Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 02 January 2021

::NATIONAL::

Prime Minister Modi lays foundation stone for light house projects

The prime minister also described the various technologies that will be used to construct houses in each of the six locations: Agartala, Lucknow, Indore, Rajkot, Chennai and Ranchi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday virtually laid the foundation stone of Light House Projects (LHP) under the Global Housing Technology Challenge (GHTC) -India, conceptualised by the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs. The project aims to identify and mainstream several innovative technologies from across the world which is sustainable and disaster-resilient.
Talking more about the GHTC-India challenge, more than 50 companies working on innovative technologies participated in it. PM Modi then spoke about the technologies that will be used at the six locations: Agartala, Lucknow, Indore, Rajkot, Chennai and Ranchi. The ones in Indore, he said, won’t have walls made of bricks; “pre-fabricated sandwich panel” system will be used for these. For Rajkot, PM Modi said, the French “monolithic concrete construction” technology will be used.
Precast concrete system from the United States and Finland will be used in Chennai, while in Ranchi, Germany’s 3-D construction system will be used, PM Modi added. New Zealand’s steel frame technology will be used in Agartala and a technology from Canada will be used in Lucknow, he further said.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi had tweeted, “On the first day of 2021, will be taking part in a programme aimed at transforming India’s urban landscape. Will lay the foundation stone of Light House Projects and distribute PMAY (Urban) and ASHA-India Awards. Join Live at 11 AM.” Under the project,each location will get more than 1,000 houses for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). The period of construction is maximum 12 months from the date these sites are handed over to the construction agency after all statutory approvals.

Government employees will get disability compensation

On the day of New Year 2021, here comes a piece of good news for the Central government employees as some of them who are eligible for the scheme will get disability compensation as the Centre has extended the scheme to all serving central government employees who get disabled in the line of duty and are retained in service in spite of such disablement. The disability compensation will be given to the Central government employees as per the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission.
Giving further announcement, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Friday said that the ultimate objective of all these new initiatives is to provide ease of living for government servants even after they have superannuated and become pensioners or family pensioners or elder citizens.
The Union Minister further added that the order will provide a huge relief to young central armed police force (CAPF) personnel of CRPF, BSF, CISF, etc since disability in performance of duties is generally reported in their case due to constraints of job requirement as well as hostile or difficult work environment.

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::International::

Australia changes the words in its national anthem

Australia has changed one word in its national anthem to reflect what the prime minister called "the spirit of unity" and the country's Indigenous population. Prime Minister Scott Morrison on New Year's Eve announced that the second line of the anthem, Advance Australia Fair, has been changed from "For we are young and free" to "For we are one and free."
The change took effect Friday.
"It is time to ensure this great unity is reflected more fully in our national anthem," Morrison said, adding that Australia was the "most successful multicultural nation on Earth."
"While Australia as a modern nation may be relatively young, our country's story is ancient, as are the stories of the many First Nations peoples whose stewardship we rightly acknowledge and respect," Morrison said.
"In the spirit of unity, it is only right that we ensure our national anthem reflects this truth and shared appreciation."

::Economy::

GST Revenue collection for December 2020 recorded all time high since implementation of GST

Over 1.15 lakh crore gross GST revenue collected in December, which is 12% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year
The gross GST revenue collected in the month of December 2020 is ₹ 1,15,174 crore of which CGST is ₹ 21,365 crore, SGST is ₹ 27,804 crore, IGST is ₹ 57,426 crore (including ₹ 27,050 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is ₹ 8,579 crore (including ₹ 971 crore collected on import of goods). The total number of GSTR-3B Returns filed for the month of November up to 31st December 2020 is 87 lakhs.
The government has settled ₹ 23,276 crore to CGST and ₹ 17,681 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue earned by Central Government and the State Governments after regular settlement in the month of December 2020 is
₹ 44,641 crore for CGST and ₹ 45,485 crore for the SGST.
In line with the recent trend of recovery in the GST revenues, the revenues for the month of December 2020 are 12% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year. During the month, revenues from import of goods was 27% higher and the revenues from domestic transaction (including import of services) are 8% higher that the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.
The GST revenues during December 2020 have been the highest since the introduction of GST and it is the first time that it has crossed ₹ 1.15 lakh crore. The highest GST collection till now was ₹ 1,13,866 crore in the month of April 2019. The revenues of April normally tend to be high since they pertain to the returns of March, which marks the end of financial year. The December 2020 revenues are significantly higher than last month’s revenues of ₹ 1,04.963 crore. This is the highest growth in monthly revenues since last 21 months. This has been due to combined effect of the rapid economic recovery post pandemic and the nation-wide drive against GST evaders and fake bills alongwith many systemic changes introduced recently, which have led to improved compliance.
Till now, GST revenues have crossed ₹ 1.1 lakh crore three times since introduction of GST. This is the third month in a row in the current financial year after the economy has been showing signs or recovery post pandemic that the GST revenues have been more than ₹ 1 lakh crore. The average growth in GST revenues during the last quarter has been 7.3% as compared to (-) 8.2% during the second quarter and

(-) 41.0% during the first quarter of the financial year.

Reserve Bank of India launched Digital Payments Index

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it has constructed a composite Digital Payments Index (DPI) to capture the extent of digitisation of payments across the country. This is in line with a significant development from the sharp pick-up in digital transactions seen in the recent past.
The RBI-DPI comprises of five broad parameters that enable the measurement of deepening and penetration of digital payments in the country over different time periods. These parameters are Payment Enablers, Payment Infrastructure - Demand-side factors, Payment Infrastructure - Supply-side factors, Payment Performance and Consumer Centricity, the RBI said.
Each of these parameters has sub-parameters which, in turn, consist of various measurable indicators, the central bank added.
The RBI-DPI has been constructed with March 2018 as the base period, i.e. DPI score for March 2018 is set at 100. The DPI for March 2019 and March 2020 work out to 153.47 and 207.84 respectively, indicating appreciable growth. Going forward, RBI-DPI shall be published on RBI's website on a semi-annual basis from March 2021 onwards with a lag of 4 months.

::Science and Technology::

Why 2021 could be turning point for tackling climate change?

Countries only have only a limited time in which to act if the world is to stave off the worst effects of climate change. Here are five reasons why 2021 could be a crucial year in the fight against global warming.
Covid-19 was the big issue of 2020, there is no question about that.
But I'm hoping that, by the end of 2021, the vaccines will have kicked in and we'll be talking more about climate than the corona virus.
2021 will certainly be a crunch year for tackling climate change.
Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, told me he thinks it is a "make or break" moment for the issue.
So, in the spirit of New Year's optimism, here's why I believe 2021 could confound the doomsters and see a breakthrough in global ambition on climate.
The crucial climate conference
Countries are already signing up to deep carbon cuts.
Renewable are now the cheapest energy ever.
Covid changes everything.
Business is going green too.

::SPORTS::

T Natarajan to replace Umesh Yadav in India’s Test squad

Umesh Yadav sustained a strain in his left calf muscle on Day 3 of the second Border-Gavaskar Test in Melbourne.
He underwent scans later in the day. The fast bowler will not recover completely ahead of the remaining two Test matches and has been ruled out of the series.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named T Natarajan as Yadav’s replacement. Ahead of the Boxing Day Test, Shardul Thakur was added to the Test squad as Mohd. Shami’s replacement after the senior fast bowler suffered a hairline fracture in his right forearm. Both Shami and Umesh Yadav will head to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for further rehabilitation of their injuries.