Today Current Affairs for Competitive Exams - Current Affairs 2021 Online - Testbook.com

Today Current Affairs for Competitive
      Exams - Current Affairs 2021 Online
Kerala farmer bags Biodiversity Award 2021           Tech Mahindra Ltd has won a five-year
                                                      technology and digital transformation contract
 Shaji. N.M., fondly called as ‘Tuber Man’ of        from the UK-based food-to-go retailer, Pret A
  Kerala has been awarded the India                   Manger.
  Biodiversity Award 2021 in the individual
                                                     Under this, it will enhance technology support
  category of ‘Conservation of domesticated
                                                      to Pret’s shops and operations.
  species’.
                                                     Information Services Group (ISG), a leading
 He conserves a wide array of around 200
                                                      global technology research and advisory firm,
  tuber crops including greater yam, lesser
                                                      led the partner selection process for Pret A
  yam, elephant foot yam, sweet potato,
                                                      Manger.
  cassava, and Chinese potato in his farm.
 He had also received the Plant Genome             HDFC Bank deploys Mobile ATM in Bengaluru
  Savior Reward 2015.
                                                     The country's largest private sector lender
MoU and Agreements                                    HDFC Bank has deployed mobile ATMs in
                                                      Bengaluru amid the surge in covid infections
 Genomics company Genotypic Technology               in the city.
  Pvt. Ltd is partnering with Premier Medical
                                                     According to the bank, Bengaluru is the 25th
  Corp. (PMC), USA, for the distribution of rapid
                                                      city where it has deployed Mobile Automated
  antigen and antibody kits. PMC is a
                                                      Teller Machine (ATM).
  manufacturer of rapid tests of various
                                                     Customers can conduct over 15 types of
  diseases such as malaria.
                                                      transactions using the Mobile ATM, which will
 Zydus and TLC have signed an agreement to
                                                      be operational at each location for a specific
  market Liposomal Amphotericin B, a critical
                                                      period.
  drug to treat Black fungus or mucormycosis in
  India.                                            Sports
Dilip Shanghvi resigns as MD of SPARC                At the Asian Boxing Championships, Indian
                                                      boxer Shiva Thapa secured his fifth
 Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company
                                                      successive medal by advancing to the
  (SPARC) has informed that Dilip Shanghvi
                                                      semifinals after out-punching Kuwait’s Nader
  has resigned as Managing Director of the
                                                      Odah 5-0 in the men’s 64kg, on 25 May 2021.
  company.
                                                     Two-time Olympian Sushil Kumar, who was
 Shanghvi will, however, continue to be
                                                      arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with
  associated with the company's board in his
                                                      the death of wrestler Sagar Dhankar, has
  capacity as a non-executive director and
                                                      been suspended by the Indian Railways until
  chairman.
                                                      further orders.
 The board has appointed Anil Raghavan as
  CEO of the company with immediate effect for      Hansi Flick appointed the German team's coach
  a term of five years till May 24, 2026.
                                                     The German Football Federation has
Tech Mahindra bags five-year digital contract         announced that former Bayern Munich coach
                                                      Hansi Flick will take charge as German

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national team coach once Joachim Loew quits         The location of the landfall was north of
  after Euro 2020.                                     Dhamra in Odisha's Bhadrak district and 50
 The agreement will be valid until after Euro         km south of Balasore, close to Bahanaga
  2024, which is set to take place in Germany.         block, on the coast.
 Flick had reportedly also been an option for        Odisha has shifted 5.8 lakh, people, to safer
  Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur and            places.
  Spanish club Barcelona.
                                                     COAI proposes a mechanism
Panjab Singh passes away
                                                      Mobile phone subscribers may soon be
 Colonel Panjab Singh, known as the 'Hero of          allowed to switch from a postpaid connection
  Poonch' during the 1971 Bangladesh                   to prepaid and vice versa by using an OTP-
  Liberation War, passed away in May 2021.             based authentication and without a need to
 The retired officer, who was awarded the Vir         change SIM card.
