Daily Current Affairs 13th May, 2021

Daily Current Affairs 13 May 2021 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Ladakh: ‘Yountan Society’ approves Rs 167.25 crore plan for Samagra Shiksha in UT
In Ladakh, the Governing Body of ‘Yountan Society’, the Single Implementing Society (SIS) has approved a 167.25 Crore (One Hundred Sixty-Seven Crore and Twenty-Five Lakh ) rupees plan for Samagra Shiksha in the Union Territory.

• The 167.25 Crore rupee annual work plan was submitted to Project Approval Board (PAB-2021) of Ministry of Education for consideration.
• Setting up of Six new 100 bedded hostels, strengthening of the existing school infrastructure, quality interventions, tablets for teachers, setting up of ICT labs, textbooks and uniforms for the students are major components in the next year’s plan for Ladakh.

Rs 22,215 crore and Rs 12,384 crore transferred directly into farmers’ accounts in Punjab and Haryana respectively against sale of their Wheat crop
The Centre has said that nearly Rs 22,215 crore in Punjab and Rs 12,384 crore in Haryana have been transferred directly into farmers’ accounts so far against sale of their Wheat crop.

• The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in a statement said, in the ongoing Rabi Marketing Season 2021-22, the Government of India is continuing to procure Rabi crops at MSP from farmers as per existing Price Support Scheme.
• It said, wheat procurement is going on smoothly in the procuring States and Union Territories of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and other States. So far over 341.77 Lakh Metric Tonnes of wheat have been procured against 252.50 Lakh Metric Tonnes during the corresponding period of last year.

Cabinet approves signing of MoU between ICAI and QFCA
The Union Cabinet has approved signing of Memorandum of Understanding between Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, ICAI and Qatar Financial Centre Authority, QFCA.

• The MoU will enhance cooperation between the institutes to work together to strengthen the Accounting profession and entrepreneurship base in Qatar.

Union Cabinet approves Production-Linked Incentive Scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage
The Union Cabinet has approved the Production-Linked Incentive Scheme for the Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Storage with an outlay of 18 thousand 100 crore rupees. 

• Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said, the move aims to achieve a manufacturing capacity of 50 GigaWatt Hour of ACC and five Giga Watt Hour of Niche ACC with an outlay of 18 thousand 100 crore rupees.
• It will also give a big push to electric mobility, benefiting three-wheelers, four-wheelers and heavy vehicles.

Delhi Police launches ‘COVI Van Helpline’ for senior citizens amid COVID surge
Delhi Police has launched a helpline number for senior citizens who are struggling with their essential needs amid Covid-19.

• South District Police of the national capital have launched a COVI Van Helpline (012- 26241077) for senior citizens in the neigbourhood amid the coronavirus situation.
• After receiving any call for COVI Van, deployed police official on COVI Van with beat officer will go to the house of senior citizens and help them in getting their needs, including any essential item, vaccination and medicines.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

PM Modi virtually participates in meeting of European Council held in Portugal
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually joined in the meeting of European Council, as a special invitee at the invitation of European Council President, Charles Michel.

• The India-EU Leaders’ Meeting is being hosted by Prime Minister of Portugal Antonio Costa. Portugal currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. 
• The leaders will be exchanging views on the COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare cooperation, fostering sustainable and inclusive growth, strengthening the India-EU economic partnership as well as regional and global issues of mutual interest.

India participates in the 3rd Arctic Science Ministerial
India is participating in the 3rd Arctic Science Ministerial (ASM3) – the global platform for discussing research and cooperation in the Arctic region. The theme for this year is ‘Knowledge for a Sustainable Arctic’.

• Dr.Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Science and Technology, Health and Family Welfare, and Earth Sciences, shared India’s vision and long-term plans for research, work, and cooperation in the Arctic region with the stakeholders.
• The first two meetings—ASM1 and ASM2—were held in the USA in 2016 and Germany in 2018, respectively. ASM3, jointly organised by Iceland and Japan, is the first Ministerial meeting being held in Asia. The meeting is designed to provide opportunities to various stakeholders, including academia, indigenous communities, governments and policymakers, to enhance collective understanding of the Arctic region, emphasize and engage in constant monitoring, and strengthen observations.

Government of Japan and UNDP have joined hands to boost oxygen supply in North Eastern Region in India
Amid a devastating second wave of coronavirus in India, the Japanese government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have partnered to provide oxygen generation plants to the North Eastern Region in India.

• Japan and UNDP India will be installing eight Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants in the States of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.

BANKING & FINANCE

Muthoot Finance partners with NIRA to provide personal loans
The Muthoot Finance Limited announced its collaboration with fintech NIRA as part of its strategy to strengthen its digital footprint.

• Through this partnership, salaried customers can avail personal loan of up to ₹1 lakh from Muthoot by downloading the NIRA app from Google’s Play store.
• This partnership will help Muthoot Finance build its unsecured lending book.

IIT Madras, MPFI collaborate to boost digital money transactions in India
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras researchers said that they will collaborate with members of the Mobile Payment Forum of India (MPFI) to develop voice-based solutions in multiple vernacular languages to enable larger adoption of digital money transactions in the country.

• At present, there are more than 100 million active Unified Payments Interface (UPI) users every month in India, as per the Indian government’s statistics.
• These initiatives are being taken up by MPFI towards bringing 500 million active users by 2025. 

