1. HIMANTA BISWA SARMA

Himanta Biswa Sarma, the face of the BJP in Northeast India, will be sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam.

About:

His name was proposed by outgoing Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

BJP retained power in the state along with alliance partners Asom Gana Parishad and UPPL. Dr. Sarma was holding several important portfolios including Health and Finance in the Sarbananda Sonowal government.

As finance minister, Sarma earned Assam the distinction of being the first state to roll out the GST regime.

Source : The Hindu

2. MAHARANA PRATAP (1540 – 1597)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Maharana Partap on his birth anniversary.

About:

Pratap Singh popularly known as Maharana Pratap, was a king of Mewar, a region in the present day state of Rajasthan.

He was the eldest son of Udai Singh II (founder of city of Udaipur).

Battle of Haldighati: It was fought on 18 June 1576 between the forces Maharana Pratap; and the Mughal emperor Akbar's forces, led by Man Singh I of Amber. The Mughals were the victors but failed to capture Pratap, who escaped.

Resurgence: Mughal pressure on Mewar relaxed after 1579 following rebellions in Bengal and Bihar. Taking advantage of the situation, Pratap recovered Western Mewar including Kumbhalgarh, Udaipur and Gogunda. During this period, he also built a new capital, Chavand, near modern Dungarpur.

Chetak: Chetak is the name given in traditional literature to the horse ridden by Maharana Pratap at the Battle of Haldighati. However, some Historians debate it. According to tradition, Chetak, although wounded, carried Pratap safely away from the battle, but then died of his wounds. The story is recounted in court poems of Mewar from the 17th century onwards.

Pratap Gaurav Kendra: It is a tourist spot at Tiger Hill in Udaipur city, Rajasthan. It aims at providing information about Maharana Pratap and the historical heritage of the area with the help of modern technology.

Source : The Hindu

3. GOPAL KRISHNA GOKHALE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to Freedom Fighter and social reformer Gopal Krishna Gokhale on his birth anniversary.

About:

Indian National Congress (INC)

Gokhale became a member of the Indian National Congress in 1889. He was the leader of the moderate faction of the Congress party.

In 1905, he was elected president of the Indian National Congress (Benares Session).

He played a leading role in bringing about Morley-Minto Reforms, the beginning of constitutional reforms in India.

Member in British India Legislature: In 1899, Gokhale was elected to the Bombay Legislative Council and in 1901 he was elected to the Imperial Council of the Governor-General of India.

Servants of India Society: It was formed by him in Pune (Maharashtra) in 1905 to further the expansion of education in India. The Society organised mobile libraries, founded schools, and provided night classes for factory workers.

Ranade Institute of Economics: In 1908, he founded the 'Ranade Institute of Economics'.

Mentor to Gandhi: In his autobiography, Gandhi calls Gokhale his mentor and guide. In 1912, Gokhale visited South Africa at Gandhi's invitation. He received personal guidance from Gokhale, including a knowledge and understanding of India and the issues confronting common Indians.

Hitavad: He launched the English weekly newspaper named The Hitavad (The people's paper) in 1911.

Source : The Hindu

4. AZAD HIND SARKAR

Freedom fighter and veteran of the erstwhile Indian National Army (INA) Lalti Ram passed away. He was 100

About:

In 2019, Lalti Ram had presented a cap of the pre-Independence INA to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the proclamation of the ‘Azad Hind Sarkar’ by freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose.

The Provisional Government of Free India (Arzi Hakumat-e-Azad Hind) or, more simply, Azad Hind, was an Indian Provisional government established in Japanese occupied Singapore during World War II.

It was created in October 1943 and supported by – as well as largely dependent on – the Empire of Japan.

It was established by Indian nationalists in exile during the latter part of the Second World War in Singapore with monetary, military and political assistance from Imperial Japan.

the government was inspired by the concepts of Subhas Chandra Bose who was also the leader of the government and Head of State.

Its army, the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj), went into action against the British Indian Army and the allied forces as part of the Imperial Japanese Army in the Imphal-Kohima sector.

The INA had its first major engagement at the Battle of Imphal where, under the command of the Japanese Fifteenth Army, it breached the British defences in Kohima, reaching the salient of Moirang before suffering a catastrophic defeat.

The death of Bose is seen as the end of the entire Azad Hind Movement.

Source : Indian Express

5. 2021 LAUREUS WORLD SPORTS AWARDS

Spain’s Rafael Nadal was named the 2021 Laureus Sportsman of the year, while fellow tennis player Naomi Osaka won the top women’s honour.

About:

Japan’s Osaka won her second U.S. Open title last year, while Nadal equalled Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles by claiming his 13th French Open crown.

Nadal picked up his fourth Laureus honour, having previously scooped the Breakthrough, Comeback and men’s individual awards.

German soccer champions Bayern Munich, who won last season’s Champions League, was named the Team of the Year.

Britain’s Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton claimed the inaugural Athlete Advocate of the Year Award for his involvement in the fight against racism.

Tennis legend Billie Jean King was awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Laureus Academy.

Important Info :

The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year. It was established in 1999 by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.

Source : All India Radio

6. CBSE DOST FOR LIFE

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has launched a new mobile application for psycho social wellness of students and parents.

About:

The new app namely CBSE Dost for Life has been designed for students of classes 9 to 12 and it can be used for counselling sessions from 10th of this month.

