Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 27 September 2021

::National::

Pandit DeenDayal Upadhyay's birth anniversary celebrated as AntyodayaDiwas

AntyodayaDiwas is observed every year on September 25. This day was given its national importance when Prime Minister NarendraModi, in 2014, dedicated it in honour of late PanditDeendayalUpadhyaya to mark his birth anniversary. He was a veteran politician who was one of the key leaders of Bharatiya Jana Sangh from which the BJP emerged. Antyodaya means uplifting the poorest of the poor and, hence, the day is observed with the aim to reach out to the last person of the society.
PanditDeenDayalUpadhyaya born in 1916 in Mathura and had served Bharatiya Jana Sangh from 1953 to 1968. He was the source of ideological guidance and moral inspiration for the BJP since its inception.
The leader died in February 1968 near Mughalsarai Junction railway station under mysterious circumstances. The railway station was later renamed as “DeenDayalUpadhyaya Junction" by the UP government in 2018.
This year, the AntyodayaDiwas will mark the 105th birth anniversary of Pt. DeendayalUpadhyaya.
On this day in 2014, the Ministry of Rural Development relaunched its existing skill development programme- Aajeevika Skills- National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM). However, they renamed the programmeDeendayalAntyodayaYojana- NRLM in November 2015.

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::International::

China Declares All Cryptocurrency Transactions Illegal

China's central bank announced a ban on all cryptocurrency payments and services, escalating its ongoing clampdown on bitcoin and other digital coins as it moves to roll out its own virtual currency.
Chinese regulators' latest action "strictly prohibits" exchanging cryptocurrency for legal tender, providing information or pricing services, and trading in cryptocurrency derivatives. The measure also applies to overseas exchanges that provide services online within the country's borders. Violators will face criminal penalties.
This marks Beijing's latest ratcheting up of restrictions on what it sees as a vehicle for capital flight and competition for its digital yuan, now set to roll out as early as 2022.
The price of bitcoin, the world's leading virtual currency, fell by as much as 9% after the announcement to below $41,000 before paring its losses.
The statement, signed by multiple authorities including the People's Bank of China, the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Supreme People's Court said virtual currencies had "disrupted the economic and financial order" and bred money laundering, illegal fundraising and fraud.
Virtual currencies do not have the same legal status as legal tender, and may not be circulated in markets as currency, the document stated, naming specific examples including bitcoin and Ethereum.
TakahideKiuchi, executive economist at Nomura Research Institute and a former Bank of Japan policy board member, called the latest move an "extension" of measures to "ban all virtual currencies except central bank digital currency."
China in June ordered five state-run banks including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, as well as mobile payments giant Alipay, to cut off cryptocurrency transactions. It also imposed a broad ban on virtual-currency mining that month, driving many miners overseas and slashing the country's share of digital coin creation, once above 80%.

::Economy::

Group of Ministers (GoM) to rationalize GST rates

Setting the stage for an overhaul of the multiple tax rates under the Goods and Services Tax regime, the government has tasked a group of ministers (GoM) led by Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj S. Bommai with proposing a rationalisation of tax rates and considering the merger of different tax slabs within two months.
Currently, the GST regime has five broad tax rate slabs of zero, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%, with a cess levied over and above the 28% on some goods, and special rates for items like precious stones and diamonds.
While Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman had announced, on September 17, a GST Council decision to set up two GoMs to shore up revenues, at the time, she had said that one of the panels will only look at tax rate rationalisation issues to correct anomalies, not the tax slabs per se. MsSitharaman had indicated that the effective tax rate under GST had slipped from the original revenue neutral rate of 15.5% to 11.6% ‘knowingly or unknowingly’ due to multiple rate cuts since GST’s introduction in July 2017.
Mr. Bommai’s seven-member group constituted by the Finance Ministry on Friday includes West Bengal Finance Minister AmitMitra and Kerala Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal, as well as GST Council members from Goa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The group has been asked to suggest immediate changes, as well as a roadmap for short- and medium-term changes to the GST rate structure.
“The GoM shall review the current tax slab rates and recommend changes in the same as may be needed to garner required resources (and) review the current rate slab structure of GST, including special rates, and recommend rationalisation measures, including merger of tax rate slabs, required for a simpler rate structure in GST,” the terms of reference for the GoM stated.

DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management) selects Cyril AmarchandMangaldas as legal advisor for LIC's IPO

The country’s Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramaniam has expressed confidence that the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) will be listed on the stock exchanges by the fourth quarter of the current financial year.
Addressing the discussion session at the Indian School of Business (ISB)’s PGPMAX Leadership Summit, 2021, Subramaniam said that the budget for the current fiscal year aims to raise Rs 1.75 lakh crore from privatization. The process of privatization of Air India is progressing well. You must have read that two bids have been received for this. Bharat Petroleum and LIC are also to be listed. I am confident that LIC will be listed by the fourth quarter of the current financial year.
He said that I am sure that this will be a very important year for privatization from the point of view of history. The government recently appointed 10 merchant bankers, including Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, Citigroup Global Markets India, Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities, to manage the initial public offering (IPO) of the country’s largest insurance company LIC. Responding to a question on privatization, Subramaniam mentioned the important reforms of the self-reliant India policy and promotion of privatization.
The government has selected Cyril AmarchandMangaldas as legal advisor for the upcoming initial public offering of the country’s largest insurance company LIC. Four law firms Crawford Bayley, Cyril AmarchandMangaldas, Link Legal and ShardulAmarchandMangaldas& Co made presentations to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) on September 24. Following this presentation, Cyril AmarchandMangaldas has been selected as Legal Advisor for LIC’s IPO.

::Science and tech::

WHO revises air quality norms for the first time since 2005

New WHO Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) provide clear evidence of the damage air pollution inflicts on human health, at even lower concentrations than previously understood. The guidelines recommend new air quality levels to protect the health of populations, by reducing levels of key air pollutants, some of which also contribute to climate change.
Since WHO’s last 2005 global update, there has been a marked increase of evidence that shows how air pollution affects different aspects of health. For that reason, and after a systematic review of the accumulated evidence, WHO has adjusted almost all the AQGs levels downwards, warning that exceeding the new air quality guideline levels is associated with significant risks to health. At the same time, however, adhering to them could save millions of lives.
Every year, exposure to air pollution is estimated to cause 7 million premature deaths and result in the loss of millions more healthy years of life. In children, this could include reduced lung growth and function, respiratory infections and aggravated asthma. In adults, ischaemic heart disease and stroke are the most common causes of premature death attributable to outdoor air pollution, and evidence is also emerging of other effects such as diabetes and neurodegenerative conditions. This puts the burden of disease attributable to air pollution on a par with other major global health risks such as unhealthy diet and tobacco smoking.
Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, alongside climate change. Improving air quality can enhance climate change mitigation efforts, while reducing emissions will in turn improve air quality. By striving to achieve these guideline levels, countries will be both protecting health as well as mitigating global climate change.
WHO’s new guidelines recommend air quality levels for 6 pollutants, where evidence has advanced the most on health effects from exposure. When action is taken on these so-called classical pollutants – particulate matter (PM), ozone (O₃), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and carbon monoxide (CO), it also has an impact on other damaging pollutants.
The health risks associated with particulate matter equal or smaller than 10 and 2.5 microns (µm) in diameter (PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅, respectively) are of particular public health relevance. Both PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ are capable of penetrating deep into the lungs but PM₂.₅ can even enter the bloodstream, primarily resulting in cardiovascular and respiratory impacts, and also affecting other organs. PM is primarily generated by fuel combustion in different sectors, including transport, energy, households, industry, and from agriculture. In 2013, outdoor air pollution and particulate matter were classified as carcinogenic by WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

::Sports::

Sania Mirza and her Chinese partner Shuai Zhang won the women's doubles title at the Ostrava Open Tennis

India's tennis veteran, SaniaMirza wins the doubles title at the Ostrava Open with her Chinese partner Shuai Zhang. They defeated the pair of Kaitlyn Christian and Erin Routliffe by 6-3, 6-2, and clinched the title in just over an hour. The final was held at the ČEZ Aréna in Ostrava in the Czech Republic.
This is the first title of this season for SaniaMirza and the 43rd title of her career.
Mirza-Zhang duo was seeded second for the tournament. They defeated the Japanese duo of EriHozumi and Makoto Ninomiya in straight sets 6-2, 7-5 in the semi-finals. Although they were broken in the fifth set in the semis, they had a considerably easy way into the final.