Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 16 April 2021

::NATIONAL::

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today launched the EatSmart Cities Challenge and Transport 4 All Challenge through video conferencing. EatSmart Cities Challenge is an opportunity for India to play a pioneering role in developing the concept of integrating food systems into city planning and development.
Speaking on the occasion, MrPuri said, this movement will nudge the urban populace to make the right food choices and help build a healthier and happier nation.
The EatSmart Cities Challenge is envisioned as a competition among cities to recognize their efforts in adopting and scaling up various initiatives under Eat Right India. The challenge is open to all Smart Cities, capital cities of States and Union Territories, and cities with a population of more than five lakh.
The Transport 4 All Challenge aims to bring together cities, citizen groups, and start-ups to develop solutions that improve public transport to better serve the needs of all citizens.
MrPuri said, that COVID-19 has brought the entire world to a halt with transport being one of the worst-hit sectors.

US President Joe Biden has announced that all American troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11 this year, thus bringing to end the country’s longest war, spanning across two decades.
“US troops, as well as forces deployed by our NATO Allies and operational partners, will be out of Afghanistan before we mark the 20th anniversary of that heinous attack on September 11th, 2001, said Biden during a televised address to the nation from the White House on Wednesday.
Soon after, Biden went to the Arlington National Cemetery to pay homage to the American soldiers who died in the Afghanistan war, which began in 2001 after Al Qaeda terrorists based in Afghanistan attacked the World Trade Centre in New York.
Responding to questions at the cemetery, Biden said the troop-pullout was not a tough decision.
“No, it wasn’t. To me, it was absolutely clear. Absolutely clear. We went for two reasons: to get rid of (Al Qaeda chief Osama) Bin Laden and to end the safe haven.

The wholesale price-based inflation shot up to over 8-year high of 7.39 per cent in March on rising crude oil and metal prices.
Also, the low base of March last year, when the data was computed with a low response rate due to the nationwide lockdown, contributed to a spike in inflation in March 2021.
The WPI inflation was 4.17 per cent in February and 0.42 per cent in March 2020.
This is the third straight month of up-tick seen in the wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation.
"The annual rate of inflation stood at 7.39 per cent (provisional) for the month of March 2021 over March 2020," the Commerce and Industry Ministry said.
Such a high level of WPI was last recorded in October 2012, when inflation was 7.4 per cent.
Inflation in food articles in March was 3.24 per cent as prices of pulses, fruits and paddy hardened.

The Reserve Bank on Friday said an advisory group has been constituted to assist the second Regulatory Review Authority (RRA 2.0) which was constituted by the central bank earlier this month to streamline regulations and reduce the compliance burden of regulated entities.
Headed by SBI Managing Director S Janakiraman, the advisory group will assist the RRA by identifying regulations, guidelines, and returns that can be rationalised.
The RBI has set up the second Regulatory Review Authority (RRA 2.0), initially for a period of one year from May 01, 2021, with a view to streamline regulations and reduce the compliance burden of regulated entities.
Other members of the advisory group are T TSrinivasaraghavan (Former Managing Director and Non-Executive Director, Sundaram Finance), Gautam Thakur (Chairman,Saraswat Co-operative Bank), SubirSaha (Group Chief Compliance Officer, ICICI Bank), Ravi Duvvuru (President and CCO, Jana Small Finance Bank), and AbadaanViccaji (Chief Compliance Officer, HSBC India).
The Reserve Bank said the RRA has constituted the advisory group, representing members from regulated entities, including compliance officers, to support the RRA in achieving the objective set forth in the terms of reference of RRA 2.0.
The group will assist the RRA by identifying areas, regulations, guidelines, returns which can be rationalised and submit reports periodically to RRA containing the recommendations/suggestions.

Space agencies of India and France on Thursday signed an agreement for cooperation for the country's first human space mission Gaganyaan, the French space agency CNES said.
The agreement was announced during French Foreign Affairs minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visit to the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) headquarters.
ISRO has asked CNES to help prepare for Gaganyaan missions and to serve as its single European contact in this domain.
The agreement provides for the CNES to support implementation of a scientific experiment plan on validation missions, exchange information on food packaging and the nutrition programme, and above all the use by Indian astronauts of French equipment, consumables and medical instruments.
French equipment developed by CNES, tested and still operating aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will thus be made available to Indian crews.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes has been named Wisden's leading cricketer in the world for the second year in a row.
Stokes, 29, is the first Englishman to win the award twice since its inception in 2004.
He scored more Test runs than any other batsman in 2020, with 641 in seven matches, while also taking 19 wickets.
Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens has become the oldest person since 1933 to be named as one of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year.