Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 02 March 2021

::NATIONAL::

After vaccinating the frontline workers, the Indian government has started the next phase of Covid-19 vaccination. For now, senior citizens (above 60 years) and people aged 45 or older with comorbidities can register to get vaccinated. A user guide to help citizens register and book their appointment has been uploaded on the websites of the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the National Health Authority (NHA).
Citizens can go to http://www.cowin.gov.in to register themselves or via the Aarogya Setu app, which has CoWIN app integration. There is no CoWIN app on Play Store for registration as the app is for administrators only. The registrations opened at 9 AM on March 1 and will be open till 3 PM every day. The availability of slots nearby to get vaccinated is subject to availability.
If the person you are registering for is a senior citizen, click on the register button. If you are registering a person with comorbidities, you have to click on yes when it asks “Do you have any comorbidities (pre-existing medical conditions)”. People age between 45 years to 60 years will need to carry a medical certificate when they go for the appointment. Once registered, a confirmation message will be sent to the registered mobile number.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Wednesday said that a proposal will be sent to the Centre for dereservation of some forests at foothill areas for implementing development projects.
Many reserve forests at foothill areas were hampering execution of development projects, Khandu informed the assembly.
The chief minister was responding to a question raised by National People's Party (NPP) member Tarin Dakpe on conversion of Kamle Reserve Forest into a wildlife sanctuary in 2015 without conducting any public hearing with residents of four villages having a population of 3,000 people.
Khandu said, he had recently asked the chief secretary to compile details of such reserve forests and send a proposal to the Centre with a request to use such forest land for carrying out development work.
"I have started the process and very soon a meeting will be called with all the stakeholders to find a solution," the chief minister said. Earlier, responding to the question, Environment and Forest Minister Mama Natung said that as per Survey of India toposheet, two villages are located outside the notified wildlife sanctuary.

Buckingham Palace said it was "very concerned" about a report in the Times newspaper detailing allegations of bullying from the former staff of Britain's Prince Harry and his wife Meghan.
"Accordingly our HR team will look into the circumstances outlined in the article," Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Members of staff involved at the time, including those who have left the Household, will be invited to participate to see if lessons can be learned."
The Royal Household will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace, it added.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari today launched the Real-Time Monitoring System of Toll Plazas at a function in New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Gadkari said that implementation of FASTag at toll plazas has improved electronic toll collections and facilitated ease of doing business.
He said, it has also save time and fuel. The government has made FASTag mandatory from the 15th February midnight and any vehicle not fitted with it will be charged double the toll at electronic toll plazas across the country.
Mr Gadkari said, the government is also working on ways to reduce number road accidents in the country by half up to 2025.
Speaking about construction of National Highways, Mr Gadkari said, over eleven thousand kilometres of National Highways were constructed in the 11 months of this financial year and the per day road construction has reached 33 kilometres.
Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways was also present on the occasion.

India’s service providers expanded their activity at the fastest pace in a year in February owing to a quicker increase in new orders with the rollout of vaccines leading to an improvement in business confidence, a private survey said.
Data released by the analytics firm IHS Markit on Wednesday showed Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the services sector shot up to 55.3 in February from 52.8 a month ago. The 50-mark separates expansion from contraction.
In comparison, PMI for the manufacturing sector had fallen marginally to 57.5 in February from 57.7 a month ago, data released on Monday showed.
Transport and storage was the best-performing segment out of the five categories monitored by the survey, recording the strongest increases in new business and output in February. Information and communication was the only sub-sector to post a contraction in sales and business activity in the latest month. Companies in this category also bucked the general trend of positive growth projections and signalled a neutral outlook for output, the survey showed.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU), an organisation which assigns official names and designations to celestial bodies, has recently confirmed the discovery of 18 new asteroids by Indian students as part of a global science programme.
The International Asteroid Discovery Project was conducted by STEM and Space, an organisation working towards the learning of astronomy and space science in India, along with the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC) as part of a NASA citizen science project.
Over the last two years, 150 students from all around India participated in this two month long campaign to find asteroids, making this the largest asteroid discovery project in India, Mila Mitra, Co-founder and Academic Head of STEM and Space, told PTI.

Indian boxer Deepak Kumar's stupendous run at the 72nd Strandja Memorial tournament ended with a silver medal in Sofia, Bulgaria after he lost a fiercely-contested flyweight (52kg) final on Saturday.
Deepak, an Asian silver-winner, was up against Bulgaria's Daniel Asenov, a two-time European championships gold-medallist. The bout ended in a split verdict in favour of the local favourite.