Current Affairs of 3rd May 2021

NATIONAL 

1. India, Mauritius Free Trade Agreement to Come into Effect from April 1, Says Commerce Ministry

• Several Indian products will enjoy the benefit of greater market access at concessional duties in Mauritius as the free trade agreement signed between the two countries will come into effect from April 1, 2021. 

2. Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray lays foundation stone for Balasaheb Thackeray National Memorial

• Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray laid the foundation stone for Balasaheb Thackeray National Memorial at Shivaji Park in suburban Dadar.
• The memorial will be built in two phases. While the memorial’s architecture, electrical, interior and exterior decoration of the building, construction of parking lot, gardening and rainwater harvesting etc will be taken care of in the first phase, the second phase will involve putting in place the technological features like a laser show, digital mapping, films, audio-visual, virtual reality etc.

3. Govt approves over Rs 6,100 crore-worth highway projects

• The government approved highway projects worth more than Rs 6,176 crore.
• These projects pertain to seven states and union territories, including Maharashtra, Assam and Ladakh.

4. With over 6000 route km, Railways log highest ever figures in Electrification of routes

• Indian Railways has logged the highest ever electrification of sections covering over six thousand route kilometers in a single year during 2020-21. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, it has surpassed the previous highest of over five thousand route kilometers achieved in 2018-19.
• More than five times electrification was achieved in the last seven years as compared to 2007-14. It has also commissioned a record 56 Traction Sub Stations during 2020-21, as against the previous best of 42, which shows an improvement of 33 percent.

5.Centre to soon roll out Unique Land Parcel Identification Number system in-country

• The Centre will soon roll out a Unique Land Parcel Identification Number system in the country allotting distinct IDs for each land parcel.
• In the Unique Land Parcel Identification Number System, there will be a unique ID for each land parcel. The unique ID will be of 14 digits. It would be based on the Georeference coordinate of vertices of the parcel.

BANKING & FINANCE 

6. ICICI Bank, PhonePe tie-up for issuance of FASTags

• ICICI Bank and digital payment wallet PhonePe have partnered for the issuance of FASTag, which facilitates electronic payment of fees at toll plazas.
• Under the partnership, the issuance of FASTag will take place by using UPI on the PhonePe app.
• This integration allows over 28 crores registered PhonePe users to order and track the ICICI Bank FASTag conveniently on the app.

7. Mastercard to invest about Rs 733 cr in Airtel Africa’s mobile money business

• Airtel Africa announced that Mastercard would invest USD 100 million (about ₹733 crores) in its wholly-owned subsidiary Airtel Mobile Commerce BV (AMC BV).
• Mastercard would hold a minority stake in AMC BV on completion of the deal, with Airtel Africa continuing to hold the majority stake.

8. Barclays cuts FY22 GDP growth forecast to 10%

• Global brokerage firm Barclays cut India’s FY22 GDP growth estimate to 10 percent from earlier 11 percent.

Note: India GDP projected F22 (2021-2022)

• Word Bank-1%
• ICRA-10%
• ADB-11%
• Crisil-11%
• UBS-10%
• Fitch-12.8%
• UN-7.3%
• SBI-10.4%
• IMF-12.5%

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

9. Govt Extends Current Foreign Trade Policy Till September Due to Covid-19

• The government extended the existing foreign trade policy (FTP) for six more months up to September 30 this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• FTP provides guidelines for enhancing exports to push economic growth and create jobs.

10. India’s projected FY22 growth could weaken to 12.2% from 13.5% if second wave worsens: Nomura

• India’s growth in the current fiscal could weaken to 12.2% from the previously forecast 13.5% if the second wave of Covid-19 infections worsens, according to Japanese brokerage Nomura.
• The rapid increase in cases across states could lead to Nomura dialing down its projection of annual growth in the first quarter of this fiscal to 32.5% from the current 34.5%, implying near-zero or marginally negative sequential growth momentum.

11. Power Finance Corporation pays an interim dividend of Rs 1,182 crore to the government for ’20-’21

• Power Finance Corporation, a Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Power and India’s leading NBFC for the Power Sector has paid an interim dividend of Rs 1182.63 crore to the Government of India for the financial year 2020-21 on March 31st, 2021 on 1,47,82,91,778 number of equity shares (56%) held by the government.

12. Exports of foreign subsidiaries accounted for 33% of their total sales in FY20: RBI

• Exports of foreign subsidiaries in India accounted for 32.6 percent of their total sales in 2019-20, according to RBI.

• The RBI released the provisional results of the 2019-20 round of the annual census on foreign liabilities and assets (FLA) covering cross-border liabilities and assets of the entities with inward/outward direct investment.

