1) India’s First Agriculture Export Facilitation Centre Launched in Pune
•The Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture (MCCIA) has launched India’s first agro-export facilitation centre in Pune, in collaboration with National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). The new Facilitation Centre will work as a one-stop-centre for the exporters in the agricultural sector as well as boost agricultural exports from the region, as per global standards.
•The Center would guide the prospective exporters on various relevant aspects of the ‘farm-to-fork chain of agro-exports through its experts. It would organize awareness programs, training programs and workshops on the related aspects, organise visits to export houses for getting practical guidance, organise buyer-seller meetings etc.
2) Atlas V rocket launches SBIRS Geo-5 missile warning satellite for US Space Force
•The United Launch Alliance launched the Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The Atlas V rocket carried SBRIS Geo-5 Missile Warning Satellite. The full form of SBRIS is the Space-Based Infrared System. It is designed for missile warning, missile battlespace and defence characterization.
•SBRIS is basically a Space Tracking and Surveillance System. SBRIS was designed to meet the Infrared Space Surveillance of the United States Space Force System. In 2020 alone, the SBRIS satellites detected more than a thousand missiles.
3) Iran Develops Its Most Powerful Supercomputer “Simorgh”
•Iran has unveiled a new supercomputer named ‘Simorgh’, which is 100 times more powerful than the previous supercomputer of the country to date. The supercomputer has been developed indigenously by Tehran’s Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT). It has been named after a mythical Phoenix-like bird ‘Simurgh’.
4) Penpa Tsering elected president of Tibetan exile government
•The former speaker of Tibet’s parliament-in-exile, Penpa Tsering, has been elected the new president of the exile government. Nearly 64,000 Tibetans living in exile in India, Nepal, North America, Europe, Australia and elsewhere voted in the election, which was held in two rounds in January and April. It was 3rd direct election of leadership after the withdrawal of Dalai lama from politics.
5) Reliance Jio joins global consortium to build undersea cable network
•Telecom operator Reliance Jio is constructing the largest international submarine cable system centred on India with global partners and submarine cable supplier Subcom to cater to increased data demand. The two submarine cable systems which the company plans to deploy will connect India with Asia Pacific markets (Singapore, Thailand & Malaysia) and others with Italy & Africa.
6) India’s WPI Inflation Surges To 10.49% For April 2021
•The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade recently released Wholesale Price in India for the month of April 2021. The annual rate of inflation for the month of April 2021 was 10.49%. The WPI for the month of April 2021 stood at 128.1. The base year in calculating WPI is fixed as 2011-12.
•The inflation rate is high in the month mainly because of the price rise in crude petroleum which in turn increased the prices of petrol and diesel in the country. Also, the price rise is due to an increase in the cost of manufactured foods. The annual rate of inflation in April 2021 is high primarily because of rising in prices of crude petroleum, mineral oils viz petrol, diesel, etc, and manufactured products as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.
7) India-Microsoft MoU on Digital Transformation of Tribal Schools
•The Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Microsoft signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the joint initiative for Digital Transformation of Tribal Schools. This includes the introduction of Ashram Schools and Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) in tribal areas.
8) Arjan Bhullar becomes first Indian-origin fighter to win MMA title
•Arjan Bhullar became the first Indian-origin fighter to win a world title in a top-level MMA promotion when he beat Brandon Vera to become the heavyweight world champion at the Singapore-based One Championship.
•By defeating Vera, Bhullar ended the Filipino-American’s five-year championship-winning run. Bhullar had won the commonwealth games gold medals in 2010 and 2012. He became the first Indian-origin freestyle wrestler to represent Canada at the Olympics.