Asian Development Bank launches tax hub to enhance international tax cooperation
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has launched a hub to create an open and inclusive platform to promote strategic policy dialogue, improve knowledge sharing and strengthen coordination on tax policy and administration among ADB members and development partners.

• The Asia Pacific Tax Hub will maximise regional and international resources to strengthen domestic resource mobilisation and international tax cooperation in ADB’s developing member countries (DMCs).

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

HDFC Bank cuts FY22 growth projection to 10% from 11.5%
HDFC Bank has cut India’s growth projection to 10 per cent from 11.5 per cent for the current financial year, citing the adverse effect of the second Covid-19 wave.

• In the worst-case scenario, growth could be further lower at 8 per cent, it said in a report.
• It is possible that the infection and fatality curve will peak within the next few weeks and epidemiologists are not ruling out a possibility of a decline that is just as sharp as the rise.

Reliance Retail 2nd fastest growing retailer in world
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ltd has been ranked second fastest growing retailer in the world in the 2021 ranking of global retail power houses by Deloitte, down from top rank secured the previous years.It has been ranked 53rd in the list of Global Powers of Retailing, improvement from 56th earlier, according to the Deloitte report.

• The list is topped by US giant Walmart Inc, which retains its position as world’s top retailer. Amazon.com Inc improved its position to rank second. Costco Wholesale Corporation of US slipped a rank to be placed third followed by Schwarz Group of Germany.
• Reliance Retail is the only Indian entry in the global list of 250 retailers. It features consecutively for the 4th time in the list of Global Powers of Retailing and World’s Fastest Retailers.

Forex Reserves Surge by $32.29 Billion in Six Months: Reserve Bank of India
The country’s foreign exchange reserves surged to USD 576.98 billion as on March 31, 2021 from USD 544.69 billion at September-end last year, an RBI report said.

• On balance of payments basis (excluding valuation changes), foreign exchange reserves increased by USD 83.9 billion during April-December 2020 as compared with USD 40.7 billion in the year-ago period.
• Foreign exchange reserves in nominal terms (including valuation changes) increased by USD 108 billion during April-December 2020 as against USD 47 billion in the corresponding period of 2019-20.

Care Ratings revises downward GDP forecast to 9.2% for FY22
Domestic rating agency Care Ratings revised its GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal to 9.2 per cent from 10.2 per cent it had estimated earlier.

• This is the fourth revision by the rating agency in its GDP growth forecast for FY2021-22 since March this year.

SPORTS

Manchester City crowned Premier League champions for 3rd time in four seasons
In the English Premier League, Manchester City were crowned Premier League champions for the third time in four seasons after Manchester United crashed to a 2-1 defeat against Leicester.

• This is Manchester City’s fourth Premier League title.
• Pep Guardiola has now won a trophy every 24 games of his managerial career after guiding Manchester City to a fifth English Premier League title.

AWARDS

IREDA bags “Green Urja Award”
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd,IREDA has been conferred with “Green Urja Award” for being the Leading Public Institution in Financing Institution for RE this year by Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

• IREDA gets the award for the pivotal and developmental role it plays in Green Energy Financing.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Mayflower 400 is preparing to be the first unmanned vessel to navigate across the Atlantic
A team of researchers from the marine research organisation ProMare with IBM acting as technology partner recently built the world’s first intelligent ship known as the Mayflower 400.

• The team of researchers claimed that this ship is the world’s first unmanned vessel to navigate across the Atlantic ocean. The ship is 15 m-long trimaran, which weighs nine tons and navigates with complete autonomy, is preparing for a transatlantic voyage.
• The trimaran is automated from the robotic rudder as well as steers it to the diesel generator that supplements its solar power.

Online flood reporting system launched in Assam
An online flood reporting and information management system was launched in Assam, which faces severe deluge every year.

• The online system developed jointly by Assam State Disaster Management Agency and UNICEF will replace the existing manual flood control mechanism.
• Daily flood reporting between May 15 and October 15 has been made mandatory in Assam.Driven by web-cum-mobile application technology, the new system will help delivery of relief and rehabilitation grants to flood-affected people.

OBITUARIES

Assamese litterateur Homen Borgohain passes away 
Noted Assamese litterateur and journalist Homen Borgohain breathed his last at a private hospital. He was 88.

• His body of work includes 11 novels and four non-fictions. He won the Sahitya Akademi in 1978 for his novel Pita Putra but returned the award in 2015 to protest the growing intolerance in India.

Former Director of CBI, Rahothaman passes away
In Tamil Nadu, former Director of Central Bureau of Investigation Rahothaman passed away at Chennai. He was 76.

• The retired official had played an important role on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. He has handled several significant cases of high profile politicians during his tenure.
• His books on Rajiv Gandhi murder, Assassination of Mahatma- Indira- Rajiv Gandhi and Third Degree Crime Investigation Management as well as Crime and the Criminal were popular. He had also won the President’s medal for Meritorious Service.

Former hockey umpire Ravinder Sodhi passes away 
Former hockey umpire and technical official Ravinder Singh Sodhi died due to coronavirus-related complications. He was 66.

• Sodhi had officiated in several top domestic hockey events. He had also officiated at the 1988 Indira Gandhi International Hockey Gold Cup in Lucknow.

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