1) Coal Miners’ Day: 4 May
•Coal Miners’ Day is celebrated on May 4 to recognize the hard work of some of the great unsung heroes of the Industrial Revolution. The day is celebrated to show appreciation for the coal miners and honour their accomplishments. Coal miners spend most of the days digging, tunnelling and extracting coal from the mines. They dig deep into the Earth to bring out the riches that help to sustain our life. Coal mining is one of the toughest professions.
2) International Firefighters’ Day: 04 May
•The International Firefighters’ Day (IFFD) is observed on May 4 every year since 1999. The day is celebrated to recognise and honour the sacrifices that firefighters make to ensure that their communities and environment are as safe as possible. The day was instituted, after the deaths of five firefighters in tragic circumstances in a bushfire in Australia on 2 December 1998.
3) World Asthma Day 2021: 04 May
•World Asthma Day is observed every year on the 1st Tuesday of May. This year, World Asthma Day is observed on May 4, 2021. The day spread awareness about asthma disease and care around the world. Whilst the primary focus is supporting the person with asthma, support may also extend to family, friends and caregivers. The theme for 2021 World Asthma Day is “Uncovering Asthma Misconceptions“.
4) Barclays Projects India’s GDP Growth Forecast to 10% in FY22
•UK-based global brokerage firm Barclays has cut India’s GDP growth estimate for 2021-22 (FY22) to 10 per cent from its earlier estimate of 11 per cent. Apart from this, Barclays has estimated the economy to contract by 7.6 per cent in FY21.
5) Kotak Mahindra Life appoints Mahesh Balasubramanian as MD
•Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company Limited (KLI) on 1st May announced it has appointed Mahesh Balasubramanian as managing director of the company. He has been appointed following the retirement of G Murlidhar.
•The company is in receipt of approval from the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India for the appointment of Balasubramanian. The appointment is for a period of three years. Suresh Agarwal has been elevated to MD & CEO of Kotak General Insurance.
6) Justice Pant appointed NHRC acting chairperson
•The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) member Justice (retired) Prafulla Chandra Pant had been appointed as the acting chairperson of the Commission with effect from April 25. A former Supreme Court judge, Justice Pant was appointed member of the NHRC on April 22, 2019. The post of a chairperson has been vacant since Justice H.L. Dattu, a former Chief Justice of India, completed his tenure on December 2, 2020.
•Previously, he was appointed the first Chief Justice of the newly established Meghalaya High Court at Shillong on 20th September 2013 and continued till 12th August 2014.
7) Facebook to introduces vaccine finder tool on mobile app in India
•Facebook has partnered with the Indian government to roll out a vaccine finder tool on its mobile app in India, which will help people identify places nearby to get inoculated. The social media giant had, earlier this week, announced a USD 10 million grant for emergency response efforts for the COVID-19 situation in the country.
8) RBI imposes ₹3 crore penalty on ICICI Bank
•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹3 crores on ICICI Bank for non-compliance with its directions in the matter of shifting of securities from one category to another. The monetary penalty has been imposed on the Bank for contravention of certain directions contained in its Master Circular on ‘Prudential Norms for Classification, Valuation and Operation of Investment Portfolio by Banks.’
•This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (the Act). RBI observed that an examination of correspondence in the matter of shifting of securities from one category to another revealed, inter alia, contravention of the aforesaid directions issued by it. This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.
9) Sindhu, Michelle Li appointed ambassadors for IOC’s ‘Believe in Sport’ campaign
•The Badminton World Federation announced that India shuttler PV Sindhu and Canada’s Michelle Li have been nominated as athlete ambassadors for the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) ‘Believe in Sport’ campaign aimed at preventing competition manipulation.
•Sindhu and Li will be working alongside other athlete ambassadors from around the world to raise awareness on the topic of competition manipulation amongst athletes and encourage. The pair have been global ambassadors for BWF’s ‘i am badminton’ campaign since April 2020. The IOC’s ‘Believe in Sport’ campaign was launched in 2018 to raise awareness among athletes, coaches and officials of the threat of competition manipulation.
