DAILY GK: 05 JUNE 2021
1.
11 AIRPORT SURVEILLANCE RADARS
• The
Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a Rs 323.47 crore worth contract with Mahindra
Telephonics Integrated Systems Limited for procurement of 11 Airport
Surveillance Radars for the use of Indian Navy & Indian Coast Guard.
• Mahindra
Telephonics signed the contract for the 11 radars under the “Buy and Make”
category, to boost “Make in India” initiative.
2.
ILO’S WESO TRENDS 2021
• International
Labour Organisation (ILO) released a report titled “World Employment and Social
Outlook: Trends 2021(WESO Trends 2021)” stating global unemployment rate will
be 5.7% in 2022, 6.3% in 2021 & there will no recovery in global jobs until
2023.
• Note –
Global Unemployment Rate was 5.4% in 2020.
3.
NAM HEALTH MINISTERS VIRTUAL MEET
• Harsh
Vardhan virtually participated in a meeting with Ministers of Health of the NAM
(Non-Aligned Movement) Countries.
• Harsh
Vardhan stated that during COVID-19, India has supplied medicines to 123
partner countries including 59 NAM nations.
• He also noted that Ayushman Bharat, national health policy was aiming to provide free health assurance to over 500 million underprivileged people, making it the world’s largest health assurance scheme.
• NAM
formed in 1961 is a forum of 120 developing world states that are not formally
aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations (UN), it
is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
• Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev, is the current chairman of NAM.
4.
INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2021
• French
novelist David Diop won the International Booker Prize 2021 for “At Night All
Blood Is Black”, the English translation of the French Book titled “Frere
d’ame”.
• David
Diop became the first French writer to win the Award.
• The book
was translated by translator Anna Moschovakis from French and published by
Pushkin Press.
• The
prize carries a cash award of 50,000 Pound (around Rs 51 lakhs) which will be
split between the author David Diop and translator Anna Moschovakis.
5.
EXPERT GROUP TO FIX MINIMUM WAGES
• The
Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E) has constituted an expert
group led by Professor Ajit Mishra, director of the Institute of Economic Growth to provide technical support and
recommendations to fix the minimum wages and national floor minimum wages.
• This
decision is a part of the centre’s implementation of the Code of Wages, 2019,
which mandates a statutory national level floor wage.
6.
PANEL TO EXAMINE TAX EXEMPTION ON COVID-19
• The
Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council constituted an 8-member group of ministers
(GoM) to examine the need for GST concession/exemption on a range of Covid-19
essentials such as vaccines, drugs, testing kits, and ventilators and make
recommendations on the GST rates of COVID-19 relief material.
• Currently,
5 percent GST is levied on domestically manufactured vaccines, 12 percent GST
is levied for COVID-19 drugs and oxygen concentrators.
• Conrad
Sangma, Chief Minister of Meghalaya will be the Convenor of the panel.
7.
CHAIRMAN OF WHO EXECUTIVE BOARD
• During
the 149th session of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive board, Dr
Patrick Amoth of Kenya has been appointed as the Chairman of WHO Executive
Board, for a period of one year.
• He
succeeds Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister of Government of India, who
completed his tenure as Chairman of WHO Executive Board on June 02, 2021.
8.
DG OF ASSAM RIFLE
• Lieutenant
General (Lt Gen) Pradeep Chandran Nair took over as the 21st Director General (DG)
of Assam Rifles(AR), India’s oldest paramilitary force at the DGAR headquarters
at Shillong, Meghalaya.
• The
Assam Rifles were popularly known as Sentinels of the North-East.
• Lt Gen
Pradeep Chandran Nair has been serving as the Director-General Recruiting of
the Indian Army.
9.
PHARMEASY ACQUIRES MEDLIFE
• An
online medical platform, PharmEasy has acquired its rival Medlife, to create
India’s largest online pharmacy.
• API
Holdings, the parent of PharmEasy, has acquired 100 percent equity shares of
Medlife in return for 19.59 percent equity share capital, estimated at $250
million.
10.
NASA PLANS TWO NEW MISSIONS TO VENUS
• National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to implement two new missions
DAVINCI+ and BB VERITAS to Venus, Earth’s nearest also called sister planet.
• NASA
will spend $500 million for each mission.
• Both
missions will be expected to launch between 2028-2030.
• DAVINCI+
(short for Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble Gases, Chemistry and
Imaging) – It will measure the composition of Venus’ atmosphere to understand
how it formed and evolved, as well as determine whether the planet ever had an
ocean.
• VERITAS
(an acronym for Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, In SAR, Topography and
Spectroscopy) – This mission will map Venus’ surface to determine the planet’s
geologic history and understand why it developed so differently than Earth.
11.
PM OF MAURITIUS ANEROODJUGNAUTH PASSES AWAY
• The
Former President and Prime Minister of Mauritius, Padma Vibhushan awardee
Anerood Jugnauth passed away.
• He was
born on March 29, 1930 in Palma, British Mauritius.
• He was
considered as the Father of the Mauritian Economic Miracle of the 1980s.
• He was
also honoured with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award for strengthening India’s relationship
with Mauritius.
