• April 13 marks the day of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, and this Tuesday is the 102nd anniversary of the incident. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre refers to the incident that took place in 1919 at Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh, in which British troops opened fire against thousands of people who had gathered to mark the occasion of Baisakhi. In the massacre, several hundreds were killed and numerous more were injured. The incident is seen as a major turning point in the national freedom movement of India.
• After the first World War ended in 1919, Indian leaders believed that the leaders of the country would now be allowed to self-govern. To the contrary, the colonial rulers imposed the Rowlatt Act on March 10, 1919, as per which the government could imprison or confine any person who was associated with any seditious activity without any trial. The passing of this Act led to widespread protests across the country, with Mahatma Gandhi initiating a Satyagraha to oppose the Act.

• The Supreme Court today said persons above 18 years of age are free to choose their religion as it refused to entertain a plea seeking directions to the Centre and states to control black magic and religious conversion.
• A bench of Justices R.F. Nariman, BR Gavai and Hrishikesh Roy told senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayana, appearing for petitioner advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, "What kind of writ petition is this under Article 32. We will impose a heavy cost on you. You argue on your own risk."
• The bench said there is no reason why a person above 18 can't be allowed to choose their religion.
• The plea filed by Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought directions to ascertain the feasibility of appointing a committee to enact a Conversion of Religion Act to check the abuse of religion.
• Religious conversion by "carrot and stick" and by "hook or crook" not only offends Articles 14, 21, 25, but is also against the principles of secularism, which is an integral part of the basic structure of the Constitution.

• Sushil Chandra has been appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) by the President Ram Nath Kovind under clause (2) of article 324 of the Constitution.
• He will succeed Sunil Arora, who demitted office on 12 April 2021.
• He is the senior-most election commissioner, ahead of Rajiv Kumar, in the three-member poll panel.
• He will be the 24^th CEC, having been appointed as an election commissioner on February 14, 2019.

• The mission is aimed to spread the message of the need for a nutritionally balanced diet and to understand the importance of accessible to all local fruits and vegetables.
• Vijnana Bharati (Vibha) and Global Indian Scientists’ and Technocrats’ Forum (GIST) have come together to launch the mission with the motto of ‘उत्तम आहार-उत्तम विचार (Uttam Aahaar Uttam Vichaar)’ or `Good Diet-Good Cognition’.
• The ‘Aahaar Kranti’ movement is designed to address the peculiar problem being faced by India and the world called `hunger and diseases in abundance’. Studies estimate that India produces as much as two times the amount of calories that it consumes. However, many in the country are still malnourished. The root cause of this strange phenomenon is a lack of nutritional awareness in all sections of our society.
• There is a need for a nutritionally balanced diet also in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. A healthy body would be able to handle the infection much better with greater immunity and higher resilience.

• Yusuffali, 65, the Chairman and Managing Director of Abu Dhabi-based LuLu Group which operates hypermarkets and retail companies in many countries, was honoured on Friday by the Crown Prince.
• Apart from Yusuffali MA, 11 other individuals received the honour for their noble and charitable contributions to the community.
• The 65-year-old Yusuffali, who was born in Kerala, is the Chairman and Managing Director of Abu Dhabi-based LuLu Group which operates hypermarkets and retail companies in many countries.

• The India Energy Dashboards Version 2.0 was launched by Dr. Rajiv Kumar (Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog), Dr. V K Saraswat (Member, NITI Aayog), Shri Amitabh Kant (CEO, NITI Aayog) and Dr. Rakesh Sarwal (Additional Secretary, NITI Aayog). Secretaries from Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy attended the launch event.
• India Energy Dashboards (IED) is an endeavour to provide single-window access to the energy data for the country. Energy data published/provided by Central Electricity Authority, Coal Controller’s Organisation, and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas are compiled in the Dashboards. NITI Aayog launched the Version 1.0 in May 2017.

• Ace filmmaker Guneet Monga who has made India proud time and again has now been conferred with the honour of the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans I'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres), the second-highest civilian French honour which has previously been awarded to people like Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Bruce Willis.
• Monga's Sikhya Entertainment has backed many great films like That Girl in Yellow Boots, The Lunchbox, Masaan, Monsoon Shootout, and Oscar award-winning documentary Period, End of Sentence. Monga's latest film, Pagglait which stars Sanya Malhotra has been gaining rave reviews. Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan, Nandita Das, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Anurag Kashyap have also received the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters earlier.

• Airtel Payments Bank has rolled out a new digital savings account called ‘Rewards123’ to offer consistent value, with assured rewards on different types of digital transactions throughout the year.
• In addition to this, users will get a cashback of 2% on online shopping worth ₹1,000 or more using the platinum debit card that comes with the account. Users will get a maximum of ₹40 per month as a part of this scheme. Lastly, users will get a cashback of ₹30 cashback per month on payments for prepaid recharges, post-paid, broadband, landline, and DTH bill payments. Other benefits include zero minimum balance, free platinum online Mastercard Debit card and unlimited deposits with an auto-sweep facility.

• The 74th edition of British Academy Film Awards, often shortened to BAFTA or Bafta, are being held virtually in London’s Royal Albert Hall. The awards, the British equivalent of the Oscars, honour the best in national and international cinema.
• The award ceremony was held over two nights on April 10 and 11. Eight of the 25 winners were unveiled on April 10. Winners in rest of the categories were revealed on April 11.
• Nomadland, The Father, Promising Young Woman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and so on were some of the awards season favourites that took home Bafta trophies.

• Shirley Williams, one of the original “gang of four” Labour politicians who split to form the Social Democratic party, died peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of Monday morning, the Liberal Democrats have announced.
• Hailed by many as a trailblazer for a political career that spanned more than 50 years, she entered parliament as MP for the Hertfordshire town of Hitchin in 1964 and left it as Lady Williams of Crosby in 2016.
• Williams, who was 90, served in multiple prominent roles, including as education and science secretary under the Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan, and later became the first SDP member elected in a 1981 by election in Crosby, Merseyside.

Download Daily GK PDF of 13 April 2021