Daily Current Affairs: March 21 & 22, 2021

Daily Current Affairs (March 21 & 22, 2021) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness, Static GK, and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness, and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

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Important Days

International Day of Forests – 21 March

• International Day of Forests is celebrated on 21 March. The day was founded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations in 2012. It is aimed at raising public awareness among diverse communities about the values, significance, and contributions of the forests to balance the life cycle.
• 2021 Theme: “Forest restoration: a path to recovery and well-being”.

World Poetry Day – 21 March

• The World Poetry Day is observed on 21 March every year to promote the reading, writing, publishing, and teaching of poetry throughout the world. The day was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) in 1999.

World Down Syndrome Day – 21 March

• World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) is a global awareness day that has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012. The day is to create awareness for the rights, inclusion, and wellbeing of people with down syndrome.
• Down Syndrome is a condition in which a child is born with an extra 21^st chromosome.
• 2021 Theme: “We CONNECT so that we can” 

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – 21 March

• The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March. The day aims to raise awareness about equality and marks as an initiative to end all forms of racism and racial discrimination and calls all sections of society to stand up against intolerant attitudes.
• 2021 Theme: “Youth standing up against racism”

World Puppetry Day – 21 March

• World Puppetry Day is observed annually on 21 March since 2003. The day is to promote the puppet arts. The idea of the day was proposed by the Iranian puppet theater artist Javad Zolfaghari in 2000 at the XVIII Congress of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette (UNIMA) in Magdeburg.

World Water Day – 22 March

• World Water Day is observed annually across the globe on 22 March to highlight the importance of water and raise awareness about the water crisis that the world faces.
• The day was first adopted by the UN General Assembly on 22 December 1992, after which 22 March was declared as World Water Day and is celebrated around the world since 1993.
• The main focus of the day is to “support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.”
• 2021 Theme: “Valuing Water”

National News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “Catch the Rain campaign” on World Water Day

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually launched the “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain campaign” on the World Water Day (March 22).
• Minister of Jal Shakti and the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh signed MoA (Memorandum of Agreement) to implement the Ken Betwa Link Project also take place.
• This movement will take place across India based on the theme of “Catch the rain, where it falls when it falls.”

Bihar became the first state to have its own ethanol policy for biofuel

• Bihar became the first state in India to implement an ethanol promotion policy that would allow investors to directly make ethanol from maize, molasses, broken rice, and rotten grains.
• The new policy would permit ethanol production in Bihar from all feedstocks permitted by the National Policy on Biofuels, 2018, and subsequently by the National Biofuel Coordination Committee.

Bihar

• Capital: Patna
• Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar
• Deputy Chief Minister: Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi
• Governor: Phagu Chauhan

Chhattisgarh was ranked first in the country in terms of providing employment under the MGNREGA

• Chhattisgarh was ranked first in the country in terms of providing employment under the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) in the current financial year 2020-21.
• The Chhattisgarh state government provided employment of 16.684 crore man-days under the MGNREGA against the set target of creating 15 crore man-days, as sanctioned by the Government of India. More than 107 per cent of the given target was achieved.

Chhattisgarh    

• Capital: Raipur
• Chief Minister: Bhupesh Baghel
• Governor: Anusuiya Uikey

Jharkhand launched SAAMAR campaign to fight malnutrition in the state

• The Jharkhand Government launched the SAAMAR (Strategic Action for Alleviation of Malnutrition and Anemia Reduction) campaign to tackle malnutrition in the state.
• The campaign aims to identify anemic women and malnourished children and converge various departments to effectively deal with the problem in the state where malnutrition has been a major problem.
• SAAMAR campaign was launched with a 1000-day target, under which annual surveys will be conducted to track the progress.

Jharkhand

• Capital: Ranchi
• Chief Minister: Hemant Soren
• Governor: Draupadi Murmu

International News

India, Pakistan and China participated in the SCO joint anti-terrorism exercise ‘Pabbi-Antiterror-2021’

India, Pakistan, China and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) held a joint anti-terrorism exercise named ‘Pabbi-Antiterror-2021’.

