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Current Affairs 23 May 2021
Daily Current Affairs 23 May 2021: This post contains the latest current affairs for 23 May 2021 that are important for all competitive exams like Bank, SSC, IBPS, SBI exams. You can also attempt our Current Affairs Quiz after reading our daily current affairs.
National
Six more Indian sites added to Tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, taking total tally to 48
- The Ministry of Culture has recently announced that six Indian sites have been added to the tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites.
- With the addition of these six sites, the total number of Indian sites in Tentative Lists of UNESCO World Heritage Site has increased to 48.
The six sites are:
- Satpura Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh
- The riverfront of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
- Megalithic site of Hire Benkal, Karnataka
- Maratha Military Architecture in Maharashtra
- Bhedaghat-Lametaghat in Narmada Valley- Jabalpur
- Temples of Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu
DRDO develops indigenous Covid-19 antibody detection kit DIPCOVAN
- The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed a COVID-19 antibody detection kit called DIPCOVAN.
- The testing kit offers results in just 75 minute without any cross reactivity with other diseases and will cost just Rs 75 per test.
- It can detect spike as well as nucleocapsid (S&N) proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virus with 97% high sensitivity and 99% specificity.
- The kit has been developed by the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS) laboratory of DRDO, in association with Delhi-based Vanguard Diagnostics Pvt Ltd.
- DIPCOVAN will help a person detect if they have previously been exposed to Covid-19 virus and whether they have antibodies for it.
Bihar Government Launches ‘HIT COVID’ App to Track Home Isolated Patients
- In Bihar, Nitish Kumar Government has launched an innovative mobile application called ‘Home Isolation Tracking (HIT)’ COVID, to keep an eye on the condition of COVID-19 patients recovering at their residence.
- The HIT Covid App will ensure regular monitoring and tracking of those COVID-19 patients, who are in home isolation across the state.
- The App has been developed by the Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation (BELTRON) under the guidance of the health department.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very impressed by this concept and has ordered to send its details to the Union Health Ministry for its utilisation across the country.
International
China successfully launches new ocean observation satellite ‘Haiyang-2D’
- China successfully launched a new ocean-monitoring satellite Haiyang-2D (HY-2D) into orbit on May 19, 2021, on Long March-4B rocket, from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China.
- The HY-2D will form a constellation with the HY-2B and HY-2C satellites to build an all-weather and round-the-clock dynamic ocean environment monitoring system of high frequency and medium and large scale to provide early warning on marine disasters.
- The constellation will support China in detecting early warning and prediction of marine disasters, sustainable development and utilisation of ocean resources, effective response to global climate change as well as ocean research.
Banking & Economy
State Bank of India and HyperVerge Partner to offer AI-powered Online Account Opening amid Covid
- HyperVerge, the AI product startup, has partnered with India’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), with one of its flagship products, the Video Banking solution, to provide convenient digital banking services to the customers of SBI.
- Under the partnership, SBI customers can instantly open savings account using Video Banking process, during the pandemic, with minimal ID documents.
- The HyperVerge’s Video Banking solution will help to achieve ten times improvement in the number of account openings per day per agent, over regular video KYC checks, because they will be assisted by AI engines with an accuracy of 99.5%, the highest in the industry.
- The new solution offers a quick and completely paperless experience to customers as it performs pre-qualifier checks on customer details, schedules video calls with high throughput and performs AI-driven Liveness, OCR, and Facematch checks.
Sports
Narinder Batra re-elected as FIH President
- Narinder Batra has been re-elected as the President of International Hockey Federation (FIH) for the second consecutive term.
- Batra was elected during the virtual 47th Congress of FIH, where he beat Marc Coudron, Chief of Belgium Hockey Federation, by just two votes.
- He will hold the office until 2024 because the FIH has reduced the term from four to three years.
- The veteran Indian sports administrator is the only Asian to be appointed to the top post in the world body’s 92-year-old history.
- Batra is also the President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Member of International Olympic Committee (IOC).
- International Hockey Federation (FIH) Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
Barcelona Defeats Chelsea 4-0 to win their first UEFA Women’s Champions League title
- The Spanish professional football club Barcelona surpassed English club Chelsea 4-0, to win the 2020-21 UEFA Women’s Champions League final, held at Gothenburg, Sweden on 16 May 2021.
- Barcelona is the first team from Spain to win Europe’s top club competition.
- Their victory was also the largest margin of defeat in UEFA Women’s Champions League Final.
- Also, Barcelona has become the first club to win both men’s and women’s UEFA Champions League titles in the same season.
Obituary
Chipko Movement Leader Sunderlal Bahuguna Passes Away of COVID-19 at 94
- Noted environmentalist and Gandhian activist, Sunderlal Bahuguna, who was the leader of the Chipko Movement, has passed away due to COVID-19 complications. He was 94.
- The idea of Chipko movement was given by his wife and the action was taken by him. The movement began in 1973 in Uttarakhand, (then a part of Uttar Pradesh), at the foothills of Himalayas.
- Chipko movement was one of the strongest movements to conserve forests and trees in India from cutting by forest contractors.
- “Chipko” means “hug” and people started hugging and holding onto trees when they were being cut.
Veteran Music Director Laxman of the duo composers “Raam-Laxman” passes away at 78
- Renowned music director Raamlaxman, or the “Laxman” of the famous duo composers “Raam-Laxman”, has passed away due to heart attack. He was 78.
- His real name was Vijay Patil, but was better known as Raamlaxman and was most famous for his work with Rajshri Productions of Hindi films.
- He composed music for several of their hit films like Agent Vinod (1977), Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999).
- Raamlaxman has worked in almost 75 films in Hindi, Marathi and Bhojpuri
Days
International Day to End Obstetric Fistula: 23 May
- Every year, United Nations’ (UN) International Day to End Obstetric Fistula is marked on 23rd May since 2013 to promote action towards treating and preventing obstetric fistula, a condition that affects many girls and women during child birth in developing countries.
- Theme 2021: “Women’s rights are human rights! End fistula now!”
- In 2003 the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and its partners launched the global Campaign to End Fistula, a collaborative initiative to prevent fistula and restore the health of those affected by the condition. The day was officially recognised in 2012.
