We are here for you to provide the important Recent and Latest Current Affairs 30 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
Cabinet approves Agreement between India, United Kingdom for Information sharing, Customs Cooperation
- The pact will help in the availability of information for the prevention & investigation of Customs offences.
- It will facilitate trade and ensure seamless clearance of goods traded between the 2 countries.
Key Points
i.The Agreement provides a legal framework for sharing information & intelligence between India & the UK.
ii.The agreement addresses the concerns & requirements of Indian Customs in the area of Exchange of information on the correctness of the Customs value & Tariff classification & origin of goods traded between the two countries.
About United Kingdom (UK)
Constituent Countries – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Prime Minister – Boris Johnson
Capital – London
Currency – Pound Sterling (GBP)
>>Read Full News
India, Russia to establish ‘2+2 Ministerial Dialogue’ between Foreign, Defence Ministers
- Russia is the 4th Country & 1st Non-Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) member country with which India has established the ‘2+2 Ministerial Dialogue’ mechanism.
- India already has this ‘2+2 Ministerial Dialogue’ mechanism with 3 countries namely – US, Japan & Australia (members of QUAD).
- The Establishment of the mechanism was announced after a telephonic conversation between PM of India Narendra Modi and President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.
Key Points
i.Russia & India agreed to review bilateral cooperation in the areas of space exploration, renewable energy sector & hydrogen economy.
- Russian President Putin is set to visit India in 2021 for the annual India Russia bilateral summit.
- Recently, India had approved ‘Sputnik-V’, a Russian coronavirus vaccine for use in India.
About Russia
Capital– Moscow
Currency– Russian Rouble
President– Vladimir Putin
>>Read Full News
Government of NCT of Delhi (Amendment) Act in Delhi comes into Force
- According to the legislation, the ‘Government’ in Delhi means the ‘Lieutenant Governor’ and the elected government of New Delhi have to seek the opinion of the Lieutenant Governor before taking any executive action.
- The Act amends the ‘Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991’.
- The bill was passed in both houses of the Parliament in March, 2021.
- The amended act states that “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act 2021 (15 of 2021), the Central Government hereby appoints the 27th April 2021 as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force,”.
About UT of Delhi
Chief Minister – Arvind Kejriwal
Governor – Anil Baijal
BRO’s Project DANTAK completes 60 years in Bhutan
The oldest project of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was DANTAK, a project established on April 24, 1961 in Bhutan, by His Majesty the Third King and then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. The Diamond Jubilee has been commemorated to mark the 60th anniversary of the project.This project was aimed at constructing motorable roads in the Kingdom of Bhutan.
- It involved the construction of Paro Airport, Yonphula Airfield, Thimphu – Trashigang Highway, Telecommunication & Hydro Power Infrastructure, Sherubtse College, Kanglung and India House Estate.
- Indian Ambassador to Bhutan Smt Ruchira Kamboj ,Commandant, Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT) Maj Gen Sanjeev Chauhan and Chief Engineer DANTAK Brig Kabir Kashyap paid their respects at the memorial.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Norway Contributes 20 Million NOK to India for COVID 19 Relief Fund
- New Zealand will provide 1 million New Zealand Dollars(NZD) (~720365 USD or ~ Rs.5 crore) to the Red Cross to support the COVID-19 relief in India.
- Canada has pledged to donate 10 Million USD to Indian Red Cross to support the medical emergencies in India due to COVID-19.
About Norway:
Prime Minister– Erna Solberg
Currency– Norwegian Krone
Capital– Oslo
About New Zealand:
President– Jacinda Ardern
Capital– Wellington
Currency– New Zealand dollar
>>Read Full News
UK Became the First Country to Adopt Self-Driving Cars on Motorways
Key points:
- In order to make safe use of the self-driving vehicle system, the transport ministry of the UK was working on specific wording to update its country’s highway code.
- For keeping the cars within a lane, a technology called Automated Lane Keeping Systems (ALKS) will be used as it uses sensors and software to guide the self-driving cars to accelerate and brake without manual input.
- The UK government has mandated the ALKS usage for the motorways at speeds below 60 km (37 miles) per hour.
- By 2035, the UK forecasts to have 40 per cent of new cars with self-driving capabilities, in turn creating up to 38,000 new skilled jobs.
- The UK got approval from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) for ALKS Regulation in June 2020.
