DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS - (APRIL 15, 2021) - CSE -20201 CSE -20201 - Lukmaan IAS
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DAILY CURRENT
AFFAIRS
(APRIL 15, 2021)
Admin
[COMPANY NAME]
CSE -20201
CSE -20201
DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS LUKMAAN IAS
DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS LUKMAAN IAS
INDEX
POLITY & CONSTITUTION
1. PLI SCHEME AND APPROVAL OF CRITICAL BULK DRUGS
2. MANDATORY GOLD HALLMARKING FROM JUNE 1
ECONOMY
3. ASIAN GROWTH FORECAST BY IMF
4. NATIONAL HOUSING BANK AND SRF 2021
5. RUPEE HITS 9-MONTH LOW
ENVIRONMENT
6. NEW ZEALAND CLIMATE CHANGE LAW
7. eFUEL AND COMBUSTION ENGINE
SOCIAL ISSUES
8. ITCN PROGRAMME
DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS LUKMAAN IAS
POLITY & CONSTITUTION
1. PLI SCHEME AND APPROVAL OF CRITICAL BULK DRUGS
THE CONTEXT: The Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers recently approved sixteen applicants under
Production Linked Incentive scheme. The approvals will promote domestic manufacturing of drug
intermediates and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients in the country.
Analysis
What is the plan?
• The approved applicants will set up pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in the country. They will invest
around Rs 348 crores in establishing these units. These plants are expected to create employment for
more than 3,042 people. The operation of these plants is expected to commence from April 2023.
Significance
• The Indian Pharmaceutical industry is the third largest in the world. The markets for Indian
pharmaceuticals are good in advanced economies such as European Union and the United States. Also,
the Indian Pharmaceutical industry is well known for producing affordable medicines.
• The only issue is that the Indian pharmaceutical industry is heavily dependent on foreign countries,
especially China, for its Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients. The launch of these sixteen plants will reduce
dependence of India over foreign countries.
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
• The Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients are the same as that of the bulk drugs. India was actually self-
reliant in API in 1990s. However, with cheaper products China captured the Indian pharmaceutical
markets in foreign countries. China created an unbeatable low-cost API manufacturing industry. This
was mainly through tax incentives and aggressive government funding. The cost of operation of Chinese
Pharmaceutical companies is one-fourth the Indian cost!
• Thus, it is important for India to push in more funds in the pharmaceutical industry and recapture the
lost markets.
COVID-19 lessons
• In 2018-19, GoI imported 2.4 billion USD worth API from China. However, due to COVID-19, India was
force to stop these imports. This affected the Indian Pharmaceutical companies very badly. Therefore,
Government of India is now implementing alternative route of domestic production of APIs.
SOURCE: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/16-applications-cleared-under-pli-for-
drug-intermediates-apis/article34312731.ece
2. MANDATORY GOLD HALLMARKING FROM JUNE 1
THE CONTEXT: The Government of India recently announced that it is fully prepared to implement
mandatory hallmarking of gold artefacts and jewellery from June 1, 2021. Currently, Gold Hallmarking is
voluntary in the country.
Analysis
What is Gold Hallmarking?
DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS LUKMAAN IAS
• Gold Hallmarking is providing purity certification to the gold jewellery and artefacts.
• Only three grades of jewelleries will now be hall marked under the new regulations. They are 14-carat,
18-carat and 22-carat. Earlier, ten grades of gold jewelleries were hall marked.
• The new Gold Hallmark will contain four marks. They are purity in carat, BIS mark, assay centre’s name
and the identification mark of the jeweller.
• The system is also available for consumers who want their old jewelleries hallmarked.
• A person found violating the provisions will have to pay a minimum fine of Rs 1 lakh or five times the
price of the article.
Importance of Gold Hallmarking
• The mandatory hallmarking of gold will protect the public against lower carat. This will ensure that the
consumers are not cheated.
• It will bring in transparency and will assure quality to the consumers.
• It will remove corruption in the system of manufacturing of jewellery.
