Current Affairs 25 & 26 April 2021

We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 25 & 26 April 2021, which have unique updates of Latest Current Affairs 2021 events from all newspapers such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, PIB, Times of India, PTI, Indian Express, Business Standard and all Government official websites.

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Singapore’s SICCI partners with IIT-Kanpur’s SIIC to promote Tech-StartupsIn April 2021, the Indian business association for businesses in Singapore, the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) collaborated with Start-up Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) of IIT-Kanpur to mutually promote Technology based Startups.

• Under this collaboration, SICCI-SIIC conducts a Launchpad Competition – “SICCI-SIIC INNOVATION LAUNCHPAD”.

Note – India is the 3rd largest Startup ecosystem in the world.
About Singapore:
Prime Minister – Lee Hsien Loong
President – Halimah Yacob
Currency – Singapore Dollar
>>Read Full News

MoHUA Signs MoU with IIT Kharagpur to set up an Accelerator CentreOn 23rd April 2021, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IIT Kharagpur to set-up an Accelerator Centre for Research & Development in the institute.
i.The centre will act as an incubation hub for creation & development of technological products.
ii.The Accelerator Centre will act similar to Central govt’s “ASHA-India initiative”.
About Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA):
Minister of State (I/C) – Hardeep Singh Puri (Rajya Sabha MP, Constituency – Uttar Pradesh)
About IIT Kharagpur:
1st IIT to be established and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance.
Established – 1951
>>Read Full News

CII’s IGBC launched “IGBC Mission on Net Zero” 

The Indian Green Building Council(IGBC) part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) launched the “IGBC Mission on Net Zero” on the occasion of World Earth Day (22nd April 2021).

Objective – The Mission was launched with an objective to abolish the carbon Emission in India.

• Target – ‘Net Zero Carbon Emission’ by 2050.
• As a part of this mission, around 250 leading organisations from Indian building sector have committed to achieve Net Zero status for their new and existing buildings.
• India is committed to reduce the emission intensity by 33 to 35% by 2030 over 2005 levels.

Additional info:
CII- Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre in Hyderabad became India’s first LEED Platinum-certified building in 2004.
About Indian Green Building Council(IGBC):
Formed in 2001
Headquarters– Hyderabad, Telangana
About Confederation of Indian Industry (CII):
President- Uday Kotak
Headquarters– New Delhi

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

UNICEF’s Gender Bias & Inclusion in Advertising in India: Indian Ads Promotes Gender StereotypesUnited Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and The Geena Davis Institute (GDI) on Gender in Media jointly released a study titled “Gender Bias & Inclusion in Advertising in India”. The study assesses the role of advertising media in reinforcing and challenging gender roles that impact the lives of women in India.

• The research was supported by the India Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA). 
• The research analysed more than 1000 television and Youtube advertisements aired across India in 2019.
• India(score – 0.625) has ranked 140th out of 156 countries in the 15th edition of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) ‘Global Gender Gap Report 2021’.
• India is one of the countries where under-5 mortality rates are higher in girls than boys.

Highlight of the report:
i.The reports highlighted that the women in Indian ads are prominent but still they are highly stereotyped and they are featured less in public spaces and paid employment.
ii.In Indian advertisements, women dominate screen time and speaking time by 59.7% and 56.3% respectively.
iii.Around 77.8% of ads that were examined passed the See Jane Test which measures if there is at least one prominent female character who is not portrayed as a stereotype.
Click here for the full report: Gender Bias & Inclusion in Advertising in India
Recommendations:
i.Avoid beauty standards of women being fair and thin and promote a diverse beauty template.
ii.Increase the representation of women across age, social class, skin tone and other indicators.
iii.Feature women as leaders in public space.
iv.Promote gender equality and positive gender standards around body and attitude towards healthy eating.

