• Every year, the International Nurses Day is celebrated on May 12. The birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale is celebrated as the International Nurses Day. The day is celebrated to mark the contributions made by the nurses to the society.
• This year, in 2021, the International Nurses Day is celebrated under the following theme: ‘Nurses as a Voice to Lead, a vision for future healthcare’.

About International Nurses Day

• The International Nurses Day has been celebrated by the International Council of Nurses since 1965. Every year, on International Nurses Day, the International Council of Nurses distributes educational and public information materials to be used by nurses everywhere.

• Every year, India celebrates National Technology Day on May 11. This year, the National Technology Day is being celebrated under the theme: Science and Technology for a Sustainable Future.
• The Ministry of Science and Technology organises several events across the country to celebrate the day.

Why is National Technology Day celebrated in India?

The National Technology Day is celebrated in India for two reasons namely:

• To mark the anniversary of Pokhran Nuclear tests that was conducted in 1998.
• To highlight the importance of technological advancements for the country

• SpaceX is to launch DOGE-1, a satellite that is completely funded with crypto currency. Days earlier Musk did mention about DOGE crypto currencies in a TV show he was hosting.

About DOGE-1

• It is the first ever commercial payload to be paid with Dogecoin.
• The satellite weighs 40 kilograms.
• The satellite is to be launched in 2022.
• The DOGE-1 is a payload of Geometric Energy Corporation. The company is to obtain lunar spatial intelligence from cameras and sensors with integrated computational and communication systems.
• DOGE-1 is to be launched in Falcon 9.

• The Laureus World Sports Awards, 2021 was held in Seville. The awards are presented to honour individuals and teams who have achieved in sports throughout the year. It was established in 1999 by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. It is supported by Mitsubishi, Mercedes Benz. The first Laureus World Sports Awards was presented in 2000.

About the awards:

• As of 2020, the awards are presented in eight categories. Roger Federer, a Swiss Tennis player holds the record for the most of the awards. He has won six “Sportsman of the Year” awards and one comeback of the year award.
• The winners are presented with a statue of Laureus. It is created by the Cartier. The Cartier is the French Luxury Goods manufacturer. It manufactures watches, jewellery. It was founded in 1847.
• Laureus means “Laurel”. Laurel is a Greek word.
• In 2020, Sachin Tendulkar won Laureus World Sports Award for Laureus Sporting Moment 2000-2020.

Laureus World Sports Awards 2021

In 2021, the following Laureus World Sports Awards were presented:

• Naomi Osaka (tennis, Japan) won the Sportswoman of the Year
• Rafael Nadal (tennis, Spain) won the Sportsman of the Year
• Billie Jean King (tennis, USA) won the Lifetime Achievement
• FC Bayern (football, Germany) won the Team of the Year
• Patrick Mahomes (American Football, USA) won the Breakthrough of the Year
• Max Parrot (Snowboarding, Canada) won the World Comeback of the Year
• Kickformore by Kickfair (football, German) won the Sport for Good
• Mo Salah (football, Liverpool & Egypt) won the Sporting Inspiration Award
• Lewis Hamilton (Formula One, Mercedes & UK) won the Athlete Advocate of the Year

This year the Laureus World sports Award for Action Sports person of the year was not awarded

Why in News?

• Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung has erupted releasing a massive column of volcanic ash and smoke up to 3,000 metres (3 km) into the sky.

Key Facts:

About Mount Sinabung:

• Mount Sinabung is located in North Sumatra in Indonesia. It is among more than 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. (Indonesia is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific’s Ring of Fire).

Why in News?

• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has released a report titled “Nature in a Globalised World: Conflict and Conservation”.

 About the Nature in a Globalised World Report:

• The report focuses on complex relationships between nature and armed conflict.
• Objective: To bring nature conservation into the mainstream of economic and political decision-making.

Why in news?

• NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission will depart from asteroid Bennu and start its two-year-long journey back to Earth.

