Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 24 July 2022

::National::

IIM-A to study Tata Memorial Hospital telemedicine model in Bihar

The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) will study the telemedicine model of the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital in Muzaffarpur, a unit of the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Mumbai, and the recruitment transformation in the state health department to customize different training modules for healthcare workers in Bihar, said a faculty associated with the programme.
“We will study the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) telemedicine model in Muzaffarpur, where we are given to understand it is being successfully used, and see the technology-based interventions there,” said paediatrician Dr Rajesh Chandwani, a faculty at the IIM-A and the programme chair for the training programme of the State Health Society, Bihar.
“We will study the inputs from the TMH, Muzaffarpur, with insights of Tata’s technology-based interventions in public health system at primary and community health centres near the Kolar Gold Fields in Karnataka to contextualise a training module for Bihar,” added Dr Chandwani.
Bihar’s State Health Society (SHS) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the IIM-A on July 18 to impart leadership and motivational training to its personnel to improve service delivery in the public health sector.
“Established in January 2020 and housed in a pre-fabricated structure, we extended outdoor consultation to around 1,800 patients through telemedicine in the first year itself. We began with full-fledged treatment of cancer patients after posting of doctors at our centre from February 4, 2021,” said Dr Ravi Kant Singh, officer-in-charge of the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital, Muzaffarpur.
The IIM, said Dr Chandwani, will also study the human resources (HR) recruitment process of Bihar’s health department to develop different training modules for healthcare workers.
“We are told that the health department has been able to fast-track many recruitments and complete them in three years, which otherwise used to take 10 years,” said Dr Chandwani.
The state health department has roped in the IIM to develop a public health leadership programme for different levels of healthcare workers, including those under the National Health Mission, the state government as well as those in programme delivery.

Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam

::International::

Biden eyeing climate emergency declaration, says envoy John Kerry: Report

United States President Joe Biden is reportedly considering announcing a climate emergency as the country grapples with a scorching heatwave, which has triggered health alerts for more than 100 million people. The decision would give him more authority to advance his renewable energy plan, which has been hampered by a lack of support in Congress, US climate envoy, John Kerry has told BBC.
Congress's lack of "full-throated" support was "less than ideal." However, he stated that no one is more devoted than President Biden to replacing carbon-based energy.
On Wednesday, Biden proposed $2.3 billion (£1.9 billion) to help build construction of infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather and natural disasters. However, he stopped short of formally declaring a climate emergency, despite mounting pressure to do so from fellow Democrats and environmental groups.
Biden made the comments during a visit to Massachusetts and as a historic heat wave batters Europe and the United States, he is under increasing pressure after conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said last week he was not ready to support key climate provisions in Congress, a critical loss in the evenly divided Senate.
Temperatures in large parts of the southwest United States have soared to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), topping 110 degrees in some areas. Similar levels were recorded across the US south, where humidity compounded the discomfort.
According to a report by AFP, Washington and Philadelphia have both declared heat emergencies and warned their residents to remain vigilant.
Scientists have predicted that heat waves like the ones being felt in the United States and Europe will become more frequent and rise in intensity due to global warming.

::Economy::

Rupee strengthened against all major currencies other than dollar: CEA

At a time when the Indian rupee has touched a historic low breaching the psychological 80 mark, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said that the rupee has declined only against the dollar and has strengthened against all the other major currencies of the world.
He added that unlike earlier crises, the depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar was lower than other major global currencies such as the Swiss Franc, the Euro, the British pound and the Japanese yen. He said that with crude oil prices coming down and the onset of monsoon, inflation is expected to moderate.
“Even though it has depreciated by 7 per cent against the dollar, I would rather urge you to look at it as a dollar appreciation and not rupee depreciation. Because rupee is not the only currency that has depreciated,” Nageswaran said addressing the 186th Annual General Meeting of the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI). “This time the rupee has declined only against the dollar but has strengthened against other major currencies,” he added.
He cited the monetary tightening by the US as a major reason for the depreciation in rupee and other currencies against the US dollar. “I think there is much to be grateful about and less to be concerned about the Indian economy. The current macro situation is that this week the US Federal Reserve is meeting again and there is expectation that they would raise interest rates. Interest rates have been rising in many countries. While many of us are anxious about RBI raising interest rates, India’s interest rate increase is somewhat milder and smaller compared to other nations,” he added. The Fed is expected to raise its benchmark interest rate by at least 75 basis points at its next monetary policymaking meeting on July 26-27.

FPI legroom in Kotak Bank exceeds 20%

Foreign portfolio investor (FPI) shareholding in private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) declined for the seventh straight quarter during the three-month period ended June 2022. According to the latest disclosure, FPI shareholding in the company stood at 40.55 per cent, down 31 basis points (bps) over the March 2022 quarter. Since December 2020, FPI shareholding is down 454 bps to 45.09 per cent.
Following the sharp decline in FPI holding, the foreign investment room in KMB has increased to 20.01 per cent. This may pave the way for KMB’s re-entry into the FTSE All-World index.
“KMB was deleted from the FTSE All-World Index following the introduction of the minimum headroom rule in September 2014. The stock has not been added back to the FTSE All-World Index since the foreign room has stayed below 20 per cent in the past few years,” said analyst Brian Freitas of Periscope Analytics who publishes on Smartkarma.
“KMB's foreign room as on June 30 is 20.01 per cent and just higher than the 20 per cent required. The next rebalance where KMB will be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE All-World Index is the September SAIR (semi-annual index review). The foreign room will need to be above 20 per cent at the close on August 12,” he added.
Currently, the foreign ownership limit (FOL) for KMB is 55 per cent. “It would help if that increases to 74 per cent to ensure that the passive flows keep coming,” he said.
KMB is part of the MSCI India Index with a limited investability factor (LIF) adjustment factor of 0.5 as the foreign room is lower than 25 per cent. Shares of KMB are up 7 per cent in the past year, outperforming the Bank Nifty index which is up 3.5 per cent.

::Science and tech::

China launches Wentian, second of three space station modules

In the latest step in its ambitious space programme, China on Sunday launched the second of three modules needed to complete its new space station, news agency AFP reported citing state media.
Beijing launched the central module of its space station Tiangong -- which means "heavenly palace" -- in April 2021.
Almost 60 feet long and weighing 22 tonnes, the new module has three sleeping areas and space for scientific experiments.
It will dock with the existing module in space, a challenging operation that experts said will require several high-precision manipulations and the use of a robotic arm.
Wentian will also serve as a backup platform to control the space station in the event of a failure.
The final module to complete the space station is scheduled to dock in October, and Tiangong is expected to become fully operational by the end of the year.
The station will then assume its final T-shape, and be similar in size to the former Russian-Soviet Mir station.
Its lifespan should be at least 10 years.
The world's second-largest economy has poured billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a permanently crewed space station and eventually sending humans to the Moon.

::Sports::

Neeraj Chopra wins historic silver medal for India at World Athletics C'ships

India's Neeraj Chopra won the country's only second medal at the World Athletics Championships, finishing with a historic silver in the men's javelin final. Neeraj's throw of 88.13m in his fourth attempt secured him of not only a podium finish but also ended India's 29-year-long wait for a medal at the World's after Anju Bobby George's bronze medal finish in the women's long jump way back in 2003.
Trailing outside the top three after his first three attempts, Neeraj's massive throw escalated him to the second position, only behind reigning World Champion Anderson Peters of Grenada, who took gold with a humongous throw of 90.54m. In fact, all his attempts breached the 90m-mark.