22/04/2021
Weekly One Liners 12th April to 18th of April 2021
74th Edition of BAFTA Awards 2021 announced The British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) for the year 2021, has been announced by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. BAFTA 2021 is the 74th edition of the annual award to honour the best national and foreign films of 2020 and early 2021.
Most Nominations :
• American drama “Nomadland” (7)
• British coming-of-age drama “Rocks” (7)
Most Awards:
• Nomadland (4)
List of Winners of BAFTA 2021
• Best Film: Nomadland
• Best Director: Chloe Zhao (Nomadland)
• Best Actor in a Leading Role: Anthony Hopkins (The Father as Anthony)
• Best Actress in a Leading Role: Frances McDormand (Nomadland as Fern)
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah as Fred Hampton)
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari as Soon-JA)
• Best Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell)
• Best Adapted Screenplay: The Father (Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller)
• Best Short Animation: The Owl and the Pussycat (Mole Hill and Laura Duncalf)
• Best Short Film: The Present (Farah Nabulsi)
• Best Animated Film: Soul (Pete Docter and Dana Murray)
• Best Documentary: My Octopus Teacher (Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster)
• Best Film Not in the English Language (Another Round)
• Best Casting: Rocks (Lucy Pardee)
• Best Cinematography: Nomadland (Joshua James Richards)
• Best Costume Design: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Ann Roth)
• Best Editing: Sound of Metal (Mikkel E.G. Nielsen)
• Best Makeup and Hair: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Matiki Anoff, Larry M. Cherry, Sergio LopezRivera and Mia Neal)
• Best Original Music: Soul (Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
• Best Production Design: Mank (Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale)
• Best Sound: Sound of Metal (Jaime Baksht, Nicolas Becker, Phillip Bladh, Carlos Cortés and Michelle Couttolenc)
• Best Special Visual Effects: Tenet (Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Jackson and Andrew Lockley)
• Outstanding British Film: Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox and Josey McNamara)
• Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer: His House (Remi Weekes (Writer/Director))
• Rising Star Award: Bukky Bakray Lilavati Awards 2020 announced The Union Education Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank recently presented the AICTE Lilavati Awards, 2020 in New Delhi. The awards were presented based on the theme “Women Empowerment”. The winners were selected by AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) in six subthemes.
List of winners:
• SWEAT (Sona Women Entrepreneurship and Training) from Sona College of Technology, Tamil Nadu won the award under the ‘Women Entrepreneurship’ sub theme.
• Another college from Tamil Nadu, Paritrana from St. Joseph’s College of Engineering won the award for the ‘Self Defense’ sub theme.
• Under the ‘Literacy’ sub theme, Bharatiya Vidyapeeth of the Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship Development Pune won the award.
• The Lilavati Award under the “Women’s Health” sub theme was won by the WIT Women Health Coalition from Walchand Institute of Technology, Maharashtra.
• Radiant Seetha from Thiagarajar Polytechnic College won the contest in the ‘Legal Awareness’ sub theme.
• Under the ‘Sanitation & Hygiene’ sub-theme, Smt. Kishoritai Bhoyar College of Pharmacy, Nagpur, Maharashtra won the award.
Academic Ranking of World Universities 2020 published
The 2020 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) is released by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc Bangalore) has secured the top position among the best higher education institutes in India, while Calcutta University became the best varsity in the country, as per the published Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU 2020). The Indian institutes are not even in the top 100 list, the best higher education institute, (IISc Bangalore) is in the category of 501- 600.
Best Institute Ranking Index
• Rank 1: Harvard University
• Rank 2: Stanford University
• Rank 3: University of Cambridge
• Category of 501- 600- IISc Bangalore
Regional Best Institute Ranking Index
• Rank 1: IISc Bangalore
• Category 2-4: IIT Madras
• Category 2-4: University of Calcutta
About the Academic Ranking of World Universities: Since 2003, ARWU has been presenting the world top universities annually based on transparent methodology and objective third-party data. It has been recognized as the precursor of global university rankings and the most trustworthy one.
India ranks 49th in Inclusive Internet Index 2021 The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), in partnership with Facebook, has released the Inclusive Internet Index 2021. India has been ranked at 49th spot globally. It shares its rank with Thailand. This index measures the extent to which the internet is available and affordable by region, and highlights additional insight into how people around the world are using the web.
