DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 13 - 14 MARCH 2021 NATIONAL Jal Jeevan Mission: Jal Shakti.12.2018 Minister to chair Conference of Ministers of States, UTs Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra.2018 Singh Shekhawat will be chairing a Conference of States and UTs Ministers on Jal Jeevan Mission and review the progress made under the Mission. The conference is being.11.2018 organized to discuss planning, implementation and progress made so far as well as the way forward so that the remaining households in villages get tap water connections at the earliest. I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar initiate Amrit Mahotsav exhibitions at six places Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shri Prakash Javadekar will inaugurate exhibitions at six places virtually. The six places are Bangalore, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Moirang District in Manipur and Samba District in Jammu and Kashmir. In addition,Shri Prakash Javadekar will also inaugurate an exhibition at the National Media Center in New Delhi. The exhibitions are being organised in pursuance of the vision of the Prime Minister and to contribute to the festive fervor to the Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav as part of India‟s 75th Independence Day celebrations. India Chair the First Meeting of BRICS CGETI The first Meeting of the BRICS Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues (CGETI) was held under India‟s Chairship from 9th till 11th of this month. The theme of BRICS this year is -“BRICS at 15: Intra BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation, and Consensus”. India presented the calendar of events for BRICS CGETI 2021, which included the priority areas for deliverables, schedule and scope of the MSME roundtable conference workshop on Services Statistics, and the BRICS Trade Fair. Government launches ‘Mera Ration’ mobile app On March 12, 2021, Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution launched “Mera Ration” Mobile App for those ration card holders who migrate to new places in search of livelihood. This app will benefit especially those ration card holders who move to new areas for livelihoods. The app is developed by the government in association with NIC “to facilitate various ONORC related services among National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries, particularly migrant beneficiaries, FPS dealers and other relevant stakeholders. BANKING AND ECONOMIC Govt to launch ‘Atmanirbhar Niveshak Mitra’ portal Government will soon launch „Atma Nirbhar Niveshak Mitra‟ portal for handholding and facilitation of domestic investors. In order to further strengthen efforts to promote domestic investments, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is in the process of finalising the „Atmanirbhar Niveshak Mitra‟ digital portal. The portal is in testing phase and the final version will be ready for launch by 15th May this year. The webpage will also be available in regional languages and mobile App in due course. Cabinet gives nod to amendments in Insurance Act to Increase FDI Limit to 74% The Union Cabinet has approved to increase the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit to 74 percent. Currently, the permissible FDI limit in life and general insurance stands at 49 percent with ownership and management control with Indian. The Cabinet has approval for amendments in the Insurance Act, 1938 The decision regarding increasing the FDI was taken during Budget 2021 on February 1. In 2015 the government hiked the FDI cap in the insurance sector from 26 percent to 49 percent. Indian Bank to divest stake in asset reconstruction JV ASREC India State-owned Indian Bank will divest stake in joint venture entity ASREC (India) Ltd as part of asset monetisation exercise. The bank holds a 26 percent stake in ASREC (India) Ltd. The monetisation of the bank‟s non-core assets, the board of directors of the bank in its meeting held on March 5, 2021 STATE GOVT NEWS J&K: Ramban District Administration develop mobile app named e-Suvidha 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar-750015 1 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web :www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 13 - 14 MARCH 2021 In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the District Administration, Ramban has developed a mobile application .12.2018named e- Suvidha, which shall bring many public delivery services and departments on the digital.2018 platform. The initiative has been taken on the directions of Lieutenant Governor‟s Secretariat. Deputy Commissioner,.11.2018 Ramban, Mussarat Islam, cleared the decks for the launch of the Mobile App which will be launched after a final trial run next week. India’s first dedicated express cargo terminal launched in Bengaluru airport The Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru now has India‟s first dedicated Express Cargo Terminal exclusively for export and import of international couriers. A media release issued by Bangalore International Airport Limited that operates the Bengaluru airport says that the Chief Commissioner of Customs in Bengaluru zone Mr.M Srinivas inaugurated the Terminal. DAY