Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 01 May 2021

::NATIONAL::

Indian Navy Launches Operation SamudraSetu-II for Shipment of Oxygen Filled Containers to India

The Indian Navy has launched ‘Operation SamudraSetu-II’ to meet the country’s oxygen requirement amid the surge in Covid-19 cases in the second wave and the acute shortage of liquid medical oxygen (LMO).
As a part of the operation, the Navy has deployed INS (Indian Navy Ships) Kolkata, Kochi, Talwar, Tabar, Trikand, Jalashwa and Airavat for shipment of oxygen-filled cryogenic containers and associated medical equipment from various countries.
The first batch of the ships, INS Kolkata and INS Talwar, deployed in Persian Gulf, were immediately diverted for the task, and entered the port of Manama, Bahrain, on April 30. INS Talwar is likely to reach India with 40 MT (metric tonnes) LMO on May 4. INS Kolkata has proceeded to Doha, Qatar, for medical supplies, and will head to Kuwait to bring liquid oxygen tanks, said naval spokesperson commander MehulKarnik.
Similarly on the eastern seaboard, INS Airavat, too, has been diverted for the task and will enter Singapore to bring liquid oxygen tanks. INS Jalashwa, the LPD (landing platform/dock) which played a key role during operation SamudraSetu last year, was pulled out of maintenance.

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::International::

World's longest pedestrian suspension bridge opens in Portugal

A pedestrian suspension bridge that claims to be the longest in the world, named 516 Arouca and measuring 516 metres in length, has opened in northern Portugal.
Built in the AroucaGeopark, the bridge is suspended 175 metres above the Paivariver and links two hills with granite cliff faces.
The bridge was built by the Institute for Research and Technological Development for Construction, Energy, Environment and Sustainability as a tourist attraction for the Arouca area, providing views across the Pavia Gorge and toward the nearby Aguieiras Waterfall.
It is located next to the Paiva Walkways, an eight-kilometre-long trail that winds through the Arouca hills.
"A remarkable work of national engineering and will certainly be one of the most iconic structures in the municipality of Arouca and in the country and that will surely become a landmark of modernity," said Arouca's mayor Margarida Belém.

::Economy::

RBI joins Network for Greening the Financial System-NGFS

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has joined a group of central banks and financial supervisors working to improve the green credentials of the sector. By adding its name to the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), the RBI brings membership to 90 institutions.
In joining the NGFS, the bank fulfills one of the recommendations of a substantial 2020 report from its own researchers. The report found that the macroeconomic effects of climate change are already statistically significant for India and that food price inflation is particularly affected. India’s weather patterns have changed significantly in recent decades, and this has had a strong impact across a range of key economic indicators.
In response, the report recommended that the RBI target green finance and asset purchases, redesign capital and collateral rules to provide incentives for green lending, and fully incorporate climate risk into the analytical models used in policy formulation. However, NGFS membership is the only recommendation that has been implemented so far.
As the RBI’s late arrival to the NGFS demonstrates, the bank has been slow to recognise climate risk and to adapt its operations to the transition away from carbon. In a recent study of central banks and financial supervisors’s climate policies, India ranked 15th out of the G20 nations, behind the US and far behind Europe and China. The RBI’s poor performance is in stark contrast to that of the People’s Bank of China, which led the rankings and was a founding member of the NGFS.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

Scientists develop new soybean variety MACS 1407

Indian Scientists have developed a high-yielding and pest-resistant variety of soybean. This newly developed variety called MACS 1407 is suitable for cultivation in the states of Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and North-Eastern states and its seeds will be made available to farmers for sowing during the 2022 Kharif season.
In 2019, India produced around 90 million tons of soybean, widely cultivated as oil seeds as well as a cheap source of protein for animal feed and many packaged meals and is striving to be among the world’s major producers of soybean. High-yielding, disease resistant varieties of the legume can help achieve this target.
Accepting this challenge, scientists from MACS- Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi have developed higher yielding varieties and improved practices for the cultivation of soybean. Using the conventional cross breeding technique they developed MACS 1407 which gives 39 quintals per hectare making it a high yielding variety and is also resistant to major insect-pests like girdle beetle, leaf miner, leaf roller, stem fly, aphids, white fly and defoliators. Its thick stem, higher pod insertion (7 cm) from ground, and resistance to pod shattering make it suitable even for mechanical harvesting. It is suitable for rain-fed conditions of north- east India.
MrSantoshJaybhay, ARI scientist who led this work said, ‘MACS 1407’ showed 17% increase in yield over the best check variety and 14-19 % yield advantage over the qualifying varieties. It is highly adaptive to sowing from 20 June to 5 July without any yield loss. This makes it resistant to the vagaries of Monsoon as compared to other varieties."

::Sports::

Ashleigh Barty wins women's singles title at Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

she was not only the first Australian to win the singles final by beating ArynaSabalenka from Belarus 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 but also secured the doubles title immediately afterwards together with Jennifer Brady (USA). She is the first player in the history of the time-honoured Stuttgart tournament to pull off the feat in the Porsche Arena.
The last person to claim both titles was the American Lindsay Davenport in 2001 - back then the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix was still at home in Filderstadt. Her win has also now put Ashleigh Barty into the lead of the Porsche Race to Shenzhen, the official qualifying ranking for the WTA Finals.