Top 5 Countries: 1. Sweden 2. United States 3. Spain 4. Australia 5.Hong Kong
About the Index:
• The ‘Inclusive Internet Index’ surveyed 120 countries, representing 98 per cent of global GDP and 96 per cent of the global population.
• The overall Index score is based on four parameters, which are: Availability, Affordability, Relevance and Readiness categories. The Inclusive Internet Index is commissioned by Facebook and developed by The Economist Intelligence Unit.
102 years of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. This year we commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the terror that shook the entire country to a standstill. The Jallian wala bagh garden has been converted into a memorial. And thousands of people on this day come to pay their respects to the martyred men, women, who were killed on that fateful day for the nation.
History of the day: Acting Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer ordered troops of the British Indian Army to fire their rifles into a crowd of unarmed Indian civilians in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab. General Dyer, the British India army officer, felt the people gathering for such a cause was anti-national. He ordered the 50 of his troops consisting of Sikh, Gurkha, Baluchi, and Rajput to open fire on the unarmed men and women. The resulting figures would make you go numb as 379 men and women were killed for no fault of theirs and 1100 injured.
Wisden Award 2021 announced
To perpetuate the 50th anniversary of the first One-Day International, five ODI cricketers of the decade have been listed in Wisden Almanack’s 2021 edition. One cricketer has been selected from each decade between 1971 and 2021, with the Indian captain been granted the award for the 2010s.
List of winners:
• India captain Virat Kohli Wisden Almanack’s ODI player of the 2010s.
• Sachin Tendulkar is the ODI Cricketer of the 1990s.
• Kapil Dev was named as the ODI Cricketer for the 1980s.
• England all-rounder Ben Stokes is ‘Leading Cricketer of the Year’.
• Australia’s Beth Mooney is ‘Leading Women’s Cricketer in the World’.
• West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard was adjudged the ‘Leading T20 Cricketer in the World’.
• Meanwhile, Jason Holder, Mohammed Rizwan, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, and Darren Stevens have been awarded the Wisden Cricketers of the Year 2021.
National Affairs
• Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal chaired a high-level meeting on the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 and released an implementation plan for school education called ‘Students’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement through Quality Education (SARTHAQ)’.
• The Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Prof. K Vijay Raghavan launched a mobile app called “MANAS” to cater mental well-being of citizens on scalable, secure and digital platforms. MANAS stands for Mental Health and Normalcy Augmentation System.
• Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal has inaugurated e-SANTA, an electronic marketplace, to provide a platform for connecting aqua farmers and buyers. e-SANTA aims to raise income, lifestyle, self-reliance, quality levels, traceability, of aqua farmers. e-SANTA stands for Electronic Solution for Augmenting NaCSA farmers’ Trade-in Aquaculture.
• NITI Aayog, in partnership with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Centre for Social and Behaviour Change, Ashoka University launched called “Poshan Gyan”, a national digital repository on health and nutrition. The website can be accessed through eh following link: https://poshangyan.niti.gov.in/
• Union Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan has launched Aahaar Kranti, a mission dedicated to spreading awareness about nutrition. It is designed to address the peculiar problem of hunger and diseases in abundance, being faced by India and the world. Studies show that India produces as much as two times the amount of calories it consumes.
States in the News
• Bollywood actor Sonu Sood has been made the brand ambassador for Punjab’s anti-coronavirus vaccination programme. During the corona virus induced lockdown last year, the actor had helped migrants reach their home states.
• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched a 14-day “Mask Abhiyan” as part of efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus in view of rising cases and urged people to strictly follow the safety guidelines.
• Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam (GNN) has announced successfully raising and listing India’s first Green Municipal bond issue. GNN raised ₹150 crores at a cost of 8.1 per cent.
• India’s first Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) has arrived at H-Energy’s Jaigarh Terminal in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, on the west coast of India.
• Pohela Boishakh, also known as Bengali New Year, is the traditional New Year day of the Bengali people. The festival date is set according to the lunisolar Bengali calendar as the first day of its first month Baishakh. However, the festival falls on April 14 or April 15 every year in India.
• Himachal Day is observed on 15th April in Himachal Pradesh. The state became a full-fledged state on this day. Four districts of Mandi, Chamba, Mahasu and Sirmour were integrated with over two dozen princely states, leading to the formation of Himachal Pradesh as a Union Territory in 1948. Decades later, in 1971, Himachal Pradesh became the 18th state in India with Shimla as its capital.
International Affairs
• Singapore ratified the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, the world’s largest free trade agreement, led by China. In doing so, Singapore became the first among 15 participating countries to ratify RCEP.
