Dear Champions, as you all know that a lot of competitive exams have been notified consequently. Candidates have to prepare themselves according to the level of competition and expectation of  the Recruitment board. Regarding that one of the most important topic is Daily Current Affairs. Current Affairs in the form of contemporary events of national & international play a crucial role in almost every competitive exams like Banking, Insurance, SSC, UPSC, TNPSC, Railway etc.

Current affairs are the most dynamic yet scoring among all sections and need to be prepared from the right source. Here, we cafunsta team, providing  Daily GK Updates, Current Affairs Questions, and Monthly  current affairs pdf.

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March 19 | Daily Current Affairs 2021

RANKING

1. According to Zutobi, which country is topped in The List of the World’s Most Dangerous Country to drive?
A) India
B) South Africa
C) Iran
D) Iraq
E) UAE
Answer: B) South Africa

• Total : 56 countries.

2. What is the rank of India in the list of the world’s happiest country?
A) 172
B) 132
C) 144
D) 133
E) 139
Answer: E) 139

• The report, commissioned by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, was released in conjunction with the World Happiness Day.
• Countries : 149 countries.
• India is on the 139th spot in the list released in 2020. In 2019, India was ranked 140th.

BANKING AND FINANCE

3. The World Bank has approved how much amount financing to help Bangladesh vaccinate 54 million people against COVID 19?
A) USD 700 million
B) USD 600 million
C) USD 500 million
D) USD 400 million
E) USD 300 million
Answer: C) USD 500 million

• The World Bank has approved USD 500 million financing to help Bangladesh vaccinate 54 million people against COVID 19.
• The additional financing to the COVID 19 Emergency Response and Pandemic Preparedness Project will help Bangladesh in procuring vaccines, expanding storage facilities and distribute it to 31 percent of its population.
• It will help the Bangladesh government in achieving the target of vaccinating 40 percent of the population against COVID 19 in the first phase.
• The project will also help in providing training and capacity building for vaccination in the country.
• The financing is being made from the International Development Association (IDA) at a concessional rate.
• The IDA credit has a 30-year term, including a five-year grace period.

World Bank:
Founded: 1944
Members: 189 countries (IBRD), 173 countries (IDA)
HQ: Washington D.C, US
Head: David Malpass

Bangladesh:
Capital: Dhaka
Currency: Bangladeshi Taka
President: Mohammad Abdul Hamid
Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina

World Bank – Provide USD 500 mn for COVID-19 vaccination to Bangladesh.

4. Which company launched Aatmanirbhar Mahila Gold Loan – a unique and exclusive gold loan scheme for women?
A) Power Finance Corporation Limited
B) HDB Finance Services
C) Tata Capital Financial Services Ltd
D) Shriram Transport Finance Company Limited
E) Muthoot FinCorp
Answer: E) Muthoot FinCorp

• Muthoot FinCorp has launched Aatmanirbhar Mahila Gold Loan – a unique and exclusive gold loan scheme for women.
• This is an extension of Muthoot FinCorp’s #RestartIndia Mission.
• The AtmaNirbhar Mahila Gold Loan scheme was launched by actor Vidya Balan and the product offers maximum Loan to Gold value and lowest interest rate.
• This scheme is aimed at and is expected to be helpful to a large number of women who are currently dependent on local money lenders for their financial needs.

Muthoot Fincorp Limited:
Founded: 1997
MD: Thomas John Muthoot

Muthoot FinCorp – Aatmanirbhar Mahila Gold Loan scheme for women.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

5. According to which report, Over 20 mn kids in India facing extremely high water vulnerability?
A) UNICEF
B) UNDP
C) UNEP
D) WHO
E) UNESCO
Answer: A) UNICEF

• More than two crore children in India are experiencing extremely high water vulnerability, according to an analysis by UNICEF.
• Extreme water vulnerability is the combination of the highest levels of physical water scarcity risks and lowest levels of drinking water service that affects a given population (surface water, unimproved or limited water service).
• The analysis, part of the water security for all initiative, identifies areas where physical water scarcity risks overlap with poor water service levels.
• The communities living in these areas depend on surface water, unimproved sources, or water which can take more than 30 minutes to collect.
• Of the 111,891,688 children facing water vulnerability, 20,478,554 are experiencing extremely high-water vulnerability and 91,413,134 facing high water vulnerability.
• Globally, over 1.42 billion people, including 450 million children, live in areas of high, or extremely high, water vulnerability which means that 1 in 5 children worldwide does not have enough water to meet their everyday needs.
• The data shows that children in more than 80 countries live in areas with high or extremely high-water vulnerability.
• Eastern and Southern Africa has the highest proportion of children living in such areas, with over half of children – 58 per cent – facing difficulty accessing sufficient water every day.
• It is followed by West and Central Africa (31 per cent), South Asia (25 per cent), and the Middle East (23 per cent).
• South Asia is home to the largest number of children living in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability – more than 155 million children.

