Current Affairs Quiz - April, 2021

Notes:
The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet headed by the Chief Minister has approved the Affordable Rental Housing and Complexes (ARHC) scheme.
he scheme would offer affordable rental housing for poor people living in cities, urban migrants/poor labourers, those belonging to economically weaker sections, including factory workers, educational institutions, and those associated with hospitality and students.

Notes:
Reserve Bank of India’s former Deputy Governor Kamalesh Chandra Chakrabarty passed away recently after suffering a heart attack. He was 68 years old.
He also served as the Chairman and Managing Director of Punjab National Bank (2007-2009) and Indian Bank (2005-2007).

Notes:
Leading Fintech company BharatPe has recently launched a new lending product named Distributor to Retailer (D2R) Finance.
The product would offer instant liquidity to distributors, wholesalers, traders and dealers. This specialised product would focus on small and medium enterprises. It would offer collateral-free loans of up to Rs 50 lakh for a period of seven days to 30 days, at lower interest rates.

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:
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has amended the rules pertaining to location of thermal power plants within 10 km of major cities with more than 10 lakh population and the National Capital Region.
As per the amended rules, certain emission norms have been mandated to be adhered by the thermal power plants latest by the end of 2022.

Notes:
Haryana has recently amended several provisions under its Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Legislative Assembly of the state.
The new provisions include mandating presence of at least two ministers and preventing the members from tearing off documents in the House in protest. This is expected to maintain the decorum of the house.

Notes:
Ingenuity is a mini-helicopter developed by NASA for propulsion in Mars. This was fixed with the NASA’s Perseverance rover that successfully landed in Mars recently.
The helicopter has been dropped successfully on Mars’s surface and is expected to make its flight through Mars atmosphere on 11th April.

Notes:
Researchers at Tufts University have developed robots named ‘Xenobots’ from the stem cells of frogs.
These robots are able to self-heal after damage and move using particles on their surface -cilia. They can work together in teams and can record information about their surroundings. The robots can be used in bio-medical and environmental studies.

Notes:
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has revised its global merchandise trade volume growth in 2021 and 2022 to 8 per cent and 4 percent respectively.
Earlier in October 2020, WTO has predicted 7.2 per cent growth. The slow down of 4 per cent in 2022 is due to the continued effects of pandemic. The report also highlighted that much of global import demand will be met by Asia.

Notes:
The Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates is the first nuclear power station in the Arab world.
The nuclear power plant located in Abu Dhabi started commercial operations recently. As per the country’s leaders, the first megawatt from the nuclear plant has entered the national power grid. It was opened in the year 2019.