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CLAT 2021 21 Year Experienced Team

commonly known nickname of "Natasha."
f The World Health Organization has classified a coronavirus variant found in India as a global “variant of
concern”. This variant has been named B.1.617. According to World Health Organization, this variant is
already spread to more than 30 countries. It is more transmissible than other variants. This variant is also
called the “double mutant variant”. It was 1st identified by the United Kingdom health authorities.
f China successfully achieved the feat of landing its first Mars Rover 'Zhu Rong' on the red planet, on May
15, 2021, becoming the only second nation to do so. Till date, only the United States has successfully
landed its rover on Mars. All other countries that have tried have either crashed or lost contact soon after
reaching the surface.
f The former speaker of Tibet's parliament-in-exile, Penpa Tsering, has been elected the new president of
the exile government.

f Moctar Ouane is reappointed as Prime Minister of Mali. He was appointed as Prime Minister of the
caretaker government in August 2020 after the removal of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Ouane will have to
form a new government with room for the political class, under the instructions of President Bah N'Daw.

f China has successfully sent a new oceanmonitoring satellite into orbit as part of its effort to build an all-
weather and round-the-clock dynamic ocean environment monitoring system that would provide early
warning on marine disasters. The satellite was launched by a Long March-4B rocket carrying the Haiyang-
2D (HY-2D) satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China.

f Martha Karambu Koome is Kenya's first woman chief justice. She is the first woman to head any of the
three branches of government. Koome, 61, a calm but staunch women's rights crusader, takes over the
judiciary ahead of next year's general elections and would likely play a decisive role in adjudicating any
eventual election disputes.

f The United Kingdom has become the first country to announce regulation for the use of self-driving
vehicles at low speeds. The UK wants to be at the forefront in rolling out autonomous driving technology.
The Government of the UK forecasts that around 40% of UK cars will have self-driving capabilities by
2035. The United Kingdom will develop an advanced international pathogen surveillance network to
identify Covid-19 variants and emerging diseases. This Global Pandemic Radar will ensure the early
detection of new variants and emerging pathogens, so vaccines and treatments needed to stop them can
be rapidly developed. Prime minister Boris Johnson announced the plans, ahead of the Global Health
Summit hosted by Italy and the European Union (EU).
f The International Monetary Fund has proposed a $50 billion global vaccination plan that would cover at
least 40 per cent of the global population by the end of 2021 and at least 60 per cent by the first half of
2022. The vaccination target requires additional upfront grants to Covax, donating surplus doses and free
cross-border flows of raw materials and finished vaccines.
f The President of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso has appointed Anatole Collinet Makosso as
the country's Prime Minister. He replaced Clement Mouamba, in-office since 2016. Before this
appointment, Makosso was the education minister of the Central African country. He was also minister of
youth and civic instruction from 2011 to 2016.
f Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed David Barnea as the new head of the country's spy
agency, the Mossad. Barnea, a former longtime Mossad operative, will succeed Yossi Cohen as head of
Israel's intelligence agency on June 1. Cohen has served as Israel's spymaster since taking office in 2016.
f Guillermo Lasso, a conservative, assumed the presidency of Ecuador and has become the first right-wing

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