Daily Current Affairs 6th March, 2021

Daily Current Affairs 6 March 2021 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

Centre constitutes 259 member-National Committee headed by PM to commemorate 75 years of India’s Independence
The Government has constituted a National Committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commemorate 75 years of India’s Independence.

• The committee has 259 members and includes dignitaries and eminent citizens from all walks of life.
• It will provide policy direction and guidelines for formulation of programs for the commemoration of 75th anniversary of Indian Independence, at the national and international levels.
• The 75 years of India’s Independence falls on 15th August next year and celebrations are proposed to be launched 75 weeks prior to this date on 12th March this year. 12th March is the 91st anniversary of the historic Salt Satyagraha led by Mahatma Gandhi.

Madhya Pradesh tops for the second year in Land Records Service Index in NCAER ranking
Madhya Pradesh has ranked first in the country once again this year for the Land Records Service Index in the ranking given by the National Council for Applied Economic Research.

• Scoring 60-75 points, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu were the five best-performing states on the N-LRSI
• West Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were the six states in the 50-60 points category.
• Those trailing included Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim, Chandigarh, Kerala, Assam, Manipur, Delhi and Bihar.

India downgraded from ‘free’ to ‘partly free’ in democracy report
India’s status as a democracy and free society has been downgraded to “partly free” in the latest annual report on global political rights and liberties by Freedom House, a US government-funded NGO that studies political freedom around the world.

• The report titled “Freedom in the World 2021 – Democracy under Siege” said India “appears to have abandoned its potential to serve as a global democratic leader”.
• It said India’s fall “from the upper ranks of free nations could have a particularly damaging impact on global democratic standards”.
• India had been rated as “free” in Freedom House’s reports for 2018, 2019 and 2020, though its scores on a scale of 100 had declined during this period from 77 to 71. In the latest report, India had a score of 67 out of 100.

Yogi launches ‘Path Pradarshak’ free coaching facility for competitive exams
With an aim to provide a suitable atmosphere to the aspirants of various competitive exams in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched ‘path pradarshak’ free coaching facility across the state under the ‘Mukhyamantri Abhyudaya Yojana’.

• “Abhyudaya Yojana is a ‘path pradarshak’ for holistic development.
• Students will be provided assistance free of cost by the officers of the Indian Administrative Service and Provincial Civil Service for the preparation of competitive examinations and the classes will be conducted online.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UN report shows close to 931 million tonnes of food were wasted globally in 2019
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.

• The Food Waste Index Report 2021, from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and partner organisation WRAP, said that around 931 million tonnes of food waste was generated in 2019, 61 percent of which came from households, 26 percent from food service and 13 percent from retail.
• The weight roughly equals that of 23 million fully loaded 40-tonne trucks — bumper-to-bumper, enough to circle the Earth seven times.

BANKING & FINANCE

PNB Housing Finance, Yes Bank enter into co‐lending partnership for retail loans
PNB Housing Finance and Yes Bank said they have entered into a strategic co-lending agreement to offer customised retail loans for homebuyers at competitive interest rates.

• Both organisations will jointly do due diligence and co-originate the loan at an agreed ratio.
• PNB Housing will service customers through the entire loan lifecycle including sourcing, documentation and collection with an information-sharing arrangement with Yes Bank.

NPCI, SBI Payments partner to launch “RuPay SoftPoS” for merchants
National Payments Corporation of India, the umbrella entity for digital payments in India, and SBI Payments have joined hands to launch “RuPay SoftPoS”, for millions of Indian merchants.

• This innovative solution has the capability to transform NFC-enabled smartphones into merchant Point of Sale (PoS) terminals for the retailers.
• Merchants will now be able to accept contactless payments of up to Rs 5000 through a simple tap and pay mechanism on their smartphones.
• RuPay SoftPoS will provide cost-effective acceptance infrastructure to retailers at a nominal cost.

HDFC ERGO launches Business Kisht Suraksha to protect MFIs and financial institutions
HDFC ERGO General Insurance, India’s leading non-life insurance company in the private sector, announced the launch of Business Kisht Suraksha, a unique cover aimed at protecting the balance sheet of MFIs, financial institutions and banks in the event of a catastrophe or natural disaster.

