Daily Current Affairs and GK | 6 April 2021

Topic: Books and Authors

1. Book titled as “Manohar Parrikar: Brilliant Mind, Simple life” released.

• Book titled as “Manohar Parrikar: Brilliant Mind, Simple life” has been released.
• Nitin A Gokhale is the author of this book published by Bloomsbury.
• His Biography is titled “An Extraordinary Life: A Biography of Manohar Parrikar”.
• In January 2021, a book titled “Manohar Parikkar-off the Record” was released by Goa CM. The book has been written by Waman Subha Prabhu.

Topic: Appointments

2. Former RBI Governor Urjit Patel appointed as Additional Director of Britannia.

• Former RBI Governor Urjit Patel has got the appointment as Additional Director of Britannia.
• The board of Britannia Industries appointed him as Additional Director for a period of five years, effective from March 31.
• Board of Directors of the company has approved his appointment in the category of Non-Executive and Independent Director.
• His appointment is subject to the approval of the company’s shareholders. Urjit Patel served as 24^th Governor of RBI during September 2016-December 2018.

Topic: International News

3. Pham Minh Chinh becomes Vietnam’s next Prime Minister.

• Pham Minh Chinh has become Vietnam’s next Prime Minister.
• Pham Minh Chinh was the sole nominee put forward by the ruling Communist Party for PM’s post at a congress earlier this year.
• Chinh won 96.25% of the vote at Monday’s National Assembly vote.
• Chinh will replace former Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
• Nguyen Xuan Phuc was confirmed earlier on Monday as the country’s new president, a largely ceremonial role.
• Vietnam:
  • It is a South-East Asian country.
  • It is known for its beaches, rivers and Buddhist pagodas.
  • Its capital is Hanoi and the currency is Vietnamese dong.

Topic: State News/Uttar Pradesh

4. Unique gift scheme launched by UP government.

• Unique gift scheme has been launched by the UP government to promote Covid vaccination.
• On World Health Day (07 April), the state government will carry out a lucky draw for those who have taken the vaccine.
• Only those districts where more than 25,000 beneficiaries have taken both doses of vaccine will be eligible. Four gifts will be given to beneficiaries.
• Number of gifts would be increased for those districts that have over 25,000 or over 50,000 beneficiaries.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

5. MoU signed between Spices Board of India and UNDP India’s Accelerator Lab.

• An MoU was signed between the Spices Board of India under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and UNDP India’s Accelerator Lab.
• The aim of MoU is to build a blockchain based traceability interface for Indian spices to enhance transparency in the supply chain and trade.
• In Blockchain, transactions are recorded on an open and electronic ledger.
• UNDP and Spices Board India are working towards integrating the Blockchain Traceability Interface with the e-Spice Bazaar portal.
• Spices Board India developed e-Spice Bazaar portal for connecting spices farmers with markets.

Topic: Indian Polity

6. Tribunal Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance 2021 promulgated by Centre.

• Tribunal Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance 2021 has been promulgated by the Centre.
• Through this ordinance, the Centre has replaced existing appellate authorities in as many as nine laws and vested those powers in the High Courts. These laws are given in next table.

• Now, the High Court, instead of the tribunal, will be the appellate body in the case of the Cinematography Act.
• In the case of Copyright Act, the Commercial Court or the commercial divisions of the High Court will be the appellate body.
• Amendments have been introduced to the Finance Act 2017. The tenure of Chairperson of a tribunal has been fixed for a term of four years or till the age of 70, whichever is earlier.
• The tenure of members of a tribunal has been kept four years or until they turn 67.

Topic: Sports

7. Mary Kom wins Sportstar of the Decade award at the 2021 Sportstar Aces – Giants of the Decade edition on Sunday.

• Mary Kom has won the Sportstar of the Decade award at the 2021 Sportstar Aces – Giants of the Decade edition on Sunday.
• Abhinav Bindra has won the Inspirational Giant of Indian Sport honour. Abhinav Bindra is the only Indian to win an Individual Olympic gold model.
• Mary Kom is the six-time boxing world champion.
• Other winners are given in the next table.

Topic: National News

8. Govt. announced 14 April as a Public Holiday to celebrate Dr. B R Ambedkar’s 130^th Birth Anniversary.

• The Central Government has decided that 14 April, i.e., on the occasion of the 130th birth anniversary of Dr. BR Ambedkar, a Public Holiday will be observed from this year.
• We already celebrate 14 April as Ambedkar Jayanti every year.
• The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions declared in a notification today that 14 April will be a public holiday for all central government offices, including industrial establishments.
• The declaration has been made by invoking powers under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.
• Dr. B R Ambedkar:
  • Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, also known as Babasaheb Ambedkar, was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer.
  • He was British India’s Minister of Labour in Viceroy’s Executive Council, the chairman of the Drafting Committee of Constitution, and independent India’s first Minister of Law and Justice.
  • He is considered the chief architect of the Constitution of India.
  • He died on 6 December 1956.
  • He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna.

Topic: Space and IT

9. NASA’s Mars Helicopter Ingenuity dropped on the surface of Mars.

• NASA’s Mars Helicopter Ingenuity has been dropped on the surface of Mars, ahead of the first historic flight scheduled on 11 April.
• The Helicopter Ingenuity flew with NASA’s Perseverance rover, which landed on Red planet on 18 February.
• The aim of this mission is to explore the surface of Mars with the help of tiny helicopter Ingenuity, whose weight is 1.8kg.
• Mars is also known as Red Planet. Its two satellites are Phoebes and Demos.
• NASA:
  • The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent space agency of the U.S. federal government.
  • It was established in 1958, and it is responsible for the space program and Space research in the USA.
  • Its headquarters is located in Washington, D.C.

Topic: National News

10. Union Health Minister launched Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP).

• Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has launched an integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) virtually.
• It is the next generation of a highly refined version of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, which is currently in use.
• India is the first country in the world to adopt such an advanced disease surveillance system.
• The refined IHIP will collect data in real-time, aggregate & further analysis of data on an automated data basis that will aid and enable evidence-based policymaking.
• It will provide a health information system developed for real-time, case-based information, integrated analytics, advanced visualization capability.

Topic: National News

11. MoS of Education Sanjay Dhotre is participating in the meeting of Education Ministers of E9 countries.

• The Minister of State for Education, Sanjay Dhotre, is attending a consultation meeting of Education Ministers of the E9 countries.
• The theme of the meeting is the “E9 initiative: Scaling up digital learning to accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4”.
• The consultation meeting is the first phase of its three-phased process to create an initiative on digital learning and skills, targeting marginalized children and youth, especially girls.
• E9 countries - Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan – will have the opportunity to benefit from this global initiative.
• The aim of the initiative is to accelerate recovery and advance the ‘Sustainable Development Goal 4’ agenda.

(Source: News on AIR)