Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 01 January 2021

::NATIONAL::

PM Modi lays foundation stone of AIIMS Rajkot

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rajkot in Gujarat and said that the nation had emerged as the nerve centre of global health.
“India will play the most important role in the future of health and the health of future,” he said, adding that the country has proven its capacity to adapt, evolve and expand on ideas when needed. “Our focus was always on humanity, the PM said, adding that India has emerged as the nerve centre of global health.
“Bidding farewell to this year with a new health infrastructure reflects the difficulties we faced in 2020 and also stands for the hope we have for the year,” PM Modi said. The last day of 2020 is dedicated to all health workers who are putting their lives at stake to keep us safe, he added.
The project will mean generation of thousands of jobs, good health care and development of Gujarat, the PM said. “We could only establish 6 AIIMS after so many years of independence. In 2003, Atal ji’s government took the initiative to establish 6 more AIIMS. In the past 6 years, we have started work on establishing 10 more AIIMS,” PM Modi said.

Kerala Legislative Assembly passes resolution against agricultural laws

There is tremendous opposition against the new agricultural laws in the country. Farmers have been camping at the Delhi border for more than a month in protest against the three new agricultural laws brought by the central government. Meanwhile, a resolution has been passed by the Government of Kerala against the Central Agricultural Laws.
This proposal states that the real concerns of farmers should be removed and the Center should cancel all three agricultural laws.
New agricultural laws are being opposed by the farmers.
Many political parties are also opposing these laws. Meanwhile, in Kerala Assembly, a resolution has been passed against the three agricultural laws of the Center with the support of MLAs of both LDF and UDF parties. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan discussed the issue of farmers only in a special one-hour session and passed a resolution in the assembly.
Farmers have been protesting against these laws on the Delhi border for the past one month and are not taking the name of the last withdrawal.

Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam

::International::

China completes railway line in Tibet

China on Thursday completed the track-laying work for a railway line linking the cities of Lhasa and Nyingchi in Tibet, close to the Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh, official media here reported.
The Sichuan-Tibet Railway will be the second railway into Tibet after the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. It will go through the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, one of the world’s most geologically active areas.
The Sichuan-Tibet Railway starts from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province and travels through Ya’an and enters Tibet via Qamdo, shortening the journey from Chengdu to Lhasa from 48 hours to 13 hours.
With a designed speed of 160 km per hour, the 435-km rail line passes through 47 tunnels and 120 bridges, according to its constructor Tibet Railway Construction Co., Ltd.
A total of 31.2 billion yuan (about USD 4.8 billion) has been invested in the project, according to official data. With more than 90 per cent of the railway built in areas more than 3,000 metres above sea level, the high altitude and complex geological conditions have posed great challenges to the project.

::Economy::

Interest rate on NSC, PPF and other small savings schemes kept unchanged

The government kept interest rates of small savings schemes, including that of Public Provident Fund or PPF, unchanged for the January to March quarter.
Interest rates of small savings schemes are revised on a quarterly basis. The rates of interest on various small savings schemes for the fourth quarter of 2020-21, starting from January 1 and ending March 31, 2021, shall remain unchanged from those notified for the third quarter (October to December), the government said in a statement.
Besides PPF, the government offers many small savings schemes including Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Post Office Time Deposits and Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS).
The popular girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account continues to offer the highest interest rate among the small savings schemes.

Upgraded e-ticketing website and mobile app launched

The IRCTC upgraded e-ticketing website and mobile app comes with a host of user friendly features and will be operational from January 1.
Salient Features of the Upgraded website:
Complete User personalization linked to the user login, such as the booking of meals, retiring rooms and hotels has been integrated and can be directly along with the tickets, thus providing a one stop solution for the needs of the traveller.
Predictive entry suggestions using Artificial Intelligence to be given to the passenger when he is entering the station or passenger. This will greatly reduce the hassle in searching stations and also save time in ticket booking.
Simpler checking of the refund status at the user accounts page. Earlier this feature was not easily accessible.
‘Regular’ or ‘Favorite’ journeys can be booked easily by automatically entering relevant details.
Train search & selection simplified by putting the information on one page to reduce the time used by passengers and enhancing the booking experience.
All information on one page – Availability for all class are displayed along with respective fares for all trains. Simply scroll the page and choose to ‘Book’ the desired train and class. Earlier each train seat availability and fares could be seen only after clicking on that train individually.
A ‘Cache system’ has been introduced in the backend to provide availability status. This will avoid delays in loading availabilities.
In case waitlisted tickets, its ‘confirmation probability’ is displayed. Earlier this had to be checked for each waitlist status separately.
Availability for other dates can be toggled on the page itself.
Prompts during the booking process for making it easy for even less computer familiar users. This will save his time in wandering on the website for searching the website.

::Science and Technology::

Woolly rhino from Ice Age unearthed in Russian Arctic

The remarkably preserved carcass of an Ice Age-era woolly rhino has been unearthed by locals in eastern Siberia, researchers have said.
The rhino was revealed by the melting permafrost in the Abyisky region of Yakutia in north-eastern Russia.
With most of its internal organs intact, the rhino is among the best-preserved animals ever found in the region.
Experts will deliver the rhino to a lab for further studies next month.
They are waiting for ice roads to form so they can take the remains to the city of Yakutsk, where scientists will take samples and carry out radiocarbon analyses.
Valery Plotnikov, a researcher who examined the remains, told Russian media the rhino was between three and four years old when it died, probably from drowning.
She said much of the rhino's soft tissue was still visible, including part of the intestines and genitals.

::SPORTS::

Michael Kondo: Former hockey player dies

Michael Kondo, a team member of India’s 1975 hockey World Cup-winning and 1972 Olympics bronze winning squad, died on Thursday at a Rourkela hospital due to age-related issues.
“Michael Kindo passed away at the Ispat General Hospital due to age related problems. He was bed-ridden for quite some time and was also suffering from depression.