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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April 22 | Daily Current Affairs 2021

IMPORTANT DAYS

1. International Mother Earth Day is observed on which date?
A) April 21
B) April 22
C) April 23
D) April 24
E) April 25
Answer: B) April 22

• April 22 is Earth Day, an international event celebrated around the world to pledge support for environmental protection.
• The year 2021 marks the 51st anniversary of the annual celebrations.
• This year’s theme for Earth Day is ‘Restore Our Earth’.
• In 2009, the United Nations designated April 22 as ‘International Mother Earth Day’.

SPORTS

2. Gitika is related to which sports?
A) Wrestling
B) Athlete
C) Shooting
D) Swimming
E) Boxing
Answer: E) Boxing

• Indian boxers Gitika (48kg) and Babyrojisana Chanu (51kg) clinched gold medals in the Youth World Championships in Kielce, Poland, notching up dominating victories in the finals.
• While Gitika prevailed 5-0 over Poland’s Natalia Kuczewska, Babyrojisana defeated Valeriia Linkova of Russia by a similar margin after a close opening round.

Gitika (48kg) – Gold medal in the youth world championships in Kielce, Poland.

OBITUARY

3. AK Walia passed away. He was minister of which state/UT?
A) Mizoram
B) Ladakh
C) Jammu & Kashmir
D) Uttar Pradesh
E) Delhi
Answer: E) Delhi

• Senior Congress leader and former Delhi government minister AK Walia died of COVID-19 in the early hours.

Padma awardee Maulana Wahiduddin Khan dies of Covid-19 at 96:

• Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan passed away at the age of 96. He had recently tested positive for Covid-19.
• He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award, in 2000.
• Padma Vibhushan (2021) Other awards he received included the Demiurgus Peace International Award, the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavna Award and the National Citizen’s Award.
• He also started the Vajpayee Himayat Committee, which extensively campaigned for the former prime minister during the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Thakur Puran Singh minister dies of Covid-19:

• A former Jammu and Kashmir minister and veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Thakur Puran Singh succumbed to Covid-19 while being shifted to Chandigarh for treatment from Rajouri district.
• Singh was a resident of Kewal Badhal in Rajouri’s Kotranka subdivision and was considered a prominent Pahari leader of the region. The veteran leader joined the BJP in 2014.
• Jammu and Kashmir was a state of the Indian union before August 5, 2019, when its special status under Article 370 was revoked by the parliament and it was divided into two union territories.

Former Congress MLA Jagraj Singh Gill dies of Covid:

• Former Congress MLA from Moga Jagraj Singh Gill, 95, died at a hospital in Mohali.
  Gill was elected as MLA from Moga in 1957.
• He also remained chairman of the Punjab Mandi Board in 1970’s.
  Several grain market yards were constructed across the state during his tenure.

AK Walia – Former Delhi minister and Congress leader.

RANKING

4. India has been ranked at which position among 115 countries in the Energy Transition Index (ETI)?
A) 84th
B) 85th
C) 86th
D) 87th
E) 88th
Answer: D) 87th

• India has been ranked at the 87th position among 115 countries in the Energy Transition Index (ETI) that tracks nations on the current performance of their energy systems across various aspects, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report released.
• The report, prepared in collaboration with Accenture, also draws on insights from ETI.

Rank	Country
1	Sweden
2	Norway
3	Denmark
87	India

 

BANKING AND FINANCE

5. FirstRand Bank to exit retail banking business in India. This bank is related to which country?
A) China
B) Australia
C) North Korea
D) South Korea
E) South Africa
Answer: E) South Africa

• Close on the heels of Citigroup’s decision to exit retail banking business in India,
  South Africa’s second largest bank – FirstRand Bank – with $118 billion in assets is the latest foreign bank to exit India.
• The news was broken to FirstRand staff in Mumbai – its only branch – via a videoconference.
• FirstRand’s exit is the second retreat by a foreign lender in India within a week after US giant Citibank announced plans to sell its consumer banking business in 13 markets, including India late last week.
• First Rand India is a licensed financial services provider in India and operates as a “branch” of FirstRand Bank South Africa.
• In 2019, FirstRand Bank completed 10 years of operations in India under its corporate and investment banking franchise.
• According to FirstRand’s Bank India’s annual report (2019-20), its deposits stood at Rs 318 crore and advances at Rs 420 crore at the end of March 2020.
• Its investment book was of Rs 1,208 crore.
• The capital adequacy was 29.09 per cent at the end of March 2020.
• FirstRand Bank is the largest listed financial services group (by market capitalisation) in Africa.
• The South African lender started operations as late as 2009 and started lending to individual customers and small and medium enterprises only in 2012.

