Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 28 March 2021

::NATIONAL::

Electoral Bonds: After SC order activists, Oppn point out loopholes

Civil rights activists and opposition parties have termed the Supreme Court’s latest interim order to allow sale of electoral bonds starting April 1 “disappointing”, as it “perpetuates the rule of one particular party” and asserted the need for an “independent judiciary”.
“First, let us realise that this is not the final order,” said JagdeepChhokar from the Association for Democratic Reforms, the organisation that filed the petition for an interim stay considering the assembly elections in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry. “Our original petition, that challenges the very constitutionality of these bonds, is still pending with the Supreme Court.”
Transparency campaigner Commodore LokeshBatra (retd) said that he was very disappointed by the Court’s order as it only selectively addressed the issues made in the petition. “The big questions that remained unanswered include the Court not even opening the 105 sealed envelopes filed by political parties containing details of the donors submitted to it by the Commission in pursuance of the 2019 order,” Batra said. “Moreover, the illegal sale of electoral bonds ahead of polls, such as before the Karnataka election also remains unanswered.”
“One interim allowance and interim continuation of electoral bonds by Gogoi headed Supreme Court bench earlier, without deciding the issue legally, constitutionally and finally, has unfortunately now become a precedent for another interim order on the basis that the first tranche of bonds was allowed to be issued and hence it cannot now be stopped. The SC should have ...decided the issue finally years ago,” Singhvi said.

Night flight operation from Srinagar International Airport

In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the night flight operation from Srinagar International Airport.
The aviation regulator of India, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) yesterday gave approval to the night flight operations at the Srinagar International Airport.
Director, Airports Authority of India (AAI), Srinagar, SantoshDhoke said that the regular night flights at the Srinagar Airport will start from March 28. It may be recollected that GoAir and IndiGo were among the airlines that operated successful test run of night flights last week at the Srinagar Airport. With its start, the summer season of Kashmir valley will see a substantial increase in the number of flights.
The commencement of regular night flight operations from Srinagar International Airport will certainly help in the economic growth of J&K as the Tourism sector forms the core of the economy of Kashmir.

Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam

::International::

Defence Ministers of 12 nations condemn military violence in Myanmar

The killing of more than 90 anti-coup protesters in Myanmar has drawn global outrage, with Defence Ministers of 12 nations condemning the military.
The US accused the security forces of a ‘reign of terror’, the deadliest day since last month's coup. Today, funerals were held, with some reports the military had tried to intervene in the morning.
More than 400 people have now been killed in the suppression of protests in Myanmar since 1st February coup. The military seized control of the South East Asian country after an election which Aung San SuuKyi's National League for Democracy party won by a landslide.
The defence chiefs of a dozen nations, including the UK, today issued a rare joint statement condemning the military's violent actions. The US, Japan and Australia were also among the signatories of a statement that said a professional military follows international standards for conduct and is responsible for protecting - not harming - the people it serves.
The US said it is horrified by the killings. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused the military of sacrificing the lives of the people to serve the few. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is deeply shocked by the violence and British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called it a new low.

::Economy::

Abu Dhabi wants to revolutionize how Middle East oil is sold

Tucked between the Gulf of Oman and a craggy mountain range, the dusty port Fujairah isn’t an obvious base from which to try and revolutionize the Middle East’s oil markets.
But on Monday, when Abu Dhabi begins selling futures contracts for its oil and then shipping the barrels from Fujairah, it will mark an aggressive shift by the emirate. It hopes to change the way nearly one-fifth of the world’s crude is priced.
Persian Gulf states pump nearly 20 million barrels of oil a day and Abu Dhabi wants the futures for its flagship Murban grade to become the region’s main benchmark.
The Gulf’s biggest producers -- including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, of which Abu Dhabi is the capital -- have traditionally priced their barrels based on benchmarks from other regions. They’ve mostly sold their crude directly to refiners or international companies with stakes in their fields.

Monetary policy review: RBI likely to maintain status quo amid Covid-19 surge

Amid uncertainty created by surge in coronavirus cases, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to maintain status quo at its next monetary policy review and wait for some more time before taking any action to spur growth.
The RBI is slated to announce its first bi-monthly monetary policy of the 2021-22 fiscal on April 7, 2021 after a three-day meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. On February 5, after the last MPC meet, the central bank had kept the key interest rate (repo) unchanged citing inflationary concerns.
According to experts, the RBI is likely to continue with the accomodative monetary policy stance and wait for an opportune time to announce monetary action with a view to ensure the best possible outcome in terms of pushing growth without sacrificing the main objective of containing inflation.
In a report, Dun & Bradstreet said the recent surge in the Covid-19 cases and the restrictions imposed by several states will impose further uncertainty and hurdles to the pace of revival of industrial production.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

Pak successfully test fires nuclear-capable ballistic missile Shaheen 1-A

Pakistan on Friday successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of 900 kilometres, the Army said.
The test of Shaheen-1A surface to surface ballistic missile, was aimed at re-validating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system including advanced navigation system, the media wing of the Pakistani army - the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement.
The Army's media wing said that the missile has a range of 900 kilometers. Shaheen 1-A with its sophisticated and advanced guidance system is a highly accurate missile system.
The launch was witnessed by senior officials from Strategic Plans Division, strategic forces, scientists and engineers of strategic organisations.

::Sports::

India tops the medals tally with 15 gold, 9 silver& 6 bronze in ISSF Shooting World Cup

In Shooting, the Indian contingent brought the curtains down on a highly successful ISSF World Cup with the women and men's teams clinching gold medals in the Trap events.
The Indian trio of Shreyasi Singh, ManishaKeer and RajeshwariKumari won the gold medal in the women's Trap Team event. India outgunned the Kazakhstan trio 6-0 in the final to give the hosts their 14th gold medal.
In the men's Trap Team event, KynanChenai, PrithvirajTondaiman and Lakshay beat the Slovakian team in the gold medal match to make it 30 medals for India in the shooting World Cup. India topped the medals tally with a whopping 30 medals in total - 15 gold, 9 silver and 6 bronze.