SPOTLIGHT

Monthly Current Affairs

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RBI - NABARD - SEBI

SPOTLIGHT – APRIL 2021
BY- ANUJ JINDAL
 KEY BENEFITS OF OUR COURSES

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Contents
NATIONAL NEWS ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
STATE NEWS .................................................................................................................................................................. 33
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................................... 42
DEFENCE NEWS.............................................................................................................................................................. 44
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ......................................................................................................................... 48
INTERNATIONAL NEWS .................................................................................................................................................. 55
REPORTS AND INDICES .................................................................................................................................................. 68
BANKING AND ECONOMY .............................................................................................................................................. 91
GDP FORECASTS ........................................................................................................................................................... 130
APPOINTMENTS ........................................................................................................................................................... 133
IMPORTANT DAYS ........................................................................................................................................................ 137
AWARDS....................................................................................................................................................................... 142
SPORTS ......................................................................................................................................................................... 148
MISCELLANEOUS .......................................................................................................................................................... 152
QUESTIONS .................................................................................................................................................................. 156

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 NATIONAL NEWS
1. South Korea’s Defence Minister Suh Wook visited India in March 2021 to conduct meeting
with the Indian Minister of Defence and National Security Advisor.
• First ever, Indo-Korean Friendship Park was inaugurated at the Delhi Cantonment to
strengthen bilateral ties.
• The park celebrates the contributions of India in the Korean War of 1950-53. Total 21
countries participated in this war, under the aegis of the United Nations.
• The park also has a statue of General KS Thimayya, who chaired the Neutral Nations
Repatriation Commission in Korea during the war.
• India and South Korea agreed to jointly produce and export military hardware and to
boost cooperation in the Cyber and Space domains, as part of the overall defence
collaboration.
• Indian paratroopers performed an exercise in Agra in the presence of Suh Wook.

2. 7th annual NATHEALTH summit was organized by the Healthcare Federation of India on
the theme of ‘Indian Health system expansion in post-COVID era’.
• The summit was addressed by Union Health Minister, Harsh Vardhan.

3. India Centre for Migration (ICM) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
have partnered for a joint study on strengthening data-informed and migrant-centred migration
management frameworks in India.
• ICM is a research think tank of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), which was
established on 27 March 2012.

4. “Tribal TB Initiative” has been launched by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare
in line with its goal of a “TB Mukt Bharat”.
• A Guidance Note on Joint Action Plan for Tuberculosis (TB) Elimination, a Special Edition
of Tribal Ministry’s Publication ‘ALEKH’ on TB, and a document on Tribal Tuberculosis (TB)
Initiative was also released.

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 • Over 104 million tribal population lives in India, across 705 tribes, accounting for 8.6% of
the country’s population.
• Initially, the activities of the joint initiative will be focusing on 161 districts across 18
identified States.
• The NIKSHAY Portal of MoHFW and Swasthya Portal of the M/o Tribal Affairs were linked
to help boost data compilation on TB and pave way for efficient and convergent actions.

5. Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog has launched AIM-PRIME (Program for
Researchers on Innovations, Market-Readiness & Entrepreneurship), an initiative to promote
and support science-based deep-tech start-ups & ventures across India.
• AIM has also partnered with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to launch this
nationwide program which will be implemented by Venture Center - a non-profit technology
business incubator.
• The program will develop deep tech ideas and promote research in this field.
• AIM-PRIME program will provide practical insights and mentoring from experts and mentors
who have been nurturing science-based deep-tech startups in global innovation hotspots as
well as in India.

6. Union Cabinet has approved the Production-Linked Incentive Scheme for the food
processing industry with an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore.
• Expected employment generation - 2.5 lakh by 2026-27
• The first component relates to incentivising manufacturing of four major food product
segments viz. Ready to Cook/ Ready to Eat (RTC/ RTE) foods, Processed Fruits &
Vegetables, Marine Products, Mozzarella Cheese.
• Innovative/ Organic products of SMEs including Free Range -Eggs, Poultry Meat, Egg
Products in these segments are also covered under above component.
• This scheme will be helpful in the expansion of capacity for generating processed food
output of Rs 33,494 crore.
• The selected applicants for the scheme will have to invest in plant and machinery in the
first two years – 2021-2022 and 2022-2023.

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7. External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar will pay an official visit to Tajikistan at the
invitation of Foreign Minister of Tajikistan H.E Mr. Sirojiddin Muhriddin, on March 30-31, 2021.
• External Affairs Minister will attend the 9th Ministerial Conference of Heart of Asia –
Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) on Afghanistan in Dushanbe (Capital of Tajikistan) on 30
March 2021 at the joint invitation of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

8. Ministry of Jal Shakti has decided to use sensor-based IoT devices to effectively monitor
the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in more than six lakh villages.
• For this, the Ministry has collaborated with Tata Community Initiatives Trust (TCIT) and
Tata Trusts.
• All these entities have recently completed pilot projects in several remote villages of five
States i.e. Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Himachal Pradesh.
• A first-of-its-kind comprehensive (source to tap) remote monitoring and control
system in a completely off-grid (using solar and battery only) rural environment was
demonstrated in Sirohi district, Rajasthan.
• JJM envisions creating a Digital Wall and Remote Command & Control Centre for
monitoring and managing supply of prescribed quality water in adequate quantity (55
Litres Per Capita per Day - LPCD) every day through household tap connections across all
rural villages.
• Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) aims to provide tap water connection to every rural household by
2024.

9. Solar Physicists of Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES),

Nanital have developed a new algorithm known as CMEs Identification in Inner Solar
Corona (CIISCO) to detect and track the accelerating solar eruption in the lower corona.
• For this, ARIES collaborated with Royal Observatory of Belgium.
• The research team was led by Mr. Ritesh Patel, Dr. Vaibhav Pant and Prof. Dipankar
Banerjee from ARIES.

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 • This development will be helpful in India’s first solar mission, Aditya-L1, as Aditya will be
observing the inner corona of the sun.
• Aditya L1 is expected to be launched in 2022.

10. TRIFED has launched two competitions, Be the Brand Ambassador of Tribes India and Be
a ‘Friend’ of TRIBES INDIA Contest in association with MyGov.in, the citizen-government
engagement platform.
• These competitions aim to promote tribal craft, culture and lifestyle.
• “Be the Brand Ambassador of Tribes India” is inviting stories featuring any tribal product (s)
from customers across the country.
• “Be A Friend of Tribes India” is the quiz competition. 50 winners of this quiz will be awarded
a Tribes India Gift Voucher.

11. Ministry of Road Transport has announced to create a National Register for Driving
Licenses to remove the duplicate driving licenses.
• While most of the States’ driving licenses are already on the “sarathi” portal of the National
Informatics Centre.
• The register will include separate section to show the names of the people whose driving
licenses were revoked and the register will red-flag them.
• Motor Vehicle Act, 1989 was amended in 2020.

12. Central govt has launched the Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) scheme
in 10 States this year and will be rolled out across the country by March 2022.
• Under the scheme, a 14-digit identification number will be issued to every plot of land in
the country.
• ULPIN is being described as “the Aadhaar for land” - a number that would uniquely
identify every surveyed parcel of land and prevent land fraud, especially in rural India,
where land records are outdated and disputed.
• The land will be identified on the basis of longitude and latitude of the land parcel.

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13. Ministry of labour and Employment has set up three expert committees to review the
existing rules and suggest standards under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working
Conditions (OSH&WC) Code, 2020.
Committees Chairperson Reasons

To review rules under The Factories Act, 1948 to

Expert R. K. Elangovan
make recommendations to incorporate technological
Committee (DG at Directorate progress and system improvements.
for Factories General, Factory Advice
and Dock Dock Workers (Safety, Health Welfare) Regulations
and Labour Institutes
Works 1990 will be reviewed to incorporate the
(DGFASLI), Mumbai)
advancements.

Expert P.L.N. Murthy Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation

Committees of Employment and Conditions of Service) Central

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 for the (VP & Head of Domestic Rules, 1998 will be reviewed to meet the global
Building & Operations at L&T standards.
Other Hydrocarbon)
Construction
Works

D. K. Shami For strengthening fire safety measures.

Expert
Committees (Fire Advisor to the

on Fire Government of India,

Safety Ministry of Home

Affairs)

14. India and the US plan to revamp the India-US strategic energy partnership to focus on new
priorities like low-carbon pathways and accelerating green energy cooperation.
• In 2018, India-US strategic energy partnership was established.
• Both countries agreed to prioritise greater collaboration in cleaner energy sector- biofuels,
CCUS, hydrogen production and carbon sequestration through technology exchange, joint
R&D through Partnership to Advance Clean Energy Research (PACE-R), among other
initiatives.

15. Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health & Family Welfare, Dr
Harsh Vardhan virtually inaugurated event for publicity of the Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research – Promoting Innovations in Individuals, Startups and MSMEs (DSIR-
PRISM) scheme at IIT Delhi.
• PRISM is an initiative of the DSIR aimed at transforming an individual innovator into a
successful technopreneur by promoting, supporting, and funding implementable and
commercially viable innovations created for the society.
• PRISM scheme aims to support individual innovators which will help in achieving the XII
five year plan (2012-2017).

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 • The grant is given in two phases: Phase I and Phase II. The grant amount in Phase I is
around Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 20 lakhs and in Phase II maximum of Rs. 50 lakhs.
• DSIR-PRISM works in synergy with three National Initiatives like Unnat Bharat Abhiyan,
Smart India Hackathon and Rural Technology Action Group (RuTAG).

16. Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) has launched
“Sankalp se Siddhi” - Village and Digital Connect Drive - to activate the Van Dhan Vikas
Kendras in the villages.
• 100 villages in each region and 1500 villages in the country will be covered in the next 100
days.

17. Union Health & Family Welfare Minister approved the “National Policy for Rare Diseases
2021” for prevention and management of rare diseases.
• Around eight health facilities will be designated as Centres of Excellence of rare
diseases. They will focus on prevention and treatment of rare diseases.
• These centres will get a one-time financial support of Rs 5 crores.
• A financial support of Rs 20 lakhs will be given under the Umbrella Scheme of Rastriya
Arogya Nidhi for treatment of rare disease listed in Group 1 in the rare disease policy.

18. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is planning to launch Poshan Abhiyan for
the Elderly to provide nutrition support to the indigent elders, who are not staying in the Old
Age Homes and are victims of severe malnutrition.
• Elderly people will get locally available healthy food material and serving hot-cooked mid-
day meals.
• The Gram Panchayats and Urban Municipalities are the implementing agencies of the
Scheme.
• The funding for the Scheme is from the Senior Citizens Welfare Fund.
• According to the ‘Report of Government of India’s Technical Group on Population
Projection for India and States’ brought out in July, 2020, till the year 2036, population of
senior citizens would be 22.74 crore (14.9%).

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19. Union Cabinet has approved the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for White
Goods (Air Conditioners and LED Lights).
• Total Outlay - Rs. 6,238 Crore for 5 years
• Incentive - 4% to 6% on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India
• This scheme will help in facilitating incremental investments of Rs. 7,920 Crore in this
sector.
• Incremental Production from this scheme - Rs. 1.68 Lakh Crore
• Incremental Exports - Rs. 64,400 Crore in Five Years
• This scheme is expected to generate direct and indirect revenue of Rs. 49,300 Crore.
• It will also create 4 Lakh Jobs in five years.

20. Central government has approved a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for solar
panels, air-conditioner and LED light sectors.
• Name of the scheme - “National Programme on High Efficiency Solar PV Modules”
• Total outlay - Rs 4,500 crore in next five years.

Benefits of the scheme:

• Additional 10,000 MW capacity of integrated solar PV manufacturing plants,

• Direct investment of around Rs.17,200 crore in solar PV manufacturing projects
• Demand of Rs.17,500 crore over 5 years for 'Balance of Materials',
• Direct employment of about 30,000 and Indirect employment of about 1,20,000 persons,
• Import substitution of around Rs.17,500 crore every year, and
• Impetus to Research & Development to achieve higher efficiency in solar PV modules.

21. Atal Innovation Mission has signed a Statement of Intent with Centre for Innovations in
Public Systems (CIPS) for developing a database of innovations in public systems for
improving public services.

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 • Both organizations will promote innovation and entrepreneurship especially in the area of
public systems by using expertise of AIM and CIPS.

22. Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has launched the Integrated Health Information
Platform (IHIP).
• IHIP is the next generation highly refined version of the presently used Integrated Disease
Surveillance Programme (IDSP).
• The platform will track 33 diseases (as compared to the earlier 18 diseases) and to provide
near-real-time data in digital mode.
• The platform will provide data given by Grassroots healthcare workers, Doctors at the PHC,
and Diagnostic labs.
• The platform will also help in geo-tagging of health facilities.

23. E9 Education Ministers Meet was held on the theme of “E9 initiative: Scaling up digital
learning to accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4”.
• E9 Countries include Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria,
and Pakistan.

24. Chief Justice of India (CJI) has launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based portal ‘SUPACE’
– Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Court’s Efficiency – to help the judges in their
legal research.
• It is a tool that collects relevant facts and laws and makes them available to a judge.
• Initially, it will be used by Bombay and Delhi High Courts.

25. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Tribal Affairs have launched the
‘Anamaya’ - the Tribal Health Collaborative.
• This initiative is supported by Piramal Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation (BMGF).

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 • ‘Anamaya’ aims to enhance the health and nutrition status of the tribal communities of
India.
• Abhay Bang Committee had submitted “Tribal Health in India” report to Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare in 2018.

26. Ministry of Commerce & Industry has notified Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021 for
bringing accountability and transparency.
• Copyright regime is governed by the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Copyright Rules, 2013.
• The Copyright Rules, 2013 were last amended in the year 2016.
• Purpose of amendment - To bring the existing rules in parity with other relevant
legislations. To ensure smooth and flawless compliance by adopting electronic means as
primary mode of communication and working.

27. Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) and Ministry of Rural Development have
converged for the Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises
Scheme.
• The scheme was launched for 2020-21 to 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crores.
• MoFPI and Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-
NRLM) of the Ministry of Rural Development agreed to work together on implementation of
PM-FME to support Self Help Group (SHG) entrepreneurs in food processing.

28. Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare has launched Madhukranti portal and Honey
Corners of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED).
• This portal is being developed for online registration to achieve a traceability source of
Honey and other beehive products on a digital platform.
• This will also help in checking the quality and source of adulteration of honey.
• Madhukranti portal is an initiative of National Bee Board under National Beekeeping and
Honey Mission.
• An MoU between National Bee Board and Indian Bank was signed for this project.

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29. Central govt has approved to form a commission under National Programme for Civil
Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB), also known as ‘Mission Karmayogi’, to train civil
servants at all levels.
• The commission is called Capacity Building Commission, which will be chaired by Adil
Zainulbhai (former Quality Council of India chief).
• Ramaswami Balasubramaniam has been appointed as member (HR) and Praveen
Pardeshi as a member (administration) of this commission.
• The commission will also help the Prime Minister's Public Human Resources Council in
approving the annual capacity building plans and will make necessary recommendations,
besides suggesting policy changes required in the areas of HR management and capacity
building.

30. MyGov India and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology have collaborated to
conduct a hackathon to bring finest start-ups and experts in designing and deploying AI
solutions for farmers.
• Hindustan Unilever, Google and MyGov India have come together for this hackathon
which will try to find innovative solutions to conserve freshwater usage and to address
water scarcity problems in India by involving start-ups.

31. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has launched RE-HAB (Reducing
Elephant-Human Attacks using Bees) pilot project in Karnataka.
• Purpose – for installing bee boxes along the periphery of the forest and the villages to
reduce human-elephant conflict.
• These spots are located on the periphery of Nagarahole National Park and Tiger
Reserve, which is a known conflict zone.
• The initiative will increase honey production and farmers’ income.
• Project RE-HAB will be implemented in all states, affected by elephant attacks like West
Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
• This project was launched under the Honey Mission.

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32. India and Seychelles conducted a high level virtual event to inaugurate a range of Indian
projects in Seychelles. Events during the meeting: -
• Joint e-inauguration of the new Magistrates’ Court Building in Seychelles;
• Handing over of a Fast Patrol Vessel to Seychelles Coast Guard;
• Handing over of a 1 MW Solar Power Plant to Seychelles;
• Inauguration of 10 High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs).
• The new Magistrates’ Court Building in the capital city Victoria, is India’s first major civil
infrastructure project in Seychelles built with grant assistance.

33. Central Government has allocated Rs 50,000 crores to the Jal Jeevan Mission for the
financial year 2021-22.

34. 3rd India-Bahrain High Joint Commission meeting was held in New Delhi.
• It was co-chaired by EAM S. Jaishankar and his Bahrain counterpart Dr Abdullatif bin
Rashid Al Zayani.

35. First Meeting of the Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism, Countering Violent
Extremism and De-Radicalisation between India and the Maldives was held in New Delhi.

36. NITI Aayog has launched Poshan Gyan, a national digital repository on health and
nutrition.
• The repository has been launched in partnership with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
and Centre for Social and Behaviour Change, Ashoka University.
• Purpose – to bring behavioural changes to the people’s nutrition and health behaviours in
India.
• Theme of Poshan Gyan for April month - Ante Natal Care
• Poshan Gyan will cover 14 thematic areas of health and nutrition.

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37. Atal Innovation Mission has signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) with Bayer (a global life
science company) for the promotion of science education, advancing digital solutions and agri-
tech to strengthen supply chains as well as healthcare projects.
• Additionally, Bayer will collaborate with AIM to support their current and future programs
and foster innovation & entrepreneurship across the agriculture and healthcare sectors.
• Bayer will mentor school children, inculcate design thinking, problem solving and adaptive
learning skills amongst them and support & adopt mutually agreed schools.

38. Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare has chaired ICMR’s
International Symposium titled ‘One Health in India: Research informing biosafety,
preparedness and response’.
• During the Symposium, the Minister announced the constitution of a high-level steering
committee for Eco Health Initiatives in India.
• Also, ‘National Institute of One Health’ will be set up at Nagpur.
• This committee will have its secretariat hosted at the ICMR, and will also be supported by
the upcoming National Institute of One Health.

39. India observed Tika Utsav from 11 Apr 2021 – 14 Apr 2021 to fast track the vaccination
against Covid-19.
• The Utsav started on 11 April on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and will
continue till the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar on April 14.

40. On the occasion of 34th foundation day, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing
(C-DAC) has announced three new tech solutions to handle the cybersecurity and
supercomputing requirements in the country.
• First – Cyber Security Operation Centre (CSoC) in Thiruvananthapuram to report all
cybersecurity related instances and offer high-level threat detection for enterprises that opt
for this service.

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 • The other two tech solutions - Parallel Development Environment (ParaDE) and the
Automatic Parallelizing Compiler (CAPC) - aim to simplify the task of writing programs for
supercomputing.
o ParaDE is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), which aids in the creation
of parallel apps for supercomputing.
o CPAC can be utilised to convert apps written in sequential programming code into
parallel programming apps.

41. Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has launched a
'National Nursery Portal' to connect nursery operators with consumers.
• The Portal is developed by the National Horticulture Board.
• The portal will help consumers to connect with nurseries and get information about the
availability and prices of quality planting material.

42. Central govt has established 75,532 Health and Wellness Centre under the Ayushman
Bharat mission across the country.
• Target – 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centre by 2022.
• The mission was launched in 2018. Its 3rd anniversary was recently celebrated, during
which HWC portal was launched to provide information about the HWC.
• Nine states (including Punjab) and five UTs were felicitated for operationalizing HWC,
100% against the target for year 2020-21.

43. National Green Tribunal has formed an eight-member National Task Force (NTF) to
monitor remedial steps to improve the status of air quality.
• Chairperson - Secretary of Ministry of Environment and Forests (incumbent - Rameshwar
Prasad Gupta)
• The NTF may coordinate and work in tandem with the Committees already constituted
under National Clean Air Program at National and State levels.

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44. Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India Prof. K VijayRaghavan has launched
the “MANAS” App to promote wellbeing across age groups.
• MANAS which stands for Mental Health and Normalcy Augmentation System was endorsed
as a national program by the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology, and Innovation
Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
• MANAS is a comprehensive, scalable, and national digital wellbeing platform and an app
developed for mental well-being of Indian citizens.
• MANAS App integrates the health and wellness efforts of various government ministries,
scientifically validated indigenous tools with gamified interfaces developed/researched by
various national bodies and research institutions.

45. India and Sri Lanka will conduct joint research on nine projects in the following fields.
• Fields - food technology, plant-based medicines, metrology, space research and
applications, robotics and automation and information and communication technology,
among others

46. National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has launched an Online Grievance
Management Portal – ncsc.negd.in – for submission of complaints about atrocities against
citizens who belong to the Scheduled Castes.
• It was developed in collaboration with the Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space
Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG-N).

47. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the EatSmart Cities Challenge and
Transport 4 All Challenge.
EatSmart Cities Challenge

• The competition will recognize the cities’ efforts in adopting and scaling up various
initiatives under Eat Right India.
• The challenge is open to all Smart Cities, capital cities of States /UTs, and cities with a
population of more than 5 lakh.

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 • The initiative aims to motivate Smart Cities to develop a plan for promoting healthy, safe
and sustainable food environment.
Transport 4 All Challenge

• The initiative has been launched in collaboration with The Institute for Transportation
and Development Policy (ITDP) and aims to bring together cities, citizen groups, and
start-ups to develop solutions that improve public transport.
• The initiative aims to develop digital solutions that will make public transport safe,
affordable, comfortable, and reliable for all.

48. French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, has visited India.
• He participated in the Raisina Dialogue 2021, organized by Observer Research
Foundation and Ministry of External Affairs.
• Theme of the Raisina Dialogue 2021 - “#ViralWorld: Outbreaks, Outliers and Out of
Control”
• Chief Guests - Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda and Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister
of Denmark.
Highlights:

A) France agreed to become a part of Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative.

• Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative is a part of India’s SAGAR.
B) ISRO and CNES signed an agreement to train flight physicians and capsule
communicators at French’s facilities for the Gaganyaan mission.
• Also, India will set up an Astronaut Training Centre at Bangalore with France’s
technical cooperation.
C) MeitY Startup Hub and La French Tech have launched the Indo- French Tech
Program.
• Under this tech program, startup and incubators of both the countries will cooperate to
boost the startup ecosystem.

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 D) Indo-French Accelerator Program was launched to boost cooperation in the field of
innovative technology and help businesses to get international recognition.
E) Karnataka Innovation and Technological Society and Indo-French Chamber of
Commerce and Industry signed an MoU to cooperate in technological front.
• Purpose – to boost innovation and startup ecosystem in Karnataka and France.
F) Union Cabinet was apprised of the signing of MoU between India and France in the field
of renewable energy cooperation. The MoU was signed in January 2021.

49. Ministry of Electronics and IT has launched three initiatives of National Internet Exchange
of India (NIXI), which is a section 8 company under the Companies Act, 2013.
• Initiatives – IP Guru to provide technical assistance to entities which are planning to adopt
IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6); NIXI Academy to train non-technical entities about IPv6;
and NIXI-IP index for internet community to showcase the IPv6 adoption rate in India and
across the world.

50. President Ram Nath Kovind has promulgated the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and
Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021.
• The ordinance dissolves existing appellate authorities under nine acts and transfer their
functions to High Courts.
• This ordinance also amends Section 184 of the Finance Act, 2017.
• Appellate bodies under the following acts will be dissolved: -
o The Cinematograph Act, 1952
o The Trade Marks Act, 1999
o The Copyright Act, 1957
o The Customs Act, 1962
o The Patents Act, 1970
o The Airports Authority of India Act, 1994
o The Control of National Highways (Land and Traffic) Act, 2002
o The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999
o Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001

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 • Chairperson of the search-cum-selection committee of the judges will be Chief Justice
of India or a Judge of Supreme Court appointed by CJI.
• Tenure of the chairperson of the tribunal – 4 years or 70 years of age
• Tenure of the members of the tribunal – 4 years or 67 years of age

51. Ministry of Finance has expanded the scope of the ₹3 lakh crore Emergency Credit Line
Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to include the healthcare segment, apart from the 26 sectors
identified by the Kamath Committee.
• Last month, the government had extended the validity of all ECLGS 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 till
June 30, 2021.
• Now, enterprises in hospitality, travel and tourism, leisure and sporting sectors will also be
covered in this scheme.
• ECLGS 3.0 (launched in 2020) would involve extending credit of up to 40% of total credit
outstanding across all lending institutions as on February 29, 2020.

52. Latest Rural Health Statistics (RHS) 2019-20 has been released by the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare.
• Availability of allopathic doctors and female health workers in rural India has increased
substantially in the last 15 years (between 2005 and 2020).
• Still, there is a severe shortfall of over 76% in terms of specialists like surgeons,
gynaecologists, physicians and paediatricians in community health centres (CHCs).
• Between 2005 and 2020, though availability of specialist doctors in CHCs increased from
3,550 to 4,957, the gap between required and available specialists was 6,110. The total
requirement of specialists is estimated at 13,384.
• Gujarat is facing the highest shortfall, followed by Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal.
• The data also shows that till March 31, 2020, there were 38,595 functional health and
wellness centres in rural India.
o The target under Ayushman Bharat is to set up 1,53,000 health and wellness centres
by 2022.

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 • One sub-centre in India currently caters to an average population of 5,729, a primary health
centre to an average population of 35,730, and community health centre to an average of
1,71,779 people. This is an over -burden on the existing healthcare facilities.
o According to norms, a sub-centre can cater to a maximum of 5,000 people, a primary
health centre to a maximum of 30,000, and a community health centre to a maximum
of 1,20,000 people.

53. Ministry of Rural Development has organized the Gender Samvaad event to generate
greater awareness on gender related interventions under DAY-NRLM across the country and
best practices, with a focus on hearing voices from the states and the field.
• The event is a jointly attempt between the DAY-NRLM and the Initiative for What Works
to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy (IWWAGE).

54. Ministry of Science and Technology has launched “Aahar Kranti” awareness program.
• Aim – to spread awareness about the nutritionally balanced diet replete in local fruits and
vegetables. This mission will also spread awareness about Ayurveda-based nutritional
practises.
• Motto of the mission – Uttam Aahar, Uttar Vichar (meaning Good diet- Good Cognition).

22
 • Implementing Agencies – Vijnana Bharati (Vibha), Global Indian Scientists and
Technocrats Forum along with CSIR’s Pravasi Bharatiya Academic and Scientific Sampark
(Prabhaas) and state / UT govts.
• Chain of training – Teachers will be trained who, in turn, will aware students. Students will
spread awareness among their family members and then society at large will be educated.

55. Union Minister of Education launched “World 1st affordable and long-lasting hygiene
product DuroKea Series”, developed by IIT Hyderabad researchers.
• This next generation DuroKea antimicrobial technology kills 99.99% of germs instantly and
leaves behind the long-lasting protective nanoscale coating up to 35 days till next wash.

56. Ministry of Food Processing Industries has partnered with DAY-NRLM of Ministry of Rural
Development to implement the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food processing
Enterprises (PM-FME) Scheme.
• DAY-NRLM is Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission.
Note: Cover the PM-FME scheme thoroughly.

57. National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has received Euro 68.87 million
(Rs 600 cr.) loan from Deutsche Bank (Germany’s bank).
• This is for the first time that one of the largest European banks in the world is lending to
the NCDC.
• Also, an agreement is signed between the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and
NCDC to boost farmers' linkages with markets.

23
 • The agreement of NCDC with Deutsche Bank and ICC, will lead the farmers and FPO’s to
obtain easier credit and market.

58. The Energy Forum (TEF) and the Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry (FIPI), under the
aegis of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, organised the first of its kind “Hydrogen
Economy- the Indian Dialogue-2021” in a virtual mode.
• Purpose - to discuss emerging hydrogen ecosystems and exploring opportunities for
collaboration, cooperation and coalition.
• This Hydrogen Roundtable comprised of a High-level Ministerial Session, followed by five
Panel Discussions focusing on policy roadmaps and mapping demand and supply of
Hydrogen.
• This high-level roundtable conference was led by Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for
Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel.
Major announcements:

A) India will spend $200 million over the next five to seven years to promote the use of
hydrogen.
B) India and the United States will launch a Hydrogen Task Force under the Strategic
Energy Partnership between the two countries soon.
o The task force will work on technologies to produce hydrogen from renewable energy
and fossil fuel sources.
C) A coalition of energy and industrial firms named India H2 Alliance (IH2A) has come
together for commercializing hydrogen technologies and creating a hydrogen economy.
o This alliance led by Chart Industries and Reliance Industries Ltd.

59. Italy has launched its first ever mega food park project in India involving food processing
facilities at Fanidhar in Mehsana district of Gujarat.
• The pilot project “The Mega Food Park” was launched after the signing of a Letter of
Intent between the ICE Office in Mumbai and Fanidhar Mega Food Park, in Gujarat.
• This is the first Italian-Indian food park project, an initiative in the food-processing field.

24
 • The project, promoted by the Italian Embassy in New Delhi and the ICE Office in
Mumbai, involves the Emilia Romagna Region, SACE, ANIMA (Italian Association
representing companies operating in the metalworking sector) and FederUnacoma (Italian
Agricultural Machinery Federation of Manufacturers).

60. Indian Railways will run 'Oxygen Express' between Vishakhapatnam and Mumbai over the
next few days to transport liquid medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders across the country.

61. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, India and German Federal Ministry of
Environment has signed an agreement for technical cooperation on ‘Cities Combating
Plastic Entering the Marine Environment’ project.
• The project is line with the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban focusing on sustainable solid
waste management and India’s effort to phase out single use plastic by 2022.
• In 2019, India and Germany had signed a Joint Declaration of Intent regarding
cooperation in the field of ‘Prevention of Marine Litter’ signed between India and
Germany.
• The project will be undertaken at the national level, select states (Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and
Andaman & Nicobar Islands) and in the cities of Kanpur, Kochi and Port Blair for a period of
3.5 years.

62. Australia has announced Rs 8.12 crore grant under the Australia-India Indo-Pacific
Oceans Initiative Partnership to support efforts towards a free, open and prosperous Indo-
Pacific.
• Australia is working on the marine ecology pillar of the IPOI with India.
• Under this multi-year grant programme stakeholders will share expertise and resources,
complementing the work under existing regional mechanisms such as ASEAN, the Indian
Ocean Rim Association, and the Pacific Islands Forum.

