Current Affairs 2021: Today’s News Headlines: April 1, 2021

April 1, 2021

SC-appointed committee submits report on agricultural laws; its members were P. K. Mishra, Anil Ghanwat and Ashok Gulati
DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) extends shelf life of Covishield vaccine from six to nine months
No charging of electronic devices on board trains between 11 pm and 5 am: Railways
Cruise service starts between Surat and Diu; 13 hours one-way journey, 900 Rs. ticket
Punjab: Women can travel for free in all govt.-run buses within the state from April 1
UP: New excise policy to cut price of beer by Rs. 20/bottle from April 1
Army shutting down its 39 military cattle farms across the country; had annual maintenance cost of Rs. 300 crores

MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) inflation target band retained at 2%-6% for next 5 years: Govt.
At 4.6% in February 2021, core industries show sharpest contraction in six months
Auto-debit payments: RBI extends timeline for implementation of new rules till Sept 30 as banks missed April 1 deadline
Government mops up Rs 32,835 crore from disinvestment of CPSEs in 2020-21
approves production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for food processing sector entailing an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore
Covid impact: Govt extends deadline for PAN-Aadhaar linkage till June 30
World Bank raises India’s 2021-22 GDP growth forecast to 10.1% from 5.4% earlier
extends Rs 3-lakh-crore emergency credit line guarantee scheme (ECLGS) by till June 30
Atal Innovation Mission launches ‘AIM-PRIME’ in partnership with BMGF & Venture Center
SBI inks $1-bn loan agreement with Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to extend loans to supply chain of Japanese automobile industry in India
India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) to come into force from April 1, 2021
Pakistan to resume import of sugar and cotton from India after 2 years

World Health Organisation & China release report on coronavirus origin, say virus transmission was from bats to another animal and subsequently to humans
China refutes assertions of WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus that it did not provide necessary access to the team of international experts and withheld data from them
Google to contribute 25 million euros towards the European Media and Information Fund to strengthen media literacy skills and fight misinformation
Hitachi to buy US software developer GlobalLogic for $9.6 billion