UNICEF:
Abbreviation: The United Nations Children’s Fund
Founded: 1946
Headquarters: New York, United States
Head: Henrietta H. Fore

UNICEF – Over 20 mn kids in India facing extremely high water vulnerability.

6. Which organization has teamed up with USO India and Toonz Media Group for a creative water conservation awareness programme for students?
A) UNICEF
B) UNDP
C) UNEP
D) WHO
E) UNESCO
Answer: E) UNESCO

• UNESCO has teamed up with USO India and Toonz Media Group for a creative water conservation awareness programme for students.
• The nation-wide water conservation awareness programme was aimed at school students between the age of 6-14 years, who submitted story ideas for animation short films to create awareness about water crisis in India.

UNESCO:
Abbreviation: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Founded: 1945
Headquarters: Paris, France
Director-General : Audrey Azoulay

UNESCO + Toonz Media + USO India – Water conservation programme.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

7. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy released ‘Frontier’ book penned by whom?
A) Sagu
B) Sachin
C) Rehana
D) Radhina
E) Ragul
Answer: C) Rehana

• China Room is authored by Sunjeev Sahota published by Penguin Random House India.
  The Monk’s Secret is authored by Dr Sheetal Nair.

Release of publication “Handbook on Ethics for Insolvency Professionals: Ethical and Regulatory Framework”:

• Dr. Navrang Saini, Whole Time Member, IBBI , in presence of Ms. Natalie Toms, Chief Economist and Counsellor, British High Commission, released a publication titled “Handbook on Ethics for Insolvency Professionals: Ethical and Regulatory Framework”, in a webinar organised here.
• The Handbook prepared by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India in association with British High Commission is based on inputs on the best practices followed by the Insolvency Practitioners in the United Kingdom and aims to stimulate the highest standards of ethics and professionalism among the Insolvency Professionals.

S Jagan Mohan Reddy – Release ‘Frontier’ book – pen by Rehana.

APPOINTMENTS

8. Who is appointed as new MEA spokesperson?
A) Varun Bagchi
B) Sudhan Bagchi
C) Siva Bagchi
D) Aravind Bagchi
E) Arindam Bagchi
Answer: E) Arindam Bagchi

• Arindam Bagchi has been appointed as new MEA spokesperson.
• The outgoing spokesperson Anurag Srivastava will now be joint secretary (north).
• Bagchi is a 1995-batch Indian Foreign Service officer who had earlier served as ambassador to Croatia and deputy high commissioner in Sri Lanka, besides having served as director in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Arindam Bagchi – MEA spokesperson – Anurag Srivastava(replace).

9. Mark Rutte is appointed as Prime Minister of which country?
A) Israel
B) UAE
C) Iraq
D) Iran
E) Netherlands
Answer: E) Netherlands

The Netherlands:
Capital: Amsterdam
Currency: Euro

Mark Rutte – Prime Minister of Netherlands.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

10. India, which country to set up Joint Commission to strengthen bilateral ties?
A) UAE
B) Iran
C) Iraq
D) Kazakhstan
E) Kuwait
Answer: E) Kuwait

• In a move aimed at further strengthening relations between the two countries, India and Kuwait decided to set up a Joint Commission to boost cooperation in diverse fields.
• The Joint Commission will formulate strategy to strengthen relations in the fields of Energy, Trade, Economy, Investment, Human Resources, Manpower and Labour, Finance, Skills, Culture, Science & Technology, Information Technology, Health, Education, Defense and Security.
• The Joint Statement was issued after discussions between Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah and India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi.
• The Joint Commission Meeting will be co-chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait and the Minister of External Affairs of India.

Kuwait:
Capital: Kuwait City
Currency: Kuwaiti dinar

India + Kuwait – Set up Joint Commission to strengthen bilateral ties.

11. Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Amar Ekushey book fair in which place?
A) Rangpur
B) Khulna
C) Chittagong
D) Rajshahi
E) Dhaka
Answer: E) Dhaka

• Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Amar Ekushey book fair in Dhaka
  Participating in the inaugural event through video conferencing Prime Minister Hasina urged upon all to develop the habit of book reading.
• Prime Minister Hasina also released the book ‘New China 1952’ which is the English translation of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib’s book ‘Amar Dekha Naya Chin’.
• She also distributed prizes among the winners of the Bangla Academy Literary Award 2020.
• The theme of this year’s book fair is the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and golden jubilee of independence.
• The book fair has been dedicated to the martyrs of the liberation war of 1971.
• The book fair is spread over more than 15 lakh square ft area on the premises of Bangla Academy and Shaheed Suhrawardy Udyan.
• Usually, the month long book fair starts on 21 February commemorating the sacrifices of the martyrs of the language movement who laid down their lives on 21 February 1952 demanding Bangla as their mother tongue from Pakistani rulers.
• The Bangla Academy has been organizing the book fair since 1978, though informally it had started in 1972.
• The book fair will conclude on April 14.

Bangladesh:
Capital: Dhaka
Currency: Bangladeshi Taka
President: Mohammad Abdul Hamid
Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina

Sheikh Hasina – Inaugurate Amar Ekushey book fair in Dhaka.

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

12. Which organisation approved the land acquisition policy based on value capture finance?
A) NMDC
B) CII
C) CCI
D) NTPC
E) NHAI
Answer: E) NHAI

• The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) approved the land acquisition policy based on value capture finance.
• Value capture finance or VCF is a type of public financing that recovers some or all of the value that public infrastructure generates for private landowners.
• The norms approved by the NHAI seek to devise a mechanism to implement VCF, jointly by the states and NHAI, to part finance the cost of highway construction in order to make them viable.
• Bharatmala Pariyojana provides for Grand Challenge Mechanism to take up projects on fast track where sufficient and timely land is made available by the state government.
• In addition, if the state government provides at least 25% of the land acquisition cost for bypass projects, then such projects will be taken up on priority.
• The authority has allowed states to share the enhanced value of land in the project impact area or 1 km on either side of the greenfield/brownfield highway within the methods prescribed by the NHAI.
• The ministry was allocated Rs 91,823 crore for FY21, which was later revised to Rs 1.02 trillion as MORTH and its wings — NHAI and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) were on track with road construction.
• The total budget allocation has gone up from Rs 83,015 crore last fiscal to Rs 91,823.2 crore for financial year 2020-2021.
• Of this hike of Rs 8,808 crore, as much as Rs 5,809 crore is through investment in NHAI met from monetisation of national highways.
• The balance allocation is for road works.

NHAI:
Headquarters: New Delhi
Chairman: Sukhbir Singh Sandhu

NHAI – Approve norms for value capture finance.

13. The Defence Ministry sealed a deal with Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) to acquire 4,960 anti-tank guided missiles at a cost of how much amount for the Indian Army?
A) Rs 1,288 crore
B) Rs 1,188 crore
C) Rs 1,388 crore
D) Rs 1,488 crore
E) Rs 1,588 crore
Answer: B) Rs 1,188 crore

• The Defence Ministry sealed a deal with state-run Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) to acquire 4,960 anti-tank guided missiles at a cost of Rs 1,188 crore for the Indian Army.
• The missiles, having a range of 1,850 metres, can be fired from ground as well as vehicle-based launchers and their induction is planned to be completed in three years.
• The acquisition wing of the Ministry of Defence signed a contract with defence public sector undertaking Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for supply of 4,960 MILAN-2T anti-tank guided missiles to Indian Army at a cost of Rs 1,188 crore.
• The missiles are being produced by BDL under license from French defence major MBDA Missile Systems.

BHEL supplies 100th space-grade battery to ISRO:

• State-owned engineering firm BHEL said it has achieved a milestone of supplying 100 space-grade battery to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for its Chandrayaan 3 mission.
• Over the last 16 years, BHEL has been supplying batteries to ISRO for its critical mission applications like INSAT, GSAT, IRNSS series and RISAT series.
• These are manufactured at the Electronic Systems Division (ESD) of BHEL in Bengaluru, with the highest standards of quality, reliability and safety.
• These batteries use various types of chemistry, including Nickel-Cadmium, Nickel-Hydrogen and Lithium-Ion.

Ministry of Defence:
Minister: Rajnath Singh
Constituency: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

Bharat Dynamics Limited:
Headquarters: India
Founded: 1970, Hyderabad
Chairman & MD: Commodore Siddharth Mishra
Parent organizations: Ministry of Defence, Government of India

Centre – Seal deal with BDL to acquire 4,690 anti-tank guided missiles.

14. Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) K Sivan inaugurated Three Space Technology Incubation Centres (S-TIC) at ________.
I) Nagpur
II) Bhopal
III) Rourkela

A) I , II & III
B) I & II
C) Only III
D) Only II
E) Only I
Answer: A) I , II & III

• Three Space Technology Incubation Centres (S-TIC) were inaugurated at National Institute of Technology (NIT) at Nagpur, Bhopal and Rourkela by the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) K Sivan.
• ISRO signed bilateral Memorandum of Understanding with Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur (for Western region), Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal (for Central region), and National Institute of Technology, Rourkela (for Eastern region).
• The S-TIC concept is conceived with one selected major academic institute taking the lead role in a particular region and providing opportunities for final year graduate, post graduate and research scholars as “future budding entrepreneurs.
• Sivan also released ‘YUKTI-Sanchita 2021’ (Youth Upgradation by Knowledge Transformation through Incubators – Sanchita), a compilation of 108 product development / innovative project proposals from centres/ labs/units of DoS/ISRO.

ISRO:
Abbreviation: Indian Space Research Organisation
Founded: 1969
Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka
Chairman: Kailasavadivoo Sivan

K Sivan – Space technology incubation centres opened at NIT Nagpur, Bhopal, Rourkela.

15. The Labour Bureau has signed a service level agreement with BECIL for providing technical and manpower support for conducting all India survey including on migrant workers. BECIL is founded in which year?
A) 1992
B) 1993
C) 1994
D) 1995
E) 1996
Answer: D) 1995

• The Labour Bureau has signed a service level agreement with Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd (BECIL) for providing technical and manpower support for conducting all India surveys, including on migrant workers.
• The surveys to be undertaken by Bureau will be integrated with the technology provided by the BECIL, which will substantially reduce the time taken for completion of surveys by at least 30-40 per cent.
• The ministry in order to implement the newly introduced category of ‘Fixed Term Employment’ (FTE) has decided that the manpower engaged through the IT partner for supporting these surveys will be offered Fixed Term Employment.
• The Fixed Term Employment is a historic provision in the recent labour codes which will bestow various benefits on the workers engaged for a fixed term by treating them at par with permanent workers.
• This year the Bureau will launch and complete five All India Surveys on migrant workers, domestic workers, AQEES, employment generated by professionals and employment generated in transport sector.

Labour Bureau + BECIL – Conducting all-India surveys

16. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan have launched the Mission Gramodaya in which state?
A) Mizoram
B) Nagaland
C) Andhra Pradesh
D) Maharashtra
E) Madhya Pradesh
Answer: E) Madhya Pradesh

• In Madhya Pradesh, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan have launched the Mission Gramodaya in the state.
• Under the Gramodaya mission, besides providing housing facilities in rural areas, basic and fundamental infrastructure will also be expanded.

Madhya Pradesh:
Capital: Bhopal
CM: Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Governor: Anandiben Patel

Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Food Processing Industries:
Minister: Narendra Singh Tomar
Constituency: Morena, Madhya Pradesh

Mission Gramodaya – Launch in Madhya Pradesh.

17. Which Minister launched the GRAM UJALA programme in Arrah, Bihar through a virtual event?
A) Health Minister
B) Power Minister
C) Finance Minister
D) Home Minister
E) Women & Child Development Minister
Answer: B) Power Minister

• Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Minister of State, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship ,Shri R K Singh launched the GRAM UJALA programme in Arrah, Bihar through a virtual event.
• The GRAM UJALA programme will have a significant impact on India’s climate change action.
• If all 300 million lights in India were replaced, the total energy savings would be 40,743 million kWh/year, avoided peak demand of 22,743MW/year and CO2 reductions of 37 million tons per year.
• Under the programme, 7 watt and 12-Watt LED bulbs with 3 years warranty will be given to rural consumers against submission of working Incandescent bulbs.
• The Gram Ujalaprogramme will be implemented in villages of the 5 districts only and consumers can exchange a maximum of 5 LED bulbs.
• The GRAM UJALA programme will have a significant impact on India’s climate change action energy savings of 2025 million KWh/year and CO2 reductions of 1.65 million T CO2/year.
• The programme will enable better illumination, at an affordable price of INR 10/bulb.
• This will usher in a better standard of life, financial savings, more economic activity, better safety for rural citizens and help in achieving a sustainable future.

Power , New and Renewable Energy:
Minister : Rajkumar singh
constituency : Arrah , Bihar

Bihar:
Capital : Patna
CM : Nitish Kumar
Governor : Phagu Chauhan

Power Minister Shri R K Singh – launch GRAM UJALA in Bihar.

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