Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 13 January 2021

::NATIONAL::

Supreme Court suspends implementation of three new agricultural laws

The Supreme Court, on January 12, put on hold the implementation of the three farm laws and announced setting up of a committee of agri- experts to suggest changes where ever needed in the enactments as opposed by the farmers.
The interim order by the three judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian came on the 48th day of protest by thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, on Delhi border points against the laws.
The order means that the Centre cannot enforce the provisions of the three laws on the ground and the situation that existed before the laws were passed in September last year would continue.
The order said that the minimum support price (MSP) system, in existence before the enactment of the new laws, shall be maintained until further orders.

Women to be inducted as Army pilots: Army Chief General MM Naravane

Women will be inducted as pilots in the Army Aviation Corps from next year, Indian Army Chief General Manoj MukundNaravane.
Till now, women are only part of ground duties in the Army Aviation Corps.
Women pilots would be flying helicopters to forward locations and be part of operations at the borders, the Army Chief said, adding that the proposal has been cleared.
The Indian Air Force has 10 women fighter pilots. In the Indian Navy, women pilots are flying the Dornier aircraft and also as observers on board helicopters and P8I surveillance aircraft.
Other than the 10 fighter pilots, the IAF has 111 women pilots who fly transport planes and choppers.
During his annual press conference in New Delhi, General Naravane said: "Last month, I had initiated a proposal that women officers can be recruited to Army Aviation. The next course which will begin in July this year, will induct women for training purposes in flying branch and after one year they will be able to join in operational duties."

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::International::

India to set up financial facility for educational cooperation with Arab world

India decided to set up one billion dollar facility for academic collaboration with the Arab World in a step that will have far reaching impact on people to people contacts between Delhi and its extended neighbours.
This was decided at third Senior Officials Meeting of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum held via video conference. The financial facility will be a rolling one and continue to be replenished.
The Meeting was co-chaired by Sanjay Bhattacharyya, Secretary (CPV&OIA) MEA and Ambassador Mohamed Abu Al-Kheir, Assistant Foreign Minister and Permanent Representative of Egypt to the League of Arab States with the participation of Senior Officials from the Arab States and India, as well as the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States.
The Senior Officials recalled the historic and civilizational ties that exist between the Arab World and India and underlined the contribution of the commercial and cultural ties to binding the two sides together.
The Senior Officials discussed issues of mutual concern on both regional and international levels, emphasizing the importance of strengthening cooperation and coordination mechanisms between the two sides, in a way that serves mutual interests and maintains regional and international peace and security.
In this regard, they reiterated the need for political solutions to regional issues and crises in the Middle East, according to relevant international legitimacy resolutions and relevant agreements and references, particularly the Palestinian Issue, the crises in Syria, Libya and Yemen, and underscored the need for cooperation in combating terrorism and ensuring freedom of navigation and maritime security, according to the principles of international law.
They stressed that the exceptional circumstances and unprecedented challenges that the world faces due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic require the need to strengthen international and regional cooperation to confront the consequences of this pandemic, including in areas of conflict and crises. In that context, they discussed ongoing collaboration between India and the Arab States in the fields of diagnostics and treatment, and exchanged views on respective national approaches to post-Covid economic recovery.
They agreed on the early scheduling of the joint activities of the Forum, including the 3rd Session of Arab-India Cultural Festival, the Symposium on Arab-India Cooperation in the field of Energy, the 1st Arab-India University Presidents Conference, the 2nd Symposium on Arab-India Cooperation in the field of Media, and the 6th Session of Arab-India Partnership Conference. They look forward to holding the 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum, in India, at a convenient date for both sides.

::Economy::

CPI-based inflation reached 4.59% in December

Declining vegetable prices brought down the retail inflation to a 15-month low of 4.59 per cent in December and within the comfort zone of the Reserve Bank, government data showed on Tuesday. It is for the first time during the current fiscal that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation print is below 6 per cent or in the RBI's target range of 2 to 6 per cent. The central bank factors in the CPI-based inflation while arriving at its monetary policy.
The inflation in December 2020 came down from 6.93 per cent in November, mainly on account of 10.41 per cent decline in vegetable prices over the year-ago period. The inflation was 7.35 per cent in December 2019. The previous low inflation was 4 per cent in September 2019.
The food inflation, according to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, slipped to 3.41 per cent in December from 9.5 per cent in the previous month of November.
The annual inflation in the vegetable basket contracted by 10.41 per cent in December. The rate of price rise in this kitchen essential segment was 15.63 per cent in November.
"With the CPI inflation expected to continue to exceed the MPC's 4 per cent target during FY2022, we do not expect any more rate cuts in this cycle, despite the sharp slackening in the headline inflation rate in December 2020.
"We continue to expect the stance of the Monetary Policy to be changed to neutral from accommodative in the August 2021 Policy review or later, only after there is greater certainty on the durability of the awaited economic revival," she said.

Gadkari to launch Khadi's eco-friendly, non-toxic wall paint

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and MSME NitinGadkari will launch an innovative new paint developed by Khadi and Village Industries Commission at his residence.
According to a press statement from the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, the eco-friendly, non-toxic paint, called "KhadiPrakritik Paint" is a first-of-its-kind product, with anti-fungal, anti-bacterial properties. Based on cow dung as its main ingredient, the paint is cost-effective and odourless and has been certified by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
KhadiPrakritik Paint is available in two forms - distemper paint and plastic emulsion paint. Production of KhadiPrakritik Paint is aligned with Hon'ble Prime Minister's vision of increasing farmers' income.
The project was conceptualized by Chairman KVIC in March 2020, and later developed by Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute, Jaipur (a KVIC unit), the press statement read.

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

SpaceX Demo 2 Mission Launches into History

In this black and white infrared image, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard, Saturday, May 30, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Demo-2 mission was the first launch with astronauts of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
The test flight served as an end-to-end demonstration of SpaceX’s crew transportation system.
Behnken and Hurley launched at 3:22 p.m. EDT on Saturday, May 30, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
A new era of human spaceflight begins as American astronauts once again launch on an American rocket from American soil to low-Earth orbit for the first time since the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011.

::SPORTS::

Australia Open Qualifiers: AnkitaRaina Moves To Final Round, Curtains For RamkumarRamanathan

India's top-ranked women's player AnkitaRaina moved to the final round of the Australian Open Qualifiers with a gutsy three-set win over world number 118 Katarina Zavatska but it was curtains for RamkumarRamanathan in the men's singles.
In the women's singles qualifiers being held in Dubai, Ankita overcame a second-set lapse to win 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in the second round against the Ukrainian. The match lasted two hours and 20 minutes.