Home Daily Current Affairs Apr 20, 2021

Apr 20, 2021: Current affairs for UPSC/State PSC

This section contains daily current affairs taken from all major news papers and magazines like - The Hindu, Indian Express, PIB, Live Mint, RSTV etc.

These current affairs are written in a easy to remember format and are useful for competitive exams like - UPSC Civil Services, UPPSC, BPSC, MPPPSC, State PSCs and other competitive examinations.

Committee to review working of ARCs

The RBI set up a committee to undertake a comprehensive review of the working of asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) in the financial sector ecosystem and recommend suitable measures for enabling them to meet the growing requirements.

The six-member committee will be headed by Sudarshan Sen, former executive director, Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The panel will review the existing legal and regulatory framework applicable to ARCs and recommend measures to improve efficacy of ARCs.

Economy

Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS)

Union commerce minister formally unveiled a Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) to handhold and financially support early-stage startups across 300 incubation centres.

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade is the nodal depatment for the scheme.

The fund aims to provide financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials and market entry.

A sum of Rs 945 crore has been allocated for the fund.

In January, at the Startup India's international summit, "Prarambh", PM Modi had said that his government is trying to "create a startup system, which is based on the mantra 'of the youth, by the youth, for the youth'."

Startup India is an initiative of the Government of India. The campaign was first announced by Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi during his speech in 15 August 2015.

Economy

Ingenuity helicopter

NASA's Mars Ingenuity helicopter made history early Monday when the small but intrepid drone became the first powered craft to fly on another world.

Ingenuity arrived at Mars's Jezero Crater in February along with NASA's Perseverance rover, which was on hand to capture the historic flight on camera.

Read More: Perseverance rover

Science & Tech

Cities Combating Plastic Entering the Marine Environment

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), GoI and German Federal Ministry of Environment signed an agreement on Technical Cooperation titled Cities Combating Plastic Entering the Marine Environment.

The project's outcomes are in line with the objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban focusing on sustainable solid waste management and Hon'ble Prime Minister's vision to phase out single use plastic by 2022.

This project is envisaged under the contours of the Joint Declaration of Intent regarding cooperation in the field of 'Prevention of Marine Litter' signed between India and Germany in 2019.

The project, aimed at enhancing practices to prevent plastic entering the marine environment, will be undertaken at the national level (at MoHUA), select states (Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Andaman & Nicobar Islands) and in the cities of Kanpur, Kochi and Port Blair for a period of three and a half years.

Environment