  Chakra, the third highest war-time gallantry        Industry body Cellular Operators’ Association
  award, died of post-Covid complications.             of India (COAI) has proposed the mechanism
 Born on 15 February 1942, the colonel was            to the Dept of Telecom (DoT) and the
  commissioned into the 6th Battalion, The Sikh        department has asked telecom operators to
  Regiment on 16 December 1967.                        carry out proof of concept on the same.
Anvee: President of Oxford student union             NASA to send its first mobile robot on the moon
 Anvee Bhutani has been elected President of         As part of the Artemis program, NASA is
  the Oxford University Student Union (OUSU)           planning to send its first mobile robot to the
  in a by-election.                                    Moon in 2023 in search of ice and other
 She is Co-Chair of the Campaign for Racial           resources on and below the lunar surface.
  Awareness and Equality and President of the         Data from the Volatiles Investigating Polar
  Oxford India Society.                                Exploration Rover, or VIPER, would help the
 The by-election took place after the previous        agency map resources at the lunar South
  winner, the first Indian female OUSU                 Pole.
  president-elect Rashmi Samant, from                 Once on the Moon, the rover will explore lunar
  Karnataka, was forced to quit.                       craters using a specialized set of wheels.
Madhya Pradesh government launches a scheme          FlexiLoans.com partners with Vivriti Capital
 The Madhya Pradesh government has                   FlexiLoans has partnered with Vivriti Capital
  announced the launch of 'Ankur', a scheme            to disburse working capital loans of more than
  under which citizens will be awarded for             Rs 300 cr to micro, small, and medium
  planting trees during the monsoon.                   enterprises (MSMEs).
 People who take the initiative to plant saplings    Businesses will be able to apply for these
  will be given the Pranvayu Award for their           loans online and receive in-principal approval
  participation.                                       within 24- 48 hours digitally without any
 People who wish to participate in the tree           manual intervention.
  plantation drive can register themselves on         The partnership has targeted reaching out to
  the Vayudoot app.                                    over 10,000 MSMEs in the next 12-18
                                                       months.
Cyclone Yaas makes landfall
                                                     Freecharge launches ‘Pay Later’
 Cyclone Yaas pounded the beach towns in
  north Odisha and neighboring West Bengal as         Freecharge has launched a ‘Pay Later’ facility
  it hit the coast on 25 May 2021 with a wind          for its customers.
  speed of 130-140 kmph.

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 The expenses get aggregated for a month             committee on investment funds under the
  and customers can pay at the end of the             chairmanship of Kotak Mahindra Asset
  month, in a seamless manner.                        Management Co Ltd MD Nilesh Shah.
 It can be used both on Freecharge’s platform       The Committee comprises leaders from the
  as well as on a network of over 10,000 online       fund management sector.
  and offline merchants.                             The committee will recommend the authority
 On successful onboarding on Pay Later,              on the roadmap for the funds industry in the
  customers receive a monthly credit limit of up      International Financial Services Centres
  to ₹5,000.                                          (IFSCs).
IIT Guwahati researchers design smart windows       Hockey stadium renamed after Balbir Singh Sr
 A team of researchers at IIT Guwahati has          The Mohali International Hockey Stadium in
  developed a nanocoating.                            Punjab was dedicated to legendary center-
 They have designed a smart window material          forward Balbir Singh Senior on his 1st death
  that can effectively control the amount of heat     anniversary.
  and light passing through these windows in         Legendary Hockey player had passed away
  response to an applied voltage.                     on 25 May'20.
 Their work was recently published in the           He was part of the Indian teams that won gold
  journal Solar Energy Materials and Solar            at the 1948 London Olympics, Helsinki 1952
  Cells.                                              & Melbourne 1956.
                                                     His record for most individual goals scored in
Verstappen wins in Monaco
                                                      an Olympic men’s hockey final remains
 Max Verstappen has won Monaco Grand Prix.           unbeaten.
 Carlos Sainz for Ferrari took second with         Climate change erasing animal cave painting
  Lando Norris of McLaren completing the
  podium.                                            Rock art in Indonesia that includes the picture
 Red Bull’s Verstappen displaced Lewis               of a wild pig drawn 45,500 years ago on the
  Hamilton at the top of the 2021 standings           island of Sulawesi is getting destroyed due to
  after the Mercedes world champion finished in       climate change, as per a new study.
  seventh.                                           The painting is considered the world’s oldest
 Hamilton finished in seventh.                       animal cave painting.
