• Scientists from MACS- Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) Pune in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) have developed a variety of Soybean called MACS 1407. The MACS-ARI is an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology.
• MACS 1407 is a high-yielding and pest-resistant variety of soybean.
• Cultivation: It is suitable for cultivation in the states of Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and North-Eastern states.

• Well known Hindi writer Prof. Sharad Pagare will be conferred with the prestigious Vyas Samman – 2020 for his novel ‘Patliputru Ki Samragi.’
• The Vyas Samman, started in 1991, is given by K K Birla Foundation for an outstanding literary work in Hindi authored by an Indian citizen published during the last 10 years.
• It carries an award of four lakh rupees along with a citation and plaque.

• French architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal have won the 2021 Pritzker Prize for architecture, considered to be the profession’s highest honour.
• The two are known to create sustainable buildings by using pre-existing structures in their work.

• World rapid chess champion Koneru Humpy has won the BBC Indian Sportswoman-of-the-Year award.
• This coveted award aims to honour the finest sportswomen who have continued to influence their sport and change the game during these tumultuous times when the world is affected by the pandemic.
• This year’s Lifetime Achievement award went to the veteran athlete, Anju Bobby George, the only Indian athlete to have won a world championship medal in long jump in 2003.
• Manu Bhaker is announced as the winner of the Emerging player of the Year award.

• Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) has accorded administrative approval for sanction of Rs 50.30 crore for developing all-weather ROPAX (Roll-on/Roll-off Passenger) Jetty and allied infrastructure connecting Kaninali in Bhadrak district &Talachua in Kendrapara district, Odisha under the Sagarmala initiative.
• The Government of Odisha will fund another 50% cost of the project.
• The project will facilitate indirect employment opportunities to locals around Dhamra river and reduce road distance of ~200 km from Talachua to Dhamra. Kaninali in Bhadrak district and Talachua in Kendrapada district, are located on the northern and southern banks of River Dhamra respectively.

• Facebook has signed a deal to buy renewable energy in India from a local firm’s wind power project, the social media giant’s first such deal in the South Asian nation.
• The 32 megawatt wind power project, located in southern Karnataka state, is part of a larger portfolio of wind and solar projects that Facebook and Mumbai-based CleanMax are working together on for supplying renewable power into India’s electrical grid.

• India’s first Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) has arrived at H-Energy’s Jaigarh Terminal in Maharashtra.
• This will also be the first year-round Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in Maharashtra.
• The LNG terminal is located at JSW Jaigarh Port in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, on the west coast of India.

• NCAER appoints World Bank lead economist Poonam Gupta as its first women director general.
• She will succeed Shekhar Shah who has led NCAER since 2011 and will complete his second five year term in early May.
• About NCAER: National Council of Applied Economic Research is a New Delhi based non-profit think tank of economics.

• The country’s first green bonds, issued by Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation, were listed on BSE.
• Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation, a civic body in Uttar Pradesh, has raised Rs 150 crore through the issuance of green bonds and the proceeds will be utilized for the tertiary water treatment plant to benefit industries in Ghaziabad.

About Green Bonds

• A green bond is like any other regular bond but with one key difference: the money raised by the issuer are earmarked towards financing `green’ projects, i.e. assets or business activities that are environment-friendly. Such projects could be in the areas of renewable energy , clean transportation and sustainable water management.

• Filmmaker Guneet Monga, who is receiving great reviews for her latest release, Pagglait, will be conferred with Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans I’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) — the second highest civilian French honour.