Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 21 February 2021

::NATIONAL::

Charles de Gaulle carrier to exercise with Vikramaditya in Indian Ocean in April

The month of April will see renewed engagement with France with Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian arriving in India to deliver a lecture at a think-tank and pursue political dialogue with India.
India and France will cement its defence cooperation in April when Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier strike force will exercise with INS Vikramaditya in two phases in Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. The dates of the exercises are being scheduled between the two navies.
The nuclear powered French carrier force, comprising two frigates and on support ship, is on mission “Clemenceau 21”, which is involved in the fight against terrorism for several months in Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea/ Persian Gulf.
According to people aware of the developments in the Navy , the Western Fleet with its newly appointed commander Rear Admiral Ajay Kochhar will be conducting advanced exercises with the French carrier task force. While Charles de Gaulle is a 42,500 tonne aircraft carrier with Rafale M fighter on board, INS Vikramaditya is a conventionally powered aircraft carrier with displacement of 44,500 tonnes and has MiG-29K fighters on board.

IMA 'shocked' on Patanjali’s claim on Coronil, seeks health minister's response

Yoga guru Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved had on February 19 said that the Coronil tablet had received certification from the Ayush Ministry as a medicine supporting Covid-19 treatment as per the World Health Organization's certification scheme.
The IMA expressed shock over the "blatant lie of WHO certification" for Patanjali's Coronil tablet, which the company claims is an evidence-based medicine to fight Covid-19, and demanded an explanation from Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in whose presence the medicine was launched.
Yoga guru Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved had on February 19 said that the Coronil tablet had received certification from the Ayush Ministry as a medicine supporting Covid-19 treatment as per the World Health Organization's certification scheme.
However, Patanjali’s managing director Acharya Balkrishna later made a clarification about the certification through a tweet saying, "We want to clarify to avoid confusion that our WHO GMP compliant COPP certificate to Coronil is issued by DCGI, Government of India.

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::International::

PM Boris Johnson to lay out ‘cautious’ roadmap for easing UK Covid-19 lockdown

Based on the latest Covid-19 statistics, Johnson is expected to confirm that all schools will reopen across England from March 8 and that families and friends can begin to be reunited outdoors under a return of the “rule of six” for gatherings later in March.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to table a “cautious” roadmap in Parliament on Monday to ease the country out of the strict stay-at-home lockdown in place to control the spread of coronavirus infections.
The strategy, to be finalised at a virtual Cabinet meeting, will set out the latest data on infection rates, hospitalisations and deaths, as well as early data showing the efficacy of vaccines.
Based on the latest Covid-19 statistics, Johnson is expected to confirm that all schools will reopen across England from March 8 and that families and friends can begin to be reunited outdoors under a return of the “rule of six” for gatherings later in March.
Members of Parliament will vote on the regulations, following which the final roadmap will kick into action in the coming weeks.
The devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been setting out their own roadmaps for easing lockdown, but are in most part following a similar phased approach.
As part of the new roadmap, Public Health England (PHE) will publish new data on the impact of vaccines on transmission rates. Early data suggests a reduction in transmission of the virus in people who have had a vaccine.

::Economy::

Paddy procurement rises by 15.91 pc compared to last year

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare announced on Tuesday that paddy procurement for Kharif 2020-21 session showed an increase of 24.98 per cent with purchase of over 506.33 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy up to January 4 against 405.10 LMT last year.
In the ongoing Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2020-21, the government continues to procure Kharif 2020-21 crops at Minimum Support Price (MSP) from farmers as per existing MSP schemes.
"This is an increase of 24.98 per cent against the last year corresponding purchase of 405.10 LMT. Out of the total purchase of 506.33 LMT, Punjab alone has contributed 202.77 LMTs which is 40.04 per cent of total procurement," the Ministry said.
"Paddy procurement for Kharif 2020-21 is continuing smoothly in the procuring States and Union Territories (UTs) of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pardesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Karnataka and West Bengal with purchase of over 506.33 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy up to January 4, 2021," the Ministry said.
About 65.32 Lac farmers have already been benefitted from the ongoing KMS procurement Operations with MSP value of Rs 95596.84 crore.

India bond yields surge, market expects more RBI intervention

Bond yields have seen an upward bias as investor appetite has been low despite the Reserve Bank of India's assurance that it would provide ample liquidity and ensure a smooth government borrowing programme.
Indian bond yields surged on Monday, tracking a rise in U.S. Treasury yields and as underwriters sold off bonds in the open market they were forced to buy at an auction.
Bond yields have seen an upward bias as investor appetite has been low despite the Reserve Bank of India's assurance that it would provide ample liquidity and ensure a smooth government borrowing programme.
On Friday, underwriters bought 108.94 billion rupees worth of 10-year bonds and 107 billion worth of 5-year debt in an auction at cut-off yields as the RBI did not want to accept higher yields demanded by bidders. The RBI had set out to sell 110 billion rupees of each of these bonds along with two others.
The benchmark 10-year bond yield was at 6.19% as of 0930 GMT after rising to 6.21% earlier, its highest since Aug. 24. It had ended at 6.13%.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

Europe launches space program to boost secure connections

The commission said it was currently carrying out a feasibility study to specify the project’s scope and associated costs.
The European Union unveiled several programs aimed at boosting the bloc’s civil, space and defense industries, including a low-earth orbit satellite infrastructure to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink network.
The push will aim to provide reliable, secure and cost-effective connectivity for governmental and commercial communications, as well as high-speed broadband throughout Europe, the European Commission said on Monday.
The commission said it was currently carrying out a feasibility study to specify the project’s scope and associated costs.
Key Points
Other EU programs announced are designed to manage satellite traffic in space to avoid collisions and to further develop European drone capabilities.
The action plan also includes measures for efficient investments in the space and defense sectors to ensure there’s no overlap.
Officials also call for technological developments in the space and defense sectors to benefit the civil sector, and vice versa.

::SPORTS::

Novak Djokovic wins Australian Open Tennis Men's Singles title

The victory for the top-ranked Djokovic, in three sets over the fourth-ranked Daniil Medvedev of Russia, gave him his 18th career Grand Slam title over all.
Defending Champion Novak Djokovic has won his ninth Australian Open title, beating Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 in a one-sided final at Melbourne Park today. Victory takes Djokovic’s grand slam singles tally to 18 - just two behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.