AND DATES World Kidney Day – Observed on Mar 11 (2nd Thursday in March) World Kidney Day is a global health awareness campaign focusing on the importance of the kidneys and reducing the frequency and impact of kidney disease and its associated health problems worldwide. World Kidney Day is observed annually on the 2nd Thursday in March. The World Kidney Day Steering Committee has declared 2021 the year of “Living Well with Kidney Disease”. This has been done in order to both increase education and awareness about effective symptom management and patient empowerment, with the ultimate goal of encouraging life participation. World Sleep Day – Observed on Mar 13 World Sleep Day is an annual event observed on March 13 organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Society, formerly World Association of Sleep Medicine, since 2008. The celebrations of World Sleep Day are based on some slogans and themes for annual celebrations. So, the theme or slogan for World Sleep Day 2021 is “Regular Sleep, Healthy Future.” The World Sleep Day Committee of World Sleep Society organized the World Sleep Daywith an objective to minimize the burden of the problems related to sleep on the society through better prevention and management of sleep disorders. INTERNATIONAL Gulf of Oman: Indian Navy provides technical assistance to stranded merchant vessel Indian Navy Ship (INS) Talwar, deployed in the Gulf of Oman, provided technical assistance to a stranded merchant vessel carrying seven Indian crew members. According to an official statement, INS Talwar received a broadcast call from a stranded merchant cargo ship MV Nayan, requesting technical assistance. The cargo ship, on transit from Oman to Iraq, was drifting at sea since March 9, owing to the failure of its propulsion, power generation machinery and navigational equipment. Bangladesh: Five heads of state, govt to attend 10 day-long celebrations Five heads of state and heads of government from the South Asian region will participate in the ten- day-long celebrations being organised on the occasion of the centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib and 50 years of liberation of Bangladesh. The 10-day long special programme will start on 17th March and conclude on 26 March. Chief Coordinator of the Committee tasked with the planning of the celebrations in Bangladesh, Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury told the media in a press meet that the events will be held with a separate theme for each day. NADA’s disciplinary panel imposes sanctions on weightlifter & boxer for violating code The National Anti-Doping Agency‟s (NADA) disciplinary panel imposed sanctions on weightlifter Madhavan R and boxer Ruchika for violation of its code. Weightlifter Madhavan R, tested positive for prohibited substance Phentermine and Mephentermine, was handed a four-year ban by the Anti Doping Disciplinary Panel. A two-year ban on boxer Ruchika after she was found positive for Furosemide. AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS 20 Persons to be conferred Sahitya Akademi awards Politician-writer M Veerappa Moily, poets Arundhathi Subramaniam and Anamika are among the twenty writers who will be conferred with the Sahitya Akademi Award 2020. 1441, Opp. IOCL Petrol Pump, CRPF Square, Bhubaneswar-750015 2 Ph. : (0674) 6556677, 8093556677. Web :www.vanik.org, E-mail : [email protected] DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 13 - 14 MARCH 2021 This annual Sahitya Akademi Award has been announced for India‟s 20 regional languages including Hindi, Maithil.12.2018i, Urdu and others. According to an official.2018 communication of the Akademi, the seven books of poetry, four books of novels, five books of short stories, two plays one each of Memoirs and Epic poetry have won the awards. .11.2018 ‘Digambara Kavi’ Nikhileshwar bags Sahitya Akademi Award Renowned writer Nikhileswar, and one among the six „Digambara Kavulu‟ has been chosen for the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award-2020 for his anthology of poems Agniswaasa penned in 2017. A poet with a focus on social issues for almost six decades now, Nikhileswar also contributed to English and Hindi languages. MISCELLANEOUS DRDO Developed Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) System Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has Developed an important milestone in the development of Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) System by proving the land-based prototype. The plant was operated in endurance mode and max power mode as per the user requirements. The system is being developed by Naval Materials Research Laboratory (NMRL) of DRDO. The technology has been successfully developed with the support of industry partners L&T and Thermax. Joint Earth Observation Satellite Mission Radar Developed by ISRO with NASA The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has completed the development of a radar for the joint earth observation satellite mission with the US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This is a part of an agreement that was signed by NASA administrator Charles Bolden and the then ISRO chairman named K Radhakrishnan on September 30, 2014, in Toronto, Canada.