Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 24 February 2022

::National::

Supreme Court reserves verdict on challenge to OROP

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved orders on a petition challenging the implementation of the one-rank-one-pension (OROP) announced by the Centre in November 2015.
The policy was challenged by a group of military veterans under the banner of the All India Ex-servicemen Movement in 2016 on the ground that there was a sharp difference between the policy on paper and policy in action, which resulted in one rank, many pensions.
A bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, Surya Kant and VikramNath, before reserving orders, heard the final leg of arguments by additional solicitor general (ASG) N Venkatraman and senior advocate HuzefaAhmadi appearing for the petitioner.
The Centre told the court that OROP was made applicable to those who retire from the military before July 1, 2014, after careful examination to ensure there was no discrimination within ranks. “The core parameter of OROP is same rank and same length of service,” ASG said, adding that originally OROP was intended to involve a financial implication of ₹5,200 crore annually but on implementation, the actual payout for 2013-14 came to ₹7,123 crore. With the clearing of backlog (arrears), this amount increased to over ₹10,000 crore.
Referring to the statement made during the Budget speech in Parliament in February 2014 and the actual formulation of policy in November 2015, senior lawyer HuzefaAhmadi said, “In the affidavit, the Centre admits that the statement made in the Budget speech on February 17, 2014, did not have Cabinet approval. The Union has been shifting its stands. The entire argument of uniformity is a red herring. They do not want annual revision as they do not want to do it even for five years.”

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::International::

Prince Harry launches lawsuit against UK newspaper publisher

Prince Harry is suing Associated Newspapers, one of Britain's biggest newspaper publishers, for libel over a newspaper article alleging he attempted to keep details of his legal battle to reinstate his police protection secret from the public.
Harry, Queen Elizabeth's grandson, and his American wife Meghan quit royal duties in 2020 to forge new careers in Los Angeles. The couple have since relied upon a private security team.
His legal representatives said in January that these arrangements did not give the prince the level of protection he needed while visiting Britain and he wanted to pay for police protection.
A spokesperson for Harry said he was suing Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. But the spokesperson provided no details about which of the titles is being sued or why.
Associated Newspapers declined to comment.
Harry and his wife Meghan, formally known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, moved to California two years to lead a more independent life. Harry has previously said he stepped back from his royal duties because the "toxic" British press had been destroying his mental health.

::Economy::

BharatPe fires Madhuri Jain over charges of ‘misappropriation of funds’: Report

BharatPe has sacked Madhuri Jain, the company's controller, on charges of ‘misappropriation of funds’, a media report stated.
Hindustan Times could not independently confirm the report, nor did BharatPe officially comment on Madhuri's exit.
An article by The Economic Times stated that Jain had been under the scanner ever since a preliminary investigation was launched by Alvarez &Marsal (A&M) over some financial irregularities. Madhuri Jain, who is also the wife of BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover, has been in charge of the company's finances since 2018.
According to the report, Jain was sent a letter of termination on February 22.
The couple has been on leave from the company since January, even as Madhuri was caught in an independent audit of the company's internal processes and systems. Co-founder and Managing Director Ashneer Grover had said he was taking a voluntary leave till March.
"The Board strongly believes in protecting the interests of all stakeholders, including customers, employees and partners," the statement read.
Earlier this month, an audio clip surfaced on social media with claims of Grover abusing and threatening a Kotak Mahindra Bank employee for missing out on share allotment during the initial public offering (IPO) of FSN E-Commerce Ventures, which operates online fashion and wellness company Nykaa.

The $200 Billion club loses last member as Elon Musk’s wealth tumbles

Elon Musk, the only billionaire who still exceeded that threshold heading into this week, saw his wealth tumble by $13.3 billion on Wednesday to $198.6 billion. Tesla Inc. shares fell for the fourth-straight day to the lowest level since September amid a broad decline in stock markets around the globe.
Tesla’s 50-year-old chief executive officer remains the richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Still, Musk has seen $71.7 billion wiped out from his fortune so far this year, more than the next three wealthiest people combined, as markets grapple with geopolitical tensions around Ukraine and more hawkish central banks.
Musk’s wealth peaked at $340.4 billion on November 4, when Tesla shares reached a record high. Days later, he asked his Twitter followers if he should sell part of his stake, sparking a sharp decline in the company’s stock that erased $35 billion from his net worth in a day - a nearly unprecedented sum. He eventually completed a series of stock sales worth more than $16 billion and also donated $5.7 billion of shares to charity.
Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos is the only other person whose wealth has ever exceeded the $200 billion mark, first reaching that milestone in April. His fortune fluctuated around that level for most of last year before dropping below it for good in December.

::Science and tech::

Space junk set to crash into Moon not from China, says foreign ministry

China denied responsibility for a rocket set to slam into the Moon, after experts said the piece of space junk likely came from Beijing's lunar exploration programme.
Astronomers initially thought the wayward object was a chunk of a SpaceX rocket that blasted off seven years ago and was abandoned in space after completing its mission.
But it is now believed to be the booster for the Chang'e 5-T1, launched in 2014 as part of the Chinese space agency's lunar exploration programme.
The rocket is expected to crash into the far side of the moon on March 4.
But China's foreign ministry rejected the claim Monday, saying the booster in question had "safely entered the Earth's atmosphere and was completely incinerated".
Beijing "conscientiously upholds the long-term sustainability of activities in outer space", spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press briefing.
China has set its sights on becoming a space superpower and took a landmark step last year with the launch of the longest crewed mission to its new space station.

::Sport::

Asian Games main target this year: MirabaiChanu

Within a month of winning India’s only Olympic silver in weightlifting—and the second medal after KarnamMallewari’s bronze in 2000 —MirabaiChanu was training at Patiala’s National Institute of Sport. But having skipped last November’s world championships, it is only on Friday, at the Singapore Weightlifting International, seven months after the Olympics that she will return to competition.
The Singapore event is also a qualifier for the Commonwealth Games (July 28-August 8) where India lack a strong competitor in the 55kg category. So for now, Chanu has been asked to move up from 49kg where India also have a Games’ berth.