Important Weekly Current Affairs PDF Download (May 16th to 21st May 2021)

Dear Readers, Here we have given the list of Important Weekly Current Affairs of 16th to 21st May 2021. Candidates those who are preparing for Upcoming SBI Clerk 2021 and other competitive exams can make use of it.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

• The International Day of Light is celebrated on 16 May each year, the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser in 1960 by physicist and engineer, Theodore Maiman. The theme for International Day of Families 2021 is ‘Families and new technologies’
• India observes Nation Dengue Dayon May 16 as suggested by the Union Health Ministry to create awareness about the disease.
• World Telecommunication and Information Society Day is an international day proclaimed in November 2006 by the International Telecommunication Union Plenipotentiary Conference in Antalya, Turkey, to be celebrated annually on 17 May.  The theme of World Telecommunication Day 2021 is: Accelerating digital transformation in challenging times. 
• World Hypertension Day is a day designated and initiated by The World Hypertension League, which is itself an umbrella to organizations of 85 national hypertension societies and leagues. The theme of World Hypertension Day 2021 is – “Measure Your Blood Pressure Accurately, Control It, Live Longer”.
• International Museum Day is an international day held annually on or around 18 May, coordinated by the International Council of Museums. The theme for IMD 2021 is ‘The Future of Museums – Recover and Reimagine’.
• World AIDS Vaccine Day, also known as HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, is observed annually on May 18. The theme for World AIDS Day is “Global Solidarity”.
• World Bee Day is celebrated on May 20. The theme of World Bee Day 2021 is: Bee Engaged – Build Back Better for Bees.
• World Metrology Day is an event occurring on 20 May celebrating the International System of Units. The theme for World Metrology Day 2021 is “Measurement for Health”.
• Anti-Terrorism Day is observed on May 21 in India every year. This year commemorates Rajiv Gandhi’s 30th death anniversary as India observes Anti-Terrorism Day.
• National Endangered Species Day is observed every year on the third Friday in May. This year the day falls on May The theme for National Endangered Species Day 2021 is “Wildlife without Borders”.
• International Tea Day is observed annually on May 21, according to the United Nations. The resolution was adopted on December 21, 2019 and calls on the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to lead the observance of the Day.
• The World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development is a United Nations–sanctioned international holiday for the promotion of diversity issues. It is currently celebrated on May 21.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

• National Gallery of Modern Art will start a month long online summer workshop– NAIMISHA 2021.
• The DRDO-developed ‘Oxycare’ system for soldiers, which is used in high altitude areas where oxygen levels drop, will now be used for Covid patients.
• MyGov has launched the Innovation Challenge to create an app that will enable individuals to learn simple sentences of any Indian language and acquire working knowledge of a language.
• The Government of India has decided to allocate free-of-cost food grains @ 5 Kg per person per month to nearly 80 Crore beneficiaries covered under National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) over and above NFSA foodgrains for next two months i.e. May and June 2021 on the same pattern as the earlier “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY)”.
• 24% more wheat procured during current Rabi Marketing Season 2021-22. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution over51 Lakh tonnes of wheat has been procured against the corresponding purchase of over 300 Lakh tonnes last year.
• The Indian Council of Medical Research, ICMR has approved CoviSelf kit for the purpose of home testing. It stated that all symptomatic individuals who test negative by Rapid Antigen Test should get themselves immediately tested by RT-PCR.
• Indian Navy has designed an Oxygen Recycling System, ORS to mitigate the current oxygen crisis. The Diving School of the Southern Naval Command of the Indian Navy has conceptualized and designed the System to alleviate the existing Oxygen
• The 51stedition of virtual Indian Handicrafts and Gift Fair, IHGF of Delhi was inaugurated. The fair is the India’s largest Virtual Fair in the Home, Fashion, Lifestyle, Textiles and Furniture sector and an exclusive B2B online platform is developed to assist the buyers from all across the globe to source from India.
• On the occasion of World Bee Day and in the context of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched the project of setting up of a honey testing laboratory at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, and New Delhi.  
• Govt revises subsidy on export of sugar for sugar season 2020-21 from Rs 6000 to Rs 4000 per metric tonne. 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden topped Fortune’s list of the world’s 50 greatest leaders and Adar Poonawalla too made it to the list. CEO of Serum Institute of India, Poonawalla is the only Indian among the top 10 names on the list.
• Harshvardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare chaired the opening session of the 33rd meeting of Health Ministers of Commonwealth countries through video conference.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