Note – UK is planning to allow self-driving cars in motorways by 2021 itself.
About United Kingdom:
Capital – London
Currency – Pound sterling
Prime Minister – Boris Johnson
Riva Ganguly Das co-chairs 23rd ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting 2021
- Thailand served as Country Coordinator for ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations for the last three years – 2018-21, Singapore will be the next Country Coordinator (2021-24, it is a 3-year term).
- ASEAN officials welcomed India’s proposal to celebrate the year 2022 as ASEAN-India Friendship Year.
- The participants discussed steps to be taken for implementing the ASEAN-India Plan of Action (2021-25).
ASEAN
- It is an economic union founded in 1967. It promotes intergovernmental cooperation between Southeast Asian nations.
- It has 10 members – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
- It is India’s 4th Largest Trading Partner. India’s export to ASEAN stands at 11.28%.
About Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Chair of 2021 – Brunei Darussalam (Theme of its ASEAN Chairmanship is “We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper”).
Secretary-General – H.E. Dato Lim Jock Hoi (2018 -2022)
Headquarters – Jakarta, Indonesia
>>Read Full News
BANKING & FINANCE
Axis Bank Board Approved the Reclassification of NIACL from Promoter to Public Investor
- As of April 22, 2021, 0.67 per cent of the total issued and paid-up equity share capital of the Axis bank was held by NIACL.
- The approval of the stock exchanges, statutory/regulatory authorities and shareholders of the bank are also subjected to reclassification.
Background: NIACL has requested Axis Bank to reclassify it to a public category from promoter category investor
About Axis Bank:
Commenced operations – 1994(founded – 1993)
MD & CEO – Amitabh Chaudhry
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
Tagline – Badhtika Naam Zindagi
>>Read Full News
Govt Retained the GPF Interest Rate Unchanged at 7.1% for Q1 FY22
- In April 2020, the GPF interest rate was changed from 7.9% to 7.1% and after that, the interest rates are being unchanged consecutively for 5 quarters.
- In April 2021, the Finance Ministry has also retained the Interest Rate of Small Savings Scheme for Q1FY22. Click here to know more
About General Provident Fund (GPF):
- GPF is a saving instrument only for government employees, they can contribute a portion of his/her salary regularly till the time he/she is employed. On retirement, the employer transfers the total accumulated amount in the GPF account to the employee.
- Note – Private sector company employee is not eligible for the GPF
About Ministry of Finance:
Union Minister – Nirmala Sitharaman (Rajya Sabha MP representing Karnataka)
Minister of State (MoS) – Anurag Singh Thakur (Lok Sabha MP, Constituency – Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh)
>>Read Full News
ICICI Bank Launched Digital Banking Service for Merchants – ‘Merchant Stack’ 
Important components of the ‘Merchant Stack’:
- A new account called – Super Merchant Current Account
- 2 Instant credit facilities based on Point of Sale (POS) transactions – Merchant Overdraft and Express Credit
- Digital Store Management facility to support merchants in online business
InstaBIZ: The benefits of Merchant Stack could be availed by downloading the InstaBIZ app, the app is accessible on ICICI’s Corporate Internet Banking (CIB) platform also.
About ICICI Bank:
Establishment – 1995(Incorporated in 1994)
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
MD& CEO – Sandeep Bakhshi
Tagline – Hum haina, KhayalApka
>>Read Full News
Indian Bank Signed an MoU with BSNL to Provide Telecom Services
The MoU was signed in the presence of the executive director of Indian Bank and chief general manager of BSNL Chennai Telephones.
Note:
Indian bank already uses the service of BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) for the Wide Area Network (WAN) across India.
Additional info:
i.At present, BSNL and its subsidiary MTNL are connecting more than 5000 branches and ATM of Indian bank including the Allahabad banks which were recently merged with Indian Bank.
ii.BSNL is the only telecom service that connects branches and ATMs in rural and remote locations across India.
About Indian Bank:
MD & CEO- PadmajaChunduru
Executive Director– ShenoyVishwanath V
Headquarters– Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Founded in– 1907
About Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL):
BSNL was formed by the corporatization of the Department of Telecom Services and came into being on 1st October 2000.