• With growing concerns of climate change and its effect on the environment, Business Kisht Suraksha aims to limit the impacts on the balance sheet of financial institutions, due to non-payment of EMIs by borrowers, resulting out of listed calamities such as floods, earthquakes, cyclones, etc.
• Business Kisht as a product can be customised as per the needs of an individual MFI or financial institution. The product can also be tailor-made depending on the geographical presence of the borrower, MFI or any financial institution basis the perils/climatic conditions that the location is prone to.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Reliance Power forms JV with Jera for 745 MW project in Bangladesh
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Power has formed a joint venture with Japan-headquartered Jera Co. Inc to develop a new gas-fired power generation project in Bangladesh. 

• The company has achieved financial closure for the project with a group of lenders including Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Asian Development Bank and all requisite conditions for availing drawdown under the loan agreements have been achieve.
• The project is to build, own, and operate a 745-MW (net output: 718 MW) natural gas combined-cycle power project in Meghnaghat near Dhaka.

China regains spot as India’s top trade partner 
China regained its position as India’s top trade partner in 2020, as New Delhi’s reliance on imported machines outweighed its efforts to curb commerce with Beijing after a bloody border conflict.

• Two-way trade between the longstanding economic and strategic rivals stood at $77.7 billion last year, according to provisional data from India’s commerce ministry.
• Although that was lower than the previous year’s $85.5 billion total, it was enough to make China the largest commercial partner displacing the U.S. — bilateral trade with whom came in at $75.9 billion amid muted demand for goods in the middle of a pandemic.

AWARDS

WAN-IFRA names The Hindu Group ‘Champion Publisher of the Year 2020’
The Hindu Group won two golds and two silvers at WAN IFRA’s South Asian Digital Media Awards, culminating in being named ‘Champion Publisher of the Year’, owing to the highest tally on the points table.

• The awards are presented in recognition of outstanding work done by news publishers, in digital media. The winners were honoured virtually at the Digital Media India 2021 Conference held recently .
• The Hindu #KeepTheHabit campaign won a gold and silver in ‘Best Native Advertising/Branded Content Campaign’ and ‘Best in Audience Engagement’, respectively.
• Sportstar’s website (sportstar.thehindu.com) won a gold in ‘Best in Lifestyle, Sports, Entertainment Website or Mobile Services’ and The Hindu’s website (thehindu.com) won a silver in ‘Best Paid Content Strategy’ (including pay wall, membership or crowd funding models).
• Among other winners were BBC News, Malayalam Manorama, Mathrubhumi, ABP, NDTV Convergence, TV18 and The Quint.

IIT-Bombay, Delhi, Madras make it to top 100 in QS World Rankings by Subject
According to the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject, as many as 25 courses offered by Indian universities have been featured in the top 100 globally while 12 Indian institutions have made it to the top 100.

• 12 institutions which made to the top 12 include IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, IISC Bangalore, IIM Ahmedabad, JNU, Anna University, University of Delhi, and OP Jindal University.Moreover, IIT Kharagpur has bagged 101st position followed by IISc Bangalore at 103rd rank, IIT Kanpur and IIT Roorkee at 107th and 170th ranks, respectively.
• Three Indian Institute of Technologies have made it to the top 100 engineering institutes with IIT Bombay securing the 49th position in the engineering and technology category followed by IIT Delhi with the 54th position and IIT Madras with the 94th position.
• MIT, USA has retained its top position. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA have retained its position as number 1.

SCIENCE &  TECHNOLOGY 

DRDO tests Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet technology 
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully carried out a flight demonstration based on Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) technology from Integrated Test Range (ITR) Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.

• The test was carried out using a booster motor to simulate an air-launch scenario. The nozzle-less booster propelled the missile to the required Mach number for Ramjet operation.
• The SFDR technology will help DRDO with the technological advantage to develop long-range air-to-air missiles (AAMs).

BOOKS & AUTHORS 

“Artificial Intelligence and TheFuture of Power” book by Rajiv Malhotra
The book titled ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Power’ written by Rajiv Malhotra has been released recently.

• With every passing year, humans become more dependent on technology. That has several advantages but also some dangers, which Rajiv Malhotra reveals in this book.

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