Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 05 March 2021

::NATIONAL::

Delimitation Commission was given an extension of one year to complete its work in Jammu and Kashmir

Indicating that the Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be further delayed, the government has extended the term of the Delimitation Commission to complete the re-drawing of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in the union territory.
The Delimitation Commission, which is headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, came into being after the Centre revoked the special status of the erstwhile state and bifurcated it into two union territories.
A gazette notification extending the term of the Commission was issued on Wednesday night.
The panel was set up to redraw the electoral constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
The extension is given only for Jammu and Kashmir.
The government had notified the setting up of the Delimitation Commission on March 6 last year.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 provides for increasing the number of Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir by seven after a delimitation process.
The Act has earmarked a total of 107 seats for the whole of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, including areas in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK). It provides for an increase in seats from 107 to 114 through a delimitation exercise and all the seven new ones will be created in the areas which are not occupied by Pakistan.

Punjab passes resolution demanding unconditional withdrawal of farm laws

The Punjab government on Friday passed a resolution during the budget session of the state assembly, demanding withdrawal of three farms laws unconditionally by the Centre. The resolution, which was moved by chief minister Amarinder Singh, called the three laws "unacceptable for the farmers as well as the Punjab government".
The chief minister said that the three laws are detrimental to the farmers. He also appealed to the Centre to withdraw all cases and notices against the farmers who have been sitting on protest demanding repeal of the laws. Singh said that this is needed to build a "congenial environment for an amicable solution".
"The farmers have never done anything anti-national, they are not anti-national, and they will never do anything against the unity and integrity of this country. They are patriotic and nationalistic," said Singh.
The resolution was passed by voice vote.

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::International::

Pope lands in Iraq on first-ever papal visit to rally Christians

Pope Francis arrived in Iraq on Friday to urge the country’s dwindling number of Christians to stay put and help rebuild the country after years of war and persecution, brushing aside the coronavirus pandemic and security concerns to make his first-ever papal visit.
Iraqis were keen to welcome him and the global attention his visit will bring, with banners and posters hanging high in central Baghdad, and billboards depicting Francis with the slogan “We are all Brothers” decorating the main thoroughfare. In central Tahrir square, a mock tree was erected emblazoned with the Vatican emblem, while Iraqi and Vatican flags lined empty streets.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said Iraqis were eager to welcome Francis’ “message of peace and tolerance” and described the visit as a historic meeting between the “minaret and the bells.” Among the highlights of the three-day visit is Francis' private meeting Saturday with the country's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a revered figure in Iraq and beyond.

::Economy::

India attracted total FDI of US $ 67.54 billion during April to December 2020.

India attracted total FDI inflow of USD 67.54 billion during April to December 2020, Centre said on Thursday. Accordingly, it is the highest ever inflow for the first ninth months of a financial year and 22 per cent higher as compared to the first ninth months of 2019-20 which stood at USD 55.14 billion.
Besides, FDI equity inflow grew by 40 per cent in the first 9 months of FY21 to USD 51.47 billion from an year ago period of USD 36.77 billion. "FDI inflow increased by 37 per cent in 3rd Quarter of 2020-21 (USD 26.16 billion) compared to 3rd quarter of 2019-20 (USD 19.09 billion). FDI inflow showed positive growth of 24 per cent in the month of December, 2020 (USD 9.22 billion) compared to December, 2019 (USD 7.46 billion)," an official communique said.
According to the Centre, FDI is a major driver of economic growth and an important source of non-debt finance for the economic development of India. "It has been the endeavor of the Government to put in place an enabling and investor friendly FDI policy," it read.
"The intent all this while has been to make the FDI policy more investor friendly and remove the policy bottlenecks that have been hindering the investment inflows into the country.

ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel ties up with Odisha to set up 50,000 crore steel plant

up Rs 50,000cr steel plant (Eds: Adds details) Bhubaneswar, Mar 4 (PTI) Steelmaker ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) on Thursday inked an agreement with the Odisha government for setting up a 12 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) greenfield integrated steel plant in Kendrapada district with an investment of Rs 50,000 crore, officials said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and steel tycoon Lakshmi N Mittal were present during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Lokaseva Bhavan, the state secretariat.
ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel is one of the largest steel makers of the world and combines the financial might of the LN Mittal Group and the technological prowess and management strength of Nippon Steel, a Japanese company.
Mittal met Patnaik at his residence Naveen Niwas earlier in the day and discussed his company ArcelorMittal's projects in the state, an official said.
The industrialist had met Union Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi.
'Kendrapara in the east coast provides ideal prospects for an Integrated Steel Complex. The state government will provide all the required support and facilitation for the setting up of this mega project,' the chief minister said.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

Scientists discover new compound for male contraceptive pill

A new research by the scientists at The Lundquist Institute spells out an innovative strategy that has led to the discovery of a natural compound as a safe, effective and reversible male contraceptive agent in pre-clinical animal models.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.
Despite tremendous efforts over the past decades, the progress in developing non-hormonal male contraceptives has been very limited.
The compound is triptonide, which can be either purified from a Chinese herb called Tripterygium Wilfordii Hook F, or produced through chemical synthesis. Single daily oral doses of triptonide induce altered sperm having minimal or no forward motility with close to 100% penetrance and consequently male infertility in 3-4 and 5-6 weeks.
Once the treatment is stopped, the males become fertile again in ~4-6 weeks, and can produce healthy offspring. No discernable toxic effects were detected in either short- or long-term triptonide treatment. All of their data suggest that triptonide is a highly promising non-hormonal male contraceptive agent for men because it appears to meet all of the criteria for a viable contraceptive drug candidate, including bioavailability, efficacy, reversibility and safety.

::SPORTS::

Kiron Pollard becomes the third player in international cricket to hit 6 sixes in an over.

West Indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard on Wednesday became only the third man to hit 6 sixes in an international match during the opening T20I against Sri Lanka. Pollard followed in the footsteps of South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs (2007 World Cup against Netherlands) and India’s Yuvraj Singh (2007 T20 World Cup against England) to achieve the rare feat.
Akila Dananjaya was the bowler who was the recipient of the onslaught, as Pollard took him apart with consummate ease. Pollard was on 4 runs off 4 balls when he decided to launch the attack on Dananjaya, who interestingly in his previous over had claimed a hat-trick that had put the hosts on the back foot.