Thursday 29 April 2021
GK Update of twentieth April 2021 overlaying the next information headlines: UN Chinese Language Day, Startup India Seed Fund Scheme, Har Ghar Jal, Climate Change Law For Financial Firms.
National News
1. Piyush Goyal launches the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme
- Union Minister Piyush Goyal launched the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS). The Fund goals to offer monetary help to startups for proof of idea, prototype improvement, product trials, market-entry, and commercialization.
- The authorities has authorized Rs. 945 Crore corpus for the fund, which can be divided over the subsequent 4 years starting April 01, 2021, for offering seed funding to eligible startups via eligible incubators throughout India. The scheme is anticipated to assist an estimated 3,600 startups via 300 incubators.
State News
2. Punjab All Set to grow to be ‘Har Ghar Jal’ State by 2022
- Punjab State reiterated the dedication of the State to realize the ‘Har Ghar Jal’ goal by 2022 as deliberate. Punjab has 34.73 lakh rural family, out of which 25.88 lakh (74.5%) have faucet water provide.
- In 2021-22, the State plans to offer 8.87 lakh faucet connections, thereby offering faucet connection to each rural family. So far, 4-districts, 29 blocks, 5,715 panchayats and 6,003 villages in Punjab have been declared ‘Har Ghar Jal’, which implies each rural family has entry to water via the faucet.
- To guarantee transparency and accountability, Punjab has arrange a well-equipped digital 24×7 name centre with Interactive Voice Responsive System. This analog grievance redressal system was upgraded in December 2020. Last yr, the redressal fee was 97.76%.
- The pending complaints every day monitoring is completed by sending reminders to the Executive Engineer through SMS, What’s App messages, e-mail and over the telephone.
Important takeaways for all aggressive exams:
- Punjab CM: Captain Amarinder Singh.
- Punjab Governor: V.P.Singh Badnore.
International News
3. New Zealand Makes World’s 1st Climate Change Law For Financial Firms
- New Zealand is about to grow to be the world’s first nation to deliver a regulation into power that calls for environmental accountability from monetary companies by asking them to report on how their companies have an effect on local weather change.
- The purpose is to deliver the monetary sector on board with the efforts being made in the direction of attaining the nation’s goal of changing into carbon impartial by 2050.
- The New Zealand authorities first revealed its plans to compel the monetary sector to make disclosures in September final yr, informing that these unable to reveal must give explanations.
Important takeaways for all aggressive exams:
- Prime minister of New Zealand: Jacinda Ardern.
- Capital of New Zealand: Wellington.
- The forex of New Zealand: New Zealand greenback.
Ranks and Reports News
4. Henley Passport Index 2021 launched
- Amid the rising COVID-19 circumstances and subsequent restrictions on journey abroad, when many nations are banning people from worst-hit nations, the Henley Passport Index on April 17 launched its listing of essentially the most highly effective passports.
- India stands at quantity 84 on the listing, because the Indian residents can go to Visa-Free or Visa-on-Arrival in over 58 locations. Japan, Singapore and Germany, South Korea stand in Top 3 respectively.
- The Henley Passport Index releases listing which measures the world’s most travel-friendly passports. The index ranks the nations primarily based on how sturdy their passport is.
Important takeaways for all aggressive exams:
- International Air Transport Association Headquarters: Montreal, Canada.
- International Air Transport Association Founded: 19 April 1945.
- International Air Transport Association Leader: William M. Walsh.
- Henley & Partners Headquarters location: London, United Kingdom.
- Henley & Partners Founded: 1997.
- Henley & Partners Chairman: Christian Kalin.
- Henley & Partners CEO: Juerg Steffen.
Schemes and Committees News
5. RBI units up committee to overview working of ARCs
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a six-member panel to hold out a complete overview of the working of Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) within the monetary sector ecosystem.
- The panel can be headed by former Executive Director of RBI, Sudarshan Sen.
Other members of the panel embrace:
- Vishakha Mulye – Executive Director, ICICI Bank;
- P N Prasad – former Dy. Managing Director, SBI;
- Rohit Prasad – Professor of Economics, MDI, Gurgaon;
- Abizer Diwanji – Partner, Ernst & Young;
- R Anand – Chartered Accountant
Defence News
6. DRDO develops supplemental oxygen supply system for troopers
- Defence Research and Development Organisation has developed a SpO2-based supplemental oxygen supply system for troopers serving in extraordinarily excessive altitude areas & COVID-19 sufferers.
