1. National News
Free COVID-19 vaccine for adults: Jharkhand Government
The government of Jharkhand will provide free COVID-19 vaccine to people above 18 years of age.
This came in after the central government’s ‘Liberalised Pricing and Accelerated National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy’ policy.
State government is allowed to purchase the vaccine doses directly from manufacturers.
Quick Fact: The CM of Jharkhand is Hemant Soren.
2. Important Days
World Book and Copyrights Day: April 23
It is an annual event organized by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing, and copyright.
April 23 is chosen because it marks the birth and death of several prominent authors.
The World Book Capital for 2021 is Tbilisi, Georgia.
Quick Fact:The Director-General of UNESCO is Audrey Azoulay and it is headquartered in Paris, France.
3. Important Days
UN English and UN Spanish Language Day observed on April 23
For English, 23 April has been chosen to mark both the birthday and date of death of William Shakespeare.
For the Spanish Language, the day was chosen because it is also observed as Hispanic Day in Spain, meaning the Spanish speaking world.
Each of the six official languages have been assigned a day to celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity throughout the Organization.
Quick Fact: The six official languages used by the UN are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
4. Finance News
Sambandh Finserve license to be cancelled by the RBI
RBI has issued a show-cause notice prior to cancelling the licence of fraud-hit Sambandh Finserve Pvt Ltd.
Its net worth dissolved below the regulatory minimum and the financial situation worsened beyond redemption over months.
The MD was allegedly the main offender of the fraud, and has been arrested by Economic Offence Wing, Chennai.
Quick Fact: The Managing Director and CEO of Sambandh Finserve is Deepak Kindo and it is headquartered in Odisha.
5. Miscellaneous
First woman chairperson of Nasscom – Rekha Menon
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Accenture India’s chairperson, Rekha M Menon has been appointed as chairperson of NASSCOM.
She became the first woman to take the top role in the software lobby group’s 30-year history.
She succeeds U B Pravin Rao, COO of Infosys as Nasscom’s chairperson. TCS President Krishnan Ramanujam will be the vice-chairperson.
Quick Fact: National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) is headquartered in New Delhi.
6. International News
PM Modi’s participation in Leaders’ Summit on Climate
PM Narendra Modi participated in the ‘Leaders’ Summit on Climate’, hosted by the President of the U.S.A. Joe Biden.
The two-day conference was organised virtually on the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement on climate change for signature.
The theme of the summit was ‘Our Collective Sprint to 2030’.
Quick Fact: The Summit will take place in person in November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland.
7. Technology
Perseverance by NASA Mars rover extracts first oxygen from Red Planet
As per NASA, its newest six-wheeled robot on the Martian surface called the MOXIE accomplished the task.
Mars’ atmosphere is 96 percent carbon dioxide and MOXIE converts this into oxygen.
MOXIE is expected to extract oxygen at least nine more times over the course of a Martian year (nearly two years on Earth).
Quick Fact: The Acting Administrator of NASA is Steve Jurczyk and it is headquartered in Washington D.C., United States.
