Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 19 February 2021

::NATIONAL::

Electric vehicles be made mandatory for govt officials

Gadkari also suggested that government should give subsidy to buy electric cooking appliances instead of giving support for buying cooking gas to households.
Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari made a case for making it mandatory to use electric vehicles for all officials in government ministries and department.
He also suggested that government should give subsidy to buy electric cooking appliances instead of giving support for buying cooking gas to households.
Addressing at the launch Go Electric campaign, Gadkari said, "Why don’t we provide subsidy on electric cooking appliances. We already provide subsidy on cooking gas. "
He was of the view that electricity cooking is clean and will also reduce import dependence for gas.
He, further, urged Power Minister R K Singh to make is mandatory to use electric vehicles for officials in his department saying he will do so for his departments.
He said that use of 10,000 electric vehicles in Delhi can alone save ₹30 crore per month.

New education policy will pave path for Atmanirbhar Bharat

PM Modi also asked the students of Visva-Bharati to prepare a vision document and aim to develop the villages around Visva-Bharati and make them self-reliant.
PM Modi told students of Vishva-Bharati university that India’s new education policy is aimed at laying the foundations of a self-reliance. Addressing the convocation ceremony virtually, Modi said, “This education policy is a major milestone in the making of an Atmanirbhar Bharat.
The new National Education Policy also breaks old restrictions and allows students to realize their full potential.”
The Prime Minister further added that scholars across the nation have recently gained free access to lakhs of journals by the Centre. He also outlined that in the Union Budget this year ₹50,000-crore has been set aside for research for the next 5 yea through the National Research Foundation.
PM Modi also asked the students of Visva-Bharati to prepare a vision document and aim to develop the villages around Visva-Bharati and make them self-reliant. He said that Visva Bharati students should focus on propagating the artisanal and cultural aspects of the rural areas and villages that surround the campus to the entire world.

Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam

::International::

Events leading to Facebook’s dramatic unfriending of Australian news outlets

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison vowed to press ahead with laws to force Facebook Inc to pay news outlets for content, saying he had received support from world leaders after the social media giant blacked out all media.
April 2020 - The government directed the ACCC to draft a mandatory code after the regulator advised that the businesses were unlikely to reach voluntary agreement and Covid-19 exacerbated the pressures faced by Australia media.
July 2020 - The ACCC released draft legislation.
July 2020 - Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the country would force Facebook and Google to pay Australian media outlets for news content.
Aug 2020 - Google criticised proposed Australian antitrust laws saying its free search service would be "at risk" and users' personal data could be shared if it is made to pay news organisations for their content.
Sept 2020 - Facebook said it would stop Australians sharing news content on its platforms if a proposal to make it pay local media outlets for their content becomes law.
Dec 2020 - The News Media Bargaining Bill 2020 was introduced to Parliament to force major digital platforms to pay Australian media companies for use of news content.
Jan 2021 - Google threatened to withdraw its search engine from Australia, calling the proposed law unworkable.
Jan 2021 - Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had "reached out to talk about the code and the impact on Facebook" and a constructive discussion followed, but the government would proceed with the law.
Feb 2021 - Software giant Microsoft Corp said it fully supported proposed news media laws in Australia. Microsoft is not subject to the legislation.
Feb 2021 - Google strikes deals with media companies including NewsCorp to pay for journalism.

::Economy::

Pandemic will force 18 million Indians to find a new occupation by 2030: Report

The pandemic has disrupted labour markets because companies have been forced to respond to a new dimension of work.
Covid-19 will have a lasting impact on labour markets, and as much as 18 million Indian workers will be forced to switch to a newer occupation by 2030 because of the pandemic.
The pandemic has disrupted labour markets because companies have been forced to respond to a new dimension of work - physical proximity, an official statement explained.
The report identifies the lasting impact of Covid-19 on labour demand, the mix of occupations, and workforce skills required in eight countries including India.
Three broad changes in consumer behavior and business models will persist to varying degrees because of the pandemic which include the rise of remote work, the increased embrace of e-commerce and virtual interactions, and the more rapid deployment of automation and AI (artificial intelligence), it said.
The impact on India has been minimized because between 35-55 per cent of the country's workforce depends on what was classified as the outdoor production and maintenance arena, which includes construction sites, farms, residential and commercial grounds, and other outdoor spaces.

Mexico gas squeeze forces Japanese automakers to halt production

Mexico is grappling with the shortage after a cold front affected exports from Texas, prompting authorities to ask automakers and other industries to reduce their consumption of natural gas.
Japan’s three biggest automakers are halting some operations in Mexico amid a shortage of natural gas in the country due to the winter storm in North America, spokespeople for the companies.
Mexico is grappling with the shortage after a cold front affected exports from Texas, prompting authorities to ask automakers and other industries to reduce their consumption of natural gas. The halts by Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. follow similar moves by Volkswagen AG, which said Thursday it is stopping production of three car models.
Here is a list of Japanese automakers’ adjustments in Mexico:
Toyota will pare back production at its plants in Guanajuato and Baja California in the coming days.
Honda shut its plant in Guanajuato on Wednesday afternoon and it is likely to remain closed for the rest of this week.
Nissan is bringing forward plans to halt the second line of its plant in Aguascalientes.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

Nasa’s big plans for Perseverance rover on Mars

The successful landing is only the beginning of the first leg of a relay race as Nasa has big plans chalked out for Perseverance and future Mars mission.
Cheers erupted in mission control at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory after controllers confirmed that Perseverance rover safely touched down on Mars. The sophisticated vehicle covered almost 300 million miles over seven months before landing in the Jezero Crater, the most challenging terrain on Mars ever targeted. But the successful landing is only the beginning of the first leg of a relay race as the American space agency has big plans chalked out for Perseverance and future Mars mission.
The goal of the Mars 2020 mission is to learn whether life even existed on the Red Planet after the science team of Nasa identified Jezero Crater as an ancient lakebed, formed billions of years ago. The crater was filled with water forming a deep lake but it later dried up and surface water disappeared as the climate of Mars changed. The Perseverance rover will be used to collect the rocks from the Jezero crater and future mission will return samples from Mars.
The reason behind collecting rocks from Jezero crater is the common phenomenon observed on Earth where evidence of life is often preserved in the mud and sand deposited at the bottom of the lake. “The science team identified Jezero Crater as basically an ancient lakebed.

::SPORTS::

Medvedev beats Tsitsipas to set up Australian Open final with Djokovic

Medvedev will face eight-time champion Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park for the title.
Daniil Medvedev simply does not lose right now. Not to Top 10 opponents. Not to anyone, really. Certainly not to a drained Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Australian Open semifinals.
Medvedev made it to his second Grand Slam final as he pursues his first major championship, overwhelming fifth-seeded Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 on Friday at Melbourne Park to run his winning streak to 20 matches. That includes a dozen against members of the Top 10.