Daily Current Affairs and GK | 28 May 2021

Topic: Awards and Prizes

1. C.N.R. Rao will be conferred International Eni Award 2020.

• Renowned Professor C.N.R. Rao will be awarded the International Eni Award 2020 for research into renewable energy.
• He has been awarded for his research on metal oxides, carbon nanotubes, and two-dimensional systems.
• He has been working on hydrogen energy. He has been working on the Hydrogen storage, photochemical and electrochemical production of hydrogen, and solar production of hydrogen.
• The International Eni Award 2020 will be given on 14 October 2021 in Rome.
• International Eni Award 2020:
  • It is also known as the Energy Frontier award.
  • It is one of the most prestigious awards in the field of research in Energy.
  • It carries a cash prize and a specially minted gold medal.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Personality in News

2. Freedom fighter H S Doreswamy passes away.

• Freedom fighter H S Doreswamy died at the age of 103.
• He is known for participating in the Quit India and the Bhoodan movement. He joined India’s freedom struggle movement in June 1942.
• He was a social activist. In recent years, he launched campaigns against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the controversial farmers’ bill.
• He also participated in the protests against the setting of Kaiga nuclear plant in Karnataka.
• He was also running a newspaper named Paura Vani.

Topic: Defence

3. SeHAT OPD portal launched by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh.

• ‘Services e-Health Assistance & Tele-consultation (SeHAT) OPD portal was launched by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh on 27 May.
• SeHAT OPD portal will provide tele-medicine services to the serving Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families.
• This is the final version of the SeHAT OPD portal with advanced safety features. The trial version was made functional in August 2020.
• Department of Military Affairs (DMA), Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), Centre for Development of Artificial Computing (C-DAC) Mohali and other organisations were involved in the development of the portal.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

4. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen conferred with Spain’s Princess of Asturias Award in the social sciences category.

• Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has been conferred with Spain’s Princess of Asturias Award in the social sciences category.
• As per the Princess of Asturias Foundation, Sen was chosen out of 41 candidatures from 20 nationalities.  
• The award comprises a Joan Miro sculpture, a diploma, an insignia and a cash prize of 50,000 Euros. Joan Miro was a Spanish painter and sculptor.
• Dr Amartya Sen’s best-known work is ‘Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation (1981)’. He was conferred Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998.
• Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences is given to creative and/or research work in the field of history, law, linguistics, teaching, economics and others.

Topic: International News

5. Bashar Al-Assad becomes president of Syria for 4^th time.

• After winning the election, Bashar Al-Assad has become the President of Syria for the fourth time.
• Bashar Al-Assad was first appointed as president in the year 2000. His father, Hafez, also ruled over Syria for more than 25 years.
• He secured 95.1% of the votes in the election. Kurdish led forces have boycotted the election.
• Bashar is the second longest-serving president of Syria.
• Syria is suffering from a decade-long conflict. More than half of the population have fled from Syria.

Topic: Sports

6. Achinta Sheuli wins silver medal (73 kg) at Junior World Weightlifting Championships 2021.

• Indian weightlifter Achinta Sheuli bagged a silver medal in the men’s 73-kilogram category of the Junior World Weightlifting Championships 2021.
• Junior World Weightlifting Championships 2021 is scheduled to be organized in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from May 23 to 31.
• He lifted a total of 313 kg (141 kg snatch and 172 kg clean and jerk), while Indonesia’s Rizki Juniansyah won the gold medal by lifting a total of 349 kg.
• Indian weightlifter Jeremy Lalrinnunga finished on the fourth position in the men’s 67 kg category. He won the silver medal in the snatch event.

