CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR UPSC/SSC/BANKING/ALL COMPETETIVE EXAM (FROM 24-30April)

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

POLITICAL NEWS

• P.M of India has announced US – India partnership on clean energy and climate change.
• P.M Modi Launched the distribution of e–Property cards under the SWAMITVA scheme on 24th April.
• Chhattisgarh govt will deduct One day Salary of all officers and employee for donating to CM Relief fund.
• Amit shah inaugurated oxygen plant at Kolavada Village in Gandhinagar.
• Emergency financial powere’s has been given to by Armed forces Medical Service (AFMS) to Fight Corona.
• Australia will send oxygen, ventilators and PPE Kit to India.
• Union Home Secretary of India – Ajay Bhalla.
• PM Cares fund has given approval for allocation of funds for installation of 551 PSA oxygen generation plants in govt, hospitals.
• Director General of ” National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) – Poonam Gupta.
• 19th edition of the Indian and French Navy bilateral exercise VARUNA -2021 is scheduled to be conducted in Arabian sea from 25th April.
• The Government of National Capital territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021 has come into force, on 27th April.
• Secretary of External Affairs Riva Ganguly Das Co-chaired 23rd ASEAN – India Senior Officials ‘ Meeting with Thani Thongphakdi of Thailand on 28th April.
• Bhutan will supply Liquid oxygen to India from new plant set up at Montana Industrial Estate run by Cryogenics Gases Pvt. Ltd.
• Mishra Dhatu Nigam (MIDHANI) has bagged the Telangana State Intellectual Property, Award for Best IP portfolio under Psu Category.
• India, Japan and Australia have launched the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) virtually to counter China’s dominance in Indo – Pacific region.
• India has been ranked 49th in Chandler Good Government Index (CGGI) out of 104.
• Arun Raste has become the new MD and CEO of National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd. (NCDEX).
• Corona Warriors scheme has been launched by Madhya Pradesh government.
• Under the scheme of Financial Assistance to states for Capital Expenditure, an additional amount of up to Rs 15,000 crore can be given to state as interest free loan for 50 years.
• Kerala govt. has decided to set up dedicated oxygen War rooms at district and state levels.

BANKING SECTOR NEWS

• RBI has restricted American Express and Diners Club International Ltd. From adding new customers from 1st May.
• RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 40 Lakh on Himachal Pradesh state Co – operative Bank, Shimla.
• Govt. has decided to keep the General Provident Fund (GPF) and other non governmental funds, Gratuity funds ‘interest rate” unchanged at 7.1%.
• Asian Development Bank (ADB) has upgraded its India Growth Projection for FY 22 to 11% from 8%.
• Director of the Central Board of RBI- Ajay Seth.
• Karnal District administration in Haryana has started ” Oxygen on wheels ” initiative.
• T. V. Somanathan has been designated as the new Finance Secretary.

INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS NEWS

• Wipro has announced to reach net – zero green house gas (GHG) emissions by 2040.
• Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) has partnered with Northern Railways to provide passengers and railway staff with Sanitizers and mask.
• Chitra Thomas has been choosen as HR head for Tesla, India.
• Zydus Cadila has received approval for use of Virafin against covid – 19 infections.
• The CEO of Stelis Biopharma Pvt.Ltd. Roger lias has stepped down from Indian Pharmaceutical firm.
• Revolut India has announced Paroma Chatterjee as CEO.
• IFFCO has given order for 2nd oxygen place in Aonla, Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.
• Nippon steel India is setting up a temporary medical facility in Gujurat to tackle Covid-19.
• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has allowed insurers to invest in debt securities issued by infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) and Real estate investment trusts (Reits).
• Vistara has offered to fly government doctors and nurses for free across its domestic network.
• Tamil Nadu govt. has allowed Vedanta’s sealed Sterlite Industries in Tuticorin to Operate and produce medical oxygen for 4 months.
• Natco Pharma Ltd. has applied to Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for approving Phase – IIl clinical trial of Molnupiravir Capsules against covid – 19.
• CEO of serum Institute of India – Adar Poonawalla.
• Saudi Arabia will ship 80 MT of liquid oxygen to India in cooperation with Adani group and Linde company.
• Amazon has partnered with ACT Grants,Temasek Foundation, Pune platform for Covid Response and others to air lift over 8K oxygen concentrator from Singapore to India.
• Biological E Limited has reeceived approval from Central Drugs Standard Control Organization’s (CDSCO) subject expert committee (SEC) to start Phase – Ill clinical trial.
• Smart Phone brand Tecno ” has added Ayushman Khurrana as its brand ambassador.
• Mahindra & Mahindra has roped in Dr. Uli Stuhec, as the vice – president and Head of Global born Electric platform.
• CEO and MD of stellantis India – Roland Bouchara.
• JSPL (Jindal Power and steel) board has approved for diverting its entire equity interest in Jindal Power to the Worldone for 3015 crore rupee.
• IBM Security has collaborated with HCL Technologies Ltd.
• About 3,130 MT of liquid Medical oxygen was supplied by steel plants to various states on 26th April.
• Head of Real estate strategy for IIFL Asset Management Co. – Amar Merani.
• Hospitality firm Oyo has launched Oyo care feature on its mobile app to support health care system in the country. This will also avail users to book quarantine and isolation facilities.
• Lenskart has acquired delivery startup company Daily Joy.
• Air India will airlift 10,636 oxygen concentrators manufactured by Philips from Various countries.
• Wiley NXT, Wiley’s innovative Learning solution collaborated with IIT, Roorkee.
• Amit Banerjee has been selected as MD and chairman of BEML(Bharat Earth Movers Limited).
• Aartech Solonics Limited has bagged a prestigious supply order from Indian Army to supply Kranking, Ultra capacitor – based systems for ‘A’ Vehicles.
• Ambuja cement has introduced Soya extract based biofuel in two of its carriers – Ambuja Mukund and Ambuja Vaibhav. It has become 1st Indian company to move towards decarbonization of country’s coastal shipping line.
• Bengaluru based dating app Truly Madly has Launched a plasma matchmaking feature on its Corona clusters Platform.
• Jio and Byju’s have figured in the Time Magazines first ever list of 100 most influential companies.
• Truecaller has launched a Covid Hospital Directory for its users in India.
• IRDAI (The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) has directed insurers to approve covid related cashless claims with in 60 minutes.