• The 45th State Day of Sikkim was observed in a brief function held here at Chintan Bhawan. The function was attended by Governor Ganga Prasad as the chief guest, while chief minister Prem Singh Tamang was present as the guest of honour.
• Bihar government launched ‘HIT Covid App’ to ensure regular monitoring and tracking of those Civic-19 patients, who are in home isolation across the state.
• US pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson has joined hands with Biological E Limited (Telangana-based Pharma Company) for the manufacturing of the COVID-19 vaccine.
• Telangana has issued orders to implement the Ayushman Bharat Scheme in the State.
• Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced a special development grant of Rs 10 lakh to every village that achieves 100 per cent vaccination target under the State Government’s ‘Corona-Mukt Pind Abhiyan’.
• In Assam, the tele session service of the well being division is offering good assistance to nearly 60,000 COVID-19 sufferers who’ve opted for dwelling isolation.
• The Noida Traffic Police department has launched auto-rickshaw ambulances to provide additional support for Covid-19 patients in the city. The service can be availed by calling the helpline 9971009001.
• Hindustan Unilever Limited has rolled out Mission HO2PE in Assam. Through Mission HO2PE, HUL has airlifted over 5000 oxygen concentrators into India.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING NEWS

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has permitted existing Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) account holders, including NGOs and associations, to open their “FCRA Account” in the New Delhi Main Branch (NDMB) of the State Bank of India up to June 30, 2021.
• IDBI Bankannounced the launch of its fully digitized loan processing system, offering over 50 products to MSME and agriculture sector.
• HSBC India has launched digital banking solutions for its corporate customers.“HSBC SmartServe and HSBC IntelliSign” are first-of-its-kind digital solutions aimed at ensuring a quick, secure and seamless on-boarding process for corporate clients.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

• Railways commissions Wi–Fi at 6,000 Railway stations in five years.  A railway has commissioned Wi–Fiat six thousand Railway stations in five years.
• Amazon has launched a new video streaming service, called miniTV. The service offers users “professionally” created and curated content across web series, comedy shows, tech news, food, beauty, fashion and more.
• A Punjab-based agency, AgNext Applied sciences, has provided you with a system based mostly on digital know-how and synthetic intelligence (AI) that mixes {hardware}, software programs and algorithms to check agricultural merchandise for high quality.
• Reserve Bank of India has permitted 35 prepaid payments instruments i.e. PPI.  It includes Delhi Metro Card, Amazon Pay, Phonepe, Ola Money, Mobikwick wallet etc.
• India’s national broadcaster, Doordarshan (DD) is going to set up a new international channel, DD International, on the lines of BBC World to present India’s point of view to the world in wake of the rising negative coverage of India’s COVID-19 crisis in foreign media.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATION NEWS

• The Board of Directors IDBI Bank has approved the appointment of P Sitaram, Executive Director (ED), as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Key Managerial Personnel with effect from June 1, 2021.
• IT services major Tech Mahindra appointed Meghna Hareendran as its ‘Wellness Officer’ with immediate effect.
• Homegrown utility vehicles and farm equipment major Mahindra & Mahindra announced the appointment of Toru Saito as the President & CEO of Mitsubishi Mahindra Agricultural Machinery Co Ltd, Japan (MAM).
• Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd (SUD LIFE) announced the appointment of Abhay Tewari as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Company e.f 15th May 2021.
• Jain will lead digital strategy, execution and adoption across the company. Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) has appointed Reema Jain as its Chief Digital Officer. She joins the telecom operator from Unilever, where she was the head of IT.
• The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) has picked Arvind Kumar as managing director of Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, a unit of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
• Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has appointed his Special Assistant on National Security Moeed Yusuf as the country’s National Security Adviser (NSA).
• Lady Justice Martha Karambu Koome is a Kenyan advocate and Human Rights Defender, serving as the Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya since May 19, 2021. She is the first woman to serve as Chief Justice in Kenya.
• Zhang Yiming announced he will step down as CEO of TikTok–owner ByteDance, saying he lacked the social skills to be an ideal manager and naming his college roommate Liang Rubo as his successor to navigate a rising tide of Big Tech regulations.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

• The International Invincible Gold Medal of this year has been conferred on Union Training Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. 
• The 11th Kalasagar awards for exemplary contribution in the field of traditional performing arts for the year have been announced. The awards will be presented on October 14 at Kunnamkulam Badhani School Palace on the occasion of the 28th death anniversary of Kalamandalam Krishnankutty Poduval, kathakali maestro and founder of Kalasagar.
• Nuklu Phom the only person from India to win the prestigious #WhitleyAwards 2021 for his work;
• Shakti Theaters Abu Dhabi has announced the Abu Dhabi Shakti Thayat Awards as part of its efforts to find and promote creative Malayalam writers.
• Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave away the highest civilian award of Bangladesh ‘Swadhinta Puraskar 2021‘ also known as Independence Award to nine individuals and a research organisation.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMITS & CONFERENCES

• The first BRICS Employment Working Group (EWG) Meeting was held on 11-12 May 2021 in Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, New Delhi in virtual format. India has assumed the BRICS Presidency this year.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPS & SERVICES

• On May 13, 2021, Airtel Payments Bank launched a digital platform DigiGold. DigiGold is launched in partnership with SafeGold, a provider of digital gold.
• On May 14, 2021, Chief Minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh launched MOMA Market mobile application for home delivery of fresh vegetables. The application can be downloaded from  www.momamarket.com and it will also be available on Google Play Store soon.
• On May 16, 2021, Iran unveiled a new supercomputer named ‘Simorgh. Till date It is 100 times more powerful than the previous supercomputer of the country. It is built domestically by Tehran’s Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT).