KV Kamath committee approves Future Retail, Enterprises restructuring:

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandated KV Kamath committee has approved banks’ proposal to restructure loans to Future Retail and Future Enterprises the two main arms of the Kishore Biyani-led group.
• This is the second large restructuring approved by the five member Kamath committee.
• Late last month it had approved a Rs 10,900 crore restructuring plan for the Shapoorji Pallonji Group
• Kamath committee has been formed by RBI to scrutinise proposals of Rs 1500 crore and above under the onetime restructuring plan to provide relief to companies impacted by the Covid 19 pamdemic.

RBI cancels licence of Bhagyodaya Friends Urban Co-operative Bank:

• The RBI said it has cancelled the licence of Bhagyodaya Friends Urban Co-operative Bank Limited (Amravati), as the lender does not have adequate capital and will be unable to pay its present depositors in full.
• On liquidation, every depositor would be entitled to receive a deposit insurance claim amount of his/her deposits up to a monetary ceiling of Rs 5 lakh from DICGC, subject to the provisions of the DICGC Act, 1961.

FirstRand Bank – Exit India after 12 years.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

6. “One String Attached” is authored by whom?
A) Pandi Dubey
B) Priya Dubey
C) Pankaj Dubey
D) Prabhu Dubey
E) Prakash Dubey
Answer: C) Pankaj Dubey

“One String Attached” – Authored by Pankaj Dubey.

APPOINTMENTS

7. _______ is appointed as Chairperson of Nasscom for _______?
1) Risa M Menon
2) 2022-23
3) Rekha M Menon
4) 2021-22
A) 1) , 2)
B) 1) , 4)
C) 3) , 4)
D) 3), 2)
E) None of these
Answer: C) 3) , 4)

• The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the information technology service body, said it has appointed Rekha M Menon, Chairperson and Senior Managing Director at Accenture in India as its Chairperson for 2021-22.
  Menon succeeds U B Pravin Rao, Chief Operating Officer, Infosys, who served as Chairman of Nasscom for the year 2020-21.
• Nasscom named Krishnan Ramanujam, President and Head of Business & Technology Services, Tata Consultancy Services as the Vice Chairperson for this financial year.
• Menon is the first woman to take on the role of Chairperson for Nasscom in the association’s 30-year history.

Nasscom:
The National Association of Software and Service Companies
Headquarters location: New Delhi
Founded: 1 March 1988
Chairperson: Rekha M Menon

Rekha Menon – Nasscom chairman for FY22.

8. Who has been chosen as the external auditor by Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons?
A) GC Karthik
B) GC Murmu
C) GC Manoj
D) GC Sathish
E) GC Arun
Answer: B) GC Murmu

• India’s Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) GC Murmu has been chosen as the external auditor by a prestigious intergovernmental organisation working for the elimination of chemical weapons.
• External Affairs Ministry said, the Hague-based Conference of State Parties of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) selected the CAG as its external auditor for a three-year term starting 2021.
• India was also selected as a member of the Executive Council of the OPCW representing Asia Group for another two-year term during the OPCW Conference of State Parties.

GC Murmu – External auditor by OPCW.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

9. ACC, Ambuja Cements partner with which IIT to develop sustainable building solutions?
A) IIT Madras
B) IIT Guwahati
C) IIT Bombay
D) IIT Mandi
E) IIT Kharagpur
Answer: A) IIT Madras

• Cement makers ACC and Ambuja Cements announced their partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) to develop green and sustainable building solutions.
• As part of that, a collaborative research study will be financially aided by LafargeHolcim Innovation Centre (LHIC) focusing on ‘Binder Optimization for Alternate Reinforcements’.
  ACC and Ambuja Cements are subsidiaries of Swiss building materials company LafargeHolcim.
• This research will delve into the optimised use of low CO2 binders with a combination of alternative reinforcement, as a potential substitute for conventional steel rebar, thereby significantly reducing the CO2 footprints of construction.

ACC + Ambuja Cements + IIT Madras – Develop sustainable building solutions.

10. Which organisation Develops Oxygen Enrichment Unit – An optimised oxygen administration device to combat nationwide oxygen supply shortage?
A) CSIR-CBL
B) CSIR-CRRI
C) CSIR-NAL
D) CSIR-NCL
E) CSIR-CMERI
Answer: E) CSIR-CMERI

• The entire nation is undergoing an unprecedented pandemic situation due to the second wave of the COVID-19.
• The oxygen therapy is recommended for severe illness caused by CoronaVirus. However, the country is passing through a massive short supply of Medical grade oxygen across the country.
• To cope the problem and minimise the supply chain of transportation and storage risks related to oxygen cylinders, CSIR-CMERI, Durgapur has developed ‘Oxygen Enrichment’ technology which has been transferred virtually to M/s. Apollo Computing Laboratories (P) Ltd, Kushaiguda, Hyderabad.

