Today Current Affairs for Competitive Exams - Current Affairs 2021 Online Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank fined The company had merged its VFX business with global visual effects provider DNEG The RBI has imposed a penalty of ₹40 lakh (Double Negative). on Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative This is the fifth Academy Award win for DNEG Bank, Shimla, for non-compliance with certain in the last seven years and its sixth win in regulatory directions issued by NABARD. total. The penalty has been imposed for non- compliance with regulatory directions issued ADB upgrades its GDP projection for India by NABARD contained in 'Review of Frauds - Guidelines on Monitoring and Reporting The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has System'. upgraded its India growth projection for FY22 to 11% from 8% earlier. Indian Covid-19 variant found in 17 nations It has assumed that the second wave of the covid-19 pandemic is contained, and vaccines WHO has informed that a variant of Covid-19 are deployed extensively across the country. feared to be contributing to a surge in It has projected inflation to moderate to 5.2% coronavirus cases in India has been found in in FY22 after rising by 6.2% in FY21. over a dozen countries. The B.1.617 variant of Covid-19 first found in Pakistan records highest-ever deaths India has been detected in over 1,200 sequences uploaded to the GISAID open- Pakistan on 28 April 2021 reported more than access database from at least 17 countries. 200 deaths due to the COVID-19, the highest Most sequences were uploaded from India, number of fatalities in a single day. UK, the USA, and Singapore. The death toll jumped to 17,530 after 201 fatalities were reported. Government leaves GPF interest rate unchanged The data showed that 157 people died on April 23, 2021, which broke the record of 153 The government has decided to keep the deaths reported on June 20, 2020. General Provident Fund (GPF) and other non- government PF, Gratuity funds interest rate However, a new record was created within a unchanged at 7.1 percent. week. The interest rate of 7.1 percent is applicable Amar Merani joins IIFL as Strategy Head for April to June 2021 quarter and the new rate will become effective from 1st April 2021. IIFL Asset Management Co. (AMC) has There are 10 funds for which this interest rate appointed Amar Merani as Head of real estate announcement will apply. strategy. He will lead the team in managing Prime Focus wins Academy Awards investments and building the company’s client base. Indian media services company Prime Focus Ltd has won the Academy Award for best Merani joins from Xander Finance, the non- visual effects for Christopher Nolan’s spy banking financial company (NBFC) of Xander thriller Tenet. Group Inc., where he was the CEO since 2012. 1 | P a g e Agriculture Infra Fund crosses 8000 cr mark Large oxygen plants to be set up in MP Agriculture Infrastructure Fund has crossed Large oxygen plants are to be set up in all the 8000 crore mark. divisional headquarters of Madhya Pradesh. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers The state reported 13,417 fresh COVID cases Welfare has informed that a total of 8,665 on 27 April 2021 while 11,577 patients applications worth 8,216 crore rupees have recovered from the infection. been received for the fund. Under the Kill Corona Campaign, 12,800 The largest share of 58 percent has been survey teams are doing survey work in the contributed by Primary Agricultural Credit state. Societies followed by agri-entrepreneurs and The pace of infection has come down in the individual farmers. state, as informed by the CM. India’s organic food products export rises Bangladesh gives nod to use of Sputnik V India’s organic food products exports rose by Bangladesh government has approved the more than 50% in terms of value in 2020-21 emergency use of the Russian COVID 19 despite COVID-19 challenges. vaccine Sputnik V. In terms of quantity, the exports of organic The vaccine is expected to arrive in food products grew by 39% to 8,88,000 metric Bangladesh in May 2021. tonnes during the last financial year compared Sputnik V is the second vaccine to receive to 2019-20. approval for use in Bangladesh. They have been exported to 58 countries Earlier, the Serum Institute of India (SII) including USA, European Union, Canada, produced the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine Britain, Australia, Switzerland, Israel, etc. was approved for use in Bangladesh. Noted Odia writer Manoj Das passes away China announces new anti-espionage regulation Manoj Das, an Indian author who wrote in China has announced a new anti-espionage Odia and English, passed away in April 2021. regulation amid worsening ties with the He made rich contributions to English and world’s major powers and a renewed focus on Odia literature. national security. He