Daily Current Affairs and GK | 29 May 2021

Topic: Books and Authors

1. Neena Gupta will release her autobiography ‘Sach Kahun Toh’.

• Bollywood actor Neena Gupta will launch her autobiography ‘Sach Kahun Toh’. She wrote this book during the lockdown in 2020.
• The autobiography will be released on 14 June. It will be published by the Penguin Random House India.
• In this book, she has written about the many film industry issues like film industry politics, casting couch, nepotism in the film industry.
• She has also written about her experiences of life and milestones. 

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

2. Government to provide financial assistance to students through DBT under Mid-Day Meal Scheme.

• The government has approved the proposal to provide financial assistance to 11.8 crore students through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) under Mid-Day Meal Scheme.
• Financial assistance will be provided to students in addition to the benefits of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.
• The Central Government will allocate additional funds of about Rs 1200 crore for providing monetary assistance.
• Mid-Day Meal Scheme:
  • It was launched on 15 August 1995.
  • Under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, a one time meal is provided to children enrolled in government or local body schools.
  • The main objective of the scheme is to increase the enrolments and retention of children in schools.
  • It is a centrally sponsored scheme.

Topic: Important Days

3. International Day of UN Peacekeepers: 29 May

• International Day of UN Peacekeepers is observed every year on 29 May to recognize the contribution of uniformed and civilian personnel to peacekeeping.
• The day also honour more than 4,000 peacekeepers who had lost their lives while serving the organization since its inception in 1948.
• UNGA passed a resolution to designate 29 May as the International Day of UN Peacekeepers to mark the establishment of the first UN Peacekeeping mission on 29 May 1948.
• Theme for International Day of UN Peacekeepers 2021 is "The road to a lasting peace: Leveraging the power of youth for peace and security."
• To mark the Day, a virtual ceremony was held at which Dag Hammarskjold medal was awarded posthumously to peacekeepers who lost their lives in 2020 and in January 2021.
• Three Indian peacekeepers are among 129 military, police and civilian personnel honoured with Dag Hammarskjold medal.
• Corporal Yuvraj Singh, Ivan Michael Picardo and Mulchand Yadav were awarded Dag Hammarskjold medal. 
• At the virtual ceremony, The Military Gender Advocate of the Year award was presented to Steplyne Nyaboga, a Kenyan peacekeeper. Last year, Major Suman Gawani of India was honoured with this award.
• The United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award was created in 2016 to recognize the efforts of an individual military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of UN Security Resolution 1325.

Topic: Science and Technology

4. The near isothermal forging technology developed by DRDO.

• The near isothermal forging technology for aeroengines has been developed by DRDO.
• Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), a metallurgical laboratory of DRDO at Hyderabad, has developed this technology.
• The technology can produce all five stages of high-pressure compressors (HPC) discs out of difficult-to-deform titanium alloy by using the isothermal forge press facility available at DMRL, Hyderabad.
• The technology has been transferred to M/s MIDHANI through a licensing agreement for technology transfer to meet bulk production requirements.
• Bulk quantity of HPC disc forgings have been jointly (DMRL & MIDHANI) produced and successfully supplied to HAL (E), Bengaluru for fitment into Adour Engine that powers the Jaguar/Hawk Aircrafts.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: Miscellaneous

5. Randeep Hooda removed as the ambassador of Convention on Migratory Species.

• Actor Randeep Hooda has been removed as the ambassador of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).
• He has been removed as ambassador after a video went viral where he was making a joke on the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.
• In February 2020, he was appointed as ambassador of the Convention for the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).
• Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals:
  • It is also known as Bonn Convention.
  • It is an environmental treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals and their habitats.
  • It was signed in 1979 under the United Nations Environment Programme.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

