Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 13 March 2022

::National::

J&K Budget to be tabled in Parliament

Union finance minister NirmalaSitharaman will present Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)’s Budget in LokSabha on the first day of the second half of Parliament’s Budget Session on Monday. The Budget is expected to be taken up for discussion in the post-lunch sitting of the House.
Both LokSabha and RajyaSabha will have simultaneous sittings from 11 am instead of the separate shifts that were held during the first part of the Budget Session from January 29 to February 11 in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. There has been a steady decline in Covid cases.
Union tribal affairs minister ArjunMunda will introduce the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill in LokSabha for the inclusion of certain communities on the list of Scheduled Tribes of Tripura. Currently, 19 tribes from the state are on the list. In RajyaSabha, Munda will be introducing a bill to amend the Scheduled Tribes list of Jharkhand.
The Opposition is expected to raise issues such as rising unemployment, reduction in the interest rate on employees’ provident fund, and the evacuation of Indians from war-torn Ukraine.

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::International::

Russia-Ukraine talks today as war comes close to NATO's borders

In a huge escalation of tensions, Russian missiles, said Kyiv, pounded a military base - a critical hub for cooperation with NATO countries - in west Ukraine on Sunday, killing 35 people. While the safety of journalists - apart from civilians - in the warzone remains a big concern, a 51-year-old American correspondent - Brent Renaud - was killed in Irpin, outside the capital city. On Monday, both the countries will hold a fresh round of talks.
A fresh round of talks via video-conference will take place Monday between Kyiv and Moscow, MykhailoPodoliak, an adviser to Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky and part of the negotiating team, said. "Again. Negotiations go non-stop in the format of video conferences. Working groups are constantly functioning. A large number of issues require constant attention. On Monday, March 14, a negotiating session will be held to sum up the preliminary results… (sic)," he wrote in a tweet.
Over 30 cruise missiles targeted the sprawling facility at Yavoriv military base on Sunday, perilously close to the border with Poland - a NATO member. Poland is also a transit route for Western military aid to Ukraine, and the strikes followed Moscow's threats to target those shipments, according to reports.
Tensions are also mounting between the US and China and top aides of the two countries are set to meet in Rome on Monday for talks.Beijing has been pressured to openly decry the war as the Kremlin faces global sanctions. The Washington has also said that Moscow has asked for military aid from Beijing.

::Economy::

Provident fund interest rate for FY22 lowered to four-decade low of 8.1%

Interest rate on employees' provident fund deposits on Saturday was cut to a four-decade low of 8.1 per cent for the 2021-22 fiscal from 8.5 per cent in the previous year.
This is the lowest interest rate since 1977-78 on deposits that employees make towards their retirement fund. Interest rate on employees provident fund that year stood at 8 per cent.
The 8.1 per cent interest rate was recommended by the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) after its meeting in Guwahati under the chairmanship of Union Labour and Employment Minister BhupendraYadav, a labour ministry statement said.
"The Central Board recommended 8.10 per cent annual rate of interest to be credited on EPF accumulations in members' accounts for the financial year 2021-22 (ending on March 31, 2022)," it said.
The recommendation will now go to the Union Finance Ministry and will be notified once it is approved by it.
"The interest rate would be officially notified in the government gazette following which EPFO would credit the rate of interest into its subscribers' accounts," the statement said.

India's forex reserves rise by $394 million to $631.92 billion

The country's foreign exchange reserves increased by USD 394 million to USD 631.92 billion in the week ended March 4, the RBI data showed.
In the previous week ended February 25, the reserves had declined by USD 1.425 billion to USD 631.527 billion. It touched a lifetime high of USD 642.453 billion in the week ended September 3, 2021.
During the reporting week, the gain in the reserves was due to a rise in the foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) weekly data released on Friday showed.
FCA increased by USD 634 million to USD 565.466 billion in the week ended March 4.
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 declined by USD 147 million to USD 42.32 billion in the reporting week, according to the data.
The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dipped by USD 59 million to USD 18.981 billion, the RBI said.

::Science and tech::

Mix modern science, indigenous wisdom to mitigate climate crisis

Climate change is altering our planet irreversibly. Yet, rarely do we get the opportunity to talk to people whose everyday lives are viscerally tied to nature. Last week, I met with Keith Wolfe Smarch, a 60-year-old indigenous carver and hunter in the Canada’s Yukon territory.
The wise man talked about mice. During the last few years, temperatures have started shifting from high to low rapidly, which forces the snow on top to melt and freeze back into ice.
The mice continue to feed under the snow, but under a sheath of ice. Many don’t even survive. Nor do the iconic Great Grey Owls, who prey on mice. With the new ice layer, they can no longer hear the mice, as they once did, under the snow. And if they discern dinner, they can’t break the ice to serve themselves. The numbers of both the owls and the mice have dropped, Keith says. Till five years ago, he’d hear the birds hoot all night. Now, its down to a few times a year.
That’s only one story, but it underscores how little we listen to and amplify indigenous knowledge and observations around climate change. Science is key, but it doesn’t capture every shift. If we respected, learned from and combined both kinds of knowledge, we stand a better chance to adapt, if not somewhat mitigate the climate crisis. India is lucky to be populated by so many communities who can offer us this knowledge. We must grab this opportunity and learn from them.