Important Current Affairs 13th July 2021

INTERNATIONAL

Abiy Ahmed wins Ethiopian election

•Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party was declared the winner of last month’s national election in a landslide, assuring a second five-year term for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

•The National Election Board of Ethiopia said the ruling party won 410 seats out of 436 contested in the federal parliament. Abiy Ahmed came to power in April 2018 after the former prime minister resigned.

NATIONAL

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attends 3rd G20 finance ministers meeting

•Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman participated virtually in the Third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meeting under the Italian Presidency. The two-day meeting saw discussions on a wide range of issues including global economic risks and health challenges, policies for recovery from the C-19 pandemic, international taxation, sustainable finance and financial sector issues.

•The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors reaffirmed their resolve to use all available policy tools for as long as required to address the adverse consequences of C-19. Smt. Sitharaman appreciated the Italian G20 Presidency for identifying three catalysts of resilient economic recovery from the pandemic as being Digitalization, Climate Action and Sustainable Infrastructure and shared the Indian experience of integrating technology with inclusive service delivery during the pandemic.

Board of Control for Cricket in India forms 7-member working group for domestic cricket

•The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has formed a seven-member working group, to look into the compensation package for the domestic players and the other aspects of domestic cricket.

•The main focus of the group will be the remuneration of domestic players for the previous season wherein tournaments were cancelled, due to C-19.

SPORTS

England’s Sophie Ecclestone, & New Zealand’s Devon Conway win ICC Player of the Month Award for June 2021

•England Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone has been named as ICC Women Player of the Month for June. She is the second English female to win the title after Tammy Beaumont, who was awarded the title in February 2021.

•In Men’s category, New Zealand opener Devon Conway has bagged ICC Player of the Month for June. He became the first New Zealand player to win the award after an astounding first month in Test cricket.

Indian-American Samir Banerjee defeat Victor Lilov to wins Wimbledon Junior Men’s title

•Indian-American Samir Banerjee has won the Wimbledon Junior Men`s title at Number 1 Court. He defeated Victor Lilov of America by 7-5, 6-3 in the Junior Men`s finals to lift the trophy at All England Club.

•For the first time since 2014, and only the second time since 1977, there was an all-American conclusion to the boys` singles event. Notably, both 17-year-olds were unseeded for The Championships.

Bangladesh all-rounder cricketer Mahmudullah announced retirement from Test cricket

•Bangladesh cricketer Mahmudullah Riyad has announced his retirement from Test cricket in the middle of Bangladesh’s one-off Test match against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club. Mahmudullah made his Test debut in 2009 during Bangladesh’s tour of the West Indies.

•The right-handed batsman in 50 matches and 94 innings has scored 2914 runs at an average of 33.49. The 150 not out in the ongoing Test against Zimbabwe is his career-best figure and has five centuries and 16 half-centuries under his belt.

OBITUARY

Veteran Indian Ayurveda practitioner, Dr P K Warrier passed away

•Veteran Indian Ayurveda practitioner, Dr P.K. Warrier, who was the most respected name in Ayurveda across the world, has passed away. He was 100. He was the chief Physician and Managing trustee of Arya Vaidya Sala, a healthcare centre located in Kottakkal, Kerala, and known for its heritage and expertise in Ayurveda.

•The doyen of Ayurveda, Dr Warrier, was honoured with the Padma Shree in 1999 and Padma Bhushan in 2010. His autobiography titled Smrithiparvam won the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award in 2009.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

Twitter appointed Vinay Prakash as resident grievance officer for India

•Twitter has named Vinay Prakash as the Resident Grievance Officer (RGO) for India, as per the information updated on its website. Users can contact Vinay Prakash using an email ID listed on the page. Earlier the US-based company had announced the appointment of California-based Jeremy Kessel as the new Grievance Officer for India.

•However, as per the new IT rules in India, social media platforms with over 50 lakh users are mandated to appoint three key personnel namely chief compliance officer, nodal officer and grievance officer, and all these three personnel have to be residents in India.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Hyderabad’s Syed Osman Azhar Maqsusi won Commonwealth Points of Light award

•Hyderabad’s hunger activist Syed Osman Azhar Maqsusi, who has been feeding thousands of people every day as part of his food drive ‘Hunger Has No Religion’ was awarded a top UK award recently.

•In order to honour Maqsusi’s efforts, he was conferred with the Commonwealth Points of Light award for his drive that helps to feed 1,500 people on a daily basis. The award is for those ‘outstanding individuals who are making a change in their community.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

‘The Ramayana of Shri Guru Gobind Singh’ written by Baljit Kaur Tulsi

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received the first copy of “The Ramayana of Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji” which is written by the late Baljit Kaur Tulsi—the mother of noted lawyer KTS Tulsi.

•The book is published by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts. Apart from this, the Prime Minister also shared the audio of the Gurbani Shabad recital by KTS Tulsi, the sitting Rajya Sabha MP of Congress from Chhattisgarh.