Topic: Miscellaneous

7. India to launch mobile tech platform for UN peacekeepers.

• India will launch a mobile tech platform for improving the security of the United Nations Peacekeeper. The name of this mobile platform has been given as ‘Unite Aware’.
• ‘UNITE AWARE’ platform will provide terrain-related information to United Nations Peacekeepers.
• It has been developed by India in collaboration with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Operational Support.
• Recently, India has been elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. India will preside over the UN Security Council in August 2021.
• India is one of the largest contributors to the UN peacekeeping force. India has sent more than 250,000 troops for 49 missions over the years.
• UN peacekeepers comprise soldiers and military officers, police officers, and civilian personnel from many countries.
• UN peacekeepers provide security and peacebuilding support to countries transiting from conflict to peace.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

8. Earth’s temperature can rise more than 1.5 degree Celsius in next five years.

• According to the World Meteorological Organization, Earth’s temperature can rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius from the pre-industrial level in the next five years. The temperature rise will be temporary.
• In the Paris Climate Agreement, countries have committed to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. It was signed in 2015.
• In the last decade, 2016 and 2020 were the warmest year, with temperatures 1.2°C above pre-industrial times.
• The rise in the average temperature of Earth can increase the sea levels, melting of ice, and extreme weather events.
• WMO has predicted that at least one year between 2021 and 2025 is likely to be the warmest year. The next five years will bring more tropical cyclones to the Atlantic Ocean.
• In the next five years, the Sahel region of central Africa will receive more rainfall while North America is likely to be drier.
• World Meteorological Organization:
  • It is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 193 countries.
  • The organization is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Topic: State News/ Gujarat

9.  Gujarat governor gave assent to Freedom of Religion Amendment Bill 2021

• Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill 2021 was passed by the legislative assembly of Gujarat in April. Governor Acharya Devvrat has given his assent to the bill.
• It has provision of more stringent punishment against forced religious conversions through marriage. It has amended the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2003.
• Governor also gave his assent to many bills including The Gujarat Private Universities (Amendment) Bill 2021, Gujarat Panchayat (Amendment) Bill 2021, etc.
• Gujarat becomes the third state to make a law against the ‘love jihad’. The term ‘love jihad’ has not been defined by the existing law.
• Gujarat:
  • It is the fifth-largest Indian state by area and the ninth-largest state by population.
  • Capital: Gandhinagar
  • Chief Minister is Vijay Rupani and the Governor is Acharya Devvrat.
  • It shares its border with Rajasthan, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.

Topic: Appointments

10. Andy Jassy to become CEO of Amazon on 5^th July.

• Andy Jassy will officially become CEO of Amazon on 5^th July 2021.
• In February 2021, Amazon had announced that Andy Jassy would become the new CEO of Amazon.
• Andy Jassy is currently CEO of Amazon Web Services.
• Jeff Bezos is currently CEO of Amazon. He will become Executive Chairman of Amazon Board.
• Amazon is an American multinational technology company. It is based in Seattle, Washington. It was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994.

Topic: Important Days

11. World Hunger Day: 28 May.

• World Hunger Day is observed annually on 28 May.
• It is an initiative by the Hunger Project to advocate for sustainable solutions to hunger and poverty. The Hunger Project started in 2011.
• World Hunger Day is observed to attract the attention of the world towards the people facing the issue of hunger around the world.
• This year, World Hunger Day is focused on ‘Access Ends Hunger’.
• The Hunger Project:
  • It is an organization for sustainable end of world hunger.
  • It was founded in 1977.
  • It is headquartered in New York.

Topic: Appointments

12. Government gives one-year extension to RAW chief Samant Kumar Goel and Intelligence Bureau head Arvind Kumar.

• Government has given a one-year extension to RAW chief Samant Kumar Goel and Intelligence Bureau head Arvind Kumar.
• Goel’s present term ends on June 30. He would continue to be Secretary of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) for one more year.
• Similarly, Arvind Kumar will continue to be head (director) of the Intelligence Bureau for one more year after June 30.
• Samant Kumar Goel is an IPS officer from Punjab cadre. Arvind Kumar is an IPS officer of Assam and Meghalaya cadre.
• Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) is India’s foreign intelligence agency. It is headquartered in New Delhi.  It was founded in 1968.