                                                     As per the study, extreme weather patterns
NDDB ties up with Sustain Plus                        clubbed with constantly increasing
 The National Dairy Development Board                temperatures have caused salts to
  (NDDB) has partnered with Sustain Plus              accumulate in caves that host the art.
  Energy Foundation to promote a biogas-            Cabinet approves MoUs signed by ICoAI, ICSI
  based manure management model.
 An MoU in this regard has been signed to           The Union Cabinet of India on 25 May 2021
  form the strategic partnership.                     approved the MoUs entered into by the
 The collaboration will help NDDB to test and        Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICoAl)
  replicate the experience of the biogas manure       and the Institute of Company Secretaries of
  management model in other parts of the              India (ICSI) with Foreign
  country through the network of dairy                Countries/Organisations.
  cooperatives.                                      The MoUs would help Indian Institutes in the
                                                      advancement of the goals on equity, public
IFSCA constitutes an expert committee                 accountability, and innovation among the
 The International Financial Services Centres        beneficiaries countries.
  Authority (IFSCA) has constituted an expert       PBKS's Covid relief program 'Project Saah'
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 IPL franchise Punjab Kings have extended             India is estimated to register a record 305.44
  their hand to help India fight the battle against     million tonnes of foodgrain production in
  COVID-19 through the COVID relief program             2020-21.
  called 'Project Saah'.                               It would be higher by 7.94 million tonnes than
 PBKS has joined forces with Round Table               the previous production of foodgrain of 297.50
  India (RTI) to provide oxygen concentrators to        mn tonnes achieved during the year 2019-20.
  needy COVID-19 patients.                             The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers
 Punjab Kings will finance the oxygen                  Welfare has released the Third Advance
  concentrators and RTI will handle the                 Estimates of Principal Crops for 2020-21.
  distribution part of the assistance.
                                                      Rs 1,605 crores released to Northeast
Pharmeasy acquires Medlife
                                                       With the focus on faster development of the
 Mumbai-based e-pharmacy startup                       northeast, the Centre has released Rs 1,605
  PharmEasy has acquired peer Medlife.                  Crore to the 8 states of the region.
 This is the largest consolidation deal in India’s    The fund has been released for the
  fast-growing online pharmacy sector.                  implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission to
 This will make PharmEasy the largest                  provide tap water supply to rural homes in the
  healthcare delivery platform across the               financial year 2021-22.
  country by a distance.                               This is the first tranche of the four to be
 Medlife will discontinue operations from May          released in this financial year (2021-22).
  25, 2021, and its existing retail partners will
                                                      BSI, COA sign MoU
  be onboarded onto PharmEasy's platform.
                                                       Bamboo Society of India (BSI) and the
Subodh Kumar Jaiswal: New CBI Director
                                                        Council of Architecture (COA) have signed an
 The center on 25 May 2021 appointed IPS               MoU to mainstream bamboo in the building
  officer Subodh Kumar Jaiswal as the Central           sector.
  Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) new Director.        The MoU aims at introducing bamboo, an
 The appointing committee was chaired by PM            agro product, as a mainstream material for
  Modi also had CJI NV Ramana and Congress              building and related sectors for all kinds of
  Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Ranjan                   buildings, infrastructure, etc.
  Chowdhury.                                           BSI will participate and manage the COA
 The 1985 batch officer from Maharashtra               Centre for Bamboo Technology and Design
  cadre is currently posted as Director-General         Development.
  of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
                                                      Mahindra Rural Housing Fin. ties up with IPPB
Gharial hatchlings are seen in natural habitats
                                                       Mahindra Rural Housing Finance Ltd
 At least 28 gharial hatchlings have been              (MRHFL) and India Post Payments Bank
  sighted with their mother in the Satkosia             (IPPB) have announced a strategic
  gorge of the Mahanadi river in Odisha, the            partnership for cash management solutions.
  southernmost limit of the gharials’ home             As part of the tie-up, IPPB will be offering
  range in India.                                       cash management and collection services to
 After almost 15 years, gharials were seen             MRHFL through its access points and postal
  breeding in natural conditions away from the          service providers.
  artificial breeding centers.                         MRHFL customers will be able to repay their
 The gharials are considered to be among the           loan installments at over 1.36 lakh post
  most critically endangered crocodiles.                offices.