13. CBIC extends customs duty and integrated GST exemptions till March 31, 2022

• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) extended the basic customs duty and integrated goods and service tax exemptions for export-oriented units, by a year till March 31, 2022.
• The Board also made it mandatory for a GST taxpayer having turnover of more than Rs 5 crore in the preceding financial year, to furnish 6 digits HSN Code on invoices issued for supplies.

ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

14. Axis Bank to sell UK arm to a tech platform

• Axis Bank has informed the stock exchanges that it has agreed to sell its UK subsidiary to OpenPayd Holdings.
• The consideration or the value for the transaction would be the completion net asset value (book value of the bank on the date of completion), plus a fixed premium of $5,500,000.

SPORTS

15. 2023 Men’s Boxing World Championships to be held in Tashkent

• The 2023 men’s boxing World Championships will be held in Uzbekistan capital Tashkent, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) announced.
• The preparation for AIBA Men’s World Boxing Championships has already started and the first plan of arrangements has been launched.

16. Lewis Hamilton won the Portuguese Grand Prix

• Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton won the Portuguese Grand Prix for Mercedes on 2^nd May to stretch his Formula One lead over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to eight points after three races.
• Max Verstappen (Red bull) and Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) stand in 2nd and 3rd Position respectively.

Note: List of 2021 F1 Race

• Bahrain F1 Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-Great Britain)
• Emilia Romagna F1 Grand Prix: Max Verstappen (Red Bull – Netherlands)

APPOINTMENTS

17. Former RBI Governor Urjit Patel appointed Additional Director of Britannia

• The Board of Britannia Industries has appointed former Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel as the company’s Additional Director in the category of Non-Executive and Independent Director.
• He has been appointed as the Additional Director with effect from March 31 for a five-year period.

18. Amit Banerjee Appointed as new CMD of BEML Limited

• Amit Banerjee has been appointed as the new Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of BEML Limited, a Miniratna Defence PSU under the Ministry of Defence.

Note: About BEML

• Headquarters: Bengaluru
• Founded: May 1964

19. Subhash Kumar takes additional charge as CMD Of ONGC

• Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)’s Director (Finance) Subhash Kumar assumed additional charge as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) upon the retirement of incumbent Shashi Shanker.
• Kumar took charge upon the superannuation of incumbent CMD, Shashi Shanker on March 31, 2021

AWARDS

20. Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan receives the Kalinga Ratna award

• Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan has been conferred the ‘Kalinga Ratna’ award for the year 2021.
• The award instituted by Sarala Sahitya Sansad was presented to Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan by M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India, during the 600th Birth Anniversary of Adikabi Sarala Das and 40th Annual Celebrations of Sarala Sahitya Sansad during the program held at Sarala Bhawan in Cuttack.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

21. India’s biggest floating solar power plant to be set up at Ramagundam in Telangana

• India’s biggest floating solar power plant with a capacity of 100 MW will be set up at Ramagundam in Telangana.
• The solar project is commissioned by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). The project, which is estimated to cost around 423 crore rupees, will have 4.5 lakh photovoltaic panels.

ENVIRONMENT

22. Amboli in Maharashtra named as Biodiversity Heritage Site

• The Maharashtra government declared an area at Amboli in Western ghats in Sindhudurg district, where a rare freshwater fish species was discovered, as a biodiversity heritage site.
• Schistura Hiranyakeshi is a rare sub-species of Schistura, a freshwater loch. The fish was named after the Hiranyakeshi river near Amboli village.

IMPORTANT DAYS

23. World Press Freedom Day: 3^RD MAY

• This year’s World Press Freedom Day theme “Information as a Public Good” serves as a call to affirm the importance of cherishing information as a public good and exploring what can be done in the production, distribution, and reception of content to strengthen journalism and to advance transparency and empowerment while leaving no one behind.

24. World Autism Awareness Day

• Work Autism Awareness Day is observed on April 2, every year to makes people understand and accept people with autism, foster worldwide support, and inspire people. It is a day that spread kindness and autism awareness.
• This year, the theme is ‘Inclusion in the Workplace: Challenges and Opportunities in a Post-Pandemic World’.

Obituary

25. Veteran Football Administrator and Hindustan FC Owner DK Bose passed away

• Veteran football administrator and Hindustan FC owner Dilip Kumar Bose died at a local hospital here after battling COVID-19. He was 70.

26. Sitar maestro Pandit Devabrata Chaudhuri Passes Away

• Sitar maestro Pandit Debu Chaudhuri has passed away following COVID-19 related complications.
• The Legend of Sitar belonged to the Senia or Gharana style of music. He had been awarded the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri.

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