Daily Current Affairs 26 May 2021 are the most important area from which a major share of questions come in SSC, Railway, state government recruitment exams, UPSC prelims, and mains. Let’s discuss the most important Current Affairs Today.
Cheetahs to be re-introduced in India after being declared extinct
Cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal which was declared extinct in India in 1952, to be re-introduced into the country in November this year at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
The country’s last spotted cheetah died in Chhattisgarh in 1947 and it was declared extinct in the country in 1952.
Kuno, located in the Chambal region, is spread over an area of over 750 sq km and has a conducive environment for the cheetah.
According to the approved timeline sent to us by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change this week, the tentative budget outlay of the ‘Project Cheetah’ is Rs 1,400 lakh for this fiscal.
Cheetah is considered vulnerable under the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list of threatened species, with a declining population of less than 7,000 found primarily in African savannas.
The Supreme Court last year set up a three- member committee to guide the NTCA on the cheetah re-introduction project. The panel has asked the WII to carry out a technical evaluation of all possible sites for the re-introduction of cheetah in the country.
Export of 1.2 MT of fresh jackfruit from Tripura to London
A shipment of 1.2 metric tonne of fresh jackfruit was exported from Tripura to London, in a major step towards harnessing exports potential of agricultural and processed food products from north-eastern region.
Jackfruit is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). It is a multiple fruit, composed of hundreds to thousands of individual flowers, and the fleshy petals are eaten.
Local Names in India: Katahal (Hindi), Phanas (Marathi), Phannasa (Gujarati), Panasa (Telugu), Palaa/ Varukkai (Tamil), Halasu (Kannada), Chakka (Malayalam), Panasa (Oriya).
Major producers in world: India, Thailand, Indonesia and Nepal. Major Production States: Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar, Utter Pradesh, Orissa and Assam. Kerala is the largest producer of jackfruit in the world. It is the state fruit of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Biden administration approved nation’s first major offshore wind farm
The Biden administration has approved the nation’s first major offshore wind farm, billing it as the launch of a new domestic energy industry that will help eliminate emissions from the power sector.
The announcement fits with U.S. President Joe Biden’s broader agenda to combat global climate change by decarbonizing the nation’s economy.
Approval of the Vineyard Wind project, which will be located 23 km off the coast of Massachusetts, is a significant milestone in the more than decade-long effort to permit a commercial-scale offshore wind project in the U.S. waters.
The Vineyard Wind project is intended to create enough electricity to power 400,000 homes. The project will begin delivering electricity to the grid in the second half of 2023.
The project is meant to create 3,600 jobs, delivering on Biden’s campaign promise that fighting climate change by expanding clean energy sources will boost employment.
Indian crypto bourses see outage as Bitcoin cracks
The Users of India’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, WazirX and CoinDCX, had a tough time due to outages as Bitcoin plunged over 30%, wiping out over $500 billion in value from the coin’s peak market value.
In India, a combination of factors, including a scramble to exit and buy at dips resulted in the collapse of WazirX, sending its users into a tailspin.
Several cryptocurrency exchanges have now come up in the country that enable buying, selling and trading in several cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency exchanges offer ease in trading by offering functionality through user-friendly applications or websites.
Some of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in India are WazirX, CoinDCX, Zebpay and UnoCoin.
India signed agreement on agriculture cooperation with Israel
India recently signed “a three-year work program agreement” for development in agriculture cooperation with Israel.
Both countries are implementing the “INDO-ISRAEL Agricultural Project Centres of Excellence” and “INDO-ISRAEL Villages of Excellence”.
The IIVOE program will focus on: (1) Modern Agriculture infrastructure, (2) Capacity Building, (3) Market linkage.
India and Israel have had bilateral relations since 1993 in the agricultural sector. This is the 5th Indo-Israel Agriculture Action Plan (IIAP).
The three-year work program (2021-2023) aims to grow existing Centres of Excellence, establish new centers, increase CoE’s value chain, bring the Centres of Excellence into the self-sufficient mode, and encourage private sector companies and collaboration.
As for the “INDO-ISRAEL Villages of Excellence”, this is a new concept aimed at creating a model ecosystem in agriculture across eight states, alongside 13 Centers of Excellence within 75 villages.
1st consignment of Shahi Litchi Exported from Bihar to UK
The season’s first consignment of Shahi Litchi from Bihar was exported to the United Kingdom by air route on 24 May, 2021, in a major boost to export of GI certified products.
The phyto-sanitary certification for exports of Shahi Litchi was issued from a newly established certification facility at Patna.
Bihar tops in terms of production of litchi. The fruit is being exported by Cira Enterprises and sourced from farmers in Muzaffarpur, Bihar.
Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Samastipur, Champaran, Begusarai districts and adjoining areas of Bihar have favorable climate for growing Shahi Litchi.
Shahi litchi was the fourth agricultural products to get GI certification from Bihar in 2018, after Jardalu mango, Katarni rice and Magahi paan. India is the second largest producer of litchi (Litchi chin) in the world, after China.
