Current Affairs is the most important area in all competitive exams. But the difficulty level is very high. That’s why; many aspirants get confused, how to select Current Affairs for Preparation of Competitive Examination? Here we have tried to cover each and every point and also included all important facts from National/ International news that are useful for upcoming competitive examinations such as SSC, Railway, State Govt. etc.
Daily Current Affairs 27 May 2021
In today’s Daily Current Affairs 27 May 2021, we will discuss about the Largest Online Healthcare Delivery Platform in India, native species, Director in Senior Administrative Grade, Addu City, Expert Committee on Investment Funds, National Mission on use of biomass in coal based power plants, Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link, Buddha Purnima Diwas 2021 and many more.
PharmEasy becomes Largest Online Healthcare Delivery Platform in India
PharmEasy has completed the acquisition of Medlife to become the largest healthcare delivery platform in India.
PharmEasy, valued at $1.5 billion, became India’s first e-pharmacy unicorn last month after raising around $320 million from TPG Growth and Prosus Ventures.
The global e-pharmacy market, estimated at $69.7 billion in 2019, is expected to grow 17 per cent y-o-y to $244 billion in 2027. India’s share in the global market is comparatively small.
In developed countries such as the US and Europe, e-pharmacy is a flourishing market and part of the more structured medical services market. Medicines are prescribed by physicians and tracked through barcoding to ensure systematic supply.
MC appeals to plant only native species
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation recently appealed to plant only indigenous species in the city after Mumbai has witnessed a high number of tree-fall incidents.
The BMC in its post-cyclone inspection revealed that 70 per cent of 812 trees were non-native species, including Gulmohar, rain tree and royal palm among others.
The BMC warned that native species should not be confused with old trees or trees that are widely present. Over at least three decades, the government has imported exotic species, and new tree species were planted across the city for beautification.
By definition, a “native” plant is living, growing, and reproducing naturally in a particular region. The BMC has prepared a list of 41 native trees that can be planted in Mumbai and are part of the trees in the Konkan belt.
These are Wad, Pimpal, Umber, Kanchan, Kadamba, Gunj, Palas, Nim, Mahogany, Moh, Bahawa, Sag, Arjun, Ain, Kinjal, Sita Ashok, Undal, Nagkeshar, Champa, Shivan, Shirish, Karanj, Bakul, Bell, Taman, Hirda, Behda, Coconut, Amla, Khair, Tetu, Mango, Putranjiva, Wild Almond, Bibba, Parijatak, Rita, Sandalwood, Phanas and Chafa.
Creation of one post of Director in Senior Administrative Grade (SAG)
The Union Cabinet recently approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs for creation of one (01) post of Director in Senior Administrative Grade (SAG), at National Disaster Response Force Academy, Nagpur.
With the creation of the post of Director, NDRF Academy, the command and control of the organisation will be entrusted to a senior and experienced officer, who can steer the institution as per the intended objectives.
The Academy will impart skill based practical training to over 5000 personnel annually, from NDRF, SDRF, CD volunteers, other stakeholders and disaster response agencies of SAARC and other countries.
It will also cater to analyzing and improving the training programmes as per changing needs and requirement of the Stakeholders.
It will immensely improve the standard of training imparted on disaster response to NDRF, SDRF personnel and other stakeholders.
National Disaster Response Force Academy
National Disaster Response Force Academy was established in year 2018 at Nagpur by merging with it National Civil Defence College (NCDC).
The main campus of the Academy is under construction, till then it is functioning from the existing campus of NCDC.
The Academy presently imparts training to National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)/ State Disaster Response Force (SDRF)/ Civil Defence volunteers and other stakeholders and is envisaged to grow into a premier training institution of international repute.
Opening of a new Consulate General of India in Addu City
Union Cabinet recently approved the opening of a new Consulate General of India in Addu City, Maldives in 2021.
Opening of a Consulate General in Addu City will help augment India’s diplomatic presence in Maldives and make it commensurate with the existing and aspired level of engagement.
The momentum and energy in the bilateral relationship has reached unprecedented levels under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and President Solih.
India and Maldives share ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious and commercial links steeped in antiquity.
Maldives occupies an important place in the ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’ and the ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision of the Government of India.
Expert Committee on Investment Funds to recommend to IFSCA
An Expert Committee on Investment Funds to recommend to International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) on the road map for the funds industry in the International Financial Service Centres IFSCs in India has been constituted by the IFSCA.
The Fund Industry has been playing an increasingly important role in intermediating between seekers of capital and investors.
IFSC has been actively engaging with stakeholders to enhance the Global reach of GIFT-IFSC.
The regulatory approach has been to benchmark with Global Standards and adopt a facilitative framework to provide ease of operations for seeker as well as provider of capital.
The terms of reference of the Expert Committee are-
- To recommend IFSCA on long term vision for operations of Investment Funds in IFSC.
- To make recommendations with respect to structure of Investment Funds in IFSC.
- To identify issues that may be critical for development of the Investment Funds industry at IFSCs including inter-regulatory issues.
- Any other relevant item on building the ecosystem inter-alia on asset managers, hedge funds, PE, VC, sovereign funds, family offices, and the accompanying professional services.
National Mission on use of biomass in coal based power plants
The Power Ministry is going to set up a National Mission on use of biomass in coal based thermal power plants to address the issue of air pollution due to farm stubble burning and to reduce carbon footprints of thermal power generation.
The objectives of the National Mission given are increasing the level of co-firing from present five per cent to higher levels to have a larger share of carbon neutral power generation from the thermal power plants and to take up take up R&D activity in boiler design to handle the higher amount of silica, alkalis in the biomass pellets.
