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 UPSC, SSC, Railway, State Govt. etc.
Daily Current Affairs 29 May 2021
Hong Kong climbers Tsang Yin-hung set records on Everest
Hong Kong mountaineer Tsang Yin-hung has recorded the world’s fastest ascent of Everest by a woman with a time of just under 26 hours. Tsang, 44, scaled the mountain in a record time of 25 hours and 50 minutes.
The fastest woman to conquer Everest had been Nepali Phunjo Jhangmu Lama when she completed the climb in 39 hours 6 minutes.
Arthur Muir, 75, became the oldest American to climb the world’s highest peak at 8,848.86-metres.
Mount Everest is Earth’s highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas.
A 52-year-old Nepali Sherpa climbed the Mt Everest, for the 25th time, breaking his own record for summiting the mountain most number of times.
Nepal’s eminent historian late Baburam Acharya is credited with the Nepali name Sagarmatha for Mount Everest that straddles Nepal-China border.
Louvre Museum Gets First Female Leader in 228 Years
The French presidency has appointed Laurence des Cars, the current director of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, to head the world’s largest museum as of September 1.
Louvre is the world’s largest art museum, based in Paris. It is located on the Right Bank of the Seine.
It is best known for being the home of the Mona Lisa, a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci.
Between 2007 and 2014, Des Cars was one of the leading figures who set up the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the capital of the UAE.
The museum lies in the center of Paris on the Right Bank, in the 1st arrondissement. Until 1871 it was connected to the Tuileries Palace which closed it off on the western side, but was heavily damaged by fire during the Paris Commune of 1871 and later demolished.
PM chairs high level meeting to review progress of National Digital Health Mission
Prime Minister of India chaired a high-level meeting to review the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM). Since then, the digital modules and registries have been developed and the mission has been rolled out in six Union Territories.
So far, nearly 11.9 lakh Health IDs have been generated and 3106 doctors and 1490 facilities have registered on the platform.
It has been envisaged that Unified Health Interface (UHI) – an open and interoperable IT network for digital health should soon be rolled out. This interface shall enable public and private solutions and apps to plug in and be a part of National Digital Health Ecosystem.
During the meeting, the concept of UPI e-Voucher developed by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) was also discussed. This digital payment option will enable financial transactions linked to specific purpose which can be used only by the intended user.
The National Digital Health Mission is an agency of the Government of India which seeks to provide medical identity document to Indian people. This identity document would enable people to use Ayushman Bharat Yojana, which is a service in India’s publicly funded health care.
The program aligns with other government programs, including the Aadhaar identification program and the Ayushman Bharat Yojana healthcare program. Users keep the identification document as an account in a mobile app.
SeHAT OPD portal to provide tele-medicine services to Armed Forces personnel
Ministry of Defence launched ‘Services e-Health Assistance & Tele-consultation (SeHAT) OPD portal. The portal provides telemedicine services to the serving Armed Forces personnel, veterans, and their families.
This is the final version of the SeHAT OPD portal with advanced safety features. The trial version was made functional in August 2020.
More than 6,500 medical consultations have already been carried on the beta version by service doctors.
Department of Military Affairs (DMA), Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) and Centre for Development of Artificial Computing (C-DAC) Mohali are involved in the development of the portal.
The portal will help reduce the load on hospitals and patients will be able to get contactless consultations in an easy and effective manner.
Defence Ministry on the anti-COVID oral drug
The Minister also talked about the anti-COVID oral drug 2-DG. He informed that the drug has shown good results and that he is happy that 10,000 sachets of the drug are coming to the market today.
2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) has been developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, a leading lab of DRDO, in collaboration with Hyderabad’s Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.
2-DG was approved by DCGI for emergency use as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe COVID-19 patients. It comes in powder form in sachets and is taken orally by dissolving it in water.
Meeting of Health Ministers of the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) Countries
Health and Family Welfare Minister participated in a meeting with Ministers of Health of the NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) Countries. Dr. Tedros, Director-General of the World Health Organisation was also present in the meeting.
The Bandung Principles and the Membership Criteria of the Non-Aligned Movement function as admission criteria both for new members and observers.
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 developing world states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.
After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
Drawing on the principles agreed at the Bandung Conference in 1955, the Non-Aligned Movement was established in 1961 in Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia through an initiative of the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, Indonesian President Sukarno, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito.
Its Coordinating Bureau, also based at the UN, is located in New York.
India played an important role in the multilateral movements of colonies and newly independent countries that wanted to participate in the Non-Aligned Movement.
The country’s place in national diplomacy, its significant size and its economic growth turned India into one of the leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement.
Eni Award 2020 for renewable energy research
Bharat Ratna Professor C.N.R. Rao has received the International Eni Award 2020 for research into renewable energy sources and energy storage.
It is also called the Energy Frontier award. This is considered to be the Nobel Prize in Energy Research.
The Energy Frontiers award has been conferred for his work on metal oxides, carbon nanotubes, and other materials and two-dimensional systems.
Professor Rao has been working on hydrogen energy as the only source of energy for the benefit of all mankind.
Bangladesh -Sri Lanka currency swap
Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh’s central bank, has in principle approved a $200 million currency swap agreement with Sri Lanka, which will help Colombo tide over its foreign exchange crisis.
Sri Lanka, staring at an external debt repayment schedule of $4.05 million this year, is in urgent need of foreign exchange. Its own foreign exchange reserves in March year stood at $4 million.
A currency swap is effectively a loan that Bangladesh will give to Sri Lanka in dollars, with an agreement that the debt will be repaid with interest in Sri Lankan rupees.
