Current Affairs for BANK, IBPS Exams - 15 March 2022

::National::

Missile firing into Pakistan: Rajnath Singh to make a statement in Parliament

Defence minister Rajnath Singh will make a statement in Parliament on Tuesday about the missile fired into Pakistan on March 9.
India on Friday said the missile was fired accidentally because of a “technical malfunction”. It added it has taken a strong view of the incident and ordered a high-level court of inquiry. Pakistan on Thursday last registered a protest over the “unprovoked violation of its airspace by a supersonic flying object of Indian origin”.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar will separately make a statement in Parliament on the situation in war-torn Ukraine.
Union minister ArjunMunda is scheduled to introduce the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill in LokSabha to amend the Tripura’s Scheduled Tribes (ST) list to include certain communities. In RajyaSabha, Munda will introduce the Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill to alter the list of Scheduled Castes in Jharkhand. The bill also aims to include certain communities on the ST list in the state.

Printed Study Materials for IBPS, SBI Bank Exam

::International::

Kyiv areas shelled but ‘hard’ Ukraine peace talks go ahead

Russia and Ukraine kept a fragile diplomatic path open with a new round of talks even as Moscow’s forces pounded away at Kyiv and other cities across the country in a punishing bombardment that the Red Cross said has created “nothing short of a nightmare” for the civilian population.
Ukraine said it held “hard” talks on a ceasefire, immediate withdrawal of troops and security guarantees with Russia on Monday, despite the fatal shelling of a residential building in Kyiv. Both sides suggested some results could be in sight after earlier rounds primarily focused on ceasefires to get aid to towns and cities under siege by Russian forces and evacuate civilians; those truces have frequently failed.
Meanwhile, a convoy of 160 civilian cars left the encircled port city of Mariupol along a designated humanitarian route, the city council reported, in a rare glimmer of hope a week and a half into the lethal siege that has pulverised homes and other buildings and left people desperate for food, water, heat and medicine.
The two sides had expressed some optimism in the past few days. MykhailoPodolyak, the aide to Zelensky, said over the weekend that Russia was “listening carefully to our proposals”. and that the negotiators would discuss “peace, ceasefire, immediate withdrawal of troops & security guarantees”.
Previous discussions, held in person in Belarus, produced no lasting humanitarian routes or agreements to end the fighting.
Ahead of the talks, air raid alerts sounded in cities and towns around the country overnight. Ukrainian officials said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces shelled several suburbs of the capital.
A wounded pregnant woman who was taken on a stretcher from a maternity hospital that was bombed by Russia last week has died, along with her baby, the Associated Press reported.
A town councillor for Brovary, east of Kyiv, was killed in fighting there, officials said. Shells also fell on the Kyiv suburbs of Irpin, Bucha and Hostomel, which have seen some of the worst fighting in Russia’s stalled attempt to take the capital, local authorities said.

::Economy::

NBFCs, housing finance firms need Rs 2.2 trn in fresh funds in FY23: ICRA

The finance companies and housing finance companies would require Rs 1.8-2.2 trillion of incremental fresh funding to meet its growth requirement in FY23 while maintaining the liquidity buffers, according to rating agency ICRA.
The liquidity (on-balance sheet and undrawn sanctions) for the sector has remained adequate with entities typically maintaining coverage for their next three months’ repayments.
Lower growth in Assets Under Management (AUM) in the current financial year (FY22) warranted limited incremental funding requirement vis-à-vis previously envisaged. Rating agency in its report said the entities have worked to diversify sources of funds, even if the money came at a higher cost.

Govt plans to float EoI for its stake sale in IDBI Bank next month

The government plans to invite expression of interest to sell its stake in LIC-controlled IDBI Bank by the next month-end, a senior official has said. As part of the divestment, the government plans to sell its entire 45.48 per cent stake eventually.
The government may look to sell around a 26 per cent stake in the bank, along with management control to attract investors, the official said. IDBI Bank became a subsidiary of LIC with effect from January 21, 2019, following the acquisition of an additional 8,27,590,885 equity shares.
On December 19, 2020, IDBI Bank was reclassified as an associate company due to the reduction of LIC shareholding to 49.24 per cent following the issuance of additional equity shares by the bank under a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP).
"We have been working on the proposal for a while now and most of the details have been finalised. We expect to invite the expression of interest from investors by end of next month or May," the official said.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had given in-principle approval for strategic disinvestment and transfer of management control in IDBI Bank in May last year.

::Science and tech::

NASA opens Moon sample collected nearly 50 years ago

The Apollo missions to the Moon brought a total of 2,196 rock samples to Earth. But NASA has only just started opening one of the last ones, collected 50 years ago.
For all that time, some tubes were kept sealed so that they could be studied years later, with the help of the latest technical breakthroughs.
NASA knew "science and technology would evolve and allow scientists to study the material in new ways to address new questions in the future," Lori Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters, said in a statement.
Dubbed 73001, the sample in question was collected by astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt in December 1972, during the Apollo 17 mission -- the last of the program.
The tube, 35 cm long and 4 cm (13.8 inches by 1.6 inches) wide, had been hammered into the ground of the Moon's Taurus-Littrow valley to collect the rocks.

::Sports::

Djokovic reclaims No.1 ranking after Medvedev suffers shock loss at Indian Wells

Just a fortnight after Daniil Medvedev became the first player outside the 'Big Four' to reach the top spot in the ATP rankings in 18 years, the young Russian lost the elusive spot to the man he claimed from - Novak Djokovic. Following a shock 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 loss to Gael Monfils on Tuesday at the Indian Wells Masters, Medvedev lost the No.1 ranking leaving Djokovic with a guaranteed opportunity to reclaim the position next week.
The 26-year-old had become the first player outside Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray to be named as the world No.1 in ATP list after Andy Roddick in 2004, after Djokovic had lost in the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships against Jiri Vesely. He was also the thrid Russian player to achieve the feat after Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin. While the latter spent nine weeks in the top, Kafelnikov spent six weeks.
Medvedev needed to make the quarters of the Indian Wells to protect his ranking, the veteran French player halted his run.