25
63. Central Govt has extended the Rs 50 lakh insurance coverage scheme for healthcare
workers under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana for one year.
• The scheme was ending on March 24.

64. Union Cabinet has approved an exclusive subsidy policy for urea produced through coal
gasification by Talcher Fertilizers Ltd.
• Benefit – for reducing urea imports to the tune of 12.7 lakh tonne per annum.
• The estimated cost of this first of its kind project in India is about Rs 13,277 crore. Urea
is a widely used fertiliser in India.
• TFL is a joint venture company of four PSUs -- Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers, GAIL
(India), Coal India and Fertilizer Corporation of India, which was incorporated in 2015.

65. Union Cabinet has approved the amendments to the Finance Bill 2021.
• The bill provides 10 year income tax exemption for National Bank for Financing
Infrastructure and Development (NBFID).
• The bill imposes an Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess on Petrol and
Diesel at Rs 2.5 and Rs 4 per litre respectively.
• Around 127 amendments have been approved by the Cabinet in the Finance Bill.
• Union Cabinet has also approved the Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase 2A and 2B.

66. IIT-Kharagpur has successfully commercialised COVIRAP - the novel diagnostic technology
for infectious diseases including Covid-19.
• The product is developed by lead researchers Professor Suman Chakraborty, Dr Arindam
Mondal and their research group.
• It has been licensed for commercialisation to the Rapid Diagnostic Group of Companies,
India and Bramerton Holdings LLC, USA.
• Bramerton Holdings LLC, USA has secured global rights for commercially distributing the
COVIRAP technology in various geographical locations outside Indian subcontinent.

26
67. Central Electricity Authority and CEEW's Centre for Energy Finance (CEEW-CEF) have
launched the India Renewables Dashboard to provide detailed operational information on
renewable energy projects in India.
• The dashboard is supported by the Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation.
• CEEW stands for Council On Energy, Environment and Water.

68. Indian Railways has developed a first-of-its-kind 'form-based codes' for the commercial
development of railway land.
• The form-based codes approach is a set of a comprehensive set of codes, norms, and
guidelines prepared by the nodal organisation to plan station redevelopment and regulating
commercial development of railway land.

69. National Investigation Agency (NIA) has organized a webinar on Misuse of Internet by
Terrorists for BRICS nations.

70. India and US have launched a new high-level “US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda
2030 Partnership” to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
• The partnership will proceed along two main tracks —
o Strategic Clean Energy Partnership, co-chaired by Secretary of Energy Granholm,
and
o Climate Action and Finance Mobilisation Dialogue, co-chaired by Special
Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
• India will achieve 450 GW of renewable power under this partnership with the US.

71. Central govt has announced to extend the benefit of PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for May
and June 2021.
• National Food Security Act, 2013 beneficiaries covered under both categories of NFSA,
namely Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Householders (PHH), will be

27
 provided with an additional quota of free-of-cost food grains (Rice/Wheat) at a scale of 5 Kg
per person per month, over and above their regular monthly entitlements under NFSA.

72. Ministry of Electronics & IT has launched #FOSS4GOV Innovation Challenge to accelerate
adoption of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) In Government.
• This challenge has been launched in collaboration with Omidyar Network India.

73. Priyanka Mohite (mountaineer from Maharashtra) has become the first Indian woman to
scale Mt Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain peak in the world.
• Mohite is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer.
• Mt Annapurna is located in Nepal.

74. Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' has launched the "MyNEP2020"
Platform of National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) Web Portal which will be
operational from April 1 to May 15, 2021.
• The platform seeks to invite suggestions from the stakeholders for preparing a draft for the
development of National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) and National
Mission for Mentoring Program membership (NMM).

75. Ministry of Labour and Employment has flagged off the field work of the two surveys - All
India Surveys on Migrant workers and the All-India Quarterly Establishment based
Employment Survey (AQEES).
• These are two of the five All India Surveys that Labour Bureau is going to conduct this
year.
• Shortly, the remaining three surveys namely All India Surveys on Domestic workers, All
India Survey on Employment generated by professionals and All India Survey on
Employment generated in transport sector will also be launched by Bureau.

76. India and Ireland held bilateral consultations on the UN Security Council issues.

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 • Both countries are members of UNSC for 2021-2022.

77. The task force on Interlinking of Rivers (ILR), chaired by Sriram Vedire, has approved the
proposed Mahandi (Barmul)-Gadavari (Dowlaiswaram) link by ensuring utilisation of the
allocated Godavari waters by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

78. CII Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has launched ‘IGBC Mission on Net Zero’ to
facilitate ‘India achieve net zero carbon emission status by 2050’.
• More than 250 leading organisations in building sector have committed to achieve Net
Zero status for their new and existing buildings.

79. India has built three educational institutions in Nepal's Palpa district.
• Names - Shree Rambha Higher Secondary School, Shree Laxmi Higher Secondary School
and Shree Nava Adarsha Multiple Campus.

80. DRDO has developed SpO2 (Blood Oxygen Saturation) supplemental Oxygen Delivery
System for soldiers posted at extreme high-altitude areas.
• The system is developed by Defence Bio-Engineering & Electro Medical Laboratory
(DEBEL), Bengaluru of DRDO.
• The system delivers supplemental oxygen based on the SpO2 levels.

81. On National Panchayati Raj Day (April 24), PM has distributed e-property cards to around
4.09 lakh beneficiaries under the PM Svamitva Scheme (Survey of villages and mapping with
improvised technology in village areas).
• National Panchayat Awards 2021 were also given by Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
• These awards are given in five categories: -
o Deendayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar
o Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar
o Gram Panchayat Development Plan Award

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 o Child Friendly Gram Panchayat Award
o e- Panchayat Puraskar
• Cash prize – Rs 5 to 50 Lakhs
• Uttar Pradesh won the first prize in the e- Panchayat Puraskar in the Category I,
followed by Assam & Chhattisgarh at the second position, and Odisha & Tamil Nadu at the
third position.
• e- Panchayat Puraskar is given in three categories.

82. India's first Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) of LNG has arrived at H-
Energy's Jaigarh Terminal in Maharashtra.
• The FSRU sailed from Keppel Shipyard, Singapore.
• India aims to increase the share of natural gas in India's energy mix from present 6% to
15% by 2030.

83. A community service centre has been set up to bring all data on board India’s first
dedicated solar space mission, Aditya-L1, to a single web-based interface.
• The service centre is called Aditya-L1 Support Cell.
• It is a joint effort of ISRO and Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences.

30
84. DRDO has developed single crystal blade technology and supplied 60 of such blades to the
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as part of their indigenous helicopter development
programme for helicopter engine application.
• It is part of a programme taken up by the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory
(DMRL), a laboratory of the DRDO.
• Very few countries such as the U.S., the U.K., France and Russia have the capability to
design and manufacture such single crystal components.

85. The foundation stone of the Integrated Solar Dryer and Pyrolysis plant was laid at the CSIR-
Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI), Chennai on the occasion of 74th foundation day
of CLRI on 23rd April 2021.
• The pilot is part of the Indo-German project ‘Pyrasol’ launched to transform urban organic
waste into biochar and energy in smart cities.
• It was awarded to CSIR-CLRI by the Indo-German Science & Technology Centre.
• The project will process Fibrous Organic Waste and Sewage Sludge of Indian smart cities
into hygienic and highly valuable biochar associated with energy recovery, carbon
sequestration and environmental improvement.

86. NITI Aayog has recommended the govt to provide subsidy on loan amount take for purchasing
the electric vehicle in addition to the subsidy under FAME II.
• Some non-financial incentives such as exclusive parking for Electric Vehicles in commercial
complexes, priority lanes for EVs, etc. would be given for EVs.
• Green Zones should be classified within cities only for electric Vehicles. Green corridors
should be created that allow only E-Buses.

87. Computer Aided CME Tracking Software (CACTus) and CMEs Identification in Inner
Solar Corona (CIISCO) software were developed by Ministry of Science & Technology.
• These novel techniques will be used for tracking solar eruptions that disrupt space weather
to be used in India’s first solar mission- Aditya L1.

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88. IIT-Madras has created India’s first 3D printed house.

89. Ministry for Chemicals and Fertilisers, along with UNIDO, organized the National Dialogue
on Manufacturing Excellence and Innovation for Competitiveness and Sustainability of
Chemicals Manufacturing.
• Indian chemicals industry stood at $178 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $304
billion by 2025.
• The demand for chemicals is expected to expand by 9% per annum by 2025.
• UNIDO organised a dialogue under ‘Clean Manufacturing in India’ (Swachh Udyog).

90. India and Russia will establish a "2+2 ministerial dialogue" between foreign and defence
ministers to add further momentum to the bilateral strategic partnership.

91. Border Roads Organization (BRO) is celebrating the 60th anniversary of Project DANTAK
that was launched on April 24, 1961 by the Third King of Bhutan and then Prime Minister
Jawahar Lal Nehru.
• The project was launched to construct motorable roads in Bhutan.

92. Norway has announced a contribution of USD 2.4 million to support medical services for
coronavirus affected people in India.
• The fund will be mobilized through WHO and Indian Red Cross Society.
• New Zealand has also announced to give 1 million NZ dollars (about USD 7,20,365) to
the International Federation of the Red Cross to help India in the Covid-19 situation.
• Canada will also provide $10 million to India for combating the Covid-19 pandemic.

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93. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund has crossed the Rs. 8000 crore mark after receiving 8,665
applications worth Rs. 8,216 crores.
• The largest share of the pie is contributed by Primary Agricultural Credit Societies
(PACS) (58%), agri-entrepreneurs (24%) and individual farmers (13%).
• Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka & Rajasthan are the top
states in receiving applications.

94. Ayushman Bharat Diwas is observed on April 30. Ayushman Bharat Yojana was launched by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, to provide healthcare benefits to crores of Indians who
can't afford proper medical facilities.

95. India is providing the new Muktijoddha Scholarship scheme to 2000 descendants of the
Liberation War fighters of Bangladesh.
• The new scholarship scheme was launched in 2017.
• The scholarship carries an amount of 20,000 Taka for students of Higher Secondary and
50,000 Taka to Undergraduate category students, who are direct descendants of
Muktijoddhas or Liberation War fighters of Bangladesh.
• Originally, the ‘Muktijoddha scholarship scheme’ was started in the year 2006 for the
descendents of Muktijoddhas.

STATE NEWS
1. Jammu and Kashmir Trade Promotion Organization (JKTPO) has signed an MoU with
Trade Promotion Corporation of India (TPCI) to promote the Agro & Food Processing
Sector and Film Tourism Sector.
• This MoU aims to increase the outreach to international markets.
• The MoU was signed during the inauguration of J&K Pavilion at South Asia’s largest
Integrated FB Trade Show – Indus-food 2021, being held at India Exposition Mart, New
Delhi.

33
2. Uttar Pradesh govt organised 'banana festival' in Kushinagar.
• Bananas of Kushinagar are covered under the One District One Product (ODOP)
scheme.

3. Ladakh LG R K Mathur has inaugurated the first Solar Lift Irrigation Scheme of Kargil
Renewable Energy Development Agency (KREDA) at Latoo Village.
• The project is inspired by the Vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for solarising
Ladakh as a model region by making it fully solarised and Carbon Neutral.

4. Chhatrasal Convention Centre has been inaugurated at Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh under
Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism.
• MICE Roadshow – Meet in India show was also inaugurated at the centre.
• MICE stands for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions.

5. Troops from Pune-headquartered Southern Command of the Indian Army have launched
‘Operation Thiruvallur’ in Tamil Nadu for the safe disposal of at least 10 tonnes of
unexploded ordnance collected from the industrial sector in Thiruvallur district.

6. Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru has become the first airport in
south India to have operational parallel runways.

7. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath inaugurated Shaheed Ashfaq Ulla Khan Zoological
Park in Gorakhpur. This is the first zoo in Purvanchal.

8. TRIFED has signed an MoU with the Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu
Administration for implementation of Minimum Support Price for Minor Forest Produce
scheme and Van Dhan Yojana.

34
 • The Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribes and
Other Backward Classes and Minorites Financial and Development Corporation Limited has
been appointed as the State Implementing Agency.
• The Mechanism for Marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) through Minimum Support
Price (MSP) & Development of Value Chain for MFP’ - a scheme of Ministry of Tribal
Affairs - will be implemented in the union territory as part of this MoU.
• The govt is also planning to set up a Van Dhan Vikas Kendra in this Union territory.

9. Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu has inaugurated the state's first formal indigenous
language and knowledge system school in East Kameng district.
• The first-of-its-kind school is called 'Nyubu Nyvgam Yerko' and it is situated at Rang
village near Seppa.

10. Odisha will celebrate its 85th foundation day, also known as ‘Utkal Divas’, on April 1.
• Odisha government has proposed a second biosphere reserve in the southern part of the
state at Mahendragiri, a hill ecosystem having rich biodiversity.
• Similipal Biosphere Reserve is Odisha’s first biosphere reserve.

11. 4th edition of Purvanchal Festival "Maati" was held at India International Centre, New Delhi.
• Purvanchal is a region in Uttar Pradesh.

12. Union Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has virtually flagged off cruise services from
Hazira Port of Surat to Diu to boost the sea tourism in Gujarat.
• Already, RoRo and ROPAX services between South Gujarat and the Saurashtra region of
Gujarat is operational.

13. Maharashtra government has declared an area at Amboli in Western ghats in Sindhudurg
district, as a biodiversity heritage site.

35
 • Recently, CM Uddhav Thackeray’s son Tejas Thackeray, who is a wildlife researcher, and
his team had discovered a new freshwater fish species — Schistura Hiranyakeshi — near
Amboli.
• Schistura Hiranyakeshi is a rare sub-species of Schistura, a freshwater loach.
• The fish was named after the Hiranyakeshi river near Amboli village.

14. Manyamkonda Jatara - an inter-state religious festival in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha - was
held.

15. Rajasthan has become the first state in India to launch farm-based solar power plant
under the Prime Minister’s Kisan Urja Suraksha Evum Utthan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM)
scheme in Jaipur district’s Kotputli tehsil.
• The plant has a provision for production of 17 lakh units of electricity every year.
• The new plant is the first of the 623 farm-based solar power projects selected by the
Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited (RRECL) for generating 722 MW
capacity in the State under the PM Kusum’s first phase.

16. Rajasthan government has also approved the Chief Minister’s District Innovation Fund
Scheme to provide funds to each district for work related to public utility asset creation as per
the local needs.
• In this state-funded scheme, each district will be allocated Rs 1 crore per year.

17. Telangana’s Agriculture Department and Mumbai-based Wadhwani Institute for Artificial
Intelligence (Wadhwani AI) have signed an MoU to help cotton farmers with the help of AI.
• The project will help farmers to detect pests early and take corrective actions.
• The project is supported by Google.
• Indian Institute of Chemical Technology would procure and deploy the traps and lures
free of cost.

36
 • Cotton is the third largest crop cultivated in India after paddy and wheat with 75% of it
grown by small landholding farmers who struggle with uncertainty in yield and income.

18. West Central Railway has become the first fully electrified Indian railways zone.

19. Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha has launched an online portal to facilitate e-
management and monitoring of infrastructure.
• The Jammu and Kashmir Public Works - Online Management, Monitoring and Accounting
System (JKPW-OMMAS), and the two apps — ‘Hamari Sadak’ and ‘Tameer Taraqqi’ —
of Public Works (Roads and Buildings) Department have been developed by the Centre for
Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).

20. Ladakh administration has signed a tripartite MoU with Ladakh Autonomous Hill
Development Council, Leh and Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited for developing a
50 MW solar power project at Taru in Leh district.

21. State’s Assembly Committee on Women Empowerment, chaired by Ampareen Lyngdoh,

has submitted its report to the Meghalaya Government.
• As per this report, 3 out of every 1000 pregnant women in the state are testing positive for
HIV in the state.

22. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $484 million loan to improve transport
connectivity and road maintenance in the Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC)
in Tamil Nadu.
• The CKIC is part of India's East Coast Economic Corridor, which stretches from West
Bengal to Tamil Nadu and connects India to the production networks of Southeast and East
Asia.
• The project will upgrade about 590 km of state highways in the CKIC influence areas.

37
23. Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has released the first instalment of Rs 671.45
crore of Jagananna Vidya Deevena scheme.
• In April 2020, this scheme was launched.
• The scheme aims to reimburse college fees by depositing the fees to the students’ mothers’
account to encourage poor and needy students to enrol in higher education.
• Earlier, the fees was reimbursed in the college account.

24. Udhampur district of the Jammu and Kashmir UT has bagged top position at National level
for implementing Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) during 2020-21.
• Four more districts – Rajouri, Doda, Kathua and Reasi districts – from the Union Territory
have also figured in the list of PMGSY top performing 30 districts in the country.

25. Directorate of Archives and Archaeology of the Goa government has received the India’s
first Advanced Antiquities Management System for storage of antiquities.

38
 • The system that catalogues 83 antiquities at present is aimed at providing quick information
about an antiquity linked to the software, saving storage space and ensuring improved
preservation of the objects of historical significance.

26. Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has approved Rs 50.30 crore for
developing RO-PAX (Roll-on/Roll-off Passenger) jetty project and allied infrastructure on
Dhamra river under the Sagarmala initiative.
• The RO-PAX will connect Kaninali in Bhadrak district and Talachua in Kendrapara district of
Odisha.

27. Goa has become the first state in India to have uniform civil code (UCC).
• Uniform Civil Code means one law governing marriage, divorce, inheritance, and adoption
laws.
• Article 44 in the Constitution of India provides for the Uniform Civil Code in India.

28. Haryana has signed an MoU with World Trade Centre to provide a conclusive environment in
the state for bringing investment through the new modes and operations.
• Purpose - to promote and facilitate trade and investment in Haryana.

29. Andhra Pradesh has launched YSR Zero Interest Crop Loan Scheme under which
• Under the scheme, an amount of ₹128.47 crore was directly credited into the bank accounts
of the 6.27 lakh farmers who had availed themselves of crop loan of up to ₹1 lakh during
the 2019-20 rabi season and repaid the amount within stipulated time.

30. Chandigarh has released first-of-its-kind draft cycling policy.

• It is for the first time that a city has drafted a cycling policy in India. The policy has been
drafted by the Chandigarh Smart City Limited.

31. Jharkhand observed the “Health Safety Week” to break the chain of COVID-19 infection.

39
 • People have been advised to stay home and not to move out without necessary work.

32. Haryana Government has launched the “Haryana Covid Emergency Loan Scheme” for
new and old entrepreneurs supplying medicines, oxygen and other medical facilities to Covid-
19 patients.
• This scheme aims to ensure uninterrupted flow of vital medical supplies to fight the Covid-
19 pandemic in the State.
• Budget of the scheme – Rs 500 crores
• Under this scheme, a guarantee will be provided to entrepreneurs for additional production
for six months, for which contract rates will also be fixed.
• In addition, the interest on the loan taken by the bank will be borne by the State
Government for one year.
• The Haryana government has also approved “HARIHAR” (Homeless Abandoned and
Surrendered Children Rehabilitation Initiative Haryana) policy.
• Purpose - for providing employment, educational and financial benefits to abandoned and
surrendered children (aged 18 years).
• These children must have been abandoned before the age of 5 years or surrendered before
the age of 1 year.

33. 37th Siachen Day is observed on 13th April by India.

• On April 13 1984, India hoisted tricolour at world's highest battlefield. Siachen glacier in
Kashmir is considered the most challenging battlefield due to extreme terrain.

34. Andhra Pradesh has signed an MoU with Microsoft for imparting digital skills to 1.62 lakh
students and unemployed youth across 300 plus colleges and skill development centres in the
state.
• This is the first of its kind MoU by the state to cover all graduates.

40
35. Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam has signed a first of its kind power purchase agreement with
Coal India.
• Coal India will sell 100 MW solar power to GUVNL.
• The tenure of the agreement period is for 25 years.
• It is the first time the world’s largest coal producing company is stepping into solar power.
• Coal India has rolled out a plan for 3,000 MW of solar power generation by 2024.

36. Indian Army has initiated the Ladakh Ignited Minds: A Centre of Excellence and Wellness
project to provide better educational opportunities for Ladakhi students.
• Partner in this project - Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL)
• Implementing agency - National Integrity and Educational Development Organization
(NIEDO)
• On behalf of Indian Army, Fire and Fury Corps has signed MoU with HPCL and NIEDO for
this project.
• The project will provide better training facilities to disadvantaged Ladakhi students to give
them opportunity to study in niche educational institutes.

37. Poyla Boishakh (aka Nabo Barsho) festival is celebrated in West Bengal and Tripura on 15
April.
• This is the Bengali new year.

38. Punjab cabinet has increased the amount of benefit under the Aashirwaad scheme from Rs
21,000 to Rs 51,000 per beneficiary.
• Aashirwaad scheme provides financial support for the marriage of women of low income
class families.
• This increase will cost Rs 180 crores to the state govt.
• The benefit per family is limited to only two girls in a family.

41
 • Eligible beneficiaries – Muslims girls of 18 years or above age, along with Scheduled
Caste, Christian, Backward Class/Caste, Economically Weaker Section families, and
daughters of widows of any caste.
• Annual Income should not be more that Rs 32,790.

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

1. According to India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) long-range forecast, Monsoon in
2021 is likely to be “normal” at around 98% of the long period average (LPA).
• The LPA is the average rainfall recorded during 1961 to 2010 which is 88cm.
• IMD considers rainfall between 96% to 104% of LPA to be in “normal” range.
• The 2020 and 2019 monsoon was “above normal” at 110% and 109% of LPA respectively.
• Private weather forecasting company Skymet Weather has forecasted that Monsoon is
likely to be “normal” or “above normal” for the third consecutive year in 2021.
• According to Skymet, monsoon rain from June to September is likely to be 103% of the long
period average of 880.6mm.

2. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare has announced to bring 9 million tonnes of
land under mustard cultivation to increase mustard production to 17 million tonnes by 2025-
26.
• It was announced at the ‘Mission Mustard 2025’ webinar, organised by Solvent Extractors’
Association (SEA).
• The average normal area for five years from 2014-15 to 2018-19 was 5.9 million hectares
and the production was around 7.7 mt.
• For 2021-22, the government is targeting an area of 7.58 million hectares with a production
of 12.24 mt.
• The Government has targeted 368 districts in 13 States for mustard cultivation.

42
3. According to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development
Authority (APEDA), India's export of processed food products grew by 26.51% during
April-February 2020-21 to Rs 43,798 crore.
• Value added products such as processed vegetables and alcoholic beverages have
witnessed a growth of more than 40% in April-February 2020-21.
• There is an increase in demand of pulses, processed fruits and vegetables, and cereals
preparations in markets like the Middle East, Far East, US and UK.

4. Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has released the second advance estimates of
production of principal crops for year 2020-21.
• This time, it is a record Food grain production of 303.34 million tonnes. It is higher by
24.47 million tonnes than the average production of last 5 years.
• The cumulative rainfall during this year’s southwest monsoon season up to 30th
September, 2020 has been 9% higher than Long Period Average (LPA).
Crops Production Increment from the last 5 years’
average (2015-16 to 2019-20)

Food grains – 303.34 million tonnes. (record) 24.47 million tonnes

Rice – 120.32 million tonnes. (record) 7.88 million tonnes

Wheat – 109.24 million tonnes. (record) 8.81 million tonnes

Nutri / Coarse 49.36 million tonnes. 5.35 million tonnes

Cereals –

Maize – 30.16 million tonnes. (record) -

Pulses – 24.42 million tonnes. 2.43 million tonnes

Tur – 3.88 million tonnes. -

Gram – 11.62 million tonnes. (record) -

Oilseeds – 37.31 million tonnes. 6.77 million tonnes

Groundnut – 10.15 million tonnes (record) -

43
 Soyabean – 13.71 million tonnes -

Rapeseed and 10.43 million tonnes (record) -

Mustard –

Sugarcane – 397.66 million tonnes 35.59 million tonnes

Cotton – 36.54 million bales (of 170 kg each) 4.65 million bales

Jute & Mesta – 9.78 million bales (of 180 kg each) -

5. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare has announced that about 14,491 hectare (ha)
area in Andaman and Nicobar has been certified as organic.
• This is the first large contiguous territory to be done under a government scheme.
• After Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands, Lakshadweep and Ladakh are working for the
transformation of their traditional organic areas to certified organic.
• The organic certification has been given under the Large Area Certification (LAC)
Scheme of the PGS-India (Participatory Guarantee System) certification programme.

DEFENCE NEWS
1. India and Kyrgyzstan special forces conducted exercise Khanjar at the Special Forces
Brigade of National Guards of Kyrgyz Republic in Bishkek.
• The exercise was initiated first in 2011. It is a two-week-long exercise that focusses on
high-altitude, mountains and counter-extremism.

2. Cochin Shipyard Ltd. has delivered MV 'Sindhu'- a 500 pax passengers cum 150 MT Cargo
Vessel built indigenously for Andaman and Nicobar.

3. India and the US have conducted the 11th edition of the exercise 'Vajra Prahar' at Bakloh in
Himachal Pradesh.

44
4. Indian Navy Air Squadron (INAS) 310, popularly called as ‘Cobra’ have celebrated their 60th
anniversary.

5. Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) has delivered Akash Missiles to Indian Army.
• The Akash Weapon System, designed and developed by DRDO with 96% indigenous
content, is being manufactured by BDL at its Hyderabad Unit.
• Akash Missile has the capability to engage aerial threats up to the maximum range of 25
km and up to an altitude of 20 km, operating at a speed range of 1.8 to 2.5 Mach.

6. DRDO has developed a lightweight Bullet-Proof Jacket, weighing around 9 kg for the Indian
Army.

7. DRDO has developed an Advanced Chaff Technology to safeguard naval ships against
missile attack.
• Chaff is a passive expendable electronic countermeasure technology used worldwide to
protect naval ships from enemy’s radar and Radio Frequency (RF) missile seekers.
• Defence Laboratory Jodhpur (a DRDO laboratory) has indigenously developed three
variants of this critical technology — Short Range Chaff Rocket, Medium Range Chaff
Rocket and Long Range Chaff Rocket — meeting Indian Navy’s qualitative requirements.
• All the three variants were tested in the Arabian Sea on Indian Naval Ship.

8. DRDO has allowed private sector firms to both develop and produce missile systems to
promote the domestic defence industry.
• Under the Development cum Production Partner (DCPP) programme, DRDO has
allowed the private sector to co-develop missile systems with it and then also produce
them.
• Missile systems such as vertical launched surface to air missile systems programme,
Vertically-launched Short-range Surface to Air Missile system (VL-SRSAM) project etc. will
be developed.

45
 • DRDO has also helped private sector industry including Tata and Baba Kalyani industries
to develop the ATAGS howitzer for the use of Indian Army.

9. US Navy has carried out a freedom of navigation operation in the Indian waters near
Lakshadweep Islands without India’s consent.
• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea governs the law and order in relation
to the use of oceans / seas and their resources.
• The Convention was opened for signature on 10 December 1982 in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
It entered into force in 1994.

10. India will receive the first regimental set of S-400 Triumf SA-21 Growler Air Defence System
from Russia later this year.
• For this, both countries signed a $ 5.43 billion contract for procurement of five S-400
systems.
• The delivery is expected to be completed ahead of 2025.
• This system which has four different types of missiles with ranges between 40 km, 100 km,
200-km and 400 km can be can also be deployed in a very short time.

11. INS Sarvekshak, a hydrographic survey ship, has been deployed in Mauritius for undertaking
joint hydrographic surveys.
• The ship visited Port Louis, Mauritius and commenced the hydrographic survey of ‘Deep
sea area off Port Louis’.

12. Indian Air Force Commanders’ Conference 2021 was held at Air headquarters in New Delhi
on the theme of ‘Reorienting for the Future’.

13. Indian Army chief General MM Naravane attended the Army Chiefs' Conclave held in Dhaka,
on the side lines of a multinational military exercise.

46
 • Shantir Ogroshena (Frontrunners of Peace) 2021 exercise was held at Bangabandhu
Senanibas to commemorate the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
and 50th independence year of Bangladesh.
• Indian Army, Royal Bhutan Army, Sri Lankan Army and Bangladesh Army participated in
the exercise.
• Military observers from the US, UK, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Singapore also
attended the exercise.

14. Indian Naval Air Squadron 323 (INAS 323), Indian Navy’s first unit of the indigenously-built
Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Mk III, was commissioned at INS Hansa, Goa.
• Commander Samik Nundy is the commissioning Commanding Officer of INAS 323.
• The ALHs are designed and developed by the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

15. Ashok Leyland (a part of the Hinduja Group) has delivered the first batch of its light
bulletproof vehicles to the Indian Air Force.
• Ashok Leyland is the largest supplier of logistics vehicles to the Indian Army.
• These vehicles have been developed under Transfer of Technology model from Lockheed
Martin to Ashok Leyland and are completely indigenised and developed in this country.

16. Indian Army is launching a major skiing expedition from the crucial Karakoram Pass in
Ladakh to Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand.
• This skiing expedition is called ‘ARMEX-21’.

17. 3rd Joint Logistics Node (JLN) of Indian Armed Forces has been operationalised at Mumbai.

18. DRDO has added the 5th generation Python-5 Air-to-Air Missile (AAM) to its air-to-air
weapons capability.
• The Python-5 was added on the India's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas.
• The missiles were test fired in Goa and achieved 100%.

47
19. India and French Navies conducted the 19th edition of Varuna exercise in the western
Arabian Sea.
• French Navy aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle participated in the exercise.
• Indo-French naval cooperation started in 1983.
• Earlier this month, the Indian Navy took part for the first time in the France-led naval
exercise “La Pérouse" with the navies of the US, Australia and Japan.
• Japan has announced to hold a joint military drill with U.S. and French troops in the
country’s southwest in May.
• This exercise will be the first large-scale exercise in Japan involving ground troops from
all three countries.

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
1. FICCI has signed an MoU with IFSCA for development of Gujarat International Finance Tec-
City (‘GIFT’) IFSC as a world class FinTech Hub.