305.44 mn ton foodgrain production in 2020-21         Justice Prashant: Acting CJ of Chhattisgarh HC

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 Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, the senior-        MP to get 10 Cheetahs from Africa in November
  most judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court,
  has been appointed as its acting Chief Justice     The Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh
  (CJ).                                               is expected to receive 10 cheetahs in
                                                      November 2021 from South Africa.
 He will assume charge from June 1, 2021,
  following the retirement of Justice Parappillil    This was informed on May 23, 2021, by the
  Ramakrishnan Nair Ramachandra Menon,                Madya Pradesh Forest Minister Vijay Shah.
  Chief Justice, Chhattisgarh High Court, on 31      India’s last spotted cheetah died in
  May'21.                                             Chhattisgarh in 1947 and it was declared
 The high courts of Allahabad and Calcutta are       extinct in 1952.
  also being run by acting CJs.                      The 10 cheetahs to be brought to the country
                                                      will be 5 males and 5 females.
143 Khelo India Centres to be opened
                                                    Jagjit Pavadia elected President of INCB
 The Sports Ministry has dedicated a total of
  143 Khelo India Centres across seven states        Jagjit Pavadia, a retired officer of the Indian
  with a total budget estimate of Rs 14.30 crore.     Revenue Service (Customs), has been
 These centers will be entrusted with one            elected as the President of the Vienna-based
  sports discipline each.                             International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).
 The states include Maharashtra, Mizoram,           She is also a former Narcotics Commissioner
  Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal           of India.
  Pradesh, and Manipur.                              It is for the first time that an Indian is heading
 The Sports Ministry, in June 2020, had              INCB and the second woman in INCB history
  planned to open up as many as 1,000 new             to head it.
  KICs.                                             Book by Avtar Singh Bhasin
New Consulate General of India in the Maldives       Author Avtar Singh Bhasin has come up with
 The Union Cabinet has approved the opening          a new book titled “Nehru, Tibet and China”.
  of a new Consulate General of India in Addu        The book analyses the events from 1949 to
  City, the Maldives in 2021.                         the Indo-China war in 1962 and its aftermath.
 Maldives occupies an important place in the        Avtar Singh is also the author of several other
  ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’ and the ‘SAGAR’        books including 'India in Sri Lanka: Between
  (Security and Growth for All in the Region)         Lions and the Tigers', 'India and Pakistan:
  vision of the government of India.                  Neighbours at Odds', etc.
 The Opening of a Consulate General in Addu        Shivshankar Menon's new book
  City will help augment India’s diplomatic
  presence in the Maldives.                          Shivshankar Menon has come up with his
                                                      new book 'India and Asian Geopolitics: The
Rajesh elected Kerala Assembly Speaker                Past, Present'.
 CPM’s MB Rajesh was elected the Speaker of         The first part of the book, roughly covering the
  the 15th Kerala Assembly on 25 May 2021             period from decolonization to globalization, is
  with support from 96 legislators in the 140-        more historical in its treatment and follows a
  member Assembly.                                    chronological framework.
 This is Rajesh’s debut term in the Assembly,       The second part looks at contemporary Asia
  having been elected from Thrithala                  and inevitably highlights China and its
  constituency in the Palakkad district.              interface with others, in particular India.
 He defeated incumbent MLA VT Balram of the        Scientists grow a human heart in the lab
  Congress by a thin margin of over 3,000
  votes.

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 Scientists have successfully grown a bundle            including a hollow chamber enclosed by a
  of human stem cells into a tiny artificial "heart"     wall of cardiac-like tissue.
  the size of a sesame seed.                            The human heart is the very first organ to
 The pulsating mass is the first self-organizing        form in an embryo, and it is particularly
  miniature organ to resemble the human heart,           complex.

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