Important TNPSC Current Affairs May (11-20) 2021

Topic: Terms in News

What is Asperger’s Syndrome?

The SpaceX Billionaire Elon Musk recently announced that he had Asperger’s Syndrome. The announcement was made in a TV show Musk was hosting. Musk also mentioned about the Dogecoin cryptocurrency in the show.

Recently, an announcement was made that SpaceX is to launch DOGE-1 Mission to moon. The Geometric Energy corporation that is sending DOGE-1 in Falcon 9 rocket of SpaceX is to pay in Doge Cryptocurrency.

What is Asperger’s Syndrome?

It is a disorder where people have trouble in social relationships. The Asperger Syndrome is named after the German doctor Hans Asperger who first described about the disorder in 1944. It is a kind of autism disorder. It severely inhibits the mental and social development of a person.

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Topic: Latest Diary of Events

Blood Moon

A Blood Moon occurs when the Moon of the Earth is on total lunar Eclipse. During this time, the moon looks red or ruddy brown. Thus it is called Blood Moon. The next Blood Moon is to occur on May 26, 2021. The last Blood Moon occurred on January 20-21, 2019.

Why does the colour of the moon changes during Blood Moon?

Lunar Eclipses happen only during a full moon. During this time, the moon is completely under the Earth’s shadow. At this time, a little bit of the sunlight that reaches the earth during sunrise and sunset falls on the moon. It can be noted that the sky is red in colour during sunrise and sunset.

This means during this time out of all the seven VIBGYOR colours in the white light, only red reaches the earth. This red colour light is reflected on the moon and thus the moon turned into a Blood Moon.

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Topic: India and its Neighbouring Countries

K P Sharma Oli sworn in as Nepal Prime Minister

K P Sharma Oli was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Nepal for the third time. President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered his oath of office. He was re-appointed as the Prime Minister as the opposition couldn’t prove their majority.

What happened?

Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli recently lost vote of confidence in the Nepal Parliament. Now, he has to take Vote of Confidence within thirty days. If he fails to do so, Article 76 of the Constitution will be initiated.

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Topic: Terms in News

Doomsday Surfing or Doomsday Scrolling

People are continuously reading about the pandemic and news related to it. They are even sacrificing their working hours or crucial sleep time in the process. This is being done compulsively. This scenario is called Doomsday Scrolling.

What is Doomsday Surfing?

It is the tendency to scroll through bad news even though the news is saddening or depressing. The term Doomsday Surfing is one of the new lexicon of words the COVID-19 has introduced into the daily lives of man.

Who is performing Doomsday surfing?

This is done by almost every human being on the earth. People in the age group of 15 years to 30 years are surfing to seek help. On the other hand, the people in the age group of 30 years to 45 years are blaming others on social media. On the brighter side, the senior age people are trying to spread positivity and spirituality.

Why did Doomsday Surfing arise?

It has become a behavioural addiction. As people become more and more addictive, the social media algorithms designed to feed to the addictions serve up fulfilling the interests. This becomes a vicious cycle.

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Topic: Latest inventions on Science and Technology

Zeolites used in Oxygen Production

The Air India recently airlifted 35 tonnes of Zeolite used in Oxygen Production plants from Rome to Bengaluru.

What are Zeolites?

Zeolites are aluminosilicate minerals. They are microporous material that is used as adsorbents and catalysts.

They can accommodate cations such as K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+. When the zeolite minerals come in contact with a solution, they exchange these cations for other ions in the solution. The most common zeolite minerals are stilbite, phillipsite, natrolite, heulandite, chabzite, analcime.

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Topic: Latest Diary of Events

Cyclone Tauktae: Strongest in West Coast in Two Decade

Tauktae is the first cyclone of 2021. Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Tauktae was a powerful, deadly and damaging tropical cyclone in the Arabian Sea that became the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in the Indian state of Gujarat since the 1998 Gujarat cyclone and one of the strongest tropical cyclones to ever affect the west coast of India.The name has been given by Myanmar which means Gecko, a highly vocal lizard.

