Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 13 December 2021

::National::

PM Modi to inaugurate KashiVishwanath Corridor in Varanasi

Prime Minister NarendraModi will visit Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on 13-12-2021 to inaugurate Phase 1 of the KashiVishwanath Corridor, constructed at a cost of around ₹339 crore.
Before the inauguration event at 1pm, PM Modi will visit the KashiVishwanath Temple and offer prayers, according to the statement by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
The PMO statement said the corridor is set to facilitate pilgrims, who had to encounter congested streets and surroundings with poor upkeep when they practised the age-old custom of taking a dip in the holy river. It will have an easily accessible pathway that will connect the KashiVishwanath Temple to the banks of the Ganga, according to the statement.
The project is spread over an area of about 5 lakh square feet—the earlier premise was limited to just around 3,000 square feet. The project involved the purchase and acquisition of more than 300 properties around the KashiVishwanath Temple.
PM Modi will inaugurate 23 buildings in Phase 1 of the project, the PMO said in the statement. They will provide a variety of facilities to the pilgrims visiting ShriKashiVishwanath Temple, including YatriSuvidhaKendras, Tourist Facilitation Centre, Vedic Kendra, MumukshuBhavan, Bhogshala, City Museum, Viewing Gallery, Food Court, among others.
The foundation stone of the project was laid by the Prime Minister on March 8, 2019. Since then, PM Modi has constantly monitored the work progress and also gave inputs and insights to improve the project and make it more accessible for the devotees, the PMO statement added.

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::International::

Dubai world's first govt to go 100% paperless: Crown Prince

Dubai has become the world's first government to turn 100 per cent paperless, the Emirate's Crown Prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has announced, pointing at savings of 1.3 billion Dirham (USD 350 million) and 14-million-man hours.
All internal, external transactions and procedures in the Government of Dubai are now 100 per cent digital and managed from a comprehensive digital government services platform.
"The achievement of this target marks the beginning of a new stage in Dubai's journey to digitise life in all its aspects – a journey rooted in innovation, creativity, and a focus on the future," said Sheikh Hamdan in a statement.
"This accomplishment also reinforces Dubai's status as a world-leading digital capital and its status as a role model in designing government operations and services that enhance customer happiness," he said.
The US, UK, Europe and Canada have expressed plans to digitise government operation on a larger scale, which encompass government procedures and citizen identifications. However, sceptics have argues its vulnerability to cyber-attacks.
"The new phase of Dubai's digital journey will enable and empower future governments to meet the expectations of the residents of a thriving smart city and provide them with renewed opportunities for prosperity, sustainable development, and happiness," he said.
The Dubai Paperless Strategy was implemented in five consecutive phases, each of which enlisted a different group of the Dubai Government's entities.
By the end of the fifth phase, the strategy was fully implemented across all 45 government entities in the emirate.
These entities provide more than 1,800 digital services and over 10,500 key transactions.

::Economy::

State Bank of India raises Rs 3,974 crore capital through AT1 bonds

State Bank of India (SBI) has raised about Rs 3,974-crore capital through additional tier 1 bonds (AT1 bonds). The coupon for the AT1 bonds was fixed at 7.55 per cent, cheaper by 17-basis points over the last issuance in September 2021.
Bond dealers said the response to SBI’s offering was good. While the indicative size was Rs 4,000 crore, the issue received bids over Rs 6,000 crore. It opted for Rs 3,974 crore with a coupon of 7.55 per cent.
In September 2021, the bank had issued AT1 bonds for Rs 4,000 crore at 7.72 per cent. There have been rating upgrades for AT1 bonds in the third quarter, helping it to raise funds at cheaper rates (lower coupon rate) in fresh issues of bonds, dealers said.
There is increasing interest in the instruments (AT1 bonds) of public sector banks as the bad loan situation has become better, recoveries have improved and prospects of further stress look less.
The ratings continue to centrally factor in the dominant market position of the SBI group in the Indian banking industry, its strong resource profile and adequate capitalisation. These bonds would replace SBI’s existing AT1 instruments, which are maturing over the period.
The ratings also factor in the continued strong support that the bank is likely to receive from its majority owner, Government of India, both on an ongoing basis and in the event of distress. These strengths are partially offset by the modest asset quality of the group.
Under the Reserve Bank of India’s regulatory norms for AT 1 bonds, the issuing bank has full discretion over coupon payments at all times on these instruments. Therefore, a bank may not pay a coupon if it does not have sufficient distributable reserves to service the coupon on AT 1 bonds.

India's forex reserves decline $1.783 billion to $635.905 billion

India's foreign exchange reserves declined for the second consecutive week, ending USD 1.783 billion down at USD 635.905 billion for the week ended December 3, RBI data showed on Friday.
In the previous week, the reserves had slid by USD 2.713 million to USD 637.687 billion.
In the reporting week ended December 3, the dip in the forex kitty was mainly on account of a decline in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves.
The FCA dropped by USD 1.483 billion to USD 573.181 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.
Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.
Gold reserves were down by USD 407 million to USD 38.418 billion.
The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were up by USD 90 million to USD 19.126 billion.
The country's reserve position with the IMF also increased by USD 17 million to USD 5.18 billion in the reporting week, as per the data.

::Science and tech::

Daughter of pioneering astronaut Alan Shepard set for Blue Origin spaceflight

The eldest daughter of pioneering US astronaut Alan Shepard is set for a ride to the edge of space aboard Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin commercial rocketship on Saturday, 60 years after her late father's famed suborbital NASA flight at the dawn of the Space Age.
Laura Shepard Churchley, 74, who was a schoolgirl when her father first streaked into space, is one of six individuals due for liftoff at 8:45 a.m. Central time (1445 GMT) from Blue Origin's launch site outside the rural west Texas town of Van Horn.
They will be flying aboard the crew capsule of a fully autonomous, six-story-tall spacecraft dubbed New Shepard, designed to soar to an altitude of about 350,000 feet (106 km) before falling back to Earth for a parachute landing on the desert floor.
The entire flight, from liftoff to touchdown, is expected to last a little over 10 minutes, with the crew experiencing a few minutes of weightlessness at the very apex of the suborbital flight.
The spacecraft itself is named for Alan Shepard, who in 1961 made history as the second person, and the first American, to travel into space - a 15-minute suborbital flight as one of NASA's original 'Mercury Seven' astronauts.

::Sport::

Pat Cummins becomes 1st captain to get 5-wicket haul in Ashes since 1982

Australia skipper Pat Cummins on Wednesday became the first captain to take a five-wicket haul in an Ashes Test since 1982.
Cummins achieved this feat on Day 1 of the ongoing first Ashes Test here at the Gabba, Brisbane on Wednesday. In 1982, England pacer Bob Willis was the first skipper to scalp five wickets in the Ashes Test.
Coming to the match, England was bowled out for 147 with skipper Cummins taking five wickets.