Legality of Gold Hallmarking
• The BIS Act, 2016 made gold hallmarking mandatory in India. The act has also identified new areas in
standardisations such as E-mobility, alternate fuels, medical devices, digital technologies, smart cities
and new renewable energy.
• The Hallmarking scheme for gold artefacts is run by BIS since 2000.
• Also, the BIS Hallmarking Regulations, 2018 called for hallmarking of silver jewellery and silver artefacts
and also gold jewellery and gold artefacts. Uhe regulations, the penal provisions were made stringent.
SOURCE: https://www.livemint.com/market/commodities/mandatory-gold-hallmarking-to-be-
implemented-from-june-1-10-things-to-know-11618375923884.html
ECONOMY
3. ASIAN GROWTH FORECAST BY IMF
THE CONTEXT: The International Monetary Fund recently released its World Economic Outlook report.
Under its report, IMF has downgraded the forecasts for the South East Asian economies. On the other
hand, it has been more optimistic about Asia-Pacific and Global economies.
Analysis
Key Findings of IMF
• According to the World Economic outlook report of IMF, the countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia,
Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam are to grow by 4.9% in 2021. Previously IMF projected that these
countries were to grow by 5.2%.
• Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia are expected to tighten their restrictions as they are facing surge in
COVID-19 cases.
• Only 3.76% of people in Indonesia have received COVID-19 vaccines. This is lower than the global level,
which is, 5.76%.
DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS LUKMAAN IAS
• Around 1.8% of Malaysians and 0.96% of Philippines have received COVID-19 vaccine so far.
• IMF has increased the growth rate of countries bordering Indo-Pacific from 7.3% to 7.6%.
Predictions for China
• According to IMF, China is to grow by 8.4% in 2021. Earlier, IMF had predicted that China will grow by
8.1%.
Predictions for India
• According to IMF, India is to grow by 12.5% in 2021. Earlier, the international organisation had
predicted that India will grow by 11.5%. However, the current COVID-19 wave in India might hinder its
growth. This double mutant variety is bringing back lock down in several states of the country. India is
now the second largest COVID-19 affected country in the world.
World Economic Outlook
• The IMF has projected that the global economy is to grow by 5.5% in 2021 and 4.2% in 2022. The oil
prices have increased by 20% in 2021 as compared to 2020 globally. Also, non-oil commodity prices are
expected to increase, especially, in metals.
• Apart from World Economic outlook, the IMF also generates Global Financial Stability Report.
SOURCE: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/imf-offers-rosier-view-on-asia-
warns-of-fed-fallout-on-markets/articleshow/82053183.cms
4. NATIONAL HOUSING BANK AND SRF 2021
THE CONTEXT: The National Housing Bank recently launched the “Special Refinance Facility”, 2021. Rs
10,00 crores has been allocated to this facility.
Analysis
Special Refinance Facility, 2021
• The main objective of the facility is to provide short term refinance support to the housing finance
companies and other eligible Primary Lending Institutions.
• The facility will aid in meeting the short-term liquidity requirement in the Public Lending Institutions.
Background
• The National Housing Bank has launched the initiative with the support from Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The RBI had recently announced under its Monetary Policy Review that Special Liquidity Facility-2 of Rs
10,000 crores will be allocated to National Housing Board for one year. This was done to support the
housing sector. The NHB has now launched the refinancing facility based on this allocation made by the
Reserve Bank.
Refinance Support in recent times
• Between May 2020 and August 2020, the National Housing Board provided refinance support of Rs
14,000 crores under the Additional Special Refinance Facility and Special Refinance Facility. It was under
another short term liquidity support provided by RBI under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
• In May 2020, the RBI had announced refinance facility of Rs 15,000 crore for SIDBI.
• In April 2020, RBI announced refinance facility of Rs 25,000 crores for NABARD. This was to refinance
regional rural banks, micro finance institutions and cooperative banks.
Legality of Special Refinance Facility
DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS LUKMAAN IAS
• The Special Refinance Facility is provided by the Reserve Bank of India under Section 17 (3) of Reserve
Bank of India Act, 1934. Basically, the Section 17 defines how the apex bank shall conduct its business.
