Daily Current Affairs 24th May, 2021

Daily Current Affairs 24 May 2021 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Maharashtra govt launches “Mission Oxygen Self-Reliance”
Maharashtra government has launched the “Mission Oxygen Self-Reliance” scheme to meet the state’s oxygen needs.Special incentives will be given to oxygen producing industries under this scheme.

• Units set up in Vidarbha, Marathwada, Dhule, Nandurbar, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg regions will be eligible for incentives up to 150 per cent of their eligible fixed capital investments and units set up in the rest of Maharashtra will be eligible for up to 100 per cent general incentives.
• The government will also give a refund on gross SGST, stamp duty, electricity duty and unit subsidy of power cost for five years and interest subsidy for MSME units with a fixed capital investment of up to Rs 50 crore.

Uttarakhand govt announces Vatsalya Yojana for children orphaned due to Corona
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat has announced Chief Minister Vatsalya Yojana for orphaned children who have lost their parents due to Covid-19.

• Under the scheme, the State Government will make arrangements for their maintenance, education and training for employment up to the age of 21 years.
• Chief minister said that such orphaned children of the state will be given a maintenance allowance of 3000 rupees per month. 

Govt hikes variable dearness allowance for workers in central sphere
Central government has notified and revised the rate of Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) with a view to provide relief to different category of workers engaged in various scheduled employments in the central sphere.

• The hike will be effective from 1st of April of the last month. The VDA is revised on the basis of average Consumer Price Index for industrial workers (CPI-IW) a price index compiled by Labour Bureau.
• In case of unskilled workers engaged in Construction or building operations, the area wise revised rates per day will range from 431 rupees to 645 rupees.
• For semi-skilled or unskilled supervisor, the wages to be paid in defined categories will be in the range of 505 rupees to 714 rupees.
• In case of Skilled and Clerical category, it will be in the range of 609 rupees to 784 rupees and for highly skilled worker, the rate of wages will range between 714 to 853 rupees.
• For unskilled workers engaged in Agriculture sector, the rate would be 372 to 411 rupees.
• For semi skilled supervisor, it will be in the range of 379 to 449 rupees while high skilled will get from 449 to 540 rupees.
• For Mines Employees, the revised wage rate in case of unskilled worker engaged above the ground will be 431 rupees while those engaged below the ground will get 539 rupees per day.
• For semi skilled supervisor, it will be 539 and 645 rupees, for skilled, it will be 645  and 752 rupees while for Highly Skilled category, the wages will be 752 to 840 rupees.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Italy hosts the Global G 20 Health Summit
The Global G20 Health Summit was co-hosted by European Commission along with Italy as part of its G20 presidency amid the surge and spread of the coronavirus cases.

• The summit adopted the agenda to overcome Covid-19 pandemic. It also decided to develop and endorse a Rome Declaration of principles.
• ACT-Accelerator is used for “Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator”. It is also called Global Collaboration to Accelerate Development, Production and Equitable Access to COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines. This initiative was announced and started by the G20 grouping in April 2020.

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI to transfer Rs 99,122 cr as surplus to Central govt
Reserve Bank of India will transfer 99,122 crore rupees as surplus to the Central Government. The meeting of Central Board of Directors of RBI was held under the Chairmanship of Governor Shaktikanta Das.

• The Board approved the transfer of 99,122 crore rupees as surplus to the Central Government for the accounting period of nine months ended March 31, 2021 and decided to maintain the Contingency Risk Buffer at 5.50 per cent. 
• The Board in its meeting reviewed the current economic situation, global and domestic challenges and recent policy measures taken by the Reserve Bank to mitigate the adverse impact of the second wave of COVID-19 on the economy.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Average monthly income for workers fell by 17%
The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially increased informality in employment, leading to a decline in earnings for the majority of workers, and consequent increase in poverty in the country, according to ‘State of Working India 2021: One Year of Covid-19’, a report brought out annually by Azim Premji University’s Centre for Sustainable Employment, Bengaluru.

