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Current Affairs Today – 23rd April 2021
NEWS AT A GLANCE
CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS
World Book Day– Observed on Apr 23
- World Book Day is celebrated every year on April 23.
- UNESCO undertakes the responsibility of the event.
- The first ever World Book Day was celebrated on April 23, 1995.
- The date was decided by UNESCO as it was also the death and birth anniversary of William Shakespeare, a world famous author.
- World Book and Copyright Day: Keeping Covid-19 in mind, the themefor this year is ‘To share a story’.
- Tbilisi has been chosen to be the World Book Capital in 2021.
- April 23 is globally observed as the World Book Day, also known as the World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book.
UN English Language day & UN Spanish Language day – Observed on Apr 23
- The UN English Language Day and UN Spanish Language Dayis observed annually on 23 April.
- For English, 23 April has been chosen to mark both the birthday and date of death of William Shakespeare.
- For Spanish Language, the Day was chosen because the day is also observed as Hispanic Day in Spain, meaning the Spanish speaking world.
- Why is the Day observed?
- They are one of the six official languages used by the United Nations throughout the Organization. These are: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
- Each language has been assigned a day of celebration by UN’s Department of Public Information in 2010 to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS
PM Modi declared India-US partnership on clean energy and climate change
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a US-India partnership on clean energy and climate change.
- Addressing Leaders’ Climate Summit, Mr Modi announced launch of India-US climate and clean energy Agenda 2030 partnership, which can be a template of green collaborations to help developing countries access to affordable green finance and clean technologies.
- Mr Modi said, together, we will help mobilize investments, demonstrate clean technologies, and enable green collaborations.
- Underlining that the concrete action is needed for humanity to combat Climate Change, he said, we need such action at a high speed, on a large scale, and with a global scope.
- The Prime Minister said, India’s ambitious renewable energy target of 450 Gigawatts by 2030 shows our commitment.
- Mr Modi said, despite our development challenges, we have taken many bold steps on clean energy, energy efficiency, afforestation and biodiversity.
Central Govt handles States and UTs to ensure free inter-state movement of oxygen-carrying vehicles
- The Center has directed States and Union Territories to ensure that there should be no restriction imposed on the movement of Medical Oxygen between the States and transport authorities shall be instructed to allow free inter-state movement of oxygen-carrying vehicles.
- Union Home Secretary and Chairman of National Executive Committee Ajay Kumar Bhalla have written a letter to Secretaries of Ministries and all the Chief Secretaries and Administrators of States and Union Territories in this regard.
- Mr Bhalla also directed to ensure that no authority shall attach the oxygen-carrying vehicles passing through the district or areas for making supplies specific to any particular district or areas.
- It said, there shall be free movement of oxygen carrying vehicles into the city, without any restriction of timing.
- Earlier, the Center had prohibited the supply of Oxygen for industrial purposes by manufacturers and suppliers from April 23 till further orders.
- However, this prohibition will not apply to the supply of oxygen for nine industries.
- These are Ampoules and Vials, Pharmaceutical, Petroleum refineries, Steel plants, Nuclear energy facilities, Oxygen cylinder manufacturers, Wastewater treatment plants, Food and water purification and Process industries which require uninterrupted operation of furnaces.
1st Oxygen Express with Liquid Medical Oxygen tankers – journey for Mumbai from Visakhapatnam
- The first Oxygen Express with Liquid Medical Oxygen tankers will start its journey for Mumbai from Visakhapatnam tonight.
- The Railway Ministry said, tankers filled with Liquid Medical Oxygen at Visakhapatnam are being transported through Ro-Ro service of Railways.
- The Ministry said, Railway is running Oxygen Express in response to its fight against COVID-19.
- Another Oxygen Express started its journey from Lucknow to Bokaro via Varanasi to fulfil the requirements of Medical Oxygen in Uttar Pradesh.
- The Ministry said, for the movement of the train, a green corridor was created between Lucknow to Varanasi.
- The distance of 270 Kilometre was covered by the train in four hours 20 minutes with an average speed of over 62 kilometre per hour.
- Transportation of Oxygen through Trains is faster over long distances than road transport.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Myanmar Army Chief took part in ASEAN meeting in Jakarta
- The Head of the Military government of Myanmar Senior General Min Aung Hlaing will embark on his first foreign visit after the coup to Indonesia to participate in the ASEAN leaders meeting.
- Quoting diplomats and officials in Jakarta, the Reuters reported that seven Southeast Asian leaders from the 10 nation ASEAN grouping are likely to take part in the summit meeting called to discuss the crisis caused by the military takeover of the government on February 1.
