Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 16 August 2021

::NATIONAL::

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday announced that the government has decided to open all Sainik schools to girls.
“In a move towards strengthening BetiBachaoBetiPadhao initiative, our daughters will now be able to study in Sainik schools too," PM Modi said.
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of 75th Independence Day, Modi made a special mention to the medallist of the Tokyo Olympics who were present at the courtyard of the Red Fort.
“Not only have the athletes won our hearts but have sown the seeds to inspire the generations to come," he said.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that people in Afghanistan are facing hunger crisis, news agency ANI reported quoting Voice of America (VOA). A United Nations assessment of the food security and nutrition situation in Afghanistan finds that one in three Afghans face acute food insecurity, the VOA report said.
This means an estimated 14 million people in the war-torn nation are barely able to meet their daily minimum food needs, ANI further quoted the report as saying.
The World Food Program said that malnutrition levels are soaring and some 2 million children need nutrition treatment to survive.
WFP spokesperson TomsonPhiri said the Afghan people are facing artificial and natural disaster, rendering them unable to feed their families. He stated that a poor harvest is projected as the nation has been hit by a second drought in four years, reported VOA. "We fear the worst is yet to come and a larger tide of hunger is fast approaching," Phiri said, adding that “It is not a secret the situation has worsened and is becoming increasingly unpredictable.

Private equity firm Blackstone is seeking shareholder approval for an exit return incentive (ERI) plan that envisages to pay a compensation of between 1% and 4% of the proceeds that Blackstone will generate from a future sale of its stake in SonaComstar (Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd) to select executives of the company, it said in annual general meeting notice to shareholders.
Blackstone holds a 34.18% stake in the auto component maker through an entity called Singapore VII Topco III PTE. Ltd.
“Under the ERI plan, Singapore VII proposes to give the identified employees cash payments from the proceeds it received/receives from a disposition event (disposition payments). These disposition payments may be made in three instalments, part at the time of the disposition event and then on the first and second anniversaries of Singapore VII’s complete disposition of its ownership in the company, as per the ERI plan,” said the notice of the annual general meeting to be held on September 9.
The amount of the cash made to the employees will depend on the multiple of the invested capital and returns realized by Singapore VII from the proceeds of the stake sale, it said.

BhartiAirtel on Friday announced the closure of its agreement with Reliance JioInfocomm to transfer ‘right to use’ of Airtel’s 800 megahertz (MHz) spectrum in three circles to Jio.
Airtel has received ₹1,004.8 crore (net of tax) from Jio for the proposed transfer, the company said in a statement. In addition, Jio will assume future liabilities of ₹469.3 crore relating to the spectrum.
In April, Jio had entered into a definitive agreement with BhartiAirtel for acquisition of ‘right to use’ spectrum in the 800MHz band in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Mumbai circles through spectrum trading.
The agreement is in accordance with spectrum trading guidelines issued by the Department of Telecommunications.
With this trading of ‘right to use’ spectrum, Jio will have 2X15MHz of spectrum in the 800MHz band in Mumbai circle and 2X10MHz of spectrum in the 800MHz band in Andhra Pradesh and Delhi circles, thereby further consolidating its spectrum footprint in these circles.

Scientists have discovered two new species of dinosaurs in northwest China, a region where dinosaur fossils had never been found before, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.
The study said the fossils from three different dinosaurs about 130 to 120 million years ago were found in China's Turpan-Hami Basin about 2 to 5km apart. The researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Museum of Brazil published their findings in Scientific Reports, part of the Nature family of journals.
Scientists named the species Silutitansinensis or "silu” and Hamititanxinjiangensis named for where the fossil specimen was found in Xinjiang.
They have said that “silu” means the “Silk Road” in Chinese Mandarin pinyin, “in memory the great trade routes which connected the East and West”. “Hami” refers to the Hami city where the specimen was found.

India vice-captain Rohit Sharma missed out on a Test century at Lord's getting out for 83 in the first innings. He was cleaned up by England pacer James Anderson. He managed to get off to a start in the 2nd innings, settling himself down and scoring 21 runs. But he was undone by Mark Wood as he attempted a hook shot and gave away an easy catch to Moeen Ali.
“We will be having a talk of what happened and what they were thinking while playing that shot. As far as Rohit is concerned, he has made it clear that pull shot fetches him runs so he is going to play those shots and we will back him playing those shots,"