Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
Aleksandar Vucic, the chairman of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), has been sworn-in as the new President of Serbia on May 31, 2017 and succeeded Tomislav Nikolic. He won the 2017 Serbian Presidential election by 55% of votes on April 2017. Prior to this post, Vucic was the Prime Minister of Serbia.

Notes:
Tianwen-1 is China’s first independent interplanetary mission to Mars. The mission was launched on July 23, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mission consists of six spacecraft:

• An orbiter
• Two deployable cameras
• A lander
• A remote camera
• The Zhurong rover

Tianwen-1 reached Mars in February 2021. The Zhurong rover landed on May 14, 2021. China became the third country to land on Mars, after the US and the Soviet Union.

The mission has attracted the participation of institutions and organizations from around the world, including the European Space Agency, the French National Center for Space Studies, and Argentina’s National Space Activities Commission.

Notes:
The International Day of Forests is observed every year on March 21 to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests and of trees outside forests for the benefit of current and future generations. The 2017 theme is ‘Forests and Energy’. The theme highlights the importance of wood energy in improving people’s lives, powering sustainable development and mitigating climate change.
 

Notes:
The Ministry of Railways has signed MoU with Ministry of AYUSH in New Delhi on February 6, 2018 to augment Ayush services in Railway hospitals i.e. New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Guwahati. As per MoU, Ministry of Railways will provide logistics and infrastructure in the form of Land & building, Equipments, Furniture, AYUSH medicines and consumables as well as Manpower. It will organize and provide orientation training to newly recruited AYUSH Doctors and AYUSH Paramedicals. Ministry of AYUSH in turn will provide all other technical inputs required for introduction of AYUSH Systems in the five identified Railways Hospitals. The Ministry will also provide technical knowhow regarding the pharmacopoeia, medicine inventory, hospital planning. Presently, Indian Railways is running 126 Homeopathic Clinics and 40 Ayurvedic Clinics through Staff Benefit Fund under Welfare Section of Establishment Directorate.

Notes:
Ayushman Bharat -National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM) is a centrally sponsored scheme under Ayushman Bharat Mission. The scheme will provide insurance cover of Rs. 5 Lakh per family per year. The scheme will benefit more than 10 crore families belonging to poor and vulnerable population. AB-NHPM will subsume the on-going centrally sponsored schemes –Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS).

Notes:
International Yoga Fest is organized as a curtain raiser for International Day of Yoga (IDY) 2018. The event is organized by Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY).

Notes:
R Seetharaman, a Qatar-based Indian banker has been awarded for his contribution in environment-friendly activities and for promoting green economy for nearly two decades. R Seetharaman, group chief executive officer of Doha Bank, was honoured with the 'Green Economy Visionary award' at the 2016 Union of Arab Banks International Banking Summit held in Rome.

Notes:
Gyan Sangam is the meet of various banks, financial institutions and insurance companies in order to discuss for enhancing the digitisation of the banking system in India and ways to increase the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems and big data analytics in the banking & financial services industry in India.

Notes:
President Vladimir Putin has recently signed a decree to withdraw Russia’s signature from the International Criminal Court treaty. Russia in 2000 signed the Rome treaty that established the Hague-based court but never ratified it. International Criminal Court is based in Hague, Netherlands, and is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal. Currently, there are 124 states which are party to Rome Statute and therefore members of the ICC. Both India and China are not its members.

Notes:
Friendship-2016 is a military exercise between Pakistan and Russia. It will help to strengthen military-to-military cooperation and bilateral relationship.