Daily Current Affairs 5 June 2021 – Gkseries

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? In this Post, Daily Current Affairs 5 June 2021, 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 5 June 2021

Oral tablets of Amphotericin B to treat fungal infections

To treat fungal infections post COVID treatment, Hyderabad based Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), recently developed nano-fibre based oral tablets of Amphotericin B, called as AmB.

The researchers of IIT Hyderabad have decided to keep the technology free of intellectual property rights and ready for technology transfer for mass production of the drug, which is reportedly cheaper and higher AmB absorption and less Nephrotoxicity.

Prof. Saptarshi Majumdar and Dr. Chandra Shekhar Sharma from the Department of Chemical Engineering have made a study two year ago about oral nanofibrous AmB to be effective for Kala Azar.

This was a first-ever attempt to fabricate nanofibrous oral tablets of Amphotericin B for the potential cure of Kala Azar.

The researchers are confident that the technology can be transferred to suitable pharma partners for large-scale production.

The researchers recalled that Kala-Azar treatment is being currently used as a treatment for Mucormycosis in the country and opined that the immediate trial of this oral drug should be taken up to increase affordability and availability of the drug.

HDFC Bank to become carbon neutral by 2031-32

Private sector lender HDFC Bank recently announced its plans to become carbon-neutral by 2031-32.

Carbon neutrality generally refers to achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions (referred to as personal, organizational, or national carbon neutrality).

This can be done by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the “post-carbon economy”).

The bank has a three-pronged strategy to achieve its objective to become carbon neutral- reduce consumption, transition to renewable energy, and offset carbon footprint.

The bank is looking at reducing its emissions, energy, and water consumption. It will continue to incorporate and scale up the use of renewable energy in its operations.

As part of its ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) strategy, the bank will also focus on offering loans for green products like electric vehicles at lower interest rates and incorporating ESG scores in its credit decisions.

Expert panel to fix minimum pay and national floor wage

An expert group has been constructed by the Labour and Employment Ministry to provide technical inputs and recommendations on fixation of minimum wages and national floor for minimum wages.

This is the second expert committee on minimum wages formed by the government within the last two years.

The recently constructed expert group has been constituted for a period of three years and is chaired by Ajit Mishra, Director, Institute of Economic Growth.

It includes Tarika Chakraborty, IIM Calcutta; Anushree Sinha, Senior Fellow, NCAER; Vibha Bhalla, Joint Secretary; H Srinivas, Director General, VVGNLI as the members and DPS Negi, Senior Labour and Employment Advisor as the Member Secretary.

Under the Code on Wages, which is yet to be enforced, a National Floor Level Minimum Wage will be set by the Centre to be revised every five years, while states will fix minimum wages for their regions, which cannot be lower than the floor wage.

Niti Aayog submits names of PSU banks to be privatised

Niti Aayog recently submitted to the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment the finalised names of PSU banks to be privatised in the current fiscal as part of the disinvestment process.

Privatization of banks is a process of transferring the management and ownership from the government to the private sector.

And monetary policy is decided after analyzing the economic situation of the country to make sure that interest rates are not too high or too low.

Niti Aayog has been entrusted with the task of selection of names of two public sector banks and one general insurance company for the privatisation as announced in the Budget 2021-22.

The government has budgeted Rs 1.75 lakh crore from stake sale in public sector companies and financial institutions, including 2 PSU banks and one insurance company, during the current financial year.

World Environment Day 2021

World Environment Day is celebrated on 5 June each year to create awareness of the need to take positive and effective action to protect our environment.

The theme for World Environment Day 2021 is ‘Ecosystem Restoration’ and Pakistan will be the global host for the day.

This World Environment Day will kick off the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), a global mission to revive billions of hectares, from forests to farmlands, from the top of mountains to the depth of the sea.

The day is celebrated by engaging governments, businesses, celebrities and citizens to focus their efforts on a pressing environmental issue.

The term ecosystem referred to as a community of plants and animals interacting with each other in a given area, and also with their non-living environments. The non-living environments include weather, earth, sun, soil, climate and atmosphere.