For Sri Lanka, this is cheaper than borrowing from the market, and a lifeline as is it struggles to maintain adequate forex reserves even as repayment of its external debts looms. The period of the currency swap will be specified in the agreement.
Bangladesh’s economy grew by 5.2 per cent in 2020, and is expected to grow by 6.8 per cent in 2021. The country has managed to pull millions out of poverty. Its per capita income just overtook India’s.
Bangladesh’s forex reserves in May were a healthy $45 billion. In 2020, despite fears that the pandemic would hit remittances, Bangladeshis living abroad sent over $21 billion. It is also the first time that Sri Lanka is borrowing from a SAARC country other than India.
Switzerland rejected an overarching EU treaty
Switzerland recently rejected the years of negotiations with the European Union over a proposed overarching agreement that would have upgraded its relations with the bloc – which are currently governed by a patchwork of more than 120 bilateral deals.
The talks failed after the two sides could not agree over issues such as full access for EU citizens to the Swiss labour market, and the collapse is expected to hamper future ties as the multiple existing agreements become outdated or lapse.
Switzerland is the EU’s fourth-largest trading partner, and is surrounded by EU countries.
Around 14 lakh EU citizens live in Switzerland, which has a total population of about 85 lakh. Some 3.4 lakh travel across the border to work in Swiss industries.
The EU is Switzerland’s biggest trading destination, with the country exporting goods and services worth 160 billion euros to the bloc in 2020.
Relations between the two partners rest on the foundation of over 120 separate treaties, something which has frustrated the EU for a long time. Unlike the UK, Switzerland has access to the EU single market and maintains open borders.
The EU had been pushing for an “institutional framework agreement” with Switzerland, and had circulated a fact sheet that pointed out how a lack of common rules would lead to the Alpine country losing its ‘privileged’ status with the bloc’s electricity system.
The EU had been demanding full access for its citizens to Switzerland’s labour market, including for those seeking work. The Swiss federal council was against this happening, as it would have given non-Swiss citizens social security rights– something that Cassis called an unwanted “paradigm shift”.
Sanjay Dutt received golden visa from the United Arab Emirates
Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was thrilled to receive a golden visa for the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The main benefit of the visa will be security as through the issuance of the Golden Visa, the UAE government has made it clear that they are committed to providing expatriates, investors and essentially everyone looking to make the UAE their home an extra reason to feel secure about their future.
In 2019, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) implemented a new system for long-term residence visas, thereby enabling foreigners to live, work and study in the UAE without the need of a national sponsor and with 100 per cent ownership of their business.
The Golden Visa system essentially offers long-term residency (5 and 10 years) to people belonging to the following groups: investors, entrepreneurs, individuals with outstanding talents the likes of researchers, medical professionals and those within the scientific and knowledge fields, and remarkable students.
Indian Broadcasting Foundation to cover streaming platforms
The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) is expanding its purview to cover digital streaming platforms and will be renamed the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF).
The move would bring broadcasters and OTT (over-the-top) platforms, which have seen a substantial jump in their viewership base after the pandemic, under one roof.
For this, the IBDF was in the process of forming a new wholly-owned subsidiary to handle all matters of digital media.
The IBDF would also form a self-regulatory body, the Digital Media Content Regulatory Council (DMCRC), for digital OTT platforms.
Indian Broadcasting Foundation also known as (IBF) is a unified representative body of the television broadcasters in India. The organisation was founded in the year 1999.
Over 250 Indian television channels are associated with it. The organisation is credited as the spokesman of India Broadcasting Industry.
The IBF is the parent organisation of the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) which was set up in the year 2011. The BCCC examines content-related complaints relating to all non-news general entertainment channels in India.
Mehul Choksi’s dramatic capture after escape by boat
Fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi has been captured from Dominica while trying to flee to Cuba.
Dominica is an island country in the Caribbean. Its capital is Roseau.
It is geographically situated as part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea.
Dominica has been nicknamed the “Nature Isle of the Caribbean” for its natural environment.
It is the youngest island in the Lesser Antilles, and in fact it is still being formed by geothermal-volcanic activity, as evidenced by the world’s second-largest hot spring, called Boiling Lake.
The country is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Nations, the Organization of American States and the Non-Aligned Movement.
India abstains from voting on UNHRC resolution to vote against Israel
India was among 14 countries that abstained from voting on a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council to launch an investigation into alleged violations and crimes during the 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
About United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world.
The Council investigates allegations of breaches of human rights in United Nations member states, and addresses important thematic human rights issues such as freedom of association and assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of belief and religion, women’s rights, LGBT rights, and the rights of racial and ethnic minorities.
The Council consists of 47 members, elected yearly by the General Assembly for staggered three-year terms.
Members are selected via the basis of equitable geographic rotation using the United Nations regional grouping system.
Members are eligible for re-election for one additional term, after which they must relinquish their seat.
The headquarters of the United Nations Human Rights Council is in Geneva, Switzerland.
About the India-Israel Relation
On 17 September 1950, India officially recognised the State of Israel.
After decades of non-aligned and pro-Arab policy, India formally established relations with Israel when it opened an embassy in Tel Aviv in January 1992.
The two countries have an extensive economic, military, and strategic relationship.
Israel is represented through an embassy in New Delhi, and one consulate each in Mumbai and Bengaluru. India is represented through its embassy in Tel Aviv.
Relations further expanded during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration, with India abstaining from voting against Israel in the United Nations in several resolutions.
I hope these Daily Current Affairs 29 May 2021 are useful to you. These current affairs cover 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.