• The United Arab Emirates named the next two astronauts in its space programme on 10th April, including the country’s first female astronaut. Noura al-Matroushi is the UAE’s first female astronaut. The announcement gave no biographical information about her or her male counterpart, Mohammed al-Mulla.
• A Sanskrit learning app ‘Little Guru’ has launched in Bangladesh by the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC) of the High Commission of India. The Sanskrit learning app is part of the campaign being run by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) to promote the Sanskrit language among students, religious scholars, Indologists and historians across the world.
• An Indian-American Congressman has introduced a resolution in the US House of Representatives for a second consecutive year to honour Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of India’s Constitution, on his 130th birth anniversary so that young leaders around the world can be inspired by his vision for equality.
• US President Joe Biden has announced that all American troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11 this year, thus bringing to end the country’s longest war. US troops, as well as forces deployed by our NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Allies and operational partners, will be out of Afghanistan before the 20th anniversary of that heinous attack on September 11 (2001).
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is set to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station on World Earth Day (April 22). NASA is to launch the mission along with SpaceX. It is the second crewed operational flight of Crew Dragon Spacecraft.
Agreements/MoUs Signed
• Bharti Axa Life and Fincare Small Finance Bank have joined hands for a bancassurance partnership under which the bank will sell insurance policies to its customers. This alliance will make life insurance solutions reachable to over 26.5 lakhs customers of Fincare Small Finance Bank and provide financial security to them.
• The Indian space agency, ISRO has signed an agreement with the space agency of France CNES for cooperation in its first human space mission, Gaganyaan. CNES will train Indian flight physicians and CAPCOM mission control teams at French facilities. The Gaganyaan orbital spacecraft project was kicked off in August 2018. It originally intended to send astronauts from Indian soil to mark the 75th anniversary of India’s independence in 2022.
• RBL Bank and Mastercard have announced their partnership to launch a mobile-based consumer friendly payment solution ‘Pay by Bank App’, a first-of-its-kind payment functionality in India. RBL Bank account holders can now enjoy contactless transactions across the world through their mobile banking application both in-store and online. This functionality will be available at all Mastercard accepting merchants, worldwide that accept contactless and online payments.
• Microsoft has made its second-biggest acquisition after LinkedIn. The tech giant has bought AI speech tech firm Nuance for $19.7 billion. The move will help Microsoft’s prowess in voice recognition and will give it a boost in the health care market. Nuance is known for its Dragon software which helps to transcribe speech using deep learning. In 2016, Microsoft had purchased LinkedIn for $26 billion.
Books and Authors
• PM Narendra Modi has paid tribute to India's first law minister and the architect of the Indian Constitution Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar on his birth anniversary and released four books based on his life. The four books to be released by the prime minister are Dr Ambedkar Jivan Darshan, Dr Ambedkar Vyakti Darshan, Dr Ambedkar Rashtra Darshan, and Dr Ambedkar Aayam Darshan.
• A book titled 'Believe - What Life and Cricket Taught Me', the much-awaited Suresh Raina autobiography is set to hit the bookstands in May 2021. The book is Co-authored by Raina and sports author Bharat Sundaresan, the biography will be published by the prestigious publishing house, Penguin India.
Banking/Economy/Business News
• Airtel Payments Bank launched its new ‘Rewards123’ savings account, which provides customers with perks and rewards. The Rewards123 Savings Account is built specifically that allows you to get access to a variety of perks when you save and transact digitally.
• Axis Bank Ltd informed it has become copromoters of Max Life Insurance Company Limited, after completion of the acquisition of 12.99% stake collectively by the Axis Entities in the company. Axis Bank and its two subsidiaries Axis Capital Limited and Axis Securities Limited will collectively own a 12.99% stake in Max Life after the consummation of the deal.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will be set up a new Regulations Review Authority (RRA 2.0) from May 1, 2021, to review the regulations, circulars, reporting systems and compliance procedures of the central bank for streamlining them and making them more effective. The RRA will be set up for a period of one year unless the timeline is extended by the RBI. M Rajeshwar Rao, Deputy Governor, RBI will be the head of the Regulations Review Authority.
• Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched a digital initiative “PNB@Ease” under which every transaction undertaken by a bank branch will be initiated and authorised by customers themselves. This facility will enable the customers to avail all banking services under one roof.
