Today Current Affairs for Competitive Exams - Current Affairs 2020-2021 Online - Testbook.com
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Today Current Affairs for Competitive
Exams - Current Affairs 2020-2021
Online
SII to start vaccine production outside India • SBI has cut home loan interest rates and is now
offering exclusive interest rates on home loans
• The Serum Institute of India, which manufactures
starting from 6.70% onwards.
the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, is planning to
• The women borrower will get a special 5 bps
start vaccine production in other countries as it
concession.
struggles to meet supply commitments.
• SBI home loan interest rates start from 6.70% for
• Serum Institute would be able to raise its monthly
loans up to Rs. 30 lakh and 6.95% for loans above
output to 100 million doses by July 2021, later
Rs. 30 lakh and up to 75 lakh. The big-ticket loans
than a previous timeline of end-May 2021.
above Rs. 75 lakh would get home loans at 7.05%.
• It plans to increase production capacity to 3
billion doses a year. NASA to extend its Mars helicopter mission
Bihar cancels leave of all health officials • NASA will extend its Mars helicopter mission.
• The first three flights of the drone, called
• In the wake of a spike in coronavirus cases, the
Ingenuity, had worked so well it would now be
Bihar government has cancelled the leave of all
moving from a demonstration to an operational
health officials till May 31, 2021.
phase.
• Additionally, Bihar Governor Phagu Chouhan
• This means the chopper will now support NASA’s
ordered the summer vacation of all universities
Perseverance Rover.
till May 31, 2021.
• The new phase will last for another 30 Martian
• Bihar reported 15,853 fresh cases of Covid-19 on
days.
30 April 2021.
• Ingenuity’s flight made history as the first
• It is the highest number of cases reported on a
powered flight on another planet.
single day.
Target of foodgrains production: 307 MT
Former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin dies
• The target of foodgrains production for 2021-22 is
• Former Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP
307 million tonnes.
Mohammad Shahabuddin passed away in May
• This was announced by Agriculture Minister
2021 due to COVID-19.
Narendra Singh Tomar while addressing the
• He was diagnosed with Covid on 20 April 2021.
National Conference on Agriculture for Kharif
• He was serving a life sentence in a 2004 double
Campaign-2021.
murder case, in Tihar jail.
• As per Economic Survey 2020-21, the share of
• A court in Bihar had convicted Shahabuddin to 10
agriculture in GDP increased from 17.8 percent in
years of imprisonment for his involvement in an
2019-20 to 19.9 per cent in 2020-21.
arms act case.
Sale of electric cars rise by 140 per cent
SBI reduces home loan interest rates
1|Page• The sale of electric cars rose by 140% in the first Pentagon to cancel Mexico wall projects
quarter of 2021, breaking 2020’s record of 41 per
• In the US, the Pentagon is canceling the
cent surge on EV registrations despite pandemic
construction of parts of former US President
hitting the economies badly.
Donald Trump’s border wall with Mexico that
• In 2020, consumer spending on EVs touched 120
were being built using military funds.
billion dollars while car registrations rose by 41
• The returned funds would be used for deferred
percent.
military construction projects.
• In 2020 the global average Battery Electric Vehicle
• Donald Trump had declared a national emergency
(BEV) price was around 40,000 dollars.
in 2019 in an effort to redirect funding to build a
Rs 61 cr transferred into accounts of vendors wall along the U.S. southern border.
• Madhya Pradesh government has transferred Rs Oxygen concentrators allowed for personal use
61 crore into the accounts of more than 6 lakh 10
• Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the government
thousand street vendors of the state through
has provided relief to the people by permitting
Direct Benefit Transfer.
the import of Oxygen concentrators for personal
• Meanwhile, the state reported 12,400 new cases
use through the post, courier, or e-commerce
on 1 May 2021 while 13,584 patients have
portals under the gifts category.
recovered.
• The permission has been given till 31st July 2021.
• The state's recovery rate has been 83 percent.
• The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has
• It stands at 14th place in the country in terms of
issued a notification in this regard.
corona infection.
400th Parkash Purab of Guru Tegh Bahadur ji
Bihar BJP MLC Hari Narayan Choudhary dies
• The nation commemorated the 400th Parkash
• Bihar BJP MLC Hari Narayan Choudhary died due
Purab of Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur ji, the ninth Sikh
to Covid complications in Apr 2021.
Guru, on 1 May 2021.
• Harinarayan Chaudhary was twice elected a
• Born in Amritsar, Punjab, in 1621, Shri Guru Tegh
member of the Legislative Council from the civic
Bahadur ji was the youngest son of Guru
body quota.
Hargobind Sahib, the sixth Sikh guru.
• He won the election for the first time in 2003 and
• Considered a principled and fearless warrior, he
the second time in 2015.
was a spiritual scholar and poet whose 115 hymns
• He was also elected Ward Councilor in Samastipur are included in Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji.
Municipal Council elections thrice while once held
the post of Deputy Chairman. Centre releases over Rs 8873 cr for SDRF
Pfizer begins to export US made vaccine shots • As a special dispensation, the Centre has released
in advance over 8873 crore rupees for State
• Pfizer has now begun to export COVID-19 vaccine Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to all the states.
shots made in its US facilities.
• The states can use up to 50 percent of the
• Earlier it was only exporting vaccine shots made in released amount for COVID-19 containment
its Belgium production plant. measures.
• The development comes after the restriction • The measures include meeting the cost of oxygen
imposed by the former US President expired on generation and storage plants in hospitals,
31 March 2021. ventilators, strengthening ambulance services,
• Pfizer has become the largest supplier of the etc.
COVID-19 vaccine to Mexico after shipping over
10 million doses. Govt set target of road construction in 2 yrs
2|Page• Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin • Anand was a founding member of the Indian
Gadkari has informed that the government has Society of Cinematographers (ISC).
set a target of road construction of worth 15 lakh • He had directed Tamil films like Ayan, Ko, Kana
crore rupees in the next two years. Kandaen, Maattrraan, Kaappaan, Anegan and
• The government is giving utmost priority to the Kavan.
development of infrastructure. • He had also worked as a cinematographer in
• He announced this while addressing the Indo-U.S. several films including Josh, Nayak, and
Partnership Vision Summit on 30 April 2021. Rajinikanth-starrer Sivaji.
Boeing announces $10 mn assistance package 1st US VP with Madame Tussauds wax figure
• US aerospace major Boeing on 30 April • Kamala Harris is set to become the first woman
2021 announced a USD 10 million emergency US vice president to have a figure displayed at the
assistance package for India to support the Madame Tussauds wax museum in New York City.
country's response to the current surge in COVID- • The statue is designed by Burks and Madam
19 cases. Tussauds' team of sculptors in London with the
• This assistance will be directed to organisations help of clay.
providing relief, including medical supplies and • Harris is being erected into a sculptor due to her
emergency healthcare for communities and historic ascendance.
families battling the virus. • Madame Tussauds is also working on US
Brazil: 2nd to report over 4L Covid deaths President Joe Biden’s statue.
Armed forces get emergency financial powers
• Brazil on 29 April 2021 became the second
country to officially top 400,000 COVID-19 deaths. • Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on 29 April
• The seven-day average of Covid- 19 deaths 2021 granted emergency financial powers to the
topped out at above 3,100, as per the country's three services.
Health Ministry. • These powers will help formation commanders to
• It is predicted that about less than 6% of establish and operate quarantine
Brazilians have been fully vaccinated against facilities, hospitals and to undertake
COVID-19. procurement, repair of equipment items, material
and stores.
South Africa’s Zulu Queen Mantfombi dies
• These powers have been devolved initially for a
• South Africa's Zulu regent Queen Shiyiwe period of three months from 1st May to 31st July
Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu has passed away. 2021.
• She had became interim leader of the country's
Railways waives off Covid-19 testing charges
largest ethnic group after demise of her husband,
King Goodwill Zwelithini. • Railway has decided to waived off charges for
• She had been appointed to the role on 24 March Covid testing and diet supplied during Covid
2021. related hospitalisation for non railway patients.
• King Zwethilini had ruled the nation for almost 50 • It will waive off expenditure incurred on RTPCR
years, making him Africa's longest serving or Rapid Antigen testing of non-railway personnel.
monarch. • It will also waive off charges leviable for diet
supplied during Covid related hospitalization.
Tamil Director KV Anand passes away
NFAI publishes rich treasure of oral history
• Noted Tamil director-cinematographer KV Anand
breathed his last on April 30, 2021 following a
heart attack.
3|Page• The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) has organize year-long centenary celebrations of late
published a rich treasure of audio recordings in Satyajit Ray across India and abroad.
the public domain. • Satyajit Ray was a renowned filmmaker, writer,
• These recordings are published on the occasion of illustrator, graphic designer, music composer.
the 151st birth anniversary of the father of Indian • The Government of India honored him with the
cinema, Dadasaheb Phalke. Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award, in 1992.
• About 8000 minutes of interviews of veteran film
Indian Navy launches Op Samudra Setu-II
artists from the Indian film industry are now
made available on the NFAI website. • Indian Navy has launched Operation Samudra
Setu-II to augment the ongoing national mission
Centre cuts import duty on diagnostics kits
for meeting the oxygen requirements.
• The centre has waived off import duty on vital • Mission deployed Indian Naval warships will
diagnostic kits and reagents used in Covid related undertake shipment of liquid Oxygen filled
diagnosis for the coming 6 months. cryogenic containers and associated medical
• The exemption has been given till 31 Oct 2021. equipment.
• The compositions enrolled under this exemption • Two ships INS Kolkata and INS Talwar have
include Inflammatory Diagnostic (marker) kits, D- entered port of Manama, Bahrain for transporting
Dimer, CRP (C- Reactive Protein) LDH (Lactate De- 40MT of liquid oxygen to Mumbai.
Hydrogenase), Ferritin, Pro Calcitonin and Blood
Andhra to provide 32 lakh water connections
gas reagents.