IAF Chief RKS Bhadauria’s 5 Day Visit to France From April 19 to 23, 2021Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) of Indian Air Force(IAF), Rakesh Kumar Singh (RKS) Bhadauria visited France for 5 days from April 19 to 23, 2021 upon the invitation from Gen Philippe Lavigne, Chief of Staff of France. During his visit he flagged off four Rafale aircraft for India.
Objective- To strengthen the cooperation between the Air Force of India & France.
R.K.S. Bhadauria Flagged off Rafale aircraft:
i.During his visit to France, he flagged off the four Rafale fighter jets for India from a Merignac airbase in France.
ii.These jets once inducted into service will complete the first Rafale squadron No. 17 Golden Arrows based at Ambala.
iii.The next(2^nd) squadron will be based in Hasimara air base in West Bengal.
Note – So far, 14 Jets (Excluding this 4 jets) have been inducted into the IAF as 1^st Squadron.
About Rafale Jets:
i.Rafale jets manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, are India’s first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years.
ii.In September, 2016 India and France signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 aircraft at a cost of INR 59, 000 crores.

India builds Infrastructure for 3 Educational Institutions in Nepal’s Palpa

India with Financial Assistance of Nepalese Rupee(NRs) 98.37 Million(~Rs.6.17 Crore) has build infrastructures of Three Educational Institutions in Palpa of Nepal.
The 3 educational institutes are,

• Shree Rambha Higher Secondary School at Tahun VDC, Palpa District
• Shree Laxmi Higher Secondary School at Tansen-5,Bandi Pokhara,Palpa District
• Shree Nava Adarsha Multiple Campus in Palpa District.

Key Points:
i.Objective – To Boost the learning environment of students in Nepal.
ii.The newly built schools buildings were virtually inaugurated by Karun Bansal,First Secretary(DP&R) of the Embassy of India,Kathmandu along with the District Coordination Committee,Palpa and School Management Committee and Local representatives.
About Nepal:
President: Bidya Devi Bhandari
Prime Minister:K.P.Sharma Oli
Capital:Kathmandu
Currency:Nepalese Rupee(NPR)
>>Read Full News

BANKING & FINANCE

Axis Direct Launched a Mobile App – Axis Direct RINGAxis Direct, the flagship brand of Axis Securities, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Axis Bank, launched a mobile application called ‘Axis Direct RING’ which support in making a simple and fast investment in stock markets.
Features of Axis Direct RING:

•   It will help investors find investment opportunities every 60 seconds.
• Axis Direct RING provides a wide range of trading tools, such as screeners, intuitive charts, detailed quotes, price alert notifications, research calls, and updates.
• It offers a fast trading interface and real-time access to stock prices with instant execution of trades.
• It offers an overview of all the major Indian stock markets and exchanges (National Stock Exchange(NSE), Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), and Multi Commodity Exchange(MCX) )and the customers can access all the market instruments, such as equity,  Futures and options (F&O), currency, commodity, and mutual funds, across exchanges.
• The app also will be helpful to beginners as well as professional investors as it has a wide range of trading tools, such as screeners, intuitive charts, detailed quotes, price alert notifications, research calls, and updates.

About Axis Securities:
Headquarters-Mumbai, Maharashtra
MD & CEO -B Gopkumar

RBI Extended WMA Limit of Rs 51,560 crore for States, UTs till September 30, 2021On April 23, 2021, due to the prevalence of the COVID-19, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has informed the continuation of the existing interim Ways and Means Advances (WMA) limit of Rs 51,560 crore for all states and Union Territories(UTs) for 6 months i.e. up to September 30, 2021.
Key Points:

• Continuation of SDF: Both the state governments and UTs obtained Special Drawing Facility (SDF) will continue to be linked to their total investments in marketable securities issued by the Government of India, including the Auction Treasury Bills (ATBs).
• Eligibility for availing the SDF: The eligibility for availing SDF will be calculated by means of the total annual incremental investments in Consolidated Sinking Fund (CSF) and Guarantee Redemption Fund (GRF)(Unchanged). (CSF and GRF are reserve funds maintained by State Governments with RBI).
• Operating limit of SDF(Daily): It will be determined by applying a uniform hair cut of 5 per cent over the market value of securities.