- Thailand and the Philippines announced that they will send their Foreign Ministers for the meeting.
- The ASEAN meeting is the first concerted international effort to find a solution to the crisis where at least 739 protestors have been killed since the protests began after the military take over on February 1.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS
UP govt to invoke National Security Act, Gangster Act
- Uttar Pradesh government has said that it will invoke National Security Act and Gangster Act on those persons who are involved in black marketing and holding of necessary medicines, oxygen and injections required for covid treatment.
- Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath assured that there is no dearth of oxygen for patients in the state and government is doing its best to provide oxygen to all hospitals.
- The Chief Minister said that very soon the state will get 25 lakh doses of remdesivir injection.
- He directed officials to double the number of covid beds in each and every district of the state.
- The health department of the state issued new guidelines to the private and government hospitals for better management of treatment.
- Now private hospitals are allowed to take admissions of covid patients up to 90 percent of their covid beds capacity and 10 percent will be reserved for reference admissions.
‘Health Safety Week’ starts in Jharkhand to break chain of COVID-19
- In Jharkhand, the “Health Safety Week” begins from April 22 to break the chain of COVID-19 infection.
- People have been advised to stay home and not to move out without necessary work.
- Essential services and medical services continue to function.
- In Jharkhand the Health Safety Week has begun from 6 am in the morning April 22 till 6 am in the morning on April 29, while unnecessary movement has been restricted in the State, only essential services, medical services, agricultural, industrial, and mining and construction activities have been permitted.
- The State Level Bankers Committee has decided to reduce the working hours of all public sector banks in Jharkhand to 4 hours from 10 am in the morning to 2 pm in the afternoon to break the chain of spread of COVID-19 infection.
- The State Government has requested people to not panic in the situation and follow the mandatory restrictions.
- Meanwhile, the State Government has facilitated 2124 oxygen supported hospital beds in the most affected areas to handle the COVID pandemic situation.
- A 300-bedded oxygen concentrator supporter special COVID-19 ward has become functional in Ranchi.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS
Ola to launch e-scooter in July and to set up 1 lakh charging points in 400 cities
- Ola Electric said it will bring its electric scooter to the Indian market in July this year, and is working on setting up a ‘Hypercharger Network’ to include one lakh charging points across 400 cities.
- Last year, Ola had announced an Rs 2,400 crore investment for setting up its first electric scooter factory in Tamil Nadu.
- Upon completion, the factory will create nearly 10,000 jobs and will be the world’s largest scooter manufacturing facility that will initially have an annual capacity of 2 million units.
- “We will put out the factory by June, which will have the capacity to manufacture 2 million units and then we’ll ramp up – over the next 12 months – after the factory is set up the sale will also start at the same time, so factory gets completed in June, sale starts in July,” Ola Chairman and Group CEO Bhavish Aggarwal
CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING NEWS
World Bank assist Bangladesh to provide USD 250 mn for jobs, COVID-19 pandemic
- The government of Bangladesh signed an agreement for USD 250 million financing from the World Bank to help create more and better jobs, recover faster from the COVID-19 pandemic and build resilience to future crises.
- This was the third and the last in the series of credits totaling USD 750 million under the Programmatic Jobs Development policy focusing on creation of inclusive and quality jobs while supporting the government in responding to the COVID-19 crisis.
- It supports policies to modernize the trade and investment regime; improve social protection for workers; and help youth, women, and vulnerable people access quality jobs, said the press release issued by the World Bank.
- World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan Mercy Tembon said that this financing supports government policies to protect those most affected by the pandemic.
- He said it will create more and better jobs as Bangladesh continues its journey towards its vision of becoming an upper-middle income country.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENT AND RESIGNATION NEWS
RBI nods appointment of Atanu Chakraborty as part time Chairman, HDFC Bank
- Private sector lender HDFC Bank said the Reserve Bank has approved appointment of former Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty as the part-time chairman of the bank.
- “The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) vide its communication dated April 22, 2021, has approved the appointment of Atanu Chakraborty as the part time chairman of the bank for a period of three years with effect from May 5, 2021 or the date of his taking charge, whichever is later,” HDFC Bank said in a regulatory filing.
- HDFC Bank said a meeting of the board of directors of the bank will be convened in due course inter-alia to consider the appointment of Atanu Chakraborty as the part-time chairman and additional independent director of the bank.