CMD– Pravin Kumar Purwar
Headquarters– New Delhi
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Wipro Became 3rd Largest Indian IT Firm by Surpassing HCL Tech & sets to Reach Net-zero GHG Emissions by 2040
Wipro Ltd regained its position as the third-largest Indian IT services company by market capitalization(market-cap) of Rs 2.65 trillion by surpassing Noida-headquartered HCL Technologies’ Rs 2.62 trillion market cap. TCS remains at the top of the list of IT companies with a market cap of Rs11.51 trillion, followed by Infosys with Rs5.73 trillion market cap.
- Net-zero GHG Emissions by 2040: On Earth Day, Wipro announced its plan to achieve Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 2040 and committed an intermediate target to achieve a 55 per cent reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 compared to its base year of 2016-17 (April-March).
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Jio Platforms, Byju’s in Time’s first list of 100 most influential firms
The key factors considered for evaluation are,
- Relevance
- Impact
- Innovation
- Leadership
- Ambition
i.Jio Platforms was listed under the Innovation category alongside Zoom, Adidas, TikTok, Ikea, Moderna and Netflix.
ii.The magazine has listed Jio Platform for “leading digital transformation” in India.
iii.Byju’s was listed under the Disruptors category alongside Tesla, Huawei, Shopify, Airbnb and DiDi Chuxing.
About Jio Platforms:
Establishment:2019
Parent Company:Reliance Industries
Founder:Mukesh Ambani
Headquarters:Mumbai,Maharashtra
About Byjus:
Establishment:2011
Founder:Byju Raveendran
Headquarters:Bangalore,Karnataka
>>Read Full News
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS
Expenditure Secretary TV Somanathan appointed as Finance secretary
Expenditure Secretary T V Somanathan was recently appointed as the Finance Secretary by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.He will succeed Ajay Bhushan Pandey
- In the Finance Ministry, the senior-most secretary among the four secretaries in the finance ministry is designated as the finance secretary.
About TV Somanathan:
i.TV Somanathan is a 1987 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. Somanathan was awarded the Gold Medal for the Best IAS trainee of his cohort.
ii.Somanathan was appointed as the Secretary,Department of expenditure(DoE)in finance ministry in December 2019.
iii.Prior to that, he was serving as a principal secretary in Tamil Nadu cadre.
iv.Earlier, he has served as a joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office.
About Ministry of Finance:
Union Minister: Nirmala Sitharaman
Minister of State(MoS): Anurag Singh Thakur
Secretary, Department of Financial Services: Debasish Panda
Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM): Tuhin Kanta Pandey
Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs: Ajay Seth
Amitabh Chaudhry re-appointed as MD & CEO of Axis Bank
- Also the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and shareholders of the bank have to approve the appointment.
About Amitabh Chaudhry:
i.Amitabh Chaudhry was appointed as MD and CEO of Axis Bank for a period of three years, from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021.
ii.Prior to joining Axis Bank, Amitabh Chaudhry was MD and CEO of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company
About Axis Bank:
Establishment: 1993
Headquarters: Mumbai,Maharashtra
Tagline: Badhti ka Naam Zindagi
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS
CCI Approved the 64.3% Stake Acquisition from BigBasket’s SGS by Tata Digital
Key points:
- Tata Sons group: It is engaged in the Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) sale of food, grocery, household products, personal products and beauty care products (products) in India.
- TDL: It is involved in the business of providing technology services related to identity and access management, loyalty programme, offers and payments.
- About SGS and IRC: Through business.bigbasket.com, SGS is involved in online B2B sales of products in which IRC is engaged in online B2C sales of products and operates the website www.bigbasket.com and related mobile applications.
- Currently, BigBasket has crossed $1 billion annual revenue run rate and it is the leader in the online grocery segment.
About Indian Grocery Market growth:
- Based on RedSeer Consulting, the market researcher India’s grocery market growth was around $600 billion in 2019 and will grow up to $850 billion by 2025.
- The online grocery(e-groceries) segment has seen a growth after COVID-19 and it might cover around 3 per cent of overall grocery spends in India by 2025.
About Tata Digital Ltd(TDL):
TDL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Private Ltd (Tata Sons)
Chief Executive Officer – Pratik Pal
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
About Supermarket Grocery Supplies Private Ltd (SGS):
Establishment – October 2011
Headquarters – Bangalore, Karnataka
Chief Executive Officer – Hari Menon
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
DRDO conducts successful Maiden Trial of Python-5 Air-to-Air Missile in Goa
- Python-5 Missile is an infra-red guided missile manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, Israel and has a range of 20 km.