was a leading exponent of Sri Aurobindo’s The new regulation allows the national philosophy. security authority to draw up lists of He was awarded Padma Shri in 2001 and companies and organizations that are Padma Bhushan in 2020 for his contributions susceptible to foreign infiltration and require in the field of literature and education. listed institutes to adopt security measures to He was also honoured with the Sahitya prevent foreign infiltration. Akademi Award fellowship. Railway delivers liquid medical oxygen NCT of Delhi Amendment Act comes into effect Railway has delivered 450 metric tonnes of The Government of National Capital Territory liquid medical oxygen to Maharashtra, Uttar of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021 has come Pradesh, and Delhi in six Oxygen express. into force. It has delivered this liquid medical oxygen It gives primacy to the Lieutenant Governor through 26 tankers covering more than ten (L-G) over the elected government in the city thousand kilometers. The provisions of the Act came into effect on As per provisional estimates, Railways has April 27, 2021. delivered 202 metric tonnes to Uttar Pradesh, The city government will now have to seek the 174 metric tonnes to Maharashtra, and 70 opinion of the L-G before taking any executive metric tonnes to Delhi. action. 2 | P a g e Govt procures over 232 lakh tonnes of wheat Lanka cabinet approves ban on face coverings Government has procured over 232 lakh Sri Lanka’s cabinet on 27 April 2021 approved tonnes of wheat benefitting more than 22 lakh a controversial proposal to ban all forms of farmers. face coverings in public places, citing a threat The procurement of wheat has recently to national security. commenced in the rabi marketing season in The decision was taken two years after a the Punjab, Haryana, UP, MP, Rajasthan, etc. wave of coordinated terror attacks on hotels More than one crore six lakh farmers have and churches on 21 April 2019. already been benefitted from the ongoing The covering of the full face will automatically Kharif marketing season procurement include burqa and niqab. Operations. Former Belagavi MP SB Sidnal passes away Registration for Covid vaccination begins Senior Congress leader and four-time The registration process for COVID Belagavi MP Shanmukhappa Basappa Sidnal vaccination to all above 18 years began on 28 passed away on 27 April 2021. April 2021. The veteran Congress man represented They will be vaccinated in the third phase of Belagavi in the Lok Sabha from 1980 to 1991. the COVID vaccination drive starting from 1 He was elected as the president of the State May 2021. Bar Association in 1979. All those eligible can register on the Co-Win He was a trusted follower of Indira Gandhi portal - cowin.gov.in. and a close friend of veteran leader B. In this phase, the vaccination will continue as Shankarananda. before in central govt vaccination centers free of cost to the eligible people. Lenskart acquihires delivery startup DailyJoy Railways makes 4,000 Covid Care coaches Delhi-based eyewear retailer Lenskart on 27 April 2021 aqui-hired Hyderabad-based Railways has made nearly 4000 Covid Care essentials delivery startup DailyJoy. coaches with almost 64,000 beds ready for The retail brand also inaugurated its new use by states. technology centre at Hyderabad. At present 169 coaches have been handed The move aims to deliver world-class over to various states for Covid care. engineering solutions to support Lenskart in It has deployed Covid Care Coaches in Uttar expanding its footprint both at home and Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and abroad. Delhi to assist the states in view of rising corona cases in the country. Gemini partners with Mastercard OYO launches quarantine facilities Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange and custodian founded by the Winklevoss Hospitality firm OYO on 27 April 2021 brothers, has partnered with Mastercard to launched OYO Care feature on its mobile app launch a crypto rewards credit card. to support the healthcare system in the Under this facility, Gemini cardholders will be country. given the option to transfer their crypto The initiative will avail the users to book rewards into interest-earning program Gemini quarantine as well as isolation facilities for Earn. COVID-19 patients. The card will be made available to American To provide these facilities, OYO has joined investors across all states towards the end of hands with over 30 hospitals, several 2021. government authorities and private sector organisations. Fiji reports cases of COVID-19 variant 3 | P a g e Fiji on 27 April 2021 confirmed the cases of a Shukla was the niece of former Prime Minister corona virus variant that was first detected in Atal Bihari Vajpayee. India. She was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of Authorities on 27 April 2021 banned inter- India.