Daily Current Affairs: March 31, 2021

Daily Current Affairs (March 31, 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 Drug Checking – 31 March

• The International Drug Checking Day is observed globally on 31 March since 2017. The day is an initiative by a diverse group of organisations that all play an active part in the delivery of harm reduction initiatives. The day aims to promote harm reduction initiatives of drugs and reduce drug-related risks.

World Backup Day – 31 March

• World Backup day is observed on 31 March every year. The day aims to remind us to protect our precious digital documents as we have become more reliant on technology. It is a day for people to learn about the increasing role of data in our lives and the importance of regular backups.

International Transgender Day of Visibility – 31 March

• International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) is an annual event occurring on 31 March dedicated to celebrating transgender people and raising awareness of discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, as well as a celebration of their contributions to society.
• The day was founded by US-based transgender activist Rachel Crandall of Michigan in 2009.

National News

AYUSH Ministry collaborated with Vinoba Seva Pratishthan organised ‘Ayurveda Parav’ to Promote Ayurveda

• Vinoba Seva Pratisthan (VSP) collaborated with the Ministry of AYUSH, has successfully organised a 3-day Ayurveda Parav in Bhubaneswar.
• This unique initiative aims to not only ensure greater acceptance of Ayurveda among the masses but also to popularise Ayurveda as the main line of treatment for the current lifestyle diseases. The Ministry of AYUSH provided full-fledged support to this programme.

Prahlad Singh Patel and Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated the ‘Maharaja Chhatrasal Convention Centre at Khajuraho

• Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture (Independent Charge), and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh inaugurated the Maharaja Chhatrasal Convention Centre at Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh.
• The Chatrapal convention center has been developed under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of the Union Ministry of Tourism and will help in establishing Khajuraho (UNESCO World Heritage site) as an iconic destination.

Exercise ‘Vajra Prahar’ conducted in Himachal Pradesh

• “The 11^th edition of Indo-US joint special forces exercise Vajra Prahar 2021 was conducted at Special Forces training school located at Bakloh, in Himachal Pradesh. It was the 11th edition of the exercise ‘Vajra Prahar’ which is aimed at sharing best practices and experiences in areas such as joint mission planning and operational tactics.

CBIC extended penalty waiver on dynamic QR Code implementation till 30 June 2021

• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had extended a waiver of penalty on non-implementation of dynamic quick response code which is mandatory for companies over Rs 500 crore turnovers till 30 June 2021.
• QR code for B2C transactions is meant to encourage digital payments by the buyers but can potentially be used to check tax leakages as well. It would have an impact on all consumer-facing businesses including retail, restaurants, hotels, and so on.

Union Education Minister inaugurated a center for happiness in Indian Institute of Management, Jammu

• Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal virtually inaugurated “Anandam: The Center for Happiness” at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Jammu.
• The centre will help people overcome mental stress and help spread positivity and it will encourage and propagate holistic development for all the stakeholders at IIM Jammu.

International News

New Zealand became the second country after India to legalize paid leave for miscarriages

• New Zealand’s parliament has passed legislation giving mothers and their partners the right to paid leave following a miscarriage or stillbirth, becoming only the second country in the world.
• Employees will get three days to leave when a pregnancy ends with a stillbirth. India is the only other country in the world with similar legislation that provides leave for miscarriage and stillbirth.

Banking and Economy

Karnataka Bank operationalised its non-financial subsidiary

• Karnataka Bank operationalised its wholly-owned non-financial subsidiary KBL Services Ltd. With its registered and head office in Bengaluru, this subsidiary is established as conceptualised under the transformation journey of the bank ‘KBL Vikaas’ in achieving the bank’s strategic objectives in the long run.

World Bank revised India’s GDP growth forecast from 5.4% to 10.1% for the financial year 2021-22

• The World Bank had recently increased its projections for India’s economic growth by 4.7 percentage points to 10.1 per cent for Financial Year 2021-22, citing a strong rebound in private consumption and investment growth.

