Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 26 January 2022

::National::

SC refuses relief to NGOs that missed the FCRA registration cutoff

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to grant any protection to NGOs that failed to renew their registration with the Foreign Contribution Regulation Authority (FCRA) by the deadline of December 31.
Representing the cause of about 6,000 NGOs that failed to renew their FCRA registration, a petition filed by US-based organisation Global Peace Initiative and its founder KA Paul challenged a December 31 notification issued by the home ministry that extended the registration of only those NGOs that had applied within the cutoff date.
Most of the NGOs were aggrieved by a new set of regulations introduced by the Centre through amendments in the FCRA Act in September 2020. These amendments required NGOs to disclose the purpose for receiving funds and to open bank accounts with the State Bank of India, which alone could receive foreign funds.
Transfer of funds from a registered NGO to an unregistered NGO was barred, as was diverting funds for purposes other than those specified during registration. The new rules also put a cap on administrative expenses.
A three-judge bench headed by justice AM Khanwilkar refused to grant any interim relief and ordered the petition to be heard after pronouncement of judgment on the FCRA amendments. The bench said, “If these NGOs have not applied for registration, they have chosen not to continue under the current regime.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Centre, opposed the petition and questioned the locus of the petitioner being an organization registered in Texas, US. He informed the court that the Centre had extended the provisional registration of about 11,594 NGOs which applied within the deadline, till March 2022 pending the judgment by the court.
The petition cited Section 50 of the FCRA Act, which empowers the government to extend the validity of registration of organizations. Such orders were passed by the Centre in favour of certain organizations during the peak of the second wave of Covid-19. The petition argued that similar exigency still exists.

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::International::

Ukraine Russia tension: Biden threatens Putin with personal sanctions

The United States warned Moscow on Tuesday of damaging sanctions, including measures personally targeting Vladimir Putin, as Russian combat troops massing around Ukraine launched new exercises.
Warning that would prompt "enormous consequences" and even "change the world," President Joe Biden said he would consider adding direct sanctions on Putin to a raft of measures being drawn up.
"Yes. I would see that," Biden said when asked by reporters in Washington about targeting Putin, whom opponents have long accused of holding gigantic, secret wealth.
A senior US official laid out economic sanctions "with massive consequences" that go far beyond previous measures implemented in 2014 after Russia invaded Ukraine's Crimea region.
New measures would include restrictions on exports of high-tech US equipment in the artificial intelligence, quantum computing and aerospace sectors, the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
"What we're talking about are sophisticated technologies that we design and produce," and cutting them off would hit Putin's "strategic ambitions to industrialize his economy quite hard," the official said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed the threat, saying sanctions would be "heavier than anything we've ever done."
The drills included firing exercises with fighter jets, bombers, anti-aircraft systems and ships from the Black Sea and Caspian fleets, the defense ministry said.
According to Western officials, the Kremlin has already deployed more than 100,000 troops on Ukraine's borders, with reinforcements arriving from all over Russia.
"We continue to watch the accumulation of significant combat power," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

::Economy::

IMF trims global growth forecast; expects India’s financial sector to do better

Global economic growth will dip from 5.9% in 2021 to 4.4% in 2022, half a percentage point less than it estimated just three months ago, and 3.8% in 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted in its World Economic Outlook released.
The Fund estimates that India will grow at 9% in 2021-2022 – it estimated India’s growth prospects at 9.5% for the year in its October 2021 assessment; projects 9% growth for the Indian economy in 2022-23 – in its October assessment, this was pegged at 8.5%; and 7.1% in 2023-24.
“India’s prospects for 2023 are marked up on expected improvements to credit growth – and subsequently investment and consumption – building on better-than-anticipated performance of the financial sector,” the report noted.
But the Fund’s prognosis for the global economy is grim. “As the new Omicron Covid-19 variant spreads, countries have reimposed mobility restrictions. Rising energy prices and supply disruptions have resulted in a higher and more broad-based inflation than anticipated, notably in the United States and many emerging market and developing economies. The ongoing retrenchment of China’s real estate sector and slower-than-expected recovery of private consumption have also have limited growth prospects,” the report notes. Earlier this month, the World Bank too had predicted a slowdown in a global growth, pegging it at 4.1% in 2022.
The report noted that removing the Build Back Better policy (a Joe Biden initiative that is stuck in Congress) from the baseline, earlier withdrawal of monetary accommodation, and continued supply shortages produced a downward revision of 1.2 percentage points for growth in US in 2022 – now pegged at 4%. “In China, pandemic-induced disruptions related to zero-tolerance Covid policy and protracted financial stress among property developers has induced a 0.8 percentage point downgrade.”