2. PM Narendra Modi visited Bangladesh on the occasion of Golden Jubilee of the

Independence of Bangladesh and 100th anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
• Mr Modi arrived in Dhaka for a two-day visit on 26 March, Bangladesh's independence
day. It also coincided with the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's
founder and father of the current prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.
• Both nations signed five MoU:-
o 1st – for cooperation in disaster management, mitigation, and resilience.
o 2nd – for cooperation between National Cadet Corps of India and Bangladesh’s
National Cadet Corps.
o 3rd – for cooperating on trade remedial measures.
o 4th – for supplying ICT equipment and providing training

48
 o 5th – for establishing sports facilities at Rajshahi College Field, Bangladesh and
surrounding areas
• India extended a line of credit of $ 1 billion for establishing the transmission lines of
Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (first nuclear power plant of Bangladesh, being built with
Indian assistance).
o In 2018, India, Russia, and Bangladesh entered into a contract for constructing the
Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.
o Hindustan Construction Company Ltd got the contract for construction of
Rooppur.
• India and Bangladesh have decided to celebrate 6th December as Maitri Diwas. On this
day in 1971, India recognized Bangladesh as a country.
• India announced to establish Bangabandhu Chair in University of Delhi.
• India announced Shuborno (Swarna) Jayanti Scholarships for Bangladeshi Students
for pursuing studies in India. Mr Modi also invited 50 entrepreneurs of Bangladesh to visit
India and join start-up initiative and meet Indian venture capitalists.
• Both countries announced to join Mujibnagar (Bangladesh) with Nadia (West Bengal) and
will name it as “Shadhinota Shorok”.
• Both countries demanded an early conclusion of the draft over sharing of water of Teesta
River and Feni river.

A Brief about Teesta and Feni River dispute:

Teesta River:

• Teesta river is a tributary of the Brahmaputra (known as Jamuna in Bangladesh), flowing

through India and Bangladesh.
• It originates in the Himalayas near Chunthang, Sikkim and flows to the south through
West Bengal before entering Bangladesh.
• It meets its mouth (Bay of Bengal) through Bangladesh.
• Teesta river water conflict is one of the most contentious issues between India and
Bangladesh.

49
 • In 2011, both countries have agreed to a draft agreement for sharing the water of Teesta
River. But that draft could not be finalized till date as Water is a state subject in India.
• Teesta irrigates northern parts of Bangladesh, which is often considered as the granary of
the country.
• Teesta is the fourth largest transboundary river shared between India and Bangladesh,
after the Ganges, Brahmaputra and the Meghna (GBM) river system.

Feni River:

• Feni river, which forms part of the India-Bangladesh border, originates in the South Tripura
district, passes through Sabroom town in Tripura, and meets the Bay of Bengal after it flows
into Bangladesh.
• A 150-metre long, 4-lane bridge across the Feni is being built between India and
Bangladesh. The bridge is named as Feni Bridge / Maitri Setu.
• Once ready, it would connect Tripura with Chittagong port in Bangladesh and transform
Sabroom into the largest transit hub in the Northeast.
• There is no clear agreement for sharing of water of this river also.

3. India and Japan signed four agreements under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots
Projects (GGP) scheme in India.
• Through these agreements, Tokyo will support health care projects in India.
• The total amount to be disbursed for the four projects is around 29.30 million Yen ($
265,000).
• The beneficiaries of Japanese grants for which agreements were signed include three
medical facilities in Uttar Pradesh and one in Manipur.

About the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects Scheme:

• Since 1989, the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Projects (GGP) scheme has been
supporting relatively small-scale projects in developing countries.

50
 • “GGP" supports development projects “designed to meet the diverse basic human needs of
the people in developing countries.
• India is also one of the largest recipients of Japanese Official Development Assistance or
ODA besides Bangladesh and Vietnam in Asia.

4. NSE Academy (a wholly-owned subsidiary of NSE) has signed an MoU with GIFT SEZ Ltd for
capacity building of trained manpower by developing, launching and conducting training
programmes related to International Financial Services.

5. Spices Board India has signed an MoU with UNDP India's Accelerator Lab to build a
blockchain-based traceability interface for Indian spices to enhance transparency in the
supply chain and trade.

6. Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) has signed an MoU with Ministry
of AYUSH to introduce the concept of Ayurveda and its allied disciplines into veterinary
science.
• Through this collaboration, both entities will promote research and development on the
same including research on new formulations in quality drugs for veterinary science through
medicinal herbs.
• This cooperation will help to develop a regulatory mechanism for the use of Ayurveda in the
veterinary sector for the benefit of animal health, livestock owners’ community and the
society at large.

7. Union Cabinet was informed of an MoU between the National Atmospheric Research
Laboratory (NARL) and the Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere (RISH),
Kyoto University of Japan for academic and research cooperation.
• Both organizations will continue their cooperation in areas of atmospheric science and
technology, collaborative scientific experiments, campaigns and related modelling studies
utilising the research facilities of RISH and NARL.

51
 • NARL and RISH have been collaborating in the area of atmospheric science and
technology as well as an exchange of scientists. This agreement was formalised in 2008
through an MoU and it was renewed in 2013.

8. Atal Innovation Mission has signed an agreement with Dassault Systemes Fondation for
promoting STEM based innovation and entrepreneurship across the country.
• Dassault Systemes Fondation is all set to contribute to the ATL program in three broad
areas - project based, self-paced learning content, hackathons and challenges and inter-
country academia collaborations.

9. Atal Innovation Mission has partnered with AICTE to empower Atal Tinkering Labs and
mentor school student innovators across the country through AICTE Institution Innovation
councils (IICs).
• The partnership will begin to connect around 7200+ Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) established
in schools with 2500+ Institution’s Innovation Councils (IICs) functioning in higher
educational institutions spread across all the states and UTs.
• Through this partnership, AIM mission aims to embed IoT, Robotics, machine learning,
deep learning, 3D, blockchain, augmented reality, virtual reality etc and train students.

10. Common Service Centre has collaborated with Tata Power to set up solar-powered micro
grids and water pumps in rural areas across the country.
• Tata Power has proposed to set up 10,000 micro grids to support rural consumers through
Common Service Centres (CSCs).

11. Ministry of Tourism has signed an MoU with Cleartrip and Ease My Trip to strengthen the
Hospitality and Tourism Industry especially in the times of the pandemic.
• The primary objective of this MoU is to provide extensive visibility to accommodation units
which have self-certified themselves on SAATHI (System for Assessment, Awareness &
Training for the Hospitality Industry).

52
 • Under this MoU, both parties will encourage hospitality businesses to register on NIDHI and
thereby on SAATHI.
• Flipkart has recently acquired Cleartrip.

12. Union Ministry of Agriculture and Microsoft India signed an MoU for a pilot project in 100
villages of 6 states to reduce the input costs of farmers and boost their income.
• States: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan and Andhra
Pradesh.
• Local partner: Microsoft has joined in with its local partner, CropData.
• Duration and cost: The project is for one year and the cost is borne by Agriculture Ministry
and Microsoft India.

13. Union Cabinet has given its ex post facto approval to an MoU between India’s Director
General of Trade Remedies and the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission to increase
cooperation in the area of trade remedies.
• This MoU was signed during the recent visit of PM Narendra Modi to Dhaka in end of
March.
• The primary objective of the MoU is to promote cooperation between the two countries in
the area of trade remedies, exchange of information, undertaking capacity building activities
and activities.
• Also, both countries will cooperate in the area of anti-dumping, countervailing and
safeguard measures in accordance with various provisions of World Trade Organization
(WTO).

14. Union Cabinet has approved the MoU between Competition Commission of India (CCI)
and Administrative Council for Economic Defense of Brazil, (CADE) for extending
cooperation.
• Section 18 of the Competition Act, 2002 permits CCI to enter into any Memorandum or
arrangement with any agency of any foreign country for the purpose of discharging its
duties or performing its functions under the Act.

53
 • CCI has also signed similar MoU with USA, Russia, European Union, Australia, Canada,
and BRICS.

15. Union Cabinet has approved signing of an MoU between the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of India (ICAI) and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand
(CAANZ) for mutual recognition of qualification of their members.
• This MoU will provide Indian CA greater employment opportunities.
• Also, both organizations will aim to enhance the scope of Accounting in India, Australia and
New Zealand.

16. Union Cabinet has approved the Mutual Recognition Agreement signed between Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Certified Practising Accountant Australia.

17. IIT Kharagpur and the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) signed an
MoU for collaboration in areas related to the development of cooperatives, agriculture and
allied sectors for sustainable development.
• The scope of the MoU will involve the advancement of training, action research, studies,
policy analysis, policy advice, consultancy, monitoring, evaluation, system development and
technology development.
• Besides, internship opportunities will be provided to students or alumni under the
SAHAKAR MITRA -NCDC Scheme on Internship Programme (SIP).
• A Joint Working Group will also be set up to monitor various activities under the MoU and
suggest necessary measures for its development.
• Both IIT and NCDC will provide facilities to Farmer Producer Organizations.

18. Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) and Start-up Incubation
and Innovation Centre (SIIC), IIT Kanpur have partnered.
• Purpose - to provide opportunities to tech-based start-ups for a circular economy and an
entrepreneurial ecosystem.

54
 • Both organisations have launched “SICCI-SIIC INNOVATION LAUNCHPAD” challenge for
startups.

19. IIT Kharagpur and the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) have signed an MoU
to set up an Accelerator Centre for Research & Development at the institute.
• This MoU will provide the opportunity of innovation & incubation assistance to carry out
activities like technology and product development.

20. IIT-Guwahati and the North East Frontier Railway have signed an MoU to collaborate for
improving maintenance and operations of train running in the region and other fields.

21. Union Cabinet has approved the signing and ratification of an MoU between India and UK for
on Customs Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters.
• Both countries will try to investigate and prevent Customs related offences. Also, the
agreement will facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the
countries.
• The Agreement would provide a legal framework for sharing of information and intelligence
between the Customs authorities of the two countries.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. 6th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of New Development Bank was held virtually.
• Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs and India’s Governor in New Development
Bank (NDB), Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman attended it.
• 2021 Annual Meeting’s theme was “New Development Paradigms: The Evolution of
Infrastructure”.
• NDB had created the $10 billion Emergency Assistance Programme for supporting the
member countries in fighting the COVID pandemic.

55
2. ‘World Immunisation and Logistics Summit 2021’ was organized virtually by Hope
Consortium.
• Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that India produces 60% of the world’s vaccine.

3. External Affairs Minister of India has participated in the 17th Bay of Bengal Initiative for
Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Ministerial Meeting.
• This virtual meeting was chaired by Sri Lanka.
• All the members endorsed the BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity for
adoption at the next BIMSTEC Summit, which will be held in Sri Lanka.
• The meeting also endorsed three MoU /agreements relating to convention on Mutual
Legal Assistance in Criminal matters, cooperation between diplomatic and training
academies and establishment of BIMSTEC Technology Transfer Facility in Colombo (Sri
Lanka).
• BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate, being hosted in India, is fully functional to
provide Disaster Early Warnings.

4. World Trade Organization (WTO) has revised upwards the growth forecast of global
merchandise trade in 2021 to 8% after recording a fall of 5.3% in 2020, amid Covid-19
pandemic.
• Trade growth will slow down to 4% in 2022.
• In October 2020, the WTO has estimated that the global merchandise trade would record a
growth of 7.2%.

5. For the first time in the world, Russia develops World's 1st Covid Vaccine named Carnivac-
Cov for animals.

6. BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting was hosted by India
virtually.

56
 • Chair of the meet - Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala
Sitharaman and Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Shri. Shaktikanta Das.

7. China’s Longi Green Energy Technology Co., the world’s biggest solar company, is entering
the hydrogen market.
• Longi Green produces wafers, cells and panels.
• Longi’s billionaire founder and president - Li Zhenguo

8. Arab world’s first nuclear power plant in UAE named as Barakah nuclear power plant has
started commercial operations.
• It is built by Korea Electric Power Corporation.

9. Russian has tested its 'super-weapon' - the Poseidon 2M39 torpedo - in the Arctic region.
• This weapon can create radioactive tsunamis and it is powered by nuclear reactor.

10. Second G20 Finance Track Ministerial meeting was held under the Italian G20 Presidency.
• Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) of G20 countries gathered
virtually for the meeting.
• G20 countries decided to extend Debt Service Suspension Initiative, by six months, till
December 2021.

11. New Zealand has presented a first of its kind bill that require banks, insurers and asset
managers to disclose the impacts of climate change on their businesses.
• If the bill passes in parliament, the first disclosure is expected by 2023.

12. Porsche (sports car manufacturer in Germany) has partnered with Siemens Energy (HQ-
Germany) to develop world’s first integrated commercial plant for producing climate-neutral
fuel (e-fuel) in Chile.
• Porsche will be the primary customer for the green fuel.

57
 • Other partners in the project are the energy firm AME and the petroleum company ENAP
from Chile and Italian energy company Enel.

13. United Arab Emirates has announced to launch "Rashid" – its first rover on moon – by 2022
on iSpace’s lunar lander (Japanese company).

14. NASA has sent four astronauts to International Space Station through SpaceX’s crew 2
mission.
• This is the second time NASA astronauts were sent to ISS on a Crew Dragon spacecraft
via SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
• Astronauts were Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with JAXA (Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and ESA (European Space
Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet.

15. Report on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of
the United States has been released.
• A total of 11 countries (including India) are on the U.S. Treasury’s ‘Monitoring List’ with
regard to their currency practices.
• The other 10 countries are China, Japan, Korea, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia,
Singapore, Thailand, and Mexico.
• India met two of the three criteria — the trade surplus criterion and the “persistent, one-
sided intervention” criterion.
• The third criteria is ‘Material Current Account Surplus’.

16. First ever UN Food System Summit 2021 will be held in New York, USA in September.
• The summit will focus on five action tracks:
a. safe and nutritious food
b. sustainable consumption patterns
c. nature-positive production

58
 d. advance equitable livelihoods
e. resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress.
• India volunteered to work on Action Track 4: Advance Equitable Livelihoods.
• To work on this action track, India needs to hold National Dialogues with agriculture
stakeholders. In order to conduct these dialogues, the govt has formed a High-Level
Interdepartmental Group, chaired by Ramesh Chand (Member of Niti Aayog).
• This group conducted its first ever National Dialogue on Agri-Food Systems:
Advancing Equitable Livelihoods.

17. NASA has announced to land send the first person of colour, in addition to a woman, to the
moon’s south pole under its 'Artemis' programme by 2024.
• Right now, a group of 18 astronauts have been selected for this mission. This group
includes nine woman and Indian American Raja Chari.

18. Russia’s Roscosmos has announced to launch Luna 25 – lunar mission – by October 2021.
• This mission will land on the South Pole of Moon.

19. Israel and Greece have signed their biggest ever defence procurement deal to strengthen
political and economic ties between the countries.
• The agreement includes a $1.65 billion contract for the establishment and operation of a
training centre for the Hellenic Air Force by Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems over a
22-year period.

20. To mark the National Nuclear Technology Day on 10th April, Iran has unveiled advanced
centrifuges at the underground Natanz nuclear plant.
• Iran President - Hassan Rouhani
• Capital: Tehran
• Currency: Iranian rial

59
21. NASA’s Mars Ingenuity helicopter has become the first helicopter in the world to fly on
another world.
• NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has received the latest pictures of this flights.
• Ingenuity arrived at Mars’s Jezero Crater in February along with NASA’s Perseverance
rover, which captured the historic flight on camera.
• NASA is planning to explore the farthest parts of other planets via drones. For example,
Mars’s Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system, or its Olympus Mons shield
volcano, which is about 2.5 times the height of Mount Everest will be explored via drones.

22. India has been elected to the three United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN
ECOSOC) bodies named as Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
(CCPCJ), the Executive Board of UN Women, and the Executive Board of the World Food
Programme.
• In addition to India, various countries were added in these Commissions.
• India is a member of the United Nations Commission on Status of Women for four years,
2021 to '25.
• In 2020, India was elected as a member of the United Nations Commission on Status of
Women, a body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
• India’s term to these bodies begins on January 1, 2022.
Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ):

ü Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) was established by the
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1992.
ü Chair of the 30th session - Mr. Alessandro Cortese (Italy)
ü HQ – Vienna, Austria
Executive Board of UN Women:

ü Established in 2011.
ü Executive Director – Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
ü HQ – New York, USA

60
 Executive Board of the World Food Programme:

ü World Food Programme was established in 1961.

ü Executive Director – David Beasley
ü HQ – Rome, Italy

23. Singapore has become the first country in the world to ratify the Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement.
• RCEP is a trade pact between 10 ASEAN economies as well as Australia, China, Japan,
New Zealand and South Korea.
• The RCEP, an initiative led by China, is the world’s largest free trade agreement.
• The RCEP agreement will enter into force after six ASEAN member states and three
ASEAN FTA partners have ratified it.

24. For the first time in human history, NASA has created oxygen from the thin air of Mars
through its instrument named “MOXIE” which was attached to NASA’s Mars rover,
Perseverance.
• MOXIE stands for Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilisation Experiment. It is developed
by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• The rover landed on Mars’s surface in February 2021.
• At present, MOXIE produced only 5 gm of oxygen, equivalent to roughly 10 minutes’ worth
of breathing for an astronaut.
• Recently, Ingenuity helicopter also ride a flight in Mars’ thin air.

25. 5th Global Forum on TB Vaccine was convened by Stop TB Partnership Working Group
on New Vaccines, in addition to International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, and Tuberculosis
Vaccine Initiative virtually.
• Focus of 2021 forum - Advancing TB vaccines in the time of COVID-19
• This is the world’s largest gathering of stakeholders to develop and deploy new vaccines
to prevent Tuberculosis.

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 • The forum was addressed by the Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family
Welfare.
• The 6th Global Forum on TB Vaccine will be held in Toulouse, France in February 2022.
• India aims to eradicate TB in India by 2025 and the global target of eradicating TB is
2030.

26. NASA has launched the Spatial Heterodyne Interferometric Emission Line Dynamics
Spectrometer (SHIELDS) mission from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
• The mission will study light from interstellar particles in the heliosphere.
• The entire field (marked with blue line in the picture below) will be studied by SHIELD
mission.

27. Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, will represent Delhi and India at the World Cities
Culture Forum 2021 (WCCF) – dates are yet to be announced.
• Theme of the Forum - ‘The Future of Culture’
• The forum comprises 40 world cities.
• This Forum will be hosted by UK.

28. The US House of Representatives has passed a bill to make Washington DC, the 51st US
state.

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 • The Senate also passed a bill to combat the rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders.

29. Japan will host its first ever military exercise with US and France in the country’s southwest
next month.

30. Boao Forum for Asia’s 20th Annual Conference 2021 was held in Boao, South China's
Hainan Province.
• Theme - ‘A World in Change: Join Hands to Strengthen Global Governance and Advance
Belt and Road Cooperation’.
• An annual report on BFA was also released.
• The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) is an international not for profit organization which was
jointly initiated by 26 member states in 2001, the members have now increased to 29. India
is also a member of the BFA.
• The BFA is modelled on the lines of the World Economic Forum’s Davos Summit. Thus, it is
also called the ‘Davos of the East’.
• Its five focal areas include technology innovation, health, education, culture and media in
response to the new economy.

31. Russian space agency Roscosmos has announced to launch its own space station in 2025
as Moscow is considering withdrawing from the International Space Station programme.
• The current ISS was launched in 1998 by Russia, the US, Japan, Canada and the
European Space Agency.

32. UNESCO has chosen Tbilisi (in Georgia) as its World Book Capital for the 2021 (on the
occasion of World Book and Copyrights Day).
• Guadalajara (in Mexico) has been named as the 2022 World Book Capital by UNESCO.
• New Delhi also became the World Book Capital for 2003.

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33. Gambia has become the second African country to eliminate Trachoma. In 2018, Ghana
became the first country in Africa to do so.
• Trachoma is one of the leading causes of blindness. It is a contagious bacterial infection of
the eye, causing inflamed granulation on the inner surface of the lids.

34. UN, in partnership with six other organizations, has launched “Global Youth Mobilization
Local Solutions” campaign to build the lives of youth who are impacted by Covid-19.
• WHO D-G Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and climate change activist Greta Thunberg
launched the Global Youth Mobilization Local Solutions.
• An initial fund of $2 million will be made available for the youth. It will be provided in four
tiers.
• Six organizations are: -
o World Alliance of Young Men’s Christian Associations
o World Young Women’s Christian Association
o World Organization of the Scout Movement
o World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
o The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
o The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award

35. Leaders’ Summit on Climate 2021 was hosted by US on the theme of “Our Collective
Sprint to 2030”.
• India and US launched US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership
(covered in April 23 current affairs doc).
Highlights of the Summit:

US has announced to join the Global Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT).

o India and Sweden had launched the LeadIT initiative at UN Climate Action Summit (New
York) in 2019.
o The initiative aims to alleviate climate change in heavy and energy intensive industries.

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 o 15 countries are members of this initiative, in addition to a host of companies.
43 international banks have joined a UN pact for carbon-neutrality by 2050.

o These banks will establish a “Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero” (GFANZ) to
mobilize funds towards creating a zero emission economy.
National Targets of US and Japan:

o US committed to reduce GHG emissions by 50 to 52% from its 2005 levels by 2030.
o Japan committed to reduce its GHG emissions by 46 to 50% below 2013 levels by 2030.
It is an increase in the target as compared to 26% reduction target set by Japan.

36. China’s first Mars rover named Zhurong aboard the Tianwen-1 probe is due to land in May
to look for evidence of life.
• Zhurong is the name of a traditional fire god in China. The rover’s title fits with the Chinese
name for Mars — “Huo Xing,” or fire star.
• The rover is expected to land upon Utopia Planitia, a rock-strewn plain on Mars where the
U.S. lander Viking 2 touched down in 1976.
• China would become the third country after the former Soviet Union and the United States
to put a robot rover on Mars.

37. An ancient city of ‘Aten’ has been discovered by archaeologists in Egypt.

38. ASEAN held a summit at Jakarta, Indonesia. The leaders agreed to take action to stop
violence in Myanmar.

39. UK's Met Office has partnered with Microsoft to build the world’s most powerful
supercomputer to forecast weather and climate-change.
• The supercomputer is likely to be operational in 2022.

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 • Meanwhile, Hewlett Packard Enterprise is developing a supercomputer, which will be
installed at NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Centre in the U.S., to help study phenomena
such as climate change, and severe weather.
• Japan’s Fujitsu Laboratories used the world’s most powerful supercomputer, Fugaku, to
develop an AI model to predict tsunami flooding.

40. A UN-led global immunization strategy was unveiled to reach more than 50 million children
who have missed vaccines against measles and other diseases because of COVID-19
disruption.
• This strategy was launched in partnership with WHO, UNICEF and the vaccine alliance
Gavi.

41. Blue Nature Alliance is a global partnership founded and led by Conservation
International, Pew Charitable Trusts, Global Environment Facility (GEF), Minderoo
Foundation and Rob & Melani Walton Foundation.
• The alliance will protect 18 million square kilometre of the ocean over the next 5 years.
This is equivalent to 5% of the World’s Ocean.
• By 2030, the alliance aims to conserve at least 30% of the world’s ocean.
• Initially, the alliance is targeting seven ocean locations around Antarctica, Fiji, Canada,
the Seychelles, Palau, the Western Indian Ocean and Tristan da Cunha, an island in the
South Atlantic Ocean.
• Those areas cover over 2.5 million square miles in total -- more than a third of the overall
goal.

42. A new U.S. spy satellite was launched into space on the mightiest rocket built by the United
Launch Alliance (ULA): the massive Delta IV Heavy.
• ULA is a 50-50 joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
• ULA has only four remaining Delta IV Heavy rockets in its fleet.
• The Delta family of rockets also included two single-stick versions: the Delta II and the
Delta IV Medium.

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43. NEO-01 - a robot prototype - has been sent to low Earth orbit by Origin Space (Chinese space
mining start-up) to clean the orbit off the debris left behind by other spacecraft.

44. India, Japan and Australia have launched Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) to
counter China’s dominance of supply chain in the Indo-Pacific region.
• The initiative was launched during a virtual trilateral meeting of the trade ministers of these
countries.
• To strengthen resilient supply chains, possible policy measures may include: (i)
supporting the enhanced utilization of digital technology; and (ii) supporting trade and
investment diversification.
• Initially, SCRI will focus on sharing best practices on supply chain resilience and holding
investment promotion events and buyer-seller matching events to allow stakeholders
diversify their supply chains.
• The ministers decided to convene at least once a year to provide guidance to the
implementation of the SCRI.

45. China has launched a key module of a new permanent space station named Tianhe module
from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre on a Long March-5B rocket.
• China expects to make the new station operational by 2022.
• The space station is called the Tiangong.

46. UK has become the first country to announce regulation of the use of self-driving vehicles
at slow speeds on motorways.

47. Ministry of External Affairs, Secretary (East) Mrs. Riva Ganguly Das has co-chaired the 23rd
ASEAN-India Senior Officials’ Meeting with Permanent Secretary of Thailand H.E. Mr.
Thani Thongphakdi.
• The meeting was held between India and ASEAN members.

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 • The Meeting also deliberated on the steps to implement the ASEAN-India Plan of Action
(2021-2025) and discussed ways to further strengthen the ASEAN-India Strategic
Partnership.
• All the leaders decided to celebrate 2022 as ASEAN-India Friendship Year on the
occasion of 30th anniversary of ASEAN-India sectoral partnership, 25th anniversary of
dialogue partnership, 20th anniversary of Summit-level partnership and 10 years of
Strategic Partnership.

48. Saudi Arabia will join the United States, Canada, Norway, and Qatar in forming ‘Net Zero
Producers Forum’ for oil and gas producers.
• Purpose - implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
• US has recently announced to reduce emissions by 50%-52% from 2005 levels.
• Saudi Kingdom aims to reduce its carbon emissions by generating 50% of the country's
energy from renewables by 2030.

49. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has launched a joint military exercises named
as “DEFENDER-Europe 21” in Albania.
• The exercise is led by USA.
• NATO Secretary General – Jens Stoltenberg
• NATO members – 30 countries
• NATO HQ – Brussels, Belgium
• NATO was established in 1949 in Washington, D.C., United States.

REPORTS AND INDICES

1. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Fund for the
Development of Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean (FILAC) have
released a new report titled Forest Governance by Indigenous and Tribal Peoples.

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2. 16th flagship Global Wind Report 2021 has been released by Global Wind Energy Council
(GWEC).
• The theme of this year’s report is ‘Wind energy’s role on the road to net zero’.
Facts About India:

• India is expected to miss its renewable energy target of 175 GW by 2022 (including 60 GW
onshore wind).
• India is the 4th largest energy consumer in the world.
• India has 39 GW of installed wind power capacity as of February 2021. This amounts to
10.25% of the total power mix.
• India has not pledged for net-zero emissions till now as it has a low per capita emission
base in comparison to developed countries.

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Global Facts:

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 • 2020 was the best year for wind energy installations. Around 93 GW of new wind capacity
was installed in 2020, which is a 53% increase as compared to 2019.
• Out of this 93 GW, India accounted for just 20% (1119 MW).
• Globally, total wind capacity stands at 743 GW and US & China accounts for 50% of it.
• China, US, Germany, India and Spain together accounted for 73% of the world’s total wind
power installations.
• 180 GW of new wind energy is required to be installed per year to limit global temperature to
below 2 ºC pre-industrial levels.

3. NITI Aayog has released the “Investment Opportunities in India’s Healthcare Sector”
report.
• Investments are expected to reach $ 372 billion by 2022.
• Healthcare sector has been growing at a CAGR of 22% since 2016.
• It has a potential to generate 2.7 million jobs between 2017-22.
• At present, it is providing direct employment to around 4.7 million people.
• Hospital industry accounts for 80% of the healthcare industry. In FY17, the hospital
industry was valued at $61.79 billion. It is expected to reach $ 132 billion by 2023 at a
CAGR of 16-17%.
• Central govt aims to increase the expenditure on health to 2.5% of GDP by 2025 as
against 1.8% at present.

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4. World Economic Forum has released the Global Gender Gap Report 2021.
• Total countries – 156
• Parameters – Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, Economic Participation and
Opportunity, and Political Empowerment.
• Top countries – Iceland (world’s most gender-equal country for the 12th time)
• India’s rank – 140th (score – 0.625)
o It is a decline of 28 positions in India’s ranking. In 2020, India was ranked 112th
among 153 countries.
o India became the third-worst performer in South Asia.
o India has closed 62.5% of its gender gap till date.
o India’s performance declined by 13.5% on the political empowerment subindex to
reach a level of gap closed to date of just 27.6%.
§ The main change that took place this year is the significant decline in the
share of women among ministers, which halved, from 23.1% in 2019 to 9.1%
in 2021.
o In the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, India’s gender gap
widened by 3% this year, leading to a 32.6% gap closed to date.
§ One of the reasons for decline in women’s labour force participation rate from
24.8% to 22.3%.
§ The share of women in professional and technical roles also decreased to
29.2%.
§ Women’s estimated earned income is only one-fifth of men’s, which puts
India among the bottom 10 globally on this indicator.
o Factors like gender-based sex-selective practices and other forms of discrimination
have kept India at a low rank in both Health and Survival and Educational
Attainment subindices.
• Bottom rank – Afghanistan

Parameter wise rankings: -

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Parameter Top Ranker India’s rank & Score (0-1)

Economic Participation and Lao PDR Rank – 151

Opportunity
Score – 0,326

Educational Attainment 26 countries ranked 1st Rank – 114

Score – 0.962

Health and Survival 29 countries ranked 1st Rank – 155

Score – 0.937

Political Empowerment Iceland Rank – 51

Score – 0.276

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5. UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the Fund for the Development of Indigenous
Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean (Filac) have released the “forest governance
by indigenous and tribal peoples” report.
• Indigenous and tribal people are the best guardians of forests.

6. UNESCO has published “The World in 2030: public survey” report.

• Assessment period of the survey - May 2020 and September 2020
• The report mentions that climate change, violence and conflict, loss of biodiversity and
discrimination and inequality, water and housing, lack of food are the four biggest
challenges to peaceful societies of 2030.

7. National Statistical Office has released its annual Women and Men in India report.
• It is the 22nd issue of this report.
Population Statistics:

• Projected Population - 136.13 crores (with 48.65% female population)

• Sex ratio – The projected sex ratio is likely to increase from 943 in 2011 to 948 in 2021.
• Delhi recorded the highest increase in sex ratio followed by Chandigarh, and
Arunachal Pradesh. While Daman and Diu witnessed the highest decline in sex ratio.
Health Statistics:

• The Age Specific Fertility Rate for females aged 25-29 years was the highest at 146.4.
• The Infant Mortality Rate decreased from 39 in 2014 to 32 in 2018.
• The Maternal Mortality Rate decreased from 212 in 2007-09 to 113 in 2016-18.
• The Total Fertility Rate of rural India was 2.3 in 2018. It was 1.7 in urban areas in
2018.
• The Adolescent Fertility Rate declined from 13 in 2017 to 12.2 in 2018.
• According to National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), almost 100% institutional
delivery was observed in the states of Goa, Kerala, and Lakshadweep. While it was the
lowest in Nagaland.

