Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 19 April 2021

::NATIONAL::

Establishment of 162 Pressure Swing Adsorption Oxygen Plants approved for installation in public health facilities in all states

Amid concerns over shortage of medical oxygen as coronavirus wreaks havoc in the country, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday informed that 162 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants have been sanctioned by the Centre for installation in public health facilities in all states.
The ministry said, "162 PSA oxygen plants have been sanctioned by Government of India for installation in public health facilities in all States. These will augment medical oxygen capacity by 154.19 MT (metric tonne)."
"Out of 162 PSA plants sanctioned by the union government, 33 have already been installed - five in Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three each in Chandigarh, Gujarat, and Uttarakhand, two each in Bihar, Karnataka, and Telangana; and one each in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh," the Ministry added in series of tweets.
The States have appreciated the installation of PSA oxygen plants in their public health facilities.

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::International::

US and China agree to cooperate on climate crisis

China and the United States, the world’s two biggest carbon polluters, agreed to cooperate to curb climate change with “seriousness and urgency” and enhance collaboration in multilateral processes, including the Paris Agreement, days before President Joe Biden hosts a virtual summit of world leaders to discuss the issue.
The joint statement was issued on Sunday after a meeting between Chinese climate envoy XieZhenhua and his US counterpart, John Kerry, in Shanghai on Thursday and Friday, China’s ecology and environment ministry said on Sunday.
“China and the US, together with other countries, are committed to cooperating with each other on tackling the climate crisis, to be addressed with the seriousness and urgency that it demands,” the statement said.
This includes, it added, strengthening their “respective actions and cooperating in multilateral fronts such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement”.
The two countries will continue to discuss “concrete actions in the 2020s to reduce emissions aimed at keeping the Paris Agreement-aligned temperature limit within reach”.
Kerry’s Shanghai stop, carried out under strict anti-Covid-19 protocols, was the first high-level visit of an official from US President Joe Biden’s administration to China.
The China-US joint statement on fighting climate crisis together comes amid strained bilateral ties on a range of issues, including Taiwan, South China Sea, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong.

::Economy::

Indian pharma exports grew by 18% to USD 4 billion in 2020-21

Pharma exports from India witnessed over 18 per cent growth to USD 24.44 billion during the last financial year against USD 20.58 billion in FY20, Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil).
"We have observed a big leap in our exports in the month of March 2021 which is USD 2.3 billion (figures for March are provisional) and is highest among the exports of all the months of this financial year, the growth rate for this month is 48.5 per cent against the exports in March 2020 (USD 1.54 billion)," UdayaBhaskar, Director General of Pharmexcil said in a release.
Growth rate seems relatively big as the exports of March 2020 was crunched due to lockdown across the world and supply chain disruption, he was quoted as saying.
When the global pharma market is negatively grown by 1-2 per cent in 2020, there is a big surge in demand for Indian made generics owing to its quality and affordability, the official said adding Drug formulations and Biologicals is the second largest Principal commodity being exported by India.

Gold imports up by 22.58% to $34.6 billion in 2020-21

Gold imports, which have a bearing on the country's current account deficit (CAD), rose by 22.58 per cent to USD 34.6 billion (about Rs 2.54 lakh crore) during 2020-21 due to increased domestic demand, according to the Commerce Ministry data.
Silver imports during the last fiscal, however, dipped by 71 per cent to about USD 791 million. Imports of the yellow metal stood at USD 28.23 billion (about Rs 2 lakh crore) in 2019-20, the data showed.
Despite growth in gold imports, the country's trade deficit narrowed to USD 98.56 billion during 2020-21 as against USD 161.3 billion in 2019-20.
Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) Chairman Colin Shah said that increasing domestic demand is pushing up imports of gold.
The demand for gold would further increase on account of forthcoming auspicious AkshayaTritiya and marriage season which could increase the CAD.

::Science and tech::

NASA to launch SpaceX Crew 2

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts are in orbit following their early morning launch bound for the International Space Station for the second commercial crew rotation mission aboard the microgravity laboratory. The international crew of astronauts lifted off at 5:49 a.m. EDT Friday from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, into orbit to begin a six-month science mission on the space station.
During Crew Dragon’s flight, SpaceX will command the spacecraft from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California, and NASA teams will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
“It has been an incredible year for NASA and our Commercial Crew Program, with three crewed launches to the space station since last May,” said NASA Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk. “This is another important milestone for NASA, SpaceX, and our international partners at ESA and JAXA, and for the future of scientific research on board the space station. It will be an exciting moment to see our crews greet one another on station for our first crew handover under the Commercial Crew Program.”