Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 01 May 2021

SSC CGL Current Affairs

Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 06 May 2021

::NATIONAL::

100 million year old bones of sauropods discovered in Meghalaya

A team of scientists from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has discovered fossilised bone fragments of sauropod dinosaurs dating back to about 100 million years from the West Khasi Hills district in Meghalaya.
The findings were made during a field-trip by the GSI’s Palaeontology division in the state. It is considered to be the first evidence of sauropods from the region. Sauropods were one of the most giant species of dinosaurs and had very long necks and long tails, small heads relative to the rest of their body, and four thick, pillar-like legs.
Other states in which remains of sauropods have been found earlier are Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
“Dinosaur bones from Meghalaya were reported by GSI in 2001 but they were too fragmentary and ill-preserved to understand its taxonomic identification. The present find of bones is during fieldwork in 2019-2020 and 2020-21.

::INTERNATIONAL::

UNESCO celebrated 5 May as "World Portuguese Language Day"

The United Nations proclaimed World Portuguese Language Day in November 2019.
This virtual event will be the first time that representatives of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Portuguese-language Countries (Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa - CPLP) will celebrate this international day in Brasilia on 5 May 2021.
"The recognition of that date by UNESCO, with the establishment of a World Day of the Portuguese Language, represented an important step for our community in the appreciation and projection of our common language on an international scale." - Ambassador Francisco RibeiroTelles, Executive Secretary of CPLP.
In addition to being a communication tool, language can transmit identities, values and worldviews. It is a bridge that allows closer relations between societies to exchange their rich and diverse expression forms. Celebrating this day is an opportunity to enhance cultural diversity values in Portuguese-speaking countries and raise awareness of the history, culture, and language use. It is also a chance to promote multilingualism, which results in greater tolerance, dialogue and cooperation between cultures.
To celebrate 5 May and to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Brasilia, completed in 2020, the Group of Ambassadors of the Member States of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) in Brasilia, with the support of the Government of the Federal District (GDF) and UNESCO in Brazil, took the joint initiative to publish the work "Sonhar Brasília".
This publication, to be launched during the event, comprises a series of short stories for children and young people which, in addition to expressing the Portuguese language's richness, pays tribute to Brazil's capital.

::ECONOMY::

India-UK Roadmap 2030 and Enhanced Business Partnership

Prime Minister NarendraModi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson on Tuesday unveiled an ambitious 10-year road map to elevate the India-UK bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, paving the way for a stronger engagement in areas such as trade and economy, defence and security, and health.
Hours before the virtual summit, the UK prime minister announced a new India-UK trade investment worth £1 billion, including an investment of £240 million by Serum Institute of India for its vaccine business in Britain.
“The package contains over £533 million of new Indian investment into the UK, which is expected to create more than 6,000 jobs in vital and growing sectors such as health and technology. £200m of these deals will support low carbon growth,” the UK Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
Later, during the summit meeting, India and the UK inked nine pacts, including the launch of an enhanced trade partnership (ETP), which would include negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) and an interim trade agreement for delivering early gains. Both nations will work towards a road map for concluding pre-FTA discussions by year-end.
“By the middle of next year, both sides have agreed on an interim trade deal and to continue negotiations for an FTA,” SandeepChakravorty, joint secretary at the ministry of external affairs, told reporters.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

Parker Solar Probe: Radio signal from Venus

Venus has been in the news a lot since last September, when researchers announced the possible detection of phosphine, a possible life sign, in its atmosphere. On May 3, 2021, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe announced another discovery: a never-before-observed natural low-frequency radio signal in the atmosphere of Venus. The probe, designed primarily to study the sun, came close to Venus to use it as a gravity slingshot, needed to propel the probe sunward. Parker Solar Probe was at its closest to Venus yet – only about 500 miles (800 km) above Venus’ surface on July 11, 2020 – when it found the surprising signal.
The measurements from Parker Solar Probe are the first new direct measurements of Venus’ atmosphere in nearly 30 years. The results also show that the atmosphere undergoes changes during the sun’s 11-year solar cycle, and that it is now quite different from what it was in the past.
He had seen the exact same kind of radio signal before from the Galileo orbiter, which had explored Jupiter and its moons. That mission ended in 2003. In this case, the signal, which looked like a thin “frown” in the data, was found in the ionospheres of some of the moons. The similarity of the signal meant that Parker Solar Probe had unexpectedly skimmed through the upper atmosphere of Venus, or more specifically, its ionosphere.
The ionosphere is a region of charged gases or plasma in the upper atmosphere that emits natural radio waves. Galileo had detected those radio waves at Jupiter’s moons, and now Parker Solar Probe had also found them in Venus’ atmosphere. The last time Venus’ ionosphere was measured directly was in 1992 by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter. The sun also happened to be at the peak of its solar cycle at the time.