Daily Current Affairs and GK | 13 and 14 June 2021

Topic: Important Days

1. World Blood Donor Day: 14 June

• World Blood Donor Day is observed every year on 14 June.
• It is celebrated to raise awareness about the blood and blood products importance, the need for blood donation, and safe blood transfusions.
• The day marks the birth anniversary of Karl Landsteiner who discovered and classified the ABO blood groups.
• This year the theme of this day is – “Give blood and keep world beating”. The theme highlights the importance of blood donation.
• Italy is the host for World Blood Donor Day 2021.
• It was first organized in 2005 by a joint initiative of the World Health Organization, International Federation of Red Cross, and Red Crescent Societies.
• According to the Lancet, India falls short of 41 million units of blood annually.
• It requests governments and the national blood services to provide adequate infrastructure to regularly increase blood collection from blood donors.
• Blood is a connective tissue that delivers essential substances like oxygen and nutrients to the body's cells. An average person has about 5 litres of blood.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

2. Pulitzer Prize 2021 for fiction went to Louise Erdrich for The Night Watchman.

• Pulitzer Prize is given for achievements in the field of newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition.
• It was started on the name of Joseph Pulitzer in 1917.
• It is given in twenty-one categories and each winner receives a certificate and a US$15,000 cash award.
• Important Winners list:

Topic: Environment and Ecology

3. Assam gets its 7^th National Park: Dihing Patkai.

• Assam government has notified Dihing Patkai as a National Park making it the seventh national park in Assam.
• Recently, the state government also notified Raimona Reserve Forest as national park.
• Now, Assam has the third highest number of national parks after Madhya Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• The five other national parks in Assam are:
  • Kaziranga National Park
  • Manas National Park
  • Nameri National Park
  • Orang National Park
  • Dibru-Saikhowa National Park
• Kaziranga, Manas, Nameri and Orang are tiger reserves.
• Dihing Patkai National Park:
  • It is spread over 234.26 sq.km in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of Assam.
  • It is a major elephant habitat.

Topic: Appointments

4. Ukhnaa Khurelsukh became sixth President of Mongolia.

• Ukhnaa Khurelsukh has become the sixth President of Mongolia by defeating Sodnomzundui Erdene of Democratic Party and Dangaasuren Enkhbat of Right Person Electorate Coalition.
• He is the former Prime Minister of Mongolia.
• Earlier this year, he had to resign due to protests.
• Mongolia:
  • It is a landlocked country, wedged between China and Russia.
  • Capital: Ulaanbaatar
  • It has hybrid political system under which elected parliament has the right to appoint governments and decide policy, but the President has the power to veto legislation.
  • Its legislature is known as the Great Hural.

Topic: Sports

5. Novak Djokovic clinched French Open Men's Singles title.

• Novak Djokovic won the French Open Men's Singles title by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas.
• It was his 19th Grand Slam title. He is just one win away from the men's 20 Grand Slam titles record of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
• He became the first man to win all four Grand Slams at least twice in the Open Era.
• He became the first player to win the French Open Men's Singles title by defeating Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals.
• In the women’s singles final, Barbora Krejcikova defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to win her maiden grand slam.
• Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova won the women's doubles title. Barbora Krejcikova has become the first woman to win singles and doubles titles at the same French Open.
• Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut won the men's doubles title.
• French Open Winners:

(Source: News on AIR)
 

Topic: State News/ Madhya Pradesh

6. Madhya Pradesh government to launch 'Yuva Shakti Corona Mukti Abhiyan’ to spread awareness about Covid pandemic.

• The state government of Madhya Pradesh will launch 'Yuva Shakti Corona Mukti Abhiyan’ to aware people about the COVID pandemic.
• Under the Yuva Shakti Corona Mukti Abhiyan, college teachers and around 16 lakh students will be made aware of the Covid appropriate behavior and vaccination.
• This campaign will be run by the Higher Education and Technical Education Department in collaboration with the Public Health and Family Welfare Department.
• A mobile App will be also launched for the monitoring of the campaign.

Topic: Appointments

7. Rebecca Grynspan to head United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

• Costa Rican economist Rebecca Grynspan will be appointed as secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
• The U.N. General Assembly has approved the nomination of Rebecca Grynspan to head UNCTAD. She was nominated by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
• She became the first woman to head UNCTAD.
• She served as deputy administrator of the United Nations Development Program from 2010 to 2014. Since 2014, she has worked as secretary-general of the Ibero-American General Secretariat.
• Earlier, she also served as UNDP's regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean. She was the second Vice President of Costa Rica from 1994 to 1998.
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD):
  • It was established in 1964.
  • Its main objective is to formulate policies related to all aspects of development including trade, aid, transport, finance, and technology.
  • It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Topic: National News

8. Government launched 'Extension of Hospitals' project to build health Infrastructure.

• The government has launched the 'Extension of Hospitals' project in various states to fill the health infrastructure gap in rural areas and smaller towns.
• The government will build modular hospitals adjacent to an existing hospital building.
• Under this initiative, the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) office has identified 50 hospitals in states where the highest number of COVID-19 cases were reported.
• A startup, Modulus Housing, has developed MediCAB hospitals facility within three weeks. It is equipped with Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and various life-support equipment and medical devices.
• The MediCAB hospitals can be deployed in rural areas and smaller towns. The first batch of MediCAB hospitals is established in Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.
• These MediCAB hospitals are portable so they can easily provide health care facilities in any remote areas.

Topic: Important Days

9. International Albinism Awareness Day: 13 June

• International Albinism Awareness Day is observed every year on 13 June.
• The theme for International Albinism Awareness Day 2021 is 'Strength Beyond All Odds'.
• The theme represents the achievement of people associated with albinism worldwide. It shows that people affected with albinism can defeat any odds.
• It is observed to spread awareness about albinism and to protect the human rights of people with albinism.
• In 2014, the United Nations Human Rights Council had adopted 13 June as International Albinism Awareness Day.
• Albinism:
  • It is a genetically inherited disorder.
  • People suffering from Albinism produce little or no melanin in their skin.
  • Absence of melanin increases the risk of Skin Cancer.
  • It affects the skin, hair, and eyes.

Topic: Defence

10. Defence Minister approves budgetary support of 499 crores for innovations in defence sector.

• Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has approved the budgetary support of Rs 498.8 crore to Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) - Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) for the next five years.
• The fund will be used to provide financial support to around 300 start-ups, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and individual innovators.
• The budgetary support will help in achieving the self-reliance in defence & aerospace sector. It will support the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’.
• The Defence Production (DDP) will release funds to Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) for setting up and managing the iDEX network in the form of Partner Incubators.
• In 2020, Defence Minister had announced that India will not import 101 weapons and light combat helicopters, Submarine cruise missiles, transport aircraft, and sonar system from 2024.
• Defence Excellence (iDEX):
  • It was launched by PM Modi in April 2018.
  • It is an initiative of the Department of Defence Production to foster innovation in the Indian Defence sector.
  • It is managed and funded by Defence Innovation Organization.

Topic: Miscellaneous

11. Akshay Kumar appointed as brand ambassador of Mylab Discovery Solutions.

• Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has been appointed as the new brand ambassador of Mylab Discovery Solutions.
• Mylab Discovery Solutions is a biotechnology company.
• Recently, Mylab Discovery Solutions has launched India’s first COVID-19 self-test kit named ‘CoviSelf’. It will give the result in just 15 minutes.
• Akshay Kumar is also the brand ambassador of Dollar Club Vests, LG, Micromax, etc.
• Other brand ambassadors in News: