11th March 2021 Current affairs

1. On International Women’s Day, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha announced the launch of Super-75 scholarship scheme to support the education of meritorious girls from poor families, so that they can excel in streams like medicine, engineering, ITI (Industrial training institutes) and humanity and contribute to nation-building.
2. A US-based think tank published the latest Economic Freedom Index, ranking Singapore on top for the second consecutive year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Singapore scored the most points among the 184 countries that were covered for the study. India has been ranked 121st freest in the 2021 index, scoring 56.5 points. India has been ranked 26th among the 40 countries in Asia-Pacific and is ranked under the category of ‘mostly unfree’.
3. West Bengal has regained its spot as the largest state in terms of microfinance loan outstanding, replacing Tamil Nadu while Bihar remained in the third position.
4. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) interim economic outlook has pegged India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth to rebound to 12.6% in FY22, which will be the fastest in the world, followed by China at 7.8% growth.
5. India’s GDP growth is expected to rebound to 11% in FY’22 as people learn to live with the new normal, flattening of the Covid-19 affliction curve, rollout of vaccinations, and investment-focused government spending converge, according to ratings firm Crisil.
6. The National Anti-Doping Agency’s (NADA) disciplinary panel imposed sanctions on weightlifter Madhavan R and boxer Ruchika for violation of its code. Weightlifter Madhavan R, who tested positive for prohibited substance Phentermine and Mephentermine, was handed a four-year ban by the Anti Doping Disciplinary Panel.
7. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India Girish Chandra Murmu has been again appointed as the chairman of the Panel of External Auditors of the United Nations for 2021.Currently, the CAG is also the external auditor of the World Health Organization, Geneva (2020 – 2023) and Food & Agriculture Organization, Rome (2020 – 2025) and Inter Parliamentary Union (2020-2022).
8. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned as the state’s ruling BJP opted for course-correction a year before polls, amid growing resentment in the ranks. Garhwal Member of Parliament Tirath Singh Rawat took oath as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand at the Raj Bhawan in Dehradun after he was elected by the BJP Legislature Party.