What are WMAs?
WMAs are temporary advances given by the RBI to the government to tide over any mismatch in receipts and payments.
About Reserve Bank of India (RBI):

• It was established on the recommendation of the Hilton Young Commission.
• The First Governor of RBI was Sir Osborne Smith (1935 – 1937).
• The First Indian Governor of RBI was CD Deshmukh (1943 – 1949).
• Dr. Manmohan Singh is the only Prime Minister to have also served as the Governor of RBI((1982 – 1985).
• The First women deputy Governor of RBI was KJ Udeshi.

>>Read Full News

RBI Restricted American Express, Diners Club from Enrolling New customers from May 1, 2021On April 23, 2021, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has restricted American Express Banking Corp and Diners Club International Ltd, the payment system operators from on-boarding new domestic customers onto their card networks from May 1, 2021, due to the non-compliance with the directions on Storage of Payment System Data.

• American Express and Diners Club are authorized to operate card networks in India under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act).

About RBI’s Regulation over Storage of payment system data:
In April 2018, RBI has made certain regulation under PSS Act for the storage of payment system data to payment system providers such as,

• Directed to store all the data related to payment systems (full end-to-end transaction details/information collected/carried/processed as part of the message/payment instruction) in a system only in India (within October 2018).

About American Express Banking Corp:
Establishment – 1921
Headquarters – Gurgaon, Haryana
CEO – Manoj Adlakha
>>Read Full News

ICICI Bank, SBI Cards Leads New Credit Card Issuance as HDFC Bank under Temporary Halt ICICI Bank and SBI Cards have a strong growth in new Credit card issuance from December 2020 to February 2021, after the temporary halt of HDFC Bank Ltd from issuing new cards from December 2020.
Background:
On December 2, 2020, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has stopped HDFC which has the largest credit card base in India from issuing new credit card due to a series of digital banking outages
Comparison of outstanding credit cards (RBI data):

About HDFC Bank:
Establishment – 1994
Headquarters– Mumbai, Maharashtra
MD & CEO – Sashidhar Jagdishan
Tagline– We understand your world
>>Read Full News

PFRDA Plans to Raise the NPS’ Entry Age Limit to 70 years

The Pension Funds Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is planning to raise the maximum age of entry into the National Pension System (NPS) to 70 years from 65 and plans to allow those who join after the age of 60 to continue their NPS accounts till 75 years (Present age limit is 70).
It is expected that PFRDA may add around 10 million new subscribers in FY22 for NPS and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) combined( Added 8.3 million in FY21) and it plans to increase the limit for full withdrawal of the pension amount by Rs 5 lakh(Present limit Rs 2 lakh or less)

      APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS         

Siddharth Singh Longjam appointed as new DG of NADA

IAS officer Siddharth Singh Longjam will take over as the Director General(DG) of National Anti Doping Agency(NADA).He will succeed Navin Agarwal.
Key Points:
i.Siddharth Singh Longjam is currently serving as joint secretary in the Sports Ministry.
ii.He is also the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the currently suspended National Dope Testing Laboratory(NDTL).
iii.Navin Agarwal introduced Athletes Biological Passport(ABP) for around 60 elite Indian sportspersons during his tenure.
About National Anti Doping Agency(NADA):
Establishment:24 November 2005
Headquarters:New Delhi
Motto: “Play Fair”

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

SpaceX launches 4 astronauts on NASA’s mission to ISS; NASA launched SHIELDS MissionOn 23rd April 2021, SpaceX through its Falcon 9 rocket sent 4-astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on a NASA commercial crew mission, “Crew-2 mission” from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.
SHIELDS Mission:
In April 2021, NASA launched the Spatial Heterodyne Interferometric Emission Line Dynamics Spectrometer (SHIELDS) mission from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
About SpaceX:
Chief Executive Officer – Elon Musk
Headquarters – California, USA
About National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA):
Administrator – Steve Jurczyk
Chief Scientist – Jim Gree
>>Read Full News

SpO2 based Supplemental Oxygen Delivery System developed by DRDO

A SpO2(Blood Oxygen Saturation) based supplemental oxygen delivery system for soldiers serving in extremely high altitude areas & COVID-19 patients has been developed by Defence Bio-Engineering and ElectroMedical Laboratory (DEBEL) located in Bengaluru. It operates under Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO).

