Daily Current Affairs Quiz 1st April 2021, Daily GK Quiz

Exp. Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ inaugurated a happiness centre at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Jammu virtually on 30th March. The minister said that incorporating happiness in the academic curriculum is a very crucial step towards empowering the nation, and congratulated the institute for the venture.

‘Anandam – the Centre for Happiness’ aligns with the National Education Policy 2020, aiming to achieve holistic wellbeing for all.

Exp. The Odisha state government has proposed a second biosphere reserve in the southern part of the state at Mahendragiri. It is a mountain in the Gajapati district of the state. It is at an altitude of 1,501 metres. Mahendragiri is also the second-highest peak in the state.

The area of the proposed 2nd biosphere reserve of the state- Mahendragiri Biosphere Reserve is approximately 470,955 hectares.

Similipal Biosphere Reserve is the first biosphere reserve of Odisha. It was notified on May 20, 1996. It has an area of a 5,569-square kilometre.

Exp. Centre proposes up to 25% tax concession on purchase of new vehicles. The Ministry of Road, Transport, and Highways (MoRTH) has proposed a concession of 25% in road tax against the scrappage certificate of personal vehicles and 15% for transport vehicles.

As a part of the newly introduced vehicle scrappage policy, this rule is proposed to come into effect from October 1st, 2021.

Exp. The Central Government has announced to infuse Rs 14,500 crore in four state-owned lenders namely Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of India and UCO Bank in 2020-21, by issuing non-interest bearing bonds to these banks. This infusion will complete the government’s total capital infusion of Rs 20,000 crore in public sector banks for the current financial year 2020-21. Earlier in December 2020, it infused Rs 5,500 crore in Punjab and Sind Bank.

Exp. Country’s largest lender, State Bank of India, has raised $1 billion from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to extend loans to supply chain of Japanese automobile industry in India.

SBI signed a loan agreement with JBIC, taking the total facility to $2 billion. It has inked similar agreement for $1 billion in October 2020, SBI said in a statement. Bank did not disclose terms of agreement including tenure and interest charged for loan facility.

The loan is in the form of refinance against the funding support provided to the manufacturers, suppliers and dealers of Japanese automobiles in India. These businesses are recovering from reduced sales of automobiles due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The financing will assist the Government of India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Exp. Hitachi Ltd said on 31st March it will buy U.S. software company GlobalLogic Inc for $9.6 billion, as the Japanese industrial conglomerate aims to expand from electronics hardware to digital services.

The acquisition is part of Hitachi’s ongoing business portfolio overhaul, which includes the $7 billion acquisition of ABB Ltd’s power grid business last year and a series of divestitures of its domestic hardware subsidiaries.

Exp. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) estimated said India to record an economic growth of 7% in 2021-22, over a contraction of 7.7% witnessed in the previous fiscal on account of the pandemic’s impact on normal business activity.

Despite a robust reduction in new Covid-19 cases and the start of vaccine roll-out.

Exp. The World Economic Forum has released the Global Gender Gap Report 2021. India has seen a decrease in its ranking on the index by 28 places. India has been ranked 140th among 156 countries on the index. With this, India became the third-worst performer in South Asia.

The top 10 most gender-equal countries are Iceland, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, Rwanda, Sweden, Ireland, and Switzerland.

Among India’s neighbors, Nepal has been ranked 106, Bangladesh 65, Afghanistan 156, Pakistan 153, Sri Lanka 116, and Bhutan 130. In 2020, India was ranked 112th among 153 countries.

Exp. The World Economic Forum has released the Global Gender Gap Report 2021. India has seen a decrease in its ranking on the index by 28 places. India has been ranked 140th among 156 countries on the index. With this, India became the third-worst performer in South Asia.

The top 10 most gender-equal countries are Iceland, Finland, Norway, New Zealand, Rwanda, Sweden, Ireland, and Switzerland.

Among India’s neighbors, Nepal has been ranked 106, Bangladesh 65, Afghanistan 156, Pakistan 153, Sri Lanka 116, and Bhutan 130. In 2020, India was ranked 112th among 153 countries.

Exp.The prestigious 51st Dadasaheb Phalke Award will be honoured to superstar Rajinikanth, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar announced on 1 April.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2019 should have been announced last year but was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as were the National Film Awards for 2019.

Rajinikanth, 70, is among Indian cinema’s most iconic stars. He made his debut in the 1975 Tamil film Apoorva Ragangal and delivered superhit films such as Billu, Muthu, Baashha, Sivaji, and Enthiran. Rajinikanth also starred in several Bollywood hits such as Hum and Chaalbaaz.

On the jury that selected Rajinikanth for the award were singers Asha Bhosle and Shankar Mahadevan, actors Mohanlal and Biswajeet, and filmmaker Subhash Ghai.

Exp. Utkal Divas or Utakala Dibasha is celebrated on April 1 every year to remember the formation of the Odisha state after a struggle to be recognised as an independent state.

The new province of Odisha was formed after people’s continued struggle, which finally paid off on April 1, 1936.

Exp. French Naval Ships Tonnerre (Amphibious Assault Ship) and Surcouf (Frigate Class Ship) are on a two-day goodwill visit to Kochi. The ships arrived at Cochin Port Trust on 30 Mar and were received by Senior Naval Authorities in the background of fanfare by the naval band.

Interactions between India and France have evolved into a strong partnership especially in the domain of maritime security.

Exp. Headquarters: Cologny, Switzerland

Executive Chairman: Klaus Schwab

Exp. Similipal National Park is a national park and a tiger reserve in the Mayurbhanj district in the Indian state of Odisha.