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 • The HIV incidence per 1000 people decreased from 0.07 in 2017 to 0.05 in 2019.
Education Statistics:

• The literacy rate of India increased from 73 in 2011 to 77.7 in 2017. Female and male
literacy rate in 2017 is at 70.3 and 84.7 respectively.
• The Gender gap in literacy rates was the highest in Rajasthan, Bihar, UP.
• As per NSS 75th Round (July, 2017- June, 18), only 8.3% of females of age 15 years had
completed graduation. On the other hand, 12.8% of males of the same age had
completed graduation.
Labour Force Participation:

• According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey, 2018-19, the worker population ratio in
rural sector was 52.1 for males and 19 for females. In urban areas, it was 52.7 for males
and 14.5 for females.
• The average wage per hour earned by female population in the age group of 15 years
was highest in Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Rs 147 per hour), followed by
Lakshadweep, Nagaland. The lowest was in the states/UTs of Daman and Diu and
Odisha.
• The average wage per hour earned by male population in the age group of 15 years was
the highest in Lakshadweep (Rs 121 per hour).
Women in Politics:

• Women account for 9.26% of the Central Council of Ministers in 2020.

• Highest women participation in the Panchayati Raj institutions was observed in the states
of Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh.

8. Academic Ranking of World Universities 2020, also called as Shanghai Ranking, has been
released.
• More than 2000 universities are ranked by ARWU every year and the best 1000 universities
are published.
• Top – Harvard University

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 • India’s rank – Indian Institute of Science at 501-600 rank, followed by IIT-Madras at 601-
700.
• Parameters –
o Number of alumni and staff winning Nobel Prizes and
o Number of alumni and staff winning Fields Medals,
o Number of articles published in journals of Nature and Science,
o Number of Highly Cited Researchers and articles indexed in Science Citation Index
o Number of Highly Cited Researchers and articles in Social Sciences Citation Index
based on data in the Web of Science, and per capita performance.

9. International Monetary Fund has released the Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-
Saharan Africa, April 2021.
• The Sub-Saharan African region will grow slowest in the world in 2021.
• 2020 growth rate for the region was -1.9% and 2021 growth rate is 3.4%, which is weaker
than the 6% for the rest of the world.

10. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has released the State of World Population
Report 2021 titled ‘My Body is My Own’.
• This is the first time, this report has focused on human anatomy, highlighting the
importance of power and agency to make choices about one’s body without fear of
violence.
• Global scenario: -
o Nearly half the women from 57 developing countries do not have the right to
make decisions regarding their bodies, including using contraception, seeking
healthcare or even on their sexuality.
o Only 75% of countries legally ensure full and equal access to contraception.
o Covid-19 has worsened this situation even more.

India related facts:

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 • All the data has been quoted from National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 (2015-2016).
• Healthcare:
o 12% of currently married women (15-49 years of age) independently make decisions
about their own healthcare.
o 63% decide in consultation with their spouse.
o For 23% it is the spouse that mainly takes decisions about healthcare.
• Contraceptives:
o 8% of currently married women (15-49 years) take decisions on the use of
contraception independently.
o 83% decide jointly with their spouse. Information provided to women about use of
contraception is also limited.
o 47% of women using a contraceptive were informed about the side effects of the
method.
o 54% women were provided information about other contraceptives.
o Overall Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) has increased substantially in most
States/UTs and it is the highest in Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal (74%).
• Decision making power:
o Ladakh and Sikkim witnessed the biggest decrease in women’s participation in
decision-making, with a 7-5% drop among married women.

11. Global Food Policy 2021 report has been released by the International Food Policy
Research Institute.
• Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, half of India’s poor people have been deprived of
nutritious food.
• India was one of the first countries to implement a complete lockdown when cases and
deaths due to the pandemic were relatively low.
• 50% of households surveyed reported that women were spending more time in cooking or
fetching firewood than before.

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 • E-food services saw a 66.7% year-on-year growth, convenience stores had seen a dip of
9.8% in their business. Single unit grocery shops had seen a modest growth of 1.3% last
year.

12. State of the Global Climate 2020 Report has been released by World Meteorological
Organization. In December 2020, its provisional report was released.
• 2020 was the third warmest year.
• 2011-20 was the warmest decade so far.
• COVID-19 and extreme weather events were major shocks to the world.
• Cyclone Amphan (majorly in West Bengal) is the costliest tropical cyclone in the North
Indian Ocean, causing an economic loss of approximately $14 billion.
• The increase in global average temperature as of 2020 was 1.2 degree Celsius as
compared to the pre-industrial levels.
• The global average carbon dioxide concentrations have exceeded 410 parts per
million, it could reach or exceed 414 ppm in 2021.

13. The Henley Passport Index: Q2 2021 Global Ranking was released.
• Total countries – 110
• Top rank – Japan (visa free score 193)

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 • India’s rank – 84 (score 58)
o India is sharing this rank and score with Gabon and Tajikistan.

14. Department of Science and Technology has released ‘The Report Climate Vulnerability
Assessment for Adaptation Planning in India Using a Common Framework’ report.
• Highly Vulnerable States: It identified Jharkhand, Mizoram, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Assam,
Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal as states highly vulnerable to climate change.
• Lower-middle Vulnerable States: Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Sikkim and Punjab.
• Low Vulnerable States: Uttarakhand, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Nagaland, Goa and
Maharashtra.
• Highly Vulnerable Districts: Assam, Bihar, and Jharkhand have over 60% districts in the
category of highly vulnerable districts.
• As per the report, all districts & states are somewhat vulnerable with respect to current
climate risk in India.

15. Reporters Sans Borders organization has released the World Press Freedom Index 2021.
• Total – 180 countries
• Top – Norway
• India’s rank – 142 (score 46.56)
o In the index of 2020, India’s score was 45.33 in 2020 and rank was 142.
o Reasons for decline in the score – Tightening grip of the Central govt on media.
o India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists trying to do
their job properly.
o India had consistently slid down from 133 in 2016.
o India is a “bad” country for journalism. India shares the “bad” classification with
Brazil, Mexico and Russia.
o Journalists who dare to criticise the government are branded as “anti-state,” “anti-
national” or even “pro-terrorist” by supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP).
• Bottom – Eritrea

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 • The 2021 report shows that journalism, the main vaccine against disinformation, is
completely or partly blocked in 73% of the 180 countries ranked by the organisation.

16. Economist Intelligence Unit has released the Inclusive Internet Index 2021.
• Total – 120 countries (representing 98% of global GDP and 96% of global population)
• Top – Sweden
• India’s rank – 49th
o India is sharing this rank with Thailand.
o India’s overall rank on different parameters: -

• Bottom rank – Burundi

• Parameters – see pic 1 below

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17. According to the Global Energy Review 2021 by International Energy Agency (IEA), global
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy are seen rising nearly 5% in 2021-22.
• CO2 emissions would rise to 33 billion tonnes this year, up by 1.5 billion tonnes from 2020
levels in the largest single increase in more than a decade.
• Global energy demand is set to increase by 4.6% in 2021.
• More than 80% of the projected growth is set to come from Asia, led by China.
• In India, the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will be 1.4%, or 30 million tonnes (MT),
higher in 2021 than the 2019 levels.
• In India, the coal demand is expected to increase by almost 9% in 2021.
• Present renewable capacity in India - The current installed renewable energy generation
capacity stands at 94 GW and about 34 GW is under various stages of implementation and
30 GW under various stages of bidding. Additionally, 46.2 GW of hydro and 6.8 GW of
nuclear capacities are also currently online.

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18. U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released its 2021
Annual Report.
• In the report the USCIRF has made recommendations to the US Congress.
• USCIRF recommendations are non-binding on the US govt.

Recommendations for India:-

® Put India on the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) for a second year in a row
for religious violations.
® US administration should impose targeted sanctions on Indian individuals and entities
for ‘severe violations of religious freedom’.
® US administration should promote inter-faith dialogue and the rights of all communities at
bilateral and multilateral forums such as the ministerial of the Quadrilateral [the Quad].
® Last year, the Trump administration had rejected the USCIRF recommendation to
designate India a CPC.
® Problems in India – Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, National Register of Citizens,
Detention Camps for refugees in Assam, prohibition on interfaith marriage (UP and MP),
hateful rhetoric targeting Muslims in India (particularly by govt officials).

Global Scenario:

® In addition to India, Russia, Syria and Vietnam have also been pointed out as CPC by
USCIRF.
® Countries already on the CPCs list and recommended by USCIRF for re-designation were
Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and
Turkmenistan.
® Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey and
Uzbekistan were recommended for a ‘Special Watch List’, along with Cuba and
Nicaragua, both of which were already on the list for 2019.

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19. World Economic Forum has released the Global Energy Transition Index 2021.
• Partner – The report is prepared in collaboration with Accenture.
• Total – 115 countries
• Top – Sweden

• India’s rank – 87
o India’s ETI Score (2012 to 2021) is 53.
o India’s score on System Performance (SP) – 58.2
o India’s score on Transition Readiness (TR) – 47.3
• Bottom – Zimbabwe
• 2021 Global average score is 59.
• Parameters – System performance and transition readiness (see the picture below).

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Additional Facts:

• China (68) and India (87), which collectively account for a third of global energy demand,
have both made strong improvements over the past decade, despite coal continuing to play
a significant role in their energy mix.
• India has achieved improvements in energy transitions through subsidy reforms and
rapidly increasing energy access, with a strong political commitment and regulatory
environment for the energy transition.
• As per the report, 92 out of 115 countries have increased their aggregate score over the
past 10 years, which indicates their steady performance towards the global energy
transition.
• Energy transition investment is concentrated in a handful of economies, with China and
the United States (US) accounting for the large share of investments.

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20. The Times Higher Education (THE) has released its Impact Rankings 2021.
• It is the only ranking in the world that assesses universities against the United Nations’
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• The 2021 Impact Rankings is the third edition and the overall ranking includes 1,115
universities from 94 countries/regions.
• Individual ranking on each SDG has also been given. Below mentioned are the overall
rankings.
• Universities are assessed across four broad areas: research, stewardship, outreach and
teaching.
• Top – University of Manchester (UK), followed by University of Sydney (Australia), RMIT
University (Australia).
• India’s universities – Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Tamil Nadu) is the only Indian
university in Top 100. Its ranking is 81st.
o JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research (Karnataka) and Lovely
Professional University (Punjab) are the next best at 101-200 rank.

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21. “Beyond the pandemic: Building back better from crises in Asia and the Pacific” report
has been released by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (ESCAP).
• As per the report, the average debt to GDP ratio in Asia and Pacific countries is likely to rise
to 49% in 2021 from 41% in 2019 and 47% in 2020.
• Asia Pacific countries are likely to borrow more against their public assets to the extent to
around $3 trillion a year by 2024.
• Kerala is mentioned as the best state for its public health service during the pandemic.

22. United Nations has released the Second World Ocean Assessment 2021 report.
• The first “World Ocean Assessment I” was published in 2015.
• The number of ‘dead zones’ in the ocean has nearly doubled, increasing from more than
400 globally in 2008 to about 700 in 2019.
• Around 90% of mangrove, seagrass and marsh plant species, as well as more than 30% of
seabird species, are also facing the threat of extinction.
• Only 10% of the ocean has been explored and studied. Oceans are being degraded at a
huge level.
• 15% of the Sandy beaches are seeing retreating shorelines. This is happening at the rate of
1 metre per year or more in the last thirty-three years.

23. According to a report by People’s Bank of China, India would surpass China’s demographic
advantage by 2035.

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 • China’s demographic disadvantage is due to the strict birth policies, leading to ageing
population and a declining of work force.
• In order to compete with India and US (which have relatively younger population), China
needs to liberalise its population.
• By 2050, India will have a larger young population with larger workforce and greater growth
potential.

24. Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation has released the “Persons with
Disabilities (Divyangjan) in India - A Statistical Profile : 2021” report.

25. UNESCO has published “The World in 2030” report that highlights the climate change and
loss of biodiversity was chosen by 67% of respondents.
• Natural disasters and extreme weather, biodiversity loss, risk of conflict or violence, impacts
on oceans were the major causes of concern.
• The solution to this is investment in green solutions, education on sustainability, promoting
international cooperation, and building trust in science.

26. UNICEF has released the “Gender Bias & inclusion In advertising In India” report.
• The report was supported by the India Chapter of International Advertising Association
(IAA).
• Women in advertisements in India are highly stereotyped and sexualized.

27. “Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Leaving No One Behind” report has been
released by UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP),
ADB, and UNDP.
• Richer countries are expected to recover sooner than poorer countries in the Asia-Pacific
region.
• It is indicating towards an uneven (K-shaped) recovery.

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 • Singapore, China, India, South Korea, Russia, and Turkey will achieve the herd immunity in
2021.
• The Asia-Pacific region is off-track to meet its SDGs by 2030.
• In some 40% of countries in the region income inequality increased.

28. According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) “Trends In World
Military Expenditure, 2020” report, total global military expenditure increased to $1981
billion in 2020, an increase of 2.6% in real terms from 2019.
• The five biggest spenders in 2020, which together accounted for 62% of global military
expenditure, were the United States, China, India, Russia and the United Kingdom.
• The 2.6% increase in world military spending came in the backdrop of contraction of global
GDP by 4.4% in 2020 (as per IMF’s October 2020 projection).
• Military expenditure as a share of GDP reached a global average of 2.4% in 2020, up
from 2.2% in 2019. This was the biggest year-on-year rise in the military burden since the
global financial and economic crisis in 2009.
Country Facts

World’s largest military spender

USA accounted for 39% of total military expenditure in 2020

US Total military expenditure in 2020 - $778 billion (an increase of 4.4% over 2019).

This was the third consecutive year of growth in US military spending, following
seven years of continuous reductions.

China’s military expenditure is the second highest in the world.

China’s military expenditure rises for 26th consecutive year.

China
Total military expenditure in 2020 - $252 billion (an increase of 1.9% over 2019)

This is an increase of 76% over the decade 2011–20.

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 China is the only major spender in the world whose military burden did not increase
in 2020 despite increasing its military expenditure, because of its positive GDP
growth last year.

Total military expenditure in 2020 - $72.9 billion (an increase of 2.1% over 2019)

India India is the third largest military spender in the world.

India accounts for 3.7% of world’s military expenditure.

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29. Chandler Good Government Index 2021 (CGGI) has been released by Chandler Institute
of Governance (a Singapore based private non-profit organization).
• Purpose – the index ranks countries on the basis of their governance.
• Total – 104 countries
• Top – Finland
• India’s rank – 49th
o In order to improve governance, India has taken various initiatives like Good
Governance Day (Dec 25), Good Governance Index, National e-Governance Index,
Right to Information Act, 2005, Make in India program, setting up of NITI Aayog,
Lokpal among other initiatives.
• Parameters – 50 indicators divided into seven pillars:
o Leadership and foresight.
o Robust laws and policies.
o Strong institutions.
o Financial stewardship.
o Attractive marketplace.
o Global influence and reputation.
o Helping people rise.

30. According to a report by Bank of America (BoFA), India would need $401 billion capital
expenditure between 2015 to 2030 to control pollution as specified under the Paris
Agreement.
• This could lead to over 106 GW in energy savings, and 1.1 billion tonne per annum
reduction in Co2 and impacting 99 stocks with a market capitalisation of USD 1.4 trillion.
• In total, BoFA has identified nine themes for India to control pollution. This includes ethanol
blending and green hydrogen.

31. International Energy Agency has released the “Global EV Outlook 2021” April 2021 report.
• 3 million new electric cars were registered in 2020. This indicates a 41% increase in the
electric cars which were registered in 2019.

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 • The number of global electric vehicles will increase to 230 million by 2030, if the govts
increase their efforts to meet climate goals.
• At present, there are 10 million electric cars on road.
• Korea has the largest number of hydrogen car distribution in the world.
• The sales of electric cars in 2020 contracted by 16% due to COVID-19. However, in the Q1
of 2021, the sale of electric cars grew to 2.5 times of the same period in 2020.
• The consumer spending on Electric Cars in 2020 was equivalent to $120 billion which is an
increase of 50% as compared to 2019.
• By 2030, around 30% of new vehicle sales will be Electric in India. This will be led by two
wheeler and three wheelers.
• Electrification of buses will be lower in India at 15% of total sale of vehicles by 2030.
• Only 3% of allocated funds under the FAME II scheme has so far been used for 30,000
vehicles.

BANKING AND ECONOMY

1. RBI has released the master directions providing the guidelines for merger / amalgamation of
the urban cooperative banks.
• Title – Reserve Bank of India (Amalgamation of Urban Co-operative Banks) Directions,
2020.
• Purpose – to strengthen the urban co-op bank structure in India by amalgamating weaker
UCBs with stronger ones.
• Applicability – The provisions of these Directions shall apply to all Primary (Urban) Co-
operative Banks.
• Opportunity – These directions also provides an opportunity to the uni-state UCBs to
become multi-state UCBs with the amalgamation process.
• Eligibility for amalgamation – Approval of 2/3rd of the total board members of both
amalgamating and amalgamated UCBs and not just of those present and voting.
o RBI will approve the amalgamation under the Section 44A read with Section 56
Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

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 • Situations for amalgamation –
o 1st – amalgamated (merging) UCB has positive net worth and amalgamating
(acquiring) UCB assures to protect the interests of the depositors of the merging
UCBs.
o 2nd – amalgamated (merging) UCB has negative net worth and amalgamating
(acquiring) UCB assures to protect the interests of the depositors of the merging
UCBs on its own.
o 3rd – amalgamated (merging) UCB has negative net worth and amalgamating
(acquiring) UCB assures to protect the interests of the depositors of the merging
UCBs with the help of State Govt.
• Incentives To Amalgamating UCBs –
o The amalgamating UCB may be permitted to close down the loss incurring branches
(net loss for last three years) of the amalgamated UCB or merge branches of the
amalgamated UCB with its own. However, interests of the depositors of the
amalgamated banks should be protected at all costs.
o If the amalgamating UCB is converting into a multi-state UCB via amalgamation,
then it will not be pressurised to fulfil the minimum entry point capital prescribed for
multi-state UCBs.
o The amalgamating bank may be permitted to retain the facilities such as AD
category I licence issued under FEMA, etc. where higher level of CRAR at 12 % is
required on an on-going basis, provided it maintains the benchmark CRAR of 9% for
a period as may be specified by the Reserve Bank.
Note: Acquiring or merging both words indicate amalgamation only. These terms have been used to make
understanding of the news easier.

2. RBI has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹15 lakh on Fedbank Financial Services Ltd
(Fedfina), Mumbai, for non-compliance with certain provisions of the central bank’s directions
on monitoring of frauds.
• The penalty has been imposed under the Banking Regulation Act, 1934.

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3. Edelweiss Infrastructure Yield Plus has bought a 74% stake in French utility Engie Group's
solar assets in India for $550 million.
• The Engie Group has 813 MW of operational solar assets in India.
• Edelweiss Infrastructure Yield Plus is an alternative investment fund from the Edelweiss
Group.

4. HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, a joint venture between state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp and
steel tycoon L.N. Mittal, has become the first Indian buyer of Guyanese oil.

5. Facebook has announced its plan to lay two new undersea cables named as “Echo and
Bifrost” to connect Singapore, Indonesia and North America, in collaboration with Google
and regional telecommunication companies.
• Purpose - to boost internet connection capacity between the regions.
• Echo developers – Facebook, Google and XL Axiata (Indonesian telecom company) by
2023. It will connect through Java sea.
• Bifrost developers – Facebook, Telin from Indonesia, and Keppel from Singapore by
2024.

6. RBL Bank has partnered with Tide India (a UK-based banking fintech) to provide banking
infrastructure for Tide’s India platform, which is focused on the SME segment.

7. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has partnered with nStore to digitise offline retailers and small
businesses in the country.
• Under this partnership, the lender will offer a mobile application 'nLincs' to its current
account holders who own local businesses. Through this app, merchants can sell their
merchandise online.

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8. National Payments Corp. of India (NPCI) has defined its standard operating procedure on
the 30% market cap on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions for third-party app
providers (TPAPs).
• The limit of 30% will be calculated on the basis of total volume of transactions processed on
UPI during the preceding three months by a player, on a rolling basis, starting 1 January
2021.
• Participants have until December 2023 to comply with the market cap norms on UPI.
• After the market share (in terms of total UPI transactions) of third-party payment provider
and its partner banks hit the threshold limit of 25-27%, NPCI shall send them the first alert
through an email or a letter to limit their transactions within the 30% cap.
• A second alert will be sent to third party app providers by NPCI, after the TPAPs hit 27-30%
of total market share.
• On crossing the 30% mark, third-party apps and their partner banks will have to stop
onboarding new users with immediate effect.

9. State Bank of India (SBI) has signed a loan agreement of up to $1 billion with Japan Bank
for International Cooperation (JBIC).
• Purpose - to promote smooth flow of funds for the whole range of business operations of
Japanese automobile manufacturers in India.
• The bank had signed a similar deal with JBIC in October last year as well.

10. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has upgraded its
Industrial Entrepreneurs Memorandum (IEM) portal for offering single IEM for one company
that would capture the details of all its locations and sectors.
• Purpose – to promote ease of doing business in India.

11. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has notified ICEGATE or Indian
Customs and Central Excise Electronic Commerce/Electronic Data Interchange (EC/EDI)
Gateway as the common customs electronic portal for all customs related documentation
and duty payments.

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 • URL - https://www.icegate.gov.in/

12. ICICI Bank and Axis Bank have partnered with Amazon and cards major Visa to launch a
retail payments entity, which will be a rival to state-owned NPCI.
• ICICI Bank and Axis Bank will be co-leading the consortium with a 20% stake each.
• Other partners, including Amazon, Billdesk, Pine Labs and Visa will be holding a stake of
15% each.

Other consortiums for NUE: -

• Reliance Industries has tied up with Facebook and Google to set up an NUE.
• Policybazaar, Paytm, Ola Financial, IndusInd Bank and a handful of consortium players
partnered to set up a New Umbrella Entity (NUE).
• Tata Group, Mastercard, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank partnered for
NUE.

Functions of NUE: -

• This New Umbrella Entity (NUE) would work in the specified fields such as:
o Payment systems in the retail space like ATMs,
o White label point of sale terminals,
o Aadhar-based payment systems and remittance services,
o Operation of clearing and settlement systems for participating banks and non-banks,
be interoperable with NPCI,
o Participate in the Reserve Bank's payment and settlement systems.

Requirements for opening NUE: -

• The NUE should have a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 500 crore.

• A minimum net worth of Rs 300 crore shall be maintained at all times.
• No single promoter/promoter group can have more than 40% investment in the capital of
the NUE.

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13. RBI has set the Ways and Means Advances (WMA) limit at Rs 1.2 lakh crore for the central
government for the first half of the financial year 2021-22.
• WMAs are temporary advances given by the RBI to the government to deal with any
mismatch in receipts and payments.
• The interest rate on WMA is equal to the repo rate and on overdraft, it is 2% above the
repo rate. The current repo rate is 4%.
• After the exhaustion of 75% of the WMA limit by the govt, the RBI has announced to trigger
fresh floatation of market loans.

14. RBI has issued an Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) framework for processing of e-
mandates on recurring online transactions in August 2019.
• This framework covers cards, wallets, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions.
• The requirement of Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) has made digital payments in
India safe and secure.
• Recurring Payment Transactions above Rs 5000 are protected through AFA.
• Recently, RBI has given the time to banks and other stakeholders to adopt this framework
completely by September 30, 2021.

15. GE Power India Ltd has signed a 22-year contract with Reliance Bangladesh LNG & Power
Ltd to provide maintenance services for the upcoming 718MW combined cycle power plant.
• Reliance Bangladesh LNG & Power Ltd - a joint venture between India’s Reliance
Power and Japan’s JERA - is building the 718MW combined cycle power plant in
Meghnaghat, Bangladesh.

16. Ministry of Finance has mandated businesses with turnover of more than ₹5 crore to furnish
six-digit HSN or tariff code on the invoices issued for supplies of taxable goods and services
from April 1.

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 • Those with turnover of up to ₹5 crore in the preceding financial year would be required to
mandatorily furnish four-digit HSN code on B2B invoices.
• Earlier, the requirement was four-digits and two-digits respectively.

17. According to ACI Worldwide’ “Prime Time for Real Time” report, more than 70.3 billion
real-time payments transactions were processed globally in 2020, which highlights a surge
of 41% as compared to the previous year.
• The report analysed 48 global markets. It projected a Compound Annual Growth Rate
(CAGR) for real-time payments of 23.6% from 2020 to 2025.

Global Facts:

• Worldwide the mobile wallet adoption rose to a historic high of 46% in 2020, up from
40.6% in 2019 and 18.9% in 2018.
• On a global level, the total number of real-time transactions in 2020 was 70.3 billion, up
41% from 50 billion in 2019.
• Globally, card-related fraud remains the highest in terms of reported incidents from
consumers.
• Real-time payments scams that were on the rise include confidence tricks, Identity theft,
and digital wallet account hacks.

India Related Facts:

• India has retained the top spot with 25.5 billion real-time payments transactions,
followed by China with 15.7 bn transactions.
• In 2020, the transaction volume share in India stood at 15.6% and 22.9% for instant
payments and other electronic payments respectively, while paper-based payments had a
considerable share of 61.4%.
• As per this report, by 2024 the share of real-time payments volume in overall electronic
transactions will exceed 50% in India. This will further touch 71.7% by 2025.

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18. Central govt has mandated RBI to maintain retail inflation at 4% with a margin of 2% on either
side for another five-year period ending March 2026.
• The target of 4% with a band of +/- 2% was decided in 2016 till March 2021 under the
Reserve Bank of India Act 1934.
• During 2016-21, CPI inflation averaged closer to the target at 3.9% and inflation volatility
declined to 1.4 during October 2016-March 2020 from 2.4 in 2012-16.

19. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced the formation of its wholly-
owned subsidiary firm - NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd. (NBBL) which is operational from April 1.
• The new entity offers various recurring payment services to customers, including bill
payments for electricity, telecom, DTH, Gas, Education fees, water and municipal taxes,
NETC FASTag recharge etc.
• Paid up capital of NBBL is Rs 5 lakh and authorised share capital is Rs 1 crores.
• Banks and aggregators on the Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units will now be operating
on the NBBL platform from April 1.
• First subsidiary of NPCI is NPCI International Payments Ltd. Bharat Bills is the second
subsidiary of NPCI.
• NBBL was registered in December 2020. It has three directors – Dilip Asbe (NPCI’s CEO),
Ravindra Pandey (SBI’s MD and chief digital officer) and Biswamohan Mohapatra (NPCI’s
chairman).

20. CDC Group, has partnered with Northern Arc Capital (Indian company) for its first-ever
pooled bond issuance (PBI) transaction in India worth Rs 320 crore.
• This transaction will support six leading Indian microfinance institutions which are
Annapurna Finance, Arohan Financial Services, ASA International, Asirvad Microfinance
Limited, Chaitanya India and Fusion Microfinance.
• CDC’s investment, in a pool of senior secured Non-Convertible Debentures, will provide
systemic liquidity to these microfinance institutions for further lending.

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 • The PBI product, developed by Northern Arc, pools together a set of debentures issued by
diverse entities for one investor. These debentures are partially guaranteed by Northern
Arc.
• CEO of Northern Arc Capital - Dr Kshama Fernandes.
• CDC Group is a development finance institution (DFI) and an impact investor in the UK.
CDC is funded by the UK government.

21. RBI has tightened its supervision norms over payment companies storing customer data.
• From April 1, all licensed payment system operators (PSOs) will have to submit detailed
“compliance certificates” to the central bank twice a year, signed by their CEOs or
managing directors, confirming adherence to all RBI regulations around security and
storage of payment data.

22. World Bank has approved a $32 million Mizoram Health Systems Strengthening Project to
improve management capacity and quality of health services in Mizoram for the benefit of
underserved areas and vulnerable groups.

23. National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL) has invested Rs 2,100 crore
in Manipal Hospitals.
• It is NIIFL’s first investment in the Indian healthcare sector.

24. World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have approved loan for USD
300 million (about Rs 2,190 crore) for canal-based drinking water projects in Punjab.
• The project is aimed at ensuring quality drinking water and minimise water losses for
Amritsar and Ludhiana.
• The entire project will be co-financed by IBRD (World Bank) - USD 105 million, Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank - USD 105 million and the Punjab government - USD 90
million.

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25. Central government will borrow ₹7.24 lakh crore in the first half of 2021-22 fiscal.

26. West Bengal is the highest contributor to the government’s small savings schemes with a
share of over 15% in deposits at post offices and banks.

27. Central Government will infuse Rs 14,500 crore in four public sector banks through zero
coupon recapitalisation bonds.
• Central Bank of India will receive highest capital infusion of Rs 4,800 crore, followed by Rs
4,100 crore by Indian Overseas Bank, Rs 3,000 crore by Bank of India and Rs 2,600
crore by UCO Bank.
• Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India and UCO Bank are under prompt corrective
action.
• This infusion completes the government’s capital infusion of Rs 20,000 crore in public
sector banks for the current financial year.
• Government had earlier infused Rs 5,500 crore in Punjab and Sind Bank in December
2020.

28. Dutch development bank FMO will invest $137 million in India’s Green Growth Equity
Fund (GGEF), which is managed by EverSource Capital.
• The GGEF fund aims to raise a total of $940 million.
• The Fund will invest in the country’s green infrastructure sectors such as renewable energy,
transport, resource efficiency, energy services, value chain, water, waste and transport
sectors.

29. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has acquired 25% stake in
Krishnapatnam Port for Rs 2,800 crore.
• Now, APSEZ has a 100% shareholding in the Port.