SPORTS NEWS

• Virat Kohli became the 1st Cricketer to reach 6000 IPL Runs.
• Arjun Kalyan has become India’s 68th Chess grand master.
• Indian sports industry has declined by 34 % în 2020.
• Indian women team has won gold medal in Archery world cup, Guatemala. The team was consists of Deepika kumari, Ankita Bhakat, and Komalika Bari.

EDUCATION NEWS

• Indian Army has initiated the project “Ladakh ignited Minds: A centre of Excellence and wellness.” to provide better educational opportunities to students in Ladakh.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS

• India has been declared as a “Country of Particular Concern” by United states Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
• ISRO will support joint Research projects under its RESPOND programme.
• Rank of India is 87th among 115 in the Energy Transition Index (ETI).
• 1st ” Oxygen Express” of Indian Railways departed from Visakhapatnam to Maharashtra on 22nd April.
• Natimal Panchayati Raj Day: 24th April.
• Justice N.V. Ramana took oath as 48th chief Justice of India on 24th April.
• 23 mobile oxygen generating plants are to be airlifted to India from Germany which can produce 40 lit. Of oxygen per minute and 2400 lit per hour.
• India’s processed food products Export have witnessed a growth of 26 % from last financial year.
• 2nd Phase of “ Kill Corona Campaign ‘ is being Conducted in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh from 24 April to May 9th.
• Google will provide Rs 135 crore to India for medical supplies and to tackle Covid – 19.
• In Jammu & Kashmir, 5 gram Panchayat have won the National Panchayat Awards 2021
• Under the mission of ” Oxygen Express “, naval ships were sent to support the Lakshadweep Operations.
• Kanthraj N ,a water colour artist, auctioned ” My life’s Work “, a 1st physically Linked Non-fungible Tokens (NFT) where 12 of his award Winning paintings were assembled.
• UP govt has set up an ” oxygen monitoring system in Lucknow .
• Under ” mission Vayu ” the Pune Plattorm for Covid Response (PPCR) will donate 250 Ventilators and 4000 oxygen concentreatoars across all India from Singapore.
• India will receive 1st batch of Sputnik-V Vaccine on May 1st from Russia.
• CSIR- СMERI, Durgapur, in association with MSME – DI, Raipur jointly organized a webinar on “Oxygen Enrichment” Technology on 25th April.
• DRDO has developed single – crystal blades technology and supplied 60 of these blades to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
• Indian Media Services Company Prime Focus Ltd has won the Academy Award for Best Visual effects for the Movie Tenet.
• Agriculture Infrastructure Fund has crossed the 8000 Crore mark.
• India’s Organic food products export has risen by 50 % in terms of value in 2020-21.
• Noted Odia and English Writer Padma Shri (2001) and Padma Bhusan (2020) Manoj Das passed away on 28th April.
• Government has procured over 232 lakh tonnes of wheat in the Rabi marketing season.
• Nirmala sitharanan inaugurated 1st 3D printed house of India at lIT, Madras.
• India was the 3rd largest military spender in the world in 2020, behind US and China.
• Covaxin has been found to neutralize double mutant or 617 Variant of Corona Virus.
• Ladakh Tourist Trade Alliance has decided to discourage investments by outsiders in any from in the tourism sector.
• Tejas; India’s indegenous light combat Air craft, added the 5th generation Python – 5 Air to Air Missile (AAM) in its air – to – air weapons capability on April 27, 2021.
• WHO will provide 4,000 oxygen concentrators to India.
• Solar Dryer and Pyrolysis pilot plant at Chennai will help to transform urban Organic waste into biochar and energy.
• ” The Living Mountain: A Fable for Times”- written by Amitav Ghosh.
• Punjab has crossed 100 Lakh MT mark in wheat procurement.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

