Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 13 April 2022

::National::

Indigenisation should be the focus: IAF chief

Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari on Tuesday said no country can be “truly sovereign” without being self-reliant and underlined the need for India to sharpen its focus on defence research and development to manufacture weapons and systems locally rather than relying on “minor indigenisation” of foreign products.
The IAF chief also said future warfare could involve attack on all fronts ranging from economic strangulation to diplomatic isolation and the military standoffs to information blackouts in the form of attacks by “distributed denial of services.”
“All this will happen well before the first bullet is fired or the first aircraft goes across the border,” Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari said, while delivering a talk on “The Future of Air Warfare: Securing the Skies and Beyond.”

Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam

::International::

Pakistan army claims 'propaganda campaign' launched to malign armed forces

Pakistan Army on Tuesday claimed that there was a "recent propaganda" campaign by some quarters to malign the country's military.
This statement was issued after the 79th Formation Commanders' Conference held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.
This high-level meeting was attended by the country's army's corps commanders, principal staff officers and Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General QamarJaved Bajwa.
"The forum took note of the recent propaganda campaign by some quarters to malign [the] Pakistan Army and create division between the institution and society," the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.
The Pakistan military's media wing noted national security of the nation is sacrosanct. "Pakistan Army has always stood by the state institutions to guard it and always will, without any compromise," the ISPR said.
"Pakistan Army is aware of its responsibilities and shall continue to defend territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan against all internal and external threats under all circumstances," Pakistan army chief Bajwa was quoted as saying by Geo News.
Thousands of people gathered at Lal Haveli in Pakistan's Punjab province against Imran Khan's ouster. During the protest, the crowds referred to the Army as "Chowkidar" and called them "thieves" which was "stealing" Imran Khan's mandate.
However, in a viral video, Sheikh Rashid, the former Interior Minister was seen trying to stop the protestors from raising the slogan against the country's Army. "Don't raise slogans... we will fight with peace," he said.

::Economy::

West Bengal accounts for 10.4% MFI loan portfolio, second in India: Report

West Bengal accounts for 10.4 per cent of the total MFI loan portfolio in the country after Tamil Nadu at 12.4 per cent, as per a new report.
It said the MFI segment created huge small entrepreneurship in the state, covering eight million women, mostly from the underprivileged segment of the society.
The government needs to be more proactive in terms of providing on issues like issuance of trade licences, shop and establishment registration and other compliance processes, the report by the Association of MFIs in India, West Bengal Chapter, said.
It also said AMFI in West Bengal directly employs around 37,000 people, a bulk of them from the low-income families with limited educational qualifications.
As on September 2021, the total loan portfolio in entire eastern India stood at Rs 2,25,331crore, a growth of 1.4 per cent year-on-year.
The MFI sector showed tremendous resilience during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic wherein it helped borrowers by offering flexible payment options as well as supporting the vulnerable groups, the report added.

Euro boosted by Macron lead in French election, dollar near two-year highs

The dollar held just below two-year highs against a basket of currencies on Monday, still supported by higher U.S. Treasury yields, while the euro rallied after French leader Emmanuel Macron beat far-right challenger Marine Le Pen in the first round of presidential voting.
U.S. Treasury yields have soared on expectations of more aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve, boosting the greenback. Benchmark 10-year note yields reached 2.793% on Monday, the highest since January 2019.
But the euro looked set to snap a seven-day losing streak against the U.S. currency, rising 0.14% to $1.0889. The U.S. dollar index was last at 99.92, after reaching 100.19 on Friday, the highest since May 2020.
"There was maybe a bit of a relief rally, but it's going to be hard for the euro to really get more upside traction until the event risk fully passes," said Erik Nelson, a macro strategist at Wells Fargo in New York.
Macron will face Le Pen in what promises to be a tightly fought French presidential election runoff on April 24.

::Science and tech::

The forecast on planet Neptune is chilly and getting colder

Frigid and far-flung Neptune, our solar system's outermost planet, is adding to its reputation as an enigmatic world, with astronomers puzzled by a surprising drop in its atmospheric temperatures during the past two decades.
Focusing upon Neptune's stratosphere - the atmosphere's relatively stable region above the turbulent weather layer - the researchers had expected to find rising temperatures in the part of the planet visible from Earth with the onset of its southern hemisphere summer, a season lasting four decades. Instead, they found temperatures declining significantly.
The study was based on more than 95 thermal-infrared images - every one ever taken - spanning 2003 to 2020 using ground-based telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, mostly the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. It is the most comprehensive assessment to date of Neptune's atmospheric temperatures.
"The atmosphere appears more complicated than we had naively assumed, which, unsurprisingly, seems to be a general lesson that nature teaches scientists again and again," said Michael Roman, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Leicester in England and lead author of the study published on Monday in the Planetary Science Journal.
Neptune is among the least explored of the solar system's eight planets, with its great distance making it difficult to study from Earth. NASA's Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have made a close-up visit, flying past Neptune in 1989.
"I think Neptune is very intriguing to many of us because we still know so little about it," Roman said.

::Sports::

Saina to skip trials for CWG, Asiad, Uber Cup

The former world No 1 and CWG and Asian Games medallistcriticised the scheduling of trials later this week with the Asian championships to be held later this month
Olympic bronze medal-winning shuttlerSainaNehwal will skip the selection trials for the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Uber Cup to be held here from April 15-20.
“Trials at this point make no sense. The Asian Games is still five months away. Two weeks after the Europe swing and a week-and-a-half before the Asian Championships (April 26-May 1 in Manila), I didn’t want to put my body through another set of matches. I can’t take that chance. It’s okay if other players are considered good enough and more deserving than I am. I have no problem,” former world No 1 Saina told ESPN.