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30. RBI has made it mandatory for all prepaid instruments (PPIs) such as mobile wallets and
prepaid cards to be interoperable.
• This will allow the users to transfer and receive funds by using their mobile wallets, in
addition to making payments, similar to bank accounts.
• The limit of the outstanding balance in PPIs has also been doubled to ₹2 lakh.
• The central bank has allowed PPIs to become members of RTGS (real-time gross
settlement) and NEFT (national electronic funds transfer) for payments and transfers.
• Customers will also be able to use mobile wallets at ATMs to withdraw cash and at point-of-
sale terminals (card-swiping machines). Currently, only wallets issued by banks offered a
cash withdrawal facility.
• The facilities will be available to those who have done a “full KYC" (know your customer)
with the issuer of PPI.

31. Ministry of Finance has informed that banks and financial institutions have sanctioned ₹14.96
lakh crore to over 28.68 crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana
(PMMY) since 2015.
• It further said that 4.20 crore PMMY loans were sanctioned in 2020-21, and ₹2.66 lakh
crore was allocated in 2020-21 as on March 19, 2021.
• The scheme gives collateral-free loans to small businesses up to ₹10 lakh under three
categories -- Shishu (up to ₹50,000), Kishore (between ₹50,000 and ₹5 lakh) and Tarun (
₹10 lakh).

32. SEBI has mandated the top 500 listed companies by market capitalisation to separate the
roles of chairperson and managing director (MD) / CEO in their firms before 1st April 2022.
• Purpose – to improve corporate governance as separation of roles “will reduce excessive
concentration of authority in a single individual” and also help “avoid conflict of interest”.

33. According to Ministry of Finance, India witnessed strong Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI)
inflows into the equity markets to the tune of Rs 2.74 lakh crore during 2020-21.

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34. President of India has promulgated the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment)
Ordinance, 2021 to allow pre-packaged insolvency resolution process (PIRP) for MSMEs.
• Aim - to provide an efficient alternative insolvency resolution framework for MSMEs, in a
manner which is least disruptive to the continuity of MSMEs businesses and which
preserves jobs.
• Difference between a pre-pack insolvency resolution framework and normal IBC process:
Criteria Pre-Packaged Insolvency Resolution Corporate Insolvency
Process (PIRP) Resolution Process (CIRP)

Eligibility Only MSMEs All corporate debtors

Default threshold Upto Rs 1 crore Over Rs 1 crore

Initiation by Only Corporate Debtor (CD), post approval Financial Creditor/Operational

by shareholders & unrelated Fin Creditors Creditor/Corporate Debtor

Timeline 90 days to submit resolution plan to 180 days extendable upto max
adjudicating authority, 120 days for entire 330 days
process. No extension

Management Corporate Debtor-in-Possession with Creditor in control

Control Creditor-in-Control

Resolution plan CD to submit Base Resolution Plan. If CoC EOIs invited from all prospective
rejects, or if Operational Creditors not paid in resolution applicants.
full, competing bids can be invited.

Section 29A Section 29A applicable Section 29A applicable

applicability

Consequence of Termination of PIRP, or liquidation or Liquidation

failure initiation of CIPR

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Moratorium Moratorium protection from date of Moratorium protection from date
commencement of filing of plea

Termination Can terminate process with min 66% CoC Section 12A to withdraw from
votes CIRP with 90% vote of CoC

Other terms *If promoters not diluting equity as part

of resolution, CoC needs to record reasons
for it

*PIRP cannot run in parallel to CIRP

*3-year cool-off period from any other PIRP,

CIRP

35. RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee met on 5th, 6th and 7th April, 2021. Highlights:
• Stance – Accommodative
• Policy Rates - Unchanged

36. WazirX has launched one of India’s first marketplaces for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT).

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 • This allows Indian creators to place their digital assets for auction over the blockchain-
based NFT marketplace and earn royalty thereafter.
• NFT is a unit of data on a digital ledger called a block chain.

37. SEBI has amended rules to allow asset management companies (AMCs) for setting up of
Limited Purpose Clearing Corporation (LPCC) by mutual funds.
• As per the earlier rules, AMCs were required to contribute Rs 150 crore as share capital
for setting up of LPCC by mutual funds.
• The contribution of AMCs will be based on average assets under management (AUM) of
debt oriented schemes for the financial year 2020-21.
• The LPCC is an entity established to undertake the activity of clearing and settlement of
repo transactions. LPCC would also help MFs in tackling with redemption pressure and
settle transactions in corporate bond markets.
• The decision to allow the MF industry to set up LPCC was based on recommendation of a
working group set up by the mutual fund advisory committee.

38. World Bank and International Monetary Fund have launched a platform to advise the poor
countries on funding for conservation and climate activities.
• Both the financial organizations will use the platform to negotiate ways to reduce debt
burdens of poor countries.
• The platform is supported by G20 countries as well.

39. RBI has revised its Inflation Forecast Model to better capture how fiscal and monetary policy
interact with real-economy elements.
• The model is also called as the Quarterly Projection Model 2.0.
• The new model is broken into three blocks –
o The first, or fiscal block, decomposes the government’s primary deficit into structural
and cyclical components.
o The second, or fuel block, takes into account India’s complex system of pricing.
Items like petrol and diesel are priced on the basis of international oil prices,

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 exchange rates, and local taxes, while liquefied petroleum gas and kerosene prices
are market-determined but with lagged pass-through.
o The third block is the Balance of Payment block.

40. International Monetary Fund has suggested to levy a Solidarity Tax on companies that have
prospered during the COVID-19 crisis.
• It is a temporary tax.

41. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has issued draft
guidelines for Trade Credit Insurance to promote sustainable and healthy development of
trade credit insurance for businesses.
• Trade credit insurance protects businesses against the risk of non-payment for goods and
services by buyers.
• The guidelines will facilitate general insurance companies to offer trade credit insurance
covers to suppliers as well as licensed banks and other financial institutions to help
businesses manage risk.
• It will enable general insurance companies to offer trade credit insurance with customised
covers to improve businesses for the SMEs and MSMEs.

42. Jana Small Finance Bank has partnered with Axis Securities (a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Axis Bank) to offer its customers the perfect mix of banking and investing through 3-in-1
account.
• The 3-in-1 account integrates seamlessly Savings Bank Account maintained by Jana Small
Finance Bank & Demat and Trading Accounts maintained by Axis Securities.

43. ReNew Power plans to invest $9 billion in wind and solar projects through 2025 amid a
government-backed effort to reduce emissions.

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44. Bank lending to non-banking finance companies/NBFCs (other than microfinance institutions)
for on-lending to agriculture, MSME and housing will continue to be classified as priority
sector lending (PSL) for six more months up to September 30.
• RBI has also enhanced the loan limit under PSL from ₹50 lakh to ₹75 lakh per borrower to
encouraging farm credit to individual farmers against pledge/ hypothecation of agricultural
produce.
• This enhanced limit is against the pledge/ hypothecation of agricultural produce backed by
Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (NWRs)/electronic-NWRs (e-NWRs) issued by
warehouses registered with the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority
(WDRA).
• For other Warehouse Receipts, the loan limit for classification under PSL will continue to be
₹50 lakh per borrower.

45. HDFC Bank has chosen a total of 21 startups for providing grants under its SmartUp Grants
program for 2021.
• These startups also include Gujarat-based start-ups, ‘SciKnowTech’ and ‘IEI Didactics’.
• This year, the bank plans to extend grants worth an estimated Rs 5 crore to all the 21 start-
ups.
• ‘SciKnowTech’ has built a platform of experiential teaching of Science & Mathematics. IEI
Didactics is an impact startup to impart life skill education using an activity-based learning
approach.
• Through the SmartUp programme, HDFC Bank aims to nurture entrepreneurial spirit of
the start-up community to create jobs, opportunities and impact for the society and
environment.
• HDFC Bank has instituted SmartUp grants in 2017 to support startups across India.

46. According to the tax department, income tax and corporate tax collections was at ₹9.45
lakh crore in the fiscal year ended March 31 exceeded the revised target by 5% but were 10%
lower than the direct tax collections in the previous year.

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 • The government had projected ₹13.19 lakh crore from direct taxes in the budget for 2020-
21.

47. International Monetary Fund has estimated that India’s debt to GDP ratio increased from
74% to 90% during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• However, IMF expects this to drop down to 80% as a result of the country’s economic
recovery.

48. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has now allowed
insurance companies to invest in Fund-of-Funds (FoF) that invest within the country.
• This will open more capital raising options for the startups in India.
• Recently, the government has also allowed domestic private retirement funds to invest
upto 5% of their surplus in Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs).
• While insurers can now directly invest in FoF on the lines of their making direct investments
in AIFs, they are barred from investing in FoFs that invest in overseas companies or funds
with overseas exposure.
• Section 27E of Insurance Act 1938 stipulates that no insurer can directly or indirectly
invest outside India, the funds of the policyholder.
• Also, the insurers have been mandated to obtain a quarterly certificate from a concurrent
auditor about their compliance with these conditions and file it along with their quarterly
periodical returns.
• In 2017’s master circular, IRDAI had prohibited insurers to invest in AIFs, which are FoFs
and leverage funds.

49. IRDAI has extended its sandbox regulations by another two years to enable the completion
of the experiment of the existing sandbox proposals and also to allow new sandbox proposals
for the experiment.

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50. National Housing Bank (NHB) has released a ₹10,000-crore ‘Special Refinance Facility-
2021 to provide short term refinance support to Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) and
other eligible Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs).
• These entities can use this fund for further lending to individuals.
• Recently, RBI has also extended fresh support (in the recent monetary policy review) under
another Special Liquidity Facility-2 (SLF-2) of ₹10,000 crore to the NHB for one year to
support the housing sector.

51. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has increased its stake in Gangavaram
Port Ltd (GPL) to 89.6%.
• GPL is located in the northern part of Andhra Pradesh next to Vizag Port.

52. International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has announced
that it will distribute a new allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) worth $650 billion to
member countries by mid-August.
• This allocation is the largest in the history of IMF.

53. World Bank Group entity International Finance Corporation (IFC) has partnered with JC
Flowers to help domestic lenders resolve their distressed assets and engage in new lending.
• Also, the partnership will help mid-sized firms to preserve jobs and avoid insolvency amid
the raging pandemic.
• To achieve this, IFC will invest up to $100 million in the JC Flowers India opportunities
fund, with an initial commitment of $40 million.
• This project is an expansion of IFC's distressed asset recovery programme in India.
• This partnership will create the first dedicated platform in India for mid-sized distressed
assets, which account for USD 27 billion — more than a third — of corporate stressed
assets.
• JC Flowers India opportunities fund is a partnership with Eight Capital Management, an
Indian distressed assets investment firm.

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 • RBI estimates that a second wave of the pandemic could increase NPAs to reach $200
billion, which nearly 15% of gross loans by September 2021.
• The distressed asset recovery programme was launched in 2007 and has committed $7.7
billion globally.

54. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has collaborated with fintech NIRA (Bangalore based fintech) to
provide digital services to its customers through NIRA’s app.
• This is Ujjivan Small Finance Bank’s first Digital Lending partnership.
• Through this partnership, salaried customers can apply for a Personal Loan by using the
NIRA app which is available in the play store.

55. Axis Bank has launched its ‘Send Money Abroad’ feature on the Axis Mobile App. This
initiative is in line with the Bank’s ‘Dil Se Open’ philosophy to provide greater convenience to
customers.
• The feature will provide services in over 100 different currencies.

56. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s data, merchandise exports
contracted 7.26% YoY at $290.63 billion during the entire fiscal 2020-21.
• Similarly, imports also shrank 18.02% to $389.18 billion.

57. RBI has set up the second Regulatory Review Authority (RRA 2.0) to streamline the
regulations and reduce compliance burden of regulated entities.
• RBI deputy governor M Rajeshwar Rao has been appointed as the chief of Regulations
Review Authority.
• Purpose - to review the regulatory prescriptions internally as well as by seeking
suggestions from the RBI-regulated entities and other stakeholders on their simplification
and ease of implementation.
• Tenure – 1 year from May 1, 2021

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 • RRA 1.0 – Set up on April 1, 1999 for a period of one year, the first RRA provided
recommendations on regulations, circulars, reporting systems, based on the feedback from
public, banks and financial institutions.

58. Citi Bank has announced to withdraw its retail banking business in 13 countries (including
India) across Asia and the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
• Citigroup will continue to offer products in these markets to customers like private bank,
cash-management arm and investment-banking and trading businesses.
• Now, the bank will operate its retail banking business in the Asia and the Europe, Middle
East and Africa region from four wealth centres in Singapore, Hong Kong, United Arab
Emirates and London.
• Citi bank has already constructed its largest premises in Singapore.
• CEO of Citi Bank - Jane Fraser
• HQ of Citi Bank – New York, US

59. RBL Bank and Mastercard have partnered to launch the Pay by Bank App, a first-of-its-
kind payment functionality in India.
• It is a mobile based consumer-friendly payment solution.
• RBL Bank account holders can now enjoy contactless transactions across the world
through their mobile banking application both in-store and online.
• This functionality will be available at all Mastercard accepting merchants, worldwide that
accept contactless and online payments.

60. ETMONEY has launched India’s first Aadhar-based systematic investment plan (SIP)
payments feature.
• This new feature allowed customers to start a SIP online and set-up automatic payments
using a simple Aadhar based OTP verification.
• Founder & CEO - Mukesh Kalra

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61. SBI General Insurance has signed a corporate agency agreement with Uttarbanga
Kshetriya Gramin Bank located in West Bengal.

62. Facebook has signed a deal to buy renewable energy in India from a local firm's wind power
project, located in southern Karnataka state.
• It is Facebook’s first such deal in India.
• This deal is a part of a larger portfolio of wind and solar projects that Facebook and
Mumbai-based CleanMax are working together on for supplying renewable power into
India's electrical grid.
• CleanMax will own and operate the projects while Facebook will provide financing.
• Facebook is building its first data centre of Asia in Singapore.
• Facebook’s head of renewable energy – Urvi Parekh

63. SEBI has released the guidelines for preparing warehousing norms by clearing corporations
for agricultural, agri-processed, base and industrial metals goods.
• The guidelines, which will be the minimum requirements that will be prescribed by
clearing corporations for warehousing service providers, are aimed at bringing uniformity,
improve ease of doing business and rationalise regulatory compliance cost, among other
aspects.
• The guidelines would come into effect from June 1, 2021.
• The clearing corporations will set norms for warehouse service providers (WSP).
• In addition to the clearing corporations, the WSPs will have to follow rules laid down by
Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority.
• An accredited WSP should have a minimum subscribed and paid-up share capital of Rs 10
crore.
• The promoter or promoter groups of a WSP should be in the business of public
warehousing for at least three years. A WSP may be given six months to increase the net
worth in case of reduction below stipulated requirement.

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 • The value of the goods stored in the accredited storage facilities of WSP shall not, at any
point of time, exceed 33 times the net worth of the WSP, irrespective of the number of
clearing corporations being served by the WSP.

64. Flipkart has partnered with infrastructure firm Adani Group to set up its third data centre in
Chennai and a large fulfilment centre in Kalyan, near Mumbai.
• Flipkart will set up its data centre at the Chennai facility of AdaniConneX Pvt. Ltd, a new
joint venture between EdgeConneX and Adani Enterprises Ltd.
• Flipkart already has two data centres in Hyderabad and Chennai.

65. LT Foods has become the first company globally to be certified with the highest level of
verification – L3, by UN-backed Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) ecolabel.
• Implication - This will enable the Company to use Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) verified
logo on the packs of Rice produced by verified 1,000+ farmers growing sustainable rice.

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 • Switching to SRP practices can boost farm incomes by up to 20%.
• SRP is a platform of over 100 public, private, research, financial institutions and civil society
organizations led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Rice
Research Institute (IRRI) and German company GIZ.
• It has developed the “SRP-Verified” Label to reduce the environmental impact of rice - one
of the largest food crops in the world.

66. Ministry of Finance has notified the rule for winding up of the Settlement Commission,
handling income tax and wealth tax disputes, effective 1 February 2021, to set up a new
dispute resolution system for small tax payers.
• The new dispute resolution system will be available to assessees with taxable income up to
₹50 lakh in cases where disputed income is up to ₹10 lakh.
• It will function in a faceless manner to ensure transparency.

67. According to the National Housing Bank’s latest Trend and Progress of Housing in India
report, the market share of banks in individual housing loans (IHL) has gone up from 62%
in 2017-18 to 67% in 2019-20.
• On the other hand, the market share of Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) in
individual housing loans has come down from 38% in 2017-18 to 33% in 2019-20.
• As per the report, banks share in home loan market is higher than HFCs.
• The total outstanding IHLs of HFCs and banks combined was around ₹20-lakh crore as at
the end of March 2019-20 compared to around ₹18-lakh crore in 2018-19.
• Outstanding IHLs of Banks and HFCs registered year-on-year growth of 8.5% and 3%,
respectively.

68. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has appointed Paytm to facilitate its digital
payments.

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69. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) has hired SBI Caps Ltd to act as transaction advisor for
the privatisation of the J N Port Container Terminal run by the port authority itself.
• JNPCT is the only such facility operated by a government-owned port authority across any
of the 12 state-owned major ports in India.
• Jawaharlal Nehru Port is located in Maharashtra.

70. Amazon India hosted the second edition of 'Amazon Smbhav Summit' during April 15-18,
2021 virtually.
• During 2021 summit, Amazon India launched three initiatives –
First:

ü Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund – Total corpus: $250 million for digitization of startups,
small and medium businesses focusing on agriculture, and healthcare.
ü As part of this venture fund, $10 million will be invested in M1xchange- a new startups
working to connect MSMEs with banks and financial institutions.
Second:

ü Onboarding 1 million offline retailers and neighbourhood stores on Amazon platform by

2025.
Third:

ü Spotlight North East: 50,000 weavers, artisans, and small businesses from the North East
on online platform by 2025.

• Amazon has also launched “Amazon Pay For Business” app for small & medium
businesses to enable seamless acceptance of digital payments.
• Amazon Web Services launched Amazon Digital Suite, a set of software solutions,
aimed at helping India’s small and medium businesses (SMBs) to easily digitize their
operations and bring their businesses online.
o For this Digital Suite, Amazon Web Services partnered with different organizations
including Razorpay.

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 • At the start of 2020, Amazon India made three important commitments to India: digitising
10 Million small businesses, enabling exports worth $10B and creating 1 Million new
jobs by 2025.

71. Gautam Adani’s conglomerate has become India's third group to cross USD 100 billion in
market capitalisation.
• The first two companies are Reliance Industries and Tata Group.

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72. RBI has constituted a 6-member committee, headed by Sudarshan Sen (former RBI
executive director), to evaluate the role of asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) in
stressed debt resolution and review their business model.
• Functions - The committee will review the existing legal and regulatory framework and
recommend measures to improve the efficacy of ARCs.
• It will also review the role of ARCs in stressed asset resolution under the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code (IBC), and suggest means to improve liquidity and trading of security
receipts.

73. RBI has announced a ₹1 trillion government securities acquisition programme (G-SAP) 1.0
under which the central bank will purchase government bonds worth ₹1 trillion from the
secondary market in the first quarter of 2021-22.
• G-SAP 1.0 will be conducted alongside other operations such as liquidity adjustment
facility, outright open-market operations and Operation Twist.
• The first purchase of ₹25,000 crore under the multiple price method on 15 April resulted in
bond yields rising to 6.12%.
• This step will be beneficial for the govt vis-a-vis the borrowing target of ₹12.06 trillion in
FY22. RBI is the debt manager of the Centre.

74. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has partnered with Habitat for Humanity International to
help microfinance institutions (MFIs) deliver housing loans to low-income families in rural
and peri-urban areas of India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
• An expected 20,000 households will receive housing microloans from partner MFIs in the
programme's first phase to enhance construction quality and climate resilience, including
upgrading semi-permanent structures and installing sanitation and water connections.

75. PhonePe has crossed 1 billion transactions on Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
infrastructure in March, making it the first player in the country to reach this milestone.

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76. According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India's
crude oil production fell by 5% and natural gas output declined by 8% in the FY21.
• Crude oil production fell to 30.5 million tonnes in 2020-21 from 32.17 million tonnes in
2019-20.
• Natural gas production was 28.67 billion cubic meters, which was 8% less than 31.18
bcm output in 2019-20.
• India is nearly 85% dependent on imports to meet its crude oil needs. India spent $61.9
billion in 2020-21 on import of 198.2 million tonnes of crude oil.

77. Bitex (UAE based digital asset exchange) has become the first cryptocurrency exchange
in India.
• The exchange will provide detailed reports for all its retail and institutional investors in
compliance with Companies Act, 2013.
• These reports will detail about the money made or lost in cryptocurrency by investors.
• Bitex was initially launched in 2018.

78. Google and Amazon Web Services have been chosen as the winners of a NIS 4 billion
tender ($1.2 billion) given by Israel govt to provide cloud-based regional data services to
Israel.
• Under this project, cloud data services will be provided to public entities in Israel while the
data will be kept within the bounds of Israel.
• The project is named as Nimbus. It is one of Israel’s biggest information technology
projects.

79. HDFC Bank and Indiabulls Housing Finance have entered into a co-lending agreement.

80. FirstRand Bank (South Africa's second largest bank) is the latest foreign bank to
completely exit India after closing its only branch in Mumbai.

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 • The South African lender started operations as late as 2009 and started lending to
individual customers and small and medium enterprises only in 2012.
• However, it could not gain popularity in India.

81. Kerala’s first neo-bank named as Ace Money Neobank has been opened by Aceware
FinTech Services, in partnership with Yes Bank and ICICI Bank.
• Chqbook.com is India's first neobank for small business owners.
• FamPay is India's first neobank for teenagers.
• Finin is India’s first full-fledged consumer neobank.

82. Tata Steel, along with HSBC, has executed world’s first blockchain-enabled paperless
trade transaction in the steel industry.
• This transaction involved the export of steel by Tata Steel to Universal Tube & Plastic
Industries, UAE.
• The transaction was executed over the Contour platform and essDOCS platforms.
• The letter of credit was issued by HSBC UAE for Univ­ersal Tube & Plastic Industries,
UAE (importer), with HSBC India as the advising and negotiating bank for Tata Steel, India
(exporter).

83. International Financial Services Centre Authority (IFSCA) has allowed NBFCs, both local
and global, to start operations in Gujarat’s GIFT City.
• NBFCs will be allowed to offer the whole range of services — loans, exotic derivative
trades, investment banking, and third-party product sales.
• A Finance Company can be set up either as a subsidiary or a joint venture, or as a newly-
incorporated company under the Companies Act, 2013.
• Seven core activities are permitted - lending in the form of loans, commitments and
guarantees, securitisation, and sale or purchase of portfolios, undertaking investments,
including subscribing, acquiring, holding, or transferring securities or such other
instruments.

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 • Equipment leasing is also allowed with Finance Companies that can run global or regional
corporate treasury operations. Also, Asset Management support services can also be
undertaken.
• Under non-core activities, FCs can run portfolio management services, merchant banking
services, investment advisories, and trusteeship services. They can sell units of mutual
funds and insurance products via the same platform.

84. New Development Bank (NDB) has fixed the price of its 5-year USD 1.5 billion benchmark
bond.
• The net proceeds of the Bond will be used for financing sustainable development
activities as well as COVID-19 Emergency Program Loans to the Bank's member
countries.
• The NDB established the Emergency Assistance Facility in April 2020, to provide up to
USD 10 billion to tackle Covid-19 pandemic, including USD 5 billion for financing healthcare
and social safety-related expenditures, as well as USD 5 billion for supporting economic
recovery efforts.
• Settlement date - 27 April, 2021
• Maturity date - 27 April, 2026
• Yield - 1.154% annual / 1.151% semi-annual
• Coupon - 1.125% per annum
• Lead managers - Citi, HSBC, ICBC, J.P. Morgan, Standard Chartered, TD Securities

85. HSBC India has collaborated with Google Pay and VISA to enable secured tokenisation on its
credit cards.
• This new feature will enable HSBC Credit Card customers to link their card to GPay and
use it as a payment option at merchant stores.

86. Mastercard and BOB Financial Solutions Limited (BFSL) have partnered to launch ConQR
- a Mastercard QR on Card solution - a payment solution for cardholders.

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 • This solution uses a Mastercard technology which enables cardholders/ SMEs to accept
cashless payments using their cards.
• The QR on Card makes payments more flexible and empowers cardholders (mainly small
merchants) to spend and earn on the same card.
• The ConQR Credit Card will have a Bharat QR Code on the card face.

87. Indian Bank has signed an MOU with The Chennai Angles (angel investment group) to
finance startups under the IND Spring Board - loan initiative of the bank.
• Purpose - to empower startups to realise their research efforts backed by financial support
from the bank.
• Under this scheme, the public sector bank will extend credit facilities of up to Rs 50 crores
for working capital requirements and for acquiring fixed assets.

88. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the licence of Maharashtra-based Bhagyodaya
Friends Urban Co-operative Bank Limited due to inadequate capital.

89. Axis Direct (a wholly owned subsidiary of Axis Bank) has launched a mobile app named “Axis
Direct Ring” to help people make investments in stock markets.

90. IRDAI has allowed insurers to invest in debt securities issued by infrastructure investment
trusts (InvITs) and real estate investment trusts (Reits).
• Purpose - It will improve the overall yield of the portfolios held by the firms, while providing
more long-term funding to the realty sector.
• Insurers cannot invest in debt instruments of InvITs and Reits rated below AA. Instruments
rated or downgraded below AA should form part of ‘other investments’.
• IRDAI mandates 75% of the insurers’ investments have to be in AAA-rated assets, while
25% can go to instruments rated AA or even A-.
• Moreover, an insurer can take exposure to below AA-rated instruments only after getting
approval from the board.

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 • Also, insurers cannot invest more than 10% of the outstanding debt instruments in a single
InvIT or Reit.
• In March, IRDAI had allowed insurers to invest in the units of such pooled investment
vehicles.

91. RBI has released the ‘State of the Economy’ report.

• Increasing Covid cases can cause supply disruption and increased inflation in the economy.
• It is important for RBI to maintain a 4% inflation target.
• The shape of the economic recovery in 2021-22 will be v- shaped -- and the 'v' in it stands
for "vaccine".

92. RBI has allowed banks to pay up to 50% dividend of the amount determined as per the
dividend payout ratio for FY21 (2020-21).
• For FY20, the RBI had asked banks not to make any dividend payment on equity shares
from the profits on account of Covid-19 pandemic.

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93. Google has announced Rs. 135 crore funding support for India to tackle the current
pandemic situation.
• Microsoft will use its voice, resources, and technology to aid relief efforts, and support the
purchase of critical oxygen concentration devices.
• Following the suit, many companies including Amazon have come for providing help to
India in the present situation.

94. RBI has issued guidelines on the governance of banks, including private banks, Small
Finance Banks (SFBs), Wholly Owned Subsidiaries of Foreign Banks.
• This circular is not applicable to foreign banks operating as branches in India.
• Banks are permitted to comply with these instructions latest by October 01, 2021. The
circular is effective since the date of issue.
Category Changes

• The post of Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer

(CEO) or Whole Time Director (WTD) cannot be held by the same
incumbent for more than 15 years.
Tenure of MD, • Thereafter, the same individual can be re-appointed as the MD & CEO
CEO & Whole or WTD in the same bank, after a minimum gap of three years, subject
Time Director to meeting other conditions.
• During this three-year cooling period, the individual shall not be
appointed or associated with the bank or its group entities in any
capacity, either directly or indirectly.
Tenure of MD, • MD&CEO or WTD who is also a promoter/ major shareholder, cannot
CEO & Whole hold these posts for more than 12 years. However, RBI can allow
Time Director, promoter WTD/MD & CEO to continue up to15 years in extraordinary
if he is a circumstances.
promoter or

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 major
shareholder

Upper Age • The upper age limit for MD & CEO and WTDs in private banks would

limit continue to be 70 years. However, individual banks are free to prescribe

a lower retirement age for the WTDs, including the MD&CEO.
Non-Executive • The total tenure of a Non-Executive Director (NED), continuously or
Directors – otherwise, on the board of a bank, shall not exceed eight years.
tenure, • Afterwards, re-appointment can be considered only after a minimum
remuneration, gap of three years.
and • The fixed remuneration for an NED, other than the chair of the board,
reappointment shall not exceed ₹20 lakh per annum.

• The board will be required to constitute an nomination and

Nomination remuneration committee (NRC) made up of only NEDs. The NRC

And needs to have three members. At least half of the members shall be

Remuneration independent directors, of which one shall be a member of the risk

Committee management committee of the board (RMCB).

• The meetings of the NRC shall be chaired by an independent director.
The chair of the board shall not chair the NRC.
Audit • The audit committee of the board (ACB) will comprise of only non-
Committee Of executive directors (NEDs).
The Board

Risk • The board will also constitute an risk management committee of the
Management board with a majority of NEDs.
Committee Of
The Board

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 • The Chair of board who is not an independent director on the date of
issue of this circular shall be allowed to complete the current term as
Certain Terms Chair as already approved by the Reserve Bank.
And • Banks with MD&CEOs or WTDs who have already completed 12/15
Conditions years as MD&CEO or WTD, on the date of this circular, shall be allowed
to complete their current term as already approved by the Reserve
Bank.

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95. Asian Development Bank (ADB) has provided $1.5 billion to India to deal with the Covid-19
pandemic.
• This assistance is a part of $20 billion package.
• ADB had announced a package of $20 billion in April 2020 to provide financial support to
26 countries to help fight the pandemic.

96. Paytm has launched India’s first Wealth Community based on video.
• It will enable users to attend live sessions conducted by subject matter experts across an
array of wealth topics like stocks, F&O, IPO, ETFs, mutual funds, gold, fixed income, and
personal finance.

97. SBI Mutual Fund has launched SBI Nifty Next 50 Index Fund, an open-ended index scheme
which would replicate the performance of the Nifty Next 50 Index.
• This new scheme would be suitable for investors who are seeking long term capital
appreciation, investment in securities covered by Nifty Next 50 Index and gain access to
growth of potential market leaders.
• SBI Nifty Next 50 Index Fund is the second index fund of SBI MF in addition to the existing
SBI Nifty Index Fund.
• The minimum application amount required is of Rs. 5,000 and in multiples of Re. 1
thereafter. Investments can also be done through daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-
annual and annual SIP.

98. OneWeb has launched another batch of 36 satellites by Arianespace from the Vostochny
cosmodrome in Russia.
• OneWeb is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications operator, co-owned by Bharti
Global and the UK government.
• Now, OneWeb’s total in-orbit constellation consists of 182 satellites.