Also, the National Mission will facilitate overcoming the constraints in supply chain of biomass pellets and agro- residue and its transport upto to the power plants and will consider regulatory issues in biomass co-firing.
The proposed National Mission on biomass will also contribute to the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
The Mission would have a Steering Committee headed by Secretary (Power) comprising of all stakeholders including representatives from Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG), Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) etc.
Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link to be completed by 2023
The Ministry of Railway recently reviewed the progress of Indian Railways’ Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail link Project and expected to be completed by 2022-23.
The 25 km long Udhampur – Katra section was commissioned in July 2014. The 118 km long Quazigund – Baramulla section was commissioned in October 2009.
The 18 km long Banihal – Quazigund section was commissioned in June 2013 while the 111 km long Katra to Banihal section is still in progress.
The work on intervening stretch of Katra-Banihal section (111 km) is in progress and this section predominantly involves tunnelling i.e. 97 Km out of 111 Km (i.e. 87%) of length of Katra-Banihal section is in tunnels and maximum length of tunnel T-49 is 12.75 Km.
There are 27 Main tunnel and 37 Bridges which include the iconic Chenab Bridge which will be the highest railway bridge in the world. Arch Launching of Chenab bridge was completed on 05.04. 2021.
Indian railway’s first cable-stayed bridge is also being constructed on Anji Khad. Ancillary viaduct portion of Anji khad Bridge has been completed.
The total lunar eclipse and supermoon coinciding on 26th May
The Moon had the nearest approach to Earth on May 26, and therefore appeared to be the closest and largest Full Moon or “supermoon” of 2021.
The celestial event coincides with this year’s only total lunar eclipse, the first since January 2019. Significantly, a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse have not occurred together in nearly six years.
A supermoon occurs when the Moon’s orbit is closest to the Earth at the same time that the Moon is full. According to NASA, the term supermoon was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979.
As the Moon orbits the Earth, there is a point of time when the distance between the two is the least (called the perigee when the average distance is about 360,000 km from the Earth) and a point of time when the distance is the most (called the apogee when the distance is about 405,000 km from the Earth).
Now, when a full Moon appears at the point when the distance between the Earth and the Moon is the least, not only does it appear to be brighter but it is also larger than a regular full moon. In a typical year, there may be two to four full supermoons and two to four new supermoons in a row.
MoUs entered into by ICoAl and ICSI with Foreign Countries/Organisations
Recently the Union Cabinet has approved the Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) entered into by Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICoAl) and Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) with various Foreign Countries/Organisations.
ICoAl and ICSI have signed MoUs with foreign organisations namely Institute of Public Accountants (IPA), Australia, Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, UK (CISI), Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), UK, Institute of Certified Management Accountants, Sri Lanka and Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), UK.
The signed MoUswould help in advancement of the goals on equity, public accountability and innovation among the beneficiaries countries.
The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICoAl) was established by a Special Act of Parliament, namely, the Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959 as a statutory professional body for the regulation of the profession of Cost Accountancy.
The Institute is the only recognised statutory professional organisation and licensing body in India specialising exclusively in Cost Accountancy.
Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament of India, i.e. The Company Secretaries Act, 1980 (Act No. 56 of 1980), to develop and regulate the profession of Company Secretaries in India.
Panel to define offences of speech, expression
A panel constituted by the Union Home Ministry to suggest reforms to the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC) is likely to propose a separate Section on “offences relating to speech and expression.”
As there is no clear definition of what constitutes a “hate speech” in the IPC, the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws is attempting for the first time to define such speech.
The committee is expected to submit its report soon. Earlier this month, observing that an extreme or harsh point of view would not amount to hate speech, the Bombay High Court quashed an FIR against a Navi Mumbai resident.
A division bench of Justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik had observed that the right to express one’s views is a protected and cherished right in our democracy, merely because the point of view of the petitioner is extreme or harsh will not make it a hate speech as it is only expressing a different point of view.
The Bureau of Police Research and Development recently published a manual for investigating agencies on cyber harassment cases that defined hate speech as a “language that denigrates, insults, threatens or targets an individual based on their identity and other traits (such as sexual orientation or disability or religion etc.).”
Buddha Purnima Diwas 2021
Buddha Purnima Divas 2021 has been observed on 26 May, as per the Lunar Calendar that Indian-origin religions following, Vesak (Buddha Purnima, Buddha Jayanti).
Buddha Purnima, also known as Buddha Jayanti, is an auspicious day that marks the birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. It is believed that this was also the day he attained enlightenment.
Though the date according to the Gregorian calendar may vary from year to year, the Buddha Purnima or Vesak festival falls on the day of the Full Moon in the Hindu month of Vaishakh (which comes in the month of April or May) and it is a gazetted holiday in India.
The festival is known worldwide as Vesak due to the Sinhala (Sri Lankan) devotees as the festival is called Vesak in Sinhalese.
Buddhism is considered the state religion of Sri Lanka and has been given special privileges in the Sri Lankan constitution such as government protection and fostering of Buddhist Dharma.
Mohali international hockey stadium renamed after Balbir Singh Senior
Punjab Government recently announced to rename the Mohali International Hockey Stadium, Sector 63, after triple Olympian and Padma Shri Balbir Singh Sr.
The stadium will now be known as Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium.
The stadium was inaugurated by Chief Minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal on 27 September 2013.
Balbir Singh Dosanjh was an Indian hockey player. He was a three-time Olympic gold medallist, having played a key role in India’s wins in London (1948), Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956) Olympics.
I hope these Daily Current Affairs 27 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
