Daily Current Affairs 21st February, 2021

Daily Current Affairs 21 February 2021 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

India, Ethiopia sign agreements on visa facilitation & leather technology
India and Ethiopia signed two agreements related to visa facilitation and leather technology. 

  • The agreements were signed in the presence of Ethiopia Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen Hassen and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.Hassen is on a 4-day visit to India.
  • The two ministers agreed to expand India and Ethiopia bilateral agenda especially defence, economic, S&T, digital and cultural cooperation.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan addresses Joint Conference of 11th World PetroCoal Congress and World Future Fuel Summit in New Delhi
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said that the country is creating a global model of energy justice by balancing its accessibility and affordability at the Joint Conference of the 11th World PetroCoal Congress and World Future Fuel Summit in New Delhi.

  • Pradhan highlighted that the Public sector companies in the oil industry have invested Rs 34,000 crore to upgrade plants for producing BS-VI fuel.

Indian and Indonesian navies conduct exercise in Arabian sea
The Indian and Indonesian navies carried out a military exercise Passage Exercise (PASSEX) in the Arabian sea to enhance operational interoperability and overall cooperation.

  • Indian naval ship INS Talwar and Indonesian Navy’s multirole corvette KRI Bung Tomo were part of the exercise.

25 cities selected for Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge cohort
As many as 25 cities from across the country including Agartala, Bengaluru and Coimbatore among others have been selected for the Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge cohort.

  • The Challenge is a three-year initiative aimed at supporting early childhood-friendly neighbourhoods under the government’s Smart Cities Mission.
  • The cities that have been selected for the Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge cohort are Agartala, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Dharamshala, Erode, Hubballi-Dharwad, Hyderabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Kakinada, Kochi, Kohima, Kota, Nagpur, Rajkot, Ranchi, Rohtak, Rourkela, Salem, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruppur, Ujjain, Vadodara, and Warangal.


BANKING & FINANCE

Bank of Maharashtra partners with Vayana Network to offer help MSMEs
Bank of Maharashtra has entered into a strategic partnership with Vayana Network, India’s largest Supply Chain Financing (SCF) platform to offer financial support to MSME sector.

  • Through this association, Bank of Maharashtra will provide short term credit to meet funding requirements of dealers/ vendors of reputed corporates through “Mahabank Channel Financing Scheme” launched by the bank, through Vayana Network’s expertise in this segment.
  • Under the partnership, Vayana Network will provide its unique SCF solutions to Bank of Maharashtra supported by Vayana’s technology and service expertise.

Indian Bank signs MOU with SID of IISc, for funding Start-ups and MSMEs
State-owned Indian Bank said it has entered into an MOU with Society for Innovation and Development (SID), an initiative of Indian Institute of Science, for extending exclusive credit facilities to Start-ups and MSMEs.

  • This initiative is a part of the Banks scheme Ind Spring Board for financing Start-ups and will empower Start-ups and MSMEs to realise their research efforts powered by financial support from the Bank and backed by incubation facilities offered by SID.
  • The Bank will extend loans of up to Rs 50 crore to these start-ups for their working capital requirements or for purchase of machinery, equipment etc.


BUSINESS & ECONOMY

L&T delivers 100th K9 Vajra howitzer to Army
Army Chief Gen Manoj Naravane flagged off the 100th K9 Vajra tracked self-propelled howitzer built by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) at its armoured system complex at Hazira in Gujarat.

  • With this, L&T had completed the delivery of all the howitzers under the contract awarded in May 2017 ahead of schedule.
  • The K9 Vajra programme involved the delivery of 100 howitzers with associated engineering support package covering spares, system documentation and training. It also involves maintenance transfer of technology to an army base workshop to support the howitzers throughout their operational life cycle.


SPORTS

Sri Lanka pacer Dhammika Prasad quits international cricket
Sri Lanka fast bowler Dhammika Prasad has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect.

  • He represented Sri Lanka in 25 Tests and 24 ODIs, bagging 75 and 32 wickets respectively.
  • He also played a lone T20 International against Australia in 2011.


APPOINTMENTS

Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah elected as interim PM of Libya 
Libyan delegates at UN-led talks outside Geneva made the surprise choice of Abdul Hamid Dbeibah as prime minister of a transitional unity government to take the war-ravaged country through to elections in December.

  • He was chosen along with a three-member presidency council to head a unity administration and steer the North African state towards the ballot box on December 24.
  • Dbeibah, a Canadian-trained engineer from the city of Misrata and founder of the Libya al-Mostakbal (Libya of the Future) movement, previously led the Libyan Investment and Development Company under dictator Moamer Kadhafi.


ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS 

Tatas acquire 68% stake in bigbasket for ₹9,500 crore
The Tata group will acquire 68% stake in online grocery platform BigBasket for about ₹9,500 crore. The group has signed an agreement.

  • The agreement puts BigBasket’s enterprise value at more than ₹13,500 crore


IMPORTANT DAYS

International Mother Language Day
The United Nations’ (UN) International Mother Language Day annually celebrates language diversity and variety worldwide on February 21.

  • It also remembers events such as the killing of four students on February 21, 1952, because they campaigned to officially use their mother language, Bengali, in Bangladesh.
  • The theme of International Mother Language Day 2021 is “fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society.” It recognizes that languages and multilingualism can advance inclusion, and the Sustainable Development Goals’ focus on leaving no one behind.


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