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 • These would form part of OneWeb’s 648 LEO satellite fleet that will deliver high-speed
global connectivity.
• Earlier this month, OneWeb signed an MoU with the Kazakhstan government and local
partners to digitise the latter’s economy, boost connectivity and help the country become a
pioneer in satellite communications.

99. RBI has released the 'Guidelines for Appointment of Statutory Central Auditors (SCAs)/
Statutory Auditors (SAs) of Commercial Banks (excluding RRBs), UCBs and NBFCs
(including HFCs)'.
• These guidelines will be applicable for financial year 2021-22 and onwards.
• Non-deposit taking NBFCs with asset size below ₹1,000 crore have the option to
continue with their existing procedure.
• This is the first time, such guidelines are implemented for Urban Co-operative Banks
(UCBs) and NBFCs.
• Banks and UCBs will be required to take prior approval of RBI for appointment /
reappointment of SCAs/SAs, on an annual basis.
• For entities with an asset size of ₹15,000 crore and above as at the end of previous year,
statutory audit should be conducted under joint audit of a minimum of two audit firms.
• All other entities should appoint a minimum of one audit firm for conducting statutory
audit.
• It shall be ensured that joint auditors of the entity do not have any common partners and
they are not under the same network of audit firms.
• In order to protect the independence of the auditors/audit firms, entities will have to appoint
the SCAs/SAs for a continuous period of three years.

100. According to Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s data, India’s export of organic food
products increased by 51% in terms of value to USD 1040 million (Rs 7078 crores) during
financial year 2020-21 compared to 2019-20.
• In terms of quantity, the exports of organic food products grew by 39% to 888,179 metric
tonne (MT) during FY 2020-21 compared to 638,998 MT shipped in 2019-20.

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 • India’s organic products have been exported to 58 countries including USA, European
Union, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Switzerland, Israel, South Korea.

101. According to a study by CII, Clean Air Fund, and Dalberg, air pollution costs Indian
businesses $95 billion every year, or 3% of the country's Gross Domestic Product.
• Air pollution cuts annual consumer spending by $22 billion.
• If New Delhi fails to clean its toxic air, the IT sector could lose more than $2.5 every year.
• New Delhi is the world's most polluted capital, and India is home to 35 of the world's 50
most polluted cities.

102. US treasury department has placed India on a watchlist of currency manipulators.

• Reasons - central bank’s dollar purchase (which is at 5% of India’s GDP) that exceeded
the 2% threshold, and India’s large trade surplus with the US.
• Criteria - The US puts a trading partner on the watchlist if that country had intervened in
the currency market by higher levels than 2% of its GDP over a 12-month period, and had a
current account surplus of 2% of GDP and a trade surplus with the US.
• Other countries - This recent list also includes China, Japan, Korea, Germany, Ireland,
Italy, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Mexico. All except Ireland and Mexico were
covered in the December 2020 report as well.
• This is the second time since the start of the pandemic that India has figured on the list.
However, RBI has announced to continue its intervention to avoid any undue volatility in the
currency market.

103. Central government has infused Rs 200 crore capital in state-owned IFCI Ltd to improve
its financial health.
• Now, the govt holds 63.8% stake in IFCI (The Industrial Finance Corporation of India).
• The capital infusion was announced in the Union Budget 2021-22.

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104. FSS (Financial Software and Systems) and NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) have
signed a strategic partnership to expand UPI rails in international markets.
• FSS is a globally leading provider of integrated payment products and India’s largest
payments processor.
• India is among the first countries globally to launch real-time payments rails, processing
close to three billion transactions a month on the UPI network.

105. Mastercard has announced a commitment of USD 10 million to the Mastercard Impact
Fund to address the COVID-19 crisis in India.
• This fund will focus on three priority areas – access to hospital resources, access to
additional oxygen supplies, and continued support to its employees across the country.
• Google has also announced Rs 135 crores to help India. Google will send Rs 20 crores
from Google.org to GiveIndia and UNICEF to help India.
• Google is already running “Employee Giving Campaign” to help marginalized
communities.

106. Axis Bank’s board has approved the reclassification of The New India Assurance Co Ltd
(NIACL) as a 'public shareholder' of Axis Bank from being a 'promoter' earlier.
• NIACL held 0.67% of the total issued and paid-up equity share capital of the bank as on
April 22, 2021.

107. Central govt has announced to keep the interest rate of General Provident Fund and
other Special Deposit Scheme at 7.1% for April to June quarter of 2021-22.
• The deposits made under the Special Deposit Scheme for Non-Government Provident,
Superannuation and Gratuity Funds will also bear interest at 7.1% with effect from April 1,
2021.
• Earlier, the govt has decided to keep interest rate on small savings schemes such as Public
Provident Fund (PPF), NSC, etc unchanged for the current quarter.

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108. ICICI Bank has launched ‘Merchant Stack’, a set of digital banking services for retail
merchants.
• This facility will help retail merchants to serve their customers better with the digital tools in
the pandemic.

109. Indian Bank has signed an MoU with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited to provide
seamless telecom services to the bank at a competitive rate.

110. Wipro has become the third-largest IT services firm in India by market capitalization.
• TCS, followed by Infosys, are the top two largest IT service firms in India.
• Wipro has also announced its commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions by 2040.

111. Competition Commission of India has approved the acquisition of 64% stake of
BigBasket by Tata Digital.
• Tata Digital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.
• The stake and management control has been taken from Supermarket Grocery Supplies
(SGS) and Innovative Retail Concepts (IRC) respectively.

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112. RBI has become a member of Central Banks and Supervisors Network for Greening
the Financial System (NGFS).
• The NGFS is a group of Central banks and supervisors willing to share the best practices
and contribute to the development of the environment and climate risk management in the
financial sector.
• NGFS also aims to mobilise mainstream finance to support the transition towards a
sustainable economy. The System was launched at the Paris One Planet Summit on
December 2017.

GDP FORECASTS
1. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)
has forecasted a 7% GDP growth rate for India for FY22.
• FY21 GDP forecast for India – (-) 7.7%
• Title of the report - ‘Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2021: Towards
post-Covid-19 resilient economies’.
• The Asia Pacific region, including India, is staring at a “K-shaped recovery” of their
economies.
• Asia-Pacific region’s developing economies are expected to grow 5.9% in FY22 and 5% in
FY23. In FY21, the region is expected to see a -1% growth rate.

2. In its report ‘South Asia Vaccinates’ report, the World Bank has increased India’s GDP
forecast for FY22 to 10.1% with a range of 7.5-12.5%.
• FY21 GDP forecast for India: (-) 8.5%
• South Asian region’s GDP forecast is at 7.2% for 2021-22 and 4.4% for 2022-23.

3. International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released the World Economic Outlook April 2021
report.

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4. Nomura has downgraded India’s growth projection to 12.6% from the earlier 13.5% for FY22.
• JPMorgan has also forecasted a 11% GDP growth rate for India against 13% earlier for
FY22.
• Other GDP forecasts - The RBI has projected FY'22 GDP growth at 10.5%, while IMF puts
it at 12.5%. The World Bank sees 2021-22 growth at 10.1%.

5. ICRA Ratings has forecasted a 10-10.5% GDP growth rate for FY22 for India.

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6. Asian Development Bank has launched the Asian Development Outlook 2021.

7. Care Ratings has forecasted 10.2% GDP growth rate for FY22 (2021-22) for India.

8. S&P Global Ratings has forecasted a 11% GDP growth rate for the Indian economy for 2021-
22.

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 • S&P forecasted a 'BBB-' rating on India with a stable outlook.
• India’s GDP growth rate would be 6.1% to 6.4% for the next couple of years.

9. State Bank of India (SBI) has forecasted a 10.4% GDP growth rate for India for FY22.

10. Fitch Ratings has forecasted a 12.8% in 2021-22 and 5.8% in FY23 for India.
• FY21 contraction – (-) 7.5%
• Fitch has affirmed India’s long-term foreign-currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘BBB-’
with a negative outlook.

11. India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has forecasted 10.1% GDP growth rate for India for
FY22.
• Indian economy is estimated to have contracted by 7.6% in FY21.
• RBI has maintained its 10.5% GDP growth estimate.

12. Oxford Economics has revised India’s GDP growth forecast to 10.2% for the calendar year
2021.

APPOINTMENTS
1. Soma Mondal (Chairperson of SAIL) has been appointed as the first woman Chairperson of
the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) for 2021-23.
• Pradip Kumar Das (CMD of IREDA Ltd) took over as its Vice-Chairman.

About Standing Conference of Public Enterprises:

• Establishment – 1973; It was given the status of an apex body of Central Public Sector
Enterprises in November 1976 by a decision of the Union Cabinet.

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 • Members - SCOPE is an apex professional organization representing the Central
Government Public Enterprises. It has also some State Enterprises, Banks and other
Institutions as its Members.
• Purpose - It is promoting excellence in organizations where public investment is involved,
in order to enable them to be globally competitive.
• Location - Delhi

2. Anish Shah has been appointed as the MD and CEO of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.

3. Subhash Kumar (Director of Finance at Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) has taken the
additional charge as Chairman and Managing Director of the ONGC.

4. Virat Kohli has been appointed as the brand ambassador of the Digit Insurance (a unicorn
start-up).

5. Mallika Srinivasan has been appointed as the chairperson of the Public Enterprises
Selection Board (PESB) for 3 years by the Ministry of Personnel.
• She is the Chairman and Managing Director of Tractors and Farm Equipment (TAFE)
Limited.
• She has become the first person from the private sector to be appointed as the head of the
PESB.

6. Central government has appointed Mukhmeet S. Bhatia as the new director general of
Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).
• Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 envisioned the establishment of the ESIC.

7. Britannia has appointed former RBI governor Urjit Patel as its additional director for a
period of five years starting from March 31, 2021.

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 • Patel will be the Additional Director of the company in the category of Non-Executive and
Independent Director.

8. Nguyen Xuan Phuc has been appointed as the new President of Vietnam and Pham Minh
Chinh is the new Prime Minister.
• Nguyen Xuan Phuc was the former PM of Vietnam.

9. Chintan Vaishnav has been appointed as the new mission director of Atal Innovation
Mission.

10. Justice N V Ramana has sworn in as 48th Chief Justice of India until August 26, 2022.

11. Chinese smartphone major Vivo has appointed cricketer Virat Kohli as its brand
ambassador.

12. Elista has appointed Suresh Raina as its brand ambassador.

13. Alessandra Galloni has become the first woman editor-in-chief of Reuters news agency.
• Reuters is headquartered in London, UK.

14. Smartphone brand Tecno has appointed Ayushmann Khurrana as its brand ambassador.

15. US President Joe Biden has nominated Bill Nelson (former senator) as the new
administrator of NASA.
• Former astronaut Pam Melroy has been nominated as NASA’s deputy administrator.

16. Sivasubramanian Ramann has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of
the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for 3 years.

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17. Siddharth Singh Longjam has been appointed new Director-General of National Anti-
Doping Agency (NADA).

18. Credit Suisse has appointed Horta-Osorio as its new chairman.

• Credit Suisse HQ - Zürich, Switzerland

19. Puma has signed cricketers Washington Sundar and Devdutt Padikkal as brand
ambassadors.

20. DCB Bank has received the approval from RBI for the re-appointment of Murali M. Natrajan
as the Managing Director & CEO, for further period of one year.

21. India's Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) GC Murmu has been chosen as the external
auditor of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for a 3 year
term.
• OPCW is the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered
into force on 29 April 1997.
• The OPCW, with its 193 Member States, aims to eliminate chemical weapons.
• Current Chairperson of OPCW - Agustín Vásquez Gómez
• OPCW HQ - The Hague, Netherlands

22. National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has appointed
Rekha M. Menon (chairperson and senior MD at Accenture in India) as its chairperson for
2021-22.

23. RBI has approved the appointment of Atanu Chakraborty as part-time chairman of HDFC
Bank for a period of three years.

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24. SEBI has approved the appointment of Arun Raste as the new MD and CEO of National
Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX) for five years.

25. Sportswear brand ASICS has appointed Ravindra Jadeja as its brand ambassador.

26. Expenditure Secretary T V Somanathan has been designated as the Finance Secretary.

27. Axis Bank’s board has approved the re-appointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as its Managing
Director and CEO for three years with effect from January 1, 2022.

IMPORTANT DAYS
1. Earth Hour is observed on last Saturday of March (27.03.2021) across the world.
• Theme of the 2021 - Climate Change to Save Earth

2. International Transgender Day of Visibility is observed on March 31.

3. World Autism Awareness Day is observed on April 2 by UN.

• A virtual event titled ‘Inclusion in the Workplace: Challenges and Opportunities in a Post-
Pandemic World’ was also held.
• Autism is a developmental disorder of variable severity that is characterized by difficulty in
social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and
behaviour.

4. International Mine Awareness Day is observed on April 4 by UN.

• Focus of the day - Perseverance, Partnership, Progress

5. Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways has celebrated the 58th National Maritime Day
on April 5th.

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 • Theme - ‘Sustainable Shipping beyond Covid-19’.
• National Maritime Day is celebrated to commemorate the first voyage of the first Indian flag
merchant vessel 'S.S LOYALTY' from Mumbai to London, on April 5th, 1919.
• Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has inaugurated Merchant Navy Week
2021.

6. International Day of Conscience is observed on ِApril 5th by UN.

7. World Health Day is observed on April 7 to commemorate the establishment of WHO in 1948.
• Theme - building a fairer, healthier world

8. International Day of Sport for Development and Peace is observed on April 6.

9. UN General Assembly has designated 2021 as the International Year of Fruits and
Vegetables.

10. International Day for Street Children is observed on April 12.

• Theme - Access to Essential Services
• According to United Nations Population Fund (UNPF), India is home to one of the
planet's largest population of Street Children.
• India is also one of the countries having the largest adolescent and youth population in the
world and will continue to be so till 2030. India is experiencing a “youth bulge” that will last
till 2025.
• As per a survey by Rainbow Homes (NGO), out of 130 billion population in India, 18 million
street children were identified, which is the highest in the world.
• A census survey (Spotlight on #TheInvisibles) conducted by Save the Children across 10
cities has identified 2,02,765 children in “street situations” of which Delhi records the
maximum number, followed by Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Kolkata.
• Both surveys highlight an urgent need of a centralized database for street children.

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11. National Fire Service Day is observed on April 14 in India.
• Theme - Maintenance of Fire Safety Equipment Is Key To Mitigate Fire Hazards

12. World Chagas Disease Day is observed on April 14.

• Chagas disease is commonly transmitted through the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. These
places include South America, Central America and Mexico.
• Left untreated, it can cause congestive heart failure.

13. World Art Day is observed on April 15.

• Theme - 'You're Not Alone'.

14. World Hemophilia Day is observed on April 17.

• Theme - “Adapting to change: sustaining care in a new world”
• Hemophilia is a medical condition in which the ability of the blood to clot is severely
reduced, causing the sufferer to bleed severely from even a slight injury.

15. Earth Day is celebrated on April 22.

• Theme - “Restore Our Earth”
• US will host the Leaders’ Summit on Climate on April 22/23 to augment efforts tackle the
climate crisis.
• US and China (world’s largest polluters) have agreed to work together to tackle the
problem of climate change.
• The summit will be a key milestone on the road to the United Nations Climate Change
Conference (COP26) this November in Glasgow.

16. World Heritage Day or International Day of Monuments and Sites is observed on April 18
by UNESCO.
• Theme - “Complex Pasts: Diverse Futures”

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 • Union Minister of Tourism and Culture Shri Prahlad Singh Patel has inaugurated the
first online exhibition on Ramayana.

17. World Liver Day is observed on April 19 every year to spread awareness about liver-related
conditions and diseases.
• Theme - ‘Keep your liver healthy and disease-free.’

18. National Civil Services Day is observed on April 21 in India.

• Sardar Vallabhai Patel referred the Indian Administrative Service as “Steel Frame of
India”.

19. World Creativity and Innovation Day is observed on April 21 by UN.

• 2021 is the UN International Year of the Creative Economy for Sustainable
Development.

20. World Homeopathy Awareness Week is celebrated annually between April 10th and April
16th.
• World Homeopathy Day is observed on April 10.

21. World Book and Copyright Day is observed on April 23 by UNESCO.

• Theme - ‘To share a story’

22. International Girls in ICT (Information & Communications Technology) Day is observed on
April 22 by International Telecommunication Union.
• Theme: ‘Connected Girls, Creating Brighter Futures!’

23. International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace is observed on April 24 by
UN.

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24. World Malaria Day is observed on April 25 by WHO.
• Theme - “Reaching the zero malaria target.”
• RBM Partnership to End Malaria observed this day on theme of “Zero Malaria – Draw the
Line Against Malaria”.
• WHO has launched E-2025 campaign to end the spread of malaria in 25 more countries by
2025. As of February 2021, around 39 countries were malaria free.
• WHO has released a report titled “Zeroing in on Malaria Elimination” highlighting the
achievements of the E-2020 campaign (launched in 2017; an initiative of 21 countries to
eliminate malaria by 2020).
• WHO and RBM Partnership to End Malaria co-hosted a virtual forum for malaria
elimination.
• Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan chaired the Reaching Zero Forum on malaria
elimination.
• In 2020, 116 districts reported zero malaria cases in India.
• India has successfully reduced the burden of malaria in terms of cases by 84.5% and
deaths by 83.6%

25. World Intellectual Property Day is observed on April 26.

• Theme - "IP and SMEs: Taking your ideas to market."

26. World Immunization Week is observed in the last week of April to promote the use of
vaccines.
• Theme - Vaccines bring us closer

27. The month of April has been dedicated to spreading the awareness about the Parkinson’s
disease.
• Parkinson's disease is a brain disorder that leads to shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with
walking, balance, and coordination.

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28. World Day for Safety and Health at Work is observed on April 28 annually.
• Theme - ‘Anticipate, prepare and respond to crises and invest now in resilient OHS
systems’.
• International Labour Organization has released a report titled “Anticipate, prepare and
respond to crises. Invest now in resilient OSH systems”.

AWARDS
1. Mahinder Giri has become the only ranger from Asia to win the prestigious International
Ranger Award among the 10 winners worldwide.
• The award is given by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and
World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA).
• Giri is a range officer (forest services) who has been deployed at Motichur range of Rajaji
Tiger Reserve (RTR), Uttarakhand for the past few years.
• Giri won the award for his efforts in curbing human-wildlife conflict in and around Rajaji and
his role in the ongoing tiger translocation exercise from Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) to
RTR.

2. NTPC Ltd has been conferred the prestigious ‘Role Model’ Award at the 11th CII National
HR Excellence Award 2020-21.
• This award is the highest level of recognition in the field of Human Resources by
Confederation of Indian Industry.
• Since its beginning, NTPC is the only PSU to get this award.

3. Maggie O'Farrell's “Hamnet” book has won the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) prize
for fiction.
• NBCC prize is given by National Book Critics Circle to honour works published in USA.
• It is given in six categories – fiction, nonfiction, poetry, autobiography, biography, and
criticism.

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 • Raven Leilani received the John Leonard Prize for best first book for her novel
“Luster.”
Categories Winners

Nonfiction Tom Zoellner’s “Island on Fire: The Revolt That Ended Slavery in the
British Empire”

Biography Amy Stanley's “Stranger in the Shogun’s City: A Japanese Woman and
Her World”

Autobiography Cathy Park Hong for “Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning”

Poetry Francine J. Harris' “Here Is the Sweet Hand”

Criticism Nicole Fleetwood's “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration”

4. Sharankumar Limbale was selected for the 2020 Saraswati Samman, a prestigious literary
recognition conferred annually by the KK Birla Foundation.
• Limbale received this prize for his 2018 Marathi novel, Sanatan.
• Limbale is a Marathi novelist, poet, critic and short story writer.
• This is the 30th edition of this prize. It is the highest recognition in the field of Indian
literature in the country.

5. Actor Rajnikanth will be receiving the 51st edition of Dadasaheb Phalke award for the year
2020.
• He has been honoured for his contribution as actor, producer and screenwriter.

6. Carmen Maria Machado (American) has won The Rathbones Folio Prize 2021 for her 'In
The Dream House: A Memoir' (her radical memoir about same-sex abuse).
• The prize is open to all genres – fiction, non-fiction, and poetry- for writers from around the
world.

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 • It is the only prize in which all the books considered for the prize are selected and judged by
an academy of peers, though there are three main judges.
• Rathbone Investment Management (a UK-based company) gives this prize.

7. Army man Bharat Pannu has made two Guinness World Records for fastest solo cycling.

8. Guneet Monga (filmmaker) will be conferred with the honour of the Knight of the Order of
Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans I'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres)- the second highest
civilian French honour.
• Monga won Oscar for documentary Period, End of Sentence.
• She was one of the first Indian producers to be inducted in the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences.
• To support Indian female content creators, she co-founded Indian Women Rising along
with Ekta Kapoor and Tahira Kashyap.

9. Birla Cellulose (part of the Aditya Birla Group) has won the first edition of the “National
Innovative and Sustainable Supply Chain Awards” by UN Global Compact Network India.
• Birla Cellulose got this award for its Liva Reviva project and Fully Traceable Circular
Global Fashion Supply Chains.

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 • Liva Reviva project involved innovation in recycled and circular fibre made with pre-
consumer fabric waste and end-to-end ‘live’ supply chain transparency and traceability
through its unique blockchain-based platform GreenTrack.

10. Professor Suman Chakraborty has been selected for the 30th GD Birla Award for
Scientific Research for his outstanding contribution to the affordable healthcare sector.
• The award is given by the KK Birla Foundation.

11. Indian-origin businessman Yusuffali MA has received the UAE’ top civilian award for his
noble and charitable contributions to the community.
• Besides him, 11 other individuals were also awarded.
• Mr Yusuffali is the Chairman and Managing Director of Abu Dhabi-based LuLu Group.
• The awards were presented at the 10th edition of the Abu Dhabi Awards.

12. Oscar-winning Italian director-actor Roberto Benigni has been honoured with the Golden
Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 78th Venice International Film Festival.

13. Alfred V. Aho has won the 2020 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) A.M. Turing
Award, known informally as the “Nobel Prize of computing.”
• Along with Aho, Jeffrey David Ullman (Aho’s long-time collaborator) has also won this
award.
• Aho is the Lawrence Gussman Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Columbia
University. Ullman is the Stanford W. Ascherman Professor Emeritus of Computer Science
at Stanford University.
• The Turing Award is financially supported by Google Inc. and it is named for Alan M.
Turing (the British mathematician and computer expert).

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14. Saudi activist Loujain al-Hathloul won Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize 2020 - top
European rights prize - in recognition of her fight for women’s rights in the kingdom, including
her efforts to end a ban on women driving.
• Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize is awarded annually for civil society action in defence of
human rights by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

15. Argentina, Brazil, Uganda and Vanuatu have won the ICC Development Awards for 2020
for growing cricket in emerging markets in partnership with the ICC.
• ICC Development Initiative of the Year has been awarded to Cricket Argentina.
• Cricket Brazil has been awarded the 100% Cricket Female Cricket Initiative of the Year.
• ICC Digital Fan Engagement of the Year has been awarded to the Vanuatu Cricket
Association.
• Uganda Cricket Association has won the Cricket 4 Good Social Impact Initiative of the
Year.

16. Forbes’s sixth annual “30 Under 30 Asia” 2021 list has been released.
• The list features people who stood out in the pandemic and continued to excel in their
fields.
• This list is featuring 300 young entrepreneurs, leaders and trailblazers across Asia, all
under the age of 30.
• Vibha Harish (founder of Cosmix, Bengaluru based healthcare brand) and Harshil Mehta
(co-founder of Razorpay) are the two entrepreneurs from India.
• In Entertainment & Sports category, Dutee Chand features as the Featured Honoree.

17. Rumana Sinha Sehgal (a software-engineer turned social entrepreneur from Hyderabad) has
been awarded the prestigious ‘Nelson Mandela World Humanitarian Award 2021’ by the
Diplomatic Mission Global Peace.
• She has also won Nationwide Award -under 50- Business Leader 2021 for social
entrepreneurship by Business Mint and ‘International Influencer of the year 2021’.

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18. 93rd Academy Awards (Oscars) were presented at Dolby Theatre and Union Station in Los
Angeles, US.
Category Winner

Best Picture Nomadland

Best Actor Anthony Hopkins - The Father

Best Actress Frances McDormand - Nomadland

Best Director Chloé Zhao – Nomadland

Note: Beijing-born Chloe Zhao has become

the first woman of colour and second
woman to win the Oscar for best director.
She won for her movie – Nomadland.

Best Original Song Fight for You

Best International Feature Film Another Round by Thomas Vinterberg

19. Lakhta Centre in St Petersburg, Russia has won the Emporis Skyscraper award 2019.
• It is one of the world's most renowned prizes for high-rise architecture.
• This is the first time that Russia has won this award.
• Emporis, a global provider of building data, is located in Germany.

20. Dr Krithi K Karanth (Chief Conservation Scientist at Bengaluru-based Centre for Wildlife
Studies) has been chosen as the first Indian and Asian woman for the 2021 'WILD
Innovator Award'.
• This award is given by the 'WILD ELEMENTS Foundation'.

21. TIME’s 100 Most Influential Companies 2021 list has been released.
Categories Toppers Indian companies

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 Pioneer Hello Sunshine -

Leaders NBA -

Innovators Gro Intelligence Jio Platforms Ltd

Titans General Motors -

Disruptors Illumina Byju’s

22. Shyamala Ganesh (Bengaluru teacher) has been given the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold
and Silver Rays in recognition of Ganesh’s contribution to the spread of the Japanese
language and culture in Karnataka.
• She is the former director of the Japanese Language School.
• It is the third highest award presented by the Japanese Government.

SPORTS
1. International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup 2021 was held in New Delhi in
the month of March.
• India topped the medal tally with total 30 medals (15 gold, 9 silver and 6 bronze), followed
by USA.
• ISSF World Cup Shotgun will be held at Lonato, Italy from 7 to 17 May, 2021.

2. 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup will be spread across nine cities in Australia and New
Zealand.
• The opening match will take place at Eden Park in Auckland, with Sydney's Stadium
Australia hosting the final.
• 2022 Men’s football World Cup will be held in Qatar.

3. 2023 AIBA Men's boxing World Championships will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

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 • AIBA HQ - Lausanne, Switzerland

4. Hubert Hurkacz (Polish tennis player) has won the men’s singles at the 2021 Miami Open.
• Ashleigh Barty (Australian) won the women’s singles.

5. India has been ranked at the 8th rank in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League
table.

6. Nethra Kumanan (from Chennai) has become the first Indian woman sailor to qualify for the
Olympics.
• She booked this seat by topping the Laser Radial race at the Mussanah Open
Championship in Oman.

7. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first One-Day International, five ODI cricketers
of the decade have been named in the 2021 edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
• Three Indian ODI cricketers in the list – Kapil Dev as the ODI Cricketer for the 1980s;
Sachin Tendulkar as the ODI Cricketer of the 1990s; and Virat Kohli as the ODI Cricketer of
the 2010s.
• Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) was named the ODI Cricketer of the 2000s.
• Ben Stokes (England) won the “Cricketer of the Year” for a 2nd consecutive time.
• Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, West Indian Jason Holder, Mohammed Rizwan and Darren
Stevens were named Wisden Cricketers of the Year.
• Australia's Beth Mooney was awarded 'Leading Women's Cricketer in the World' while
West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard was named the Leading T20 Cricketer in the
World.

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8. India has won 14 medals (5 Gold, 3 silver, and 6 bronze) at the 34th Asian Wrestling
Championship 2021 at Almaty, Kazakhstan.
• Iran and Kazakhstan secured the highest number of medals at 17 (including 7 gold
each).
• Indian Gold winners – Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Sarita Mor, Vinesh Phogat, Anshu Mallik, and
Divya Kakran.

9. Max Verstappen (Belgian-Dutch) has won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix 2021 held in
Italy.

10. Barcelona has won the Copa del Rey football tournament 2021 (Spain's primary football
cup) held at Seville in Spain.

11. Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greek) has won his first ATP Masters 1000 title in tennis in the Monte
Carlo Masters 2021 final held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France.

12. Narendra Modi Stadium or Motera Stadium will host the finals of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
in November 2021.

13. Arjun Kalyan has become India’s 68th Grandmaster in the ongoing GM round robin “Rujna
Zora-3 2021” tournament at Arandjelovac in Serbia.

14. Haryana will host the 4th Khelo India Youth Games – 2021 from Nov 21 to Dec 5.
• Venues - Panchkula, Ambala, Shahabad, Delhi and Chandigarh.

15. Manchester City has won the League Cup 2021 (English football tournament).

16. Amit Panghal won a bronze medal at the Governor’s Cup in St Petersburg, Russia.

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17. ITTF World Table Tennis Championships will be held in the Harris County – Houston Sports
Authority in Houston, USA.
• It will be the first time the United States will host the tournament.

18. Rafael Nadal (Spain) has won the men’s singles in the Barcelona Open 2021 (Men’s tennis
tournament).
• Robert Farah (Colombia) and Juan Sebastián Cabal (Colombia) have won the men’s
doubles.

19. Indian boxer Sachin has won gold at the 2021 AIBA Youth Men's and Women's World
Boxing Championships in Kielce, Poland.
• Now, total 11 medals (8 Gold and 3 Bronze) have been won by India.
• All the women finalists - Gitika (48kg) Naorem Babyrojisana Chanu (51kg), Poonam
(57kg), Vinka (60kg), Arundhati Choudhary (69kg), T Sanamacha Chanu (75kg) and Alfiya
Pathan (+81kg) won gold.
• In the men’s game, Bishwamitra Chongthom (49kg), Ankit Narwal (64kg) and Vishal Gupta
(91kg) won three bronze medals.

20. Archery World Cup Stage 1 was held in Guatemala City (capital of Guatemala, a Central
American country) where India won four medals – three gold and a bronze.
• Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das won individual golds.

21. 2020 Asian Weightlifting Championship was held at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

• India won two medals – 1 gold by Jhili Dalabehera and 1 bronze by Mirabai Chanu.
• China topped the medal tally while India is at the 8th position.

22. Hideki Matsuyama has won the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club to become the first
player from Japan to claim a men's major championship.

