National & International Appointments
1. Narinder Batra re-elected as President of FIH
- Narinder Batra has been re-elected as the President of International Hockey Federation (FIH) for the 2nd term
- He was elected during the virtual 47th Congress of FIH, where he defeated Marc Coudron, Chief of Belgium Hockey Federation
- He will hold the office till 2024 for three years.
- He is the only Asian to be appointed to this post.
- He is also the President of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Member of International Olympic Committee
- FIH HQs: Lausanne, Switzerland
International Affairs
2. China successfully launches new ocean observation satellite ‘Haiyang-2D’
- China has successfully launched a new ocean-monitoring satellite titled as ‘Haiyang-2D (HY-2D)’ into orbit on Long March-4B rocket, from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, China
- HY-2D will form a constellation with HY-2B and HY-2C satellites to build an all-weather and round-the-clock dynamic ocean environment monitoring system of high frequency and medium and large scale to provide early warning on marine disasters, ocean resources, climate change, etc.
Banking & Finance
3. SBI partners HyperVerge to offer AI-powered Online Account Opening
- HyperVerge has partnered with SBI to provide convenient digital banking services to the customers of SBI with one of its flagship products, Video Banking solution
- Under this, SBI customers can instantly open savings account using Video Banking process, during COVID, with minimal ID documents
- It will help to achieve ten times improvement in account openings per day per agent, over regular video KYC checks as they will be assisted by AI engines with an accuracy of 99.5%
National Affairs
4. Govt nominated 12 artistes, musicians as Kalakshetra Foundation board
- Govt has appointed 12 eminent artistes and musicians to the board of Kalakshetra Foundation (Arts and cultural academy, especially Bharatanatyam dance and Gandharvaveda music)
- Kuchipudi exponents Pasumarthy Kesava Prasad and Veena Murthy Vijay have also been nominated to the board.
- Kalakshetra Foundation:
- It is based in Chennai
- Founded: 1936 by Rukmini Devi Arundale and George Arundale
- It is recognised as an Institute of National Importance in 1994.
National Affairs
5. Union Minister launches NMMS app & Area officer monitoring App
- Union Minister of Rural Development, Narendra Singh Tomar has launched National Mobile Monitoring Software (NMMS) app and Area officer monitoring App.
- NMMS App: real time attendance of workers at MNREGS worksites along with geotagged photograph to increase citizen oversight of the programme.
- Area Officer Monitoring App: It facilitates them to record their findings online, time stamped and go-coordinate tagged photograph for all the schemes (MNREGS, PMAYG, PMGSY)
Sports
6. Phil Mickelson won PGA Championship
- Phil Mickelson (50 years) won the PGA Golf Championship by two shots over Brooks Koepka and South African Louis Oosthuizen
- He became the oldest major winner in history.
- He sealed the deal with a one-over-par 73 at the Ocean Course that left him at six under on the week.
- Victory by Mickelson marked the sixth major championship win of his career and first since the 2013 British Open.
National Affairs
7. Govt revised VDA to provide relief to 1.5 crore workers
- Govt has notified and revised the rate of Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) to provide relief to different category of workers of scheduled central sector
- It will benefit about 1.5 crore workers
- It will be effective from 1st April 2021
- VDA is revised on the basis of average Consumer Price Index for industrial workers
- Fixed rates are applicable Central Govt, Railway Admin, Mines, Oil fields, etc
- These rates are equally applicable to contract and casual employees
Honours & Awards
8. TCS CodeVita won Guinness title for largest computer programming contest
- Ninth season of Tata Consultancy Services' programming contest (TCS CodeVita) has won Guinness World Records title for the world's largest computer programming competition.
- The contest comprises of 136,054 participants from 34 countries.
- Top three CodeVita finishers received cash prizes of USD 10,000, 7000 and 3,000
- Ben Alexander Mirtchouk of Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey is the competitions first ever US winner.
National Affairs
9. SC’s e-committee releases free e-Courts Services Mobile App manual
- E-Committee of Supreme Court has released manual for its free e-Courts Services Mobile App in 14 languages.
- SC’s app is available in English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Guajarati, Kannada, Khasi, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.
- App is aimed to benefit Litigants, Citizens, Lawyers, Law firms, Police, Govt Agencies and other institutions with screenshots for easy understanding
- It can be downloaded free of cost from the official website
Banking & Finance
10. Finance Ministry notifies rules for increased FDI in insurance sector
- Finance Ministry has notified rules for increased FDI in the insurance sector.
- Insurance Amendment Bill 2021 has increase the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the insurance sector to 74% from 49%.
- Parliament passed the Bill 2021 on March 22.
- New norms will apply to all insurers, irrespective of the stake held by the foreign partner.
- Further amendments are now expected in Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 and IRDAI guidelines
Banking & Finance
11. IDBI announces fully digitised loan processing system
- IDBI Bank has announced the launch of its fully digitised loan processing system, offering over 50 products to MSME and agriculture sector with over 35 interface touch points
- Loan Processing System (LPS) for MSME and agri products seamlessly integrates with data fintechs, bureau validations, document storage, account management and customer notifications among others.
- IDBI's Headquarters: Mumbai
- CEO of IDBI: Rakesh Sharma
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