Making a departure from the existing practice of counselling through toll free number across the country, board has designed this facility for the ease, convenience and utility of students and parents with in the safe home environment.

Through this app, live counselling sessions will be conducted free of cost on Monday, Wednesday and Friday by the trained counsellors.

The app will also provide students information on suggestive course guides after ten plus two, tips on mental health and well-being, a corona guide and rap songs.

Source : All India Radio

7. LONG MARCH 5B ROCKET

Debris from a Chinese rocket made an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated over the Indian Ocean, with remnants falling at a location to the west of Maldives.

About:

The debris came from the upper stage of a Long March 5B rocket– China’s largest– that had been launched into space on April 29 for putting into orbit a core module of the new Tianhe space station, which is expected to become operational in 2022.

For days, there had been speculation on whether the debris would hit a populated area on the Earth’s surface, leading NASA to criticise China over lack of transparency and for “failing to meet responsible standards”.

Why did the Chinese rocket spark worry?

When a rocket is launched, its discarded booster stages re-enter the atmosphere soon after liftoff and harmlessly fall into the ocean– a standard practice.

In this case, however, a 10-floor large vehicle of the rocket weighing 18 metric tonnes went into orbit along with the section of the under-construction space station that it was carrying.

While in orbit, this vehicle kept rubbing against the air at the top of the atmosphere, and the resulting friction caused it to start losing altitude. The piece hurtled through a low-Earth orbit at roughly 25,490 km/hr.

An “uncontrolled re-entry” thus became inevitable, but China did not admit this fact to the world until Sunday, when it said the debris had entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the Mediterranean, flown over the Arabian peninsula and crashed near the Maldives at 72.47° East and 2.65° North.

Few expected the debris to harm humans, mainly due to most of it burning up in the atmosphere, as well as the fact that large parts of the Earth are covered by oceans and massive land areas lie uninhabited.

So, what caused the rocket piece to enter into orbit?

When rockets carry their payload into space, their booster stages that reach orbit fire the engine again after completing their job so as to drop back to Earth and not remain in orbit.

Space agencies plan this process to ensure that such rocket parts end up in uninhabited areas, such as the middle of the ocean.

China chose not to do this for its Long March rocket, leading to its vehicle crashing back uncontrollably. China’s plan to launch 10 more missions like this until 2022 to complete the Tianhe has thus sparked worry that pieces from its rockets could end up causing injuries.

Source : Indian Express

7. SOCIAL STOCK EXCHANGES (SSES)

A technical group on social stock exchanges (SSEs), constituted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), has recommended that political and religious organisations, trade organisations as well as corporate foundations should not be allowed to raise funds through SSEs.

About:

Pursuant to an announcement made by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech for FY 2019-20 regarding Social Stock Exchanges SEBI had constituted a Working group and later a technical group under the chairmanship of Harsh Bhanwala, former chairman of NABARD.

The technical group report said both For Profit Enterprise (FPE) and Not for Profit Organisation (NPO) will be eligible to tap the SSE if they are able to show their primary goals are social intent and impact.

Corporate foundations, political or religious organizations/ activities, professional or trade associations, infrastructure and housing companies (except affordable housing) will not be permitted on SSE.

SSE are engaged in at least one of the 15 broad eligible activities. They target underserved or less privileged population segments or regions; and should have at least 67 per cent of its activities qualifying as eligible activities to the target population.

The report has also made a list of eligible activities that social enterprises can engage in such as eradicating hunger, poverty malnutrition and inequality; training to promote rural sports; promoting gender equality by empowerment of women and LGBTQIA+ communities; slum area development/ affordable housing; forest and wildlife conservation; promoting livelihoods for rural and urban poor; promotion of financial inclusion among others. 

Important Info :

The panel has recommended different modes of fund raising for NPOs and FPEs.

For NPOs it has recommended fundraising through “equity, zero coupon zero principal bond, development impact bonds, social impact fund with 100 per cent grants-in grants out provision, and donations by investors through mutual funds”.

For FPEs it has recommended fundraising through equity, debt, development impact bonds, and social venture funds. 

Source : Indian Express

8. EXO-CD24

A new coronavirus treatment being developed in Israel's Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Medical Center has successfully completed phase one trials and appears to have helped numerous moderate-to-serious cases of COVID-19 quickly recover from the disease.

About:

Hailing the treatment as a huge breakthrough, the hospital has said that the EXO-CD24 substance had been administered to 30 patients whose conditions were moderate or worse.

It added that all 30 recovered with 29 of them getting well within just three to five days.

The medicine is reported to fight the cytokine storm, which is a potentially lethal immune overreaction to the coronavirus infection that is believed to be responsible for much of the deaths associated with the disease.

Source : All India Radio

9. RAGHUNATH MOHAPATRA

Eminent sculptor and Rajya Sabha member Padma Vibhushan Raghunath Mohapatra passed away while undergoing treatment for COVID-19.

About:

Raghunath Mohapatra (1943 – 2021) was an architect, sculptor, and a Nominated Member of Rajya Sabha.

He was nominated by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India as a Member of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in 2000.

Important Info :

Awards

Padma Vibhushan, 2013

Padma Bhushan, 2001

Padma Shri, 1976

National Award for Sculpture, 1964

Source : The Hindu