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23. Khelo India State Centre of Excellence (KISCEs) for rowing has been set up in Srinagar,
J&K.
• This is one of the two KISCEs from Jammu and Kashmir, with the Maulana Azad Stadium
for fencing in Jammu being the other.

MISCELLANEOUS
1. “Wild And Wilful” book has been authored by Neha Sinha.

2. ITI Limited (India's telecom products manufacturing arm) and Thalamus Irwine (a local
startup) have together developed a technology for storing medical data on blockchain.
• This solution would also enable the Centre's ambitious One Nation One Health Card
initiative, in line with the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM).
• The blockchain system is called as Garuda Blockchain Platform.

3. Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu released ‘Agriculture in India: Contemporary

Challenges - in the Context of Doubling Farmers Income’ book by Dr Mohan Kanda.

4. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has released a book ‘Suparipalana’, authored by Dr

Shailendra Joshi.

5. “Wisdom For Start-ups From Grown-ups: Discovering Corporate Ayurveda” book has
been written by R. Gopalakrishnan and R. Narayanan.

6. “Cinema Through Rasa: A Tryst with Masterpieces in the Light of Rasa Siddhānta” book
has been written by Prachand Praveer.
• Foreword was written by Vishnu Khare Bharat Gupt and the Translator is Geeta Mirji
Narayan.

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7. “Exam Warriors” book has been authored by PM Narendra Modi.

8. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has released the Hindi translation of ‘Odisha Itihaas’. The book
was written by freedom fighter and first chief minister of Odisha Harekrushna Mahatab.
• The book has been translated into Hindi by Shankarlal Purohit.
• The book was available in Odia and English so far.

9. “India's Power elite: Caste, class and cultural revolution” book has been written by
Sanjaya Baru.

10. “Manohar Parrikar: Brilliant Mind, Simple Life” book has been written by Nitin Anant
Gokhale.

11. On Ambedkar Jayanti (14 April), the Prime Minister released four books—Dr Ambedkar
Jivan Darshan, Dr Ambedkar Vyakti Darshan, Dr Ambedkar Rashtra Darshan, and Dr
Ambedkar Aayam Darshan— based on Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar's life, written by Shri
Kishor Makwana.

12. 'Believe – What Life and Cricket Taught Me' is the memoir of Suresh Raina.
• Co-author - cricket writer Bharat Sundaresan

13. ‘Being Gandhi’ book has been authored by Paro Anand.

14. JK Rowling has written a new children’s book titled “The Christmas Pig”.
• She is the author of famous Harry Porter series.

15. “Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India Through Its Languages” book has
been written by Peggy Mohan.

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16. “The Cursed Inheritance” book has been written by Sutapa Basu.

17. The fossil of a new species of shark has been discovered at Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• The shark is named as Hoffman’s Dragon shark or Godzilla shark.
• Name of the shark is Dracopristis Hoffmanorum.

18. “Father of Banking Reforms” - M. Narasimham passed away.

• He was 13th Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor and served a short tenure of seven
months between May and November 1977.

19. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has got the image of “cosmic rose”.
• The post features Interacting Galaxies Arp 273, which is a combination of spiral galaxy
UGC 1810 and its companion galaxy below, known as UGC 1813.

20. 40th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA) has departed for the South Pole from
Mormugao Port, Goa.

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 • India has two stations on the polar continent of Antarctica — Maitri and Bharati — which
are being operated under the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR),
Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• Bharati base operations and Maitri base operations share a common goal of rewriting the
success story of the Indian Antarctic Programme under this year’s special circumstances.

21. Scientists have discovered the smallest-known black hole in the Milky Way galaxy named
as 'the Unicorn.'
• This black hole is the closest to our solar system.
• The black hole is roughly three times the mass of our sun.

22. Maui Dolphins are found only in the West Coast of New Zealand and nowhere else in the
world.
• New Zealand has launched a new policy to save these dolphins.

23. “Living Mountain” book has been written by Amitav Ghosh.

24. La Soufriere Volcano has erupted in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Caribbean island).

25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the demise of famous Gujarati poet Dadudan
Gadhvi.

26. “Interpreting Politics: Situated Knowledge, India, and the Rudolph Legacy” book has
been authored by John Echeverri-Gent and Kamal Sadiq.

155
QUESTIONS

156
Q.1) Where is the first ever Indo-Korean [d] Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Friendship Park located? [e] Indian Red Cross Society
[a] Delhi
[b] Lucknow Q.5) What is the total outlay of the Production-
[c] Chandigarh Linked Incentive Scheme for the food processing
[d] Bangalore industry?
[e] Kolkata [a] Rs 20,000 crore
[b] Rs 50,000 crore
Q.2) Whose statue has been established at the [c] Rs 77,000 crore
first ever Indo-Korean Friendship Park? [d] Rs 10,900 crore
[a] Captain Vikram Batra [e] Rs 5,100 crore
[b] Lieutenant Manoj Kumar Pandey
[c] Captain Anuj Nayyar Q.6) Which of the following state’s Trade
[d] General KS Thimayya Promotion Organization (JKTPO) has signed an
[e] General Sanjay Kumar MoU with Trade Promotion Corporation of India
(TPCI) to promote the Agro & Food Processing
Q.3) Recently, India Centre for Migration (ICM) Sector and Film Tourism Sector?
and the International Organisation for Migration [a] Ladakh
(IOM) have partnered for a joint study on [b] Odisha
strengthening data-informed and migrant-centred [c] Andhra Pradesh
migration management frameworks in India. ICM [d] Punjab
is a research think tank of the Ministry of External [e] J&K
Affairs (MEA). When was this think tank
established? Q.7) Which state celebrated the 'banana festival'?
[a] 2009 [a] Madhya Pradesh
[b] 2003 [b] Gujarat
[c] 2010 [c] Uttar Pradesh
[d] 2012 [d] West Bengal
[e] 2020 [e] Kerala

Q.4) Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog Q.8) Where is Chhatrasal Convention Centre
has launched AIM-PRIME (Program for located?
Researchers on Innovations, Market-Readiness & [a] Karnataka
Entrepreneurship), an initiative to promote and [b] Madhya Pradesh
support science-based deep-tech start-ups & [c] Maharashtra
ventures across India. This program will be [d] Rajasthan
implemented by Venture Center - a non-profit [e] Gujarat
technology business incubator. With which
organization has Atal Innovation Mission Q.9) 'Nyubu Nyvgam Yerko' is the first formal
partnered to launch AIM-PRIME? indigenous language and knowledge system
[a] UN Women school of which state?
[b] UNESCO [a] Telangana
[c] Oxfam International [b] Tripura

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[c] Manipur [e] Tripura
[d] Sikkim
[e] Arunachal Pradesh Q.15) Which country has signed four agreements
with India under the Grant Assistance for
Q.10) ‘Utkal Divas’ is the statehood day of which Grassroots Projects (GGP) scheme?
state? [a] UK
[a] Bihar [b] France
[b] Chhattisgarh [c] Israel
[c] Jharkhand [d] Russia
[d] Madhya Pradesh [e] Japan
[e] Odisha
Q.16) What is India’s installed wind power
Q.11) Which company has delivered MV 'Sindhu'- capacity, as per the Global Wind Report 2021?
a 500 pax passengers cum 150 MT Cargo Vessel [a] 40 GW
built indigenously for Andaman and Nicobar? [b] 29 GW
[a] Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems [c] 10 GW
[b] Tata Advanced Systems [d] 39 GW
[c] Mahindra Defence Systems [e] 16 GW
[d] Ordnance Factory Board
[e] Cochin Shipyard Ltd. Q.17) How much new wind capacity was installed
in 2020, as per the Global Wind Report 2021?
Q.12) Which edition of 'Vajra Prahar' exercise [a] 93 GW
was conducted by India and US in 2021? [b] 101 GW
[a] 11th [c] 78 GW
[b] 5th [d] 89 GW
[c] 7th [e] 57 GW
[d] 21st
[e] 16th Q.18) What is the Compound Annual Growth
Rate of the healthcare sector in India since 2016,
Q.13) On which date will India and Bangladesh as per the “Investment Opportunities in India’s
celebrate Maitri Diwas? Healthcare Sector” report of NITI Aayog?
[a] December 6 [a] 17%
[b] January 6 [b] 12%
[c] November 6 [c] 8%
[d] June 6 [d] 22%
[e] February 6 [e] 10%

Q.14) Which state does Teesta river originate Q.19) What is India’s rank in the Political
from? Empowerment subindex of the Global Gender
[a] Arunachal Pradesh Gap Report 2021?
[b] Bihar [a] 51
[c] West Bengal [b] 101
[d] Sikkim [c] 121

158
[d] 39 [a] Union Bank of India
[e] 47 [b] Canara Bank
[c] Punjab National Bank
Q.20) Which country has topped in the Economic [d] State Bank of India
Participation and Opportunity subindex of the [e] Karnataka Bank
World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap
Report 2021? Q.25) What is India’s GDP growth rate for FY22
[a] Vanuatu by United Nations Economic and Social
[b] Lao PDR Commission for Asia and the Pacific?
[c] Tuvalu [a] 7%
[d] Samoa [b] 8%
[e] New Caledonia [c] 10%
[d] 11%
Q.21) Which company has become the first Indian [e] 7.7%
buyer of Guyanese oil?
[a] GAIL Q.26) What is World Bank’s GDP forecast for
[b] Exxon Mobil India for FY22?
[c] HPCL [a] 6.5%
[d] HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd [b] 11.5%
[e] Bharat Petroleum [c] 9.7%
[d] 10.1%
Q.22) Which of the following countries will be [e] 8.8%
connected with USA via the two new undersea
cables - “Echo and Bifrost” - being laid by Q.27) Who has been appointed as the first
Facebook? woman Chairperson of the Standing Conference
[a] Singapore and Indonesia of Public Enterprises?
[b] Australia and New Zealand [a] Soma Mondal
[c] Fiji and Papua New Guinea [b] Ruby Bharghav
[d] Tonga and Palau [c] Kesha Maheshwari
[e] Guam and Nauru [d] Purvi Chandela
[e] Krishna Kumari
Q.23) Which bank has partnered with nStore to
digitise offline retailers and small businesses in Q.28) Who has become the only ranger from Asia
the country? to win the prestigious International Ranger Award
[a] RBL Bank among the 10 winners worldwide?
[b] Ujjivan Small Finance Bank [a] Keshav Ranade
[c] Equitas Small Finance Bank [b] Piyush Ketkar
[d] India Post Payment Bank [c] Megha Bansal
[e] Karur Vyasa Bank [d] Piyali Ghosh
[e] Mahinder Giri
Q.24) Which Indian bank has recently signed a
loan agreement of up to $1 billion with Japan
Bank for International Cooperation?

159
Q.29) Which has become the first PSU to receive [e] Bihar
the prestigious ‘Role Model’ Award at the 11th CII
National HR Excellence Award 2020-21? Q.34) Which organization organized the ‘World
[a] ONGC Immunisation and Logistics Summit 2021’?
[b] Mazagaon Dockyard Ltd [a] Compassion
[c] GRSE [b] Hope Consortium
[d] Bharat Electronics Ltd [c] Indian Red Cross Society
[e] NTPC Ltd [d] TERI
[e] World Road Association
Q.30) Who has won the 2020 Saraswati
Samman? Q.35) What is the minimum paid-up capital
[a] Apoorva Kumar Singh requirement for opening New Umbrella Entity?
[b] R P N Singh [a] Rs 100 crore
[c] Late Akkitham Achuthan Namboodri [b] Rs 1000 crore
[d] Sharankumar Limbale [c] Rs 300 crore
[e] Vasdev Mohi [d] Rs 500 crore
[e] Rs 240 crore
Q.31) With which country’s observatory has
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Q.36) What is the current interest rate on Ways
Sciences collaborated for developing a new and Means Advances for FY22?
algorithm known as CMEs Identification in Inner [a] 3.5%
Solar Corona (CIISCO)? [b] 1.8%
[a] New Zealand [c] 3%
[b] UAE [d] 2.5%
[c] Israel [e] 4%
[d] Belgium
[e] Eritrea Q.37) When was Additional Factor of
Authentication (AFA) framework implemented by
Q.32) Recently, in order to boost sea tourism in RBI?
Gujarat, cruise service has been launched from [a] 2011
Surat to __? [b] 2016
[a] Lakshadweep [c] 2018
[b] Andaman and Nicobar [d] 2019
[c] Diu [e] 2020
[d] Goa
[e] Mumbai Q.38) Ministry of Finance has mandated
businesses with turnover of more than ____ to
Q.33) Where is Amboli – a biodiversity heritage furnish six-digit HSN or tariff code on the invoices
site – located? issued for supplies of taxable goods and services
[a] Karnataka from April 1?
[b] Kerala [a] ₹1 crore
[c] Maharashtra [b] ₹3 crore
[d] Uttar Pradesh [c] ₹5 crore

160
[d] ₹10 crore [d] Surendra Kumar
[e] ₹2 crore [e] R. N. Bharti

Q.39) Who has taken the additional charge as Q.44) Who heads the Expert Committees on Fire
Chairman and Managing Director of the ONGC? Safety formed by Ministry of Labour?
[a] Rahul Jain [a] Ram Lakhan Gupta
[b] Subhash Kumar [b] D. K. Shami
[c] Amar Pal [c] Shyam Sundar Verma
[d] Rajkumar Singh Thakur [d] OM Prakash
[e] Kaptan Singh [e] Uttank Joshi

Q.40) Recently, Kamalpreet Kaur has qualified for Q.45) Recently formed Expert Committees for the
the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. With which sport she is Building & Other Construction Works will review
related? the Building and Other Construction Workers
[a] Discus throw (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of
[b] Javelin throw Service) Central Rules. When were these ruled
[c] Track and Field Race implemented?
[d] Shotgun Shooting [a] 1889
[e] Freestyle Wrestling [b] 1980
[c] 1998
Q.41) In how many states has the govt launched [d] 2001
the Unique Land Parcel Identification Number [e] 1999
(ULPIN) scheme?
[a] 15 Q.46) Which country chaired the 17th Bay of
[b] 22 Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and
[c] 35 Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Ministerial
[d] 18 Meeting?
[e] 10 [a] Bangladesh
[b] Thailand
Q.42) How many digits will the Unique Land [c] India
Parcel Identification Number – “the Aadhaar for [d] Sri Lanka
land” – contain? [e] Myanmar
[a] Twelve
[b] Fourteen Q.47) Which country is hosting the BIMSTEC
[c] Ten Centre for Weather and Climate?
[d] Fifteen [a] Bangladesh
[e] Seven [b] Thailand
[c] India
Q.43) Who heads the Expert Committee for [d] Sri Lanka
Factories and Dock Works? [e] Myanmar
[a] Pankaj Kumar Devrani
[b] Subrata Halder Q.48) According to the “Prime Time for Real
[c] R. K. Elangovan Time” report, more than 70.3 billion real-time

161
payments transactions were processed globally in [e] Northern Arc Capital
2020, which highlights a surge of 41% as
compared to the previous year. Worldwide the Q.52) Who has been appointed as the brand
mobile wallet adoption rose to a historic high of ambassador of the Digit Insurance?
46% in 2020, up from 40.6% in 2019 and 18.9% [a] Harbhajan Singh
in 2018. As far as India is concerned, the report [b] Geeta Basra
exuberates confidence in the growth of real time [c] Mahendra Singh Dhoni
payments transactions which, according to the [d] Virat Kohli
report, are expected to account for 50% of the [e] Yuvraj Singh
overall electronic transactions by 2024. Which of
the following organizations has released this Q.53) What is the capital of Slovakia?
report? [a] Tirana
[a] Niti Aayog [b] Andorra la Vella
[b] Rocky Mountain Institute [c] Bratislava
[c] Grant Thornton [d] Yerevan
[d] ACI Worldwide [e] Yaounde
[e] Brookings Institution
Q.54) Who has been appointed as the new
Q.49) How much is the paid share capital of NPCI director general of Employees State Insurance
Bharat BillPay Ltd? Corporation?
[a] Rs 25 lakh [a] Mukhmeet S. Bhatia
[b] Rs 50 lakh [b] Bidisha Sengupta
[c] Rs 20 lakh [c] Pranav Prakash
[d] Rs 5 lakh [d] Susheela Tigga
[e] Rs 10 lakh [e] Harpal Singh

Q.50) Who has been appointed as the Q.55) Who will be receiving the 51st edition of
chairperson of the Public Enterprises Selection Dadasaheb Phalke award for the year 2020?
Board? [a] Dilip Kumar
[a] Rajesh Talwar [b] Mumtaz Begum
[b] Mallika Srinivasan [c] Late Rishi Kapoor
[c] Bharti Kashyap Sharma [d] Rajnikanth
[d] Tuntuni Chowdhry [e] Amitabh Bachchan
[e] R. K. Bhati
Q.56) Who is the author of 'In The Dream House:
Q.51) With which company has UK-based CDC A Memoir'?
Group company partnered to conduct its first-ever [a] Carmen Maria Machado
pooled bond issuance (PBI) transaction in India [b] Armando Lucas Correa
worth Rs 320 crore? [c] Martha McPhee
[a] Magma Fincorp Limited [d] Megan Miranda
[b] SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited [e] Helen Phillips
[c] PTC India Financial Services Limited
[d] SBI DFHI Limited

162
Q.57) Who is the author of Agriculture in India: Q.62) What is the projected forecast for global
Contemporary Challenges - in the Context of merchandise trade in 2021 as per the World
Doubling Farmers Income book? Trade Organization?
[a] Niraj Sharan [a] 8%
[b] Kirti Nandkishor Gaikwad [b] 11%
[c] Mohan Kanda [c] 10.5%
[d] Sharad Saxena [d] 7%
[e] Surendra Prasad [e] 5%

Q.58) When is World Autism Awareness Day Q.63) Which place recorded the highest increase
celebrated? in sex ratio as per the annual Women and Men in
[a] April 20 India report of NSO?
[b] April 11 [a] Chandigarh
[c] April 12 [b] Lakshadweep
[d] April 2 [c] Puducherry
[e] April 3 [d] Delhi
[e] Ladakh
Q.59) Who is the CEO of Northern Arc Capital?
[a] Peter Simpson Q.64) Which Indian university is ranked best in
[b] Andrew Haines the Academic Ranking of World Universities
[c] Craig Donaldson 2020?
[d] Juergen Maier [a] Indian Institute of Science
[e] Kshama Fernandes [b] Indian Institute of Mass Communication
[c] Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
Q.60) Who is the CEO of National Payments [d] Indian Institute of Art and Design
Corporation of India? [e] Indian Institute of Public Administration
[a] Dilip Asbe
[b] Vivek Jasra Q.65) Which state has received $32 million from
[c] Banaja Behra World Bank to improve management capacity and
[d] Jisha Ashok quality of health services in Mizoram for the
[e] Pravir chakravorty benefit of underserved areas and vulnerable
groups?
Q.61) Which has become the first state in India to [a] Tripura
launch farm-based solar power plant under the [b] Nagaland
Prime Minister’s Kisan Urja Suraksha Evum [c] Mizoram
Utthan Mahabhiyan? [d] Manipur
[a] Madhya Pradesh [e] Arunachal Pradesh
[b] Rajasthan
[c] Chhattisgarh Q.66) Which state has received USD 300 million
[d] West Bengal loan from World Bank and Asian Infrastructure
[e] Tamil Nadu Investment Bank for canal-based drinking water
projects?
[a] Himachal Pradesh

163
[b] Madhya Pradesh [d] Rs. 6,238 Crore
[c] Karnataka [e] Rs 5,529 crores
[d] Punjab
[e] Assam Q.72) With which organization has Atal Innovation
Mission signed a Statement of Intent for
Q.67) Where will 2023 AIBA Men's boxing World developing a database of innovations in public
Championships be held? systems for improving public services?
[a] Qatar [a] Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
[b] Uzbekistan [b] Centre for Public Policy Research
[c] Tajikistan [c] Indian Institute of Art And Design
[d] Sri Lanka [d] Centre for Innovations in Public Systems
[e] Singapore [e] Indian Institute of Mass Communication

Q.68) Who is the author of “Wisdom For Start-ups Q.73) Which of the following is not a part of E9
From Grown-ups: Discovering Corporate countries?
Ayurveda” book? [a] Bangladesh
[a] R. Gopalakrishnan [b] India
[b] R. Narayanan [c] Brazil
[c] Prachand Praveer [d] Myanmar
[d] Both A and B [e] China
[e] Both B and C
Q.74) Which state has signed an MoU with
Q.69) Where is the Nagi Nakti Bird Sanctuary Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence to
located? help cotton farmers with the help of AI?
[a] Kerala [a] Odisha
[b] Maharashtra [b] Andhra Pradesh
[c] Jharkhand [c] Telangana
[d] Bihar [d] Maharashtra
[e] Chhattisgarh [e] Gujarat

Q.70) Where is Hirakud dam located? Q.75) Which country does Longi Green Energy
[a] Odisha Technology Co belong to?
[b] Telangana [a] Russia
[c] Jharkhand [b] Italy
[d] Jammu & Kashmir [c] Spain
[e] Chhattisgarh [d] Germany
[e] China
Q.71) What is the total outlay of Production
Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for White Goods Q.76) What is the threshold of MSMEs defaults
(Air Conditioners and LED Lights)? for initiating Pre-Packaged Insolvency Resolution
[a] Rs 4,800 crores Process (PIRP)?
[b] Rs 3,870 crores [a] Up to Rs 50 lakh
[c] Rs 7,800 crores [b] Up to Rs 1 crore

164
[c] Up to Rs 2 crores
[d] Up to Rs 4 crores Q.82) Which of the following organization has
[e] Up to Rs 10 crores supported the ‘Anamaya’ - the Tribal Health
Collaborative?
Q.77) What is India’s GDP growth rate for FY22, [a] Piramal Foundation
as per IMF’s World Economic Outlook April 2021? [b] Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
[a] 12.5% [c] Oxfam International
[b] 10.5% [d] Both A and B
[c] 9.8% [e] Both B and C
[d] 11.5%
[e] 13.7% Q.83) What is the name of the portal launched by
Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare to
Q.78) Who has been appointed as the new achieve a traceability source of Honey and other
mission director of Atal Innovation Mission? beehive products on a digital platform?
[a] Anil Kumar Addepally [a] Madhuras
[b] Banshi Bihari Dutta [b] Aasav
[c] Chintan Vaishnav [c] Makrand
[d] Sandeep Mukherjee [d] Madhukranti
[e] Sudhakar Chaudhary [e] Pushpras

Q.79) Who has sworn in as 48th Chief Justice of Q.84) Union Cabinet was informed of an MoU
India? signed between the National Atmospheric
[a] Justice R.F. Nariman Research Laboratory and the Research Institute
[b] Justice Uday Umesh Lalit for Sustainable Humanosphere for academic and
[c] Justice A.M. Khanwilkar research cooperation. Which country does the
[d] Justice N V Ramana latter belong to?
[e] Justice D.Y. Chandrachud [a] Germany
[b] Switzerland
Q.80) When is the National Maritime Day [c] Finland
observed? [d] Japan
[a] April 5 [e] UK
[b] April 16
[c] April 28 Q.85) Which country has tested its 'super-
[d] April 30 weapon' - the Poseidon 2M39 torpedo - in the
[e] April 11 Arctic region?
[a] Canada
Q.81) What is the name of the portal launched by [b] Israel
Supreme Court? [c] Russia
[a] MARVEL [d] USA
[b] EXCEL [e] Japan
[c] STARS
[d] SUPACE Q.86) Who topped the Forbes 35th Annual
[e] CLOUD World's Billionaires List?

165
[a] Jeff Bezos [e] Sanjay Bhattacharyya
[b] Bernard Arnault
[c] Elon Musk Q.92) In which state is the KVIC’s RE-HAB
[d] Warren Buffet (Reducing Elephant-Human Attacks using Bees)
[e] Jack Ma pilot project launched?
[a] Karnataka
Q.87) What is India’s rank in the ICC Men's [b] Odisha
Cricket World Cup Super League table? [c] Andhra Pradesh
[a] 8th [d] Maharashtra
[b] 9th [e] Madhya Pradesh
[c] 15th
[d] 22nd Q.93) Where is Nagarahole National Park and
[e] 7th Tiger Reserve located?
[a] Odisha
Q.88) Who has become the first Indian woman [b] Andhra Pradesh
sailor to qualify for the Olympics? [c] Telangana
[a] Renuka Singh Saruta [d] Tamil Nadu
[b] Nethra Kumanan [e] Karnataka
[c] Banshi Bihari Dutta
[d] Lakshmi Naryain Q.94) Which bank has partnered with Axis
[e] Deepa Joshi Securities to offer its customers the perfect mix of
banking and investing through 3-in-1 account?
Q.89) How many countries are member of Asia [a] Ujjivan Small Finance Bank
Pacific Economic Cooperation? [b] Janalakshmi Small Finance Bank
[a] 33 [c] Jana Small Finance Bank
[b] 40 [d] Capital Small Finance Bank
[c] 10 [e] Utkarsh Small Finance Bank
[d] 21
[e] 80 Q.95) What is India’s debt to GDP ratio according
to the International Monetary Fund?
Q.90) When was OECD founded? [a] 80%
[a] 1961 [b] 90%
[b] 1889 [c] 75%
[c] 2003 [d] 60%
[d] 2011 [e] 95%
[e] 1999
Q.96) Who has been appointed as the brand
Q.91) Who chairs the Capacity Building ambassador of Vivo?
Commission of India? [a] Ravindra Jadeja
[a] Rahul Chhabra [b] Virat Kohli
[b] Vikas Swarup [c] Rohit Sharma
[c] Riva Ganguly Das [d] KL Rahul
[d] Adil Zainulbhai [e] Rishabh Pant

166
 for the promotion of science education, advancing
Q.97) Who has made two Guinness World digital solutions and agri-tech to strengthen
Records for fastest solo cycling from India? supply chains as well as healthcare projects?
[a] Bharat Pannu [a] Bayer
[b] Sushil R Gaikwad [b] Wadhwani Foundation
[c] Gurpreet Singh [c] Tata Institute of Social Sciences
[d] K.K. Singh [d] Freshworks Inc.
[e] Suraj C. Naik [e] Centre for Policy Research

Q.98) Which field does Fatima R Zakaria belong Q.103) Where will the National Institute of One
to? (She passed away recently.) Health be established?
[a] Journalist [a] Pune
[b] Author [b] Solapur
[c] Professor [c] Nashik
[d] Both A and B [d] Nagpur
[e] Both B and C [e] Aurangabad

Q.99) Who is the author of ‘Odisha Itihaas’? Q.104) When is the birth anniversary of Mahatma
[a] Harekrushna Mahatab Jyotiba Phule celebrated?
[b] Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha [a] April 18
[c] Dinesh Setia [b] April 11
[d] Pramod Kumar Pathak [c] April 23
[e] Dharmendra Singh Gangwar [d] April 10
[e] April 5
Q.100) Where is Valley of Flowers National Park
located? Q.105) Where will the Cyber Security Operation
[a] Arunachal Pradesh Centre be established by Centre for Development
[b] Assam of Advanced Computing?
[c] Madhya Pradesh [a] Kochi
[d] Uttarakhand [b] Thiruvananthapuram
[e] Himachal Pradesh [c] Kozhikode
[d] Thrissur
Q.101) With which of the following organization [e] Alappuzha
has NITI Aayog partnered for Poshan Gyan, a
national digital repository on health and nutrition? Q.106) Where will the world’s first integrated
[a] Indian Institute of Foreign Trade commercial plant for producing climate-neutral
[b] Indian Institute of Management fuel (e-fuel) be developed?
[c] Centre for Social and Behaviour Change [a] Brazil
[d] Centre for Public Policy Research [b] Argentina
[e] Centre for Civil Society [c] Colombia
[d] Chile
Q.102) With which organization has Atal [e] Peru
Innovation Mission signed a Statement of Intent

167
Q.107) Which section of the Insurance Act 1938 Q.112) What is the name of the app launched by
prohibits insurers to invest in fund of funds Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of
outside India? India Prof. K VijayRaghavan to promote wellbeing
[a] Section 27E across age groups?
[b] Section 89F [a] CHESHTA
[c] Section 80C [b] MANAS
[d] Section 67C [c] PRERAK
[e] Section 43A [d] SHANTI
[e] AASHA
Q.108) Where is Gangavaram Port located?
[a] Andhra Pradesh Q.113) How many S-400 Triumf SA-21 Growler
[b] Telangana Air Defence System will India procure from
[c] Odisha Russia?
[d] Karnataka [a] Ten
[e] Kerala [b] Five
[c] Seven
Q.109) Who has become the first woman editor- [d] Four
in-chief of Reuters news agency? [e] Six
[a] Stewart Beaumont
[b] Michael Eastwood Q.114) With which company has Atal Innovation
[c] Thomas Kim Mission partnered for promoting STEM based
[d] Alessandra Galloni innovation and entrepreneurship across the
[e] Shawn Malhotra country?
[a] Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Q.110) Where is National Fire Service Day [b] Dassault Systemes Fondation
observed? [c] Infosys
[a] April 14 [d] Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
[b] April 6 [e] State Bank of India
[c] April 11
[d] April 23 Q.115) Which company has received $100 million
[e] April 8 funding from World Bank Group entity
International Finance Corporation for helping
Q.111) Who heads the eight-member National domestic lenders resolve their distressed assets?
Task Force (NTF), formed by National Green [a] Sequoia Capital India
Tribunal, to monitor remedial steps to improve the [b] Accel Partners
status of air quality? [c] Helion Venture Partners
[a] Sandeep Mukherjee [d] Nexus Venture Partners
[b] Sudhakar Chaudhary [e] JC Flowers
[c] Rameshwar Prasad Gupta
[d] Sarvan Singh Baghel Q.116) Which bank has collaborated with fintech
[e] Dinesh Kumar Jha NIRA (Bangalore based fintech) to provide digital
services to its customers through NIRA’s app?
[a] Janalakshmi Small Finance Bank