POLITICAL NEWS

• Bangladesh govt. has signed an agreement with World Bank for financing USD 250 million to tackle COVID – 19 pandemic.
• Myanmar Army chief attended ASEAN leaders meeting on 24 April.
• US Senate has passed bill to help combat the rise of hate crimes against Asian American and Pacific Islanders,.
• US will boost public climate finance to help poor countries in reducing Green house gas emmission.
• Turkey Banned the crypto currency from its country.
• The meetingof ASEAN leaders was held in Asia. It consists of 10 country of South East Asia.
• China has donated 1.5 Lakh doses of its Sinopharm COVID – 19 vaccine to syria.
• Poland has decided to send COVID-19 vaccine to its embassy in India.
• Bangladesh government has approved the use of Sputnik V against covid – 19.
• China has announced a new anti – espionage regulation and has renewed focus on national security.
• Australia will spend 550 million USD to upgrade its 4 northern military bases.

INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS NEWS

• “We Work” has decided to receive Crypto Payments.
• Chris Poole, the founder of controversial online forum 4 chan, has lett Google.
• American Private Equity (PE) firm Warburg Pincus’ affiliate Green Fin Investments BV has acquired a majority stake in Parksons packaging Ltd.
• Gilead Sciences Inc. will give India 4,50,000 vials of its COVID – 19 drug remdesivir.
• Gemini, the crypto currency exchange company has partnered with Master Card.
• One Web has launched 36 satellites by Arianespace from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
• Toyota will buy, Lyft’s self – driving technology for $ 550 million.
• Russian company Bio Palette has launched the mass production of “Multi SCREEN”. It can screen simultaneously diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B and C and Syphilis.
• IBM will acquire Turbonomic, a software provider company.
• Samsung overtook Apple to become the biggest smart phone maker in world.
• SoFi has introduced a credit card feature that allows customers to redeem their rewards in bitcoins.

SPORTS NEWS

• Argentina, Brazil, Uganda and Vanuatu have been announced as Global winners of ICC development awards for 2020.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS

• World Immunization week will be observed from 24 to 30 April.
• Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched Gender bonds.
• NASA and SPACE – X launched a new four- astronaut team on a flight to International space station on 23rd April.
• Closest Black hole to earth has been discovered and named as “ The Unicorn “ which is 3 times the mass of as sun and 1500 light years away from earth.
• Chloe Zhao became the 2nd women to win Oscar as best Director 2021 in Los Angeles. # Best visual Effects – Tenet # Best Supporting actor- Daniel Kaluuya
• Saudi Arabia, has decided to be part of the new ” Net Zero Preoduceres forum ” to achieve net – zero Carbon emission targets.
• Under the Mission ” Asthors ” NASA will use balloons to study the Cosmos.
• Natanz nuclear power plant is situated at Iran.
• Youngest Microsoft Certified preotessional Arish Fatima. (4 years) (Karachi).
• Russian Space agency. (Ros cosmos) will launch its spacecraft ” Lona 25 ” on 1st October 2021 towards the icy south pole of moon.
• World Malaria Day 25th April.
• Project “DANTAK ” commemorated it’s Diamond Jubilee in Bhutan(60 years).
• 26th April is called as International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day. It was occured on 26 th April 1986, at Chernobyl, Ukraine.
• World intellectual Property Day 26th April.
• Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has banned all forms of face covering (burkha) in public places.
• The name of the 1st Mars Rovers of China is Zhurong. (Mythical God of fire and war).
• World Day for safety and Health at work and Worker’s Memorial Day – 28th April.
• Michael Collins, a member of the Apollo 11 mission, passed away on 28th April.
• UK has become the 1st Country to announce regulation of the use of self, driving vehicles at slow speeds on motorways. UK is using Automated Lane keeping Systems (ALKS).
• Microsoft and UK’s Met office have teamed to build world’s most powerful Super computer to force cast weather and climate change.
• 1st batch of covid – 19 vaccines for animal has been developed by Russia, Known as Carnivac – cov.