• This year’s report, which covers the period March 2020 to December 2020, dwells on the impact of one year of COVID-19 on employment, incomes, inequality and poverty.
• Monthly earnings of workers fell on an average by 17% during the pandemic, with self employed and informal salaried workers facing the highest loss of earnings.
• Regarding employment, the report notes that 100 million jobs were lost nationwide during the April-May 2020 lockdown. Though most of these workers had found employment by June 2020, about 15 million remained out of work. As for income, “for an average household of four members, the monthly per capita income in Oct 2020 (₹4,979) was still below its level in Jan 2020 (₹5,989),” the report noted.

SPORTS

Atletico Madrid clinch La Liga title
Atletico Madrid pipped city rivals Real Madrid to the La Liga title after Luis Suarez fired them to a 2-1 comeback win at Real Valladolid.

• Atletico finished top of the standings on 86 points while Real, who snatched a late 2-1 win over Villarreal, came second on 84. Valladolid finished 19th and were relegated to Spain’s second division.

Barcelona beats Chelsea to win Women’s Champions League final
Barcelona put on a brilliant display to beat Chelsea 4-0 to win the Women’s Champions League final for the first time in the club’s history.

• Barca is the first team from Spain to win Europe’s top club competition, which had been dominated recently by seven-time champions Lyon.
• In its only other appearance in the final, Barcelona lost 4-1 to Lyon in 2019 after conceding a goal after five minutes and falling behind 4-0 before halftime in Budapest.

APPOINTMENTS

RBI appoints Rajesh Bansal as head of its innovation hub
The Reserve Bank of India has appointed Rajesh Bansal, an expert in electronic cash transfers and digital financial services, as the Chief Executive Officer of the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub with effect from May 17.

• Bansal has over twenty five years of experience in designing technology-led population-scale payment products, electronic cash transfers, digital financial services and digital IDs to enable inclusive development in India and multiple Asian and African markets.
• He has earlier served at the RBI in various capacities in the areas of technology, financial inclusion and payment systems.

PR Sreejesh appointed FIH Athletes’ Committee member
India goalkeeper Pr Sreejesh has been re-elected as a member of the FIH Athletes’ Committee during the virtual meeting of the world body’s Executive Board. He has been a member of the panel since 2017.

• The EB confirmed the appointment of four new members for the Athletes’ Committee. Sreejesh Parattu (IND), Marlena Rybacha (POL), Mohamed Mea (RSA) and Matt Swann (AUS) are now joining the Committee. Steve Horgan (USA), the new chair of the FIH Rules Committee, succeeding David Collier.

Narinder Batra re-elected as FIH President for a second term
Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra has been re-elected as president of the International Hockey Federation in a virtual presidential election held.

• This will be Batra’s second term. Batra secured 63 votes out of 124 to defeat Belgium’s Marc Coudron who was the other candidate in fray.

BAI president Himanta Biswa Sarma elected to BWF Council
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Himanta Biswa Sarma was elected to the BWF council for the period 2021-25.

• Sarma, who is also the Vice President of Badminton Asia, got 236 votes in his favour as the 20 council members were elected from 31 contestants at the virtual AGM and Council election of Badminton World Federation (BWF).
• BWF President Paul-Erik Hoyer was re-elected unopposed, so were Deputy President Khunying Patama of Thailand and Vice President Paul Kurzo of Switzerland.

AWARDS

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

DRDO develops antibody detection-based kit ‘DIPCOVAN’
Defence Research and Development Organisation, DRDO has developed an antibody detection-based kit ‘DIPCOVAN’, the DIPAS-VDx COVID-19 IgG Antibody Microwell ELISA for sero-surveillance.

• The kit will be very useful for understanding COVID‐19 epidemiology and assessing an individual’s previous SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure. The kit can detect both spike as well as nucleocapsid proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virus with a high sensitivity of 97 per cent and specificity of 99 per cent.
• The kit has been developed in association with Vanguard Diagnostics Private Limited, a development and manufacturing diagnostics company based at New Delhi
• It requires just 75 minutes to conduct the test without any cross reactivity with other diseases. The kit has a shelf life of 18 months and it is expected to be available at about 75 rupees per test.

