Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 27 July 2022

::National::

Centre plans compulsory registration of warehouses

In a key reform, the Union government is planning to make registration of all warehouses with a federal regulator mandatory by amending an existing law -- a move that will enable authorities to track food stocks and quantities of various farm commodities stored by traders and farmers across the country in real-time through an online database, a senior official said requesting anonymity.
Currently, registration of any private warehouse or silo stocking farm produce is optional and these are not required to reveal their stocks. Therefore, there is much opacity about quantities of food stocks in the country.
This often helps market players to gouge prices during periods of scarcity, and the government has no way of estimating how much quantities are locally available to take effective anti-inflation measures, according to the official cited above.
“The government is in the process of finalising an amendment to the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act 2007,” the official said.
Once an amendment is passed by Parliament, “any person desirous of commencing or carrying on the warehousing business issuing warehouse receipts shall make an application to the authority”, a food ministry note reviewed by HT says.
Once all warehouses are registered with a central regulator, they will automatically be linked online to a national database of stocks.
There are currently about 1900-odd warehouses in the country which have voluntarily registered with the federal warehouse regulator, but a vast majority of silos are not.
The proposed move will help sharpen the government’s food-management policies, experts said. The government frequently has to impose stock limits by invoking the Essential Commodities Act when prices of essential commodities spiral. Onion prices tend to spike every alternate year.
“For informed policymaking, the government should have accurate information of privately held stock of essential commodities. Currently, if prices of an item go up, the government simply has no way of knowing if black-marketing is taking place or there is a genuine shortage,” said PK Joshi, the secretary of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and a food economist.

Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam

::International::

North Korea's Kim Jong Un threatens US, S. Korea with ‘nuclear war deterrent’

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned he’s ready to use his nuclear weapons in potential military conflicts with the United States and South Korea, state media said Thursday, as he unleashed fiery rhetoric against rivals he says are pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war.
Kim’s speech to war veterans on the 69th anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War was apparently meant to boost internal unity in the impoverished country amid pandemic-related economic difficulties.
While Kim has increasingly threatened his rivals with nuclear weapons, it’s unlikely that he would use them first against the superior militaries of the U.S. and its allies, observers say.
“Our armed forces are completely prepared to respond to any crisis, and our country’s nuclear war deterrent is also ready to mobilize its absolute power dutifully, exactly and swiftly in accordance with its mission,” Kim said in Wednesday's speech, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
He accused the United States of “demonizing” North Korea to justify its hostile policies. He said U.S.-South Korea military drills targeting North Korea show the U.S.'s “double standards” and “gangster-like” aspects because it brands North Korea’s routine military activities — an apparent reference to its missile tests — as provocations or threats.
Kim also alleged the new South Korean government of President Yoon Suk Yeol is led by “confrontation maniacs” and “gangsters" who have gone further than previous South Korean conservative governments. Since taking office in May, the Yoon government has moved to strengthen Seoul's military alliance with the United States and bolster its capacity to neutralize North Korean nuclear threats including a preemptive strike capability.

::Economy::

ECGC to conduct special country rating review on surge in global inflation

The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) will conduct a comprehensive country risk rating review as many nations face intense pressure on balance of payments following a surge in inflation. This may trigger revision in premium on export credit cover based on the risk perception.
There has been a sharp rise in prices of inputs impacting international trade after the Russia-Ukraine conflict early this year. While Asia and Africa have been more impacted, there is a concern for impact on members of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
According to ECGC Chairman M Senthilnathan, the review exercise would cover 90 countries, providing a clear picture. The decisions about country rating and premium would follow.
In April 2022, the government-owned export credit insurance agency had placed Sri Lanka under ‘Restricted Cover Category’ following economic and political turmoil in the Island nation.
Meanwhile, as a push for small exporters, it will give enhanced export credit risk cover to banks to the extent of 90 per cent for customers with working capital limit up to Rs 20 crore. The average per cent of cover for the export accounts with a limit of Rs 20 crore is estimated to be around 70 per cent. The State Bank of India (SBI) has inked ECGC to extend this cover to its customers with export credit facility, Senthilnathan said.
About plans for listing of public sector undertaking, chairman said it was looking for listing in the last quarter of the current financial year ending March 2023. The government has infused about Rs 1,500 crore in the last two years.

Sebi comes out with new guidelines on settlement of running account

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday came out with new guidelines on settlement of running accounts of clients' funds lying with stock brokers, to be applicable from October 1.
Under the guidelines, the settlement of the running account of funds of the client will be done by the trading member after considering the End of the day (EOD) obligation of funds as on the date of settlement across all the exchanges on the first Friday of the quarter for all the clients.
The running account of funds will be settled on the first Friday of October 2022, January 2023, April 2023, July 2023, and so on for all the clients, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a circular.
If the first Friday is a trading holiday, then such settlement will happen on the previous trading day.
In market parlance, the process of transferring back the unused funds of the clients to their accounts by stock brokers is called running account settlement.
Under the rules, stock brokers need to reverse the unutilised funds lying in the clients' trading accounts at least once within a gap of 30 or 90 days between two settlements of running accounts as per the preference of the client.
Further, for the clients, who have not done any transaction in the 30 calendar days, funds will be returned to the client within the next three working days irrespective of the date when the running account was previously settled.

::Sports::

Suraj Vashisht becomes India's first Greco-Roman U-17 world champion in 32 years

16-year-old SurajVashisht wrote history on Tuesday night as he won a gold medal in the 55kg Greco-Roman event at the U17 World Championships. He is the first Indian to become the Greco-Roman world champion in U17 age group since PappuYadav, who had reached the feat in 1990. While India are yet to win a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Worlds, this is the country's fourth medal in junior age categories.
The Indian youngster defeated European champion FaraimMustafayev of Azerbaijan 11-0 in the 55kg weight class.
Pappu Yadav had won the gold medals in the U17 and U20 categories in 1990 and 1992 respectively. Vinod Kumar, meanwhile, had won the U17 gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1980.