Ecosystem restoration means preventing, halting, and reversing this damage – to go from exploiting nature to healing it. Ecosystem restoration means assisting in the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed, as well as conserving the ecosystems that are still intact.

World Bicycle Day 2021

The International Bicycle Day is celebrated on 3 June each year to spreads awareness about the innumerable benefits of cycling including clean and carbon free environment, affordability and physical fitness.

The simple means of transport which is of immense benefits to our physical and mental being also has the potential role to play in making our lifestyle greener and sustainable.

Cycling does not only make our body leaner and fitter but also ensures that the body is free from co-morbidities like diabetes and heart diseases.

The first time the International Bicycle Day was celebrated was three years back in the year 2018.

The factors that make cycling one of the most beneficial activities is its ability to combat climate change, physical and mental health issues along with its universal appeal due to its simplicity and affordability.

With the declaration of the day as an event of international importance by the UN, the governments around the world have been influenced to promote cycling by formulating facilitative policies, constructing cycle-friendly lanes, giving tax breaks to cycle industry and running awareness campaigns.

African Union suspends Mali after military coup & threatens sanctions

Mali’s membership has been suspended by the African Union in response to military coup and threatened sanctions, if a civilian-led government is not restored.

Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa. Its capital is Bamako. Mali borders Algeria to the north-northeast, Niger to the east, Burkina Faso to the south-east, Ivory Coast to the south, Guinea to the south-west, and Senegal to the west and Mauritania to the north-west.

The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. In 2017, the AU admitted Morocco as a member state. The AU replaced the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was established in 1963. The OAU was disbanded in 2002.

Ranjitsinh Disale appointed as an education adviser by World Bank

A Maharashtra village teacher, Ranjitsinh Disale, who won the Global Teacher Prize 2020, has now been appointed as an education adviser with the World Bank.

As one of his first projects with the international organisation, Disale is devising a strategy to make schools across the world safer for kids.

The World Bank has launched a new Coach initiative that aims to accelerate student learning by improving in-service teacher professional development (TPD).

The World Bank has appointed 12 advisors from world over and Mr. Disale is one of them representing India. He will be an advisor to the World Bank till December 2024.

World Bank has recently launched the Global Coach Program, a new initiative focused on accelerating learning by helping countries improve in-service teacher professional development (TPD) programs and systems.

This program forms part of the World Bank’s broader agenda to tackle the global learning crisis (WDR, 2018).

Coach focuses on supporting countries improve in-service TPD through a two-pronged approach.

The Coach program focuses on helping countries transform their TPD programs and policies to ones that adhere to a set of four key principles that have been shown to be linked to improved teaching quality.

Disale’s work through the Advisory Board will impact the work World Bank on the ground, currently supporting over 18 million teachers around the world.

Largest warship in the Iranian navy caught fire and sank

Iranian navy’s largest warship named “Kharg” caught fire and later sank in the Gulf of Oman under unclear circumstances.

The ship sank near the Iranian port of Jask, some 1,270 kilometers (790 miles) southeast of Tehran on the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.

The warship Kharg is named after the island that serves as the main oil terminal for Iran. Kharg or Khark Island is an island in the Persian Gulf belonging to Iran.

The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman is a gulf that connects the Arabian Sea with the Strait of Hormuz, which then runs to the Persian Gulf. It borders Iran and Pakistan on the north, Oman on the south, and the United Arab Emirates on the west.

In China’s Jiangsu province, the first human case of H1ON3 bird flu reported

In China’s eastern province of Jiangsu has been confirmed as the first human case of infection with a rare strain of bird flu known as H10N3.

Many different strains of bird flu are present in China and some sporadically infect people, usually those working with poultry. There is no indication that H10N3 can spread easily in humans.

Influenza A virus subtype H10N3 is a subtype of viruses that causes influenza (flu). It is mostly present in wild avian species. The first human case was reported in 2021.

H10N3 has been isolated across a wide geographic distribution, including in species such as domestic poultry (chickens), ducks, other waterfowl, and terrestrial birds.

In animals, the viruses display a complex pathology, with complex reassortments and mutations contributing to pathobiology patterns in chickens, ducks and mice indicative of a possible threat to humans, although H10N3 is usually a less severe strain and is unlikely to cause a significant outbreak.