6. Karishma Dube's ‘Bittu’ and Tamil film ‘Seththumaan’ bagged top prizes at IFFLA 2021.

• Thamizh's debut film 'Seththumaan' and Karishma Dube's short film 'Bittu' have bagged top prizes at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) 2021.
• The 19th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) has been organized from May 20-27.
• Tamil film 'Seththumaan' won Grand Jury Award for Best Feature film and Karishma Dube's short film 'Bittu' won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film.
• Actor Nivita Chaliki was recognized for her performance in the short film ‘Forever Tonight’.
• The Audience Award for Best Short film was given to ‘The Song We Sang’.
• ‘Fire InThe Mountains’ has won the Audience Award for the Best Feature film.
• Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA):
  • It was established by Christina Marouda in 2003.
  • The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles.

Topic: Appointment

7. Jagjit Pavadia selected as President of International Narcotics Control Board.

• Former Narcotics Commissioner of India, Jagjit Pavadia, has been elected as the President of the International Narcotics Control Board.
• She is the first Indian to be appointed as President of the International Narcotics Control Board. She is the second woman to hold this post.
• Jagjit Pavadia was the Narcotics Commissioner of India from 2006 to 2012 and also served in various positions in different departments.
• Earlier, she was also elected as the first Vice-President of the International Narcotics Control Board in 2016.
• International Narcotics Control Board:
  • It was established in 1961 through the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
  • It is a quasi-judicial body.
  • It is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the United Nations international drug control convention.

Topic: National News

8. First anniversary of National AI Portal (INDIAai) celebrated on 28^th May

• The first anniversary of the National AI Portal (INDIAai) has been celebrated on 28 May 2021. A virtual event has been organized on the occasion of the anniversary.
• National AI Portal was launched by the Minister for Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad on May 30, 2020.
• On the occasion of the anniversary, a new look of the website homepage has been also unveiled and a report titled ‘One year of INDIAai’ is also released. 
• An event ‘AI PeCharcha’ based on the theme of ‘Implementing Trustworthy AI Solutions’ was also organized. 
• National AI Portal:
  • It is a joint initiative by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), National e-Governance Division (NeGD), and NASSCOM.
  • The main aim of this portal is to promote Artificial Intelligence among school students.
  • The portal act as a one-stop digital platform for AI-related developments in India.

Topic: National News

9. India’s first city-wide environmental surveillance platform for COVID launched in Bangalore.

• A city-wide sewage surveillance system has been launched in Bangalore. It will help scientists in tracking viruses at an early stage.
• It is India’s first city-wide environmental surveillance platform for the COVID virus. It will collect samples from 45 wards of Bangalore by the next week.
• The surveillance platform has been launched by COVIDactionCollab (CAC) in collaboration with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Skoll Foundation.
• Waste-water testing is a cost-effective method for detecting viruses at an early stage. The Precision Health Platform will test the sewage from both sewered and non-sewered waste water.
• Netherlands, Finland, and Israel have also performed sewage testing for monitoring the spread of the virus.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

10. Suresh Mukund wins the title of World Choreography Awards 2020

• Suresh Mukund wins the World Choreography Awards 2020 title. He has won this award in the best choreography category for the ‘World of Dance Season 3’, a television reality show.
• He has become the first Indian to win the World Choreography Awards title. He is the founder of the dance group Kings United.
• Earlier, His dance group had also won NBC’s reality show World of Dance Season 3.
• He also participated in the final of the World Hip Hop Dance Championship in 2012.
• The World Choreography Awards is known as the “Oscars of Dance”. It is awarded for the creativity and innovation in the art of media choreography.
• World Choreography Awards 2020 was held on 16 May in Los Angeles.

Topic: Appointments

11. B V R Subrahmanyam will be appointed as Commerce Secretary.

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of B.V.R. Subrahmanyam as Commerce Secretary.
• He will assume the charge in place of Anup Wadhawan from July.
• He was private secretary to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh between 2004 to 2008.
• He was appointed chief secretary of J&K in 2018.
• He was also appointed as an Officer on Special Duty for a month in the Ministry of Commerce.