Rekha Menon became first woman chairperson of Nasscom
- Accenture India’s head, Rekha M Menon is the first woman Chairperson of the IT industry body, Nasscom.
- Menon, who was earlier a member of the executive council of the representative body, takes over from Pravin Kumar Rao, the Chief Operating Officer at Infosys.
- In a video statement, Menon said that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic continues to test the resilience of our more than 4 million people, even as it has created new opportunities for growth with technology emerging as the lifeline for societies and economies across the world.
- “As we cautiously navigate the pandemic, I look forward to working with the NASSCOM Executive Council and its members to drive our industry’s long-term growth by augmenting India’s position as the digital talent nation for the world, driving people-first innovation, and working with the government to create a conducive policy environment needed for sustainable growth,” she added.
Cyient’s Executive Chairman B V R Mohan Reddy steps down
- Former Nasscom chairman BVR Mohan Reddy said it was very “sad” to see a “good CEO” like Vishal Sikka stepping down as the CEO of Infosys, and added that promoters have no say after leaving a company.
- The company said Sikka, the first non-founder CEO of Infosys, has abruptly resigned due to the “continuous assault” and “campaign” by founder and ex-chairman NR Narayana Murthy.
- Reacting to this, Murthy said he is not seeking “any money, position for children, or power”, while expressing anguish over the board’s allegations that his “continuous assault” led to Sikka’s exit.
- Reddy said: “It is very sad to see a good CEO leaving a great company for avoidable reasons.
- The promoters have no locus standi (right to interfere or have say in the matter) once they leave the company.”
Experian India appointed Neeraj Dhawan as MD
- Credit Information Company Experian Indiaappointed Neeraj Dhawan as its new managing director.
- Prior to this, he was chief credit officer at CSB Bank, focusing on retail, SME, and analytics, a release said. ‘It will be my endeavour to grow and strengthen the India
- With his leadership and industry experience, Neeraj will introduce strategies to accelerate Experian India’s growth, enabling the team to achieve organizational goals and excellence in operations.
- Leveraging Experian’s global strengths, and by introducing innovative solutions across Decision Analytics, Credit Services, Data Quality, and Consumer Services, Neeraj will further enhance Experian’s anchor products in India.
IOB appointed EY as its digital consultant
- IOB said the consultant has been appointed as part of its growth strategy and to transform its banking services into a digitized form.
- Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has appointed Ernst & Young as digital consultant to achieve the goal of increasing the share of digital services.
- IOB said the consultant has been appointed as part of its growth strategy and to transform its banking services into a digitized form.
DDMA appointed senior bureaucrats as nodal officials to oversee oxygen supply
- Amid shortage of medical oxygen in several hospitals across the city, the DDMA appointed two senior bureaucrats as nodal officers to ensure smooth movement of tankers and facilitate oxygen supply to city hospitals.
- It has also directed the Delhi Police to provide security to the tankers from manufacturers’ sites to various health facilities here.
- The move comes hours after Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleged that the police officials in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana were blocking oxygen transport to the national capital, and urged the Centre to ensure normal supply even if that meant taking the help of paramilitary forces.
CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU’s AND AGREEMENTS
Indian Bank and Chennai Angels sign ink pact for start-up financing
- Public sector lender Indian Bank has entered into a pact with Chennai-based angel investment group ‘The Chennai Angels For financing start-ups under the bank’s loan product Ind SpringBoard.
- The MoU was signed.
- Under this project, Indian Bank will support start-ups by extending credit facilities up to 50 crore for working capital needs and also fund term-loan requirements for acquiring fixed assets for their units, said the bank in a statement.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SUMMITS & CONFERENCES
PM Modi to attend Leaders’ Summit on Climate on April 22
- On April 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the Leaders’ Summit on Climate hosted by US President Joe Biden.
- A total of 40 world leaders had been invited for the two-day virtual Summit to galvanize efforts by the major economies to tackle the climate crisis.
- This Summit coincides with the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Paris Agreement on climate change for signature.
- Theme of the Summit is Our Collective Sprint to 2030.
- The summit is one of several major climate-related events in the run-up to COP-26, a global event scheduled for November 2021.
- The leaders participating in the Summit represent countries which are members of the Major Economies Forum and those vulnerable to climate change.
Objectives of the Summit :
- Using the technology available to adapt to climate change but also reduce emissions.
- Use nature-based solutions to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
- Protect lives and livelihoods by finding ways to adapt to climate change.
- Build new businesses and industries.
