Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 17 January 2022

::National::

Legendary Kathak dancer Birju Maharaj dies at 83

Legendary Kathak dancer Birju Maharaj has passed away, news agency ANI reported on Monday, citing his relative. He was 83.
He was born as Brij Mohan Nath Mishra on February 4, 1937 in a well-known Kathak dancing family. Besides father Achchan Maharaj and uncles Shambhu and Lachchu Maharaj, he was shaped by the influence of Bindadeen Maharaj.
He began performing as a child alongside his father, and became a Guru (Maharaj) in his teens. Birju Maharaj also performed in the durbar of Rampur Nawab.
By the time he was 28, Birju Maharaj's mastery of the dance form had won him the coveted Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
Known for his perfect rhythm and expressive abhinaya, or gesture language, Birju Maharaj developed his own unique style. He was known as a brilliant choreographer, and he helped popularise dance-dramas.

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::International::

Boris Johnson-led UK govt plans to scrap Covid-19 self-isolation law: Report

The Boris Johnson-led government is planning to scrap the law asking people to self-isolate after catching the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the Telegraph reported. This is a part of the preparations of having to live with coronavirus in the future.
The official guidance, however, will remain but the no legal punishment or fine will be imposed if the rules are ignored, The Telegraph’s report said. Prime Minister Johnson wants to permanently revoke the emergency provisions like self-isolation since Covid-19 cases have been falling in the country, the report further said.
The announcement is expected as early as spring, The Telegraph further reported.
Last week, UK health secretary Sajid Javid said that Covid-19 self-isolation in England will be cut to five days from seven if someone tests negative twice.
Meanwhile, The Sunday Times said in a report that the UK is planning to do away with the requirement of mandatory Covid-19 tests post-arrival into the country for fully vaccinated travelers, including from India.
The report further quoted an official aware of the developments to say that the rules could be relaxed by the “end of January”.
Under current rules, travelers arriving in England are required to stay at their declared address on a legally binding passenger locator form until they log a negative lateral flow or PCR test result on a pre-booked system.
A positive test requires 10-day quarantine at the address, although this can be cut short with a negative lateral flow test on days six and seven. Those not fully vaccinated must isolate for the full 10 days on arrival, with tests required on days two and eight.

::Economy::

PM Modi to deliver special address at World Economic Forum's Davos Agenda

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver a special address at the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Davos Agenda on Monday. According to the WEF website, the address is scheduled to take place at 1600 hours Central European Time (CET) or 8.30pm IST.
Several heads of state will address the event including Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and EU Commission's chief Ursua von der Leyen.
The event will also witness the participation of top industry leaders, international organisations and civil society, who will deliberate on critical challenges being faced by the world today and discuss how to address them.
According to WEF Agenda website, the virtual plenaries will be aligned with the annual meeting objective of “orienting global leaders on the imperatives of the year ahead”.
The WEF has been holding its annual meeting in the Swiss ski resort of Davos every year, but it has been deferred due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
A week-long online 'Davos Agenda' summit is being held in its place. Two virtual summits are expected in the online summit - one on Covid-19 and the second on technology cooperation in the fourth industrial revolution.
There would be sessions on energy transition, scaling up climate innovation and Latin America outlook.

Omicron leaves Germany on brink of recession as growth dips

The risk of recession is looming for Germany after Europe's biggest economy shrank at the end of 2021 and as it faces a bumpy start to this year, with the rapid spread of Covid-19's omicron variant deterring people from shopping and travel and supply bottlenecks holding back manufacturers.
Output in Germany fell by between 0.5% and 1% in the fourth quarter, the state statistics agency Destatis said Friday.
Forecasts are also shaky for the first three months of 2022, and two straight quarters of falling output would leave Germany in recession, according to one commonly used definition.
Germany helps set the pace for the entire eurozone, the 19 European Union countries that use the euro currency.
Many German companies have suppliers or factories in other European countries, so Germany's business activity can boost growth for its neighbours.
For all of last year, the German economy grew 2.7%, rebounding from a plunge of 4.6% in 2020 when pandemic lockdowns were at their most severe.
Growth remains 2 percentage points below its pre-pandemic level and lags the estimated eurozone figure of 5%.

::Science and tech::

1st S-400 unit to be ready by April, 4 others by 2023

India has begun work on deploying the S-400 Triumf advanced surface-to-air missile defence system, with the first unit to be made operational in April.
While the Narendra Modi government remains tight-lipped about the entire project, officials with direct knowledge of the matter have told Hindustan Times that all five units will be deployed in depth areas to tackle the threat from China.
All the five units of the S-400 system, which can take down a hostile aircraft or missile at a range between 40km and 400km, are expected to be operational by next year.
The S-400 system was purchased from Russia through a $5-billion deal signed in October 2018.
The Indian Army and the Chinese PLA are locked in a stand-off across the 597km-long Ladakh LAC since May 2020, with Beijing reluctant to restore the April 2020 status quo ante in Gogra-Hot Springs and restore India’s unhindered patrolling rights in Depsang Bulge in Daulet Beg Oldi (DBO) sector and Charding Nullah Junction (CNJ) in Demchok sector. PLA has already deployed two S-400 systems across LAC in Ngari Gar Gunsa (opposite Demchok) and Nyingchi (across Arunachal Pradesh) with the remaining three deployed to tackle the threat from the Indo-Pacific.
James O’ Brien, President Joe Biden’s nominee for the US State Department’s coordinator for sanctions policy, told the Senate Foreign Committee last Wednesday during his confirmation hearing that while the US has discouraged India from acquiring the S-400 systems from Russia, Washington’s decision on whether to sanction India under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (or CAATSA; a law that aims to penalise Russia, North Korea and Iran and countries dealing with them, by extension) or grant a waiver will be done only after weighing important geostrategic considerations in relations to China.

::Sport::

Sen shines, topples world champion Loh to claim India Open title

The 20-year-old claimed his biggest title by upstaging his friend from Singapore in straight games.
It was five years ago that Lakshya Sen, a shy, lanky teenager, first made headlines. A third generation badminton player from Almora in Uttarakhand, he had become junior world No 1.
Since then, Sen has regularly made news—first by winning junior titles and then at the senior level. However, most of the senior titles were at lower-tier events where not many top names usually played. Yes, the 20-year-old won bronze at the world championships in Spain last month.
That changed as Sen dropped the ‘rising star’ tag on Sunday by announcing his arrival at the big stage, clinching the $400,000 India Open—a Super 500 event—on debut at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here.