NATIONAL NEWS
Ramesh Pokhriyal launches 'MyNEP2020' Platform of NCTE PortalUnion Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' launched the "MyNEP2020" Platform of National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) Web Portal which will be operational from April 1 to May 15, 2021.
- The platform seeks to invite suggestions/inputs/membership from the stakeholders for preparing a draft for the development of National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) and National Mission for Mentoring Program membership (NMM).
Indian Railways has announced that the West Central Railway zone has become the first fully electrified railway zone in the country.
- With this latest development, now the zonal railway boasts a 3012 Route Km electrified network.
- Along with that it has also spent over Rs 710.3 crores on passenger amenities in the Eastern Railway zone.
- Future TargetsBy December 2023, the Railway Ministry had targeted 100 per cent electrification of the Broad Gauge rail network.
The labour ministry has set up expert committees to review the standards under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH&WC) Code, 2020.
- The central government has constituted expert committees comprising industry and subject experts from both public and private sector across the country to review the existing rules and regulations on safety, health and working conditions standards, pertaining to factories, docks and construction work.
- The expert committees for Factories and Dock Works will be chaired by Dr RK Elangovan, director general, DGFASLI, Mumbai
- The expert committees for the Building & Other Construction Works will be headed by PLN Murthy, vice president and head (domestic operations), L&T Hydrocarbon, Chennai
- The Fire Safety committee under the chairmanship of DK Shami, fire advisor to the government of India, MHA.)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V Lavrov, who is arrived in India for a two-day visit, will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
- Jaishankar and Lavrov will exchange views on vital issues of the international and regional agenda, including interaction in the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and BRICS as well as RIC (Russia India China).
- This visit will be a unique opportunity to discuss important aspects of bilateral ties, also to review preparations for the next India Russia annual summit and also perhaps discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest.
Uttar Pradesh government has launched a unique gift scheme to promote covid vaccination in the state.
- On the occasion of World Health Day on 7th April, state government will conduct a lucky draw for those who have taken the vaccine.
- 4 gifts will be given to the beneficiaries after lucky draw. Where more than 25,000 or more than 50,000 beneficiaries have taken both the doses of vaccines, the number of gifts will be increased to 6 and 8.
- State government is promoting vaccination and has appealed to the citizen who are above 45 years of age to come forward and take the vaccine as it is safe and also provides a shield against the coronavirus.
TRIFED under Ministry of Tribal Affairs has launched “Sankalp se Siddhi” - Village and Digital Connect Drive.
- It is a 100 day drive which was stared from 1st of this month. The drive will entail 150 teams visiting ten villages each of which 10 in each region from TRIFED and State Implementation Agencies, visiting ten villages each.
- The main aim of this drive is to activate the Van Dhan Vikas Kendras in these villages.
Government has sanctioned more than 25 thousand 586 crore rupees to over 1 lakh 14 thousand 322 accounts under Stand-Up India Scheme in five years.
- This scheme has been extended up to 2025.The objective is to promote entrepreneurship amongst women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
- It seeks to give access to loans from bank branches to borrowers to help them set up their own enterprise.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Dr S Jaishankar participates in the 17th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting chaired by Sri LankaThe External Affairs Minister of India, Dr S Jaishankar participated in the 17th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Ministerial Meeting.
- The meeting, chaired by Sri Lanka, was held in virtually with the participation of all BIMSTEC Member States.
- The meeting endorsed the BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity for adoption at the next BIMSTEC Summit, which will be held in Sri Lanka.
India has contributed $3,00,000 to the United Nations agency for gender equality and women empowerment, a contribution lauded by the UN entity.
- India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti said India reaffirms its support for gender equality and women empowerment, describing UN Women as a “valued partner in our progress from women’s development to #women-led development.”
BANKING & FINANCE
NPCI sets up its subsidiary firm – NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd.National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced the formation of its wholly-owned subsidiary firm - NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd. (NBBL).
- The brand under the new entity - Bharat BillPay - offers various recurring payment services to customers, including bill payments for electricity, telecom, DTH, gas, education fees, water and municipal taxes, NETC FASTag recharge, loan repayments, insurance, cable, housing society, subscription fees, hospital, credit card, clubs and associations.
West Bengal, which is the midst of a high-pitched assembly election, accounts for the highest collection of about Rs 90,000 crore from small savings schemes such as NSC and PPF among the states and union territories, which is about 15 per cent of the total corpus.
- It is followed by Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in terms of population, with gross collection of Rs 69,660.70 crore out of the Rs 5.96 lakh crore garnered during 2017-18 (last updated), as per data collated by the National Savings Institute under the finance ministry.
