Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 01 September 2021

::National::

Neurosurgeon DrBasant Mishra conferred with prestigious AANS Award

DrBasant Kumar Misra, a Bhubaneswar-born neurosurgeon has received the prestigious International Lifetime Achievement Award in Neurosurgery. He is the first Indian to be honoured with the award conferred by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
Misra is the Chief of surgery, Head of the department of neurosurgery and Gamma knife radiosurgery at PD Hinduja Hospital and Medical Research Centre in Mumbai. He is the son of noted Economist and Litterateur BaidyanathMisra.
He also received the Dr BC Roy National Award in 2018. He is the first Vice President of the World Federation of Skull Base Societies and Honorary President of the Asian Australasian Society of Neurological Surgery.
Mishra completed his MBBS from VIMSAR, Burla. He received a Master of Surgery from Delhi University in 1980 and MCh Neurosurgery from AIIMS New Delhi in 1983.
He completed his schooling from the Demonstration Multipurpose School in Bhubaneswar. Currently he along with wife and two sons is staying in Mumbai.

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::International::

Sri Lanka declares food emergency

Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency over food shortages as private banks run out of foreign exchange to finance imports.
The emergency regulations issued under Public Security Ordinance by President GotabayaRajapaksa allow government officials to seize food stocks held by traders and arrest people who hoard essential food.
According to Al Jazeera, officials were ordered to ensure that essential items, including paddy, rice and sugar are sold at government mandated prices or prices based on import costs at Customs and prevent hiding of stocks.
The president has also appointed a Major General to oversee food distribution as prices of goods skyrocket even as the country’s foreign exchange reserves drop amid failed bond auctions.
Long queues to buy milk powder, sugar and cooking oil have been reported from various parts of the nation amid rising COVID-19 cases and a 16-day curfew until.
Tourism was the only vital source of foreign exchange earnings, but that too suffered due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This year, Sri Lanka still has two more foreign debt payments of $1.5 billion each due in the next 12 months. It has already paid $1.3 billion so far. That’s in addition to local debt.

::Economy::

8th meeting of agricultural experts of BIMSTEC countries was held

Dr. TrilochanMohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & DG (ICAR) chaired the “Virtual 8th Meeting of Agriculture Experts of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Countries” hosted by India today.
Dr. ThandaKyi, Deputy Director General, Department of Planning, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, Republic of the Union of Myanmar Co-Chaired the Meeting. The Agricultural Experts of BIMSTEC Countries have favoured deepening the cooperation in the agriculture sector for Food and Nutritional Security in the Region.
The UN Food System Summit - 2021 and the transformations happening in the agriculture and food systems globally were highlighted in Dr. Mohapatra’s address. He urged for enhancing the engagement and deepening the cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors amongst the BIMSTEC Member States by encouraging exchange of knowledge, germplasm, students and experts, etc., along with the trade of technologies for developing resilient agriculture, food systems and value-chains.
India’s offering of 6 slots of scholarships each for Masters and Ph. D. Programmes in Agriculture and its other initiatives for capacity development and training including development of seed sectors, etc., was appreciated by the BIMSTEC Member Countries. The cooperation in the areas of high impact trans-boundary diseases of livestock and poultry; and aquatic animal diseases and biosecurity in aquaculture and digitalization to promote precision farming was also discussed in the meeting.
The Experts of Agriculture Ministries from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand participated in the meeting.

India's GDP growth rate accelerates to 20.1% in Q1 FY22 on a low basis

India's gross domestic product (GDP) rebounded by growing at a record of 20.1% during the April -June quarter, led by manufacturing, reaffirming the government's foresight of a V-shaped recovery after a record 24.4% contraction in Q1 of 2020-21.
The government sees the macro-economic fundamentals much stronger after once in a century pandemic than the post-global financial crisis of 2008-09.
In value terms, the GDP stood at Rs 32,38,020crore in Q1 FY22, higher than Rs 26,95,421 crore in the corresponding period of FY21.
On a sequential basis, most parameters of GDP have fallen in Q1 FY22, due to the adverse impact of the second wave of the pandemic on the economy.
The Reserve Bank of India had projected Q1 real GDP to grow by 21.4%.
According to the government, the recovery is supported by rapid vaccination coverage from 4.7% of the total population in Q4 of 2020-21 to 24.5% in Q1 of 2021-22.

::Science and Tech::

Nasa's Perseverance rover locks new target on Mars after failed sample attempt

The Nasa scientists will look inside 'Rochette' to determine whether they would move ahead to capture the sample with the Perseverance rover’s coring bit.
After failing to collect a rock sample that proved too crumbly, Nasa’s Perseverance rover has set its eyes on another rock nicknamed ‘Rochette’. The US space agency on Thursday said a tool mounted on the robotic arm of Perseverance will abrade the surface of the rock. The scientists will look inside Rochette to determine whether they would move ahead to capture the sample with the rover’s coring bit.
The Perseverance rover has been exploring a four square kilometre patch of the Jezero crater floor since its landing in search of a scientifically interesting target to collect Martian rocks. The rover is carrying over three dozen titanium tubes to collect the sample.
If the team decides to acquire a core from this rock, the sampling process would be initiated next week, according to Nasa. This time, the rover will pause the sampling sequence to let the team review the image captured by the Mastcam-Z camera system to ensure the rock core is present.

::Sports::

Tokyo Paralympics: MariyappanThangavelu and Sharad Kumar win silver and bronze respectively in men's high jump T42 event

Indian paralympic high jumpers MariyappanThangavelu and Sharad Kumar won a silver and bronze respectively in the men's high jump T63 event, taking India's medal tally at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 to an unprecedented 10 , August 31. Mariyappan, a Tamil Nadu native, won silver by clearing 1.86 metres, while Sharad Kumar, who hails from Patna, clinched the bronze with an effort of 1.83 metres. Both para-athletes recorded their season-best jumps. Sam Grewe, the gold winner from the United States of America, succeeded in soaring above 1.88m in his third attempt.
“Just as at Rio 2016, India has two athletes in the podium places in Men's High Jump T63 Final! MariyappanThangavelu and Sharad Kumar have won #silver and #bronze medals respectively, taking Flag of India's medal tally into double figures,” #Tokyo2020 for India tweeted on Tuesday. MariyappanThangavelu, the 26-year-old Tamil Nadu native, was conferred with the KhelRatna, the country’s highest sporting award, in 2020. The 26-year-old was touted to be a sure shot medalist for India after rising to fame after his gold medal victory in the 2016 Rio Paralympics.