VISION

Vision IAS Prelims 2021 Test 29 With Solution PDF

1)  World Autism Awareness Day: 02 April

•The World Autism Awareness Day is observed internationally on 2 April every year, to raise awareness about people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) throughout the world. The 2021 World Autism Awareness Day observance will address these issues through a virtual event that will include moderated panel discussions with individuals on the autism spectrum who have themselves experienced the challenges and seen these new opportunities in the employment market.

2)  International Children’s Book Day: 02 April

•International Children’s Book Day (ICBD) is organised annually on 2nd April since 1967, by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), an international non-profit organization, to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children’s books.

•Theme 2021: “The Music of Words.”

•Each year a different National Section of IBBY has the opportunity to be the international sponsor of ICBD and decide upon a theme. The IBBY United States is the sponsor for International Children’s Book Day 2021.

3)  Centre withdraws order cutting interest rates on small savings schemes

•The government has withdrawn its order slashing interest rates on small savings schemes, including National Savings Certificates (NSC) and Public Provident Fund (PPF), for the first quarter of 2021-22. Earlier on March 31, 2021, the Finance Ministry had announced a sharp cut in interest rates for small savings schemes by 50-110 basis points. Interest rates for small savings schemes are notified on a quarterly basis.

•However, the orders issued were withdrawn by the government on April 01, 2021. This marks the fourth consecutive quarter that the government has maintained the rates on such schemes that are effective from April 1 and remain in effect till June 30, 2021.

4)  4th batch of three Rafale fighter jets land in India

•The fourth batch of three Rafale fighter jets landed in India after flying non-stop from Istres Air Base France, in a further boost to the strike capability of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The Rafale fighter jets were provided mid-air refuelling by air force tankers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

•The three Rafale fighter aircraft which took off from France for India were scheduled to land at the Jamnagar airbase. The planes equipped with the Hammer missiles have enhanced their capability to carry out air-to-ground strikes like the one in Balakot.

5)  Indian Army to participate in Military Exercise SHANTIR OGROSHENA 2021

•A multinational Military Exercise named ‘SHANTIR OGROSHENA’ 2021 (Front Runner of the Peace) is scheduled to be held in Bangladesh from April 04 to 12, 2021. The theme of the exercise is “Robust Peace Keeping Operations”. The exercise is being held to commemorate the birth centenary of Bangladesh ‘Father of the Nation’ Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and mark glorious 50 years of liberation of the country.

6)  Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam in Uttar Pradesh lists itself at BSE

•Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam listed itself at BSE and successfully raised Rs. 150 Crores by issuing Municipal Bond on Private Placement Basis using BSE BOND. This is the first-ever green bond issuance by any Municipal Corporation in the country. The money will be used for the construction of a tertiary sewage treatment plant at Indirapuram in Ghaziabad. The money will be used to fund the project partly which is worth Rs 240 crore. This treatment plant will enable the sewage water to be used for industries after treatment.

•Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam is the second Municipal Corporation to raise funds in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Earlier, Lucknow Municipal Corporation had listed itself at BSE.

7)  Mukhmeet S. Bhatia takes over as Director General of ESIC

•Senior IAS officer, Mukhmeet S. Bhatia took over the charge of Director General of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) on April 04, 2021. He is a 1990 IAS Officer of the Jharkhand cadre. Earlier, he has worked as the Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. ESIC is a Statutory and an Autonomous Body under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

8)  Subhash Kumar takes additional charge as CMD of ONGC

•Subhash Kumar has assumed the additional charge as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on April 01, 2021. He is serving as Director (Finance) at ONGC. Kumar succeeds incumbent CMD, Shashi Shanker, who superannuated on March 31, 2021.

9)  Legendary Actor Rajinikanth to be honoured with 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award

•The legendary actor Rajinikanth has been selected to be honoured with the 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Awards, the highest film honour in India. The iconic actor Rajinikanth will receive the Dadasaheb Phalke award for 2019 for his stupendous contribution to Indian cinema. Rajinikanth will receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award on May 3, 2021.

•Rajinikanth is the 12th South Indian to get this award. Legends like Dr Rajkumar, Akkineni Nageshwar Rao, K Balachander have been awarded before. The legendary actor has been honoured with the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan in the past.

•The jury this year for the prestigious award included playback icon Asha Bhosle, director-producer Subhash Ghai, Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, music composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan and Biswajeet Chatterjee.

10)  India ranks 140th in WEF’s gender gap index 2021

•India has slipped 28 places to rank 140 among 156 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2021, by World Economic Forum. In 2020, India ranked 112th among 153 countries. Iceland has topped the index as the most gender-equal country in the world for the 12th time. Afghanistan is the worst-performing country in the report.

11)  UNESCAP: India’s Economic Growth Of 7% in 2021-22

•The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) said in the latest update that, India’s is estimated to record economic growth of 7% in 2021-22, over a contraction of 7.7% witnessed in the previous fiscal on account of the pandemic’s impact on normal business activity. It also noted that maintaining low borrowing costs while keeping non-performing loans in check would be a challenge.

12)  Facebook and Google to build new cables under the sea called ‘Echo’ and ‘Bifrost’

•Facebook and Google are planning to build new subsea cables from the US to Singapore and Indonesia. Facebook has partnered with leading regional and global partners to build two new subsea cables Echo and Bifrost that will provide vital new connections between the Asia-Pacific region and North America. While Google is only investing in Echo. These cables will increase overall transpacific capacity by 70 per cent.