Biz activity back at Aug ’21 levels, shows NIBRI

Republic Day 2022, at least in terms of economic activity, is likely to be similar to Independence Day 2021, if the Nomura India Business Resumption Index (NIBRI) is any indicator.
NIBRI fell to 100.5 in the week ended January 23, according to a note issued by Nomura Global Markets Research on January 24. The latest fall in NIBRI is the fourth consecutive one. The index has lost 19.7 percentage points from its all-time high of 120.2 in the week ended December 26. The latest value is close to the NIBRI reading of 100.1 in the week ended August 15.
NIBRI has emerged as one of the most popular high frequency indices of economic activity in the post-pandemic period. It is based on Google mobility indices, Apple driving index, power demand and labour force participation rate. It considers February 23, 2020, as the base for all the series, which means that a NIBRI value of 100 indicates pre-pandemic levels of economic activity.
NIBRI fell sharply from 100.1 in the week ended February 23, 2020, to an all-time low of 44 in the week ended April 26, 2020. It was largely a result of the 68-day long nationwide lockdown imposed from March 25, 2020. It took until February 2021 for NIBRI to come close to the pre-pandemic value of 100 – the reading was 99.3 in the week ending February 21 – but the second wave dragged it down once again. NIBRI’s lowest value in 2021 was 60.3 in the week ending May 23. The second wave peaked on May 9 in terms of the seven-day average of daily new cases.
NIBRI finally crossed the psychological threshold of 100 in the week ended August 15, 2021, and has never dropped below this level, until now. As expected, the economic recovery has followed a similar trend. The Indian economy expanded by 8.4% in the three months ended September and is expected to expand by 9.2% in financial year 2021-22.

::Science and tech::

ISRO successfully test-fires Vikas Engine at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully fired the high thrust Vikas engine that would power India's first rocket to ferry humans. According to ISRO, the Vikas engine for the Gaganyaan human space mission underwent the qualification test for a duration of 25 seconds at the ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), in Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu.
The Indian space agency said that two engines have already undergone tests under nominal operating conditions for a total duration of 480 seconds. The test carried out on Thursday was to verify the robustness of the engine by operating beyond its nominal operating conditions (fuel-oxidiser ratio and chamber pressure).
The performance of the engine met the test objectives and the engine parameters were closely matching with the predictions during the entire duration of the test.
Further, three more tests are planned for a cumulative duration of 75 seconds under varying operating conditions. Subsequently, another high thrust Vikas engine will undergo a long-duration test for 240 seconds to complete the Vikas engine qualification for Gaganyaan Programme, ISRO said.

::Sport::

Ladakh team won the 9th Women's National Ice Hockey Championship 2022

The Ladakh women’s team has won the ninth national women’s ice hockey championship organised by the Ice Hockey Association of India in Himachal Pradesh, an official spokesman said on Friday. The championship was held in Kaza area of Himachal Pradesh from January 15-21. Six teams from Delhi, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Telangana and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police participated in the championship, he said.
A total of 20 players represented the union territory in the championship.
Ladakh Lieutenant Governor R K Mathur and Ladakh Secretary, Youth Services and Sports Department, Ravinder Kumar congratulated the team for bringing laurels to the union territory.