Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 09 April 2021

::NATIONAL::

Prime Minister NarendraModi releases the Hindi translation of the book ‘OdishaItihaas’ written by ‘UtkalKeshari’ Dr. HarekrushnaMahtab from Ambedkar International Center, Janpath, New Delhi.
The book, available in Odia and English so far, has been translated into Hindi by ShankarlalPurohit.The event marking the release of the Hindi version has been organised by HarekrushnaMahtab Foundation.
Dr. HarekrushnaMahtab was a notable figure in the Indian Independence Movement. He also served as Chief Minister of Odisha from 1946 to 1950 and from 1956 to 1961. He wrote the book ‘OdishaItihaas’ in Ahmednagar Fort Jail, where he was imprisoned for more than two years during 1942-1945.

In a move that could potentially trigger a diplomatic row, the US Navy has announced that it asserted navigational rights and freedoms inside India’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) without seeking India’s prior consent.
“This freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognised in international law by challenging India’s excessive maritime claims,” the US 7th fleet said in a statement on April 7.
It said USS John Paul Jones, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, asserted navigational rights and freedoms around 130 nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands.
The 7th Fleet is the largest of the US Navy’s forward deployed fleets. The US had sent elements of the 7th Fleet to the Bay of Bengal to pressure India during the 1971 war with Pakistan that ended with the liberation of Bangladesh.
Every coastal country’s EEZ extends to 200 nautical miles (370km) from its shores and the country in question has exclusive rights to all resources in the water, including oil, natural gas and fish. Any military activity in the EEZ requires India’s permission, navy officials familiar.

Italy is set to ease lockdown restrictions, lifting some curbs that have been weighing on the economy in the region surrounding Milan and across the country as the latest virus resurgence slows, officials said.
Health Minister Roberto Speranza will likely sign a decree on Friday evening to shift many regions classified as high-risk “red” areas to medium-risk “orange” status, said the officials, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential issue.
The development would mean that from early next week more retail businesses could open and people would be given more freedom to move around within their municipalities. Bars and restaurants would remain open only for takeout orders while travel to other regions would still be mostly banned.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi is banking on accelerating a vaccination campaign to allow for an easing of lockdown rules.
Italy posted 17,221 new daily coronavirus cases on Thursday, as government experts say the pace of contagion is slowing. The country has recorded more than 3.7 million cases since the start of the pandemic.

Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs NirmalaSitharaman on Thursday attended the Plenary Meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the virtual Spring Meetings 2021.
The meeting was attended by Governors/Alternate Governors representing 190 member countries of the IMF.
The discussions at the meeting were based on IMF Managing Director’s Global Policy Agenda (GPA) titled, “Bolstering the Recovery, Countering Divergence”. The members of the IMFC updated the committee on the actions and measures taken by member countries to combat COVID-19 pandemic and facilitate economic recovery.
Finance Minister Smt. Sitharamanemphasised that the GPA’s suggestion to hasten the transition to a low-carbon economy for promoting growth that benefits all needs to be viewed in the context of its implications for the Emerging Market and Developing Economies and low-income economies. The burden of economic transformation to a low carbon economy would disproportionately be higher for these countries, and positive benefits may not accrue in the short run. The focus needs to remain on the agreed principles of equity and differentiated responsibility of climate action.

The Centre’s net direct tax collection grew 4.42% in 2020-21 at ₹9.45 lakh crore over the revised estimate (RE) of ₹9.05 lakh crore after giving ₹2.61 lakh crore refunds to the taxpayer, Union finance ministry.
“According to the provisional data, the net direct tax collection for 2020-21 has shown an upswing, despite the inherent challenges faced by the economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown,” a spokesperson said.
Revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj said last week that the direct tax collections in February and March 2021 was good due to rapid economic recovery. “There has been an improvement in corporate tax and personal income tax collections. Figures are coming in still, but we should be crossing the RE figure of ₹9.05 lakh crore... This shows the economy is doing well,” he said in an interview with HT, published on April 2.
The net direct tax collections include corporation income-tax (CIT) at ₹4.57 lakh crore and personal income-tax (PIT), including security transaction tax (STT) at ₹4.88 lakh crore, an official statement said.

A group of astronomers have discovered a dozen quasars that have been warped by a naturally occurring cosmic "lens" and split into four similar images.
This rare discovery increases the number of known quasars or quads by about 25 percent and can help determine the expansion rate of the universe and help address other mysteries. Quasars are extremely luminous cores of distant galaxies that are powered by supermassive black holes. Quadruply imaged quasars are rare, and the first quadruple image was discovered in 1985. Over the past four decades, astronomers had found about fifty of these “quadruply imaged quasars” or quads for short, which occur when the gravity of a massive galaxy that happens to sit in front of a quasar splits its single image into four.
The study by Gaia Gravitational Lenses Working Group (GraL) of astronomers, which included scientists from Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital, an autonomous institute of Department of Science and Technology, spanning only a year and a half, demonstrates the power of machine-learning to assist astronomers in their search for these cosmic jewels. It has been accepted for publication in ‘The Astrophysical Journal’.

Armyman Bharat Pannu has made two Guinness World Records for fastest solo cycling in October 2020. It was this month that he received his two record certificates.
Lieutenant Colonel Pannu made the first record by cycling from Leh to Manali, a distance of 472 km on October 10,2020, in 35 hours, 32 minutes, and 22 seconds. His second record saw him begin cycling the 5,942-km-long ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ route, which connects Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, on October 16, 2020. He started from India Gate, New Delhi, and, completing the route in 14 days, 23 hours and 52 minutes, finished at the same spot on October 30, said army officials.