OSIRIS-REx Mission:

• OSIRIS-REx stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer.
• The mission was launched in 2016. It was the first U.S. mission to successfully collect a sample from an asteroid.
• Aim: To travel to a near-Earth asteroid named Bennu and bring a small sample back to Earth for study.

Asteroid Bennu:

• Asteroid Bennu is named after an Egyptian deity. It is as tall as the Empire State Building. It is located about 200 million miles away from the Earth.
• The asteroid was discovered by a team from the NASA-funded Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research team in 1999.

Why in News:

A number of Covid-19 patients are developing a serious fungal infection known as Mucormycosis also called black fungus.

Key facts:

• It is a serious but rare fungal infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes, which is abundant in the environment.
• It mainly affects people who have health problems or take medicines that lower the body’s ability to fight germs and sickness.
• The types of Mucormycosis are: Rhinocerebral (Sinus and Brain), Pulmonary (Lung), Gastrointestinal, Cutaneous (Skin), and disseminated Mucormycosis.

Transmission:

• It occurs through inhalation, inoculation, or ingestion of spores from the environment.
• Mucormycosis does not spread between people or between people and animals.

Symptoms:

• These include pain and redness around eyes and/or nose, fever, headache, coughing, shortness of breath, bloody vomits, and altered mental status.
• Warning signs can include toothache, loosening of teeth, blurred or double vision with pain.

Prevention:

Avoiding areas with a lot of dust like construction or excavation sites, avoiding direct contact with water-damaged buildings and flood water after hurricanes and natural disasters and avoiding activities that involve close contact to soil.

Why in News:

The Prime Minister paid tribute to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore on 160^th Jayanti on 7th May, 2021.

Key facts:

Birth:He was born in Calcutta on 7th May 1861.

About:

• He was also referred to as ‘Gurudev’, ‘Kabiguru’, and ‘Biswakabi’
• Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, novelist, and painter, who was highly influential in introducing Indian culture to the west.
• He was an exceptional literary figure and a renowned polymath who singlehandedly reshaped the region’s literature and music.
• He was a good friend of Mahatma Gandhi and is said to have given him the title of Mahatma.
• He had spoken at the World Parliament for Religions in the years 1929 and 1937.

Contributions:

• He is said to have composed over 2000 songs and his songs and music are called ‘Rabindra Sangeet’ with its own distinct lyrical and fluid style.
• He is responsible for modernising Bengali prose and poetry. His notable works include Gitanjali, Ghare-Baire, Gora, Manasi, Balaka, Sonar Tori, He is also remembered for his song ‘EklaChalo Re’.
• He published his first poems aged 16 under the pen-name ‘Bhanusimha’.
• He not only gave the national anthems for two countries, India and Bangladesh, but also inspired a Ceylonese student of his, to pen and compose the national anthem of Sri Lanka.
• Besides all his literary achievements he was also a philosopher and educationist who in 1921 established the Vishwa-Bharati University, a university that challenged conventional education.

Awards:

• In 1913 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his work on Gitanjali.
• He was the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize.
• In 1915 he was awarded knighthood by the British King George V. In 1919, following the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre he renounced his Knighthood.

Death:

• He died on 7th August 1941 in Calcutta.

Why in News:

There are cases of clearance of forest land, digging and construction activities on at least three animal corridors within the eco-sensitive zone of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

The Supreme Court of India in its 2019 order had said that “No new construction shall be permitted on private lands which form part of the nine identified animal corridors.”

Key facts:

Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve:

• It is located in the State of Assam and covers 42,996 Hectare (ha).
• It is the single largest undisturbed and representative area in the Brahmaputra Valley floodplain.
• It was declared as a National Park in 1974.
• It has been declared a tiger reserve since 2007.
• It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
• It is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.
• It is the home to the world’s most one-horned rhinos.
• Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary has the highest density of one-horned rhinos in the world and second highest number of Rhinos in Assam after Kaziranga National Park.
• The National Highway 37 passes through the park area.