• The decision to hold the joint exercise “Pabbi-Antiterror-2021” was announced during the 36^th meeting of the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
• At the meeting, representatives of the SCO member states also approved the draft program of cooperation for 2022-24 to counter-terrorism, separatism, and extremism.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO):

• Headquarters: Beijing, China
• Secretary-General: Vladimir Norov
• Founded: 15 June 2001
• SCO Countries: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

Appointments

Arindam Bagchi succeeded Anurag Srivastava as the spokesperson of the Union Ministry of External Affairs

• Arindam Bagchi, an officer of the 1995 batch of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), had assumed charge as the new spokesperson of the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
• He is replacing Anurag Srivastava, an officer of the 1999 batch of IFS, who had taken over as the spokesperson in April 2020.

Ajinkya Rahane appointed as the brand ambassador for NeoGrowth

• NeoGrowth Credit Private limited, a leader in Indian SME lending, appointed the Indian Cricket Test team’s Vice-Captain, Ajinkya Rahane had joined the company as a brand ambassador for a year.
• Rahane will endorse the company’s service products. He will feature in the campaign “Keeping it simple” that will launch in the first week of April and will demonstrate the ease at which small companies can access loans through NeoGrowth.

Rankings

India ranked 56^th in the Global House Price Index: Knight Frank

• According to property consultancy Knight Frank’s Global House Price Index report, India had moved down 13 spots in the latest Global Home Price Index and finished last at 56^th rank in the quarter that ended December 2020.
• Turkey continued to lead the global ranking with prices up by 3 per cent year-on-year. This was followed by New Zealand at 18.6 per cent year-on-year and Slovakia at 16.0 per cent year-on-year.

Obituary

SEBI’s first Chairman GV Ramakrishna passed away at 91

• Former Chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) GV Ramakrishna passed away at the age of 91. He was appointed as the first Chairman of SEBI in 1990 and held to the post till 1994. He was also the first Chairman of the Disinvestment Commission in 1996.

Veteran CPI leader and former Kerala Deputy Speaker CA Kurian passed away at 88

• Veteran leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI), trade unionist, and former Deputy Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, CA Kurian, died at his residence in Munnar, Idukki.
• He occupied the chair of Deputy Speaker in the 10^th Legislative Assembly during the period from 1996 to 2001.

Acclaimed Egyptian feminist Nawal Saadawi passed away at 89

• Nawal Saadawi, a renowned Egyptian feminist, psychiatrist, and novelist, whose writings have stirred controversy for decades in an overwhelmingly conservative society, died in Cairo. Time Magazine named her on their 100 Women of the Year in 2020.

Veteran writer and activist Malali Vasanthkumar passed away at 76

• Veteran writer and activist Malali Vasanthkumar passed away in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He was the former president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat and a retired Kannada Professor of the University of Mysore (UoM).
• Sahitya Mali Vasant Kumar had authored more than 40 works and his literary works had received the Rajyotsava Award of 1990, the Hoysala Award, the Chishmanava Award, the National Sadbhavana Award, and the Sahitya Ratnam Awards.

Sports News

India Legends beat Sri Lanka Legends in the Road Safety World Series T-20

• India Legends defeated Sri Lanka Legends by 14 runs in the final of the Road Safety World Series to clinch the title at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
• Yusuf Pathan, who smashed an unbeaten 62 and picked up two wickets in his four-over spell, was adjudged the player of the match for his all-round performance in the summit clash.

Yashaswini Deswal won the 1st gold medal for India in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol final

• Yashaswini Deswal bagged the first gold medal for India in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol final of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup at the Karni Singh Shooting range, New Delhi.
• Deswal accumulated 8 points to lead in her category. Another Indian shooter Manu Bhaker won a silver medal with 236.7 points.
• World number one shooter Divyansh Singh Panwar clinched the bronze medal in 10m Air Rifle (men’s category).

Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia claimed the maiden All England Open badminton title

• Malaysian shuttler Lee Zii Jia defeated defending champion Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) to win the men’s singles crown at the All England Open held at the Utilita Arena Birmingham.
• World number four Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) beat Pornpawee Chochuwong (Thailand) in the women’s title for a second time.
• Men’s double title was won by Hiroyuki Endo (Japan) and Yuta Watanabe (Japan).
• The women’s doubles title was won by Mayu Matsumoto (Japan) and Wakana Nagahara (Japan).
• The mixed doubles title was won by Yuta Watanabe (Japan) and Arisa Higashino (Japan).

Can you score 20/20 in Today’s Current Affairs Quiz? Attempt the Current Affairs Quiz of  March 21 & 22, 2021, now from the link given below. 

Daily Current Affairs Quiz – March 21 & 22, 2021