Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 16 March 2022

::National::

Decoding the Karnataka high court ruling on hijab

Laying down the first judicial declaration by a constitutional court on the essentiality of hijab in Islam, the Karnataka high court on Tuesday declared that the right to wear a hijab is not constitutionally protected as an essential religious practice.
A full bench of the high court held that “the Holy Quran does not mandate wearing of hijab or headgear for Muslim women” and that there is no prescription in Quran on wearing hijab as an indispensable requirement of Islamic faith.
The Karnataka government argued before the bench led by chief justice Ritu Raj Awasthi that wearing of hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam and that, even otherwise, the state is constitutionally empowered to issue prohibitory orders to impose reasonable restriction to the exercise of fundamental rights. Those protesting against the government mandated ban contended that hijab is an integral part of Islam and the ban is an egregious invasion into their religious freedom.
Upholding the state’s views, the bench, which also included justices Krishna S Dixit and JM Khazi, covered in its judgment intricate questions of how the Constitution of India protects religious freedom, the State’s right to impose restrictions on the exercise of right, and the role of the judiciary as final arbiter of what constitutes reasonable restrictions.
The bench cited the apex court’s judgment in India Gandhi Vs Raj Narain, which explained the basic feature of secularism to mean that the State shall have no religion of its own and all persons shall be equally entitled to the freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion under Articles 25 and 26.

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::International::

Ukraine’s Zelensky address Canada’s parliament, asks for more support in war

In an emotional address to Canada’s parliament on Tuesday, Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky welcomed the initial assistance from the country and the sanctions it has imposed on Russians and Russian entities, but once again reiterated the demand that partner nations need do more, including closing down the Ukrainian airspace.
“Please close the sky, close the air space, please stop the bombing. How many more cruise missiles must fall on our cities?” he said, exhibiting visible frustration over a demand that has gone unmet thus far, as he virtually spoke to a packed parliament, comprising of members from the House of Commons and the Senate.
Zelensky made clear his disenchantment with the level of support that Ukraine has received so far with partners asking Kyiv to “hold on a little longer” and some people “talking about avoiding escalation”. At the same time, he said there was “no clear answer to our aspiration of become a member of Nato”.
Among those who have taken a position of not militarily confronting Moscow has been Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was present at the address, and, in fact, introduced the Ukrainian President prior to his speech. On March 4, Trudeau said, “The thing that we have so far avoided, and will continue to need to avoid, is a situation in which Nato’s forces are in direct conflict with Russian soldiers. That would be a level of escalation that is unfortunate.”
The Ukrainian president spoke of the full-scale aggression launched by Russia over the last 20 days and drew attention to the fact that the attack had claimed the lives of 97 Ukrainian children.
“We’re not asking for much, for justice, for real support which will help us to defend (Ukrainian territory),” he said, in an address in Ukrainian, which was simultaneously translated for the audience, which included members from all of Canada’s federal parties, and leaders of each of those parties spoke in support of Ukraine.

::Economy::

No public sector bank faced loss in last three quarters, says govt

No public sector bank (PSB) has faced any loss in the April-December period of the current fiscal year, and clocked a collective net profit of Rs 48,874 crore during this period, the government said in Parliament.
“No PSB has suffered losses in the current financial year up to December 31, 2021. During the said period of the first three quarters of the current financial year, all the PSBs have registered net profit of Rs 48,874 crore,” Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said in a reply in the Rajya Sabha.
Responding to a query on profit earned by PSBs since 2010, the minister citing the data from the Reserve Bank, said the public sector banks earned a combined net profit of Rs 31,820 crore in 2020-21. However, there were collective losses for five straight years during 2015-16 to 2019-20.
“Institutions such as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, National Statistical Commission, and the Finance Commission perform some or all of the roles proposed for the fiscal council by the N K Singh Committee on FRBM,” said Minister of State for Finance PankajChaudhary in two separate replies.
The establishment of an independent fiscal council was first proposed by the 14th FC. Its proposed role and functions were later laid out by the FRBM committee in 2017 and by the 15th FC in its report for 2021-22 (FY22) to 2025-26. The FRBM panel and the 15th FC were both headed by N K Singh. “The government has maintained a stand that the existing bodies suffice. The Finance Commission has laid out its perspective in the report as to why there should be a fiscal council, why there should be experts who guide the government on its fiscal policy,” said Ajay Narayan Jha, member of the 15th FC and former finance secretary.

Banks recover over Rs 7.34 trn in six-and-a-half years to Dec 2021: Govt

Banks recovered over Rs 7.34 lakh crore in the past six years and the first six months of the current fiscal year, the government said in Parliament.
During the past six financial years and the first six months of the current financial year, banks have effected an aggregate recovery of Rs 7,34,542 crore, in non-performing assets and written-off loan accounts, including those reported as fraud, Minister of State for Finance BhagwatKarad said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
On recovery of fraud amounts, the minister said Rs 55,895 crorehave been recovered in the past six financial years and the current financial year up to December 31, 2021, he said.
The minister said the Reserve Bank of India had issued master directions on fraud to banks in 2016 and the government has instituted wide-ranging structural and procedural reforms to check frauds in banks.
These steps have helped in a sharp decline in fraud amount from Rs 68,962 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 11,583 crore in 2020-21.
During the April-December period of 2021-22, the amount involved in bank frauds stood at Rs 648 crore, he added.

::Science and tech::

North Korea fires 'unidentified projectile' but launch fails

North Korea fired an "unidentified projectile" Wednesday but the launch appears to have immediately failed, South Korea's military said.
"North Korea fired an unknown projectile from the Sunan area around 09:30 today, but it is presumed that it failed immediately after launch," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
Japanese media reported that North Korea had launched a possible ballistic missile, citing an unnamed defence ministry official.
The failed launch would have been Pyongyang's tenth weapons test this year, following seven missile tests and two of what North Korea said were a "reconnaissance satellite".
South Korea and the US said last week those tests were actually of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system -- a so-called "monster missile" that has never been test-fired before.
North Korea is already under biting international sanctions over its missile and nuclear weapons programme but the US said the tests were a "serious escalation" and would be punished.

::Sports::

The world watches as India’s Anirban Lahiri falls one short

AnirbanLahiri created Indian golfing history as he capped an astonishing run through the world’s most lucrative tournament to finish second -- one agonising stroke from forcing a play-off.
Lahiri, 34, shot 12-under par 276 at the Players Championship, dubbed the “fifth Major”, to finish a shot behind Australian winner Cameron Smith at the Stadium Course at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, as the golfing world watched the world No 322 mount an unexpected challenge over the 72 holes.
The Pune-born, Florida-based player was at the cusp of what would have been the greatest achievement by an Indian golfer -- his second place still ranks alongside other PGA Tour and European Tour wins for the enormity of the tournament -- to earn a prize money of $2.18 million, easily the biggest pay day for an Indian athlete.