Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 10 February 2022

::National::

Atal Tunnel Certified By World Book Of Records As 'longest Highway Tunnel' Above 10,000ft

Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhary, Director Gen of the (DGBRO) received the award from the World Book of Records for the construction of the Atal Tunnel on behalf of BRO.
Atal Tunnel has been officially recognised by the World Book of Records, as the 'World's Longest Tunnel above 10,000 Feet". Lt General Rajeev Chaudhary, Director General of Border Roads Organisation (DGBR) received the award for the achievement of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Wednesday, February 9 in New Delhi, according to the press released by the Ministry of Defence. The Atal Tunnel which is 9.02 kilometres long has been constructed to connect Manali to the Lahaul-Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 3, 2020, dedicated the Atal Tunnel to the nation. Atal Tunnel has been constructed under the 'Rohtang Pass' on the Manali - Leh Highway under the conditions of freezing temperatures in difficult terrain. The tunnel has been an important step for connectivity as prior to its construction, the highway remained closed for six months during winter season. Due to the closure of the highway, Lahaul and Spiti remained cut off from the mainland for around six months. The Atal tunnel has been named after the former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The Atal Tunnel has reduced the distance on Manali - Sarchu road by 46 kilometres and travelling time has also been reduced by four to five hours. The tunnel has helped in providing connectivity between Manali to Leh in all the weather seasons. In addition, the tunnel has also offered an alternate link to Armed Forces for travelling to Ladakh. According to the press release by the Ministry of Defence, the construction of the Atal Tunnel has been a test of 'technical & engineering skills as well as human endurance and machine efficacy. The tunnel has been constructed in extremely harsh and challenging terrain, wherein the temperatures in winters dipped to -25 degrees.

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::International::

India to help Sri Lanka to implement 'Unitary Digital Identity Framework' based on Aadhar card

India has agreed to provide a grant to Sri Lanka to implement a ‘Unitary Digital Identity framework’, apparently modelled on the Aadhaar card. The government of Sri Lanka has decided to speed up the implementation of a Unitary Digital Identity framework in the country.
The personal identity verification program is a digital tool that can represent the identities of individuals in cyberspace, and the identification of individual identities that can be accurately verified in digital and physical environments by combining the two devices.
The government of India had previously agreed to provide a grant to implement the Unitary Digital Identity framework, after bilateral talks between the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019.
The government's website further states that the government of India agreed to provide a grant to implement the Unitary Digital Identity framework after bilateral talks between President Rajapaksa and PM Modi in 2019. The website does not specify the value of the grant, or whether it involves transfer of technology from the government of India's Aadhaar program that assigns a unique 12-digit number to residents of India. The Sri Lankan government is yet to reveal a timeline for the implementation of the digital identity framework.
The Unitary Digital Identity sounds similar to the government of India's Aadhaar biometric-based digital identity verification system used to gain access to public welfare schemes. Aadhaar is managed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and users can authenticate their identity with fingerprints and iris scans. In 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the Aadhaar Act, authorising the use of the system for welfare schemes while restricting its use in the private sector. Over the years, Aadhaar has slowly become an optional means of verifying identity when accessing private services such as purchasing a mobile SIM card, or when opening a bank account.

::Economy::

RBI bets on growth, keeps key rates unchanged in last review of financial year

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday kept key lending rates of the economy unchanged at record lows in the last monetary review of the current financial year, maintaining what analysts call an “accommodative stance” to spur growth.
Governor Shaktikanta Das said the bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) has decided to keep the benchmark repo rate unchanged at 4% (since May 2020), while the reverse repo rate has also been maintained at 3.35%. He said the central bank would stay the course with an accommodative stand as long as necessary to push growth.
The MPC’s maintenance of status quo on its bimonthly policy rates for the 10th time comes at a time when policymakers are weighing the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and inflationary expectations.
Globally, inflation is rising and high prices would eventually find their way into the country, but the RBI is convinced at the moment that it can keep interest rates low. Lower interest rates make borrowing by businesses easier, helping to increase the economy’s output and the GDP rate, but they can also fan inflation.
These rates are key to boosting credit and investments by businesses in the economy as India pushes its nascent economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic’s third wave. The MPC’s review of the economy is key to markets and general business sentiment required to spur economic activity.

Repo rate, reverse repo rate remain unchanged, real GDP growth projected at 7.8%

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday kept the repo and the reverse repo rate unchanged in its first monetary policy review after Union Budget 2022. The current repo rate in 2021 is at 4% and the reverse repo rate is at 3.35%.
This is the 10th time that the RBI kept the lending rates unchanged and maintained an accommodative stance amid the Covid pandemic. However, experts anticipated a shift from the accommodative stance to a neutral stance in this policy meeting.
The pandemic holds the world economy hostage once again, Governor Shaktikanta Das said. Real GDP growth for 2022-23 has been projected at 7.8%, the Governor said.
Giving a lowdown about the pandemic situation, Das said the universal focus amid the pandemic is shifting to a targeted containment strategy, universal vaccination and booster doses.
Some loss of momentum in economic activity has been reported in some sectors including sales of automobiles, two-wheelers etc, the Governor said adding that the renewed surge of global crude oil price needs to the closely monitored.
The six-member Monetary Policy Committee headed by Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das started deliberations on the bi-monthly policy review on Tuesday and made the announcements on Thursday. The meeting of the top bank was originally scheduled to take place between February 7 and February 9, but was deferred by a day after the Maharashtra government declared February 7 a public holiday to mourn the death of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar.

::Sport::

IPL 2022: Ahmedabad IPL franchise to be called 'Gujarat Titans'

The Ahmedabad team of the Indian Premier League will be called the Gujarat Titans, the franchise announced.
The franchise, owned by private equity firm CVC Capital and to be led by India all-rounder Hardik Pandya, said the name was chosen to pay tribute to the state's rich cricketing legacy.
Debuting in the 15th season of the IPL, the Gujarat Titans will pay tribute to the state's rich cricketing legacy, which has seen it produce countless Indian international cricket legends over the years, the franchise said in statement.