Daily Current Affairs 1st June, 2021

Daily Current Affairs 1 June 2021 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Karnataka: Health Dept launches ‘doctors ride towards village side’ programme
In Karnataka, the Health Department has launched Doctors ride towards village side programme.

• Under this scheme, the Government provides necessary logistic support for the teams led by medical students to visit villages and provide better healthcare during the pandemic.MBBS final year students, BSc Nursing, BDS, MDS, Ayush graduating doctors are deputed to rural areas to carry out Covid tests.
• A team of medical students, nurses, ASHA and Anganwadi workers visit door to door to identify vulnerable members of the family and carry out tests. They also distribute medicine kits wherever necessary. After the Rapid Antigen tests, if the report arrived is positive, the team helps the patients to be admitted in a hospital or in Covid Care Centre.

Centre allocates Rs 3411 Cr grant to Gujarat under Jal Jeevan Mission
Centre has allocated three thousand 411 Crore rupees grant to Gujarat under Jal Jeevan Mission to provide safe and potable piped drinking water to all the rural household in the state.

• Out of which the first tranche of more than 852 Crore rupees for the current financial year has been released. Jal Shakti Ministry said, the Central Government’s allocation for the year 2019-20 was around 390 Crore rupees, which was raised to over 883 Crore rupees in 2020-21.
• Gujarat has around 93 Lakh rural households, out of which now 83 per cent households are having piped water supply.

Union Health Ministry approves annual plan worth Rs. 1163.40 cr for J&K under National Health Mission
In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir the Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare has approved annual plan worth Rs. 1163.40 crore for the UT for financial year 2021-22 under National Health Mission in a way ahead towards strengthening healthcare system with special emphasis on Covid mitigation in Jammu and Kashmir. 

• Against this, the Resource Envelope of funds comprising 90 per cent central allocation and 10 per cent state share is likely to be made available during the year amounting Rs. 795.83 crore, which is 8 per cent higher than the corresponding figures of the financial year 2020-21.

Govt Asks Private TV News Channels to Display Four New Helpline Numbers
The Centre asked private TV news channels to display four new national helpline numbers for the benefit of citizens as a part of the COVID-19 awareness initiative.

• In order to further this cause, the private TV channels are advised to promote awareness of the following four national level helpline numbers by way of a ticker or such appropriate ways as they may consider at periodical intervals, especially during prime time.
• The channels have been asked to display the National helpline number of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare -1075, child helpline number of the Ministry of Women and Child Development-1098, senior citizens helpline of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment- 14567(in Delhi, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand) and helpline number of National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) for psychological support – 08046110007.

N S Tomar launches Horticulture CDP to ensure holistic growth of horticulture
Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar virtually launched the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme (CDP) to ensure holistic growth of horticulture.

• The programme aims at growing and developing identified horticulture clusters to make them globally competitive.
•  In a pilot phase, the programme will be implemented in 12 horticulture clusters out of the total 53 clusters selected for the programme.Based on the learnings from the pilot project, the programme will be scaled up to cover all the identified clusters.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

EAM S Jaishankar chairs BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Virtual Meeting 
India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will chair a BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting virtually. India is hosting the meeting as the chair of BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa).

• The leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa of the BRICS group will deliberate on the ways to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, global and regional issues of concern, sustainable development, and terrorism.
• The foreign ministers at the BRICS virtual meeting will also brainstorm ways to enhance intra-BRICS cooperation, especially people-to-people cooperation, and strengthening and reforming the multilateral system.

BANKING & FINANCE

Canara Bank announces 3 loan schemes amid fight against coronavirus
State-run Canara Bank announced three loan schemes as part of the fight against the pandemic under which it will offer healthcare credit, business and personal loan to individuals.