Toll Free Helpline for elderly persons ELDERLINE (14567) becomes operational in several states
A toll-free helpline for elderly persons, ELDERLINE (14567), has become operational in several states and is likely to become functional in all states by the end of this month. The facility is already operational in the five major states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

• The Ministry of Social Justice has started the call centres in major states under the ELDERLINE project to address the problems of elders in the context of the ongoing COVID pandemic.
• These call centres can be reached by toll-free number 14567. The facility was operationalised with the assistance of Tata Trusts and the NSE foundation.

OBITUARIES

Indian boxing’s first Dronacharya awardee coach OP Bhardwaj passes away 
Veteran boxing coach O P Bhardwaj, passed away after fighting a prolonged illness.He was 82.

• Bhardwaj, India’s first Dronacharya awardee coach in boxing had served as a national selector and was the coach of the national side from 1968 to 1989.

Veteran music director Raam Laxman passes away
Veteran music director Vijay Patil aka Laxman of Raam Laxman duo, who is known for his work in films such as Maine Pyaar Kiya, Patthar Ke Phool, Hum Saath Saath Hain and Hum Aapke Hai Kaun passed away. He was 79.

• Raam Laxman garnered fame in 1989 with the Salman Khan film, Maine Pyar Kiya. His biggest hits came in collaboration with Rajshri Productions. He gave music for more than 200 films in Hindi, Marathi and Bhojpuri languages.

Ex-Atomic Energy Commission chairman Srikumar Banerjee passes away 
Former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Srikumar Banerjee, 75, died following a heart attack at his Navi Mumbai residence.

• Banerjee was director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) from April 30, 2004 to May 19, 2010. He then became chairman of the AEC till 2012.
• He won the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar prize for science and technology in 1989, and the Padma Shri in 2005.

Veteran boxer Shakti Mazumdar passes away
Member of the Indian contingent at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, boxer Shakti Mazumdar passed away after suffering a heart-attack at his home in Kolkata. He was 90.

• A flyweight boxer, Mazumdar had got a walkover from Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Cua, but later lost to South Korea’s Han Soo-ann.

Renowned musician Laxman aka Vijay Patil passes away
Renowned musician Laxman aka Vijay Patil in Ram-Laxman duo passed away in Nagpur. He was 79 years old.

• Ram-Laxman was a pair of Ram aka Surendra Hendre and Vijay Patil aka Laxman.Their debut film was ‘Agent Vinod’ for Rajshri productions.
• Even after the death of his partner Ram in 1976, Laxman composed music with the same name Ram-Laxman.He had composed music for about 75 Hindi, Marathi and Bhojpuri films.The duo became very popular as a composer of Dada Kondke’s films in Marathi.
• The 1989 film ‘Maine Pyaar Kiya’ gave immense success and fame. For this, he received the Filmfare Award.The later films ‘Hum Aap Ke Hai Kaun’ and ‘Hum Saath Saath Hai’ were internationally acclaimed.

Noted Sanskrit scholar Mahamahopadhyay Pandit Reva Prasad Dwivedi passes away 
Pandit Reva Prasad Dwivedi, scholar of Sanskrit literature, passed away. He is also known as ‘Acharya’ Dwivedi.

• His original works include poetry as epics and lyrics, plays, and prose. He writes new literature under the pseudonym “sanatana”, meaning ‘the eternal’.
• He won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit,three Ratna awards and the P.V. Kane Gold Medal from The Asiatic Society of Mumbai.The Asiatic Society of Mumbai also awarded Dwivedi its Honorary Fellowship.

IMPORTANT DAYS

International Day to End Obstetric Fistula
May 23 is the United Nations’ (UN) International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, which promotes action towards treating and preventing obstetric fistula, a condition that affects many girls and women in developing countries.

• The theme of this year’s observance is “Women’s rights are human rights! End fistula now!”. 

World Turtle Day
World Turtle Day is observed on May 23. The day is celebrated to make people aware of turtle and tortoise and their habitats.

• The theme for this year “Turtles Rock!” encourages a worldwide audience to see turtles as more than just rocks with legs.

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