- The test also validated the enhanced capability of Derby Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Medium Range AAM Missile, which has a range of 50 km.
- Both missiles were fired from Tejas aircraft of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA).
Key Points
- Python-5 is the 2nd Air-to-Air Missile of Israel origin to be integrated on Tejas fighter, the first one being Derby Medium-Range Air-to-Air missile.
- Derby is a radar-guide weapon and is manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, Israel.
About Rafael Advanced Defence Systems
CEO – Yoav Har-Even
Headquarters – Haifa, Israel
>>Read Full News
UK to get World’s Most Powerful Weather Climate Forecasting Supercomputer by 2022
The Met Office has signed an agreement with Microsoft for the provision of a leading supercomputing capability to enhance weather and climate forecasting.
This state of the art supercomputer will be developed at a cost of 1.2 billion pounds(~ ₹12,400 crore).
- This is a part of the UK Government’s commitment towards achieving Net Zero by 2050.
- The capabilities of this supercomputer are one of the world’s most environmentally sustainable, which is powered by 100% renewable energy, delivered through market-leading energy efficiency.
Met Office:
Chief Executive– Penny Endersby
Headquarters– Exeter, United Kingdom
Founded in– 1854
>>Read Full News
China Launches Core Module for Permanent Space Station & Robot Prototype for Space Cleaning 
- It was launched on a Long March 5B rocket from Wenchang Launch Center, Hainan, China.
- It is the 1st of 11 missions needed for constructing the New space station of China.
- The Module contains living quarters for crew members of ‘Tiangong’
- Along with the Tianhe Module, ‘NEO-01’, a robot prototype for cleaning space debris in Low Earth Orbit was also launched. The robot is designed by Origin Space, a Chinese Space Mining Company.
NEO-01
Thousands of satellites have been launched globally; as they outlive their use they end up as junk and pose risk to other operating satellites.
- NEO-01, a 30 kg robot aims to collect this debris; it will burn the debris with its electric propulsion system.
- Apart from cleaning Space debris, the robot will peer into deep space to observe small celestial bodies.
About China National Space Administration (CNSA):
Administrator – Zhang Kejian
Headquarters – Beijing, China
>>Read Full News
SPORTS
India Won 4 Medals in 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 1 in Guatemala
India won 4 medals(3 Gold,1 Bronze) in the 2021 Hyundai Archery World Cup Stage 1 held in Guatemala from 19th to 25th April, 2021.Atanu Das defeated Daniel Castro of Spain to win the men’s individual recurve gold medals & Deepika Kumari defeated Mackenzie Brown of the USA to win the Women individual recurve gold medals.
- Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and Komalika Bari won gold medal in the Women Recurve Team. Atanu Das with Ankita Bhakat won bronze medal in mixed team.
OBITUARY
Supreme Court Justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar passed away at 63
Mohan M Shantanagoudar, the sitting judge of the Supreme Court passed away at the age of 63 in Gurugram, Haryana. He was born on 5th May 1958 hails from Dharwad in North Karnataka. He has been serving as the Supreme Court Justice since 17th February 2017 and was set to retire on 4th May 2023.
- He started his career as an advocate in 1980.
- In 2003 he was appointed as an additional judge of Karnataka High Court and later in 2004 he was appointed as the permanent judge.
- He was appointed as the Chief Justice of Kerala High Court in 2016.
BOOKS & AUTHORS
New Book titled “Interpreting Politics: Situated Knowledge, India, and the Rudolph Legacy” by John Echeverri-Gent and Kamal Sadiq
The book was edited by John Echeverri-Gent and Kamal Sadiqand published by OUP India.
About the book:
i.The book discusses the works of Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph and provides an understanding of the rise of Narendra Modi and the transformation of Indian Politics.
ii.This also offers the analysis of trends in political mobilization in India.
iii.The book also features the contributions from an international group of leading scholars of Indian Politics.
About the Authors:
John Echeverri-Gent:
John Echeverri-Gent is an associate professor in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia.
