day Monkey Census as a part of a larger Wildlife Census for Haryana–2021. Over 600 people throughout Haryana participated in Monkey Census and documented approximately 6,000 monkeys on a mobile application by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) titled ‘Wildlife Census Haryana’.

Explanation

• The World Athletics Day is observed every year on May 7 to popularize sports among the youth, to promote athletics as the primary sport in schools and institutions and to encourage and introduce new talent and youngsters in the field of athletics.

Explanation

• The birth anniversary of Asia’s first Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore has celebrated on May 7, 2021. His songs are known as Rabindra Sangeet. Tagore has composed the national anthems of both India and Bangladesh. Tagore’s own English translations of his collection of Bengali poems Gitanjali fetched him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Tagore’s works were widely translated into English, Dutch, German, Spanish, and other European languages.

Explanation

• The International Day of Families is observed every year on May 15 across the world to promote awareness of issues relating to families and increase knowledge of the social, economic and demographic progression that affects families. The 2021 theme “Families and new technologies”.

Explanation

• The World Asthma Day is celebrated every year on first Tuesday of May to increase awareness about asthma and aims to improve the lives of people with asthma across the world. Asthma is a chronic disease of the lungs which causes breathing problems.
• Asthma usually appears through symptoms like coughing, tightness in the chest, breathlessness. The 2020 World Asthma Day is observed on 4th of May with theme “Uncovering Asthma Misconceptions”. Asthma is one of the major non–communicable diseases and it is also the most common chronic disease in children. Regular exercise can help reduce asthma symptoms.

Explanation

• The World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is observed across the globe every year on May 17 to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other Information and Communication Technologies can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide.
• The 2021 theme is “Accelerating Digital Transformation in challenging times”. The day also marks the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union.

Explanation

• The World Hypertension Day is observed every year on May 17 to spread awareness about the disease that the World Health Organisation calls a “silent killer” and “global public health issue”. The 2021 theme is “Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately, Control It, Live Longer”.

Explanation

• NASA’s Perseverance rover has recently started to study the floor structure of the ancient crater– Jezero Crater. The rover has started focusing its science instruments on rocks laying on the floor of the crater. A camera named ‘WATSON’ at the end of the rover’s robotic arm has taken detailed shots of the rocks. The rover is also documenting the historic flights of the rotorcraft of Ingenuity.

Explanation

• The Union Cabinet approved a ₹18,100 crore production–linked incentive scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage. The prime objective is to set up 50 GWh manufacturing capacity for advance chemistry cell batteries. This is expected to accelerate switching to electric vehicles to curb pollution and reduce oil imports.

Explanation

• The Al–Aqsa Mosque, located in the city of Jerusalem, Israel, is the third holiest site in Islam. The mosque is said to be built on top of the Temple Mount. Over 300 Palestinians were injured when Israeli armed forces stormed Al–Aqsa Mosque.
• In retaliation, Hamas, the Islamist militant group that runs Gaza, fired rockets. Israelis then launched an airstrike on Gaza, killing at least 21 Palestinians.

Explanation

• The United Nations has recently released the update of the ‘World Economic Situation and Prospects’ report. As per the update, the UN has raised India’s growth forecast to 7.5 percent for the year 2021, which is a 0.2 per cent increase from its projection in January. It also predicted that India’s GDP would grow by 10.1 percent in 2022.

Explanation

• Under its ‘Mission Oxygen’, also coined as Swayampurna Maharashtra, the state aims to increase daily production of Oxygen up to 3,000 metric tonnes. The state also has a short–term goal of 2300 MT to be achieved in the next six months. It aims to encourage the private sector to generate liquid medical oxygen.

Explanation

• The Voyager 1 probe of NASA, has detected humming sound in space, which is said to be caused by gas in interstellar space. The plasma wave system of the probe had made this observation. The Voyager 1 probe was launched by NASA in the year 1977, to study the outer Solar System.

Explanation

• The Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in Palakkad of Kerala state, had for the first time introduced Hydrogel capsules, a year ago. This is made out of biodegradable starch gel, which holds water up to 400 times its weight. The gel releases water in the soil and helps to retain soil moisture. The capsule, developed by ICAR, has become very popular now in the state and the KVK has registered a sale of around 3–4 lakh capsules.

