Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 07 March 2022

::National::

Relocating MLAs part of Cong's ‘foolproof’ plan to prevent poaching

With counting of votes for elections to five states scheduled for March 10, the Congress has prepared a “foolproof” plan to sequester victorious MLAs from Goa and Uttarakhand to a designated “safe” place, possibly in party-ruled Rajasthan, senior party leaders in Goa, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.
A senior party leader familiar with the plan said the issue of protecting victorious MLAs was brought up during a meeting senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held with Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his Chhattisgarh counterpart BhupeshBaghel on February 27.
“The party is expecting to form the government in Uttarakhand and Goa and the leadership is serious about preventing any attempt to poach the MLAs,” said a Rajasthan-based Congress leader who did not want to be named.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is scheduled to visit Jaipur of a 1-day trip on Monday. The leader said, “She will be meeting the CM (Gehlot) and discussions, especially related to post-poll management, cannot be ruled out. The CM is likely to receive her at 1 pm at Jaipur airport.”
In Goa, where the Congress failed to form the government in 2017 despite emerging as the single largest party, state congress presidentGirishChodankar said, “We have a foolproof plan for any eventuality.” He did not elaborate on the plans however.
Party leaders in Goa who were familiar with the plan said candidates will be asked to report to a confidential location from where they would be taken to a safe place outside the state. “Depending on the results of the polls, the MLAs will be kept outside the state and will be brought back as and when required,” another senior party leader said.

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::International::

Russia steps up shelling of residential areas

Russian forces intensified shelling of cities in Ukraine's center, north and south, a Ukrainian official said, as a second attempt to evacuate besieged civilians collapsed. With the Ukrainian leader urging his people to take to the streets to fight, Russian President Vladimir Putin shifted blame for the invasion, saying Moscow's attacks could be halted “only if Kyiv ceases hostilities.”
The outskirts of Kyiv, Chernihiv in the north, Mykolaiv in the south, and Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, faced stepped-up shelling late Sunday, presidential adviser OleksiyArestovich said. Heavy artillery hit residential areas in Kharkiv and shelling damaged a television tower, according to local officials.
The attacks dashed hopes that more people could escape the fighting in Ukraine, where Russia's plan to quickly overrun the country has been stymied by fierce resistance. Russia has made significant advances in southern Ukraine and along the coast, but many of its efforts have become stalled, including an immense military convoy that has been almost motionless for days north of Kyiv.
Food, water, medicine and almost all other supplies were in desperately short supply in the southern port city of Mariupol, where Russian and Ukrainian forces had agreed to an 11-hour cease-fire that would allow civilians and the wounded to be evacuated. But Russian attacks quickly closed the humanitarian corridor, Ukrainian officials said.
“There can be no ‘green corridors’ because only the sick brain of the Russians decides when to start shooting and at whom,“ Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said on Telegram.
A third round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian leaders is planned for Monday.
Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelenskyy rallied his people to remain defiant, especially those in cities occupied by Russians.
“You should take to the streets! You should fight!” he said Saturday on Ukrainian television. “It is necessary to go out and drive this evil out of our cities, from our land.”
Zelenskyy also asked the United States and NATO countries to send more warplanes to Ukraine, though that idea is complicated by logistical questions about how to provide aircraft to Ukrainian pilots.

::Economy::

Awaiting govt, RBI advisory on SWIFT transactions with Russian assets: PNB

The country's second-largest bank Punjab National Bank (PNB) said it was awaiting advisory from the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank with regard to SWIFT-related transactions with Russian entities.
In view of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, several countries including the US, Canada and certain European nations have blocked some Russian banks from using SWIFT, a system that is used for global banking transactions.
"...we have not received any advisory from the RBI/Finance Ministry regarding SWIFT-related transactions with respect to Russia. Any action in this regard shall be taken after receipt of guidelines from RBI/Finance Ministry," PNB said in a response to queries on Russia-related transactions.
Meanwhile, sources said that India's largest lender State Bank of India has stopped processing transactions of Russian entities that have been sanctioned by the West over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
SBI is learnt to have issued a circular as it fears that any transaction with entities or sectors under sanction will invite sanctions on it as well. Russia is one of the biggest suppliers of defence products and equipment to India mostly under government-to-government contracts.
Bilateral trade between India and Russia stood at USD 9.4 billion so far this fiscal year, against USD 8.1 billion in 2020-21.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) is the world's main banking messaging service which links around 11,000 banks and institutions in more than 200 countries, including India.

Canara Bank raises Rs 1,000 cr through Basel-III compliant AT-1 bonds

State-owned Canara Bank on Friday said it has raised Rs 1,000 crore by issuing Basel-III compliant additional tier I bonds.
The bonds carry coupon rate of 8.07 per cent per annum.
The issue received overwhelming response from investors, with bids for more than Rs 3,133 crore against a base issue size of Rs 250 crore and greenshoe option of Rs 750 crore, Canara Bank said in a release.
"Based on the response, the bank has decided to accept Rs 1,000 crore at a coupon rate of 8.07 per cent per annum. The said Tier I bonds are perpetual in nature. However, it can be called back by the issuer after fifth anniversary from the deemed date of allotment or any anniversary date thereafter," the lender said.
Perpetual bonds carry no maturity date, so they may be treated as equity, not debt. To comply with Basel-III capital regulations, banks globally need to improve and strengthen their capital planning processes.
These norms are being implemented to mitigate concerns on potential stresses on asset quality and consequential impact on performance and profitability of banks.
The bank's additional tier I bonds are rated AA+ by CRISIL Ratings and India Ratings & Research Ltd, the lender said.
This is the third series of additional tier I bond issuance of the bank for the financial year 2021-22, Canara Bank said.

::Science and tech::

NASA launches next generation GOES-T weather satellite

NASA successfully launched the third in a series of next-generation weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at 4:38 p.m. The newest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-T, launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
GOES-T mission managers confirmed at 8:28 p.m. the spacecraft’s solar arrays successfully deployed and the spacecraft was operating on its own power.
“We at NASA are proud to support our joint agency partner, NOAA, and their mission to provide critical data and imagery to forecasters and researchers tracking hazardous weather,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “While the GOES-R series satellites’ main job is to help with weather prediction, these satellites produce observations that also help with NASA science. Our agencies’ collaboration brings great benefits toward understanding our planet.”
The satellite will provide continuous coverage of weather and hazardous environmental conditions in the Western Hemisphere. The GOES program also predicts space weather near Earth that can interfere with satellite electronics, GPS, and radio communications.
“We at NASA feel honored to continue to work with NOAA on this strategic and successful partnership. Besides our work on spacecraft development and launch, NASA supported science teams are looking forward to analyzing the precious data that GOES-T will provide,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These observations are a key part of our research towards improving understanding and models of climate, weather, and space weather – models that, in turn, support NOAA’s crucial work as they lead the weather and space weather forecasts for the nation.”

::Sport::

Rohit Sharma sets another massive captaincy record on debut

Rohit Sharma's Test captaincy has started off with India thumping Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs in Mohali to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. Rohit has thus become the first player since Polly Umrigar in December 1955 to lead India to an innings victory in his first match as Test captain. India were dominant throughout the match with RavindraJadeja and RavichandranAshwin's all-round performances being the highlight of the Test.
Rohit was announced as Test captain as the squad for the two-Test series was announced after ViratKohli stepped down in January. The first Test in Mohali also marked Kohli's 100th appearance in the longest format and Rohit ensured that the former got a guard of honour from his team mates when they entered the field on Day 2.
Umrigar, who captained India in eight Test matches, led them to a victory by an innings and 27 runs over New Zealand at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in 1955.