Books:
- The State and the Poor: Public Policy and Political Development in India and the United States”
- Economic Reform in Three Giants: U.S. Foreign Policy and the USSR, China, and India.(co-edited)
Kamal Sadiq:
i.KamalSadiq is an associate professor of political science at the University of California, Irvine.
ii.He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal ‘Citizenship Studies’.
IMPORTANT DAYS
Play True Day 2021 – April 9
The Play True Day 2021 was observed by WADA on 9th April 2021.
The theme of Play True Day 2021 is “What does Play True mean to you?”.
Background:
- The idea of the Play True Day originated from the Education Conference in 2013 hosted by the WADA.
- The first Play True day was observed in 2014.
Play true Day 2021 Campaign:
WADA invited the National and Regional Anti-Doping Organisations Sports Federations, Governments, Major Event Organisers and other shareholders of anti-doping to the WADA social media campaign on 9th April 2021.
STATE NEWS
Punjab Cabinet approved the hike in Ashirwad Scheme aid from Rs.21000 to Rs.51000
- The decision was approved in the meeting chaired by chief minister CaptAmarinder Singh over a virtual platform.
Benefits of Hike:
- The increase in financial aid through Ashirwad Scheme will benefit more than 60000 women.
- The hike will cost an additional Rs180 crore to the state’s treasury.
About Ashirwad Scheme:
i.The Ashirwad Scheme, previously known as Shagun Scheme, provides financial assistance for the wedding of women from Scheduled Caste (SC), Christian, Backward Class women, daughters of widows of any caste and SC widows.
ii.The scheme is also applicable for Muslim girls of age 18 or above.
iii.The aid under the scheme is limited to only 2 girls from one family.
Eligibility:
The families with an annual income of not more than Rs 32790 from all sources are eligible to avail the benefits under the Ashirwad Scheme.
Previous hike:
In 2017 the cabinet approved the hike in Ashirwad Scheme from Rs 15000 to Rs 21000.
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Click Here View – AC Excluded News 2021
Current Affairs Today (AffairsCloud Today)
| S.no | Current Affairs 30 April 2021 |
|---|---|
| 1 | Cabinet approves Agreement between India, United Kingdom for Information sharing, Customs Cooperation |
| 2 | India, Russia to establish ‘2+2 Ministerial Dialogue’ between Foreign, Defence Ministers |
| 3 | Government of NCT of Delhi (Amendment) Act comes into Force |
| 4 | Project DANTAK completes 60 years in Bhutan |
| 5 | Norway Contributes 20 Million NOK to India for COVID 19 Relief Fund |
| 6 | UK Became the First Country to Adopt Self-Driving Cars on Motorways |
| 7 | MEA’s Secretary (East) Riva Ganguly Das co-chairs 23rd ASEAN-India Senior Officials Meeting |
| 8 | Axis Bank Approved the Reclassification of NIACL from Promoter to Public Investor. |
| 9 | Govt Fixed the GDF Interest rate unchanged at 7.1% for Q1FY22 |
| 10 | ICICI Bank Launched Digital Banking Service for Merchants – ‘Merchant Stack’ |
| 11 | Indian Bank Signed an MoU with BSNL to Provide Telecom Services |
| 12 | Wipro sets to Reach Net-zero GHG Emissions by 2040 |
| 13 | Jio Platforms, Byju’s in Time’s first list of 100 most influential firms |
| 14 | Expenditure Secretary TV Somanathan appointed as Finance secretary |
| 15 | Amitabh Chaudhry re-appointed as MD & CEO of Axis Bank |
| 16 | CCI Approved the 64.3% Stake Acquisition from BigBasket’s SGS by Tata Digital |
| 17 | DRDO conducts successful Maiden Trial of Python-5 Air-to-Air Missile in Goa |
| 18 | UK to get World’s Most Powerful Weather Climate Forecasting Supercomputer by 2022 |
| 19 | China Launches Core Module for Permanent Space Station & Robot Prototype for Space Cleaning |
| 20 | Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das wins gold in Archery World Cup |
| 21 | Supreme Court Justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar passed away at 63 |
| 22 | New Book titled “Interpreting Politics: Situated Knowledge, India, and the Rudolph Legacy” by John Echeverri-Gent and Kamal Sadiq |
| 23 | Play True Day 2021 – April 9 |
| 24 | Punjab Cabinet approved the hike in Ashirwad Scheme aid from 21000 to 51000 |
