Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 22 March 2021

Bank Exam Current Affairs



Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 22 March 2021



::NATIONAL::

PM Modi launches 'Catch the Rain' campaign

  • Prime Minister NarendraModi virtually launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan: ‘Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls’ campaign on the occasion of World Water Day.
  • In the presence of the Prime Minister, the signing of a historic Memorandum of Agreement between the Minister of Jal Shakti and the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to implement the Ken Betwa Link Project will also took place. This is the first project of the National Perspective Plan for the interlinking of rivers.
  • This project involves the transfer of water from the Ken to the Betwa River through the construction of the Daudhan Dam and a canal linking the two rivers. It will provide annual irrigation of 10.62 lakh hectare, drinking water supply to about 62 lakh people and also generate 103 Mega Watt of hydropower. The Project will be of immense benefit to the water-starved region of Bundelkhand, especially to the districts of Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen of Madhya Pradesh and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh.
  • It will pave the way for more interlinking of river projects to ensure that scarcity of water does not become an inhibitor for development in the country. The campaign will be undertaken across the country in both rural and urban areas. It will be implemented from today till 30th November - the pre-monsoon and monsoon period in the country. 

Rajasthan: Night curfew to be imposed in 8 cities 

  • The Rajasthan government has decided to impose a night curfew in 8 cities to contain the recent spike in the number of Covid cases. Night curfew will be imposed in Ajmer, Bhilwara, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur, Sagwara and Kushalgarh from 11 in the night to 5 in the morning.
  • Markets will remain closed in all the urban bodies of the state after 10 pm. The decision was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
  • The government has also made it mandatory for people visiting the state to carry an RT-PCR COVID negative report not older than 72 hours from March 25. Those without a negative test report will have to remain in quarantine for 15 days. The system of mini-containment zones will also be implemented again. Wherever there are more than five positive cases, that cluster or apartment will be declared as a contention zone. Curbs have also been imposed on maximum attendance at weddings and funerals.

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::International::

EU to sanction 11 people involved in Myanmar coup, foreign policy chief says

  • While the bloc has an arms embargo on Myanmar, and has targeted some senior military officials since 2018, the measures would be its most significant response so far since the coup.
  • The European Union will on Monday impose sanctions on 11 individuals linked to the Feb. 1 coup in Myanmar, the EU's foreign policy chief JosepBorrell said as he arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
  • While the bloc has an arms embargo on Myanmar, and has targeted some senior military officials since 2018, the measures would be its most significant response so far since the coup.
  • "On ... Myanmar we are going to take sanctions against 11 persons involved in the coup and the repression of the demonstrators," Borrell said, adding the situation in the country was deteriorating.
  • Reuters reported on March 8 that the EU was preparing the measures. The names of the individuals are expected to be made public once the sanctions are formally decided by ministers.

::Economy::

Weak inflation adds to risk of further drop in Singapore dollar

  • Elevated US Treasury yields have already helped push the greenback through its 100-day moving average versus the city-state’s currency. While momentum stalled at 1.3531, just short of the 200-day moving average, it may just be a matter of time before the level is breached.
  • The Singapore dollar is vulnerable to retesting a four-month low, with signs that benign inflation and a gradual economic recovery will keep the central bank on hold at its April monetary policy review.
  • Elevated US Treasury yields have already helped push the greenback through its 100-day moving average versus the city-state’s currency. While momentum stalled at 1.3531, just short of the 200-day moving average, it may just be a matter of time before the level is breached.
  • Inflation data due this week is forecast to show only the slimmest of gains, which would give little cause for the Monetary Authority of Singapore to tap the brakes on currency declines by adjusting the exchange-rate band it uses to ensure price stability. Unlike most other central banks, the MAS uses the currency as its main monetary tool, rather than interest rates.

As shopping goes online, e-commerce disputes rise to unprecedented levels

  • E-commerce disputes raised by buyers through the national consumer helpline have outstripped complaints with regard to offline purchases, data from the consumer affairs ministry shows.
  • A credit-card subscriber from Arunachal Pradesh recently had his accounted debited by ₹7,900 without a mandatory online transaction password (OTP). The bank did not refund the amount until he raised a complaint through the national consumer helpline, which led to the dispute being closed in the customer’s favour, according to details shared by the consumer affairs ministry.
  • Complaints of botched online shopping experiences have risen to unprecedented levels, as Covid-19 re-shapes the shopping behaviour of millions of urban Indian households, pivoting buyers to online sellers.
  • E-commerce disputes raised by buyers through the national consumer helpline have outstripped complaints with regard to offline purchases, data from the consumer affairs ministry show.
  • In July 2020, the government had notified a slew of new e-commerce rules, known as the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, as part of its amended Consumer Protection Act 2019.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

Nasa successfully tests its most powerful rocket for Artemis mission

  • The test known as hot fire is a milestone for the space agency's Artemis I mission that will send an uncrewed spacecraft on a test flight around the moon and back to Earth for future missions with astronauts.
  • The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) on Friday announced that it successfully completed Green Run testing of the core stage of Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the largest rocket element it has ever built.
  • The test known as hot fire is a milestone for the space agency's Artemis I mission that will send an uncrewed spacecraft on a test flight around the moon and back to Earth for future missions with astronauts.
  • The core stage of the SLS rocket fired its four RS-25 engines for eight minutes and 19 seconds on Thursday at Nasa'sStennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the moon on a single mission, claims the agency.

::Sports::

'This is everything': Ashwin wins praise from England's Alex Hartley

  • The exchange occurred during the second T20I on Sunday when the off-spinner sent out a tweet to laud South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt and her impressive batting.
  • It's a well-known fact that RavichandranAshwin is a keen student of the game and possesses an in-depth knowledge of statistics, players, and everything around cricket.
  • A popular figure on Twitter, one of his tweets on the ongoing T20I series between India women and South Africa women received heavy praise England's women cricketer Alexandra Hartley.
     

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