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[b] A U Small Finance Bank [b] Centre for Civil Society
[c] Ujjivan Small Finance Bank [c] The Institute for Transportation and
[d] ESAF Small Finance Bank Development Policy
[e] Suryoday Small Finance Bank [d] Observer Research Foundation
[e] Centre for Public Policy Research
Q.117) Recently, Guneet Monga has been
chosen for the honour of the Knight of the Order Q.122) ISRO and CNES, France signed an
of Arts and Letters of France. Which field does agreement to train flight physicians and capsule
she belong to? communicators at French’s facilities for ___
[a] Filmmaking mission of ISRO?
[b] Literature [a] Shukrayaan
[c] Music [b] Gaganyaan
[d] Dance [c] Aditya L1
[e] Sports [d] Chandrayaan-3
[e] Mangalyaan 2
Q.118) Whose memoir is titled as 'Believe – What
Life and Cricket Taught Me'? Q.123) Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and
[a] Kedar Jadhav Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021 dissolves
[b] Suresh Raina the appellate bodies under how many acts?
[c] Ajinkya Rahane [a] Nine
[d] Dinesh Karthik [b] Fifteen
[e] Harbhajan Singh [c] Five
[d] Four
Q.119) Who is the author of ‘Being Gandhi’ book? [e] Seven
[a] Anil Kumar Jha
[b] Lakshmi Naryain Q.124) Which state is facing the highest shortfall
[c] Paro Anand in terms of availability of allopathic doctors and
[d] Satish Kumar female health workers in rural areas, as per the
[e] Harvinder Singh latest Rural Health Statistics (RHS) 2019-20 of
Ministry of Health?
Q.120) Who is the author of Dr Ambedkar [a] West Bengal
Rashtra Darshan and Dr Ambedkar Aayam [b] Madhya Pradesh
Darshan books? [c] Rajasthan
[a] S. Padma [d] Gujarat
[b] Kishor Makwana [e] Sikkim
[c] Harvinder Singh
[d] Both A and B Q.125) Which ministry has organized the Gender
[e] Both B and C Samvaad event?
[a] Ministry of Women and Child Development
Q.121) With which institute has Ministry of [b] Ministry of Textiles
Housing and Urban Affairs collaborated for the [c] Ministry of Skill Development and
Transport 4 All Challenge? Entrepreneurship
[a] Niti Aayog [d] Ministry of Rural Development

169
[e] Ministry of MSME Q.131) With which country has India signed an
agreement for technical cooperation on ‘Cities
Q.126) Which state has received the India’s first Combating Plastic Entering the Marine
Advanced Antiquities Management System for Environment’ project?
storage of antiquities? [a] Germany
[a] Goa [b] Netherlands
[b] Telangana [c] Finland
[c] Tamil Nadu [d] Norway
[d] Maharashtra [e] France
[e] Gujarat
Q.132) With which country has India conducted
Q.127) Who is the chief of RBI’s second the exercise Khanjar?
Regulatory Review Authority (RRA 2.0)? [a] Iraq
[a] M. D. Patra [b] Kazakhstan
[b] M. K. Jain [c] Israel
[c] N. S. Vishwanathan [d] Kyrgyzstan
[d] B.P. Kanungo [e] Uzbekistan
[e] M Rajeshwar Rao
Q.133) Where was the Shantir Ogroshena
Q.128) Where is the headquarter of Citi Bank (Frontrunners of Peace) 2021 exercise held?
located? [a] Sri Lanka
[a] US [b] Maldives
[b] UK [c] Saudi Arabia
[c] Germany [d] Bangladesh
[d] Singapore [e] Kuwait
[e] Australia
Q.134) Where is the Natanz nuclear plant
Q.129) Who is the new administrator of NASA? located?
[a] Nathalia Alzate [a] Iran
[b] Nandana Amarasinghe [b] Egypt
[c] Austen Gabrielpillai [c] Bahrain
[d] Bill Nelson [d] Oman
[e] Richard Garcia [e] UAE

Q.130) Who has been selected for the 30th GD Q.135) Which has become the first helicopter in
Birla Award for Scientific Research? the world to fly on another world (Mars)?
[a] Kundan Kumar [a] Cassini–Huygens
[b] Krishnendra Pratap Singh [b] Ingenuity
[c] Amarendra Tiwari [c] Perseverance
[d] Suman Chakraborty [d] Dawn
[e] S.B. Naithani [e] Magellan

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Q.136) What is India’s rank on World Press Q.141) Who has been appointed as the Chairman
Freedom Index 2021? and Managing Director of the Small Industries
[a] 142 Development Bank of India?
[b] 180 [a] Amar Pal
[c] 177 [b] Rajkumar Singh Thakur
[d] 153 [c] Kaptan Singh
[e] 168 [d] Arvind Singh
[e] Sivasubramanian Ramann
Q.137) What is India’s rank on affordability
parameter of Inclusive Internet Index 2021? Q.142) Who has been appointed new Director-
[a] 101 General of National Anti-Doping Agency?
[b] 20 [a] R. K. Dhawan
[c] 78 [b] Siddharth Singh Longjam
[d] 57 [c] Sanjay Pandey
[e] 90 [d] Rupinder Brar
[e] S. Prasannan
Q.138) The new dispute resolution system for
small taxpayers will be available to assessees Q.143) What is the theme of World Heritage Day
with taxable income up to ___ in cases where 2021?
disputed income is up to ___ respectively? [a] Heritage for Generations
[a] ₹95 lakh and ₹50 lakh [b] Cultural Heritage & Sustainable Tourism
[b] ₹90 lakh and ₹45 lakh [c] It's your story – don't lose it
[c] ₹50 lakh and ₹10 lakh [d] Complex Pasts: Diverse Futures
[d] ₹20 lakh and ₹5 lakh [e] Don’t End Your Culture
[e] ₹60 lakh and ₹35 lakh
Q.144) When is World Liver Day celebrated?
Q.139) What is the total corpus of Amazon [a] April 13
Smbhav Venture Fund? [b] April 19
[a] $50 million [c] April 5
[b] $100 million [d] April 9
[c] $10 million [e] April 10
[d] $60 million
[e] $250 million Q.145) Who has won the 2020 Association for
Computing Machinery (ACM) A.M. Turing Award,
Q.140) Who heads RBI’s committee for known informally as the “Nobel Prize of
evaluating the role of asset reconstruction computing”?
companies? [a] Alfred V. Aho
[a] Sudarshan Sen [b] Jeffrey David Ullman
[b] BP Kanungo [c] Jim Green
[c] MD Patra [d] Both A and B
[d] MK Jain [e] Both B and C
[e] M Rajeshwar Rao

171
Q.146) Who has won Vaclav Havel Human Rights Commission of India signed an MoU for
Prize 2020, top European rights prize? cooperation?
[a] Ali Khamenei [a] Brazil
[b] Loujain al-Hathloul [b] New Papua Guinea
[c] Eshaq Jahangiri [c] Vanuatu
[d] Sodeif Badri [d] Fiji
[e] Akbar Nikzad [e] New Caledonia

Q.147) Copa del Rey football tournament 2021 is Q.152) According to the Global Energy Review
conducted in which country? 2021 by International Energy Agency (IEA),
[a] Argentine global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions would rise
[b] Spain to ___ this year?
[c] France [a] 20 billion tonnes
[d] Italy [b] 40 billion tonnes
[e] Germany [c] 33 billion tonnes
[d] 50 billion tonnes
Q.148) Which country does Eliud Kipchog belong [e] 13 billion tonnes
to?
[a] Kenya Q.153) What is the total corpus of the RBI’s
[b] Netherlands government securities acquisition programme (G-
[c] Greek SAP) 1.0?
[d] USA [a] ₹4 trillion
[e] Belgium [b] ₹1 trillion
[c] ₹2 trillion
Q.149) Who is the author of “The Cursed [d] ₹10 trillion
Inheritance” book? [e] ₹5 trillion
[a] Sutapa Basu
[b] Vasdev Mohi Q.154) Asian Development Bank (ADB) has
[c] Richard Powers partnered with Habitat for Humanity International
[d] Jui Karkare to help microfinance institutions (MFIs) deliver
[e] Roopa Pai housing loans to low-income families in rural and
peri-urban areas of India, Bangladesh, ____ , and
Q.150) Which country does Stefanos Tsitsipas the _____?
belong to? [a] Indonesia
[a] Greek [b] Philippines
[b] Scotland [c] Malaysia
[c] Russia [d] Both A and B
[d] Ukraine [e] Both B and C
[e] Poland
Q.155) Who has been appointed as the new
Q.151) With which country’s Administrative chairman of Credit Suisse?
Council for Economic Defense has Competition [a] Warren East
[b] Horta-Osorio

172
[c] Andy Ransom Q.161) Which IIT has successfully
[d] Liv Garfield commercialised COVIRAP - the novel diagnostic
[e] Emma Walmsley technology?
[a] IIT-Kharagpur
Q.156) Who is the MD and CEO of DCB Bank? [b] IIT-Hyderabad
[a] Karnam Sekar [c] IIT-Gandhinagar
[b] Sandeep Bakhshi [d] IIT-Delhi
[c] V. Vaidyananthan [e] IIT-Kanpur
[d] Murali M. Natrajan
[e] R. Seshasayee Q.162) How much is the Agriculture Infrastructure
and Development Cess on Petrol?
Q.157) When is National Civil Services Day [a] Rs 5 per litre
observed? [b] Rs 3 per litre
[a] April 20 [c] Rs 0.5 per litre
[b] April 21 [d] Rs 2.5 per litre
[c] April 18 [e] Rs 1 per litre
[d] April 10
[e] April 11 Q.163) Which has become the first state in India
to have uniform civil code?
Q.158) G Venkata Subbaiah is related to which [a] Mizoram
field? [b] Sikkim
[a] Writer [c] Nagaland
[b] Journalism [d] Tripura
[c] Environmentalist [e] Goa
[d] Banker
[e] Shuttler Q.164) Which state has signed an MoU with
World Trade Centre to provide a conclusive
Q.159) Where is the headquarters of Universal environment in the state for bringing investment
Postal Union (UPU)? through the new modes and operations?
[a] Helsinki [a] Gujarat
[b] Riga [b] Telangana
[c] Tallinn [c] Odisha
[d] Berne [d] Andhra Pradesh
[e] Warsaw [e] Haryana

Q.160) Who among the following is known as the Q.165) With which IIT has National Cooperative
Father of Banking Reforms in India? Development Corporation (NCDC) signed an
[a] M. Narasimham MoU for collaboration in areas related to the
[b] Raghuram Rajan development of cooperatives, agriculture and
[c] D. Subbarao allied sectors for sustainable development?
[d] H. V. R. Iyengar [a] IIT Patna
[e] P. C. Bhattacharya [b] IIT Kharagpur
[c] IIT Bhuvneshwar

173
[d] IIT Guwahati [c] 102
[e] IIT Ropar [d] 98
[e] 67
Q.166) Which has become the first country in the
world to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Q.171) Which has become the first
Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement? cryptocurrency exchange in India?
[a] Australia [a] Binance
[b] South Korea [b] Bitfinex
[c] China [c] Bitex
[d] Japan [d] BitMain
[e] Singapore [e] BitPay

Q.167) What is the name of the instruments used Q.172) Recently, Google and Amazon Web
by NASA to generate oxygen on Mars? Services have launched Nimbus project to
[a] Moxie provide cloud-based regional data services to __
[b] Max govt?
[c] Skylab [a] Israel
[d] Ingenuity [b] Japan
[e] Ceres [c] China
[d] Philippines
Q.168) Which of the following country has been [e] Singapore
recommended as the Countries of Particular
Concern by U.S. Commission on International Q.173) When is the World Creativity and
Religious Freedom (USCIRF)? Innovation Day observed?
[a] India [a] April 7
[b] Russia [b] April 9
[c] Vietnam [c] April 21
[d] Syria [d] April 11
[e] All of the Above [e] April 10

Q.169) What is the 2021 Global average score in Q.174) Which is the UN International Year of the
the World Economic Forum’s Global Energy Creative Economy for Sustainable Development?
Transition Index 2021? [a] 2023
[a] 59 [b] 2022
[b] 60 [c] 2024
[c] 80 [d] 2021
[d] 43 [e] 2026
[e] 72
Q.175) When is World Homeopathy Day
Q.170) What is India’s rank in the Global Energy observed?
Transition Index 2021? [a] April 11
[a] 87 [b] April 21
[b] 142 [c] April 15

174
[d] April 10 [d] Odisha
[e] April 30 [e] Kerala

Q.176) Which country has won the ICC 100% Q.181) Which is India’s first city to have a cycling
Cricket Female Cricket Initiative of the Year? policy?
[a] Argentine [a] Pune
[b] Vanuatu [b] Delhi
[c] Uganda [c] Mumbai
[d] Brazil [d] Chandigarh
[e] India [e] Puducherry

Q.177) How many countries were assessed in the Q.182) What is the target of mustard cultivation
Global Energy Transition Index 2021 of World set up by Ministry of Agriculture and Family
Economic Forum? Welfare for 2025-26?
[a] 140 [a] 20 million tonnes
[b] 160 [b] 19 million tonnes
[c] 189 [c] 30 million tonnes
[d] 115 [d] 17 million tonnes
[e] 190 [e] 29 million tonnes

Q.178) Which state is mentioned as the best state Q.183) Where will the 6th Global Forum on TB
for its public health service during the pandemic Vaccine be held?
as per the “Beyond the pandemic: Building back [a] Bern, Switzerland
better from crises in Asia and the Pacific” report? [b] Toulouse, France
[a] Kerala [c] San Marino
[b] Telangana [d] Warsaw, Poland
[c] Odisha [e] Kyiv, Ukraine
[d] Andhra Pradesh
[e] Goa Q.184) Who among the following will be
representing India at the World Cities Culture
Q.179) With which bank has Google Pay Forum 2021?
partnered for launching Fi, a neobank for salaried [a] Sarbananda Sonowal
millennials? [b] Pramod Sawant
[a] Axis Bank [c] Vijay Rupani
[b] Federal Bank [d] Arvind Kejriwal
[c] HDFC Bank [e] Jai Ram Thakur
[d] DBS Bank
[e] Yes Bank Q.185) Which of the following mission has been
sent by NASA to study the interstellar particles in
Q.180) Where is the Mormugao Port located? the heliosphere?
[a] Goa [a] ARCTAS
[b] Maharashtra [b] CHAMP
[c] Andhra Pradesh [c] BARREL

175
[d] SHIELDS [d] April 18
[e] ATTREX [e] April 13

Q.186) Which university has topped in The Times Q.191) Who has become the first Indian woman
Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2021? to scale Mt Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain
[a] University of Manchester peak in the world?
[b] RMIT University [a] Rakhi Shekhar
[c] University of Sydney [b] Anita Verma
[d] Massachusetts Institute of Technology [c] Parul Baghel
[e] University of Cambridge [d] Priyanka Mohite
[e] Chanchal Sharma
Q.187) Which company has executed world’s first
blockchain-enabled paperless trade transaction in Q.192) Which state has launched HARIHAR
the steel industry? policy for providing employment, educational and
[a] ArcelorMittal financial benefits to abandoned and surrendered
[b] China Baowu Group children?
[c] Nippon Steel Corporation [a] Haryana
[d] HBIS Group [b] Chhattisgarh
[e] Tata Steel [c] Jharkhand
[d] West Bengal
Q.188) Who has been chosen as the external [e] Tripura
auditor of the Organisation for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons from India? Q.193) What is the total foodgrain production
[a] Riva Ganguly Das estimate for 2020-21 as per the second advance
[b] GC Murmu estimates of production of principal crops by the
[c] Satwant Khanalia Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare?
[d] Harsh Vardhan Shringla [a] 120.32 million tonnes
[e] Rahul Chhabra [b] 109.24 million tonnes
[c] 49.36 million tonnes
Q.189) Who has been appointed as the [d] 397.66 million tonnes
chairperson of NASSCOM for 2021-22? [e] 303.34 million tonnes
[a] Akhilesh Mishra
[b] Reenat Sandhu Q.194) Where did the Indian Army conducted
[c] Nagma M. Mallick ‘ARMEX-21’ exercise?
[d] Rekha M. Menon [a] Ladakh
[e] Prabhat Kumar [b] Uttarakhand
[c] Himachal Pradesh
Q.190) When is the International Girls in ICT [d] Both A and B
(Information & Communications Technology) Day [e] Both B and C
observed?
[a] April 10 Q.195) Which city is the UNESCO’s World Book
[b] April 16 Capital for the 2021?
[c] April 22 [a] San Diego

176
[b] Seattle [a] SREI Infrastructure Finance Limited
[c] Boston [b] BOB Financial Solutions Limited
[d] Tbilisi [c] Religare Finvest Limited
[e] Chicago [d] PTC India Financial Services Limited
[e] JM Financial Credit Solutions Limited
Q.196) Which bank has collaborated with Google
Pay and VISA to enable secured tokenisation on Q.201) Which state has signed an MoU with
its credit cards? Microsoft for imparting digital skills to 1.62 lakh
[a] Bank of Baroda students and unemployed youth across 300 plus
[b] HSBC India colleges and skill development centres in the
[c] Bank of Maharashtra state?
[d] Canara Bank [a] Maharashtra
[e] Bank of India [b] Gujarat
[c] West Bengal
Q.197) Who has been appointed as the part-time [d] Andhra Pradesh
chairman of HDFC Bank? [e] Tamil Nadu
[a] Atanu Chakraborty
[b] Sharad Goklani Q.202) Which state’s Urja Vikas Nigam has
[c] Matam Venkata Rao signed a first of its kind power purchase
[d] Arun Kumar Singh agreement with Coal India?
[e] Pramod Chandra Mody [a] Arunachal Pradesh
[b] Gujarat
Q.198) Who has won the ‘Nelson Mandela World [c] Chhattisgarh
Humanitarian Award 2021’? [d] West Bengal
[a] Nitesh Kumar Mishra [e] Odisha
[b] Gyan Bhushan
[c] Madan Lal Q.203) Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce
[d] Rumana Sinha Sehgal and Industry (SICCI) and Start-up Incubation and
[e] Bibhuti Bhushana Dash Innovation Centre (SIIC) to provide opportunities
to tech-based start-ups for a circular economy
Q.199) Which bank has signed an MOU with The and an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Both
Chennai Angles (angel investment group) to organisations have launched “SICCI-SIIC
finance startups? INNOVATION LAUNCHPAD” challenge for
[a] Indian Overseas Bank startups. Start-up Incubation and Innovation
[b] Indian Bank Centre is located at which IIT?
[c] State Bank of India [a] IIT-Kanpur
[d] UCO Bank [b] IIT- Kharagpur
[e] Union Bank of India [c] IIT- Bombay
[d] IIT- Madras
Q.200) With which company has Mastercard [e] IIT-Ropar
partnered to launch ConQR - a Mastercard QR on
Card solution - a payment solution for Q.204) Which IIT has Ministry of Housing & Urban
cardholders? Affairs signed an MoU to set up an Accelerator

177
Centre for Research & Development at the [b] Singapore
institute? [c] Myanmar
[a] IIT- Dharwad [d] Australia
[b] IIT- Goa [e] New Zealand
[c] IIT- Jammu
[d] IIT-Kharagpur Q.210) Who is the author of “Living Mountain”
[e] IIT- Dhanbad book?
[a] Amitav Ghosh
Q.205) Which has become the second African [b] Hari Kunzru
country to eliminate Trachoma? [c] Ashok K. Banker
[a] Ghana [d] Devdutt Pattanaik
[b] Kenya [e] Ashwin Sanghi
[c] Tanzania
[d] Gambia Q.211) Where has India's first Floating Storage
[e] Morocco and Regasification Unit (FSRU) of LNG arrived
from Singapore?
Q.206) When is International Day of [a] Kerala
Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace [b] Gujarat
observed? [c] Andhra Pradesh
[a] April 24 [d] Odisha
[b] April 5 [e] Maharashtra
[c] April 29
[d] April 13 Q.212) With which company has Indian Army
[e] April 11 partnered for Ladakh Ignited Minds: A Centre of
Excellence and Wellness project to provide better
Q.207) Who has won the League Cup 2021 educational opportunities for Ladakhi students?
(English football tournament)? [a] National Thermal Power Corporation
[a] Arsenal [b] Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited
[b] Chelsea [c] Coal India Limited
[c] Barcelona [d] Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
[d] Atletico Madrid [e] Steel Authority of India Limited
[e] Manchester City
Q.213) How much fund will be provided to the
Q.208) Where will the ITTF World Table Tennis youth to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic
Championships be held? under the UN “Global Youth Mobilization Local
[a] Brasília, Brazil Solutions” campaign?
[b] Sucre, Bolivia [a] $5 million
[c] Houston, USA [b] $3 million
[d] Santiago, Chile [c] $4 million
[e] Bogotá, Colombia [d] $2 million
[e] $1 million
Q.209) Where are the Maui Dolphins found?
[a] Philippines

178
Q.214) Zhurong is the first Mars rover of which [d] Arun Raste
country? [e] Jaideep Bhatnagar
[a] China
[b] Russia Q.219) How many countries were supported by
[c] Philippines the E-2020 campaign of WHO for the elimination
[d] Japan of malaria?
[e] Singapore [a] 21
[b] 25
Q.215) Which country has partnered with [c] 32
Microsoft to build the world’s most powerful [d] 15
supercomputer to forecast weather and climate- [e] 10
change?
[a] Israel Q.220) Which picture has received the Best
[b] UK Picture award at the Oscars 2021?
[c] Japan [a] The Father
[d] Singapore [b] Nomadland
[e] US [c] Another Round
[d] Judas and the Black Messiah
Q.216) According to Stockholm International [e] A Shaun the Sheep
Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) “Trends In
World Military Expenditure, 2020” report, India Q.221) On which aircraft has the 5th generation
accounts for ___ percent of world’s military Python-5 Air-to-Air Missile been equipped?
expenditure? [a] Tejas
[a] 8.9% [b] Mirage 2000
[b] 3.7% [c] MiG-29
[c] 4.5% [d] Boeing 737
[d] 1.5% [e] Ilyushin Il-76
[e] 10.3%
Q.222) With which country has India signed an
Q.217) What is the prescribed tenure for MD and MoU for Customs Cooperation and Mutual
CEO of banks as per the new guidelines of RBI? Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters?
[a] 15 years [a] UK
[b] 10 years [b] USA
[c] 12 years [c] France
[d] 5 years [d] Germany
[e] 20 years [e] Japan

Q.218) Who has been appointed as the new MD Q.223) Blue Nature Alliance aims to conserve at
and CEO of National Commodity and Derivatives least ___ percent of the world’s ocean by 2030?
Exchange Ltd? [a] 40%
[a] Sharad Goklani [b] 50%
[b] Matam Venkata Rao [c] 20%
[c] Pramod Chandra Mody [d] 30%

179
[e] 15%
Q.229) Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Q.224) NEO-01 is the robot prototype for clean condoled the demise of Dadudan Gadhvi. Which
the orbit off the debris left behind by other field did he belong to?
spacecraft. Which country does the prototype [a] Literature
belong to? [b] Sports
[a] Germany [c] Politics
[b] France [d] Environmentalist
[c] China [e] Orator
[d] Russia
[e] Finland Q.230) Non-deposit taking NBFCs with asset size
below ___ have the option to not follow the
Q.225) What is India’s rank in the Chandler Good 'Guidelines for Appointment of Statutory Central
Government Index 2021? Auditors / Statutory Auditors of Commercial
[a] 75th Banks (excluding RRBs), UCBs and NBFCs
[b] 49th (including HFCs)'?
[c] 68th [a] ₹1,500 crore
[d] 83rd [b] ₹1,000 crore
[e] 91st [c] ₹2,500 crore
[d] ₹2,000 crore
Q.226) Which company has launched India’s first [e] ₹500 crore
Wealth Community based on video?
[a] Google Pay Q.231) Which IIT has created India’s first 3D
[b] BHIM Axis Pay printed house?
[c] Mobikwik [a] IIT- Delhi
[d] Paytm [b] IIT- Bombay
[e] PhonePe [c] IIT- Kharagpur
[d] IIT- Ropar
Q.227) What is India’s GDP growth rate for FY22 [e] IIT-Madras
by Asian Development Outlook?
[a] 11% Q.232) How much is India’s target for the Indian
[b] 7.7% chemicals industry by 2025?
[c] 8% [a] $304 billion
[d] 9.5% [b] $178 billion
[e] 10.3% [c] $145 billion
[d] $220 billion
Q.228) Where is the Khelo India State Centre of [e] $180 billion
Excellence (KISCEs) for rowing located?
[a] Chandigarh Q.233) Which edition of Varuna exercise was
[b] Ranakpur conducted by India and France in 2021?
[c] Kausani [a] 21st
[d] Patnitop [b] 35th
[e] Srinagar [c] 19th

180
[d] 11th [e] Reshma Bhushan
[e] 10th
Q.239) Which of the following Indian company
Q.234) Which country does Tianhe space station has entered TIME’s 100 Most Influential
module belong to? Companies 2021 list?
[a] Japan [a] Byju’s
[b] South Korea [b] Razorpay
[c] Vietnam [c] Jio Platform
[d] China [d] Both A and B
[e] Philippines [e] Both A and C

Q.235) What is the corpus of Mastercard Impact Q.240) With which field is Manoj Das related to?
Fund launched by Mastercard to address the [a] Badminton player
COVID-19 crisis in India? [b] Author
[a] USD 2 million [c] Singer
[b] USD 10 million [d] Sitarist
[c] USD 60 million [e] Environment Conservationist
[d] USD 50 million
[e] USD 30 million Q.241) Border Roads Organization is celebrating
the 60th anniversary of Project DANTAK which
Q.236) Who has been designated as the Finance was launched in 1961 to develop roads and
Secretary? connectivity in ___?
[a] Kaptan Singh [a] Nepal
[b] Arvind Singh [b] Bhutan
[c] R. K. Dhawan [c] Sri Lanka
[d] Sanjay Pandey [d] Myanmar
[e] T V Somanathan [e] Maldives

Q.237) When is the World Day for Safety and Q.242) Muktijoddha Scholarship scheme aims to
Health at Work observed? provide scholarships to the students of which
[a] April 10 country?
[b] April 21 [a] Gambia
[c] April 28 [b] Bhutan
[d] April 12 [c] Albania
[e] April 11 [d] Bangladesh
[e] Ghana
Q.238) Who has been chosen as the first Indian
and Asian woman for the 2021 'WILD Innovator Q.243) Which state has launched Aashirwaad
Award'? scheme?
[a] Sarojini Shekhar [a] West Bengal
[b] Neha Baghel [b] Maharashtra
[c] Krithi K Karanth [c] Madhya Pradesh
[d] Priyanka Mishra [d] Uttarakhand

181
[e] Punjab [a] Germany
[b] France
Q.244) Which year will be celebrated as the [c] UK
ASEAN-India Friendship Year? [d] Korea
[a] 2023 [e] USA
[b] 2022
[c] 2021 Q.248) Which of the following promoter has been
[d] 2024 reclassified as 'public shareholder' in Axis Bank?
[e] 2025 [a] United India Insurance Company Limited
[b] Oriental Insurance Company Limited
Q.245) How many countries are a part of the ‘Net [c] National Insurance Company Limited
Zero Producers Forum’? [d] General Insurance Corporation of India
[a] Five [e] New India Assurance Company Ltd
[b] Seven
[c] Ten Q.249) Which bank has launched ‘Merchant
[d] Twenty Stack’, a set of digital banking services for retail
[e] Fifty merchants?
[a] HDFC Bank
Q.246) Where did North Atlantic Treaty [b] ICICI Bank
Organization (NATO) conduct the joint military [c] Indian Bank
exercises named as “DEFENDER-Europe 21”? [d] Canara Bank
[a] Bulgaria [e] Bank of Baroda
[b] Albania
[c] Cyprus Q.250) Who has won the Order of the Rising Sun,
[d] Lithuania Gold and Silver Rays 2021?
[e] Monaco [a] Rajkumar Singh Thakur
[b] Shyamala Ganesh
Q.247) Which country has the largest number of [c] Kaptan Singh
hydrogen car distribution in the world, as per the [d] R. K. Dhawan
Global EV Outlook 2021 of International Energy [e] Sanjana Pandey
Agency?

1 A 51 E 101 C 151 A 201 D

2 D 52 D 102 A 152 C 202 B

3 D 53 C 103 D 153 B 203 A

4 D 54 A 104 B 154 D 204 D

5 D 55 D 105 B 155 B 205 D

182
6 E 56 A 106 D 156 D 206 A

7 C 57 C 107 A 157 B 207 E

8 B 58 D 108 A 158 A 208 C

9 E 59 E 109 D 159 D 209 E

10 E 60 A 110 A 160 A 210 A

11 E 61 B 111 C 161 A 211 E

12 A 62 A 112 B 162 D 212 B

13 A 63 D 113 B 163 E 213 D

14 D 64 A 114 B 164 E 214 A

15 E 65 C 115 E 165 B 215 B

16 D 66 D 116 C 166 E 216 B

17 A 67 B 117 A 167 A 217 A

18 D 68 D 118 B 168 E 218 D

19 A 69 D 119 C 169 A 219 A

20 B 70 A 120 B 170 A 220 B

21 D 71 D 121 C 171 C 221 A

22 A 72 D 122 B 172 A 222 A

23 B 73 D 123 A 173 C 223 D

24 D 74 C 124 D 174 D 224 C

25 A 75 E 125 D 175 D 225 B

26 D 76 B 126 A 176 D 226 D

27 A 77 A 127 E 177 D 227 A

28 E 78 C 128 A 178 A 228 E

29 E 79 D 129 D 179 B 229 A

30 D 80 A 130 D 180 A 230 B

31 D 81 D 131 A 181 D 231 E

32 C 82 D 132 D 182 D 232 A

183
33 C 83 D 133 D 183 B 233 C

34 B 84 D 134 A 184 D 234 D

35 D 85 C 135 B 185 D 235 B

36 E 86 A 136 A 186 A 236 E

37 D 87 A 137 B 187 E 237 C

38 C 88 B 138 C 188 B 238 C

39 B 89 D 139 E 189 D 239 E

40 A 90 A 140 A 190 C 240 B

41 E 91 D 141 E 191 D 241 B

42 B 92 A 142 B 192 A 242 D

43 C 93 E 143 D 193 E 243 E

44 B 94 C 144 B 194 D 244 B

45 C 95 B 145 D 195 D 245 A

46 D 96 B 146 B 196 B 246 B

47 C 97 A 147 B 197 A 247 D

48 D 98 D 148 A 198 D 248 E

49 D 99 A 149 A 199 B 249 B

50 B 100 D 150 A 200 B 250 B

184
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