Here is the GK update of 05th April 2021 to help you prepare the Current affairs part. After reading this section, you can successfully attempt Current Affairs Quiz.
1. IIT Kanpur develops touch-sensitive watch for the visually impaired
A professor and a research associate at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, (IIT-K) have developed a novel touch-sensitive watch for the use of visually impaired people to sense time accurately.
The watch was developed by prof Siddhartha Panda and Vishwaraj Srivastava of IIT Kanpur.
The watch we have developed is a haptic watch with a tactile interface that makes it easy for visually impaired people to read the time easily.
The watch has tactile hour indicators of different shapes that make it easy for visually impaired people to recognise them.
The user has to touch and scan the touch-sensitive watch’s hour indicators and with the help of different vibration patterns, the watch communicates back the time information that is easily perceived by the user. This way, the person is able to read the time.
2. International Day of Conscience: 5 April
The United Nations declares April 5 as International Day of Conscience. This day serves to remind people to self-reflect, follow their conscience, and do the right things.
This Day is observed every year on 5th April and the first International Conscience Day was observed in 2020. So in the current year 2021, the second United Nations (UN) International Day of Conscience celebrations are being held across the world.
This day is celebrated to highlight the importance of conscience and the role of conscience in stopping people from harming others orally, physically, sexually, or mentally.
International Conscience Day is celebrated to highlight that everyone has self-respect and the right to live with peace and security. Anti-humanity acts are defined by scholars on this day and they are condemned so the general public would hate and avoid such acts.
3. International Mine Awareness Day: 4 April
The United Nations’ International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action is celebrated on April 4 each year. On 8 December 2005, the General Assembly declared that 4 April of each year shall be observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. It was first observed on 4 April 2006.
This year, the United Nations will promote mine action by highlighting how “Perseverance, Partnership, and Progress” have carried the sector through this challenging year.
4. A book titled ‘Manohar Parrikar: Brilliant Mind, Simple Life’ by Nitin Gokhale
A new book titled ‘Manohar Parrikar: Brilliant Mind, Simple Life’ authored by Nitin Gokhale was released. The book is published by Bloomsbury. It is an attempt to capture Parrikar’s persona — the man, the politician and the patriot.
Gokhale is a renowned author, media trainer and founder of a specialised defence related website BharatShakti.in. and StratNewsGlobal.com.
Through this book, the author presents the journey of the contribution of Parrikar to nation-building and his service to the Goan society, from being an IIT student to a social worker and to India’s defence minister. The book is a tribute to Parrikar, India’s former defence minister and four-time chief minister of Goa, the first IIT-ian to become a chief minister.
5. Japanese Nobel laureate Isamu Akasaki passes away
Japanese Physicist Isamu Akasaki, a co-winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics, has passed away. Akasaki, a professor at the university, had been recognized for the invention which has contributed to bright and energy-saving white light sources, widely known as LED lamps.
He was honoured in 1997 by the Japanese government with the Medal with Purple Ribbon, an honour bestowed on those who have made contributions to academic and artistic developments.
In 2014, Akasaki, a professor at Meijo University, shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with physicist Hiroshi Amano, a professor at the University of Nagoya, and Japan-born American Shuji Nakamura, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He worked with Amano to produce gallium nitride crystals and succeeded in 1989 in creating the world’s first blue LED.
6. Veteran film and TV actress Shashikala passes away
Veteran film and TV actress Shashikala Om Prakash Saigal passed away. She was more popularly known by her first name, Shashikala has famously appeared as various supporting characters in over 100 films.
Shashikala was honoured with the prestigious Padma Shri by the Indian government for her unparalleled contribution to the world of cinema and arts in 2007.
She was also conferred with the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award at the V. Shantaram Awards in 2009. Apart from this, Shashikala bagged two Filmfare awards for her work in Aarti and Gumrah.
7. Samajwadi Party founder member Bhagwati Singh passes away
Founder member of the Samajwadi Party and former UP minister Bhagwati Singh passed away. He was 89-year-old.
The last rites of Singh will not be done as he had pledged to donate his body to the King George Medical University.
8. J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurates Tulip Festival
In the Kashmir Valley, Tulip Festival in Srinagar was inaugurated by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. Over 15 lakh flowers of more than 64 varieties are in full bloom on the foothills of the Zabarwan Mountains.
The five-day-long Tulip Festival in Asia’s largest tulip garden at the foothills of Zabarwan hills on the banks of world-famous Dal Lake in Srinagar.
The Tulip Garden was opened for tourists and the general public on the 25th of March.
Last year the Tulip Festival could not be held because of the unprecedented situation of COVID-19.
However, this time, the Tulip Festival is being organized on a large scale to attract more and more tourists.
The Tulip Festival, to be held from 3rd to 7th of April, will showcase Kashmiri folk music apart from a painting competition.