CSIR-CMERI – Develop Oxygen Enrichment Unit – An optimised oxygen administration device to combat nationwide oxygen supply shortage.

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

11. Who participated in the Leaders’ Summit on Climate?
A) Smirti Irani
B) Nirmala Sitharaman
C) Rajnath Singh
D) Ramnath Kovind
E) Narendra Modi
Answer: E) Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the Leaders’ Summit on Climate:

• The two-day summit will be held virtually and Mr. Modi will make his remarks in the session which has the theme – Our Collective Sprint to 2030.
• The Prime Minister was invited by US President Joe Biden to participate in this summit.
• Nearly 40 other world leaders are participating in the Summit.
• They will represent countries which are members of the Major Economies Forum and those vulnerable to climate change, among others.
• The leaders will exchange views on climate change, enhancing climate actions, mobilising finance towards climate mitigation and adaptation, nature based solutions, climate security as well as technological innovations for clean energy.
• They will also deliberate on how the world can align climate action with inclusive and resilient economic development, while respecting national circumstances and sustainable development priorities.
• The summit is a part of a series of global meetings focusing on climate issues, being held in the run up to COP26 in November 2021.
• Addressing the Leaders’ Summit on Climate, attended by 40 world leaders including US President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping, PM Modi announced the “India-US climate and clean energy Agenda 2030 partnership”.

US announces to cut Green House Emissions in half by 2030:

• Laying out his vision for a greener economy, US President Joe Biden announced that the United States would cut its greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030 as part of the country’s efforts to combat climate change.
• He also urged world leaders to significantly accelerate their own plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or risk a disastrous collective failure to stop catastrophic climate change.

Prime Minister, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space and All important policy issues and All other portfolios not allocated to any Minister
Minister: Narendra Modi
Constituency: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

Narendra Modi – Participate in the Leaders’ Summit on Climate.

12. Which state launches Covid Emergency Loan scheme for entrepreneurs supplying medicines, oxygen to Covid patients?
A) Assam
B) Rajasthan
C) Mizoram
D) Madhya Pradesh
E) Haryana
Answer: E) Haryana

• Haryana government has launched the ‘Haryana COVID Emergency Loan Scheme’ for new and old entrepreneurs supplying medicines, oxygen and other medical facilities to COVID-19 patients in the state.
• The state government has set up a fund of Rs 500 crore for this purpose.
• Under this scheme, he said, the Haryana Government will help businessmen, presently working in the state, to increase their current production or to set up new units to meet the above requirements.
• The scheme will come into effect from the date of notification and will remain in effect across the state.

Haryana cabinet approves excise policy for 2021-22:

• Haryana Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar approved the Excise Policy for the year 2021-22.
• The overall collection from excise in financial year 2020-21 stood at Rs 6792 crore against collection of Rs 6361 crore during the Financial year 2019-20.
• Despite complete lockdown till first week of May 2020 and overall economic slowdown for major part of the year 2020-21, excise revenue during the financial year 2020-21 has witnessed growth of 6.69 per cent.
• Since, the period of allotment of retail vends for 2020-21 will come to an end on May 19, 2021, the growth in excise revenue for financial year 2020-21 is likely to reach 15 per cent.
• The excise policy for the year 2021-22 has been framed with a focus on aspirations of all the stakeholders.
• The duration of Excise Policy for the year 2021-22 shall be from May 20, 2021 to May 19, 2022. The liquor vends shall be allotted for a period of one year (365 days).

Haryana cabinet approves HARIHAR policy:

• Reiterating its commitment for the upliftment of every Abandoned and Surrendered Children, Haryana Cabinet has approved the “HARIHAR” (Homeless Abandoned and Surrendered Children Rehabilitation Initiative Haryana) Policy for providing Employment, Educational and Financial benefits to Abandoned and Surrendered Children who have completed the age of 18 years from the Child Care Institutions of the State and were abandoned before the age of 05 years or surrendered before the age of 1 year.

Haryana:
Capital: Chandigarh
CM: Manohar Lal Khattar
Governor: Satyadev Narayan Arya

Haryana – Covid Emergency Loan scheme for entrepreneurs supplying medicines, oxygen to Covid patients.

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