1) India celebrates National Technology Day on 11th May
•National Technology Day is celebrated on 11 May across India. This day marks the successfully tested Shakti-I nuclear missile at the Indian Army’s Pokhran Test Range in Rajasthan. This day will be focusing on rebooting the economy through Science and Technology. It also highlights the achievements of our scientists and engineers in the field of science and technology and encourages students to embrace Science as a career option.
2) ISRO develops 3 cost-effective ventilators, oxygen concentrator
•The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), has developed three different types of ventilators and an oxygen concentrator at a time when a shortage of this critical medical equipment resulted in the deaths of many Covid-19 patients across the country. Based on designs, features and specifications, we have named them, Prana, VaU and Svasta. All three are user-friendly, fully automated and with touch-screen specifications, meeting all safety standards.
•Technology transfer will be done for the commercial production of these three ventilators and the one oxygen concentrator by this month itself. Likely to be priced around ₹1 lakh, the ventilators developed by the ISRO were cost-effective and easy to handle compared to the mini conventional ventilators that are currently priced around ₹5 lakh.
3) NITI Aayog, Mastercard release report on Connected Commerce
•The NITI Aayog has released a report titled ‘Connected Commerce: Creating a Roadmap for a Digitally Inclusive Bharat’. NITI Aayog has released the report in collaboration with Mastercard. The report identifies the various challenges faced in accelerating digital financial inclusion in India and also provides recommendations for making digital services accessible to its 1.3 billion citizens.
4) SpaceX to launch ‘DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon’
•Elon Musk-owned SpaceX is set to launch the “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon”, the first-ever commercial lunar payload, paid entirely in the cryptocurrency Dogecoin. The satellite is scheduled to be launched in the first quarter of 2022 onboard the Falcon 9 rocket. The dogecoin-funded mission is led by the Canadian company Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC).
5) Ujjwala Singhania takes over as 38th National President FICCI FLO
•Ujjwala Singhania has been appointed as the National President of FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO), the oldest women-led & women-centric business chamber of Southeast Asia. As the 38th National President of FLO Singhania will focus on empowering women by facilitating an enabling environment that promotes entrepreneurship, industry participation and economic development of women.
•Under her leadership, FLO will carry out many interventions towards fostering larger contributions of women in India’s Industrial and economic growth story.
6) Indian-origin expert Sankar Ghosh elected to National Academy of Sciences
•Sankar Ghosh, an award-winning Indian-origin immunologist, has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences in recognition of his “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. He was among the 120 newly elected members announced by the Academy.
7) CBSE launches ‘Dost for Life’ mobile app
•Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has launched a new mobile app for students and parents. The new app ‘Dost for Life’ is an exclusive psychological counselling app for students and parents of CBSE-affiliated schools. The new App will simultaneously cater to students and parents from CBSE-affiliated schools in different geographies across the world.
8) Dr Tahera Qutbuddin 1st Indian To Win Arab World Nobel Prize
•Mumbai born, Dr Tahera Qutbuddin, a professor of Arabic Literature at the University of Chicago, recently became the first person of Indian-origin to win the 15th Sheikh Zayed Book Award. The award is considered to be the Nobel Prize of the Arab world. She won the award for her latest book, “Arabic Oration – Art and Function” published by Brill Academic Publishers of Leiden in 2019.
•In the book, she puts forth a comprehensive theory of Arabic literature in its foundational oral period dating the seventh and eighth centuries AD. She discusses its influence on modern-day sermons and lectures as well.
9) Tripura Launches Auro Scholarship Programme of Sri Aurobindo Society
•Education Minister of Tripura, Ratan Lal Nath launched the ‘Auro Scholarship Programme’ of Sri Aurobindo Society for all the students of the state. Auro Scholarship Programme provides the monthly micro-scholarship to the students in order to motivate them towards achieving better learning outcomes once students achieve benchmark performance in 10-min curriculum-aligned Quizzes.
10) Pakistan’s Babar Azam Wins ICC Players of the Month for April 2021
•Pakistani skipper Babar Azam has been named the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for April 2021 for his consistent and stellar performances across all formats in the recently concluded series against South Africa. The ICC Player of the Month Awards recognise and celebrate the best performances from both male and female cricketers across all forms of international cricket throughout the year.
•Along with Babar, Australian women’s team wicketkeeper-batsman Alyssa Healy also bagged the ICC Women’s Player of The Month accolade for her incredible performances during the month of April. Healy’s consistency with the bat has played a significant role in Australia’s dominance. Healy has shown her class in all conditions and against all types of bowling in the recent series against New Zealand.