Section 17 of RBI Act, 1934
• The Section allows the RBI to perform the following functions:
❖ The Apex Bank shall accept deposit from the state and central governments without interest.
❖ It can discount and purchase bills of exchange from commercial banks.
❖ It can buy and sell foreign exchanges.
❖ It can provide loans to state and central financial institutions.
❖ It can buy and sell government securities.
❖ It can deal with repo and reverse repo rates.
SOURCE: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/nhb-launches-10000-crore-special-
refinance-facility-srf-2021/article34315763.ece
5. RUPEE HITS 9-MONTH LOW
THE CONTEXT: The Indian Rupee hit a nine-month low of 75.4 against the US Dollar on Tuesday and has
lost nearly 4.2 per cent over the last three weeks — one of the biggest losers among the emerging market
currencies.
DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS LUKMAAN IAS
Analysis
• The Rupee came under severe pressure over the last three weeks in line with the sharp rise in Covid-19
cases and RBI’s announcement, last week, to maintain fairly accommodative monetary policy and that it
will inject liquidity through the Government Securities Acquisition Programme (G-SAP).
How has it fallen and how does it compare to other currencies?
• From trading at a level of 72.38 to USD on March 22, the Rupee slipped to levels of 75.42 on Tuesday
(afternoon trading hours) thereby witnessing a decline of 4.2 per cent in a matter of three weeks.
• On Tuesday, it lost 43 paisa to a dollar, hitting a nine-month low. Data shows the Rupee has been one of
the biggest losers over the last three weeks as concerns are growing over rising Covid cases and its
impact on economic activity across the country.
What are the key reasons for the decline?
• Rising Covid numbers — over 1.6 lakh fresh daily cases — have emerged as a key concern. As several
states are now considering more stringent lockdown measures, market participants are concerned over
delay in the recovery of the economy, that was hit hard in 2020-21 by the pandemic.
Is the weakness likely to continue?
• Market participants say the Rupee may hit levels of 77-78 over the next couple of months and that can
be a cause of concern for importers, or other individuals who have planned expenditure in foreign
currency.
• With Covid numbers rising as of now, it continues to pose a threat to the pace of recovery and that is
raising concerns over INR. A concern over economic activity and growth of the economy in turn is
slowing down the pace of FPI inflows which provides a strong support to Rupee.
SOURCE: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-the-rupee-is-among-biggest-losers-over-the-
past-few-weeks-7272922/
ENVIRONMENT
6. NEW ZEALAND CLIMATE CHANGE LAW
THE CONTEXT: New Zealand recently introduced a bill on Climate Change for financial firms. The bill is the
first of its kind in the world. New Zealand has fixed 2050 as the deadline to become carbon neutral.
Analysis
Key Features of the Bill
• It will require the insurers, banks and investment managers to report the impacts of their funding on
the effect of climate change.
• It will also force the financial firms to evaluate the companies they are lending in terms of
environmental impacts.
• All the banks in New Zealand with total asset more than 1 billion New Zealand dollars (703 million USD)
will now have to make disclosures about their asset management.DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS LUKMAAN IAS
• The financial firms will now have to explain how they will manage climate related risks and
opportunities.
Other New Zealand Legislations on Climate Change
• The New Zealand Government has lately taken several climate changes measures to lower green house
gas emissions in the country. Some of them are as follows:
Climate Change Response Act, 2002
• In 2019, the Climate Change Response Act, 2002 was amended. According to the amendment, New
Zealand intended to implement climate change policies in accordance with the Paris Agreement.
• Carbon Neutral Government Programme was set up to accelerate the reduction of emissions within the
public sector.
New Zealand Green Investment Finance
• New Zealand Green Investment Finance was launched to reduce Greenhouse gas emissions. The main
objective of the finance is to accelerate funding of projects that have the potential to reduce emissions.
Nationally Determined Contributions of New Zealand
• In 2015, New Zealand ratified the Paris Agreement. The Nationally Determined Contributions of New
Zealand under the agreement are as follows:
• To reduce green house gas emissions by 30% below 2005 levels by 2030.
