Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 07 March 2021

::NATIONAL::

PM dedicates 7500th Janushadhi Center to the nation in Shillong

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday dedicated to the nation the 7,500th Janaushadhi Kendra at NEIGRIHMS in Shillong.
PM Modi, who dedicated the latest centre that provides quality medicines at an affordable price through a video conference, also interacted with people from different parts of the country.
The PradhanMantriBhartiyaJanaushadhiPariyojana aims to provide quality medicines at an affordable price.
From 86 centres in 2014, the number of stores under the scheme has grown to 7,500, covering all districts of the country.
Sales in the financial year 2020-21 (up to March 4, 2021) have led to a total saving of around ₹ 3,600 crore for citizens, as these medicines are cheaper by 50-90 per cent than market rates.
To create more awareness about ''Janaushadhi'', an entire week -- from March 1 to March 7 -- is being celebrated as "Janaushadhi Week" across the nation, with the theme of "Jan Aushadhi -- SevaBhi, RozgarBhi".

President inaugurates conservation works at Singorgarh Fort in Damoh (Madhya Pradesh)

President Ram NathKovind inaugurates conservation works at Singorgarh Fort in Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh
The President of India Shri Ram NathKovind was on an official visit to Madhya Pradesh from March 6 to 7, 2021.
During the visit, President laid the foundation stone for the conservation works of Singorgarh Fort in Singrampur village of Damoh district.
He also inaugurated the newly carved Jabalpur Circle of Archaeological Survey of India.
Apart from this, President Kovind addressed the State Level Tribal Conference ‘JanjatiyaSammelan’ at Singrampur village in Damoh.
The program was organized jointly by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India and the Tribal Affairs Department of Madhya Pradesh.

Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam

::International::

India, China each other's friends and partners, should create enabling conditions for the settlement of border issue, says Chinese FM Wang Yi

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday that China and India are each other's friends and partners and not threats or rivals.
The two sides need to help each other succeed instead of undercutting each other and should intensify cooperation instead of harboring suspicion at each other. However, he did not say anything about next phase of disengagement at other friction points after disengagement at PangongTso. Wang was replying to media queries at his annual press briefing in Beijing on the sidelines of the on-going annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), country’s top legislature.
He said, the boundary dispute is an issue left from history and is not the whole story of China-India relationship. It is important that the two sides manage dispute properly and at the same time, expand and enhance cooperation to create enabling conditions for the settlement of the issue. It falls on both sides to solidify the existing consensus, strengthen dialogue and communication, and improve the various management mechanisms to jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border area. He added, returning to peaceful negotiation is the right way forward.
India has been maintaining that full disengagement and de-escalation at various friction points along the LAC, would provide conditions for progress of bilateral relations. India’s Ambassador to China VikramMisri met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister LuoZhaohui on Friday in Beijing and emphasised the importance of completing disengagement in the remaining areas. Both the Foreign Ministers also spoke to each other on phone for about 75 minutes on 25th February in this regard.
At Sunday’s annual press which is a major window for China’s foreign affairs policy, Wang told reporters, the China-India relationship is essentially about how the world's two largest developing countries get along and pursue development and rejuvenation together. He said, on many important issues our positions are the same or close due to similar national realities.

::Economy::

Fuel prices will fall if brought under GST: SBI Research

Petrol price can go down to Rs 75 a litre across the country if brought under the ambit of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), but there is a lack of political will, which is keeping Indian oil product prices at one of the highest in the world, economists at SBI said on Thursday. Diesel will come at Rs 68 a litre and the revenue loss for the Centre and states will be only Rs 1 lakh crore or 0.4 per cent of GDP, according to the calculation by the economists made under the assumption of global crude prices at USD 60 a barrel and exchange rate at Rs 73 per dollar.
At present, every state has its own way of taxing fuels, while the Centre also collects its own duties and cess. Petrol prices have touched Rs 100 per litre in some pockets of the country and concerns are being expressed about the high taxation which is making the fuels dearer.
The SBI economists said bringing petrol and diesel under the goods and services tax is an unfinished agenda of the GST framework and getting the prices under the new indirect taxes framework can help.

AWS Survey on India's Digital Skilled Workforce

Digital skills are becoming an essential component for employees to perform their jobs proficiently. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this digitisation journey to a certain extent for organisations as well as individuals.
India’s present workforce comprises only 12% digitally skilled employees, and the number of employees requiring digital skills in the country will need to increase nine-fold by 2025, according to a report commissioned by Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The research surveyed over 500 digital workers in India, and 3,196 workers in total across six countries in the APAC region, including Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.
About 70% of workers in India applied advanced digital skills in their jobs, it noted. And the top five digital skills in-demand in India are cloud architecture design (34%); software operations support (31%); website, game, or software development (28%); large-scale data modelling (28%); and cybersecurity skills (27%). Transitioning organisations from on-premises to cloud environments has been the most frequently used digital skill in India. This is reflected in the crucial role digitally-skilled employees play in transforming non-technology sectors like manufacturing.

::SCIENCE AND TECH::

Women Technology Parks give wings to self-reliance dreams of rural women

Dr.NeeluAhuja, a Professor in Computer Science Department, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), Dehradun is passionate about initiatives that would change lives of rural women and other marginalized sections of the society.
She is confident that science and technology could play a vital role in income generation of rural women of Uttarakhand, a state for which she has grown a deep attachment through her 20 years of professional life in it.
Having knocked on many a doors to realize her dreams, she chanced upon the Women Technology Park (WTP) programme under Science & Technology for Women Scheme of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.
Through this scheme she has been able to change the lives of 280 rural women of Dehradun by training them into skills to earn their livelihood by producing and selling various special items. They are the most enterprising among the 480 women trained under the project. Through the technological training, the women were able to utilize locally available natural resources like bamboo, jute, date palm leaves into jewelry items and decorative pieces. They also turned waste to wealth by making pencils out of newspaper and acquired the skill to cultivate medicinal plants.
“Regular earning has made them confident and now they want to explore more ways to increase their earning,” said Dr. Ahuja.
Far away in Andhra Pradesh another WTP has trained around 350 rural women to develop products ranging from herbal to food and cosmetics. Dr A Jyothi, a retired Professor from Sri PadmavatiMahilaVisvavidyalam, Tirupati who was part of the WTP team elaborated on how the team conducted door-to-door survey to find out enterprising rural women and also school and college going girls in the various districts of the state who could be trained to improve their knowledge, skills and earn more using science and technology.

::SPORTS::

Wrestling: BajrangPunia bags gold in MatteoPellicon World ranking series

In wrestling, World Championship bronze medallistBajrangPunia has clinched a gold medal by defeating his familiar rival TulgaTumurOchir of Mongolia in the MatteoPallicone World Ranking Series event in Rome.
Bajrang defeated Ochir 2-2 by criteria in the final of the 65kg freestyle
Bajrang, who was trailing Ochir 0-2 kept his composure and prevented Ochir from stretching his lead by showcasing quality defensive skills. The Indian wrestler walked away with a Gold medal after getting a 2-pointer in the last 30 seconds.
This is Bajrang's second consecutive gold medal at the MatteoPellicone event as he had finished on the top of the series in January 2020 as well.