• The system delivers supplementary oxygen based on the Blood Saturation levels. This will help soldiers from sinking into a state of Hypoxia.
• Hypoxia is the state where oxygen reaching the tissues is inadequate to fulfill all the energy requirements of the body. The same condition occurs in COVID-19.

ENVIRONMENT

Potamophylax coronavirus-Discovered in Accursed Mountains of Kosovo

Kosovar Biologist Halil Ibrahimi has discovered a new insect species named ‘Potamophylax coronavirus’ in Accursed Mountains (Kosovo’s Western Bjeshket e Nemuna National Park).The insect was named after Coronavirus(Covid-19)
i.The newly found species of Caddisfly is different from those found in the Balkans & it is endemic to the National Park.
ii.The new species is considerably smaller and lives in open and high-altitude zones, that is, 2,000 metres above the sea level.

SPORTS

Houston, USA to Host 2021 World Table Tennis Championship For 1st Time

The International Table Tennis Federation(ITTF)  has confirmed that the World Table Tennis Championship 2021 will be held  as per schedule from November 23 to 29 ,2021 in Houston,United States of America(USA).This is for the 1st time USA will host the World Table Tennis Championship.

• The decision was made at a meeting of the ITTF executive committee on April 11.
• It is to be noted that, 2020 World Table Tennis Championship in Busan, South Korea was cancelled due to covid-19 pandemic.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

New Book:“The Living Mountain” by Jnanpith Awardee Amitav GhoshNoted Indian writer Amitav Ghosh has authored a new book titled “The Living Mountain: A Fable for Our Times”. This book was written during the course of the pandemic.It will be Published by Harper Collins India.
About the Book:
i.The Book is written in the Structure of a fable about Mahaparbat,the living mountain.
ii.It is a cautionary tale of how humans have systematically exploited nature leading to an environment collapse.
iii.The book will also be published simultaneously in Hindi and as an ebook and an audio book.
About Amitav Ghosh:
i.Amitav Ghosh is one of the most prominent contemporary writers who is famous for connecting the past with the present in relevant ways in his novels.
ii.He is a recipient of the Padma Shri,Jnanpith and Sahitya Akademi awards.
iii.Shadow lines,The Glass Place,The Hunger Tide,River of Smoke,Flood of Fire are some of the greatest novels of Amitav Ghosh.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Immunization Week 2021 – 24th to 30th Aprili.World Immunization Week is observed annually across the globe in the last week of April to promote the use of vaccines to protect people against diseases.
ii.The World Immunisation Week 2021 is observed from 24th April to 30th April 2021. 
iii.The theme of World Immunization Week 2021 is  “Vaccines bring us closer”.
iv.The theme aims to promote the importance of the vaccine in bringing people together and in improving the health of everyone.
>>Read Full News

International Day for Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace 2021 – April 24i.The United Nations(UN)’s International Day for Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace is annually observed across the globe on 24th April to promote the 3 pillars of the United Nations – Peace and Security; Development; and Human Rights.
ii.The United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/73/127 on 12th December 2018 and proclaimed the 24th April of every year as the International Day for Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace.
iii.Thefirst International Day for Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace was observed on 24th April 2019.
About United Nations(UN):
Secretary-General– Antonio Guterres
Headquarters– New York, United States of America
Established on 24th October 1945
>>Read Full News

World Day for Laboratory Animals 2021 – 24 Aprili.The World Day for Laboratory Animals is annually observed across the globe on 24th April. The day is observed as a movement to end the suffering of the animals in laboratories across the globe and replace animal testing with advanced scientific non-animal techniques.
ii.The World Day for Laboratory Animals is associated with the Lab Animal week which has been observed from 20th to 26th April since 1979.
iii.The World Day for Laboratory Animals was instituted by the British National AntiVivi section Society (NAVS) in 1979.
iv.The day April 24 was chosen to honour the birth anniversary of Hugh Dowding, the President of NAVS.
>>Read Full News