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Topic: International Events

Miss Universe 2020

Andrea Meza of Mexico was crowned the Miss Universe, 2020. The 69th edition of Miss Universe was held on May 16, 2021 in Florida, United States. It was cancelled for the first time in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Miss Universe, 2020:

Andrea Meza beat seventy four contestants from all over the world. Julia Gama of Brazil was the runner up and Janick Maceta of Peru finished third.

Miss India :

Miss India Adline Castelino made it to the top four.

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Topic: Latest inventions on Science and Technology

Simorgh Supercomputer

Iran recently launched its supercomputer called Simorgh. This supercomputer is hundred times more powerful than the previous Iranian supercomputers.

About the Simorgh Supercomputer:

The Supercomputer has been named after the phoenix like bird called the Simurgh. The Simorgh Supercomputer was developed by the Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran, the capital of Iran. It is located at the Iranian High Performance Computing Research Centre.

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Topic: Profile of States

Six Heritage Sites added to India’s UNESCO World Heritage sites Tentative List

The Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel recently announced that around six cultural heritage sites have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The following six places have successfully entered the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Ganga Ghats of Varanasi

Temples of Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu

Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh

Maharashtra Military Architecture

Hire Benkal Megalithic site, Karnataka

Bhedaghat Lametaghat of Narmada Valley in Madhya Pradesh

With this, the total number of sites in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites Tentative list has increased to 48.

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Topic: International Events

A-76: World’s largest iceberg breaks off of Antarctica

An Iceberg recently calved off from the continent of Antarctica. This iceberg is now the largest iceberg in the world. It has been named as A-76.

About the Ice Berg:

The Ice Berg is 170 kilometres long and 25 kilometres wide. The ice berg was spotted by a European Space Agency satellite called Copernicus Sentinel. It is a two-satellite constellation that orbits the earth’s poles. The Ice Berg is now floating on the Weddell Sea. Weddell Sea is a large bay in the Western Antarctic.

The satellites confirmed the observations made by British Antarctic Survey. The British Antarctic Survey was the first to notice the breakaway.

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Topic: Profile of States

100% Tap Water Connection in Rural Areas in Puducherry: JJM

The Union Territory of Puducherry has become the fourth State/UT after Goa, Telangana and Andaman & Nicobar Islands to provide assured tap water supply to every rural home under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).

Further, the State of Punjab and the UTs of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu have also crossed the milestone of covering 75% of rural homes with assured tap water supply.

Jal Jeevan Mission:

JJM envisages supply of 55 litres of water per person per day to every rural household through Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) by 2024. It is under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

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Topic: Awards and Honours

World Food Prize – 2021

Dr Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, a global nutrition expert of Indian descent has won the prestigious 2021 World Food Prize for her groundbreaking research in developing holistic, nutrition-sensitive approaches to aquaculture and food systems.

About the World Food Prize:

The World Food Prize is the foremost international honor recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.

Fields Covered: Any field involved in the world food supply including plant, animal and soil science; food science and technology; nutrition, rural development, etc.

Eligibility: It is open for any individual without regard to race, religion, nationality or political beliefs.

Cash Prize: $2,50,000.

It is presented by the World Food Prize Foundation which has over 80 companies, individuals, etc. as donors.

Norman E. Borlaug, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work in global agriculture, conceived the Prize. He is also known as the Father of the Green Revolution. The World Food Prize was created in 1986 with sponsorship by General Foods Corporation.

It is also known as the “Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture”. M.S. Swaminathan, the father of India’s green revolution, was the first recipient of this award in 1987.

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Topic: Profile of States

GI-certified Gholvad Chikoo

GI-certified Dahanu Gholvad Chikoo from Maharashtra begins UK journey. GI certification of Gholvad Sapota is held by Maharashtra Rajya Chikoo Utpadak Sangh and the fruit is known for its sweet and unique taste. It is believed that the unique taste is derived from calcium-rich soil of Gholvad village.

Sapota is grown in many states- Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Karnataka is known to be the highest grower of the fruit, followed by Maharashtra.