• Andhra Pradesh has planned to provide 32 lakh 47
Bihar govt to give special family pension
thousand tap water connections in the current
• Bihar government has taken a decision to give financial year (2021-22) under Jal Jeevan Mission.
special family pensions to those government • It presented its Jal Jeevan Mission Annual Action
officials who died due to Covid infection in the Plan through a video conference on 30 April 2021.
state. • The state has 95 lakh 66 thousand rural
• Meanwhile, Bihar's Chief Secretary Arun Kumar households, out of which around 45 lakh already
Singh recently passed away due to covid. have a tap water supply.
• He was a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Bihar cadre
Reserve Bank of India joins NGFS
and took charge as Chief Secretary on February
27, 20121. • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has joined the
Central Banks and Supervisors Network for
Myanmar approaching point of economic collapse
Greening the Financial System (NGFS) as a
• The political turmoil in Myanmar combined with member.
the impact of the pandemic could result in almost • The central bank joined the NGFS on April 23,
half of the nearly 50 million population in the 2021.
country living into poverty by early 2022. • Launched at the Paris One Planet Summit on
• According to a report of the UN Development December 12, 2017, the NGFS is a group of
Programme (UNDP), close to 48.2 percent of the central banks and supervisors willing to share best
population will live in poverty. practices and contribute to the development of
• The World Bank has projected a 10% contraction the environment.
in the Myanmar economy in 2021.
Drones to be used for vaccine delivery
Centenary celebrations of Satyajit Ray
• The Civil Aviation Ministry has permitted the
• In homage to the legendary filmmaker, the Telangana government to use drones for
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will
4|Pageexperimental delivery of vaccines within the visual • The Union Agriculture Ministry has accorded
line of sight. organic certification to around 14,491-hectare
• This exemption will be valid for a period of one area in Andaman and Nicobar.
year or until further orders. • It has been done under the Large Area
• On April 22, 2021, the ministry had permitted the Certification (LAC) scheme of the PGS-India
Indian Council of Medical Research to conduct a (Participatory Guarantee System) certification
feasibility study on using drones to deliver COVID- program.
19 vaccine. • India currently has more than 30 lakh hectare
area registered under organic certification.
Record 104.3 MT rice production target set
More subsidy for electric vehicle purchase
• The government has set a record rice production
target of 104.3 million tonnes for the Kharif • India plans to offer $4.6 billion in incentives to
season of 2021-22 crop year (July-June). companies setting up advanced battery
• Rice is the main crop grown in the Kharif season, manufacturing facilities as it seeks to promote the
sowing of which begins with the onset of use of electric vehicles and cut down its
southwest monsoon from June. dependence on oil.
• In the Kharif season in 2020-2021, rice production • A proposal drafted by NITI Aayog informed
was estimated to be at 103.75 million tonnes that India could slash its oil import bills by as
against the target of 102.60 mn tonnes. much as $40 billion by 2030 if electric vehicles
were widely adopted.
World’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge
Amount of Ashirwad scheme hiked to Rs 51,000
• The world's longest pedestrian suspension bridge
has been opened in Portugal. • The Punjab govt has finally paved way for
• 516 Arouca, called so because it's 516 meters long enhancing the amount under Ashirwad Scheme
and is in the town of Arouca, connects Aguieiras from Rs 21,000 to Rs 51,000.
Waterfall and Paiva Gorge. • Payments till Dec'20 have already been cleared
• It's a Tibetan-style hanging bridge, held up by under the scheme.
steel cables and two huge V-shaped towers. • This is the second hike in the scheme amount by
• It has stolen the longest bridge title from the the present government, which had earlier
Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge in Switzerland. enhanced the assistance from Rs 15,000 to Rs
21,000 while renaming the Shagun scheme as
India's first vaccine for virus targeting fish
Ashirward scheme.
• The Chennai-based Central Institute of
May 1: 'Maharashtra Day' and 'Gujarat Day'
Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA) has developed
the country's first vaccine for deadly viral nervous • May 1 is celebrated as 'Maharashtra Day' and
necrosis (VNN) disease. 'Gujarat Day' every year.
• The VNN disease is a serious threat affecting • On this day, 57 years ago, the existing state of
many marine, brackish water, and freshwater fish Maharashtra was formed.
causing up to 100% mortality in larval and early • In 1960, the Bombay Reorganization Act was
juvenile stages. passed by India's Parliament to divide the
• The disease is caused by the nervous necrosis multilingual state of Bombay into Gujarat and
virus (NNV). Maharashtra.
• The legislation came into effect on May 1, 1960.
Organic certification for 14,491 hectare area
International Labour Day: 1 May
5|Page• International Labour Day or May Day is celebrated • In 1889, a body of socialist groups and trade
every year on 1 May. unions, in the US designated May 1 as a day for
• The day, dedicated to workers and labourers workers.
across the world, is also called the International • This was in remembrance of the Haymarket Riots
Day of Workers. in Chicago in 1886.
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