Explanation

• The Government of the United Kingdom, has proposed to introduce a new law this year, which mandates voters to prove their identities at the time of casting their votes. Presently, voters need to only give their name and address to be able to vote. The UK Government has proposed the new law to curb voter frauds. But this move is also seen as a threat to the country’s democracy.

Explanation

• As per the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief, India registered the highest remittance inflow in 2020 at USD 83 billion. It had a drop of just 0.2 percent from the previous year. India is followed by China, which received USD59.5 billion in remittances in 2020 against USD68.3 billion the previous year. Remittances outflow from India in 2020 was USD7 billion, against USD7.5 billion in 2019.

Explanation

• India has assumed BRICS Presidency this year and hosted the 1st BRICS Employment Working Group Meeting in New Delhi. Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Labour and Employment chaired the Working Group Meeting.
• The prime agenda for the discussions were Promoting Social Security Agreements amongst BRICS Nations, Formalization of labour markets, Participation of women in labour force and Gig and platform workers.

Explanation

• Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, a global nutrition expert of Indian descent has won the prestigious 2021 World Food Prize. The veteran’s research on small native fish species led to the development of nutrition–sensitive approaches to aquaculture and food systems.

Explanation

• Human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs), are the leading cause of childhood respiratory infections. They are responsible for 30% to 40% of illnesses like pneumonia. They also affect the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.
• Recently, researchers engineered a short chunk of protein, or peptide, that can prevent the attachment of human parainfluenza viruses to cells.

Explanation

• ‘Heartbeat bill’ is a controversial legislation in the United States which makes abortions illegal as soon as the fetal heartbeat can be detected.
• Under the proposed Texas Heartbeat Act, abortions would be prohibited once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks into pregnancy. It allows anyone to sue providers and others who violate the guidelines.

Explanation

• Nuklu Phom, a Church worker from Nagaland has been conferred with the Whitley Award 2021, which is also called as the “Green Oscar Award”. He is the only India to be conferred with this award, which is given annually by Whitley Fund for Nature, in recognition of people who conserve nature at the grassroot level.

Explanation

• As per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), a low–pressure area which was formed in the Arabian Sea, would evolve into a cyclonic storm and has been given the name “Tauktae”. This name has been coined by Myanmar. This cyclone in Arabia Sea is likely to bring heavy rains in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and south Konkan region.

Explanation

• Business risk analysts Verisk Maplecroft has recently released a report on the cities which are most vulnerable to environmental hazards. As per the report, among the top 100 vulnerable cities, 99 are located in Asia. Jakarta has topped the list and Delhi has been ranked at No.2. More than 400 large cities across the globe with a total population of 1.5 billion are at “high” or “extreme” risk, as per the report.

Explanation

• China has recently launched two classified Yaogan satellites from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in South West China. These satellites were carried by Changsei 2C rocket. The satellites are said to be put for use in electromagnetic environmental surveys and other related technical tests.

Explanation

• The state Government of Chhattisgarh has launched the scheme named “Chhattisgarh Mahtari Dular Yojna”. Under this scheme, the state would bear the education expenses of the children who have lost parents to COVID–19. A stipend of Rs.500 per month will be paid to such children who are studying in Classes 1 to 8 and Rs.1000 per month for Classes 9 to 12. This scheme is applicable for children studying in both Government and Private schools.

Explanation

• A bank mentioned in the Second Schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act is known as ‘Scheduled Commercial Bank’. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has excluded Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) from the Second Schedule of the RBI Act after it was merged with DBS Bank India Ltd (DBIL) last year.

Explanation

• The NITI Aayog has set up a dedicated portal named ‘CovAid’, to track all aid coming via missions or by individual organisations, with a detailed SOP (standard operating procedure). At present, there are three channels for receiving aid – government to government, routed via the Ministry of External Affairs to the Health Ministry; Private to government, through COVAID portal and donations through states, NGOs and CSO.