• The Japanese brokerage company Nomura has revised the GDP forecast of India in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) to 12.6 per cent from the previous estimate of 13.5 per cent, amid rising coronavirus cases and higher inflation. Nomura has pegged the calendar year GDP growth at 11.5 per cent, a decline from 12.4 per cent estimated earlier.
• The e-commerce giant Amazon has launched a $250 million (Rs 1,873 crore) venture fund called “Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund”, to invest in Indian startups and entrepreneurs, with a focus on digitizing SMEs. The launch of the Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund aims to attract the best ideas and empower entrepreneurs in the country to partner in this vision.
Appointments/Resignations
• The incumbent Election Commissioner (EC) Sushil Chandra has been named to become the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India. He will assume charge with effect from April 13, 2021. He will replace incumbent CEC, Sunil Arora, who will retire on April 12, 2021.
• Poonam Gupta will be the new director-general of the policy think tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). Gupta will succeed the current head of the think tank, Shekhar Shah, to become the first woman to hold the post. Currently, Gupta is the lead economist at the World Bank in Washington DC.
• IAS officer, Siddharth Singh Longjam will take over as the National Anti-Doping Agency’s Director-General. Longjam is currently serving as joint secretary in the sports ministry and is also the CEO of the currently suspended National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL). He will replace Navin Agarwal who listed the creation of Athletes Biological Passport (ABP) for around 60 elite Indian sportspersons as one of the highlights of his tenure.
• Prime Minister of Haiti, Joseph Jouthe has resigned following a situation of unrest in the country due to an increase in killing and kidnapping cases over the past few days. Joseph Jouthe served as the Prime Minister of Haiti from March 4, 2020, until April 14, 2021. President Jovenel Moise has nominated Claude Joseph as the new prime minister of Haiti.
Defence News
• Defence Research and Development Organisation, DRDO will set up a Covid-19 hospital with 500 beds equipped with ICU facilities in Delhi Cantonment.
• The eight Indo-Kyrgyz Joint Special Forces Exercise “Khanjar” was inaugurated at the Special Forces Brigade of National Guards of Kyrgyz Republic in Bishkek, the capital of the host nation. Initiated first in 2011, the two-weeks long special operations exercise focusses on high-altitude warfare, mountain warfare and counter-extremism exercises.
Awards and Recognitions
• Acclaimed filmmaker, Guneet Monga to be conferred with honour of the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans I’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres). It is the second-highest civilian French honour and has earlier been awarded to big Hollywood names like Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Bruce Willis.
• Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has honoured Indian-origin businessman Yusuffali MA and 11 other individuals with Abu Dhabi’s top civilian award for their noble and charitable contributions to the community.
• New Zealand star cricketer Kane Williamson was recently awarded the Sir Richard Hadlee medal. It was his 4th Sir Richard Hadlee award in 6 years.
• The Spanish city of Seville will host the 22nd Laureus World Sports Awards in a virtual ceremony owing to the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Marathi film “Puglya” has won the Best Foreign Language Feature award at Moscow International Film Festival, 2021. The film Puglya has been directed and produced by Vinod Sam Peter under the banner Abraham Films.
• Director Roberto Benigni will be receiving the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, which runs from September 1 to 11. The organisers confirmed the news about the two-time Oscar-winning actordirector. Summit and Conference
• Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mr Mark Rutte, held a Virtual Summit. During the India- Netherlands virtual Summit, the two leaders reviewed the existing bilateral engagements and also exchanged views on further expanding and diversifying the relationship in trade and economy, water management, agriculture sector, smart cities, science & technology, healthcare and space.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the 2021 “Raisina Dialogue”, through videoconferencing. The Raisina Dialogue 2021 is the sixth edition of the annual dialogue, organised from April 13 to 16, 2021, in full digital form for the first time due to the coronavirus pandemic. The theme for the 2021 conference is “ : Outbreaks, Outliers and Out of Control”.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has inaugurated the First bi-annual Indian Air Force, IAF Commanders’ Conference 2021 at Air Headquarters Vayu Bhawan in New Delhi. The conference is attended by the Air Officers Commanding-in-Chief of all Commands of IAF, all Principal Staff Officers and all Director Generals posted at Air Headquarters.
Sports News
• Union Minister for Sports & Youth Affairs, Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the Khelo India State Centre of Excellence (KISCE) for Rowing discipline at the Jammu & Kashmir Sports Council Water Sports Academy at the Nehru Park in the world-famous Dal Lake in Srinagar. This is one of the two KISCEs from Jammu & Kashmir. The other being the Maulana Azad Stadium for Fencing discipline in Jammu.
