Important Current Affairs 15th April 2021

INTERNATIONAL

3400-year-old ‘Lost golden city of Luxor’ discovered by archaeologists in Egypt

• ‘Lost golden city of Luxor’ discovered by archaeologists in Egypt. The 3400-year-old royal city was built by Amenhotep III, abandoned by his heretic son, Akhenaten, and contains stunningly preserved remains.

• Egyptologist Betsy Bryan has called the discovery ‘the second most important one since the tomb of Tutankhamun’. Akhenaten, who left the ‘golden city’ for a new capital at Amarna, encouraged a startlingly different style of Egyptian art. Here he is shown with his wife, Nefertiti, and three daughters.

NATIONAL

Defence Minister inaugurated IAF Commanders’ Conference 2021 in New Delhi

• 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.

• The conference of apex level leadership is aimed at addressing the issues of IAF’s operational capabilities in the times to come.

• A series of discussions would be conducted over a period of three days to address strategies and policies related to capabilities that would give IAF a significant edge over its adversaries.

• Various welfare and Human Resource measures to improve HR and administrative efficiency will also be discussed. The Conference provides a forum to the senior leadership of the IAF to discuss critical issues pertaining to Operations, Maintenance and Administration.

“To Honour” BR Ambedkar, Indian-American Congressman Introduces Resolution

• In the US House of Representatives, an Indian-American Congressman has introduced a resolution for a second consecutive year to honour Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of India’s Constitution on his 130th birth anniversary.

• Indian-American Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna said “Today, I’m reintroducing my resolution to honour B R Ambedkar, in the hopes that young leaders around the world will read his work and be inspired by his vision for equalitu.”

Maharashtra gets India’s first Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU)

• First Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) of India has arrived at H-Energy’s Jaigarh Terminal in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, on the west coast of India. FSRU based LNG Terminals aim at providing the ability to enhance the pace of natural gas import capability in an environment-friendly and efficient manner”. The port is the first deepwater, 24×7 operational private port in Maharashtra.

• Höegh Giant will deliver regasified LNG to the 56-km long Jaigarh-Dabhol natural gas pipeline, connecting the LNG terminal to the national gas grid. The facility will also deliver LNG through truck loading facilities for onshore distribution, the facility is also capable to reload LNG onto small-scale LNG vessels for bunkering services.

SPORTS

Babar Azam becames No. 1 ODI batsman

• Pakistan captain Babar Azam is now the No.1-ranked ODI batsman, ending India captain Virat Kohli's long reign at the top of the charts. Babar's match-winning 82-ball 94 in the third ODI against South Africa helped him gain 13 rating points to reach career-best 865 points.

• Azam made a total of 228 runs in Pakistan's famous series win against South Africa, including a century in the first match in Centurion. That helped him move ahead of Kohli - who has been No. 1 since displacing AB de Villiers in October 2017 - by a point, but he dropped to 852 after his score of 31 in the second ODI and remained at No. 2 by the time of the last weekly rankings update.

Kane Williamson awarded Sir Richard Hadlee medal

• 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. He had a great test season. He scored 251 against West Indies followed by a century on the boxing day. Williamson’s staggering performance against Pakistan helped New Zealand book a place in the ICC World Test Championship final. He captained the team to 17 wins out of 20 resulting in victory in all 7 series.

• On the other hand, the Women’s team all-rounder Amelia Kerr was also honoured along with the upcoming star Devon Conway at the New Zealand Cricket Awards for the 2020-21 season. Meanwhile, Devon Conway was awarded the Men’s Player of the year award in both ODIs and T20s.

• Whereas the 21-year old Fin Allen was honoured with the Super Smash player of the year award for his staggering strike rate of 193.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has won the ICC Player of the Month award

• 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.

• The 31-year-old Indian took six wickets with an economy rate of 4.65 in the three ODIs while capturing four wickets with a fantastic economy rate of 6.38 in the five T20Is to emerge as the standout bowler on either side in the white ball series.

OBITUARY

Eminent Historian Yogesh Praveen passed away

• 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. The titles of his books like ‘Dastan-e-Avadh’, ‘Tajdare-Avadh’, ‘Bahar-e-Avadh’, ‘Gulistan-e-Avadh’, ‘Doobta Avadh’, ‘Dastan-e-Luknow’ and ‘Aapka Lucknow’ tell a long-lasting affair he had with the city.

Hockey Player Balbir Singh Junior passed away

• Balbir Singh Junior, who was a member of the silver medal-winning 1958 Asian Games Indian hockey team passed away.

• In 1962, he joined the Army as an emergency commissioned officer. He played for the Services hockey team in the national tournaments at Delhi. Singh retired as a Major in 1984 and later settled in Chandigarh.

APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

Siddharth Longjam take over as the National Anti-Doping Agency’s Director-General

• 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.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Spanish city of Seville will host the 22nd Laureus World Sports Awards in a virtual ceremony

• The Spanish city of Seville will host the 22nd Laureus World Sports Awards in a virtual ceremony owing to the raging C-19 pandemic. The awards show, featuring presentations and related news stories will be available to the world’s media and broadcast extensively on Laureus social media platforms. The winners of Laureus World Sports Awards are selected by a jury comprising 69 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy. The last was in Barcelona in 2007, which is a long time.

• Among the many big names who have had a year to remember and who will be in contention for the awards are Rafael Nadal, Lewis Hamilton, LeBron James, Robert Lewandowski (Sportsman), Naomi Osaka, Federica Brignone (Sportswoman).