Weekly Current Affairs 23rd April- 30th April 2021

FINANCE AND BANKING

• RBI cancels licence of Bhagyodaya Friends Urban Co-operative Bank
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on April 22 said it has cancelled the licence of Maharashtra-based Bhagyodaya Friends Urban Co-operative Bank Limited due to inadequate capital.

• RBI Caps Tenure of Private Banks MD & CEO at 15 Years
  • Reserve Bank of India has capped the tenure of managing director and chief executive (MD & CEO) of commercial banks for the same incumbent to 15 years. The same limit is applicable to whole time directors (WTD).

• RBI allows commercial banks to pay up to 50% of pre-COVID dividends
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently relaxed the dividend payout norms of commercial banks and allowed them to pay up to 50 per cent of what they paid before COVID from the profits for the fiscal ended March 31, 2021.

ECONOMY

• Insurers get nod to invest in debt instruments of InvITs, Reits
  • The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) allowing insurers recently to invest in debt securities issued by infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) and real estate investment trusts (REITs) is expected to improve the overall yield of the portfolios held by the firms, while providing more long-term funding to the realty sector.

• S&P forecasts 11% growth for India this fiscal, flags ‘substantial’ impact of broader lockdowns
  • S&P Global Ratings recently raised India's growth forecast for financial year 2021-22 to 11% from 10% earlier, led by an expansionary fiscal policy aimed at boosting domestic private spending.

• Ind-Ra Projects India’s GDP Growth Rate at 10.1% in FY22
  • India Ratings and Research on recently revised down India’s FY22 real GDP growth forecast to 10.1 per cent, from earlier projection of 10.4 per cent, citing the second wave of COVID-19 infections and slower pace of vaccination.

NATIONAL

• Justice N V Ramana sworn in as 48th Chief Justice of India
  • Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana was sworn in as the 48th Chief Justice of India.
  • He will hold the post for sixteen months, until August 26, 2022.
  • He succeeds Justice S.A. Bobde, who demitted office.

• Distribution of e-property cards under SWAMITVA scheme launched
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the distribution of e-property cards under the SWAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) Scheme through video conferencing.

• SIPRI Annual Report of biggest military spenders in 2020
  • According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) annual report, the five biggest military spenders in 2020, which together accounted for 62% of global military expenditure, were the United States, China, India, Russia and the United Kingdom.

INTERNATIONAL

• Saudi Arabia to join ‘Net Zero Producers Forum’ on climate change
  • Saudi Arabia will join the United States, Canada, Norway, and Qatar in forming ‘Net Zero Producers Forum’ for oil and gas producers to discuss how they can support the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

• UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham leads global vaccination drive
  • Former Manchester United legend and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham is fronting a global initiative to inspire confidence in vaccines and encourage parents around the world to vaccinate their children against deadly diseases.

• The Gambia Becomes Second African State to Eliminate Trachoma
  • The Gambia has eliminated trachoma, one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide, after almost four decades of work to counter the disease.

STATES

• J&K Govt Constitutes Task Force to Scrutinize ‘Anti-National’ Activities of Its Employees
  • The Jammu and Kashmir government decided to set up a special task force to identify and scrutinize employees who pose a threat to the country’s security or are involved in anti-national activities.

• UP To Invoke National Security Act against Those Black Marketing Remdesivir
  • Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed officials to conduct raids on those involved in black-marketing of medicines like Remdesivir and book offenders under the National Security Act (NSA).

REPORTS AND INDEXES

• Energy Transition Index 2021
  • The World Economic Forum has released Energy Transition Index Report 2021.
  • India has been ranked at the 87th position. India was ranked 74th in 2020 index.

• Chandler Good Government Index 2021
  • The Chandler institute of Governance, headquartered in Singapore, releases the Chandler Good Government Index (CGGI).
  • India has been ranked 49th in the Chandler Good Government Index list. India’s index score stood at 0.516.

• BofA Securities Report
  • Bank of America (BofA) Securities expects India to be the third-largest economy in the world by 2031.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• NASA's Mars rover extracts first oxygen from Red Planet
  • In a first, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has converted some of the Mars’ thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere into oxygen. The task was accomplished by Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilisation Experiment (MOXIE).

• OneWeb launches another 36 LEO satellites from Russian Cosmodrome
  • OneWeb, a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications operator, co-owned by Bharti Global and the UK government, launched another batch of 36 satellites by Arianespace from the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia.

• CSIR-CMERI indigenously developed Oxygen enrichment technology
  • CSIR-CMERI, Durgapur, in association with MSME-DI, Raipur, Chhattisgarh jointly organised a Webinar on ‘Oxygen Enrichment' Technology.

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

• CIBA releases first indigenous vaccine for fish
  • The Chennai-based Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) has developed the country's first vaccine for deadly viral nervous necrosis (VNN) disease, which is currently affecting several species of fish.
  • The name of the indigenous vaccine is Nodavac-R.

DEFENCE

• India-French naval drill Varuna-2021 begins
  • The 19th edition of the Indian and French Navy bilateral exercise ‘Varuna-2021’ in the Arabian Sea which will last for three days.

• DRDO conducts maiden trial of Python-5 air to air missile
  • India's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas, has added the 5th generation Python-5 Air-to-Air Missile (AAM) in its air-to-air weapons capability.

• NATO Military Exercise “DEFENDER-Europe 21” Launched in Albania
  • The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has launched joint military exercises “DEFENDER-Europe 21” in Albania with thousands of military forces from the United States and other countries.

EVENTS

• Leaders’ Summit on Climate
  • US President Biden hosted a virtual Leaders’ Summit on Climate to catalyze global ambition to address the climate crisis.

• NavlC - Opportunities for Telecom Industry
  • The National Telecommunications Institute for Policy Research, Innovation, and Training (NTIPRIT), under the Department of Telecommunications, conducted a webinar, themed “NavlC — Opportunities for the Telecom Industry”.

• G-7 Digital and Technology Ministerial Meeting
  • The G7 Digital and Technology Ministers met under the chairmanship of the Government of the United Kingdom, to discuss the digital and technology agenda.
  • The theme was ‘building back better’.

AWARDS AND REWARDS

• Nelson Mandela World Humanitarian Award 2021
  • Software-engineer turned social entrepreneur, Rumana Sinha Sehgal has been awarded the prestigious ‘Nelson Mandela World Humanitarian Award 2021’ by the Diplomatic Mission Global Peace.

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

• 93rd Academy Awards (Oscars)
  • The 93rd Academy Awards, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2020 and early 2021.
  • It took place in Los Angeles at both Union Station and the Dolby Theatre.

SPORTS

• 2021 AIBA Youth Men's and Women's World Boxing Championships
  • Indian Boxer Sachin Siwach defeated Kazakhstan’s Yerbolat Sabyr to clinch a gold in the 2021 AIBA Youth Men's and Women's World Boxing Championships in Kielce, Poland.
  India finished their campaign with 11 medals consisting of 8 golds & 3 bronze medals and clinched the top position in the overall leaderboard.

• Rafael Nadal Wins 10th Barcelona Open Title
  • Spain’s Rafael Nadal won his 10th Barcelona Open title defeating Austria's Dominic Thiem.
  • Nadal won in Barcelona from 2005-2009, 2011-13 and now in the last two years.

• Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja becomes ASICS brand ambassador
  • Japanese sportswear brand, ASICS has appointed Ravindra Jadeja, the all-rounder of the Indian cricket team and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), as its brand ambassador.