Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 03 January 2021

::NATIONAL::

Covaxin has been indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on Saturday again deliberated on the emergency use authorisation (EUA) application of the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm after it submitted additional data, facts and analysis subsequent to Friday's review meeting, a source said.
Bharat Biotech had applied to the Drugs Controller General Of India (DCGI) seeking emergency use authorisation for its Covaxin on December 7.
On Friday, the SEC had recommended granting permission for restricted emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine Covishield, being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

A special ‘Police K9 Cell’ was established in November 2019 under the Police Modernisation Division of the ministry of home affairs with the mandate of ‘Mainstreaming and Augmentation of Police Service K9s in the country’.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday released the inaugural issue of “National Police K-9 Journal.”
The publication of the Police K9 Journal is another step in creating an ecosystem in the country to train and learn on augmenting this vital resource. The journal comprises different sections in Hindi and English, the Home Ministry said in a release.
“This is a unique initiative which will further enrich the subjects related to Police Service Canine (K-9) (PSK) teams in the country,” Amit Shah said while inaugurating the book.
The Union home minister further said, “National security is paramount and our government is making sincere efforts to give equal attention to all aspects related to security. The police dog squad can act as a force multiplier to ensure the safety of society, much like the way drones or satellites are being used in the country.”

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed a decree abolishing the death penalty in Kazakhstan, according to a statement released by his office on Saturday.
The new law makes permanent the existing moratorium on state executions in place since 2003, introduced by then-President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
In September 2020, Tokayev spoke before the UN General Assembly saying that the decision was driven "to fulfill a fundamental right to life and human dignity." Last year, the oil-rich country joined the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a multilateral treaty included in the International Bill of Human Rights.
The presidential statement, released online, said that Tokayev signed off on parliamentary ratification of the Second Optional Protocol. This document commits signatories of the UN treaty to the abolition of capital punishment.
The UN convention stipulates that capital punishment may only be used in exceptional circumstances, such as war crimes or terrorist acts.

As announced in the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies as part of the Sixth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2019-20 dated February 06, 2020, the Reserve Bank of India has constructed a composite Digital Payments Index (DPI) to capture the extent of digitisation of payments across the country.
The RBI-DPI comprises of 5 broad parameters that enable measurement of deepening and penetration of digital payments in the country over different time periods. These parameters are – (i) Payment Enablers (weight 25%), (ii) Payment Infrastructure – Demand-side factors (10%), (iii) Payment Infrastructure – Supply-side factors (15%), (iv) Payment Performance (45%) and (v) Consumer Centricity (5%). Each of these parameters have sub-parameters which, in turn, consist of various measurable indicators. The major sub-parameters under each parameter are available here.
The RBI-DPI has been constructed with March 2018 as the base period, i.e. DPI score for March 2018 is set at 100. The DPI for March 2019 and March 2020 work out to 153.47 and 207.84 respectively, indicating appreciable growth. Going forward, RBI-DPI shall be published on RBI’s website on a semi-annual basis from March 2021 onwards with a lag of 4 months.

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has signed a contract with Indian Navy for initially supply 20 Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation Dazlers (Laser Dazzlers) in New Delhi today. The BEL had earlier this month won the contract beating global Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in buy global category. These would be manufactured by BEL, Pune plant.
The Laser Dazzler is used as a non-lethal method for warning and stopping suspicious vehicles/boats/aircrafts/UAVs/pirates etc. from approaching secured areas during both day and night. It is capable of dazzle and thereby suppress the person’s/optical sensor’s action with disability glare in case of non-compliance to orders. It disorient/ confuse/blind a person temporarily. It also dazzles and distract aircraft/UAVs. It is a portable, shoulder operated and ruggedized for military use in adverse environmental conditions. Laser dazzler technology was developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
This unique product is indigenously designed and developed for first time for the Armed Forces. It will support the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) formally announced the final approval for Oxford-AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech vaccines against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for emergency use.
“CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation) accepts the subject expert committee reform rations on Serum and Bharat Biotech Covid vaccines,” DCGI VG Somani said in a press conference.
The subject expert committee (SEC) under CDSCO had recommended Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine, which is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) as Covishield, for emergency use and Covaxin for restricted use.
Covaxin is the indigenous vaccine being developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Leon Mendonca who has achieved the coveted title on 30th December 2020 to become India's 67th GM. Leon's story is one of grit, determination and persistence.
Being locked out in Europe and away from his family for 9 months, Leon made the best possible use of the situation, playing 16 tournaments, pumping up his Elo by 140 points and achieving all three GM norms in under three months.