Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 26 January 2021

::NATIONAL::

President approves 119 Padma awards

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and late singer S P Balasubramaniam were on Monday named for this year's Padma Vibhushan while former Chief Ministers late Tarun Gogoi and Keshubhai Patel, former Union Minister late Ram Vilas Paswan and former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan have been awarded with Padma Bhushan.
The Union Home Ministry said the President has approved conferment of 119 Padma awards — seven Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri. Twenty-nine women are among the Padma awardees and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of foreigners, NRI, PIO AND OCI and one transgender.
Sixteen people have been given the award posthumously.
While sand artist Sudarshan Sahoo has been named for Padma Vibhushan, former Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Nripendra Misra, religious leader Kalbe Sadiq (Posthumous), and social worker Tarlochan Singh have been named for Padma Bhushan.
Former governor late Mridula Sinha and former union minister Bijoya Bijoya Chakravarty have been named for Padma Shri.

11th National Voters’ Day (NVD) to be celebrated on 25th January 2021

Election Commission of India is celebrating 11th National Voters Day on 25th January 2021.
Honourable President of India, Sri Ram Nath Kovind will be the Chief Guest at the national function being organized in New Delhi by the Election Commission of India. The event will be held at the Ashok Hotel, New Delhi and the Honourable President shall grace the occasion virtually from Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Sri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Honourable Union Minister for Law and Justice, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology will grace the function as the Guest of Honour.
The theme for this year’s NVD, ‘Making Our Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and Informed’, envisages active and participative voters during elections. It also focuses on ECI’s commitment towards conducting elections safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Voters’ Day has been celebrated on January 25 every year since 2011, all across the country to mark the foundation day of Election Commission of India, i.e. 25th January 1950. The main purpose of the NVD celebration is to encourage, facilitate and maximize enrolment, especially for the new voters. Dedicated to the voters of the country, the day is utilized to spread awareness among voters and for promoting informed participation in the electoral process. New voters are felicitated and handed over their Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) in the NVD functions.
During the event, the Honourable President of India will confer the National Awards for the year 2020-21 and launch ECI’s Web Radio:‘Hello Voters’. The National Awards for the Best Electoral Practices will be conferred on State and District level officers for their outstanding performance in the conduct of elections in different spheres such as IT initiatives, Security Management, Election Management during COVID-19, Accessible Election and contribution in the field of voter awareness and outreach.

Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam

::International::

Kaja Kallas to become first woman Prime Minister of Estonia

The party councils of the the opposition, center-right Reform Party and the ruling. left-leaning Center Party were expected on Sunday to vote in favor of joining a Cabinet headed by Reform’s prime minister-designate and chairwoman Kaja Kallas.
Estonia’s two biggest political parties say they have clinched a deal to form a new government to be led by a female prime minister for the first time in the Baltic country’s history, replacing the previous Cabinet that collapsed into a corruption scandal earlier this month.
Both parties are set to have seven ministerial portfolios in the 14-member government, which would muster a majority at the 101-seat Riigikogu Parliament.
A joint statement said the Reform Party and the Center Party “will form a government that will continue to effectively resolve the COVID-19 crisis, keep Estonia forward-looking and develop all areas and regions of our country.”
A lawyer and former European Parliament lawmaker, she is the daughter of Siim Kallas, one of the Reform Party’s creators, a former prime minister and a former European Union commissioner. Kaja Kallas took the reins at the Reform Party in 2018 as its first female chair.
The government formation marks the second such attempt for Kallas in less than two years as she failed to bring about a Reform Party-led government after the 2019 election. That paved the way for the archrival Center Party and its leader, Juri Ratas, to form a three-party coalition without the Reform Party.