- The Leaders will exchange views on enhancing climate actions, mobilizing finance towards climate mitigation and adaptation including nature based solutions, climate security as well as technological innovations for clean energy.
Note :
- India is the only country which has overachieved its targets as per the Paris Agreement and continues its commitment to switch to renewable energy resources.
CURRENT AFFAIRS : RANKING & INDEX
India Ranks 87th In Global Energy Transition Index 2021 ; Sweden Tops
- On April 21, 2021, India was placed at the 87th (Score 53) position among 115 countries in the 2021 Energy Transition Index (ETI),
- The report Published from the World Economic Forum (WEF) and prepared in collaboration with Accenture also draws on insights from ETI.
- The top 10 countries in the index are Western and Northern European countries, and Sweden has a score of 79 is in the first position followed by Norway (2nd) and Denmark (3rd).
- As per the report, 92 out of 115 countries tracked on the ETI increased their aggregate score over the past 10 years, which affirms the positive direction and steady momentum of the global energy transition.
List of Top 10 Countries :
| Rank | Country |
| 1 | Sweden |
| 2 | Norway |
| 3 | Denmark |
| 4 | Switzerland |
| 5 | Austria |
| 6 | Finland |
| 7 | UK |
| 8 | New Zealand |
| 9 | France |
| 10 | Iceland |
- Zimbabwe is the last ranked country in the index.
About the Index :
- The index benchmarks 115 countries on the current performance of their energy systems across three dimensions: economic development and growth, environmental sustainability, and energy security and access indicators and their readiness to transition to secure, sustainable, affordable, and inclusive energy systems.
About World Economic Forum :
- Headquarters: Cologny, Switzerland
- Founder: Klaus Schwab
- Founded: 24 January 1971
About Accenture :
- CEO: Julie Sweet
- Headquarters: Dublin, Ireland
- Founder: Clarence DeLany
CURRENT AFFAIRS : SPORTS NEWS
Puma ropes in Washington Sundar & Devdutt Padikkal as Brand Ambassadors
- Global sportswear brand Puma has roped in Indian cricketers Washington Sundar and Devdutt Padikkal as the brand ambassador.
- The duo will be joining the company’s roster of brand ambassadors that include Indian captain Virat Kohli; wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul; women’s national cricketer, Sushma Verma and veteran cricketer Yuvraj Singh.
- Puma India, which recently announced its partnership with Royal Challengers Bangalore, has been consistently investing in India’s sport ecosystem.
About Puma :
- Puma is a German sports brand, involved in designing, developing, selling and marketing footwear, apparel and accessories.
- Founder: Rudolf Dassler
- Founded: 1948, Herzogenaurach, Germany
- CEO: Bjørn Gulden
- Headquarters: Herzogenaurach, Germany
Tamil Nadu’s Arjun Kalyan becomes 68th Indian Grandmaster
- Tamil Nadu teenager Arjun Kalyan became India’s 68th Chess Grandmaster.
- He crossed the 2500 ELO mark after beating Dragan Kosic in the fifth round of GM Round Robin “Rujna Zore-3” in Serbia.
- The 18-year-old from Chennai had come close to achieving the feat last week.
- Arjun is coached by IM Saravanan and Ukrainian GM Aleksandr Goloshchapov.
About Grandmaster :
- Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE.
- Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain.
About FIDE :
- Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
- CEO: Geoffrey D. Borg
- Founded: 20 July 1924, Paris, France
- Membership: 195 national associations
CURRENT AFFAIRS : OBITUARIES
Renowned qawwali singer Farid Sabri of ‘Sabri Brothers’ fame passes away at 58
- On April 21, 2021, Renowned qawwali singer Farid Sabri of the Sabri Brothers duo passed away in Jaipur.
- He was 58.
- Farid Sabri and Amin Sabri were known for their evergreen numbers like ‘Der Na Ho Jaye Kahin Der Na Ho Jaye’ and ‘Ek Mulakat Zaruri Hai Sanam’.
- He had collaborated with his father, Lata Mangeshkar and Suresh Wadkar on the song for the film Henna.
- His qawwali in the movie Sirf Tum (1999) was also a huge hit.
Daily CA On April 22 :
- Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. The theme this year is “Restore Our Earth”
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address Leaders’ Summit on Climate. The two-day summit will be held virtually and Mr Modi will make his remarks in the session which has the theme – Our Collective Sprint to 2030.
- Serum Institute of India has announced the price for its COVISHIELD vaccine for State governments and Private Hospitals in the country.
- Nine Bangladeshis feature in the Forbes 30 under 30 lists of innovators in 10 industries for Asia.