- This automated system delivers supplemental oxygen primarily based on the SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation) ranges & prevents the particular person from sinking right into a state of hypoxia, which is deadly normally.
Important takeaways for all aggressive exams:
- Chairman DRDO: Dr G Satheesh Reddy.
- DRDO Headquarters: New Delhi.
- DRDO Established: 1958.
Agreements News
7. LIC ties up with Paytm to deal with digital funds
- State-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has appointed homegrown funds participant Paytm to facilitate its digital funds.
- Following a tie-up with one other cost gateway earlier, the nation’s largest life insurer has sought a brand new deal as nearly all of its funds have moved to digital modes.
- The new settlement requires a straightforward cost course of, a broader vary of cost choices, and extra gamers (wallets, banks, and many others) in cost channels. LIC has witnessed an upsurge in e-payments following the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The PSU insurer collects premiums price Rs 60,000 crore through digital mode, which doesn’t comprise funds made via banks.
Important takeaways for all aggressive exams:
- LIC Chairperson: M R Kumar;
- LIC Headquarters: Mumbai;
- LIC Founded: 1 September 1956;
- Paytm HQ: Noida, Uttar Pradesh;
- Paytm Founder & CEO: Vijay Shekhar Sharma;
- Paytm Founded: 2009.
Books and Authors News
8. ‘The Christmas Pig’: JK Rowling to launch new kids’s ebook in October
- JK Rowling has a brand new ebook coming this autumn, a festive kids’s story with all new characters. The story is a few boy named Jack and his toy Dur Pig, who goes lacking on Christmas Eve.
- The ebook is ready to be launched worldwide on Oct. 12. “The Christmas Pig” is Rowling’s first kids’s novel since Harry Potter.
Sports News
9. Stefanos Tsitsipas Wins Monte Carlo 2021 Title
- Stefanos Tsitsipas has received his first ATP Masters 1000 sequence after a flawless efficiency in opposition to Andrey Rublev in Monte Carlo. The Greek star had misplaced his earlier two finals at this degree, with Rafael Nadal denying him in Toronto and Novak Djokovic beating him in Madrid.
- Rublev beat 11-time Monte Carlo champion Nadal within the quarter-finals. Rublev knocked out Roberto Bautista Agut, Rafael Nadal and Dan Evans en route to the ultimate however couldn’t discover a well past Tsitsipas.
Important Days
10. UN Chinese Language Day noticed globally on 20 April
- UN Chinese Language Day is noticed globally on April 20 yearly. The day has been chosen to pay tribute to Cangjie, who’s a legendary determine who’s presumed to have invented Chinese characters about 5,000 years in the past.
- The 1st Chinese Language Day was celebrated in 2010 on the twelfth of November, however since 2011 the date has been on the twentieth of April.
- The day celebrates multilingualism and cultural variety in addition to promote equal use of all six of its official working languages all through the group.
Obituaries News
11. Veteran Kannada author Ganjam Venkatasubbiah passes away
- Veteran Kannada author Ganjam Venkatasubbiah, who additionally was a grammarian, editor, lexicographer and literary critic, has handed away. He was 107.
- He was generally referred to as a strolling encyclopedia of Kannada language and tradition, in his literary circles.
12. National Award-winning filmmaker Sumitra Bhave passes away
- Acclaimed Marathi filmmaker, Sumitra Bhave has handed away. Sumitra Bhave was common as a duo with filmmaker Sunil Sukthankar in Marathi cinema and Marathi theatre. She was recognized for her out-of-the-box content material and in addition for the way in which she dealt with social points in her movies.
- The duo of Sumitra and Sunil collectively directed a number of common movies like Doghi, Dahavi Fa, Vastupurush, Devrai, Badha, Ek Cup Chya, Samhita, Astu, Kaasav, amongst others.
- They have received National Film Awards in Best Non-Feature Film on Family Welfare, Best Educational / Motivational / Instructional Film, Best Film on Other Social Issues, Best Feature Film classes.
13. Former Union Minister Bachi Singh Rawat Passes Away
- The senior BJP chief and former Union Minister Bachi Singh Rawat has handed away. He was a four-time MP from the Almora-Pithoragarh constituency in Uttarakhand.
- He had served because the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology within the Atal Bihari Vajpayee authorities.