• The Canara Chikitsa healthcare credit facility will offer loans from over Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 crore to registered hospitals, nursing homes, medical practitioners, diagnostic centres, pathology labs and all other units engaged in the servicing healthcare infrastructure.The loan to be offered at a concessional rate of interest will have tenor of 10 years with moratorium up to 18 months.
• The Canara Jeevanrekha healthcare business loan will offer loan up to Rs 2 crore at a concessional interest rate for manufacture and supply of healthcare products such as medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders and oxygen concentrators to registered hospitals and nursing homes or other manufacturers and suppliers.
• Under the third category of loan — Canara Suraksha personal loan scheme — the lender will offer loan from Rs 25,000 – Rs 5 lakh as immediate financial assistance to customers for COVID-19 treatment during admission or post discharge.The scheme will offer moratorium of six months. Coming at a nil processing fee, the scheme will be valid till September 30, 2021.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

India’s GDP grows 1.6% in Jan-Mar, contracts 7.3% in 2020-21
The country’s gross domestic product grew at 1.6 percent in the January to March quarter of the last fiscal year, showed government data.

• In the fourth quarter of the last fiscal, agriculture grew at 3.1 percent; Manufacturin sector posted a growth of 6.9 percent and the growth in the Construction sector stood at 14.5 percent.
• For the full financial year 2020-2021, country’s GDP contracted by 7.3 percent.

World economy will expand by 5.8% this year: OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has raised its 2021 global GDP growth forecast but warned that “too many headwinds persist” as not enough Covid vaccines are reaching emerging economies, making the world vulnerable to variants.

• The world economy will expand by 5.8 percent this year, up from a previous estimate of 5.6 percent, the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said in a report.
• The 38-nation organisation, whose members account for 60 percent of global gross domestic product, applauded the rapid reaction of governments to prop up the economy.

SPORTS

Sanjeet bags gold medal at Asian Boxing Championships
Indian heavyweight boxer Sanjeet bagged Gold at the Asian Boxing Championships in Dubai. He defeated Olympic silver medalist  Vassiliy Levit of Kazakhstan in the men’s 91kg final to hand India its second gold. Pooja Rani had clinched the first gold in the women’s 75kg.

• Sanjeet registered a convincing 4-1 win against Levit as the Indian contingent concluded its successful campaign with an unprecedented 15 medals, including two gold, five silver and eight bronze medals.
• Earlier, Amit Panghal and Shiva Thapa lost their final matches and settled for Silver medals. Six-time world champion MC Marykom, Panghal, Thapa, Lalbuatsaihi and Anupama grabbed silver medals while eight boxers – Vikas Krishan, Simranjit Kaur, Lovlina Borgohain, Jaismine, Sakshi Chaudhary, Monika, Saweety, and Varinder Singh — bagged bronze.
• Thapa, a World Championships bronze medallist, is only the second male boxer in the world to win five medals at the Asian Championships.

APPOINTMENTS

Rear Admiral IB Uthaiah, VSM takes over as Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam
Rear Admiral IB Uthaiah, VSM took over as the Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam from Rear Adm Sreekumar Nair, NM at a formal ceremony held at ENC headquarters.

• Rear Adm IB Uthaiah, VSM was commissioned into the Indian Navy in Nov 1987. The Admiral holds a B Tech Degree. In his 33 years of service, the Admiral has served the Indian Navy in various capacities, with appointments at the Warship Design Directorate, Training Academies, Naval Dockyard and at the Command and Naval Headquarters.
• An alumnus of the Naval War College, he was awarded the Vishist Seva Medal (VSM) for distinguished service at Naval Dockyard and was instrumental in concluding major Warship construction contracts with Russian and Indian Shipyards as Principal Director.

AWARDS

WHO honours Dr Harsh Vardhan for efforts in tobacco control
This year WHO Director-General Special award has been given to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

• Every year, the World Health Organization, WHO recognizes individuals or organizations in each of the six WHO Regions for their accomplishments in the area of tobacco control.
• Director-General of WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that Dr Harsh Vardhan leadership was instrumental in the 2019 national legislation to ban E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products.

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli wins the 2021 Dublin Literary Award
Mexican author Valeria Luiselli has won the 2021 DUBLIN Literary Award, sponsored by Dublin City Council, for her novel Lost Children Archive (published by 4th Estate (Harper Collins) in the UK and Vintage Books (Alfred A. Knopf) in the USA.