Explanation

• On the night of May 12, as many as 18 elephants died in the Bamuni hillock in the Kundoli Proposed Reserve Forest under the Kathiatoli range, Assam. Initial findings from the post mortem indicate that the reason for the death was a lightning strike. The samples have been sent to laboratories for further microbiological and toxicological examination.

Explanation

• In 1993, the UN General Assembly declared that 15 May of every year should be observed as The International Day of Families. The theme of this year’s observance is ‘Families and New Technologies’. It focuses on the impacts of new technologies on the well–being of families.

Explanation

• Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced Malerkotla as the state’s new district. After a long–pending demand of the people, Malerkotla is named as the 23rd district of the state. Malerkotla is a Muslim majority town and it was a part of Sangrur district. At the time of the country’s Independence Punjab had 13 districts.

Explanation

• The Maharashtra cabinet approved an Agro–tourism policy aimed at empowering farmers, in September 2020. It aims to provide market for agriculture produce, encourage agriculture allied business, and provide employment opportunities to women and youth in rural areas. Every year World Agri–Tourism Day is celebrated on May 16. This year, Government of Maharashtra, Agri–Tourism Development Corporation is to organise International Conference on Agri–Tourism.

Explanation

• Pablo Picasso’s famous “Woman Sitting Near a Window (Marie–Therese)” painting was sold for USD 103.4 million at Christie’s in New York. This is the first time in two years that a work has broken the USD 100 million mark. The painting, completed in 1932, was originally estimated to be sold USD 55 million. Five works by Picasso have now crossed the threshold of USD 100 million.

Explanation

• Nepal’s Prime Minister, KP Sharma Oli has formed a minority government after opposition parties failed to form a coalition. He has become the Prime Minister for the third time. The 43rd PM had earlier lost a vote of confidence in Parliament. President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed Mr Oli as Prime Minister, as he is the leader of the largest party in Parliament. He is the Parliamentary leader of Communist Party of Nepal– Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN–UML).

Explanation

• The Chinese government has announced that all synthetic cannabinoids will be included in the list of banned drugs. Synthetic cannabinoids come under the category of manufactured chemicals that target the same receptors in the brain as the natural cannabinoids in marijuana. The authorities announced a ban on 18 other psychoactive substances.

Explanation

• The Chinese spacecraft named Tianwen–1 has successfully landed on the Mars planet. This makes China the second country after the USA to land its rover on the red planet. The landing has been confirmed by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and has stated that the spacecraft has landed on Utopia Planitia which is a large plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars.

Explanation

• The Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN) was launched to augment income of farming households in India, by providing them with an amount of Rs.6000/– per year in three instalments of Rs.2000/– each. Recently, the Government of India has released the 8th instalment of ₹2,000 to each farmer since the launch of the scheme, which were directed to the farmers of West Bengal.

Explanation

• Nilofar is a very severe and intensified cyclone, which was formed in the year 2014 in Arabian Sea. Winds reached a maximum speed of close to 250 kmph, during the formation of the cyclone. Recently, Cyclone Tauktae has formed in the Arabian sea, which is expected to become a very severe storm and is expected to cross the coast of Gujarat.

Explanation

• As per a recent research by Aalto University, the global food production would fall by more than 1/3rd of the present production levels in future, if there exists out–of–control growth of greenhouse gas emissions in the world. The research report has been published in the prestigious journal “One Earth” and presents a detailed analysis on the relationship between food production and greenhouse gases.

Explanation

• The International Day of Light is celebrated on 16 May each year, the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser in 1960 by physicist and engineer, Theodore Maiman. The message of the International Day of Light 2021 is “Trust Science”. The Day is a global initiative to provide a platform for the appreciation of light and the role it plays in diverse fields.

Explanation

Famous mathematician Professor MS Narasimhan has recently passed away at the age of 88. He was known for the Narasimhan–Seshadri theorem, propounded along with another mathematician C. S. Seshadri and both were elected as Fellows of the Royal Society, London. He was the only Indian to receive the King Faisal International Prize in the field of science.

Explanation

• Spanish Tennis veteran Rafael Nadal beat ace player Novak Djokovic to clinch the Italian Open title, for a record 10th time. In the women’s final, reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek defeated Karolina Pliskova 6–0 6–0, to clinch the title.