National
Ex-post facto approval for the Government amendments to the Finance Bill, 2021
⇒ The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gives ex-post facto approval for the Government amendments to the Finance Bill, 2021, on 20 April 2021. The law was enacted on 28th March, 2021 as the Finance Act, 2021.
Objective:
- The Government amendments to the Finance Bill, 2021 shall provide equity and inclusiveness to all the taxpayers by addressing stakeholders concerns arising out of amendments proposed in the Bill.
- The Government amendments to the Finance Bill, 2021 are tax proposals which shall generate timely revenue for the Government and streamline existing provisions by addressing grievances of the taxpayers.
First Indian woman to scale Mt Annapurna
⇒ Mountaineer, Priyanka Mohite became the first Indian woman to scale Mt Annapurna (8091 mtrs), the 10th highest mountain peak in the world on 16th April 2021. The 28-year-old mountaineer, Priyanka Mohite is from Satara, Maharashtra.
Earlier, Priyanka Mohite has also succeeded in climbing other mountains:
- She became the first Indian woman to scale Mt Makalu, the fifth-highest peak in the world, in 2019.
- She also scaled Mt Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain in the world, in 2018 & Mount Everest in 2013.
International
Leaders’ Summit on Climate
⇒ Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the Leaders’ Summit on Climate at the invitation of President of USA Joseph R. Biden. Prime Minister addressed in the Leaders’ Session 1 on 22 April 2021 on “Our Collective Sprint to 2030”.
US-India partnership on clean energy and climate change:
Addressing Leaders’ Climate Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a US-India partnership on clean energy and climate change.
Mr Modi announced launch of India-US climate and clean energy Agenda 2030 partnership, which can be a template of green collaborations to help developing countries access to affordable green finance and clean technologies.
Held on:
The Leaders’ Summit was held virtually on 22nd-23rd April, 2021.
The Summit is a part of a series of global meetings focusing on climate issues, being held in the run up to COP26 in November 2021.
Participation:
Nearly 40 other world leaders were participated in the Summit.
The Leaders exchanged views on the following topics:
- Climate change
- Enhancing climate actions
- Mobilising finance towards climate mitigation and adaptation
- Nature based solutions
- Climate security
- Technological innovations for clean energy
Associate Attorney General of the United States
⇒ The US Senate on 21 April 2021 confirmed Vanita Gupta to serve as Associate Attorney General of the United States. She became the first Indian-American to serve in this role.
Sports
Six Athletes included in TOPS Core Group
⇒ The Sports Ministry has included six athletes, including two wrestlers besides four sailors in its Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) core group.
Tokyo Olympic-bound Wrestlers Anshu Malik (57kg) and Sonam Malik (62kg) along with sailors Nethra Kumanan, Vishnu Saravanan, Ganapathy Chengappa and Varun Thakkar have been added in the list of six athletes of Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) core group.
About Target Olympic Podium Scheme:
The Target Olympic Podium Scheme is a flagship program of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. It is an attempt to provide assistance to India’s top athletes. Under the Scheme, the Department of Sports identifies athletes who are potential medal winners in 2020 / 2024 Olympics.
The Scheme looks to add a premium to the preparations of these athletes so that they can win Olympic medals in 2020 and 2024 Olympics.
Important Day
World Book Day 2021
⇒ World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated every year on 23rd April since 1995.
23 April is a symbolic date in world literature. It is the date on which several prominent authors, William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) celebrate World Book Day to promote the enjoyment of books and reading.
World Book Capital for the year 2021:
On this occasion, UNESCO and the international organizations representing the three major sectors of the book industry – publishers, booksellers and libraries, select the World Book Capital for a one-year period, effective 23 April each year.
Based on the recommendation of the World Book Capital Advisory Committee, this year, Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, named Tbilisi (Georgia) as World Book Capital for the year 2021. Around the slogan “Ok. So your next book is…?” the programme focuses on the use of modern technologies as powerful tools for the promotion of reading among young people.
In 2020, Kuala Lumpur was named as the World Book Capital.
Death
Former Delhi Minister, AK Walia
⇒ Former Delhi minister and Congress leader AK Walia died on 22 April 2021. He was 72. He represented the Laxmi Nagar constituency in the assembly for four terms.
Renowned Islamic Scholar and Peace Activist, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
⇒ Renowned Islamic scholar and peace activist, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan died on 21 April 2021 in Delhi. He was 96.
He was conferred with the Padma Bhushan award in 2000 & Padma Vibhushan award in 2021. He was also conferred with the Demiurgus Peace International Award, under the patronage of the former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
Khan wrote over 200 books on Islam, prophetic wisdom, spirituality etc such as- The Prophet of Peace; Islam and Peace; Islam: Creator of the Modern Age; etc.