•These projects are still subject to regulatory approvals, when completed, these cables are expected to deliver much-needed Internet capacity, redundancy, and reliability. The announcements come at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has increased the need for reliable Internet access.

📰 Pakistan freezes plan to open imports from India

Vision IAS Prelims 2021 Test 28 With Solution PDF

Art and Culture Revision Notes Through Images PDF

GS SCORE Yearly Compilation General Science, Health & Disease 2020-2021 PDF

1)  Utkal Divas or Odisha Day is celebrated on 1 April

•Utkal Divas or Utakala Dibasha is celebrated on April 1 every year to remember the formation of the Odisha state after a struggle to be recognised as an independent state. Under British rule, Odisha was part of the Bengal presidency, which consisted of the present-day Bihar, West Bengal, and Odisha. The state was originally called Orissa but the Lok Sabha passed the Orissa Bill, and Constitution Bill (113rd amendment), in March 2011 to rename it Odisha.

2)  AYUSH Ministry in collab with Vinoba Seva Pratishthan organizes ‘Ayurveda Parav’

•In a bid to promote Ayurveda as the mainstream treatment for the prevalent lifestyle-related diseases, Vinoba SevaPratisthan (VSP), in collaboration with the Ministry of AYUSH, has successfully organized a 3-day “Ayurveda Paravin Bhubaneswar. This unique initiative aims to not only ensure greater acceptance of Ayurveda among the masses but also to popularize Ayurveda as the main line of treatment for the current lifestyle diseases.

•The Ministry of AYUSH provided full-fledged support to this programme. During this Parv, nearly 25 research papers were presented by experts and researchers. The initiative generated tremendous response as thousands of patients turned up and showed their trust towards Ayurveda medication. They did get their diagnosis and consequent medicine.

3)  Govt further extends Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme to June 30, 2021

•The Central Government has extended the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS 3.0) by another three months till June 30, 2021, or till such time that an amount of Rs. 3 lakh crore is sanctioned under the Scheme. Additionally, the government has also introduced certain modifications in the ECLGS scheme to further contribute towards economic revival.

4)  Government announces Rs 14,500 crore capital infusion in 4 PSBs

•The Central Government has announced to infuse Rs 14,500 crore in four state-owned lenders namely Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of India and UCO Bank in 2020-21, by issuing non-interest bearing bonds to these banks. This infusion will complete the government’s total capital infusion of Rs 20,000 crore in public sector banks for the current financial year 2020-21. Earlier in December 2020, it infused Rs 5,500 crore in Punjab and Sind Bank. 

•The Recapitalisation bonds will be issued with six different maturities, and the special securities would be “at par” for the amount as per the application made by the eligible banks. Banks require capital to meet the mandatory reserve requirements laid out by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), make provisions for bad loans and kick-start the lending cycle when demand revives in the economy.

5)  Govt pegs market borrowing at Rs 7.24 lakh crore in 1st half of FY22

•The government has decided to borrow Rs 7.24 lakh crore in the first half of 2021-22 fiscal (FY22) to meet resources to revive the economy hit by coronavirus pandemic. This borrowing is 60.06 per cent of the estimated gross issuances for fiscal 2021-22.

•According to Budget 2021-22, the estimated gross borrowing is pegged at Rs 12.05 lakh crore in the financial year beginning April 01, 2021. The government raises money from the market to fund its fiscal deficit through dated securities and treasury bills.

6)  RBI extends deadline for processing auto-debit payments by 6 months

•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the timeline for processing recurring online transactions by 6 months to September 30, 2021. Earlier in December 2020, RBI had directed all banks including RRBs, NBFCs, and payment gateways that the processing of recurring transactions (domestic or cross-border) using cards or Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) or Unified Payments Interface (UPI) would not be continued beyond March 31, 2021, if they do not comply with Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA).

•This means that with effect from April 30, 2021, there were supposed to be no automatic recurring payment for various services, including recharge and utility bill, under arrangements/practices not compliant with AFA. However, banks and payment gateways had sought additional time to comply with the RBI directive on automatic recurring payment. Taking it into consideration, RBI decided to further extend the timeline.

7)  World Bank raises GDP growth projection for India to 10.1% for FY22

•The World Bank has revised upward the GDP growth projections for India by 4.7 percentage points to 10.1 per cent for the financial year 2021-22, due to a strong rebound in private consumption and investment growth. Earlier the bank had pegged the GDP growth at 5.4 per cent for FY22.

•Apart from this, the World Bank has forecast the economy to contract by 8.5 per cent in FY21 (2020-21). The multilateral agency has also projected economic growth at 5.8 per cent for India during FY23 (2022-23).

8)  SBI inks USD 1 billion loan agreement with Japan Bank

•India’s largest lender, State Bank of India, has raised $1 billion from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to extend loans to the supply chain of the Japanese automobile industry in India. The loan is in the form of refinancing against the funding support provided to the manufacturers, suppliers and dealers of Japanese automobiles in India.

•This collaboration between SBI and JBIC will help the bank in extending loan facility to the entire supply chain at a time when people are preferring a personal mode of transport. Now the total loan facility between SBI and JBIC has become $2 billion. Earlier in October 2020, SBI inked a similar agreement for $1 billion with JBIC.

9)  Lewis Hamilton won bahrain Grand Prix 2021

•Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton got his bid for an eighth world title off to a thrilling start with victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix 2021. Hamilton after his 96th career win. Max Verstappen (Red bull) and V Bottas (Mercedes ) stand 2nd and 3rd Position Respectively.

GS SCORE Current Affairs March 2021 Week 5 PDF