World Blood Donor Day: 14 June
World Blood Donor Day is celebrated every year on 14 June.
The theme of World Blood Donor Day 2021 is “Give blood and keep the world beating”
Host country of World Blood Donor Day 2021: Rome, Italy
The day was first observed on June 14, 2005 by the World Health Organization in collaboration with the Red Cross Society.
The day is celebrated on this day to commemorate the birthday anniversary of Karl Landsteiner on June 14, 1868.
He is best known for the development and classification of the blood group system, the discovery of the Rhesus factor.
He is also known as the father of transfusion therapy.
DBS Bank wins the title of ‘Best Bank in the World’ in Forbes’ list of World’s Best Banks 2021
Forbes has recently released the third edition of the list of ‘Best Banks in the World’.
DBS Bank ranked No. 1 out of 30 domestic and international banks in India for the second year in a row.
The second bank in this list is Kerala-based CSB Bank, followed by ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.
DBS Bank India was recently awarded the ‘India’s Best International Bank 2021’ award by Asiamoney.
DBS Bank Headquarters- Singapore
CEO- Piyush Gupta
Director & CEO, DBS Bank India- Surojit Shome
Tag line- “Make Banking Joyful”.
K. Nagraj Naidu appointed as the head of the United Nations Bureaucracy
Indian Foreign Service Officer (IFS) K. Nagraj Naidu has been elected to head the United Nations bureaucracy for the next one year.
He has also been appointed ‘chef de cabinet’ by the Foreign Minister of Maldives Abdulla Shahid.
Chef de cabinet is a French word, which means chief assistant or private secretary.
Mongolia’s former prime minister Khuralsukh wins presidential election
Mongolia’s former prime minister, Ukhna Khuralsukh, became the country’s sixth democratically elected president, consolidating the ruling Mongolian People’s Party (MPP)’s power with a resounding victory.
Khuralsukh will replace the incumbent Khaltama Battulga.
Mongolia Capital: Ulaanbaatar
Currency: Mongolian togrog
French defense company Thales appointed Ashish Sarraf as Vice President and Director of the company in India
French defense and aerospace company Thales has announced the appointment of Ashish Sarraf as its Vice President and Country Director for India.
Sarraf will replace “Emmanuel de Rocfeuel” in this position.
National Award winning director Buddhadeb Dasgupta passes away
Famous Bengali film director Buddhadeb Das Gupta passed away.
Dasgupta won 12 National Awards in his lifetime.
Some of these awards are as follows-
National Award for Best Film: Bagh Bahadur (1989), Charchar (1994), Lal Darja (1997), Mondo Meyer Anecdotes (2002) and Kaalpurush (2005)
National Award for Best Screenplay: Phera (1987)
National Film Award for Best Direction – Uttara (2000) and Swapner Din (2005)
Book ‘Home in the World’ by Amartya Sen
Indian economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has written his memoir ‘Home in the World’.
Recently, Amartya Sen has been honored with Spain’s highest award “Princess of Asturias Award” in the field of social sciences.
Amartya Sen was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 and Bharat Ratna in 1999.
In June 2020, Amartya Sen was awarded the German Book Trade Peace Prize 2020.
Rebecca Grinspan becomes first female president of UNCTAD
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has approved the nomination of Costa Rican economist Rebecca Grinspan as the President of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
She will be the first woman and Central American to lead UNCTAD.
Grinspan will replace Isabel Durant.
Establishment of UNCTAD: 30 December 1964
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
BharatPe Signs As ICC Sponsor For Next 2 Years
An agreement has been reached between the digital payment application, Bharat Pay, and the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the next two years.
It will promote ICC across digital and broadcast platforms and carry out in-venue brand activation across all ICC events by 2023.
Establishment of BharatPe- 2018
Headquarters- New Delhi
Chief Executive Officer of BharatPe- Ashneer Grover
International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket Cricket Council (ICC) Founded: 15 June 1909
Headquarters: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
CEO: Manu Sawhney
Naftali Bennett is the new Prime Minister of Israel
Recently, Naftali Bennett, 49-year-old leader of Israel’s right-wing Yamina party, has been sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Israel.
With this the rule of Benjamin Netanyahu, which had been running for the last 12 years, ended.
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, has 120 members, with 60 voting in favor and 59 in opposition.
Capital of Israel: Jerusalem
President: Reuven Rivlin
Currency: Israeli shekel
Pulitzer Prize 2021
The 105th edition of the Pulitzer Prize 2021, a distinguished award given in the field of journalism, was announced.
Darnella Frazier has been specially honored this year with the Pulitzer Prize.
Darnella Frazier recorded the incident in Minnesota during which black-American George Floyd lost his life.
Indian-origin journalists Megha Rajagopalan, Alison Killing and Christo Buschek of Buzzfeed News, New York, received awards in international reporting
List of winners:
| Catagory | Winner |
| public service | The New York Times |
| explanatory reporting | Ed Yong of The Atlantic; Andrew Chung, Lawrence Hurley, Andrea Januta, Jamie Dodell and Reuters’ Jackie Botts |
| local reporting | Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi of the Tampa Bay Times |
| national reporting | Employees of Marshall Project, AL.com, Birmingham; IndyStar, Indianapolis |
| international reporting | Indian-origin journalists Megha Rajagopalan, Alison Killing and Christo Bushcheck of Buzzfeed News, New York |
| feature writing | Nadja Drost, freelance contributor, The California Sunday Magazine; Michelle S. Jackson, Independent Contributor to Runner’s World |
| commentary | Michael Paul Williams of the Richmond Times-Dispatch |
| Criticism | Wesley Morris of The New York Times |
| feature photography | Associated Press’s Emilio Morenati |
Letters, Drama and Music:
| drama | The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall |
| History | Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America Marcia Chatelain |
| novel | The Night Watchman Lewis Erdrich (Harper) |
| Poem | Postcolonial Love Poems by Natalie Diaz (Greywolf Press) |
| General Notification | Wilmington Lie: The Murder’s Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy David Zuchino (Atlantic Monthly Press) |
| music | Stride (Peermusic Classical) by Tania Leone |
Pulitzer Prize: The Pulitzer Prize is awarded for newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and music in the United States.
It was established in 1917.
The award is given in 22 categories.
Each winner is awarded a certificate and a $15,000 prize. The award is named after Joseph Pulitzer, an American news publisher.