Bihar reserves 33% seats in engineering, medical colleges for girls

Recently, the Chief Minister of Bihar asked the officials of the science and technology and the health and medical education departments to take necessary steps to reserve minimum 33.3% seats for girls in all engineering and medical colleges.

The 33.3% quota for girls would be introduced in all engineering and medical colleges across the state from the coming academic session (2021-22).

With this, Bihar will become the first state in the country to provide 33.3% quota to girls in the technical colleges.

This will increase the number of girl students in the field of engineering and medical areas.

The state currently has 38 government-run and 17 private-run engineering colleges. All these colleges will come under the command of the proposed Bihar Engineering University.

The state has nine government and six private medical colleges. Works are going on to open 11 more medical colleges across the state. All these medical colleges would come under the command of the proposed ‘Bihar University of Medical Sciences.

3 new caves discovered in the Trirashmi Buddhist cave complex of Nashik

Recently, three more caves in Nashik hill have been found by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), after the discovery of Trirashmi Buddhist caves or the Pandav Leni by a British military officer.

It is believed that these caves could be dwellings of Buddhist monks, and while their antiquity has not yet been determined, the archaeologists are of the opinion that these caves date back to before the Trirashmi caves.

All the caves have verandahs and the characteristic square stone platform for monks. There are special arrangements for monks to meditate, similar to the Kanheri and Wai caves.

The Trirashmi or Pandav Leni caves are a group of 25 caves that were carved out of Trirashmi Hill between the 2nd century BC and 6th century AD. The caves complex was documented in 1823.

It is now an ASI protected site and a tourist destination. The Buddhist sculptures and caves (in Nashik) are a early example of Indian rock-cut architecture representing the Hinayana tradition of Buddhism.

WHO approves China’s SINOVAC Covid vaccine for emergency use

China’s SINOVAC Covid vaccine has been approved by the World Health Organization for Emergency Use Listing, EUL.

WHO’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL) is a prerequisite for COVAX Facility vaccine supply and international procurement.

It opens the door for the jab to be used in the COVAX programme, which aims to ensure fair access to vaccines. The vaccine is produced by the Beijing-based pharmaceutical company Sinovac.

The Sinovac-CoronaVac product is an inactivated vaccine (The disease-carrying virus or bacterium, or one very similar to it, is inactivated or killed using chemicals, heat or radiation).

Its easy storage requirements make it very manageable and particularly suitable for low-resource settings.

India to vote for Maldives in UNGA President election

India is going to vote in support of Maldives’ Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid at the election for the President of the General Assembly (PGA) in the United Nations.

The decision which will disappoint another close neighbour, Afghanistan, which has former Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul in the running.

The President is the chair and presiding officer of the General Assembly.

The President is a position voted for by representatives in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on a yearly basis.

The presidency rotates annually between the five geographic groups: African, Asia-Pacific, Eastern European, Latin American and Caribbean, and Western European and other States.

It is customary that no permanent member of the United Nations Security Council ever serves as UNGA president.

The only countries that had a national elected as President of UNGA twice are Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Nigeria; all the other member states had been represented only once by their nationals holding this office.

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1900 – 1990) of India served as 8th President of the UNGA in 1953. she was also First woman president of UNGA.

NASA selects two missions for launch to Venus

US space agency NASA has selected two missions – VERITAS and DAVINCI+ – to head to the Venus.

Venus is the brightest object, after the moon, visible in the night sky from the Earth, which is because of the thick cover of cloud that reflects and scatters light around it.

Moreover, the planet is called Earth’s twin because both the planets are similar in size, but they have quite a few differences.

The thick cloud cover or atmosphere of Venus causes it to trap the heat it receives from the Sun, with surface temperatures going as high as 471 degrees Celsius.

This means that even though Mercury is closest to the Sun, Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system. At such high surface temperatures, even lead can melt on Venus.

Another difference is the fact that while Venus moves forward on its orbit around the Sun – similar to the Earth’s movement – its rotation around its axis is backwards, opposite to the movement of most of the planets, which leads to a much longer day.

A Venus day equates to 243 days on Earth due to this reason. Venus does not have a Moon or any rings.