Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 31 July 2021

::NATIONAL::

Indian and Russian Navies Conduct Exercise Indra Navy in Baltic Sea

India and Russia carried out a two-day mega naval war game in the Baltic Sea that featured a number of complex drills and wide-ranging activities across the spectrum of maritime operations.
The Indian Navy described the 12th edition of the Indra exercise on July 28-29 as yet another "milestone" in strengthening bilateral naval cooperation, noting that it reinforced the long-standing bond of friendship between the two countries.
"Initiated in 2003, exercise Indraepitomises the depth of the strategic relations between the two navies," Indian Navy spokesperson Commander VivekMadhwal said.
He said the exercise was undertaken as part of the visit of Indian stealth frigate INS Tabar to St Petersburg to participate in the 325th Navy Day celebrations of the Russian Navy.

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::International::

President Rodrigo Duterte fully reinstates key defense agreement on the presence of US troops

President Rodrigo Duterte has restored a pact governing the presence of US troops in the Philippines, the two countries’ defence secretaries announced on Friday, retracting a decision that had caused increasing concern among policymakers in Washington and Manila.
The Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) provides rules for the rotation of thousands of US troops in and out of the Philippines for war drills and exercises. It has assumed additional importance as the United States and its allies contend with an increasingly assertive China, particularly in the disputed South China Sea.

::Economy::

Foreign exchange reserves fell by $ 1.581 billion to $ 611.149 billion

The country’s foreign exchange reserves decreased by $ 1.581 billion to $ 611.149 billion in the week ended July 23, 2021. This information has been given in the data released on Friday by the Reserve Bank of India i.e. RBI.
According to the data of the Reserve Bank of India, in the previous week ended July 16, foreign exchange reserves had increased by $ 835 million to a record high of $ 612.73 billion. Foreign exchange reserves had increased by $ 1.883 billion to $ 611.895 billion in the week ended July 9. Foreign exchange reserves had increased by $ 1.013 billion to $ 610.012 billion in the week ended July 2.
According to the weekly data of the Reserve Bank, the reason for the decline in foreign exchange reserves in the reporting week is the reduction in FCA (Foreign Currency Assets), which is a major component of the overall reserves. During this period, FCA declined by $ 1.12 billion to $ 567.628 billion. FCAs, expressed in dollar terms, also include the effect of increase or decrease in the value of other foreign currencies such as the euro, pound and yen held in foreign exchange reserves.
According to the data, during this period, gold reserves fell by $ 449 million to $ 36884 billion. At the same time, the SDR (Special Drawing Rights) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decreased by $ 3 million to $ 1.546 billion. The Reserve Bank said that during the reporting week, India’s foreign exchange reserves with the IMF also declined by $ 9 million to $ 5.091 billion.

Production of eight core sectors up 8.9% in June

The output of eight core sectors grew 8.9 per cent in June, mainly due to a low base effect and uptick in production of natural gas, steel, coal and electricity.
The eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity had contracted by 12.4 per cent in June 2020 due to the lockdown restrictions imposed to control the spread of coronavirus infections.
In May this year, these key sectors had recorded a growth of 16.3 per cent, while it was 60.9 per cent in April.
According to the commerce and industry ministry data, production of coal, natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity jumped by 7.4 per cent, 20.6 per cent, 2.4 per cent, 25 per cent, 4.3 per cent and 7.2 per cent, respectively, in June 2021, as against (-) 15.5 per cent, (-) 12 per cent, (-) 8.9 per cent, (-) 23.2 per cent, (-) 6.8 per cent and (-) 10 per cent in the same month last year.

::Science and tech::

ISRO-NASA joint mission NISAR satellite to be launched in 2023

NASA and ISRO are collaborating on developing a satellite called NISAR, which will detect movements of the planet’s surface as small as 0.4 inches over areas about half the size of a tennis court.
The satellite will be launched in 2022 from the SatishDhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, into a near-polar orbit and will scan the globe every 12 days over the course of its three-year mission of imaging the Earth’s land, ice sheets and sea ice to give an “unprecedented” view of the planet.
The name NISAR is short for NASA-ISRO-SAR. SAR here refers to the synthetic aperture radar that NASA will use to measure changes in the surface of the Earth. Essentially, SAR refers to a technique for producing high-resolution images. Because of the precision, the radar can penetrate clouds and darkness, which means that it can collect data day and night in any weather.
During the course of three years, the images will allow scientists to track changes in croplands, hazard sites and will help them to monitor crises such as volcanic eruptions. “The images will be detailed enough to show local changes and broad enough to measure regional trends. As the mission continues for years, the data will allow for better understanding of the causes and consequences of land surface changes, increasing our ability to manage resources and prepare for and cope with global change,” NASA has said.

::Sports::

Avinash Sable breaks national record in men's 3000m steeplechase

India’s Avinash Sable shattered his own 3000m steeplechase national record but failed to qualify for the final despite clocking a better time than the top three in another heat race of the Olympic Games.
The 26-year-old Sable clocked 8 minutes 18.12 seconds in heat number 2 to finish seventh and better his earlier national record of 8:20.20 that he set during the Federation Cup in March.