Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 05 September 2021

::National::

New State Animal and State Bird of Ladakh

The Ladakh Union Territory administration, 1 September announced snow leopard as its state animal and black-necked crane as its state bird.
Meanwhile, a notification has been issued by the Principal Secretary of the Union Territory’s Forest, Ecology, and Environment Department on behalf of Lieutenant Governor, PawanKotwal.
"The Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Ladakh is pleased to declare snow leopard (Panther unica) and black-necked crane (Grusnicricollis) as state animal and state bird, respectively, of the union territory of Ladakh from the date of issue of this notification," the statement reads.
This big update comes after the Union Territory parted ways from the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state in 2019. Earlier, the black-necked crane was the state bird of J&K that existed until 5 August, 2019.
According to reports, the black-necked crane is found in eastern Ladakh's high-altitude wetlands and marshes. It is mostly listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. These birds arrive in Ladakh in March for breeding and migrate by October end or early November.
In total, there are about 7,500 snow leopards left in the world, out of which 500 are in India. However, experts state that the population of snow leopards is between 200-300 in Ladakh alone.
Among the many places and forests, the high-altitude cold desert of Ladakh is home to about half of them. Meanwhile, in the Ladakh region, snow leopards prey on marmots, bharal (blue sheep), and ibex. Also, sighting them is very rare.

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::International::

India sends 150 tonnes of medical oxygen supply to Sri Lanka

India sent another about 150 tonnes of oxygen to Sri Lanka to help the island nation fight the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sri Lanka extended its national blockade until September 13 on Friday amid a surge in deaths from COVID-19 and rising pressure on the health care system.
“The lifeline from India to Sri Lanka has nearly 150 tonnes of oxygen from Vizag and Chennai reaching the coast of Colombo,” the Indian High Commission in Colombo tweeted on Saturday.
India has been sending urgent oxygen supplies to Sri Lanka since mid-last month in response to a personal request for assistance from Sri Lankan President MahindaRajapaksa.
In August, the Indian Navy ship Shakti delivered 100 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen to Sri Lanka to support the island nation.
India’s support for Sri Lanka during a pandemic is diverse and needs-based.
From April to May 2020, nearly 26 tons of essential medicines were donated. A US $ 400 million currency swap was offered in July 2020.
According to the Indian High Commission, the first consignment of a vaccine donated by India in January 2021 allowed Sri Lanka to deploy its vaccination program earlier than planned.
Sri Lanka is currently experiencing a surge in infectious diseases.
As of Thursday, more than 9,600 people had died from the coronavirus and the total number of infections was 447,757.

::Economy::

India becomes world's third largest unicorn ecosystem

India has emerged as the third largest startup ecosystem in the world after the US and China and the pace of growth is not showing any signs of slowing down.
Over the last year, India has added three unicorns every month taking the total count to 51, ahead of the UK (32) and Germany (18).
A privately-held startup company valued at over $1 billion is called a unicorn.
The US tops the list with 396 unicorns, while China is at the second spot with 277, showed data from Hurun Research Institute. India’s unicorns are currently worth $168 billion.
Hurun India report said, “India is the third-largest Unicorn ecosystem in the world and the number of Gazelles (starups that will go unicorn in 2 years) and Cheetahs (starups that will go unicorn in 4 years) in India is growing at an exponential pace.
India is now a home to more than 600 million internet users and is expected to have 900 million users by 2025. The adoption of internet in rural areas will further compliment the rise of technology start-ups. Fintech companies operating in mobile payments, insurance, blockchain, stock trading and digital lending will grow further to capitalize the internet penetration.”
The average age of founders in the list was 39 years. Most of the founders of the start-ups featured in Hurun Future Unicorn List graduated/ post-graduated from either IIT Delhi or IIM Ahmedabad.
Eight startups — fintech startup CRED, social media startup ShareChat, wealth management company Groww, messaging platform Gupshup, social commerce startup Meesho and epharmacyPharmEasy — entered the unicorn club in April 2021. In May, Moglix and Zeta turned unicorns, while June saw the entry of BrowserStack. In July, logistics tech startup BlackBuck became a unicorn, followed by Droom and OfBusiness. In August last month, BharatPe followed by the entry of Mindtickle, upGrad and crypto exchange CoinDCX.

::Sports::

130th edition of Durand Cup begins in Calcutta

The 130th edition of the oldest club football tournament in Asia – The Durand Cup, will finally kick off on Sunday featuring the Group A clash between Mohammedan Sporting Club and the Indian Air Force football team. The match is slated for a 4:15 PM kick-off at the Vivekananda YubabharatiKrirangan (VYBK). The curtain-raiser of the tournament will be preceded by an opening ceremony, where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be the chief guest.
Mohammedan SC – the first civilian club to win the Durand Cup in 1940, are the sole flag-bearers of Kolkata football in this year’s tournament.