Monthly Current Affairs March 2021

FINANCE AND BANKING

• RBI removes IDBI Bank from PCA framework after 4 years
  • The RBI in March 2021 had removed IDBI Bank from its enhanced regulatory supervision or Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework after a gap of nearly four years on improved financial performance.

• RBI asks banks to implement image-based Cheque Truncation System in all branches by Sep 30
  • The Reserve Bank on Monday asked banks to implement the image-based Cheque Truncation System (CTS) in all branches by September 30, a move aimed at faster settlement of cheques resulting in better customer service.

• RBI imposes ₹2 crore penalty on SBI
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of 2 crores on the State Bank of India (SBI) for contravention of certain provisions of Section 10 of the Banking Regulation (BR) Act, 1949.

ECONOMY

• India improves US Chamber's IP to 40th place
  • India has been ranked 40th in 2020, scoring 38.4 out of 100 on a set of 50 intellectual property-related indicators index known as International Intellectual Property (IP) Index.

• 6-digit HSN code mandatory in invoices for biz with over Rs 5crore turnover
  • Businesses with turnover of more than Rs 5 crore will have to furnish six-digit HSN or tariff code on the invoices issued for supplies of taxable goods and services from April 1 2021.

• India’s foreign exchange reserves became world’s fourth largest
  • India’s foreign-exchange reserves surpassed Russia’s to become the world’s fourth-largest
  • China has the largest reserves, followed by Japan and Switzerland on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) table.

NATIONAL

• Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha TV Merged To Create SANSAD TV
  • Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV will be merged into a single entity, SANSAD TV, which will soon move to seek requisite government license.

• PM Modi inaugurates 'Maitri Setu' between India and Bangladesh
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the ‘Maitri Setu’ between India and Bangladesh.
  • ‘Maitri Setu’, which spans 1.9 kilometres joining Sabroom in India with Ramgarh in Bangladesh, has been built over the Feni River which flows between the Indian boundary in Tripura and Bangladesh.

• India, Bangladesh ink five MoUs
  • India and Bangladesh signed five memoranda of understanding (MoUs) covering a number of areas of bilateral cooperation.

INTERNATIONAL

• UAE's First-Ever Ambassador to Israel Arrives In Jerusalem
  • Israel's president Reuven Rivlin formally received the first-ever ambassador from the United Arab Emirates Mohamed Al Khaja, following last year's historic agreement between the countries to normalise ties.

• Ghana becomes first nation in world to receive COVAX vaccines
  • Ghana has become the first country in the world to receive vaccines acquired through the United Nations-backed COVAX initiative with a delivery of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India.

• 2023 Declared As International Year of Millets
  • The UN General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets, aimed at raising awareness about the health benefits of the grain and their suitability for cultivation under changing climatic conditions.

REPORTS AND INDEXES

• Ease of Living Index & Municipal Performance Index 2020
  • Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Housing and Urban Affairs announced the release of the final rankings of Ease of Living Index (EoLI) 2020 and the Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2020 in an online event.

• Food Waste Index Report 2021
  • UNEP & partner organisation WRAP has released the Food Waste Index Report 2021.
  • An estimated 931 million tonnes of food were wasted globally in 2019, enough to circle the Earth seven times, according to a UN report which said that household food waste in India is about 68.7 million tonnes a year.

• State of India’s Environment report 2021
  • The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has published 2021 State of India’s Environment report.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• ISRO to Set-up ‘Space Technology Incubation Center’ at NIT-Rourkela
  • The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is going to establish a ‘Space Technology Incubation Center’ (S-TIC) at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela to carry out research and product development in space technology and applications.

• ISRO demonstrates free space quantum communication for the first time
  • The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) demonstrated free-space quantum communication over a distance of 300 m for the first time.

• ISRO launches sounding rocket RH-560 to study attitudinal variations
  • Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the sounding rocket (RH-560) to study attitudinal variations in the neutral winds and plasma dynamics carried out at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota Range (SHAR).

AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

• Google to support 1 million rural women entrepreneurs in India: Sundar Pichai
  • Google will help one million women in rural villages to become entrepreneurs by providing business tutorials, mentorship and accelerator programmes.

• GoI launched “Gram Ujala Scheme” for Rural Areas
  • “Gram Ujala Scheme” was launched by The government of India to provide the cheapest LED bulbs in rural areas.

• Agriculture Voltage Technology
  • Agri-voltaic system of 105 KW capacity was developed by ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur.

DEFENCE

• DRDO successfully tests SFDR technology
  • The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully tested a flight demonstration based on Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) technology from the Integrated Test Range in Odisha's Chandipur.

• Exercise Desert Flag VI
  • Indian Air Force fighter jets will be participating in Exercise Desert Flag-VI in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

• NAVDEX 2021 and IDEX 2021
  • Indian Naval ship Pralaya arrived at Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The vessel participated in the NAVDEX 2021 and IDEX 2021.

EVENTS

• International Yoga Festival
  • The seven-day International Yoga Festival was inaugurated in Rishikesh.
  • The festival is being jointly organised by Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) and Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN).

• New Delhi World Book Fair 2021
  • Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ inaugurated the New Delhi World Book Fair 2021 - Virtual Edition.
  • ‘National Education Policy-2020’ is the theme of the book fair.

• 3rd Edition of Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav
  • The third and final edition of the Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav 2021 in West Bengal organized by the Ministry of Culture began at Murshidabad, West Bengal.

AWARDS AND REWARDS

• 30th Bihari Puraskar
  • Mohankrishna Bohara will be awarded the 30th Bihari Puraskar Award for his critical work ‘Taslima: Sangharsh aur Sahitya’.

• Genome Valley Excellence award 2021
  • Vaccine maker Bharat Biotech has been awarded this year’s Genome Valley Excellence Award.
  • The International Advisory Board of BioAsia selected Bharat Biotech for the award for its breakthrough, pioneering research, development and commercialisation of vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin.

• South Asian Digital Media Awards
  • The Hindu Group won two golds and two silvers at WAN IFRA’s South Asian Digital Media Awards culminating in being named the Champion Publisher of the Year.

SPORTS

• Mary Kom appointed as 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.

• 2nd Khelo India National Winter Games
  • Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir topped the medals tally in the second edition of Khelo India Winter National Games.

• 2nd ODI National Zone Cricket Championship League for the Deaf
  • North Zone emerged as the overall champions while Central Zone finished runner-up at the 2nd ODI National Zone Cricket Championship League for the deaf.