• India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has won the ICC Player of the Month award for his superlative show in the recent limited over series against England in March. Bhuvneshwar became the third successive Indian recipient of the award since its inception early this year.
• South African Lizelle Lee, who played four ODIs against India where she scored a century and two half-centuries to move to the top of Women’s ODI batting rankings, was named the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for March.
Important Days
• The International Day of Human Space Flight is observed globally on April 12 every year. The UN General Assembly passed a resolution on April 7, 2011, had declared April 12 to be celebrated as International Day of Human Space Flight.
• National Safe Motherhood Day is observed on April 11 every year. The day also marks the birth anniversary of Kasturba Gandhi, the wife of the father of Nation Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi.
• Every year, April 11 is observed as World Parkinson’s Day to raise awareness of Parkinson’s disease, which is a progressive nervous system disorder. The day marks the birthday of Dr James Parkinson from London, who was the first person to systematically described the six individuals with the symptoms of Parkinson Disease.
• The World Chagas Disease Day is observed on 14 April to raise public awareness and visibility among people about Chagas Disease (also called American trypanosomiasis or silent or silenced disease) and the resources needed for the prevention, control or elimination of the disease.
• Ambedkar Jayanti ( also known as Bhim Jayanti) is an annual festival observed on 14 April to commemorate the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar who was born on 14 April 1891.
• The International Turban Day is celebrated every year on April 13 since 2004 to bring awareness of the strict requirement on Sikhs to put the turban as a mandatory part of their religion. The 2021 Turban Day marks the 552nd birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev and the festival of Baisakhi.
• The World Voice Day (WVD) is celebrated globally on April 16 every year to demonstrate the enormous importance of the voice in the daily lives of all people. The theme of 2021 is ONE WORLD|MANY VOICES.
• World Hemophilia Day observed globally on 17 April every year. This day is observed to raise awareness for hemophilia and other bleeding disorders. The theme for 2021 World Hemophilia Day is “Adapting to Change: Sustaining care in a new world”.
Obituaries
• Veteran actor Satish Kaul, who had 300 Punjabi and Hindi films to his credit and played the role of Lord Indra in the TV show Mahabharat, passed away. The actor began his career in the early ’70s, juggling between Hindi and Punjabi films. While his popular Bollywood films include Ram Lakhan, Pyaar Toh Hona Hi Tha and Aunty No 1 etc.
• Legendary shooting coach Sanjay Chakravarty passed away due to Covid-19. The Dronacharya awardee had trained some of the finest Indian shooters including Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Anjali Bhagwat and Suma Shirur, Deepali Deshpande, Anuja Jung and Ayonika Paul.
• Eminent Historian and an expert on Awadh especially Lucknow Yogesh Praveen. Through his books and articles, he enabled the public to know about the rich heritage and culture of Avadh. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2019.
• Balbir Singh Junior, who was a member of the silver medal-winning 1958 Asian Games Indian hockey team passed away.
• Former election commissioner, GVG Krishnamurty passed away due to age-related ailments. An Indian Legal Service officer, Krishnamurty became the election commissioner in October 1993 to September 1996.
• Former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Ranjit Sinha has passed away. He was a 1974-batch IPS officer of the Bihar cadre, who served as CBI Director from 3 December 2012 to 2 December 2014.
• Renowned radiologist, Dr Kakarla S***a Rao, who served as the first director of Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Hyderabad, has passed away.
Miscellaneous News
• ‘Lost golden city of Luxor’ discovered by archaeologists in Egypt. The 3,400-year-old royal city was built by Amenhotep III, abandoned by his heretic son, Akhenaten, and contains stunningly preserved remains.
• Union Minister for Communication & IT and Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad launched the “Online Grievance Management Portal of National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC)”.
• India’s mRNA-based covid-19 vaccine candidateHGCO19, developed by Pune-based biotechnology company Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd has received additional government funding for its clinical studies.
• The Central drug regulator, DCGA has approved emergency use authorisation of the Russian Vaccine, Sputnik V. It has now become the third vaccine to get emergency use authorisation from the drug regulator after Covishield and Covaxin. The Vaccine was developed by Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology last year in Russia.
• Skymet has released its monsoon forecast for 2021. Skymet expects the upcoming monsoon to be ‘healthy normal’ to the tune of 103% (with an error margin of +/- 5%) of the long period average (LPA) of 880.6 mm for the 4-month period from June to September.
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