Daily Current Affairs: March 4, 2021

Daily Current Affairs (March 4, 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.

Also, Don’t forget to attend the Daily Current Affairs Quiz – March 4, 2021, now @ our Bankersdaily Tests.

SUBSCRIBE to Race Youtube Channel for CA QUIZ LIVE Sessions

Check: Previous – Daily Current Affairs – Banking Exam

Important days

National Safety Day- 4 March

• National Safety Day is observed on 4 March every year to commemorate the foundation of the National Safety Council since 1972. The day aims to raise awareness about safety measures that need to be undertaken to prevent accidents and mishaps.
• 2021 Theme: “Sadak Suraksha (Road Safety)”.

National News

Bihar Government allows DBT for disbursement of funds for students of government schemes

• Bihar Government has approved a proposal to allow Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for disbursement of funds for the students of all government schemes to purchase uniforms and bicycle for the current financial year without the rider of minimum of 75 percent
• This decision was taken at the State Cabinet meeting which was chaired by the Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar.

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT):

• Direct Benefit Transfer is a government delivery system that involves transferring subsidies and other welfare benefits directly to the beneficiaries’ bank account.

Bihar

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

India commemorates Chabahar Day on 4 March

• India commemorates Chabahar Day on the Maritime India Summit-2021. The event will be held virtually. Ministers from Afghanistan, Armenia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan participated in the event.
• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will address the Ministerial Level opening session. Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Mansukh Mandaviya delivered the keynote address.

Karnataka launched India’s First ‘Integrated Machine Tool Park’ in Tumkur

• Karnataka government launched the country first integrated machine tool park for the investor in the state. The Tumakuru Machine Tool Park has developed at a cost of Rs 508 crore, of which Rs 125 crore each is the equity contribution of Karnataka and Central governments.
• The park is spread over 530 acres at Vasanthnarasapura, about 90 km from Bengaluru, is developed under the scheme of Enhancement of Competitiveness in Indian Capital Goods Sector, jointly by the state government and the Department of Heavy Industries.

Karnataka        

• Capital: Bengaluru
• Chief Minister: B. S. Yeddyurappa
• Governor: VajubhaiVala
• National Park: Anshi National Park, Kudremukh National Park, Bandipur National Park, Bannerghatta National Park, Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarahole) National Park.

Indian Railways to be fully electrified in 2023

• The entire rail network in the country will be fully electrified by 2023 while all rail networks will run on renewable energy by 2030.
• The government is working on multi-modal logistical solutions to bring down the cost of transportation and increase supply chain efficiency.

Ministry of Railways: Piyush Goyal

• Constituency: Maharashtra (Rajya Sabha)

Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat launched ‘Gharoki Pechan, Chelik Naam’ scheme

• Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat launched “Gharoki Paachan, Chelik Naam” (daughter’s name is a home’s identity) program and development schemes worth Rs 42 crore in Nainital.
• This scheme is in line with the effort of the state government towards promoting women’s empowerment. Around 32,000 women groups of the state are being linked with self-employment to make them self-reliant.

Uttarakhand

• Capital: Gairsain (summer capital), Dehradun (winter capital).
• Chief Minister: Trivendra Singh Rawat
• Governor: Baby Rani Maurya.
• National Parks- Corbett National Park, Gangotri National Park, Govind PashuVihar National Park, Nanda Devi National Park, Rajaji National Park, Valley of Flowers National Park.

International News

UNGA adopts India-sponsored resolution declaring 2023 as International Year of Millets

• United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted by consensus a resolution sponsored by India and supported by over 70 nations declaring 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’, aimed at raising awareness about the benefits of the grain and their suitability for cultivation under changing climatic conditions.
• Millets are cereal crops and small seed grasses, which are widely used in African and Asian countries.

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)

• Headquarters: New York, United States.
• President: Volkan Bozkır
• Founded: 1945

Exim Bank inked $10.40 million soft loan pact with Eswatini

• Exim Bank (Export and Import Bank of India) has extended a Line of Credit (LoC) of $10.40 million to the government of the Kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland) for the construction of a disaster recovery site.
• Indian government’s soft loan to Eswatini covers projects in sectors including information technology, disaster management, and agriculture.

Exim Bank (Export and Import Bank of India):

• Managing Director: David Rasquinha
• Headquarter: Mumbai

Kingdom of Eswatini:

• Capital: Mbabane (executive), Lobamba (legislative)
• Currency: Lilangeni (SZL)

Banking and Economy

Axis Bank partnered with WhatsApp to offer basic banking services

• India’s third-largest private sector lender Axis Bank will be available on popular social messaging app WhatsApp and will allow basic banking services, including account balance, and transaction history.
• The bank will allow customers to seek information regarding their account balance, recent transactions, credit card payments, fixed and recurring deposit details, besides getting their queries answered in real-time. It will be available 24X7, including holidays.

Axis Bank

• Headquarters: Mumbai
• MD & CEO: Amitabh Chaudhry.
• Tagline: “Badhti Ka Naam Zindagi”.