The translucent, flavoured aril or edible flesh of the litchi is popular as a table fruit in India, while in China and Japan it is preferred in dried or canned form.
FDI increase 19% to USD 59.64 billion in 2020-21
Foreign Direct Investment plays a major role in developing countries like India. The FDI into the country grew 19 per cent to USD 59.64 billion during 2020-21 on account of measures taken by the government on the fronts of policy reforms.
Total FDI, including equity, re-invested earnings and capital, rose 10 per cent to the “highest ever” of USD 81.72 billion during 2020-21 as against USD 74.39 billion in 2019-20.
In terms of top investor countries, Singapore is at the top with 29 per cent share. It was followed by the US (23 per cent) and Mauritius (9 per cent) during the last fiscal.
The computer software and hardware sector attracted the highest inflows with around 44 per cent share of the total FDI equity inflows. It was followed by construction (infrastructure) activities (13 per cent) and services sector (8 per cent), respectively.
Gujarat is the top recipient state during 2020-21 with 37 per cent share of the total FDI equity inflows, followed by Maharashtra (27 per cent) and Karnataka (13 per cent).
Deadline for mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery extended
The government of India has extended the deadline for mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts by a fortnight till June 15 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gold hallmarking is a purity certification of the precious metal and is voluntary in nature at present.
In view of Covid, the government accepted the request of stakeholders to give jewellers some more time to get prepared for implementation and resolve issues.
A committee, headed by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Director General Pramod Tewari, has been formed to ensure proper coordination and resolve the implementation issues.
According to BIS, the mandatory hallmarking will protect the public against lower caratage and ensure consumers do not get cheated while buying gold ornaments and get the purity as marked on the ornaments.
The BIS has been running a hallmarking scheme for gold jewellery since April 2000. Around 40 per cent of gold jewellery is being hallmarked currently.
1st Phase of MCA21 Version 3.0 launched
The government of India recently launched the first phase of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ (MCA) MCA21 Version 3.0 (V3.0) comprising of a revamped website, new email services for MCA Officers and two new modules, namely, e. Book and e. Consultation.
The MCA V3.0 is going to be implemented in two phases. The second and final phase shall be launched from October 2021 onwards.
The entire project is proposed to be launched within this Financial Year and will be data analytics and machine learning driven.
The MCA21 V3.0 in its entirety will not only improve the existing services and modules, but will also create new functionalities like e-adjudication, compliance management system, advanced helpdesk, feedback services, user dashboards , self-reporting tools and revamped master data services.
MCA21 has been part of Mission Mode projects of the Government of India. Bagging several accolades in past, the project has now reached its 3rd version.
MCA21 V3.0 is part of this year’s Budget announcement and will leverage the use of latest technologies to further streamline the Corporate Compliance and stakeholders experience.
China will make a province in Sri Lanka
Recently, the Sri Lankan Parliament passed a controversial Bill on laws governing the China-backed Colombo Port city, with a majority of 149 legislators, in the 225-member House, voting in its favour.
Sri Lanka is on a highway to becoming a Chinese colony. It began with the Hambantota Port and has now spilled into the port city of Colombo. Both are strategic assets, one of which is already under Chinese control. The other could soon follow if the government has its way.
The Colombo port city is a special financial zone being built next to Colombo, mostly on land reclaimed from the sea. They are calling it the next Dubai and it is being touted as a city from the future.
The Colombo port bill is a deeply flawed legislation. The bill wants to create a seven-member commission to administer the port city. This would be an all-powerful commission which would control everything from taxation to approving new projects and investments.
IPS Subodh Kumar Jaiswal appointed as CBI Director
Indian Police Service officer Subodh Kumar Jaiswal has been appointed as Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a period of 2 years.
About Subodh Kumar Jaiswal
He is a 1985-batch IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre, Jaiswal is currently the director general of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
He was previously the police commissioner of Mumbai, the largest city in India and the seventh most populous city in the world.
Jaiswal was with the Research and Analysis Wing (RA&W), India’s external intelligence agency for nine years, during which he served as the additional secretary of RA&W for three years.
Jaiswal has also served in Intelligence Bureau and Maharashtra ATS Chief. He was the head of the Central Industrial Security Force.
About Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is the premier investigating agency of India.
CBI is operated under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (India).
It was originally set up to investigate bribery and governmental corruption, in 1965 it received expanded jurisdiction to investigate breaches of central laws enforceable by the Government of India, multi-state organised crime, multi-agency or international cases.
The agency has been known to investigate several economic crimes, special crimes, cases of corruption and other cases.
CBI is exempted from the provisions of the Right to Information Act. CBI is India’s officially designated single point of contact for liaison with the Interpol.
I hope these Daily Current Affairs 26 May 2021 are useful to you. This current affair covers all the topics you should know for your upcoming competitive examinations. I compiled these current affairs today from various news outlets including The Hindu, Indian Express, Live Mint as well as various authentic sources including PIB report, Down to earth magazine, Yojana, and Kurukshetra. If these really helpful to you then you should Read us More
