Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 23 August 2021

::NATIONAL::

Hisar airport now renamed as Maharaja Agrasen International Airport

Haryana Chief Minister ManoharLalKhattar announced that the state's first civil airport at Hisar would be named after Maharaja Agrasen.
The Chief Minister said that by naming the Airport after great men like Maharaja Agrasen the State Government has paid him a tribute in a true sense.
While describing Hisar Airport as a huge project, the Chief Minister said that consistent steps are being taken in this direction of developing the Airport as an International Airport.
He said that the integrated Aviation Hub, Hisar will not only play a pivotal role in revolutionizing Haryana's Civil Aviation Sector but would also ensure immense possibilities of employment in the field of air training, air handling and repair, etc.
It is pertinent to mention here that, on September 27, 2018, the Hisar Airport becomes the First DGCA licensed Public Aerodrome of the State.
Presently, the development works to upscale the airport are being carried out and post all mandatory clearances the runway construction works under Phase-II of Integrated Aviation Hub Hisar is in progress.

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::International::

International Day in Commemoration of Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief

The International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, observed on August 22, emphasises the significance of aiding victims of religious persecution as part of the UN’s efforts to promote Human Rights related to religious or belief freedom. It was first made official in 2019.
The resolution was enacted immediately after mosques in New Zealand and churches in Sri Lanka were attacked. The resolution was introduced by Poland’s Foreign Minister, JacekCzaputowicz. It was approved by a small group of countries, including the United States, Iraq, Jordan, Canada, Brazil, and Pakistan.
When one reads recent news, it is impossible to deny the fact that religious persecution is on the rise. Religious persecution affects one out of every three persons, as per the UN report. The establishment of the day was a direct response to the ever-growing issue of religious or belief-based violence, particularly in its most serious expressions of international crimes such as those against humanity and even genocide.
The United Nations strongly condemns the ongoing violence against religious communities. Another rationale for the creation of the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief is the UN’s position. To mark this day, the United Nations pledged to reiterate their unflinching solidarity for the victims, which they will express by doing all in their ability to prevent such attacks and bring those guilty accountable.

::Economy::

IBA (Indian Banks Association) moves RBI seeking license to set up NARCL (National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd) worth Rs 6,000 crore

The Indian Banks Association (IBA) has decided to invest Rs 6,000 crore in National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd. (NARCL) or the license for the formation of a bad bank has been applied to the Reserve Bank. Sources gave this information. NARCL was formed last month after registering with the Registrar of Companies (ROC). Sources said that after raising an initial capital of Rs 100 crore and completing other legal formalities, the company has applied to the Reserve Bank for a license for the asset reconstruction business.
In 2017, the Reserve Bank had increased the capital requirement to Rs 100 crore from the earlier Rs 2 crore. The Reserve Bank had taken this step in view of the need for more cash to buy bad loans. Sources said the Reserve Bank has its own procedure for granting licenses for such businesses. It may take a few weeks to get its license from the regulator. Sources said that the approval of the Reserve Bank for this can be obtained in September or October.
The services of Legal Advisor AZB & Partners have been engaged to carry out various regulatory clearances and other legal formalities. IBA has been entrusted with the responsibility of setting up a bad bank. He has made the starting board for NARCL. The company has appointed P M Nair, an expert in stressed assets from State Bank of India, as its Managing Director. Other board members include IBA chief executive Sunil Mehta, SBI deputy managing director SS Nair and Canara Bank chief general manager Ajit Krishna Nair.
Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman had announced in the Budget 2021-22 that higher level of provisioning is made by public sector banks for their stressed assets in order to clean up the bank books. He had said that an Asset Reconstruction Company Limited and an Asset Management Company would be set up to consolidate and manage the existing stressed debt.

BPCL launches AI-enabled chatbot 'Urja'

Privatisation-bound Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), has launched Urja, a virtual assistant with AI/NLP (Artificial Intelligence/Natural Language Processing) capabilities and trained on more than 600 use cases, the company said.
With the objective of making BPCL’s customer interface comprehensive and integrated digitally, Urja, the chabot is now available on the company website for any queries for both B2B & B2C.
The virtual assistant is designed to deliver a seamless self-service experience and enable faster resolution of consumer queries/issues.
Arun Kumar Singh, director-marketing, said “Through Urjachatbot we aim at providing an entirely new experience for our consumers and creating an AI-based virtual assistant for availing key services and to provide real-time resolution of queries."
BPCL has initiated Project Anubhav with the objective of delivering to its retail (B2C) and commercial (B2B) customer base a consistent, superior and unified experience of BPCL across multiple touchpoints. Under Project Anubhav, Urja represents an integrated communication platform that connects all BPCL communication to any channel, unifying all customer touchpoints with a single and cohesive voice.

::Science and tech::

Asteroid bigger than Empire State Building to pass Earth today

An asteroid will fly past Earth at a distance of just 3.4 million kilometres or 2.1 million miles, the closest approach in more than six decades. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) has listed asteroid 2016 AJ193, which is larger than 99 per cent of all known Near-Earth Objects, as 'potentially hazardous', defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid's potential to make threatening close approaches to our planet.
It will be travelling at a massive speed of 94,208 kilometres per hour and astronomers will be able to see the 1.4-kilometre-wide asteroid move past our planet in its orbit via a telescope. By comparison, the Empire State Building in New York is around 1,250 feet tall.
"Closest approach to Earth will occur on August 21, 2021, at 11:10 a.m. ET (8:40pm IST). This means amateur astronomers with 8-inch telescopes (or larger) have an opportunity to see this asteroid glide by early on August 21, just hours before sunrise," according to Earth Sky.
Nasa has also said that the object will come close to Earth next time on February 22, 2063. According to Nasa, asteroids that can't get any closer to the Earth than roughly 7,480,000km or 4,650,000 miles or are smaller than about 500 feet in diameter are not considered potentially hazardous.

::Sports::

India's Shaili Singh won silver medal in women's long jump at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Nairobi

India's Shaili Singh won the silver medal in women's long jump at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi with a best attempt of 6.59m.
She came agonisingly close to the gold medal, falling short by just 0.01m, with Sweden's MajaAskag winning it with a best effort of 6.60m. Ukraine's MariiaHorielova took the bronze medal. It was India's second silver medal -- and third overall -- at this year's edition of the U20 Championships.