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU’s AND AGREEMENTS

• Tribal Affairs Ministry and Microsoft have signed a MoU for digital transformation of Tribal Schools such as Eklavya Model Residential Schools and Ashram Schools.
• Drug firm Eli Lilly said it has signed a voluntary licensing agreement with Natco Pharma to further expedite the availability of baricitinib for COVID-19 patients in India.
• Drug firm BDR Pharma stated it has inked a licensing pact with Eli Lilly And Company for the manufacturing and distribution of Baricitinib for the treatment of COVID-19 in India.
• India and Oman renewed the Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on military cooperation along with its annexure as well as on maritime issues on May 20″. The document was signed by Secretary-General of Oman”s defence ministry Dr Mohammed bin Nasser Al Zaabi and Indian Ambassador Munu Mahawar.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• On May 17, 2021, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan launched the first batch of drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose drug to treat Covid-19 patients. It has been developed by DRDO’s Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.
• On May 15, 2021, Chinese spacecraft successfully landed the first Mars rover Zhurong  on the surface of Mars. China is the second country after the US to send a rover to the surface of the Red Planet.
• On May 17, 2021, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm will be constructing the largest international submarine cable system centred on India.
• The European Space Agency developed an interplanetary spacecraft named JUICE ( Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer ) that has entered into a testing phase. It can be tested at Esa’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands.
• A United Launch Alliance (ULA – American Spacecraft Service Provider)Atlas V rocket has successfully launched the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) Flight 5 mission.
• On May 18, 2021, Google launched its global licensing programme, News Showcase, in India. Amid mounting pressure from the global media fraternity asked for a fair price and advertising share from technology platforms.
• James Webb Space Telescope , The world’s largest and most powerful space science telescope Successfully Completed its Pre Launch Test. This event marked a key milestone in preparing the observatory for launch later this year.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ARTS & CULTURE

• The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi, would be starting it’s virtual summer workshops for children and adults from May 17. It will be held from 17th May to till June 13, 2021
• On May 18, 2021, Six Indian sites were added to the tentative list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites, the Ministry of Culture. The submissions were made by Archaeological Survey of India, which is responsible for the conservation and preservation of Indian monuments.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS & AUTHORS

• On May 16, 2021, A book titled  “Sikkim: A History of Intrigue and Alliance”, written by Preet Mohan Singh Malik. It is published by HarperCollins India

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING & INDEX

• India has moved a notch higher at the third spot on EY’s Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index. It is the 57th Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index released by Ernst & Young. The US retains top position on RECAI 57.
• India is the second largest  insurance technology market in the Asia Pacific, as per a new report released by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: ENVIRONMENT

• A group of herpetologists gathered for the South Asian Reptile Red List Assessment organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) discovered a new species  Subdoluseps nilgiriensis from the dry leeward slopes of the Nilgiri hills (Western Ghats), Tamil Nadu state, India.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE NEWS

• For Indian Army , Bharat Earth Movers limited has rolled out the first prototype of mechanical minefield marking equipment Mk-II. It has been built on BEML TATRA 6×6 an ‘Atmanirbhar’ product.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS NEWS

• In Tennis, Polish teenager Iga Swiatek ( 19 Years )  has won the Women’s Singles title of Italian Open. 
• On May 16, 2021,In tennis, Rafael Nadal beat world number one Novak Djokovic by 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 to win a 10th Italian Open title.
• On May 15, 2021, Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers legend, was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a part of the Class of 2020.
• On May 15, 2021, Mixed Martial Artist (MMA) Arjan Bhullar became the first Indian to win the ONE Heavyweight World Title at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
• Barbora Strycova, a former top-ranked doubles player and Wimbledon singles semifinalist, has announced retirement from Tennis.
• On May 19, 2021, Sri Lanka Cricket Chief Executive Ashely de Silva Informed Due to Covid – 19 the Asia Cup T20 that was scheduled to be held in June 2021 in Sri Lanka has been postponed indefinitely.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARIES

• On May 16, 2021, Rajya Sabha MP and the senior Congress leader Rajeev Satav passed away.
• On May 16, 2021, Famous mathematician Professor MS Narasimhan passed away.
• On May 15, 2021, Veteran journalist Sunil Jain Passed away.
• On May 10, 2021, Activist Ranjana Nirula Passed away.
• Notable astronomy communicator and director of the Nehru Planetarium, Nandivada Rathnasree Passed away.
• On May 16, 2021, Former Saurashtra pacer and BCCI match referee Rajendrasinh Jadeja Passed away.
• On May 17, 2021, Former President of the Indian Medical Association & Renowned cardiologist Dr KK Aggarwal Passed away.
• On May 17, 2021, Veteran Tamil writer & Folklorist Ki. Rajanarayanan passed away.
• On May 18, 2021, The former Union Minister and Veteran leader of Bharatiya Janata Party Chaman Lal Gupta passed away.
• On May 19, 2021, Veteran Congress leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Jagannath Pahadia Passed away.

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