1) Maharashtra: Amboli named as biodiversity heritage site
•The Maharashtra government has declared an area at Amboli in Western ghats in Sindhudurg district, where a rare freshwater fish species was discovered, as a biodiversity heritage site. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray”s son Tejas Thackeray, who is a wildlife researcher, and his team had discovered the new freshwater fish species – Schistura Hiranyakeshi” near Amboli in Sawantwadi tehsil of Sindhudurg district. The State government issued a notification declaring the area at Amboli as a biodiversity heritage site. Schistura is a small and colourful fish that lives in water and streams in an abundance of oxygen.
•Earlier, the State government had declared the Glory of Allapalli in Gadchiroli district, Landor Khori Park in Jalgaon, Ganesh Khind in Pune, myristica swamp vegetation in Sindhudurg district as biodiversity heritage sites. The discoveries of the freshwater fish species were published in the International Journal of Ichthyology in the October 2020 edition by Tejas Thackeray and co-authors.
2) West Central Railway becomes first fully electrified Indian Railways zone
•Indian Railways’ West Central Railway zone gets fully electrified!, after CCRS Inspection and Commissioning of electrification of Kota – Chittaurgarh railway section (Srinagar – Jalindri) in the state of Rajasthan. West Central Railways has become the first fully electrified railway zone in the country. The zonal railway now boasts a 3012 Route Km electrified network.
•According to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, trains passing through this railway section can now be operated at a faster speed. Electrification of this railway section will provide various benefits such as saving fuel, reduction in travel time, as well as environmental protection.
3) GST revenue collection in March 2021
•India’s economic recovery is gathering steam. The GST collections for the month of March have topped Rs 1.23 lakh crore, setting a new record since the implementation of Goods and Services Tax in July 2017. The gross GST revenue collected in the month of March 2021 rose to a record of ₹ 1,23,902 crore of which CGST is ₹ 22,973 crore, SGST is ₹ 29,329 crore, IGST is ₹ 62,842 crore and Cess is ₹ 8,757 crore.
List of GST Collection previous months
•February 2021: Rs 1,13,143 crore
•January 2021: ₹ 1,19,847 crore
•December- Rs 1,15,174 crore
•Novemeber: ₹1.04 lakh crore
•October 2020: ₹ 1,05,155 crore
4) Urjit Patel appointed as additional director of Britannia
•Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Dr Urjit Patel has been appointed as Additional Director of Britannia Industries with effect from 31st March 2021 for the tenure of 5 years. The company has announced that its board of directors has approved the appointment.
•The Board of Directors of the company at their meeting held 31 March 2021, approved the appointment of Dr Urjit Patel, as an additional director of the company in the category of non-executive and independent director with effect from 31 March 2021 for a term of 5 years i.e., up to 30th March 2026, subject to the approval of the shareholders of the company.
5) Light weight Bullet Proof Jacket developed by DRDO lab
•Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has congratulated DRDO and DMSRDE Kanpur for developing a LightWeight Bullet Proof Jacket. India needs more such innovative product design and development to realize the dream of Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
•DMSRDE Kanpur, a DRDO laboratory has developed a LightWeight Bullet Proof Jacket weighing 9 kg meeting the qualitative requirements of the Indian Army. The Front Hard Armour Panel jacket was tested successfully at TBRL Chandigarh and met relevant BIS standards.
6) Vice President releases book ‘Suparipalana’ by Dr Shailendra Joshi
•Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has released a book ‘Suparipalana’ by retired civil servant Dr Shailendra Joshi. The book ‘Suparipalana’ is the Telugu translation of “Echo T Calling: Towards People-Centric Governance”, written by former Telangana Chief Secretary, Shri S K Joshi. The translator of the book is Shri Annavarapu Brahmaiah and the publisher is Shri Maruthi.
7) Mallika Srinivasan appointed chairperson of PESB
•Chairman and Managing Director of Tractors and Farm Equipment (TAFE) Limited, Mallika Srinivasan has been appointed as the chairperson of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB), an order issued by the personnel ministry. This is for the first time that a private sector specialist has been appointed as the head of the PESB, responsible for the appointment of top management posts in the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).
•The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Srinivasan as the chairperson of PESB for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge, or until the attainment of the age of 65 years.
8) Adil Zainulbhai appointed chairman of Capacity Building Commission
•Former Quality Council of India (QCI) chief Adil Zainulbhai has appointed chairman of Capacity Building Commission. The government has approved a commission under National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB), also known as ‘Mission Karmayogi’, to train civil servants at all levels.
•The approved Capacity Building Commission will coordinate with and supervise all the government offices, training institutes to monitor and evaluate the implementation of plans and create shared resources. The Commission will comprise of a Chairperson and two Members.
