Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 18 December 2020

::NATIONAL::

India, Bangladesh sign seven agreements, revive railway link

India and Bangladesh signed seven agreements in areas ranging from hydrocarbons to agriculture and revived a cross-border railway line that was snapped during the 1965 war with Pakistan during a virtual summit on 17-12-2020.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his opening remarks at the summit with his counterpart Sheikh Hasina, described Bangladesh as an important pillar of India’s “neighbourhood first” policy.
Hasina said both countries could move up global and regional value chains by further integrating their economies, and connectivity initiatives such as the resumption of the Chilahati-Haldibari rail link would be catalysts for this process.
The seven agreements signed during the virtual summit covered cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector, agriculture and textiles, high impact community development projects to be carried out by India, trans-border elephant conservation, supply of equipment for improving garbage disposal in Bangladesh’s Barishal city, and terms of reference for creating a CEOs Forum.

Rafale’s deep-strike cruise missile gets an upgrade for targets in mountains

Faced with the prospect of an adversary on both western and eastern fronts, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has got the French manufacturer to re-calibrate the software of Rafael fighter jet’s SCALP long-range air-launched cruise missile to ensure that the subsonic weapon hits targets up to 4,000 metres above sea level.
The subsonic missile with a range in excess of 300 kilometres and a 450-kilogramme warhead is part of the weapon suite on Rafale Omni-role fighter of the IAF.
In simple terms, it means that the IAF’s Rafale can demolish targets located in mountains and high plateaus at 4,000 metres instead of the previous calibration of 2,000 metres. The tweaking of the software has been done by the missile manufacturer MBDA in consultation with the top brass of IAF.
While the next batch of three Rafale fighters are expected to arrive after 2021 Republic Day, there are plans that the aircraft will be refuelled mid-air by India’s close ally UAE air force using Airbus 330 multi-role transport tankers as they fly towards Ambala air base. As of now, seven Rafales are being used for training IAF pilots in France.
The complete fleet of 36 aircraft is scheduled to reach India by the end of 2021. One squadron of this potent fighter will be based at Ambala, the other at Hasimara airbase, which is perched on the Siliguri corridor.

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::International::

Brazil questions transparency in Chinese coronavirus vaccine ‘emergency use’ approval

Brazilian health regulator Anvisa has said that Chinese health authorities had not been transparent in approving its COVID-19 vaccine ‘CoronaVac’ for emergency use.
CoronaVac, produced by the Chinese private laboratory Sinovac is currently undergoing phase 3 clinical trials in Sao Paulo.
The health regulator in a statement noted that while the vaccine has had an emergency use authorization in China since June, the country’s authorities have not been transparent about the criteria used for granting this authorization.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly cast doubt on the CoronaVac vaccine.
SaoPaulo Governor Joao Doria, said the state expected to start vaccinating its residents in January, though Brazil’s most populous state will not be able to use CoronaVac until it is approved by Anvisa.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin defended Coronavac’s development process, saying some countries had approved Chinese inoculations and termed it as demonstration of the safety and effectiveness of China's vaccines.

::Economy::

Indian professionals cautiously optimistic for 2021; 40% expect jobs to increase: LinkedIn report

Indian professionals are cautiously optimistic heading into 2021 as two in five Indian professionals expect an increase in the number of new jobs, LinkedIn year-end data shows.
LinkedIn on Thursday released key survey and platform data for 2020.
According to LinkedIn year-end data, India has remained cautiously optimistic and resilient in the face of uncertainty, and overall confidence scores remained steady between 50 and 57 from April to November.
As per the findings, two in five (40 per cent) Indian professionals expect an increase in the number of new jobs (up from 19 per cent in April), and one in two (53 per cent) expect their companies to do better in the next six months, going into 2021.
The workforce sentiment data and confidence scores are based on the online survey responses of 21,066 professionals from April to November 2020 as part of the LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index, which is a fortnightly pulse on the confidence of the Indian workforce.

Auto part makers’ revenue declined by 34% in first half of FY21: Acma

India’s auto parts makers recorded a 34.6% decline in revenue in the fiscal first half from a year earlier as production came to a halt due to the nationwide lockdown, showed data issued on Wednesday by the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (Acma).
The sector, however, reported a swift turnaround in the second and third quarters as automobile production improved to record levels before the festive season.
Revenue in the six months ended September 30 fell to Rs1.19 lakh crore from Rs1.82 lakh crore a year earlier, according to Acma.
Component imports declined too—probably as a result of the Union government’s push for automakers to use locally-made parts. In the fiscal first half, component exports fell by 23.6% to Rs39,003 crore, while imports also dropped by 32.7% to Rs37,710 crore. The recently-announced PLI scheme might help the sector maintain the export surplus status in the coming years, analysts said. According to Deepak Jain, president of Acma, the component industry’s performance has improved manifold after the lockdown measures were lifted and the industry expects significant recovery in demand in the next fiscal year.

::Science and Technology::

Magmatic intrusions could lead to prolific traps for hydrocarbon and geothermal energy resources

Scientists have found that magmatic intrusions at shallow depths from lower crust or mantle could lead to traps for hydrocarbon and geothermal energy resources.
A team of researchers who studied Taranaki Basin on the West Coast of New Zealand have spotted trapped hydrocarbon and geothermal energy resources due to forced foldings resulting from intrusion of magma in shallow strata.
Magma intrusion into relatively shallow depths often results into the structural deformation of host strata. Forced folds are typically formed above such intrusions in order to accommodate the addition of magma into the sedimentary pile.
Scientists from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, an autonomous institution under the Department of Science & Technology, in collaboration with Cardiff University, UK and led by the Director WIHG, Dr. Kalachand Sain, have investigated large forced folds that were formed in the geological settings called Upper Cretaceous-Paleocene sequences due to the intrusion of a series of magmatic dikes and sills (intrusions) by using high-resolution 3D seismic volume from the Taranaki basin, offshore New Zealand.
They found that forced foldings due to intrusion of magma in shallow strata in the Taranaki Basin on the West Coast of New Zealand have led to the development of four-way closures to form prolific traps for hydrocarbon and geothermal energy resources.

::Sports::

AIFF announces candidature to host 2027 AFC Asian Cup

All India Football Federation (AIFF) has formally announced its candidature to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027 and deliver a Brighter future together for football in India and across Asia.
Unveiling its plans at the launch in New Delhi today, AIFF showcased the unrivalled potential of hosting Asia’s flagship football event in the world’s fastest emerging football market, home to 1.3 billion people.
The bid promises to take Asian football to new heights by working in partnership with the AFC to unlock new commercial opportunities, drive growth and build on an ever-growing love for the sport among the country’s youthful population.