UNESCAP projected India’s GDP growth at 7% in FY22

• The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) expected the Indian economy to grow 7% in FY22 despite the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine and against a contraction of 7.7% in the preceding year.
• The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

Acquisitions and Mergers

RBL Bank partnered with Tide to serve the banking needs of Indian SMEs

• Private sector lender, RBL Bank has joined hands with UK-based fintech Tide to provide banking infrastructure for Tide’s India platform focused on the small and medium (SME) segment. This collaboration will enable Tide to bring its platform to the Indian markets with a full-fledged launch.

SBI signed a loan agreement of $1 billion with Japan Bank for International Cooperation

• India’s biggest lender SBI had signed a loan agreement of $1 billion with Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) taking the total facility to $2 billion, including $1 billion which was signed last year in October 2020. The loan is in the form of refinancing against the funding support provided to the manufacturers, suppliers, and dealers of Japanese automobiles in India.
• JBIC is a policy-based financial institution, wholly owned by the Japanese government, with the objective of contributing to the sound development of Japan, the international economy, and society. 

Maruti signed MoU with Karnataka Bank to offer an affordable finance scheme

• Maruti Suzuki India Limited signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Karnataka Bank to offer better finance schemes to customers, especially in the southern states.
• Under this collaboration, customers can avail of loans up to 85% of the on-road price of all new cars from Maruti Suzuki’s Arena and Nexa The car loans will bear an interest rate linked to the external benchmark lending rate and customers can opt for a tenure of up to 84 months.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank partnered with nStore to digitise offline retailers

• Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB) partnered with nStore to digitise offline retailers and small businesses. Ujjivan SFB will offer a mobile app ‘nLincs’ to its existing current account customers who are local businesses that will allow them to sell their merchandise online.
• The local business or retailer (merchant) can register online, host their product catalogue on the app and be operational online in less than 60 minutes. The app allows access to both customers and merchants to buy products, with multiple digital payment options.

Science and Technology

Women-led startup Astrome developed low-cost internet services called “Giga Mesh”

• Astrome, a women-led startup, has developed an innovative wireless product that gives fiber-like bandwidth at a fraction of fiber cost to help telecom operators deliver reliable, low-cost Internet services to suburban and rural areas.
• The wireless product Giga Mesh could enable telecom operators to deploy quality, high-speed rural telecom infrastructure at five times lower cost.
• The deep tech startup incubated at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and supported by the DST-ABI Woman Startup Program of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Appointments

Anshuman Singhania and Mohan Kumar appointed as new ATMA office bearers

• Anshuman Singhania, Managing Director JK Tyre & Industries and Mohan Kumar, Executive Director, Michelin India had been unanimously elected as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA), the national industry body for the automotive tyre sector in India.
• ATMA was set up in ATMA is amongst the most active national industry bodies in the country representing Rs. 60,000 crore automotive tyre industries.

Ranking

India ranked 140 among 156 countries in the WEF Global Gender Gap index

• India (62.5 percent) has slipped 28 places to rank 140^th among 156 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, becoming the third-worst performer in South Asia.
• Among India’s neighbors, Bangladesh (65), Nepal (106), Pakistan (153), Afghanistan (156), Bhutan (130), and Sri Lanka (116).
• For the 12^th time, Iceland is the most gender-equal country in the world. The top 10 most gender-equal countries include Finland, Norway, New Zealand, Rwanda, Sweden, Ireland, and Switzerland.

Sports News

Thisara Perera became the first Sri Lankan to hit six 6s in an over

• All-rounder Thisara Perera became the first Sri Lankan to hit six sixes in an over in any form of professional cricket during a domestic tournament.
• The 31-year-old achieved the feat during his unbeaten 13-ball 52 while captaining Sri Lanka Army in a group match against Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club in the Major Clubs Limited Over List A tournament at the Army Ground in Panagoda town, Sri Lanka.

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Daily Current Affairs Quiz – March 31, 2021