1. Sanskrit learning app ‘Little Guru’ unveiled in Bangladesh
- A Sanskrit learning app ‘Little Guru’ has launched in Bangladesh by the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC) of the High Commission of India.
- The Sanskrit learning app is part of the campaign being run by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) to promote the Sanskrit language among students, religious scholars, Indologists and historians across the world.
- The Sanskrit learning app ‘Little Guru’ is based on an interactive platform that will make Sanskrit learning easy, entertaining and fun.
- This app will help people who are already learning Sanskrit or those who are desirous to learn Sanskrit to do so in an easy manner based on games, competition, rewards, peer to peer interactions, etc.
- This App combines education with entertainment, said a press release issued by the High Commission of India.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Prime Minister of Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina; Capital: Dhaka; Currency: Taka.
- President of Bangladesh: Abdul Hamid.
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2. Ghaziabad issues India’s first municipal green bonds
- Ghaziabad Nagar Nigam (GNN) has announced successfully raising and listing India’s first Green Municipal bond issue. GNN raised ₹150 crores at a cost of 8.1 per cent.
- Money will be used to clean up dirty water by setting up a tertiary water treatment plant and supply piped water through water meters to places like Sahibabad.
- Ghaziabad is debt-free and has maintained a revenue surplus position in the last few years, according to India Ratings.
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3. Poonam Gupta to head NCAER as its first woman DG
- Poonam Gupta will be the new director-general of the policy think tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).
- Gupta will succeed the current head of the think tank, Shekhar Shah, to become the first woman to hold the post. Currently, Gupta is the lead economist at the World Bank in Washington DC.
- Prior to joining the World Bank in 2013, she was the Reserve Bank of India Chair Professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) and a professor of macroeconomics at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- NCAER Headquarters: New Delhi.
- NCAER Founded: 1956.
4. Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra named as next Chief Election Commissioner
- The incumbent Election Commissioner (EC) Sushil Chandra has been named to become the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India. He will assume charge with effect from April 13, 2021. He will replace incumbent CEC, Sunil Arora, who will retire on April 12, 2021.
- The Election Commission of India consists of three members, namely Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners. The two ECs are Rajiv Kumar and Sushil Chandra.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Election Commission Formed: 25 January 1950;
- Election Commission Headquarters: New Delhi;
- First executive of Election Commission: Sukumar Sen.
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5. Bharti AXA Life and Fincare SFB join hands for bancassurance partnership
- Bharti Axa Life and Fincare Small Finance Bank have joined hands for a bancassurance partnership under which the bank will sell insurance policies to its customers. This alliance will make life insurance solutions reachable to over 26.5 lakhs customers of Fincare Small Finance Bank and provide financial security to them.
- Under the partnership, Bharti AXA Life Insurance will offer its comprehensive suite of life insurance products, including protection, savings and investment plans, to the customers of Fincare Small Finance Bank across its 747 branches and digital network presence across the country.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- MD and CEO of Bharti AXA Life Insurance: Parag Raja;
- MD & CEO Fincare Small Finance Bank: Rajeev Yadav.
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6. Axis Bank becomes co-promoter of Max Life Insurance
- Axis Bank Ltd informed it has become co-promoters of Max Life Insurance Company Limited, after completion of the acquisition of 12.99% stake collectively by the Axis Entities in the company. Axis Bank and its two subsidiaries Axis Capital Limited and Axis Securities Limited will collectively own a 12.99% stake in Max Life after the consummation of the deal.
- The Axis Entities have a right to acquire an additional stake of up to 7% in Max Life, in one or more tranches, subject to regulatory approvals. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) gave its formal approval in February of 2021.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Max Life Insurance CEO: Prashant Tripathy;
- Max Life Insurance Founded: 2001;
- Max Life Insurance Headquarters: New Delhi;
- Axis Bank CEO: Amitabh Chaudhry;
- Axis Bank Headquarters: Mumbai;
- Axis Bank Founded: 1993.
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7. Nomura slashes India’s GDP forecast to 12.6% in FY22
- The Japanese brokerage company Nomura has revised the GDP forecast of India in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22) to 12.6 per cent from the previous estimate of 13.5 per cent, amid rising coronavirus cases and higher inflation.
- Nomura has pegged the calendar year GDP growth at 11.5 per cent, a decline from 12.4 per cent estimated earlier.
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8. 74th Edition of BAFTA Awards 2021 announced
The British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) for the year 2021, has been announced by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. BAFTA 2021 is the 74th edition of the annual award to honour the best national and foreign films of 2020 and early 2021.
