Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

Notes:
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has proposed retaliatory trade actions against India and some other countries for imposing Equalisation levy on e-commerce companies.
In June 2020, the US initiated an investigation under Section 301 of the US Trade Act, 1974 against the taxation on the digital services or the Equalisation levy by India, Italy, Turkey, UK, Spain and Austria.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has mandated all companies to disclose their investments in cryptocurrencies and expenditures made in corporate social responsibility.
In this regard, the ministry has brought about suitable amendments in the Companies Act 2013. These amendments would come in force from the financial year 2021-22 starting April 1st 2021.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has recently invited research proposals for projects with special focus on improving female participation in economic activities of India.
The Ministry has announced grants in aid to NGOs, Universities, institutions etc for research, publication, and monitoring.

Notes:
In a recent research performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), under a contract with NASA and University of Southern California, four strains of bacteria have been discovered at the ISS.
The team of Scientists also included a team from India’s University of Hyderabad. One of the strains – Methylobacterium ajmalii, is named after Ajmal Khan, a renowned Indian scientist specialised in biodiversity.

Notes:
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) released a report titled Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2021.
As per the report, India is estimated to record an economic growth of 7% in 2021-22. It also highlighted that maintaining low borrowing costs while controlling non-performing loans would be a challenge.

Notes:
The Union Finance ministry has notified rules for winding up of the Settlement Commission, handling income tax and wealth tax disputes.
The Settlement Commission (IT/WT) was constituted in 1976 under Income-tax Act, 1961 and the Wealth Tax Act, 1957. The new dispute resolution system will be available to assessees with taxable income up to ₹50 lakh where disputed income is up to ₹10 lakh.

Notes:
India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) announced that it has signed a loan agreement of up to USD 1 billion with Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). JBIC is wholly owned by the Government of Japan.
This loan intends to promote smooth flow of funds for the business operations of Japanese automobile manufacturers in India. SBI had signed a similar deal with JBIC in October last year. The beneficiaries include suppliers, dealers and the end users.

Notes:
In the state of Telengana, India’s largest floating solar power plant is proposed to be set up with a generation capacity of 100MW. The unit is coming up in Ramagundam.
The project is being commissioned by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) at an estimated cost of Rs.423 crore with 4.5 lakh photovoltaic panels.

Notes:
India has fixed a target of 10% ethanol blending in petrol by the year 2022.
Recently, India has achieved more than 7.2 per cent of ethanol blending in fuel, for the first four months of ethanol supply. Some stated like Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra have achieved 9-9.5% ethanol blending. This shows that India is on track to reach 10% ethanol blend by 2022.

Notes:
The 1.3-kilometre-long Chenab Bridge is being constructed in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. It is being placed 359 metres above the bed of the Chenab river and is considered the world’s highest railway bridge.
Recently, construction of the arch of the bridge has been completed, which is termed as a milestone achievement by the Northern Railways zone of Indian Railways.