Acquisitions and Mergers

Agritech firm Arya partners with Canara Bank to extend warehouse finance to farmers

• Post-harvest agritech firm Arya has entered into a strategic partnership with Canara Bank for collateral management and warehousing services.
• The objective is to support and extend finance to farmers, farmer producer organisations (FPOs), processors, and various depositors stocking their produce in warehouses managed by Arya.
• An agreement was signed between the Executive Director of Arya, Anand Chandra, and M Paramasivam, General Manager, Priority Credit Wing, Canara Bank.

Appointments

Canara Bank’s Executive Director Matam Venkata Rao appointed as MD & CEO of Central Bank of India

• Matam Venkata Rao has been appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in the Central Bank of India for three years. He replaced M D Pallav Mohapatra, who retired as the MD & CEO of Central Bank of India on February 28, 2021.
• Rao worked as the Executive Director of Canara Bank for more than three years. He also worked as Agricultural Field Officer in joined Allahabad Bank.

Kuldiep Singh took additional charge as director-general of CRPF

• Ministry of Home Affairs has appointed IPS officer Kuldiep Singh to hold additional charge as the Director General (DG) of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). He will look after the duties of Director General, CRPF after A P Maheshwari who retired recently.
• Singh is a 1986 batch officer from the West Bengal cadre.

Manpreet Vohra appointed as India’s next High Commissioner to Australia

• Senior diplomat Manpreet Vohra has been appointed as India’s next High Commissioner to Australia. Mr. Vohra, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is presently Ambassador of India to Mexico.

Mary Kom appointed as the Chairperson of AIBA’s champions & veterans committee

• Six-time world champion pugilist Mary Kom has been appointed as the Chairperson of the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) champions and veterans committee. The 37-year-old 2012 Olympic bronze-medallist was named for the position after voting by the AIBA’s board of directors.
• The AIBA champions and veterans committee was formed in December 2020. Mary Kom belongs to Manipur state.

International Boxing Association (AIBA):

• Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
• President (Interim): Mohamed Moustahsane.

Awards and Recognitions

Dal lake, Ajanta Caves, Banke Bihari Temple among 12 iconic sites under ‘Swachh Tourist Destinations’

• The central government has selected a total of 12 tourist sites spanning nine states and UTs under the initiative of Swachh Tourist Destinations.
• The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti has announced the selection of the following Twelve (12) iconic sites under Phase IV of Swachh Iconic Places (SIP).

The twelve sites include:

• Ajanta Caves (Maharashtra), Sanchi Stupa (Madhya Pradesh), Kumbhalgarh Fort (Rajasthan), Jaisalmer Fort (Rajasthan), Ramdevra, (Jaisalmer, Rajasthan), Golconda Fort (Hyderabad, Telangana), Sun Temple (Konark, Odisha), Rock Garden (Chandigarh), Dal Lake (Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir), Banke Bihari Temple (Mathura, Uttar Pradesh), Agra Fort (Agra, Uttar Pradesh), Kalighat Temple (West Bengal).

Rankings

Bengaluru topped the list of cities in ease of living while Shimla best among small cities

• Bengaluru emerged as the best city among 111 other cities in the government’s Ease of Living Index 2020. The list was followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat, Navi Mumbai, Coimbatore, and Vadodara.
• Shimla was topped in smaller cities (Population less than million) followed by Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, Kakinada, Salem, Vellore, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Davangere, and Tiruchirappalli.
• Indore topped the list in the million-plus category of Municipal Performance Index (MPI). New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) emerged as the leader (less than a million category) in Municipal Performance Index (MPI).

Sports News

Indian shuttlers Varun Kapur and Malvika Bansod won Uganda International titles

• Indian shuttlers Varun Kapur and Malvika Bansod clinched the men’s and women’s singles titles respectively at the Uganda International 2021 held in Kampala.
• The junior world no.2, Varun defeated Sankar Muthusamy (21-18 16-21 21-17) in the men’s singles final, while Malvika defeated Anupama Upadhyaya (17-21 25-23 21-10) victory in the women singles final.

Mumbai City FC beat ATK Mohun Bagan to win 2020-21 ISL League Winners’ Shield

• Mumbai City FC beat ATK Mohun Bagan (2-0) and finished at the top of the ongoing Indian Super League (ISL) held at the GMC Stadium in Goa. Thereby clinching the ‘ISL League Winners Shield’ and securing a spot in the 2022 AFC Champions League.

Kieron Pollard becomes the third player to hit six sixes in an international over

• The West Indies captain Kieron Pollard hit six sixes in an over during the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Antigua. He became only the second batsman in the history of T20Is after Yuvraj Singh in the 2007 T20 World Cup clash against England.
• South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs was the first cricketer to achieve the feat, scoring 36 runs in an over against The Netherlands in the 2007 ODI World Cup.

Can you score 20/20 in Today’s Current Affairs Quiz? Attempt the Current Affairs Quiz of  March 4, 2021, now from the link given below. 

Daily Current Affairs Quiz – March 4, 2021