Most Nominations
- American drama “Nomadland” (7)
- British coming-of-age drama “Rocks” (7)
Most Awards
- Nomadland (4)
List of Winners of BAFTA 2021
- Best Film: Nomadland
- Best Director: Chloe Zhao (Nomadland)
- Best Actor in a Leading Role: Anthony Hopkins (The Father as Anthony)
- Best Actress in a Leading Role: Frances McDormand (Nomadland as Fern)
- Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah as Fred Hampton)
- Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari as Soon-JA)
- Best Original Screenplay: Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell)
- Best Adapted Screenplay: The Father (Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller)
- Best Short Animation: The Owl and the Pussycat (Mole Hill and Laura Duncalf)
- Best Short Film: The Present (Farah Nabulsi)
- Best Animated Film: Soul (Pete Docter and Dana Murray)
- Best Documentary: My Octopus Teacher (Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster)
- Best Film Not in the English Language (Another Round)
- Best Casting: Rocks (Lucy Pardee)
- Best Cinematography: Nomadland (Joshua James Richards)
- Best Costume Design: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Ann Roth)
- Best Editing: Sound of Metal (Mikkel E.G. Nielsen)
- Best Makeup and Hair: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Matiki Anoff, Larry M. Cherry, Sergio Lopez-Rivera and Mia Neal)
- Best Original Music: Soul (Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
- Best Production Design: Mank (Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale)
- Best Sound: Sound of Metal (Jaime Baksht, Nicolas Becker, Phillip Bladh, Carlos Cortés and Michelle Couttolenc)
- Best Special Visual Effects: Tenet (Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Jackson and Andrew Lockley)
- Outstanding British Film: Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox and Josey McNamara)
- Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer: His House (Remi Weekes (Writer/Director))
- Rising Star Award: Bukky Bakray
9. Lilavati Awards 2020 announced
- The Union Education Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank recently presented the AICTE Lilavati Awards, 2020 in New Delhi. The awards were presented based on the theme “Women Empowerment”.
- The winners were selected by AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) in six sub-themes.
List of winners:
- SWEAT (Sona Women Entrepreneurship and Training) from Sona College of Technology, Tamil Nadu won the award under the ‘Women Entrepreneurship’ sub theme.
- Another college from Tamil Nadu, Paritrana from St. Joseph’s College of Engineering won the award for the ‘Self Defense’ sub theme.
- Under the ‘Literacy’ sub theme, Bharatiya Vidyapeeth of the Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship Development Pune won the award.
- The Lilavati Award under the “Women’s Health” sub theme was won by the WIT Women Health Coalition from Walchand Institute of Technology, Maharashtra.
- Radiant Seetha from Thiagarajar Polytechnic College won the contest in the ‘Legal Awareness’ sub theme.
- Under the ‘Sanitation & Hygiene’ sub-theme, Smt. Kishoritai Bhoyar College of Pharmacy, Nagpur, Maharashtra won the award.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- AICTE Chairman: Professor Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe;
- AICTE Headquarters: New Delhi;
- AICTE Established: 1945.
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10. Russian Vaccine Sputnik V gets emergency use authorisation in India
- The Central drug regulator, DCGA has approved emergency use authorisation of the Russian Vaccine, Sputnik V. It has now become the third vaccine to get emergency use authorisation from the drug regulator after Covishield and Covaxin.
- The Vaccine was developed by Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology last year in Russia.
- The clinical trials of SPUTNIK V in India is being done by Dr Reddy’s Lab. The Hyderabad based, multinational Indian pharma company, Dr Reddy’s Lab has also inked an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund, RDIF for the supply of the Russian vaccine in India.
- The Subject Expert Committee of the Indian drug regulator had yesterday recommended SPUTNIK V for emergency use authorisation.
- The vaccine has displayed robust results in its clinical trials in the country.
- RDIF has claimed effectiveness of 91.6 per cent for the Sputnik V vaccine. Dr Reddy’s had applied for emergency use of Sputnik-V in February this year.
Important takeaways for all competitive exams:
- Russia President: Vladimir Putin.
- Russia Capital: Moscow.
- Russia Currency: Russian Ruble.
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11. 102 years of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
- The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. This year we commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the terror that shook the entire country to a standstill.
- The Jallianwalabagh garden has been converted into a memorial. And thousands of people on this day come to pay their respects to the martyred men, women, who were killed on that fateful day for the nation.
- Acting Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer ordered troops of the British Indian Army to fire their rifles into a crowd of unarmed Indian civilians in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab. General Dyer, the British India army officer, felt the people gathering for such a cause was anti-national.
- He ordered the 50 of his troops consisting of Sikh, Gurkha, Baluchi, and Rajput to open fire on the unarmed men and women. The resulting figures would make you go numb as 379 men and women were killed for no fault of theirs and 1100 injured.
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12. Legendary shooting coach Sanjay Chakravarty Passes away
- Legendary shooting coach Sanjay Chakravarty passed away due to Covid-19. The Dronacharya awardee had trained some of the finest Indian shooters including Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang, Anjali Bhagwat and Suma Shirur, Deepali Deshpande, Anuja Jung and Ayonika Paul.