US Climate Change targets
• More than three hundred investors and businesses have called on the Biden administration to set an
ambitious climate change goal. They aim to cut US greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% below
2005 levels. This is to be achieved by 2030.DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS LUKMAAN IAS
SOURCE: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56728381
7. eFUEL AND COMBUSTION ENGINE
THE CONTEXT: The Porsche has joined with Siemens Energy to produce eFuel by 2022. The project of eFuel
production is called Haru Oni project. It is based in Chile due to its windy climate. The joint project aims to
produce 130,000 litres of eFuel by 2022. Later this is to be increased to 550 million by 2026.
Analysis
What is eFuel?
• eFuel is a complex hydrocarbon. It is created based on the following process:
❖ Water is separated into hydrogen and oxygen using wind generated electricity.
❖ This hydrogen is then combined with the carbon dioxide filtered from the air to form methanol.
❖ The methanol is then converted into gasoline using ExxonMobil licensed technology.
❖ The eFuel shall be used in any cars.
❖ The cost of production of eFuel is 10 USD per litre. Over time, this is expected to come down to 2 USD
per litre.
❖ The eFuel is a kind of Electro Fuel.
About Electro Fuels
• The Electro Fuels are the emerging class of carbon neutral fuels. They are also called Synthetic fuels.
They are seen as an alternative to biofuels. They are made by storing electrical energy from renewable
sources in chemical bonds of liquid of gas fuels.
Other Electro FuelsDAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS LUKMAAN IAS
• Audi is working on E-gasoline synthetic fuel. It is a liquid iso octane fuel. It is a carbon-neutral fuel. Also,
E-Gasoline is free from sulphur and benzene.
• Audi is also working on E-diesel. E-diesel is also called Synthetic diesel. It is created from carbon
dioxide, electricity and water with a process powered by renewable energy. This creates liquid energy
carrier called blue crude (just like crude oil). The blue crude is refined to get e-diesel.
SOURCE: https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2021/04/what-is-efuel-how-porsche-s-synthetic-fuel-
could-save-the-combustion-engine.html
SOCIAL ISSUES
8. ITCN PROGRAMME
THE CONTEXT: The National Institute of Urban Affairs recently launched the Infant Toddler and Caregiver
friendly Neighbourhoods (ITCN) Training and Capacity Building Programme. The Institute is partnered by
Bernard van Leer Foundation in implementing the programme.
Analysis
About the Programme
• The ITCN programme is designed to build capacities of young professionals and city officials to develop
young children and family friendly neighbourhoods in the country.
• The programme is to provide certified training and capacity building modules.
• The training is to be delivered through National Urban Learning Platform. The platform operates under
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
National Institute of Urban Affairs
• The National Institute of Urban Affairs was established in 1976. The institute was established for
capacity building for the urban sector in India.
National Urban Learning Platform
• The main aim of the platform is to empower the functionaries, elected representatives, administrators,
industry actors, civil society and other ecosystem players to build smart, resilient, sustainable cities.
Making cities resilient has been included in United Nations sustainable Development Goal (SDG) as well.
SDG
• United Nations SDG 11 says “Make cities inclusive, resilient, safe and sustainable”.
Significance
• According to United Nations, more than half of the world population has been living in the cities since
2007. This is projected to increase by 60% by 2030.
• The cities contribute about 60% of global GDP. They also account to 70% of global carbon emissions.
• It is estimated that the urban population in India is to increase to 600 million by 2030.
• As more people move towards cities from their home town, the joint family culture is getting dissolved.
Thus, the need for day care is increasing in India.
SOURCE: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1711468DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS LUKMAAN IAS
15th APRIL, 2021 PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS
Q1. Consider the following statements
1. The Electro Fuels are the emerging class of carbon-neutral fuels
2. The Electro Fuels are made by storing electrical energy from renewable sources with biofuels
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
ANSWERS OF 14th APRIL, 2021 PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS
Q1. Answer C: Both statements are correctDAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS LUKMAAN IAS
DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS LUKMAAN IAS
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