Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 19 March 2021

::NATIONAL::

The RajyaSabha has passed the Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2021. It seeks to amend the Insurance Act, 1938 which will increase the limit of foreign investment allowed in Indian insurance companies.
The Bill provides to increase the foreign direct investment limit from existing 49 percent to 74 percent. It also has a provision for removal of restrictions on ownership and control of the insurance companies.
Replying to a discussion on Thursday, Finance Minister, NirmalaSitharaman said, that a higher FDI limit of 74 per cent is not a compulsion for every insurance company, as it sets only an upper limit. She clarified that increasing the limit does not mean automatic foreign investment to that level to all companies, and each and every company will decide the limit of investment.
Responding to members' questions with regard to reservation policy, the minister assured the House that the Government is fully committed to social justice and existing reservation policy will continue in the insurance sector.

Ajay Mathur on Monday assumed office as the Director General of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). On February 15, the Special Assembly of the ISA elected Mathur as the Director General. The appointment is for four years which can be renewed for an additional term.
"Dr Ajay Mathur has assumed office, today, as Director General of the International Solar Alliance," it said in a statement.
He replaced UpendraTripathy, who completed his term on Sunday. Tripathy served as the Director General since 2017.
India had proposed Mathur's candidature which was endorsed by the Special Assembly.
Mathur brings a wealth of leadership and expertise across all key areas of energy transition, from policy, research, and technology commercialisationto financing, international cooperation and institutional development, according to the statement.He is a member of the Prime Minister's Council on climate change.

As China's increasing aggressiveness to undermine European unity through a 'divide and rule' policy continues, the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) member countries have responded by accepting their own way to deal with the increasing threat of Beijing's influence, known as the 'Sinatra Doctrine'.
The doctrine would be based on two pillars: continuing cooperation with China in regards to address global challenges such as climate change, combating COVID-19 and regional conflicts, while also strengthening the European Union's (EU) strategic sovereignty by protecting technological sectors of its economy, according to EU Reporter.
This 'Sinatra Doctrine' is being seen by scholars as a threat and a blowback to China's growing influence in the CEE.
This mismatch between Beijing's economic promises and ultimate outcome has been a major reason for the discontent that the CEE member countries share with China, writes
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted some of the weaknesses in the relationship between Europeans and the communist nation, as highlighted by European Union foreign policy chiefJosepBorrell in the 'Sinatra Doctrine', which calls for building a united front and EU's response against a more assertive, expansionist and authoritarian China.

Asian share markets slipped on Friday after a spike in global bond yields soured sentiment toward richly priced tech stocks, while a stampede out of crowded positions may have put an end to the bull run in crude oil.
Having plunged 7% overnight, Brent crude futures managed a feeble bounce of just 11 cents to $63.39 a barrel, while U.S. crude added 6 cents to $60.06.
The retreat wiped out four weeks of gains in a single session amid worries world demand would fall short of high expectations.
Markets were also unsettled by the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) decision to slightly widen the target band for 10-year yields and tweak its buying of assets.
The bank portrayed the changes as a “nimble” way to make easing more sustainable, though investors seemed to take it as a step back from all-out stimulus.
A decision to confine purchases to only TOPIX-linked ETFs knocked the Nikkei down 1.6%, while South Korea lost 1%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan followed with a fall of 1.5%.
Chinese blue chips shed 1.9%, perhaps unnerved by a fiery exchange between Chinese and U.S. diplomats at the first in-person talks of the Biden era.
Nasdaq futures went flat, after a sharp 3% drop overnight, while S&P 500 futures added 0.1%. European futures followed the overnight fall with the EUROSTOXX 50 off 0.8% and FTSE futures 0.6%.

Paddy procurement for Kharif season 2020-21 continuing smoothly with purchase of over 690.51 LMT of paddy till now.
Paddy procurement for Kharif season 2020-21 is continuing smoothly in the procuring states and UTs with purchase of over 690.51 Lakh Metric Tonnes of paddy till now.
This is an increase of 14.89 percent against the last year corresponding purchase of 600.99 LMT. Out of the total purchase, Punjab alone has contributed 202.82 LMT which is 29.37 percent of total procurement.
More than one crore farmers have already benefited from the ongoing procurement operations with MSP value of over one lakh 30 thousand crore rupees.

Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, Prof Ashutosh Sharma, emphasised the necessity to scale up the S&T relationship between India and the United States to solve problems of both countries and overcome barriers for growth at the launch of the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum’s U.S. India Artificial Intelligence (USIAI) Initiative.
“Indo-US relationship in the field of S&T is very old collaborations have resulted in great benefits for both the countries. We need to further scale it up in various fields, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can play a major role in the future. We have identified the barriers for growth in India that could be useful for the United States too,” Professor Sharma pointed out at the curtain raiser of the launch ceremony organized by Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) on March 17, 2021.
Speaking online at the launch of the initiative of IUSSTF, a bilateral organization funded by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Governments of India, and the U.S. Department of States, he also said that research, technology in artificial intelligence is being promoted and implemented in the country through a network of 25 technology hubs working as a triple helix set up under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS). He also pointed out the recent policies to liberalise India’s geospatial policies.

In All England Open Badminton Championships, Indian Shuttler PV Sindhu entered the women's singles quarter final beating L Christophersen of Denmark 21-8 and 21-8.
In men's singles, LakshyaSen has entered the quarterfinal beating Thomas Rouxel of France, 21-18, 21-17. However, HS Prannoy and SaiPraneeth lost their men's singles pre quarterfinal matches on Thursday. Prannoy lost to top seed KentoMomota of Japan, 21-15, 21-14, while Praneeth went down 21-15, 12-21, 12-21 to World No. 2 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.