- Chinese President Xi Jinping will take part in the virtual climate summit convened by US President Joe Biden in which several world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi
- India has witnessed an impressive increase of almost 5 per cent in export of Agricultural and allied products during April 2020 to February 2021 as compared to the same period, the previous year.
- Hero MotoCorp has formed a partnership with Taiwan’s Gogoro Inc to develop electric vehicles for the Indian market.
- ReNew Power informed it has commissioned a 105 megawatt (MW) solar generation facility in Gujarat.
- HDFC securities announced the appointment of Rajeev Srivastava as Head of Products and Business Development.
- WHI, an organization having special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, UN, has chosen Geevarghese Mar Coorilos Metropolitan, Diocese of Mumbai, for its maiden Golden Lantern Award.
- On April 10, 2021, The 40th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (40-ISEA) hosted by the Ministry of Earth Sciences successfully returned to Cape Town, after completing a journey of around 12 thousand nautical miles in 94 days.
- The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will support eight joint research projects mooted by the space technology cell (STC) of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.
- A Water Sports and Adventure Institute (WSAI) has been established by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) at Tehri Dam in Uttarakhand.
- On April 21, 2021, Eminent Bengali poet Shankha Ghosh passed away.
- On April 20, 2021, Veteran actor Kishore Nandlaskar, who was a popular face in both Marathi and Hindi films, passed away.
- On April 20, 2021, The President of the Republic of Chad, Idriss Deby Itno, passed away.
Daily CA On April 23 :
- World Book Day is celebrated every year on April 23. UNESCO undertakes the responsibility of the event. The first ever World Book Day was celebrated on April 23, 1995.
- The UN English Language Day and UN Spanish Language Dayis observed annually on 23 April.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a US-India partnership on clean energy and climate change.
- The Center has directed States and Union Territories to ensure that there should be no restriction imposed on the movement of Medical Oxygen between the States and transport authorities shall be instructed to allow free inter-state movement of oxygen-carrying vehicles.
- The first Oxygen Express with Liquid Medical Oxygen tankers will start its journey for Mumbai from Visakhapatnam tonight.
- The Head of the Military government of Myanmar Senior General Min Aung Hlaing will embark on his first foreign visit after the coup to Indonesia to participate in the ASEAN leaders meeting.
- Uttar Pradesh government has said that it will invoke National Security Act and Gangster Act on those persons who are involved in black marketing and holding of necessary medicines, oxygen and injections required for covid treatment.
- In Jharkhand, the “Health Safety Week” begins from April 22 to break the chain of COVID-19 infection.
- Ola Electric said it will bring its electric scooter to the Indian market in July this year, and is working on setting up a ‘Hypercharger Network’ to include one lakh charging points across 400 cities.
- The government of Bangladesh signed an agreement for USD 250 million financing from the World Bank to help create more and better jobs, recover faster from the COVID-19 pandemic and build resilience to future crises.
- Private sector lender HDFC Bank said the Reserve Bank has approved appointment of former Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty as the part-time chairman of the bank.
- Accenture India’s head, Rekha M Menon is the first woman Chairperson of the IT industry body, Nasscom.
- Former Nasscom chairman BVR Mohan Reddy said it was very “sad” to see a “good CEO” like Vishal Sikka stepping down as the CEO of Infosys, and added that promoters have no say after leaving a company.
- Credit Information Company Experian Indiaappointed Neeraj Dhawan as its new managing director.
- IOB said the consultant has been appointed as part of its growth strategy and to transform its banking services into a digitized form.
- Amid shortage of medical oxygen in several hospitals across the city, the DDMA appointed two senior bureaucrats as nodal officers to ensure smooth movement of tankers and facilitate oxygen supply to city hospitals.
- Public sector lender Indian Bank has entered into a pact with Chennai-based angel investment group ‘The Chennai Angels For financing start-ups under the bank’s loan product Ind SpringBoard.
- On April 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the Leaders’ Summit on Climate hosted by US President Joe Biden.
- On April 21, 2021, India was placed at the 87th (Score 53) position among 115 countries in the 2021 Energy Transition Index (ETI),
- Global sportswear brand Puma has roped in Indian cricketers Washington Sundar and Devdutt Padikkal as the brand ambassador.
- Tamil Nadu teenager Arjun Kalyan became India’s 68th Chess Grandmaster.
- On April 21, 2021, Renowned qawwali singer Farid Sabri of the Sabri Brothers duo passed away in Jaipur.