National Panchayati Raj Day 2021 – April 24i.National Panchayati Raj Day or Panchayati Raj Diwas is annually observed across India on 24th April to recognise the work of the Panchayat leaders towards building an Atma Nirbhar Bharat.  The day is annually commemorated by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. 
ii.24th April 2021 marks the celebration of the 12th National Panchayati Raj Day. 
iii.The Ministry has decided to commemorate the National Panchayati Raj Day 2021 as a virtual event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
iv.The first National Panchayati Raj Day was observed on 24th April 2010.
v.24th April marks the institution of Panchayat Raj through the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 which came into force in 1993.
>>Read Full News

STATE NEWS

AP signed a 1st of its Kind MoU with Microsoft to Provide Skill Development Training to Students & Unemployed Youthsi.The Government of Andhra Pradesh(AP) and Microsoft Corporation virtually signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to offer skill development training to around 1.6 lakh students and unemployed youths across more than 300 colleges and skill development centres.
ii.This is the biggest and first of its kind initiative by a state government to cover all the graduates of the state.
iii.Microsoft will collaborate with the Higher Education department to provide scalable skilling experience which includes, access to the 40 courses and certifications on Microsoft’s learning resource centre, Microsoft Learn 
About Andhra Pradesh:
Lakes– Kolleru lake, Cumbum Lake (Gundlakamma Lake), Pulicat lake
Tiger Reserve– NagarjunaSagarSrisailam Tiger Reserve
About Microsoft Corporation:
CEO– Satya Nadella
Headquarters– Redmond, Washington, United States
>>Read Full News

AP CM Released First Instalment of Rs 671.45 crore under Jagananna Vidya Deevena SchemeAndhra Pradesh(AP) Chief Minister(CM) Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy released the first instalment of fee reimbursement worth Rs 671.45 crore under the Jagananna Vidya Deevena Scheme. The fee reimbursement was directly transferred into the bank accounts of the mothers of the beneficiaries.

• Aim:To ensure that education is accessible to the poor.
• The 2nd, 3rd and 4th instalment of the reimbursement will be released in July 2021, December 2021 and February 2022 respectively.

Note:
The reimbursement was previously credited into the accounts of the owner of the colleges.
Jagananna Vidya Deevena Scheme:
Highlights:
i.Under the Jagananna Vidya Deevena Scheme, a total of Rs 4879 core was spent to benefit around 10.88 lakh students.
ii.A total of Rs 4208 crore has been released for the fee reimbursement for the year 2019-2020 and the Rs 1880 core dues of 2018-2019 were cleared.
iii.The toll-free number 1902 has been enabled for the beneficiaries to resolve any issues in availing the benefits under the scheme.

Coal India Signed its first Solar power purchase pact with GUVNL for the sale of 100 Mw solar powerOn April 23, 2021, Coal India Limited(CIL) has signed its first solar power purchase agreement for the sale of 100 Mw solar power with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL) with a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for 25 years.

• CIL entered into a PPA and supply the 100 Mw power generated to GUVNL within 18 months with a capital investment of Rs 442 crore.
• The 100 MW project will be executed through a Solar EPC Contractor (engineering, procurement, and construction).

About CIL’s Initiatives under Solar Power:

• CIL plans for 3,000 Mw of solar power generation by 2024 and it plans to invest nearly Rs13,500 crore in solar power projects through the company’s internal resources, Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV), and bank loans.
• On April 16, 2021, CIL added two more fully owned subsidiaries  ‘CIL Navikarniya Urja Limited’ and ‘CIL Solar PV Limited’ in West Bengal, to accelerate its entry into the development of cleaner renewable energy sources.

About Coal India Ltd:
Establishment – 1975
Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD)– Pramod Agrawal
Headquarter– Kolkata, West Bengal
>>Read Full News

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