The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) has its 1st winner from Algeria for his Novel ‘The Spartan Court’. IPAF is one of the most generous literary awards sponsored by Dept of Culture & Tourism (Abu Dhabi) & the Booker Prize Foundation.
Aissaoui receives $50000 prize; English translation of his book.
After a good response for Fit India Active Day Programme, GoI in partnership with CBSE has launched a new series of Fitness sessions for school student. During this programme, guidelines of Ministry of AYUSH to stay healthy will be shared with students.
Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports: Kiren Rijiju.
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in big cats in the US, India’s oldest Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand has built isolation ward for animals. At least ten quarantine centres are being prepared within the premises to contain animals.
National Tiger Conservation Authority-NTCA was launched in 2005.
IMF head Kristalina Georgieva proposed to deploy its full 1 trillion USD lending capacity to support countries. She also called it the worst recession since the Great Depression. IMF had already approved debt relief for 25 of its poorest countries.
Member Countries of IMF: 189.
UP obtained clearance from ICMR to start “pool testing” becoming the first in the country to attempt this method which aims at expediting the testing process. Pool testing is done using a single RTPCR – Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction.
Maharashtra also got permission for pool testing.
Pune platform for COVID-19 Response (PPCR) with support of Maharashtra state Innovation Society launched ‘COVID-MADAT’, a telemedicine helpline to telescreen people. The caller is expected to answer some questions through an intelligent IVR Platform.
Operated by ‘Telemeds Vs COVID-19’, a group of start-up founders
Rajasthan’s State Education Department launched ‘SMILE’ – ‘Social Media for Learning Engagement’. It is a digital platform to provide online classes and courses through various platforms of Social Media.
Rajasthan Education Minister: Govind Singh Dotasra.
RBI reduced the general FPI investors’ limit in Central government securities to Rs 2.34 L Cr. for FY21 from the existing limit of Rs 2.46 Lakh Crore. Long-term FPI investment limits in G-Secs have been brought down to Rs 1.03 L Cr. from Rs 1.15 L Cr.
RBI increased General Category FPI limits in SDL to Rs 64415 cr.
Ajay Mahajan who has been working in IDFC First Bank has been appointed as the MD, Chief Executive of Care ratings for a period of five years. He had also worked with Bank of America in which he was the country head.
CARE Ratings Head Office: Mumbai.
Lakshmi Vilas Bank appointed S Vaidyanathan as the Chief Risk Officer of the bank for a period of two years. He was the Assistant Vice President of the Risk Department.
Lakshmi Vilas Bank HO: Chennai.
Andhra Bank MD J Packirisamy & Syndicate Bank CEO Mruthanjay Mahapatra appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Union Bank of India & Canara Bank resp. Andhra Bank & Corporation Bank merged with Union Bank. Syndicate Bank merged with Canara Bank.
They are appointed until their retirement.
GP Global, an energy-agriculture conglomerate has acquired Nigeria based Grand Petroleum assets to strengthen its presence in Nigeria. It includes a lubricant plant and a blending plant. GP Global plans to set up a new blending plant in India.
GP Global is based on UAE.
Two of the world’s largest pharmaceutical giants GSK & Sanofi joined hands to create a vaccine for COVID-19. Even if it’s successful, it will not be ready until the second half of next year. Vaccines usually take a decade to be developed.
GSK HQ: UK.
Sanofi HQ: France.
Researchers from NIT Karnataka at Suratkal developed a cost-effective disinfectant chamber that can disinfect PPEs, surgical masks and other day-to-day items. Named Zero-Cov, it can effectively kill 99.9% of germs including the SARS-CoV-2.
It can be used on day-to-day items that can't be washed.
World-famous cycling race Tour de France has been postponed in the wake of the pandemic. The 3-week race was to set to start in June but has been postponed to August. The last time the tour was not held was 1946, as the nation was emerging from WWII.
It was also not held during WWI.
Green Energy provider, Vikram Solar bagged a 300 MW solar plant project for Rs 1,750 cr. From NTPC. The plant is to be spread across 1,500 acres in Rajasthan under the CPSU – II scheme. It is expected to be completed in 18 months.
CEO of Vikram Solar: Saibaba Vutukuri.
HO: Kolkata.
Former Pakistani first-class cricketer Zafar Sarfaraz became the first professional player in the country to die after contracting COVID-19. Sarfaraz was a middle-order batsman played 15 First-class games and retired in 1994.
Pakistan President: Arif Alvi.
NFL Hall of Famer, Willie Davis, passed away. He was the first black captain for the Packers in 1965 and spent 10 years with the Wisconsin team. Davis never missed a single game of 138 with the packers.
Davis was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981.