Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 02 February 2021

::NATIONAL::

Lieutenant General CP Mohanty takes charge as vice Chief of Army Staff

Lieutenant General Chandi Prasad Mohanty, who took over as the Vice Chief of the Indian Army on Monday, brings with him a recent experience of strategising against the Chinese aggression.
He has commanded the Trishakti Corps immediately after Doklam standoff. The 33 Corps based in Sukma takes care of deployment in Sikkim.
In his career spanning 39 years, the officer commanded a battalion on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and later in the North East. “He has the unique distinction of commanding two brigades: First on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and later on the multinational UN Brigade in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He later commanded the Rangiya based Division in a counter-insurgency environment and the Sikkim-based Trishakti Corps immediately after the Doklam incident,” the Indian Army said.
Lt Gen Mohanty takes over the appointment of the Vice Chief of the Army Staff from Lt Gen SK Saini who superannuated on January 31, 2021, after completing four decades of an illustrious career in the Army.
The General officer also has a unique distinction of commanding two administrative formations as well: the Jodhpur sub-area as a Major General, and Uttar Bharat Area as a Lieutenant General.

No blood banks in 63 districts of country

The 63 districts include 14 from Arunachal Pradesh, 5 each from Assam and Bihar, 12 from Manipur, 7 from Meghalaya, and 9 from Nagaland.
Sixty-three districts in the country are without blood banks as per reports received till September, 2020, Rajya Sabha was informed.
Responding to a question on whether the government has taken any steps or will take steps to ensure that all districts in the country have at least one blood bank, Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey said public health, being a state subject, it is the primary responsibility of state governments to ensure the establishment of blood banks as per their need.
However, support is provided to states and UTs to strengthen their healthcare system including strengthening existing blood banks/establishing new blood banks based on proposals submitted by the states through the National Health Mission, Choubey said in a written reply.
The 63 districts include 14 from Arunachal Pradesh, 5 each from Assam and Bihar, 12 from Manipur, 7 from Meghalaya, and 9 from Nagaland.
There are 3321 licensed blood banks in the country which collected 1.27 crore blood Units in 2019-20.

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::International::

U.K. opens special visa route for Hong Kong residents to become citizens

The move comes as China and Hong Kong have said they will no longer recognise the British National Overseas (BNO) passport as a valid travel document from January 31.
Hong Kong residents can apply from Sunday for a new visa offering them an opportunity to become British citizens after Beijing's imposition of a national security law in the Asian financial hub last year.
The move comes as China and Hong Kong have said they will no longer recognise the British National Overseas (BNO) passport as a valid travel document from Sunday, January 31.
Britain and China have been arguing for months about what London and Washington say is an attempt to silence dissent in Hong Kong after pro-democracy protests in 2019 and 2020.

The UK will join a broad and progressive trans-Pacific partnership

The UK will apply to join a free trade area with 11 Asia and Pacific nations on Monday, a year after it officially left the EU.
Joining the group of "fast-growing nations" will boost UK exports, the government says.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership - or CPTPP - covers a market of around 500 million people.
But they are harder to reach than neighbouring markets in Europe.
Members include Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.
Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam are also founder members of the bloc, which was established in 2018.
"In future it's going to be Asia-Pacific countries in particular where the big markets are, where growing middle-class markets are, for British products," International Trade Secretary Liz Truss told the BBC's Andrew Marr.
In practice, however, the short-terms gains for households and business would be limited. The UK already has trade deals with seven of the 11 nations - and is pursuing two more. In total, CPTPP nations account for less than 10% of UK exports, a fraction of what goes to the EU.
This deal would however deepen some of those ties - and allow UK manufacturers who source components from multiple nations in the bloc some benefits under "rules of origins" allowances.

::Economy::

The 8th India International Silk Fair is being held from 31 January to 4 February

Textiles Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated the 8th India International Silk Fair on Virtual Portal. The fair is considered to be India’s biggest silk fair, being held under one roof on Indian Silk Export Promotion Council’s virtual platform.
The five days event is being held virtually due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking on the occasion, Mrs Irani said that more than 200 overseas buyers have already registered and equal number of their representatives in India will be interacting with more than 100 renowned and big Indian companies manufacturing and trading silk and silk blended products.
She called upon the exhibitors and overseas buyers to take part in this initiative to celebrate the beauty and vibrancy of Indian silk.
India has long history of silk production and is the 2nd largest producer of Silk. India is the only country in the world which produces all the four major varieties of silk - Mulberry, Eri, Tassar, and Muga.

Airtel board to mull fund raising plans, financing strategies on Feb 3

Airtel had emphasised that the actual impact of the 5G experience will be available to customers "when the adequate spectrum is available, and government approvals are received."
Bharti Airtel's board, slated to meet on Wednesday, will consider financing strategies and fundraising plans via instruments like debentures, bonds, and loans, as the telecom sector gears up for spectrum auctions and roll-out of new-age technologies.
The telco is also scheduled to announce its third-quarter results on Wednesday.
"...Board of Directors, in its meeting scheduled on Wednesday, February 03, 2021, shall also consider routine financing/ refinancing strategies and any consequent raising of capital through various instruments, including debentures, bonds, loans etc. either denominated in Indian rupees or foreign currency and of suitable tenor and characteristics, subject to applicable regulatory/ statutory approvals," the company had said in a recent filing.
The move assumes significance as telecom operators are preparing to leverage 5G as the next frontier for future growth to bolster revenue streams and provide a stronger customer experience.

::Science and tech::

SpaceX to launch first all-civilian mission with tech CEO

Inspiration4, which is expected to launch in the fourth quarter, seeks to raise support for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and is another step towards Musk’s efforts to make human spaceflight more common.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced on Monday that it will launch its first all-civilian orbital spaceflight in late 2021. The mission is called 'Inspiration4' and the company's technology entrepreneur Jared Isaacman will be commanding it. Isaacman, who is also a trained pilot, will be joined by three other people.
"Jared Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, is donating the three seats alongside him aboard Dragon to individuals from the general public who will be announced in the weeks ahead," a statement issued by the company read.
"The Inspiration4 crew will receive commercial astronaut training by SpaceX on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft, orbital mechanics, operating in microgravity, zero gravity, and other forms of stress testing. They will go through emergency preparedness training, spacesuit and spacecraft ingress and egress exercises, as well as partial and full mission simulations," it added.

::SPORTS::

Denmark won the world handball title in men's category

Denmark are world champions once more beating Sweden 26-24 in the final of Egypt 2021 Handball World Championships.
Before 2019 Denmark had never won this tournament, now in 2021 they are back-to-back world champs and defending Olympic champions too, redemption for their early exit from Euro 2020 this time last year.
Mikkel Hansen was the hero once more, scoring 7 goals on his 219th appearance, making it over 1,100 goals for him in a Danish shirt
Captain Niklas landin was clutch too making 15 saves, denying and demoralising a Swedish attack time after time.