- The rate of interest on various small savings schemes for the first quarter of 2021-22 starting from April 1 and ending on June 30, 2021 would remain unchanged from those notified for the fourth quarter (January 1 to March 31, 2021) of 2020-21, the finance ministry said in the office memorandum in suppression of its previous order.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
6-digit HSN code mandatory in invoices for biz with over ₹5 crore turnoverBusinesses with turnover of more than ₹5 crore will have to furnish six-digit HSN or tariff code on the invoices issued for supplies of taxable goods and services from April 1, the Finance Ministry said.
- Earlier, the requirement was four-digits and two-digits respectively.
- In trade parlance, every product is categorised under an HSN code (Harmonised System of Nomenclature). It helps in systematic classification of goods across the globe. HSN codes for goods at 6 digits are universally common.
The trilateral trade between India, Israel and the UAE can propel to a high of USD 110 billion by 2030 by tapping into their mutual strengths, top diplomats and members of the business community have said.
- The comments were made at an event organised by the International Federation of Indo-Israel Chambers of Commerce (IFIICC) to discuss the ongoing business collaborations being pursued through IFIICC’s leadership across sectors.
SPORTS
Hubert Hurkacz of Poland clinches Miami Open title defeating Jannik Sinner of ItalyIn Tennis, 26th seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland won the biggest title of his career beating 19-year-old Jannik Sinner of Italy in the Miami Open final.
- Hurkacz was poised playing his first final in the top-level ATP series, the Masters 1000.
- Sinner, playing in just his third Masters 1000 tournament, wobbled serving at 6-5 in the first set and was broken at love. Hurkacz became Poland’s first Masters 1000 champion.
In Badminton, defending world champion Pramod Bhagat clinch two gold medals as India finished their campaign in the 3rd Sheikh Hamdan bin Al Maktoum Dubai Para-Badminton International 2021 in Dubai
- India topped the tally with 20 medals (4 gold, 6 silver and 10 bronze medals), ahead of France who finished with eight medals (4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze) and Malaysia with seven medals (3 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze).
APPOINTMENTS
Former Gujarat DGP Shabir Hussein Shekhadam Khandwawala Appointed New BCCI ACU ChiefFormer Gujarat DGP Shabir Hussein Shekhadam Khandwawala has taken over from Ajit Singh as the head of the BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit.
- Khandwawala, a 1973 batch IPS officer, has been appointed ahead of the IPL 2021 beginning April 9.
- He retired as Gujarat DGP in December 2010. After that he was an advisor to the Essar Group for 10 years. He has also been a part of the central government’s Lokpal Search Committee, which was mandated to appoint the Lokpal.
Against expectations of getting a second extension, the senior-most deputy governor BP Kanungo retired from the Reserve Bank on completion of his one-year extension.
- Kanungo joined the RBI in 1982 and was in charge of currency management, external investments, operations, payment, and settlement system, among others, during the four-year term as the deputy governor, which began in April 2017.
OBITUARIES
Former international table tennis player Suhas Kulkarni passes awayWell-known former international table tennis player Suhas Kulkarni died in neighbouring Thane. He was 68.
- After retiring as a player, Kulkarni was actively involved with the game with coaching and also regularly played in Masters' TT tournaments at the National and International level.
- He had also won National Masters’ TT Championship in Indore in 2019.
Former Union Environment Minister and MLA from Gujarat's Wankaner Digvijaysinh Zala passed away at the age of 88.
- Zala was an MLA from Wankaner for the years 1962-67 as an independent candidate and as a member of the Swatantra Party from 1967-71.
- Establishing the Environment ministry under Prime minister Indira Gandhi, he became the first Environment Minister of the country from 1982 to 1984.
- Credited with declaring many national parks in India to conserve wildlife and nature, he made some of the major reforms such as coordinating with the Indian Railways to replace the wooden sleepers under railway tracks with cement ones to help save India's trees.
Veteran actress Shashikala passed away at her residence in Mumbai. She was 88 years old.
- More popularly known by her first name, Shashikala Om Prakash Saigal had acted in over 100 movies. She began her career with a small role in the 1945 release Zeenat.
- Shashikala was honoured with the prestigious Padma Shri by the Indian government for her unparalleled contribution to the world of cinema and arts in 2007. She was also conferred with the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award at the V. Shantaram Awards in 2009. Apart from this, Shashikala bagged two Filmfare awards for her work in Aarti and Gumrah.
BOOKS & AUTHORS
Vice President releases book 'Agriculture in India: Contemporary Challenges – in the Context of Doubling Farmers Income’The Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu hss released the book titled 'Agriculture in India: Contemporary Challenges – in the Context of Doubling Farmers Income’ by former Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary Mohan Kanda.
- This book presents a meaningful synthesis of the challenges concerning agricultural research, development, policy and programmes.
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