Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 07 May 2021

::NATIONAL::

Border Roads Organization (BRO) celebrated Foundation Day on 7th May

The aim of the motorcycle expectation by Border Roads Organisation is to spread awareness about COVID-19 and safety measures to be adopted by one and all, connect with the people of North-East and spread awareness about Organisation’s contribution towards achieving Atma-nirbhar-Bharat, road safety measures to be adopted by the citizens, and act as a messenger of Peace,Harmony, National integration.
During the expedition, the expedition teams have also interacted with ex-servicemen and ex GREF persons, organised small medical camps at various remote places, created road safety awareness among people by use of posters, leaflets and banners etc. The expedition was Flagged-In at Guwahati in the presence of Addl DGBR East PKH Singh.
Facing challenges and overcoming them is a routine for BRO. The BRO has undertaken some of the most challenging and daunting tasks in meeting the aspirations of the Country.
Border roads organisation has done an excellent job of building roads under forbidding circumstances in the North-east, once considered very remote and has played a pivotal role in the development of North East by building roads, bridges, airfields in the daunting circumstances.

Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam

::International::

China suspends China-Australia strategic economic talks

China's National Development and Reform Commission has indefinitely suspended all activities under the framework of the China-Australia strategic economic dialogue, exacerbating the already strained diplomatic ties between Beijing and Canberra.
The dialogue is jointly held by China’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and relevant ministries of the Australian government.
The NDRC said in a statement on its website on Thursday, “the decision was made based on the current attitude of the Australian Commonwealth government towards China-Australia cooperation.” According to Beijing, the Australian Government's policy toward China constitutes ideological discrimination and reflects the Cold War mindset.
According to media reports, Australia has described China's decision to suspend economic talks as "disappointing", with Trade Minister Dan Tehan saying the now-frozen China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue provided an "important forum" for the two sides "to work through issues".
Tehan, however, admitted that no such talks had taken place since 2017.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin told a regular ministry conference on Thursday, the suspension was a “necessary and legitimate” response to Australia “abusing” the concept of national security to pressure cooperation with China. “Australia must bear full responsibility,” he said.
China’s decision to suspend the economic dialogue comes after the Australian government last month scrapped a Belt and Road deal between Beijing and the state of Victoria, and last week Canberra said that a Chinese company's 99-year-lease on Darwin Port was under review.

::Economy::

RBI's second purchase under G-SAP 1.0

The Reserve Bank of India announced the third tranche of open market purchase of government securities worth Rs 40,000 crore under the G-sec Acquisition Programme (G-SAP 1.0) on June 17, with a view to enabling a stable and orderly evolution of the yield curve.
In April, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said that the RBI will conduct open market purchase of government securities of Rs 1 lakh crore under the G-SAP 1.0 in first quarter of the financial year 2021-22.
The first such auction of Rs 25,000 crore was held on April 15 and second one was on May 20 for Rs 35,000 crore.
"The Reserve Bank will conduct the third tranche of open market purchase of government securities of Rs 40,000 crore under the G-sec Acquisition Programme (G-SAP 1.0) on June 17, 2021," the central bank said in a statement on Thursday.
Of this, state development loans (SDLs) would be purchased up to Rs 10,000 crore.
As per the RBI, the auctions under G-SAP 1.0 have evoked keen interest from market participants, with bid cover ratios of 4.1 and 3.5, respectively, in the two auctions undertaken so far.

GNAFC's Global Report on the Food Crisis

The Global Network Against Food Crises report reveals that at least 155 million people experienced acute food insecurity at crisis or worse levels across 55 countries/territories in 2020.
This is an increase of around 20 million people from the previous year and raises a stark warning about a worrisome trend: acute food insecurity has kept up its relentless rise since 2017 - the first edition of the report.
Of these, around 133,000 people were classified in the most severe phase of acute food insecurity in 2020 in Burkina Faso, South Sudan and Yemen where urgent action was needed to avert widespread death and a collapse of livelihoods.
At least another 28 million people faced emergency level of acute food insecurity in 2020 - meaning they were one step away from starvation - across 38 countries/territories where urgent action saved lives and livelihoods and prevented famine spreading.
39 countries/territories have experienced food crises during the 5 years that the GNAFC has been publishing its annual report. In these countries/territories, the population affected by high levels of acute food insecurity increased from 94 to 147 million people between 2016 and 2020.
Additionally, in the 55 food-crisis countries/territories covered by the report, over 75 million children under 5 were stunted (too short) and over 15 million wasted (too thin) in 2020.
Countries in Africa remained disproportionally affected by acute food insecurity. Close to 98 million people facing acute food insecurity in 2020 - or 2 out of 3 - were on the African continent. But other parts of the world have also not been spared, with countries including Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria and Haiti among the 10 worst food crises last year.
The key drivers behind rising acute food insecurity in 2020 were:
conflict: main driver pushing almost 100 million people into acute food insecurity, up from 77 million in 2019
economic shocks - often due to COVID-19 - replaced weather events as the second driver of acute food insecurity both in terms of numbers of people and countries affected (over 40 million people in 17 countries/territories, up from 24 million and 8 countries in 2019)
weather extremes (over 15 million people, down from 34 million).
While conflict will remain the major driver of food crises in 2021, COVID-19 and related containment measures and weather extremes will continue to exacerbate acute food insecurity in fragile economies.

::Science and tech::

Global warming will reach 2.4 degree Celsius by 2100

Special Report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways’ contained in the Decision of the 21st Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to adopt the Paris Agreement.
The IPCC accepted the invitation in April 2016, deciding to prepare this Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty.
This Summary for Policymakers (SPM) presents the key findings of the Special Report, based on the assessment of the available scientific, technical and socio-economic literature relevant to global warming of 1.5°C and for the comparison between global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
The level of confidence associated with each key finding is reported using the IPCC calibrated language. The underlying scientific basis of each key finding is indicated by references provided to chapter elements. In the SPM, knowledge gaps are identified associated with the underlying chapters of the Report.