• With prize money of €100,000, the Award is the world’s largest prize for a single novel published in English.
• Valeria Luiselli is the first writer from Mexico and the fifth woman to claim the prestigious award in its 26 year history.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Group of oncologists launch helpline to support cancer patients during COVID times 
A group of 15 oncologists and nurses have launched a helpline to support cancer patients, who face difficulty accessing healthcare owing to the lockdown and travel restrictions.

• Launched by Karkinos Healthcare Private Limited, the helpline can be accessed by anyone at no cost between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. from Monday to Saturday.
• The cancer care helpline Number: 9321350770 provides a platform that enables people to seek guidelines and advice from specialists.

IIT-Ropar develops AmbiTAG, India’s first indigenous temperature data logger for cold chain management
Indian Institute of Technology, IIT Ropar in Punjab has developed a device – AmbiTag that records real-time ambient temperature during the transportation of perishable products, vaccines and even body organs and blood.

• This device will helps to know that the item transported from anywhere in the world is still usable or perished because of temperature variation.
• Shaped as USB device, AmbiTag continuously records the temperature of its immediate surroundings from – 40 to 80 degrees in any time zone for a full 90 days on a single charge.

International Astronomical Union approves Chinese names to identify areas on Moon
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has approved eight Chinese names for features around the area on the Moon where China’s spacecraft Chang’e-5 probe landed last year to collect samples from the lunar surface and return to Earth.

• The Chang’e-5 space mission is China’s maiden attempt to retrieve materials from an extra-terrestrial body. It was launched on November 24 last year.
• It was the first attempt to bring the lunar samples in over 40 years after the US sent astronauts to the Moon to collect samples.

Spacetech Startup Bellatrix Aerospace Test Fires India’s First Privately Built Hall Thruster
The Bengaluru based space-tech startup “Bellatrix Aerospace” has successfully tested India’s first privately built Hall Thruster, which is a highly efficient electric propulsion system for satellite weighing 50 to 500 kg and it includes Elon Musk’s Starlink and Adrián Steckel’s OneWeb

• Bellatrix said that the thruster would be ready for commercial use by the end of 2021.
• As per the space-tech company, the thruster is also a critical technology for the “space taxi” that Bellatrix is developing, which will be able to ferry small satellites into multiple orbits.

Scientists launch World’s First Satellite System to watch over reefs 
To monitor the coral bleaching issue, scientists working with the Allen Coral Atlas – a research initiative developed by Arizona State University (ASU), the University of Queensland, the National Geographic Society, Planet, and Vulcan – just launched the first global, satellite-based reef surveillance tool. 

• The system can track bleaching events in near-real-time and provide an overall view of trends and changes in coral reef health.
• The researchers involved in the project say the monitoring system can inform conservation efforts and policy by providing critical information about which reefs are under stress and which ones appear to be more resilient to events like marine heat waves.

OBITUARIES

Poul Schlueter, longtime Danish prime minister, passes away 
Poul Schlueter, Denmark’s prime minister for over a decade who negotiated exemptions for his country to a key European Union treaty after Danes rejected the initial text in a referendum, has died. He was 92.

• Schlueter was served as the prime minister of the country from 1982-1993.

Tarannum Riyaz, former Urdu newsreader of AIR passes away 
The former Urdu newsreader of All India Radio and recipient of SAARC Literature Award in 2014, Dr. Tarannum Riyaz passed away in New Delhi. She was 59.

• A noted Urdu Novelist, short-story writer, critic and poetess, Tarannum Riyaz was suffering from COVID-19 infection and was admitted to a hospital. She was associated with Urdu Unit of All India Radio on a casual assignment basis till December 2019.
• She had received many national and international awards for her literary work.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

“Savarkar: A contested Legacy (1924-1966)” book by Vikram Sampath
Decorated historian and author Vikram Sampath has come out with the second and concluding volume of the book on the life and works of Veer Savarkar titled “Savarkar: A contested Legacy (1924-1966)”.

• The book will hit the stands on July 26, 2021, under the publication of Penguin Random House India.

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