::Economy::

FDI inflows into India jump by 13% to $57 billion in 2020: UN report

Even as the global economy was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, India witnessed a 13 percent rise in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to $57 billion in 2020 compared to the previous year. The domestic figure was boosted by investments in the digital economy, said a UN report.
India and China were the only countries that saw FDI rising in 2020, while the rest of the world, including the developed economies like the US and the UK, saw sharp declines. This was revealed by UNCTAD’s investment trends monitors’ report released on Sunday.
The report further noted that cross border M&A sales grew by 83 percent to $27 billion, a notable deal being the acquisition of nearly 10 percent of Jio Platforms by Jaadhu- owned by Facebook for $5.7 billion.
The Indian economy is seeing an uptick in the recovery post the Covid-19 effects that have led to a historic slowdown in the economy.
The report said China became the largest recipient of FDI, attracting an estimated $163 billion in inflows, followed by the US with $134 billion.
The pandemic triggered havoc across global economies and the report noted global FDI collapsed in 2020. FDI in ASEAN was also down by 31 percent.
The report says that data on an announcement basis – on M&As, greenfield investments, and project finance – provides a mixed picture on forward trends and confirms the weak outlook for 2021.
“Greenfield project announcements in 2020, 35% lower than in 2019, do not bode well for new investment in industrial sectors in 2021,” the report says.

Finance Minister inaugurates Chennai Bench of NCLAT

Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the Chennai Bench of National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) through virtual mode.
The inaugural ceremony was held in presence of Shri. Justice Bansi Lal Bhat, Acting Chairperson, NCLAT, Shri Rajesh Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, other members of NCLAT and the National Company Law Tribunals, officers of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Finance as well as members of the Bar. The Chennai Bench of NCLAT shall have jurisdiction to hear the Appeals arising out of the orders passed by the benches of NCLT having jurisdiction of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Lakshwadeep and Puducherry. Two Members of NCLAT, New Delhi, Hon’ble Shri. Balvinder Singh, Member (Technical) and Hon’ble. Shri. Justice Venugopal M. have taken charge of the newly constituted Chennai Bench of the NCLAT.
Five new Benches of NCLT have been announced at Jaipur, Cuttack, Kochi, Indore and Amaravati, bringing the total number of Benches to 16 (including the Principal Bench). The NCLAT now functions at a strength of 5 courts, 4 at the Principal Bench in New Delhi and the 5th at NCLAT, Chennai.

::Science and tech::

Next-generation surface-to-air Akash missile successfully test-fired

Achieving a major milestone in the ongoing Surface to Air Missile (SAM) programme, India on Monday successfully conducted the first test of Akash-New Generation (NG) aiming to bolster country’s air defence capabilities.The missile was launched from a mobile platform at the Launching Complex - III of the Integrated Test Range off Odisha coast at about 2.30 pm against an electronic target.
Defence sources said, the missile intercepted the target with text book precision having met all the test objectives by performing high manoeuvrs during the trajectory. Performance of the command and control system, onboard avionics and aerodynamic configuration of the missile was successfully validated during the maiden trial.Akash-NG is a new generation SAM system meant for use by Indian Air Force to intercept high manoeuvring low radar cross section aerial threats.
This advanced variant comes with Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) multi-function radar that features all three functions - search, track and fire control in one platform. The earlier version is guided by phased array fire control radar.The missile, with canisterised launcher and much smaller ground system footprint, has been developed with better deployability compared to other similar systems. The multi function radar was tested for its capability of integration with new missile system.
The new Akash system can defend an area of at least 10 times better compared to any short range SAM and is capable of engaging up to 10 targets simultaneously. The earlier variant has a maximum range of 30 km, while Akash-NG can strike targets up to 70 km.Akash is India’s first indigenously designed, developed and produced air defence system. It also is the cheapest surface to air missile ever produced in the world with supersonic powered intercept.

::SPORTS::

PT Usha's coach OM Nambiar talks about 'late' Padma Shri recognition

Usha was conferred the Padma Shri in 1985 while Nambiar, presented the Dronacharya that year, had to wait for another 36 years before the nation's fouth highest civillian honour.
The man, who moulded Usha into one of India's finest athletes during his mentorship from 1977 to 1990, said he couldn't stop weeping once Usha was done with that race.
"It is absolutely true that I wept when we knew that Usha missed the bronze by one-hundredth of a second in 400m hurdles in 1984 Olympics. I was inconsolable," Nambiar said.
"I cannot forget that moment. An Olympic medal for Usha was my biggest lifetime dream,"