Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 21 April 2022

::National::

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla inaugurates India-Vietnam flights

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has inaugurated four new flights between India and Vietnam. Speaking on the occasion on Wednesday, Birla said the flights will help boost the economies of both the countries and increase business and tourism opportunities.
Birla, who is on a visit to the south-east Asian country, also met the chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly VuongDinh Hue.
The four new flights will be operated between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Mumbai as well as from the southern resort island of PhuQuoc to New Delhi and Mumbai, the LokSabha Secretariat said in a statement.
Vietjet Air operated flights between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and New Delhi before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. There were also chartered flights from Vietnam and Bihar’s Bodh Gaya. Two existing flights from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to New Delhi will resume on April 29 and April 30.

Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam

::International::

UK PM Johnson signals visa flexibility with India: ‘always been in favour of…’

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson signalled that he was ready to offer more visas to India in return for a free-trade deal after Britain's exit from the European Union, reported Reuters.
"I have always been in favour of talented people coming to this country," Johnson told reporters. "We are short to the tune of hundreds of thousands of people in our economy and we need to have a progressive approach and we will."
Johnson will begin his long-delayed visit from Ahmedabad where he will meet business leaders to discuss thriving commercial, trade and people links between the two countries. He will then travel to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday. While speaking to reporters on the plane on his way to India, Johnson indicated that he was ready to be more accommodating on issues that could stall the post-Brexit deal with India, according to Reuters.
Johnson's office earlier said that the two leaders will hold “in-depth talks on the UK and India’s strategic defence, diplomatic and economic partnership, aimed at bolstering our close partnership and stepping up security co-operation in the Indo-Pacific.”
His visit is also being watched closely for a possible attempt from Johnson to coax India away from Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine as New Delhi stood back from international efforts to criticize President Vladimir Putin by abstaining from UN votes.
Johnson’s spokesperson Max Blain, however, stressed that the UK wouldn’t “lecture other democratically elected governments on what course of action was best for them.”
The spokesperson said the UK would “work with other countries to provide alternative options for defense procurement and energy for India to diversify its supply chains away from Russia.”

::Economy::

RBL Bank finalises next MD and CEO; sends names for RBI approval

Private sector RBL Bank on Wednesday said it has finalised the name for regular MD and CEO and forwarded it to the RBI for approval.
The Board at its meeting held on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of the nomination and remuneration Committee, RBL said in a regulatory filing.
The bank, however, did not disclose the name selected for the position.
It further said the name has been forwarded to the RBI for its approval as per the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had granted an extension of three months to its interim MD and CEO Rajeev Ahuja.
Last year in December, in a sudden turn of events, the board of the bank had sent the then MD and CEO VishwavirAhuja on leave and elevated Rajeev Ahuja as the interim chief to take care of the day-to-day operations.
Vishwavir's sudden departure was seen as a result of an RBI communication to the bank on December 24, 2021, appointing its Chief General Manager Yogesh K Dayal to the board of the private sector lender in an unusual move.
Rajeev in his first interaction with media and investors on December 26, 2021, had said the bank was financially sound and had full support from its board of directors and the RBI.

Rupee surges 19 paise to 76.31 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee appreciated 19 paise to 76.31 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday, tracking positive trends among Asian and emerging market currencies.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 76.41 against the American dollar, then gained further ground to quote at 76.31, registering a rise of 19 paise from the last close.
On Tuesday, the rupee depreciated by 21 paise to close at 76.50 against the US dollar.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.32 per cent lower at 100.64.
"Expectations of quicker rate hike continued to push the dollar and the bond yields higher and will continue to weigh on sentiments," SriramIyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, said.
Most emerging market and Asian peers were stronger against the US dollar this Wednesday morning and could boost investor sentiments.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 395.78 points or 0.70 per cent higher at 56,858.93 points while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 125.70 points or 0.70 per cent to 17,084.35 points.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.03 per cent to USD 108.35 per barrel.

::Science and tech::

Radio, GPS blackout likely after huge solar flare over India, Southeast Asia

The Sun unleashed a massive ‘X-Class’ solar flare on Wednesday, causing major fluctuations in the ionosphere above India. The solar flare – that erupted was so strong that it had the potential to cause a radio blackout by impacting satellite communications and global positioning systems, according to the Centre of Excellence in Space Sciences India (CESSI).
The solar flare erupted from a region beyond the southwest limb of the Sun, impacting the most in areas over India, South East Asia and the Asia-Pacific regions.
“The X2.2 class solar flare eruption took place at 3:57 UTC (9:27 IST) from the solar magnetic active region AR12992,” Dibyendu Nandi, Associate Professor and Coordinator of CESSI at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata told news agency PTI.
The CESSI had predicted the eruption of the solar flare on April 18.
According to NASA, similar to the Richter scale for earthquakes, each letter represents a 10-fold increase in energy output. An X class flare is ten times an M class eruption and 100 times a C class flare.
The X-class flares are the most intense flares based on a classification system that divides solar flares according to their strength, according to NASA. Meanwhile, the number provides more information about its strength.
In the case of the latest one, it was a Class ‘X2.2’ flare listed under code ‘severe’.
“Expected high-frequency communication blackouts, satellite anomalies, GPS scintillations, airline communication impacts,” the CESSI had tweeted. Airlines were also alerted regarding the solar flares.

::Sports::

Djokovic rallies to beat Djere in 3 sets at Serbia Open

Novak Djokovic rallied from a set down to beat compatriot LasloDjere 2-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4) in the second round of the Serbia Open on Wednesday in a match that lasted almost 3 1/2 hours. The top-ranked Serb struggled to find his rhythm in what was just his fifth match of the year and the 50th-ranked Djere created break-point opportunities in all four of Djokovic’s service games in the opening set.
Djokovic improved in the second and recovered from missing three set points in the 12th game to win the tiebreaker. Djere had a chance to go 5-3 up in the third set before Djokovic broke back for 4-4, and the 20-time Grand Slam champion then won the last four points of the decisive tiebreaker.